As Obi-Wan Kenobi told us in A New Hope, the Jedi were the guardians of peace and justice for “a thousand generations.” But then, just 19 years after Revenge of the Sith, folks referred to the Jedi as “an ancient religion.” In Revenge of the Sith, Palpatine told the entire galaxy that the Jedi — all the Jedi — had tried to betray him specifically, which is why they were all massacred.
But how did this massive shift in policy feel on a day-to-day level for most citizens of the Star Wars galaxy? In a brand-new Star Wars novel, Reign of the Empire: The Mask of Fear, author Alexander Freed takes us right into that first year of the Galactic Empire, and in the novel’s opening chapter, reveals the mixed feelings the galaxy has about the Jedi. Mild spoilers ahead.
