The newest novel continues to dig into what remains of the Empire following the Battle of Endor, the state of the fledgling New Republic, and the lives of key characters.
It lends some much-needed background to a whole host of mysteries in The Force Awakens, while teasing at what’s to come in Episode VIII.
By the time Life Debt picks up, the Empire has been shattered by their defeat on Endor.
Han and Leia tied the knot on Endor
Han and Leia were got married pretty much after the final scenes of Return of the Jedi. Leia is already pregnant with the couple’s first child, although many of their friends and colleagues in the New Republic are unaware of that fact yet.
Leia never did formally train to become a Jedi with Luke in The Force Awakens. But that doesn’t mean that she lacks the ability.
In Life Debt, we see her meditating while pregnant, trying to stretch out and feel the Force. During this meditation, she connects with her child, knowing immediately that she’s going to have a son.
She becomes filled with joy and hope at the prospect of this, making our knowledge of Ben Solo’s eventual fall into darkness that much more tragic.
The liberation of the Wookiee homeworld
Most of both Death Stars were built on the backs of Wookiee labor. Back on their home planet, they were imprisoned in camps while the Empire strip-mined their lush forests for resources.
There are still pockets of Imperial power still fighting off a New Republic that’s spread all too thin.
That left Kashyyyk under the yoke of one of those factions.
It’s not long before Han and Chewie catch wind of an opening, and make for the planet’s surface to liberate the Wookies once and for all. For Han, this is a personal mission—he resigns his commission and goes off with Chewbacca to liberate his partner’s home.
The identity of Supreme Leader Snoke?
We see the rise of an enigmatic and mysterious fleet admiral, Gallius Rax (better known as The Operator in the first Aftermath novel). As a child, Rax was taken under the wing of Emperor Palpatine himself. He now works behind the scenes to build a stronger, less bloated Empire in his own image.
The clues all seem to point toward Rax as Snoke: He spends considerable effort rescuing Brendol Hux from the clutches of the New Republic, setting the table for Hux’s son to rise through the ranks by the time TFA picks up.
After discovering a young Rax stowed away on his shuttle, Palpatine notes that he senses a purpose and destiny in him.
The vision of the Empire that Rax holds is all too similar to the one Snoke seems to have for the First Order.
Rax was the one who eventually leads the Empire’s final stand in their defeat on Jakku (which could explain Snoke’s horrible scars).
The Shadow Council has big plans for children—mainly through Brendol Hux, who Rax orders rescued from the beseiged Arkanis Academy, where he was in charge of training young Imperial minds.
Rax also orders the safety of Brendol’s illegitimate son, Armitage on the logic that “the Empire must be fertile and young.”
This is presumably a predecessor to the younger Hux’s own belief in training loyal soldiers from childhood to adulthood rather than breeding a clone army, which leads to kids like Finn being taken from their families and brainwashed into being adherents of the First Order.
General Hux in his younger years
Gallius Rax expended considerable resources rescuing Brendol Hux, a man known for his talent in training Imperial soldiers. It was a move that seemed like a precursor to the First Order’s legions of brainwashed Stormtroopers, taken at birth, given a number designation, and trained as weapons.
In order for that timeline to logically shake out, that means the First Order would have had to begin this program right around the time Life Debt takes place, and offering even more evidence in support of the “Rax = Snoke” theory.
Brendol’s son, Armitage, eventually grows up to be General Hux, the de facto military leader of the First Order in The Force Awakens.
He wasn’t always the intimidating, albeit inexperienced, force we saw in TFA though. At a dinner with the rest of Rax’s Shadow Council, Brendol describes his son as “a weak-willed boy, thin as a slice of paper and just as useless.”
Clearly young Armitage exceeds his father’s low expectations, eventually rising to heights that no one could have predicted.
Maz Kanata goes on a search
Maz Kanata makes an appearance in Aftermath: Life Debt. Her castle/bar allows everyone in it, so long as they don’t fight.
“ALL ARE WELCOME (NO FIGHTING)” is on the wall, and she even has a prison for brawlers.
An Imperial and a Rebel get into a fight, and they end up locked up. Maz releases them, but says to a droid that predates even her,
“Peace has not returned to my heart. Something is off balance. Some stirring in the Force has made the water turbid. Hard to see. But I think it best we be prepared.” And Maz gets in her ship to travel around and “See just what I can see.”
(This could be the journey that ends with Luke and Anakin’s old lightsaber moldering in her basement.)
A Dark Side Cult is in open rebellion
On Corellia, a group called the “Acolyte of the Beyond” is active, calling themselves devotees of something “greater than the Empire.” One is captured by the police while (essentially) spray-painting “Vader Lives” and says that, in this group, you have to “earn your mask.”
After shooting up a police station, the acolytes raid an evidence locker, and come out wielding a familiar red-bladed lightsaber. Upon their exit, they ominously describe their movement as “the revenge of the darkness,” laying the groundwork for what sounds an awful lot like the Knights of Ren.
Luke’s training
Luke’s presence in Life Debt comes through the meditation training he’s been giving Leia to help hone her Force sensitivity. She uses that training to guide her to Han after he goes missing, and notes how powerful that feeling is—a precursor to her feeling his loss through the Force 30 years later in The Force Awakens.
By the end of the book, Kashyyyk is safely in New Republic hands—thanks to the help of Leia, who chases after Han in the Falcon when he goes missing.
Han and Chewie decide to forge paths alone
Even though we know they eventually get back to their smuggling ways, Han promises that Chewbacca will play a big role in his future son’s life:
“No. No! You have to stay here. We fought like hell for this and now. . . this is yours. Okay? All yours.
This is home. You got people here and I want you to find them, You hear me? That’s my last demand. No arguments.”
Chewie rumbles but Han reiterates, more firmly this time: “I said no arguments. You be with your family.
I have to go start mine”
“I’ll be back. We’re not done, you and I. We’ll see each other again. I’m gonna be a father and no way my kid won’t have you in his life.”
One more bark and yip as Chewie pets his head.
“Yeah, pal. I know.” He sighs. “I love you, too.”
