Max Nocerino 
Max heads to Jabba’s Palace for the latest short story hidden amongst the pages of the newest issue of STAR WARS INSIDER magazine
The second STAR WARS INSIDER short story of Issue 222, continues to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Return of the Jedi. This story gives us a non-descript tale of two “indentured” servants in Jabba’s Palace, looking to escape their crummy lives and make a new start.
I was very wary when approaching this story because it was written by Richard Dinnick. I have nothing against Richard personally, as he is a well-known writer of many Doctor Who mediums. However, he previously wrote an Insider story, starring General Grievous called Saber Truth and it was horrid. It may be the very worst story I’ve read in canon so far. Dinnick managed to take one of the most fearsome villains in Star Wars history and make him look like a bumbling fool. However, while this new story was nothing special, it was a BILLION times better than the last, so I am grateful.
RETURN TO JABBA’S PALACE
The story follows two women who work in Jabba’s kitchens. They pilfer some jewels and steal a speeder to get away from this horrid existence. They both screwed up with paying Jabba and had to enter a slave-like arrangement to pay off their debts. The older woman, Valnir owned a restaurant that didn’t pay enough taxes to Jabba. Laizhu on the other hand, arrived on Tatooine in debt and was snatched up by the evil crimelord. While Jabba is “entertaining” his guests at the Pit of Carkoon, the women make a break for it but run into some trouble along the way. However, they are saved by a smooth-talking familiar stranger whom Laizhu finds handsome. I think fans know who I am referring to.
VERDICT
Anyway, it was very similar to a story in From A Certain Point of View: Return of the Jedi edition, so it loses points for originality. Yet, I liked the escape sequence and how Laizhu used her wits and charm to get out. I like stories where the good guys win.
join me next time for my next Star Wars Insider review, and be sure to subscribe if you haven’t already!
FORCE FACTS
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The hallucinogenic lizard, Boba Fett used in the Book of Boba Fett, is also known to people outside the Tusken Raider community. The Raiders use the lizard to induce hallucinogenic visions (similar to a Native American Vision Quest), and the bizarre Star Warsian twist is that you let it crawl up your nose… Since regular Tatooinians know of this creature and its capabilities, it isn’t too hard to imagine some teenagers finding one and using it for….recreational purposes.
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Jabba doesn’t like debtors. Thats fair. Yet, he seems to think the best way to deal with them is to feed them to the Sarlacc. Not so fair.
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We never get a description of the jewels Laizhu jacks (which is frustrating for a lore junkie like me), but they are mentioned to be several from different quadrants of space.
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The mysterious handsome stranger? Yeah, it’s Lando. The old smoothie is found to be quite attractive to Laizhu, and he displays his heroism and kindness by helping the duo escape. He is undercover at the Palace (as fans from as far back as 1983 know) so this tale could have taken place within anywhere from a year to a week before ROTJ.
Max Nocerino is a regular Staff Writer for The Future of the Force. He is a passionate Star Wars fan and loves the literature of the galaxy far, far away. Follow him on Twitter where he shares his love of the Force frequently!
