The final book in the trilogy hits peak action as are heroes are at their most desperate and the fate of billions is on the line. This may seem normal for them, but while the stakes are as always high, this is a different kind of foe with a different kind of weapon.
The story is by Roger Allen MacBride. The story was published in 1995 and hit number 5 in New York Times paperback fiction list.
Warning! Minor Spoilers Ahead
Showdown at Centerpoint starts with our heroes at their lowest. The one thing none are good at is lack of action. This is demonstrated when young Anakin Solo activates the mysterious technology everyone has sought on Drall. Unfortunately, this exposes he, his siblings and the device itself to their enemies.
This finally unveils the complicated conspiracy of who is behind this plot to murder whole star systems in a bid for power over the Corellian System.
Our heroes are faced with helplessness and their lowest point before the most unexpected heroes take action. Soon they’ll all be flying into battle.
But the only real way to win the Showdown at Centerpoint is in the hands of a seven year old child.
My Opinion on Showdown at Centerpoint
I like the twist that deceptively the device involved isn’t really designed to be a weapon at all, so far as one can tell. Nor are the conspirators who one expects. They certainly aren’t the usual Imperial or Fallen Jedi threat. It’s a big ancient galaxy with many mysteries and cultures long lost that have left behind many artifacts to hint at ancient history and battles we can’t imagine. They temptation to rule isn’t limited to ones with the Force, nor those who wore an Imperial insignia.
As these Corellian Trilogy was released before the prequels, that is when I first read them. Yet its amazing how Anakin Solo mirrors Anakin Skywalker in some ways. It’s hard to say if his grandfather’s gift with machines was amazing as young Anakin Solo’s, but their sheer reckless genius is equally dangerous. Neither has a clue of the consequences, or dangers, of pushing buttons. In Skywalker’s case it all started with climbing in a podracer at age eight and not getting himself killed flying it. In Showdown at Centerpoint, Anakin Solo goes even farther by pushing a button that reveals a device everyone wants and can change the balance of power in the entire galaxy.
This is also a bit of a revelation on the sheer ignorance of the galactic population about young potential Jedi. Repeatedly the Solo children are dismissed by allies of our heroes. This is in spite of the fact that in the past they were targeted by the enemy for the very powers and abilities being dismissed. Showdown at Centerpoint is the first place we truly see all three kids connecting, using their force powers and it shows that someday, these will be a new generation of heroes.
Comparison: in the prequel era, the jedi students of their age, taken at birth, apparently didn’t begin going on regular missions until they were on average a bit older than this. At the time few had even seen adult Jedi and many considered their powers exaggerated. So its no wonder that only those who had close encounters with Vader, the Emperor or the Dark Jedi acolytes in their employ, would recognize the Solo kids as a threat or an asset at a time when the Jedi were only beginning to reform.
As for the adults, Leia is now balancing between being the New Republic President, Jedi, warrior, and mother in Showdown at Centerpoint Her struggle is real as she knows her children are in terrible danger, and yet she knows she cannot sacrifice the Republic (and the billions upon billions of families and children within) to protect her own. In a way this is another moment that now reminds me her grandmother, Shmi, had to let her son go into a dangerous podrace to help strangers, then to go to the unknown in hopes of being a Jedi to continue helping others.
I think the kids really shine in this: they really throw both the enemy and their allies for a loop and show just what kind of Jedi they are about to grow into. They also hint that some things they will surely grow out of.
I do find it a bit of a downside that not once in Showdown at Centerpoint did Mara Jade bring out her lightsaber. Granted the author may not have known she visited Luke’s Jedi Academy but it’s no secret Luke gave her his father’s lightsaber in The Last Command by Timothy Zahn, or that she knew how to use it. Luke didn’t get to do his Jedi thing much either anywhere in the trilogy.
I’ll not tell how the story ends, except that it is with both tragedy and triumph. In war, someone always dies. Our heroes aren’t quite as focused on in the end action (from my pov) though obviously they have a role. They technically are not even in charge of the space battle. Lando has a ‘sweep to the rescue’ moment in Showdown at Centerpoint that will have long term effects for his future. I did like the new characters, though they aren’t seen again at all in future stories, before the New Jedi Order era.
For other Adventures on Corellia:
Books & Comics
- Elusion Illusion (short story in Star Wars Insider 66) by Michael Stackpole
- Han Solo Trilogy by AC Crispin
- Paradise Snare
- Hutt Gambit (brief visit)
- Sidetrip (short stories) by Timothy Zahn & Michael Stackpole
- Rogue Leader comics (issue 1 & 2)
- Rogue Squadron comics
- Family Ties
- The Making of Baron Fel
- I,Jedi by Michael Stackpole
Video Games
- SWTOR (MMO) you can play on Corellia, its one of the third chapter of the vanilla story arc planets. There is also a Flashpoint in the Onslaught Expansion, as well as a daily area called the Black Hole.
- Rogue Squadron (as you are flying into battle there isn’t much time to sight see here, sadly)
- Empire at War (have not played yet, cannot confirm)
- Rebellion (have not played yet, cannot confirm)
- Star Wars Galaxies MMO (This game is officially shut down but there are ways to play if you have the disks or iso files. You can find out how at https://mmofolklorist.com/.)
- Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy also has one level but its only in a tram.
