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The death of Chewbacca, as seen in The New Essential Chronology, via Wookieepedia
In Q&A, Vector Prime Author Talks Chewie Posted By Eric on February 7, 2012
R.A. Salvatore, author of the Star Wars novel Vector Prime, did a Q&A on Reddit today to discuss his 25-year fantasy-writing career. For those who aren't aware, Vector Prime, which launched the nineteen-book New Jedi Order series, generated an Expanded Universe earthquake with the death of Chewbacca. One Reddit user asked Salvatore about that part of the book, and here's his response:
Oh no, the Chewie question! Fair enough.
I came on board the New Jedi Order project at the very last minute. I was working on DemonWars for DelRey at the time and they had won the licensing deal from Lucas. They asked me to do the first book, and it was an honor. So I gathered all the information of the meta-story - point A-to-B in a series going to Z, and cobbled together a detailed outline.
I was in a conference call with DelRey and Lucasfilm when the editors expressed that they loved the outline. (paraphrasing here) "This is exactly what we want, but didn't anyone tell you? You have to kill Chewey."
I won't type the next two words that came out of my mouth. After a couple of days of arguments and, well, terror, they had convinced me that they were doing it for the right reasons, and well, George was down with it, and it's his galaxy far, far away, so I did it.
The responses have been mixed, with some people loving the new direction, other people devastated. I think it might be the only thing I've ever regretted; I don't think I'd go back and do that one again.
There you have it: In the last paragraph, Salvatore confessed that killing Chewbacca on orders from Lucasfilm higher-ups "might be the only thing I've ever regretted" and that he wouldn't do it again if he had the chance.
Click here to read the full Reddit Q&A with R.A. Salvatore. If you feel like reminiscing about that dark moment in the EU, click here to read the responses to Salvatore's Chewbacca answer.