Star Wars Reign of the Empire: The Mask of Fear - 100 Things

Trivia, Tidbits, and BTS insights into the next great Star Wars book series

Welcome back to the Cubicle at the End of the Galaxy.

In two weeks - the next great Star Wars books series begins. REIGN OF THE EMPIRE - Book 1: The Mask of Fear. It’s a brand new trilogy built to explore the rise of the Empire and eventually the rise of the Rebel Alliance, across the near two decade gap between Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars: A New Hope. It is purpose built to be telling stories with the same intent and deep curiosity as the very cool series Andor (season 2 coming in April!)

Being as excited as I am about the new series, over on social media I did that whole 1 like = 1 tidbit thing, and well…it started to get out of hand, quickly.

Should have known better, that’s on me. So, as promised, below is a list of 100, yes 100, tidbits, insights and bits of trivia into The Mask of Fear and the Reign of the Empire series as a whole. Somehow I did this without spoiling - almost anything significant - about the book. Except for #100. That one might be spoilery.

Here we go…

1) The Mask of Fear opens with a scene on Jedha.

2) MoF opens “just a few weeks” after Revenge of the Sith. Coruscant itself is still recovering from the Separatist attack on the capital (as seen in the opening of the film)

3) Bail Organa is the first character we meet.

4) Chapters 1-3 were always purpose built to give us a glimpse at Bail / Saw / Mon to set the stage for the rest of the book.

5) Chapters 1-3 weren’t always in the exact order you’ll find them in the final book.

6) There are 72 chapters in this book.

7) Every chapter as a title all its own. I love when chapters have titles. A few of my favorites are: “No One Cares” and “The Haunting of Bail Organa.”

8) The first conversation about the Reign of the Empire series happened in Oct 2022, while Andor S1 was still airing.

9) The very first note ever jotted down for this series was “can we tell a story adjacent to Andor but built with the same intent?”

10) The second note was an idle doodle during a brainstorm: “this is how hope begins to endure the long night.”

11) The Mask of Fear is Book 1 in a trilogy.

12) Alexander Freed was the first and only choice to kick off the trilogy.

13) Book 2 will be written by Rebecca Roanhorse and is coming in Spring 2026

14) Book 3 is being written by Fran Wilde and comes out in Spring 2027

15) Mon / Saw / Bail were always planned as the pillars of the series. The pillars help us understand the state of the galaxy since we know where they all end up.

16) Mon/Saw/Bail are all in different places at the start of MoF and driven by different things.

17) Saw – Still and always the only one with clarity of purpose. Already fighting the Empire, informed by his life fighting for Onderon.

18) Saw is younger, and not yet as broken and ostracized (even by other rebels) as we see him in later storytelling. He’s charismatic, confident, and you see why so many are drawn to him even in dire circumstance.

19) Bail – knows the truth about Palpatine, the Empire, and the fall of the Jedi. Caught between his commitment to truth and justice at any cost, and the duty he has to the daughter he’s been entrusted to protect.

20) Mon Mothma – a master politician, who believes – like so many – that opposing Palpatine is part of the regular game of politics. She doesn’t yet realize, Palpatine stood up from the game board years ago, and she’s playing against shadows.

21) Mon and Bail are allies, but not really friends (at this time). Padme was their link, and now, she’s gone. Where does that leave them?

22) For Mon and Bail especially, the secrets Bail holds that he cannot reveal leaves a gulf between them. And what does it mean when they find themselves at odds with each other, over truths they cannot speak?

23) Each of them also wants different things:

24) Saw wants freedom for himself, his people, and everyone in the galaxy living under occupation.

25) Bail Organa wants to avenge and absolve the Jedi. So that Leia doesn’t have to.

26) Mon Mothma wants to restore the Republic, and keep the power in the Senate, for all time. And she wants to do it with a coalition of allies.

27) MoF and the entire series lets us see these characters we all *think* we know so well, in new enlightening ways.

28) The book/series isn’t just relying on Mon / Saw / Bail. We always created several new characters for Book 1.

29) Karama – a resistance fighter working with Saw Gerrera. She was “abandoned” by the Republic.

30) Haki – known as the “grey lady” of Republic Intelligence (now Imperial Intelligence). A master of spy craft, now, she’s spying on senators…among other things.

31) Haki is a Heptoonian. A species first seen in The Last Jedi.

32) Chemish – The youngest of our new characters. They are an “apprentice” of sorts to Haki, drawn to them over mutual loss. Chemish has been learning spy craft and trying to find out what happened to a loved one.

33) Chemish believes in the promise of the Empire…of stability and is suspicious of senators that speak out against it.

34) Soujen – a Separatist (not “former Separatist”) embarks on a mission of vengeance and crosses paths with Saw, with interesting results.

35) Soujen is a member of a new alien species known as Alvadorjians.

36) Alvadorjians have a fascinating culture involving songs and clans. And they are also disappearing from the galaxy…

37) Lud Marroi one of several senators we meet who help inform the changing…situation…within the Senate and through-out the nascent Empire.

38) Perrin Fertha – Mon Mothma’s lesser half, does appear, and we learn more about their marriage and relationship. He’s still the worst.

39) Queen Breha Organa – Bail Organa’s better half, does appear. We just think she’s neat.

40) So does tiny infant Leia Organa. She’s never done anything wrong in her life.

41)Bail Organa, huge wife guy. Also, major girl dad. But you probably already knew that.

42) [SPOILER] does not appear in this book. See #100 if you want to know who it is, and why they don’t appear.

43) If you ever wondered: “what happened to all the former Separatists after the Clone Wars?”, this book will help answer that question.

44) If you ever wondered: “How does no one just immediately push back against Palpatine and his push for total power?” This book will help answer that question.

45) If you ever wondered: “How exactly did Palpatine convince the galaxy that the Jedi did attempt a ‘coup’ and thus needed to be destroyed?” This book will help answer that question.

46) If you ever wondered: “what happened to the Delegation of the 2,000?” (per the Episode III deleted scenes) This book will help answer that question.

47) If you ever wondered: “why does it take so long for the Rebel Alliance to form?” This book – and this series – will help answer that question.

48) If you ever wondered: “How/when did Bail / Saw / Mon meeting for the first time as a trio?” This book will answer that question.

49) This is a book about grief. All sorts. Every character is – at one time or another – grieving something or someone.

50) One of Alex Freed’s first notes to the editorial team as he was developing the story was “I want to make this a story about grief.” We told him to go for it, and of course he did.

51) This is a book about ghosts. But not the kind of ghosts you usually think of when you think of Star Wars.

52) This is a book about survival, and what happens when you realize survival isn’t enough.

53) This is a book about where hope comes from.

54) “The Mask of Fear” is a nod to Nemik’s line from Andor. “Oppression is the mask of fear.” It fit the story we wanted to tell perfectly, and also sounds really cool.

55) Nemik is not in this story. (Just setting expectations)

56) The trilogy was always meant to bridge the arc of the 19 years from Ep 3 to Ep 4.

57) Time jumps between individual books will be significant. Several years at least.

58) Because of the time jumps, each book will be “plot complete”, meaning no Force Awakens type cliffhangers, between books.

59) But characters will shape and change and grow across the series. So, while you can read the 3 books “out of order” or standalone, the best experience will be reading sequentially.

60) The big time jumps also informed the decision to use 3 different authors, rather than just one for the trilogy. Each author would have space to tell their complete story while also passing the story baton to the next.

61) Reign of the Empire was one of 5 different series titles we considered.

62) One of the unused series titles may become a future book title. Stay tuned.

63) There are 145,304 words in this book.

64) The word Jedi appears 251 times in the book.

65) The word Palpatine appears 115 times.

66) The word hope appears 36 times. The word fear, 34.

67) The word Padme appears 22 times

68) The phrase “The Force” appears 5 times.

69) The phrase Obi-Wan also appears 5 times.

70) The word sardonic appears 2 times.

71) You might learn a new word from this book – ecumenopolis, a word that means a planet-wide city.

72) Coruscant is an ecumenpolis. We’ll visit another ecumenpolis in this book. An ancient one. It’s a pretty cool place.

73) While the overall story is a high-tension political thriller, with twists and turns you won’t see coming, there’s also an intriguing number of small moments that linger with you. Things like:

74) Mon Mothma tells a surprising story about an event on Chandrilla during the Clone Wars.

75) After the declaration of Empire, both Bail Organ and Mon Mothma were briefly arrested (as part of the Delegation of the 2,000). Their experiences while under arrest were…quite different.

76) Saw Gerrera discovers a secret about the Separatists, and something they left behind.

77) Bail Organa gives a speech to the whole Senate that will stay with you long after.

78) Mon Mothma asks a question about Palpatine that may be more chilling than any other you could possibly ask. The only thing more chilling is the answer.

79) Speaking of the Emperor, his presence looms like a specter across the entire story. The feeling that he’s listening in every room, watching every clandestine meeting, and could be behind any door. Because he might be.

80) Did you know that Coruscant has 4 moons? Well, we’re going to visit one of them. Wonder what happens up there? Spoiler, it involves rich people doing weird things. C’mon, you aren’t actually surprised by that, right?

81) In Star Wars lore, there is a group of philosophers known as the “Four Sages of Dwartii”. In MoF, we meet the “so called Fifth Sage of Dwartii”.

82) If you never had opinions about Mas Amedda – that blue guy who hangs out with Palpatine – you will after reading this book (derogatory).

83) Food plays a surprising and frequent role in this book. You could make a whole cookbook on the dishes mentioned in this novel alone.

84) Chapter 64 did not appear in the original draft. The story beat itself existed, but the execution drastically changed in revision. It’s an unforgettable moment that’s punctuated to be all the more perfect.

85) I haven’t stopped thinking about Chapter 67 for months. I suspect I never will.

86) I haven’t stopped thinking about Chapter 8 since the first draft. It arrived, perfect, and received nary an edit.

87) Marko Manev is the artist who designed the cover.

88) The goal of the cover, rather than to feature big characters or famous faces, was to convey a sense of scope and scale – the enormity of the Empire, the sense of isolation for the few that currently stand against it.

89) An alternate version of the cover saw Mon Mothma and Bail Organa looking out over the Coruscant skyline, with Imperial flags hanging over key buildings. The Senate itself was chosen because of the story connection and the iconic location.

90) Tracie Ching designed an original poster, featuring the core trio of characters with a pulpy spy-film motif. That poster is available specifically in the Barnes & Noble version of the book.

91) Most Star Wars novels start with a crawl – as do most Star Wars stories. Mask of Fear does not. Instead, it opens with the end of Palpatine’s speech declaring the reorganization of the Republic into the Empire. Followed simply by Padme’s poignant observation of the joy in the crowd at the announcement. “So this is how liberty dies. With thunderous applause.” No crawl could have set a better stage than that. And it let us remind the reader - from the start - of Padme’s absence from this story.

92) If you love Andor, this book (and series) is for you.

93) If you love Revenge of the Sith (and its novelization) this book is for you (happy 20 years!)

94) If you love when Star Wars is as much about ordinary people as it is extraordinary heroes, this book is for you.

95) If you love stories about revolutions / revolutionaries, and where change comes from, this book is for you.

96) If you love-spy stories, intense political thrillers, or twisting surprising narratives, this book is for you.

97) If you’ve read every Star Wars book. This book is for you. If you’ve never read a Star Wars book, this book is for you.

98) The book was developed with intention every step of the way. It’s events, its storytelling elements, were all informed by real political movements, by real political histories and real life, such as it is. Because all good storytelling is thusly informed. And certainly, Star Wars has always been. It’s the last gift Andor gave us in developing a story that is adjacent to that series, but deeply in conversation with it.

99) Going into this story, you already know the ending. You know the Empire “wins”. You know the Rebel Alliance doesn’t exist yet. Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia (non-tiny-infant version) aren’t around yet to save the day. But one of Alex Freed’s great triumphs is convincing you that what you know cannot happen is going to happen. And then, it knocks it all down.

Okay, that’s it and that’s all. Well, not quite, there’s one more, but it might be a spoiler for some, so I’ve knocked it down below a bit. I don’t quite think so, but just to be safe. Read on if you like.

If not, thanks for reading. Fight the Empire. Read Star Wars books. Reign of the Empire is out on February 25th. (Preordering is cool, by the way).

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(explanation of #42)

100 - Darth Vader does not appear in this book. We briefly talked about whether he *should*, but ultimately decided, no. The goal of the story was to make the Empire as imposing and terrifying as possible. What makes it terrifying, particularly at this earliest stage is the all-encompassing control and how hard it is to begin to figure out *how* to fight it. Even *if* you should fight it. Later on, there will be stormtroopers and Imperial walkers, and even a Death Star to point to and say: “the enemy is right there! We’ve got to fight them.” Having a mysterious man in black with a laser sword appear suddenly makes the fight clearer. And it undermines how frightening Palpatine’s power grab truly is. By introducing a monster, you turn the book into a monster story. But monsters (even ones with laser swords) can be fought. Part of the goal of the book was asking the question: “how is it even possible to fight back against this?” Darth Vader – strange as it sounds - would make this story less terrifying. Trust me, it’ll make sense when you read the book.

Okay, now its 100.

Thanks for reading, and for caring. Fight the Empire. Read Star Wars books, and be well. Reign of the Empire is out on February 25th. (Preordering is cool, by the way).