“Star Wars: Secrets of the Clone Troopers” is a new book by Inside Editions that comes out on October 8, 2024. Written by Mark Sumerak, this is a book about the history of clones in the universe for all ages. The late bounty hunter Jango Fedi served through the Clone Wars and beyond. The book covers everyone from Django and the more famous clones like Captain Rex and Bad Patch to lesser known clones like Jesse, Wolf and Gregor. Indeed, a clone is currently causing controversy among close-minded adults, and naturally for all the wrong reasons.
The book is written from the point of view of Captain Rex, a soldier who realizes the courage for who they really are and speaks fondly of her with respect and admiration for her courage in the past. The book is said to be set in the universe after the events of “Star Wars: Return of the Jedi” and is designed to be a memoir of Rex's siblings who were clones of Jango Fett, including the first trans. Clone Trooper among them.
Sister, the first trans clone trooper
The first trans clone sister to be introduced in the “Star Wars” mythology. First introduced in the novel “Star Wars: Queen's Hope” in 2022 (which we positively wrote about here at the time), Sister Jango was a clone of Fett who was not comfortable in a male clone body and felt more comfortable as a woman. Her brothers embraced her wholeheartedly as she presented as a girl, earning her the nickname Sister. He served in the 7th Sky Corps and commanded missions.
In an early mission, Sister Anakin meets Skywalker as a Padawan and has a discussion with him, where she explains her initial fear of not being accepted by the Jedi, but Anakin assures her that the Jedi transcend all things, so who are they to complain if she transcends gender? It became an interesting philosophical point for all the characters involved, and was hailed as a great place to add this kind of representation to “Star Wars” at the time.
The sister also appeared in the novel “Star Wars: Brotherhood” by author Mike Chen. And “The Secrets of the Clone Troopers” actually marks his third appearance in a canon “Star Wars” novel. However, this is the first time he appears in official art. The original art that accompanied his first appearance was by his creator, E.K. A fan piece personally commissioned by Johnston.
No sister only A female clone. Of course there were others. Naturally, Bad Patch's Omega was also a female clone. So does Emery Carr, a scientist working on Operation Necromancer. There could have been more whether they were cis or trans. There were millions of clones, and we only have stories about a few.
The controversy is ridiculous
Two years have passed since Sister's debut, and the addition of a trans clone trooper to the canon has been overlooked by the usual mob of bigots, mostly because they weren't really “Star Wars” fans and didn't keep up. legend. But now that this new book has come out, they are very angry. But why?
Well, first of all this book is marketed to children of all ages. They are under the misconception that trans inclusion, especially positive acceptance of trans people, is inappropriate for any age group, because while gender identity has nothing to do with expression, trans is somehow inherently tied to sexual acts. with sex.
That flies in the face of any reasonable reading of the situation for all ages want Acceptance of people of all walks of life and gender identities should be shown because it is a good human thing. The rejection and disgust shown at the mention of a trans clone in “Star Wars” is bad behavior to model for children. What happens when one of these bigots' kids turns out to be trans and the kid remembers this stupid stance on the trans clone? They may not feel safe and may fear that their family will not protect or love them. That is why the suicide rate among transgenders is very high. Acceptance helps change that reality.
Meanwhile, others still think it's some kind of “grooming” children. There has been a curious trick among some scholars to make such accusations Anyone A supporter of alternative rights to parenting children. Also, some believe that giving birth to children with disabilities is child abuse. It makes no sense, but then again, neither is bigotry. This is an odd position, and although unfortunate, it is not unexpected. It doesn't adhere to reality, but it's important to know it's out there, so we can avoid those people at best, and laugh at them at worst.
Another nonsense presented is that this is somehow mandatory diversity. Since Django Fett was a human, there was no way he could have had a trans clone. But even that flies in the face of the canon built around clones.
Canon supports the existence of trans clones in Star Wars
“Star Wars: The Clone Wars” did a very interesting thing with Jango Fett's clones. It gave them all individuality and personality. Turning on their inhibitor chips and turning on their Jedi friends in “Revenge of the Sith” pained us. But that doesn't take away their individuality. Each clone abandoned their birth number in favor of a nickname. Each clone had a different way of doing their hair. Some had tattoos. They all had different quirks, accents, catch phrases, likes and dislikes. They all had different senses and souls. They were all very different.
Much of this comes from Jedi inspiration. Master Yoda brought this up in the series' first televised episode, “Ambush”. He sat the clones down at his command and explained that they should embrace that individuality. With the other clones, we saw that they were all different, and the Kaminoans were constantly trying to corrupt the genes, and anything could happen in the cloning canisters. It's amazing how many clones there really aren't Also Trans clones, so adding a sister actually fixes what I see as a bug.
But unlike Stormtroopers, the most fascinating part of Clones is that Stormtroopers start out as individuals. They can be male or female, it doesn't matter. Empire really seals that uniqueness. Instead of their own birth names, they get a number. They are faceless numbers in a machine that chews them up and spits them out. The removal of this mark has been a revelation of their dark side and goes against the beliefs of the Jedi.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, many social media accounts have lamented this random string of words and numbers (or pathetic blue check marks), and many of those defending the sister are private individuals. Some food for thought.
“Star Wars: The Secrets of the Clone Troopers” is out now.