The Star Wars franchise’s two continuities, canon and Legends, each function spice, a mind-altering drug that was impressed by a considerably comparable substance of the identical title in Frank Herbert’s Dune novels and their diversifications. Spice is talked about in some Star Wars motion pictures, however largely seems iin the canon and Legends non-moviie materials. There are many similarities between Dune and Star Wars, and one in all them is the truth that each franchises function a drug referred to as spice. While spice differs barely in canon and Legends Star Wars materials, each are fairly totally different from the substance seen within the Dune franchise.

George Lucas’ Star Wars movies had been impressed by a plethora of movies, comedian books, novels, and mythology; this included basic samurai movies comparable to the flicks of Akira Kurosawa, in addition to westerns like The Searchers. Dune‘s desolate desert planet Arrakis closely impressed Tatooine. In a broader sense, each franchises function themes of anti-totalitarianism, because the plots contain the toppling of oppressive authoritarian regimes. It’s clear that Dune was an inspiration for Star Wars‘ model of spice, however analyzing the way it labored in each canon and Legends exhibits some large variations.

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Spice In Star Wars Canon

In the Star Wars canon timeline, spice is a blanket time period used to explain a wide range of mind-altering substances. While some variants are used for medical and scientific functions, most are addictive leisure medicine, making spice commerce key to the prison underworld. Spice was talked about often in Star Wars: The Clone Wars; Hondo Ohnaka demanded it in change for a captured Count Dooku and later traded with spice for delivering rocket launchers to the Onderon Rebels. The spice mines of Kessel and the Kessel run to get there seem in each Star Wars Rebels and Solo: A Star Wars Story.

Despite its unlawful standing throughout the reign of the Galactic Empire, some Imperial Moffs, comparable to Delian Mors, had been notorious customers of the substance. Another Moff, Ghadi, used a spice aerosol spray to cowl fellow Moff and Regional Governor Arihnda Pryce in an costly spice variant to blackmail her. Spice made its live-action debut in The Book of Boba Fett, which noticed Boba steal spice from a repulsorlift practice that belonged to the Pyke Syndicate. Spice, unsurprisingly, remained an unlawful substance throughout the time of the New Republic.

Spice In Star Wars Legends

The Star Wars saga initially solely had one continuity, with non-movie materials ultimately marketed because the Expanded Universe. This labored in tandem with the movies to broaden the Star Wars franchise, exploring the universe and enriching its lore and character improvement. In 2014, as a part of preparations for the then-upcoming sequel trilogy, the Expanded Universe was remarketed as “Legends,” now not thought-about canon. The continuity was rebooted with solely the unique six saga movies and 2008’s Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Canon and Legends typically differ in giant and small methods, comparable to of their depictions of spice.

Much of the lore surrounding spice originated within the Star Wars Legends continuity. Like canon, there are quite a few kinds of the drug, such because the gentle ryll, the euphoric giggledust, and potent glitterstim. Combining ryll and glitterstim created the highly effective glitteryll, whose amnesia-inducing results had been used on Quinlan Vos and Aayla Secura in Legends. Spice is talked about a number of instances within the authentic and prequel trilogy movies, with C-3PO mentioning the spice mines of Kessel, Han Solo not directly mentioning the substance because the cargo he jettisoned whereas working for Jabba the Hutt, and extra.

The strongest and extremely sought-after spice variant, glitterstim, got here from Kessel’s hazardous spice mines. The Legends-era means of mining glitterstim was way more harmful, requiring miners to work in full darkness, risking the lack of fingers from the sharp mineral and sure demise by power spiders, lethal Kessel arachnids whose webs contained the dear glitterstim. While glitterstim is extraordinarily addictive and might simply grow to be deadly with extended use or in giant doses, it provides customers telepathic skills for a short time, as proven in Ann C. Crispin’s novel The Paradise Snare.

What Planets Does Spice Come From?

In Star Wars, spice is discovered on a variety of various planets throughout the galaxy. The most notable, Kessel, is name-dropped within the first Star Wars film and seen in Star Wars Rebels and Solo. Another is the Twi’lek planet Ryloth, whose inhabitants had been traditionally used as slaves within the mines by the Zyggerian slave empire. Interestingly, there are hints the traditional Sith as soon as profited thruh the spice commerce; Ryloth is related to a hyperspace commerce route used for spice, often known as the Cloak of the Sith.

Although Kessel and Ryloth are probably the most well-known spice-producing worlds in Star Wars, they’re removed from the one ones. The medicinal andris spice is mined at Empress Teta, a Deep Core world with a darkish historical past, whereas many different worlds alongside the Llanic Spice Run have sometimes been proven as managed by the Pyke prison syndicate. Several spice-producing planets, comparable to Nooroyo, had been owned by the Separatists throughout the Clone Wars.

Did Star Wars Steal Spice From Dune?

Spice Melange is likely one of the most vital features of the Dune franchise. In Dune, spice is a useful commodity that may solely be naturally produced on Arrakis. Spice is so vital as a result of it makes house journey doable, because the Spacing Guild requires it to calculate routes. Enough spice may even grant customers the power to see into the previous and future. Spice shouldn’t be with out drawbacks, nonetheless, as it’s also an addictive narcotic. While the 2 Star Wars continuities used Dune as inspiration for his or her model of spice, their model is not a direct copy of Frank Herbert’s idea.

According to Legends writer Kevin J. Anderson, who first described spice as a drug in his Jedi Academy trilogy, some individuals at Lucasfilm had been involved by the thought of referring to spice as a drug. They felt this could suggest Han Solo was a former drug seller, and the dialogue really discovered its solution to George Lucas himself; he confirmed spice is a drug, deciding the problem. Anderson compromised by including some optimistic attributes to spice, in addition to suggesting some variations are used for medicinal functions.

How Star Wars’ Spice Compares To Dune’s

The spice proven in Dune has each advantages and downsides, making it mandatory in some regards (comparable to house journey), however simply abused. The Star Wars canon timeline’s spice is solely a time period for unlawful narcotics used all through the galactic underworld. The discoloration of Lom Pyke’s face and fingers, nonetheless, appears to be referencing Dune’s spice, which made the eyes of frequent customers a shiny blue coloration. The Star Wars Legends timeline’s spice is equally a time period for unlawful narcotics, apart from glitterstim, whose attribute of imbuing its customers with momentary telepathy is just like spice’s perception-enhancing properties in Dune.

Why Some Of The Galaxy’s Best Pilots Are Spice Smugglers

Two of one of the best pilots in Star Wars, Han Solo and Poe Dameron, had been each concerned within the spice commerce in some unspecified time in the future of their lives. Han’s bounty within the authentic Star Wars was attributable to him forsaking a cargo of spice he was smuggling, whereas Poe had an in depth historical past with the spice runners of Kijimi. Both Han and Poe took on the lower than savory work due to their love for flying. That ardour gave them a darkish previous, nevertheless it’s additionally unlikely they’d have been such gifted pilots in the event that they weren’t keen to do something of their energy to fly.

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  Han Solo

  Hailing from Corellia, Han Solo abandoned the Empire to grow to be a smuggler, and he spent years working for the Hutts as a spice runner. Han’s life modified endlessly when he agreed to move Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker to Alderaan from Tatooine, and he quickly turned an vital member of the Rebel Alliance. Han’s romance with Leia Organa turned the stuff of legend, they usually married shortly after the Battle of Endor. Sadly, their relationship resulted in tragedy when their son Ben fell to the darkish aspect – ultimately killing Han. Still, recollections of Han helped carry Ben again to the sunshine.

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  Poe Dameron

  A gifted pilot, Poe Dameron briefly flew with the Spice Runners of Kijimi earlier than making his solution to the Resistance. He turned one of many Resistance’s most vital figures, even main after the passing of Leia Organa. Poe is especially notable for his shut friendship with Rey Skywalker and Finn.

While spice working could have been a regrettable a part of their pasts, it really helped make them the pilots they had been by their respective trilogies. In Han’s case, his time working spice compelled him to make the notorious Kessel Run quicker than anybody else had beforehand. That gave him a lift to his fame, and taught him classes about taking dangers and flying in extraordinarily harmful situations. Poe probably additionally benefited equally to Han, because the high-stress surroundings of spice working absolutely taught him to remain cool whereas combating the First Order’s ships.

Spice is commonly a really refined background ingredient of the Star Wars universe, nevertheless it has some far-reaching results. From creating two of the galaxy’s finest pilots to being the very motive prison syndicates existed within the first place, spice is an important substance in Star Wars. It’s additionally a terrific instance of one of many franchise’s finest traits: its depth. Something that was solely referenced in passing in a number of strains of dialogue of the unique motion pictures can safely be ignored generally, however for many who need extra, Star Wars has ample tales about spice to inform.