The Executor Cycle

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The Executor Cycle was a Star Wars fan-created, alternate universe series by Barbara T and Sylvia Stevens.

It is very notable for focusing on Admiral Piett, and for the author's interaction with George Lucas in the aftermath of Open Letters to Star Wars Zine Publishers (1981) and that controversy.

This series is one that Lucas gave his approval for the inclusion of a same sex relationship.

For a similar situation, see Kip Carpenter's remarks about his show "Robin of Sherwood."

Piett's Role in a Controversy

"Good grief, Serzho... what did we DO!?" -- a 1981 illo, printed The Sith Yearbook #1 in 1983, artist is Contessa

Hoth Admiral by was a Star Wars fic by Barbara T and Sylvia Stevens. It featured Piett and an original male character named Serzho Alyandi as lovers. The story was non-explicit.

This story was created at a time when Lucasfilm was trying to keep the lid on some themes in fanfiction. See Open Letter to Star Wars Zine Publishers by Maureen Garrett for more context on this topic.

As per Lucas' request, in the summer of 1981, the editor of the zine "Imperial Entanglements" (Karen Osman) submitted, "Hoth Admiral," a non-explicit slash story to Lucasfilm for their review and consideration. Much discussion ensued!

Fan Comments

In 1983, a fan commented:

... a new series, the "Executor Universe," is an alternate universe to TESB involving Admiral Ozzel and Captain Piett, plus an extremely engaging character named Serzho Alyandi. As in "Deep Cover," the love interest is a male-male one, and the characters are very well drawn. Vader's abrupt cruelty, mixed with his deep personal loneliness, contrasts with Ozzel's deliberate sadism, while Serzho's openness delineates Piett's vulnerability to Ozzel's vicious whims. Though not as attractive a universe as that of "Deep Cover," "Hoth Admiral" is more believable, and ends on an equally loving moment. Except for the rabbity point of view and sections too short to develop action properly, this piece is nicely done. [1]

Comments by the Editor

The editor of Hoth Admiral, the first story in the cycle included an afterward in Imperial Entanglements where the fic was first published.

Excerpts:

At first reading, I found it a charming little love-story, but as I reread and edited it, it drew me in: I began shoving the manuscript at friends, writing stories of my own in the universe, and making five-hour calls to the authors to discuss background and characterization (ouch! my phone bill!). I ended by asking myself seriously what it was about this series that I found so attractive and meaningful, and I came up with a few preliminary answers.

First, while the EXECUTOR series is about love, it is only incidentally a story about sex. It is actually a story, a parable, of psychic reintegration and healing of a kind particularly significant for our own time; and it is, second, a study of the relationship of being to culture and alienation.

Sonel Alton Piett, last of a line of old Alderaani aristocrats, professional military staff officer, is totally defined by tradition, family, profession — by external structure; whose honor and very identity are defined by obedience to a rigid and specific pattern imposed upon him and then internalized. In psychological terms, Piett represents the Freudian superego; in cultural terms, the man of conventional socio-religious rectitude. He is a victim of the nagging little voice inside most of us which keeps whining that unless we eat our vegetables and cross only at the WALK, we will all burn in hell. In our more 1iberated moments we tend to laugh at him, but he is, quite literally, the voice of our conscience, the sense of social obligation and responsibility which makes us civilized.

Serzho, on the other hand, is totally intuitive. As a Lenoren empath, he is free of the human dichotomy between internal emotion and external expression of emotion, our inevitable distance between knowing another's feeling and experiencing them. In large part, Serzho short-circuits the intellect entirely, and, because he is a non-human in a foreign human culture, he can be represented as having no externally-imposed moral system whatever, something impossible in any non-empathic culture where external, socially-defined rules are necessary to control interpersonal behavior. For Serzho, the Golden Rule is a biological necessity rather than an ethical ideal: the only possible definition of Good is Pleasurable, and "sin" is a concept without meaning. He is thus entirely amoral and entirely innocent, as pre-Fallen Man was innocent. In Freudian terms, Serzho is the Id; in cultural terms, the Alien.

Neither of these can exist alone in our real world. Serzho is described in the series as a "half-person" denied full identity and independent status as a possession of Daystar, the foreign governing body which "owns" Lenoren and its erapaths. Piett is a refugee without a planet, under suspicion as an Alderaani, clinging precariously to the Imperial military system as an identity. Serzho is also personally a half-breed, a non-healer who is "useless to Lenoren." Piett and Serzho are both half-persons.

The EXECUTOR Cycle begins with Piett dominated and controlled by Fleet Admiral Ozzel, who objectifies both the Imperial system and Piett's own ambivalent sexuality. Ozzel, the sadistic bisexual who projects his own feelings of guilt onto his victims, represents Piett's initial method of dealing with his emotional side by brutally repressing and denying it. Piett is nearly destroyed psychologically by Ozzel, yet when Ozzel dies, Piett feels guilty and lost without the external structure Ozzel represents. He is forced to face himself without the defense mechanism of repression, and is only saved from madness by Serzho's love and Piett's (Mn tentative recognition of Serzho's value.

Over time Piett comes to accept Serzho and finally to love him, until at last a major emotional trauma makes Piett vulnerable enough to allow Serzho to break through his artificial Inhibitions, to initiate physical sexual activity which symbolizes integration of Id and Superego to create a healthy, complete personality. The true relationship Is subtly defined by the fact that, while Serzho continues to call Piett "Sir" and the Admiral retains the social position of authority, Serzho initiates the emotional relationship, guides Piett through it, and teaches him the meaning, method, and value of love.

The Stories

  • Hoth Admiral by Barbara T and Sylvia Stevens (Imperial Entanglements) (1982)
  • according to Barbara T, something in Passage to Arms (1982)
  • Out of Order by Barbara T and Sylvia Stevens (Organia) (1982)
  • The Admiral's Empath by Barbara T and Sylvia Stevens (The Sith Yearbook #1) (1983)
  • Two Captured Bodies by Barbara T (The Sith Yearbook #1) (1983)
  • Transfer by Ann Wilson (an alternate universe story in The Executor Cycle) (The Sith Yearbook #1) (1983)
  • Two Captured Bodies in an Eccentric Orbit by Barbara T (continuation of "Transfer") (The Sith Yearbook #1) (1983)
  • The Better Part of Valor, story by Sylvia Stevens & Barbara T ("Veers has only contempt for Admiral Piett, a glorified paper shuffler. But when rebels invade the Executor, the quiet admiral is shown in a different light.") (Alderaani Imperative) (1983)
  • cartoon by Contessa aka Sylvia Stevens (The Sith Yearbook #1) (1983)
  • The Ideology of Balance by Sandra Necchi (The Sith Yearbook #1) (1983)
  • By Any Other Name by Barbara T and Sylvia Stevens (The Lighter Side Strikes Back) (1983)
  • Warning, vignette by Barbara T and Sylvia Stevens (The Lighter Side Strikes Back) (1983)
  • Triumph of the Will by Sylvia Stevens and Barbara T (JediStarDarkFalconKnight (1984)
  • The Lesser of Two Evils by Barbara T and Sylvia Stevens (Echo Seven) (July 1985)
  • A Star Glow Romance by Barbara T and Sylvia Stevens (Echo Seven) (July 1985)
  • The Meeting of Minds by Barbara T and Sylvia Stevens (Imperium #2) (April 1986)
  • Pursuit by Barbara T and Sylvia Stevens (The Sith Yearbook #2) (printed in 1988, but very likely written years earlier)
  • A Note on Admiral Piett's Fate by Seth Bonder (The Sith Yearbook #2) (printed in 1988, but very likely written years earlier)

Other Prominent Early Star Wars Fan-Created Universes

References

  1. ^ from a review of Imperial Entanglements printed in Warped Space #48 (1983)
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