#Lucas and filoni when I catch you

[adhd-coyote]

To my mutuals and followers: no I am not sorry about the reblog spam of clone trooper content. I am Sad and I Love Them. Be miserable with me.

[joganpie]

A bit of Plo Koon

This is for a friend​ who has fallen into The Clone Wars cartoon and entered the hell of stanning a minor PT-era Jedi.  So here’s a little bit of extra Plo Koon content for you.

(And if anyone wants to jump in with canon or fanfic recs for Plo Koon, I thoroughly invite it.)

First of all, I’m sorry to tell you this but a lot of Plo Koon’s most prominent modern content is from The Clone Wars cartoon, in part because Dave Filoni was a huge fan of the character.  

And by a “huge fan” I mean that he actually cosplayed Plo Koon to the premiere of ROTS. (Sidenote: That’s Giancarlo Volpe on the right as Kit Fisto who was also a director on TCW, as well as ATLA and GLTAS.)

Dave also apparently campaigned various “Plo Lives” stories to George Lucas:

TFN: Do you have a plan for why Ahsoka doesn’t appear in Revenge of the Sith?

Henry: Hmmm. Are you asking about the ‘theatrical’ version of Revenge of the Sith or the ‘Special Complete Perfect “Plo Doesn’t Die” Edition’ Revenge of the Sith? Psssst... You guys have no idea how powerful Filoni is getting at the Ranch.

Dave: There is some truth to what Henry is saying. I once pitched George the idea that Plo had a parachute and that he bailed out of his fighter before it crashed. Then George said he would only continue the scene and make Plo’s death more painful, I think his parachute was going to catch fire and he falls on something sharp. I even pitched Plo being added at the end of Return of the Jedi as a Blue Ghost but that didn’t go over either. As for Ahsoka’s future... I have ideas, even outlines that answer your question very specifically.

But yeah, multiple people have joked that he’d try to sneak Plo into an episode any time he could.

Actually, returning to the concept of Plo Koon and Kit Fisto working together, that’s actually an established thing that has happened a couple times, and it does show up in TCW as well. (And yes, they are shipped.)

There’s also a tie-in for the 2003 Genndy Tartakovsky series, Clone Wars Adventures, which has a teamup with these two in issue #6 that is about Kit and Plo dealing with a prison riot.  The characterization of Plo is a bit more violent and angry than in TCW, with Kit having to talk him into giving one of the prisoners a second chance, but he is pretty badass.  (Also, I like the Saesee Tiin story in that volume in particular, to rep another minor Jedi character.)

If you want good, extended TCW Plo and Kit content though, what you really want is the Clone Wars: In Service of the Republic comic, and I can easily say that it’s my #1 recommendation to you as a fan of TCW and Plo Koon since it is a tie-in story to the cartoon.

No, seriously, if you want more TCW!Plo Koon content, you want to read this comic.  There’s a running gag about Kit and the clones trying to guess Plo’s age.  I feel like I don’t need to say anything else about the story.

However, Kit Fisto is not his only Jedi Bromance.

In Jedi Council: Acts of War we get his friendship with a Jedi named Micah Giiett.

This one may be an odd one for you coming from TCW though because it was released in 2000, which was after TPM but before AOTC/ROTS, and some of what is presented in this comic (as well as some of the other comics from the period which I share) doesn’t quite mesh up with what we see in the rest of the prequels regarding the worldbuilding.  I wouldn’t put it as a must-read for the story either, but there are some sweet moments between Plo and Micah and it’s an interesting read to see how they extrapolated the universe out from only what we see in TPM.

Which also leads me to another point, which is that after Micah died, Plo Koon stepped in and helped finish training his padawan-- Bultar Swan.  Who is a huge badass herself and I am Forever Haunted by the fact there seems to be no actual content of the two interacting because this fact seems to have been the product of retcons but PLEASE, I NEED IT.  (There is exactly one fanfic in the universe about these two grieving Micah and it’s less than 500 words but I owe this author my life just for it existing.)

She’s also listed as his padawan in the most reliable of canon sources: Gurihiru’s illustrations for the Star Wars English-Japanese Dictionary

Now here’s where I admit that my reading of the Republic comics is a bit fuzzy because of having limited access to them and reading the series in bits and parts over the years.

With that said, on the subject of masters and padawans, I don’t think current canon/TCW has established any clear lineage for him but in legends continuity Plo was trained by a wookiee named Tyvokka.  Some of that relationship is in the focus of the “Stark Hyperspace War” story in Star Wars (1997) #36-39. (Also, baby Obi-wan and Quinlan is nice too.)

Plo also has a bit of a role in the “Emissaries to Malastare” story in  Star Wars (1997) #13-16, in which they give him Special Font to make him really cool and mysterious.  (Also, a fun Depa & Mace teamup in that story and A’Sharad Hett, the Tusken Jedi.)

In more modern comics, there’s some nice little appearances in the Clone Wars- Battle Tales, especially issue #2 which has him rescue the Wolfpack.

Beyond this, he absolutely shows up in the background of a lot of things because he’s a cool and recognizable alien, as well as part of the Jedi Council, but he doesn’t really have much of a role beyond exposition.

This is focused on the comics, but that’s the part of the EU (outside of TCW) where he’s gotten the most chance to shine.  He hasn’t played any substantial role in any of the PT-era books I’ve read, let alone video games or other media. (Playing as him in Lego Star Wars doesn’t count, although I do appreciate it.)

He does show up in a couple of James Luceno’s books in particular, but not in a particular substantial role. I saw Cloak of Deception mentioned when I was poking around to see if I was wrong about this, but that really does seem to be about it when it comes to his book appearances.

(They also visit his homeworld, Dorin, in the first Fate of the Jedi book: Outcast, and while that’s Post-ROTJ EU and while I can’t recommend the series as a whole, the first book does have some sort of interesting stuff about his species/planet.)

I’m also sadly short on fanfic recs since I don’t regularly read a lot of Star Wars fanfic except for when I’m needing a very specific niche filled and I haven’t really gone looking for a lot of Plo fic.  (Outside of the time I scoured the internet for Bultar & Plo content.)

I’ll end by making sure that you know about the existence of the “Plo’s Bro’s” gunship.

As well as the fact he adds the Wolfpack symbol to his gauntlets later in the war.

BUT ANYWAYS.  WELCOME TO MINOR JEDI FANDOM HELL. 

[lovelysilence14]

Mandalorian S2 Finale - I thought it was beautiful (WHY do some people hate it?)

So, this finale was so incredibly emotional for me! The ending had my heart in a grip! I LOVED IT. To me, everything came together poetically. 

I’ve been hearing how people - or some - DIDN’T like it and thought it somehow went against the “core” of the show? 

Um, what? 

I loved it because I think it was THE moment Din became a father to Grogu

NO, I am not saying he wasn’t before. Of course he was! Why do you think I even stuck around to watch it? I ADORED the father/son dynamic between the two!

But, the moment you’re willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for your kid by giving them a better life when you KNOW it’s going to rip your heart out and KILL you to do, but you know you have to because it’s for the kid’s best... YOU HAVE BECOME A PARENT. 

Din did that! He made the TRUE parental sacrifice. It was confirmed that Din had a broken and lonely heart/life before Grogu came along. Yes, the Creed meant EVERYTHING to him. But, he was still a broken man and a lonely person. It was also confirmed how Grogu “healed his lonely heart”.

So, Din could have been selfish by keeping Grogu for himself. He said HOW many times that the kid was the ONLY thing that mattered to him?

But, he didn’t. He gave him up because Grogu CHOSE to go with Luke and Luke confirmed how Grogu only wanted to go if Din was okay with it. 

People... GROGU WANTED TO GO WITH LUKE. 

He spent at least 20 years of his life with the Jedi and was in training before being ripped from it. BRUTALLY. He was just living his life happily until it was just randomly ripped away from him. He MISSED being with the Jedi. 

We all saw how he was reaching out to Luke through the security camera 

We saw him reaching out to Luke again when he came to get him from the room. 

He WANTED to complete his Jedi training. It’s a huge part of him and he WANTED to finish what was stolen and left incomplete for him. 

Does that mean he loves Din any less? No. After all, he would ONLY leave if Din said it was okay. Luke even said so! He didn’t want to leave Din because Din became, as Ahsoka even said based on feeling his literal emotions, LIKE A FATHER TO HIM. 

The last thing he wanted to do before leaving was to see Din’s face, even through the helmet. He didn’t want to say goodbye. You KNOW it killed him too. 

But, he wanted to finish what was started for him 20-some years prior. Emotionally, he HAD to do this. 

Din knew this; so he did what any good parent would do and LET HIS SON LIVE A BETTER LIFE. Even if it was without HIM in it. We all saw the tears in his eyes as he was struggling not to just break down. 

And come on, did we really expect this to go any other way? We all knew Gideon was going to catch Grogu and we all knew at SOME point, Grogu and Din were going to part ways. 

How was it NOT going to happen for the sake of ripping our hearts out and getting us emotional? 

Yes, I KNOW what happens at the Jedi academy...

Yes, I KNOW what happens eventually. But, HEAR ME OUT. 

Ben doesn’t destroy the academy for another 20 years. And Din PROMISED that he would come and see Grogu again. Unless we’ve been watching a different show, Din is a man who KEEPS his word. 

Every. Single. Time. 

TWENTY YEARS, PEOPLE. 

Absolutely anything could happen in that twenty years that takes Grogu away from the temple. Anything! Just because Din left Grogu doesn’t mean he’s not going to eventually GET HIM BACK. He still could! 

We don’t know how this story ends yet. 

They had the same problem with Ahsoka in Clone Wars 

I read that they had the exact same issue with Ahsoka in Clone Wars and explaining HER disappearance from ROTS. 

Apparently, George Lucas was going to kill her off. 

But, it was suggested they just make her leave the Jedi Order instead to explain why she was gone. I read Favreau or Filoni was the one to make her rather infamous choice and derail the initial first choice to simply kill her off. 

Why? Because the fandom LOVED HER. 

AND, come on, Grogu is a HUGE money maker for Disney! Killing him off would be suicide for their profit deals. Why kill him off? 

No one would be buying Grogu plush toys or talking dolls anymore! (Damn, I still want one SO BADLY.)

Financially, it doesn’t make sense to kill Grogu off when they still have SO MUCH profiting hopes on him. 

So, I am clinging to my raft of hope that Favreau/Filoni are going to MAKE THIS RIGHT

They did things right in Clone Wars/Rebels with Ahsoka and giving her a happy ending (even with the ROS thing where people were FREAKED that she died, they said she was possibly still alive despite it). 

People were TERRIFIED she was going to die in Clone Wars or in Order 66. They thought for SURE she was going to die.

But, she STAYED ALIVE. Why? Because we, the fans, OPENLY ADORED HER.

We all ADORE Grogu. The reason they kept him out of promotional material, even toys, was because they KNEW we were going to love him. Why kill off HALF THE REASON your audience sticks around? 

That doesn’t make any sense. 

I HAVE HOPE THEY’RE GOING TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS. Until I see them ACTUALLY screw this up, I am standing by faith in the story line. 

Favreau has been confirmed to already have the S3 story line planned out. Let’s not just abandon ship just yet and have A LITTLE faith in them! No one’s complained about the story line thus far. Why start now just because it ended in a way the majority of us already knew was going to happen? 

The story isn’t over yet, everyone! Remember that!

And I thought ending was rather poetic in a way too. Yoda trained Luke... and now Luke trains who may be the last living being of Yoda’s kind! Aw, man. My emotions! 

[themosleyreview]

The Mosley Review: Star Wars The Clone Wars : The Final Season

For 6 years long years, all of us star wars fans; hardcore, die hard and casual alike, have been waiting for this day. The day that we could see the final season of one of the greatest pieces of storytelling ever created for the beloved universe. While George Lucas was finishing the third Prequel, "Revenge of the Sith" he had announced that he was going to make a 3D animated series based on The Clone Wars itself. This was the best decision he had ever made. Not only did he expand his world, he brought new depth to characters we knew and introduced us to new characters that we'll keep in our hearts until the end of time. He entrusted a team of designers, animators and one man to spear head his vision. That man was Dave Filoni and this man delivered the same amount of love and devotion to every episode that George had when he started it back in 1977. The story arcs have become legendary among the fandom and that has carried over to this final season. For the rest of this review I'm going to talk about all of the story arcs of the season and I will do my best to not spoil the most special moments. I still want to leave the surprises and emotional beats for the viewers who are trying to catch up.  

The Clones themselves have become characters in their own right and have such a range of emotion and personality. You could easily tell them apart as soon as they spoke and The Bad Batch story arc illustrates this to the fullest. I had seen the raw animatics to the first part of this arc and it was amazing to see it all completed in the way you were meant to see it. Captain Rex, Sergeant Hunter, Wrecker, Crosshairs and Tech were all given life by one of the masters of voice acting, Dee Bradley Baker. Rex has always been my favorite clone, but Clone Force 99 are a close second. Dee's performance across the entire episode was truly magnificent and should be apart of a masterclass program. This arc will definitely be on my personal Top 10 of Clone Wars arcs.

Not all story arcs are great, but they are still strong in quality. We do get the chance to catch up with Ahsoka Tano after what seems to be at least a year and she gets caught up in an all new adventure in her civilian life. The wonderful Ashley Eckstein returns as Ahsoka and she takes her on an even more heroic level as she helps her new friends. The Martez sisters, Trace and Rafa, were good for a time as they show Ahsoka how they are making a living. I found this arc refreshing, but not that great. It was at times cliche and aggravating with certain character decisions and sometimes felt like a step back from the forward moving speed of the show. There were some great lessons in the middle and towards the end and it does come to a satisfying end. It's a point A to point C story that has great moments of Ahsoka trying to keep her Jedi identity a secret and world building.

The last arc of the series is where the meat of the story is presented and it was truly one of the most heart pounding, suspenseful, gripping and compelling stories ever told in the history of animation. I don't want to ruin anything, but the series goes down the path that it had always been leading us. The story finally runs parallel with Revenge of the Sith and even though you and I may know where everyone ends up after this show, you almost forget all of that as you’re entrenched in the drama and intensity of the situation. This is where all of the visuals, choreography, world design and character development comes full circle. It was truly breathtaking.  

All of the performances from the main cast are on display and this was their best work. James Arnold Taylor and Matt Lanter as Obi Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker deliver the same perfect chemistry that you've loved over the years. Sam Witwer returns once again as Maul and he has never been more sinister and perfect as the character. He brings to life the his strategic brilliance and evil resolve. I can't praise her enough and she rightfully deserves it. Ashley Eckstein has delivered a career defining performance as Ahsoka Tano. From the moment she appeared on screen as a teenage Padawan and to see her grow to the adult, was truly a privilege. In my opinion, she is hands down the best Jedi ever created in Star Wars history. The moments between her and Anakin were truly amazing and heartbreaking at the same time. Her physicality with her lightsabers was beyond impressive and even her hand to hand was amazing. Ahsoka's duel with Maul was a true highlight of the series, but the real magic is the depth of her friendship with Captain Rex. Dee Bradley Baker delivers his most heart shattering moments as Captain Rex when he’s with Ahsoka. We get to see Ahsoka go through Order 66 and it is truly the most pulse pounding and emotional moment I've ever seen in the universe. Ashley Eckstein will forever be one of the best actresses to ever grace the franchise with her talents and I thank her for the nonstop excellence of her performance.

Kevin Kiner has been the series composer ever since the show started and this season features his best compositions ever. It was epic, somber and moving throughout. Since the great John Williams has retired from composing the Star Wars films, I believe Kevin Kiner is his rightful successor from now until his retirement. George Lucas created a world in which others could play, but only very few understood his vision. Dave Filoni studied and understood everything and you see his magnificent work in every frame. I just want to say thank you Dave Filoni for creating this masterpiece of a series and delivering the perfect and satisfying ending that we've all been waiting for. This show is not only great, it is a work of art. If you are in any form a Star Wars fan, this series is required viewing and will fill the void if you've ever felt it. It is all streaming on Disney+. I highly recommend you get started.  May the force be with you.

[powerful-light-powerful-darkness]

I think this is an important debate right now so I'm gonna just drop the whole article in here as well:

By John Hoey, April 13, 2020

"Daisy Ridley has been a part of Star Wars for over five years and has seen the best and worst sides of its fans. Now that the sequel trilogy has ended, concluding Rey’s story (for now), the actress shared her take on the constant negativity coming from fans who didn’t like The Rise of Skywalker and the impact it has on those who create the films, as well as her personal etiquette and social media preferences. Ridley’s thoughts on online fan culture make this as good a time as any for us fans to take a reflective look at ourselves and the impact we have on the Star Wars franchise and its future.

In an appearance on the podcast DragCast, Ridley was asked about her personal social media preferences and spoke clearly about why she doesn’t have social media (it’s not as dramatic as some have made it out to be), and her thoughts on the fans who choose to lash out with backlash toward Star Wars films, most recently The Rise of Skywalker.

First it needs to once again be made clear why Daisy Ridley is not publicly on social media:

“I was asked to go on it, and, at the time, I was like, ‘Okay,’ and then it got to the point where I didn’t want to be on it and I was at my friend’s house in L.A., and I remember being like, ‘Oh, I don’t want to be on Instagram,’ and they were like, ‘Well, why don’t you come off?’ and I was like, ‘Oh.’ And it was really a nice, autonomous decision. Because I was like, ‘Oh, I don’t actually have to be on it. This is nice.’ And I always had a limit to what I shared anyway and, honestly, my life isn’t that exciting. So there were a lot of separate things.”

Ridley talks about how things have changed since 2015’s The Force Awakens, which was universally loved for the most part. If you read between her carefully chosen words, she is basically saying social media has brought negativity much more to the surface than it used to be.

“It’s changed film by film, honestly. Like 98%, it’s so amazing. This last film, it was really tricky. January was not that nice. It was weird, I felt like all of this love that we’d sort of been shown the first time around, I was like ‘Where’s the love gone?’ I watched the documentary, the making-of, this week, and it’s so filled with love, and I think it’s that tricky thing of when you’re part of something that is so filled with love and then people. You know, everyone’s entitled to not like something, but it just, it feels like it’s changed slightly, but I think in general that’s because social media and what have you.”

Ridley takes to the popular lesson parents everywhere try to teach their kids, “If you have nothing nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” Well, that doesn’t play in fandoms, of any kind. Daisy admits to finding the backlash to The Rise of Skywalker upsetting, and how she tries to avoid it as much as possible, while acknowledging how easy it is for people to have an outlet, in turn leading to more opinions reaching the public sphere.

“I think in general, people share so much on social media that if I went—I don’t have social media, anyway—but if I went to a film and didn’t like it, I just wouldn’t tweet about it,” she continued. “But it’s such a conversation and it always has been. I guess now conversations are just more public, so there’s stuff I wouldn’t have seen, but honestly trying to scroll through my newsfeed in January and trying not to see Star Wars stuff, I’d see headlines and be like ‘Oh my god this is so upsetting.’ So it’s been tricky, but then it’s having that thing of I feel really proud of it, and I’m so thrilled to be part of it. Yeah, but it’s a funny thing.”

I think a big part of the allure to posting our takes into the endless reaches of social media is people want to be heard and feel relevant. There is an inherent human instinct to want validation, and if your thoughts on something get showered with likes and retweets and comments, that validation is fed. But, if our output is negative it can snowball into a sub-culture that has a significant impact. I have had conversations with plenty of people over the years in the film industry and even inside Lucasfilm who have said they pay attention to what’s going on on social media. Now I say that with hesitation as that could entice people to be more vocal, but the point is, they keep tabs on who says what, especially those who are legitimate influencers in the community. They pay attention more than you realize.

The downside of this is creators and talent are also very aware, and for some it has become unattractive to want to work on Star Wars after seeing the hell and hate George Lucas, J.J. Abrams, Rian Johnson, and other creatives have gone through. Perhaps that’s why we’re scratching our heads lately at some of the unknown names we’re seeing popping up as writers and other significant crew members on important upcoming projects. The editor of Del Rey books Tom Hoeler publicly admitted it is hard finding authors to write Star Wars books, which is under a much, much dimmer spotlight than writers, directors, and actors.

The more Star Wars “fans” poison the well of social media with negativity, backlash, and hate toward the films and those who make them, the harder it will be for Lucasfilm to convince talented people to want to work on projects from a galaxy far, far away, when they can just as easily take their talents to less murky waters.

There are varying degrees as well as extremes of negativity online, and the biggest extreme are those who threaten violence against creators. Now some will say this is just a joke, but I can’t imagine how anyone would find something like this humorous, especially in today’s world.

Now many will rebut by saying that type of behavior is not representative of all who didn’t like the movie, and that is completely true. That goes without saying. But, as with what happened with The Last Jedi, where hate toward the movie and Rian Johnson permeated for years after the movie’s release (continuing to this day), perpetual and constant output of negativity, even if done without hostility, fosters and ferments the culture of hate. As Daisy Ridley said, everyone has a right to not like something, but I am not sure what good it does if you voice that disdain and/or hate non-stop. If you left the theater after seeing The Rise of Skywalker and took to your Twitter account to tell your followers you hated the movie, that’s all well and good. Did you take the next couple of weeks to point out things you didn’t like about it? That makes sense. Your message was likely received. But if you feel a need to constantly beat the same drum of negativity over and over five months later and into the future, perhaps you need to rethink your approach if you believe your thoughts haven’t been clear or resonated with people.

I am personally not a big fan of The Clone Wars or Ahsoka Tano, but instead of bashing Dave Filoni or the animation department on a daily basis, I opt to talk about things I like instead. I catch myself taking a turn to negative town from time to time, we all have our moments, but I think if we care about Star Wars and want it to succeed and attract the best filmmakers and talent possible, perhaps it’s our responsibility as fans to be better and create a better online culture together. Not all fans pay attention to the pulse of fans online, but it’s a growing part of all fandoms, not a shrinking one, so I hope we can all channel our inner Jedi and be more polite, respectful, and kind to creatives and each other on social media and in general.

This culture of negativity is not limited to Star Wars, as other movie and TV franchises, sports, music, and anything with mass followings suffer from similar problems. I still believe Star Wars fans are overall good, and while sometimes we feel smothered by the spread of negative vibes when we try to connect with our fellow fans online, we need to always try to remember one thing about the good people in this fandom…there are more of us."

[yborjen]

THE MANDALORIAN: CHAPTERS 9 - The Return

First, if you have not yet watched The Clone Wars animated series, or Star Wars Rebels, stop now, go to Disney+ and just knock it out it.

This story is a love letter to Dave Filoni’s years of dedicated work with Master George Lucas. Jon Fav is amazing, he’s an icon and a visionary (and I envision him as Paz in this story), but The Mandalorian would not exist but for the world that Dave executed from George’s vision.

Second, this is a completed story, that is being edited and posted a chapter at a time. Comments are appreciated but the plot is fairly set.

Third, this is pure FAN FICTION. I have no affiliation with anyone living or dead who has any role in the Star Wars universe. Or Disney. Or anything. I’m a fan only.

The story built up in my head over the first series of The Mandalorian and I could not wait for the second series, so I wrote it just for fun.

Enjoy.

******************************************************************

CHAPTER 9: THE RETURN

The Mandalorian set his course and the ship surged as the familiar hypnotic streaks of hyperspace flowed into view. He always felt relief each time they entered hyperspace even though he never really trusted anywhere was safe. Even since the threat on Nevarro was destroyed he still felt uneasy, partly because he was still not completely healed, in more ways than one.

His body ached, in every direction. He prided himself on quick recoveries, and near indestructibility. But his brush with death a week ago had broken down many of his ideas of who he thought he was. He had faced for the first time in his life that his mortality was catching up to him, sooner rather than later. And that meant something now that he had a Child who needed him. He remembered his father figure going through the same process. And as the older man slowed down, he had watched with pride as Din found himself coming up as the most impressive fighter in the Death Watch corps. Well, him and Paz, of course.

His training fights with Paz were legendary in their Clan. Clan Vizsla prided themselves in keeping the strongest Foundlings. And Din, while physically smaller, was faster and smarter to match Paz’ brute force. They built a friendship and respect over the years, and when their mother was executed and their father died in the conflict they were hunted and forced to flee by their Clan in order to preserve the future, and Paz left Mandalore with Din until they found the Tribe.

His heart ached. The Tribe was now gone, and so was Paz. They had fought over Din’s bounty hunter activities, Paz never approved of the questionable moral code of killing people who did not deserve death. Din asserted that anyone who runs is guilty. In hindsight, Paz could not have been more right. They had reconciled with Din reclaiming his honor in Paz’ eyes the night he rescued the Child. His guilt at the following destruction of the Tribe, however, weighed heavier than even his new mission.

His heart also had new holes where friends were now gone. They had given their lives so that his aching body could continue to safeguard the Child. Every time he felt he might lose his temper, he heard Kuiil in his mind reminding him to reinforce with patience. And every time he took off his helm and looked at the mirror, he thought about what IG-11 had seen with his synthetic eyes. Had he seen what Din now saw? These days he barely recognized the man he was before he met the Child.

His head ached and his brow furrowed as he continued to second guess the course he had laid in the navigation. The Armorer had said she knew of old tales of battles between the Mandalorians and the Child’s kind — the Jedi. His only lead then was to find those tales. He had to return to Mandalore. He had not returned since the Purge, and for the past ten years had been so focused on survival that he never even considered looking back. Now, with mind, body  and heart still recovering from the battle on Nevarro, he was about to reopen old wounds.

A soft beep on the comm caught his eye and made his heart jump with more of the same uneasy feeling that had been nagging him. He turned back to the ops station and found the Child asleep in the seat with the Mythosaur skull still in his mouth, covered in drool. Then he turned back to the console and pressed the blinking button.

A ghostly holoprojection of Cara Dune appeared and Din found he was holding his breath as he stared at her face.

“Hey Mando — checking in on you as planned. This week Greef and I have confirmed the few remaining Imps are on the run, but I will feel better once the new militia has cleared every building in the city. Once that’s done we will check in with the Jawas and start cleaning up this place. Greef is setting up the Cantina as his base of operation, so contact us there at this signal. You should see him. You’d think he was already Mayor, General, and Senator of Nevarro.” She could not contain a chuckle. “Listen, do me a favor and give yourself a quick medscan. It will put me at ease to know you’re physically capable to take care of the Kid, OK? As agreed, I expect a response within two days, even just an acknowledgement with your code if that’s all you can do. If you fail to respond we are coming after you. Stay safe, buddy.”

Cara had a small smile on her lips then dropped her eyes as she reached down to close the comm channel message, and Mando felt a slight clench in his stomach when her image fizzled out. He pushed down that feeling and turned back to the Child who was now soundly snoring and the Mythosaur skull was hanging out of his mouth.

Din gritted his teeth and took in a sharp breath to avoid making any sounds as the pain caused a tear to form in the corner of his eye. He knew if he stood up his message would be more convincing. His last medscan was less than encouraging, he was healing, but not nearly as quickly as he had hoped. From the blast and fall he had multiple fractures of his ribs, vertebrae and torn sacral ligaments, and fluid on his bruised lungs. IG-11 had healed his skull fracture and subarachnoid bleed from the fall but the concussion was still affecting him daily. And he also had a healing torn rotator cuff from his stunt on the TIE fighter.

His first stop after they left Nevarro was to acquire some bacta so he could start infusions. It took every ounce of his infusions to keep healing fast enough to convince the Child he did not need to intervene. IG was right about his wounds healing in a matter of hours, but there were just so many wounds that the hours kept adding up… and there wasn’t a chance he would ever tell Dune any of that.

He caught his breath again as he straightened up and then composed himself and pressed the comm button.

“Dune, good to hear from you, and that Greef is already setting himself up as the new emperor. Medscan is improving. We have a new heading. I will send encoded coordinates so you can monitor our progress. Please confirm the Armorer is safe and if any others of the Tribe —have returned.” His voice wavered as a shock of pain jolted through his ribs. “The Kid is asleep, so I’ll keep this short. Djarin, out.” He reached for the comm button and closed the channel quickly before catching himself on the console and taking long, slow breaths.

He looked at the hyperspace navigation timer, he had just enough time for a quick infusion. He had to get it started before the kid woke up. He moved carefully down the ladder leaving the cockpit door open so he could hear any movement. The quiet snores were reassuring. He had to stop a couple of times to catch his breath, but his focus was unwavering. His kit came with an infusion port which made his hookup simple, so he just had to remove his armor and expose his shin where the port was drilled into his bone. 

Once the line was set in place he decided to lay back on his sleep cot just for a few minutes.

******************************************************

He woke with a start, but there was a warm spot at his side were the Child had clearly moved to sleep with him and he was snoring again. He looked up at the bacta bag and found it was empty and he was actually feeling less pain around his head, shoulder and ribs. He flexed his abdominal muscles and self-corrected as he groaned to sit up — there was less pain.

The Child immediately stirred and yawned loudly. He looked up at Din and sleepily blinked then chirped with a questioning tone.

“I’m feeling better, kid. Thanks for keeping me company.” He picked up the bag and showed it to the Child. “See? This will help fix me up.”

The Child cocked his head slightly, as if unconvinced.

“Tough audience. Come on, let’s check on our course.” He gingerly moved himself off the sleep bench and then tucked the Child into his arm with the bad shoulder and with the other pulled himself up just high enough up the ladder to deposit the Child up on the command deck, then climbed up the rest of the way with both arms.

Every time, the kid made a beeline to the controls and Din had enough practice to stay just far enough ahead of him to scoop him up and deposit him back into his seat before he could drop them out of hyperspace into a black hole. The Child whined with a squeaky pout but admitted defeat again.

Din checked the timer and found they had just under ten minutes left in hyperspace. Then he noticed he had another message. He frowned. And his finger actually shook just a little as he reached for the blinking button.

The ghostly image of Cara Dune appeared again, “This message is for the Kid. Hey Kid, please do me a favor and tell your father to try putting on a brave face for someone who isn’t an idiot. Miss you Kid. Take care of him for me. I’ll report back on the Armorer when I have made contact.”

She disappeared, and this time her image was not smiling. Din’s head bowed slightly. He should have waited to reply after the infusion.

Then he looked up at the Child who was returning his gaze. “We’ve got each other’s backs, Kid. We are going to be OK.”

The Child giggled and reached a small three claw hand toward him. Din reached out with his finger and the Child grabbed it and squeezed.

The hyperdrive now started beeping, they were approaching their destination. Din set the Child back in his seat and then turned to the controls. With years of experience he eased the Razor Crest out of hyperspace just early enough to avoid alerting of the old Outer Defense perimeter. He had heard that it was back in force and he did not want to start off this encounter with a fight.

He flipped his universal local transmission switch, “Outer Defense, Outer Defense, this is Razor Crest requesting permission to approach.”

No response.

“Outer Defense, Outer Defense, do you copy?”

Another long beat, Din’s heart began to quicken.

“This is the Outer Defense, please repeat your sign,” the deep voice on the other end sounded suspicious.

Din sighed relief, but also pursed his lips. His ship should be known to the Outer Defense database. They were no doubt scanning him to confirm — it was the ship Paz and he had taken off Mandalore.

“This is the Razor Crest. Repeat, the Razor Crest.”

There was another short pause. “Clan Vizsla celebrates your return Paz.”

Din swallowed hard, “Negative, Outer Defense control, this is Din Djarin. My brother Paz — his location is unknown.”

There was another heavy silence. “Din Djarin, Clan Vizsla celebrates your return. The foundlings are the future. Proceed to the Vizsla Landing and report to your Clan for the Rebuilding. Welcome home.”

Mixed emotions filled Din hearing these words, but all he said was, “Acknowledged.”

Coordinates were sent for his heading, and he did not recognize it. The Vizsla compound was no doubt destroyed in the Purge. Din put the Razor Crest on autopilot and then reached back to pick up the Child so he could see everything on their approach to his new home.

“See this Kid? This is your new adopted home. Mandalore.”

The Child looked all around with wide eyes as they passed the Outer Defense in the meteor belt and made their way towards the brown planet with swirling white clouds. As they moved closer, patches of green were visible surrounding interconnected small lakes of blue below. It looked like a small part of the eco-system was reasserting itself. He desperately wished that Paz was there with him to see the planet slowly coming back to life.

The ship moved into orbit and then began the gentle descent to the ruins of the Capital city, Sundari. He recognized many destroyed landmarks, many historic locations lost to future generations. They passed the old palace of the Prime Minister and the Representatives which looked like it was being rebuilt. The square of statues, however, which previously held colossi of Mandalorian history was now full of rubble.

The other thing he noticed as they moved closer to the large squares was he could see hundreds of people, some with helmets, but mostly without. He knew that the Way was not widely observed, and mostly within the military, but it still felt jarring to him to see so many Mandalorians without helms. Living normal lives. His entire life since the Clone Wars had been about survival and protecting the safety of others. His life was the Way, but life went on outside the Way. And that was as it should be; it was what he should be fighting for.

Then he realized that the ship was aimed toward the old headquarters of the Chancellor of Defense. He smiled to himself. Clan Vizsla had come home. The Death Watch was the highest level Defense Squadron of Mandalore before they split from the pacifist government. He was happy they had been restored to their honorable mission.

The Razor Crest set down on the first landing pad and Din started shutting down all systems. The Child, however, could not contain his excitement and immediately jumped down from his seat on Din’s lap and started toward the ladder.

“Wait! KID!” Din shouted as he quickly flipped switches  in order. Then he rushed after the Child and found him in the sleeping bunk retrieving his blue blanket and his silver ball. Din had to laugh and sighed with relief.

“I’m ready to settle in for a while too, but let’s take this one step at a time ok?” He put the ball and blanket down again on the bed, picked up the Child set him down on the ground, and then squatted down to his level.

“We have a mission. We need to find your people. And we need to find out if we have a place here if our mission to find your people fails. These people are our kin, but they respect strength.” He smiled to himself. “Who am I kidding, We know you have plenty of that.”

The Child looked at him thoughtfully, and then lifted up his arms. Din picked him up again and they touched foreheads and then looked at each other. 

“Be brave, be careful, and stick with me, ok?” 

The look the Child gave almost looked like a small smirk, and he got the distinct impression he was thinking, I’m always brave. He couldn’t help but suspect the Child was starting to understand him.

“Let’s go.” He put the Child down again, and then lowered the ship’s outer door.

******************************************************

By the time the door lowered down completely there was a greeting party already arriving on a speeder. They all wore Clan Vizsla armor, and several ancient Clan helmets, but no individuals that he specifically recognized. That did not surprise him because the Clan previously numbered in the thousands and stretched across multiple settlements. Din started to walk down the ramp and he could hear the Child walking next to him.

The female at the head of the party stepped down from the speeder and waited for them to approach her. Din walked slowly to accommodate for smaller legs and feet.

Din stopped just in front of the female and then eased down on one knee and bowed over his knee.

“Din Djarin, Foundling of Clan Vizsla. I’m reporting home because I have — a new Clan Vizsla Foundling. I also must report that Paz Vizsla is currently — missing. He was lost on Nevarro when former Imperials attacked, but the Tribe reports that he may have escaped off-world.”

The female stepped forward and reached down to Din’s pauldron and ran her fingers over his sigil. Then placed a hand on top of Din’s helmet.

“Din Djarin, House Vizsla rejoices in your return. Clan Vizsla’s losses were among the heaviest. Clan Wren was nearly decimated. And Clan Saxon has failed to make restitution. The Foundlings are the future. Rise, Din Djarin.”

Din looked up and stood before her, and gestured to the Child standing by his leg.

“This is my Foundling. He did not have any identification when I found him.  He does not yet understand the Way. We come before you seeking his acceptance in the Clan, and for him to be named.”

The female nods, “Of course. What significance is the sigil?”

Din nodded back. “The Child and I fought the Mudhorn together. He used his mind to hold the Mudhorn back long enough for me to kill it. He saved my life, and then I saved him from the Empire.”

The entire party on the speeder now turned their helmets towards the Child. He looked back at them with large black eyes and squeaked, but then he puffed up his chest a little proudly. Din was happy his smile was hidden by his helm.

The female looked back at Din and nodded again. “We will find an appropriate name for this impressive show of strength from one so small.” She cocked her head. “Do you intend to train him?”

Din shook his head, “The Foundling is in my care but he would not survive the training. I must find his own kind, or find someone who can train him to use his powers — as a Jedi.”

Every person on the pad froze at the mention of that Order. Din could barely comprehend how he had never heard of them before if so many Mandalorians knew of them. The female had frozen as well but now recovered her composure.

“Come, let us discuss this mission in more detail — inside.”

She turned and stepped back onto the speeder. Din motioned for the Child to follow, then Din was the last to board. The whole ride inside the structure he could feel the eyes of the entire party on him and he could feel the Child next to him inching closer to him nervously. But Din was proud he stood his ground and did not cower or hide under his cape.

The speeder stopped inside the compound at a grand door with high arches that once held stained glass. Four of the Mandalorians stepped out and took posts next to this door. Then the female stepped off and led the way through the door and down a stately hallway for Din and the Child to follow. She did not walk slowly, so Din picked up the Child and he rode on his shoulder. Din walked a little slower as he looked around and hid his stiff joints from the others. The female stopped outside a large office and waited for them to walk inside.

Once inside two others of the entourage stopped to stand guard and she closed the doors and turned to face them. Her helmet had accents of gold and white, and the eyes came out to a wider point compared to the Armorer. She was taller, as tall as Paz, and carried all of the authority expected in his Clan.

“Din Djarin, I am Zaral Vizsla. I am Paz Vizsla’s cousin — and yours. Your father, my mother’s younger brother, as you know, died during the Purge. Your father saved many Foundlings, you are among only four to complete the training, and you are the only one to return after the Purge.”

Din felt his legs going slightly weak as the weight of this information set in.

“Then... you do not know of Paz’s whereabouts?”

Zaral shook her head. “He has not yet returned. You were the last to see him alive.”

“I was not. The leader of the Tribe on Nevarro, the Armorer, she saw him when the Imperials attacked. He was last seen during the assault. He was among many that disappeared and were assumed escaped — or captured.” He finished quietly. To be captured would mean death.

Zaral nodded. “We must make contact with the Armorer then. We must continue to bring our sisters and brothers home.”

Din nodded, “The Tribe as you know has no communication equipment, to prevent detection. But I have people on Nevarro that may contact her directly.”

Zaral nodded, and she then turned toward the volumes of data on the shelves behind her desk and walked around behind it.

“Today, however, I’m afraid we must face an unpleasant task before we can celebrate the naming of your Foundling. We must address the issue of his apparent power in the Force.”

“The Force?” Din said.

“It is the name of the power this Foundling has a connection to. It is how he lifted a Mudhorn that was ten thousand times his weight,” Zaral replied.

“He also stopped a fire trooper’s weapon. And he healed a Mynock venom wound.”

Zaral now looked up from the data console and stood. “This Child has done all of these things?”

Din nodded, and the Child chirped in response.

Zaral stood astounded. “I have only heard legends of Jedi with such powers. Even the few left that have met our Clan cannot do all of these things, with years of training.”

Din was now also stunned. “But — what does that mean for him?”

Zaral shook her head. “I do not know.” She beckoned for him to move closer to the desk.

A symbol appeared on the holodisplay, one that he did not recognize. “This is the symbol of the Jedi. They were an Order of sorcerers that began untold eons ago, the Order trained those with a strong connection to the Force to use their power to protect freedom in the Galaxy from those who would dominate others.

“They grew in number and then began the discord. As with all organizations splinters began and some maintained a peaceful demeanor while others tended toward a warrior way of life. The warriors, however, became too enamored with their growing power and soon left the Order completely to grow as a new Order called the Sith. They cultivated their power in Darkness and waged war on the Jedi, nearly wiping them out. The Jedi power came from the Light and soon their numbers of recruits far surpassed the growth of the Darkness and they were victorious, destroying the Sith Temple at Moraband.

“Five thousand years ago, the Jedi Order established a Temple on Coruscant, and became advisors to a rising power that eventually became the Old Republic. But after three thousand years the Mandalore found a decline in that Republic was due to the philosophy of the Jedi, avoiding battle at all costs, and protecting weak leaders, and they came into conflict. Our weaponry was developed over millennia in order to manage battle with Jedi whose powers required no machines. We were victorious on many battle fields. Over a thousand years ago, Tarre Vizsla, a Mandalorian with an unrivaled connection to the Force, was allowed to train with the Jedi because his mother felt that the conflict must end. He became one of the fiercest warriors of the Jedi, and he created a weapon called the Dark Saber. But ultimately, due to politics on both sides, he was forced to choose. He refused to fight against his own people, and he left the Order, leading the Mandalorians against the Jedi to his death. His Dark Saber was brought back to the Jedi temple until it was stolen back by House Vizsla and used as a symbol to rule Mandalore.”

Zaral turned back to Din and the Child who still sat on his shoulder with his mouth open in awe. “This story is for you both to understand what you are facing on this quest. You see before you nearly ten thousand years of history, and three thousand years of conflict with Mandalore. However, I want you both to understand that does not mean there is no hope for your Clan to bring Mandalore into a stronger future. For a member of a Clan who has such powers to heal should have a name worthy of a Jedi.”

Din reached up to his shoulder and picked up the Child to set him on Zaral’s desk. She reached out and placed her hand on his head.

“I name you, Tarre-Haal, the second of House Vizsla to be a Jedi warrior — and the first Jedi healer.”

Din also put his hand on Tarre-Haal, who cooed, but did not move.

Din whispered, “Ni kyr'tayl gai sa’ad,” I know your name as my child.

Zaral replied, “Gai bal manda,” Name and soul.

When Zaral and Din removed their hands Tarre looked up at them, and Din saw in his eyes a look that said, I’ll make you proud.

Din looked back up at Zaral, “You agree then, I should take him back to the Jedi? How am I to find them? Are they still on Coruscant?”

Zaral shook her head, “The Order was destroyed by the Emperor at the end of the Clone Wars. The fugitive Jedi were hunted during the Age of the Empire, and very few remain. However, I heard that it was two Jedi who returned the Dark Saber to House Wren before the Purge, and it was Bo-Katan of House Kryze who used it to unite Mandalore to resist the Empire, but ultimately failed.”

Din had not heard of the final events on Mandalore. “So House Kryze was destroyed.”

Zaral nodded, “And Bo-Katan murdered. Her nephew, Kor-Kayan, was captured and presumed dead. When the Empire fell the Governor and the Imperial Security Bureau were finally driven from the planet. And we began to rebuild.”

Din leaned forward. “Who murdered Bo-Katan?”

Zaral looked back at Din, “Moff Gideon.”

Din suddenly felt his breath leave him, and had to brace his hands on the desk. Tarre-Haal walked over to his father and put one hand on his arm, slowly closing his eyes.

Suddenly, Din felt a warmth spreading from his arm to his injured shoulder and up further to his head and down to his lungs. When he realized what was happening, he reached over to Tarre and placed a hand over the tiny one on his arm.

“Stop, please, Tarre. You have done enough, you need your strength.” He gently pulled the tiny hand off his arm and Tarre looked up at him with his large black eyes. “Save your strength.”

Din looked back to Zaral. “I am injured because I fought and killed Moff Gideon on Nevarro. His forces are in retreat as we speak.”

Zaral nodded. “Your entire Clan will be told of this victory.”

Din stood up again and looked her in the eye. “I will also return to that fight, but first, I must find the two Jedi. I must speak with House Wren.”

[jemichi90]

JeMiChi talks Star Wars

If you follow me here, you can't possibly have missed the fact that I've gotten into Star Wars after all the posts I've been spamming lately. So I'm going to talk about that a little.

First of all, my relationship with Star Wars is slightly... complicated. I've always loved sci-fi and considered SW a classic in a way. Yet I hadn't watched a single (full) Star Wars movie until last December. There are some reasons for that. One of them is the fact that anything war or military related used to be a major trigger for me. I'd get panic attacks if someone even mentioned something military related. It would have been IMPOSSIBLE for me to watch a movie so focused on war. And I'm not talking about something from my childhood or teen years. It was like that only a few years ago.

And I can still feel that part of me somewhere under all these new layers shudder at the idea. After all, Star Wars is FULL of war – obviously. There are military ranks, weapons, and countless deaths everywhere. Messed up war politics are the setting for anything else that happens.

Yet, here I am now. I had several reasons to give it a try (now that I can). Not just because I've always liked sci-fi, but also because I have friends who LOVE Star Wars. Some of my older friends actually saw the original trilogy when those movies were new. I wanted to join in their conversations when it was clearly something they enjoy talking about. And of course, anyone following me here would also know that I have a major obsession for Boku no Hero Academia, and this manga is full of Star Wars references. I felt like I was missing out on a lot of stuff when I wasn't familiar with them. So I started catching those references ”in reverse”, so to say.  

Now I've seen most of the movies. I was surprised at how little the original trilogy has aged. It was made so brilliantly at the time it still looks amazing.

People can say whatever they want but I really enjoyed the prequels too. They really helped me to understand the characters and events better, as I was VERY confused at first. There are some interesting parallels too. And as I see it, George Lucas has all the right in the world to expand that universe as much as he ever wants to!

And then I also watched all the animated series. The Clone Wars took me like three seasons to warm up to, but then it got really interesting.

But what really captured my heart more than anything was Rebels. I'm so grateful for Dave Filoni and everyone working on the series for giving us this wonderful Space Family! It's a series I could recommend to even people who know nothing about Star Wars as the show works just fine on its own. I went from having mixed feelings and disliking the art style to utter adoration in record speed there! I'm weak for this kind of found family themes. It stole my heart in an instant! Unlike the other Star Wars things it focuses more on the family and their relationships than the war (although obviously it's still there at all times) and gave me a serious case of feels way more often than acceptable..! But it's a ”show for children”! Is it? At this point I don't care. Maybe I'm a child then. So is Zeb, and he's like 40. It's a bit dark for ”just” a show for children at times. People die and get hurt. Just be prepared for that if you decide to watch it. But this show also gave me the biggest smile more often than I can count. Right now I can't even decide a fave character as they are all so amazing in their own unique ways so I keep switching between them all depending on my mood.  

Rebels led me quite naturally into the books and comics that expand the story further. Kanan comics and A New Dawn novel gave me a good idea of the kind of person Kanan was before he became the Space Dad from Rebels. Then I got into the Thrawn novels – which were amazing. A completely different point of view and they feel like a detective story, with a ton of funny moments and unexpected space adventures and allies included.

I'm almost scared at how much I like these various Imperial characters now. Kallus is fine. I really really like him, and he made it very clear that he's learned his lesson and turned his life around completely. Then there is Thrawn who is super smart and complex, but seems 100% loyal to the Empire. His story is not over yet, so I'm quite curious to see where he'll go from there. Will he have Space Adventures with Ezra too? I'd love if he did! And I'm looking forward to see Eli return. I miss him.

Star Wars as a whole has super interesting (and way too tragic) characters. The world building is impressive with all these different alien species and their cultures and languages and entire societies. The planets with their unique ecosystems and wildlife are interesting on their own. The various space ships and other technology is super cool! And even the war isn't so black and white that you could just call one group good and the other evil. The deeper you look, the more messed up it gets. It's that kind of complexity that tends to draw me in. And yes, as expected BNHA is indeed filled with SW references – some more obvious than others – so there is that too. I got what I was looking for, and so much more!

So expect my Star Wars spam to continue as May the Fourth draws closer. xD

[aion-rsa]

The Book of Boba Fett: What to Know About the New Star Wars Series

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Lucasfilm had good news and bad news for Star Wars fans looking forward to new Disney+ shows this year. The bad news is that you’ll have to wait a bit longer for The Mandalorian season 3 than expected, with the new season set to film some time this fall. But like I said, there’s also very good news: The Book of Boba Fett is out this December, which means we’ll finally have a chance to catch up with our two favorite bounty hunters after that shocking cliffhanger at the end of Mando season 2.

Yes, the new live-action series will pick up right where Boba and assassin Fennec Shand‘s story left off. Boba and Fennec have already killed off what remained of Jabba the Hutt’s goons at his palace, which means the gangster’s old territory is now theirs for the taking.

“The Book of Boba Fett, a thrilling Star Wars adventure, finds legendary bounty hunter Boba Fett and mercenary Fennec Shand navigating the Galaxy’s underworld when they return to the sands of Tatooine to stake their claim on the territory once ruled by Jabba the Hutt and his crime syndicate,” reads the official synopsis, which teases a direction for Boba that’s very different to the path he walked in the old Legends continuity. This should be very interesting.

But there are a few other questions you might have about the new show, its place in the Star Wars timeline, and what exactly the title of the show means. Here’s what you need to know:

The Book of Boba Fett Release Date

The Book of Boba Fett will premiere on Disney+ on Dec. 29, 2021. You can find the complete schedule of upcoming Star Wars movies and TV shows here.

A December date is a first for a Star Wars Disney+ series. The first season of The Mandalorian premiered in November 2019, while the second hit the service in October of last year. There are likely two big reasons The Book of Boba Fett is premiering so late on the release calendar: 1) the Covid-19 pandemic has delayed the production of virtually all big and small screen projects and the Star Wars shows are no different, and 2) there are three new Marvel projects coming out between October and mid-December so moving Boba Fett to very late December gives the show its own space to thrive.

Yes, it’s a long wait but at least Disney released a new poster with the release date announcement.

Boba Fett looks very comfy on Jabba’s old throne, doesn’t he? Petty king.

The Book of Boba Fett Cast and Characters

For the moment, there are only two confirmed cast members:

Temuera Morrison reprises his role as Boba Fett, the infamous bounty hunter from the Original Trilogy who seemed to meet his end in Return of the Jedi, falling into the sarlacc pit, where he was doomed to be digested in the monster’s stomach for the next 1,000 years. But you can’t keep a good bounty hunter down. It was revealed in The Mandalorian season 2 that Boba had survived his terrible fate. After helping Din Djarin rescue Grogu from the Moff Gideon and the Empire, Boba and Fennec returned to Tatooine to take over Jabba’s crime organization.

That also means the wonderful Ming-Na Wen is also returning as Fennec Shand. An assassin who first ran afoul of Din in the first season of The Mandalorian was saved from a painful death in the desert of Tatooine by Boba. Although she was severely wounded in the stomach, Boba was able to use machine parts to save her life. So, technically, Fennec is a cyborg assassin, which makes her that much cooler!

You may be wondering whether Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal), Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff), Greef Karga (Carl Weathers), or Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) will appear in the new series. The short answer as that we don’t know, but I wouldn’t count out at least a cameo from one or two of these characters. But you might have a better chance of seeing Tatooine natives Peli Motto (Amy Sedaris) and Cobb Vanth (Timothy Olyphant) on the show.

One thing we do know is that Robert Rodriguez (Sin City, Alita: Battle Angel) is showrunner this time around. He directed several episodes, along with The Mandalorian returners Jon Favreau, Bryce Dallas Howard, and Dave Filoni.

Read more

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Star Wars: The Book of Boba Fett Teased as “The Mandalorian Season 2.5”

By John Saavedra

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How the Star Wars Movie and TV Shared Universe Is Finally Taking Shape

By John Saavedra

When Will The Book of Boba Fett Trailer Drop?

Disney hasn’t said when fans should expect The Book of Boba Fett trailer, although the studio has traditionally dropped trailers for new December Star Wars releases in October. That said, Disney is hosting its annual D23 fan event on Nov. 19-21, which could be the perfect time to release the trailer.

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When Will The Book of Boba Fett Take Place?

This is an easy one. The Book of Boba Fett picks up right after The Mandalorian season 2, which is set five years after the events of Return of the Jedi and the death of Jabba the Hutt (obviously). Oh, you want an actual date on the Star Wars canon timeline? The Book of Boba Fett takes place in 9 ABY (that’s 9 years after A New Hope, basically).

When The Book of Boba Fett begins, Boba and Fennec will just have taken over Jabba’s territory, the Imperial remnant is still operating in the Outer Rim, and the Mandalorians are still scattered throughout the galaxy, although Din and Bo-Katan may be preparing to take back Mandalore. Grogu is probably still with Jedi Master Luke Skywalker.

What Does “The Book of Boba Fett” Mean?

Much will be speculated about the title of the show ahead of its premiere. Why does the title refer to a “book” of Boba Fett? Are these the adventures the bounty hunter chronicled in his memoirs after he retired? Are we going to see Old Man Boba Fett jotting things down in a journal by a fireplace on Mandalore? Sure, it’s possible the series has a frame story wherein Boba is recording his past in a journal or relating his life to his children (or grandchildren). It wouldn’t be the first time Star Wars has used journals to reveal the “untold” stories of characters like Obi-Wan Kenobi.

But it’s also possible The Book of Boba Fett (and The Mandalorian universe as a whole) is going the Avatar: The Last Airbender route where new story arcs were referred to as “books” and each episode was a “chapter” within that book. For example, The Mandalorian calls each new episode a “chapter.” “The Book of Boba Fett,” the title of a new Mandalorian story, could be a nod to that structure. It would make sense since executive producer Dave Filoni, one of the chief storytellers on the show and Star Wars as a whole, cut his teeth on Avatar before going on to work with George Lucas on The Clone Wars.

Or maybe Boba got himself a sweet book deal. Stranger things have happened!

More on The Book of Boba Fett as we learn it.

The post The Book of Boba Fett: What to Know About the New Star Wars Series appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[automaticpostinfluencer]

The Mandalorian: Everything we know about Disney Plus Star Wars show

The Mandalorian is the first live action Star Wars show, and it’s getting a second season in fall in 2020.

Lucasfilm / Illustration by CNET

“Mandalorian, look outside, they’re waiting for you.” The wait is over — you can watch the all eight episodes of the first season of Jon Favreau‘s live-action Star Wars series The Mandalorian on Disney Plus right now. The show introduced us to the gift that is Baby Yoda (subject of many a fan theory and an onslaught of merch) and may bring a beloved Clone Wars character into live action for the first time in Season 2.

Disney Plus won’t be launching in the UK, Ireland, Spain, Italy and Germany until March 24. The first two episodes will be available that day, with the third coming on Friday, March 27. Subsequent episodes will be released weekly, and hit the service at 8 a.m. each Friday.

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What we know about season 2?

It’ll start in October 2020, Disney boss Bob Iger (who’s since stepped down) said in a Feb. 4 earnings call. He also mentioned the possibility that some of the show’s characters could go “in their own directions in terms of series” — hinting that we might see some Mandalorian spinoffs down the line.

Rosario Dawson will reportedly play Ahsoka Tano in the second season.

Rich Polk/Getty Images for Sony Pictures Entertainment

On March 20, Slashfilm reported that season 2 will see Ahsoka Tano, former Padawan of the late Anakin Skywalker, make her live action debut. She’ll apparently be played by Rosario Dawson, whom you might remember playing Claire Temple in Netflix’s Marvel shows.

Michael Biehn, who played Kyle Reese in The Terminator and and Corporal Hicks in Aliens, will join the cast as a bounty hunter, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Bill Burr will apparently also reprise his role as gunslinger Mayfield, and principal photography on the season was apparently completed before the coronavirusoutbreak, according to i09.

The day the season 1 finale aired, Favreau mentioned season 2 in a tweet featuring a Gamorrean — the porcine species that served as Jabba the Hutt’s guards in Return of the Jedi. So presumably that race will show up in the next batch of episodes.

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What happened in season 1?

You’re in luck! I wrote detailed recaps of each episode that you can use to catch up:

Chapter 1: The Mandalorian

Chapter 2: The Child

Chapter 3: The Sin

Chapter 4: Sanctuary

Chapter 5: The Gunslinger

Chapter 6: The Prisoner

Chapter 7: The Reckoning

Chapter 8: Redemption

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2:16

Who’s in it?

Pedro Pascal (best known for playing Oberyn Martell in Game of Thrones) is the bounty hunter behind the helmet: He’s a lone Mandalorian gunfighter operating in the outer reaches of the galaxy.

Pedro Pascal is the man behind the Mandalorian’s helmet.

Gabriel Maseda/NurPhoto via Getty Images

He’s joined by a star-studded cast, but a couple of these characters didn’t survive season 1:

I dunno about you, but the sight of happy Baby Yoda immediately calms me.

Disney

What’s the deal with Baby Yoda?

This little guy captured everyone’s hearts the moment he appeared in the season premiere, and we’ve got a whole separate guide for him. He’s officially known as The Child — we don’t know his real name, race or home planet, but he can use the Force pretty effectively and the Imperial Remnant wants him.

Oh, and the most detailed version of the puppet apparently cost around $5 million.

Mando walks away from his ship, the Razor Crest, in the show’s poster.

Disney/Lucasfilm

Why isn’t this about the usual Jedi and Sith conflict?

The Star Wars underworld is a very rich storytelling environment, according to executive producer Jon Favreau. He wanted to get back to the tone of the old Western and samurai films that inspired George Lucas, and said the show is Star Wars meets Mad Max. 

The Mandalorian is one of four shows set in a galaxy far, far away coming to the Disney Plus streaming service. 

The seventh season of The Clone Wars started in February, and the company announced a Rogue One prequel series focusing on rebel spy Cassian Andor in 2018. And Ewan McGregor will return as Obi-Wan Kenobi in a brand new show, set to start shooting in 2021.

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Who else is involved?

Directors for the first season:

Favreau, Filoni, Colin Wilson and Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy are the executive producers, with Karen Gilchrist as co-executive producer.

The Mandalorian is among the first projects for ILM TV, a division of Lucasfilm’s Industrial Light & Magic visual effects company. The show’s soundtrack is composed by Ludwig Göransson, who scored Black Panther, Venom and Creed II. Göransson’s Black Panther score won him a Grammy and an Oscar in 2019.

Is there a bounty of Mandalorian merch for us to hunt?

Merchandise hunting is a complicated hobby, but you know you want it. Three characters from the show are represented in the six-inch Black Series — The Mandalorian himself (along with a shiny carbonized variant), Cara Dune, IG-11, the Heavy Infantry Mandalorian (named Paz Vizla) and the Offworld Jawa. Baby Yoda will join them in spring 2020.

What’s a Mandalorian?

Mandalorians are humans from the Outer Rim world of Mandalore, its moon Concordia and the planet Kalevala, whose story was largely told in The Clone Wars and Rebels.

Sabine Wren (seen wielding the Darksaber) could appear in the show.

Lucasfilm

Their world went through major political upheaval during the Clone Wars and early days of the Galactic Empire’s rule, but many of the clans united under the rule of Bo-Katan Kryze after she took control of the Darksaber. The black-bladed weapon was created more than 1,000 years earlier by Tarre Vizsla (the first Mandalorian to join the Jedi Order) and became a symbol of leadership — it also showed up in The Mandalorian’s season 1 finale.

You probably associate bounty hunters Boba Fett and Jango Fett with the term because they wear the cool armor, but they aren’t true Mandalorians. Jango once claimed to be from Concord Dawn, a Mandalorian world, but the government considered him (and by extension, his cloned son Boba) to be pretenders.

Bounty hunter Boba Fett wears Mandalorian armor, but his status is disputed.

Lucasfilm

Could Boba Fett show up?

Fans have been clamoring for Boba’s return to the Star Wars galaxy despite his fall into the maw of a hungry sarlacc in Return of the Jedi, but there’s been no indication that will happen and he didn’t show up in season 1.

Fans of the Legends material (developed in novels, comics and games prior to 2014) will recall that Boba escaped the sarlacc in that continuity and went on to become the leader of Mandalore in a very different (and non-canon) post-Return of the Jedi galaxy. 

In canon, Chuck Wendig’s Aftermath trilogy of novels saw Mandalorian armor that’s heavily implied to be Boba’s being recovered from the pit and worn by former slave Cobb Vanth. Using the armor as a symbol of power, he becomes sheriff of Freetown (a settlement on Tatooine) and offers sanctuary to anyone willing to battle the world’s crime syndicates.

We also saw a mysterious person approach assassin Fennec Shand’s body on Tatooine in the final moments of season 1’s fifth episode, but the show hasn’t followed up on that tease yet.

Star Wars: The Mandalorian AT-ST Raider stands tall in Hasbro’s Vintage Collection

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What other stories could they draw from?

Star Wars 1313 was a video game that got shelved when Disney shut down all projects at LucasArts — Lucasfilm’s game development group — in 2013. We saw an impressive demo for Uncharted-style adventure before that, featuring actor Wilson Bethel (who recently hit the target in Daredevil season 3).

It would’ve seen players exploring the bowels of the city planet Coruscant — the title was a reference to its grimy underworld Level 1313 (which later appeared in The Clone Wars).

After it was canceled, we found out that Boba Fett was going to be the star and that Kennedy later agreed the concept art was “unbelievable.”

“So our attitude is, we don’t want to throw any of that stuff away. It’s gold,” she told Slashfilm in 2015. “And it’s something we’re spending a lot of time looking at, pouring through, discussing, and we may very well develop those things further. We definitely want to.”

In that same interview, Kennedy noted that Lucasfilm read through the material Lucas developed for the canceled TV show Star Wars: Underworld, which was announced in 2005 and canned in 2010 due to budget constraints. It was to be set between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope and would have tied into 1313.

The Mandalorian invades Hasbro’s Star Wars: Black Series action figure line

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A Sneak Peek at The Mandalorian from Star Wars Celebration Chicago

The second big event at Star Wars Celebration Chicago after the Episode IX reveal on Friday was without a doubt to be the panel presentation for “The Mandalorian” on Sunday morning. The series will premiere on November 12th when the Disney+ streaming platform goes live. It’s the first live-action Star Wars television series, something that has been mentioned on and off for decades. The fact that the show revolves around a mysterious character with a recognizable fan-favorite look is certainly increases the growing curiosity around the project.

Around the time the prequels came out, George Lucas mentioned how he envisioned Star Wars branching out into an episodic television format, with both an animated and live-action series. The animated series happened in 2008 with the hugely successful “Clone Wars” (it ran six seasons and will be continuing this fall on Disney+) from producer Dave Filoni and now we have "The Mandalorian," a series created by writer/executive producer Jon Favreau with help from Filoni and some intriguing directors such as Bryce Dallas Howard, Deborah Chow ("Jessica Jones"), Rick Famuyiwa ("Dope") and Taika Waititi. 

The anticipation for the event was obvious as fans trickled into the WinTrust Arena from the cold and rainy streets of Chicago (an atmosphere that felt ironically like Kamino, the rain-soaked planet from “Attack of the Clones” and would later feel like the snow-swept planet Hoth from "Empire Strikes Back," but that's the Windy City) as DJ Elliot once again threw down some pulse-pounding beats to get the audience hyped. After three days of coverage, I wasn't the only one fatigued, yet master crowd carouser Mark Daniel was back cruising up and down the aisles of the arena floor, interacting with fans and giving away Star Wars swag. He was then followed by actor and veteran host, Warwick Davis ("Return of the Jedi", "Solo: A Star Wars Story"), who brought people up on stage to play fun Star Wars games as the clock counted down to the panel's start time. 

Both Daniel and Davis pointed to a specific section of fans on the main floor, all of whom wore their own custom-made Mandalorian armor to the event. They could be seen standing up and raising their helmets in the air, as if performing bounty hunter zumba. Apparently most, if not all of them, are part of a non-profit group called The Mandalorian Mercs. I couldn't make out what exactly their group function is, but it was clear that unity and diversity was their emphasis, along with a love for the specific Mandalorian look, originated by bounty hunter Boba Fett, who become a fan-favorite despite having zero lines when Darth Vader hired him in "The Empire Strikes Back".

When the lights went down, the crowd went nuts, and out came the trio chiefly responsible for the new show, producer Kathleen Kennedy, Favreau and Filoni. Kennedy thanked everyone for the overall reception at Celebration this year, and how excited she was for this particular panel. She then handed over the presentation to Favreau and Filoni, both of whom went on to share how they met long ago at Skywalker Ranch, where Favreau was mixing "Iron Man" and Filoni was working on "The Clone Wars". Filoni shared how he was the first person to see the final cut of "Iron Man". The two hit it off and eventually came together on this project as executive producers, with Favreau writing and Filoni directing a couple of episodes. 

They explain that "The Mandalorian" is set approximately three years after the fall of the Empire in "Return of the Jedi" and before the ascension of the First Order in "The Force Awakens", when small factions of the Empire remain and chaos has erupted after the celebration of the rebellion. This could be the first time a Star Wasrs storyline exists outside the Skywalker saga, which is certainly something fans have been hoping for. 

The executive producers then brought out three of the stars of the new show, Pedro Pascal, Gina Carano and Carl Weathers, all of whom received a rousing ovation. Favreau had each actor introduce what their roles are as brand new images of their characters appeared above them, both concept work and stills from "The Mandalorian". Pascal is the titular lone gunfighter who resides in the outer reaches of the galaxy. "He's got a lot of Clint Eastwood in him," Pascal explains, "Some may say he has questionable moral character, which is in line with some of our best westerns." This makes sense considering Favreau and Filoni described how the overall vibe of the show was heavily influenced by old westerns and samurai films, both of which served as inspiration for Lucas as well. 

Carano expressed her excitement at the crowd's reception, stating, "I get to be part of a whole other family" in her role as Kara Dune, an ex-rebel shocktrooper who she describes as "a bit of a loner, which isn't a far stretch - and I'm having a bit of trouble reintegrating into society". When an exuberant bearded Carl Weathers came out, he shouted, "I want you! I want you!" (a line associated with his iconic Apollo Creed character from the "Rocky" franchise) out to the audience. Weathers then sat down and shared how he's playing the head of a guild of bounty hunters who's looking for someone to deliver a valuable product to a special client. Greef chooses the Mandalorian because "The Mando does what needs to be done," the veteran actor stated with a sly grin.

At this time during the event, Favreau admitted it was time to show footage and what we were about to see would be blacked out for livestream viewers at home (I found out later it was even omitted from the two overflow stages this was being broadcast at the McCormick Place). The first thing we see is the Mandalorian meeting Greef at a cantina bar familiar to the Star Wars universe, presumably filled with nefarious types. The Mandalorian watches as Greef shuffles through curious pucks which represent bounties. When The Mandalorian indicates he's looking for something with a higher bounty, Greef points out that he has a job in mind, but he'd have to send him off to get further instructions from someone with deeper pockets. 

We then follow the Mandalorian through a lively marketplace where a caged Salacious Crumb-type creature looks on in horror as one of his kind has turned into rotisserie. The Mandalorian makes his way to the exterior of his destination where a gatekeeper droid (similar to the kind that questioned Threepio outside of Jabba's palace in "Jedi") scans a card he holds up. This opens the entrance and the gunslinger is led inside by a gonk droid. Another door opens and then the Mandalorian is face-to-face with a room full of four stormtroopers who stand alongside a character played by none other than Werner Herzog. 

As this sketchy, self-described pragmatic character tells the Mandalorian about a job he has, they are interrupted by an anxious doctor (Omid Obtahi) who enters from a side door and proceeds to disclose too much information. The situation turns into a sudden standoff, in which all the troopers point their blasters at the Mandalorian. A trooper emphasizes that he's outnumbered, to which The Mandalorian answers, "I like those odds". 

The situation is calmed and the discussion of the job reconvenes, as Herzog calmly explains that the target can be delivered alive or dead, much to the doctor's chagrin. We don't find out who the target is, but we see Herzog unveil a rectangular piece of iron he refers to as a Beskar as downpayment. This footage wraps with the Mandalorian cautiously walking out with his downpayment, off to fulfill his assignment no doubt. 

The best part, besides seeing Herzog in the Star Wars universe, is how we never see Pascal's face...that recognizable bucket helmet stays on his head the entire time. In fact, it stays on throughout every bit of footage we see. That's quite reassuring considering there's typically a tendency to show an actor's face whenever they're playing a character wearing a mask or helmet. Thankfully, there is clearly an effort to maintain the mystery and anonymity of the character. 

This sequence was followed by a montage of what to expect from "The Mandalorian," where we catch glimpses of the various characters, aliens, vehicles and locations we can expect to see on the show. The audience cheered as they recognized Giancarlo Esposito ("Breaking Bad") in a supporting role as what looks like an Imperial character who leads a group of Death Troopers and even flies a TIE fighter. I do believe I also noticed Nick Nolte in the background, knowing he's also part of the cast.  

Of course, the crowd went absolutely crazy with this footage and with good reason. It looks exciting, cool and mysterious, and unlike anything we've seen before, despite being set in the Star Wars universe. The production values carry the gritty, lived-in look we've come to expect from the kind of morally questionable and nefarious characters that inhabit this section of the galaxy. Favreau and Filoni explained how viewers will see new planets, vehicles (the Mandalorian's gunship is called the Razorcrest) and species as they intend to include elements from the original trilogy, prequel trilogy, along with aspects from the "Clone Wars" and "Rebels" television series, as well as bits from the Expanded Universe. Favreau also shared some informative behind-the-scenes footage (which he said was okay for viewers to record) and added that this was the first time a Star Wars production was shot in Los Angeles, using cutting edge technology while keeping the practical and handmade effects the original movies were known for. 

They also shared how the 501st Legion got involved in the production in order to fill out episodes with authentic looking stormtroopers. When a call went out for stormtroopers, this international fan-based organization known for their detailed hand-crafted costumes volunteered their time as glorified extras during filming. Favreau shared how none of the volunteers were initially told what they were being asked to do. Filoni laughed, stating how members thought the request was for the kind of gatherings and functions they're typically called to participate in. Both of them shared how impressed they were with the 501st, as Carano adding how legit they are and Weathers stating how hard the men and women worked on set. 

I'm sure there will be skepticism surrounding a live-acton Star Wars television show, but being there and witnessing that first footage, I was and remain sold. A Star Wars space western, inspired by Sergio Leone and Akira Kurosawa? Sign me up. 

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Out of all the amazing things that J and I have been able to do over these few years, going to Star Wars Celebration wasn’t even on the list of probable things at least until J was a bit older. Last year, we watched Celebration from the comfort of our home just waiting for the day that we would be able to be amongst the crowd. This last weekend however, J and I boarded a plane to our very first of hopefully many Star Wars Celebrations. We left Salt Lake City at 2:30pm on Wednesday April 12 and landed in Orlando at 1:30am on Thursday, we had a 3 hour layover in Las Vegas, we went to sleep around 2am and woke up around 5:30am for our first day. Even though Star Wars Celebration didn’t really begin until Thursday morning, it kicked off for J in Vegas as he was recognized by quite a few people in Vegas and that continued into Thursday as we were walking the line that wrapped around the Orange County Convention Center.

When we found out that we would be attending Star Wars Celebration 2017, I initially got nervous. I get really nervous around large groups of people and I was worried that my nerves wouldn’t allow me to have a great time. Usually if I feel overwhelmed at Salt Lake Comic Con, I can either step in a quiet room or I am just a 5 minute train ride from home. But this seemed like an opportunity that I couldn’t pass up and especially with J. I am really happy we made the trip, we had a blast on the exhibit floor and in the panel rooms.

Star Wars Celebration, like many conventions around the world, had some kinks in the chain. That is expected and forgivable, and without those kinks, some of our favorite moments wouldn’t have happened. We, along with Dr. Sarah from Geek Parenting Podcast, arrived at the Orange County Convention Center around 9 am on that first day. The line was already starting to wrap around the convention center. As mentioned before, J was getting recognized by people in line and I could hear people asking their friends if it would be weird to ask for a picture with him. Before we move on, I want to say that, no it is not weird. Just ask, he is usually more than happy to take pictures with people. We stood in line behind some fun people and we talked with them for about an hour before we saw someone we recognized in line. We told him to hop in line with us and talked with him for another 30 minutes before we made it into the convention center. Once we hit the exhibit hall, our minds were blown. A snowspeeder greeted guests to the wonders of Star Wars Celebration. As we ventured further into the hall, we saw these amazing cars that were modified to resemble ships from the Star Wars universe. When we were approaching these cars, J noticed that one looked especially familiar and from about 30 – 40 yards out he ran screaming “POE’S X-WING”. The owner of the car peeked his head out looking for the excited fan and he greeted us at the amazingly modified vehicle. The owner asked me how old J was and I responded. He was in shock that a fan so young would recognize which X-Wing when all of the older fans just thought it was some “random X-Wing”. He told us that J “made his con” on the first day and that he was so appreciative of how much J loved his car.

We didn’t make it into any of the big panels, mainly because I like sleeping in a nice comfy bed and a nice shower to wake me up in the morning, but we were able to watch them from “The Star Wars Show” stage or on my phone. While the panels were going on though, we took advantage of the little to no lines at all the vendors’ booths to see what goodies we could bring home from our adventure. There were quite a few big name vendors on the floor at Celebration. LEGO, Hasbro, Walt Disney World, Nissan, Funko, UNICEF, and others had interactive booths that fans of all ages would enjoy.

LEGO set up building stations for kids to help the Master Builders build an enormous LEGO Millennium Falcon, Hasbro was showing off their new “Forces of Destiny” toys, Walt Disney World brought Jedi Training to Celebration, Nissan had their Nissan Rogue present with the VR experience, Funko had some exclusive POPs, but our favorite booth had to be the UNICEF Kid Power booth. Not only did they have special edition 40th Anniversary “Force for Change” Kid Power Bands, but they had the one and only Ashely Eckstein (Ahsoka Tano) at the booth doing some Star Wars themed exercises with the kids.

There was so much going on panel wise that I would need at least 20 of me to experience everything Star Wars Celebration had to offer. They had the “Celebration Stage” where all the main panels took place, the “Galaxy Stage”, “Fan Stage”, and “Behind-the-Scenes Stage” all had their own panels as well as streams of the bigger panels. There was a “Family Stage” where activities for the younglings took place. Kids could do “Padawan Training” along side the Saber Guild of New York, they could draw with artists, and had little cosplay contests every afternoon. Across from the “Family Stage” was the “Rebel Theater” where they were showing episodes of Star Wars Rebels every day from open to close. There was also a “Podcast Stage” where Star Wars themed podcasts met with fans to record a “Live from Celebration” episode. We stopped by to watch our friends from the Full of Sith Podcast record their episode. If you have some time, you should go check out their Celebration episode. Every day at Star Wars Celebration was packed with so many amazing activities and I am glad we got to experience as much as we did.

Now that we got the formalities out of the way, let’s go into some of the big things that happened at Celebration. If you watched the 40th anniversary panel, you saw the return of Hayden Christensen to Star Wars Celebration, and that George Lucas and Harrison Ford made an appearance on stage. What you didn’t see was the reaction on the exhibit floor. As I mentioned earlier, we on the exhibit floor had the ability to watch the big panels courtesy of The Star Wars Show’s giant screen, so we were able to see everything happening in real time as well. We were right next to the stage screen when George Lucas was announced, and I have never seen an area get so cramped so fast. People ran from all corners of the floor just to catch a glimpse of the man who created this wonderfully vast universe on the big screen. Tears were streaming down fans faces around the entire convention center as John Williams took to the stage to play Leia’s Theme at the end of the 40th anniversary panel.

We caught a glimpse of The Last Jedi during The Last Jedi panel and it was as glorious as I was wanting it to be. It filled me with hope and excitement and I’ve watched it at least 30 times since it was released. I want to discuss the trailer in more detail, but that could be it’s own post and maybe even a future episode of Geek Parenting Podcast. The one thing I will say right now, is that I am excited to see what Luke’s statement at the end of the trailer means for the future of the franchise.

Another exciting thing we got to be a part of was the Star Wars Rebels press conference. Dr. Sarah was chosen from Geek Parenting Podcast to catch a sneak peek at the fourth and final season of Rebels, while J and I watched the panel from outside of the room on my phone. Since we were not in the panel room, J and I were able to get some good seats for the press conference for the three of us. One of my favorite things about the press conference, that others may find annoying, was Dave Filoni’s ability to troll the members of the press. Almost every question was met with misdirection and I was loving it. Press members would address questions to the voice actors and they would all look to Filoni for what they could say, which was usually “not much”. After the press conference, J got to meet and get a picture with Taylor Gray (the voice of Ezra Bridger) and we got to catch up with Salt Lake Comic Con alumnus Steve Blum.

The rest of our Celebration weekend was spent meeting friends we’ve made through social media and getting pictures with cosplayers from around the world. It was amazing finally meeting and hanging out with people that we’ve known via Instagram/Twitter/Facebook for a year or more. Every single one of those friends have been very supportive of the blog and social media accounts, and they all made J feel like a celebrity. They all helped make Star Wars Celebration 2017 one of the best memories he will have for the rest of his life, and I want to thank everyone who made it possible for us to be there. If you read my posts, if you follow us on social media, if you donated to the GoFundMe that Dr. Sarah started, you hold a special place in our hearts. Thank you all for your love and support, and we hope that we can keep putting a smile on your face with our posts. You can see some of our photos from Star Wars Celebration by following us on Instagram.

Star Wars Celebration 2017 Recap Out of all the amazing things that J and I have been able to do over these few years, going to…