Entertainment Update for March 2024

Hello friends! I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying whatever it is that entertains you. Quite a bit to get to this month, so here we go:

Defy the Storm, by Justina Ireland and Tessa Gratton. This is the YA novel of the first wave of Phase 3 High Republic books, and centers around the characters from Phase 1’s Out of the Shadows: Vernestrah Rwoh, Avon Starros, Sylvestri Yarrow, Jordanna Sparkburn, and Xylan Graf. On my reread of that book, I really came to love these characters, so I’m happy to get back to them and see how they’ve fared since the Stormwall went up.

I’m not done with the book yet, so I’ll have more to say next month, but I’m enjoying it so far. Avon Starros is the daughter of Ghirra Starros, the ambitious Senator who has aligned herself with Marchion Ro, and Avon is none too happy with that. She strikes out on her own (with the help of Deva Lompop, a Nihil who has come to be Avon’s protector) to find vengeance against Dr. Mkampa, a Nihil scientist who stole her work to create the Stormwall, and to try to destroy the Stormwall itself. She seeks out Venestra, who has been on Sabbatical, of sorts, since the fall of Starlight Beacon. Vern believes her Padawan, Imri Cantaros, died on Starlight, but Avon knows he’s alive and wants to reunite Vern with him (and also get her help without letting her know about her plan of vengeance).

Jordanna and Sylvestri have been doing jobs for Maz Kanata and helping the Republic in any way they can against the Nihil, but Jordanna wants to do more, and find her brother and his family on the other side of the Stormwall; while Syl is still struggling with the death of her mother, Chancey Yarrow, and the part she played in the fall of Starlight.

They get mixed up with Xylan Graf, who is “working” for the Nihil in a guest/hostage sort of situation on the Lightning Crash, which is where the technology for the Stormwall originates. I can’t decide how I feel about Xylan; he’s both interesting, if flamboyant, and exceedingly annoying. But I can never quite figure out what he’s got up his sleeve, and where his allegiances lie, so he keeps me guessing. There’s a lot of backstory that I’m guessing went on in some comics, which always irritates me since I don’t read the comics, but it’s not that hard to catch up. I’ll give my final thoughts on the book next month.

From A Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back. While I was waiting for Defy the Storm to come out, I kept busy with this book’s short stories. All the FACPOV books are by various authors and tell a story from that movie from the point of view of a minor character. I never finished the one for A New Hope; most just didn’t grab me that much. This one turned out much more interesting, and there are some good stories in there, although I’ve only read the first 6 or 7 tales, and we still haven’t gotten off of Hoth, lol. I think it’s a book I’ll read in between other books while I wait for them to come out. The Return of the Jedi version recently came out, and I really think that one will be good, too, but I’m going to wait for it to come out in softcover so my copies will be consistent.

Dark Disciple reread. So I debated re-reading this one ever since we found out Asajj Ventress will be making an appearance in The Bad Batch, and finally decided to dive into it again (the day before her appearance in Ep 9 The Harbinger, so last minute). But it really is a fantastic book, and I’ve put down Defy the Storm a few times to read large chunks of this one at a time. It’s one of the first few canon books I read when I started on this journey and remains one of my favorites. It tells of how the Jedi Council decides to assassinate Count Dooku to end the war and chooses Quinlan Vos to do the job–and that he should connect with Ventress for help. This opens up a whole can of worms, as Vos and Ventress fall in love, Vos falls to the dark side, and the Jedi continue down a questionable path. Spoiler alert: Ventress dies at the end of the novel, protecting Vos from Dooku’s Force-lightning. She sacrifices herself to save the man she loves. But, lo and behold! she’s not dead, apparently, as she makes her appearance in the Bad Batch.

TBB showrunners promise that her appearance does not contradict the events of Dark Disciple. As Ventress was “buried” on Dathomir in the same manner as her Nightsister family–from which they can be “resurrected” through Nightsister magic–I don’t have a problem with this, but it will be good to get some details about it when the time comes. Of course, the Fandumb Menace are up in arms about this, a la “Death doesn’t mean anything in Star Wars anymore!…blah blah blah.” Look, it’s overused, I get it, but in this case, it’s totally plausible. Witches, you know. Anyway, I’m happy to see her back.

One of the awesome posters for Season 3. This one of Crosshair with his helmet is my favorite.

The Bad Batch Season 3 so far. I’ve been loving the new season so far and have managed to post my thoughts on the first five episodes. I had a plan to post every week with my thoughts on each new episode, but you know, life, lol. At some point I will do a catch-up post. As it is, I think this season so far is fantastic, and I’m loving the little moments between Crosshair and Omega, especially, and just how he’s trying to adjust being back in the squad. I’m curious to see how this whole M-count thing with Omega turns out, how they’ll find Tantiss, who will help, and who the latest clone assassin is (so many theories! And honestly, it could be no one special, like the infamous Marrock, but I highly doubt it). And I just know Pabu is going to be attacked by the Empire (there are clues in the trailer), and I’m sick about it. 😦

Anyway, it’s agony waiting an entire week for 28 minutes of story, but I’m not one who can wait for them all to drop and then binge. It’s hard to believe we’re halfway through the season already and I have a feeling that things are going to ramp up big time after a foundation of quieter moments. So I’m getting ready for a wild ride, and I’m here for it!

Dune Parts 1&2. So I had every intention of going to see Dune Part One in theaters when it came out, but I just didn’t get there and then it fell off my radar. When Part Two came out, I was determined to see it on the big screen, so I rented Part One on Youtube to catch up, and boy, I’m glad I did.

Ever since I heard of Dune, I’ve wanted to love it, to know it, to understand it. I tried to read it many years ago, but for some reason, I had no idea what the hell was going on and couldn’t get into it. Then the 1984 film came out, and I thought, here we go, this will make it easier! Well, no, not really. It was pretty bad, lol, and I just didn’t “get it.” But a stubborn part of me held onto hope that someday, the light switch will go on. I think it was because I knew that Star Wars takes a lot of cues from it, borrows from it, while certainly being completely different from it.

Back in the day, I used to think Star Wars was “science fiction” because, you know, space, so I looked for more of the same in things like Dune and Isaac Asimov’s Foundation books. I was sorely disappointed in them, because where were the space battles? Where was the swashbuckling? Why were they so damn philosophical and heavy and, well, boring? Lol. When I finally figured out that Star Wars was space fantasy, things clicked, and I found other books and films that gave me that same sense of wonder. Science fiction, not so much (I do enjoy a good sc-fi book or film these days, though). It’s a different animal. But Dune? I wanted to love it and get it.

And, thanks to director Denis Villeneuve, and the absolutely amazing cast of these movies, I can safely say that, finally, yes, I get it! Maybe not all of it, but I’m totally enthralled and impressed and just blown away by how good this story, and these films, are. It’s complex and weird and visually stunning, and Paul Atreides’ hero’s journey from boy to man, from young nobleman to messiah, is captivating. At the end of Part Two, it seemed that it was going to be a trilogy, but I’ve heard a Part Three hasn’t been greenlit yet. Seems to me, though, it’s inevitable, and I’ll be in the theater with my popcorn, excited to see where this all goes.

The Acolyte trailer and release date. We’ve finally gotten a trailer and release date for The Acolyte, and I’m hyped! The trailer looks awesome, and the show will premiere on June 4th. Ever since its announcement, I’ve been intrigued by the premise of this show, which has been described as a kind of dark side whodunnit thriller. Yaaass! And as a High Republic fan, I couldn’t be happier to see it come to life in live-action, even though it’s the tail-end of that era. Basically, the High Republic is the Golden Age of the Jedi and the Republic (about 200-400 years before the events of The Phantom Menace), but here, about 100 years before that film, it’s the beginning of the end. As it states, a darkness is rising.

It’s hard to say off of the trailer alone, but evidently someone is killing Jedi, and the answers surrounding this mystery are not going to be good. The presence of a red lightsaber suggests the Sith are stirring after a thousand years of the Jedi believing they are exctinct. Which of course we know, they are not. I believe the Jedi’s experiences with the Nihil a few hundred years before have changed the Jedi and weakened them in a fundamental way, and the Sith are going to take advantage of that and plan their eventual return, which we see in the Prequels.

Anyway, totally excited for this one, despite the exhausting comments about “wokeness” from the afore-mentioned Fandumb Menace. What a complete and utter bore they are. I think it’s a sign I need to get off social media for a while and take a break from the toxic trolls, lol.

What’s been entertaining you? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!

The Bad Batch Episode 5 “The Return” Thoughts

So I’m getting this post in by the skin of my teeth before the two-parter drops later tonight, lol. No particular reason, I’ve just been busy, but here we go:

Man, I loved this episode so much! I’ve heard a (very) few grumbles about “filler”–don’t get me started, I just don’t understand these people–but this was an absolutely necessary episode about Hunter and Crosshair working things out in their own way.

We start with the Batch on Pabu with Omega finally waking up where she belongs (and btw, I love her little knit sweater and Pabu-style necklace, lol). Crosshair is keeping his distance from everyone, particularly Hunter, but Omega reminds him that he has to talk to Hunter eventually.

Echo shows up, and they all gather together to discuss next steps and to get any information from Omega and Crosshair about Tantiss. Omega offers up Nala Se’s datapad, but it’s encrypted and they can’t get much info. Echo mentions that it’s harder without Tech, and the mention of his name makes everyone sad; they don’t pause long, but it’s a loud pause. Crosshair mentions that he knows an Imperial facility that will help them access the datapad.

The facility turns out to be Barton IV from the S2 episode “The Outpost,” where Crosshair turned against the Empire and killed the odious Lt. Nolan. It’s abandoned, and they have to dig through the snow into the base. We see an ice vulture, one of the screaming creatures that constantly circled above in The Outpost. The bird came to represent Crosshair, and the fact that we see it up close in this episode tells us (as if we didn’t know) that this one will delve into Crosshair and his journey even more.

While the others connect the datapad to the computer, Crosshair wanders off and finds a pile of clone helmets in a corner; he gently picks them up and places them on a table nearby, in respect, most likely thinking about Mayday and the other clones who died there. Hunter watches silently from around the corner and wonders.

When Crosshair goes outside, Hunter follows. Omega moves to follow them, but Echo tells her to let them work it out. Hunter confronts Crosshair about why he turned on the Empire–he wants answers. All their anger with each other comes spilling out, and Crosshair accuses Hunter of being the cause of Omega’s capture, and that he’s jealous Crosshair helped her escape and not him. It might have come to blows, but they’re interrupted by the arrival of a big Dune-like snow worm.

Turns out that’s what the sensors around the perimeter of the base were keeping out; once they turned them off for more power to the console, the worm came knocking. Wrecker’s cry of “Why are there always big monsters?!” is funny and on the nose. And the answer, of course, is that it’s Star Wars, lol.

So Wrecker has to go to a separate bunker to manually ramp up power to the sensors, Omega mans the console to turn them on when it’s done, and Hunter and Crosshair go out to lure the worm past the sensors before turning them back on. Echo is in the tower “keeping watch.” Basically to make sure Crosshair and Hunter don’t kill each other.

He needn’t have worried, though, as they work together to get the job done. Hunter falls into a snow tunnel, and Crosshair and Batcher follow up top. Once the worm is outside the sensor range, they run back and the sensors are turned on just in time. I love how Wrecker runs to them and hugs them together as they come back, and Echo comments to Omega that at least there’s no blood this time.

Later, Crosshair opens up to Hunter a little and admits he thought he knew what he was getting into with the Empire, and that he did bad things. Hunter says he made mistakes too, and that all they can do is to try to be better. And maybe there’s hope for them after all. Man, I hope so, because I’m a little scared right now as to where this season is leading. But one episode at a time.

So I’m guessing they’ll get enough intel off the datapad to find Tantiss, and that will be the focus of the two-parter coming up.

Highlights of this episode:

Omega calling Crosshair “little brother” and their growing relationship.
How Crosshair is like the dad that didn’t want the dog but now loves the dog more than anyone except Omega.
Crosshair has his toothpicks back and the healing has begun, lol.

What did you think of this episode? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!

The Bad Batch Episode 4 “A Different Approach” Thoughts

Please be aware: SPOILERS ahead!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Episode 4 S3 of The Bad Batch, “A Different Approach,” moves the story right along without feeling rushed. Frankly, I’m surprised that Crosshair and Omega have busted out of Tantiss (without the help of the rest of the Batch) already and that they’ve reunited with them on Ryloth’s moon at the end of this episode. I thought those things would take half the season, lol. But I’m so glad it didn’t, because it just means there’s so much more story ahead.

So Crosshair and Omega crash their stolen shuttle on a planet called Lau, which is controlled by the Empire. They head to the spaceport; Crosshair wants to blast his way onto a ship, but Omega, not wanting anyone to get hurt, suggests a different plan. She tries to bribe the ticket-seller, but he says he wants 30,000 credits. Wha??? Geez. Omega decides she’ll gamble at a game of chance at a nearby bar. We know she’s preternaturally good at holochess, but it seems her strategic gifts also help her win just enough at a card game for the bribe. She’s about to leave the table when an Imperial enters the bar and challenges her (insists) on a game with him. He’d just collected a case full of credits from the barkeep (presumably protection money) and Omega wins all of it.

They’re about to leave the bar when the Imperial tells them gambling is illegal on that planet and the fine is 10,000 credits. They still have 35,000 credits. Okay, we need to clarify exactly how credits work. Is one credit like one dollar? Is it like Yen, with thousands of Yen to the dollar? Because that sounds like a lot of money, and Omega just casually won it in this seedy bar against a Trandoshan who doesn’t look particularly wealthy.

Anyway, they need to part with another 5,000 credits outside the bar to some kid who demands it in exchange for information on where Batcher is–the Imperial took her to the docks. They head that way, and again, Crosshair wants to blast his way to their goal. Again, Omega convinces him to do things her way. But of course, the Imperial is there waiting for them (his name is Lt. Mann or something, I can’t remember, lol). Hemlock has found their crashed shuttle, and presumably word went out that he’s looking for the fugitives. They’re surrounded with no way out, and Omega finally agrees to Crosshair’s approach: with blasters.

They get onto a cargo ship and take off. Omega sends out a coded message to Hunter with a rendezvous: Ryloth’s moon, where they met a young Hera in Season 1. The Marauder is there, and Omega (and we) finally get the reunion we’ve been waiting for. It’s lovely, especially since Hunter finally–finally!–hugs her back. Then Crosshair walks down the ramp, and everyone gets tense and glares at each other. End of episode.

So basically this episode was about Omega and Crosshair bonding just a little bit more and learning to work with each other and appreciate each other’s approaches to problem-solving. I loved it, especially when they’re walking away from the ticket-seller and Crosshair comments sarcastically how well that went; Omega grumpily replies, “Stow it!” Definitely acting like siblings now, lol.

I’m hoping they pick up right where they left off this episode and we can get more of their initial reaction at Crosshair returning. My only gripe about this season so far is that they’re skipping over the hard conversations that I really think we need to hear. Does Crosshair know Tech is dead? I’m assuming so–otherwise that would have been a pretty big secret Omega kept all those months, and unlikely–but I would have liked to see that conversation. I get that the showrunners need to get a lot of story in and have to make creative choices, but give us something, guys.

Anyway, a great episode and I can’t wait until next week!

What did you think of the episode? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!