My Star Wars Entertainment Update for July (& a bit of August) 2025

Hello friends! Hope your summer (or winter, depending on where you are) is going well. I’ve been busy working on a new writing project, so I decided I’m only going to blog in some detail about Star Wars entertainments for the time being and simply list the rest with a few lines (well, I’ll try, no promises!). Here we go!

(SPOILERS ahead!)

Star Wars Books:

Sanctuary, by Lamar Giles. You all know I’m a huge Bad Batch fan, so it’s no surprise that I was super-excited when I heard about this book. It’s finally here, and I read it in a day and half, lol (it’s fairly short at 328 pages and I dropped everything to read it).

It takes place in a very particular time-slot: just after Episode 13: Pabu from the second season. So no Crosshair or Echo, but with the added attraction of Tech still being there. I’m in.

If you remember, Pabu is the island planet Phee brings the Batch to in order to lay low after leaving Cid’s service; but while there, a devastating tsunami occurs. The community needs funds to rebuild, and in the book, Phee has come up with a few jobs that will help in that regard. One is procuring (ie, stealing) an expensive artifact from an auction put on by icky, rich criminals that they will then sell to a buyer, but it goes bad after Phee’s droid, Mel, screws up.

They get out with the artifact anyway and move on to the next job before going to the artifact’s buyer: picking up passengers on Mygeeto that want to get to Felucia. The woman they pick up is very pregnant and her companion’s face is covered by a mask. As fate would have it, the woman, Sohi, is wanted by an ISB agent named Crane who pursues them to the planet where the artifact buyer is. Turns out, the buyer, Cellia Moten, is a narcissistic murderer and they barely get away with their lives.

In the meantime, Crane has followed them there, and he’s after Sohi because she used to be a pupil of his in the spy game and they’d worked for the Separatists. She got away from him and wanted a different life, but he’s a bit obsessed and wants her back, calling her his “daughter.” He also wants her baby, his “granddaughter.” Turns out, Sohi’s masked companion is a clone named Ponder and the father of her baby (mystery solved! Clones CAN reproduce). After some trouble, they all get away and flee to Dallow, where Sohi gives birth and after some MORE trouble, escape both Crane and Moten.

So, the plot line here is fine, but I didn’t really care what it was, to be honest. All I wanted was to see the Batch in action again (which it delivered) and some character interaction and insight (which it also delivered). Every member of the Batch had their time to shine in this book, especially Hunter and Tech. Hunter was particularly intense, maybe a bit more than in the show, but his arc was to learn to let go of control, as well as to get more in touch with his feelings. I liked that we did get more of his special enhancement, which I felt was underused in the show. I also loved that Crosshair was mentioned, and that Hunter was personally struggling with his betrayal and absence. A dream sequence in which he talks with Crosshair is wonderful.

Tech was showcased mostly in his interactions with Phee, which I loved. I’m one of the people who loved their flirtation in the show, which was mostly on Phee’s side. But here, we got to go inside Tech’s head and see what he was thinking and how he actually felt about all that. And yes, it was slightly confusing for him, but he also had a growing affection for her. They had a really fun, sweet dynamic, and it just twisted the knife a little bit to know they’d never get to play it out fully. There was nothing too dramatic about it, just conversations, little touches, and them being totally unaware that time was short and that Tech would be gone in a matter of days or weeks. (I’m still not over it).

Wrecker had some wonderful moments, too, showing that he’s not just a big dumb muscle-guy. He’s got some good ideas, and he’s keenly in-tune with his team and has opinions on whether or not they should stay on Pabu. Omega is shown as the brilliant and capable kid she is, particularly with her medical skills that she garnered on Kamino with Nala Se. She remains the bright heart of the group, and her character didn’t really have an arc. She’s the optimistic Omega we’ve always known, and that’s okay.

The villains were fine, both of them crazy in their own way, but clearly dangerous. I felt like the book spent way too much time with them, frankly, but I understand wanting to flesh them out. Crane and Cellia wound up playing their own dangerous game with each other, which was kind of interesting, but also tedious, lol.

There was a lot going on in this book, but the author handled it all deftly; he knew the characters so well it was like watching an episode, but more, if you know what I mean. I loved it, and I really hope we get more Bad Batch novels in the future.

Star Wars Comics:

I don’t normally read comics, but every once in a while, I’ll check one out for a specific character that I’m interested in (like Obi-Wan Kenobi, for instance). Lately, there’s been a few that have piqued my interest:

Legacy of Vader, by Charles Soule (Marvel). This one’s about Kylo Ren and how he learns about his grandfather Darth Vader as told to him by Vader’s servant, Vane (pronounced “vanay”), as well as how Kylo goes about trying to “kill the past.” It’s seven issues in, and I’ve gotta say, it’s a little weird. I’ve always liked a bit more insight into Kylo, but this one is only making him seem more nuts than usual, lol. I’m invested at his point, though, so I’ll keep going. It takes place between The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker.

The Bad Batch: Ghost Agents, by Michael Moreci (Dark Horse). Of course, I had to read the latest Bad Batch comics. This takes place during the Clone Wars, so no Echo or Omega, but Crosshair is still part of the team. The Batch are sent on a mission to retrieve intelligence on Republic spies that has been stolen by a Separatist agent. Spoiler: the agent is Asajj Ventress (and later, Aurra Sing). Ventress wears a mask, though, so they don’t know who she is, and won’t immediately recognize her later in the show’s third season, when she shows up on Pabu. The story of the comic was fine, but I didn’t particularly care about it; I just loved seeing the Batch together before being broken up by Crosshair’s betrayal in the show. The comic was four issues. I think there’s another Bad Batch comic down the pipeline, this fall, I think, and I’m sure I’ll check that one out, too.

The Rise of Skywalker Adaptation, by Jody Houser (Marvel). I don’t usually read comic adaptations of movies or shows, but I heard this one was pretty good (courtesy of Star Wars Explained) because it had a little bit of extra stuff that gave insight into some characters. There’s extra dialogue and scenes with Leia, as well as Kylo Ren and Rose Tico, that was great. This one was five issues.

Star Wars: Hyperspace Stories: Codebreaker, by Ethan Sacks (Dark Horse). This one is a Poe Dameron story, and since he’s one of my favorite characters, I had to check it out (I need to check out some earlier Poe comics, as well). Poe must infiltrate a First Order base and retrieve some code-breaking technology; however, the codebreaker turns out to be a young Cerean girl that he then has to protect and save. Again, the story is fine, but I just love listening to Poe’s snark, lol. There are four total issues, and three are out right now. The fourth will be published in October.

Other Entertainments: I’ve read and watched quite a few other things lately, such as:

Books:

Gathering Blue, Messenger and Son, by Lois Lowry. I read The Giver in June and found out it was the first in a quartet, so naturally I had to read the others! These fantasy books, though written for middle-grade, are fantastic.

The Ferryman, by Justin Cronin. I loved Cronin’s series beginning with The Passage, and thought I’d check out this stand-alone novel. It’s a great “what in the world is really going on here?” book, and the answer is satisfying indeed.

All The Water in the World, by Eiren Caffall. This book takes place sometime in our near future when climate change has caused horrific storms and polar melt that has flooded coastal regions. It focuses on Nonie, a young girl who has been living on the roof of the American Natural History Museum in a flooded New York City. She and her sister, Bix, her father, and their friend Keller, survive a “hypercane” that destroys their home, so they embark on a dangerous journey to the Berkshires (not far from where I live in Massachusetts, by the way) to a family farm and hopefully a new, better life.

On the screen:

North and South (BBC). Just randomly saw this on Youtube and decided I was ready for another period drama. It’s based on Elizabeth Gaskell’s book North and South, published as a serial in 1854-55, at the time of the Industrial Revolution. Love amid the soot of Northern England, lol. It’s more than that, obviously; it’s about worker’s rights, the clash between the factory owners and the workers, the horrific conditions of the poor. A highlight for me was that it starred Richard Armitage, who I only know as the “hot dwarf” Thoren Oakenshield from the Hobbit movies, lol. North and South is made up of 4 one-hour episodes, and I loved it.

High Rise. Tom Hiddleston, people living in a high-rise apartment building in some sort of dystopian scenario where the rich live on the top and the poor live on the bottom, what’s not to love? Answer: this entire movie. I don’t say this about many movies, but this one was BAD. Not just, “Oh, it’s not really my thing,” but a really awful, terrible, horrible mess of a movie. Nothing, and I mean nothing, made sense in this whack job. Two hours of my life I can’t get back. Maybe I just don’t “get it,” in which case, it’s painfully pretentious.

Fantastic Four. Now, this is a good movie. A Fantastic movie, in fact! I really liked the 2005 movie and its sequel, The Silver Surfer, despite not being perfect; the 2015 reboot was totally forgettable; but this one! Ah, perfection. At least to me. I loved everything about it, from the great cast, the omitting of the origin story (who needs to see it again?) and the futuristic retro look of an alternate timeline Earth. The sixties vibe was so cool. It’s enough to make me excited about Marvel again, when my interest has been waning lately. Super fun and good storytelling.

Star Trek: Enterprise rewatch. I’d been casting around for a new show to watch, but couldn’t decide on anything, so I went for an old favorite. Enterprise ranks probably second after The Next Generation for me, and it’s been years since I watched. Super fun.

So, I tried to keep this as brief as possible, but if you’re still with me, thank you and I’m impressed! Have you read/watched any of the above-mentioned? What’s been entertaining you? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!

My Star Wars Entertainment Update for February 2025

Thrawn: Alliances, by Timothey Zahn. I love Thrawn as a character, particularly in Rebels and the Ahsoka show, but I’ve never been a big fan of the books. I just don’t have the patience for his Sherlock Homes-style exposition that makes my eyes glaze over. I thought I’d try this one, though, because the premise seemed interesting: Thrawn and Darth Vader have a mission together, and it flashes back to when Thrawn met Anakin Skywalker and they did a mission together as well. Put Padme in there, too, and I’m intrigued enough to check it out. There was still plenty of tedious Thrawning, but was just interesting enough to get me through it.

The Emperor sends Thrawn and Vader on a mission to investigate a big disturbance in the Force he’s feeling. The flashbacks deal with Padme going to Batuu to meet up with one of her handmaidens who’s discovered something important. She turns up dead, though, and Padme investigates a Separatist factory on a planet called Mokijve. Anakin hasn’t heard from Padme and goes to investigate her whereabouts and encounters Thrawn, whose mission on behalf of the Chiss is a bit vague. They decide to work together, however, to find Padme.

Meanwhile, Thrawn and Vader inevitably clash, as their leadership styles are decidedly different. Vader is constantly questioning Thrawn’s loyalty to the Emperor and the Empire. It becomes quite clear that Thrawn–naturally–has figured out that Vader was once Anakin Skywalker, and he walks that tightrope for most of the book. They deal with a group of Grysk (enemies to the Chiss in the Unknown Regions) who are, it is revealed, kidnapping female Chiss children who are Force-sensitive. These children are what allow the Chiss to travel across space, as they have no hyperdrive navigational systems. Ironically, they are called “Skywalkers.”

Anakin, Padme, and Thrawn find that the Separatists are manufacturing droids and clone armor with cortosis, which are impervious to blasterfire, as well as lightsabers. They work together to destroy the factory, and Thrawn gets the intel on something or other he’s after for the Chiss (he takes some piece of equipment, idk, lol). Vader and Thrawn retrieve the Chiss girls and come to some sort of stalemate and truce, as well as mutual respect.

The book was fairly entertaining, but I doubt I’ll read any other Thrawn book. I’ll take my Thrawn in animation and live-action.

Comics: Legacy of Vader, and Ghost Agents. If you know me you know I’m not a huge comic book fan, but you also know I’m a huge Bad Batch fan. So when it was announced that there would be a comic run with the Batch, I knew I’d check them out. So I walked down to my local comic book shop and found the first issue. Kylo Ren is another special interest, so I thought I’d pick up the new one with him, too.

Ghost Agents takes place during the Clone Wars, so no Omega or Echo, just the original Batch. They’re sent on a mission by Mace Windu to find someone who stole a list of Republic secret agents. They descend into the lower levels of Coruscant and almost find the culprit but run into the bounty hunter Embo, who is also after the list. As a result, the suspect gets away. Stay tuned.

Legacy of Vader takes place between The Last Jedi and Rise of Skywalker. Snoke is dead, and Kylo force-throws his corpse off the ship into space and tells Hux to make him a throne, lol. But even after killing his father and Snoke, he still feels trapped by the past, which includes Vader. He decides to go to Mustafar to…I’m not really sure, but he runs into Vader’s old assistant, Vanee, who is a head in a fish bowl with a robotic spider-like body. Kylo was going to kill him, too, but Vanee tells him that Vader was strong because of his past. Kylo is intrigued, and we’re left waiting until the next issue to see what sorts of stories Vanee tells him.

I’d never been to my local comic store, and it was a great little place with lots of comics and other things, too. I picked up a book–Clone Wars: Siege, by Karen Miller–while I was there, too. I would have stayed longer, but it was stifling in there and had to get out, lol. But I plan on returning to get the subsequent issues of these stories.

Non-Star Wars entertainments:

Pride and Prejudice (1995). I was rooting around in my new Hulu subscription and came upon this gem. It had been years since I last watched it and decided to indulge in it once again. This is the golden standard of Jane Austen adaptations and it truly is a delight.

Death Comes to Pemberley, by P.D. James. Since I was in an Austen kind of mood, I decided to read this one I had on my TBR pile, which I’d found in a free little library a few months ago. It takes place six years after the events of Pride and Prejudice. Preparations for Lady Anne’s ball at Pemberley is interrupted by tragedy: a murder has taken place on the Pemberley grounds. The victim is Captain Denny, a friend of Wickham’s. The prime suspect is Wickham himself, who, along with his wife Lydia, had been in the carriage with Denny on their way to dropping Lydia off–uninvited, of course–at Pemberley. When Darcy, Colonel Fitzwilliam, and a young lawyer named Alveston investigate, they find Wickham–quite drunk–bent over his friend proclaiming that he’d killed his best friend. What exactly happened that night is the central mystery as the book covers the inquest and trial of Wickham. If you like mysteries, as well as Austen and Regency England, this one’s for you.

As promised last month, here are my drawings for the rest of the Bad Batch:

I posted my drawings of Tech, Hunter, and Crosshair last month, so if you’d like to check those out, they’re here.

Here’s a bonus drawing of Ahsoka from the live-action show:

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

My Entertainment Update for January 2025

Skeleton Crew. I really enjoyed this one. I thought this show about four kids getting lost in the Star Wars galaxy would be a bit kiddie, and it’s certainly appropriate for the whole family, but I was surprised by how much I liked it. It did take a few episodes to pull me in all the way, but once I was invested, I was all in.

The 80’s kids-on-bikes-having-adventures vibe made it fun, and although suburban Star Wars felt a bit jarring, it soon fell into classic Star Wars mode, with lots of cool aliens, pirates, and space action. The whole mystery surrounding At-Attin was cool, the kids were great, and Jude Law as Jod was fantastic. It wasn’t my favorite live-action show, but it was certainly enjoyable and I’m all for a Season 2, if it happens.

Last Shot, by Daniel Jose Older. I tried reading this book back when it first came out (it was one of the first crop of canon books that came out), but after a few chapters, I just couldn’t go on. This writer is terrible, I thought. I have no idea what’s going on. And I was sad, because I really wanted a Han and Lando adventure to enjoy. So I thought maybe I’d try again someday and I’m glad I waited this long, as I’m 1.) more familiar with Daniel Jose Older’s style from the High Republic, and 2.) more familiar with some other canon lore that is subtly referenced in the book, such as the Aftermath Trilogy, and the movie Solo (I hadn’t seen it yet). So, this time when I picked it up, it was much easier to get into and enjoy.

That’s not to say it was a great book, but it was fairly enjoyable. It takes place a few years after ROTJ, as Ben Solo is two years old at the time. Han feels distinctly out of place as a husband and father, so when Lando comes around demanding he help him with something, he’s ready to go. That something is finding out where the Phylanx Redux Transmitter is, as Lando had been attacked by a droid-like being who demanded he find it. See, the last person who had seen it was the owner of the Millenium Falcon, and this person thought it was Lando. But guess who it really was? And what, exactly, is a Phylanx Redux Transmitter? They don’t really know, but they figure they better find it.

So then we go back fifteen years when Lando and L-3 still have the Falcon and L-3 drags Lando on some secretive mission involving droids; then we go back ten years when Han, Chewie and Sanna Starros (I’m still a little fuzzy on who she is, but Leia had referred to her as Han’s “other wife.” Okay.) are on Takodana and Sanna convinces Han to help her with some score, going after a device that is very valuable to many different people. Then we go back twenty years to Utupau, where a doctor there is kidnapped by thugs, his friend is killed by other thugs along with many others, but there are plenty of droids around. He’s so traumatized that he decides droids are the superior beings, and outfits them with the limbs of dead people.

Confused yet? Yeah, me too, but I was determined to make it through this book. It shuffled between all these timelines, and we finally figure out the Phylanx is a device created by that Utupaun doctor that, once activated, will cause all the droids in the galaxy to turn on their masters. Yikes!

This book was sloppy, confusing, and I’m still not fond of Jose Older’s writing style (his HR books are usually my least favorite). BUT–I did like the banter between Han and Lando, seeing L-3 again, seeing little Ben Solo, and seeing Lando fall in love with a Twilek woman named Kaasha Bateeen. I’m assuming this is the mother of Lando’s child who got kidnapped, presumably by the First Order when she’s two years old (who we learn about in the book Shadow of the Sith). So ultimately, I am glad I read this book, but it’s easier to read if you’re familiar with other canon material.

Announcement: A Bad Batch Novel coming in August 2025!

I’m super-excited about this news, as some of you know I’m a huge Bad Batch fan. There are some upcoming comics with the BB (“Ghost Agent,” a Clone Wars mission story) but as I’m more of a book person, this is great news. Here’s the synopsis:

Hunter, Wrecker, Tech, and Omega gamble on a mission to help rebuild Pabu in this thrilling adventure for The Bad Batch.

A good soldier knows that life is all about change — whether it’s on or off the battlefield. Surviving, living, means adaptation. Hunter is well acquainted with this lesson. He’s on the run from the Empire, Echo’s off on a mission with Captain Rex, and Crosshair is . . . still Crosshair, but amidst all the change, Hunter still has Tech, Wrecker, and Omega.

And it seems that his small family might have finally found a safe place to land, far from the increasingly vigilant eyes of the Empire: Pabu. But their potential new island home is in desperate need of resources if there is any hope for the fledgling community to recover from a devastating sea wave. That’s where Phee Genoa, self-proclaimed liberator of treasures, comes in, with a couple of jobs she swears will get them the funds they need. Despite Hunter’s concern with Phee’s precarious plans, the rest of the crew is fine following her lead.

Things go wrong almost immediately, as Phee’s droid blows the crew’s cover at a high-stakes auction, and they barely make it out with the relic they’d been paid to acquire. Hunter insists they finish their first mission and deliver the relic before taking on more work, but Phee and the others push forward with a second job: ferrying a couple on the run, one of whom is due to give birth at any moment. Hunter worries what they’re risking, especially when their mysterious new passengers cling to lies and secrets that trace back to an Imperial Security Bureau officer hot on their trail.

As Hunter tries to get the crew back on a stable, safe path far, far away from anything to do with the Empire’s watchdogs, their overlapping missions only invite more danger and chaos. On the verge of failing both their desperate passengers and their community on Pabu, the Batch must remember that the only way they succeed, the only way they survive to fight another day, is by trusting each other.

I was kind of hoping for a post-finale story, but I’ll take this, as at least we have Tech back (and I’m hoping for a bit of Tech/Phee flirtation, lol). The drawback is no Echo or Crosshair. Also, I have to wait until August to read it. 😦 But I’m very happy it’s on the Star Wars book horizon.

So I’ve mentioned before that I’ve been getting back into drawing and practicing portraits, mostly because I want to draw Star Wars characters. I’ve made some progress, though I have a long way to go. I do like this Obi-Wan Kenobi drawing I did a little while ago:

Yes, the top of his head is not there, lol, as the photo reference cut it off and I didn’t dare fill it in at the time. And yes, that’s an envelope at the top covering up some comments for improvement I made. But otherwise, I like it. I drew a lot of other SW live-action characters, but I’m not particularly happy with them; I need to improve a bit before I share them.

However, I have been drawing some Bad Batch characters, as they’re animated and already 2D, so I thought I’d have an easier time with them. I wouldn’t say they were easier, but they did come out better than the live-action characters. Here’s what I have so far:

I’m happy with these. Omega is up next, as well as Wrecker and Echo. I’ll share those next month.

Lastly, here are some non-Star Wars books I’ve enjoyed lately:

Wool, by Hugh Howey.
The End of Men, by Christina Sweeney-Baird.
Future Home of the Living God, by Louise Erdrich.

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

Life Day Update

Hello friends, long time no blog!

I hope everyone had a happy Solstice/Christmas/Hannukah/Life Day. I’ve been taking a break from the blog for a few months, as I was busy taking care of my elderly Dad. He ended up getting pneumonia and sepsis and passed away at the end of November. Then I got sick for a few weeks. I’m just now feeling as if I’m getting back to “normal” and have missed the blog, so I thought I’d give a quick update.

I’ve been reading a lot of great non-Star Wars books* (see brief list at end of post), but I did read the latest High Republic novel, Tears of the Nameless, and I think it’s probably my favorite HR book so far. It focuses on Reath Silas, one of my favorite HR Jedi, and his quest to solve the Nameless problem. He gets help from a Padawan named Amadeo, and oh yeah, his old Master, Comahc Vitus returns with some vital information. I was thrilled to see Comahc return, as he had left the Order at the end of Midnight Horizon. Fantastic book.

Another SW book I read was the Mace Windu book The Glass Abyss. This one was…interesting. Mace has never been one of my favorite Jedi, but I do respect the guy. But I’ve always wanted to like him, as well. The Clone Wars went a long way in helping me with that; he was great whenever he made an appearance there. I tried reading Shatterpoint, the Legends book about Mace, but I just couldn’t get interested. I didn’t have much hope for this one, to be honest, since I saw that a lot of people didn’t really like it. But you know what? It wasn’t bad. It was definitely different for a Star Wars book, and especially different for a Mace story. But maybe that’s the point. Here, Mace goes to an Outer Rim planet at the behest of his now-dead friend, Qui Gon Jinn, who had a mission there several years ago. The people are under the thumb of two different crime lords who hold a tenuous balance there. He befriends a community who have a symbiotic sort of relationship with giant silkworms (!) and comes to deeply respect them. He also falls for the leader of these people, and it’s weird seeing Mace all romantic and stuff (once he realizes he’s in love, that is), lol. One of the villains is strange, as well, as he’s two different beings bonded as one, a Rodian and another humanoid species, named Chulok. The other crime boss is a giant insect. Yeah, very weird stuff, but I found it kind of entertaining. I also read it in the hospital while my dad was dying, so it holds some weird emotional heft with me. So yeah, I do like Mace now, lol.

In live-action news, I’m quite enjoying Skeleton Crew. It took a few episodes to really hook me, but I’m fully on board now. It’s a fun, weird, mysterious adventure and I can’t wait to see how this is going to turn out. I’m curious about Jod’s past (is he just a random Force-user, or a former Padawan who escaped Order 66?) and if he’ll come to use his Force powers for good instead of piracy; I’m also wondering about the whole At Attin thing and what’s going on there. And if any harm comes to our sweet Neel there will be hell to pay.

Star Wars things I’m looking forward to: there will be some Bad Batch comics in January, a Clone Wars adventure I think, and this will be a comic series I’ll need to have on my shelf. I’m also hearing rumors about a Bad Batch novel coming out in April or May? If so, I’ll be in Bad Batch heaven! I’m looking forward to the conclusion of The High Republic series with the last wave of books, and of course, Andor Season 2. I recently rewatched Season 1 and I’m totally ready for that great series to continue and conclude.

So instead of blogging and/or writing these past few months, I’ve gotten back into drawing, specifically, portrait drawing. I just needed to do something different, and I have this crazy dream of creating Star Wars fan art. If you know me, you know I LOVE Star Wars fan art, and I’ve often thought, You know, I want to do that too! So I’m going to. I’m still practicing my portrait skills, but once I feel ready, I’m going to start drawing Star Wars characters, and I will certainly share them here if I feel they’re any good, lol.

Anyway, hope everyone is well. Let me know what you’ve been up to, and what Star Wars things are making you happy right now in the comments!

* Here’s some great non-Star Wars books I’ve read lately:

The Madwoman Upstairs, by Catherine Lowell
The Essex Serpent, by Sarah Perry
A Gentleman in Moscow, by Amor Towles
The Blue Hour, by Paula Hawkins
Once there Were Wolves, by Charlotte McConahy
Currently reading: Wool, by Hugh Howey

My Entertainment Update for May 2024

Hello friends! May was a busy Star Wars month, so let’s get right to it. 🙂

The Bad Batch series finale. Although this is the first thing listed, it’s the last thing I wrote because I don’t even know where to begin with this, lol, and summing it up in a few paragraphs is impossible. I’ve been very emotionally involved in this series since it began, and having it come to an end has been bittersweet. I’m not going to go into details of the show here (I’m assuming you’ve watched), just feel all my feelings, lol.

First off, I feel that Season 3 has been pretty solid, particularly Crosshair’s character arc and redemption. There are lots of characters I would have liked to see return or at least know what happened to them (Cody? Cid? Wolfe? More Rex and the clones? I definitely would have liked more Phee, too) but the season focuses on the Batch and their mission, as it should.

The whole “Is Tech still alive?” thing was really up in the air for me; at the beginning of the season I thought there might be a possibility, and there seemed to be some clues planted here and there. But by the last few episodes I concluded he was truly gone and subsequently had to grieve for him all over again, but also feel relieved that he didn’t come back as some awful brainwashed assassin like the CX’s, Winter Soldier-style, which is the only way I feel he could have come back. But now I can at least move on and know that his sacrifice allowed the happy ending for his family that we got. (There’s always my alternate-universe fan-fiction, where he does survive, and I can live there simultaneously with the canon version, lol).

Anyway, there were so many doom-sayers that were convinced that everybody was going to die at the end in Rogue One style and I just wanted to say to them: um, shutup? I suppose it was one possibility, but I really didn’t think the series would go that route. At most, I thought we’d lose maybe one more member, but I think Tech was enough to make the point that not everyone gets out alive and that there are stakes. The fact that they all survived and got to live out their lives on Pabu pretty much made me over-the-moon happy (At least this part of my fan-fiction was validated! As well as Omega eventually going off to fight in the Rebellion). Even Emerie survived, who I thought for sure would sacrifice herself to help the children escape. I’m glad she lived, too.

Like I said, there’s so much I could touch on here but I’ll just say that I loved every minute of this last season and the finale was everything I hoped for. The tears didn’t start until the credits rolled, because it was then I knew it was over, and that made me sad; but the Batch were allowed to get old on beautiful Pabu and be whatever they wanted to be, and that made me happy. I like to think that they not only helped Rex find the kids’ parents, but also helped out with the Hidden Path in some way, helping Force sensitives evade the Empire. Not fighting anymore, just doing their little part, helping where they could. A good life with purpose.

I’m hoping to see Rex, Echo, Emerie and the other clones in some future project, as well as Omega during her Rebellion adventures. I dream of her and Hera reuniting and giving the Empire hell! And maybe a cameo by the Batch in any of these stories. A girl can dream, lol.

Tales of the Empire. So this show was part of the May 4th festivities, and I couldn’t wait to watch it. I really liked it, for the most part. I think I like Tales of the Jedi better, but this one gave us some insight into Morgan Elsbeth and the long-awaited return of Barriss Offee. Out of the two characters, I preferred the Barriss episodes. The theme of the shorts was how these two different characters reacted to the rising dark, and how they dealt with the idea of revenge.

Morgan was a young Nightsister on Dathomir when her people were slaughtered by the Separatists, led by General Grievous. She survived, but instead of joining the Mountain clan (which seems to be guided by the Light side of the Force, while the Nightsisters draw from the Dark side), she decides to strike out on her own and seek revenge. At first, I wasn’t sure who she was going to wreak vengeance upon, since the Separatists are no more. But I see now that she’s playing the long game, using the Empire (and Thrawn) to consolidate her own power for Dathomir (as she says in Ahsoka, “For Dathomir” under her breath in response to Thrawn’s “For the Empire.”) Unfortunately, that means hurting others in her quest for power.

Barriss, after Order 66, is offered the opportunity to become an Inquisitor, which is what a lot of us theorized. Even though I did like her shorts better, there’s always been something about Barriss that just didn’t make sense to me. She’d been disillusioned with the Jedi and thought they were becoming more war-like, losing their way, so she…rigged an explosion in the Jedi temple? And framed her “best friend” Ahsoka for it? It didn’t quite make sense, especially since she seemed to be an excellent Padawan in every other way. But okay.

Now, after Order 66, she’s given the opportunity to become an Inquisitor, considering her aforementioned crimes. But every step of the way, she resists the darkness. She kills the other Padawan to survive, not because of any inner ambition. She repeatedly questions their orders and missions and seems naive about their true aims. She doesn’t seem brutal enough to have passed their tests in the first place (having read Rise of the Red Blade, yes, they are terribly brutal, culling any sign of weakness whatsoever.)

Anyway, Barriss decides the Inquisitorious is not for her and saves a Jedi she and the Fourth Sister are supposed to kill (I do like that we get more of her, since she didn’t have much to do in the Obi-Wan series). She goes off and becomes a “Wise Mother,” using her Force healing skills to help others. There’s some evidence she’s a link in the Hidden Path, helping Force-sensitives get away from the Empire. I like this destiny for her; she may have believed the Jedi Order didn’t work, but neither did she think going to the dark side would help anything, either. She just uses her gifts to help others.

I do feel like the Fourth Sister came back to the Light much too quickly, but maybe she was already halfway there after years and years of anger and hate. Honestly, I don’t know how anyone can sustain themselves on those exhausting emotions for so long. She accidentally impales Barriss in the cavern in trying to get out; but we don’t know if she actually died or not. So now we’ll continue to get more questions of “What happened to Barriss?” LOL.

The Acolyte excitement and trailers. I just want to point out that in two weeks, The Acolyte premieres and I’m sooo ready for it! The trailers have been awesome and I can’t wait to sink into this Jedi murder-mystery thriller at the end of the High Republic. Naturally I’ll be talking about it more next month.

The Phantom Menace in the theater. For May the 4th weekend, I caught The Phantom Menace in my local theater. It’s celebrating 25 years since its premiere, which is a little crazy to me, lol. When it first came out, I brought my 8-year-old stepson, who loved Qui Gon Jinn, and Maul’s double-lightsaber. At the time, I wasn’t quite so open-minded as I am now and just didn’t get it. It wasn’t “my” Star Wars. It was so different from the OT that I couldn’t really embrace it at the time. But I did it for the boy, lol. And subsequently brought him to see Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, when they came out.

Now that boy is thirty-three and brings his own young son to see all the Star Wars (and Marvel) movies. And me? I love them, of course. I’ve since relaxed A LOT and just enjoy them for what they are–fun Star Wars movies. Back then, Jar Jar grated on my nerves, and I thought he was a stupid character; now I just want to give the big goof a hug. Obi-Wan Kenobi as played by Ewan McGregor has become one of my all-time favorite Star Wars characters. Qui Gon is also a favorite Jedi character; they’re all quite interesting, but I think they’ve been improved upon in subsequent material like The Clone Wars, and many other projects like the Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ahsoka series, never mind countless books.

So it was a fun ride watching the film on the big screen again, this time with a lot more appreciation.

In books, I was kind of all over the place this past month. While waiting for the next High Republic book to come out (Temptation of the Force on June 11th), I went back and forth with a few different things, not really sure what I was in the mood for. Here’s a few books I started but haven’t finished yet (and may or may not finish):

Stone Blind, by Natalie Haynes. I’m often drawn to retellings of ancient mythical stories, especially since modern retellings will often turn them on their heads with different perspectives and interpretations. The Medusa myth has always fascinated me: the story of a goddess who was turned into a monster, and whose gaze turned men to stone. Naturally, when I found out some time ago about the details of the story–that Medusa had been raped by Poseidon, was blamed for the incident and turned into the monster–I felt outrage. Typical “blame the victim” patriarchy, misogyny at its worst; good for her, turning arrogant men who would hunt her into stone, they deserve it, and what have you. Yet I wanted to see what this version would bring to the story.

But I wasn’t too far in when I realized why I haven’t read Greek myth retellings for a while now: the rapes kept adding up, and so did my rage. They weren’t particularly graphic scenes; just the fact that they happened on the regular, by Zeus in particular (what a vile creature he is), just made me sick. In fact, all of the Olympian gods are vile and arrogant and petulant and just plain odious. I suppose that’s the point. But I just couldn’t get through it.

I suspect I’ve been spoiled, in a way, by Star Wars books (and movies and shows). Gender oppression isn’t a thing in these stories, not by a long shot. It doesn’t exist. Rape is never, ever mentioned (this is a PG-rated world, after all), but more than that, in the world itself, women (or transgender persons, for that matter) are simply taken for what they are without question. Good, bad, meek, strong, beautiful, ugly, rulers, peasants, soldiers, parents; gender doesn’t play into the role at all (neither does ethnicity nor sexual orientation). Certainly, there are those in our world who have something to say about this and Star Wars “wokeness;” but I have no patience for any of their nonsense and ridiculous labels.

Anyway, what I’m saying is, I’ve read so much Star Wars and immersed myself in this world so much, that when I encounter misogyny and other bigotry in other books, it’s jarring and upsetting to me. As it should be, but…mental health, lol. So Stone Blind has been set aside for now.

Canto Bight, by various authors. So I retreated into another Star Wars book, one that I haven’t had much interest in but thought I’d finally check out since there didn’t seem to be much else I wanted to read. But…it’s boring, lol. The first story was a bit amusing, but I don’t know or care about these characters at all. And Canto Bight isn’t a setting I’m particularly fascinated by. Set aside for another time, perhaps.

Medstar 1: Battle Surgeons, by Michael Reaves and Steve Perry. So now that I’ve watched Tales of the Empire, I’ve got Barriss Offee on my mind, lol, and want to know more about her besides what we see in the Clone Wars. She’s in a couple of Legends books called Medstar: Book One: Battle Surgeons and Book Two: Jedi Healer. They’re like a Star Wars M*A*S*H, following a group of doctors and nurses on the planet Drongar that sew up and treat clones that are injured in battle. The battle is being waged here for a special substance called bota that’s kind of like bacta, and both sides want it. There’s an arrogant Tera Kasi warrior, an ambitious Republic Admiral, and an unidentified spy in their midst. I like how Barriss is portrayed as a Force healer in these books, as we see in the last short of Tales of the Empire. We don’t see too much of that in canon until Rey in the Sequel Trilogy. I just started the first book, and already I like it better than the other books I’ve tried to read lately. I’ll write more about them next month.

That’s it for this month (that’s plenty!). How did you celebrate May the Fourth? What’s been entertaining you? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!

My Entertainment Update for April

The Bad Batch S3. We’re just one episode away from the conclusion of The Bad Batch as a series, and I’ve got mixed emotions about it: anticipation, dread, excitement, sadness, and curiosity about how the heck they’re going to wrap everything up in one final episode based on where we are right now. There’s been some speculation that the last episode (titled “The Calvary Has Arrived”) will be longer than the usual 25 or so minutes, but I’ve also heard it’s just going to be 22 minutes. So who knows?

There’s also speculation that the finale will introduce the beginnings of a new animated series about the Clone Rebellion, led by Rex, Gregor and Wolfe and perhaps Echo; but again, we don’t really know. Bad Batch fans are just holding their collective breath to see how this story ends, who might die, who lives to fight another day, and darnit, who’s CX-2? Is it Tech? Cody? Just another clone? There’s so many questions that need to be answered. And, ready or not, we’re going to get them (hopefully) next week. I’m planning on writing a post after the finale for my final thoughts. What are your predictions?

Tales of the Empire. I’d been hoping for a Season 2 of Tales of the Jedi, but this will definitely do. All six short episodes drop on May 4th with three focusing on Morgan Elsbeth, and three on Barriss Offee. It will be interesting to see Morgan’s beginnings with the witches of Dathomir and how she became Thrawn’s ally; but I think we’re all a bit more excited about seeing Barriss for the first time since her arrest in Clone Wars. Questions about her fate have been swirling in the fandom for years, and now finally we’ll get some answers. Based on the trailer, she’s obviously been recruited to become an Inquisitor after Order 66, but will she ultimately commit to the dark side? Can’t wait to find out!

The Living Force, by John Jackson Miller. I’m not quite done with this book but I’m getting close, less than a hundred pages left. It takes place just before The Phantom Menace; Qui Gon Jinn has offered a challenge to the Jedi Council: to reconnect to the Living Force, get out of the Council chambers and away from their focus on the Cosmic Force (the big picture), and “Just help one person.”

So they do. All eleven members of the Council decide to meet up on the planet Kwenn. The Jedi Temple there, manned since the High Republic, has been slated for closing, a common occurrence at this time. During the High Republic, the Jedi established Temples on a great many planets, to send a message to the people that “The Jedi Stand With You.” Since then there aren’t many Jedi outposts left, as the Jedi increasingly retrenched to the main temple on Coruscant and made decisions in close concert with the Senate and the Republic. The Jedi Council, in particular, have lost touch with the common people of the galaxy, who increasingly don’t trust the Jedi or know very little about them.

Anyway, off they go: Ki-Adi-Mundi, Yarael Poof, Plo Kloon, Saesee Tiin, Even Piell, Eeth Koth, Mace Windu, Adi Gallia, Yoda and Yaddle. Depa Billaba is also a member of the Council at this time, but she’s on a mission. Mace becomes concerned when she goes missing, and his part of the story is trying to find her and what her mission involves, while the others arrive on Kwenn and soon become enmeshed in helping the locals with solving their problems. Kwenn’s society has been declining in recent years and has seen an influx in pirate activity, which in turn has led to less tourism, and the corporations operating there leaving the system, which impacts everyone living there.

While they’re helping various people and groups, they’re also planning a big celebration where they invite all the citizens of Kwenn to show their solidarity with them. The problem is, the villain of the book, a pirate named Zilastra who has kidnapped Depa Billaba, plans on consolidating her power in the sector and killing all the Jedi at this celebration.

John Jackson Miller does an admirable job switching back and forth between all these characters and their individual missions, while making the story fun and lighter than most other books. There’s quite a bit of humor, and we get to know these lesser-known characters and their personalities better. It’s kind of sad, knowing the fate of all these characters at the hands of either the Separatists, Sidious, or Order 66 (Yoda being the only survivor). Because of this, I’m glad of the opportunity to get to know them better.

Star Wars and Philosophy Strike Back, by various contributors. I was browsing through a Barnes and Noble store recently and came upon this book in the philosophy section, so of course I had to get it! I don’t usually read a lot of nonfiction about Star Wars but I want that to change and this seemed like an interesting place to start. I haven’t gotten into it yet because I wanted to finish The Living Force first, but it addresses questions like:

Should droids be free? Should clone troopers?

What political and ethical ideas ground resistance and rebellion?

What’s wrong with the way women are portrayed in Star Wars?

Does Han Solo have a philosophical worldview?

Was Galen Erso responsible for the destruction of Alderaan?

Should you eat Baby Yoda?

I’m not sure what that last question is all about, but I’m certainly curious, as I am about all of them. There’s a total of thirty-six essays addressing some deep questions presented by Star Wars, written by various philosophers, and I’m looking forward to delving into them.

That’s about it for this past month. What’s been entertaining you? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!

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!

The Bad Batch Season Premiere Thoughts (Eps 1-3)

Season 3 of the Bad Batch is finally here and I’m so excited!

As you may know, Disney+ dropped the first three episodes together: “Confined,” “Paths Unknown,” and “Shadows of Tantiss.” I’m just going to briefly go over the plot of each and give my thoughts. This one will be a bit longer than usual since there are three episodes to discuss.

So just to be clear: SPOILERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It actually starts with a recap of Season 2 and the very first thing we hear is Tech’s words: “When have we ever followed orders?” Yeah, okay, thanks for that, I can see how this is gonna go already, lol. Heartbroken jokes aside, I think it signifies that Tech’s absence will no doubt haunt the entirety of Season 3 (whether or not he “comes back” has been hotly debated since the S2 finale, and though I have thoughts on that, I’m just going to wait and see).

Anyway, “Confined” begins on Tantiss with where Omega and Crosshair are at physically and emotionally. Omega is in a Groundhog’s Day type of existence, helping Emerie everyday with her lab chores, as well as feeding the lurkhounds in their kennels. Emerie tells her she’s not a prisoner, but this just shows how blind she is to her own servitude. It will be interesting to see how Emerie develops over the course of the season. Emerie takes Omega’s blood for testing every day, along with all the other clones, but Nala Se secretly disposes of it. Questions that began in S1 pop up again about Omega and what’s so special about her, questions that have been nagging me all along. But more on that later. She helps and befriends one of the lurkhounds, which she names Batcher, an obvious metaphor for the Batch themselves. Batcher is different and the Imperials conclude she’s useless and slates her for termination; the same could be said of all clones, not just Clone Force 99. You just know that Batcher is going to be important somehow later on.

Crosshair, meanwhile, is quite defeated, slumping along with the other clones, laying morosely on his cot in his cell. He’s totally given up, and he doesn’t care. Omega sneaks down to his cell when she can and talks of escape; he tells her not to bother with him, not to waste her time on “lost causes” like the lurkhound and himself. He tells her he belongs there, obviously punishing himself for all the things he did while with the Empire. Omega tells him that none of them belong there. She’s not going to give up, on escape or on him. It’s not clear if Omega told him about Tech’s death, but I’m going to assume she did until I learn otherwise. If so, maybe he partly blames himself. After all, they were trying to find him (at Tech’s urging), and their plan to get intel on his whereabouts caused Tech’s death (as well Saw Gerrera’s not-very-well-thought-out attack on Eriadu. In fact, I totally blame him. But I digress.)

“Paths Unknown” shifts to Hunter and Wrecker, the only two of the Batch still together, as Echo is off with Rex somewhere. They get some intel on an Imperial lab from Isa Durand and her son, Roland, who we met in S1 when he took over Cid’s parlor. I actually kind of like Roland, lol. His mother, on the other hand, is an icicle.

Echo and Rex can’t meet up with them for two more days and Hunter decides to go without them. Surprisingly, it’s Wrecker who is the voice of reason: he says the last time they infiltrated an Imperial base, not all of them came back. Hunter won’t wait, which further shows his desperation to find Omega. The fact that they messed with the Pykes for the Durand intel shows how far Hunter is willing to go.

So off they go to find this lab, but unfortunately, the intel is outdated: the lab was destroyed by orbital bombardment. They meet up with some young clones who escaped the lab and have been living in the jungle on their own. They surmise Hunter and Wrecker are “99s, defective.” Wrecker’s response, “Defective AND effective!” is perfect, and obvious t-shirt material. Anyway, the young clones explain that the Imperials destroyed the facility when they lost control of one of their experiments, which they face soon after–slithervines that have overrun the lab. They bring them to Mox, a slightly older cadet, who is impressed by their loyalty to Omega, but won’t help them because it’s too dangerous. Deet, one of the younger ones, wants to help, however, and he leads them to the lab. There’s a control panel there that might have some intel that could point the way to where they might have gone. They bring Gonky along for power, and get some intel, but are attacked by an even bigger vine-monster. The other two boys decide to help (after thinking about stealing the Marauder and leaving) and get them out. The intel only gives them a sector to search but it’s better than nothing. Hunter tells the young clones they’ll drop them off on Pabu where they can decide who and what they want to be.

“Shadows of Tantiss” goes back to Omega and Crosshair on Tantiss. Turns out that the Emperor is making a visit to the facility to check on Hemlock’s progress with “Project Necromancer.” Hemlock wants Nala Se to be with him, so she can’t dispose of Omega’s blood like before. She warns Omega that she must leave; she tells her to take her datapad and find a shuttle to get off the planet. Omega won’t leave without Crosshair, however; she runs down to his cell and convinces him to distract the guards, which he does. She brings them down to the kennels to escape through Batcher’s empty tunnel to the outside; she plans on finding the shuttle that had crashed in the first episode and using the communications system to contact Hunter and Wrecker. Emerie finds them first, however, and calls for backup before Crosshair stuns her. The flee into the wilderness with lurkhounds and Imperials following. The communications system in the downed ship doesn’t work and Omega begins to despair. But Crosshair tells her they’re not done yet and they execute Order 72, which apparently means split up and surprise the enemy from two sides. Batcher helps out and they commandeer the Imperials’ shuttle.

They’re pursued by fighters and probably wouldn’t have gotten away except for one thing: Omega’s blood count shows that she’s a match for what they’re looking for– a high M (midichlorian)-count with no degradation. This is what they’re looking for in Project Necromancer, which I presume is how the Emperor is trying to achieve immortality–transferring his essence into a Force-sensitive clone of himself, which tracks with what we’ve seen in the Mandalorian and the Sequel Trilogy.

Anyway, Emerie makes the discovery and tells Hemlock to break off pursuit, since they’ll need Omega alive. Omega and Crosshair jump into hyperspace and get away. Hemlock calls it a “minor setback,” as he has all the resources of the Empire behind him.

There’s SO much I loved about these opening episodes, especially the dynamic between Omega and Crosshair. Crosshair’s got a long way to go, but I’m glad to see he’s still got some spark left in him, and that he’s softening toward Omega. Just a little bit.

I’m also gratified to learn about Omega’s high M-count. It doesn’t mean that she’s Force-sensitive, I guess, but maybe she has a strong potential if taught. Certainly more so than Sabine. If Sabine can learn, who presumably has a very low M-count, then Omega has huge potential. I flirted with the idea of Omega being Force-sensitive early on during the first season; I even made a post about it outlining my “evidence.” But then nothing came of it and I gave up on the idea. So I’m loving this interesting turn of events and I’m eager to see where it all leads.

A very satisfying opener for Season 3, and I can’t wait for the next episode!

Oh, and side note: we get a very brief glimpse of the assassin that’s in the trailer, the one similar to the clone assassin in S2 that went after Senator Chuchi. Of course, there’s been a lot of speculation about who this might be: Cody? (I don’t think so). Rampart? (Maybe? But again, I don’t think so). Tech? (Gahh!!!) It could very well be no one special, just another clone, but I have a feeling it’s someone we know, or they wouldn’t have (briefly) called attention to him right now. Guess we’ll just have to wait and see on that, too.

Oh, side note #2: Crosshair’s tremor. This is an interesting development. Not surprising, considering the trauma he’s been through, but it will definitely affect his sharpshooting skills. He’ll have to reconsider his future, what he may want to do or be going forward, like the rest of the Batch has had to do this whole time. A tall order for a man who followed the Empire, in part, because he didn’t know what else he could be besides a soldier. Anyway, no more side notes or I’ll go on forever, lol.

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