My Entertainment Weekend Update

Hello my friends, and happy weekend. I hope you all had a great holiday this year.

So I finally finished Kenobi, by John Jackson Miller, and Smuggler’s Run by Greg Rucka. Kenobi is a wonderful Legends book about Obi-Wan when he first arrives on Tatooine to watch over Luke. Smuggler’s Run is a short middle grade adventure featuring Han Solo and Chewbacca, and it was a fun, quick read and one that adds to my “Journey to the Force Awakens” collection. They include The Weapon of a Jedi (about Luke), Moving Target (Leia) and now Smuggler’s Run (Han). They’re all set up with someone during the time just before The Force Awakens telling someone else a story about these characters back in the day and their adventures. It’s a neat little set-up.

So now I’ve picked up The Rising Storm, by Cavan Scott, to re-read before The Fallen Star comes out in a few weeks. I want to refresh my memory of the events in that book before I start the new High Republic adventure.

I followed up my viewing of “The Essential Clone Wars” on D+ with Seasons 6 & 7, although I skipped a few arcs of S6 (mostly the ones with Padme and Clovis). The arc with Fives finding out about the inhibitor chips is vital for S7, and then Yoda’s journey to learn about becoming a Force ghost and facing trials is interesting. I watched all of S7, beginning with the Bad Batch arc, Ahsoka’s adventures with the Martez sisters (I thought about skipping this arc, but the sisters have kind of grown on me), and of course, the last four episodes of Ahsoka facing Maul and then she and Rex during Order 66. Amazing, brilliant Star Wars in these last few episodes. It knocks me off my feet every time.

Why Do Fans Think Spider-Man Might Be in the Hawkeye Finale? — Nice suits.

In Marvel, I watched the finale of Hawkeye, and it satisfied. It wrapped things up rather quickly, and that’s fine. Kate dealt with Kingpin, Maya dealt with her cousin, and then also Kingpin, and Clint dealt with Yelena. I actually came to like Jack in a weird way, and how the Larpers tried to recruit him to their group. I’m still not sure what the deal is with the watch and how it ties to Clint’s wife–I’m a Marvel newbie, so I had to look it up. Apparently, it refers to the comics where Clint’s wife Bobbi was SHIELD Agent 19, and then left to become a superhero named Mocking bird. Just a little wink wink to those who are familiar with the comics (which is not me, lol).

And that wonderful, cheesy performance of Rogers: The Musical at the end was great. I was kind of hoping Clint went back to finish watching it and appreciating the homage, but oh well. So not the best Marvel series, but not the worst, either. My ranking is Loki, Wandavision, Hawkeye, and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. I love Sam and Bucky, but sorry guys, it just didn’t do it for me, lol.

Okay, so I saw Spiderman: No Way Home, and I have to say it was AWESOME!

SPOILER WARNING FOR NO WAY HOME, IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN IT AND PLAN TO, STOP RIGHT HERE!!!!!

I don’t even know where to begin with this movie, because it was just so perfect in every way. First of all, I love Dr. Strange, he’s my favorite Marvel character next to Loki, so seeing him here was just wonderful. Tom Holland is always a great Spidey, just so sweet and vulnerable and with the biggest heart. Seeing all the past villains was cool (even though I didn’t know the ones from the Andrew Garfield movies since I haven’t seen them–yet), but seeing all three Spideys in one movie was just beyond all my expectations. I loved Toby Maguire as Spiderman, and when I saw Andrew Garfield show up, I thought, ooh, can it be? Will we see Toby too? And then there he was, an older and wiser Peter Parker stepping through the portal, and my heart just soared. All three of them learned something from the others here, and it was great to see. There’s plenty of tragedy, too, and it broke my heart: May’s death, and Peter’s friends not remembering him. That poor kid. 😦 Anyway, it was a great movie and ranks right up there with Shang Chi, my other favorite new Marvel movie.

Spider-Man: No Way Home Leaked Pics Confirm Multiverse Crossover; Andrew Garfield & Tobey Maguire Spotted In The Climax Scene — Who’s the best Spidey? Answer: all of them.

Sooo–I finally got my Star Wars tattoo! Here it is:

May be an image of 1 person and tattoo — For light and life.

I absolutely love it! It’s my first tattoo (at 50!) and it was a fun, interesting, and slightly painful experience, lol. Not bad at all, though, and well worth it. What do you think of it?

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

My Entertainment Weekend Update

Happy weekend, my friends!

I haven’t gotten too far in books this past week; still dribbling through Kenobi and Smuggler’s Run. I’m not sure why–I think I’ve just been busy getting ready for Christmas. But it’s okay. I’ll be done with them by the time The Fallen Star by Claudia Gray comes out on January 4th. I’m super excited for this book, which is the adult novel in the next wave of High Republic books. And it kicks off almost an entire year of Star Wars publications I’ve already pre-ordered. I think I’ll do a separate post on those books sometime next week, so stay tuned.

Hawkeye Episode 6 was quite good. We got Yelena Romanov’s appearance, which was fun, but I thought the character kind of laid it on a little thick, if you know what I mean. The banter went on far too long, in my opinion. It’s one of the criticisms I have with the show, which is that I feel the writing could be a little tighter. It tends to meander on unnecessarily sometimes. Oh well. And I heard that Kingpin is probably the big bad in the story, which turned out to be true, but as a Marvel newbie, I have no idea who that is, lol. That’s okay, too. I’ll figure it out. And–surprise!–Kate’s Mom is involved somehow with the big guy. There’s only one show left, and I’m wondering how all of this is going to be played out and wrapped up.

I’m not crying, you’re crying. No, I’m crying.

I finished my viewing of Disney+’s “Essential Clone Wars,” which goes up to the last episode of season five with Ahsoka leaving the Jedi Order (I’m guessing they consider all of seasons 6 and 7, which are much shorter, as essential viewing, and I agree with that assessment). There’s about twenty or so episodes that were plucked out of seasons 1-5, and they were pretty awesome indeed, especially the whole deal with Maul and Savage Opress, Death Watch and Mandalore, Satine’s death, and the Dark Saber. Ahsoka being accused of bombing the Jedi Temple and subsequently leaving the Order was great, too. That moment she walked away from the Council with Anakin running after her and their parting words had me in tears, I’m not kidding. I think I’ll watch seasons 6 and 7, which will probably get me up to the premier of The Book of Boba Fett on the 29th.

I’d like to take a moment to acknowledge the death of Anne Rice, the author of The Vampire Chronicles, the Mayfair Witches, and many other books that I devoured back in the day (90’s to early 2000’s). Her books were passionate, fun, mesmerizing and thoughtful all at the same time. Sometimes they were a little outrageous, lol. But she wrote her passions and didn’t apologize for it, and inspired me to do the same at the time (I have several desk-drawer novels from this time, lol). I eventually donated my piles of Anne Rice books to libraries and bookstores, but I do still have the book that started it all: Interview With A Vampire. The story of the vampires Louis and Lestat will always be one of my favorites. She was 80 years old and died of complications from a stroke. Rest in peace, Anne. I hope all of your spiritual questions will now be answered.

Anne Rice~I have enjoyed every book I have ever read by her, which is almost every book she has ever written. Just a few more to go. — I like this woman.

Last week I mentioned that I was in the process of getting a Jedi Order tattoo, and now I actually have an appointment date: Wednesday Dec. 22nd. I can’t wait! I’ll share a pic of it in my next update post.

Finally, Spiderman: No Way Home premieres this weekend, and I’m actually going to see it in the theater, probably Sunday. I can’t remember the last movie I saw in a theater, and I finally have some time (and a movie gift card from last Christmas I haven’t used yet, lol). I can’t wait to see Peter and Dr. Strange, and all those villains! It’s gonna be a blast.

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

My Star Wars Weekend Update

Hello fellow Star Wars fans and happy weekend!

May the 4th is only a few days away, and with it is the premiere of The Bad Batch. I’m looking forward to it, and in preparation I’ve been re-watching Season 7 of The Clone Wars. As of today, I’m only halfway through, but will get the other half in by the time the show starts on Tuesday. The two arcs I’ve watched are the initial episodes with the Bad Batch, and Ahsoka’s time with the Cortez sisters.

The Bad Batch arc is pretty entertaining, as we get introduced to these very different sorts of Clones. Clone Force 99, as they’re called (after the Clone named 99, whose mutation was rapidly accelerated aging, and who became a fond fan favorite) are kind of fun to watch, even though I’ve always thought they’re a bit cliched. Oh well. In the arc, the BB, along with Captain Rex and Anakin, are on a mission to find out how the Separatists are predicting their every military move; Rex believes that they’re getting the information from Echo, a Clone who presumably died in an earlier episode, and who Rex left for dead. Turns out Rex is right, and they’re using Echo’s mind and memories for their “algorithms.” Echo is left mutilated and haunted by his experience, and ends up joining the Bad Batch, as he’s no longer like his other clone brothers. I think Echo is going to be my favorite BB member, if only because he’s quite unique and a touch more vulnerable than the others.

The arc with Ahsoka and the Cortez sisters is fine, it’s great seeing Ahsoka again, but I feel the arc went on way too long. I like Trace and Raffa and what Ahsoka learns from them (namely that not everybody thinks the Jedi are all that), as well as the fact that Maul is involved in the criminal underworld, but 3 episodes with these ladies? I feel it could have been tightened up a bit. I’m looking forward to watching the rest of the season, which is really where the meat of the whole thing is.

Anyway, I’ve set up my corner of the bedroom with a desk and got my microphone unpacked, but now I’m waiting for a new computer I ordered, which should be in today. It’s a Dell Inspiron, and though I’m no expert on computers, it seems like it’s a decent laptop. At any rate, I’ve never paid this much for a computer before, lol. My needs are simple–internet and podcasting–but I want it to be a good investment. Anyone have any opinions on Dell computers? I had one a long time ago, one of the very first computers I ever owned, and I seem to remember liking it. It was a bulky desktop computer; I’ll never go back to those, lol. Once I get the new one up and running, it’s time to start podcasting!

I’ve pretty much set aside the fan fiction right now, at least for the past week, since I’ve been focused on the blog, setting up the podcast, and rewatching the Clone Wars. But I do intend to finish it. I’m about two-thirds done with the first draft, and I do like the story. It’ll have to wait a bit, though.

I would like to mention that at work today (I work in a grocery store) I saw a woman dressed up as Princess Leia. She had the long, flowing white dress and the cinnamon bun hairdo, and she looked great! Apparently she was going to a Star Wars-themed 40th birthday party. I love that grown-ups can have Star Wars birthday fun, too, lol.

My non-Star Wars indulgence this week was going to see The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings being my other favorite fandom, though Star Wars has been with me a lot longer) at my local movie theater. I can’t believe it’s been 20 years since I last saw it on the big screen. How can that be?! I was so thrilled our theater brought back all three films in honor of the Oscars (Return of the King won a slew of them, including Best Picture), but I could only make the time to see Fellowship. For all the epic scope of RoTK and its brilliance, Fellowship is probably my favorite. It was a really happy two and a half hours spent that evening, and what made it even better was that I was the only one in the theater! It was like my own private showing of the film.

Have a great weekend and see you around the blogosphere!

Clone Wars: Droids and Younglings

I have a confession to make: while watching Clone Wars for the first time, I skipped a few episodes. In particular, I skipped the episodes about 3PO and Artoo having adventures, and also the Ahsoka arc with the younglings.

I know, I know: sacrilege. Without knowing much about them, I deemed them frivolous and impatiently skipped over them to the more serious, exciting episodes with Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Ahsoka. I can always go back and watch them later, I told myself. And that’s exactly what I’ve done. And here’s what I’ve learned: there are no frivolous episodes in Clone Wars.

First, the youngling arc: Season Five, Episode 6 (The Gathering), Ep 7 (A Test of Strength), Ep 8 (Bound for Rescue), and Ep 9 (A Necessary Bond).

Ahsoka With Jedi Younglings — Ahsoka and the younglings.

The Gathering tells the story of Ahsoka bringing a group of younglings to Ilum for an important rite of passage: to find their kyber crystal for the lightsabers they will build. Ahsoka and Yoda are there, but the younglings must find their crystals themselves. There’s a time limit, as the cave opening will freeze shut after a certain amount of time, and the younglings must learn some important lessons about themselves during their quest.

In A Test of Strength, Ahsoka and the younglings’ ship is attacked by pirates who want their valuable kyber crystals–and Hondo Ohnaka is the pirate leader! If I knew that, I would have watched it immediately. Hondo is one of the best characters in the entire series.

Hondo Ohnaka | Wookieepedia | FANDOM powered by Wikia — Hondo Ohnaka

In Bound for Rescue, the younglings decide to rescue Ahsoka from the pirates, who had captured her in the previous episode. They manage to do so by impersonating carnival performers, but get caught again on the run.

In A Necessary Bond, the Separatists have taken over the planet they’re on, and the pirates choose to work with Ahsoka and the younglings to now save Hondo; he has some ships hidden somewhere that they can use to escape the planet. It’s during this episode that Hondo becomes fond of a youngling named Katooni, and we see he’s really just a big softie.

I really ended up enjoying this arc, especially Hondo, and the droid Huyang, who has taught the Jedi younglings how to build their lightsabers for a thousand generations, including Yoda.

What made me sad was wondering if any of these younglings lived through Order 66. Wahh!!

So on that note, onto the droid episodes and arcs:

S3 Ep 8: Evil Plans. Cad Bane kidnaps 3PO and Artoo to get information for his next mission. I actually kind of like Cad Bane, and he made this episode worth watching.

Cad Bane returns in an excerpt from the new Star Wars: Clone Wars book #Gaming #News #Entertainment — Cad Bane

S4 Ep 5: Mercy Mission. In this one, Artoo and 3PO are sent with a group of Clone troopers on a relief mission to a planet that has suffered in the war. While there, they discover the planet’s natives need help to keep the peace with another group of natives that lives beneath the ground. Without the clone troopers ever knowing (and who also hold them in some contempt), the droids heal the breach, and become unsung heroes.

S5 Ep 6: Nomad Droids. On their way back from the relief mission, the Republic ship they’re on is attacked by Separatists, and the droids crash land on another planet. They again unwittingly solve a crisis between the planet’s natives and some droids running the show ala the Wizard behind the curtain.

S5 Ep 10: Secret Weapons. Artoo and a group of astromech droids are chosen to go a mission to retrieve an encrypted code disk on a Separatist ship which will help the Republic in the war. The droids were all fun, and I especially like the pink one called QT (get it?), but I can’t believe I missed out on Colonel Meebur Gascon, a 12 inch-high bundle of bluster who led the group:

Meebur Gascon | Wookieepedia | FANDOM powered by Wikia — Meebur Gascon

This guy is great, and SO entertaining. He begins the arc with a disdain for droids, but by Point of No Return he grudgingly admires them and their abilities to get the job done. One of the best comic relief characters since Hondo, in my opinion, a hidden Clone Wars gem.

S5 Ep 11: A Sunny Day in the Void. After bravely retrieving the code disk, our little group becomes stranded on a desert world. After Colonel Gascon suffers from the heat, the droids quarrel about who will lead them. By the end of the episode, they find a settlement.

S5 Ep 12: Missing in Action. In the small community they find, they discover a Clone soldier with amnesia doing dishes in a diner. Yes, really. He turns out to be Gregor, and after remembering who he is, helps the group escape the planet to a Jedi ship orbiting above. Gregor seems in possession of all his marbles here (once he overcomes the amnesia), so I’m not sure how he got so goofy in Rebels. I’m not sure how he even survives in this episode, as he seems to give his life to help the group. Anyone know?

S5 Ep 13: Point of No Return. On the Jedi ship, Gascon and the droids discover that the Separatists have commandeered the ship, and are en route to a Republic conference on a space station with plans to destroy it. Now they must prevent the battle droids on board from carrying out their devious plan.

Turns out these skipped episodes were really quite good, and I learned a lesson to not judge a book by its cover–or rather, an episode by its main characters. Kind of like the characters in these arcs: both the younglings and the droids are underestimated in these episodes, and they prove everyone wrong–even me. I am glad I had these additional Clone Wars episodes to watch, however, since I was missing the show quite a bit. A little Clone Wars gift to myself!

If you’ve watched Clone Wars (or Rebels, for that matter–in which I did not skip any), have you skipped any episodes? Which ones and why? Comment below and we’ll talk about it!

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QT-KT - Wookieepedia, the Star Wars Wiki — QT-KT

Ahsoka Tano: From Padawan to Rebel

My next installment of Women of Star Wars: Animated Edition is Ahsoka Tano.

Ahsoka Tano is Anakin Skywalker’s Padawan in Clone Wars. She’s a young togruta with big blue eyes, and presumably was going to be Obi-Wan’s new Padawan since Anakin had achieved Jedi Knighthood. The particulars of how she became Anakin’s apprentice rather than Obi-Wan’s is detailed in the Clone Wars movie; turns out that Ahsoka has a slight rebellious streak. Despite his initial resistance to taking on a padawan, Anakin himself says to her: “You may not have done well as Obi-Wan’s padawan. But you might do okay as mine.”

The pair make a good team, despite being a bit too similar and getting on each other’s nerves at first. Ahsoka calls him “Sky Guy” and Anakin calls her “Snips”, referring to her initial snippiness.

I’m going to say right up front that I much preferred Clone Wars Anakin over movie Anakin (they almost seem like different characters to me), and I think Ahsoka has a lot to do with that. The fact that he has someone to feel responsible for makes him grow up a little bit; he also comes to care for her and risks his life many times for her. I just find it kind of funny when he dispenses sage Jedi wisdom, like stressing patience, when he can’t even take his own advice!

Ahsoka had some great arcs in Clone Wars; she grew from an impetuous, eager youngster who wanted to prove herself into a thoughtful, cunning, and brave Jedi warrior. But I feel she really came into her own when she actually walked away from the Jedi Order. Accused of murder, expelled from the Order, and put on trial, she’s eventually exonerated (with help from Anakin). But when the Jedi Order welcomes her back in, she refuses to rejoin them. Her hurt and betrayal at their lack of loyalty opens her eyes to other options; she decides to find out who she’s supposed to be and what she’s supposed to do on her own.

Ahsoka’s decision to leave the Order devastates Anakin. He understands, but Anakin himself values loyalty to a fault. Ahsoka knows this, and her guilt at leaving him comes back to haunt her in Rebels.

While Ahsoka is absent from Clone Wars during Season 6, she returns in the seventh and final season. After a much-too-long arc with the Martez sisters, she meets up with Bo-Katan, who enlists her help to liberate Mandalore from Maul. Her confrontation with Maul is thrilling and satisfying. It’s during the trip back to Coruscant with the imprisoned Maul that Order 66 takes place. It’s Ahsoka that liberates Captain Rex from the inhibitor chip in his brain that forces him to attack her, and together they escape the other clones who want them both dead. (Maul, unfortunately, escapes).

The final few scenes of Season 7 Clone wars is haunting and heartbreaking, with Ahsoka contemplating the death of clones she’d fought with, and the devastation of the Jedi Order. She drops her lightsaber into the snow. Later, Darth Vader picks it up, wondering, perhaps reminiscing, watching a lone bird circle above, Anakin’s eye just visible through the red lens of his mask. This whole sequence gives me the shivers.

We don’t see Ahsoka again until Rebels, after 15 years have passed. It wasn’t until the book Ahsoka, by E.K. Johnston, came out that we knew what she’d been up to in the meantime. After Order 66, Ahsoka and Rex parted ways, agreeing it would be safer for them both to do so. She wandered from place to place, hiding her identity and Jedi abilities, calling herself Ashla and repairing droids and mechanicals for a living. It’s in this book that she ends up facing an Inquisitor and defeating him. She takes his double-bladed lightsaber and makes them her own, “healing” the red, bleeding kyber crystals and turning them white. She also meets up with Bail Organa, and decides to join the Rebellion in a specific capacity: running his intelligence networks as Fulcrum. It’s a good book, and I recommend it.

It’s in Rebels that we see the fully adult Ahsoka Tano, when Fulcrum’s mysterious identity is finally revealed. She comes to know the whole Ghost crew, and is reunited with Captain Rex. These are some of my favorite scenes of Rebels. When they learn of the existence of a Dark Lord of the Sith, Ahsoka feels something familiar about him, and has her suspicions. She’s believed Anakin dead all these years, but her confrontation with Darth Vader in a Sith Temple on Malachor proves to her that Vader is, indeed, her former Master. “I’m not leaving you,” she says. “Not this time.” At these words, we see Vader pause, as if she’s gotten through to Anakin somehow. But only for a moment. “Then you will die,” Vader replies. She only survives the duel because Ezra, in a later timeline, pulls her through to the World Between Worlds.

We don’t see Ahsoka again until the final episode in Season 4, when she appears at the very end to meet with Sabine. They’re going to search the galaxy for Ezra, who disappeared with Thrawn in the last battle on Lothal. When they were in the World Between Worlds fleeing the Emperor, Ezra says, “When you get back, come and find me.” “I will,” Ahsoka replies. “I promise.” Ahsoka Tano keeps her promises.

What do you think of Ahsoka Tano? Comment below and we’ll talk about it!

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Like to read Star Wars? Check out my sister blog The Star Wars Reader. I regularly read and review Star Wars novels, both canon and Legends.

Satine Kryze: Political Idealist

Welcome to Women of Star Wars: Animated Edition!

I’ve profiled several prominent women in the world of Star Wars films, including Leia Organa, Padme Amidala, Jyn Erso, Rey, and Q’ira. It’s been awhile since the last post on this subject, but I was busy watching Clone Wars and Rebels; now I have several more inspiring women to write about, including Satine Kryze, from Clone Wars.

Duchess Satine Kryze ~ The leader of Mandalore during the Clone Wars, Duchess Satine of Kalevala was a controversial figure. She longed to move Mandalore beyond its violent past and instituted a government that valued pacifism. Though Mandalore did begin to rebuild under her guidance, the dark shadow of the Clone Wars made the Duchess' goals difficult to achieve.

Satine Kryze is the Duchess of Mandalore during the Clone Wars time period. She is the leader of a group of star systems that don’t wish to get involved in the Clone Wars, on either the Republic or Separatist sides. Satine is a staunch pacifist, which is a bit bewildering as it’s not the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Mandalorians. (Think of Djar Dinn in The Mandalorian: “I’m a Mandalorian. Weapons are my religion.”)

The Mandalorians are traditionally a warring culture, filled with warriors obsessed with weapons and combat. It’s this obsession with war that caused Satine to do a complete about-face and try to change the Mandalorian way into nonviolence.

I don’t claim to know or understand all of Mandalorian history, but what I do know is that during a particularly violent time in their history, a young Satine had to be protected by Jedi Knights: Qui Gon Jinn and his young apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi. They spent a year protecting the young Duchess, and it was during this time that Satine and Obi-Wan fell in love.

When the violence was over, Satine’s world had been decimated, and her experience caused her to become a pacifist, determined to turn Mandalore into a nonviolent world. Despite their feelings for each other, Obi-Wan and Satine parted ways, he to continue his Jedi training and she to rebuild her shattered world. This is all backstory, only told through dialogue between Obi-Wan and Anakin in “Voyage of Temptation”, Season 2. (And I would dearly love a novel or comic concerning this story. Why hasn’t anyone written one yet????).

Satine Kryze. This is probably my least favorite of her outfits. No offence, but I think it looks like a freak six-winged dragonfly is sitting on the back of her head with tea bags hanging from it! :)

It’s also during this episode that Obi-Wan and Satine bicker constantly and argue about the merits of pacifism. I truly believe Obi-Wan understands Satine’s decisions and admires her for it, but his feelings for her causes him to worry about her safety. He thinks Mandalore should join the Republic and defend itself against the Separatists. Satine will have none of it. She knows herself and her mind, and stands firm in her ideals. It’s clear to me that she thinks Obi-Wan, and the Jedi in general, betrayed their own ideals by getting involved in the Clone Wars to the extent they have. “I remember a time when the Jedi were not generals, but peace-keepers,” she says to them.

Their bickering is also a symptom of their unresolved feelings for one another. In that same episode, when Satine believes she’ll never see Obi-Wan again, she confesses her love for him. When pressed (and one must press Obi-Wan when it comes to his feelings), he admits that, “If you had said the word, I would have left the Jedi Order.” In typical Obi-Wan fashion, he tells her he loves her too, without, you know, actually saying “I love you too.” But it’s enough. In the third episode of the arc, she appeals to the Galactic Senate not to intervene in her world in the name of the war, and with Obi-Wan’s help, she succeeds.

In Season 3, Padme helps Satine uncover corruption on Mandalore, but Obi-Wan doesn’t see her again until Season 5. In “The Lawless”, Satine has been imprisoned by Maul, who has taken over Mandalore with the help of Death Watch. Obi-Wan, without the Council’s blessing, returns to Mandalore to help her.

Obi-Wan Kenobi and Satine Kryze... their story is often unknown by people who have never seen Clone Wars.

He frees her, but they’re caught by Maul. Maul uses Satine as a tool for revenge, impaling her on the Dark Saber simply to cause Obi-Wan pain. Before she dies, she tells Obi-Wan “I have loved you always. And I always will.”

I love the character of Satine, not only because she’s the love interest of Obi-Wan, but because she’s a three-dimensional character in her own right. She’s a ruler who managed to change a violent world into a peaceful one–for a time, anyway. She stood by her ideals, some might say stubbornly, when it seemed foolish to do so; even when the man she loved urged her to do differently. She was a ruler who tried to stay above the fray of politics and follow her ideals. Perhaps it was naive, but I admire that.

As Anakin tells Obi-Wan in Season 2, “She’s an extraordinary woman.”

And Obi-Wan answers, “Indeed.”

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Catching Up on Clone Wars

Once upon a time, I didn’t hold the Star Wars prequels in very high regard. When they came out around twenty years ago, I was disappointed and not impressed. I grew up with the Original Trilogy, you see, and I didn’t get a Round Two of the OT. Why I expected this is beyond me, but I quickly dismissed them and didn’t give them another thought, really.

When the sequel trilogy came out, I absolutely LOVED them, and they plunged me back into a Star Wars obsession I haven’t experienced since I was a kid. This caused me to explore all manner of Star Wars media, and have since realized we’re living in a golden age of SW, in my opinion. I caught up on Rogue One (amazing!) and Solo (fun!), watched The Mandalorian (cool!), and have since read several canon books (see my sister blog, The Star Wars Reader, for my book reviews). I’ve even rewatched the prequels and found a new appreciation for them. It’s all great, it’s all fun, and I’m loving every minute of it.

However, I hadn’t watched The Clone Wars, which I was hearing all about in my social media feeds, especially the last upcoming Season 7. Up until then I hadn’t seriously considered watching it, as it dealt with prequel-era stuff, and, well, it was a cartoon, right? “I ain’t watching no cartoon!” I told myself.

Get some Star Wars The Clone Wars wallpaper HD images of Ahsoka Tano Darth Maul Star Wars season 7 animated TV show art Cover Screenshots to use as iPhone android wallpaper phone backgrounds #CloneWars #StarWarsCloneWars #StarWars #TVshow #android #phone #wallpaper #backgrounds #download #AndroidWallpaper — Ahsoka

But the hype leading up to Season 7 was compelling and caught my attention. What’s the big deal? I wondered. People my age (the other side of 40) were watching this “cartoon” and loving it. I got the sneaking suspicion I was missing out on something important.

So I watched the first few episodes on Disney+. And while the animation was impressive (not cartoonish at all, but more like CGI video game kind of stuff), as far as the storylines went, I thought, “Meh.” What I wanted was the good stuff I was hearing about in Season 7. So I started there: I watched Season 7 first.

Star_Wars on Instagram: “Clone Wars:season 7 Anakin Skywalker . . . . . . #clonewars #starwars #disneyplus #disneyworld #anakinskywalker #season7 #disney #lightside” — Anakin

And was blown away by what I saw. I was familiar enough with the Star Wars universe and the characters not to be totally lost, and it was pretty damn amazing. This was movie-quality stuff, and the last few episodes were gripping and tragic, the other side of Order 66 that we don’t see in Revenge of the Sith. I liked the character of Ahsoka, and absolutely loved Captain Rex and the Clones, who up until then were just faceless drones to me. I needed to know more about them all, and so I decided to watch Season 6. And then Season 5. And 4, and so on.

I was watching it backwards, but it didn’t matter. I couldn’t believe I had been missing out on this great Star Wars material. I’m obsessed. I love the Mandalorian arcs–I now know more about the Dark Saber, which showed up at the end of The Mandalorian (I had no idea what it was, and was like, huh? Wat dat?). I love that Obi-Wan had a love interest (who knew?). I’m fairly in love with Obi-Wan myself now; I love his quips, his courage, his kindness, and his strength in adhering to the Jedi Code.

The dark side is doing selfies,why not us? — Obi-Wan

And I definitely like Anakin much more in Clone Wars than in the movies. No disrespect to Hayden Christensen, who is a fine actor, but the character of Anakin just never clicked with me. He’s much more likable in Clone Wars, which only makes his fall to the Dark Side more tragic to me. The clues are there, but for the most part, he’s a great character here.

I admit, I skipped a few episodes, namely the droid adventures, and a few with Ahsoka and the younglings. Some arcs are more interesting than others. I especially love the ones about the Clones, Rex and Echo and Fives, and so many others. My heart broke with 99, and the Bad Batch were a scream.

Clone Wars First Look: "Old Friends Not Forgotten" | StarWars.com — Captain Rex

Basically, Clone Wars caused me to fall in love with prequel-era Star Wars, which is a great gift. I’m looking forward to watching Rebels, as well, and gaining even more appreciation for Rebellion-era Star Wars. It’s all great, it’s all fun, and I’m so lucky to have this galaxy far, far away in my life.