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!

Star Wars Chat Pack: What Imperial boss would you work for?

Welcome to Day 14 of my NaBloPoMo Challenge, where I randomly pick a card from the Star Wars Chat Pack and write an answer.

Today’s question is: Bad news: You work for the Empire. Good news: You get to choose your boss. Who is it?

For me, I think it would be Thrawn. Most of the Imperial bosses I’m familiar with are terrifyingly evil (the Emperor, Darth Vader), arrogant and cold (Tarkin), too ambitious for their own good (Krennic), and just plain inept (fill in the blank). There’s not many I’d want to work for, lol.

Would sell his own mother for a promotion.

But Thrawn…he’s different. Still a bad guy doing bad things, but he’s actually smart, doesn’t waste his resources (ie, you or me), and though he’s well aware of his talents, he doesn’t throw it in your face. He’s intimidating and formidable, but he seems to inspire loyalty in his minions, probably because of the above reasons. He doesn’t seem to rule by fear (though I’d fear him if I angered him), but by competence and results. And he’s unfailingly polite, for the most part.

So if I had to work for the Empire, I’d pick Thrawn, but he’s still an Imperial, so I’d want to defect to the Rebel Alliance. But because he’s Thrawn, he’d figure it out way ahead of time and do away with me. For strategic reasons, of course; nothing personal. In which case I’m better off picking someone more inept, lol. Oh well.

Whichever Thrawn you prefer, he’s always imposing and calculating.

Between all the movies, shows, books, and comics, there are plenty of other Imperial bosses out there, but these are the ones that came to my mind. Who would you pick? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!

My Thoughts on the Ahsoka Series

So the Ahsoka series finale aired a couple weeks ago and I have thoughts, lol.

If you’re reading this, you’ve probably watched the show, but just be aware that SPOILERS are ahead (and I won’t recap the plot of the show, just react to it).

The bottom line is, I enjoyed the show. A lot. I’m an Ahsoka fan, and a big Rebels fan as well, so this show was satisfying to me in many ways. There were a few things that niggled, and I’ll mention them, but for the most part, I’m happy. In the way that Andor was great in its gritty drama, this one was great at what Star Wars does best–weird, mystical, goofy, space opera fun that made me love it in the first place.

The first few episodes, I wasn’t sure. Ahsoka seemed….lackluster. But then I realized, well yes, of course, she’s depressed or whatever. She’s been through a lot. But the crux of her problem was that she let fear take over: fear that Anakin’s weakness was within herself as well. That the violence she experienced in the Clone Wars would cause her to be vulnerable to the dark. And she feared she’d pass that vulnerability onto her Padawan, Sabine, who she already feared would take vengeance on the Empire for destroying her home world and her family (which we learn about later). So she abandoned her, which also seemed very un-Ahsoka-like.

The fact that Ahsoka was training Sabine to be a Jedi was a surprise to me. Really? Sabine? Of course Sabine trained with the Darksaber with Kanan in Rebels, but I thought it was just to become proficient with it. Even though Kanan had said to Hera that the Force is in all of us, I didn’t really get the idea that Sabine had any natural talent in it. And she doesn’t, really, as Huyang seems to love telling her. So yeah, it was kind of a curve ball to me. I thought, why isn’t she training Jacen, who clearly has Force powers and wants to be a Jedi like his father? Thoughts on this later, but okay.

So Ahsoka’s got issues, and that will be her story arc for the series–how will she get her mojo back and again become the optimistic Jedi we see in the animated series? That the lesson came from Anakin himself in Episode 4 was so fitting, and just fantastic. And the way he did it was so Anakin–he didn’t just sit down with her and have an Obi-Wan-like conversation about it: “Look, Ahsoka, you’re letting fear drive you, and that will lead you down the dark path.” Nope, he literally came at her and made her work for her insights. Total drama queen Anakin, and it was great.

I liked the symbolism of her coming out of the water, as if being baptized and reborn; and when she wakes up and puts on the white, we finally start to see the Ahsoka we knew, as well as the Ahsoka we suspected she’d become: “Ahsoka the White” at the end of Rebels. But there’s still work to do.

So Sabine has been mercilessly criticized for giving the map to Baylan so he could destroy it and going with him willingly to Peridea. The idea being that she’s risking the galaxy by helping Thrawn come back for selfish reasons, namely finding Ezra. And yes, that is what she did. And yes, perhaps it was the wrong thing to do. Okay, not perhaps, it clearly put the galaxy in danger. But I’m willing to cut her a little slack. Let’s review: she thought Ahsoka was dead; her entire family was dead and Mandalore destroyed; besides Hera and Zeb, she had no one left. And Ezra, her adopted brother she loved, left her a message saying he was “counting on” her. Talk about pressure! Here was a way to find Ezra. She didn’t have time to think about it–Baylan would have killed her, too and gotten the map anyway. Haven’t we all made questionable decisions in the heat of the moment? Perhaps it was selfish, but she didn’t just do it for herself. She did it for Ezra, too, to give him at least a chance of coming home. And this Star Trek fan remembers this line from Wrath of Khan: Sometimes, the needs of the one outweigh the needs of the many. Anyway, that’s my defense of Sabine, lol.

So let’s talk about the villains here. And there’s quite a few: Baylan Skoll and Shin Hati, Morgan Elsbeth, Thrawn, and the Nightsisters.

Most Intriguing Character Award Recipient

Baylan and Shin were the most interesting to me, especially Baylan. Clearly, he’d been a Jedi, raised at the Temple, an Order 66 survivor (I think? Or did he leave earlier?). But what was he now? A mercenary. Okay, but he also has a Padawan learner. So he hasn’t completely given up the Jedi ways. He’s a little snobbish about it, calling Ezra a “bokken” Jedi (a Samurai term used for wooden training swords), trained in the wild and not the Order. He clearly doesn’t want to kill Ahsoka, though he will if need be. But he is most definitely not a Jedi, as he and Shin indiscriminately kill New Republic officers in their very first scene. By his own admission, he admires the “idea” of the Jedi Order, but not the reality they became. Fair enough, but damn, Baylan, that’s pretty dark. But they’re not Sith, either. Dark Force users? That’s the closest I can come up with, but that’s still not quite right. I don’t think they call upon the dark side of the Force when they fight (but I could be wrong?). And don’t even mention “Gray Jedi” to me. There’s no such thing. You can’t use the dark side of the Force and call yourself a Jedi. Period. Anyway, Baylan is a cipher throughout most of the show, clearly after something, his alliance with Morgan and Thrawn a means to an end, but we don’t know what that is until we get a clue in the finale. That’s what makes him so intriguing, and I wanted MUCH more of him. And now with Ray Stevenson gone, I’m not sure what they’ll do with the character. It’s heartbreaking.

To me, Morgan Elsbeth was more interesting in The Mandalorian, in her brief appearance there. She’s fine here, but she didn’t really shine until her duel with Ahsoka in the finale, after she’d been transformed by the Nightsisters and given the Blade of Talzin. I guess I just like to see Diana Inosanto in glorious action. Other than that, the character falls flat to me. It’s a shame she died just when she got interesting.

So, Thrawn: I thought it worked. Lars Mikkelson provided a great voice for Thrawn in Rebels, and it was nice to hear that same voice here. And he was great in live-action as well, despite that little pot-belly people keep harping on. Give the man a break; he’s been in exile on a dreary witch planet for ten years. I’d probably binge-eat, too, if I could, lol. So he looked and sounded great, but he wasn’t given a chance to show anyone who hasn’t seen Rebels or read the books why he’s so feared in the first place. Clearly, he’s different, more methodical, making carefully considered decisions. I guess that’s enough for now, and later (either in a Season 2 or Filoni’s movie) we’ll get to see his military genius in action.

The Nightsister Mothers are, let’s face it, weird, and it’s strange to see Thrawn working with them, but I have a feeling he didn’t have much of a choice in his situation. Also, he was defeated by mystical forces before (the Bendu and the Purgill in Rebels, not to mention Jedi) and won’t make that same mistake again. His Night Soldiers are creepy, especially Enoch with that weird mask. At first I thought they were zombies right from the beginning, maybe made of smoke like Marrok was, but I guess not, because it was only later they came back to life through Nightsister magic. Clearly the Mothers are helping Thrawn for their own purposes, and I think Thrawn is smart enough to know that. It will be interesting to see how that relationship plays out later.

Okay, back to our heroes: Ezra!!! Oh, how I’ve missed this kid, who’s all growed up now. His reunion with Sabine was typical of their relationship, I think, with some teasing at first and then a warm hug. It was telling, though, that Sabine avoided answering his questions about how she found him. He was happy to be found, but I think he’d be a tad upset that she basically undid his sacrifice by coming back for him only to unleash Thrawn again. (I still understand her decision, though).

It’s typical Ezra that he’s been living with some adorable natives of Peridea and has protected them from raiders. When Thrawn’s forces attack, he refuses to take his lightsaber back from Sabine and says, “The Force is my ally!” while making classic goofy Ezra faces. Eman Esfandi is perfectly cast as Ezra; it’s as if he’s been plucked straight from the animated series. Next to Baylan Skoll, it’s one of my favorite performances in the show.

Despite claiming the Force is all he needs, he ends up constructing a new lightsaber with the help of Huyang, and the fact that it’s similar to Kanan’s is wonderful.

The finale was….fine. Ahsoka got to duel Baylan again, and then she dueled Morgan (there were a ton of lightsaber fights in this show, and I loved it). Sabine finally uses the Force, and I’m not sure how I feel about that. It kind of seems out of the blue when she couldn’t even twitch a cup a short time ago; but I suppose it’s no different than Luke calling his lightsaber to him in the wampa cave.

Ezra gets on Thrawn’s ship, but Ahsoka and Sabine are left behind. Shin is seen overlording some raiders, and Baylan is on the outcrop of a statue of the Father (with the Son next to him, and a damaged Daughter on the other side), looking out over the mountains toward a shining light in the distance. I’ve seen fan theories on social media that what Baylan was looking for was Mortis, and I thought, “Nah!” Yet, here we are. But for what purpose? Time will tell.

Thrawn goes to Dathomir, and Ezra escapes the Chimaera on a shuttle and gets to Home One (and I was so nervous he wouldn’t, after all his repetitions of “I can’t wait to go home.” Don’t jinx it, Ezra!). Chopper recognizes him at once, even though he still has a trooper helmet on (for that dramatic entrance, you see). I don’t understand why we couldn’t see Ezra and Hera embracing after all these years. Let us have that sentimental reunion, Filoni, lol. Anyway, now I’m hoping Ezra will be the one to train Jacen. It’s fitting for him to train the son of his Master.

Ahsoka sees the Force ghost of Anakin at the end–not a hologram, not a murderous Force-vision, but Anakin himself, so that was nice. I loved seeing Hayden Christianson so much in this series; I hope we see more of him.

There’s so many other things I loved about this show, little things that I could go on and on about: young Ahsoka played by Ariana Greenblatt, seeing Rex, Threepio, Morai, slimeball Senator Xiono, Purgill, the Nodi, the wolf creatures, even Sabine’s tooka cat; but this post is long enough, so I’ll end it here. All in all, I think this show worked, but I’m saying that as an Ahsoka and Rebels fan. I have no idea how viewers new to these characters feel about it, but I don’t particularly care, lol. This has been a love letter to Rebels fans, like it or not.

So those are my rambling and disjointed thoughts on Ahsoka. What did you think of the series? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!

My Entertainment Weekend Update

Hello my friends, and happy weekend!

I’m continuing my reading of the Legends book Dark Force Rising, by Timothy Zahn. I’ve been enjoying the series, and find it interesting that Zahn often shows Thrawn through other people’s eyes. Here in Legends, it’s through Captain Pellaon; in canon, at least in the first book (which I only half read) it was through Eli Vanto. I’m not sure if this is true in any of the other canon Thrawn books; anyone know if we ever get a Thrawn point of view? Just curious.

I’ve received my copy of Queen’s Hope, and have started reading it. I’ve always liked these books; some people complain they’re just overly long character studies on Padme and her handmaidens. Maybe, but that’s what I like. Star Wars books are fun, and half the fun are the battles and the action, but sometimes it’s nice just to get into a character’s head and life for awhile. Sometimes I get a little tired of all the techno-babble and military strategy and whatnot. Give me Padme and her girlfriends and relationships and emotions and you know, girl stuff for awhile, lol. It’s even got pink binding! I love it. As for the plot, I just started it so I don’t have much to go on, and honestly…I don’t care, lol. Padme and Anakin are getting married, that’s all I need to know. I’ll give a more thorough summary when I finish it, I promise.

I’m continuing with my Rebels rewatch, and recently began Season 4. But I know what’s coming concerning a particularly favorite Jedi Knight, and I’m dreading it already. 😦 But it’s also a beautiful thing, and S4 is fantastic. The lothwolves are my favorite Star Wars animals, I think.

I watched Episode 2 of Moon Knight, and it answered a few questions, while bringing up even more. There’s a LOT going on in this show already, and it’s a bit confusing, but I am enjoying it. It’s crazy and different and I love Oscar Isaac, so I’m in. I had planned on writing my thoughts for each episode in a separate weekly post, but as always, my plans change, lol.

Steven and Arthur have a civilized conversation. At first.

Basically, I’ll be going back to just my weekly Entertainment Update post on the weekends. I have other projects I want to work on, namely drawing and fanfiction. It figures; just as all the new books and shows and movies will be coming out, with so much to write about in the blog, I veer into a new direction. Oh well. I will be touching on all of them in the weekly post.

I’m particularly excited about the drawing. I used to love drawing years ago, but decided to focus more on writing and let the drawing go. But my interest has been reignited lately. I’ll be honest, I’ve been seeing so much Star Wars fan art and loving it, that in my secret heart I’ve been thinking, I want to do that, too! So I’m going to. I have to go back to the basics first, of course, and practice, practice, practice. But someday I’ll be ready, and I’ll honor my love of Star Wars in images as well as words.

Anyway, that’s what’s been going on 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!

Just a few things this week. I’ve finished the YA book Before the Awakening, by Greck Rucka, and it was actually a lot better than I was expecting, to be honest. It consists of three short stories, each one focusing on the three sequel trilogy leads: Finn, Rey, and Poe. The stories take place just before the events of The Force Awakens, and we get a little glimpse of what these characters were doing just before the film.

Nothing revelatory here: Finn is training as a stromtrooper with the First Order and is beginning to have some doubts; Rey is on Jakku and finds a crashed ship she decides to fix up and sell to Unkar Plutt for rations; and Poe goes on an exciting piloting adventure in his first foray in the Resistance. They’re fun little stories that gives us a little more insight into these characters and where they’re at emotionally at the beginning of TFA. I enjoyed it.

As I await the next new Star Wars book (Queen’s Hope, on April 5th), I was casting around for an adult Star Wars novel to read to get me by until then. As I was scrolling through some canon books I haven’t read yet, I realized I just wasn’t interested in them (at least at the moment). I enjoy a good Legends book now and then, and thought it might be time for one of those.

One in particular (or rather, one trilogy) that I’ve been avoiding in Legends is the original Thrawn trilogy, and the first set of books that came out after Return of the Jedi. Not because I don’t like Thrawn; on the contrary, I think he’s a great character. I’ve tried to read the new canon Thrawn books (well, at least the first one, simply called Thrawn) but I couldn’t seem to get into it. I think it’s because in these books, Thrawn is the protagonist. But I like my Thrawn as the antagonist–the bad guy.

So I decided to read Heir to the Empire. I’d been avoiding it because, unlike some of the prequel Legends books I’ve read, this one diverges radically from what is now considered canon. Taking place five years after the Battle of Endor, Han and Leia are married, and are expecting twins, a girl and a boy. Luke is involved in the New Republic trying to establish itself on Coruscant. It’s a whole new set of events, and I wanted to get a handle on the canon first before I dived into this. I consider Legends an “alternate universe” version of Star Wars, kind of like the Marvel What If? idea.

Strangely enough, I did read this book when it first came out in 1991. I was starving for more Star Wars, and wanted to know what happened after Endor. Funny thing is, I couldn’t remember a thing about it (it was over thirty years ago, I guess, lol), except that it had Thrawn in it, and Leia and Han had twins. And Mara Jade, who I remember not liking very much at the time. I might have read the second book in the trilogy, but I really can’t remember. It all just seemed so weird to me, lol. But I figured this time, with the perspective of time and all the Star Wars I’ve ingested over the years, it could be interesting.

Anyway, I’ve read about a quarter of the book so far, and the verdict is…I’m loving it!

It’s quite entertaining, and fun, and well-written by Timothy Zahn. Thrawn is great as the bad guy, although a very interesting one, and it’s much faster-paced than the new canon book Thrawn (I couldn’t finish that one). I love that we get Luke, Han and Leia front and center going on adventures together. I find the idea of the twins fascinating (and the sequel trilogy characters Rey and Kylo/Ben were modeled after them, I believe). There’s just a lot to love here, and I can’t wait to read the rest of it! Then onto Dark Force Rising, and The Last Command.

I’ve also been reading the High Republic comics: the Marvel series and the High Republic Adventures. I wanted to get more of the High Republic story that I’d been missing from the novels. And they’re great, but I was surprised by how unprepared I was to read comics.

What I mean is, I’m a book reader, and I’ve never in my fifty years read any comics, or any graphic novels, for that matter. And I found it–disorienting–trying to read comic panels. It was kind of overwhelming, at first. A lot of things are going on visually, and I had a hard time deciding what gets read first, and which way to go, and taking it all in…it definitely has all your brain cells firing at once! I love, love, love the images, though. A very different experience than reading a book, which is a very orderly process. But I’m getting used to it! I’ll probably write about them in next week’s High Republic Wednesday.

Sskeer is a rather terrifying Jedi, lol.

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

Rewatching Star Wars: Rebels

Now that The Mandalorian is over for at least a year, the question is: what’s next on my Star Wars viewing list? Movie marathon? (A marathon, for me, is one movie per day, so an 11-day period of Star Wars). Nah, I want to rewatch one of the animated series, where I can get 2-3 episodes in per day.

I thought about rewatching the Clone Wars, but I wasn’t up for that massive project (7 seasons, some with 22 episodes). Not yet. Maybe as a lead up to The Bad Batch, which will come out some time next year.

No, for now I decided to rewatch Rebels, which is shorter, but no less awesome. There are so many tie-ins from that show in The Mandalorian: Bo-Katan, the Dark Saber, Ahsoka, Thrawn. It’ll be great to go back and relive those moments.

I don’t think I’ll review each and every episode on this blog, but perhaps one post for each of the four seasons. Until then, enjoy a few images and moments from the show:

Do you like Rebels? What’s your favorite moment(s)? Comment below and we’ll talk about it!

Like this post? Hit the Like button, comment below, or Follow Star Wars: My Point of View.

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

5 Star Wars Areas I’d Like to Learn More About

I’ve been a Star Wars fan for most of my life, about four decades so far. But I’ve had to play catch up this past year, as I’d only been a fan of the movies for most of them. Since starting to blog about Star Wars, I’d realized the galaxy far, far away was even bigger than I had ever imagined, with all kinds of other content I’d missed out on over the years. I’ve since watched the Clone Wars and Rebels animated series, read quite a few (mostly canon) books, and have steadfastly kept up on The Mandalorian.

Reading other people’s Star Wars blogs, watching their YouTube channels, and participating in fan groups has alerted to me to so many other areas of Star Wars I haven’t even gotten to yet. But I hope to correct that in the near-future and learn about these sub-areas of Star Wars:

The Old Republic. There is a section of the fandom that is extremely passionate about the Old Republic era, and I believe it is mostly from gaming and a few Old Republic Legends novels. I’m NOT a gamer, but I am a reader, and so I am planning on reading the novels. Revan and Darth Bane are two names I constantly hear about when it comes to this era, as well as many other Sith Lords. My problem is, I’m not a huge fan of reading books about villains. I’m a Jedi girl, and though I’m pretty sure there are probably Jedi in these books, they seem to be focused on Sith Lords, so I worry I won’t be able to get into them. Also, they kind of freak me out! So Old Republic fans, please change mind here and give me a reason to love them!

The Yuuzhan Vong and Jedi (Luke?) by sugarsart on deviantart.com

Legends alternative universe. I’m talking about the Legends books that tell the story of Han and Leia’s three children: twins Jacen and Jaina Solo, and Anakin Solo, as well as Luke and Mara Jade’s son, Ben Skywalker. There’s also the big crisis of the Yuuzhan Vong invasion, and many, many other storylines. It’s a rich history of Star Wars, and I don’t want to ignore it. But it’s vast, with well over 100 books in its inventory. I’ve read a few Legends books (and reviewed them over on my sister blog The Star Wars Reader), ones that don’t directly contradict canon. I’m especially interested in the prequel and clone wars era right now. But I will get to these Legends some day.

Bo-Katan, Sabine Wren, and…some other Mandalorian.

Mandalorian History. Especially now with The Mandalorian craze, a lot of people, myself included, are getting more interested in Mandalorian history. The Mandalorian arcs were some of my favorites from the Clone Wars series, and there were a few episodes with Sabine Wren and her family in Rebels. I know there was a Mandalorian Civil War, and the Empire’s Purge; as well as some ancient war between the Jedi and the Mandalorians. Death Watch. The Dark Saber. And of course whatever we’re getting through The Mandalorian series. But I’m wondering if there are any cohesive histories out there, or information on the clans and how they operate. I’ll have to do some research, and if you know of any information, please let me know!

Thrawn and the Chiss. I find the character of Thrawn fascinating, and despite what I said above about not being interested in stories about villains, I would like to read all of the Thrawn books. The difference is, Thrawn is a different kind of villain–he’s not malevolent in the traditional bad guy kind of way. He’s not cruel for cruelty’s sake, he doesn’t desire the destruction of innocents for any selfish reasons. He simply has his loyalties to the Empire and has a job to do, and he does it brilliantly. He’s a bit cold and calculating, kind of like Tarkin, but I like Thrawn better than Tarkin. He has an appreciation for art and culture, and is a genius problem-solver. He’s like a Chiss Sherlock Holmes. And speaking of the Chiss, I’d like to learn more about his people, where they come from, what makes them tick. All this is in the Thrawn books now coming out by Timothy Zahn, who first brought Thrawn to life in the Legends books way back when (Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, and The Last Command). I did read the first book in that series a hundred years ago, but it didn’t thrill me, and I don’t remember much. I’ve recently tried reading the first canon book simply called Thrawn, and I got halfway through it. As I’ve said, I love the character of Thrawn, but the book was so damn slow I got sidetracked by other books. But I am determined to read them. Someday.

Comics. I’ve never been a comic reader, but I’m coming to the realization that the comics contain a ton of Star Wars content that I’d love to know. There’s a billion Legends comics, but I’d be more interested in the recent canon comics at this point. I’d never seen myself ever buying comics and reading them (a 49 year old woman reading comics? It’s just so odd) but then again, I never thought I’d watch Star Wars “cartoons.” And I’m so glad I did, because I’d be missing out on so much. There’s a series on how Ben Solo came to be Kylo Ren that interests me, as well as a Vader comic that explores him trying to find out how Padme died, coming into contact with Sabe, as well as being harshly punished by the Emperor for doing so. This all sounds like great stuff! I’d be a bit picky with the comics, but I wouldn’t mind having some on my shelf.

Exploring all this Star Wars content will happily fill the rest of my life. It’s a work in progress, a “scholarly” pursuit, if you will, a never-ending passion. And with new content always coming out, it will very probably never end until I pass into the Force myself, lol. This gives me great joy.

What about you? Are there areas of Star Wars you haven’t explored yet but want to? Let me know in the comments, and we’ll talk about it!

Liked this post? Hit the Like button, comment below, or Follow Star Wars: My Point of View.

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

The Mandalorian: Chapter 13–The Jedi

So we’ve finally seen Ahsoka make her live-action debut, and I have to say it was pretty amazing!

Rosario Dawson did an excellent job with the character (though if I’m being nitpicky, something about her montrals and lekku just weren’t right…but I’m not gonna be that person). I’m glad the show began with her right away, rather than a slow build-up where we’re left saying, where’s Ahsoka already????

The Mandalorian: Season 2/ Episode 5 "Chapter 13: The Jedi" – Recap/ Review (with Spoilers) — Our first glimpse of the incomparable Ahsoka.

I loved the look of her twin white lightsabers against the fog and gloom of the planet, and honestly, it was just fantastic seeing lightsabers at all. I love The Mandalorian for being its own thing, but NOW it really feels like Star Wars.

There’s so many things to unpack here, I won’t do a plot summary, just a running commentary on what I thought was interesting, exciting, and just plain cool in this episode.

The planet Corvus is a lot drearier and gloomier than I thought it would be, considering Bo-Katan named it as a “forest planet.” But clearly the environment has been ruined by the plundering the evil Magistrate Morgan Elsbeth (such a normal, non-Star Warsy name!) has wreaked on the planet. And the natives are suffering; it seems like a natural place for Ahsoka to be, to fight injustice and cruelty.

Baby Yoda's name revealed & more - The Mandalorian Chapter 13 review — Where is Grand Admiral Thrawn?

But the real reason she’s there is that she seeks information from Elsbeth: the location of her “master”, who I assumed was Moff Gideon. When it was revealed at the end that she was looking for Grand Admiral Thrawn, I merely said, “Hmmm, interesting,” to my husband (a casual Star Wars fan, though a big fan of the Mandalorian–he had no idea who Thrawn was, but I try not to lecture him with Star Wars 101 unless he asks); while the hard-core fan in me was doing jumping jacks of joy. Thrawn! So she is still looking for Ezra. I assumed Sabine was off following another lead, but maybe we’ll see her soon, too.

Baby Yoda's Real Name and Backstory Revealed in The Mandalorian Chapter 13 — “I hope it’s about him.”

Anyway, I thought the best part of the show were the Ahsoka and Child scenes. I’ve read in other places that Ahsoka knew Grogu (our Baby’s name!) at the Temple, but I don’t think so. They were there at the same time, but he was a youngling, an infant, really, and she wouldn’t have crossed paths with him in all probability. And she had to get his story from Grogu himself. I think he’s a delightful surprise to her, which you can see on her face, along with the fond remembering of Yoda. She’s gentle and respectful of him, but he’s also an enigma.

I’m not surprised she refused to train him. Clearly, Grogu is deeply attached to Din, and is full of fear. Fear of the others who seek him, but also fear of losing Din, the closest thing to a father he’s ever had. I think when he refused to use the Force during Ahsoka’s test, it wasn’t because he was being stubborn, as Din claimed. I think he didn’t want to show his powers, knowing it might mean he’d have to stay with Ahsoka. He didn’t want to leave Din. I don’t think he ever will.

And Ahsoka sensed this, and knew that it was too late to train him, remembering what happened to Anakin. She wasn’t even going to go there. Her recommendation to bring him to Tython caused all kinds of speculation on what Jedi may answer Grogu’s call. Luke? Ezra? Someone we don’t even know? But there’s another possibility: a dark Force user. A possibility I fervently hope doesn’t come to pass.

Five Thoughts on The Mandalorian's “Chapter 13: The Jedi” – Multiversity Comics — Battle of the Warrior Women

The battles between Ahsoka and Elsbeth, and Din and Lang (Michael Biehn, who I didn’t immediately recognize), were very cool. Ahsoka and Din win the day, and the town is free once again.

I found it interesting that we don’t know if Ahsoka actually killed Elsbeth, or got the information she wanted. I guess we have to wait to find that out.

Oh, and one thing I saw that made me ridiculously happy was a brief glimpse of Ahsoka’s owl, Morai. It almost blended in with the forest, but it was sitting up on a high branch while Din and Baby were looking for Ahsoka. Anyone else see it?

So off to Tython, but I have a feeling the next episode will be a side-track sort of show, maybe a run-in with some baddies, with the last two shows being a two-parter finale on Tython. Just my guess.

Loving this show more and more, and can’t wait to see what’s in store!