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:: An ongoing episodic story of fan-fic set after Episode VI Return of the Jedi, and inspired by George Lucas' historical draft concepts ::
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| August 2023 |
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The live-action Ahsoka show begins to air !
31st August 2023 |
In mid August the new live-action Ahsoka TV show began to air, releasing the first two episodes for its premiere, followed by its third episode a week later. So far the drama has certainly been exciting and enjoyable, from thrilling lightsabre action to intiguing mysteries to expansive world-building. The Expanded Universe (Legacy) material continues to be brought to the fore with reference to the Witches of Dathomir and their unique connection to the Force through the mystical green smokey ichor they conjure. In effect, this series is a continuation of the REBELS animated series, with the 'macguffin' recognising the threat that is posed by the newly discovered Grand Admiral Thrawn, and, by extension, the possible reunion with Ezra Bridger.
I confess, the Lothal Cat puppet brought to life made me go gooey ! It was not only gorgeously endearing, but it's feline traits were very well observed. I really enjoyed the opening sequence with the 'SIth' villains announcing themselves to the New Republic starship crew as they exfiltrated the Thrawn ally and Dathomiri Witch, Morgan Elspeth ; and the Master 'Sith', Baylon Skoll, presenting a refreshingly sentimental acknowledgement of equals when he learns that fellow fallen Jedi Ahsoka will be his opponent. Then the following scenes in (what I believe to be) a Dathomiri Temple revealing a map room was something straight out of that other LFL property, INDIANA JONES ! The 'weaker' lightsabre duelling from Ahsoka's padawan, Sabine Wren, was 'justified' by the apparent shortness of her formal training. Ahsoka's starship was an interesting design externally and internally ; and I think had been previously shown in the REBELS series. And seeing the mythical hypersapce-travelling Purrgil make the transition from animation to live-action was suitably breath-taking !
Of course, any Star Wars show is open to fan criticism, and this one is no exception, though, to its credit, I feel that of all the Disney-Era content, this one currently has only a few.
Why have the opening crawl NOT in the Star Wars perspective style ? It's flatter appearance and vertical scroll was somewhat distracting !
How do Mon Cals get their tunics on over their huge hands (though to be fair, I guess Ackbar in ROTJ would have had that problem too).
Would average public or military know of Jedi (thinking of the cruiser captain) if 25+ years have gone by since the Clone Wars, and even then Jedi numbers were finite and minimal according to the PT dialogue and the PT tie-in reference material.
Is the Force-Run (super speed) now relegated to the one-time use in TPM ? Of all the subsequent scenarios, Ahsoka running from the self-destruct assassin droids would have been a perfect example !
Map macguffin makes sense in the context of the Thrawn plot, but it slides precariously close to TFA and TROS..... and in fact the exciting visuals for this map reveal are what should have been employed for TFA !!
On Corellia, Ahsoka watches impotently as a cargo freighter lifts away, yet TROS and OBI-WAN present the ('new') ability to Force-pull ships from the sky.... unless the implication is that Ahsoka is not as powerful as Rey or Ben or Vader.... But that also shows why making heroes conveniently invincible with super powers has ramifications down the line.
Ahsoka seemed naive to trust Sabine with the map ; and relying on Sabine to be the only one to have the technical knowledge to interrogate a droid, and not Ahsoka or the Jedi Droid, Huyang, was again a story convenience.
Sabine's sword wound appeared high and fatal, and admittedly fun to close Part 1 with, but her speedy recovery, and no refrence to bacta (!), plus the fact that it looked like her healing would had moved from the strike point, was possibly a contrivance too big to swallow. if the villainess (Shin Hati) was playing with her, and not fighting to kill, then leave it with an obvious superficial injury demonstrating superiority (akin to Darth Tyrannus injuring Obi-Wan, prior to attempting to deliver a killing blow. Plus all that we've seen with bounce-back-Inquisitors/Sith-Lords in recent shows - villains who are apparently mortally injured only to be magically rescucitated ! - is becoming annoying.
The Corellian control centre staff conveniently wore small hand blasters, so that the Imperial loyalists could open fire on our heroes... but, within the context, why would administrative staff be allowed to wear fire arms in a non-military establishment ?
Of the third episode, it seemed to be akin to the frustrating 'filler' episodes of other recent shows like THE MANDALORIAN and BOBA FETT, in that Hera provided her report to the New Republic politicos and was then subsequently refused her request to investigate further the clues to Thrawn ; and then we followed an elongated space dogfight, which included Ahsoka, in a space suit, deflecting enemy ship fire - since the enemy were not explicitly targetting her, but rather the ship, then why not destroy the vulnerable ship with Ahsoka standing on top of it ?!
The end titles sequence has an interesting animation alongside the primary credits. An interstellar and extra-galactic map is presented, implying a route from the SW galaxy to the neighbouring one where Thrawn is supposed to be in exile ; Lothal Wolves and Purrgil are seen in passing too. Soon after the premiere episodes, fans had deciphered the non-Aurabesh script (apparently it was some early version of the Sith script), and listed most of the planets :
Arcana
Ierne
Garel
Lothal
Mandalore
Agamar
Yavin
Dathomir
Corellia
Cato Nemoidia
Duro
Pasaana
The hyperspace route known as the Coreillian Run
Coruscant
Seatos
Odyn (moon of Seatos according to the starmap)
a name ending with "-unna" with an unknown first letter
Peridea (in the neighbouring galaxy)
The site ScreenRant that provided this list goes on to say,
"Previously in the established Star Wars canon, the ancient language of ur-Kittât has been seen in the Sith Temple on Exegol and more prominently at the Sith Temple of Malachor. As seen in the finale episodes of Star Wars Rebels season 2, Ahsoka Tano herself attempted to read Old Tongue inscriptions found on Malachor, confirming that there were older and variant forms of ur-Kittât that were much harder to decipher. Additionally, Sith runes were carved into the dagger featured in The Rise of Skywalker, and the Old Tongue was used by the Sith during their incantations as seen with Emperor Palpatine during The Clone Wars animated series.
These worlds are situated across the Star Wars galaxy map, from the Galactic Core to the Outer Rim; if this starmap does indeed originate with the Perideans, then these intergalactic visitors must have navigated the entire galaxy. Several of these planets are known to be steeped in the dark side, and it's important to note only one Force vergence strong in the light side is named in the list. Arcana, Dathomir, and Seatos are all associated with the Nightsisters of Dathomir, while the galactic capital Coruscant is site of an ancient dark side vergence once claimed by the Sith. Some have theorized Mandalore, home of the Mandalorians, is site of another dark side Force nexus.
Agamar was introduced in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and also appeared in Star Wars Rebels. The Yavin system is, of course, site of the climactic battle in the first Star Wars movie; the ancient temples on Yavin 4 are traditionally tied to the Sith and a race called the Massassi who were enslaved by them. Cato Nemoidia was home of the Trade Federation; Duro is the home of a race called the Duros (the most famous of whom is Cad Bane); and Pasaana appeared in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. "
But I am enjoying this new AHSOKA series immensely, and I'm looking forward to the next instalment !
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| As I did with the progression of the Virtual Edition Episode X, I will post below sections of the prose for Episode XI as I draft it.... |
The spacious Solo apartments on Coruscant were typically bright and warm with large windows affording the living room with spectacular views, day and night, across the political quarter of the cityscape. The two elderly guests were appreciative of the comforts if not the ever-constant noise and energy from their young wards. Both Kura Solo and his wife, Connie, were ailing with age-related illnesses, tiring easily, and with laboured breathing at times. Han and Leia had felt that some time with the ‘porglets’ , supervised by the nanny droid, Two-Bee-8-10, would be good for them, if only to provide another opportunity for the two generations to re-connect.
Now it was evening, and the two young children were settling down prior to bedtime. The four humans were seated in a semi-circle watching a comic holo-play, chuckling and smiling at the buffoonery playing out before them. The dark-haired Solo children were dressed in nocturnal slacks, whilst the grandparents wore thick gowns over their slacks.
Two-Bee, having been re-programmed several times to guard against children’s pranks, was now more resilient, and therefore more reliable in her service. She was conscious of the grandparents comfort, but was also skilfully juggling the benefits of family time against the fatigue levels she was clued in on. Restlessness and yawns and delayed reactions to the comedy signalled that it might be time to send the children to bed.
The nanna-droid piped out : “Deak, Bree, it’s time for bed, now.” The droid was good enough to expect and acknowledge the anticipated protestations from the seven year old and the five year old.
“No, your grandparents are tired as well. It’s late. Come on, say good night.”
Connie smiled fondly at the boy and girl and took her cue to shuffle to the edge of the couch. She winced a little as she did so. As Kura also shifted on the seat, the movement set off a rack of coughs.
“Yes my dears,” announced Connie, reaching for her cane, “it’s time for bed for all of us.”
“Yes Granny,” answered Bree solemnly, and the young girl leant in to plant a tender kiss on her grandmother’s cheek.
Two-Bee extended an arm and switched off the holo-play.
Deak moved to his grandfather’s side. The seven year old had a look of concern about his cherubic features, his little hands stretching out to rest on Kura’s right arm. The old man wiped spittle away with the back of his other arm.
“Grandpa,” the boy began, “does it hurt you when you cough like that ?”
Kura smiled, and nodded. “Yes, my boy, it does.”
Bree looked up at her grandmother as Connie wobbled to her feet unsteadily with the aid of the stick.
“Are you alright, Granny ?”
Connie didn’t want to alarm the innocent child, so simply nodded, mouthing the affirmative, but her body belied her intentions and she again winced in pain.
“But I don’t believe you, Granny, you’re hurting again...”
“Well, yes, that’s true, but I think it was from too much sitting !” She smiled, trying to make light of the situation.
The five year old set her face into a serious frown, regarding the health of her grandmother and the veracity of her words.
“Come on now, you two, off to bed with you !” A new voice had entered the lounge, but a familiar one : Leia.
The children’s mother was striding in from the kitchen, a broad smile on her face accompanying a stern look that brooked no argument. No one questioned Leia’s arrival, nor her prior absence. She wore a flowing pale blue dress, loosely cinched at the waist.
“Yes, mom,” the two children chorused, and they allowed themselves to be gathered up in Leia’s sweeping gesture.
“Thankyou, Kura, Connie,” whispered Leia as she stepped past her in-laws, “I’ll pop back out and speak to you in a moment. Settle yourselves back down.”
The children led the way, and Leia followed on their heels.
They made their way to a bedroom suite, where they climbed into their respective beds.
Leia pulled a light sheet over one and tucked it in, and then moved across to the second bed and did the same there.
“Love you, my darlings,” whispered Leia, from the side of Bree’s bed.
“Love you too,” the children chorused.
Deak shuffled to prop his head on his hand. “Mom ? Are Grandpa and Granny going to die soon ?”
“Well, I hope not too soon,” Leia answered. But then she wanted to acknowledge the truth of his question, so added, “But, yes, they are old, and we will have to say farewell to them. Only the Force knows when that will be.”
Bree sniffed back a tear. “I know, but I hope they can stay with us a little bit longer.”
“So do I,” agreed Leia, warmly and sincerely.
“But they are in pain, aren’t they ?” pointed out Bree’s brother.
Leia could not lie. “Yes, Deak, they are in pain. That’s the truth of old age.”
“I don’t want them to be in pain,” avowed Deak. “That’s unfair !”
Bree sniffed, holding back tears, and echoed her brother, mumbling, “I don’t want them to be in pain.”
Leia rested her hand on her daughter’s head, and gently stroked her dark hair.
“Well, that’s why they take their medicines,” Leia answered, “and that’s why Two-Bee is monitoring them as well, just to make sure they are as comfortable as they can be. That’s good, isn’t it ?”
Both children nodded, and the young girl responded, “It’s good.”
“But I don’t want them to be in pain !” Kayn grumbled. “I don’t want them to hurt !”
Leia rose and moved to his bed, sitting beside him. She reached out and stroked his hair too.
“I don’t want them to hurt either, my darling. We can try and keep them as comfortable as possible for as long as possible.”
Leia could sense her son in the Force, but she was vaguely aware that there was a greyness about his aura that clouded the clarity of her perception.
She leaned over and kissed his forehead.
“Now, settle down, both of you, try and think of the lovely times you’ve both had with them.”
Deak nodded once more, as did his sister, and they shuffled down under their sheets. Leia quietly rose, and left the room, the ambient lighting automatically lowering to a dim half-light as she did so.
Deak rolled over to face the wall. “Don’t want them hurting !” he whispered fiercely.
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| Nathaniel Reed, 31st August 2023 |
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