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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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| January 2022 |
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Nat's thoughts on 'The Book of Boba Fett' TV show
31st January 2022 |
The majority of the live-action TV show The Book of Boba Fett has now been shown. Two episodes remain for the beginning of February.
Although it has been fun, and there's been some great world-building - Jabba's palace interiors, Mos Espa, the deep space Ring-World - it must be said that the show has been uneven and unbalanced at best, and at times even boring. The SWNN editorial here gives their appraisal, and I wouldn't argue.
Having escaped the Sarlaac by burning his way out, Boba loses his armour to the Jawas, and then is taken in by local Tuskens. The timeframe involved is suggested to have had five years pass by since the Battle of Carkoon Pit. The implication (perhaps not as explicit as it could have been) is that Boba - unaltered orphaned clone of Jango and respected bounty hunter - now takes comfort from the simple and symbiotic family life of the sandpeople. Although he may seek revenge against the gangland lords he once worked for, in securing the Hutt throne, he wants to promote a fairer way of life for the locals. This in itself feels uncomfortable and doesn't sit well, greed and ambition versus a nobler justice.... but, as I once said to Kathy Kennedy in a letter of feedback for the Sequel Trilogy movies, at least a TV series allows scope for more experimental story-telling, so presumably one must be grateful and accept this opportunity (!).
Through the healing bacta tank in the usurped Jabba's Palace, Boba reveals his post-Sarlaac story in flashbacks. These have been quite interesting, and even intriguing for there were what seemed to be fairly inconsequential scenes from Kamino. However, by the fourth episode, dialogue that "all the healing had been completed" implied there would be no more flashbacks. However, ahead of the release of the show, actor Temeura Morrison (playing Boba, and who had played Jango) had reportedly said there would be flashbacks to a post TESB time frame ; furthermore, the primary showrunner Robert Rodriguez had also hyped the series by saying there would be lots of secrets revealed and lots of exciting action.... but, at five out of seven episodes, not much has actually been revealed !
It was heartening and satisfying to see more Hutts - "The Twins" - but frustrating that they seemed to appear, threaten, and then skulk away again ; the 'big bad villain' is being presented as The Pyke Syndicate [seen in live-action in the SOLO movie], but there are reports and speculation that the true villain will be Crimson Dawn, once headed by Darth Maul, and (apparently) now led by Qi'ra [again, from the SOLO movie].
The change in personality of 'everyone's favourite bounty hunter' has been surprising and even a little galling to some fans. We see Boba strive for a fairer way of life, he frees prisoners and hostages, we see him cooing over a 'pet' rancor. He is not the Boba Fett of TESB ! He frees his ship - and there appears to be some awkward political correctness in play with LFL and Disney in regards to its name of 'Slave 1', instead preferring to call it by its style moniker of a 'Firespray' - but doesn't, as yet, opt to go off-world, and, worse (?), his new found companion, assassin Fennec Shand [from the Mandalorian series] seems to know her way around the ship's armoury. I also noted that Boba mutters "bugger" twice, which didn't feel right in the SW universe, and the actor drew on his Maori heritage to inspire duels with the fearsome haka ; furthermore, the actor's delivery of lines, and to a lesser extent his actions, appeared to be slow and drawn out, and I couldn't tell if that was deliberate character-building, or the actor's own traits coming through.
Not following the spin-off comics and novels, it's jarring to find that not only did Bib Fortuna somehow survive the destruction of Jabba's Sail Barge at the Pit of Carkoon, but so did blue musician Max Rebo. And once again, everyone is understanding the beeps and whistles of droid speak. There have been elements within the episodic stories that haven't felt 'right' or justified, ranging from the slow-speed bantha travel for the hero, to teenage cyborg-enhanced hoodlums with shiny hover-mopeds, to major life-saving surgery in a backwater dive, to a vast metropolis for Mos Espa, to a dust-free clean gambling diner. As Anakin Skywalker once noted, "Sand is coarse and rough, and it gets everywhere".
And the latest episode, five, drops Boba completely, and re-introduces the Mandalorian with his own fully detailed story. Much of the content of TBOBF has felt like 'filler' : they have a 'five minute idea' - free Boba from the Sarlaac, potentially get him to usurp the local gangster lord(s) - and are drawing it out over five hours ; and keeping him on Tatooine. To me, it needs a shorter, sharper over-arc.
With two epsiodes remaining, I am afraid to say I have been underwhelmed and disappointed by TBOBF.
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The illustrated virtual edition of Episode VII : Plague of Doom continues, and, as the stolen Star Destroyer begins to turn and lift, its nose crashes into the cliffside. Underneath, Captain Prue and the stormtroopers are caught in the landslide !
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| You can see the VE artwork in the 'Kessel' art gallery as well as in the online illustrated story, and you can discuss this in the forum here ! |
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My prose writing for virtual edition Episode X 'The Riddle of the Pirates' continues towards its epic climactic batle and conclusion, and the remaining command crew in the pirate base are about to find themselves stunned......
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| Nathaniel Reed, 31st January 2022 |
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In the near-empty command centre, Jenna was frantically trying to raise her deputy, Zaavu.
“Zaavu, do you read me ?! Zavvy, are you there ??!”
She clicked the comms switch several times, and dialled the frequency fine-tuner. The Rodian Ssirisko leaned over her, his snout quivering in anxious contemplation. A handful of crew remained at their stations, monitoring the system diagnostics.
“If he’s not responding it can only mean one thing.”
Jenna set her mouth in a tight line and nodded.
“I’ll try the captains...” she said, and began tapping an ID sequence on her keyboard.
Just then, from across the room, one of the crew called out in alarm.
“Jenna ! I have a proximity alert on The Grab. The service droids onboard have detected a hyperspace reversion !”
“Patch through the ship’s visual scanners, Corky,” she instructed, and her colleague quickly relayed the remote view.
On one of the screens before her, Jenna and Ssirisko saw the new arrival : the flat arrow-head shape at the front accurately put one in mind of the Imperial Star Destroyer, though this ship was far smaller and, aft of the arrow-head, was a lot more skeletal in framework, culminating in a blocky hyperdrive at the rear. From the ribbed mid-section hung several squadrons of stowed TIE fighters of varying classes.
“An Imperial Fighter Carrier ?!” gasped Ssirisko in shock. “Are they here to support us...?!”
“Tagge wouldn’t show his hand, surely ?!” Jenna shared the Rodian’s bewilderment.
But just as the carrier vectored in towards The Grab they immediately understood its purpose : lines of TIE fighters and TIE bombers were unleashed, and raced towards their screen.
Knowing that the maintenance droids could do very little in such a short time, the crew in the command centre watched impotently as green laserfire and orange-red proton torpedoes lanced out at the ship !
The Grab was a sitting duck. Deliberately stowed in a complete shut-down status so as to hide from any scanners, the cold dark vessel was maintained internally by a phalanx of old menial droids. No running lights and no radiating energy or heat meant that it could sit against the inky backdrop of space, not too far away from the North Hyper Beacon, completely invisible to any passing traffic.
With a vested interest, Tagge knew about the pirates’ arsenal, and was aware of the holding pattern for the giant gravity-vessel.
The barrage of fire rained down on The Grab. As the first wave of TIEs peeled away from the initial explosions, a second and a third wave swept through, incrementing the fireballs mushrooming out of the starship.
In the pirate command centre, Jenna slumped back in her seat, her mouth hanging open in shock.
Ssirisko’s snout curled in distate.
“Those stinkin’ double-crossin’ womprats... !” he exclaimed.
Another crew member had activated a system-wide scan and triangular icons now detailed the Imperials’ next move.
“The TIEs are turning onto a vector to intercept the North Beacon,” he reported to his colleagues.
Moments later, the confirmation came through that the Hyper Beacon had been destroyed.
“They’re cutting our ropes !” snarled Ssrisko.
Jenna was jolted out of her stupefied state.
“I need to update the Captains,” she said.
On board the PACS Judiciary, Admiral Merityme was arguing with his Imperial counterpart.
“But what was the target ?!” demanded the Admiral of the pale blue hologram that stood before him.
“From a sensitivity point of view I am sure you appreciate we are not at liberty to say,” replied the Imperial captain smoothly, “but rest assured we acted swiftly to defend our friends and allies.”
“The Pan-Alliance gratefully acknowledges the Imperial Remnant’s offer of help,” a purple-faced Merityme blustered patiently, “but we would expect candour and honesty from our friend and ally in addressing this common obstacle.”
The Imperial captain smiled and bowed. “Always, Admiral, and to the best of our ability.”
Merityme shifted his stance and placed his hands on his hips. He leaned in towards the hologram.
“Then I would cordially ask you to hold your position to the north of the gen-sys plane, and be ready to respond when I call on you.”
“As you wish, Admiral. I thank you for your time.” And the hologram faded away.
An aide moved across the open bridge of the star cruiser, and stepped up to the Admiral. He held a datapad in his hand, and was tapping an entry in to it.
“Sir, we believe the north hyper beacon has gone offline. We believe it has also now been destroyed.”
The Admiral placed his hand on his forehead and sighed.
“What are they playing at ? That might jeopardise the extraction of our teams.”
Luke and his Jedi team moved quickly through the deserted corridors of the pirates’ base. The Force spoke to the Grand Master Jedi, and as he trusted so he followed. Five Jedi and one commando ran just behind him.
In the command centre, Jenna was keying the last of the message instructing the remaining pirates to retreat to Hangar Three. She tapped the transmit button, and then reached over to a bank of covered switches. She flicked open one guard, and, without any hesitation, stabbed a red button. A muffled klaxon began to whine, and the internal lighting switched to amber.
There were two entrances to the command centre, being at one of the apexes of the triangular plan. As the command crew began to leave their stations and make for the corridor that stretched out to the hangars, the thump of running boots from the opposite corridor drew their attention.
“We’ve got company !” called out Corky in alarm, and he drew his blaster from his belt with one hand, and a lightsabre hilt with the other.
Ssirisko leapt around the consoles and ran to the doorway. He slapped the blast door over-ride, and as the heavy double doors slid shut, an invisible gale blew him halfway across the room !
“Ssris !” shouted Jenna, and moved to help him.
The Rodian rolled on to his knees and clambered to his feet. “What was that ??!” he muttered, shaking his head.
Before anyone could answer, the tips of blue and green lines of crackling energy burst through the sealed blast doors. They began to draw several arcs that were connecting to form a crude circle. Melting glowing metal spat in their wake.
“Let’s get out of here !” shouted Jenna, grabbing her own lightsabre from her belt.
The last of the pirates hurried to the second corridor, and just as they disappeared through the doorway, Jenna and Ssirisko saw the sliced blast door opposite burst forward and hover in mid air ! Several Jedi leapt around the makeshift shield, spinning their lightsabres in readiness.
Luke briefly glimpsed the woman and the Rodian as they slid out of sight on the far side of the command centre. He glanced around to make sure there were no other pirates waiting to ambush them. The machines hummed and their lights flashed in diligent labour, but the amber lighting of an evac signal told him all he needed to know.
He pointed to the commando and a Jedi. “Stay here, and monitor their systems ! Update me if there’s a problem.”
His glance took in the other three Jedi.
“Come with me !”
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