How Many Licks Does It Take to Destroy a Shield Generator?

Tonight’s Star Wars: The Clone Wars episode of Landing At Point Rain was engaging on several levels. Firstly, because I did not post a response to the last episode, Senate Spy, I’d like to point out to all those people saying that Point Rain “makes up for the last one” that their conclusions are only slightly ridiculous. Senate Spy was something completely different that we, as an audience, have not seen in the Star Wars franchise; whereas when you boil down the latest episode, it’s just another Giant Battle ™. MOVING ON…

As I touched on earlier, Landing At Point Rain is a multilayered story. On the outside it’s a ground and air campaign against enemy forces on an epic scale. Another layer is seeing how the individual deals with the stress of war and in particular a battle. On the deepest level, it’s a study on the psyche of a survivor: Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Ki-Adi-Mundi are returning to a place of slaughter of their Jedi brethren.

It’s interesting how each of them dealt with their emotions. Surprisingly, Obi-Wan seemed to be the most shaken of the group; particularly during his “last stand” moment in Act III. The other thing I noticed were the various characters’ coping mechanisms: Obi-Wan tends toward the witty banter, while Anakin and Ahsoka, on the surface, turn warfare into a competition. Anakin also becomes absolutely ruthless on the battlefield. Comparatively speaking, his fighting style is much more aggressive than any of his peerage. When faced with the knowledge of Obi-Wan’s crash and subsequent radio silence, he becomes intensely focused on the mission in order to maintain a modicum of calm. (How uncharacteristic…) Ahsoka, on the other hand, seems more conservative in this situation. (Keen viewers will notice her use of a “non-reverse grip” on her lightsaber towards the beginning of the episode, but as the stress of the battle reaches her, she reverts into older habits and the “reverse-grip” reappears.) In addition to the competitive streak and her fighting styles, Ahsoka’s sarcasm comes back in full force. Regarding Obi-Wan’s desperation in this episode, I have a theory: Over the past 10 years Anakin has been his coping mechanism. He could always revert into teacher mode when they were a Master/Padawan team. Obi-Wan no longer has that luxury in this situation. All he has left is sighing and beard stroking. Ki-Adi-Mundi and his 17 brains seem to be just fine.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but this is the first time, excluding the abominable snowmen, that we have seen the Jedi and clone forces fighting and destroying an army of flesh and blood, or rather exoskeleton and goo, enemies? I think it is. That, in itself, raises the stakes to a level we have not yet seen. It’s not just a pile of metal bodies at the end of the day anymore. These are living creatures. That said, the Genosians were terribly menacing to me. Their noises and aggravated clicking were actually causing me stress. I wonder if that’s the multi-talented DBB providing the sounds… Though I can’t tell y’all how bad I wanted one of the Flamethrower! Clones to say, “Did someone call the exterminator?” in a really gravelly Clint Eastwood voice.

OMG, now it’s time for my LIST! Don’t you just love them?

The Good:

• The Animation: I know I say this every time, but these guys just keep on getting better and better. I have never seen anything like this on an animated series. Lucasfilm Animation is setting the bar on all future projects for themselves and the industry itself.
• Realistic Smoke and, um, Dirt Chunks
• Hello, Waxer & Boil! Long time, no battle.
• Blood! Blood! Blood! Seeing Obi-Wan looking legitimately injured took this episode to a whole other level.
• Excellent use of the Force. I enjoyed seeing the concentrated efforts of Anakin and Ahsoka. These are realistic Force properties.
• Fire: My inner pyromaniac got all excited.
• Yularen is more bitchtastic every episode and I love it.
• The final assault was something completely new. I don’t think we’ve ever seen something like that on TCW. The only way I can describe it is a “moving mural”.
• Ki-Adi-Mundi owned them all. He was so adorkable, he genuinely thought he was going to get some candy or a nice gift card to the local space Applebees at the end.

The Fugly:

• Whose assault plan was this? Can someone with stratergery explain it to me using small words and perhaps a diagram?
• I am normally a fan of Kevin Kiner’s scoring decisions. This may be the first time where the music did not enhance the show for me.
• Pacing: This episode wore me out. I enjoy some downtime in an episode and there was NONE of that here. All I need is a good thirty seconds to a minute of respite, but the pace of Landing At Point Rain was absolutely relentless. (Though, I have a feeling this was intentional.)

As I said on twitter, The only thing I hate about TCW is waiting for the next episode. Please enjoy these stills courtesy of the kind folks at the official site.

I’ve Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts!

Well, here it is folks. The main event… Are you strapped in? Did you bring a beverage? Okay, good. A little house keeping before we begin our journey through time and space… You can find part one of our four-part discussion here and part two here. Now, shall we?

Ebony and Ivory

I present to you, two images:

and

Does this disturb you?

It should.

The One with Babies

You might have noticed I didn’t do a recap of last week’s premiere of Season Two of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. In lieu of my own words, have some of these. Moving along…

Did y’all see tonight’s episode? I might have uttered unintelligible phrases several times throughout the evening. I can see how this might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it is the best episode I’ve watched in recent memory. Let’s run through some of the elements that I loved:

• The animation was spectacular. Yes we’ve seen Naboo and Rodia, but the Gungan city was breathtaking. If I paused the show frame by frame, it legitimately looks like a painting each time.
• Jedi Interrogation. It was an interesting contrast to Bane’s earlier method in Cargo of Doom. With Cade Bane I felt an air of malevolence, whereas with the Jedi it was almost sinister and somewhat cabal like. Good lord, I sound like Karen Traviss.
• Tooka Doll! It’s so nice to see holdovers from other episodes. Even a little thing like a child’s toy really makes the series even more seamless.
• I loved that there was genuine detective work in this episode. In EU novels, it’s always one of my favorite elements (The JA books had a goodly amount…)
• Let’s discuss that little Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom moment in Bane’s space hovel. I clapped my hands stupidly. Complete the analogy: Fedora:Lightsaber::Whip: _______
• I could be wrong, but I don’t think I am… I’m almost positive that during the rescue of the Jedi Babies ™ there was a snippet of Williams’ Battle of the Heroes. Only the opening horn call, and in a different key, also with different instrumentation, but I’m like 96.3% sure it’s in there.

Now for a couple of questions and miscellanea that I have:

• Is Obi-Wan on the council? Is it a provisional seat? What does this spell for the “Team”?
• There is a lot of violence towards Ahsoka. I have yet to decide my feelings on this matter.
• What is the surgery being performed on the younglings? Was it performed on the younglings?
• Palpatine/Sidious has a secondary facility. Where and why?

Overall, this was an outstanding episode. Can I have next Friday now? Please enjoy these stills from Children of the Force:

Back By Popular Demand

Star Wars: The Clone Wars

I cannot begin to tell y’all how excited I am for this!  In someways the wait between seasons is seemingly forever, but whether or not it has been intentional, Lucasfilm has been very smart filling in the gap left by TCW. Between various con sneak peeks, most notably SDCC, and the release of the first three FOTJ books, Star Wars fans have been left technically not wanting. At any rate, the wait is over around 8pm EST. If you’re looking to share your season two premiere experience with other fans, please join Eric and I over at TF.N for a live chat during and after the show.

PS. Not gonna lie, I have some reservations about this season character development wise… Come on Dave, prove me wrong!

Dave versus the Volcano

Welcome back for part two in a four part series addressing issues within the Expanded Universe! You can find the first discussion here. Many thanks to those who helped spread the word about this little endeavor, I really appreciate your efforts! Round two will cover the new animated series and its subsequent impact on the Expanded Universe.

Housekeeping

Hey y’all! I just wanted to draw your attention to the revamped side bar! As you can see, I finally got around to getting an email address for the blog if you need to contact me. And if email isn’t enough and you’re dying to hear my voice, Eric kindly gave me an invitation for Google Voice. I’d love to hear from you!

Batman: Arkham Asylum Review by Abigail P.

I’ve been wanting to review various games for a while now, but I’ve never much been interested in gaming. Luckily, that’s what friends are for… Abigail is going to be your guest blogger for today, and I encourage you discuss the gameplay and overall entertainment value in the comments below!

A memory of a remarkable man.

I have always been fascinated/awed/inspired by the Kennedy family. At one point I even lived down the street from the birth place of President Kennedy. It was a beautiful, but modest home located on a quiet, tree-lined street in the heart of Brookline, MA. I’d walk by it every day and feel a mixed sense of loss and pride. I wish I could walk by it today. Upon waking this morning, I’d discovered the Lion of the senate had passed. No matter his foibles or politics, Senator Edward Kennedy was a truly great politician and exemplified what being a Senator meant. He was loyal to his state and did everything he could to make it a better place. I’m overlooking wind power. I’ve volunteered many hours to work on his reelection campaign while living in the state. I’ve held signs in the rain, I’ve sealed letters in envelops, and I’ve made cold-calls asking people to vote for the man, but I want to share my favorite and very first memory of such a remarkable politician.

I was 12 years old and visiting Washington DC with a school group. We were there for a week. I don’t even remember the day, but my class was escorted to the gallery of the Senate. I remember being dressed to the nines, our teacher had enforced a strict business dress code, and I think we all looked a little ridiculous. I took a seat at the edge of the loge and was startled to find the floor of senate practically deserted. Pages were lounging against the steps out of the way from the eyes of roving C-SPAN cameras, while a lone, older gentleman began to argue vehemently. It didn’t matter that his peers were not there, it didn’t matter that the gallery was empty except for 25 seemingly bored middle schoolers. This man had a job and he intended to do it. His shock of white hair would fly back as he raised his fists and stated his problems and solutions. At one point I thought he would break his flimsy poster board of pie charts and various graphs. While the rest of my class was listening to some guide extol on the history of the room we were in, I was watching a dying breed. As he wrapped up his argument, he turned his head toward the gallery and saw me watching intently. He raised two thumbs up and winked at me. I returned the gesture.

It’s, like, a mini-series.

This is the first post in a series of related, yet completely different arguments currently plaguing the Star Wars fandom. Over the course of this week, I’d like to explore several different topics which are usually entangled. Each argument deserves a separate discussion instead of lumping them all together in one steaming pile of wank (which several folks tend to do…). I’ll be staying away from a discourse regarding continuity in this post. (That’s covered in chapter three ) I want to start with, while not necessarily the catalyst, a convenient talking point: Karen Traviss’ departure from Star Wars.

Firstly, what does this mean? She isn’t quitting cold turkey. Traviss is still under contract for two Imperial Commando novels which should give her opportunity to tie up any loose ends in her RC series. Now, I am inferring this from her blog post, but it seems that she was given the opportunity to work in other areas,

Rather than switch to vastly altered storylines in which many of the characters whose lives you’ve been following for the last five years wouldn’t exist, or move across to other SW areas, I decided this was a natural point at which to make the break.

LFL wouldn’t want to lose a fan-favored author, so it does look like they were attempting to accommodate Traviss within the boundaries of continuity. If we are to judge by Sue Rostoni’s reaction ,

re: Karen Traviss, Boba Fett, and The Clone Wars — I just read Karen’s blog — and can’t reply to the posts because it’s Saturday and I don’t have the whole story.

it appears that she was generally shocked by the news. Whether or not that’s true, it’s up to you to decide.