ChancellorNeemar

  Doctor Aphra is the new Audio Drama written Sarah Kuhn and performed by a full cast. It focuses on adapting and expanding the comic appearances of Chelli Lona Aphra before the start of her own main series. It shows Aphra's initial relationship with Vader, as well as the introduction of 000 and Betee and it expands the relationship between Doctor Aphra and Sana Starros. Given that this is an adaptation of a comic series from 2015, I won't worry about spoilers, but I won't spoil any of the expanded material from the book. Doctor Aphra is one of my favorite characters of the new canon, and this book does her plenty of justice. Her voice actress, Emily Woo Zeller, is a fantastic choice to bring Doctor Aphra off the page and into the voiced realm (other then her short appearance in the From a Certain Point of View Audiobook, but still). She perfectly captures Aphra's flippancy, but also her depth. The choice to cast an Asian American woman as Aphra as well was critical in ...

Queen's Peril is the new book by EK Johnston, focusing on Padme Amidala. It is a prequel to her book Queen's Shadow, which focuses on Padme's first years in the senate. Queen's Peril on the other hand focuses on the beginning of Padme's rule as Queen, up through The Phantom Menace. For this review I'll start off with a broad overview, followed by a spoiler review. Queen's Peril is very similar to Queen's Shadow in a lot of ways. It focuses way more on nitty gritty politics and procedure then many other Star Wars media. You get a very unique look at Naboo politics and Naboo culture. Furthermore, the relationship between Padme and her handmaidens, which makes up the emotional core of the story, is excellently well done. The handmaidens are each reasonably distinct, and though Padme and Sabe are the main focus, the other get more then enough time to shine. I will say this story, like its predecessor, may not be for everyone. There is less of a disti...

Star Wars Shadowfall is the newest Star Wars Novel, written by Alexander Freed, and a sequel to the novel Alphabet Squadron. Like the previous novel, it focuses on the Rag Tag Alphabet squadron on the hunt for the Imperial Shadow Wing. As before, I will begin with a general review before delving into spoilers. This is easily one of the best Star Wars novels of the new canon. Much like it's predecessor it's a wonderful look at the New Republic military immediately following the Battle of Endor. Alexander Freed continuously is able to capture the emotions of soldiers fighting in a war, as well as the high stakes drama of combat. The characters are immensely compelling, and I found myself deeply invested in their personal arcs. The book also contains a few very interesting references to the wider Star Wars universe, which keeps it firmly grounded in the lore. Overall, it's a wonderful read, especially if you enjoyed Alphabet Squadron. I would recommend it to anyone who enj...

The Chosen One The chosen one is one of the most important plot elements of the Prequel trilogy, and the saga as a whole. The pressure the prophecy places on Anakin is critical to his fall to the dark side. The presence of the prophecy re-contextualized Anakin's return to the light. The sequel trilogy in it's turn has asked us to redefine how we think of the Chosen one prophecy. No longer did Anakin's final sacrifice cause the final and eternal extinction of the sith, therefore bringing the force back into balance. In light of all of this, I'd like to analyse what the prophecy says, what it means, and how Anakin does or does not fulfill it's requirements, and what the rebirth of the Sith means for the Chosen One. The Prophecy of the Chosen One "A prophecy which misread could have been"  - Yoda, Revenge of the Sith To begin with, I want to dissect the prophecy of the Chosen One line by line, as it appears in the Master and Apprentice...

This week, on Wednesday June, 10th, the first two episodes of Star Wars: Jedi Temple Challenge. The show, produced by and Starring Ahmed Best, who formerly played Jar Jar Binks in the prequels, is formatted like a kids game show, where children face a variety of tests and challenges in order to earn the title of Jedi night. Despite it's young target audience, JTC scratches the itch for fun, simple, wholesome Star Wars content, and has appeal for all ages. The show is clearly crafted with love. Despite being put up on YouTube for free, as a way of reaching wide audiences, the production quality is sky high. The sets are nothing short of beautiful for a reality TV competition show, and even the CGI for the space portions is extremely compelling.  Furthermore, Ahmed Best is such a charming presence on screen, and brings a strong wholesomeness to the show. The kid contestants are... well, kids. For some older audiences they might come off as irritating, especially if you're no...

Balance in the Force Balance is a tricky and oft misunderstood concept in Star Wars. Part of the common misunderstandings comes from how vague it is in the context of the films. Anakin Skywalker, the chosen one, is destined to bring "Balance" to the force. There is little detail on what precisely Balance is, and what it looks like. George Lucas has previously said that balance only exists with the extermination of the Dark Side, the Dark Side acting like a sort of cancer in the force. But despite that being his position at one point in time, episodes of clone wars he worked on such as the Mortis arc portray a concept of balance much closer to the sensation of equality between light and dark. And then you have some people claiming that Anakin brought balance to the force by making it so there were only 2 Jedi and 2 Sith in the entire galaxy (an incorrect assertion, but I get it, it's a meme). So what, if anything, does the concept of "Balance in the Force" act...