ChancellorNeemar

 Hello and good to see you all again, its been a while. I've been a bit busy what with, well, *gestures broadly at everything*. I probably won't be hitting anywhere near what had been my intention of weekly posts, as I've found that that sort of pressure is difficult. So for now I'll just post when I have something interesting to say or I'm inspired to write. But today, I'm very inspired, and in my excitement for season 2 of the Mandalorian, I figured I would share a brief overview of the history of the Mandalorians in canon. What we know, what puzzle pieces have yet to be provided, and what the narrative I think our limited amount of information might point to. I'll try to keep a solid division between what we know to be true from canon about Mandalorian History and Culture, and the overarching historical narrative that those individual snippets point to. A lot of this will be conjecture, but if I'm doing my job it's well substantiated conjecture. W...

  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...

This week I received both the Star Wars Black Series Count Dooku and the Black Series Moloch from Solo. Both figures are visually great and I'm super happy to have gotten both. Lets start with Moloch, and as before we'll start with the negatives. Moloch is a pretty great figure. However, his articulation leaves a lot to be desired. Given that he's a worm man, he has no articulation below the waist. His head is also encased in a giant bulb, and can't swivel at all. He's visually appealing, but he's more of a statue then an actual figure. I can't really recommend buying him at full price. I got him half off. Most stores I think are clearencing him now, so you'll probably be able to get a good deal if you like what you see. Other then the limited articulation, whats there is great. The joints are smoother and not sticky, but not overly loose either. They even went out of their way to articulate the face beneath the mask to make up for the lack o...

 Hello and welcome to my ongoing series "A Metaphysical Analysis of the Force". In these articles, I want to focus on gaining an understanding of the force. What is it. How does it work. What do the various Force worshiping practitioners in the galaxy far far away believe about it. Now don't worry, my goal is not to demystify it, and reduce it to something simple and easy like a video game mana  pool or the common joke about "midichlorians". I'll be trying to analyze the force through a metaphysical lens, and treat it as one would treat the cosmological views of a real life religion, through the text of various Star Wars media. That means that some of these essays might get a little high minded, a little weird, and a little abstract. But that's okay, just go with it. One important disclaimer is that, while I do try to support my interpretations with evidence from the text, this is all my own conjecture. This is my understanding as it has come to me throu...

Yesterday I purchased the Star Wars Black Series: Knight of Ren figure, which depicts the Knight of Ren identified as Vicrul. The figure overall is great, with only a few small issues. Since I like to end on a positive note, let's start with the Negatives. Probably my biggest complaint is with the arm joints. One big issue is that the design of the sleeve on the upper arm somewhat constricts movement and prevents the arm from extending all the way, but this is a minor complaint, and frankly I'm glad they were unwilling to sacrifice Screen Accuracy. The Elbow joints are also a little stiff, but thats hardly a major issue. Far bigger then the elbow is the wrist joints, which have a very small connection point compared to the overall figure. The joints on mine are also a little looser then normal. The right hand is sculpted to hold the gun, although the gun is very loose in his hands, and moves vertically on a hinge, and the left hand is sculpted to hold the sickle. ...

There have been a variety of Sith Lords, in both Canon and Legends Star Wars. Though they're all different, we all have our favorites. Here's complete (currently) list of all Sith Lords that have been mentioned or reference in the Star Wars canon. Holders of the Darth Title:  Darth Sidious Born Sheev Palpatine on the planet Naboo. Taught by Darth Plagueis. Taught Darth Maul, Darth Tyrannus, and Darth Vader. The last of the Banite sith, Palpatine brought the Sith’s grand plan to fruition by executing the Jedi and establishing the Galactic Empire. After 23 years of rule, Sidious was betrayed and defeated by Darth Vader. He returned through the use of cloning, but was finally defeated on the Sith planet of Exegol by his Granddaughter Rey. The Emperor was first mentioned in 1977s A New Hope , first seen in 1983s Return of the Jedi, and first identified as Darth Sidious in 1999’s The Phantom Menace Darth Maul Born on the planet Dathomir, Maul was taken from the N...