One of my favorite spin-offs to come from the animated Star Wars: Clone Wars series is the “Bad Batch”… a group of “failed” clones who were deemed unfit to serve alongside the rest of the clone troopers due to their perceived imperfections. Originally considered defective, each member of Clone Force 99 revealed that while they weren’t designed exactly like their clone brethren, they were uniquely enhanced in a way that made them the perfect choice for specific missions. From elite sniping skills to an unmatched technical intellect, each seemingly inferior clone’s limitations were actually thei ..read more

We all remember that moment… that feeling of shock when Darth Maul ignited the SECOND blade on his lightsaber and we realized he was even more dangerous than we thought. And this reveal wasn’t just Maul showing a flair for the dramatic… even outnumbered, he defeated a Jedi master before narrowly losing to Kenobi. We all knew he was trouble, but the full extent of his lethality remained concealed until he had been engaged in combat and his hidden blade was discovered the hard way. A true “Phantom Menace” indeed… the deepest cuts always come when we underestimate a threat. All of the sinful desi ..read more

The mutually beneficial relationship between a Jedi Knight and their padawan is an interesting one… while neither of them are a “master” yet (sorry Anakin), both are actively giving as well as receiving what the other needs while still being learners themselves. While it might seem counter-intuitive to have someone who has not yet fully mastered a skill to be charged with the responsibility of demonstrating it to others, both participants are supporting each others’ growth in their common struggles through this dynamic… and from that shared place of need, they typically find exactly what they ..read more

The darkest moment in all of Star Wars is the infamous command to “Execute Order 66”, as the previously loyal clone troopers suddenly and violently betrayed their Jedi companions… culminating with that fateful march on the Jedi Temple. What we didn’t know at the time is that the clones had been “programmed” to react in this manner… a chip had been placed in their heads that compelled them to perform these previously unthinkable actions. The only solution? That chip overriding their thoughts had to be disabled by surgical intervention… they couldn’t overpower it by sheer will alone. Every one o ..read more

Obi -Wan Kenobi’s warning before entering the infamous cantina on Mos Eisely prepared me for the worst… and his iconic line of, “you will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy” was accurate from almost every point of view except one. While there was certainly more scum and villainy than you could shake a lightsaber at, the mood was owned by one of the liveliest bands in cinema and their unique style of light jazz. You can probably still hear the music in your head… the odd juxtaposition of the deepest darkness that the galaxy had to offer was offset by a joyful noise that could ..read more

The act of booting up my console is usually a happy one… I hear the familiar sounds of it lurching to life, see the intro screen load, and after selecting my profile from the menu I am ready to jump into a game and have some fun. But nothing can bring that joyous feeling crashing down to earth faster than seeing that familiar but dreaded icon show up on my Xbox landing page… “Game Pass Titles Leaving Soon”. I don’t even want to look, but I do it anyways because it is possible that the very game I was looking forward to playing might be on it’s way out of the “Game Pass” program. I scan the ti ..read more

The backstory of Grogu, or “Baby Yoda” for those who refuse to accept his legal name, has been the cause of more speculation in the Star Wars universe than the age-old question of who shot first, Solo or Greedo. Where did he come from? Is he related to Yoda? Why does the Empire need him? While some of these may eventually get answered, many times the answers we receive only serves to generate more questions… some which we will never get the answer to, and some that we may get an answer to but we still won’t understand. But that’s okay… I’m still enjoying the ride, even when I don’t know exactl ..read more

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