Mandalorian Season 2 Review

 

The Mandalorian Season 2 has been fully released now and I do say that it is excellent. The series has seemingly a higher budget this season after the massive success of the first. So many great set pieces are incorporated such as the Kryat Dragon and Giant Spiders which brought some genuine horror to the series. There is simply awesome action in this season especially involving other mandalorians. And getting to that we have three big characters in mandalorian armor returning from other material, the first of which being Cobb Vanth from the Aftermath books. Then Bo-katan with some other mandalorians. And finally Boba Fett pulled up. I think that it is simply awesome that these characters are appearing here and they are incorporated so well. And that's not even mentioning Ashoka Tano who also appears in live action for the first time this season. It is just amazing to see her brutally epic jedi skills brought to liveaction. Some people are concerned about bringing in aspects from the wider universe to this series, which is a concern I understand. I'm concerned that there are some things that could be brought in that would feel like shark jumps. But I don't think that has happened yet and I feel like they have brought in the large scale elements while keeping smaller stories that are true to this show. I feel like this season has really moved the plot into gear more, although I think that some of the small l scale stories can feel similar. Although the monotony of doing the same job everyday may not feel unfamiliar. 

Not to brag, but I’ve been predicting many of these characters since the show was announced 

Moff Gideon is a very cool villain that has ambitions for the child, involving clones and although he was captured I would wager that his villainy will continue. The show, The Book of Boba Fett was confirmed for 2021 in the very cool end credits scene and will seemingly be about Boba Fett ruling Tatooine. So I am very excited for that and I hope that some other B Huntaz can show up in it.

In the episode with Ashoka it is revealed that Baby Yoda's true name is Grogu and he was raised in the Jedi temple on Coroscant. Which is making it ever more possible that he is the son of Yoda and Yaddle. I wonder if we will find out more about their species in this series, my baseless theory is that they a native species from Coroscant that has been driven to near extinction by the urbanization.

We saw Grogu reach out in the force with the seeing stone on Tython so when the great Jedi master Luke Skywalker pulled up it was amazing and made sense with the series. Although the series was left on a bittersweet ending. Because if Grogu doesn't get out of Luke's order before it is destroyed by Ben Solo, bad things will happen to him. But I heavilly doubt this is the last we will see of Grogu. I think Luke was done very well and it was awesome to see him ignite the green and mow down the dark troopers, I think the digital recreation of a young Mark Hamill was very good in the episode.

Another possible arc for future seasons that is more mandalorian-centric is finally going back to Mandalore and fighting for the planet and the darksaber. There could be numerous factions including The Empire with Moff Gideon, Bo-Katan and the Mandalorian clans, Boba Fett, The Children of the Watch with the armorer, and the Mandalorian himself. I think in the end Grogu would be the one to unite Mandalore with the darksaber as a Mandalorian Jedi like Tarre Vizsla before him. I think it would be cool if eventually there could be a legacy series possibly with Grogu being part of the new Jedi with Rey.

A fan-made possible future

The directing is amazing in this season as is all of the filmmaking including the music which put in work, ask Ludwig. I'm very excited as well for the shows recently announced to tie directly into the Mandalorian, which are Rangers of the New Republic and Ashoka, which hopefully will bring in Thrawn as he was mentioned in this series.

I will also admit I was somewhat wrong about tv movies as I want the eventual series finale for Mando to be a movie released on Disney+

Overall Mandalorian is an awesome series with an awesome story and the titular character is awesome too and I'm excited to keep watching his arc of the meaning of being a Mandalorian and wearing the helmet subtlety play out.

Comics Review 2020

 I have failed you, my dear readers, I have failed you. In past years I have read many more comic book collections than this year, the fourth that I am doing this ceremony. In the past, I have done lists awarding certain categories now I am doing away with those and ranking a top ten. I'm doing the Oscars 4. Go.

10. Captain America: Sam Wilson vol. 1-3

by Nick Spencer

This series goes really deep into Sam Wilson's character and has many great arcs that are culminating towards the Secret Empire event. This is a great example of Nick Spencer's amazing writing. The Disney + series Falcon and Winter Soldier will be inspired by this. 

9. Scarlet Witch vol. 1-3

by James Robinson

This comic explores Wanda Maximoff in a light that she has never been in before. It is all about her trying to find out her true heritage and dealing with magical problems. The storytelling in this book was great and I couldn't get enough. 

8. Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes

by Neil Gaiman

This fantasy book has been acclaimed by many as one of the best comic series of all time. The first volume of the series sets up the dream world and the other paranormal aspects of the series while also having some good tales throughout. I will definitely continue to read this series.  

7. Female Furies

by Cecil Castellucci, Adriana Melo

This comic serves as something as a tie-in to one of my favorite comics, Mister Miracle by Tom King. But it focuses more on his wife and her team of female fighters for Darkseid. It focuses on some hard-hitting issues with males and believing women. This series has great art and is one of too-few great Fourth World series.  

6. Quicksilver: No Surrender

by Saladin Ahmed, Eric Nguyen, Martin Simmonds

This comic has a very interesting plot in which Quicksilver is the only person that isn't frozen in place in the world because he's going so fast and he has to save everybody but first come to terms with how annoying he is. It was a truly interesting and quick read with great art and much like Saladin Ahmed's other great comic, Black Bolt.

5. Dawn of X vol. 1-3

by multiple authors

The X-men books have been revamped by Jonathan Hickman starting with the House/Powers of X series and now in Dawn of X with several series that are all in these volumes. In this series the mutants have founded their own nation on the Island of Krakoa. These are some of the best X-men comics in while and are making big moves. Out of the six series my favorite is Marauders and I have to say that the exception to the greatness is Fallen Angels, though all of the series have been getting better generally as the volumes go on.

4. Venom vol. 1-3

by Donny Cates, Ryan Stegman

Venom is a really great comic that establishes amazing new lore in the Venom mythos with the god of the symbiotes, Knull. The art by Stegman is incredible and dark. This series has really good character connections and stories. It has already tied-in to an event Absolute Carnage and will lead to another huge event, the King in Black later this year.

3. Black Widow vol. 1

by Mark Waid, Chris Samnee

Black Widow by Waid and Samnee is an absolutely awesome series that is action-packed and full of amazing art. Mark Waid and Chris Samnee have also done their Daredevil run and they are one of the best creative duos in comics. This book goes into Black Widow's past and the institution of shield.

2. The Amazing Spider-man vol. 1-6

by Nick Spencer, Ryan Ottley

As I said before, Nick Spencer is an amazing writer and he proves that once again with his Amazing Spider-man book. This series is such a great one to binge read, with all of the different fun plot-lines and mysteries going on. It absolutely is a great Spider-man comic.

1. Batman: Arkham Asylum- A serious house on serious earth

by Grant Morrison, Dave McKean

Lastly is what I would consider the best and most creative comic on this list, Arkham Asylum. Yes, it did loosely inspire the video game. But this comic has so much to offer in the storytelling, the photography mixed with abstract painted art, and the genuine horror. This book isn't entirely perfect but it is definitely the most original comic that I have read from Marvel or DC in a while. And Grant Morrison truly does write a Watchmen a week. 

Thank you for reading and stay connected.

The Mandalorian Season 2 Hype

Hello and welcome back to another good blog, regrettably I didn't ever get around to properly reviewing the Mandalorian season one. But with season 2 coming out I will just say that it is the greatest show ever with a great appeal to everyone and connection to the star wars underworld it is very new and fresh. The show is much inspired by western and samurai movies which goes to the original star wars influence and it is a new genre for the stary wars. The character of the Mandalorian is able to convey so much emotion in the series even with his face covered up with a mask, as is proper. The show also had a behind the scenes series come out later which was called the gallery and it showed great details of the scenes that went on behind the action and that instead of doing the reviled green screen they shot on what they call the medium where every thing is shot in camera which means that they display the environment on a screen behind the characters and that screen can move to fit the scene. The medium definitely presents great opportunities for future of media. The musical numbers done by composer Ludwig Göransson are delightfully excellent and fit the show, they don't really lean on the old star wars themes but find their own tune and I listen to it every day.

We have a trailer for the second season that I will link below. I will also make my plot predictions based on that, the first season, my theories, as well as some reports of characters that may appear in the series. Apropos of nothing in a way in which the opposite is true I am rewatching the series Rebels now as part of my daily dose of Mandalorian season 2 preparation.

The first season of Mandalorian had several episodes that fit different genres and were very episodic what some may call filler or to be more charitable you could say that they were were individual stories. Like you would have a heist one episode and then another episode they defend a town that we never see again. In short there very several episodes without much plot importance, although more character focus. So though Dave Filoni says that this set of episodes will be more connected. We will see an episode about the pirates life going by the trailer and if I had my way a good murder mystery would be fun. I think that in season two and beyond, this show ought to focus on the wider universe but still true be true to small scale stories.

Season 2 plot guess:

Track down Jedi for the child and maybe some more of his own species, figure out the mystery, which will have the child reveal that he is not really an infant but a dignified fellow that is distinguished in his own right so he will get up and sing and dance to a jig that he wrote himself!  But remember that Moff Gideon is still after him with a vengeance and the darksaber so then the child who will be revealed to have a epic name by this point will do battle against the moff with his laser sword!

I think as the show is titled the Mandalorian they should focus on the heritage of Mandalore and the mandalorians, ask the question who has a right to rule the planet, the empire, Bo Katan, Boba Fett, or the Mandalorian himself and who has a right to the darksaber and how did it come into Moff Gideon's possession? Ashoka will help with the child and maybe fight Moff Gideon and hopefully continue her super friendship with Bo Katan and Rex.

Boba Fett should come into play as a villain fighting the Mandalorian for Mandalore and we go there, maybe I'm looking too far ahead past season 2 but we going there. I think that season 2 would do right to set Boba Fett up and tease him as more of a villain for later on. There have also been rumors of Cobb Vanth appearing, who had Boba's armor in the Aftermath books and maybe coming into conflict with Fett himself. The trailer showed a planet that looked a lot like Tatooine which is where both Cobb and Boba were last seen...hmm.

From the trailer we see some X-wings which makes me think that the Mandalorian might be working with or against the New Republic. We are sure to see more of Cara Terf and Greef Carga and of course more Baby Yoda sillies. We may get some fighting pigs in the Gammoreans. The trailer teases the Mandalorians and Jedi as enemies, so that conflict may continue on this season. And lastly we see the Mandalorian and Child on a cavernous ice planet while searching for the Jedi and we know that one planet like that is Illum where the Jedi get their Kyber crystals for lightsabers. 

The Mandalorian season 2 will premire on October 30th.

Even though I don't talk about it on my blog enough but I am about as much of a fan of Marvel as I am of Star Wars. And as we have a new trailer for Wandavision which is one of my most hyped shows and looks so creative and different which is also luckily coming later this year and I highly recommend giving the trailer a view.

Blog update: Almost every blog I make is prefaced with an update by now but in this year of our lord Satan 2020, I haven’t dedicated much energy to this blog but I have to other creative means and now much of that productivity is going down due to the dreaded return of school. But alas I do have several more blogs in the pipeline so stay connected.

The Clone Wars: The Siege of Mandalore Review

Star Wars: The Clone Wars is a legendary animated series and one of my favorites. Created by the master, Dave Filoni, the final season just wrapped up with the four part event arc, The Siege of Mandalore. Which overlaps in the timeline with Revenge of the Sith. I will briefly talk about the first two arcs in the season. Bad batch was good for stellar action and animation and the crazy revelation that Obi-Wan knows about Anakin and Padme. The Ashoka's Walkabout was good for Mandalorians leading into the siege and telling off the Jedi and showing the errors of their ways. But the Siege of Mandalore is where it's at. It sets itself apart from many other episodes by starting off with the original green text Lucasfilm Limited logo and a red The Clone Wars logo. The Siege of Mandalore arc is also just so good that it feels like a movie in itself and is quality above even many Star Wars movies in my opinion, that's just how good it is. The Clone Wars has gone on for seven seasons and a movie, so even though the final episodes are amazing, it's also bittersweet to see it end. I will break down three of the big events in these final episodes here.

Maul vs Ashoka
This was first mentioned in the Ashoka book and some changes have been made, which is fine, because changes can also be made to future additions of that book. It is an absolutely sick duel, Ray Park returned to do motion capture for the fight and it is very evident. This lightsaber fight is Duel of the Fates level epic. It really shows their characters, especially Maul, he is best villain and he knows what will happen and is kind of right. This also shows just how far Ashoka has come. This really brings the tension and epic Maul fights to animation with this battle. We get real ones feels in the battle between Maul and Ashoka. When he says Anakin will become evil, it is quite a moment, because you know Maul is kind of right. The teases of Ashoka and Maul teaming up are epic, so are the environment here is the throne room where many other fights and important events have happened in the clone wars but of course they go out of that into a more dangerous environment that makes the fight go savage.

Order 66
Sadly Order 66 must happen as this seamlessly crosses over with Revenge of the Sith. There is very ominous music and tension, we see Maul caged up, the only one there who has an idea of what will happen. Then Ashoka is looking out into hyperspace and through the force, she hears what happens in the Chancellor's office and Anakin's turn to the dark side. And then Order 66 happens and it is so sad to see my brothers turn including Rex briefly until Ashoka brings him back and they connect Fives to the whole thing. Maul takes down the hyperdrive, this is now the second star destroyer actor Sam Witwer has downed if you count The Force Unleashed’s Starkiller. But they are still flying half a ship. Ashoka and Rex ball up against those bad clones. It's a trip too, Ashoka cares for the clones and she doesn't want to merc those clones but in the end they will all die, even though she did what she could in the fight to not kill them, these clones were the real victims of the clone wars, if you know what i mean.

The Darth
The best scene in this thing is the very end which we see later and it's when Darth Vader pulls up on the snow moon, where the ship crashed. Then he sees the grave of the clones and the fake grave of Ashoka and Rex. He stands right where Ashoka was standing and he holds her lightsaber and ignites it and we see Anakin's eyes like in Rebels and A New Hope. We also know that what happened to Anakin in Revenge of the Sith and from the books and comics we know about his inner conflict at this point, even about Ashoka. The inner conflict that in this scene it seems as if he is saddened by this. But he's more machine now than man, this character that we've been following this whole series, he trained Ashoka and cared for her, but in the end he failed. Ashoka will go off to do her own thing in hiding, we know from the book lots of unaccountable time probably selling that white cocaine or spice. Then we notice Morai the Convor flying overhead, the bird that followed Ashoka in Rebels and has a connection to the daughter from Mortis. It's an amazing poetic touch. This scene is also filmed godly with no dialogue, just Vader's breathing. and we see the reflection of Vader in the Jesse's and the other clone's helmet visors and thus it ends. Great end to the series. Good show, jolly good show!
Now I'm still hoping for more expanded material like books and comics to hit some of the arcs that never got finished and put in canon yet, but also there will be a clone wars anthology book, Stories of Light and Dark, showing episodes from different perspectives coming out later this year that I am excited for.
I am one with the force. The force is with me. Thank you for reading, brothers and stay connected.
Blog Update: I have cancelled my previously announced High Republic and Rise of Skywalker videos but a Mandalorian video and review blogpost is coming, soon enough after the epic Disney Gallery behind the scenes show is over. And yes I've heard the legendary reports about Ashoka, Bo-Katan, and Boba Fett being in the show. I'm very excited and I will write all about it in due time. Meanwhile, you should check out a video essay I made about a scene in The Rise of Skywalker:

Star Wars High Republic Books Revealed

I have returned from my hiatus from this blog at sometime around March, as I always do in the beginning of the year. But I return with great news because the long awaited Project Luminous Star Wars publishing project has been revealed. It was revealed at a late event in Los Angeles yesterday and is at war with me sleeping. It is set in The High Republic era as it was long rumored to be. It takes place 200 years before the prequels and as of yet only includes book and comic projects. It follows the Jedi (fingers crossed for younger Yoda) in their struggle against the new foe, the Nihl, who are described as “space vikings”. The feel the series is described as Jedi as knights of the round table and that it has an Arthurian tone to it, which is very exciting. But I think Star Wars has always been inspired by Arthurian legend and the Jedi Council are the Jedi version of the Knights of the Round Table. I just hope they acknowledge those roots and recognize that Star Wars has always had that connection. For full background on The High Republic you should also see Starwars.com’s article and watch the below video. So here we go.

One of the original teasers for “Project Luminous”

The first thing revealed and the only one actually revealed before the event itself is Light of the Jedi, a novel by Charles Soule. This will involve several Jedi as seen on the cover including a Wookiee with a crossguard lightsaber, interestingly. At the event they said that the book’s plot will be kicked off by some sort of terrible event which I assume is the same thing that was referenced in the Project Luminous teaser. Whatever this event is will affect the force in some major and negative way. In the background there is shown a space station known as the Starlight Beacon which is a beacon of hope for the Jedi. Soule has written only two other novels in the past neither Star Wars, but he is very prolific and a great writer in the world of comics including the absolutely amazing Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith comic and The Rise of Kylo Ren. I haven’t yet read it but I hear it sets up The High Republic and that it is really good. So I think this book is in really good hands and as the only proper novel announced as of yet, the flagship title, and in my opinion the coolest looking, it is my most hyped of all the projects. It will be released August 25th, 2020.

Into the Dark is a Young Adult novel by Claudia Gray, one of my favorite Star Wars authors and she hasn’t let me down with any of her other books so major hype for this. From the cover we can see two characters one a Jedi named Reath Silas and the other is a daughter of a shipping magnate. Many have speculated a romance and I wouldn’t be surprised, but I wouldn’t mind either because she wrote romances very well in Lost Stars and in Leia Princess of Alderaan. There aren’t much more details on this one but I will definitely read it and love it when it’s out on October 13th, 2020. (Blurb now available)

A Test of Courage is a Middle Grade novel by Justina Ireland that is also about some Jedi, these a bit younger and there are some other characters too. Including a droid that looks somewhat like a Kyber Crystal droid and be involved with some them getting their lightsabers which was my idea but journalist, Anthony Breznican compared it to droid ME-8D9 from Maz Kanata’s castle in The Force Awakens and it works a lot better that droid even used for the Jedi canonically so it lines up. I won’t also love Huyang the Kyber Crystal droid to show up in this era and it would make sense. I haven't read any of the author's other books because while she has written Star Wars it has always appealed to a younger audience and I was busy reading other things. But I will read this one. Firstly because it looks cool, secondly because I want to read everything involved with this line (at least starting out), and because she said this one has a darker tone than her other books. So I am very excited for this book. It releases September 8th, 2020. (Blurb now available)

Next up is the Marvel comics series simply titled Star Wars The High Republic by Cavan Scott. I would assume that this series would be ongoing, but take that with a grain of salt. The characters on the front are some of the Nihl, but this is a variant cover, so the series is not necessarily all about them. If I had to connect the dots between a couple of things I would say that Phil Noto the artist that just finished his run on the main Star Wars comic with Greg Pak, drew the Poe Damereon comic, and several other Star Wars projects will draw this series. I say this because they showed some of his concept art for The High Republic at the event and one piece looked suspiciously like a comic cover. Cavan Scott wrote the audio drama Dooku: Jedi Lost, which I have not listened to but I plan to soon, I have heard good things, but he also wrote Tales from Vader’s Castle which I have read. That series was somewhat kid oriented but I liked his writing and I don’t think this series will have many problems. The comic series do not have release dates yet but I would assume around August 2020, because StarWars.com says they will be available at Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim along with Light of the Jedi.

Lastly is Daniel José Older's comic series, The High Republic Adventures from IDW. This one I could tell you almost nothing about. We have a concept art cover of two Jedi and we know that it will be geared towards kids because it is the same sort of thing as the regular Star Wars Adventures comics. I read and reviewed Older's Star Wars book, Last Shot years ago and I enjoyed it but it is not my favorite. I am slightly worried, because I don't think he has written comics ever before, but that shouldn't be the hardest hurdle to pass. Because of that and the fact that it's for little kids and we know next to no info it is my least hyped, but I'm not dreading it, still quite excited.

Overall, the reveal for The High Republic didn't have too many surprises, but it didn't really need them. Because these books are more than enough to get me super excited and to pile up the amount I have to read. I haven't even finished one of the Del Rey Star Wars novels from last year. But I have until June of this year to read before these or other Star Wars books I want to read release. I will try to read and review some of these for the blog and if I don't do that I will at least read and discuss them on here or on Youtube, eventually. I am very excited for these books and comics, as they are some of the most important pieces of Star Wars media in the coming years. Many people questioned if this could lead into a TV series, movie, or video game in this era. I think it is possible but even if it happens it is years away and this has to be a success first. I think that if you haven't read Star Wars books before, The High Republic looks to be a great jumping on point, without all of the baggage of the Skywalker era which got very complex in some books and comics even for an experienced fan like myself at times. That about sums it up for Project Luminous though, but as this was a very early fact-based blog, I will come at you with a Youtube video with more info and my thoughts on Project Luminous by this weekend. and I have many more blogs that I have been planning that I am very excited to share, so those should be coming soon as long as I don't get bogged down by reading. And then I find out that all of that was only phase one of The High Republic. Wait what do you mean there's going to be more? 

All the publishers working on The High Republic so far, Phase One and beyond.

   White board used by the writers for VERY interesting ideas stay connected for more of those from me.