Sluggish Reaction: The Mandalorian (Chapter 21)

Wow! Wor! Wow! This was quite possibly my favourite epside of The Mandalorian!! It just brought everything together so well and made me feel like I was 12 again, which is what I want most from Star Wars!!!

I love this ship – and it got named on-screen as well!! The Cumulus-class corsair is a perfect pirate ship, so menacing as it hung in the air and then rained down missile fire on Nevarro.

Gorian Shard is great!! I loved the holocommunications – especially the detail of his mouth being out of sync with his words, it just felt so realistic. I love that they built up the character of a bully who falls apart when he’s actually stood up to.

Adelphi base is really cool. It feels like it’s inspired by the Pacific campaign of WW2. I liked the difference between the New Republic pilots outside making a difference compared to the leadership.

Zeb!! I honestly didn’t think it could really be him and just assumed it was another Lasat until I looked it up. He looks amazing in live action and glad to see he made it through the war.

This was a really interesting interaction between Teva, who knows the real situation and the New Republic administration. It’s not that the NR is bad, they just have a ridiculous amount on their plate. Seeing Elia worm herself in shows her plan, she’s built loyalty to the point where she’s subtly manipulating her superiors into actions that ultimately benefit the Empire

My guess is that Gideon bolstered Shard’s fleet to show the citizens of the Outer Rim how the NR can’t reach them to make them want to turn to the Empire for security.

Seeing Greef help his people shows how much he’s grown. I did feel the Volume in these scenes though as it was clear they only had as many townspeople as they could fit into the virtual set. Of course the other locals must have scaped somewhere else so it’s not a huge deal

It was cool to see Teva finally have nice chat with Din as he realizes the Mandalorians are the only once who can help. It’s cool that R5 knows him – I hope we get to find out more about his time with the Rebellion some day! If you want to know more about R5 I wrote a full recap of his story for Star Wars New Net which you can read HERE

Seeing Paz ask the question ‘why should we help’ followed by ‘because we are Mandalorians!!’ made me whoop out loud! It was such a great moment. This is what I’ve been hoping for all along – for them to recognize that they can be a force to help the helpless. They are never afraid of conflict and there are plenty of threats in the Outer Rim for them to deal with!!

More dogfighting was just what I wanted. Seeing the fighters launch from the deck of the corsair was a cool detail and the whole fight was just exhilerating! We have been spoiled with dogfights this season!

And then the Mandalorians drop into the fight, xseeing the teams clear the streets was just…yeah!!

I love this Ugnaught pirate – he seems like the Smee to Gorian Shard’s Hook!

The Armorer doing her takedown just when the Mandalorians are pinned down was the best!!

There are many types of Star Wars stories – but I do like ones that feature Mandalorians riding a starfighter they just shot down!!

Seeing the Mandalorians welcomed as heroes and given a place to call home in civilized society was a perfect ending to this episode.

The Armorer asking Bo-Katan to remove her helmet was really interesting. At first it seemed sinister but it seems she is willing to put her differences aside, holding to her beliefs but acknowledging that to unite Mandalore she must acknowledge the right of others to practice theirs. Bo-Katan can be the bridge between the different factions who can coexist even when they believe that the other faction is wrong.

The ending was really interesting. I loved the little probe droid coming from the astromech!!

I was confused at first, wondering if there were still Empire-aligned Mandalorians out there. But my guess is that some Mandalorians have kidnapped him to make him pay for the Night of a Thousand Tears.

If they announced that this was actually the season finale I would be perfectly satisfied – but there are three more to go and I’m not complaining either!!!

Matrix Exile of the week: Officer Taylor

Affiliation: White Security

Location: Park East, Downtown

Head of training for White Security, the private security company owned by Dame White, Officer Taylor runs a strict and ruthless training regimen to make sure his officers are deadly and effective.

As a final test for his men, Taylor issues a bounty on his own forces, rewarding anyone who can bring in their silver badges as a way to weed out anyone not strong enough to work for him.

While not the leader of the security, Taylor is a key member with a direct line to Dame White herself.

Species of the week: Gorvin Snu

Designation: Non-Sentient

Homeworld: Arvala-7

Fandom: Star Wars

Appearances: The Mandalorian

Gorvin Snu are small, skittish lizards native to Arvala-7. These creatures live in large groups and are naturally curious creatures – following visitors to their world and getting close to them until they are startled.

I’m starting a full Mandalorian recap for my YouTube channel so I got to watch these little critters again!!

Sluggish Reaction: The Mandalorian (Chapter 20)

Well it was another monster episode of The Mandalorian (pun very much intended) as we get some exciting backstory and see the Mandalorians bond and work as a team together.

Seeing all the Mandalorians training was a cool sequence. I love getting to see all their cool armour paint jobs and variations, especially with all the foundlings running around in the mix.

Grogu and the crabs was really cute!

The duel between Grogu and Ragnar was cool, but Grogu jumping just felt off. They handled it well in The Book of Boba Fett and I thought he would dodge around like that but instead he just did a really awkward looking jump

And another monster!! I did roll my eyes at first – why on earth did they choose that planet?!! But then again maybe that;s why they did – because no one in their right mind would choose to live there!!

Ahmed Best!!! I recognised the name Kelleran but I didn’t click that it was Kelleran Beq from Jedi Temple Challenge until I saw him on-screen. Seeing him back, and seeing him absolutely destroying those clones was a great moment and it was such a great use of the character.

The escape sequence was so fun. I loved seeing more of Coruscant in this episode. And the Naboo defying gthe Empire and even giving their lives so they could escape was really moving.

The roundel was an interesting moment – you know Grogu’s getting shot in the chest later this season!!

It was cool seeing Bo-Katan bond with the Watch as they plan their assault. It’s interesting to see over and overe that while they have differing views and a lot of ego, they will always put that aside to help their own. Paz is an arrogant guy but Bo-Katan has the intel so he steps aside without question, even when the mission is to save his son.

I knew the heat signature would turn out to be baby birds but it was still fun to see!

And then mummy-bird spits up Ragnar, who seems remarkably ok given he’s spent a night in a monster bird’s stomach!!

The fight scene with the monster-bird was epic. I loved seeing all the Mandalorians in flight, matching their skill against a creature who’s a natural flyer. It was all amazing, even if the ending was taken right out of Jurassic World!!

It’s hilarious that just as I was thinking “they left the babies to starve” they bring them out of the Gauntlet. Having three tame monster-birds would definitely help them survive on that planet! I just want to end the season with every Mandalorian riding some kind of monster!!!

The episode seems to be about trust, which has now built up between all the characters. Bo-Katan is fully accepted by the covert and she in turn is willing to open up about the Mythosaur, which I was not expecting!! Din and Paz must surely be getting along better know, which should help everyone move past the awkward Mythosaur business.

Matrix Exile of the week: Clef

Affiliation: The Keymaker

Location: Magog, Richland

This unfortunate Exile once worked for The Keymaker as a researcher before his capture by The Merovingian and understood his role as a master of encryption and access programmed by the Machines.

Clef was in possession of one of his keys, which granted access to The Antediluvian’s base. She was in contact with Fasset, another researcher who was in over his head investigating the Antediluvian threat. Clef understood that the programs he had unleashed were form The Boxmaker, who contained them in prison constructs that were sealed in physical boxes. He planned to unleash these programs as revenge for the imprisonment and death of his brother, The Keymaker.

She based herself in the city slums and secured the key in a vault. She spoke to redpills about the threat, but was also discovered by White Security who wanted to secure the key she held for Dame White. Sadly, Clef was built for research not combat and was killed in their pursuit

Guardian’s Log: Ishtar Collective (Destiny gameplay recap)

After being sent packing by the Awoken Queen, it was time to investigate the Vex and try to figure out what on earth a ‘Gate Lord’ is so we can get our hands on it’s head.

Log

To have any hope of finding the Vex we needed, we had to get more intel on the Vex in general. To do this my Ghost tracked down the biggest Vex signal it could find so we could kill it and remove it’s brain for analysis. Well, what we found was certainly big, no doubt about that!!

After eventually taking down the monstrous Vex, my Ghost analyzed the contents of it’s head. But their minds are beyond anything we’ve encountered before. We headed into the jungle and sought out the ruins of the Ishtar Collective to see if they had any better luck deciphering the mystery of the Vex.

To track down the Vex we pushed through Vex ruins which were dated as billions of years old when scanned. Whatever these things are they have been a threat for longer than we can imagine.

We reached the old Ishtar research centre. It was now overgrown and swarming with Fallen. We made quick work of the fiends and explored the site.

My Ghost hooked into the Ishtar system and started to download their research data. Of course that drew the attention of the Vex so I held them off as long as I could.

The intelligence we got gave us a greater understanding of the Vex. They share one mind across millions of units, which explains why they are able to respond in such a rapid and coordinated way to our presence. Their teleporting abilities aren’t limited to Venus either, they can warp across entire star systems! But, most importantly, we discovered that their network spreads through the mantle of the planet… and we can use it to locate a Gate Lord!

Grimoire

Cyclops

The massive Vex units act like stationary turrets, anchored to one point and laying down massive energy projectiles at any that come near. Some intelligence suggests that their primary function is data gathering and their weapons capabilities are an additional asset.

Minotaur

These Vex units are larger and more heavily armoured than other bipedal units. They are primarily focused on building Vex architecture but will defend their constructions with extreme aggression, firing their cannons and teleporting to engage their target from multiple angles.

Vex Mind Core

The core processing unit of Vex units, containing the data they collect. Mind Cores are actually biological rather than circuit-based and vary from unit to unit, making larger Vex a better source for data harvesting.

---

Opinion

This was a middle-of-the-road kind of mission for me. The Cyclops encounter was cool but I’d run into it a few times on patrol already. The Ishtar base was also a nice sequence but didn’t really add anything new. All good, but nothing really special overall.

Species of the week: Bufopel

Designation: Sentient

Notable members: Rigfu Urcolla

Fandom: Star Wars

Appearances: The Last Jedi, The Mandalorian

Bufopel are a large species whose size makes them intimidating on sight to humanoid species. While incredibly strong, they are generally a peaceful race. Some Bufopel known as the Bufopel Protectors joined the ranks of the Rebel Alliance.

I loved the scene with this massive guy who’s scary at first but turns out to be just another commuter!

Sluggish Reaction: The Mandalorian (Chapter 19)

This week’s episode was an interesting change of pace with some phenomenal action at the beginning followed by a look at the life of a former Imperial adjusting to the New Republic.

The episode picked up right where we left off. I was hoping we’d get to see more of the Mythosaur but I’ll have to be patient. Knowing it exists is enough for now!! Cheeky Bo-Katan keeps the knowledge to herself but she’s clearly warming up to Din so maybe they’ll tame the beast together

The dogfight was AWESOME!!!! Seeing Squints on screen again was great and they don’t go down easy!!! Everything about this was so cool, especially when Din joined the fight in his N-1

I loved Bo-Katan bragging about flying the cliffs of her home then immediately scraping the side – classic Star Wars!! Then her flippy-turn move to take out the last TIE was insane!!

The running gag of R5 falling over was hilarious!!

Then the scene pivots into tragedy as TIE Bombers destroy the castle (and the cool droid!). Seeing Bo-Katan want to destroy them all but brought to her senses by Din was another great moment for them

And then we see Pershing at the famous Darth Plagueis the wise Opera House giving a speech. I liked his character and his willingness to redeem himself and his desire to do some good.

This conversation was so cringey and it’s a reminder that no matter the regime, rich jerks will be rich jerks

I felt for Pershing and his growing frustration at his job. Of course, a former war criminal shouldn’t expect luxury treatment but the New Republic is clearly wasting his skills and wasting their own resources. He could have reformatted those drives to help needy folks in the Outer Rim and he sees that he could do more than just the bare minimum but is shut down by the bureaucracy.

Also it was an interesting note to hear that the Alliance fleet is being decommissioned at this point. Wonder if we’ll get to see some New Republic capital ships at any point?

Getting to see Coruscant again was really fun, it was nice to just explore the city and see the many species and cultures mixing together. I like how they cleverly sidestepped the question of the capital, as Coruscant isn’t the capital at this point. It’s more likely to still be Chandrilla, possibly Hosnian Prime but I’d say it’s a bit early for that as the capital moved planets every few years under the New Republic charter.

Seeing the peak of the Manarai Mountains was a really fun detail. I remember a similar scene in Light of the Jedi, but in the High Republic era there was more mountain to see. Also – I really want a glow-stick ice lolly!!

The tension in the train scene was real as there were huge consequences for Pershing if they got caught

Seeing Star Destroyers again is just cool!! It was interesting seeing them all decommissioned on Coruscant. It’s interesting that there are so many just being mothballed – I wonder what happened to the Starhawk program?

And then the trap is sprung! I have to be honest though, I found this very confusing. If she wanted to take Pershing out, why not just push him off the train? Why did the New Republic officers not arrest her? It doesn’t make sense to me but I’m hopeful all will be revealed.

Poor Pershing!!!

Bo-Katan being accepted into the tribe even when she doesn’t want to be was a fun scene. Hopefully seeds are being sown for increased unity among the Mandalorians

Matrix Exile of the week: Dame White

Affiliation: Spectrum

Location: Club Massamune, Shinjuku

Dame White is one of the oldest Exiles and the ‘Mother’ of the Spectrum family. Her program was replaced by a newer version, who would in turn become the Exile called Persephone.

Like Persephone she escaped the Source by merging her code with another program, linking her forever to her husband Mr. Black. While they are drawn to each other, their relationship is expressed through conflict with fierce rivalry hidden beneath an amicable surface.

This rivalry is played out through her children, who compete for their parents’ approval by bringing tribute from the neighbourhoods they control in Westview.

Dame White has considerable influence in the Matrix. She owns the White Lotus Hotel, a luxury hotel known to cater to the desires of the rich and powerful, and is often seen holding court in another of her holdings, Club Massamune. Her private security force, White Security, protect her assets while her bodyguards and lieutenants see to her personal protection and interests.

As the predecessor to Persephone, Dame White follows the Merovingian’s interests closely. When The Antediluvian moved against the Frenchman it was age who revealed that he was the predecessor to Flood and sent redpill agents to undo his plans.

EVERY NEW SPECIES in Andor (Season one)

Andor’s first season gave us some awesome new Star Wars stuff!! In this video check out all the new creatures and sentient species that appeared on-screen

I owe a debt of thanks to Matty T for sharing his content with me and helping me check through this content. Also the Alien Anthology is a great blog which I referred to when making my video.

Creatures

For my Obi-Wan coverage I did separate posts for cretaures but there were only a handful in Andor so I’ll roll them in one this time.

This arboreal lizard had a blue and yellow body with dark spots as natural camouflage. It had two feelers on it’s head and a squared-off tail.

Dray

Dray are native livestock on Aldhani. Their milk is foul-tasting but drinkable but their value is in their wool which is sheared and traded by the native Dhani settlers.

These blue birds are native to Niamos and can be seen picking the scraps left by tourist visitors to the planet.

Squig

Squigs are a form of worm native to Chandrilla and are used as an ingredient in traditional Chandrillan drinks, where they react to the liquid to give added flavour.

Sentient Species

This species has a long neck with a snout-like face above two humanoid legs. No arms are visible but may be present.

This species is humanoid and has it’s face obscured by some kind of mask, possibly a rebreather.

We don’t see this species’ face – it may well be human but I’ve added it just in case.

This pale-skinned species has humanoid features with sloped, scaly heads.

(there are some similarities to the Imroosian species but Matty T points out the differences in this tweet. Matty has been a big help to me making this video and if you’re enjoying this post then you should follow him on Twitter)

Sentient Star Wars Species that are unidentified as of this tweet Day 83: this scaly species!
First Appearance: “Andor S1 E1 – ‘Kassa’”
Canon: Yes
Creator: Unclear
Notes: A lot of people jumped the gun and claimed that this was an Imroosian, but I’m not convinced… pic.twitter.com/jDhllYpGXw

— Matty T (@MTrac1000) November 28, 2022

Kakala

A blue-skinned species with ridged skin on their heads. One member of the species worked on Ferrix.

(the species was named as part of the Galaxy’s Edge experience)

This race is humanoid but has two additional arms protruding from the chest. A member of this species performed surgery on Rebel soldier Nemik but was unable to save him.

A member of this blue-grey skinned species worked at the Imperial Bureau of Standards

A member of this long-snouted species was seen enjoying a holiday on Niamos

Full acknowledgment to the Alien Archive for this orange faced species and to Matty T for the green-skinned species sitting next to them – I totally missed both!!

This pincer-face species was designed for The Rise of Skywalker but never made the final cut.

This grey-skinned species has a snout and dark eyes. One was seen having a picnic on Niamos

An elderly trio of these beings shared a seat on Niamos. They have brown skin and dark eyes. Some have short pointed snouts and some gave long rounded ones, perhaps indicating differences in gender.

Another Niamos visitor enjoying a game of Dejarik, this species is humanoid but with ridges on the arms and across the centre of the head

A member of this species was involved in a romantic relationship with a Blutopian

These species has horns similar to a Gotal but has green skin, pointed ears and large dark eyes. One was seen in the underlevels of Coruscant

Another denizen of the underworld, this species has pointed tendrils of skin coming down from the cheeks and chin.

Narkinian

This stocky species has mottled beige skin with vaguely humanoid features and black hair. This individual has cybernetics in place of hands but it is unclear if the rest of the species has hands or not.

(Narkinian is a tentative title based on the fact that the subtitles list him as speaking Narkinian. His ‘brother’ is a Keredian, previously seen in Rogue One)

This red-skinned species has ridged head tendrils similar to the Kakala but has a more human-looking face. One took part in the rebellion on Ferrix.

That’s all I spotted but Matty shared his TikTok videos with me where he clocked these species at the Coruscant spaceport and also some in the background in the Ferrix battle which I still can’t find!!