The Force Awoke

Well, it happened...the moment I'd been waiting for, realistically for years, hypothetically for decades, came and went and in its wake it left some answers, more questions, but, first and foremost, one hell of a good time. I've only seen it once, so far, so consider these my first musings, to be followed up by more in-depth theorizing and speculation throughout the next two years until the next installment comes out...Tom Petty could be on to something, the wait may be the hardest part, but it's also the part that fans get to fill with ideas and discussion about our beloved galaxy far, far away, so, all in all, it's not so bad...oh, and, just by the way, there will be spoilers below, so, yeah, duh, but you've been warned...now, without further delay, The Force Awakens...

Why the Plank is Sarco on Jakku?

So, as I imagine anyone who reads this has been, I've been playing Battlefront in nearly all of my free time since its release, but I decided to take a break (albeit a small one) to discuss something that's been gnawing at me since finishing Weapon of a Jedi a while ago (if you haven't read it yet, uh, spoilers incoming):  What is Sarco Plank doing on Jakku? And why is he more than just a throwaway character used as a plot device to help advance Luke's Jedi training? Why is he so important that he gets a databank entry and an action figure? (Okay, granted, neither of those things really make you an important character, but, this early, it seems telling to me.) Are Sarco and Luke going to meet again? Is something going to happen to make Luke regret not finishing Sarco off? He's a really interesting, visually appealing character, so I can certainly see, after creating him for The Force Awakens, wanting to flesh him out a little more based solely on his badass appearance, but is that really all there is to it? I'm guessing not...

Let's Get Quizzical! ...About Inquisitors

Alright, so, if it were actually something with which one could be afflicted, I would certainly be diagnosed with Inquisitorius Obsessedius...but, since that's fake, let's just say I'm full-on obsessed with the new canon Inquisitorius (which is a fancy name for the cog in the Imperial machine that includes the Force-using darksiders trained to dispatch Order 66 leftovers). My most recent musings center around who actually trains the brothers and sisters (Inquisitors...I am your father!)...anyway, according to Wookieepedia (with a reference to Star Wars Rebels: Visual Guide, Epic Battles), Darth Vader trains them, but I don't necessarily think that's the whole truth (much like Obi-wan tells Luke that Yoda was the Jedi Master that instructed him...it's not exactly correct, but it's the easy answer). I can certainly see Vader being the supervisor of their training, and their ultimate master, but I feel like he's too important and too busy (see his involvement in Tarkin and Lords of the Sith, for example) to be solely responsible for their daily instruction...so, who else could be putting them through their paces and teaching them limited Force abilities and spinning double-bladed lightsaber technique? I'm so glad you asked! Here are my harebrained theories, see how off the rocker you think they are...

The Trailer Awakens

I heard a new trailer for The Force Awakens was released last night, so I thought I'd get around to watching it today and maybe post about it...ha, yeah, no, you're right, I watched it live on my big screen TV and then re-watched it about 15 times:  some by rewinding the DVR (that's right, I recorded the entire MNF game just to have the trailer), and some from my phone to get screen grabs to post on Twitter...so yeah, I've seen it and have been dissecting it in my head since then (even in my sleep, I'm sure, but I very rarely remember dreams), waiting until I had time today to regurgitate my thoughts onto the page (so to speak)...and now the time has come to do just that, so follow along on YouTube, and let's see if you agree, disagree, wish my swift (or perhaps slow) death, or want to be my best friend for life...

No Fault in Lost Stars

Okay, I'm not saying Lost Stars is perfect or anything, but, I mean, that title is too clever to pass up...plus, I kinda thought going in that it was going to be the Star Wars equivalent of some kind of sappy love story like that (disclaimer:  I've neither read nor seen The Fault in Our Stars, so I'm making a stereotypical judgement based almost solely on the preview for the film...don't try this at home), but, to my surprise, it wasn't...not entirely, anyway. What it turned out to be was a true journey to The Force Awakens, in that you legitimately go on quite a journey with the two main characters, Romeo & Jul, er, I mean, Thane and Ciena (to be fair, they're not that Romeo and Juliet-ish, especially since they don't end up dying together at the end)...seriously, though, it's a Forrest Gump-esque story where the protagonists find themselves involved with almost every major player and event throughout the original trilogy, and then are directly responsible for a now-famous image of Tatooine's brother from another mother, Jakku. If you've been on the fence about this one since it's a "young adult" novel (or however they categorize these things), I'd hop off the post and scuttle down to your favorite bookstore and pick it up; it's an easy read (though a little long) that starts out slow but picks up and paces really well, especially in the last quarter or so. If you're a true Star Wars fan (that's right, calling you out, what!?!?), I think you'll definitely enjoy it, and I also think it's a fairly good icebreaker for anyone who's familiar with the movies, the original trilogy in particular, and is looking to get started down the rabbit hole of the (new) expanded universe. So, yeah, anyway, I liked it, it was good, now I'm going to pick a few talking points and babble, enjoy!