Rogue One Speculation

      Much of what I want to speculate about doesn't take into account what we've seen in TV spots, ads, or other material that are not the trailers. I really didn't watch them due to not wanting to know more than what we already do about the plot. Besides the fact that I do not expect most of our heroes to survive, I just want to speculate on what we might see in the movie and what information we might get out of it.

•        First off, I am a massive Star Wars Rebels fan. I know that Rogue One is a few years off from where we currently are, but I would like some tie-ins to the show.  Here's what I would like to see if there is some Rebels easter eggs.
• Commander Sato would be a good choice to have in the movie. It would connect the small fledgling rebels that we see in the show with the bigger band of rebels we've come to know. If it means that Mon Mothma asks him a question with him replying with one line in the entire movie, that would be fine with me. It would be like a small nod to those who are fans of the show.
• I would love to see the Ghost on the big screen! Even if it's just in the background and doesn't fly, I would like to see the ship that served as the home to the Ghost crew. Maybe even a short Spectre call-sign would be nice to hear on the big screen.
• It would also be pretty cool to see a C1-10P astromech droid. In other words, if none of the crew are mentioned or shown, I think seeing Chopper roaming the rebel base would be a nice wink to the fans and could be a safe bet...if he survives the show.
• Now, depending on what happens in Season 4, I wonder if there might be a Fulcrum mention or even an appearance where one Fulcrum is addressing the Erso team. Fulcrum has been mentioned a few times in the new canon aside from the TV show, and it has me wondering if this might actually happen in the movie. It's the least likely to happen, but it would provide an interesting amount of speculation as to how important the role of Fulcrum is or was to the Rebels going forward.
• I really hope Saw Gerrera mentions Ahsoka and Anakin at least once in the movie. That would be really nice to hear. :) 
• At the 46 second mark on one of the Rogue One trailers, there appears to be tall rock formations that make it difficult to fly through. What immediately came to mind was the planet Shantipole, which, if you've been watching Star Wars Rebels, you would know that Shantipole has those very same rock formations that make it a challenge for pilots to navigate. It is also the home of the Mon Calamari mechanic, Quarrie. He is the one responsible for the creation of the B-Wing, which itself is a powerful ship for the Rebellion. This then led me to believe that he was probably the creator for the U-Wing, which would be another nice easter egg for Rebels fans. Why the Erso team would go there, I do not know, but I have to admit that it's a stretch since many other planets could have the same type of rock structures.
• Ok, we know from A New Hope that the data plans were transmitted to Leia's ship before the start of the movie. If this is the case, how does she know to go to Tatooine from the beginning? According to the crawl, she's technically going home, even so far as to telling Vader that she's on a diplomatic mission to Alderaan. I want to see if Bail Organa tells her at the end of Rogue One to go towards Tatooine and find Obi-Wan/Ben Kenobi since R2 should technically know where to go due to his time on Tatooine and the location of Luke's home. 
• Also, why isn't Bail Organa on his way to Tatooine instead of Leia? I've always found this interesting as he was the most likely person to go find Obi-Wan. 
• In terms of more Easter eggs, will we get any mentions of certain docking bays or cell blocks? We know Jyn and her team will make it onto the Death Star for her father, so I want to see if they dock near Docking Bay 327 or even if they get captured and detained. Another interesting idea is if they learn about the trash compactor and happen to tell Leia about it as a means to escape or a warning about the Dianoga.
• Because of who Chirrut is and his faith in the Force, will we go inside any of the Jedi Temples? We know that they have kyber crystals inside, so being able to actually go inside a Jedi Temple on another planet would be pretty fun to watch.
• Lastly, no one can survive. At least, I never thought more than one will have a chance to live. Therefore, is it Vader who ends up killing everyone? Will he come out of it unscathed? That Bacta tank scene is interesting, and even his introduction in A New Hope makes it seem like he's perfectly fine, so I want to see if he makes it out without any damages to his suit.

Lords of the Sith - Novel Review

       When it comes to the new Star Wars canon, Lords of the Sith has been hyped up as one of the best, if not the best, of the new canon. The cover of the book makes it seem as if the plot revolves around a mission involving the Emperor and Darth Vader, however, this is definitely not the case. Going into the book, I had no idea that the novel actually revolves around separate stories that are coinciding and ultimately having a profound impact on each other. This, in essence, can throw some readers off if they have no pre-existing knowledge of it as it can take a while to really get into the book's fantastic moments.
       Starting off, the book is separated into stories involving the Emperor and Vader, Cham Syndulla and his group of rebels, Lieutenant Belkor who is watching over Ryloth, and, eventually, Moff Mors who is in charge of overseeing Ryloth but really doesn't. Right off the bat, the Emperor and Vader portions of the book were phenomenal! It was incredible reading about their interactions and how they play off each other in that every feeling and, sometimes, thought that Vader has can be felt by the Emperor. I loved getting to read the moments where the light side keeps pulling at Vader and showing him glimpses of his former self, yet he has to brush those emotions away because he's no longer Anakin Skywalker. He's the ruthless Dark Lord of the Sith, and you really get to see that in this book. The ferocity and viciousness of Vader and Palpatine shines throughout this book as they slash, quite literally, their way to their ultimate goal. They don't hold back, and it really does keep you at the edge of your seat, especially if you're listening to the audiobook, which incorporates the wonderful score of the movies. If the book were to only focus off their story, I would honestly give it a 10/10. However...
       My biggest gripe has to be with the other portions of the book. Cham Syndulla comes off as a great leader, but I simply had an issue with his follower, Isval. I hated her probably since the beginning. She's the type of character whose brash and usually does things without thinking things through as long as she can kill as many of her enemies as she can. That's her attitude when it comes to Imperials. I wanted her dead so much because of how much the book dragged on about her and her hate towards Imperials. She would constantly complain to Cham about missions and how they needed to get the job done. This kept annoying me as that was probably the only thing she would keep blabbering on about every time she appeared. You would think the book would rather focus more on the hero of Ryloth, Cham Syndulla, but it doesn't, and I think that's a real flaw with this book.
       Lieutenant Belkor is almost the same as Isval in that their character focuses on one thing and never show any real character development. He essentially wants to overthrow Moff Mors and become Moff. I'll leave it at that since there's not much to talk about him. Moff Mors, on the other hand, is a much better character. She might actually be the surprise standout of this book. The development of her character from when you first meet her is drastic, and you start getting a better sense of why she was like that as the plot progresses. When you have a character like Mors standout from Cham's rebels and Belkor, it really gives you a sense of the flaws this book has in trying to develop newer characters for the new canon.
       The main plot and climax of the book is exhilarating, to say the least. The lesser ones the book has to offer simply drag the book on by trying to establish certain characters that aren't all that necessary to the overall story. The only thing I can say that might save the character of Isval for me going forward is that she is somewhat important to Cham and that might have a strong impact on his character going forward as a revolutionary. Other than that, it's a fine read for Star Wars fans that simply want to get a story revolving around Palpatine's role as master to Darth Vader by constantly testing his allegiance to continuing as a Sith Lord, as well as the evils these two are capable of. I'm split on how to grade this, so I'll just give it a B-. 
       I enjoyed it, just not as much as probably everyone else. Please don't let my attitudes towards certain characters deter you from reading it. Hopefully, you do enjoy this book and all it has to offer.

Star Wars Book Canon

For a short list of the Star Wars Book Canon that does not include the short stories, TV episodes, and comics, please click on the "Book Canon" tab on the right side of the page. I was not sure whether it should have been on the Updated Canon page or not, so I made a separate page. I also did not include the short stories as I know many are not able to get access to those stories as they are mostly in the Star Wars Insider magazine.

Dark Disciple - Novel Review

       Growing up, I always enjoyed going to my local library to check out their Star Wars comics. The ones my library for some unknown reason had were based on the Jedi Master, Quinlan Vos. This then led to me always stating him as my favorite Jedi until high school, which was where I changed my answer to Obi-Wan Kenobi. So when I heard that Del Rey was releasing a new canon book based around Quinlan Vos, I can say that I was beyond excited. Plus, it's based on episodes of The Clone Wars that were not able to be done due to being cancelled, and if you know me, you know how much I loved The Clone Wars.

       Going into this book, you don't really know what to expect as its premise revolves around the Jedi Order sending Quinlan Vos to recruit Asajj Ventress in order to assassinate Count Dooku. However, if you've seen Revenge of the Sith, you know that never happens. Even though that's the case, this book still really entertains you while keeping you wondering what might happen next. This is due to the fact that we don't know the fates of Vos and Ventress post-Revenge of the Sith since Disney wiped the Expanded Universe and made it Legends. I should add, however, that even though both Ventress and Vos are on the cover, this is mostly Vos's story with Ventress being a close second.

       The mission just to even get Ventress on Vos's side makes it that much more entertaining. Knowing Vos's reputation as a reckless Jedi,  the book shows just how much more than that he really is. I really enjoyed how the novel explores his frame of mind both as a Jedi and a human being in that it parallels the conflicting emotions Anakin Skywalker had in the lead-up to him joining the Dark Side. The raw feelings he developed genuinely made you feel for the character and his struggle with sticking to the Jedi Code. 

       His chemistry with Obi-Wan and Ventress is phenomenally portrayed whereby the interactions both characters have with Vos play out as an actual Clone Wars episode. With regards to Vos's friendship with Kenobi, the novel really explored their friendship as a brotherhood and explains it really well by showing how close they are even when the other may be lost, which the films unfortunately could not capture between Anakin and Ob-Wan. This brotherhood really, in my opinion, gives the reader a stronger appreciation for Obi-Wan as an overall character who never truly gives up on his friends as long as there is a glimmer of hope. With respect to Ventress, the novel grasps the difficulty it would naturally be for Vos to be on good terms with Ventress. She shuts herself out to the world and doesn't care, which makes her relationship with Vos all the more entertaining. 

       Speaking of Ventress, she's still working as a bounty hunter, and she is just as angry as ever. I loved how commanding of a presence she has in the novel even though it does revolve around Vos. You can tell how much Christie Golden understands the character of Ventress and her struggle after being tossed aside by Dooku. Her hatred for Dooku is apparent, but it's not as much as you would think in that she's mostly come to terms with it. By the time you meet her, you know she's doing fine as a bounty hunter even though she's built somewhat of a bad reputation among other bounty hunters. I really liked how this book explores her past and her emotions because it makes you have empathy for her character. You learn that under that hard exterior, she is just as prone to emotional damage and scarring as any other person. Because of this, Ventress really shines and dominates the pages she's in.

       Given the praise I have for the main characters, there are some glaring negatives I have with it. First and foremost, the story does drag on. The book dwells too much on Vos's need to gain Ventress's trust as an ally and partner once (spoiler-not spoiler) she does team up with him to hunt for bounties. It mostly drags because you know what his real mission is, yet it takes a while for the Dooku plot to finally kick in. Another issue I had with the overall story was how the story also lags once something important occurs to Quinlan Vos, which was incredibly predictable in the lead-up to it. The way the book drags on twice throughout it, you can tell how the book was only meant to be a three to four episode arc in total. Unfortunately, it felt as if they crammed six to ten episodes into this one book along with the fillers of those episodes, as well as sometimes appearing as two different books due to the shifts in its tone.

       Another issue I had with the story was how easily the Jedi Order would resort to assassination. Before anyone yells at me thinking that I spoiled this, you should know that this is basically decided in the first chapter. Most of the masters would automatically approve the use of it, with Obi-Wan the only one who ever really opposed it, and Yoda never once thought, "Hey, let's calm down and think this through. Maybe assassination makes us just as bad as the Sith, and there might be unintended consequences if we go down this path." But no, Yoda just okays everything without really objecting to it. Mace Windu is just as bad, if not worse, in that he's the one constantly calling for it. It's as if he's officially gone to the Dark Side or just practices it himself. This all just shows how truly lost the Jedi Order really was and how far they had lost their ways. The peace-loving warrior who seeks justice is nowhere to be seen except in Obi-Wan Kenobi. It boggles my mind how much that statement is true. 

       Overall, I really enjoyed this book. Do I think it's flawless? No. It has its issues, but I think it's easy to overlook them. Dark Disciple is a great addition to the new canon due to its engaging, sometimes though-provoking, and entertaining text about a Jedi who doesn't really know if he wants to continue being a Jedi, and a former Sith apprentice who only wants to escape the past and look towards a future on her own terms. I really liked how it gives some more details about the Jedi Order just before Revenge of the Sith, and how certain decisions they make can end up haunting them in the long run. Dark Disciple is emotional and fun, with great action sequences, and I really hope that people get a chance to read it. If I were to rate it, I'd give it a solid B. I think those who've seen the Clone Wars will really gravitate towards these characters and really enjoy the story it has to offer.