Tag: Star Wars

Star Wars fans absolutely loved seeing this iconic character in Ahsoka: Episode 4 (SPOILER!)

He’s back, looking a whole lot like he did in “Revenge of the Sith.”

SPOILER WARNING AHEAD FOR ALL STAR WARS CONTENT!

Episode 4 of Ahsoka was an action-packed one that featured the awesome destruction of some droids, three lightsaber duels, witchcraft, and a special kind of blast into hyperspace that Star Wars fans have never seen before. An unfortunate truth about Sabine Wren’s family was revealed, Hera disobeyed orders – again – and Ahsoka met a familiar face.

That’s right, y’all.

He’s back.

After losing a duel with Baylan Skoll on the planet Seatos, Ahsoka awakes in what looked like The World Between Worlds, something fans of Rebels are very familiar with. After getting her bearings and standing up, she hears a voice.

“Hello, Snips.”

“Master?”

“I didn’t expect to see you so soon.”

And indeed, she turns around and sees Anakin Skywalker, played by Hayden Christensen – with what looks like some help from de-aging technology.

As Skywalker, Christensen looks pretty similar to how he appeared in Revenge of the Sith, with dark robes, a brown belt, his robotic and black right hand, brown boots and shoulder-length hair. Simply put: He looks great.

Anakin flashes a smile as Ahsoka stands shocked and in disbelief. As the scene cuts to black – ultimately ending the episode – a score similar to John Williams’ “Vader’s Theme” plays.

This is Christensen’s second appearance as Anakin in a live-action Star Wars show. He previously reprised the role in Obi-Wan Kenobi. And it’s the first time Star Wars fans have seen Anakin and Ahsoka together since Season 2 of Rebels, when she fought him at an ancient Sith temple on Malachor.

Fans also learned in this episode that Baylan – a former Jedi – knew Anakin well before the rise of the Empire.

He tells Ahsoka, needling her just before their climatic duel: “Everyone in the Order knew Anakin Skywalker. Few would live to see what he became. Surely, that must leave a mark. Is that why you walked away? Abandoned him?”

All signs point to Episode 5 of Ahsoka featuring a whole lot more of Christensen as Anakin. And if Tuesday night was any indication, fans are going to love that episode too.

What we learned in Ahsoka, Episode 3: Space whales? Hera’s son?

Let’s talk more about purrgil, Jacen Syndulla, and Sabine’s apparent inability to wield the Force.

Y’all. The purrgil are back.

Episode 3 of Ahsoka – the latest live-action Star Wars show on Disney+ – featured a callback to Luke and Obi-Wan’s training aboard the Millenium Falcon in A New Hope, a good old fashion spaceship battle, politicians politicking, and SPACE WHALES.

Just like Episode 2, Steph Green was in the director’s chair for this one, with showrunner Dave Filoni picking up writing and producing credits. Green’s past work includes directing episodes of The Americans, Luke Cage, Scandal, The Book of Boba Fett, and The Deuce.

A quick recap: The episode begins with Sabine attempting to shake off the rust to pick her Jedi training back up, but it is apparent – to the viewers and Huyang – that there is just something missing. Meanwhile, as Ahsoka, Sabine and Huyang hurdle through hyperspace, Hera clashes with political leaders. She presents a hypothesis that none of them want to hear, that Thrawn is potentially alive, and his return could unite scattered Imperial remnants and loyalists to the Empire. While Mon Mothma – excuse me, Chancellor Mon Mothma – takes her seriously, the other senators simply don’t want to engage with this possibility, and so, they forbid Hera from creating a task force to investigate further. After a space battle with Morgan Elsbeth and co., in which Ahsoka sports a space suit and slices off the wing of a starfighter, she and Sabine cruise down to Seatos with some SPACE WHALES (more on those in a bit) before taking refuge in a forest area. Baylan Skoll senses their presence and the hunt is on.

While the third episode of Ahsoka didn’t contain as many easter eggs as the first two, or as many things that needed explanation, it was a compelling piece of Star Wars television that revealed a few details about where this series is headed.

Let’s break down what we learned.

SPOILER WARNING AHEAD FOR ALL STAR WARS CONTENT.

What we learned from the first two Ahsoka episodes: What’s a Nightsister?

This show is unapologetically a sequel to Rebels. Depending on your level of fandom, that could be good or bad.

It didn’t take long into the first pair of episodes for viewers to realize something about Ahsoka, the newest live-action Star Wars show on Disney+: it is extremely apparent that this is very much a sequel to Rebels.

And if you’re a fan of the Star Wars cartoons created by Ahsoka showrunner Dave Filoni, then that’s good news. If you’re not a fan or haven’t seen them then, well, that’s on you.

If Andor was the Star Wars series that required no homework as it threw casual fans and diehards into a world with mostly unknown characters, Ahsoka is quite the opposite. It’s best to enter this with some working knowledge of the cartoons.

It seems that Filoni made a choice here to not hold the hand of anyone who hasn’t seen Rebels or The Clone Wars. It wasn’t explained to viewers who the Nightsisters were, or how a key scene with Sabine was a callback to one with Kanan, or why Clancy Brown’s Ryder Azadi is an important character. We didn’t get a download on Ezra and the significance of Lothal wasn’t spelled out.

Devoted fans of the cartoons likely appreciated this. Spare us the preambles and explanations and let’s go on an adventure with Ahsoka, Sabine and Hera.

But if you haven’t seen the cartoons, it might be easy to feel lost, disconnected or uninvested. Or, it’ll make you want to watch Rebels and The Clone Wars and learn more about these characters. The folks at Lucasfilm are more than likely rooting for the latter. Still, they’ve empowered Filoni here to continue to tell his stories about Ahsoka and the Ghost Crew on his terms.

In the first two episodes of Ahsoka, Filoni’s influences are also evident. When we first see our titular character, she is patiently and carefully searching for a map in an old ancient temple. It’s something that could have fit seamlessly into an Indiana Jones movie, if only Ahsoka was wearing a safari hat instead of montrals, and armed with a whip instead of two bright, white lightsabers. And the transitions used in Ahsoka – the swiping from scene to scene – can easily remind viewers of George Lucas’ touches on the original trilogy. There are also some scenes here that feel akin to westerns and samurai flicks.

The first two episodes provide a great showcase for Rosario Dawson to display just what kind of badass warrior she can be in the Star Wars’ universe. Viewers also meet Baylan Skoll, played by the late Ray Stevenson, who carries a commanding presence and seems to pull the camera’s focus his way whenever he appears. We also meet Sabine’s scene-stealing pet, a furry loth-cat.

Here’s what we learned from the first two episodes of Ahsoka.

SPOILERS FOR ALL STAR WARS CONTENT AHEAD.

Every episode of The Clone Wars and Rebels you should watch before Ahsoka

Anakin Skywalker’s former padawan has come a long way.

The newest live-action Star Wars show on Disney+ is Ahsoka, named for Ahsoka Tano – a former Jedi who fought in the Clone Wars and was once an apprentice to Anakin Skywalker.

Folks who have strictly stuck to live-action Star Wars content didn’t meet Ahsoka until she popped up in Season 2 of The Mandalorian. As he tries to reunite Grogu with other Jedi, Din Djarin finds Ahsoka (played by Rosario Dawson) on the planet of Corvus where she’s fighting Imperial remnants and trying to pin down the location of Grand Admiral Thrawn. Viewers saw Ahsoka once more in live-action – in The Book of Boba Fett – where she watches Luke Skywalker begin to build a new Jedi Temple.

But fans of the animated Star Wars shows, The Clone Wars and Rebels, have known Ahsoka for quite a while. Ahsoka was created by Dave Filoni and George Lucas as they were working together on the animated film Star Wars: The Clone Wars and the television show that followed and ran from 2008 through 2020, and she is voiced by the great Ashley Eckstein.

While Ahsoka makes her first appearance in the animated Clone Wars film, it’s not required viewing; it’s The Clone Wars show – and later, its successor Rebels – where fans see her character fully fleshed out and developed. Over the course of these two animated shows, viewers see Ahsoka grow up, wield a pair of lightsabers, befriend Clone Troopers, join a band of rebels, follow and lead, and clash with foes both big and small, familiar and unfamiliar.

Before you watch Ahsoka – or perhaps while you’re watching it – here are the essential episodes of The Clone Wars and Rebels you should check out to get to know who Ahsoka Tano is and what she’s been through.

Ranking the live-action Star Wars TV shows so far, ahead of Ahsoka’s release

It’s going to be a heavy lift to ever top Andor.

When Disney+ launched on Nov. 12, 2019, it did so with a live-action scripted Star Wars TV series, The Mandalorian.

Fast forward a few years and the popular streaming service is now home to four Star Wars shows with several more to come, led by Ahsoka. The first two episodes of that series hit Disney+ on Aug. 23, 2023. It centers around the character Ahsoka Tano, a former Jedi from the animated Clone Wars and Rebels series who was once an apprentice to Anakin Skywalker. Ahsoka – played by Rosario Dawson – made her live-action Star Wars debut in the second season of The Mandalorian, and also appeared briefly in The Book of Boba Fett.

Ahead of Ahsoka‘s release, we’re ranking the live-action Star Wars shows on Disney+. We’ll update these whenever a new Star Wars series hits the service. After Ahsoka, we’re expecting to get Skeleton Crew, The Acolyte, and Lando, a second season of Andor, and a fourth season of The Mandalorian.

If you haven’t seen the shows, a warning ahead for spoilers.w

Star Wars Outlaws lets you team up with Jabba the Hutt

Star Wars Outlaws, Ubisoft’s upcoming open-world Star Wars game, lets you live out a “scoundrel fantasy” and even work with Jabba the Hutt

Star Wars Outlaws, Ubisoft’s upcoming Star Wars game, lets you live out a “scoundrel fantasy” and even work with the infamous crime lord Jabba the Hutt – or double-cross him. Whether this means Kay has some influence over events tied to Han Solo is uncertain, but Outlaws director Julian Gerighty told IGN that when protagonist Kay Vess visits Tatooine, getting tangled up with the Hutt syndicate is just part of what Ubisoft Massive has in store.

Gerighty said the goal is letting players experience hives of scum and villainy from the ground up, as if they were really there, seeing everything these cities, dives, and cesspools have to offer. It’s not just on Tatooine, either. Ubisoft Massive created at least one brand-new location that Kay will visit: the moon Toshara, a vast location inspired by the African savannah and Tanzania in particular.

“We start off with a biome, in this case, southeast African biomes as an inspiration, and then you put a twist on it to make it feel a little bit alien,” Gerighty told IGN. “If you think of the first shots, maybe not the first shots, but the first the shots of Tatooine. Beautiful, recognizable architecture, but two suns. For us, it’s having this huge mountain and carved into it into the amberine of the mountain, the crystalline substance is a city, and these outcroppings of orange, very reflective material. That’s what brings the really alien nature to it. Familiar but fresh.”

Whether it’s Tatooine’s vices or Toshara’s new city, Gerighty said the team took a virtual tourism approach in the open-world game to help players really live out the scoundrel fantasy at Outlaws’ core. They designed Toshara and even Tatooine in close detail, so players can visit iconic locations, such as the Mos Eisley cantina, discover something new or interesting in every cranny, or see just how long it takes to reach the city from the outlying moisture farms.

Star Wars Outlaws is set to launch sometime in 2024. 

Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF

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The 23 best Steam Summer Sale deals you won’t want to miss

Valve kicked off its Steam Summer Sale, and we’ve rounded up some of the best PC game deals on indies and AAA games alike

Valve kicked off its Steam Summer Sale, with steep discounts on hundreds of PC games. The sale runs until July 13, 2023, at 10 a.m. Pacific Time and features a healthy mix of big-name AAA games, including Assassin’s Creed, Star Wars, and Cyberpunk 2077; smaller hits like Victoria 3 and Octopath Traveler 2; and popular indie games, such as Stardew Valley, Cassette Beasts, and Hades.

There’s a staggering amount of games to trawl through, some with demos and some you have to just try on faith. We’ve rounded up roughly two dozen of the best deals going, ranging from heavy hitters to niche RPGs and a few indie gems as well.

5 things we learned from the new Disney, Marvel and Star Wars film release dates

We’ve got a lot to talk about with Tuesday’s Disney, Marvel and Star Wars news.

On Tuesday, Disney reshuffled its release calendar in a substantial way.

The studio provided brand-new release dates for films in the Star Wars, Marvel and Avatar universes, as well as a live-action remake for Moana and other new projects.

Even one of the biggest media companies on the planet isn’t immune to the ongoing Writers Guild of America strike, as a number of film and television projects have been shut down in wake of the holdouts.

However, Disney fans will still get plenty of new projects in their favorite series in the years to come.

Let’s break down five of the biggest takeaways from Tuesday’s news.

Massive debuts Star Wars Outlaws gameplay trailer at Ubisoft Forward

Massive and Lucasfilm showcased the first Star Wars Outlaws trailer during Ubisoft Forward with 10 minutes of the open world game

Massive and Lucasfilm showcased the first Star Wars Outlaws trailer during Ubisoft Forward’s summer 2023 event, full of blaster fights, cute little ugly creatures, criminal droids, and more. Star Wars Outlaws, Ubisoft’s open-world take on Star Wars games, isn’t out until 2024, but the 10-minute gameplay trailer offers a pretty good idea of what to expect.

You play as Kay, an outlaw during a time of great civil unrest under the oppressive Galactic Empire – and a time of great opportunity for those daring enough to seize it. The narrative core remains a bit of a mystery for now, but the gist of it is that Kay ends up becoming the most wanted criminal in the galaxy – a pretty big feat, considering Jedi exist – and has to pull off the most daring heist in the Outer Rim as a result.

The trailer starts in a hangar, where Kay uses a mix of stealth, Nix the ugly baby pet, and violence to escape. She has a single blaster of the style you’d expect a Star Wars criminal to have, but can apparently pick up weapons from foes on the fly as well. We see Kay grab a rifle from a fallen Storm Trooper and use it to cause quite the noisy distraction.

Then it’s off to the open plains of Joshana, a new savannah-inspired planet, where Kay gets away with the help of a stylish speeder bike. She can apparently slow down time to mark foes and pull off a fair few stunts as well.

Ubisoft and Massive said Star Wars Outlaws features deep relationship systems where negotiations, contracts, and reputation help determine Kay’s standing in the underworld, and we got a small look at that in action during the trailer.

Back at base, Kay meets with a client and hands over the goods she stole from the hangar, before being threatened by an imperial officer. You have the choice to bribe or not. Kay chooses not, and leaves with yet another “wanted” sign over her head. 

She and Nix take off in their ship, which you control and fly from the ground into space; deal with a few imperial fighters just outside the atmosphere; and then jump to hyperspace for a short breather.

That’s just one mission on one planet. Massive promises much more in Star Wars Outlaws when it launches sometime in 2024.

Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF

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What we learned from the new Ahsoka trailer, including when it debuts on Disney+

Yes, that is Sabine Wren using Ezra’s green lightsaber. And doesn’t it look super cool?

The next live-action Star Wars show will be here soon. The last time we were in this world was just earlier this year, with Season 3 of The Mandalorian, which featured space pirates and timeline questions.

Soon, fans will be back in this same spot on the timeline – between Return of the Jedi and ­The Force Awakens – when the live-action Ahsoka show hits Disney+ late this summer. The first trailer for the show starring Rosario Dawson as our titular character dropped in April, but the good folks at Disney and Lucasfilm gave us a new teaser on Wednesday, which just happens to be showrunner Dave Filoni’s birthday. It’s online now and a TV spot promoting the show will also air during the NBA Finals between the Denver Nuggets and Miami Heat.

Filoni, of course, is the creator behind the Star Wars animated shows Clone Wars and Rebels where fans were first introduced to Ahsoka. She made her live-action debut in Season 2 of The Mandalorian and also briefly appeared in The Book of Boba Fett.

Here’s what we learned from the new footage.

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