The Week That Was 06022025: Uncanny Experience and Review Roundup

 Well, a combination of day job travel, the punishing (for critics) three-a-week release schedule of the second season of Andor, and my laptop completely and utterly dying a couple weeks ago threw me off my regular schedule. 

But, things are starting to settle a bit, and I'm hoping to get back into my regular posting groove again, including this column. My plan is to abandon some of the strict formatting I'd been using, to make something more like a typical newsletter in favor of getting it out more regularly. 

The Uncanny Experience

My other big news of late is that I was selected to present at the Uncanny Experience, the annual X-Men fan convention here in Minneapolis. My panel is called "Fight The Power: The X-Men as Outlaws", and will focus on the way Claremont repositioned the X-Men from traditional superheroes fighting to preserve the status quo to anti-establishment figures trying to upend it. The full description is as follows: 

The Week That Was 040225: Top 5 Posts & Top Chef!

Top 5 Posts in March

1. Game of Thrones 5x07: The Gift 

2. Game of Thrones 3x07: The Bear and the Maiden Fair

3. X-amining X-Man #28

4. X-amining X-Factor #135

5. X-amining New Mutants #87

The Week That Was 022425

 X-aminations ahead, Captain America: Brave New World and Review Round-Up.

The Week That Was 021025

 January Top 5, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, and Review Round-Up

The Week That Was 020325

Muhammad Ali, 2025 hype meter, and shameless plugs

The Week That Was 012725

Skeleton Crew, Russell Dauterman trading cards, and shameless plugs

The Week That Was 1312023

Upcoming X-aminations, Oscars, shameless plugs. 

The Week That Was 120222

Twitter tumult, trading cards, shameless plugs

Force in Focus: The Mandalorian Season 2x08

"The Rescue"

Plot

Using Slave I, the Mandalorian and his allies capture an Imperial shuttle carrying Dr. Pershing, and confirm the presence of the child aboard Moff Gideon's ship. He then enlists the aid of Bo-Katan & Koska Reeves, offering Bo-Katan Gideon's ship and to reconsider joining her fight for Mandalore in exchange for their help. The group then uses the captured shuttle & Slave I to force a landing onto Gideon's cruiser, with Cara, Fennec, Bo-Katan, and Reeves heading for the bridge while the Mandalorian attempts to shutdown the Dark Troopers and rescue the child. As his allies capture the bridge, he manages to blow the Dark Troopers into space, then finds Gideon waiting for him in the child's cell. Gideon attacks him with the Darksaber. Using his beskar staff, the Mandalorian defeats Gideon, but leaves him alive for Cara Dune. They enter the bridge, and Gideon reveals to the Mandalorian that by defeating him in battle, he has claimed the Darksaber for himself, not Bo-Katan. Just then, the Dark Troopers, under their own power, reboard the ship, and proceed towards the bridge. As the Mandalorian and his allies brace for a battle they're unlikely to win, an X-wing flies into the cruiser's landing bay, and a figure in black emerges wielding a lightsaber. As Gideon realizes who it is, he grabs a fallen blaster and tries to kill the child and then himself, but the Mandalorian blocks his shot and Cara disarms him. As the figure in black cuts through the Dark Troopers and arrives on the bridge, he reveals himself to be the Jedi Luke Skywalker, and offers to take the child for training. The Mandalorian tells the child to go with him, and assures him they will meet again. He then removes his helmet to say goodbye, and Luke takes the child, leaving behind a teary Din Djarin. 

Force in Focus: The Mandalorian Season 2x07

"The Believer"

Original Airdate

December 11th, 2020

Plot

With Cara Dune's help, the Mandalorian retrieves Migs Mayfeld from a New Republic prison, pressing him into helping locate Moff Gideon. To do so, Mayfeld says he will need to access an internal Imperial terminal, with one nearby on the world of Morak. On Morak, Mayfeld and the Mandalorian commandeer an Imperial transport and, disguised as Shoretroopers, proceed to a rhydonium refinery. Along the way, the transport is attacked by pirates attempting to destroy the rhydonium, but the Mandalorian manages to fight them off until they reach the refinery, where they are greeted as heroes. Inside, Mayfeld & the Mandalorian head toward the officer's mess; Mayfeld spots the terminal, but his former superior officer, Hess, is inside, requiring the Mandalorian to access it instead. To do so, he must remove his helmet. He gets the location of Gideon's ship, but draws the attention of Hess, and Mayfeld is forced to intervene, which leads to Mayfeld and the Mandalorian getting a drink with Hess. When Hess notes Mayfeld's familiarity, Mayfeld reminds him of their service together, and how Hess ordered the execution of a number of Mayfeld's fellow soldiers as part of Operation: Cinder. Mayfeld then shoots Hess, and the refinery explodes in gunfire. With Cara Dune & Fennec Shand providing cover from a nearby ridge, Mayfeld and the Mandalorian head to the roof of the refinery, where Boba Fett retrieves them in Slave I. As they fly off, Mayfeld fires back at the refinery, hitting the rhydonium and triggering an explosion that destroys the entire facility. Impressed with his actions, Cara Dune allows him to go free, suggesting he was officially killed in the explosion. Later, Moff Gideon receives a message from the Mandalorian, who tells him that soon the child will be back with him. 

Force in Focus: The Mandalorian Season 2x06

"The Tragedy"

Original Release Date

December 4, 2020

Plot

The Mandalorian and the child arrive on Typhon, and proceed to a temple-like structure. But when the child is placed on a plinth surrounded by ritualistic stones, nothing happens. Just then, the Mandalorian spots an approaching ship. Spooked, he prepares to leave with the child, but when he turns to get him, he discovers Grogu in some kind of trance, surrounded by an impenetrable field of blue energy. Checking on the new arrivals, he is forced into a stalemate by Fennec Shand and her ally, Boba Fett, seeking the armor the Mandalorian acquired from Cobb Vanth.. The trio make a deal: safe passage off the planet by the Mandalorian and the child in exchange for Boba Fett's armor. Just then, Imperial forces arrive on the planet. As Stormtroopers swarm towards the child, the Mandalorian & Fennec fight to hold them back, while Boba Fett dons his armor and joins the fray. However, Moff Gideon's Star Destroyer arrives in the atmosphere and destroys the Razor Crest, after which he dispatches a force of Dark Troopers which manage to capture the child. As the Imperials depart, Boba Fett tells the Mandalorian he intends to honor their agreement and ensure the child is safe, and brings him to Navarro, where the Mandalorian enlists Cara Dune's aid to find someone who can help him track Moff Gideon. Meanwhile, Gideon visits the captive Grogu, marveling at the Force abilities which exhaust him, then leaving the child along in his cell, shackled and powerless. 

Force in Focus: The Mandalorian Season 2x05

"The Jedi"

Plot

On Corvus, the local magistrate and her hired gun deal with a series of attacks carried out by former Jedi Ahsoka Tano, who is looking for information from the magistrate. Shortly thereafter, the Mandalorian and the child arrive on the planet. They are taken to the Magistrate, who offers the Mandalorian a staff made of beskar to eliminate Ahsoka. He proceeds out into the woods surrounding the city, but after a brief skirmish, convinces Ahsoka he needs her help, telling her Bo-Katan sent him. He introduces her to the child, and through the Force, Ahsoka learns his name is Grogu. The Mandalorian asks Ahsoka to train him, but she refuses, citing Grogu's clear attachment to the Mandalorian. He makes a deal with her: if he helps her defeat the magistrate, she will train Grogu. The pair work together to assault the town, with the Mandalorian taking on the magistrate's guards and her hired gun while Ahsoka duels the magistrate, fighting her with the beskar staff. When the magistrate is defeated, the town appoints one of its own to lead in her place, and Ahsoka gifts the Mandalorian the beskar staff. However, she still refuses to train Grogu, and instead directs the Mandalorian to a temple on the world of Typhon, which may draw another Jedi to their side. The Mandalorian and the child depart Corvus, while Ahsoka walks off into the forest alone. 

Force in Focus: The Mandalorian Season 2x04

"The Siege"

Plot

The Mandalorian decides his ship needs further repairs, and decides to return to Nevarro. On Nevarro, Cara Dune flushes a group of Aqualish raiding the old Mandalorian culvert. Shortly thereafter, the Mandalorian arrives, reuniting with Cara as well as Greef Carga. Greef offers to repair the Razor Crest in exchange for the Mandalorian's help destroying an old Imperial base on the planet, the last thing standing in the way of true independence for the planet. Leaving the child in the care of a protocol droid school teacher, the Mandalorian sets out with Cara, Greef and Greef's associate Mythrol, to the base. They plan to use the volcano generating power for the base to destroy it, but after initiating that process, they realize the base is actually a front for the cloning operations that had been targeting the child, run by Moff Gideon. The Mandalorian blasts off to retrieve the child while the other three fight their way out of the base before it explodes. They commander a Marauder troop transport but a squad of Scout Troopers followed by a trio of TIE fighters set out after them. Manning the guns, Greef is able to destroy one of the TIEs, but the guns are damaged in the process. Just then, the Mandalorian sweeps in aboard the newly repaired Razor Crest and destroys the rest of the TIEs, then departs. Later, Cara meets with New Republic Captain Teva, who tells her something nefarious is happening in the Outer Rim, while Moff Gideon receives word from a spy on Nevarro, one of the mechanics who repaired the Razor Crest, that the tracking device has been successfully installed, along with confirmation that the Mandalorian still travels with the child.  

Force in Focus: The Mandalorian Season 2 Episode 03

"The Heiress" 

Plot

The Razor Crest (just barely) makes it to Trask, but crashes into the water upon landing. Leaving repairs in the hands of a Mon Calamari dockmaster, the Mandalorian reunites Frog Lady with her husband, who directs the Mandalorian to a nearby inn for further info about the whereabouts of his people. There, he makes a deal with a Quarren sailor, who promises to take him to other Mandalorians. They head out to sea, but the Quarren have set a trap, intending to feed the child and the Mandalorian to a mamacore in order to harvest his armor. They are saved by three Mandalorians led by Bo-Batan Kryze, heiress to the throne of Mandalore. Hoping to free the planet of Imperial occupation, she agrees to direct the Mandalorian to a Jedi in exchange for his help stealing a cargo of weapons from an Imperial transport. The four Mandalorians storm the ship and easily capture the cargo bay, but then Bo-Katan reveals she intends to capture the entire ship, and use it to find Moff Gideon, whom she believes possesses the Darksaber she needs to reclaim her throne. The Mandalorians manage to capture the ship before it crashes, but the captain kills himself before Bo-Katan can get any info out of him. Bo-Katan then honors her word and directs the Mandalorian to the planet Corvus and a Jedi named Ahsoka Tano. He departs, and shortly thereafter, he and the Child blast off Trask aboard the (just barely) repaired Razor Crest. 

Force in Focus: The Mandalorian Season 2x02

"The Passenger"

Plot

Raising across the Tatooine desert, the Mandalorian is attacked by a gang of bounty hunters after the child. He fights them off, but his speeder bike is damaged, forcing him to walk back to Mos Eisley. There, he meets with Peli, who introduces him to Frog Lady, an amphibious being willing to trade him information on the whereabouts of some Mandalorians in exchange for transporting her and her eggs to the moon of Trask - without traveling through hyperspace, which would destroy her eggs. As they slowly make their way towards the moon, two New Republic pilots perform a fly-by. When they attempt to identify his ship, the Mandalorian races towards a nearby planet, successfully evading the pilots but damaging the Razor's Crest in the process. Settling inside an ice cave for repairs, the child draws the attention of a pack of ice spiders, which quickly overwhelm the Mandalorian. Just then, the New Republic pilots return, blasting away the ice spiders and saying that after they looked him up, they decided the Mandalorian's good deeds while participating in a recent prison break just barely outweigh his bad, and let him off with a warning. Later, the Mandalorian manages to repair the ship's engines, but not its hull, so the trio resumes their journey, all crammed inside the Razor Crest's cockpit as they slowly make their way through space. 

Force in Focus: The Mandalorian Season 2x01

"The Marshal"

Plot

Hoping to find other Mandalorians to aid him on his quest to reunite the Child with its people, the Mandalorian learns from fight promoter and beskar-dealer Gor Karesh that someone in beskar armor has been seen recently on Tatooine. He and the Child proceed to Tatooine and reunite with mechanic Peli, who points them to the city of Mos Pelgo. There, the Mandalorian meets Cobb Vanth, who is serving as the town's marshal and wearing the beskar armor. He strikes a deal with the Mandalorian: help him rid the town of a krayt dragon threatening it, and he'll hand over the armor. Together, Vanth and the Mandalorian form an alliance with a local tribe of Tusken Raiders, and both the tribe and the townspeople come together to destroy the dragon. In the aftermath of their success, Vanth hands over the armor, and the Mandalorian and the Child speed back to the ship, as they're unknowingly watched by someone familiar with Vanth's now-former armor. 

Force in Focus: Star Wars #108

"Forever Crimson"

May 2019

In a Nutshell
Domina Tagge returns and attempts to retrieve the Crimson Forever jewels, but is stopped by Valance the Hunter.

Writer: Matthew Rosenberg
Pencilers: Guiseppe Camuncoli, Andrea Broccardo, Kerry Gammill, Ze Carlos, Jan Duursema, Stefano Landini, Luke Ross, Leonard Kirk,
Inker: Cam Smith
Colorist: Chris Sotomayor
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Editor: Mark Paniccia

Plot
On Centares, a group of scavengers discuss the history of Valance the Hunter as they harvest scrap metal. Meanwhile, on Stenos, Han & Chewbacca meet with a potential client with a large bounty on his head. When hunters turn up trying to capture him, a fight breaks out, and their client is killed. During the melee, Han & Chewie run into Jaxxon & Amaiza, who were also looking for their client, and learn that the bounty was placed by Domina Tagge. On Centares, the scavengers turn their find over to agents of Domina, while Han warns Leia about her re-emergence and they speculate she is attempting to once again unleash the Crimson Forever. In deep space, Valance's damaged body - lost amidst the scrap scavenged on Centares - reactivates, and he attacks Domina's agents. Meanwhile, Han & Leia lead a force to the outskirts of the galaxy, to the drifting Star Destroyer where they abandoned the Crimson Forever jewels. Domina and her forces arrive shortly thereafter, and the parties race aboard the Star Destroyer to retrieve the jewels. Jaxxon manages to get ahold of the jewels but refuses to hand them over to Leia, triggering a standoff that is interrupted by the arrival of Valance. He uses the jewels to restore his lost flesh, but is blasted by Domina. In the ensuing fight, one of the jewels is tossed out into space, thereby infecting everyone in the vicinity of the other jewel with the Crimson Forever plague. But Valance grabs the remaining jewel and, paying Luke back for saving his life, dives out of the ship.  In space, Valance brings the two jewels together, thereby curing the infected, before drifting into the nearby star, sacrificing himself to end the threat of the Crimson Forever once and for all.

Force in Focus: The Mandalorian Season 2 Trailer

Disney finally released a trailer for the second season of The Mandalorian (a season which, reportedly, completed filming before the Covid-19 pandemic hit, preventing it from being impacted in any way by that, so whatever we're getting, it's being presented as intended), which is set to debut on Disney+ on October 30th. Here are five things of note which caught my eye from the trailer. 

(And, quick note on future Force in Focus posts - my plan is to run a series of posts closing out the original Marvel Star Wars comic in the next few weeks, leading up the release of Mandalorian Season 2. Then I'll review each episode of the season as with the first, and after that...maybe something a little different, at least in terms of my approach).

Force in Focus: The Clones Wars Season 7 Episode 12

"Victory & Death"

Plot
Rex & Ahsoka, with the assistance of A7 and the other droids, manage to escape the medbay without killing any of the clones attacking them. With all the escape pods destroyed, Ahsoka suggests they try to find a shuttle to use for escape. Meanwhile, Maul, still intent on serving as the distraction Ahsoka released him to be, destroys the Star Destroyer's hyperdrive, dropping it into real space and into the gravity well of a moon. Inside the hanger, Rex & Ahsoka find the remaining clones predicted their move, and are waiting. Pretending to have captured Ahsoka, Rex tries to reason with the clones, telling them Order 66 doesn't apply to Ahsoka, who is no longer a Jedi, in order to give the droids time to work. They manage to drop the hanger elevators down, removing most of the clones. As Rex & Ahsoka battle the few remaining, Maul enters the hanger, and takes off in the sole remaining shuttle. Ahsoka grabs it with the Force, but releases it in order to save Rex. The pair drop into the hanger's lower levels and find a Y-wing. Ahsoka gets Rex aboard just as the Star Destroyer begins to break up as it enters atmosphere. Falling through the wreckage as the ship crashes onto the moon, Ahsoka manages to get aboard the Y-wing as the Star Destroyer slips below the clouds. Later, Ahsoka stands before the graves of dozen of clones, and drops her lightsaber to the ground. Much later, an Imperial shuttle lands on the now snow-swept moon. Imperial Stormtroopers & probe droids emerge, followed by Darth Vader. He finds Ahsoka's fallen lightsaber, ignites it, then takes the saber and returns to his shuttle, passing a cracked clone trooper helmet bearing Ahsoka's markings.

Force in Focus: The Clones Wars Season 7 Episode 11

"Shattered"

Plot
As the Mandalorians take Gar Saxon and his rebels into custody, Ahsoka joins a call with the Jedi Council, informing them of Maul's capture. Later, she bids goodbye to Bo-Katan as she and the rest of the 501st board a transport to bring Maul, locked inside a Mandalorian Vault, onto their Star Destroyer for the trip back to Coruscant. Later, as the ship is traveling through hyperspace, both Maul & Ahsoka sense a disturbance in the Force. Moments later, Rex receives a holographic message from Chancellor Palpatine, telling him to execute Order 66. As Ahsoka approaches to tell him about her premonition, he manages to utter "find Fives" before he and the rest of the clone troopers open fire on her. She manages to escape, then prevents Maul's extermination at the hands of the clones, setting him free in order to serve as a distraction. As Maul attacks the troopers, Ahsoka, with the help of A7 and two other droids, follows Rex' clue to learn how Fives discovered the presence of inhibitor chips which turn the clones against the Jedi. She then manages to capture & stun Rex, bringing him to the medical bay where, with the assistance of the Force, she's able to remove his chip. As a squad of troopers close in on them. Ahsoka asks Rex how many of the clones have the chips: he responds to her horror that they all do. The entire Grand Army of the Republic has been set against the Jedi.