Featuring our first look at the new worlds the title character and Baby Yoda will visit, and teases for the re-emergence of the Jedi, Disney and Lucasfilm have released the first trailer for The Mandalorian Season 2, a mere month and a half before it’s set to premiere.
We thought that the first trailer for the second season would debut at this year’s Star Wars Celebration, but when that event was canceled due to the pandemic Lucasfilm and Jon Favreau decided to hold off on the release, but the time has finally come. So let’s check out the first trailer for The Mandalorian Season 2 right now!
Although I’m still reeling from the sudden loss of the Clone Wars due to Disney’s mad chopping spree throughout the Star Wars world, I’ve been consoled slightly. Apparently the next animated series will not only be handled by none other than Clone Wars veteran Dave Filoni and a lot of his technical crew, but it will deal with a time era that doesn’t get a whole lot of exposure; The Dark Times era between episode 3 and 4. It was pretty obvious that Filoni would be working on something past the Clone Wars when he was using a TIE Fighter picture as “research”, but it was pretty hard to pinpoint whether it was directly after the Clone Wars era or in between the old trilogy or after the old trilogy. After the old trilogy would have made sense since episode’s 7, 8 and 9 are currently in development, because it’s not like the Empire just went away after Return of the Jedi. However, I’m equally pleased to hear that the series will take place between episode 3 and 4. It’s also called ‘Rebels’ which is totally bad ass. I envision rogue Jedi and freedom fighters like Bail Organa and Mon Mothma leading the charge against the Empire. (Bail and Mothma of course not so openly.) Check out the video below of Dave Filoni talking about Rebels a little bit and when it will be hitting a small screen near you:
2014 is not so far away! There are plenty of possibilities that could occur in a series like this. Depending on how much creative control they give to Filoni we could see the return of Ahsoka sometime. Fans loved her and she was Filoni’s biggest contribution to the saga. She would be significantly older if it takes place closer to episode 4 and it sets a perfect stage for an Ahsoka v.s. Vader confrontation. Clearly Sidious didn’t kill Maul because he had “other uses” for him. I don’t think that means Maul was going to be his secretary, I think that means he’s going to use him as a weapon again. So there’s some potential of Vader and Maul running into one another too? Count me in. It may add some extra tension with Anakin knowing that his old Master’s killer is still walking around and serving his new master as well. Then again, Disney may have Filoni shy away from those characters completely and concentrate on the non-Jedi heroes and soldiers that will one day make up the Rebel Alliance.
Expect to see plenty of Ralph McQuarrie inspired designs in the show.
Either way I’m good to go and curious to see if the animation style from the show will mirror that of the Clone Wars or be completely different. I have complete faith in Filoni and his crew after watching five seasons of a show that became better and better visually and story wise each season that it went through. Bring me the rebel scum ASAP!
Another week and here comes another Sith. Since we went with a Sith Lord from the most recent era of Star Wars lore, I thought this week we could go with one of the more ancient Darths. So don’t let his weird name scare you off, introducing:
DARTH ANDEDDU
“Knowledge is power and true Sith do not share power.”
Race: Humanoid Home Planet: Prakith
Claim to fame: Was able to master essence transfer and live for thousands of years.
Moment of Shame: Hiding for a thousand years and dying a few minutes after awakening.
Sith Affiliation: Andeddu stood apart from the other Sith Lords.
Darth Andeddu started out as just a mentioned Sith Lord in the Clone Wars era, the undercover Jedi Quinlan Vos using his lightsaber crystal for a time and his holocron gatekeeper showing up breifly. He became somewhat of a fan favorite, probably because of his silly name and not much information surrounding him. He showed up again in the Legacy Era Comics as Darth Krayt asked Andeddu’s holocron gatekeeper for the secret of essence transfer in order to stop his Yuzzahn Vong affliction from overtaking him.
Darth Andeddu lived thousands of years before the Legacy and Clone Wars eras. He was of the ancient Sith such as Karness Muur, Tulak Hord and Freedon Nadd, dabbling in Sith Sorcery in order to prolong life. The secret of immortality isn’t an uncommon thing with Sith and Andeddu was probably one of the most successful along with Karness Muur whom he developed many of his techniques from. Andeddu was a somewhat paranoid and cowardly Sith Lord, fleeing to his homeworld of Prakith for fear that the other Sith Lords were plotting to overthrow him for his knowledge and secret of sustaining life. He remained on Prakith until his body died and his own personal dark side cult “Malevolence” guarded his tomb until their master could return.
Talk to the hand Bitch!
Eventually Darth Krayt of the One Sith got ahold of Andeddu’s holocron and sent his right hand man Darth Wyyrlok to recover all of Andeddu’s knowledge on Prakith so he had more time to subjugate the galaxy under his rule. Wyyrlok’s quest boiled down to him having to face Andeddu one on one in the flesh after it was revealed that Andeddu’s holocron also held his essence in it and needed to be reunited with his body in order for him to be resurrected. After a pretty awesome yet short fight with Darth Wyyrlok, Andeddu is finally put to bed forever by the horned Sith Lord. Wyyrlok then plunders his remaining knowledge before departing Prakith and leaving Andeddu just as he feared for thousands of years…. dead by the hand of another Sith Lord who wanted his knowledge.
Andeddu may have been a coward, but he definitely had the right idea about survival and staying alive. He started off as menacing when he was finally resurrected and began his duel with Wyyrlok, but he was ultimately a coward as Wyyrlok pointed out before killing him. Definitely a knowledgeable Sith Lord, just not a very brave one.
Aaaaaaaaaand…. that’s Jenga.
Stay tuned next week for another installment of Know Your Sith!
There were a couple of clips from season 5 of the Clone Wars released around Comic Con time, and there were some good-uns. After watching the season 5 trailer it would appear that Maul and Savage Oppress will be crossing paths with the Mandalorians at one point. My thoughts from the trailer were that they were obviously going to team up with their mutual disdain and need for vengeance against both Count Dooku and Obi-Wan Kenobi. After watching the clip below I’m not really sure what is behind all of the Mandalorian mayhem on display…. But I like it. Check out the clip below:
Seriously, what the hell is going on? Is that Sidious choking out two Death Watch Mandalorians? And why is Obi-Wan wearing Mando armor and working with Bo-Katan who was all about killing Jedi last season when she crossed paths with Ahsoka? Bo-Katan whom is voiced by the lovely Katee Sackhoff I might add. And are all of the Mandolorians fighting one another Death Watch? And why are they fighting?! AHHHHHH… head exploding! Apparently we’ll be waiting until September to find out. I also loved the incorporation of John William’s music into the scenes, too bad it won’t stay in there.
The next clip is a little less thrilling, but is still quite cool. It shows Maul and Savage infiltrating some sort of space station possibly controlled (or patrolled) by security droids. Check it out below:
Yes it was short and clearly beneath the Maul bros. to be cutting up simple droids but it’s definitely good to see such a deadly pair work together so seamlessly… now to see them fight some Jedi, that would be great. Overall I can’t wait for this upcoming fifth season of the Clone Wars. It’s a show that is constantly outdoing itself each season in terms of animation, story and scope and I would love if it was on for the next five years. Check out the season 5 trailer below if you haven’t already and stay tuned for further upcoming Clone Wars info and news!
The Clone Wars finale wasn’t what I expected in the first half, but it was still pretty excellent. This is episode was ALL Darth Maul, and only a little bit of it being “crazy” Darth Maul. Witwer turned that character off to give us the cold and calculating Darth Maul who kept his rage in check for the most part… until his first confrontation with Obi-Wan Kenobi since the bisection he dealt out to the horned Sith Lord on Naboo.
The first half of the episode involved Savage taking his twisted, spider-legged brother Maul to see Mother Talzin on Dathomir in order to “fix” him. Not only does Talzin repair Maul’s damaged mind to help give him some focus but she also fashions him some new sturdy legs that are far superior to the rickety old spider ones he had. After appearing in about five episodes at this point, Talzin remains to be a mystery to me. She obviously wouldn’t mind seeing Dooku dead, could care less about the Jedi being killed, and she helps Ventress and the Maul/Savage siblings without either one being aware of it. So it remains to be seen just who’s side she is on. She’s obviously on her own side, but to what end is uncertain. It will be interesting to see next season what all of her plans finally culminate into.
It was very interesting to hear a couple of things that Maul had to say after his enlightenment by Mother Talzin. He stated that the Clone Wars had began without him, which makes it clear that the plan to use the clones was known to him through Sidious far in advance. Also involving Sidious was Maul’s statement that he was apprentice to the most powerful being in the galaxy once and that he had a greater destiny than the one that befell him on Naboo. That has me thinking that Maul not only has business with the Jedi, but perhaps with Dooku and Sidious as well. It makes me wonder what the future has in store for us. Possibly some sort of future confrontation between Sidious and Maul? Personally I’d like to see a clash between Maul and Dooku sometime also. I can’t wait if those things actually end up happening next season!
After Talzin departs we are treated to some mercilessness from Maul as he lands on a planet to lure Kenobi to him. I felt a little chilled as children gathered outside of their spaceship, under the impression that it was a routine supply ship and Maul calmly declared to his brother- “In a galaxy at war Savage, there is only one way to get the attention of the Jedi…. Slaughter of the innocent, mercilessly and without compromise.” After a decapitation by lightsaber ridden hologram message to the Jedi council, Obi-Wan is off to a date with destiny… and one pissed off half Sith Lord.
The four way lightsaber fight between Ventress and Obi-Wan v.s. Savage and Maul was pretty darn spectacular. It couldn’t top Dooku v.s. Ventress v.s. Savage, but to be able to see Kenobi and Maul throwdown was enough to put it damn close. I’m a huge fan of trash talk during lightsaber fights, as a Sith Lord tries to lure the Jedi into using the Dark Side. Maul tried accomplishing this by throwing Qui-Gon’s death in Obi-Wan’s face which had the Jedi more than a little angry. In the end it was curious to see how outgunned even Ventress and Obi-Wan were up against the brothers. Maybe if Obi-Wan could fight without having the tar beat out of him previously, then that might have tipped the scales in their favor.
As welcome a sight as it was seeing Obi-Wan and Ventress fighting side by side, I still don’t know how I feel about seeing Ventress as even a reluctant hero. And it’s not because this current path she is on screws up EU continuity. She has been an agent of Dooku and killer of many for far too long for me to accept her as anything more than a villain. True, they’ve done a lot with her character in this season and the last but that doesn’t mean she should be the redeemable bad guy at this point. But then again, if Anakin could be redeemed by the end of Return of the Jedi, then why not Ventress.
It was an interesting way to see the season end, with Maul and Savage being credible threats in store for season 5 and Ventress on a ship with Obi-Wan. Maul is not only anticipating Jedi coming after him and Savage, but he is actually wanting it to happen. I sense there might be more than a few Jedi deaths next season.
I knew after the first ten minutes that there wouldn’t be enough time to expand on the story as much, but the Clone Wars team did a great job with the time that they did have. I give the episode four out of five grizzlies and eagerly await the next season. Usually we get a preview of the next season via one of the comic conventions, so stay tuned!
It’s been pretty official by now that Darth Maul is returning, and kudos to Lucasfilm for their clever re-release of the Phantom Menace and his simultaneous Clone Wars appearance which is sheer marketing genius. It seems like I can’t go into any store where there are toys or books without seeing that ugly Sith bastard adorned on something. Even my McDonald’s Happy Meal toy was a top spinner with him on it! But anyways….
Maul is back and whether you like it or not you have to admit the trailer for his return in the final season’s arc looks pretty excellent. Not to mention the fact that he is being voiced by none other than Sam Witwer who is a sort of sci-fi superstar at the moment. Witwer has done extensive work with the Star Wars franchise, starting off with the Force Unleashed video games as Darth Vader’s secret apprentice Starkiller who kicked major ass with his uber force abilities. Some may not know that he also voiced the Emperor in the Force Unleashed and did a damn fine job. This is also not his first appearance on the Clone Wars as he also played the Dark Side being “The Son” in the Mortis Trilogy. He also played a large part in the 8th season of Smallville as Davis Bloome A.K.A. Doomsday and is currently playing the vampire Aidan on the American version of Being Human. Being Human was recently renewed by SyFy for it’s third season. And all of that on top of a missed chance to be featured in an entire flashback episode of the Walking Dead in a storyline that was set up by show creator Frank Darabont, but was ultimately discarded after his “leaving” the show. The guy is a talented actor no doubt, but his voice acting sure packs a punch too. Check out the video below to see how intense Witwer gets when he is slipping into his crazy Darth Maul persona:
Freaky ain’t it? For more of the half Sith Lord, check out the FULL trailer below the bump and prepare to change your underpants afterwards:
So it would look as if Ventress is choosing to side with the Night Sisters of Dathomir and that Dooku may be getting some payback for their attempted assassination of him: Grievous style. I’m interested to see the Night Sisters in combat, particularly Mother Talzin who is seen in the trailer unleashing some crazy witch powers on the Separatist forces. But let’s face it, that’s all bantha poodoo compared to what I think may be the best part of the episode arc and that’s Obi-Wan v.s. Maul…. the rematch! This has potential to be one of the best moments on the Clone Wars, overshadowing even the awesomeness that was Savage Oppress’s debut last season. But then again I thought that with the return of Boba Fett and I was left quite crestfallen. But this has to be way better than the little half pint bounty hunter. The part where Maul emit’s a harsh “Jedi!” and his mechanical leg steps on the ground before Obi-Wan was chilling and gave me a case of the goosbumps. What’s everyone’s thought on the whole deal? Expanded Universe blasphemy or totally awesome? I for one am glad they stuck with the Star Wars Visionaries robo-legs concept. It wouldn’t have done to see a Darth Maul walking on his hands and using the lightsaber with his mouth.
The Darth Plagueis novel was very unlike many other Star Wars literature I’ve read. It was light on action and heavy on political machinations by the Sith as they tipped the force inexorably in their favor. I was under the impression that Plagueis died well before Palpatine started his foray into politics but alas I was very wrong. I also assumed that the book would start with Plagueis training Palpatine from the start and again I was proven wrong. The book not only chronicles the apprenticeship of Sidious to Plagueis but also touches on the relationship between Plagueis and his own master Darth Tenebrous. There are a few other Darths mentioned throughout, but learning further about the Sith succession line is only a small portion of what makes up a fantastic book by Star Wars veteran James Luceno.
It looks like after much speculation and geek debate, Darth Maul will be returning to the Galaxy Far Far Away via the Clone Wars this season. After hinting towards his return at the end of the Savage Oppress story arc in Clone Wars Season 3, supervising director Dave Filoni confirmed recently over at Entertainment Weekly that Maul would be back in force with the full blessing of plaid clad billionaire George Lucas:
Filoni was as surprised as anyone during a Clone Wars story meeting when Star Wars creator George Lucas asked Filoni to figure out a way to bring Darth Maul back. He had introduced a similar warrior, the powerhouse Savage Oppress, in the third season of Clone Wars because of the lack of a Maul-type antagonist.
Oppress plays a major role in the return of his “long-lost brother,” Filoni says, and fans can expect Darth Maul to reignite his rivalry with Obi-Wan Kenobi, the Jedi Knight who cut him in half.
Filoni expects a strong reaction from fans, but he promises he didn’t bring back Darth Maul for a short-lived stunt.
“There’s a lot of ground that has not been covered as far as Darth Maul is concerned, so there’s a lot of room to grow with him,” Filoni says. “It’s all balanced with, ‘Boy, we’ve gotta make this really good because this is a really big deal.'”
And of course the official teaser for the return of the soft spoken horned Sith:
So what the hell, I guess if they can make this work then I’ll try my best to enjoy it. I was very skeptical and thought it verged on sacrilege when they announced Darth Maul’s brother would be showing up on the Clone Wars but I ended up enjoying the living crap out of that. The best episode of that season featured the best three way lightsaber fight I’ve seen. And with three dark side users no less….
Maul is just in time for the big 3D re-release of Episode 1: The Phantom Menace in 2012 and I’m sure that’s just around the time we’ll be getting the episodes he’ll be showing up in. The only questions I have are simple, the first one being the most irrelevant. Which planet is he supposedly exiled on? It’s somewhere in the Outer Rim according to Mother Talzin, and I’ll be a little let down if its effin’ Tatooine because there couldn’t be a more overused, boring planet. My second question is how in the bloody hell is this dude still breathing? I’m sure force-users (Dark Side especially) can withstand some brutal hits, but homeboy was sliced in two by my buddy Obi-Wan. So will he be rocking the robot leg look that he made look so fashionable in the non-continuity story from Star Wars: Visionaries? Maybe some sweet type of hover chair? That would be God awful but it wouldn’t be the first time us Star Wars fans were completely put out.
My last question is who will be voicing him? More specifically will it be Sam Witwer? For those of you non-hardcore Star Wars geeks, Sam Witwer is the guy who played Vader’s secret apprentice, Starkiller (Galen Marek) in the awesome Force Unleashed video game and it’s less than satisfying follow up the Force Unleashed 2.
He’s already had a stint in the Clone Wars in Season 3’s Mortis trilogy as the uber dark side using Anchorite The Son, which he completely owned. The guy also does an excellent Emperor Palpatine voice as evidenced in the Force Unleashed video games. It’s already been confirmed that Witwer will be returning to voice a character for this season 4 of the Clone Wars but it’s just a question of whom. Check out this little snippet from Witwer via Theforce.net that reveals absolutely nothing about whom he will play:
“Sam Witwer: I’ve already returned to The Clone Wars to do voiceover.
Riley: Oh really?
Sam Witwer: I am currently, as we speak, working on episodes, many episodes for a character that I have not played… well… it’s… what can I say without getting fired?
Riley: We don’t want you to get in trouble or anything.
Sam Witwer: I’m told the announcement is gonna happen in a couple months.
Riley: Nice tease!
Sam Witwer: It’s an amazing character. It is an amazing, amazing character. I’ll put it to you this way. I was driving over to a buddy’s house and Dave Filoni calls me up, gets me on the phone, and he says, “Listen, so we want you to come back to work and we need you to play…” and he tells me the character’s name. And I almost had a car accident. And he says, “Can you do it?” And I’m like yes. And then I worried about later whether I could do it or not. But I was like yes, yes, I will do that. So it is a tremendous opportunity and I can’t wait for you guys to find out about it.”
Now I wouldn’t call Darth Maul an amazing character or anything. Amazingly bad ass maybe, but character wise there wasn’t much to him. Even if you read any expanded universe material based on him it’s nothing to blow any skirts up. But Witwer did almost had a car accident, so that’s promising. He better not have risked his life on the account of finding out he was playing Wicket of the Ewoks or Uncle Owen…
If the first trailer for season 4 of the Clone Wars didn’t quite do it for you then wait, there’s more! Now there’s another trailer that shows quite a bit more than just the spectacular (And physics defying) battle underwater on the Mon Calamari homeworld of Dac. Sorry fellow geeks if they stray from EU continuity by just calling the planet Mon Calamari. So take a look at the trailer below so we can sift through all of the goodness and I can push all of the things I’M interested in for Season 4 onto all of you! Enjoy!
Once again, the underwater battle looks breathtaking, but all of the other stuff bodes well for a good season. Of course we’ll get another trailer showcasing the second of the season during the show’s break in winter. Now to the most interesting stuff to me:
Grievous v.s. Ventress
Ventress wasn’t on very good terms with the Confederacy last time we saw her. Her attempt to kill Dooku with his new apprentice failed so now she’s all on her own. So is Grievous sent to eliminate her once and for all so Tyranus has no loose ends? And will Ventress accomplish something to get back into her former master’s good graces? I think so.
Savage Oppress
Ok he wasn’t in the trailer but don’t act like this subject isn’t the Bantha in the room. It appeared in the end of his episode arc last season that Savage had a brother and it sure the hell looked like Darth Maul. So it looks like that might be covered in the second half of the season and I can’t wait! Is Maul going to have robot legs? Will he be a holocron gatekeeper? A Dark Side force ghost? The anticipation is killing me. I want to see Savage in action again because he was a sight to behold in Season 3. I’m wondering who will end up killing him…
The Jedi… With two double-bladed lightsabers!
Seriously doesn’t this whole thing seem a little overkill?! Yes, but I love it. This Jedi better be able to do some damage. And he’s the same species as Dex from Attack of the Clones so that’s something new.
The Togruta Slaves
Unless I’m wrong it looked like there was a lot of talk about slaves when they showed numerous Togruta people lining up. (same species as Ahsoka) I’m interested because we all know how Anakin despises slavery and he looks to be getting pretty pissed in this trailer. Also they kind of covered the Togruta getting enslaved in the Slavers of Zyggeria clone wars book, but I guess it wouldn’t be the first time they deviated from continuity. And I may be completely wrong about the Togruta being slaves.
Ackbar’s Back!
And that’s all I have to say!
So here’s to double-double lightsabers, light-whips, Mon Calamari and Grievous fighting gungans! Be sure to tune in on September 16th at 8:00pm for two episodes: ‘Water War’ and ‘Gungan Attack’ and I’ll be sure to review it!
Battlestar Galactica alum Katee Sackhoff was reported to be in the fourth season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars on Cartoon Network, but it left a lot of us wondering exactly who she would be portraying. Turns out, it’s to be the show’s first female Mandalorian!
Of course this is nothing new to expanded universe readers, but it’s great that the female Mando’s are getting some due on the show. And she appears to be a member of the ‘Death Watch’ no less!
Interesting… I suppose that means we’ll probably be graced with the Jon Favreau voiced Pre Viszla as well. Check out the trailer below:
So yup, everyone’s favorite little Separatist Lux is back and it would seem he’s got a batch of ‘Death Watch’ Mando’s with him. Wonder how this will complicate his and Ahsoka’s relationship. The Clone Wars Season 4 is still a ways off into the Fall, but hopefully they keep coming out with little tidbits at Comic Con for us to chew over. All I can say is Ackbar is back!
Grizzly Bomb 