We’re less than five months away from the premiere of Andor season 2, so what’s in store for us when the best live-action Star Wars TV show returns? In this episode, Eric, Grace, and Haley try to predict the twists and turns that lie ahead for Cassian Andor, Mon Mothma, Luthen Rael, and the other characters we’ve come to know and love (or love to hate). We consider how far Mon will go, how Luthen will exit the picture (and what we’ll learn about his past), and whether Syril Karn and Dedra Meero are destined to gross us all out. Plus, some theories about Uncle Harlo that you probably aren’t expecting.

Would independent journalists have prevented the events of Star Wars from happening? In this episode, we unpack a topic at the precise intersection of our fandom and our professional lives: the role of journalism and media in Star Wars. How do people in the Star Wars galaxy get their  news, and how does news consumption affect their lives? How do three successive galactic governments use HoloNet broadcasts to their advantage? And what does the lack of local news mean for people suffering from apathy or mistreatment on far-flung planets? We also discuss how Star Wars journalists balance morality and objectivity, including the ethical challenges of reporting the news from inside the Empire.

It’s a bleak time in Star Wars fandom, as the community processes the news that Disney has canceled The Acolyte following lackluster viewership and relentless online hate from bigoted trolls. What does the cancelation mean for the future of Star Wars storytelling, and what does it say about Disney’s corporate philosophy and the larger issues with streaming television today? Politico’s Bill Kuchman joins Eric and Grace to discuss the demoralizing cancelation and its broader implications, including what we think of a franchise dominated by The Mandalorian and its spinoffs, how it feels to see an ambitious project get scrapped without a peep from Disney, and how The Acolyte’s demise could hurt Disney in the long run.

It’s rare that we at Hoth Takes are so overwhelmingly critical of a piece of Star Wars media, but The Acolyte’s final two episodes definitely earned that treatment. Listen in as we critique Osha’s fall to the dark side, the show’s moral message, and Vernestra’s coverup. We also discuss the Jedi’s culpability for the events on Brendok and the Republic’s interest in overseeing Jedi business. Plus, we speculate about what Darth Plagueis is up to and how much Vernestra will confess to Yoda. And you’ll never guess what big unresolved question Haley wants answered.

Things have taken a turn on The Acolyte, as a ruthless villain reveals himself — in more ways than one. In this episode, we discuss the middle act of The Acolyte, including a stunning fight on a forest planet and a fascinating dark-side seduction on a hidden world. We delve into Qimir’s insidious ideology, Mae’s messy behavior, and what, exactly, Osha could possibly be thinking. Plus, we’re nervous about Sol, and Haley has a food question.

Three episodes in, The Acolyte is taking Star Wars in a bold new direction with fresh characters and a disturbing but thought-provoking premise. Join Eric, Grace, and Haley as we break down the complicated relationships between the main characters, debate the portrayal of an exiled witch coven, and try to predict where the show is heading. Grace is on a social media break, so it’s up to Eric and Haley to fill her in on the awful online discourse. And you won’t believe how long it takes Haley to bring up her newest space-food obsession.

What’s it like being in love with a huge Star Wars nerd? To celebrate our fiftieth episode, we’re talking about the role that Star Wars plays in our personal lives, and we’re joined by three special guests: our partners. From first dates and pandemic TV marathons to naming cars and doing bad impressions, our significant others pull back the curtain on how our love of Star Wars manifests beyond the microphones of Hoth Takes. Plus, we ask our partners about galactic conspiracy theories and their best TV show pitches, and one of them asks a divisive question.

Disney is following Tales of the Jedi with Tales of the Empire, opening up new opportunities for Tales anthologies focused on other corners of the galaxy. Given the recent focus on the dark side, we decided to pitch our best ideas for anthologies about our favorite overlooked villains. But what starts as an episode about a future Tales anthology quickly snowballs into a brainstorming session about much wackier concepts — and eventually, we come up with a Star Wars TV show so perfect that it genuinely annoys us that it will never exist.

With the upcoming Star Wars TV show The Acolyte in the news recently, Eric and Grace sit down to discuss their hopes and expectations for the franchise’s first mystery thriller. We talk about the storytelling potential of a wide-open time period, the challenges of humanizing villains without glorifying them, and whether and how Disney will use the show to plant the seeds of the prequels. Plus, inspired by The Acolyte’s mature tone, we have a mini-debate about whether there’s room in Star Wars for stories that cross two very big lines.

For as long as the stars have been warring, they’ve also been loving. So why has the Disney era of Star Wars had noticeably fewer romances, including multiple frustrating missed opportunities in the sequel trilogy? To celebrate Valentine’s Day, we’re diving into the topic of romance in Star Wars. We explore the challenges of writing romantic relationships, the factors that might be discouraging Disney from emphasizing love stories, and how Star Wars has succeeded and failed at romance, from Hera and Kanan’s heartwarming bond to Anakin and Padme’s toxic codependency to Rose and Finn’s weird surprise kiss. Plus, in a conversation that reveals a lot about ourselves, we each pick the Star Wars character we’d most like to marry.