Star Wars 7x7: A Daily Bite-Sized Dose of Star Wars Joy

Well, in theory, we were supposed to be talking about the next episode of Clone Wars season 7 today. But then SlashFilm got the Friday Star Wars rumor mill rolling with the scoop that Rosario Dawson would be appearing in season 2 of The Mandalorian ... as Ahsoka Tano.

Naturally, the gears all started grinding and other reporters started checking their own sources, and - of all the crazy things - someone reached out to me with some insider knowledge about this situation! So on today's show, we'll talk about it, and we'll spend some time dealing with the idea that Ashley Eckstein may not be playing the character she so successfully brought to life. Punch it!

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In The Last Jedi, we learned about the sacred Jedi texts that Luke Skywalker had collected in his galactic travels, which he kept safe on Ahch-to despite threatening to burn the library down every so often. Well, as we know, Rey took them before Luke ever followed through on his many threats, and - with the help of C-3PO, Beaumont Kin, and her own Force-sensitive intuition - began to learn their secrets.

But what have you and I learned about them? Previously, we only knew the names of two of them, thanks to The Last Jedi: Expanded Edition, the novelization by Jason Fry. Now, thanks to The Rise of Skywalker Visual Dictionary, we know a bit more. (And thanks again to DK Publishing for sending me a review copy!)

On today's episode, I'll sum up what we know and what we've now learned, plus I'll share a beautiful story about a tribute to a real-life Star Wars fan woven into the story of the sacred Jedi texts. Punch it!

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Months before the release of The Rise of Skywalker, Georgetown physics profession Patrick Johnson joined me on the show to talk about some of the more remarkable images we saw in teasers and trailers for the movie. In specific, we talked about the Sinta Glacier Colony; the Death Star wreckage; and the orbaks running on the Star Destroyer.

Now that the movie is out, and now that we have additional information thanks to the Visual Dictionary (and thanks to DK Publishing for gifting me a review copy), I'm using today's episode to revisit those particular physics topics. Punch it!

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Ochi of Bestoon is quite the mystery character in The Rise of Skywalker. He turns out to be the missing link between the mysterious and unreachable Sith fortress at Exegol, and a wayfinder to reach it. We don't learn a heck of a lot about Ochi in the movie, and the Visual Dictionary does tells a bit more - though it tells us nothing in particular about the link between Rey, her parents, Ochi, and Palpatine, and it also leaves one other mystery unanswered. Punch it!

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We likely see more planets in Revenge of the Sith than in another movie in the Skywalker Saga, thanks to the montage of Jedi deaths shown during the execution (pun intended) of Order 66. But The Rise of Skywalker gives Revenge of the Sith a run for its money, taking us to Ajan Kloss, Mustafar, Exegol, Kijimi, Pasaana, the Sinta Glacier Colony, and Kef Bir - and that's not even including the places we saw when Poe Dameron took the Falcon lightspeed-skipping.

On today's episode of the show, thanks to The Rise of Skywalker Visual Dictionary (and thanks to DK Publishing sending me a copy to review!), we're going to learn a lot more about those worlds together. Punch it!

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The Rise of Skywalker Visual Dictionary (thanks DK Publishing for sending me a copy to review) includes a sidebar called "Timeline" in a variety of places throughout the book, and also a very large one at the front of the book which lays out all the events in the Skywalker Saga timeline.

What's new this time around - aside from all the new details - is that the time isn't referred to as BBY (Before the Battle of Yavin) and ABY (After the Battle of Yavin) in the book. Instead, it's referred to as BSI/ASI, or Before/After the Starkiller Incident from The Force Awakens.

On today's episode of the show, I'll gather the important, unique, and remarkable timeline moments into one episode, and covert them into the old school BBY/ABY for ease of reference. I'll probably flag their relationships to Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens as well. Punch it!

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The "Bad Batch" story arc is complete! It was the first story arc from season 7 of the Clone Wars, and based on story reels that had been previously released. On today's episode of the show, I'm reviewing the story arc overall, recapping some of the notable differences between the original and final versions of the episodes, and exploring the "what might have been" with another Bad Batch story arc that was previously in development. Punch it!

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"Unfinished Business" is episode 4 from season 7 of the Clone Wars, and finishes the first story arc of the season in epic fashion.

I mentioned this on the episode, but among the differences between the story reel version and this final version is the opening narration. You can watch the episode to hear the final, and compare it to this, the original:

War rages on! With ARC trooper Echo rescued from the Techno Union, the Republic returns its attention to the battle for Anaxes, where without Echo's strategic intel, Admiral Trench and the Separatists have lost the upper hand.

But the question remains: can Echo's newfound ability to access Separatist computers help the Republic regain control of their vital shipyards?

As you'll see, this original version doesn't start to cast doubt in where Echo's loyalties now lie, but the final version for Disney+ sets up that possibility.

On this episode, we'll talk about how things get wrapped up, and flag other differences between the story reel version and the final version. We'll also talk about three particular scenes of note in this episode: 1) in which Mace Windu does one of the most Jedi-like things we've ever seen him do; 2) in which Anakin, without witnesses, is shown leaning in to his darker impulses; and 3) the epilogue of the episode, which is entirely different from the story reel version and packs an emotional wallop that's played just right. Punch it!

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On Thursday, Disney made statements related to the coronavirus pandemic, announcing the temporary closures of Disneyland in California, Walt Disney World in Florida, and Disneyland Paris Resort.

Based on the announcements, it sounds like the Downtown Disney locations in Florida and California will remain open for the time being. It also reads like the hotels in Florida will remain open but the ones in California will close - either way, please reach out directly to them if you have travel arrangements that could be affected during the month of March, which is how long the closures will last, at least for now.

As for Disney Cruise lines, they will be suspending new departures starting March 14, and through the end of the month. In a very welcome note, cast members will continue to be paid during the closures, which is a wonderful and humane thing to do.

Meanwhile, on behalf of everyone here at Star Wars 7x7, please be safe, and take care of yourselves, your loved ones, and your community. If you're looking for information you can trust about the coronavirus, I highly recommend the Coronavirus Research Center at Johns Hopkins University (https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/) as a source for updates, answers to questions, and emergency preparedness. There's a lot of information out there - some of it confusing, some of it contradictory, and some of it unhelpful at best and dangerous at worst. I'm finding that the more I read from JHU, the better situated I am to handle what's happening, and what's coming.

Thanks to DK Publishing for sending me a copy of The Rise of Skywalker Visual Dictionary to review and share with you! In fact, as with The Galactic Guide we discussed previously, I've also got an extra copy of this book to give away, which I'll be doing next month.

In the meantime, today's episode focuses on a review of the book, as well as some of the details author Pablo Hidalgo has taken with inspiration from the story of The Rise of Skywalker and blended in to the backgrounds of the stories for both The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi - further enriching the experience of those movies as well. Punch it!

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