After a very short hiatus (RIP ‘The Bad Batch’, we already miss thee), Small Screen Star Wars is back to cover the latest Star Wars series on Disney+. After a heavy dose of animation, we return to live action. Our last taste being ‘Ahsoka’ late last year, which was met with mixed reviews. However, that’s about where the similarities with recent live action Star Wars end, as ‘The Acolyte’ takes us to an entirely new era. Back nearly 100 years BBY to the age of the High Republic, where Jedi are a dime a dozen, and the Sith have been presumed extinct for a millennia. This is all framing for a dramatic murder mystery as we’re introduced to a new intrepid bunch of Jedi playing detective as they try to figure out who is training force user assassins in secret. As is tradition it seems, the first two episodes were dropped as part of the premiere and Julian and Rachel are here to break it all down and recap every scene as they look ahead and try to piece together the mystery as it unfolds.

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It's hard to believe that it's been nearly a decade since we were thrust against the back of our collective theatre seats with the release of 'Mad Max: Fury Road', which is now regarded as one of the greatest action movies ever made. The return to the wasteland brought with it the introduction of a new character to accompany our titular Max, Charlize Theron's Furiosa stole the spotlight and now, 9 years later, has been rewarded with a prequel film that explores the "odyssey" of her life before the events of Fury Road. With such a formidable connection between these two films, it really only makes sense to discuss them as a whole. Julian and Jeremy unpack 'Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga' in context with it's predecessor to look at the whole picture. A series of films so epic is scope and ambition that it is a disservice to not mention them both in the same breath. Note that spoilers for 'Furiosa' are gated at approximately the halfway mark of the episode (Timestamp 00:35:33). Welcome back to the unhinged mind of George Miller. We couldn't wait to talk about this one. Witness Me!

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Last year on Star Wars Day (May the 4th), Lucasfilm Animation surprised us with 'Tales of the Jedi' a mini-series of shorts dedicated to showing some untold stories from before the fall of the Jedi. This seems to have become somewhat of a tradition, as this year, on the same day, we got 'Tales of the Empire'. A darker twist on the same concept. This time though, it was bit more focused. Two stories, told in three parts each, for a total of six shorts. The first story follows Morgan Elsbeth and her journey of revenge, which begins with her as a young girl on Dathomir to where we fist met her in 'The Mandalorian' season three. Unfortunately, despite another noticeable step forward in animation quality throughout, this first story-arch leaves a lot to be desired. While 'Tales of the Jedi' revealed secrets of Jedi's pasts, Morgan's doesn't really provide the audience with any new information. Instead, just expanding on a lot of which we already knew or could have inferred. The second half of 'Tales of the Empire' however does pack more of a punch. We follow Barriss Offee, a young Jedi Padawan we had not seen since she framed Ahsoka for the Temple bombing in 'The Clone Wars', as she's recruited to become an Imperial Inquisitor. These final three episodes are filled with fascinating glimpses into the Inquisitorius Program, insightful dialogue into the psyche of the fallen Jedi that make up their order, and some genuine twists that keep you guessing throughout. Listen as Julian and Rachel unpack each mini-episode, and discuss the package as a whole.

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Surprise! The ToB Podcast is back from a Star Wars caused hiatus, and just in time to cover one of the biggest nerd culture phenomena so far in 2024. We're talking of course about the revival of one of the greatest animated shows of all time with 'X-Men '97'. With only one episode remaining until the grand finale of season 1, Julian and Jeremy discuss how impressive it is that despite the lofty expectations fans had for this show, it managed it exceed them by nearly every measure. A rare treat. The guys discuss some of the biggest moments from the show as well as the creative work behind it that makes it tick. Afterwards, things shift somewhat as the discussion turns to the first reveal of David Corenswet's Superman, which was met with middling responses. All that and so much more on this week's Tower of Babble Podcast! Plus, stay tuned after the end of the show for some bonus content.

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Congrats to Ray Mills for some great selections on our Death Pool. Thank you to everyone who participated. Good riddance Hemlock, Scorch, Rampart, and many other terrible Imperials.

REMINDER: Don’t forget to participate in our Bad Batch Death Pool! With no characters biting the dust in this week’s episode, there’s still time to place your predictions for who comes out of the series still breathing. It’s easy, just follow this link and place your picks: https://forms.gle/vcBCTsH2eeHykYE87

Death Pool: You think you know who will live or die in the final two episodes of the series? Prove it! Follow THIS LINK (https://forms.gle/vcBCTsH2eeHykYE87) to participate in the death pool and be part of the show! You can also find an imbedded version of the submission form below on the podcast episode web page.

After this week, 'The Bad Batch' is only left with three more episodes before the series wraps up entirely. Last week's two-parter set the stage for a clear endgame - The Batch need to find Tantiss Base and rescue Omega. With that in mind, this week sets up an intriguing idea off the jump - perhaps the former Admiral, now prisoner, Rampart, knows the location. Unfortunately, the episode spins it's wheels with a "mission of the week" format without really moving the plot along in any significant way, and uses information the audience already knows as if it's a big reveal. This would have been a great episode in the middle of the season, but not for the fourth from last episode. The action and visual fidelity were top notch as always, but at this point in the series that's not enough to carry the story at this critical stage.

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This final season of 'The Bad Batch' is coming at us fast. It was less than a month ago that we were treated to a dramatic two-part episode that left the team reeling, and now again this week another two-part episode drops, and it's another doozy. First, with "Identity Crises" we spend time back on Tantiss with Doctor Emerie Karr as she takes over for Nala Se on Project Necromancer. It's the first time a current or former member of The Batch doesn't appear on screen, as we instead spend the entire episode on Tantiss learning more about the insidious work being done there. It's gripping dramatic television. Next, with "Point of No Return", the stakes ramp up to 1000 as the Empire strikes out against Pabu in an attempt to recapture Omega. The action here is stunning and where the episode leaves off sets up a thrilling final few episodes as we lead into the series finale.

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The trailer for this final season of 'The Bad Batch' teased the return of a fan favourite character from 'The Clone Wars'. A Sith assassin who has been part of Star Wars since the Tartakovsky animated shorts, who seemingly died in a novel adapted from an unused story from an animated series, only to return in all her glory as neither Sith nor Jedi. That's right folks Asaj Ventress returns to the screen as the titular "harbinger" of bad news. Julian and Rachel discuss Asaj's big return, what the information she delivers about the "m-count experiments" means for Omega, and whether we think this is the last we see of this assassin turned bounty hunter.

If you enjoy the show please subscribe and leave a nice review on Apple Podcasts, and check out Patreon.com/TowerBabbleCast to become one of our latest patrons.