Before the Awakening is a successor to the young reader Journey to the Force Awakens trilogy of books. Illustrated by Phil Noto (who also illustrated The Weapon of a Jedi, Moving Target, and Smuggler’s Run) and written by Greg Rucka (who also wrote Smuggler’s Run and Shattered Empire), the novel explains what Finn, Rey, and Poe were up to prior to the events of The Force Awakens. It’s divided into three sections, one for each character, and elaborates on their backstories and provides some insight into where each of them are at the start of the film.
Thursday night, after our first showing of The Force Awakens, we traveled to Disney’s Hollywood Studios for the big Opening Night after party. All showings at Disney Springs between 7-8 pm were included in the event, which meant DHS was as empty as I’ve ever seen it. We walked on to every ride, and it was so nice to be able to move throughout the park. Not every attraction was open, only the front part of the park, including Tower of Terror and Rock ‘n Rollercoaster, featuring Star Wars music!
Brian and I arrived at Disney Springs around 8 am for check in. After waiting a little less than an hour, we picked up our credentials and headed off to run errands and relax at home. We went back to Disney Springs in the afternoon, ate lunch and recorded a podcast at Jock Lindsay’s Hangar Bar, and then went back to line up. We waited another hour before finally getting inside the theatre around 4 pm and settling in for the next three hours.
Before the movie, they played a short video welcoming us to the event and explaining all the cool things we’d be able to do at DHS. I was really impressed with the event organization, and the credentials we were given. We also found out we’d get free photo downloads!
Once freaking out over TFA, we made a beeline to the park, arriving a little after 10 pm, and made another beeline to Star Tours. We took a detour once I saw that BB-8 had a photo op!
We walked on to Star Tours and had the entire shuttle to ourselves. Then we immediately went back on again. After that we went over to Tower of Terror (another walk on), and did Rock ‘n Rollercoaster. I don’t usually go on that ride, but since it was re-themed just for the event, I had to give it a try. It made me sick, but it was totally worth it. I hope they re-theme the ride permanently!
After that we got a late night snack (Darth Vader waffles and chicken) before getting in place for the premiere of the Galactic Spectacular fireworks. After a brief presentation with Phasma (YAY!), the fireworks started. They were similar to the fireworks from last year’s Star Wars Weekends, but with a few added TFA cues, and they were absolutely brilliant. I got emotional and may have teared up.
We went over to Launch Bay, took a few more photo ops, and by then it was close to 2 am and we were ready to crash. Not to mention being kicked out of the park.
It was such a great event, and I would gladly pay more money for another one after Episode VIII.
After more than three years, the wait is finally over. We have seen Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Many of us more than once. What did we think? Were our hopes met? Even better, were they surpassed? Who cried? Who laughed? Who fainted?
Our raw, emotional reactions to the movie we never thought would happen are under the cut.
I’ve been struggling to write this review, for several (some more obvious than others) reasons. The first was time. Because of a podcast recording I didn’t get to watch the episode live, so my entire schedule was thrown off. Then we were busy all weekend, so I didn’t get a chance to sit down and re-watch the episode until Sunday.
Second, I have a one-track mind right now, and it belongs to The Force Awakens. Sorry not sorry. (I still love you, Rebels, but you’re not TFA.)
But enough with the excuses. “Legacy” was the mid-season finale for Rebels, and it was a good, if not great, episode. Once again we focus on Ezra, and once again I think, ehhhh. It’s not that I dislike Ezra, I’m just annoyed with him in large doses. Rebels has done a good job so far interspersing episodes about other characters in between the Ezra-centric story arcs, so hopefully the next episode after the mid-season hiatus will focus more on the team as a whole, or another character. Because that, in my opinion, is where Rebels truly shines.
The episode starts with Ezra having a vision about his parents, and he decides he must find out the truth about what happened to them. Thanks to some help from Hera and Kanan, he discovers there was a prison breakout, and wonders if his parents were involved. His Force visions urge him to return to Lothal. I loved seeing Kanan and Hera give advice to Ezra throughout the episode, especially Kanan. They’re open and understanding, while also telling Ezra he needs to be mindful of his visions. He can’t go rushing in headfirst to find out what happened to his parents, but they’re also not going to sit there and tell him to just get over it (unlike some other Jedi we know).
Ezra’s objective is threatened when Imperial forces arrive, having learned from the Seventh Sister’s probe droid that the rebels have a base on Garel. This episode featured good team interaction as the crew struggles to escape. I’m glad that plotline carried over from the last episode, and it’ll be interesting to see where the rebels go now.
Eventually the rebels escape Garel (with some awesome flying and teamwork from Hera, Sabine, and Zeb), while Kanan and Ezra head to Lothal to find out what happened to Ezra’s parents. There he meets a friend of his parents (voiced by the great Clancy Brown), who was with them in prison. He reveals that they recently instigated a breakout, but were killed in the process.
The end was a bit of a letdown for me. Ezra wants to go on this big quest to find the truth…only to learn his parents are dead. Not only that, but they get killed off-screen. I understand the purpose–it’s permanently separating Ezra from his old life. But I don’t see how that finality changes much about his character. He’s still an orphan. He’s still learning to use the Force. He still blames the Empire for his parents’ deaths.
Perhaps the story team has something more up their sleeve, and I’ll be eating my words at the end of the season. But compared to last year, when we got the awesome cliffhanger of Tseebo knowing what happened to Ezra’s parents, this episode fell short for me.
I did, however, love when Kanan stopped Ezra from going after the Inquisitors. That was a great moment, made even greater when Ezra realized Kanan was right to stop him, and when Kanan told Ezra he was going to help him on his quest. It makes you wonder what would have happened to Anakin Skywalker if he hadn’t been bound by the Jedi dogma of non-attachment; if he’d been more open and honest with Obi-Wan; if the Jedi had been more understanding of his background. It certainly makes a good case for the Jedi having attachments and parents/guardians who can guide them through learning to use the Force, doesn’t it?
Be sure to check out this week’s Rebels Recon, in which Dave Filoni teases what we can expect to see in the rest of the season.
All I want from The Force Awakens is to fall in love again.
The first time I saw A New Hope, I fell in love. Not with the film itself, or the Star Wars universe, or even the Battle of Yavin. I fell in love with the characters. I wanted to be like Princess Leia. I loved Han and Chewie’s friendship. I loved the bickering droids. I even loved how evil Vader and Tarkin were. Most of all, I loved Luke Skywalker.
I still love Luke, and the promise of Luke in TFA, even the most miniscule appearance, has me absolutely giddy. I have my theories about what he’s been up to in the galaxy, but I’m trying to go into the film with a clean slate. I’m not expecting him to have children, or to have trained Jedi, or to still be in contact with his friends and family. Basically, all of my worst fears about TFA. However, I have hope that J.J. Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan will give us a more interesting story for Luke than Obi-Wan 2.0.
But this column isn’t about Luke Skywalker. This column is about falling in love with a new set of characters. I already have attachments Rey, Finn, and Poe Dameron, and I don’t even know them yet. I already want to give Kylo Ren a big noogie. Captain Phasma already scares the bejeesus out of me. I want to know more about Maz Kanata and Supreme Leader Snoke. And General Hux gives me very confusing feelings. All in all, I’m already way more invested in these characters than I was during the prequels–and I like the prequels.
I’m excited to meet all the new characters, yes, but one of them stands above the rest: Poe Dameron. Yes, I find Oscar Isaac painfully attractive. Yes, I have a thing for X-wing pilots. Yes, I loved seeing his parents in Shattered Empire. It was kind of inevitable that I’d fall in love with Poe before even seeing TFA.
Everything we learn about Poe makes me like him more and more. He’s got a cocky streak to him, which is typical for pilots in the Star Wars universe. Unlike Han he’s extremely dedicated to the Resistance, and he’s served the Republic his entire life. I find that sort of dedication extremely appealing in characters–probably one of the reasons I love Wedge Antilles so much. We know Poe is so dedicated to the Resistance that General Organa herself chose to send him on some important mission. From the trailers, we also know that things don’t go so well for him, but I’m hoping his resilience sees him through, just like with Leia.
I relate to entertainment most when there’s a character I really connect with. In the Original Trilogy, it’s Luke Skywalker. In The Hunger Games, it’s Peeta. In Mageworlds, it’s Beka and Jessan. In Legends, it’s Mara Jade. I’m hoping that, with the Sequel Trilogy, my love affair with Poe Dameron is solidified. Not only Poe, but I’m hoping to meet a whole bunch of new characters I fall in love with.
And if Luke Skywalker swoops in and saves the day, well, I’ll be the happiest girl in the world.
After three episodes with cameos from The Clone Wars and not much for Hera to do, Rebels came back and reminded me why I love this show so much. This isn’t to disparage the other characters, but I much prefer Rebels when the show is an ensemble cast rather than Ezra’s story. If they are going to focus on Ezra for a few episodes, then they have to give the same amount of time to the other characters.
Just as I was grumbling about “Where’s Hera?” Rebels said “don’t worry; we got this” in the best possible way. Introduction of the B-wing? Check! A fantastic Mon Calamari engineer who’s a tribute to Ralph McQuarrie? Check! Rousing music by Kevin Kiner in honor of James Horner? Check! Hera musing about her love of flight and being the best damn pilot in her corner of the Rebellion? Check!
The Disney Parks blog has revealed new information about Star Wars experiences opening in December, including the Launch Bay and the new Jedi Training Academy featuring the Seventh Sister.
A new Star Tours module featuring Jakku will also debut, and will be featured on every Star Tours flight for the first several months. Check out this awesome preview of the Millennium Falcon soaring through Jakku’s starship graveyard.
Alas, with all the upcoming construction around Hollywood Studios, it was announced that Star Wars Weekends will not happen during 2016. No word on whether the annual fan-favorite event will return in upcoming years, but I’m definitely crossing my fingers. Thanks to James Arnold Taylor, Ashley Eckstein, and all the Disney Parks cast members for making Weekends such a fantastic event. We’ll miss it greatly.
There’s a new trailer! We didn’t know we were going to get this! I’m freaking out! Ahhhhhhhhh!
(Note: For spoilerphobes, it doesn’t give much story away. We’ve seen most of the footage before, but there’s some new images — like GENERAL ORGANA WITH POE DAMERON!)
Oh hey, were you looking for some The Force Awakens pretties to tide you over until December 18? You’re in luck! Feast your eyes on five character posters featuring Rey, Finn, Kylo Ren, Han, and Leia. (No Poe Dameron, sadly.)
Leia’s sporting her look from the Official Poster, not the trailer, which has me intrigued. One is very political-looking while the other looks like a military uniform; do we get to see both sides of Leia in The Force Awakens? I would not complain.
#LukeWatch, the successor to #beardwatch, continues.
I wasn’t a huge fan of the previous episode of Rebels, “The Lost Commanders.” I’m not a huge fan of the clones or The Clone Wars series, although I like them well enough. It’s just I like Rebels so much more. However, I was very excited for Rebels to be back on the air (even if Hera got the short end of the stick in the episode).
In the last episode, the crew of the Ghost (minus Hera and Chopper) went on a mission to meet old colleagues of Ahsoka Tano. Kanan, to no surprise, wasn’t very keen on hanging out with old clones. Understandably, he’s got a lot of PTSD from surviving the Jedi Purge. The rest of the episode seemed a bit like filler to me, although it did allow the Spectres to bond a bit with Rex, Gregor, and Wollfe.
The second episode begins with Agent Kallus attacking the clones and the Spectres (see what I did there?). The plan is to take the clones’ crazy prototype AT-AT into a dust storm, therefore the much larger and more effective Imperial Walkers can’t sense them. Only problem is, the Rebels can’t use their sensors, either. It’s up to Kanan and Ezra to use the Force to save the day.
I liked this episode a lot more than the previous week’s, and it leads me to wonder if this two-part arc could have been condensed into one episode. I really enjoyed the chase in the dust storm; it was so slow and methodical and the Battle of Hoth music really made the sequence shine. And what can you say about the clones putting all their trust in Kanan, and Kanan grudgingly learning to trust Rex and his buddies? Honestly, their blind trust in Kanan was really sort of sad, for a variety of reasons — knowing the history of Order 66, and considering the idea of whether or not the clones are people or property. It’s all just a very sad, ambiguous, and disturbing situation. Especially when you consider that the clones will live much shorter lives than normal humans.
The episode ends with the Spectres saving the clones and bringing them back to the frigate. There, we have our money shot of the show, when Ahsoka reunites with Rex. It was a sweet moment, even though I’m not a huge Clone Wars fan, I have to admit. (Although it makes me wonder what Ahsoka would have done if Rex had refused to return with the Ghost.) What is next in store for the old clones? Only time will tell.
We also get a tease for next week’s episode, and the first appearance of the Fifth Brother. The new Inquisitor is very creepy, and I can’t wait to meet his partner, the Seventh Sister. I can’t wait for the Spectres to meet them, either.
Before the Awakening is a successor to the young reader Journey to the Force Awakens trilogy of books. Illustrated by Phil Noto (who also illustrated The Weapon of a Jedi, Moving Target, and Smuggler’s Run) and written by Greg Rucka (who also wrote Smuggler’s Run and Shattered Empire), the novel explains what Finn, Rey, and Poe were up to prior to the events of The Force Awakens. It’s divided into three sections, one for each character, and elaborates on their backstories and provides some insight into where each of them are at the start of the film.
