The Bad Batch season one is in the books and I give my reactions (plural) to the two-part finale. Like the season as a whole, I struggled with connecting these new characters to the wider Star Wars story. But with that concern out of the way, I was able on rewatch to focus on and appreciate the characters themselves. With her "home" of Tapioca City destroyed, Omega's courageous journey of compassion and charity is just opening up. In lieu of the Pull List, I express my utter glee at today's...

Jonathan Majors' "Kang who Remains" may be eating the apple, but the institutions we all live under have their limits and try to exceed them. Kang's reasons for creating the TVA got me thinking of the Social Contract Tradition and its supposed "state of nature"-how it relates to and contrasts with the Scriptural narrative of Creation, Fall and Redemption on a Personal-Is-Political scale. For the Pull List I discuss the non-linear storytelling of War of the Bounty Hunters and what it might be...

Back in Ontario but still at a lake, I'm joined by some friends for a fully-vaccinated and fully-clothed look at the High Republic and its third wave announced at SDCC@home. Lending their voices and perspectives are Din of F-105, Dominic of the Star Wars Underworld and Patrick of Beskar Guitar, as well as the wonderful bustle of Kew Beach in Toronto. Check out the SDCC@home panel here. Dom also hosted us on Pod Force 99 for a great conversation on the latest Bad Batch episode, which you can...

My commentary on Cavan Scott's The Rising Storm continues with a trio of character reflections on senior Jedi in the novel. Longtime friends Elzar Mann and Stellan Gios seem to be on converging paths in their relationship to the Order. Loden Greatstorm was teased as a major character in the early part of High Republic, but his journey has gone in a different direction. Also I bring back the pull list with Doctor Aphra #12 and War of the Bounty Hunters #2, which shows the same events from...

FCSA is back to its High Republic ways with a look at Cavan Scott's The Rising Storm. I contrast the Valo attack with the Hetzal Disaster, and then go into this book's take on a standing army for the whole galaxy. I begin with some brief, non-spoilery thoughts on this morning's Bad Batch episode. Thanks for listening. For Light and Life! Twitter         @neug485 Instagram     @mneug1138 Church blog  luminous-beings.com

The rust of Bracca, and Crosshair's breathing apparatus. Unlike Omega, my own view was quite nice. Twitter         @neug485 Instagram     @mneug1138 Church blog  luminous-beings.com

I'm taking this outside! Where you can hear the grandeur of wind and birds, alongside my thoughts on Mobius' eschatology and the show's potential reflection on global warming. I mention Thomas Aquinas again. Thanks for listening, and MTFBWY Twitter         @neug485 Instagram     @mneug1138 Church blog  luminous-beings.com

Introducing the month of Sasky Summer Shorts with my reaction to that incredible Loki premiere, as well as today's moving Bad Batch episode. Spoilers abound, as does Hauerwas. Thanks for listening, and MTFBWY Twitter         @neug485 Instagram     @mneug1138 Church blog  luminous-beings.com

This week I reflect on the first arc of Cavan Scott's High Republic comic run. Building off its (ironic?) title, I explore the ways that Keeve, Sskeer and the Jedi Order as a whole are confronted with the fears emerging from new Dark Side threats: the threat of the Drengir to be sure, but especially the threats within themselves. For the Pull List segment in this comics-focused episode, I discuss the fact that Solo 2 probably isn't happening, at least for now. Ok I mainly go into War of the...

This week we're back aboard the High Republic Hype Train with a question rooted in real-world history. When does the High Republic Era begin and end? How do we know when any "era" begins and ends? I look at signifiers, signposts of what we now call the "Modern era" of western history, when we know it had begun and can say that it ended: the Reformation, Revolution, World War and Great Depression. In-universe, I point to the 19th and 20th Lost Masters as potential signposts of the Jedi at...

This week I'm joined by Din of F-105 to talk about his new album, F-105 II Side B, the wonderful song Outer Space/Coming Home, his vocation as an artist and his perspectives on our own universe and the Galaxy Far, Far Away. It's an in-depth conversation the gets to the heart of FCSA's mission of fandom in dialogue. For the Pull List, I continue with the latest chapter in the War of the Bounty Hunters, which picks up Beilert's journey in Bounty Hunters #12. Thanks for listening, and...

I love the Bad Batch! I really do, especially since it's taking the time to explore character growth, even as the "plot" or "mission" is moving slowly. It represents the way we're now in an era of "slow burn" television storytelling that aims for a satisfying experience whether you watch it weekly or binge it over a weekend. Either way, the focus is on character as the most important aspect *of* plot, rather than something that incidentally happens *through* plot. It's a challenge to...

The Bad Batch is here! It's great, and I give a brief review of the first two episodes. The first few minutes of the series make a change to pre-existing canon, and I delve into my thoughts and feels about it. Facts and events don't have to line up every time: I'm no "canon fundamentalist." But there should still be sound story and character reasons to tell an event differently than before: otherwise, why bother? This week of May the Fourth has certainly opened up a fascinating conversation...

The Bad Batch is just around the corner! As I do with most upcoming series, I preview the show with a discussion of what I'd like to see and what questions I'm going into the show with. How do these outside-the-box clones respond to Order 66? How do they see themselves in relation to the newly-formed Empire? Will the show give us glimpses of the nascent Rebel Alliance? I also bring back the Pull List, featuring the Women of Marvel One-shot. Lastly, Cal Kestis. His name is Cal Kestis. (Find...

Welcome back True Believers! This week I give my spoilery thoughts on The Falcon and the Winter Soldier--both the series as a whole and where it all landed in today's final episode. How well did Sam's story explore the struggles of Black Americans to find their place in their own country? Did it uphold the Flagsmasher's ideals of a world without countries at all? And did it stay true to John Walker's legacy as an ambiguous anti-hero? Give it a listen and let me know what you think! Some...

Jedi, Nihil and humble outer rim transport pilots. Claudia Gray's Into the Dark has it all, deftly exploring the struggles of three young folks making their way in the galaxy. I give my thoughts on the novel by focusing on Reath, Affie and Nan as believable, sympathetic characters. I also talk about Jesuits; just not Jesuits in Space.... For the pull list I look at Greg Pak's Vader #10 featuring yet another Anakin flashback, and the conclusion to the Brave New World arc in Kelly Thompson's...

The FCSA Star Wars Podcast Day episode is here! This week I break down the High Council debate that forms a pivotal interlude in Charles Soule's Light of the Jedi. How do we discern the Will of the Force? How can the past help us decide what to do in the present? Or should we ignore precedent, or future implications, and focus on the task in front of us? All of it is right there on p 300 of this brilliant High Republic novel, so read along and listen in! On the pull list, I talk about Daniel...

This week I finish off my commentary review of Charles Soule's Light of the Jedi with a look at the story as a whole, as well as some themes that emerge in parts two and three of the novel. After giving my story review, I go into Lina Soh's optimism and what it might mean for us and for the galaxy, as well as *that* Jedi Council scene! For the pull list, I talk about Bounty Hunters #9, why the series is finally growing on me, and how it might relate to both The Mandalorian and Zahn's...

FCSA goes MCU! The opening act of WandaVision is upon us, providing a good time to look back and reflect on its story and some comics connections as well as the theme of personal and systemic sin that the show starts to suggest. Who is keeping Wanda trapped in her own illusion? Who will help lead her out? What part do her blue-eyed twins have to play in this unfolding story? I speculate responsibly and theologize hamartalogically. I hope you enjoy it! The pull list stays in the GFFA, with a...

As promised, the first commentary episode on Charles Soule's Light of the Jedi. I reflect on themes of political and church unity as expressed in the first half of the High Republic novel, and in conversation with similar ideas in Soule's and Scott Snyder's Undiscovered Country comic. I also break out the Latin, which I hope is a good sign! On the pull list I continue discussing Greg Pak's Darth Vader run, which is turning its focus to some much-needed lore behind the events of The Rise of...

This week on FCSA: The Great Hyperspace Disaster of the High Republic is the latest in a number of post-cataclysmic stories that we *just happen* to be getting during this Pandemic. The Expanse, Picard and Season 3 of Discovery also reflect moments of great instability. What do these creative expressions of disaster explore? What do they say about the times we're living in? And what might a pair of Faster-than-Light disaster stories express about human division and connection? This packed...

FCSA is back! We kick things off in 2021 with my thoughts coming out of the High Republic launch event this past Monday, which you can watch right here. My initial concerns about colonialism and 60s optimism and gave way to real hopes that the creatives involved will seriously tackle the underbelly of these issues. I also debut the new intro music, suggested by Din of F105. It's magical and a little snazzy, just like the Jedi of the High Republic themselves! Thanks for listening, and...

With a week to process Ahsoka Tano's triumphant two-sabred leap into live action, I share my thoughts on her appearance as a whole, and reflect on how her understanding of attachments informs her unwillingness to separate Grogu from Din. And I think I come around to calling him Grogu partway through! On the Pull List this week I comment on Undiscovered Country #10, and related it briefly to a theme that pervades the excerpt from that other Charles Soule book I'm excited about, Light of the...

So Din Djarin was raised in an extremist cult: who knew? Of the many reveals in last week's Mando episode, this was the most intriguing. I pick up my conversation from a few weeks ago on Din's exploration of Mandalorian and Jedi tradition, and how that might help reconfigure our own conceptions of tradition, innovation and diversity. On the pull list, I look at the on-the-nose election in Star Trek: Year Five #16, and a pair of comics set on Mustafar. Thanks for listening, and...