Clone Wars Season 4 Battle Lines is coming out September 16th and I can not wait.  Battle Lines "... brings viewers right up to the front-lines of the massive galactic conflict, revealing the stories that forged the Star Wars galaxy." (starwars.com)

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Looking Forward to

• Updated graphics included more facial expressions
• New Captain Rex Story Arc plus the return of Fives
• Katee Sackoff will voicing a female Mandalorian
• Nightsisters return with Asajj Ventress and Savage Opress
• Get to see Planet Umbara with it's unique technology and weapons
• The debate over Clone independence and dispensability Captain Rex's Dilemma
• Bounty Hunters are back and with them are Cad Bane, Bossk, Boba Fett and even Dengar
• Anakin will struggle with his dark side and face difficulties as he has to deal with slavers and his personal past.
• Ahsoka also faces her own challenges with a new character Lux who makes her question her feelings about someone she cares for.
• Introducing Jedi General Krell

Watch the Trailers

• Clone Wars Season 4 Battle Lines Trailer
• Clone Wars Season 4 Death Watch Preview

Episode line up 

Like the previous seasons this will be a 22 episode season.  "George Lucas has said he would like to make at least 100 episodes, regardless of the ratings. Episode 100 would be in the middle of Season 5, so the series is likely to go up to 110+ episodes..."  I expect to see more conflicts but not to see the connecting episode to lead up to Star Wars Episode 3 until next season.

Episode 1 Water War  &  Episode 2 Gungan Attack

air September 16, 2011

Underwater unrest!  The assassination of
the King of Calamari creates conflict between
the Mon Cala and the Quarren, so Padme and Anakin
are dispatched to make peace. 
But the Separatists have other plans...

Plot:  The inhabitants of the watery world of Mon Calamari find themselves on the brink of a civil war. The Jedi soon realize they will need the help of a powerful and amphibious ally to stop the war and drive out the Separatist invaders.

The Jedi find themselves trapped by
sustained Separatist attacks. Can the Gungans save the day?

Plot:  The Jedi find themselves trapped by sustained Separatist attacks.  Can the Gungans save the day?

Clone Wars Season 4 Looking Ahead at Water War and Gungan Attack

Episode 3 Prisoners

September 23, 2011

Seemingly crushed by the might of the Separatist assault,
the only hope for the Republic is a Padawan and a Prince.

Episode 4 Shadow Warrior

September 30, 2011

Can Jar Jar Binks defeat a Separatist invasion
led by the evil General Grievous?

 

In Clone Wars Season 4 we will get more Mandalorian fun.  The Death Watch will return and we will be introduced to a new character, a female Mandalorian voiced by Katee Sackoff. 

Like padawan like master always loosing their lightsabers.

We will also get to see in this episode more interactions between Lux and Ahsoka.

Get your copy of Clone Wars Season 4 through our affiliate here:

 

Underwater unrest!  The assassination of
the King of Calamari creates conflict between
the Mon Cala and the Quarren, so Padme and Anakin
are dispatched to make peace. 
But the Separatists have other plans...

Star Wars The Clone Wars Season 4 Preview - "Water War"

This fun preview shows Kit Fisto in action, for some reason I just can not get enough of that jedi.  We will also get to see Captain Ackbar in action as a youth before his imperial imprisonment and eventual rise to Admiral Ackbar.  Even though Ackbar will be in it he will not mention traps Filoni said at Comic Con pannel.  

Water War is the First in the two part release for Clone Wars season four.  It is also the beginning of a three part story arc.

Plot:  The inhabitants of the watery world of Mon Calamari find themselves on the brink of a civil war. The Jedi soon realize they will need the help of a powerful and amphibious ally to stop the war and drive out the Separatist invaders.

The Jedi find themselves trapped by
sustained Separatist attacks. Can the Gungans save the day?

The second half and second episode is Gungan Attack. 

Plot:  The Jedi find themselves trapped by sustained Separatist attcks.  Can the Gungans save the day?

I beleive this will take place on Naboo this is due to two peices of evidence.  First, in Clone Wars Season 4 Battle Lines Trailer there is a breif moment when Count Dooku mentions attacking Naboo.  Secondly, there are gungans involved in helping the Jedi from a sustained Seperatist attcks.

Both will premier on September 16th 2011

• Get your copy of Clone Wars Season 4 through our affiliate here:

 

 

Clone Wars Season 4 starts back up on September 16th 2011 and I can not wait .  Watch the trailer above.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Season 4 from iTunesThere are some really exciting things in the trailer like the fight between Asajj Ventress and General Grievous.  More Dathomir force witches. Anakin will struggle with some of his past and more of the dark side.  The Mandalorians are back with Death Watch and was that a lightsaber whip I saw toward the end or just and energy whip.

Was that Count Dooku ordering a rentless attack on Naboo?

• The fourth season is titled Battle Lines.
• The season premier will be a one hour two part episode.
• Get Your Copy
• More Clone Wars on dashPunk
• Watch it streaming online here

The 20th Anniversary edition to Star Wars: Heir to the Empire releases on September 6, 2011.  A must own for Star Wars fans.  A great read for those looking for a next book to read.  But above all of that Heir to the Empire helped to transform franchise fiction.  

 

Timothy Zahn was the first to move outside of cannon in franchise fiction.  He transformed it from backward looking to forward looking. 

 

Before Heir to the Empire franchise fiction was safe and tended to be boring.  The stories stayed within the established timeline and themes.  They would explore more about the established characters or show them in a new situation but didn't really move forward.  Characters were safe and static.  Settings were going stagnant.

Starting with Heir to the Empire we move outside of Star Wars cannon.  The characters take a depth that was missing before developing, growing and even face death.  Their lives move forward introducing a continuity for instance Han and Leia are together like before but they start a family, have kids, joys and losses. 

We also get a sense of suspense added back into franchise fiction.  No character is safe from a dangerous situation because main characters do die leaving us without the knowledge if they will survive.  For instance in the beginning of Heir to the Empire we start out with the final death of Obi-Wan Kenobi who shows up telling Luke Skywalker that his strength in the force is fading and that he will no longer be able to return to counsel him.  Thus giving us the final death of Obi-Wan Kenobi and signaling to the readers that even big named characters are not safe from a final end even ghosts. 

Heir to the Empire is also a great story moving the setting forward after the defeat of the Emperor.  We get introduced to an amazing and dangerous character Admiral Thrawn who is messing with cloned Jedi.  We also get introduced to the ysalamiri and the concept that there are some things devoid of the force and thus immune to it.  This book shows us how the Rebal Alliance sets out to rebuild their new government and attempt to bring peace to the galaxy.  Heir to the Empire is the first book in a trilogy of novels known as The Thrawn Trilogy.

Plot

Five years after the Death Star was destroyed and Darth Vader and the Emperor were defeated, the galaxy is struggling to heal the wounds of war, Princess Leia and Han Solo are married and expecting twins, and Luke Skywalker has become the first in a long-awaited line of new Jedi Knights.

But thousands of light-years away, the last of the Emperor’s warlords—the brilliant and deadly Grand Admiral Thrawn—has taken command of the shattered Imperial fleet, readied it for war, and pointed it at the fragile heart of the New Republic. For this dark warrior has made two vital discoveries that could destroy everything the courageous men and women of the Rebel Alliance fought so hard to create.

Special Features in this edition

• an Introduction and annotations from award-winning author Timothy Zahn
• exclusive commentary from Lucasfilm and Del Rey Books
• a brand-new novella starring the ever-popular Grand Admiral Thrawn

I think I attended this con:

Very Funny!

Thanks +Chris Brogan

I really have mixed feelings about this news.  I played Galaxies for years, and sort of hoped that The Old Republic Online would spur them to return the game to its glory days...  I didn't think they would raise the white flag.

Pre-NGE (New Game Enhancements) Galaxies is the gold standard by which I judge all MMOs, and they all come up lacking.  Post-NGE they had a lot of highs and lows.  I just said last night that I thought they would go free to play, guess I was wrong.

What they got right

• None of the classes, races, or characters were faction locked.  You could play anything as anything.
• You could switch factions if you wanted
• Player cities that were involved in the Galactic Civil War.
• Guild wars
• The best crafting system I have ever seen.
• Non-combat classes that made the community form naturally.
• Varied game play
• Expansive worlds to explore and build in
• Character customization, you character was your character

What they got wrong

• They removed the sandbox characters with NGE.  You used to be able to build your own custom classes easily
• They focused on forcing large group play rather than making an amazing game that people talked their friends into playing.
• HORRIBLE customer service.  Ask anyone who played, they didn't care about you as long as you payed your bill.
• They never really updated the game after NGE, and game play started to feel dated

What now?

I suppose this makes the open source Pre-NGE project 100% legal after next year, since the game will no longer be playable in any other form.  I have some serious concerns about The Old Republic Online, so I hope this means that Lucas Arts is transferring the Film and extended universe content to another company.

This is sad, but not entirely unexpected news.

I’ve heard some call Boba Fett Chicken before but this…

 

This costume just makes me laugh… Brilliant!  It’s from the Emerald City ComiCon 2011.

Thanks lady_mei

This video retells The Star Wars Trilogy in 2 minutes using Legos and stop animation.  The video is great fan fun.  Watch the video above.

I love the scenes picked to highlight all of the events from the three movies.  There are many ships, settings, characters, and events featured.  One of my favorite is Yoda chilling in a recliner under an umbrella on Dagobah.  In context it's hilarious.

The language used is very casual and without names which works since the voice narrating it is a child.  This lends to the fun relaxed nature of the video.  For instance the scene where Darth Vader reveals his identity to Luke is phrased as "That was when the Boy got very surprising news about his dad... Wud up son."

I want that Lego collection, Wow!

(via /Film)

John The Rogue Demon Hunter asks:

With all the Buffy and Angel cast getting older, would the fans being willing to accept further adventures in the animation style of Star Wars: The clone Wars?

Fans would be willing to accept further adventures of Buffy, Angel, and Firefly in an animation style.  The bigger question is would the general public accept further adventures in animation style?  Would the studios have the patience to back and distribute further adventures in animation style?

Joss Whedon has already transitioned those settings and characters into a comic format.  There is great acceptance and love for the continuation of the series in print comic form.  This leaves a short step to move from print to animation.

The current success of animated shows both on TV and in the direct to DVD markets also support the plausibility of doing more animated shows.  Clone Wars had a rocky start getting accepted though most of it was due to the new style they used in animation that took some getting used to.  The Simpsons had a lucky start with "bartmania" that still gets large ratings decades latter.  Both DC and Marvel’s direct to DVD animated movies prove both quality in animated projects and how they can cater to the adult market.

We face several problems that are hindering future projects.

General Public Prejudice

The general public in the American market has a prejudice against animated shows.  When first approaching an animated show they presume it is for children not adults.  Many don’t even bother to give those shows the time of day unless they are bringing their kids to watch it.

Though this public prejudice has decreased some in recent years it is still rampant.  I could not count the number of adults that give subtle nonverbal clues of disdain when they find out I’m watching Clone Wars or Planet Hulk.  Others still voice their prejudice by replying “I thought that was a show for kids?”

Many creators of animated projects have their demons to wrestle with too.  First, before the project is even done they have to admit they won’t win any prizes for the work due to the prejudice in viewing it as less no matter how brilliant and deserving.  Look at Avatar, the movie would have been better going full animation but instead it went with live action parts so that it could be a “movie with cool special effects”.

This prejudice holds back studios from giving a green light to an animated project that is not targeted toward the children / young adult markets.  This forces many good projects to include in kidsey elements and to remove some of the better adult elements.  Clone Wars season one is a great example of this problem.  The show was so much less than it could have been.  Once they got past the prejudice it got better in season two.

I Find Their Lack of Faith Most Disturbing

Because of the prejudice against animated projects they tend to take longer before picking up larger audience share.

Studios have been trending toward a less lenient policy when it comes to new projects.  They have been quick to cancel projects that don’t show immediate success.

This is a recipe for failure by proclamation instead of giving the project time to get over the inherent hurdles.

A New Hope

I hope that the American public continues to learn from the Japanese, and Korean animated markets.

I hope that we continue to see the trend in the decline of prejudice against animated projects.

I would love to see the continuing adventures of Firefly and Buffy the vampire slayer in animated format.

I've always wanted a Faith The Vampire Slayer series and wrote up a series outline. Maybe one day I will hook up with some animators.

I hope John finds some animator to help him with his Faith the Vampire Slayer project and that they then check in with us for many more projects.

• Get your copy of Serenity Comic: Those Left Behind from amazon


• Get your copy of Buffy the Vampire Slayer Comic lovingly called Season 8 from amazon