Star Wars: The Clone Wars "Revival"

The Clone Wars is finally back, and back with a bang! We did have to wait a while for the new season, but it was by far more than worth the wait!

The start off the episode wasn't majorly special, I guess because we'd already effectively seen the first two scenes off the episode through preview clips. But after that, it really kicked off. To summarize the early scenes, Darth Maul & Savage Opress take out these interesting-looking Droids, Savage goes weird and starts making noises and attacking objects, Maul tries to dominate over Savage and Savage says there is no need for dominance between them, to which Maul reminds Savage of the Sith rule, a master and an apprentice, and that Savage is the apprentice. That was basically what happened in the clips from this episode, and pretty much as I expected, Maul defeated Savage a few seconds after the clip was cut off, by using one of his cyborg legs to grab Savage in the face and slam him into the ground. Savage then gets up and acts like nothing had happened in how he'd challenged Maul's rule. That scene illustrated how pointless the character of Savage Opress is now and how he is beyond redemption... didn't like that "Blue Snaggletooth" guy they also threw in, don't really know why but he seemed silly to me. 

 The whole plot of the episode was completely genius. Props to the writer of this episode. Getting Maul & Savage to try and recruit the Weequay Pirates was great, and it was a great way to bring the awesome character Hondo Ohnaka back into the show. Another well-worth-the-wait thing, as Hondo hadn't been on the show since the last episode of season 2! He was as awesome as ever in this episode, delivering some hilarious lines. It was also great to watch Pirates vs Pirates, really nice.

With the episode kicking off into turbo gear now, we witnessed a epic lightsaber duel between Darth Maul & Savage Opress vs Obi-Wan Kenobi & Adi Gallia, which in my opinion is one of the best lightsaber duels on the show so far. Maybe not the best, but up there. The addition of the music from "Witches of the Mist" was a great addition too, and really worked with this scene. It was really chilling to find out Maul's plans weren't ready yet when the Jedi arrive, as you would expect that he had his plans figured out. This duel also brought our first dark moment of season 5, with more to come this season, with another in this episode, and it was very dark. In their duel, Savage Opress force-pushes Adi Gallia into a wall, and while she's trying to recover he runs in and rams her through the chest with his horns, before stabbing her through the back with his lightsaber while she tries to breathe. So brutal, yet epic and just another example that this is NOT a kids show (also, I am aware Grievous killed Gallia in a comic before, but this show over-rides canon so as far as I'm concerned Grievous never killed Gallia. Case closed. Though while the character choice in the comic was better, death by Grievous, the WAY in which she was killed in this episode was much better, in my opinion). It was also sad when Obi-Wan shouted "Noooooooo!" in typical Star Wars fashion, and when he rendezvous with Hondo, who asks him where Gallia is, and Obi-Wan says, "She's- She's dead." I believe Obi-Wan & Adi Gallia were good friends in the EU so they may have been trying to reference that. 

And now we come to the second of the dark moments in this episode. As Hondo and the Pirates still on his side prepare to "deal" with the Pirates on Maul's side, or in other words get them back on Hondo's side, Maul & Savage go after Obi-Wan. When Maul & Savage have Obi-Wan trapped against a wall it looks hopeless, but Obi-Wan manages to catch Savage off-guard and slice off his arm. And this wasn't some silly cutting off of the arm with little to know care from anyone, like Twazzi last season in the episode "Crisis on Naboo", but no, this time it was proper and it was amazingly done. You could actually tell the pain Savage was in. Maul & Savage were forced to flee, which brings me to another point. In my opinion at least, Savage is weighing Maul down BIG TIME. Maul could achieve big things on his own, but Savage is like a liability from my point of view. I think Maul maybe might have had a chance of defeat Hondo and his Pirates if he didn't have to flee due to Savage lacking one arm, which also ended up being responsible for Maul losing part of one of his cyborg legs. I don't mind the fact that the Pirates beat them illogical, because of the condition Savage was in Maul couldn't really handle two things at once.

And lastly, the final scene was just so chilling and awesome! Palpatine basically telling the Jedi to get back to the war was great, as they need to get back to focusing on the war! Not sure how many of you readers noticed this, but in the episode when Palpatine says, "They're just petty crooks", that doesn't sound like the original TCW Palpatine voice-actor at all, Ian Abercrombie, who died earlier this year but managed to record most of his season 5 lines so we heard... it's almost like they added in another quote for whoever's replacing Ian to do, and it's a stupid little line which takes away from a great speech slightly in my opinion. Almost sounded like Corey Burton did the line, from listening again and again, and that's a problem, because aside from Count Dooku & Cad Bane, almost ALL of Corey's characters sound EXACTLY the same. Plus, it's not like the crew don't have other people who've voiced Palpatine before, Sam Witwer would be a great choice. 

PS: One additional note, Hondo mentions at one point that Obi-Wan failed to stop General Grievous destroying Hondo's old fortress/base we saw in previous seasons, from the sound of it. We can add that to a list of things we should have seen on the show in an episode, just like we never see Dooku give Pre Vizsla a scar, we just see Vizsla after he has it a while.

My verdict: In my opinion, this is THE best episode of the series. It had drama, humour, action, great dialogue, it was just a joy to watch. Rating: 10/10

My Thoughts Ahead of Star Wars: The Clone Wars Season 5

This time I am posting my thoughts ahead of some of the more important or interesting things ahead of Season 5!

Maul/Death Watch: Really looking forward to this! Can't wait to see what ends up coming of most of the major characters in this story (yes, I read the spoilers but I meant now seeing it all visually). The Sidious clip from Comic-Con was very nice, and I look forward especially to Pre Vizsla vs Maul & Sidious vs Maul & Savage Opress!

Onderon: I really look forward to this arc as well! I personally like LuxSoka or just Lux & Ahsoka together over any of the other "options", so I'm looking forward to how this arc develops those two characters. The new character Steela looks interesting too. Very interesting to see where this arc goes, because it sounds like both Ahsoka & Steela have feelings for Lux, but it is like Lux is unsure at first.

Thorn episode: Not sure if this is connected to another arc, probably will be, but I'm definitely looking forward to seeing Commander Thorn in action! He looked very badass in the trailer for sure! Though, like many others who predicted this, I predict Thorn will end up just being another Clone they kill off...

Cato Neimoidia: I'm also excited to see what goes on for this planet next season, especially as we will be seeing the new Jedi Starfighters here. Also, we are apparently going to see that "incident" mentioned in Revenge of the Sith as not counting as a time when Anakin apparently saved Obi-Wan, so I look forward to seeing what that's all about!

Padme/Clovis: I honestly was someone who NEVER believed Rush Clovis was dead back when "Senate Spy" aired, so I think it's cool that they brought him back, as his being there could add something to Anakin & Padme's relationship. I don't generally look forward to too many Anakin-centric episodes, but this I might not mind if done well. It just depends how good this arc turns out to be.

Droids arc: I'll admit it, I'm honestly not looking forward to this arc, AT ALL! Sure, I love the Republic Commando's as much as the next fan, and can't wait to see the new one, Gregor, in action, but I get the feeling this arc will just be so bad. Generally, the episodes where R2-D2 and/or C-3PO are the worst in the show, so I'd be surprised if this is an exception. Plus, the Commando might only appear in 1 or 2 of the 4 episodes this arc is supposed to be. Hopefully the arc proves me wrong, but I'd be surprised. PS: Though I will add the voice Stephen Stanton does for the little guy is awesome. :)

Ahsoka vs Ventress arc: Totally looking forward to this! We KNOW Ahsoka cannot due though as Ashley Eckstein says she has recorded lines for Season 6 already, but it will still be an awesome lightsaber duel to see. What will happen to both of these characters after the duel? I can't wait to find that out and more next season!!!

The Big Bang Theory Review "The Date Night Variable"

It's finally here! The new season of the comedy show, The Big Bang Theory is here. I've been looking forward to the new season for months to see where they go next with the characters, and the opening episode didn't let me down! 

Characters in the episode: Sheldon Cooper, Leonard Hofstadter, Rajesh Koothrappali, Howard Wolowitz, Penny, Amy Farrah Fowler, Bernadette Rostenkowski Wolowitz, Stuart Bloom, Mrs. Wolwitz & Dimitri. 

An interesting thing to note was the addition of Amy and Bernadette in the final intro shot for the intro this season, as before that it was usually just Sheldon, Leonard, Howard, Raj and Penny in the shot I'm talking about. Also, Stuart who was just a minor character before is now pushed up to be the 8th major character on the show. 

Well, this show is meant to be a comedy show aimed towards "geeks"  or anyone into science-fiction stuff, and the humour certainly wasn't lacking, even after 5 seasons. This was a very funny episode for sure. From just light humour to dark, such as when Leonard pointed out to Sheldon and Raj that the water Howard and the others had in space was supposedly made from each other's recycled urine, which was a disgusting yet funny joke at the same time! And of course, the conversations between Howard and his mother, Mrs. Wolowitz, just never get dull! This below is a good example from this episode:

"HOWARD?! CAN YOU HEAR ME?!"

"I can hear you WITHOUT THE PHONE."

"So, what's this mishegas I hear about you going out to live with the little Polish girl?"

"How about calling her my wife?"

"Wives don't take boys from their mothers..."

"They do, that's why we MARRY THEM."

"I just hope I'm not dead from a broken heart before you get back."

"Ma, please. Everyone from NASA is listening to this phone call."

"Good! They should know what a horrible son you are!" 

Classic humour between those two characters. :)

Also, it was very interesting to see Howard inside the space shuttle, which was barely shown in the season, and how he and his Russian counter-part in the shuttle, Dimitri, dealt with zero-gravity. It was really cool just watching them float inside the shuttle!

We also got to see more conflict between Howard and his his mother and Bernadette are on opposite sides of what they want for him, we got to see how lonely Raj is being the only single guy of the group and how he becomes really good friends with Stuart. We got our first hint at that rocky relationship between Leonard & Penny this season. It was amusing how Sheldon invited Raj to his and Amy's date, making Amy unhappy and forcing Raj to leave. Then we got to a part I really liked in that scene: Amy wasn't happy because she felt Sheldon wasn't being genuine with her anymore, so she prepared to leave but Sheldon called her back to tell her a speech. And I was thinking while watching, "Hey! That speech sounds familiar!", and I was right! It turned out that Sheldon used the very last quote in the first Spider-Man film, which I thought was really cool! Amy reluctantly took it. 

It was also interesting to see more of the rocky relationship that Leonard & Penny are going through, even when he invites her over just to have a few beers and watch a football game it still ends up getting difficult, especially when Raj comes in and tries to force Penny to tells Leonard, "I love you", into Leonard's eyes, something Penny hasn't done yet, and Raj gets kicked out.

I really liked the ending of the episode too. While still in the space shuttle, Howard has to deal with his unhappy mother and wife, Bernadette, and try to make them both happy. He succeeds for now, but knows it won't last, which leads to the other dialogue scene in this review, between Howard & Dimitri:

"Loops, you just lied your ass off to your wife, and your mother." -Dimitri
"I know..." -Howard
"What are you going to do when you get back to Earth?" -Dimitri
"Oh I'm never going back!" -Howard

My verdict: A great start to the new season, with a good sign of things to come. I've already read a bit of what's come in the next episode, and it does sound interesting, and apparently the teasing Howard has been getting from his fellow Space crew will turn into proper bullying! So it will be interesting to see how or if Howard deals with that. Rating: 9/10

New Seasons of two of my favourite TV Shows Coming This Weekend!

As you may have heard or already know, both of my favourite two on-going TV shows start their new seasons this week. The comedy show The Big Bang Theory begins its 6th season, while Star Wars: The Clone Wars will enter Season 5. As of now I'm not too sure if Season 6 is the last for The Big Bang Theory, but I have heard there will be more, and Season 5 definitely isn't the last for The Clone Wars. PS: Technically, the new season of The Big Bang Theory starts on Thursday, but I won't be able to watch it until after school on Friday so it technically for me will be on the weekend!

 It will be interesting for sure to see where The Big Bang Theory goes next. After all, Howard Wolowitz has been sent into space and the last season ended with a great scene of Leonard & Penny holding hands, Sheldon & Amy holding hands and Raj and Bernadette holding hands hoping that Howard would be safe, so it will be interesting to see what happens next there. From the few hints I've heard of the future of The Big Bang Theory, Raj will finally get a girl after all this time and all his friends having one and that Leonard & Penny (pictured above), will have another rocky relationship in the new season. Plus, we will finally find out Penny's last name in some episode! She's the only one of the main cast who's surname is still unknown...

I can't say too much about Star Wars: The Clone Wars Season 5 right now as I'm saving up a big blog post later this week on what I think, but I'm really excited for the premiere episode! After initially being sceptical of it because Darth Maul is the main focus, it sounds really good from the spoilers I've heard and the clips I've seen. Really looking forward to the opening episode for sure!

The Voice of the Republic Podcast Episode 1

Me and my friend Daniel Schofield launched the first episode of our new podcast The Voice of the Republic recently! It was an episode filled with fun, and I wouldn't be against saying it's up as one of the best podcasts I've been on so far. Joining us were our friend Alex, known as TexComplex on Youtube, and voice-actor Dave Fennoy, who voiced General Pong Krell in the Umbara arc in Star Wars: The Clone Wars Season 4. After Dave & Tex left, me and Daniel discussed CVI, Celebration Europe II, The Vintage Collection line and The Clone Wars TV show for a bit. 

Link to listen to this episode is below:
http://kiwi6.com/file/t8dhav2sfu

In our 2nd episode coming later this week, we will be chatting with friend David Delgado and Original Trilogy actor Alan Flyng, who played background roles in the Original Trilogy including a Storm Trooper in Empire Strikes Back in the Carbonite Chamber and a Imperial Officer in Return of the Jedi. After our interview with Alan, we plan to discuss Star Wars: Detours, the Lego Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Out TV special and some of The Clone Wars S5 ahead of "Revival". 

My Thoughts Ahead of Invasion Belfast V

So as you probably all know now, I have changed my mind and now will be going to Invasion Belfast V after all! Let me go through the main things I am focusing on for what I will do there!

The panels: This to be honest is what changed my mind on whether to go or not. When they posted the schedule for the two days, I looked through the schedule, and everything going on just sounded really fun! Ok, there are a couple of things for the little kids I don't need to think about, of course, but their are some nice panels for sure. Very excited to see the Drawing Star Wars Workshops by Will Sliney. He's a talented artist, so that panel will be good to see. It's on at three separate times during the day too, so no way will I be able to miss it! The Actors Q&A from the three Original Trilogy actors who will be there (Jeremy Bulloch, Anthony Forrest & Tim Rose) will be good to go to as well, and finally the the Quiz from Following the Nerd! Definitely those are what I look forward to most from this event.

The cast: I will admit, I am still very much let down by the cast selection. No one that blows me away is coming. Don't get me wrong, Jeremy Bulloch is a GREAT guy and very nice to talk to, but when he's at literally every Invasion event it does get a bit redundant (or just crazy if redundant offends anyone, which I don't mean to). I understand Jeremy has been a huge supporter behind Invasion and has helped it become so popular, but I still think it would be ok to leave him out every once in a while. Will Sliney was at Invasion Dublin earlier this year, so again a bit of a silly choice, but I still look forward to his panel I mentioned before. Then we get to the three new guests I haven't met before, and honestly wouldn't mind missing out on them, or two of them at least. First we have Anthony Forrest, who plays the oh-so-iconic (yes, that was sarcasm if you couldn't tell), "Move along!" Sandtrooper from A New Hope and a character called Fixer who was in some deleted scene. I don't want to be too critical of Anthony, but I'm sure there are MANY better cast choices Invasion could've gotten over a Sandtrooper. Next is Jerome Blake, the only Prequel Trilogy actor there who basically plays several of the ugliest Prequel Trilogy characters (Oppo Rancissis, Orn Free Taa, Rune Haako & Mas Ameeda). Nothing too exciting there. Lastly is Tim Rose. I'll admit, I'm a bit interested to meet him, but he wouldn't be anywhere near my first choice. And let's face it, people MAY only go this guy because he said the amazing line, "It's a trap!". Again, I'm trying not to be critical, but I think the cast selection is a let-down, considering how great Invasion Dublin's was in terms of variety and choices.

Collectable stalls: These conventions are a great way to buy some more items for the collection! Unfortunately due to saving for Celebration Europe II next year, I won't be able too buy that many things probably, it all depends on the prices, but I wouldn't mind getting around 3 or 4 figures, new or older.

Photo Area & Props: Let's admit it, how COOL is it for us Star Wars fans to pretend we're getting pictures with actual characters in when you meet people who do great costumes of certain characters? I know I enjoy it, and look forward to seeing the costumed characters at this event and hopefully get a few pics! And it's always great to see what amazing props the designers create! Many of the props are detailed so accurately it's unbelievable! 

Anyway, I can't wait to go on the Saturday of the two days this event will be held, and I hope I will have a good time! Hopefully I can get videos from Jeremy Bulloch & Tim Rose mainly for my Youtube channel. Anything is possible, right?