Rey and BB-8 take on the dangers of Jakku; Sabine learns what it means to be a friend to a strong-willed acquaintance; and Ahsoka learns how far a simple act of kindness can go in the first volume of Forces of Destiny: Daring Adventures!
Continue reading “Canon Young Reader Review: Forces of Destiny: Daring Adventures (Volume 1)”
Forces of Destiny‘s final episode of the first eight returns us to Garel, but instead of watching Jyn help some innocents, we see Sabine and Leia get into a “Bounty of Trouble.” There’s some good variety to this episode compared to the first 7, as Sabine feigns being a bounty hunter to get Leia by herself so they can make a transfer of Imperial datatapes…until an actual bounty hunter, IG-88 (!!) shows up and messes things up for everyone. Of course Sabine gets the tapes and Leia remains incognito Rebellion helper, but it’s done in such an amusing way that only Sabine, the master of colors, and Leia could pull off; I seriously hope we’ll get to see these together a bit more, beyond Leia’s sole (so far) Rebels appearance. Since it’ll be until Fall before the series continues, this was a particularly strong one to end on for a bit. Building off that fact that these were originally supposed to air on the Disney Channel July 9, which didn’t happen, this episode dropped nearly at midnight CST, which seems extremely odd considering the main market for these shorts. We’ll have overall impressions of the first eight episodes up soon! Click on through for links to the rest of the shorts. Continue reading “A “Bounty of Trouble” Follows Sabine and Leia in Forces of Destiny”
As great as it was to see Ahsoka and Anakin together again, it warms the heart even more to not only see Ahsoka and Padme together, taking down someone foolish to fight them, but just to see Padme irregardless, as it feels like she’s gotten the shortest stick out of all the prequel characters. “The Imposter Inside” allows us to see both Padme’s diplomatic focus but also her hidden badassey when the need arises. Jyn Erso stars in the other new episode, “The Stranger,” where she saves an innocent girl’s cat (like the Loth-cat, but from Garel, also a planet first visited on Rebels). I felt like it was the stronger of the two considering Jyn had to go out of her way to save the day, and knowing her full backstory from other material, like the YA novel Rebel Rising, highlights how this was an action she took to help prevent someone else from suffering the same losses she did as a child.
Initially, there was supposed to be an airing of all these shorts on the Disney Channel July 9, but that time has come and past with no showing. Perhaps they are waiting until the 8th and final one of this first half airs on YouTube July 10? Even that’s a mystery and it’s a bit weird to have announced it to air on the Disney Channel, even showing commercials for it (that Tweet being from series writer Jennifer Muro, who seemed surprised as anyone that they were going to be on air July 9), but never follow through. Check out links for the other episodes below. Continue reading “Padme and Ahsoka Deal with an Imposter, Jyn Erso Helps the Innocent in Newest Forces of Destiny”
Leia manages to save Chewbacca and the rest of Echo Base from the Wampas hiding in the caves in Forces of Destiny‘s latest short, “Beasts of Echo Base.” In a way, this story is set up for a series of deleted scenes from the Empire Strikes Back regarding a Wampa attack subplot, which were included in the 2014 Blu-ray release of the Saga. It seemed kind of silly at first that Chewie might be a captive of the Wampa, but he does seem to have a history of disliking/fearing creatures, which makes him an even more entertaining character considering most people are always so fearful of him and really he’s just a giant softy at heart. Leia puts a lot of trust in Artoo and Chewie to get the door fixed in time and for her to take the responsibility of being Wampa bait should come at no surprise. Likewise, Shelby Young continues to be a solid and welcomed voice actress for the character! Another fine little short, with 3 more to come (I’m curious to see if they only release one more via online Saturday and keep the final two for the Disney Channel Sunday, July 9…or release one that day and then the final one with the TV airing. We’ll see soon enough!). Links for the other shorts below. Continue reading “Forces of Destiny Pits Leia Against The “Beasts of Echo Base””
Having started with Rey, visited with Leia, and now bringing Ahsoka Tano (Ashley Eckstein, of course!) back to the little screen during the Clone Wars, Forces of Destiny is taking us slowly back in time and I’m happy to see it’ll jump wherever it wants to in the timeline. In “The Padawan Path,” Ahsoka, pre-leaving the Jedi Order, gets caught up with saving citizens while on her way to a special Jedi ceremony with Anakin and Yoda. Her little fight with the out of control droid highlights her ingenuity and willingness to help others, no matter the circumstances (and a great lesson for anyone to learn). While Anakin’s character model felt a bit off, Matt Lanter back voicing him made the point moot…so great to hear these two together again! Out of all the episodes so far, “The Padawan Path” is the most bittersweet, considering how and why she ends up giving the braid she receives here back to the Jedi before leaving, as well as what happens between Master and Apprentice on a little planet called Malachor (which Dave Filoni just exploded the head’s of Ahsoka fans about with this tweet regarding a meeting between her and the in-the-middle Bendu. Whoa). Continue reading “Forces of Destiny Puts Ahsoka Tano on “The Padawan Path””
Rey takes the spotlight once again in Forces of Destiny’s second short, while Leia makes her first appearance in the third, which takes place on Endor! “BB-8 Bandits” is a direct continuation of the first short with Rey (Daisy Ridley) and BB-8, as we find out even more trouble befalls the two prior to their arrival at Niima Outpost and their date with destiny. I originally saw this episode at Celebration Orlando and watching it again after having seen “Sands of Jakku,” it’s neat to see how these two Rey-centric ones were connected so closely. As great as focusing on Rey has been, it was nice to see a change-up to Leia and “Ewok Escape” has quickly become my favorite FoD shorts yet. Shelby Young’s first foray into voice acting Leia sounds like a success to me, while it was neat to see the short fill in some of Leia’s time alone on Endor before the rest of the group got caught up in the Ewok’s little trap. What really made me like it the most was how Leia not only appreciated the dress the Ewok’s gave her, but still wanted a spear to go with it. Check out Leia’s first FoD appearance below!
Forces of Destiny continues to drop all week, ending with them airing together on the Disney Channel July 9. Continue reading ““BB-8 Bandits” and “Ewok Escape” Continue the Forces of Destiny Shorts”
As promised, the Forces of Destiny series began the morning of July 3 on Disney’s YouTube channel (here’s the playlist), with the first short titled, “Sands of Jakku.” The episode focuses on Rey (Daisy Ridley reprising her role!) and BB-8 shortly after the two meet in The Force Awakens, as they must deal with a creature of Jakku on the way back to Rey’s AT-AT home. It’s as short as advertised, running at just shy of 3 minutes, but it’s a charming little moment that teaches fans of Rey a lot more about her and her penchant for kindness, while the short also teaches how conflict doesn’t always need to be resolved with violence, and some creatures are just fulfilling a need, not necessarily always full of malicious intent. To pack that so succinctly into 3 minutes is a pretty great feat and it seems like series writer Jennifer Muro will keep that up, as evident by the screening of “BB-8 Bandits” I saw at Celebration Orlando back in April. We’ll post each new short as it comes online and will have a full review of the first eight episodes once they air July 9 on the Disney Channel. Continue reading “Forces of Destiny Starts on the “Sands of Jakku””
The female-focused 2D animated shorts, Forces of Destiny, finally have a premiere date! Starting July 3 at 12pm CST (10am PST), a new FoD short will appear each day on Disney’s YouTube channel until July 9, when they will be broadcasted on the Disney Channel together. Starring Rey, Ahsoka, Jyn, Leia, Sabine, Hera, and Padme, the 2-3 minutes shorts tell never-before-seen (canon, mind you!) tales about everyone’s favorite batch of heroines. Originally introduced in the middle of the night pre-Celebration Orlando (link includes details about story lines and merchandise previews I saw on the SWCO ’17 show floor), a panel at the convention included a surprise appearance by Daisy Ridley and a screening of one of the shorts (BB-8 Bandits, which the clip at the start of the above video is from) and I have a review of it here. Make sure to tune in to either YouTube or the Disney Channel to check out this initial batch of 8 shorts (with 8 more to come at a later date) to see exciting new tales about your favorite characters, brought to life by (most of) their original actresses, and we’ll have reviews and impressions on the site once they air! Continue reading “Forces of Destiny Premieres July 3 on YouTube”
One of my favorite panels from Star Wars Celebration Orlando 2017 was “Heroines of Star Wars,” as it focused on some of the best characters (which have been many of the ladies these past few years), hammered home the franchise’s commitment to inclusion and gender parity, had great panelists like Ashley Ecktsein, Tiya Sircar, Dave Filoni, and a surprise appearance by Daisy Ridley (!), and we were even treated to one of the Forces of Destiny shorts. Details within! Continue reading “Heroines of Star Wars Panel Impressions (SWCO 2017)”
Kicking off Star Wars Celebration Orlando 2017 the right way, at 12am EST April 13 nonetheless, the Forces of Destiny animated shorts (plus toys and books, of course) were announced, which highlight the women of the GFFA like Rey, Leia, Padme, Sabine, Ahsoka, Jyn, Hera, and even Maz Kanata in exciting new canon tales. More details from the initial announcement below, including plot details and that many actresses are returning to voice their characters, while much more is promised to come from SWCO soon (at Friday’s Heroines of Star Wars panel, which we will hopefully be at which I was at and was a highlight from the weekend, but it didn’t cover anything really new about these shorts)! Continue reading “Forces of Destiny Brings Women of Star Wars to Focus in 2D Animated Form (SWCO 2017)”
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