The Death Star Human Resources Department Newsletter: February 7, 2026
Working the spice mines of Kessel to pay off Bob Iger
Hello there
Welcome back to the Death Star Human Resources Department Newsletter. I know I had said probably no newsletter on Friday, but I’m a creature of habit and if it’s best for me if I stick to a schedule. This was originally supposed to be a short newsletter and instead it’s now over 5,200 words. So that’s why it’s a day late but it’s still fun. I finally made the pilgrimage to Galaxy’s Edge. Yup, that’s right. I willingly went to Florida, basically handed Bob Iger all my money in large sack with dollar sign on it, and then was rudely escorted from Disney World for arguing with Kylo Ren. Plus there’s a Death Star HR Book Club entry that I just wasn’t able to get to last week.
This is a pretty picture heavy Death Star HR, if you’re reading this on Gmail in your browser, you’ll need to click the “read full message” link or something like that.
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This Is Where The Fun Begins
Extremely accurate.
Extremely, extremely accurate. I couldn’t cry though, it was too cold.
Getting 86’d From Oga’s Cantina
Visiting Galaxy’s Edge1 has been a goal of mine since, well, the day it opened back in 2019. Specifically either May 31st, 2019 in Disneyland or August 29th, 2019 in Disney World. It didn’t happen. First there was COVID. Then there was just life getting in the way. Emperor Palpatine’s #1 Fan and I do a fair amount of traveling, but it’s still a production to spend a 4 days to a week in Anaheim or Orlando. Plus, the cost. Back in 2024, we were in San Diego for Thanksgiving and I kicked around the idea of a day trip to Disneyland and doing a solo day trip. It would have been a minimum of $600.00 or so factoring tickets, gas, merch, etc.. Although in the interest of fairness to the Mouse, parking was pretty reasonable at $30.00. I paid more than that a few weeks later to park at a Dallas Stars game. In the end, between the cost and the limited time I had, it just wasn’t worth the road trip to Anaheim. But finally, the wait is over. As a 46th birthday trip, we made the pilgrimage to Disney World and I got to spend a day at the Black Spire Outpost.
The question for me was how do I want to write this up? And how much time do I want to spend doing “content?” I don’t consider myself any kind of influencee or anything (even if there are the Death Star HR Instagram and YouTube pages that you should follow) and while the main goal of the trip was for me to experience Galaxy’s Edge, in the back of my mind there’s always “what am I going to say about this one Death Star HR?” So in the end, I took a bunch of pictures and a few short video clips, there’s a few photo dumps on the Instagram page, but doing that was secondary to just immersing myself in the world.
The plan was we get up early and get to Hollywood Studios at “Rope Drop.” This is what I guess the super fans do. It was 27 degrees when we left the hotel. IN FLORIDA. This was completely unacceptable but the sun was shining and the walk over helped warm me up a little bit. The Disney security person searched my backpack so thoroughly that I fully expected them to tell me the guard with the rubber glove was my first ride of the day. Our goal was to do the Rise of the Resistance ride first thing, since it tends to have the longest wait time. Unfortunately, like the New Republic government, the ride was down for repairs in the morning. So instead, we started at Smuggler’s Run.
Honestly, the highlight of Smugglers Run is walking up to and just seeing a full-size Millennium Falcon sitting there. That was my “welcome to Galaxy’s Edge” moment, where you really feel like you’ve stepped into the Star Wars universe. More than seeing Rey walk by as we were heading to the ride, more than seeing a random X-Wing or A-Wing near Rise of the Resistance. Being able to walk up to and around the Falcon in the docking bay, was something else. They even have the sound effects of it trying to start up, you know cause Lando’s people didn’t fix the hyperdrive motivator.
You get the same feeling after you make your way through the line and get onto the Falcon. It really does feel like you stepped onto the set. You see the exposed wiring and damage, because the Falcon is a hunk of junk. There’s the Dejarik board. In a box there’s the remote and the helmet with the blast shield. Since we’re in the Sequel Trilogy timeline, there’s even a Porg nest. Like you almost expect to walk around the a corridor and see Chewie trying to fix it. Honestly, I’m a bit surprised they don’t either have an animatronic Chewie or a cast member in costume on board. The main part of the ride puts you in the Falcon’s cockpit as part of a six-person crew where you’re assigned to either be the pilot, gunner, or engineer. The plot, as it were, is you’re flying the Falcon to help everyone’s favorite pirate, Hondo Ohnaka steal coaxium from a First Order transport. First time around I got gunner. Which basically just means hitting a button to fire the blasters over and over again. It’s interactive, to a point. Same with being engineer. You’re just hitting some buttons to fix any damage you take. Pilot is the best gig, and I finally got to do that on the last night we were there2. One pilot controls left and right, the other controls up and down. But the best spot is the right pilot. Because because you get to pull the lever that engages the hyperdrive. That right there, it just puts you in the Star Wars world. Pull the level back, watch the stars turn into lines, and then traveling through hyperspace, it’s just everything you could want as a Star Wars fan.
The second ride I did was the old school Star Tours. The last time I had been to Disney was 2002 at Disneyland. We did Star Tours then, I still have a Mos Eisley Cantina pilsner glass that I bought in the souvenir shop after the ride. Per Wikipedia, Star Tours was the first licensed non-Disney IP featured as a ride. In 2010, Disney redid Star Tours to give it an upgrade. They added more destinations that you “visit” and more introduction segments and random characters. All randomized so you could ride all day if you wanted and it would be extremely unlikely you’d get the same tour. We rode it twice, the second time was better one. There was 3-D Darth Vader to start, the first planet was Kashyyyk, the Wookiee planet, we got our second mission from Mando and Grogu, and that was going to help Ahsoka as she flies around the Puurgil. Clearly the timeline doesn’t matter. Since in the first ride, we had the Boonta Eve Classic from Phantom Menace and then the Battle of Corsucant from Revenge of the Sith. It is the least interactive ride, you just side there an the pod does the movement, but it’s still fun. Plus, I love that the exterior is still the Ewok village and the AT-AT. Never change that.
It took an extra day, but I finally made it to Rise of the Resistance. This was the ride that I was told I had to go on. Our second day, after Epcot, EP#1F decided she need a break, the Disney App said it was “only” 65 minutes. Better than the 3 hour wait advertised the day before. The wait turned out to be around 90ish minutes but still worth it. It’s less of a straight up ride and more of, I almost hate to use the word, experience. You’re put in the role of a Resistance recruit who gets captured by the First Order and you have to escape the First Order Star Destroyer. It’s two rides in one coupled with some cast member interaction. Once you finally snake your way through the line, you get BB-8 along with a hologram of Rey giving you your mission to get to the secret Resistance base on Pacara. It’s cool. But then you walk out to go to your transport shuttle and you see Black One with BB-8 in the droid slot and what’s supposed to be Poe in the cockpit. Once you’re in the shuttle, it’s a Star Tours style ride where it’s all video screens. It is cool because they have front and back screens, looking out the transport shuttle cockpit you can see the ship heading into space and the Star Destroyer. Watching the back video screen you can see the ship leaving the planet and your X-Wing escorts.
The intro there is cool, but the ride really starts when you get captured by the First Order. You and your fellow Resistance fighters are escorted off by a First Order officer. Immediately when you get off you see the army of Stormtroopers waiting. I was a little surprised these were static, given the level of detail on the ride, I would have expected at least ones in the first couple rows to have a little movement. But it makes for a really cool backdrop. This was one of two spots where the cast members really committed to the bit of staying in character. The First Order officers directed everyone where to go for the next part of the ride and were as smug and sarcastic you’d expect them to be. Everyone gets broken up into 16 person pods and placed in a detention cell so General Hux and Kylo Ren can interrogate you. Just when things look break, the Resistance spies “cut” though the door and rescue you. It’s a very cool setup, LED lights in the wall light up to make it look like the people on the other side are cutting through the door.
Once you’re rescued by the Resistance, the actual ride starts. They put everyone into two Prisoner Transport Unit cars and tell the reprogrammed droids manning the cars to get us to the escape pod bays. As the ride starts, you see a probe droid and Stormtrooper “shoot” at you. Then you get to what I thought was the coolest scene on the ride. Coming into a room with two life-sized AT-ATs. One car backs out of the room, the other car goes up an elevator until you’re face to face with the “head” of the walker, and then back down again. You get two Kylo Ren moments, one where he and Hux are on the bridge talking about the impending rescue attempt by the Resistance, and one towards the end where you either get an animatronic Kylo trying to stop your cars with the Force, or Ren in his TIE Fighter on the view screen. Eventually you make it to the escape pods and crash land back on Batuu, where you’re welcomed into the Resistance.
The ride is probably the closest any of us are going to get to being in a Star Wars movie. It really does feel like you’re trying to escape a Star Destroyer. Your rational mind knows that the lasers going over your red LEDs, but your lizard brain at least has your on heightened alert. When Kylo Ren stabs his lightsaber through the floor to try to stop you (one of the cooler effects) again you know it’s just an LED with a moving panel, but it really does look like something from the movies. Yes, the ride is a long wait. Yes, you can skip the line but you have to buy the super fancy Lightning Lane, the ride isn’t part of the normal Lightning Lane options. But more than Star Tours, more than Smuggler’s Run, it’s the ride that makes you feel like you’re in the Star Wars universe.
While I said above that I was treating the trip for me and not turning every moment into #CONTENT, there was one shot specifically I had to do. The Hunt for Ben Solo movement is alive and well, and they were doing the #BLUEMILKCHALLENGE. Basically just get a picture with Blue Milk and use a couple of hashtags. It’s fun, Blue Milk was pretty tasty really. And I got my Instagram content.
There was still plenty to do on our list. First on the list was Savi’s Workshop where you build your own lightsaber. I mean, who doesn’t want a lightsaber? It’s pretty straight forward, you chose your lightsaber theme. There’s Peace and Justice, Power and Control, Elemental Nature, and Protection and Defense. You tell them what color Kyber Crystal you want out of red, yellow, purple, green, and blue. Each of the themes has 10 pieces, you pick 2 sleeves, an emitter, a pommel cap, and an activation plate. So it’s of course possible for someone to have the same lightsaber as you, but there are a lot of combinations out there so it’s not that likely. This is another one where the cast members really do stay in character. They call themselves the Gatherers, and they seek out materials that can be used for lightsabers. When you’re out wandering around, you’re not supposed to refer to building lightsabers lest any First Order Stormtroopers hear you. The process itself is pretty straight forward. Put your Kyber Crystal in the main part, screw on the pieces, and you insert the hilt into a tube that attaches the blade. There’s a whole ceremonial aspect as well, as the main Gatherer guides you through building it and everyone gets to raise their lightsabers at the end. It’s pretty well done, all the cast members stay in character and the lightsabers seem pretty high quality. The parts are all metal, it’s got some heft to it. I guess the whole thing weighs 2-3 pounds. There is a build you own lightsaber spot at the merch store after Star Tours, but it’s all plastic pieces.
Keeping on with giving more money to the Mouse, we next did the droid build. If the cast members at Savi’s Workshop were committed to the bit, the ones at Droid Depot were, well, less so. It’s much more get you in, build the droid, and get you moving along. They certainly don’t mind if you stop and take it all, the detail at the droid shop like everything else, was top notch. But it wasn’t “in world.” I chatted with one of the workers who was helping people make sure they got the right parts about how Chopper was our favorite droid. It’s pretty straight forward, you can built an R series, BB series, or C series droid. There’s a conveyor belt with all the pieces, you gather up the ones you need and decide your color scheme. Then take it to a table and build. Most of the pieces snap together, you do have to use a power screwdriver on a couple pieces so you really feel like you’re putting something together. I build my very own Chopper while EP#1F made a BB unit for the sole purpose of chasing the cat around.
But the highlight was when we went to the build station, the cast member who was going to help us looked at my jacket and said “Go Green!3” Turns out he had just graduated from Michigan State University last year. I felt extremely old, as it has been many years since my graduation. Unfortunately I don’t recall his name, but we chatted for a few minutes about the great Mitten state. The kids, as we’re calling the droids, turned out pretty nice. The controls are simple to use and responsive. I didn’t get any of the personality chips they offer as add ons, but may try ordering them. My Chopper already sounds like Chopper.
The last scheduled stop at Galaxy’s Edge was Oga’s Cantina. This was another one where the level of detail was top notch. It really does feel like you’re in a random Outer Rim spaceport cantina. I know, you’re thinking it’s not a Star Wars cantina without some level of danger. And how dangerous can things really be if you’re at Disney World? Well, the people next to us at the bar were from New Jersey, so there was a higher than normal chance of violence. I kid, I kid. I love New Jersey. But it’s all Star Wars themed drinks, both with and without alcohol. Is there a special “Star Warsy” word for alcohol? I don’t actually know. You see references to what are clearly supposed to be alcoholic drinks in Star Wars, like Corellian brandy, but I’m not sure the word “alcohol” is ever used. Anyway, the bar is really cool looking. You’ve got IG droid heads on the towers. Lightsaber hilts for tap handles. The drinks are all pre-made and on tap, I get it. Makes things move a lot easier if the bartenders don’t actually have to spend their time mixing drinks.
Music is provided R-3X, the original Star Tours droid from back in the day. Fun fact, Paul Reubens does the voice. It’s the best possible way to experience a Star Wars cantina. All the atmosphere but only about a 1% chance Dr. Evazan and Ponda Baba will try to start something.
I was a little surprised you didn’t see more characters walking around. You’ll see Kylo Ren and Stormtroopers, Stormtroopers on their own, Mando with Grogu, Rey, Chewbacca, and Vi Moardi who is definitely a character only the Sickos know. If the First Order Officer walks around, I didn’t see them. It does feel like a bit of a missed opportunity not to have a few more. Even if you just wanted to stick with the Sequel Trilogy, how hard would it have been to add Finn, Poe Dameron, Rose Tico, and General Hux. The timeline even works that General Leia Organa could have been walking around. Interacting with the characters is probably the perfect example of the challenge Galaxy’s Edge has and why at least at Disneyland it’s moving to a more generic “Star Wars World” type of feel. Most people likely just want to get their picture taken so they can say they got a picture with Chewie. But they characters want to interact with you “in world.” I’m 99% sure the people in the Mando and the Stormtrooper costumes aren’t actually speaking their lines because of the helmets. They have pre-programmed dialog that that either runs on a loop and they know the pattern so they know what comes next, or they have something where they can select what speech they want. Mando’s opening line to me was I looked nervous, maybe I had a bounty on my head. I don’t remember what I said in response, but his reply to me was clearly the next line of pre-set dialog and not an actual response.
Rey and Chewie were a bit different. There were another 3-4 cast members around Chewie who would translate Wookiee-speak4 for you. Chewie and I had a nice chat, through his handler, about if we had a good Life Day and that I shouldn’t let the First Order know that Chewie was at Black Spire Outpost. I mean honestly, if the First Order Stormtroopers couldn’t find the only Wookiee on Batuu, they probably deserve to be Force choked by Kylo Ren.
Rey was the most fun, because as the only human without a helmet on, she could actually talk to you. And I’m honestly a little proud of myself that I got her to break character for just a split second5.
Rey - Are you loyal to the Resistance?
Me - I am, and I need to get a message to Resistance Intelligence. My wife6 is a First Order sympathizer and I want to turn her in.
Rey - Oh no! Could she be convinced to switch sides? Finn was once a Stormtrooper and now he’s one of the great leaders of the Resistance.
Me - I don’t think she would. She’s pretty committed to the dark side. She’s even a big fan of Palpatine.
Rey - [in a mock horrified tone] Palpatine7???
Me - Well, they say opposites attract.
And at that moment, for just a split second she started to smile/laugh, and then went right back to her game face. And I got my picture and moved along, promising not to let the First Order know she was here.
I am glad I got to see Galaxy’s Edge before it changes. Disneyland is already in the process of turning Galaxy’s Edge from an experience happening in a certain time and place in the Star Wars universe, to a more generic “Star Wars Land” situation. It hasn’t been announced but certainly this will happen at Disney World as well. The timeline of the new version isn’t really a thing. You’ll have Sequel Trilogy characters mixed in with Original Trilogy ones. Safe to assume it’s only a matter of time before they mix the Prequels in. The music is changing from music written specifically for Black Spire Outpost to the classic Star Wars tunes we all know and love. I get Disney looks at the bottom line and thinks “if we can bring in the fans who want their picture taken with Luke but not Rey, it’s more money.” Galaxy’s Edge, along with it’s companion the Galactic Starcruiser Hotel were ambitious projects in both storytelling and trying to convince fans that the better way to see this park was to be part of the story instead of just passively wandering through. Maybe it will turn out that Galaxy’s Edge version 1.0 was ahead of it’s time and just too much for your average Disney visitor.
And finally, what might have been low-key my favorite moment all day. We were watching the entrance bit that the First Order does. An officer and two Stormtroopers do a speech about how the First Order is bringing, well, order to Batuu and then Kylo Ren shows up. They do a little crowd work interrogating park-goers if they’ve seen an Resistance fighters. As Kylo and the Stormtroopers leave to go walk around Black Spire Outpost, the crowd starts to scatter as well. A group of four teenage girls who were there for a cheerleader competition walk by us. One of them says to her friends, “I just don’t understand Star Wars.”
The Death Star Human Resources Department Book Club
Two Death Star HR book club entries in three weeks? I have felt that my commitment to reading really has fallen off the past few years. I’ve mentioned this before. Time that I spend working on Death Star HR is time that I’m not reading. So I do have a goal this year of reading more books. And even going to try to read books that aren’t Star Wars. What???? I know, blasphemy. But for now, we’re going to keep on doing Starship Troopers in the Star Wars world. We’ve at the middle book of the Dark Nest Trilogy.
Title: The Unseen Queen
Series: The Dark Nest Trilogy.
Author: Troy Denning.
Date published: September 27, 2005
Pages: 333
Status: Legends
Summary in less than 20 words: The war against the Dark Side bugs comes a little more into focus.
We’re back in the second book of the Dark Nest Trilogy. Our heros learn that the Gorog (not Grogu) are still alive. These are the bad bugs who are under the influence of Lomi Plo, a Dark Jedi who survived the New Jedi Order events, only to get sucked into the Hive Mind. The Gorgo are secretly manipulating the rest of the Killiks into causing problems. Jacen Solo has both an out of wedlock child and an apocolyptic vision which I believe informs the plot of most of the remaining Legends Expanded Universe books. And the New New Republic doesn’t trust the Jedi. There’s a lot going down in The Unseen Queen.
When I wrote about the first book, The Joiner King, I said that I wasn’t a fan. There has to be some heavy lifting to set up a previously unknown species and enemy, you can’t just say oh the Sith are the bad guys here and everyone knows what’s going to happen. Here we got to focus more on the usual characters. It still feels a little convoluted in places, some side plots that don’t seem to really go anywhere, but it’s better than the first ones. I’m not going to rehash the plot, you can read it on Wookieepedia if you want. But instead say that while I’m still not sold on this Trilogy, it is at least getting better instead of getting worse.
The Good:
The book narrowed it’s focus to the main characters: Luke, Han, Leia, and Mara; and the book is better for it. As I said last week, The Joiner King just felt like it was all over the place, this tightened it up and allowed the story to move at better pace.
The Bad:
It’s not bad, per se. I just don’t really love the bugs. Like I said a week or two ago, it just felt like after the Yuuzhan Vong they couldn’t go back to Jedi vs Sith, so might as well try bugs.
The idea of the Jedi getting sucked into a Hive Mind doesn’t really sit with me. I have a hard time seeing it happen.
Wildcard:
Tarfang is back and he’s kicking ass! In this book, everyone’s favorite ill-tempered Ewok gets to use a lightsaber and just goes slashing through the bugs. Has there ever been an Ewok Jedi? Because if there was, Tarfang would probably be a Sith.
Really not sure what’s going on with the cover here. I really think they maybe photoshopped Leia’s head onto a Luke body. It just doesn’t look quite right.
Things My Wife Has Said About Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge Edition
There was absolutely no way in the galaxy that we could visit Galaxy’s Edge and Emperor Palpatine’s #1 Fan not get snarky about it. After all, this was the woman who ordered a “Save The Empire” t-shirt to wear to the park.
While discussing what color Kyber crystal I’m going to get for my lightsaber:
Me: I’m afraid if I get a red light saber you will commandeer it.
Her: I don’t need to commandeer it, it will know me.
Folks, it’s not easy being married to a Sith Lord. Or I guess a Sith Lady.
While tapping her with my lightsaber.
Her: No effect. My skin must be made of…
Me: Beskar?
Her: …
Me: Did you know what it was called and just didn’t want to admit it?
Her: I’m not answering that question.
She knows. She won’t admit it. But she knows.
This Day in Star Wars History
I know, this is for Feb 6th. But I already typed it up hoping it would force me to be done by the 6th. It didn’t happen. But I’m not retyping.
Two births and a death from the galaxy far far away to mention on February 6th.
Voice actor David Hayter was born in 1969. Hayter voices the playable Jedi Knight character in The Old Republic MMORPG and all its expansions. If you’re a gamer, he also voiced Solid Snake and Naked Snake/Big Boss in the Metal Gear Solid games.
The Third Sister, Moses Ingram was born in 1994. Ingram played Insquisator Reva Sevander AKA The Third Sister in the Disney+ series Obi-Wan Kenobi. While filming, Ingram got some lightsaber training from Ewen McGregor, who she describes as “a graceful little butterfly.”
English actor Harry Fielder passed away in 2021. Fielder played one of the Death Star Troopers who accompanies Darth Vader when Vader goes to interrogate Princess Leia. Fielder had a long character as an extra and character actor, and even wrote a book titled Extra Extra, Read All About It!: My Life as a Film and TV Extra.
From the Depths of Wookieepedia
This week we’ve got one from the “are we really sure this should have a seperate entry” files, the Ghorman Carabinieri.
Ghorman Carabinieri were law enforcement individuals that worked on the planet Ghorman.
In 3 BBY Cassian Andor watched two carabinieri approach a group of protestors near the Monument to the Fallen in Palmo Plaza on Ghorman.
Interesting that they didn’t “Star Wars” up the name as “Carabinieri” are what the Italian gendarmerie are called here in our galaxy.
News From the HoloNet
Josh D’Amaro to succeed Bob Iger at Disney CEO
First I was passed over for President of Lucasfilm. Now I’m passed over as Disney CEO. Life isn’t fair.
The Super Bowl Just Became Star Wars’ Chance For Some Major Redemption
Clickbait headline, but if you look past that, you’ll see that we’re getting a trailer for The Mandalorian and Grogu during the Super Bowl.
Steven Spielberg Achieves EGOT Status With Grammy Win for ‘Music by John Williams’
Worth noting that Tracy Jordan EGOT’d before Spielberg.
Rogue Squadron screenwriter reveals new details about the canceled Star Wars movie
Come on, Lucasfilm. Give us old fans the Rogue Squadron movie we want.
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I’m going to use Galaxy’s Edge and Black Spire Outpost interchangeably here. Technically Galaxy’s Edge is the Disney name of the attraction while Black Spire Outpost is it’s “in world” name.
I’m not sure what doing Disney After Dark costs but it was 100% worth it just to avoid the crowds
This is how Michigan State people greet each other. The correct response is “Go White!”
I know it’s called Shyriiwook. Don’t @ me.
Bob Iger, if you’re reading this please don’t fire the Rey cast member for breaking. She otherwise did a great job.
I’m always a wife guy. Even in the galaxy far far away.
In this timeline, Rey does not yet know about Grandpa Palpy.
I loved your Galaxys Edge write up. So much I related to. What a great reflection on the experience.
I still have never been. It's killing me. Great write up!
I love that you tried to turn your wife in LMAO.