The Death Star Human Resources Department Newsletter: July 18, 2025
The Ancient Order of Pessimists were correct all along
Hello there
We are back to a fully armed and operational edition of the Death Star Human Resources Department Newsletter. Hope you did all the reading from last week’s Link-O-Rama version because there will be a quiz. This week we’ve got Andor gets some Emmy nominations, but not enough of them. George Lucas decides to walk among the nerds. And the Death Star HR Book Club returns, with a comic book.
A bit of housekeeping, Death Star HR is taking a bit of a summer break. No newsletters for the next couple weeks, unless there’s some kind of breaking news. There isn’t much happening in the galaxy far, far away and the Texas summer is entering it’s “Tatooine,” so I think a little break is in order. I’ll be back with a new Death Star HR on August 8th.
This Is Where The Fun Begins
Remember the Cerveza Cristal ads I wrote about in the. March 8, 2024 Death Star HR? Well, someone updated the bit with Andor.
I wonder if anyone has ever gone to a Star Wars or general nerd convention cosplaying as a bottle of [cue the music] Cerveza Cristal!
Little Gold Statues Are More Valuable Than Kalkite
Andor season 2 was Emmy-bait. Not exactly a #HOTTAKE. The grown-up, thinking person’s Star Wars show. It stripped away the hokey religion parts of the show and just focused on the “War” of Star Wars. There was a fantastic cast, beautiful sets, and a through line of all the episodes focusing how the previously democratically elected Republic slid willing, some might even say sprinted, into the fascist Empire. Maybe some lessons in Andor season 1 that we in the real world should have heeded. But now, Tony Gilroy, Diego Luna, Denise Gough, and company don’t have to just settle for me talking about what a great show Andor is, they can have Hollywood officially recognize they’re a great show. With an Emmy.
The 77th Emmy Awards were announced Tuesday and Andor was nominated for 14 statues.
Outstanding Drama Series
Outstanding Guest Actor (Forest Whitaker)
Outstanding Directing (Who Are You?, directed by Janus Metz)
Outstanding Writing (Welcome to the Rebellion, written by Dan Gilroy)
Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance (Alan Tudyk)
Outstanding Production Design (Who Are You?)
Outstanding Cinematography (Harvest)
Outstanding Fantasy/Sci-Fi Costumes (Harvest, costume designer Michael Wilkonson)
Outstanding Picture Editing (Who Are You?)
Outstanding Musical Composition (Who Are You?)
Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics (Who Are You?/”We are the Ghor” – Planetary Anthem)
Outstanding Sound Editing (Who Are You?)
Outstanding Sound Mixing (Who Are You?)
Outstanding Special Visual Effects
In addition to Andor’s nominations, The Acolyte was nominated outstanding sound editing, and the documentary Music by John Williams was nominated for outstanding sound editing and outstanding sound mixing.
I’m not sure how one qualifies as a “guest actor” versus a “supporting actor.” If you had asked me I would have called Whitaker a supporting actor. Although I did feel he was a little under-used, like maybe there was a bigger Saw Gerrera story in Showrunner Tony Gilroy’s “five seasons in five years” plan that had to be scrapped. For the voiceover work, Alan Tudyk voiced everyone’s favorite Sassy-Murder-Droid-Who’s-Not-Chopper, K-2SO.
It’s also not a surprise that the episode “Who Are You?” has received the bulk of the accolades. If you didn’t pay attention to episode titles, or have forgotten since every day feels like a year right now, that’s the Ghorman Massacre episode. Which is one that I honestly can’t say enough good things about. The look of the entire episode and of Ghorman in general. The way the show built tension that even though you knew something was going to happen that would set off said massacre. And of course, we got the untimely end of Syril Karn.
I was a little surprised that none of the other actors and actresses got a nomination. Diego Luna, Genevieve O'Reilly, Denise Gough, Kyle Soller, Adria Arjona, and Stellan Skarsgård are all winners in my book. I’m not sure why the main characters in Andor were snubbed. Looking at the list of nominations for best actor/actress, I wonder if it was too much of an ensemble cast. A too many cooks in the kitchen type of situation. You could argue there was really only one lead actor/actress for the series and that was Cassian himself, Diego Luna. And even then, he was somewhat absent from the first three episodes. He was there and kicked off the series with the great scene of him stealing the TIE Avenger, but once he crashed on Yavin 4, it felt like Cassian was taking a back seat to the other stories, at least for the first three episodes. Maybe everyone else, was trapped in the weird limbo between starring roles and supporting roles, and in the end they were neither. Because you can’t tell me that Bix, Mon, and Deedra shouldn’t have at least been nominated.
Of course I’m not the first to note the lack of nominations for Andor’s cast. Tony Gilroy himself was asked about it, and he told Deadline:
“There are a lot of performances that I wish were recognized,” Andor creator Tony Gilroy told Deadline today before specifying “Diego Luna and Genevieve O’Reilly. There are a dozen performances.”
…
“These aren’t great moment-to-moment [performances],” Gilroy says about Luna, O’Reilly and the others who were overlooked by TV Academy voters. “These are epic, long-term character studies that they’ve done over 24 episodes. I think the ultimate victory is that these performances will be celebrated and discussed for years to come. I feel confident about that.”
Can Emmy voters do write in campaigns? Does Death Star HR need to start one for Luna and O’Reilly?
Uncle George Emerges From the Dagobah Swamp
Being George Lucas is probably a pretty sweet gig. Better than working for a living, as I am forced to do. You created one of the most beloved entertainment franchises in the world, made tons of money doing it, and then sold it to Disney for even more money. Not bad. But even at 81 years old (yikes), George still has some living left to do. Assuming you considering appearing at San Diego Comic Con for the first time to be living.
“We are beyond thrilled to welcome George Lucas to Comic-Con for the very first time,” said Comic-Con’s chief of communications and strategy David Glanzer in a statement. “Nearly five decades ago, ‘Star Wars’ made one of its earliest public appearances at our convention, along with a booth featuring Howard Chaykin’s now legendary ‘Star Wars’ poster as a promotional item. Now, to have Mr. Lucas return — this time to debut the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art — is a true full-circle moment. His lifelong dedication to visual storytelling and world-building resonates deeply with us and our community, and the museum’s mission to celebrate narrative art in all its forms perfectly reflects what Comic-Con has championed from the very beginning.”
I’m surprised George has never done Comic Con before. I can understand him not going in the 1980’s after Return of the Jedi and we had no idea if we’d ever get another movie. But I am a little surprised he wasn’t there in the late 1990’s to hype of the Special Editions and/or the Prequels. Maybe at that time Comic Con was more focused on comic books and less all already nerdery? I don’t know, I’ve never been. Looking at the past guest lists on Wikipedia, it does seem like there’s a trend where the guests have gone from Stan Lee to Pedro Pascal. I think it would be fun to go to some time, but considering there’s an entry on overcrowding at the Comic Con, maybe not.
It’s also worth noting, it’s not just George giving a chat. He’s doing a panel, and it sounds pretty great.
Sneak Peek of the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art — Legendary filmmaker George Lucas will make an appearance alongside Academy Award-winning director Guillermo del Toro and Academy Award-winning artist Doug Chiang. The panel, moderated by Queen Latifah, will discuss the power of illustrated stories and the role of narrative art in society. From ancient cave drawings and hieroglyphics to paintings, murals, illustrations, comics, digital media, and sculptures, this panel will delve into the universal language of illustrated storytelling. (Hall H)
That would be really interesting. Just listening to Lucas and Chiang talk about design would be fascinating. George’s panel is the last day of Comic Con, so no skipping out early. Any Death Star HR readers planning on attending?
The Death Star Human Resources Department Comic Book Club
You see what I did there? I’ve mentioned a few times that while comic books are not really my thing, I do know that there is a very long history of Star Wars comics, both in book for and newspaper form. Remember the funny pages? Just dated myself here. A few weeks ago I was in browsing a used book store and couldn’t find anything I was interested in, so decided to live it up a little and pick up a couple comic books. We’ve got the first one here.
Title: Boba Fett: Enemy of the Empire
Series: Stand alone. Takes place 3 BBY.
Author: John Wagner. (He’s the writer, there’s also pencilers, inkers, letterers, colorists, and the cover artist).
Date published: October 6, 1999
Pages:
Status: Legends
Summary in less than 20 words: Boba Fett, Darth Vader, and a religious order that lets me make a Monty Python reference.
The comics are of course a lot shorter than the novels, so the plots aren’t quite a complex (or as complex as a Star Wars book can get). This one is pretty straight forward. Darth Vader hires Boba Fett to find an Imperial officer that deserted and to retrieve a package that said officer absconded with. Of course Vader is kinda a jerk so he hires some less competent criminals to follow Fett and kill him once he finds the package. This gang is not very smart, they have some kind of dog but he’s a little smarter than a dog. But he’s not quite a Mog.
I often talk about how much I like the idea of the Force as a religion. Enemy of the Empire has a new religious order, but it doesn’t have anything to do with the Force. Instead we’re introduced to the Ancient Order of Pessimists. A religious order where its members always assume the worst is going to happen. Honestly, the way things are going these days I might see if I can join them.
Of course Boba Fett tracks down the missing Imperial officer and deals with him. And deals with the goons Vader has sent to kill him. Which of course sets up a showdown with Darth Vader himself. Which at this point I think the comic is getting a little too weird for it’s own good. I’ve often commented that consistency isn’t something Star Wars is exactly great at. Lightsabers sometimes can cut through blast doors. Other times a lightsaber wound is merely a scratch. Same with Jedi. Sometimes Jedi are the most powerful warriors in the entire galaxy. Other times they’re chumps who can get taken out by a few dudes who grew in vats. So sure Boba Fett is a badass, at least in the Expanded Universe. Movie Boba Fett really isn’t that impressive. But can Expanded Universe Boba Fett really go toe to toe with the Dark Lord of the Sith who is also the Chosen One? Come on. Gett manages to get the upper hand against Vader but decides against finishing him off because Empire Strikes Back has to happen the writers were told by Lucasfilm there is no way they’re allowed to kill off Darth Vader in a comic. In the end, Vader gets the what he’s been looking for but destroys it rather than share with Palpatine. More on that below.
The Good:
I dug the Ancient Order of Pessimists. This is the weird stuff that can go in the comic books for the Sickos but couldn’t get near a script for a Skywalker Saga movie. The head of the Ancient Order of Pessimists realizes that maybe he could be positive, only to get vaporized by a Star Destroyer’s turbolaser.
The Bad:
Yes, Boba Fett is a badass but do we really think he could hold his own against the Chosen One/Dark Lord of the Sith? Come on.
Wild Card:
The MacGuffin is a literal head in a box. I’ve always said the comics are where things get weird.
I don’t think comic books are going to be my new thing, but it was a fun little read. And weird. Definitely weird.
This Day in Star Wars History
Not too much happening in the galaxy far, far away on July 18th.
Lucasfilm concept design supervisor Ryan Church was born in 1971. Church worked on vehicle design for Lucasfilm, especially for the Prequels. Are you an AT-TE fan? Thank Church for that one.
Actor George Coe passed away in 2015 at 86 years old. In the Star Wars galaxy, Coe voiced Tee Watt Kaa in a couple episodes of The Clone Wars. Back in the real world, Coe was one of the “Not Ready for Prime Time Players,” better known as the original cast of Saturday Night Live. He also had a pretty busy career, including playing the Judge in The Mighty Ducks, being a series regular on Max Headroom, and voicing Woodhouse on Archer. Quite a resume.
Recent Death Star HR Book Club entry, Inquisitor: Rise of the Red Blade was published in 2023. It’s a good book. You should read it.
On the same day as Rise of the Red Blade, another book was published, this one for the younglings. Get Well, Nubs! dropped in 2023 as well. If you’ve watched Young Jedi Adventures, you know that Nubs is always causing trouble. And also, as friend of Death Star HR
noted when we did a podcast together, if Nubs had been on Brendok, perhaps the tragic events of The Acolyte could have been avoided.
From the Depths of Wookieepedia
I almost skipped past Midi-chlorian manipulation in hopes the Wookieepedia randomizer would give me some kind of food, but I think I’m going with it.
Midi-chlorian manipulation was a form of Sith alchemy mastered by Darth Plagueis. Requiring immense knowledge of the dark side of the Force, it was the ability to create, maintain, or save life through the influencing of midi-chlorians to a certain degree. It was said that it was very difficult for a new practitioner of the power to use it, since Plagueis argued that the Force would only accept being directed in this way by a worthy Sith Lord who could hold the weight of authority over life.
The whole history of the midi-chlorians is pretty interesting. Allegedly Lucas came up with the idea for them back some of the early drafts of Episode IV but decided for whatever reason not to use it. So for over 20 years, everyone thought being a Jedi meant you had some mysterious, unexplainable power. And really it just meant you had a blood disease.
News From the HoloNet
Andor Receives 14 Emmy Nominations, But One Snub Is Now My Villain Origin Story
Already covered the Emmy nominations but shared for the headline.
Darth Vader’s Main Lightsaber Set for Auction in Rare Opportunity for ‘Star Wars’ Fans
It’s not too early to think about Christmas presents for your favorite Star Wars fan, me.
They’ve landed – Disney’s Star Wars BDX Droids are now roaming in Disney World
Try to leave Disney World without spending sufficient money and you’ll find the HK-87’s blocking your exit.
Daisy Ridley’s Husband Cast in Adaptation of Former Reylo ‘Star Wars’ Fan Fiction
Had to read the headline three times, still not sure I get it.
That’s it for this week. If you like what I’m doing, please subscribe. I’ll catch you next week, and may the Force be with you.
Alex and Mollie Damon (from Star Wars Explained) cosplayed as bottles of Cerveza Cristal at Dragon Con last year.
I loved the Enemy of the Empire graphic novel. Still have my copy somewhere. More than a little ridiculous that Boba doesn't get immediately destroyed by Vader, but a fun read.