The Death Star Human Resources Department Newsletter: November 28, 2025
Rebranding today to Dark Side Friday
Hello there
Happy Dark Side Friday! I hope my fellow American readers all had a safe and happy Thanksgiving. If you haven’t read the Death Star HR Thanksgiving special, you can catch that here.
Today is your regular Death Star HR, just news and nonsense from the galaxy far, far away. I wade into the “Is Sabine a Jedi/Sabine can’t be a Jedi” discourse and decide it’s a little more nuanced than people think. Imagine, people on the internet missing the point. The horror! There’s a new trailer and poster for The Mandalorian and Grogu. And it wouldn’t be a Black Friday without doing a Great Moments in Star Wars Merchandising entry.
As always, thanks for reading Death Star HR. If you’re reading this and you’re not a subscriber, I’d love it if you entered your email below and smashed that subscribe button. There’s also an official Death Star HR Instagram and an official Death Star HR YouTube page as well and I’d love it if you subscribed there as well.
This Is Where The Fun Begins
Longtime friend and Intrepid Bounty Hunter GenoV sent me this yesterday. He’s cruising the Caribbean with his family and stumbled upon a bit of the galaxy far, far away.
The museum, located in Sint Maarten, was opened in 2011 by Nick Maley. Maley was a creature FX designer who worked on a lot of the aliens in the cantina scene in A New Hope. Per his Wookieepedia entry, he helped on Chewbacca, Snaggletooth, Ponda Baba, Kabe, and Greedo among others. For Empire Strikes Back, Maley worked on the Wampa, Tauntaun, and the talking Yoda puppet that was used for the vast majority of the scenes. At some point, Maley decided to set up shop down in the Caribbean, not a bad job if you can get it. The museum is a collection of props and movie history along with is supposed to be a pretty extensive gift shop. Maley is often there as well, talking to fans and signing autographs. I have a bit of an aversion to cruise ships, thinking of them as floating Petri dishes. But this sounds pretty cool.
So Just Who Gets To Be a Jedi Anyway?
Mae: The Jedi are bad.
Osha: The Jedi are good.
Mother Aniseya: This isn’t about good or bad. This is about power and who is allowed to use it.
For pretty much all of the recorded history of the Star Wars universe, the Jedi held a monopoly on the Force. There’s only one way to practice the Force and that’s the way that’s approved by the Jedi Council. Being a Sith is obviously a no-no. Being a Nightsister or one of the witches in the Brendok coven wasn’t as bad as being a Sith, but it still wasn’t good. You (the royal you) use the Force the way the Jedi want you to. And it’s not even just the Jedi proclaiming their way is the way. The Jedi’s Force monopoly is sanctioned and even encouraged by the Republic.
With Republic approval, the Jedi kidnap children away from their parents and indoctrinate the kids into their religion. Are the Jedi really the good guys?
All that to say, there’s been a lot of chatter the last week or so over just who gets to be a Jedi. It started with Henry Gilroy, a senior writer and executive producer on Rebels, said that they considered making Sabine Wren a Jedi but decided not to. Gilroy is not related to Andor creator and showrunner Tony Gilroy. In case you were wondering, I had assumed they were. As Gilroy stated on a recent Pod of Rebellion episode:
“It was absolutely not the plan… we really felt that not only did it step on Ezra’s story…it was a weak retread. We already did this.
The idea of Sabine training as a Jedi when she is already this fantastic warrior of her own type, we felt like, ‘This is overkill.’”
When Ahsoka first was released, and as the series was going on I was a little concerned they were going to make Sabine an out and out Jedi. Which to me (and a lot of other people) didn’t make a whole lot of sense. In all four seasons of Rebels, Sabine never shows any aptitude to use the Force. Nor at any point in the show do any of the Jedi that Sabine hangs out with, Kanan Jarrus, Ezra Bridger, and Ahsoka Tano, say “hey maybe we should try some Jedi training on Sabine.”
“I had nothing to do with the Ahsoka series, so I was shocked,” Gilroy continued. “What I love about the story with the Darksaber is that you don’t have to be a Jedi to have Jedi ideals… I think that’s what’s really the more important thing, rather than Force pushing Ezra a hundred feet when she’s never used the Force before.”
I’ve been thinking a lot about this, because clearly I don’t have enough to do during the day. The issue Star Wars always runs into is, how to explain who can use the Force and who can’t? The issue starts with A New Hope, or simply Star Wars as it was called at the time.
“The Force is what gives a Jedi his power. It’s an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together.”
For 22 years, that was more or less all the official explanation we got about the Force. Then The Phantom Menace came along and we got the midi-chorians1. Some might argue it reduced being able to use the Force down to just having a blood disease. I’m not here to re-litigate midi-chorians. If you’re someone who still hates the idea, I would suggest reading friend of Death Star HR Matthew Freeman’s piece on midi-chorians.
The Force as a religion and a scientific explanation are completely compatible. The Force is in all living things, not just people. As Yoda says in Empire Strikes Back:
“Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size, do you? Hmm? Hmm. And well you should not. For my ally is the Force, and a powerful ally it is. Life creates it, makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us and binds us. Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter. You must feel the Force around you; here, between you, me, the tree, the rock, everywhere, yes. Even between the land and the ship.”
And while the Force is in all living things, you need to have a lot of midi-chorians in your blood to be able to access the Force. This was the point that Matthew was making as well, and as always his take on it is far my eloquent than mine. But we saw this in both The Mandalorian and The Bad Batch. Beings whose blood was full of midi-chorians, the high m-count, were valuable for the Empire and it’s cloning projects.
[There is an argument to be made that a lot of the post-Sequel Trilogy plot points are just Disney’s attempts to justify Palpatine returning, but that’s a topic for another Death Star HR.]
And that leads us back to Sabine. The circle is now complete. How can Sabine, who has shown no aptitude for the Force previously, who was confirmed by Huyang as being the worst potential Jedi in the history of the Jedi, suddenly be able to use the Force to throw Ezra through in the air and onto Thrawn’s ship?
I’ve thought a lot about this since “Sabine isn’t a Jedi” is probably the most common criticism of Ahsoka. I think the best comparison most of us can relate is is playing sports. I’ve occasionally mentioned here that I’m a big fan of the Detroit sports teams and I played various sports growing up. Becoming a professional athlete takes an insane amount of dedication and practice. People really don’t understand how good even the last pitcher in the Tigers bullpen is compared to an average person. I’ve played hockey with people who played at a DIII college and in Junior B. Guys who will never get anywhere near the NHL and compared to me, they might as well have been part of the 1970’s Soviet teams. I could quit my job, spend the next year of my life at the batting cages and working with personal trainers; but given my lack of natural athleticism there is absolutely no way I could ever hit a fastball thrown by a DIII college pitcher, let along a major leaguer. Maybe I’d get lucky and make contact to foul a ball off, but would be a case of swinging blindly and making contact, not because I’ve trained myself to actually hit a pitch.
What’s my point here? It’s two-fold. First, it’s worth remembering that Sabine isn’t actually a Jedi in the show. She’s able to hold her own against Shin Hati and she uses the Force to save Ezra. But she’s not a Jedi. It actually confirms what both Huyang and Ahsoka herself say. Huyang confirms she’s not a Jedi. Ahsoka says (paraphrasing) that she doesn’t need Sabine to be a Jedi, she just needs Sabine to be the best version of herself. And the best version of herself is a Mandalorian warrior with at least a little bit of Jedi training. It’s not unreasonable for her to be able to use a lightsaber when she’s fighting Shin. Sabine had the Darksaber in Rebels. She obviously trained with a lightsaber with during her little bit of Jedi training. If Sabine had…I don’t know…raised an X-Wing out of the swamp or was able to pilot the Millennium Falcon through the guts of a Star Destroyer despite being trash panda from Jakku, then yeah, I might have some issues with Sabine as well.
In his interview, Henry Gilroy never says who exactly was pushing the “Sabine as a Jedi” storyline in Rebels, but you can probably guess who it was. And if you can’t guess, it was pretty clearly “Cowboy” Dave Filoni.
Just to be clear, I had these thoughts before I read Filoni’s thoughts. Not sure if it’s good or bad that Filoni and I on the same page.
I understand Gilroy’s comments and I understand the negative reaction about Sabine maybe being a Jedi. But I also think that reactions are overblown. Ashoka didn’t turn Sabine into the second coming of Yoda. Sabine was an already experienced Mandalorian who used the Force to save a friend. It’s not a stretch. Now, if season 2 of Ahsoka kicks off and Sabine is levitating the little turtle dudes and shooting Force Lighting (you know Sabine has a little Dark Side in her) then yeah, maybe I’ll think Cowboy Dave has gone too far.
Give Thanks for More Mando and Grogu
There’s a new trailer for The Mandalorian and Grogu. Currently it’s only in the theaters, screening ahead of Zootopia 2. I checked YouTube to see if there was a leaked version. But thanks to all the AI slop, it’s a slog to sift through real trailers and fan made trailers and fan made trailers trying to pass themselves off as real ones. Isn’t AI awesome? Just a reminder there’s no AI slop on the Official Death Star HR YouTube channel. I couldn’t find it on YouTube but something called the Science Fiction and Fantasy Gazette has it. The video is on Twitter2 so it can’t embedded. Click the link and watch it. I like that it was clearly filmed by someone’s phone, old school bootleg style.
Anyway, it doesn’t sound like there’s too much new footage:
While it’s not very different to the original trailer that released earlier this year, it does include some footage from Star Wars Celebration 2025, including Grogu using the Force to destroy a mouse droid. Plus, we get a better look at Star Wars Rebels character Zeb Orrelios walking side by side with Mando.
We also see Mando and Grogu piloting what looks like an AT-RT off the side of a snowy cliff – the same that Mando takes down the Imperial walker on – as well as the crowd cheering for Rotta the Hutt in the gladiator ring.
The small changes in the trailers has been Disney’s way of operating since I started doing Death Star HR. Add one or two little bits of new footage each time, just enough to keep people interested. I do expect after the new year we’ll get marketing blitz in the 6 to 8 weeks leading up to the release date. It’s the first new movie in 6.5 years. It’s not to say the future of Disney Star Wars is riding on it, but Disney would really like The Mandalorian and Grogu to be a hit, for both money and getting the mojo back reasons.
There was also a new international poster released.
The movie is scheduled for a May 22 release here in the US. So possibly Disney is tipping their hand it’s going to get moved up a day. Maybe a Latin America release will be the day before. Or there are going to be some sneak preview showings. Who can say. I like the poster though. The movie is called The Mandalorian and Grogu. The poster is Mando and Grogu. It just works.
Syril and Dedra - Deep in the Heart of Texas
I’ve mentioned before that Dedra Meero and Syril Karn are my favorite characters from Andor and possibly my favorite couple in Star Wars just because of how weird they were. And I’ve mentioned that Kyle Soller and Denise Gough are a lot of fun together and always seem to bring a chaotic energy.
And as luck would have it, both of them are going to be at Rebelscum Con next summer. No, RSC is not a Death Star HR sponsor, although that would be some great synergy. Rather it’s proof you can actually do something fun during August in Texas.
I’ve mentioned before I’m not really an autograph collector but given the people showing up at the next RSC, I’m going to have to make an exception. Can’t wait for next year.
Great Moments in Star Wars Merchandising
Can’t have a Black Friday without a Great Moments in Star Wars Merchandising entry. This was supposed to be in last week’s Death Star HR and I just ran out of time. Not opening boxes that show up on the front porch is a habit of mine. Usually if something shows up, I just assume that it’s something Emperor Palpatine’s #1 Fan has ordered. This not the first time this has played out here in Death Star HR. A couple years ago my cousin Julia and her husband Brian sent a random LEGO set as a token of their appreciation. I left the Amazon box on the coffee table for five days before I realized it was addressed to me. At least this time around it only sat for a few hours. Anyway, I opened the box and found this bad boy.
Long time real-life and Death Star HR friend Obi-Wan Kenippy thought I needed this. He’s not wrong. It’s a beaut, Clark. Post coming soon combing the R2-D2 French press and Jabba the Mugg.
This Day in Star Wars History
Five births and a death to mention on November 28th in the galaxy far, far away.
Comedian, writer, actor, and political commentator Jon Stewart was born in 1962. I was a regular watch of The Daily Show back in the day. The one-two punch of The Daily Show followed by The Colbert Report was must-see TV. In the Star Wars world, Stewart interviewed Uncle George at Celebration V3. As a token of his appreciation, George declared “Stewjon” as Obi-Wan Kenobi’s homeworld.
Actor James Mathis III was born in 1974. Mathis provided the voice of Captain Tycho in six episodes of The Clone Wars along with voicing Gripp Liskell in two episodes of Young Jedi Adventures. He also voiced Black Panther in numerous cartoons and video games.
Scottish actor Emun Elliott was born in 1983. Elliott played a Resistance officer in The Force Awakens. He also showed up in Game of Thrones and in the Ridley Scott movie Prometheus.
Hera Syndulla herself, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, was born in 1984. Winstead played the Twi’lek in seven of the eight episodes of Ahsoka, and will be back reprising her role in season 2. Winstead is married to Mr. Obi-Wan himself, Ewan McGregor. She also has a musical duo called Got a Girl with Dan the Automator.
Writer Daniel M Lavery was born in 1986. Lavery contributed “An Incident Report” to “A Certain Point of View,” detailing the Force choking incident from Admiral Motti’s perspective. Lavery was a long time columnist for Slate’s Dear Prudence advice column. Something that I’m a regularly reader of, mostly so I can confirm that I’m actually a well-adjusted person who doesn’t do things that would cause people people to write to an advice columnist.
Darth Vader himself, David Prowse passed away in 2020 from COVID-19 complications. Prowse was the body inside the Darth Vader costume for the Original Trilogy. He also did Vader’s dialog and has claimed he didn’t know Lucas was going to have James Earl Jones overdub the lines. Prowse had a contentious relationship with Lucas over the years, George allegedly banned him from official events. It’s unfortunate Prowse felt he was treated unfairly, but at the same time you can watch the footage of Prowse doing Vader’s lines and there’s no way Vader would be as icon a character without James Earl Jones.
From the Depths of Wookieepedia
As yesterday was Thanksgiving, and for my American readers, decent chance it meant you stuffed yourself, might as well go back to the my favorite well with Star Wars food. This week we’ve got the Kamari grasstick.
Kamtro grassticks were a type of foodstuff available at the Canto Casino Hotel in the city of Canto Bight on the planet Cantonica. The Wermal salesbeing Kedpin Shoklop noticed kamtro grassticks being served at midmeal in the Canto Casino Hotel during his stay there in 34 ABY.
No clue if these are are some kind of plant-based stick, like a Slim Jim made of grass. Or it’s more like chapulines, where you are eating a tick that lives grasses of Cantonica.
News From the HoloNet
Joel Edgerton and Felicity Jones Reveal the Weirdest Star Wars Items They’ve Signed
I once met “Fight Club” author Chuck Palahniuk at a book signing many years ago and asked him what the weirdest thing a fan asked to him to sign was. It was very much a NSFW answer, but also Palahniuk is a well-known bullshitter. So who knows.
It does feel like it’s going to be a long time before Disney opens the wallets for a streaming series.
Thomas Newman Is Scoring ‘Star Wars: Starfighter’
This is pretty exciting. Newman has done the score for a lot of big movies.
Disney Confirms the End for Longstanding ‘Star Wars’ Ride
Smuggler’s Run is getting a reboot, Mando style!
The idea of midi-chorians has been around for quite a while. But never made it into canon until TPM.
Not calling it X. You can’t make me.
Probably titled “The Celebration Strikes Back” but I don’t know that for sure.