The Death Star Human Resources Department Newsletter: March 21, 2025
I'm judging a New Jedi Order book by its cover
Hello there
It’s Friday and here in the real world, it’s March Madness. But in the galaxy far, far away we’re closing in on Andor Madness. It’s a fun newsletter this week. Andor showrunner Tony Gilroy sat down with a few of it’s stars to talk season one and tease what might be coming in season 2. An idea for a Darth Vader series, aka my other white whale along with a KOTOR series, popped up and I give my thoughts. And I’m getting closer to finishing the New Jedi Order series, so that means yet another entry in the Death Star HR Book Club.
As always, I appreciate you reading the Death Star Human Resources Department Newsletter. If you’re not a subscriber, I’d love it if you went ahead and smashed that subscribe button below.
This Is Where The Fun Begins
I’ve been spending a lot of time over the last year or so reading the New Jedi Order books and reading about the New Jedi Order books. Believe it or not, and I would understand if you choose not to believe this, I really don’t spend a lot of time in the various Star Wars interwebz. Like I watch the trailers on YouTube, but I don’t really watch the breakdown videos. I occasionally look at Reddit or Facebook or the rotting corpse of Twitter for memes, but I don’t engage there or anything. There is, unfortunately, just too much toxicity. I’ve written about it before during all the discourse for The Acolyte. Could I have more readers if I chose to engage more on Reddit or started a Death Star HR YouTube channel? There was a point in my life where I’d probably do it and mix it up in the comments with people who hate The Last Jedi and describe things as WOKE simply because they don’t like them. But that’s a young man’s game. Now that I’m on the backside of 40 and creeping towards 50, I just want to avoid stress and not have my back hurt, so I stay out of the comments. Anyway, the YouTube algorithm served this up.
A television commercial that ran on cable TV for a book. According to Wookieepedia, the commercial ran for several weeks on FX during reruns of The X-Files and Millennium (two fantastic shows) and on the Sci-Fi Channel. It also kinda blows my mind that there was a TV commercial for a book. These days, the only time you see books on TV are when politicians and whackadoos with too much time on their hands are trying to ban them. At least they’re not burning them. Yet.
Andor Madness Has Arrived
I mentioned last week there was a YouTube deal with Tony Gilroy that I wanted to cover, but didn’t have time. So here it is.
I wouldn’t call it an extremely in-depth interview. But it shows you just how seriously Disney is taking the Andor release, pulling out all the stops and doing a full court media press. We didn’t even get this for Ahsoka which Disney clearly wanted to be a hit. This was a bit of a puff piece, but it was still fun. Tony Gilroy answered a few questions, talked about a few scenes, and we had three very special guests. Adria Arjona, who played Bix. Genevieve O'Reilly who played Mon Mothma. And Duncan Pow who plays Ruescott Melshi, a prisoner on Narkina 5 who’s character originated in Rogue One. Plus a very special guest.
Disney didn’t have the promotional budget to have everyone in the same room though. Interviewing Arjona felt like the early days of COVID with the setting and the lighting. She did the classic wall of books as her background. It wasn’t an HD camera and the lighting was off. Her audio was cutting in and out a few times and you had people talking over each other. Feels like yesterday that the words “zoom happy hour” entered the lexicon. It was fun to hear Arjona talk about how she had to get her Star Wars fandom out of her system so she could take her character seriously. And she has a Bix tattoo on her arm, which she tried to show us but again, it wasn’t a HD camera so you couldn’t tell what it was.
During the segment with O’Reilly, we got official but not official confirmation that what I called the potential orgy scene from the trailer that reminded me the the second Matrix movie is actually Mothma marrying off her trad-wife daughter to Davo Sculdun’s son.
Toward the end, O’Reilly teared up a little bit talking about playing Mon Mothma over the years. She first played Mothma in Revenge of the Sith, although her scenes were cut for time. 10 years later she got to reprise the role for Rogue One, along with voicing her in Rebels and playing her again in Andor. That’s a lot of time to stay with one character. And since I mentioned it above, O’Reilly was also in both of the Matrix sequels. Something I did not know until I was browsing her IMDB page.
Duncan Pow. He and Gilroy had a nice chat reminiscing about shooting the Narkina 5 scenes. It was summer and you had dozens of guys crammed into a tunnel in their bare feet. To quote Han, “What an incredible smell you've discovered!”
I did enjoy the question that Gilroy himself was asked about releasing three episodes a week for 4 weeks. Or as he put it, a movie a week. His response was something like “I feel bad for the podcasters.” Yeah, Tony. Little rude of you not to consider us hardworking folks. Not only to I have to watch your sort-of movie, I then have to turn around and write about it. And do that for 4 weeks. Rough life.
Season 2 of Andor kicks off April 22nd. And yes, there will be a review each week. Gilroy, you aren’t going to beat me.
Oh yeah, the “surprise guest.”
Surprise! It’s Cassian himself!
The Pipe Dream of a Darth Vader Movie
Sometime last year I threw together a list of tv shows or movies I wanted to see Lucasfilm make. Some serious, some not. All of them had potential though. But the one one show or movie I have never understood why Disney won’t make is a Darth Vader one. I have my theories, as I opined in a different Death Star HR wondering why there wasn’t a Vader show.
I have two theories, which more or less have stayed the same since I wrote it over a year ago. The first one is that Disney has their Vader comics and thinks that’s a fine way to tell the story. Maybe but the comics are for the real Sickos and there’s no way Disney would want to leave the story to their most iconic character to just the comic books. My second theory, below, I think is the correct one. Or at least more correct than the first.
Disney does not think they can tell the story in a way that will satisfy everyone. Look, coming up with something that keeps both the Normies and the Sickos happy is a tall order. I’m not someone who thinks everything Disney has done since buying Star Wars is bantha poodoo. Far from it. Rogue One, Andor, and the first two seasons of The Mandalorian are top tier Star Wars. But, it’s one thing to not stick with the landing with the Sequel Trilogy or with Boba Fett’s story. It’s a whole other thing to give people six to eight episodes of Darth Vader and have it be a dud.
I wrote that in January 2024 and I still think it holds true today. If anything, I think it’s even more true. Or maybe to bastardize an old word from the Colbert Report which is apt for the times we’re in, it’s even truthier. We’ve seen the pivot away from TV shows back to movies. We suffered through The Acolyte getting dragged through the culture wars and Skeleton Crew get good reviews but not great streaming numbers. Quite simply, I think Disney would look at the risk/reward on a Darth Vader show and decide the reward isn’t worth the risk. You screw up a Darth Vader show, that’s about as close as you can come to tanking the Star Wars brand.
But there’s one guy who thinks he can make it work. Osgood Perkins, who is a real person and not someone misremembering The Penguin’s name, has said said he’d love to do a Darth Vader movie.
On February 27, Osgood Perkins did an AMA on Reddit. When asked what film he would make if he had the budget, he answered, "the collected dreams and nightmares of Darth Vader told as short stories.” Who knows how serious Perkins is, but if given the money to do it, he could make a terrifying Darth Vader horror film.
Perkins is apparently a horror movie director, probably why I had never heard of him. I don’t have anything against horror movies but it’s not my preferred genre. There’s very little in the way of horror in the Star Wars universe. Off the top of my head, there’s the Legends Expanded Universe books “Red Harvest” and “Death Troopers,” both by Joe Schreiber. I learned this today, there was a series of Young Adult books called Star Wars: Galaxy of Fear and the cover for the first book titled “Eaten Alive” is in fact nightmare fuel.
There are horror-ish elements in some of the cartoon, especially things involving the Night Sisters. But Star Wars just always feels most comfortable in the sci-fi/fantasy/western genres. Maybe horror movies were just never something Uncle George was into so he never wanted to add it to his space opera.
But honestly, the more I think about it, the more Vader as horror would work. Darth Vader is a Frankenstein’s Monster. Cobbled together from parts and basically brought back to life by Emperor Palpatine. General Grievous was his first, much cruder attempt at creating life. Pretty good chance Vader has a lot of nightmares. Growing up a slave on Tatooie. First being ripped away from his mother to become a warrior-monk, then finding her dying and slaughtering the Sand People. His best friend and father figure chopping his legs off. His wife dying in child-birth and then being told that he’s the one who killed her. Seems pretty safe to assume that Anakin has PTSD from the Clone Wars. Oh, and seeing his mentee and friend get framed for a crime she didn’t commit and walk away from the Jedi Order. Seems likely he’s got some abandonment issues to go along with the PTSD. So yeah, Vader’s nightmares would make a pretty great series. Heck, do it as an animated series like Tales of the Jedi.
Or, go with my idea for a Vader series. Either one is cool.
Wait…I’ve got the plot of the series. While the episodes focus on Vader learning to really be a Sith and hunting down remaining Jedi, in the opening episode he hears rumors of a Togruta with Force powers, and sets off to find out if his old Padawan, Ahsoka Tano, is still alive. And if she is, to once again have her be his apprentice, but this time she’s his apprentice in the ways of the Sith.
The Death Star Human Resources Department Book Club: New Jedi Order #15
Remember that goal of finishing up the New Jedi Order books by February? Well, it’s March, so it didn’t happen. But hey, we’re still on the right track.
Title: Force Heretic I: Remnant
Series: New Jedi Order. Book #15
Author: Sean Williams and Shane Dix
Date published: February 4, 2003
Pages: 413
Status: Legends
Summary in 20 words or less: We’ve reached the beginning of the end. The final missions are being telegraphed. And there’s accidental genocide by a Jedi.
It’s honestly a little hard to believe I’m closing in on the end of the New Jedi Order series. It’s certainly taken me longer than I would have liked. But, we’re almost there.
The book opens with Saba Sabatyne, a Barabel Jedi, getting in a dogfight with some Yuuzhan Vong attacking her home planet. Saba manages to fight off the Vong ships, but she blows in a hole in one of the bigger capital ships, she sees that it was packed to the gills with kidnapped Barabels, who have been ejected into the vacuum of space. Oops. I’ve mentioned ts a few times, but the New Jedi Order books do a better job of making you feel like you’re in a war, with people dying, than a lot of the Legends books do.
The main plot of the book, and probably the next two, is the search for Zonama Sekot1, a sentient planet that can move on its own, instead of being in an orbit. Luke, along with Mara, Jacen, Tekli, and Danni Quee along with Saba think the planet can help. Unfortunately, they have to go through Imperial space to get to where they need to go. Old friend Grand Admiral Pellaeon makes a return. Unfortunately for the Imperials, when Luke and company arrive, they’re being attacked by the Vong. The Jedi save the day and the Galactic Alliance aka the New New Republic and the rest of the Imperials agree to lure the Vong into a battle. Jacen Solo gives a rousing speech to convince a Moff to the plans. And during the battle, Danni and Saba use a Katana Fleet Dreadnaught as bait for a Vong slaveship, and Saba is able to redeem herself by saving everyone on board. Between Pellaeon and the Katana Fleet, we’re really leaning into the Timothy Zahn contributions to Star Wars.
Meanwhile, Han, Leia, Jaina, Jagged Fel and Tahiri Veila decide to go gallivanting around the galaxy to see what’s happening on planets where communication has been cut off and convince said planets that joining the Galactic Alliance is a good idea. Their first stop is Galantos. Now, if you recall from several books ago, and I understand if you don’t, Tahiri was captured by the Vong and one of their Shapers essentially tried mutate Tahiri into a Yuuhzan Vong. Also she really liked Anakin and now he’s dead. Also also, she likes to walk around without shoes. Yes, Tahiri Veila has not been having a great time and unfortunately, it’s been getting worse. She’s hearing voices and blacking out but she hasn’t been telling anyone. Not great. The book doesn’t explicitly say it, but it sure seems like her Vong personality is trying to come through. And to make matters worse, Jaina is being a mean girl to her, freezing her out.
The Vong eventually show up and attack Galantos, because that’s what they do. But Han, Leia, and company are able to beat back the attack with the help of a mysterious stranger, who turns out to be a Ryn (old friend alert) who tells them they next planet they need to visit is Bakura2 (even older friend alert). Meanwhile, Luke, Mara and company head into the Unknown Regions to see if the Chiss (yet another old friend alert) will help them find Zonama Sekot. Which surely they’ll find in the next book, right???
The Good:
It’s a step backwards from the last two books, especially “Traitor” which was top-tier, but it was still an enjoyable read. It’s pretty clear they’re setting up the final plotline. I liked the return of the Imperials and Grand Admiral Pellaeon, it’s been a while since we’ve seen them. And it’s hinted that the Ryn have returned, which hopefully means Droma comes back. I think we’re going to see some characters from the earlier books come back.
The Bad:
It’s clearly a setup book. That’s not to say nothing happens, but the purpose of this book is to get to the next book. Not to really resolve anything. And I should know better by now. The description on the back of the book says this is where Luke and company go looking for Zonama Sekot. And while that technically happens, it really doesn’t. Shame on me for not knowing better.
Wild Card:
For the life of me I cannot figure out who the characters on the cover are supposed to be. You’ve got a man holding both a blaster and a green lightsaber, and a woman with red hair holding a blaster.
Who are you people??? The obvious guess is the woman is supposed to be Mara Jade. Mara is canonically a ginger, but it makes no sense for her to be holding a blaster and not a lightsaber. If that is Mara, it would make sense the guy is Luke. But in no world is that a passable version of Luke Skywalker. Maybe the guy is supposed to be Jacen Solo? But again, that doesn’t look like any previous version of Jacen we’ve seen, even if Jacen does have a new, post-being-captured-by-the-Vong look and again, Jacen wouldn’t be using a blaster. If it is Jacen, maybe the woman is Danni Quee, a quasi-Jedi and Jacen’s quasi-love interest. But she is always described as having blond hair, as is Tahiri Veila. Plus Tahiri is a Jedi and wouldn’t be using a blaster. Then I thought maybe it’s Jagged Fel and Jaina Solo, but they are both pilots, Jaina is not a redhead, and Jag would not be using a lightsaber as he is not a Jedi. The Japanese-language cover of the book shows Mara holding a blaster instead of a lightsaber so I guess anything is possible. But that still doesn’t explain the guy. So, in conclusion, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.
Also I love this cover, the Yuuzhan Vong in the background is fantastic.
Only four more books to go. Next up is Force Heretic II: Refugee.
This Day in Star Wars History
Lots of comics released on March 21st but not a whole lot else in the Star Wars universe.
Oscar-winning actor Gary Oldman was born in 1958. While Oldman has not appeared in a Star Wars project, he was slated to voice General Grievous in Revenge of the Sith. He recorded some lines but ultimately had to quit due to being a union member and I guess Revenge of the Sith was a
scabnon-union production. Oldman currently stars in Slow Horses on AppleTV+, a show that if you’re not watching you need to stop what you’re doing and go binge it.Voice actor Greg Ellis was born in 1968. In Knights of the Old Republic II, Ellis voiced “the Disciple.” A Jedi who you could convince to join your party. He also did the voice of Weequay pirate Turk Falso in The Clone Wars and TIE Fighter pilot Valen Rudor in Rebels.
Voice actress Rachael MacFarlane was born in 1976. She voiced Lin Gaava, a mechanic turned First Order TIE Fighter pilot in Resistance. She’s also the brother of the Family Guy guy, Seth MacFarlane.
Reflections was released in 2018. A very short film, like a minute long, it was made ray tracing techniques for the Unreal 4 engine. And for being a minute long, it’s pretty good.
From the Depths of Wookieepedia
Even though it’s from Wookieepedia, this week we’ve got an entry from the real world instead of the galaxy far, far away. Yup, this week the randomizer has turned up Aaron Reeder. At 11 years old, Reeder received an honorable mention in the Star Wars Galaxy Magazine “Design An Alien” contest from 1995. A pretty cool idea as a way for the fans to contribute plus an easy way for Lucasfilm to get some ideas. It was stated that all the ideas submitted at the time were considered canon.
Reeder’s contribution was the Wikyochee, a name he came up with by mashing together Wicket, Yoda, and Chewbacca. The design had people asking questions.
Aaron Reeder would probably be around 40 now. Aaron, if you’re reading this, email me. Let’s talk Wikyochee.
Also, I think there’s the potential for a fun fan film here. A grown up Reeder, or character based on him, goes to Star Wars Celebration and tries to talk his way backstage, so to speak, by dropping the honorable mention in the Design An Alien contest.
“Are you sure my name isn’t on the list? Kathleen and Dave are expecting me. We’re going to talk about a Wikyochee streaming series. Yes, the Wik-yo-chee. You’ve never heard of it? Really, I can’t believe you haven’t heard of the Wikyochee. I mean it was an honorable mention in the Design An Alien contest. What do you mean honorable mention isn’t a big deal? Does Ralph McQuarrie have an honorable mention from the Design An Alien contest? Ok ok, I’m leaving. You don’t need to call security.”
News From the HoloNet
Despite A New Star Wars: KOTOR Update, I Still Don’t Trust The KOTOR Remake To Ever Release
I know rebellions are built on hope. But I have none left for the KOTOR remake.
If anyone wanted to show their appreciation…
Star Wars: Hunters will go offline in October
Someone in the comments was disappointed by this because he plays the game on the toilet.
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.
Zonama Sekot first appeared in the novel “Rogue Planet” by Greg Bear. A prequel era novel that was published in 2000. I don’t know if the idea came from Bear’s book or it was created in the outline for the NJO series and Bear helped himself to the idea for his book.
“The Truce at Bakura” is one of the older Legends books, I think it was the first post-Thrawn Trilogy book published and features the Ssi-ruu, a race of space dinosaurs who were kinda racist.
The Galaxy of Fear books fill me with so much nostalgia! Those were my go-tos from the Scholastic catalogue back in elementary school. Definitely feels like a touch of Skeleton Crew owes that series a favor.