The Death Star Human Resources Department Newsletter: January 10, 2025
New Year. Same Death Star HR nonsense.
Hello there
Happy New Year, everybody!
I hope everybody had a happy and and healthy winter holiday of their choosing and that any family time was less awkward than a Skywalker family reunion. Also, I hope on Fridays, everyone woke up, checked their email and felt an empty, Death Star Human Resources Department Newsletter shaped hole in their heart. But don’t worry, I’m back with another year of Star Wars hot takes, Darth Jar Jar theories, and insisting on calling the books Expanded Universe instead of Legends. So let’s get in. This week there’s getting caught up on Skeleton Crew, a review of Star Wars on Substack, and perhaps I have too many Legends Expanded Universe books.
This Is Where The Fun Begins
I’ve been meaning to mention this and it’s slipped my mind. The working title for Skeleton Crew was “Grammar Rodeo.” Why is that funny? In the first episode of Skeleton Crew, I said that the kids taking the assessment test and two kids wanting to be an “analyst” reminded me of an episode of The Simpsons, specifically the episode “Separate Vocations.” The showrunners, Christopher Ford and Jon Watts are around my age. Well, at least Watts is. I can’t find Ford’s age but he looks like he’s be the right age to have been hugely influenced by The Simpsons. What does that have to do with a grammar rodeo? This:
There was an alternative universe where instead of writing about Star Wars, I’m doing a re-watch of Classic Simpsons episodes. But unlike Milhouse trying to get the bass and treble right in the scene above, I made my choice and stuck with it.
Looking Forward to 2025
We’re now 10 days into 2025, early indications would suggest the dumpster fire, or Cybertruck fire, of the last 5 - 10 years is still burning strong with no signs of going out. Here at the Death Star Human Resources Department, my goal is to always be a fun distraction from fire-hose of garbage that is the modern internet. I’m also not one to change things up for the sake of change. So, 2025 is not going to bring about a radically different experience here at Death Star HR.
There’s two things you, the reader, have to look forward to this year. The first is I’m hoping to do some long form pieces that just take up too much time and room in the weekly newsletter. It appears there’s going to be less Star Wars to write about this year, as of right now there aren’t any movies coming out and the only TV show on the schedule is season two of Andor. The plan is I’ll have more time for some deep dives.
The second is I want to get other writers on Substack to come on and talk about their favorite Star Wars character. Only there’s a twist. You can’t pick Luke or Vader or Rey. It has to be a minor or obscure character. So if you’re a BoShek booster, Laan Tik lover, or Scourge supporter who wants to talk about the random character they love, hit me up.
The Substack Star Wars Society
I did this at some point last year, but since it’s a year new might as well do it again. There are certainly some issues I have with Substack, I’m not entirely sure it’s a sustainable business model and the eventual enshittification seems inevitable. But, that is neither here nor there. There are a lot of great things about Substack, and one of them is the Star Wars fans here are top notch. And I’m not just saying that because you’re reading Death Star HR.
All that to say, there are a lot of really talented Star Wars and Star Wars-adjacent writers on here. And if you like what I do, but wish for less Darth Jar Jar content (don’t know why you’d want less), you should check everyone out. Listed in alphabetical order, so I don’t get accused of playing favorites.
Ahch-To Baby - by Matthew Freeman
All the Fanfare - by Eric Pierce
Bros Krynn’s Newsletter - by The Brothers Krynn
Damage Per Second - by Jesse Bartell
Feats N’ Faults - by Shane Elliot
Hell Hoth No Fury - by Taverncat Jake
Narrative Impact - by Lesley Whitaker
Now This is Lit - by Meg Dowell
Questis - by Sam Page
Space Wizards Book Club - by Chelsea Zukowski
The Beauty of Star Wars Concept Art - by Matthias Hopf
The Dune Sea Scrolls - by John Reynolds
The Long Take - by Jen Sopochockchai Bankard
Are there any Star Wars writers on here that I’m missing? I think I got everybody. But let me know if there’s anyone I accidentally left out1.
Skeleton Crew Ep 7 - I Crossed the Galaxy for a Heart of Gold
I really didn’t like taking a break in the middle of a series, but I needed it. So, let’s get caught up with what happened in the two episodes I didn’t get to review.
Episode 5 - Jod does his heel turn and he was probably a Jedi.
Episode 6 - The kids learn that the real treasure is friendship. The pirates learn the real treasure is credits.
Which brings us to this week’s penultimate episode, “We’re Gonna Be In So Much Trouble.” A reasonable thought that a group of kids might have after finding a ship, busting through the barrier, and leading a group of greedy and bloodthirsty pirates to a hidden planet. Sorry, Wim. But you are so grounded. This episode had all the marks of a setup episode. We knew the kids were (most likely) going to get back to At Attin, it was only a matter of when. I actually thought they’d save the homecoming for the season (series?) finale but as always, Lucasfilm doesn’t ask me. Thankfully for the kids, the parents don’t seem to be too mad. Just relieved. They should of course be less relieved since somehow Captain Silvo managed to get himself on board the Onyx Cinder and finally make it to just one of the 1,139 vaults storing Republic credits on At Attin.
One thing I’m looking forward to next week, resolution. From everything I’ve read, Skeleton Crew is a self-contained season. Even if there is a season 2, it’s not going to be set up with an Ahsoka style cliffhanger. So how does everything get resolved? I’m going to throw out a few options, in order of what I think is least likely to most likely.
Jod goes full Order 66. After killing the kids and their parents, Jod loads up the Onyx Cinder with as many credits as he can and gets the hell out of there. The show doesn’t have any issue with putting the kids in mortal danger, but it’s not going to kill them.
Jod has a change of heart. After episode 5, I might have thought this was a little more likely. Now I’m not so sure. In episode 5, you could see Jod didn’t necessarily want to hurt Fern or the rest of the kids, but the chance to get his hands on Republic credits was too strong. Now? He’s gone full on Dark Side. Executing Brutus and threatening both kids and their families. If Skeleton Crew was a Dave Filoni project, I still might lean towards a redemption, but I’m not so sure here.
The Supervisor saves the day. We’ve heard about the mysterious Supervisor all series, but haven’t seen him yet. Maybe the Supervisor brings an army of security droids who can overwhelm Jod. There’s been too much talk about the Supervisor not to see some kind of payoff with the character.
X-Wings to the rescue! Remember back in Episode 3 when Kh'ymm told the kids she could always call them if they needed to? Kh'ymm clearly has a directly line to the New Republic. Maybe just maybe the kids managed to tip her off already, and she’s telling the New Republic to send a squad to At Attin. The problem is of course the barrier, but if a Republic emissary can get through, surely the galaxy’s smartest owl-cat can figure things out.
Wim’s mom returns to rescue them. I don’t know how this is going to happen and I have absolutely nothing to base this on. We don’t know what happened to Wim’s mom. But when she comes back and saves everyone from Jod and his lightsaber, I want you remember you read it here first. Maybe she’s actually the Supervisor. Maybe she was Tak Rennod’s concubine. I’m not exactly sure, but I am betting on her saving the day.
Excited Statement: KOTOR is Coming to Your Television
Long time Death Star HR readers know just how much I absolutely love the Knights of the Old Republic videogames. KOTOR I and II are top tier for both the videogames themselves and the stories in each of them. Even at 21 and 20 years old, both games still have really high replay value. I’ve played through each one several times, both light side and dark side, and I always find something new and interesting each time. I’d say the first was probably the better game, likely owing to how rushed II was to market. But the second was a more interesting story that examines the role of the Jedi and the role of the Force in the galaxy.
We’ve been teased for 3 years how that there was going to be a remake of KOTOR for the PS5, I played KOTOR I and II on the original Xbox to tell you how long it’s been. Unfortunately, we got an awesome looking teaser…
… and there’s been very little information since then. Latest news was about a year ago that just said, yup, we’re still working on it. But there’s no new news. It might be just as well, who’s got money for a PS5 when there are still Star Wars Expanded Universe paperbacks I need to buy. More on that below.
Even though we’ll probably get the KOTOR remake at the same time we get Half-Life 3, there is some new for fans of Revan, Bastila Shan, and HK-47. Rumors are there’s going to be a KOTOR, or at least a KOTOR-adjecent show. This isn’t exactly new, Kathleen Kennedy mentioned a KOTOR project back in 2019. But there hasn’t been anything since.
Now, it looks like a show set in The Old Republic period is happening after all. Reliable industry insider Daniel Richtman is now claiming that an Old Republic show is in development at Lucasfilm, presumably heading to Disney Plus.
This comes from Richtman's breakdown of what he's heard about Marvel, DC and Star Wars' upcoming projects. Towards the end of the Patreon post (paywalled), he writes: "Lucasfilms developing a show set during Knight of the Old Republic era."
The words “show set DURING…” are doing the heavy lifting there and would suggest we’d get a show that takes place around the time of the KOTOR games, 3956 BBY, but doesn’t follow the plot of the games. Obviously there’s would be riots if you had a KOTOR series without Revan, but again would just during the plot of the games into a TV show really be that interesting? I mean, I’d watch it. But I’m a Sicko.
One suggestion would be use the TV series as a prequel to the video games.
If a KOTOR TV show comes to fruition, it should focus on Revan and his fellow Jedi defending the Republic from the Mandalorian Neo-Crusaders. This conflict was a crucial part of KOTOR's backstory but never fully fleshed out in the tie-in books and comics, making it a perfect place to begin a new story. It would allow a KOTOR show to connect to the games while expanding the story, rather than adapting it.
Not the worst idea, I like it. There is of course no confirmation that the KOTOR series is a real thing, but from everything I’ve read this Daniel Richtman has a pretty good track record of being correct. And even if this series does get announced, well, just because something gets announced certainly doesn’t mean it’s actually going to happened. Still, we’re only about 4 months away from Star Wars Celebration 2025. This would make one hell of an announcement.
Baylan Skoll Version 2.0
We’re all in agreement that Baylan Skoll was the best part of Ahsoka, right? In a show that featured a lot of fan favorites, Ezra, Ahsoka, Sabine, Thrawn, Hera, and Chopper, Baylan stole the show. Ray Stevenson played him with a perfect mix of weariness and menace. We only got hints of Baylan’s story. He was a Jedi who survived Order 66. He knew Anakin from back in the day, and eventually somehow figured out that Anakin became Darth Vader. Sadly, Ray Stevenson passed away in 2023.
I was worried that Lucasfilm was going to try to use a CGI Stevenson. Baylan is too big a part of the story. CGI’ing a deceased actor might work if they’re just making a cameo, but it’s going to be too unnatural for a whole series. The only real option was to recast the part.
It’s being reported that Rory McCann, best known for playing The Hound on Game of Thrones will be taking over the role and picking up the search for the Mortis Gods in season 2. I’ll instantly lose internet nerd cred, but I’ve never actually seen Game of Thrones so I have no idea if this is a good idea or not.
The Death Star Human Resources Department Book Club: New Jedi Order #11
I am on a sprint to get the New Jedi Order books done. The goal is to finish with The Unifying Force, book #19, by the end of February. But like dealing with a Yuuzhan Vong invasion, it’s easier said than done.
Title: Enemy Lines I: Rebel Dream
Series: New Jedi Order. Book #11
Author: Aaron Allston
Date published: March 26, 2002
Pages: 304
Status: Legends
Summary in less than 20 words: Jaina Solo still needs therapy but the New Republic gets serious about the Yuuzhan Vong. The Dark Side lurks.
If I’ve had one complaint about the New Republic after 10 books, it’s that they really can’t get their shit together to deal with the Yuuzhan Vong. On the one hand, it’s actually fairly refreshing. And in retrospect throughout most of the Legends books, the New Republic has always been portrayed as dysfunctional. Maybe then Senator Palpatine was right when he talked about the Republic. “The Republic is not what it once was. The Senate is full of greedy, squabbling delegates. There is no interest in the common good.” I’m not one of those “Palpatine Was Right” people, I prefer the messy chaos of democracy over a fascist empire. But I’m also not saying ol’ Palpy was necessarily wrong. Also, the citizens of the galaxy had just been through Palpatine’s reign followed by a civil war. It would have been nice to give them at least a few years of a functioning government.
As I wrote back in October when I compared running Lucasfilm to being president of my 30 person homebrew club, it was tough enough to wrangle 30 people once a month to get together and drink beer with friends. That’s something fun! It’s not like I was trying to get the Mon Calamari and the Quarren agree on something. So in that way, the New Republic government has probably been portrayed pretty realistically, at least by the standards of a series where you have space wizards with laser swords.
For the first nine books, right up until New Republic Chief of State Borsk Fey'lya went out in blaze of glory, the New Republic hasn’t figured out how to deal with the Yuuzhan Vong. Some wanted to fight, some wanted to attempt to negotiate, some wanted to surrender. Some wanted to surrender AND sacrifice the Jedi. Of course the Yuuzhan Vong are not a democracy. While each subsequent book has done a good job peeling back the layers of Yuuzhan Vong hierarchy and how the different castes fight among themselves, they were all unified in their common goal of galactic domination and hatred of machines. All the New Republic Senators could do was fight among themselves when the should be fighting the Yuuzhan Vong.
But, once the Yuuzhan Vong invaded and occupied Coruscant, the New Republic more or less ceased to exist, at least as a functioning government. The Jedi and the generals are in charge now, and they’ve realized what the politicians refuse to. You gotta have a plan. The New Republic finally has at least concepts of a plan. And it involves psychological warfare. You see, Jaina Solo has been messing with the Vong. In the last book, she renamed her stolen Vong ship the Trickster just to make them think she might be an avatar of Yun-Harla, the Yuuzhan Vong Goddess of Deception. The remaining New Republic decides to take this to the next level and treat Jania like she actually is a goddess. Along with dreaming up a fake superweapon to trick the Vong spies, what’s left of the New Republic military is finally getting serious about fighting back. See what happens when you get rid of those spineless politicians?
I’ll give the book credit as well, a lot of the duologies skimp on the ending for the first book. Rebel Dream has a solid ending. The New Republic has been holed up on Borleias, in what could be the last stand with the Vong out there trying to destroy them. Instead Wedge Antilles and the rest of them lead the Vong into a trap. It’s a satisfying ending, take that you Yuuzhan Vong jerks.
The Good:
I liked the continuation of Jaina’s storyline. She’s a good character who hasn’t gotten the time that Jacen or Anakin has so far. Ever wonder what it would be like if Han, Luke, and Leia were combined into one character? that’s Jaina. Plus, I always enjoy a Jedi flirting with the Dark Side.
The Bad:
The book sells that Luke, Mara, and company are going to be on a secret mission to Coruscant. When that really doesn’t happen until the very end, and the mission starts in the next book. Must be the work of Yun-Harla the Trickster.
Wild Card:
Jaina gets to the third and final Solo kid to have a romantic interest. Anakin had this flirtations with Tahiri, the Jedi who hates shoes. Jacen exchanged some longing glances with Danni Quee, until he decided he’d rather be an emo kid. Jaina not only gets a love interest, she gets a love triangle with Kyp Durran the war criminal and Jag Fel, the human who was somehow raised by the Chiss. About time that Jaina gets something interesting.
It’s Such a Fine Line Between Hobby and Addiction
So one of my goals over the holiday break was to get my bookcase sorted out. I took four bags of books to my local Half Price Books. They gave me $25.25 for the whole lot. Highway robbery, I know. But, I really don’t complain since they’ll take all the books, not just pick out the ones they want, and while maybe I could sell them on ebay for more money, taking them all to HPB saves me time. It kills me to get rid of books, I hate doing it. But, I figure books are meant to be shared and if I’m not reading it, I should give someone the chance. At least that’s what I tell myself as I dropped four bags of friends off.
It did give me a chance to sort through my collection of Legends Expanded Universe paperbacks. Don’t judge, OK?
I’ve read more of them than I thought I had. But not as many as I would like. There are also a few Expanded Universe books like Death Star that I’ve read and I thought I had, but turns out I don’t. Looks like more trips to Half Price Books are in order.
This Day in Star Wars History
We’ve got a the end of a TV show, some awards, a book, a milestone, and a couple deaths. All happening on January 10th in the Star Wars universe.
The series finale for Ewoks, “Battle for the Sunstar,” aired on ABC in 1987. Per Wookipeedia, the episode originally aired December 6, 1986. I’m not sure why it was worth mentioning that ABC aired a rerun. But wiser men than me have tried to figure out Wookieepedia and have failed. The episode is worth noting it is the first mention of term “buckethead” which would eventually be slang for a Stormtrooper. And not referring to the guitarist who wears a KFC bucket on his head while performing.
In 2006, Revenge of the Sith was nominated for two People’s Choice Awards. Who are these people that choose the awards anyway? I’ve certainly never been asked.
One of the all time great Legends novels, Darth Plagueis by James Luceno, was published in 2012. The book was originally slated for for a 2008 released, cancelled, and then just like Darth Maul and Asajj Ventress, was brought back from the dead four years later. I hadn’t realized that Matthew Stover wrote a short story tie-in which was published in a Star Wars Insider. I think Stover is one of the best Legends authors, I wish he’d write more.
Oliver Maguire passed away in 2012. He was the Imperial Officer in Empire Strikes Back who says “Sir, Rebel ships are coming into our sector.”
In what will likely be one of the most meta entries for this section, in 2013, Wookieepedia hit 100,000 articles.
Patrick Jordan passed away in 2020. Like Maguire, he played an Imperial Officer. This time one of the officers on the Death Star. The guy who tells Tarkin that the scout ships have reached Dantooine? He was friends with Alec Guiness, which was how Jordan ended up in the movie.
From the Depths of Wookieepedia
I know it’s beating a dead Bantha, but something that always amazes me about Wookieepedia is that there’s seemingly nothing too small in the Star Wars universe to get it’s own page. This week we’ve got Tiqcs.
They’re just ticks, like you could get from walking in tall grass, but since it’s Star Wars, it has to be spelled differently. I wonder if lurca hounds ever get the fleez.
News From the HoloNet
The Star Wars Holiday Special Is Just as Bad as People Say -- But It’s Still Worth Watching
All these words are correct.
All I Want For Christmas Is For Star Wars To Fix These 10 Major Mistakes
Instead, just got coal.
‘Andor’ Production Reportedly Cost Disney $645M+ For Two Seasons, More Than ‘Rise Of Skywalker’
Money will spent.
Star Wars actor Angus MacInnes dies aged 77
Gold Leader is now one with the Force.
Billie Lourd honors mom Carrie Fisher on 8th anniversary of her passing
Still miss you, Carrie.
Bringing the Towering “Tet’niss” from Star Wars: Skeleton Crew to Life
“Tet’niss,” that’s a good one.
Penn State Star Abdul Carter Channels Inner Supervillain in Star Wars Themed Injury Post
It’s not often my loves of Big 10 football and Star Wars get to cross paths, but here we are.
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.
There are tons and tons of really talented writers here on Substack and if I left you out, it’s not because I don’t like what you write. Promise.
Great start to a new year👍🏻 Eight years since Carrie passed? Time does fly, If the hound is gonna play Baylan, good choice I think to pick up the lightsaber for Ray Stevenson, right build, stoic face.
I think I have all those books, some in hardback.