Year of Epic Fantasy Reading: Day -2

Rhapsody of Fire: The Emerald Sword & The Dark Secret Saga are two series of symphonic power metal albums. They tell a pretty standard good vs evil storyline in this fantasy world called "The Enchanted Lands".

I've been listening to these albums in my car for pretty much the past year, whenever I go to work or anywhere I'm usually listening to one of them.

The band who made these series (Rhapsody of Fire) is from Italy, and their songs are multi-lingual (Latin, English, and Italian). Some of the songs deal with the story line of the album, and others are more about world building (Some of my favorites are just basically about the characters visiting a new land and expressing appreciation for all the beauty in it.)

I think these albums are the kind of thing you can enjoy and even get some meaning from even if you don't understand all of the lyrics, but I ended up reading along as I listened to it and it made the story lines a lot more clear.

I'm going to be discussing the storyline more than the songs, because honestly I thought all the songs were good. I love the guitar riffs, and the vocals and everything.  If you asked me to name my favorite I could probably narrow it down to, like, five but really they were all fantastic.

Both series are really good, as long as you like symphonic metal, but I favor The Dark Secret Saga because I thought it was a little bit easier to follow along with what was happening, and also I really liked the main character.

The second series also has Christopher Lee as the narrator in between tracks, which doesn't hurt the production value at all, it also has some pretty decent voice actors do the speaking lines as well.


WARNING: This post is gonna contain *extensive spoilers* for both of the series.

The Emerald Sword Saga

(I just love how 8-Bit this cover looks!) 

The first series has fantastic music, but the narration isn't that great. A lot of the characters in the first series start with the letter "A" and their names sound a lot alike. While I was listening/reading along for the first time I actually got really confused and thought the bad guy was one of the good guys until he started torturing other characters in horrible horrible ways.

The story involves this an evil army and a prophecy about a warrior who will weld this mighty Emerald Sword against the big bad guy. I thought it was weird that the warrior is simply called "The Warrior of Ice" because so many other random characters are given names, but guy who's supposed to be the main character is not.

Anyway, finding the Emerald Sword doesn't actually take very long and the biggest part of his conflict, to me, hardly involves the sword at all. The bad guy, who's name starts with the letter "A" but I can't remember what it is, captures some of the Warrior's friends and demands the sword in exchange. Ultimately they go along with it, which was totally a stupid idea because guess what? NOW THEY'RE ALL CAPTURED!

So as they're about to be tortured again, the Ice Warrior meets the Big Bad's second in command: Dargor The Shadowlord. It turns out, Dargor is actually a pretty decent guy. I mean, he is half-demon and he's liege-lord over a place called "The Black Mountain" (which sounds kinda sinister in itself), but actually he has a lot of the same values as The Warrior of Ice, and a lot of the things the Big Bad is doing he really doesn't agree with.

The Warrior of Ice sees that this guy is trying to be the voice of reason: they're all tied up about to get tortured Dargor's all like "Is this really necessary?", and when he's overruled he actually leaves the room because he thinks it's wrong and he doesn't want to be a part of it.

With the sacrifice of one of his team mates, though, The Warrior of Ice is able to escape to fight another day, but he's lost the Emerald Sword. So the next time they meet in battle, the enemy is waaayy overpowered.

Now Dargor is the one who's actually leading most of The Big Bad's army this time, fortunately. And since he's a reasonable guy he's like "Aright, I think I know a way we can do this so the least amount of people get killed. The Ice Warrior and I are gonna fight a duel."

So that's what they do, and strangely The Warrior of Ice wins! But he realizes that Dargor's actually a pretty decent guy, and not someone he wants to kill (especially now that the war is tentatively over, we'd much rather work with Dargor than the Big Bad) so he reaches out a hand to help him.

Now Dargor kinda been brainwashed and misinformed about the kind of people his enemies are, doesn't recognize it as a show of mercy, he thinks the ice warrior is toying with him so hits him really bad.

The big bad is all, "Whoops! He's down, looks like we won!" And starts torturing the injured Ice Warrior right in front of Dargor and this time Dargor doesn't leave because he's just now starting to recognize that The Warrior of Ice is a man of honor, just like him. And his whole worldview is shattered to bits. We get this really cool song while the Ice Warrior's being tortured, he's not really concerned with himself anymore: he's reaching out to Dargor. Just like the last time he encountered Big Bad, his friend knew he was going to die so he sacrificed himself in such a way as to let the Ice Warrior escape, now the Ice Warrior is spending his final moments pleading with his honorable enemy to see the truth...to kinda "save him" from the evil that he's doing.

And suddenly it clicks for Dargor that the Big Bad is a lying low-life POS and he turns on him. Together, The Warrior of Ice and Dargor have this really epic fight scene together and the Ice Warrior kills the Big Bad. Dargor and his people fight the other evil creatures of the night.

Victory is won, peace is established, and the lands that have undergone such destruction begin to be rebuilt.

The Dark Secret Saga

The second series takes place a while later, and it involves this really motivated intellectual guy named Iras, and our favorite "Shadowlord of the Black Mountian": our friend Dargor.

This time they're not waiting for the forces of evil to amass a lot of power until they become a big threat, they're proactively looking for ways to undermine the forces of evil.

It involves finding two books: First they have to find "The Black Book" Vol. 7, all the others in the series have been apprehended but this one has an incantation that can bring this really powerful demon king back into their realm, so it's pretty important they find it. The put together this crack team of adventurers to track it own. The adventure is fairly involved, and once it's done, you realize it's only half the story.

They've negated this evil influence, but now they have to find a way to fight evil on it's home turf.

So some time later the gang gets back together and decides to look for 'The White Book of the Holy Angels'. This book was supposedly written by an Angel named Erain during this great big primordial war between heaven and hell. I can't quite remember, but I think the angel Erain used his life blood to write the book and he, like, infused his soul into it. Very cool!

This time there's a bit of a twist though, because they have a turncoat in their midst. (I won't tell you who it is.) They go into the chamber where the book is and there is a statue of a dragon standing over it in a protective stance. And they're all "Huh, that's weird!" And they look closer and the statue's eyes have been plucked out.

Pretty freaky!

Then just as they're bout to grab it, the turncoat tries to snatch the book, and there's a fight scene which was actually pretty confusing because I wasn't sure who the turncoat was a the time. (I thought it might be Dargor...almost broke my heart!)

The turncoat isn't able to steal the whole thing, but he does pull a chunk of pages out from it.

Later on when they get the chance to examine the book, we learn more about the Dragon statue they saw protecting it. It sounds like Erain the Angel and the Dragon (who's name is Thanor) were actually kind of a dynamic duo. Thanor actually used to work with the demon king, but he betrayed him by telling the Angels where the demon king was hiding.

The demon king (who's name is Nekron btw) got so mad he killed the dragon, and then Erain turned him to stone. The dragon's eyes (which are precious gems) were spread out in the world as a kind of blessing. If they find the dragons eyes and put them back in his statue, he'll come back to life and be able to fight Nekron before this big cosmic convergence that will allow him to come into the world of the living.

They do that just in time, but it turns out those missing pages become very relevant here: Because the Dragon needs Erain to bring the fight to Nekron. Erain is kind of...dead...er he lives in the book or something. It becomes clear that one of the members of the company is going to have to use the book to take his place, and in doing so they will have to physically die.


(Guess who the lucky demon prince is going to be?!)


Dargor's like "Ummm...That doesn't really make any sense because I unless you forgot I BASICALLY AM A DEMON."

Really though, kind of the same thing as it is with the dragon: they were both created to serve the will of evil and they have an understanding of it that the other characters don't, they have freewill and not only did they CHOOSE TO REJECT EVIL, but they also lived their lives in such a way that they were actively CHOOSING TO DO GOOD.

So yeah they are basically the best guys for the job.

So Dargor dies, physically, but really he just kinda becomes exhalted: his personality is still there, and he binds with what's left of the angel and gets a new sick bod and awesome powers!

The End!



I just really love Dargor as a character, and the whole journey he goes though. I love that his Flashback-POV song is so emotive, and his speaking voice sounds like velvety and kinda like he's bored most of the time.

It kinda makes me think of someone who, like, used to be real emotional as a teenager and now they're an adult and they try to be cool and act like they don't care about things (But they actually really do care about things...)

I imagine him too look like a combination of this guy:

and this guy:

But like he wears sweatpants all the time for some reason, even when he's fighting and when he gets his exhalted body.


My five favorite songs that I can think of right now are (in no particular order):

• "Old-Age of Wonders"
• "Dawn of Victory"
• "II Canto del Vento"
• "The Magic of the Wizard's Dream"
• "Forest of Unicorns"
• "The Ancient fires of Har-Kuun"
• The Myth of the Holy Sword

Yes I know that is more than five songs, no I do not care. 

Year Of Epic Fantasy Reading: Day -3

Starting in January I'll be commemorating my Year of Epic Fantasy Reading 2017 by posting about some of the books I've read in the genre this past year. I thought I'd kick it off by posting about some of my favorite fantasy stories that aren't books.


I'm gonna start with one of my favorite video games, The World of Warcraft.

Even though I don't play this game anymore, it holds a lot of fond memories for me. I won't be discussing the lore of the story too much, because the way you experience it though the game is a lot more fun and immersive than lore in the books. You just need to know it's kind of a mashup real-world mythology and fantasy along with some sci-fi elements (some nods to pop culture too) It's fun, it's cartoony at times, but when it wants to it can get pretty intense!

If you're playing the game, you're playing as a character of your chosen race.

(My chosen race (most of the time) was Gnomes (They're awesome!). And I favored the spell-slinging Mage class: Frost specialty. I liked keeping my enemies as far away from me as possible, especially because Mage armor is crap. And I favored Player vs Environment over Player vs Player. Frost specialty meant it would take a little longer to take down an enemy, but I also could trap mobs or make them move slower: engaging several hostiles at once and picking them off one by one...before they can even touch me!)

Your race determines which of the two main factions you'll be fighting for. The Gnomes are allied with The Alliance (the pretty people) and all the cool races belong to The Horde. These two groups don't like each other, and at this point for your character it doesn't matter why. Each of the governments best fighters have been sent off to war, and there isn't a lot of social infrastructure, so your character (who's basically a nobody at this point) starts out doing stuff like delivering letters and transporting goods from one place to another. Eventually as the NPC's (Non-Player Characters, the kind of stock figures in the game who guide you along the story) see that you're reliable they give you more difficult assignments and reward you with better pay, more experience, and (this is very important) armor.

Eventually your character becomes this kind of mercenary-for-hire, and you kind of work freelance for the government, or whatever individual or organization you decide.  Eventually, as you fight more and more difficult opponents, you'll need to team up with other Player Characters (the one's with real people controlling them) more and more.


So what kind of ends up happening in the game is that we see the rise of this mercenary class. There's obviously a lot of freelance work available and the benefits and opportunities for advancement are immense.  While you're in service, you literally cannot die (err...at least you can't stay dead) because Valkyrie spirits will keep bringing you back to life. Unlike the regular military, you get to wear whatever you want (although you'll definitely want to consider stats when choosing clothing and armor). Your character can become insanely wealthy, you get to travel A LOT and you get to interact with all these different world mechanics (Like Dalaran WTH?). You get to meet and/or fight a bunch of really cool characters: Heroes, and Anti-heroes, and delicious villains.And because the game progresses as you do, you get to see that your actions actually do have an impact on the world (for better or for worse).

You even eventually "Level Up" to become an in-game legendary figure yourself: You and your co. are basically the most OP gang in the entire world of Azeroth, and everyone would basically die if you weren't there to save them.

You start out as this little nobody doing all these little quests for the quest-giving NPC's and you end up with your own military garrison full of NPC's who basically do quests FOR YOU...

So, yah...basically life is good. And guess what? None of those opportunities would have been possible without The War. The War literally took you from a nobody and made you a somebody.

It's a very fantasy perspective of war. I mean, we do know that war can promote technological advances IRL, and that is certainly represented here. But we also see a weird type of profiteering off the war: not just in the game's quests but, like, built into EVERY character's arc.

I used to joke that the most unrealistic aspect of the game is that the core conflict between The Alliance and The Horde is still ongoing. These guys have faced apocalypse after apocalypse: Dragons, Demons, Zombies, Aliens, Cataclysmic earthquakes and continental shifts, these weird chaos thingies popping up everywhere, AND TIME TRAVEL....

And they've joined forces so many times, it kinda makes it laughably ridiculous that they haven't overcome their differences at this point. Sometimes I even amuse myself by imagining that whatever gimmick the game masters have come up with in the latest game expansion is really just your character playing a game of Hearthstone just to keep their strategy skills sharp:

("Hmm...Now I wonder what would happen if....we had ANOTHER dragon attack, ANOTHER demon invasion, ANOTHER plague of undeath...etc etc." "OH! I know!! What if we found another continent and it had PANDAS ON IT!!" "OH THAT'S AN AWESOME IDEA!")

  

But really, I think the real answer should be that this mercenary class (ie. You the player) has become self-aware. The war made the quality of your life better. You literally have no incentive to end the war, because all of your wealth, power, and influence comes from being a part of the war machine.

Your character is probably intentionally going about finding ways to promote this conflict in order to maintain or promote his or her standard of living.

And that would actually make you the vile In-Game Villain of them all.

How to Fix The Last Jedi

If you haven't seen "The Last Jedi" yet, and you don't want to be spoiled, I suggest you step away from the computer now.

Err...at least retreat to a safe site because this post will reference *SPOILERS*

There, you've been warned.

It's no secret among members of The Star Wars fan community that The Last Jedi is one of the most divisive films of the franchise, in terms of how good a film it is and how well it fits into the whole overarching Star Wars Saga.

I don't really have time to go over my full opinion of the film, though I will say it was definitely not my favorite, I do think it had a lot of potential.

So I'm just going to go over the one change that I think would make the main protagonist's story in The Last Jedi (That's Rey if you were wondering) MUCH more compelling:

#1 Delete The Forcebacks

The Last Jedi has these two scenes, which are a visual callback to a certain point of view: Showing the same events from two different perspectives: Luke and Ben's.

From Ben's perspective, Luke is a homicidal maniac: complete with bulging eyeballs, glowing in the deranged light of his green lightsaber.

From Luke's perspective, his own attitude is more anxious and contemplative. The story makes it clear that Luke's is the true perspective, and the other is a distorted memory. There is no ambiguity about who Rey should listen to, and which perspective she should trust.

As was the case with many other instances in the movie, this is a scenario which I think had great potential. Not only in exploring Ben and Luke's relationship, but in forming Rey's character and her outlook on the world:

Who does she chose trust and why?

• Has Luke given her any actual reason to trust him, or is she just going off of Leia and Han's good word?

• Does she identify at all with the young, vulnerable apprentice Benjamin Chewbacca Organa-Solo, and see his choice as a decision she might have made in his place? His decent into evil a choice she could have made under similar circumstances?

The ForceTime interludes could actually work to reinforce this, rather than just being there for the sake of, you know, sexual tension...

With Luke continually shutting her out, and Kylo Ren trying to be open and dropping all these little hints that he's up to something; they may actually have a common goal...

[*Cough* Kill Snoke *Cough*]

That would have been way more interesting a motivation for her to try to #savebensolo

With that kind of uncertainty and intense emotional build up, it could have lead to Rey's big reveal being on par with moments like these:

(You know, like a life changing discovery that makes you question the purpose of your life, and casts all of your past actions in a new light, and leads you to make life-altering decisions that will profoundly affect the course of the plot?)


Instead of...

Bonus: 

If you want to keep Luke as a sympathetic character, give him an actual reason why he'd shut Rey out. It could be something simple like Kylo Ren mentioning his cousin (Luke's child) during their duel. Maybe he psychologically can't develop paternal or mentor relationship with Rey because she reminds him of how he failed to protect his own son or daughter.

Both of these changes would take minimal effort on the part of the filmakers. Just adding a few lines of dialogue and editing out the forceback scene (which is actually really short), and suddenly there's a story behind the story. Suddenly these characters have motivations and conflicts other than what the plot requires them to have at any particular moment.

I think it's kind of sad especially because this movie has some outstanding actors, and Mark Hamill and Adam Driver are arguably the best among them. This movie could have easily been their chance to shine, but instead the conflict between them feels so contrived.

They never even attempt to make the cold-blood murder of his nephew seem like something Luke "There's-still-good-in-him" Skywalker would actually do.

They never succeed in making Kylo Ren the least bit menacing as an antagonist, the least bit sympathetic as a fallen hero, or even particularly compelling as a contagonist for Rey.

But I think worst of all is they never allow Rey to actually develop as a character. She has all these new experiences, but nothing that takes her emotionally to any place we haven't seen her go before.


(BTW, to everyone who thought that Rey is a Mary Sue in The Force Awakens: Congratulations, this movie proves you are absolutely correct.)

Book vs Movie: Howl's Moving Castle

So I just finished "Howl's Moving Castle" (The 2005 animated film) and having read the book earlier this year, I have a few thoughts.

It's the type of film that, if I hadn't read the book first, I think I would have enjoyed it just fine. Because I did read the book first, the first half of my viewing was punctuated by "OH MY GAWD WTF IS THIS?!?!" and "THAT'S SO FRIKKIN' STUPID!" the second half was punctuated by me falling asleep repeatedly, rewinding to the last point I remembered, and watching again.

Now that I've finished it I recognize that the book and it's adaption had fundamentally different goals in their storytelling. And to accomplish that different goal, the movie had to change pretty much everything about the story. A few of the characters are still there, some of them even have the same names...oh and there is still a moving castle BUT IT WALKS WTH IS UP WITH THAT?? But basically, its it's own thing. (I think watching it just made me more confused.  I'm second guessing myself, not just "Wait, did that happen in the book?" but also "Wait, was that character actually 'sposta be the bad guy?!?!")

• The Differences

But despite the collage-style character building and the streamlined plot, I think the biggest difference between the book and the movie is that they're trying to convey a different moral or message to their audience:

The moral of the movie is that war is destructive, and people are selfish and simple.

The moral of the book is that people are complicated: there is never just one reason that a character does a thing, usually it's a compilation of a million different issues that make them act the way they do. It also focuses on the importance of taking a stand for (or against) something, and the ways people become motivated enough to do that.

TO THAT END they changed the personalities of the main characters entirely:

Movie!Howl is an Edward Cullen knock-off. He's so practically perfect in every way that when they do choose to include one scene verbatim straight out of the book it seems so jarringly out of character for Movie!Howl to say:

Unfortunately, we don't really get a chance to get to know Movie!Sophie much before she gets cursed. She does seem rather more assertive in her atmosphere in the shop than she does on the street, and her sister encourages her to persue what she wants in life. But after she's cursed she basically becomes generic lovesick girl #3, and it's kind of the end of her development as a character.

Book!Sophie is superstitious and insecure; clever but too impulsive and flighty to do anything of real meaning with her talents. The curse liberates her not because she gets to spend time with the resident hot wizard, but because it frees her from the expectations she has about her own life. For the first time, she gets to explore what she's interested in outside of what her family wants her to do.

Book!Howl...Oh, what can I say about Book!Howl?

You remember those guys at the start of the movie who were hitting on Sophie and making her feel all uncomfortable? And then Howl comes and bees a perfect gentleman and makes them leave her alone? Well, in the book, those guys were Howl. Except once he realized his advances were making her feel uncomfortable he made a gracious exit and left her alone of his own accord. Book!Howl is NOT a gentleman, but he's not cruel either. If Sophie is thoughtless (acts on gut feelings and doesn't think things through), Howl is heartless (in the Peter Pan sense) he may not be intentionally hurtful, but he is very self-centered and conceited.

So both the main characters have some really ingrained personality flaws to work though, independent of the external influences.

For Movie!Howl, the external stressor is that he's been drafted as a mage to war, and he doesn't want to go, because he's afraid that using too much of his magic will dehumanize him in some way.

For Movie!Sophie...IDK, she mentions trying to get rid of the curse, like, once or twice. She really doesn't do much in the way of investigating how she's gonna accomplish that.

Needless to say, Book!Sophie spends a lot more time and energy focused on that end. Howl's exploits are more likely to get in the way of her aim than to provide a romantic distraction (at least for the first 3/4 of the book).

As for Book!Howl...he never has do deal with a draft notice at all, because THERE IS NO WAR!! What there is is a lost General Justin: the king's brother and right-hand man, who's been kidnapped and the King needs him back as adviser to see if he SHOULD go to war. Howl's motivation for not wanting to get involved is multifaceted: 1) it may put him in danger, 2) It's not convenient 3) It may start a war, 4) it may put him in the path of his ex girlfriend. He's weighing that against heroism, the straight up saving of a good person who needs his help.

To those ends, we meet a host of wacky and wild people, most of whom are good-natured and all of whom are dealing with their own internal and external conflicts. The way the book weaves these stories in and out of Sophie's narrative is actually quite masterful. The movie, understandably, is limited in how extensively it can portray supporting characters:

So in the movie, Sophie only gets one sister (and she doesn't have much to do with the story), her step mom is now her regular mom (and is an even bigger duchebag than her step mom would have been), Michael is a little kid and probably not her future brother-in-law, Calcifer is from The Bronx, The Witch of the Wastes is actually quite nice once you get to know her, Percival/Gaston is a regular dog named Heen, The scarecrow is actually a transformed Prince Justin (*eyeroll*), Benjamin Sulliman, Ms. Angorian, and Mrs Pentstemmon are all the same person ("Madame Sulliman" and they're pretty evil for some reason, but they get away with it anyway so yay for them I guess....), Howl's family does not make an appearance...although he does mention that he had an uncle who was also a wizard.

The biggest aspect I regret wasn't added to the movie is Mrs Penstemmon. It really bugs me that they would make someone like that, a genuinely decent, good-hearted and concerned mentor...into the scheming and manipulative antagonist.

Boo :(

• The Similarites

One of the things that they do portray pretty accurately is the magic aspect. Sorcerers in this fantasy setting use magic by writing spells or by setting up contracts with magical beings called Fire Demons. Fire Demons are not necessarily evil, but they don't really have a concept of morality except for what behavior is delineated in a contract. There is kind of a life cycle for the fire demon, and a timeline for what happens after it binds with a human via a contract. I think that was presented pretty well in the movie visually (even though no one turns into a bird-thing). In the book, though, the most severe/progressive case isn't with Howl himself, but another Sorcerer and most of the time when we see this person we don't realize what's going on with them because they look like a regular person.

The story also takes place in the same country as the book, with vaguely the same landmarks and political structure. The book also partly takes place in the real world as a parallel dimension to the fantasy one (and also is where two of the wizards come from). It's actually a really interesting aspect I wish they could have worked it in to the movie.

Conclusion:

Overall, this experience left me flustered. I don't really mind that they changed the characters for the movie adaption. What does bug me is that people who see this movie and don't read the book are going to assume that that is what those characters are like.

Star Wars: A New Hope Doesn't Suck.

We're now less than two weeks until the next star wars movie is released, and I feel like I should be more excited than I am.

This may be a good thing though, because I'm trying to go into the experience without high expectations (like I did with the first one). I've also taken a point to avoid what I can of the star wars fandom (aside from my goodreads' buddies).

Therefore, even though this is my personal favorite installment of the Star Wars saga, this is going to be a short entry.

I literally cannot think of a single thing I don't like about it.

If there were no other episodes of Star Wars, I think I would enjoy A New Hope very much in the way many people enjoy "The Princess Bride". It's just a really, really fun movie! I could say it's well paced from a cinematic standpoint: it never gives you the chance to get bored because there's always something happening and something new to look at, and yet it doesn't proceed too fast for the casual viewer to follow along with what's happening. It's funny enough that you can laugh on the first viewing and on the 50th. The settings and characters are all great fun. In short, it's an absolute pleasure to watch from start to finish.

As I've said, even if it never spawned a it's own expansive franchise of entertainment content this would still be a story I would enjoy for it's own inherent value and rewatchability. I can't say that for all the episodes in this saga, I can't even say it for all the episodes in this trilogy; but this one has something special.

The real cinch, I think, that this episode has for most viewers though is the added storytelling dimension you get  after watching the sequels. Watching them makes you wanna go back and watch "A New Hope" again to see how it stands up: to see if the part of the story story is coherent with the rest.

And it is!

Now I will say, I'm skeptical as to how much of this is attributable to expert storytelling vs. the audience's projection.

But I friggin' swear...Alec Guinnes KNOWS his character is lying....

(Wait for it...)

^^ SEE?! SEE!! Look at that body language! 

Those microexpressions!! 

This is the face of a Two-face!!  xD  ;P

I seriously, swear every nuance of his acting just works so perfectly....

I won't deny small even the smallest little snippets of dialogue have gotten over-analyzed by yours truly in the past. This is especially the case with the following:

^^Like, Luke may be The Chosen New Hope, but these guy are basically the galaxies' resident "Regular Joe and Jane" literally discarded after less than 10 minutes of screen time, and I'M STILL DYING TO KNOW THE BACKSTORY FOR THIS CONVERSATION!!!

Is Owen Anakin's brother? Is Beru Anakin's sister?

Maybe Beru's maiden name is "Skywalker...

Maybe "Skywalker" is a name they give to people who leave the planet...

In any case, it's pretty obvious that both these two were pretty close to Anakin during his formative years, and in some measure were eyewitnesses to his ultimate descent. 

^^Or at least that was my line of thinking as a kid, before the prequels were released. Now we know in cinematic cannon it didn't quite work out that way, and I do kinda see that as a fault in storytelling that they couldn't work in these two fantastic characters in a more coherent way. (Although I am intrigued by there thematic significance within the novelizations...but more on that in a future post...)

I guess the best thing about A New Hope is that, more than any of the other star wars episodes, it triggers your imagination and you get to invent backstories for the characters that strike your fancy. And because it doesn't depend or rely on any other content other than what you see and hear on screen, the possibilities are pretty expansive. 

The Empire Strikes Back Doesn't Stink

I'm assuming I won't have to do much defending for this installment of the franchise. It's basically the heart and the crux of the two halves of the saga. Even if you're not particularly interested in the science/fantasy elements of the story, this episode kind of transcends the genre and adds a level of intrigue that, at this point, has captivated generations.

The Climax-

With out a doubt, the very best thing about this movie is the ending. The plot twist was perfectly set up: the whole story up to that point unfolds methodically, almost to the point of being dry.

After the first act, 2/3rds of our Golden Trio is on the run; trying on the run to lay low as they're pursued by various adversaries...

And the other 1/3rd (Luke) goes on a meditation retreat to...find himself (Force-Mastery 101: Accelerated Edition).

It's all very dry stuff, only in retrospect do we recognize how much of his training is geared towards prepping him for his show down with Vader.

(Of course, Luke is oblivious to all the heavy handed (*wink**wink*) hints supplied by his mentors.
He expects them to have his best interests at heart, and he expects them to be as honest and open with him as he is with them.)


The reason I think this twist resonates with people is that it's more than just the shock factor (although, admittedly, I think some of us nerds are still collectively reeling from that), it also (if you watch chronologically from movie's release date) that introduces us to the most intriguing and legendary character in it that we've met to date:

Anakin Skywalker-

Yes, I know we've heard about him before. We've even (technically) seen him before, but this is our first glance of this character as an individual: first time we're invited examine him as a character instead of a caricature.

It's a tantalizing storytelling technique turns a predominantly Sci-Fi-ish Adventure into something of more literary value:

Anakin Skywalker can be seen as a modern reflection of characters from our own myths, and his story echoes some of the greatest history has to offer: Greek Tragedies, Shakespearean Romances, Arthurian Legends...

If it seems a bit much to put Anakin Skywalker on equal footing along side figures like King Arthur, Hamlet, and Oedipus Rex, instead consider that he follows in their tradition...and that finding that element unexpectedly showing up in a space fairy-tale has made it resonate with viewers all the more.



(On a side note, one of the reasons I've come to believe the Sequel Trilogy cannot possibly live up to the original is because the twist was unexpected by almost everyone (Besides, possibly, David Prose. Kudos, David!) 

This first one set a precedent. No matter what plot twist the future installments of the franchise have in store, we'll expecting them...even if we don't have a clue exactly what they are. 

From my point of view, right now is when we can have the most fun with Rey, and Finn, and Kylo Ren...Everything is speculation, and so everything is open game.

Once the storytellers get past the "big reveal", we're not going to have that aspect anymore. We're going to have to stick with the storyteller's vision (and if the prequels are any indication, a fair bit of complaining that our vision would have been undoubtedly superior to what the Star Wars Writers ended up choosing!)

There is some debate as to at what point in the story's development the identity of Darth Vader was solidified. But in this movie, the Anakin Skywalker's dual identity never feels like a storytelling cop-out (like something George Lucas and Co. pulled out of their nether regions because they couldn't think of what else to do...)

Even if it wasn't planned all along from the beginning, it works so well it feels like it was.





A lot of people probably disagree on this next point, but I have to mention it because it greatly enhanced my enjoyment of watching the film:

Star Wars  ™ :The Special Edition ™ /Remastered Edition ™ -

If you are younger than me, or didn't watch the Star Wars films prior to 1997, you may not remember the audio and visual quality of the films took a nosedive in the second installment.

 Now, I get that some people might prefer the nostalgia-cheesiness of the primitive (by today's standards) visual effects in the original version, and I also get  that being too trigger-happy with CGI can negatively impact the viewing quality of a visually analog-inspired universe...but in the case of this particular movie... it just worked OK?


The whole first act of the movie had really poor visual quality on VHS when I was growing up: In addition to being an inhospitable place to live, Hoth was hideous to look at. Not to mention the practical and special effects looked cheap (Like seeing through the wall of a space ship (not the window...THE WALL) to the landscape and enemy ships on the other side, or Luke fighting a disembodied Sasquatch arm, or him having a conversation with Ghost!Obi-Wan that you can only hear two friggin' words of!!!)

For the average viewer, those types of things are unnerving and disruptive. I remember as a kid, sometimes it got to the point where you're not watching it for the story anymore, you're watching it to catch all the glaring technical mistakes.

These technical mishaps do not to justice to the story; they're like glaring typos in the cheap original edition of your favorite book: great for your novelty collection, not so much for your reading (or viewing) pleasure.

Music-

This escapes a lot of people, but The Empire Strikes Back is actually the first time we hear most of John William's most memorable music themes:

Vader's Theme: The Imperial March

Han and Leia's Love Theme (Which is basically more intense version of Princess Leia's Theme)

Yoda's Theme (The one that sounds like flying)

It's so iconic, and expressive, and powerful...I'm really the I'm so grateful to John Williams for not being cheap and just using the same themes from the first movie over again.

Cloud City and Co.-

This is one of the things that could probably be summed up under the previous headings (Bespin was greatly visually enhanced in the Special Edition ™ and the slow buildup/iconic showdown between Luke and Vader is beautifully set here) However, there are a couple of really cool story elements people kinda dismiss because of  what comes after:

This baddass guy:

(Awesome mode: Activated)

These two lovable scumbags:

(Lando Voice: "Hellooow...What have we heere?")

Actual Footage of someone being nice to C3PO:

(and C3PO being totally oblivious to that fact)

& Luke and Leia HAVE Telepathy-POWAZ OMY GAWSHH!!!!:

Luke Skywalker in his prime:

(Before his whole life goes to the crapper)

And everyday concerns of the Rebel Alliance (and the galaxy at large for that matter)...being more than just as side plot:

A Very Austen Valentine's: Mansfield Park

Sorry this one get's published so far past Valentine's Day. I did have an entry prepared, but it weirded me out that I was technically fangirling over an incest couple.

I feel like I need to explain a bit more about why these guys are my Model Austen Couple ™

When you look at it from a modern perspective, all of the romances in Austen's stories are fundamentally flawed: They rely on a social system that subjugates and exploits women and minorities for the benefit of wealthy landholders.

Mr Darcy can play the part of a generous and chivalrous gentleman because...

[Mormonhippie braces for fangirl hate]

...he's one of the very few people in that economy who can afford to.


Darcy's the elite, and everyone else is *rightfully* (as far as the narrative is concerned) obliged honor to his generosity and munificence.

[Now, I personally enjoy reading Austen's perspective on this social system as a kind of:


 "Whaddup, girls? Today Imma show you how to make The Patriarchy your Bitch..." 

But really, the truth is, half of what's so charming about these stories is that they take place in a world with different set of rules, customs and standards (One where it is perfectly A-Ok for a 16 year old girl to get with a 35 year old man without raising an eyebrows...)]

When you read Austen, you realize that: 1) social justice isn't a thing yet (but Social Propriety is), 2) it's just accepted that women don't get to chose what they want to do with their lives, and 3) it's perfectly A-OK for people to marry other people to whom they are already related.

I can't pretend that this is a world that I would want to live in, but I also can't pretend that it's a world that didn't exist.

Fanny Price and Edmond Bertram are cousins...and they are also soulmates. It's actually really unique in the Austen's literature that these two people would be very, very close emotionally whether they actually "fell in love" or not.

They were actually friends for a very long time before they became romantically attached and they get to interact outside of a the context context of a Regency Courtship setting of dance or dinner party.

And they get to do a lot of something other Austen couple's get to do only very rarely:

• TALK to each other

They're confidants; they can talk about anything without fear that the other person is gonna judge them. They don't always agree, and sometimes when they disagree, one or the other of them will be pretty upfront and all: "Well, that was a stupid thing to do..." But they still respect each other's autonomy.

Fanny and Edmond grew up together, they know the best and worst of each other, they encourage each other and defend each other.

All of this exists before they "fall in love"

[Now, is that not the way it should be? From a modern perspective at least? I think so!]

Pretty early on, Fanny's feelings for her cousin start to become more romantic, but it's pretty obvious to her, that it's entirely one-sided, and she's cool with that.

 Because even tho she likes him as  "more than just a friend" 

She also likes him as "more than just a boyfriend"

This is an admirable thing to do, however it's not terribly exciting to read about...

Then Mr Henry Crawford shows up.

Now Henry Crawford isn't a bad guy; he's self-indulgent, entitled, and a flirt, but he's not a predator (though several people seem to read him that way). Just like her other villains, Austen establishes him as a selfish person who didn't know what was good for him.

Henry shows up and bees a flirt (because it's what he knows how to do). And the Bertram cousins, being the young naive, sexually repressed things that they are, become enamored with him.

(And Henry's like, "Well, of course they are! I'm awesome!")

It's established pretty early on that his flirtations are pretty much a game for him. And the only one who sees what he's up to is Fanny (even if she doesn't understand it entirely).

It isn't long before Mr Crawford gets bored with the Bertrams and turns his romantic sights toward Fanny, the only (female) person in the household who isn't fawning over him. And he goes at great lengths to win her over.

This is where interpretations of this character diverge:

 It's pretty clear that the more she rejects his advances, the more invested he is in pursuing her. I like that we don't if maybe he did really grow to love her in the end, or if it was just his own competitive-playboy mentality (maybe he can't tell the difference). But ultimately, it doesn't matter unless she feels it too.

The last conversation they share together, is the first and only time they communicate in anything remotely like the way Fanny and Edmond do.

'After a moment's reflection, Mr. Crawford replied, "I know Mansfield, I know its way, I know its faults toward you. I know the danger of your being so far forgotten as to have your comforts give way to the imaginary convenience of any single being in the family."'

^^He's referring to her secondary status in the Bertram family in the most tactful way he can. He isn't even flouting himself as the knight in shining armor she's repeatedly demonstrated that she doesn't need. It's a rare moment of empathy and real understanding between these two polar opposite characters.

• Is he changing his ways? (No,  He later has an affair with one of the Bertram cousins...who is married at the time.)

• Has he finally proven himself as a man worthy of  Fanny's affections? (Also no)

What he's actually learned, is  a very painful, very important lesson that Fanny's known implicitly all along: