Latest / Aggressive Negotiations: A Star Wars Podcast / Issue 340: Thanksgungan 2023

Transcript

Issue 340: Thanksgungan 2023 · Aggressive Negotiations: A Star Wars Podcast

0:04
Welcome to the Nerd Palty. Hi. This is Nick Anstasu, story editor
0:10
on Star Wars, The Clone Wars and Star Wars bad Batch, and you
0:15
are listening to Aggressive Negotiations. You may be stuck in hyperspace lane traffic,
0:25
but we're right here with you for the celebration of the year. It makes
0:30
life day look like somebody's birthday on a distant planet in the Outer Rim that
0:37
nobody wants to attend. That's right, It is time for the annual tradition
0:41
of Thanksgungen here and only here on Aggressive Negotiations part of the Nerd Party network.
0:48
But Thanks Gungan is the tradition by which this show is known, and
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I am pleased to host you to this meal. My name is Jedi Master
0:56
John Mills, and I am joined by my esteemed co host, my wonderful
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grand Chef, who has whipped up some special cast roles for us, Jedi
1:07
Master Matthew Rushing. What special message do you have to kick off this thanksgung
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and for everybody? Well, you know I've been hard at work, as
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you mentioned, having the chef duties this week. I have the fine Naboo
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turkey that I've been working on smoking it to perfection. Uh, it is
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going to be wonderful. Of course, there's going to be some Banta steak
1:30
as well as what were those what were those cow things on Naboo called shack
1:37
with axe shack ches. Yeah, there there will also be some shack cheese
1:44
as well as shack steak as well some shack rump roast delicious. So when
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you said shack cheese, I was afraid you were going to say shack tea.
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And I'm like, hey, that's a little out about we know,
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thanks, no, we know. No cannibalism here. Of course shock tea
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is wonderfully invited. Unfortunately she died so we were always in her memory.
2:08
But anyway, yes, we're going to have a great time tonight with a
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little bit of what we are thankful for here in Star Wars in twenty twenty
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three. And in all honesty, I feel like there were quite a few
2:22
things. There absolutely were, And one of the things, of course,
2:25
let's just go ahead and say it, we're thankful for our listeners, who
2:29
if you haven't had a chance yet, get out and give us a rating
2:30
on Apple Podcasts. Reach out to us at the nerdparty dot com, slash
2:34
contact find us on social media at the Jedi Masters on X and you can
2:39
find the network at Join nerd Party on X the Nerd Party on Facebook and
2:43
Instagram. We're thankful for everybody, Matt. Like you said twenty twenty three,
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what is absolutely disorienting is it has been a banner year for Star Wars
2:53
content without their feeling like there's been a glut of Star Wars content. It's
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almost as if fans through this year we're complaining about a lack of content.
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And as I was going through my thankful list, I was like, there
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was a lot of stuff this year. Sure, the books might not be
3:09
top of mind for me right now, but Disney Plus has served us four
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series this year. That's a lot of series, but somehow it left us
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wanting more. I'm going to toss it to you right off the bat,
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like the series that came at us in twenty twenty three, was there any
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special note, anything that gave you a special moment of thanks just kind of
3:34
starting at the beginning of the year and finally getting the Bad Batch season two.
3:40
Amen. You know it's something that we had to wait at an incredibly
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long time for and I'm hoping that you know, as we look towards twenty
3:50
twenty four that you know, maybe early in that year we'll be getting season
3:54
three, that final season of The Bad Batch and you know, so for
4:00
me getting that was incredible into the way that season ended with just a complete
4:08
heartbreak, you know it very much the Empire Strikes Back end to that season,
4:15
leaving you on the edge of your seat, just like Empire Strikes Back
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did for everybody wanting to know what was going to happen then in the next
4:21
film, how is this going to wrap up? And so you know,
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to me, that's the thing that really left, in all honesty, a
4:30
huge indelible mark on my mind, was that finale for that season, And
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of course just incredibly grateful to know people behind the scenes as well on that
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and just get to celebrate with them all of their hard work really coming to
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Fruition, I think, you know, the work that was done there and
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just in general with Star Wars animation, I mean, it's just something that
4:57
it's incredible to think that they work so hard on these seasons, right,
5:05
and it takes them so long to do and then they finally come out and
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to think, well they've now been you know, working on season three,
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and they've almost forgotten the fact season two because it was so long ago for
5:17
them, you know. And so I just I'm always grateful when we finally
5:21
get these seasons so that fans can really celebrate the hard work that goes into
5:26
these animated series. Yeah, and yes, the fact that you know,
5:33
we made no bones about it, but we one hundred percent stand by this
5:38
statement that the animated storytelling is legitimately and one hundred percent some of the very
5:45
best storytelling you'll ever see in Star Wars. And so yeah, I mean
5:49
season two with bad Batch was no exception. It kicked off the year in
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such a way that it was impossible. Look, I know this might be
5:59
controversial to but it was the yardstick. As a longtime Star Wars fan,
6:06
I didn't I was not confident that anybody would ever live up to the storytelling
6:12
as it was expressed in that season. I think the year bore that out
6:17
that we started off on the highest level and we had some other Look,
6:25
Mandalorian had an uneven season three, but there were still moments in that that
6:28
really worked. Okay, so ups and downs, I'll take it, but
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it's not that Batch visions I thought Volume two was a lot stronger than Volume
6:38
one. I really liked it a lot more agreed. I thought it was
6:43
just more thematically cohesive. I thought the stories they told were more interesting.
6:47
I thought that they had just better stories to work with. In general,
6:55
it felt less impulsive, it felt more intentional. And then of course we
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have a Soca and ah sosca. We all you know, we've talked about
7:05
it various outlets like six O two Club and everything. It's uneven, but
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man, once that engine got going, who would have ever thought years ago,
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when Disney bought and they all the turmoil, all the tumult, all
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of the craziness about it, that not only would we be pointed back toward
7:28
the World between Worlds, the Gods of Mortis, we would be getting a
7:31
live action thrown. We would be getting Hayden Christiansen returning as Anakin Skywalker slash
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Darth Vader in the World between Worlds to deliver a final lesson to Ahsoka.
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You take me back in time and everybody remembers just the absolutely topsy turvy nature
7:49
of when Disney took everything over. Well, okay, maybe that's a harsh
7:53
way to say it, but when Disney bought and did their It's the same
7:57
thing that every megalithicqu abration does. They did their reorg, and that's when
8:03
Clone Wars we got the rug pulled out from under us with it. That's
8:07
when other projects went this way or that way. That's when different competing interests
8:13
seem to assert their demands. I cannot overstate how emotionally satisfactory it was to
8:22
get live action weird Star Wars, and specifically to get that moment in the
8:28
world between worlds that was such an incredible moment. I wish I could have
8:31
seen it in the theater. But we finally got the promise of Star Wars
8:37
that Lucas was pointing us toward in live action expressed with Ahsoka, and what
8:45
a banner moment. One of the things that I think you did a great
8:48
job of pointing out is that I really, you know, I thought,
8:54
of course, Mandalorian was a good third season. I think by the end
8:58
of the season was better than at the beginning. It definitely was up and
9:03
down, and I think that the beauty though of that was the way that
9:07
it did I think come together and I really very much enjoyed this. The
9:13
storytelling by the end, and in some ways, you know, they crafted
9:20
I think a great kind of culmination of the you know, the first three
9:30
chapters of the Mandalorian saga kind of feel as though they've brought us to a
9:35
nice jumping off point for what's going to come next, you know, in
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the Mando Verse, you know, with that in Ahsoka and the things they're
9:46
gonna do, you know, with Skeleton Crew, and kind of then their
9:50
plans to bring all that together. You know, I think that's the thing
9:54
for me that you know, whether I loved every single part of or just
10:00
loved even some of the choices that they made in the storytelling for the Mandalorian
10:05
you know, knowing that all of this is meant to kind of come together
10:11
under the guidance of you know, Filoni with his film and all of that
10:16
was incredibly exciting, and it just kind of felt like, finally the accolades
10:20
that have been do somebody like Dave Filoni for a long time have finally come
10:26
to fruition and kind of paid off his patients, you know, more than
10:31
the Emperor's guidance is what has made things pay off, and that can only
10:39
be good, I think for Star Wars in general, and so that made
10:43
me incredibly happy. And again it's one of the things that maybe incredibly happy
10:50
with, even though you know, I didn't love every single facet of the
10:54
Mandalorian season, you know, the driving force behind it and where it was
10:58
all going felt I think like you could tell, like, Okay, we're
11:03
building towards something in this universe, which you know then, as you mentioned,
11:09
when when you come to Ahsoka and you can see where all of this
11:16
is building to, and this big, massive thing that's coming to this galaxy
11:22
from another galaxy is just incredibly exciting as a fan, and you know,
11:33
and I think the exciting part of that was that fans were finally, I
11:39
think, being treated in some ways with real respect, you know, for
11:45
the things that we've loved and have wanted to see, and that patience on
11:52
our part, maybe not so much patience sometimes has also paid off. You
11:56
know that we're, like you said, we're getting a live action throng.
12:01
We're getting live action references to and things happening in the world between worlds,
12:09
the Gods of Mortis, you know, seeing live action scenes of the Clone
12:15
Wars, Hayden Christiansen being given his due. I mean Can we just talk
12:20
about that for a second. Yeah, fact that, you know, I
12:24
think Hayden Christiansen was given everything that he's deserved. You know, having just
12:31
rewatched episode three, you know, Hayden Christiensen is phenomenal. His commitment to
12:37
this character, his love for this character. I think even his understanding of
12:41
this character has been awesome. And so I think that's one of the best
12:46
things that's come out of the Ahsoka series is the way in which fans have
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rallied around somebody that deserved their respect. And it's been a long time I'm
13:00
coming, but I'm really thankful for that having happened finally in Star Wars.
13:05
You know that the love for Hayden Christiansen is there, and that he's felt
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the love enough to that he would want to come back and do this right.
13:15
Yes, And to just to add on to what you're saying something to
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be thankful for is that it would be I'm going to try to phrase this
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in the most sort of like lack of a better term, politically sensitive way,
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but franchises have a habit of walking away quote unquote from stuff that the
13:41
management wasn't fond of. Is the best way I can say it, but
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the core creative team at Lucasfilm stays dedicated to the idea that it all matters
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and it all comes together. And that's why Hayden Christiansen, they don't just
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have a Darth Vader cameo. They have an Anakin Skywalker cameo, and the
14:03
Anakin Skywalker that we knew and loved, and we get to see an expression
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of him as a wise person, somebody who's been through it and can speak
14:18
from a position of wisdom to somebody who meant a great deal to him.
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And I love it. But that is all because of the core creatives staying
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dedicated to the idea of it mattering of wanting to acknowledge what came before and
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wanting to embrace it and say, you know what, it's all a part
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of it, and let's just go with that and stick with it. I
14:46
have to respect that and I have to be thankful for it well, and
14:50
I mean to think as well that the same thing happened for Ahmed best with
14:56
Keller and Beck in The Mandalorian. Right. The things about both of these
15:01
shows is that they allowed two people who you know, unfairly maliciously maligned by
15:09
too many people and to see fans again just kind of rally around Ahmed Best
15:16
and his his like the fact that he even you know, came back to
15:20
Star Wars after everything that's happened to him, and then that the reception that
15:24
he got was you know, beyond glowing as it should have been. Just
15:30
you know, I think there was you know, there was a podcast called
15:35
the Redemption of Jar Jar Binks that had come out, which was a fascinating
15:37
podcast to listen to. But I think in many ways I see this,
15:43
this this last year of Star Wars as being the redemption of Star Wars fans.
15:48
I think it's it's Star Wars fans showing when Star Wars fans are at
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their best, what what we can do and what we can be proud of
16:04
as fans. And the reception that Ahmed Best and Hayden Christiansen got for their
16:10
portrayals and those two shows, I think is something that shows fandom at its
16:17
best instead of its worst. And I just I pray that that can continue
16:22
because I really appreciate people being willing to admit that they were wrong and then
16:29
you know, treat somebody with dignity and respect as they or do I think
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it also has the added benefit of further marginalizing the chides who have the clickbait
16:41
on YouTube, all those stupid headlines that are designed just to incite people just
16:45
because it's rage bait. And that's how the algorithm works, and it's how's
16:49
always going to work. It's how it's always been, and it further marginalizes
16:56
those people because you suddenly realize in these moments, hey, wait, no,
17:00
there are more of us who are decent about it. There are more
17:03
people who are willing to go along with it. Oh okay, it's a
17:07
very vocal minority that has figured out the YouTube ad monetization game that dominate the
17:15
online discourse sometimes and it skews everything and absolutely the lenses turned the wrong way.
17:22
So yes, to your point, I'm thankful that this twenty twenty three
17:25
seems to be the year that the lens got flipped back around and we all
17:29
said, oh, look, no, there is perspective. That's that is
17:33
something to be grateful for. Yeah, well, and I think you know
17:37
that that's something that was really important as well, because you know, I
17:41
think of what happened, and I'll bring up the other Star franchise with the
17:45
way in which you know, the Star Trek per card was a huge hit,
17:51
and it's because it's something that honored fans treated them with respect. And
17:57
I think the same thing has happened with Star Wars, right, is that
18:02
these things that have honored fans have treated them with respect. And I think
18:07
the beauty of Ahsoka and the Mandalorian and the bad Batch and and Or and
18:14
all of these things, they show that all of these can coexist under the
18:18
banner of Star Wars, and they can all be great Star Wars and we
18:23
can all like them for different reasons and enjoy them for different reasons. You
18:27
know, I don't enjoy and Or for the same reason that I enjoy a
18:30
Soca the same way that I don't enjoy the Umbara arc for the same reason
18:40
the same way that I enjoy a lighter Star Wars clone Wars arc. Right,
18:45
Like, they are all of these different facets to this series that we
18:51
like, and not everything and every show is going to be the exact same,
18:56
and yet what comes down to, right, And I think this year
19:00
has proven that, as you know, connected to last year, it's like
19:06
good Star Wars storytelling is good Star Wars storytelling. You know, and it
19:11
can be done in a variety of different ways. And even George Lucas himself
19:15
showed us that the way he did the Clone Wars right, and that one
19:22
week you could be laughing up a storm with something that jar Jar Binks was
19:27
doing in an episode, and the next week you could be crying your eyes
19:30
out because of the way that clones are getting murdered by their own brothers in
19:36
a trick by an evil Jedi. You know, like just incredible stuff.
19:44
Again, like a four shows, and I enjoyed all of them to differing
19:48
degrees, but I enjoyed them all. And you and I have we been
19:53
doing this experiment to make another reference six or two club with assembling Avengers,
19:57
where I'm going through phase four of Marvel for the first time. I think
20:02
people need to appreciate that the batting average for Star Wars on streaming series lots
20:06
stronger than they think it is. I mean, one heck of a lot
20:10
stronger than they think it is, because there is a one to one comparison
20:12
for me, and I'm like, okay, all right, I like what's
20:17
happening here? This works for me. Now here's just hoping that early in
20:22
twenty twenty four, I can get my bad Batch season three, because I've
20:26
been going without record for too long and I need my boy back in my
20:29
life. So I'm just saying, you know, well, and I got
20:33
to give them credit too, because another thing that they've done really well and
20:36
I'm really thankful for is, you know, they released Jedi Survivor, which
20:41
was an incredible video game, you know, following up on Jedi Fallen Order
20:45
and has become an incredible part of the franchise. The game was beautiful.
20:52
It was so much fun to play, you know, I still pop in
20:56
and go searching for things that I'm you know, even though I've completed the
21:00
game that I'm you know, just to enjoy running around the world because they're
21:07
they're so beautiful and like the gameplay itself is incredibly fun and it's it was
21:14
in all honestly, it's just been so nice to have a Star Wars video
21:17
game like that that I'm looking forward to and enjoy playing as much as I
21:22
have as that series, and so that was incredibly enjoyable this this year to
21:30
have, and it's something I was hugely thankful for. I really had a
21:34
blast playing that game, and they continue, I think, to raise the
21:41
bar for what it means to be a great Star Wars game, and I
21:45
just hope that they will continue. That there's a new game coming out,
21:48
and I hope that it can it could come even close to to to what
21:55
this was able to do for Star Wars storytelling in a video game. Uh
22:00
So, I mean, I'm so glad for that. I'm really thankful that
22:04
everybody seems to have enjoyed that. Even though my Xbox, being unforgivably apparently
22:12
four months out of date, can't play Jedi Survivor yet, and I'm not
22:18
really in the position to buy a new Xbox quite yet. I'm really thankful
22:22
that I have it to look forward to because you know, in a few
22:26
years, when I got a new Xbox, the game will be more affordable.
22:29
Right Is that how it works? So yeah, you know you would
22:33
wish the prices always fall, right, It's like oil prices. Yeah,
22:37
they eventually go oh wait, no, okay, oh no, yeah,
22:41
well yeah, I'll get there. Eventually. They've got you know, Star
22:45
Wars Outlaws coming, hoping that that's a great game, that the gameplay looked
22:49
pretty cool when I saw it, and so hopefully they can continue that.
22:56
You know, I got to say, John, I think we were actually
22:59
both very excited to see that John Jackson Miller was going to have a new
23:03
book coming out next year, which leads me on the edge of my seat
23:07
for you know, Star Wars The Living Force, which is a book about
23:11
the Jedi Council during the era of the Prequels. And I am one so
23:17
excited that they're going to be going back to that time period for Star Wars
23:21
books because I feel like it's just the amount of storytelling that can happen there
23:26
is phenomenal. But you know, having one loved his storytelling in you know,
23:33
a New Dawn and his comics that he's written for Star Wars, you
23:37
know, he's a great Star Wars author. I can't wait then to see
23:41
you know, what he's got in store for us. So I'm really glad
23:45
that, you know, like you said, the books were only weren't at
23:48
the forefront for me this year with what was released, but this makes me
23:52
very excited for what's coming. Yes, I you know, I'm a sucker
23:59
for any book book that is going to be set during that era. I
24:03
agree with you, the opportunities are really rich. I think Miller is a
24:07
good writer. I enjoy his work. I think he understands the universe,
24:12
and I think that he will do a stupendous job with it. I'm not
24:18
trying to put too much pressure or set myself up for a fall here,
24:21
obviously, but yeah, I'm I'm thankful that they're again just like giving Hayden,
24:29
Christiansen and I'm at best their due. We're not forgetting the prequels.
24:34
I've always loved the prequels. You put something in the prequel era, I
24:37
am one hundred on it. I am there with you, and I am
24:42
thankful that they're sticking with it in the books too, because High Republic has
24:48
not never struck a chord with me. It works for others, and that's
24:52
cool, man, you know, you know the general rule. If it
24:56
works for you, that's awesome. Let me on fire. Not really jazzed
25:02
about it, so knowing that they're not sticking to a singular focus for the
25:08
books. For instance, what tired me out in the Old EU was once
25:15
we got to a certain era, it was like the books were only seemed
25:18
only to be set during then, and I was like, eh, you
25:21
know, so if that era didn't work for you. I'm talking about specifically
25:25
the New Jedi Order. I sort of started tuning out because I was like,
25:29
you know, it's not really working for me, but they can keep
25:30
me in with the books with something like the Living Force or every year I
25:37
go in. And now that Ahsoka's come out, hope springs Eternal that Timothy
25:41
za On will get another crack at another surprise throw on book or series,
25:45
because I'm one hundred percent on board for that. I'm trying to will it
25:49
into existence because I know he's also dropped a hint that he had an idea
25:53
that he wanted to explore. Yeah, and I'm like, all right,
25:57
that's great. I mean, wouldn't you love to get a series about Thron
26:03
during the period he was missing. I really thought that Yn could handle that
26:07
be pretty darn well. That would be fascinating. No, I mean,
26:11
I think there's so much storytelling that you could tell in that era, because
26:17
it's quite a long time that he was gone, and obviously a lot happened
26:22
to him while he was there, so I feel like that should be told.
26:27
Another thing that was incredibly excited to see, you know, at this
26:33
last celebration, they announced of course that we would be getting Tales of the
26:41
Jedi season two, yes, which I mean both you and I were completely
26:48
enamored and in love with season one again some of the absolute best Star Wars
26:52
storytelling that's been and done in what seven minute increments. So I cannot wait
27:00
to see what they've got in store for us with Tales of the Jedi season
27:04
two. And this is I think also just such an incredibly promising series because
27:11
there's always small places that you can be filling in stories with this type of
27:18
structure, and you know, from gosh, I mean, who knows if
27:26
we might get a Bayalin Skull story arc, you know, or something like
27:30
that. You know, just incredibly rich storytelling ideas that could go on for
27:34
years. And so twenty twenty three had incredible things in it, but to
27:40
know that twenty twenty four then has incredible things coming up in it as well,
27:45
I'm like, come on, just give it to us now, you
27:48
know, just give it to us now. Yeah. But I will credit
27:52
Disney for knowing what they're doing by stringing me along with these releases, because
27:57
it got me to sign up for Disney Play again, even though I don't
28:00
watch anything else on the platform. But that's okay, that's okay, it's
28:03
okay. It's worth it to me. It's worth it to me and the
28:07
family, fortunately because they watched some of the other stuff that's on there,
28:10
I'm hardly aware of, but I can, you know, I want to
28:15
you know what I want to shift gears here. I want to ask you
28:17
a question. What moment packed the most emotional punch for you? What hit
28:22
you the hardest, What resonates to you? Where somebody says Star Wars Streaming
28:29
Series twenty twenty three, and there's a specific moment where you go you felt
28:34
like a kid again, or you felt emotionally touched, or you felt an
28:40
like a tremendous cathartic experience. Was there one moment that jumped out at you.
28:47
I think it was the moment in Ahsoka when you know she comes back
28:56
and she's different, and her converse with Sabine of basically admitting her own faults
29:03
as being her master and then promising to be there for her and never leave
29:10
her again, and was just an incredibly moving and part of that was just
29:17
of the way in which you know, all of this kind of storytelling for
29:22
this character and what she had been through fit so well, and you know
29:30
the fact that she had a history of stepping away from things, and in
29:34
some ways, I'm almost like running away from things, not for bad reasons,
29:40
but you know, to see her move forward and learn and grow in
29:45
the way that you know, the best of the Jedi we would want to
29:48
see was great. And so that was one moment for me that I think
29:52
left me feeling incredibly hopeful for what's to come for Star Wars story telling,
29:59
you know, for the next you know, a few years. That's the
30:03
kind of stuff where you know, you want the characters that you care about
30:08
to be growing and learning and pushing you forward, right, I mean,
30:12
because I think that's an incredibly important lesson for all of us to be learning
30:18
of omitting our own mistakes and looking to move forward as better versions of ourselves,
30:29
you know, for for not just ourselves, but for those around us.
30:33
You know, the selflessness that is meant to inhabit what it means to
30:38
be the best of the Jedi. And so that that's something that that got
30:42
to me. And what about you, you know, there are two moments.
30:48
One because it's surprised. It surprised me. The moment when Tech fell
30:56
it caught me off guard. Yeah, that'll do it. Well. What
31:00
caught me off guard about it was I didn't realize until that moment, Like,
31:03
you know, I loved the show and all of that stuff, I
31:07
didn't realize until that moment how emotionally attached I was to the characters. Obviously,
31:12
Wrecker I adore for you know, various reasons and everything, and I
31:18
love the whole show and all of that. But when he fell, I
31:22
like, it was this stunning moment where I suddenly realized, Oh, I
31:26
really care about what's going on right now. That was amazing. And then
31:33
similarly, but in a different way, when Anakin's force ghost showed up benevolently
31:41
looking on Ahsoka, that was a moment that really reinforced something that any of
31:49
us who have ever lost someone, that feeling he was always going to be
31:56
there for her no matter what, and that death itself couldn't keep him from
32:02
caring for her. For anybody who's ever lost someone, that's an incredibly powerful
32:08
moment and an incredibly resonant moment, And I think it was such such an
32:17
important thing to emphasize that having a forced ghost isn't just a cheap sort of
32:23
like, oh, I feel good at the end of Return of the Jedi,
32:27
Like the entire thing actually enriches the end of Return of the Jedi specifically
32:32
because now you realize what it is is. It's not just that they won
32:36
some sort of cosmic lottery. It's because at the end of Return of the
32:39
Jedi, those are the three people that will never leave Luke. They will
32:44
always be there for him as much as they can. You know, we
32:46
don't know what the full rules are about force ghosts yet, but they will
32:51
be there for him. And similarly, Anaki will always be there for Ahsoka
32:55
because they have a bond like a father and a daughter. And so I
33:00
think that, you know, let's go ahead and throw that on the table
33:05
as I'm thankful for something so meaningful. So that would at first glan it
33:10
seems so small, But it's those small, meaningful moments that then make you
33:16
go back and recast what you saw previously, what it meant or what it
33:22
can mean. And so that is definitely a moment that really struck me.
33:28
I think in the end, you know, I'm thankful that Star Wars storytelling
33:37
has continued to find ways to move me, make me think and connect me
33:45
with others. You know, I think that's that's one of the beauties of
33:51
the series, right, and I think obviously too at its core, you
33:59
know, when it's it's best, it finds ways to bring people together and
34:06
teach us, hopefully things that are important. And you know, it's the
34:10
reason that we can continue to do this show and have these conversations together.
34:16
But you know it it binds the galaxy together, right, you know,
34:22
it brings us together, and I think good ways and important ways, and
34:27
I think that's that's the stuff that you know we talked about earlier with fandom
34:31
and everything it. You know, our little show has always been about trying
34:37
to help people see the best and the most positive parts of this fandom.
34:47
We're not afraid to have have been critical when we need to, but to
34:52
do that respectfully and openly and honestly. And you know, at the same
34:58
time, you know, in the end, it's just about two guys who
35:05
enjoy this franchise but just enjoy spending time together and enjoy then getting to talk
35:14
about it. And you know, can can any could you be any more
35:19
thankful for something that allows you to just be able to spend time with a
35:23
friend that you enjoy talking about things with you know that that's the stuff that
35:30
you can't put a price tag on, right and and that's the kind of
35:36
stuff. I think maybe we just need to remember more of it in this
35:38
world anyway, Like what's what's the stuff that really matters? And in the
35:43
end, it's about the connections between people. And thankfully, when Star Wars
35:49
is at its best, it helps us do that. And that's a it's
35:52
a pretty cool thing. I completely agree with you, obviously, and it
35:57
actually it's funny because I'm doing a little bit by bit rewatch of Star Trek
36:02
the motion picture, which has its ups and downs. But you talk about
36:07
the connection, and that's always been a scene that resonates I think is when
36:12
Spock comes back from contacting Veger and he grabs Kirk's hand and he says,
36:17
this, this is what Veger cannot have. Basically, he's like this human
36:23
connection and yeah, I'm thankful for it. It's brought us together. We
36:30
have a reason every week, at least once a week, to come together
36:37
and have a discussion. We're separated by thousand, literally thousands of miles,
36:43
but we can have these conversations every week. But Honestly, folks, it's
36:47
not just about Star Wars. It's about the time leading up to when before
36:52
we hit the record button or the time after when we're talking about the world
36:55
and talk about where we are in the world and being for each other.
37:00
Because as the song resolves itself, the original song at the end of Return
37:07
of the Jedi back in nineteen eighty three, celebrate the love and that's that's
37:13
what it's all about. And actually, Matt, I'm glad you mentioned the
37:15
whole talking together because we actually got a voice message from a longtime listener,
37:21
Rural farm Boy RFB for short. But I want to play a clip real
37:24
quick for everybody that he sent in and I think that what he says speaks
37:30
exactly to what you said. Hi, Matt and John, this is one
37:35
of your longtime listener friends and Star Wars Twitter's friend pro Harmway or maybe more
37:40
easily said RFB. Star Wars podcasters shortened my handle down and made it easier
37:49
for other folks to say, so nobody has to go stumbling in words over
37:52
the ours and whatnot. Senior Twitter's posts asking for listeners and other Star Wars
37:59
twitter as timeline friends, what are you thankful for to include on your yearly
38:06
tradition that I love very much. Thanks Gungan. What I'm thankful for is
38:13
just what you used to have been doing for many years and all the other
38:16
friends that make up my podcast library is for folks to sit down behind a
38:22
microphone and talk all manner of Star Wars, whatever it may be the Disney
38:29
Plus or the films, or the books or the games, the comics,
38:35
the music. I'm thankful for that because what all uns are doing for me
38:40
and I hope for many other Twitterverse friends and Star Wars friends is making another
38:46
way to escape the modern day by sitting talking Star Wars. That's been my
38:53
day every day for at least the past five or six years. Is I
38:58
get up in the morning and earbuds are in, playlist is loaded, talk
39:02
Star Wars to me and we can agree or disagree on what may be good
39:08
or bad which are sometimes opinions, and still be able to be friends.
39:15
Yeah. That's what I'm thankful for, is let's talking Star Wars to me,
39:21
just like the Jedi Masters are. I'm thankful for it every day and
39:28
us of the reason why I do what I do. I'm nobody in particular.
39:32
I'm a listener, So my way to get back to the ends and
39:38
everybody that I listen to is by sharing out the shows I listen to,
39:43
whether they're in my workday or when I'm home from work, go and show
39:46
by show You're all. The reason I do what I do is to help
39:52
you out and maybe somebody else will come and give or listen to what I
39:55
heard. It's like what I say, you're missing if you ain't listening.
40:00
That's what I'm thankful for, and thank you for all you've Gevin and what's
40:06
yet to come, always looking forward to it and hoping lending a help in
40:12
hand by sharing out after when I'm hearing it, so it may the force
40:15
be with you both. And I have to say it because I support the
40:19
Empire along with the Empire to you an agree, So RFB, thank you
40:24
so much for that. It's deeply appreciated. We got some other messages on
40:30
Twitter as well about what people were thankful for, and I know that another
40:37
longtime listener, Ryan he sent a note saying that he was thankful for the
40:42
Ahsoka release schedule because it gave fandom appointment viewing for Star Wars and a more
40:47
shared experience for such a great show. Yes, so that's right. We
40:53
had appointment viewing for Star Wars where everybody was revolving around it in a positive
41:01
way talk about what was happening. Yes, absolutely, just like you and
41:07
me coming together every week to talk about it. It gave everybody an opportunity
41:12
to come together and whatever channel they were exploring to talk about it. Yes,
41:16
thank you for anyone who you know, interacts with us. We really
41:21
appreciate it. It means a lot to us. And you know, that's
41:24
again as I mentioned, and that's that's that's what this is all about,
41:30
you know. And and it's about really bringing people together and help us just
41:36
to enjoy the things that we do like and we do love and you just
41:42
get to celebrate that, you know, and so and we're thankful to be
41:46
able to do that with each other and with you, uh and so John,
41:52
if people wanted to, you know, catch up with you and continue
41:55
the conversation about the things that they've been thankful for here in Star Wars this
42:00
last year, where would they find you. Well, you can find me
42:04
as always as Kessel Junkie out there in the wild space of the Internet,
42:07
and you can find me right here on the network, co hosting another show
42:12
called house Lights where we talk about the works of directors. And you know,
42:17
I make quite a number of frequent appearances over on the six oh two
42:21
Club, which is on the TFM network, which is hosted by you,
42:24
mister Matthew Rushing. That's correct. You can find me all over social media
42:30
under the name matt Rushing zero two. I love to catch up with you
42:34
there. Of course, you can also find me outside Aggressive Negotiations here on
42:38
the network with owl Post, where Dreya Kaufman and I talked about every single
42:44
chapter the Harry Potter series, one chapter at a time. When I'm not
42:49
in the six oh two Club there on the TFM network, you can also
42:52
find me some other shows Literary Tracks, the ORBORP five, Artificial Tango and
42:57
Saddle Up for all places that I'm on. But as always, we do
43:04
want to thank you so much for joining us here on another year of Aggressive
43:08
Negotiations. Happy thanks Gungan. Negotiations are closed. Good night, but not
43:32
join the revolution, Join the nerd Party.