Growing Up Skywalker

The sibilances are strong in this week’s episodes. And so are Synara’s pirating powers. In “Signal From Sector Six” and “Synara’s Score” (Resistance Season 1, Episodes 5–6), we dive deep into Doza’s dilemma on the Colossus: Invite the First Order into the fold, or let them take over his colony by proxy? We tackle this question, and the question of the Resistance’s role in the galaxy, through the l...

Well, the madcap adventures of Team Fireball were delightful while they lasted. But there’s a new sheriff in town, and their name is the First Order. The Star Wars: Resistance episodes of the week—"The High Tower" and "Children of Tehar” (Season 1, Episodes 5–6)—introduce Kylo Ren and Captain Doza, and give Captain Phasma and Major Vonreg time in the spotlight. And they pull no punc...

The madcap adventures of the Team Fireball continue!  In the third and fourth episodes of Star Wars: Resistance (The Triple Dark + Fuel for the Fire), Kaz is struggling with double duty and managing to fail forward—and sometimes backwards—on everything.  In this week’s episode, we talk about how fitting in is hard for Kaz, but being a good person seems to come easy. We speculate on Yeager’s backst...

The biggest time jump in Growing Up Skywalker history! This week, we flash forward to ABY 34. Everyone we know and love is 20 years older, and a new story is rising in the Outer Rim…the story of the First Order and the Resistance.  We dive into galaxy-spanning politics like how, exactly, the New Republic came to need a Resistance wing and which Imperial remnants we think became part of the First O...

All good things must come to an end—including our Mandalorian and Grogu coverage. This week, we’re picking up the second half of The Mandalorian and Grogu with Embo’s assault on the Nevarro cabin. Along the way, we listen for echoes of Star Wars past, from callbacks to Yoda on Dagobah to memories of Boba Fett’s takeover on Tatooine. We discuss the Hutt succession plan (or lack thereof?!) and wonde...

Movie tickets? Bought. Notebooks? Out. Butts? In seats. The Mandalorian and Grogu was the first theatrical release we had the opportunity to see during Growing Up Skywalker’s run—and what a joy it was to see Star Wars on the big screen! This week, we’re covering the first half of the movie, from opening credits to Embo’s first appearance, and parsing themes of fatherhood, masculinity, and bread-an...

The thrilling conclusion to Maul - Shadow Lord is at hand—and it raises many questions about the Dark. In the Maul Season 1 finale (Chapters 9–10, Strange Allies + The Dark Lord), our heroes are greatly diminished, and facing an impeccable foe. The shifting alliances we’ve tracked all season finally solidify, just as the sands in favorite characters’ hourglasses finally run out. We discuss what it...

For the first time, we get to look through Maul’s eyes. He sees the galaxy darkly. In “Call to Oblivion” and “The Creeping Fear” (Maul – Shadow Lord, Chapters 7–8) we dive into thorny thoughts on brothers, Inquisitors, and Maul’s deep-seated pain. We parse Devon and Daki’s ties, and why they were paired together as Master and Padawan. And we talk through the mechanics of Mandalorian betrayal. This...

Alliances are shifting like sand by the midpoint of Maul – Shadow Lord. Who will end up on top? In this week’s episode, we recap "Inquisition" and “Night of the Hunted” (Season 1, Chapters 5–6). These episodes mark the first time—in chronological order—that we see an Inquisitor onscreen, and we talk through the formation of these Jedi hunters.  We also play a little game of alliances, do...

Maul is the king of rhetoric, the master gaslighter, and the sensei of spin. He’s also, like, usually right? In this week’s episodes, “Whispers in the Unknown” and “Pride and Vengeance” (Maul – Shadow Lord: Chapters 2–3) we talk through Maul’s masterful messaging and how his most seductive ideas are also closest to the truth. We also discuss Master Daki’s unshakable faith in his Jedi training, Dev...

He’s out for revenge, and he doesn’t care who he takes down with him. The Maul – Shadow Lord Season 1 premiere plunges us into the gritty, abstracted cityscape of Janix, where Maul is unraveling at the edges. In our recap of “Chapter 1: The Dark Revenge” and “Chapter 2: Sinister Schemes,” we talk through the differences between Janix and Coruscant, and how the moody, macabre styling of this show r...

Darth Maul. The Shadow. Shadow Lord. And after a while…just Maul. He’s got names for days and a story that spans galactic history. Who is he? What does he want? And what’s his story? In preparation for Maul: Shadow Lord, we watched every single movie and TV show Maul appears in, in chronological order, and bring you our thoughts on his arc. Themes of revenge and rebirth sweep across his epic journ...

It’s Thrawn versus the New Republic. Who will triumph? We don’t find out in Ahsoka’s Season 1 Finale, that’s for sure. “The Jedi, The Witch, and The Warlord” is more concerned with rematches, sacrifices, callbacks, and deep lore—not hard and fast answers. Instead, we discuss the Mortis gods, ronin Jedi, and Morgan Elsbeth’s great tragedy. Next week, we’re departing from our usual programming to br...

Hera’s in the hotseat and the wolves are closing in during Ahsoka’s seventh episode, “Dreams and Madness.” But who has the upper hand, really? This week, we talk through the opposing forces on Peridea and how they are represented by Nature vs. Industrialism. Tragically, Thrawn appears capable of straddling both sides. We also cover the conflicts at the heart of “Ahsoka.” From the Baylan-Shin relat...

Well, we have arrived. Peridea, perdition, madness, dreams. Nightsisters. And blue guys. And the prodigal son himself, Ezra Bridger. In a galaxy "Far Far Away" (coincidentally, this is also the title of Ahsoka’s sixth episode), we have an opportunity to parse the cultishness of Thrawn’s remaining forces, who have wound themselves with Nightsister ribbons and become reborn as Night Troope...

The trick to falling off a cliff while losing a fight? Face your past, greet your long-dead master, and become the person you were always meant to be. Our discussion of Ahsoka’s fifth installment, “Shadow Warrior,” centers on the Jedi Trials, the Hero’s Journey, and Ahsoka’s profound self-growth. Her rebirth into Ahsoka the White and a dreamy purrgil Force connection scene make this one of the mos...

“Stick together,” says local long-suffering robot. Spoiler alert—they did not stick together.  In Ahsoka’s fourth episode, “Fallen Jedi,” a cascade of escalating duels marks the most impactful episode of the series so far. And when the unprepared (Ahsoka, Sabine) meet the prepared (Baylan, Morgan, Shin), things go bad VERY quickly. This week, we discuss the motivations of our Antagonists, as well...

What a banger! What a bop! Ahsoka’s third episode, “Time to Fly,” isn’t just a visual and auditory delight—it also reframes what it means to be Force-sensitive. In our discussion, we parse the ways that Force sensitivity has been treated across Star Wars, from the “anyone could be a Jedi!” spirit of the original trilogy to the introduction of midichlorians. With this episode, Star Wars seems to st...

Double double…We’ve got two master/apprentice pairs mixing up all kinds of mischief in Ahsoka’s second installment, “Toil and Trouble.” As a show, Ahsoka is not catering to newbies. And this episode, we’re diving into the deep lore of Darths (Revan, Traya, and Sion) and galaxies (the Star Wars galaxy, and one that is yet to be named). We’re also spending a LOT of time on this show’s fascinating ba...

Not all villains are this impeccably dressed. But Ahsoka introduces some incredibly dapper baddies. In “Part One: Master and Apprentice,” we catch up with General Syndulla (busy AF), Sabine Wren (lost and traumatized), and Ahsoka Tano (just too competent for her own good).  But EVEN MORE IMPORTANTLY, we meet Baylan Skoll, Shin Hati, and a slightly snarkier Morgan Elsbeth. They look great. And they...

We did it! We finished The Mandalorian! Not just the finale, but the first and second epilogue too! The action-packed conclusion to The Mandalorian brought laughs, drama, and really closed the loop on the themes of the whole series. We compare two big bads of the empire, Moff Gideon and Grand Admiral Thrawn; and worry about how we still don't know where Big Blue is (or what nefariousness he&#3...

“The Spies” (The Mandalorian, Chapter 23) presents a real good news/bad news situation for the Mandalorians. The good news: Mandalore is habitable! The tribes have united! There are only a few terrible megafauna left to terrorize the planet! The bad news: The Imperial remnants have formed a Shadow Council following up on allllllll of their predecessors’ special interests, and Moff Gideon is anglin...

Is Plazir-15 a fully automated, luxury gay space utopia? More importantly, is it the first solarpunk Star Wars community?? In the Mandalorian’s Chapter 22, “Guns For Hire,” we parse the depth and breadth of droid rights while we try to figure out if Plazir-15 (ruled over by Duchess Lizzo and Captain Jack Black Bombardier) actually is the yogurt commercial utopia of our dreams. We also get mad Clon...

How much does independence from the New Republic matter to you when you’re being shelled by sentient algae/pirate king Gorian Shard? That’s the question Greef Karga and all of Nevarro have to answer this week in The Mandalorian, Chapter 21: “The Pirate.” We ask how societies in Star Wars thread the needle between bureaucracy and independence, especially when your government might be filled with se...

So we agree, Ahmed Best is the best? This week, we’re recapping the mythology-filled midpoint of the Mandalorian’s third season, “The Foundling” (Chapter 20). We parse the effects of Mandalorian myth, legend, and custom on the Children of the Watch’s community. We wonder whether Bo-Katan will stay, and where Kelleran Beq went. And we ask the real heavy-hitting questions about having sons and daugh...