Star Wars 7x7: A Daily Bite-Sized Dose of Star Wars Joy

There are pages of things online about people grateful *for* Star Wars, but nothing I could find about expressions of gratitude *within* Star Wars movies. And so on this Thanksgiving Day in the US, I'm looking at which era of Star Wars movies is the most grateful, which movies have the most expressions of thanks, which ones are the most heartbreaking, and which one is the most touching. Punch it!...

"They fly now!" This, based on the reactions of Chewie, Threepio, Finn, and Poe, is an unexpected development. And it's a particularly surprising reaction for one of these characters! I'll explain, and talk about the history of jet packs and jumptroopers in Star Wars on today's episode. Punch it! ***I'm listener supported! Join the community at http://Patreon.com/sw7x7 to get access to bonus episo...

Yes, at first blush, the notion of Leia actually needing redemption for anything seems impossible. But when you look at the sequel movies so far, there's been a very strong thread carried through. Han's redemption for sins of the past happened in The Force Awakens. Luke's happened in The Last Jedi. Is it Leia's turn in The Rise of Skywalker? Punch it! ***I'm listener supported! Join the community...

We get some interesting backstory pieces about the Resistance and the crew of the Colossus as Tam Ryvora's loyalties are put to the test yet again in "Rendezvous Point," episode 8 from season 2. It's a Resistance Briefing today, and with me still talking through a throat cold for the show... Punch it! ***I'm listener supported! Join the community at http://Patreon.com/sw7x7 to get access to bonus...

Chapter 3 of The Mandalorian is titled "The Sin," but there are quite a lot of sins committed or referenced in this episode, as well as a very signification transgression. On today's episode, it's our latest Mandalorian Briefing, and we'll talk about those wrongs and some other very intriguing details. Punch it! ***I'm listener supported! Join the community at http://Patreon.com/sw7x7 to get acces...

Circling back to some "news" from earlier this month! On a Disney earnings call, Bob Iger talked about Star Wars movies going into a "hiatus" after The Rise of Skywalker. Some media outlets paired this with the news of Benioff and Weiss ditching their deal to focus on Netflix, and tried to make a bigger thing about it than it is. On today's episode, I'm setting the record straight, and going one s...

Daisy Ridley made a comment about all the time Rey spends with Threepio. But looking at all the footage and photos we've seen from The Rise of Skywalker, it sure looks like Rey and Ben Solo/Kylo Ren are spending a lot of time together themselves ... and not always at each other's throats. Punch it! ***I'm listener supported! Join the community at http://Patreon.com/sw7x7 to get access to bonus epi...

I'm running a 99.8 degree fever at the time of recording, but the show must go on. And we've got a bunch of new Rise of Skywalker stuff to talk about, including a new commercial and the Entertainment Weekly cover story (complete with extra photos). Punch it! ***I'm listener supported! Join the community at http://Patreon.com/sw7x7 to get access to bonus episodes and other insider rewards.*** 

Sure, the Mandalorian is an efficient bounty hunter and all, but are his skills aided by the Force? And does he know it? I'd say yes to the first question and no to the second. On today's show, the evidence for my answers, which is drawn from what we saw of Anakin Skywalker's actions in Attack of the Clones and The Phantom Menace. Punch it! ***I'm listener supported! Join the community at http://P...

With implications for both The Rise of Skywalker and a significant chunk of the old Expanded Universe (now "Legends"), "The Relic Raiders" is the action-packed 7th episode from season 2 of Star Wars Resistance. I've got the Resistance Briefing for you... Punch it! ***I'm listener supported! Join the community at http://Patreon.com/sw7x7 to get access to bonus episodes and other insider rewards.***...

Chapter 2 of The Mandalorian, "The Child," featured echoes of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and even Return of the Jedi. A necessary episode? Not so much. An entertaining episode? Without a doubt. On today's Mandalorian Briefing, we'll talk about the two events of consequence in the episode, and about the funny stuff, too. Punch it! ***I'm listener supported!...

It's done! I delivered my TED talk at TEDx Amoskeag Millyard yesterday. Now we wait for the video, but until then, here are (in no particular order) seven lessons I learned during the process of preparing for this event. Punch it! ***I'm listener supported! Join the community at http://Patreon.com/sw7x7 to get access to bonus episodes and other insider rewards.*** 

A bit of a different episode here today... A few hours after this episode premieres, I'll be delivering a TED Talk at the TEDx Amoskeag Millyard event. Today's episode of the show gives a bit of a preview of the talk, what Star Wars references will be included in it, and most importantly, my thanks to you for helping to make this milestone possible. Punch it! ***I'm listener supported! Join the co...

What did we learn about our main character in Chapter 1 of The Mandalorian? Who is he, what does he value? How does he feel about the Empire? We'll look at the clues in today's episode - and talk about why THAT scene doesn't tell us anything about his morals - yet. Punch it! ***I'm listener supported! Join the community at http://Patreon.com/sw7x7 to get access to bonus episodes and other insider...

An episode with shades of Star Wars: Myths and Fables as well as the original Jurassic Park, "From Beneath" is a comparatively low-stakes (First-Order-wise) entry in season 2 of Star Wars Resistance. Episode 6 is most notable for the gentle reveal that Orka and Flix are in a romantic relationship. Punch it! ***I'm listener supported! Join the community at http://Patreon.com/sw7x7 to get access to...

It's finally here! Chapter 1 of The Mandalorian debuted with the launch of Disney+ yesterday, and there won't be any spoilers on Star Wars 7x7 about it until a couple of days from now. For this episode of the show, I'm sharing spoiler-free reactions for what I liked - and what I was surprised by - from the first episode of the new Star Wars live action series. Punch it! ***I'm listener supported!...

Once again, the Quarren find themselves on the wrong side of history, as the First Order arrives at Mon Cala in Star Wars: Allegiance. And the events of the final part in this Journey to The Rise of Skywalker story may tie directly into the events of The Rise of Skywalker itself. Punch it! ***I'm listener supported! Join the community at http://Patreon.com/sw7x7 to get access to bonus episodes and...

The pieces are moving into place for the final confrontation in Star Wars: Allegiance, part of the Journey to The Rise of Skywalker. As we breeze through the third of four parts of this story, we're going to take a side trip down memory lane, and consider some highlights of the history between the Quarren and Mon Calamari. Punch it! ***I'm listener supported! Join the community at http://Patreon.c...

In the second of our four-part look at Star Wars: Allegiance - the part of the Journey to the Rise of Skywalker where we discover how the Mon Calamari will join the fight - the lesson that Kylo Ren learned about the failures of the Empire come into brutal focus. Punch it! ***I'm listener supported! Join the community at http://Patreon.com/sw7x7 to get access to bonus episodes and other insider rew...

Where did the Resistance go after the Battle of Crait? Let's just say that Leia and the rest of the survivors have sunk about as low as they can go, and now it's time to rebuild in Star Wars: Allegiance. This is the first of four episodes about the series, and I've got a related announcement to share about it, too. Punch it! The related announcement is that I've added a full plot summary to Wookie...

Whether you already read Spark of the Resistance, haven't yet, or (gasp!) don't plan to, there are bits of information that shed light on the time period between The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker. Though this is a spoiler-y podcast for the new novel by Justina Ireland, I'm not going to spill *all* of its secrets - just a few potentially movie-related ones. Punch it! ***I'm listener supported...

In our non-spoiler review, I'm talking about Spark of the Resistance by Justina Ireland. It's a junior novel that takes place after the events of The Last Jedi, and is part of the Journey to The Rise of Skywalker publishing initiative. It's also the first in a series of episodes I'll be doing that looks at the "Journey" content and what we can learn about that mysterious time between the two movie...

Werner Herzog's character says he's heard the Mandalorian is "the best in the parsec," and some folks are saying that Star Wars got the parsec "wrong again." But did they? I'm not so sure. So let's talk about the history of the most famous parsec usage in Star Wars, and also about how we talk about distance in the "real" world. Punch it! ***I'm listener supported! Join the community at http://Patr...

Andy and Josh from the Holochronicles Podcast invited me to join them on a recent episode of their show, and today I'm sharing an excerpt from that conversation! You'll hear about us getting Twitter-blocked by Lucasfilm's Pablo Hidalgo, comparisons to Cal Ripken or Johnny Carson, and how I do research for episodes of Star Wars 7x7. Punch it! If you go to https://sw7x7.com/holo, that'll take you st...

The episodes of Star Wars Resistance this year have been neatly building upon each other, and "The Engineer" is no exception. Building on the pirates and their potential/history for treachery and mutiny, a stranded engineer who says she was attacked by the First Order pins the blame on them for power issues on the Colossus. In fact, something more sinister is at work, as we'll discuss in this Resi...