}); The Road to Episode Infinity

Friday, April 1, 2022

Aliens of Doctor Who


Daleks were the unfortunate result of a thousand year war between two societies on the planet Skaro. The Kaleds and the Thals were two warring societies that started to suffer the ill effects of nuclear weapons. Eventually, a Kaled scientist named Davros genetically modified his people to only feel aggression and power, eliminating all other emotions from their biology. Davros then mutated the Kaleds into green squids and encased them into metal shells. The Daleks race is among the most feared in the known universe.


Wherever there are people, cybermen will inevitably emerge. Cybermen are the result of humans trying to extend their natural lifespan. They have evolved on Mondas, Telos, Voga, Planet 14, and even on Earth (in some multi-verses). Cybermen are almost always silver and often want to convert all other humans to Cybermen.




Long, long ago a humanoid race called the Shobogans resided on the planet Gallifrey. At some point this race gained the ability to regenerate their bodies and manipulate time. Gallifreians became the keepers of Time itself proclaiming it their mission to protect the timelines. The Time Lords were often at war with the Daleks, until a final last great “Time War” eliminated both from the universe. However, there were pockets of survivors here and there.



Sontarans are a cloned race. It is possible they have lost the ability to reproduce without the technology of cloning. It’s also possible that cloning is just a quicker way to reproduce. Sontarans are created for one thing only, war. They often awaken into the world right before they are deployed into battle. Many will not survive their first day. Individuals are typically ruthless and do not fear death. Their one weakness is said to be a “probit vent” on the back of their neck.




Weeping Angels are one of the more feared beings in the universe. They are made of stone and can not move while being observed. However if a living being ever comes in physical contact with an angel, the angel will feed on that being’s timestream. The prey of the Angel will be sent back in time and live a full life, but can never again travel back to their own time.



Silurians and Sea Devils (also known as Homo reptilia) are creatures native to Earth. They were a peaceful race living approximately 50 million years before the evolution of humans. They were the dominant life form on the planet. Silurians ruled over the land, whilst Sea Devils ruled over the seas. Then, geological changes pushed both races deep into the Earth where they decided to hibernate until conditions were better. 





The Judoon are an intimidating-looking species often employed as enforcers. Though Judoon are physically hardy, their small brains meant they had a narrow language and limited reasoning. The Judoon have two genders, with the females being identified by a stripe of hair atop their heads. The greatest dishonor for a Judoon is the loss of a horn, especially in battle.










Zygons are a shapeshifting species able to morph their bodies to look like any other being. When their planet is destroyed the surviving Zygons traveled to Earth, where they attempted to integrate themselves into the population. Eventually some Zygons and humans learned to coexist on Earth, though the existence of Zygons is still hidden from the greater population .





Ice Warriors were native to planet Mars. When Mars could no longer support life some Ice Warriors journeyed to Earth, which they aimed to conquer. Other members of the species went into deep hibernation on their home planet. Ice Warriors have a heightened sense of honor, which often drew them into wars, but also gave them the capacity for peace. At one point they were members of the Galactic Federation.








The Silence are a race that were genetically engineered by “The Church''. The members of “The Church” could confess their sins to a Silent, but once they looked away the confessers would neither remember the incident. In this way, no living being can remember what a Silent even looks like because it is not possible to recall the encounter. Eye Drives were devices specifically designed to store and maintain memories of encounters with The Silence.





Menoptera are a species which were brought to the planet Vortis. Though they were peaceful, they sometimes were forced to defend themselves against other species on Vortis, including the Zarbi. Their weapons included an Isop-tope which could decay the cells of an enemy. The Menoptera were winged and capable of flight. They also kept a fleet of space-capable vehicles.







Strictly speaking, the Slitheen are a family that hails from the Raxacoriofallapatorian species. The species is often green, but sometimes can have other pigments of skin including the orange Blathereen (rivals to the Slitheen). Slitheen hatch from eggs. In their natural form they are large, fast, and dangerous. However, Slitheen would often disguise themselves by killing a member of native population and turning the dead being into a “skin suit”. The greatest weakness of the Slitheen species was the fact that acetic acid caused them to explode.


Saturday, February 12, 2022

Aliens of The Book of Boba Fett (part 1)

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 Klatooinians:
Klatoonians first appeared in the film “Return of the Jedi” as a species with a face similar to a Grey Hound. The species most recently appeared on screen as the marauders of planet Sorgan in Chapter 4 of the Mandalorian.
Klatooinians often worked as henchmen and bounty hunters. They were close associates to the Hutts for much of galactic history. The Klatooinians even worshipped the Hutts as god-like beings (partly due to the fact that the Hutts had an extensive lifespan).


Trandoshans:
Trandoshans first appeared in the film The Empire Strikes Back in the form of Bossk, the dinosaur-faced bounty hunter. Most recently they appeared in Chapter 2 of the Mandalorian. The Trandoshans in the Mandalorian  had a slightly different design, with much smaller snouts than Bossk. In the Book of Boba Fett, they now bear a closer resemblance to the original Bossk design.

Trandoshans are known as the greatest hunters in the Galaxy. More often than not, the prey they hunt is Wookiees. Trandoshans have the rare ability to grow their lost limbs back.


Aqualish:

Known as Walrus Man on the set of A New Hope and in the 70s toy-line, Ponda Baba was the first Aqualish to appear in the Star Wars franchise. Most recently the species was featured in The Mandalorian. 


The Aqualish were an intelligent species from planet Ando that varied in appearance. The Aquala were more adapted to a aquatic lifestyle and could be identified by two giant fins on the end of their arms. The Ualaq were arachnid-like with four eyes and five fingers who lived mostly on land. Finally the Quara were mammal like and their arms resembled wolf men (such as the Shistavanen). All Aqualish have bulbous tusks that protrude from their faces.







Nikto:

Nikto first appeared in Return of the Jedi, but have most recently been featured in The Mandalorian. In the book of Boba Fett, Nikto are featured as part of the Kintan Striders biker gang.

The Nikto are a species with many subspecies, which makes them hard to identify. The most common Nikto on screen are the “Red Nikto” (Kajain'sa'Nikto) and the “Green Nitko” (Kadas'sa'Nikto). Nikto tend to have spikes and horns on their faces.


Tuskens:

Tusken Raiders are  one of the most identifiable races in Star Wars. In The Book of Boba Fett we learn they have been on Tatooine since before the oceans dried

The Tuskens lived in nomadic clans who believed that the sparse water in the desert has been promised to them alone. Moisture farmers, who stole the water from the ground, were a direct threat to Tusken culture and it was for this reason that clans would sometimes attack farmers.



Pyke:
 The Pyke were introduced in the animated series "Clone Wars". They first appeared in live action form for the film Solo. The Pyke Syndicate are the main antagonists in The Book of Boba Fett and appear maskless for the first time in live action. 

Though the Pyke homeworld was Oba Diah, many members of the species spent time on Kessel where spice was mined. The Pykes were, however, allergic to the Kessel atmosphere and had to wear special armor and breathing tubes while on planet.









Saturday, February 5, 2022

The Mystery of Starkiller Base and the Satisfying Answer



 Disney gets a lot of flack from toxic Star Wars fans, but as a member of the true fandom, I won't stop praising Disney for what it has delivered and continues to deliver. Over the past decade, Disney has built the largest canonical fictional universe that has ever existed in terms of cross-media storytelling. We are talking a dozen films, various cartoon and live action series, books, comics, and radio plays all following the same story with very little (if any) contradictory material.

The unsung heroes of this monumental accomplishment are the Lucasfilm Story Group (The Keepers of Canon). Individuals such as Leeland Chee and Pablo Hidaglo not only manage to keep everything straight, but they manage to pack in treat after treat for fans to find.

One such treat is Starkiller Base.

Now, initially there are a lot of story problems with Starkiller Base. One: Where did it come from? Two: Why can it destroy planets? Three: This is just another Death Star right? 

Starkiller is a totally unsatisfying plot device at first glance. But what if it isn't? What if it's just the largest Easter Egg every hidden in a galaxy of Easter Eggs? Allow me explain...

2001: Jedi Quest

We begin our story of Starkiller Base in the Fall of 2001. It has been a couple years since The Phantom Menace released and several months before Attack of the Clones. The first Jedi Quest book is published, a series which will chronicle Anakin's path from Jedi Padawan to Jedi Knight. The first task Anakin must complete in this series? The building of his lightsaber. So he travels to planet Ilum (which obviously comes from the word illuminate). The planet is covered in ice and features secret caves full of green and blue crystals. Anakin will use such a crystal for the core of his first lightsaber.

2012: The Gathering

In the Clone Wars Season 5, Ahsoka Tano brings six younglings to the planet Ilum, where they are to find crystals to power their lightsabers. They have one day to find their crystals and make it out, else they will be locked in the caves permanently. The crystals of Ilum now include the color purple (a reference to Mace Windu's purple lightsaber featured in Attack of the Clones). 



2015: The Force Awakens

Starkiller Base is featured in The Force Awakens as planet with a snow-covered landscape. According to The Force Awakens Visual Dictionary the icy world was selected for its unique-energy crystalline deposits. Okay... honestly we should have seen this coming.


2016: Rogue One

 The entire plot of Rogue One includes the fact that Kyber Crystals are used to power the Death Star. The same crystals used to power a lightsaber are used to power the Death Star. Are we making any connections yet, people?


November 2019: Jedi Fallen Order

When Cal Kestis travels to the planet Ilum to fix his broken lightsaber, it's looking very, very similar to Starkiller Base in The Force Awakens. This is basically proof right?


December 2019: The Rise of Skywalker Visual Dictionary

It's confirmed. The story team has been laying the breadcrumbs for a while, but they finally came out an said it. STARKILLER BASE IS PLANET ILUM! One of the most sacred planets in the old Jedi Order was stolen by the Empire and repurposed as a super weapon.

Now, through my research it became pretty obvious to me that the Lucasfilm story team knew that Starkiller Base was Ilum from the very beginning, but didn't confirm it until 4 years after the release of The Force Awakens. Bravo.


Other Star Wars Mysteries:

The Mystery of Max Reebo's arms: https://roadto7.blogspot.com/2018/08/the-strange-story-of-max-rebos-arms.html

The Mystery of the Sandspeeder: https://roadto7.blogspot.com/2017/12/the-mystery-of-sandspeeder.html

Saturday, January 8, 2022

Who is Black Krrsantan?




In the year 2022 the Star Wars streaming universe finally kicks into high gear. The "Book of Boba Fett" is only the first in a long line of live action series that will be airing this year. And with so much live action, it is inevitable that characters previously established in books, comics, and cartoons will make their live action debut. The first character of 2022 to make the leap from print to Disney+ is Black Krrsantan.

Who is Black Krrsantan? The dark furred Wookiee might not be familiar to casual fans, but Marvel comic readers will recognize the character from the "Darth Vader" and "Doctor Aphra" comic lines. Black Krrsantan has been fighting his way through the panels since 2015 and has appeared in at least 40 issues of various Marvel Star Wars series.

So what should viewers know about Black Krrsantan? Other than the obvious fact that he is a menacing 7-foot tall Wookiee working for the Hutts? Though no dialogue passes between Krrsantan and Fett in the second episode of "The Book of Boba Fett", there is a look that passes between them. The subtext is that these characters have a history.

In "Darth Vader #1" (2015) Vader arrives at Jabba's Palace looking to hire Jabba's top two bounty hunters. The hunters in question: Boba Fett and Black Krrsantan. Readers eventually learn that Krrsantan was forced to flee Kashyyyk, outcasted by the other Wookiees. Krrsantan has gone toe to toe with some of Star Wars' most iconic characters. He battled head-to-head with The Mighty Chewbacca in the crossover series "Vader Down". Krrsantan even fought Obi-Wan Kenobi who called him the rudest Wookiee that he had ever met.

Eventually Vader would hire Krrsantan eliminate his associate Doctor Aphra. Aphra, however,  struck a deal with Krrsantan and the Wookiee helped her fake her own death. Krrsantan would become a frequent business partner of Aphra in the years that followed Battle of Yavin.

9 years after Yavin however, Krrsantan is apparently working for The Twins, a brother and sister Hutt pair who were cousins with the late Jabba. It is fairly obvious that Boba and Krrsantan are going to battle head to head at some point in the final episodes of the series. One can only hope that both Bounty Hunters are still standing at the end of the day. It would be a shame to kill off Krrsantan so soon after his first live action appearance. It would almost be as tragic as a certain fan favorite character ending up in the Sarlacc early in "Return of the Jedi".

"Who Is?" Series

Who is Valance the Hunter?


Who is Vuffi Raa?

Who is Doctor Aphra?

Who is Willrow Hood?


Who is Agent Naare?

Who is Quinlan Vos?

Who is Asajj Ventress?

Who is Gerris Shrike?


Wednesday, December 29, 2021

New Years 2022

 


And so ends 2021. It was the first year in a long time without any new Live Action Star Wars (Except for the single episode of Book of Boba Fett that aired this morning). And yet 2022 is going to set records for being the biggest year in Star Wars TV history. As many as 30-40 episodes of live action Star Wars television will air in 2022. Which is absolutely stunning considering only 17 episodes have aired in the short history of live action Star Wars TV so far. The point is... 2022 is going to be great for Star Wars fans.


This year (2021), I ended up reviewing 50 Star Wars comics. This was not something that I planned on doing, it just kind of happened. Amazingly, those 50 comics are less than half of the Star Wars comics that premiered this year.


So as we eagerly look to the future, here is a snippet of my past year:


The 50 Comics of 2021


Star Wars

Star Wars #12

Star Wars #13

Star Wars #14

Star Wars #15

Star Wars #16

Star Wars #17

Star Wars #18



Darth Vader

Darth Vader #10

Darth Vader #12

Darth Vader #13

Darth Vader #14

Darth Vader #15

Darth Vader #16

Darth Vader #17



Doctor Aphra

Doctor Aphra #8

Doctor Aphra #10

Doctor Aphra #11

Doctor Aphra #12

Doctor Aphra #13

Doctor Aphra #14

Doctor Aphra #15



Bounty Hunters

Bounty Hunters #10

Bounty Hunters #12

Bounty Hunters #13

Bounty Hunters #14

Bounty Hunters #15

Bounty Hunters #16

Bounty Hunters #17



The High Republic

The High Republic #2


Star Wars Adventures

Star Wars Adventures #3

Star Wars Adventures Annual 2021


High Republic Adventures

High Republic Adventures #2

High Republic Adventures Annual 2021



Ghosts of Vader’s Castle

Ghosts of Vader’s Castle #1

Ghosts of Vader’s Castle #2

Ghosts of Vader’s Castle #3

Ghosts of Vader’s Castle #4

Ghosts of Vader’s Castle #5




War of the Bounty Hunters

War of the Bounty Hunters Alpha #1

War of the Bounty Hunters #1

War of the Bounty Hunters #2

War of the Bounty Hunters #3

War of the Bounty Hunters #4

War of the Bounty Hunters #5


War of The Bounty Hunters One-Shots

War of the Bounty Hunters – Jabba the Hutt #1

War of the Bounty Hunters – 4-Lom & Zuckuss #1

War of the Bounty Hunters – Boushh #1

War of the Bounty Hunters – IG-88 #1


Crimson Reign

Crimson Reign #1


Life Day #1