All Star Wars

[SM]

Aw, thet kond of excent usn't something you just lose, bro.

[SiL]

Brew*

[Biomechanoid]

LUKE: Look, I can take you as far as Anchorhead. You can get a transport there to Mos Eisley or wherever you're going.



BEN: Mos Eisley Spaceport. You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious.

--------------------------------------------------------------

Has there ever been any SW stories taking place in Anchorhead, in any SW medium? Is Anchorhead similar to Mos Eisley....also filled with a wretched hive of scum and villainy?

[SM]

Brew*

I figured I'd murdered it enough, cuz.

[Local Trouble]

Has there ever been any SW stories taking place in Anchorhead, in any SW medium? Is Anchorhead similar to Mos Eisley....also filled with a wretched hive of scum and villainy?

The entire deleted sequence from ANH featuring Biggs was set at Tosche Station, which was supposedly on the outskirts of Anchorhead.  There's also the final chapter from the Legends novel Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader.

Spoiler

Another glass, stranger?" the cantina owner asked Obi-Wan Kenobi.

"What will it cost me?"

"Ten credits for refills."

"That's as much as a shot of one of your imported brandies."

"The price of staying hydrated on Tatooine, my friend. Yes or no?"

Obi-Wan nodded. "Fill it."

Gathered by the cantina's single moisture vaporator, the water was somewhat cloudy and had a metallic taste, but it was of a higher quality than that gathered by Obi-Wan's own vaporator. If he was to survive in the hovel he had found, he would need to have the vaporator repaired, or somehow obtain a newer one from the Jawa traders who occasionally passed through the region he now called home.

If it hadn't been for the kindness of the maroon-cloaked creatures, he would still be walking to Anchorhead rather than sitting in the scant shade of the cantina's veranda, sipping water. A wind-scoured settlement close to Tatooine's Western Dune Sea, Anchorhead was little more than a trading post frequented by the moisture farmers who made up the Great Chott salt flat community, or by merchants traveling between Mos Eisley and Wayfar, in the south. Anchorhead had a small resident population, a dozen or so pourstone stores, and two small cantinas. But it was known mainly for the power generator located at the edge of town.

Named for its owner, Tosche Station supplied energy to the moisture farms and served as a recharge depot for the farmers' landspeeders and other repulsorlift vehicles. The station also boasted a hyperwave repeater, which—when it functioned—received HoloNet feeds relayed from Naboo, Rodia, and, occasionally, Nal Hutta, in Hutt space.

Tosche was working today, and The Weary Traveler's handful of afternoon customers were catching up on news and the outcome of sports events that had taken place standard weeks earlier. Obi-Wan—known locally as Ben—had taken possession of an abandoned home on a bluff in the Jundland Wastes. He glanced at the HoloNet display from time to time, but the focus of his interest was a provisions store across the street from the cantina.

In the months since he had arrived on Tatooine his hair and beard had grown quickly, and his face and hands had turned nut brown. In his soft boots and long robe, its cowl raised over his head, no one would have taken him for a former Jedi, let alone a Master who had sat on the High Council. In any case, Tatooine wasn't a world where questions were asked. Residents wondered, and they gossiped and theorized, but they rarely inquired about the reasons that brought strangers to remote Tatooine. Coupled with the fact that the world was still largely under the sway of the Hutts, the prevailing frontier etiquette had made Tatooine a refuge for criminals, smugglers, and outlaws from star systems galaxywide.

Many of the locals were just learning that the former Republic was now an Empire, and most of them didn't care one way or another. Tatooine was on the fringe, and fringe worlds might as well have been invisible to distant Coruscant.

Months earlier, when he and Anakin had been in pursuit of clues they had hoped would lead them to Darth Sidious, Obi-Wan had told Anakin that he could think of far worse places to live than Tatooine, and he still felt that way. He took in stride the ubiquitous sand that had so rankled Anakin. Tatooine's double-sunset skies were always a marvel to behold.

And the isolation suited him.

All the more because Anakin had been subverted by Palpatine and, for a brief time, had served this new Emperor.

Given everything that had happened since, the one image Obi-Wan knew he would never be able to erase from his memory was that of Anakin—Darth Vader, as Sidious had dubbed him—kneeling in allegiance to the Dark Lord, after having gone on a murderous spree in the Jedi Temple. If there was a second image, it was of Anakin burning on the shore of one of Mustafar's lava flows, cursing him.

Had he been wrong to let Anakin die there? Could he have been redeemed, as Padmé had believed to the last? These were questions that plagued him, and pained him more deeply than he would ever have thought possible.

And now, all these months later, here he was on Tatooine, Anakin's homeworld, watching over Anakin's infant son, Luke.

Obi-Wan's reason for living.

Watching from afar, at any rate. Today was as close as he had come to the child in weeks. Just across the street, Luke sat in a front carrier worn by Beru while she purchased sugar and blue milk; neither she nor her husband, Owen, was aware of Obi-Wan's presence on the cantina veranda, his vigilant though covert gaze.

As Obi-Wan brought the water glass to his mouth and sipped, a HoloNet news report caught his ear and he swung to the cantina's display, simultaneous with a torrent of static that interrupted the feed.

"What was she saying?" Obi-Wan asked a human seated two tables away.

"Band of Jedi were killed on Kashyyyk," the man said. Close to Obi-Wan's age, he wore utilities of the sort affected by docking bay workers in Mos Eisley spaceport.

Had the HoloNet reporter been referring to Jedi who had been on Kashyyyk with Yoda—

No, Obi-Wan realized when the feed suddenly returned. The reporter was talking about more recent events! About Jedi who had obviously survived Order 66 and been discovered on Kashyyyk!

He continued to listen, growing colder and colder inside.

The Empire had accused Kashyyyk of plotting rebellion ... Thousands of Wookiees had died; hundreds of thousands more had been imprisoned ...

Obi-Wan squeezed his eyes shut in dismay. He and Yoda had recalibrated the Temple beacon to warn surviving Jedi away from Coruscant. What could the ones discovered on Kashyyyk have been thinking, banding together like that, drawing attention to themselves instead of going to ground as they had been ordered to do? Did they think they could gather enough strength to go after Palpatine?

Of course they did, Obi-Wan realized.

They hadn't realized that Palpatine had manipulated the war; that a Sith occupied the throne; that like everyone else, the Jedi had failed to grasp a truth that should have been evident years earlier: the Republic had never been worth fighting for.

The ideals of democracy hadn't been stamped out by Palpatine. The Jedi had carried out missions of dubious merit for any number of Supreme Chancellors, but always in the name of safeguarding peace and justice. What they had failed to understand was that the Senate, the Coruscanti, the citizens of countless world and star systems, grown weary of the old system, had allowed democracy to die. And in a galaxy where the goal was single-minded control from the top, and wherein the end justified the means, the Jedi had no place.

That had been the final revenge of the Sith.

When Obi-Wan lifted his gaze, the intermittently garbled HoloNet was displaying an image of someone outfitted in what almost seemed a costume of head-to-toe black. Human or humanoid—the being's species wasn't mentioned—the masked Imperial had apparently played a role in tracking down and executing the "insurrectionist" Jedi, and enslaving their Wookiee confederates.

The burst of static that accompanied the reporter's mention of the figure's identity might have surged from Obi-Wan's brain. Still chilled by the earlier announcement about the Jedi, he was now paralyzed by sudden dread.

He couldn't have heard what he thought he heard!

He whirled to the spaceport worker. "What did she say? Who is that?"

"Lord Vader," the man said, all but into his glass of brandy.

Obi-Wan shook his head. "No, that's not possible!"

"You didn't ask if I thought it was possible, sand man. You asked me what she said."

Obi-Wan stood up in a daze, knocking over his table.

"Hey, take it easy, friend," the man said, rising.

"Vader," Obi-Wan muttered. "Vader's alive."

The cantina's other customers turned to regard him.

"Get ahold of yourself," the man told Obi-Wan under his breath. He called for the cantina owner. "Pour him a drink—a real one. And put it on my tab." Righting the table, he urged Obi-Wan back into his chair and lowered himself onto an adjoining one.

The cantina owner brought the drink and set it down in front of Obi-Wan. "Is he all right?"

"He's fine," the man from Mos Eisley said. "Aren't you, friend?"

Obi-Wan nodded. "Heatstroke."

The cantina owner seemed satisfied. "I'll bring you some more water."

Obi-Wan's new friend waited until they were alone to say, "You really all right?"

Obi-Wan nodded again. "Really."

The man adopted a conspiratorial voice. "You want to remain all right, you'll keep your voice down about Vader, understand? You'll keep from asking questions about him, too. Even in this Force-forsaken place."

Obi-Wan studied him. "What do you know about him?"

"Just this: I have a friend, a trader in hardwoods, who was on Kashyyyk when the Imperials launched their attack on a place called Kachirho. I guess he was lucky to get his ship raised and jumped. But he claims he got a glimpse of this guy Vader, ripping into Wookiees like they were stuffed toys, and going to lightsabers with the Jedi who were onworld." The spaceport worker glanced furtively around the cantina. "This Vader, he toasted Kashyyyk, friend. From what my friend says, it'll be years before a piece of wroshyr goes up the well."

"And the Wookiees?" Obi-Wan said.

The stranger shrugged forlornly. "Anyone's guess." Placing a few credits on the table, he stood up. "Take care of yourself. These desert wastes aren't as remote as you may think they are."

When the water arrived, Obi-Wan downed it in a gulp, shouldered his rucksack, and left the cool shade of the veranda for the harsh light of Anchorhead's principal street. He moved in a daze that had little to do with the glare or the heat.

As impossible as it seemed, Anakin had survived Mustafar and had resumed the Sith title of Darth Vader. How could Obi-Wan have been so foolish as to bring Luke here, of all worlds? Anakin's homeworld, the grave of his mother, the home of his only family members ...

Obi-Wan gripped the lightsaber he carried under his robe.

Had he driven Anakin deeper into the dark side by abandoning him on Mustafar?

Could he face Anakin again?

Could he kill him this time?

From the far side of the street, he shadowed Owen and Beru as they moved from store to store, stocking up on staples. Should he warn them about Vader? Should he take Luke away from them and hide him on an even more remote world in the Outer Rim?

His fear began to mount. His and Yoda's hopes for the future, dashed, just as the Chosen One had dashed the Jedi's hopes of bringing balance to the Force—

Obi-Wan.

He came to an abrupt halt. It was a voice he hadn't heard in years, speaking to him not through his ears, but directly into his thoughts.

"Qui-Gon!" he said. "Master!" Realizing that the locals were quickly going to brand him a madman if they heard him talking to himself, he ducked into the narrow alley between two stores. "Master, is Darth Vader Anakin?" he asked after a moment.

Yes. Although the Anakin you and I knew is imprisoned by the dark side.

"I was wrong to leave him on Mustafar. I should have made sure he was dead."

The Force will determine Anakin's future. Obi-Wan: Luke must not be told that Vader is his father until the time is right.

"Should I take further steps to hide Luke?"

The core of Anakin that resides in Vader grasps that Tatooine is the source of nearly everything that causes him pain. Vader will never set foot on Tatooine, if only out of fear of reawakening Anakin.

Obi-Wan exhaled in relief. "Then my obligation is unchanged. But from what Yoda told me, I know that I have much to learn, Master."

You were always that way, Obi-Wan.

Qui-Gon's voice faded, and Obi-Wan's fears began to dissipate, replaced by renewed expectation.

Returning to the dazzling light of Tatooine's twin suns, he caught up with Owen, Beru, and Luke, and kept silent watch over them for what remained of the day.

[close]

[ace3g]

https://twitter.com/slashfilm/status/1308496045005926400

[Immortan Jonesy]

"We're living in a universe that is huge and there's so much to explore," Esposito, 62, says in the clip above. "So I think this show is going to lay the ground work for the depth and breath that's gonna come in season 3 and season 4, where you're really gonna start to get answers."

https://twitter.com/people/status/1307845020695883777

https://twitter.com/slashfilm/status/1308496045005926400

The journey might be fun. Hopefully 

[Nightmare Asylum]

So Gilroy, who is responsible for "fixing" Rogue One and making it what it was, is now being removed from the project most directly spinning off from that film.

Got it!

[DarthJoker45]

THE HIGH REPUBLIC // SEPTEMBER 23, 2020

AN ELEGANT WEAPON: GET AN UP-CLOSE LOOK AT A LIGHTSABER FROM STAR WARS: THE HIGH REPUBLIC – EXCLUSIVE
FROM THE PAGES OF THE LIGHTSABER COLLECTION, SEE MASTER STELLAN GIOS'S JEDI WEAPON.

When it came to designing lightsabers for the High Republic era, Lucasfilm knew that they had to be special — elegant weapons for a more civilized age, as Obi-Wan Kenobi might say. So they took inspiration from one of the most legendary swords in storytelling.

"We wanted to make the Jedi distinctive and instantly recognizable as Jedi Knights of the High Republic, and that applies not only to their clothing but to their lightsabers, as well," says Michael Siglain, Lucasfilm Publishing's creative director. "Internally, we often refer to the Jedi of this era as 'the Jedi Knights of the Round Table.' Taking that idea one step further, their sabers can be viewed as their own versions of Excalibur."

Star Wars: The High Republic, a storytelling epic that kicks off in January 2021, will tell stories set centuries prior to Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, during the very peak of the Jedi Order. But fans can get their first look at the lightsaber of Stellan Gios, a Jedi Master during the High Republic era, here on StarWars.com with this exclusive preview from Insight Editions' The Lightsaber Collection, a compendium coming October 20 and available for pre-order now.


Following early explorations with artist Grant Griffin, Disney Publishing illustration manager Jeff R. Thomas further developed Stellan's lightsaber hilt. "When designing Stellan's lightsaber, I looked at the iconic lightsabers that have already been established," Thomas says. "He needed an iconic weapon that could stand beside the other famous lightsabers, but at the same time be unique to him and evoke the time period of the High Republic."

Thomas took special note of Kylo Ren's cross-saber design as something befitting the era, but found it didn't quite work for what he hoped to achieve.

"With the High Republic, we wanted to implement a more traditional crossguard, but I still wanted to include the saber-blade into the crossguard design, so that Stellan would be able to defend himself against saber attacks. That's where Excalibur came into play," Thomas says. "What would a lightsaber version of Excalibur look like? I started sketching and came up with a silhouette I really liked, but the practicality of holstering/sheathing it nagged at me until I had the idea that the crossguard didn't have to be stationary. Perhaps it could activate or deactivate with the saber. So after some more sketches and some back and forth with Lucasfilm, it was decided that the crossguard would activate as opposed to always being open, which would give the saber the slimmer silhouette while holstered and would lend itself to some great visuals when activating."


The end result is a bold, beautiful new take on the lightsaber. Gold plays prominently in the design of Stellan's weapon, including decorative accents that echo the trim seen on Jedi robes of the time, while the crossguard elements reveal the high level of artistry during the High Republic era. It's definitely a lightsaber, but one we haven't seen before.

"As with everything connected to the High Republic, it was all very collaborative, and also a great deal of fun," Siglain says. "Jeff delivered a truly amazing design, then the incredible folks at Insight Editions, including artist Lukasz Liszko, translated Jeff's work into a beautiful photorealistic version for The Lightsaber Collection, and we couldn't be happier."

Obi-Wan would approve, we think.

The Lightsaber Collection arrives October 20 and is available for pre-order now.

Visit Lucasfilm's official hub for all things Star Wars: The High Republic at StarWars.com/TheHighRepublic.

Dan Brooks is Lucasfilm's senior content strategist of online, the editor of StarWars.com, and a writer. He loves Star Wars, ELO, and the New York Rangers, Jets, and Yankees. Follow him on Twitter @dan_brooks where he rants about all these things.

Source: https://www.starwars.com/news/star-wars-the-high-republic-lightsaber

[Immortan Jonesy]

[Prez]

Going to see ROTJ in the cinema this weekend hopefully!
Saw Empire about 2 weeks ago with my 9 year old daughter. First time I've seen it on the big screen since 1997. Looked amazing.

[Gazz]

Hey, just thought I would leave the latest episode of the show here. We try to take a look at The Rise of Skywalker but kinda get lost along the way. This one was a bitch to edit. The raw audio clocked in at four and a half hours over three separate sessions due to further information that kept coming to light. So unlike JJ Abrams and Disney, we felt it best not to edit these two episodes down to a single incomprehensible mess.

https://twitter.com/PopcornDigest/status/1311952005443846144

[Prez]

Going to see ROTJ in the cinema this weekend hopefully!
Saw Empire about 2 weeks ago with my 9 year old daughter. First time I've seen it on the big screen since 1997. Looked amazing.

And we did just this on Wednesday night. Was magical seeing my all time favourite film on the big screen again especially with my young daughter (a first for her).

That speeder bike and final battle above Endor never looked so f**king glorious.

And yes even after all these decades I still get teary when Anakin looks upon Luke with his own eyes.

Thank you George.

[ace3g]

[DarthJoker45]