The Villain We’ve Been Waiting For

In six days, the much anticipated and first of its kind Star Wars standalone film drops in the United States.

Rogue One features the story before the original story that we all know and love.

Set just before A New Hope, the movie follows the (for lack of a better term) rebellious Jyn Erso as she joins up with the Rebellion in order to ascertain the information so desperately needed on this “imminent” weapons test.

Of course we know this weapons test is the diabolical world-eater or better known as the Death Star.

But who is behind this mechanical contraption from hell that seems to take on a life of it’s own?

None other than the awesomely infamous Orson Krennic…

The man in the white cape that you see in all the trailers is Krennic. Responsible for the Death Star’s completion and the overseer of the laser, Krennic is a higher up in the increasingly evil Empire.

A week ago today I took on the task of finishing the brilliant James Luceno written book Catalyst in preparation for the release of Rogue One.

As I have 20 pages left, my prime and number one thought of the book is directly in relation to Orson Krennic…

The electric personality and devious attitude of Krennic’s is something we haven’t seen since well…Tarkin!

With class and an air of royalty Orson Krennic has an aura of regal power.

His intelligence is inspiring and his quick wit is exceptional. A character of Krennic’s stature is a surefire home run for Star Wars fans.

Undoubtedly, I expect him to be at the center of attention whenever Krennic is on the screen. He lives for the moment, his analysis of his surroundings is impeccable and his actions are as precises as his cape is white.

What makes the Empire so evil that they’re cool is their crisp and flawless display of order and power.

The Imperial Officers radiate stern discipline mixed with intense ambition hellbent on burning the Galaxy down all the while looking sophisticated and sharp as ever.

This is Krennic in a nutshell. His rise to power is not due to a muscular, taut physique or a gifted skill that sets him apart from just about anybody.

No what sets him apart is his tireless attitude and his insatiable hunger for power and recognition.

He is crafty as he is guile and his smooth haughtiness reigns supreme.

Obsessed with the Death Star’s completion, Krennic will risk everything for the ultimate of achievement of being recognized as the father of the ultimate weapon.

However, if you cross him and become subject to his wrath you might feel nothing…then again you probably won’t feel a thing as his enemies had a talent for succumbing to horrible and tragic “accidents”.

What’s more to say? Krennic wields more power than most know.

It’s one thing to be a danger of a man with great importance but it’s the ones who enjoy high profile status and have zero hesitation in doing what is deemed necessary, for the “good” of the people.

Those individuals are truly terrifying.

And I got splendid news for you all, Krennic is that type of man.

Besides seeing Vader and his swashbuckling prowess, Orson Krennic wins the title for my “most interesting man” award.

Just wait and see, Krennic will bring the heat and we will bask in his fiery passions.

-Sith Pacify out

 

What To Expect In The New Rogue One Trailer

With the Star Wars Celebration taking place in London this week, we will get another look at Rogue One.

This Friday on ABC a one hour special titled  “Secrets of the Force Awakens” will air and at some point in that broadcast we will get a look at the next Rogue One trailer.

But what will we see?

Besides the storyline of Resistance efforts to steal the Empire’s plans for the Death Star, there’s very little known on what exactly we can expect.

The first trailer gave us some epic shots of awesomeness and some new characters, but besides that we’re still very much in the dark.

Before I continue I want to first say that Disney is the absolute best at keeping movie details under wraps until the films are released.

For instance, with The Force Awakens we all had no clue what was going to happen.

I would expect the same with RO.

Before you start to think of what will be seen in the next trailer, it’s important to see the parallels with TFA.

The second TFA trailer was released last in April 2015 during the Star Wars celebration in California.

As you can see, the trailer had almost nothing of substance.

Normally I would suggest the same thing will occur with RO’s next trailer but you know what? I don’t think that’s the case.

With the TFA, things were different. We all knew the six Star Wars movies like the back of our hands.

We were searching and craving for any little snippet of picture time that showcased our favorite characters and vigorously searched far and wide for any plot twists.

That’s exactly why the trailers for the movie were so vanilla. They were released knowing that the public would eat up anything Star Wars related.

But as I said earlier with RO, there’s very little known information on what is to come.

That brings me to my next point. Because there’s a real lack of knowledge, I fully expect to see something mind blowing, something that we will be talking about for months to come.

What could that exactly be?Maybe more screen time for the man in the white cape?  What about a demonstration of sheer might from the Empire? Or maybe an appearance of Darth Vader!?

All of these possibilities would be pretty epic but the last one is what I’m hoping for.

But on the realistic side of things I’m not sure exactly if that would really happen.

Would it make sense for RO to show their biggest and most popular character in only the second trailer?

Honestly I’m not sure.

With TFA, probably the biggest takeaway was the deformed helmet of Darth Vader and the hearing of Luke’s voice.

Looking back that was pretty major considering Kylo Ren is Luke’s nephew and the second trailer clearly foreshadowed that pretty big nugget with Luke’s line of “The Force is strong in my family.”

It’s almost a sure bet we will see something similar in this trailer with RO considering that Disney is very high on symmetry.

But think about it. What else do you want to see in RO that has not been mentioned before.

I know what I would want and that’s an appearance of the Emperor.

It would definitely make sense. With the amount of resources the Empire sunk into the Death Star and the amount of importance it holds for them, you would expect the top man to be around right?

I do believe Palpatine will be in RO but my one concern is I’m not sure if he will be in the second trailer or even the third.

It might be showing your cards too early and when it comes to Star Wars, rookie mistakes like that are never made.

You ever see a trailer for a movie like a Marvel Comics superhero flick where it feels like it’s 35 minutes long and by the time it’s over you’re almost under the impression that you just saw all the good parts??

Yea well Star Wars doesn’t have that ridiculousness…

Star Wars decision makers do it right and something they are absolutely famous for is not revealing anything too important.

I do believe RO is a different animal because it is so new but I wouldn’t be that surprised if we do see something pretty spectacular in the trailer since I’m sure they’re wanting to build up the buzz.

In the end, what will we see?

Main characters of other previous films? Possibly.

Parts of intense fighting scenes? Probably.

Could their be some hints leading to something major? I fully expect it.

 

All I know is I’m excited for Friday.

RO will be fantastic and I just can’t wait to learn more.

-Sith Pacify out

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Star Wars Battlefront Announces New Material

Today the folks at EA announced new content for Star Wars Battlefront.

Surprising? No.

About time? You got that right.

The new material will be released in different time increments with the earliest portion being dropped tomorrow.

A detailed list of what’s to come was posted on the game’s Facebook account.

Tomorrow

• The Tatooine Survival map will now support the Blast, Droid Run, Drop Zone, Hero Hunt, and Heroes vs Villains multiplayer modes, and is called Raider Camp.
• New Hoth-themed outfits for Luke Skywalker and Han Solo, both of which will be available to all fans when they play as these two iconic characters on Hoth – these were unlocked by our players for completing our Heroes’ Holiday community mission last month.
• We are giving players the ability to create Private Matches, which makes playing with friends even easier.
• The introduction of Daily Challenges and Community Events. These are designed to rally the Community around certain goals and objectives, giving players the chance to earn credits and unlocks even faster. We’ll have more news regarding Community Events and Daily Challenges in the days ahead.
• And of course, we are also including some overall balancing tweaks to both weapons and multiplayer modes.

February 

• A new Survival mission on Hoth, and a brand-new Hoth multiplayer map that will support our larger game modes including Walker Assault, Supremacy, Fighter Squadron and Turning Point.
•  Turning Point will be available on all maps that currently support Walker Assault and Supremacy in the February update.

March

• A new multiplayer map on Endor that will support Walker Assault, Supremacy, and Turning Point, and an additional Tatooine Survival map.

 

Now that you’ve seen all of that, it’s time to talk about it.

For starters, all of this will be free.

That’s awesome and very cool of EA.

However, we gamers are not stupid and for those who payed for EA’s “epic” Season Pass, we should be quite disappointed.

Before today, no one had any clue what was going on with the Season Pass.

It was as if EA took everyone’s money and just said “Oh well, we’re just going to keep this and not give you anything extra because well, we think we deserve it…”

But alas, our disappointment has come to an end as a bit of clarity was finally introduced.

The Season Pass too was announced which gives us all quite a bit of excitement.

Here’s what we can expect.

 

• Star Wars™ Battlefront™ Outer Rim (March 2016) – Fight among the factories of Sullust and battle within Jabba the Hutt’s palace on Tatooine
• Star Wars™ Battlefront™ Bespin (Summer 2016) – It’s hunt or be hunted in this action-packed experience set in the Cloud City of Bespin
• Star Wars™ Battlefront™ Death Star (Fall 2016) – That’s no moon! One of the most iconic locations in the Star Wars universe makes its debut in Star Wars Battlefront.
• Star Wars™ Battlefront™ Expansion Pack 4 – Title TBA (Early 2017) – We will have more details to share about this exciting new expansion pack in the coming months.

 

All four of these maps seem like they’re going to be so much fun.

Although the game thus far has been mildly okay and predictably repetitive with only five maps, this is a direct injection of jubilation.

The guys over at EA are not stupid.

They’re very wise to release two maps rather than just one in the first expansion pack for the Season Pass in March.

Now besides the new maps, what I’m most looking forward to is the new costumes to Han and Luke.

As you can see in the cover photo, it looks pretty clean.

I think from an aesthetics standpoint, to see a blue lightsaber upon the crystal-white landscape on Hoth will look incredibly awesome.

For Han, his costume just looks like the same old Han. Badass.

Another important update that EA is adding (tomorrow) is the “overall balancing tweaks to both weapons and multiplayer modes.”

To put it lightly…this is very much needed.

Some weapons are just way too powerful and others are just extremely weak.

It’s a great piece of the game to improve on so, well done EA.

Just to put things in perspective, it was very important that we at long last recieved an update about the Season Pass and about the future of this game.

Believe me, it needed it in the most severest of ways.

As a Star Wars fan and a gamer, it’s very hard to play a game for hours upon hours when it only features five maps with very limited characters.

Basically, the game was getting ridiculously boring…

On top of that, so many people including myself purchased the Season Pass and since the game came out in November, no one had any idea what was the deal with it.

January is almost over and to STILL not have any idea what’s going on with that was a major problem so I’m glad EA fixed that.

All in all, EA seems to have done a nice job with these fixes and additions.

I’m really looking forward to playing them and seeing everything in action!

-Sith Pacify out

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Three Pivotal Moments that Secured the Battle of Endor

When the Rebellion set off to engage the Empire above the forest planet of Endor, they knew what that entailed…

The Empire had the supreme advantage going into the battle.

From superior manpower to their technological edge, they were stronger and more fit for such a crucial fight.

Perhaps the Empire’s most dominating factor for the clash was their element of surprise.

Going into the battle, the Rebel Alliance truly thought they had caught the Empire off-guard.

But it was the Alliance who was fooled and bewildered.

As Admiral Ackbar and General Calrissian raced to meet the Death Star above Endor, they were ambushed by the gargantuan death machine’s activated shields.

As the Rebel offensive was quickly forced to regroup, they were again blindsided by the Empire’s relentlessness.

To Admiral Ackbar’s horror, not only was the Death Star’s shields online but the super-weapon’s death ray was also active.

Now, we all know how this ends but what happens along the way is so vital and important, it’s worth mentioning.

The single most important moment that won the Battle of Endor for the Alliance belongs to Lando.

As the Empire began to absolutely crush the Rebel cruisers through the mechanical monstrosity’s death ray, Admiral Ackbar issued the order to retreat.

Upon hearing the Admiral’s order, Lando furiously protests the Mon Calamari’s decree.

Both knew the consequences of leaving the battle at this moment.

For the future, their ability to launch an offensive would be near impossible as their resources would now be disastrously depleted.

What’s more, the Alliance would have no choice but to abandon all the forces which they had deployed planetside on Endor.

Of course, those forces were invaluable since they included the likes of Rebel leaders Leia Organa and Han Solo.

Not to mention Luke who’d be left in the clutches of the evil Emperor….

But no, we never had to see such a dire situation thanks to Lando’s quick thinking.

Lando demands Ackbar to move the fleet as close as possible and engage the star destroyers in point blank range.

Besides the obvious of allowing the battle to continue, this allowed the Rebel cruisers to combat the Empire’s star destroyers.

This ingenious military call by Calrissian also took down the personal flagship of Darth Vaders’, the Executor.

What this move ultimately did for the Alliance though was it effectively provided some distance between the cruisers and the Death Star plus it provided them with some cover in the form of star destroyers.

The second most important moment that won the Battle of Endor for the Alliance was the aid of the Ewoks.

It sounds funny doesn’t it? A bunch of little fur balls running around and wreaking havoc on the Galactic Empire.

Well, it happened.

It almost sounds too crazy to believe.

So how were the Ewoks able to turn the tide in the fight between the Alliance and the Empire?

Well, for one, they were an unknown entity.

What I mean by this is Palpatine and the Empire were aware of the Ewoks presence on Endor but they were believed to be unintelligent and incapable of any harm to the Empire and its forces.

As Palpatine himself would say, this “lack of vision” would inevitably prove fatal for the Empire as they were unable to quell Endor’s native species.

The little creatures ingenuity and ability to persevere as well as adapt is what helped the Rebels crush the mechanical monsters the Empire unleashed on Endor.

The third and final most important moment that won the Battle of Endor for the Alliance was the Emperor’s arrogance.

Whether you’re the Intergalactic ruler of the Galaxy and everything in it or a small child in the back woods of Tatooine, no one is omnipotent.

The Emperor would have disagreed.

The Dark Lord was so confident in his forces and in his own ability to foresee any imminent danger that he forgot to look directly in front of him.

And you know something, Luke was right.

When Luke says to the Emperor in ROTJ “Your overconfidence is your weakness”, he was right!

The Emperor personally allowed the alliance to land (unharmed) on Endor, which in turn acted as a small strike team in an attempt to destroy the shield generator.

He should have made the correlation to all of the Empire’s defeats and realized that the most common similarity with all of them was simple: Luke and/or his friends were involved in each of them…

Now, if Palpatine was able to swallow his pride and realize the potential harm in allowing this “band of misfits” near a device so crucial to the Empire’s victory as the shield generator was, maybe he’d of thought twice.

Maybe…

In the end, these three choices made all the difference in this clash of humanity vs oppression.

If just one of these three moments had gone wry in even the most minuscule of ways, all hope would have been lost.

Pride can be a dangerous thing.

But for the Empire (and the Emperor)?

It was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

-Sith Pacify out.

What if Tarkin evacuated the Death Star?

Here on the SithPacify blog we discuss events that occurred, people it effected or situations that ensued.

Today is a bit different. Instead, I’m going to be writing about the Grand Moff Tarkin.

We all know that he met his maker at the end of the battle above Yavin Prime when the Death Star was destroyed.

But what if he survived? After all, Imperial officer, Moradmin Bast approaches Tarkin minutes before the Death Star’s destruction claiming that there is a danger.

Of course Tarkin declines Bast’s request to prepare his ship and as they say, the rest is history.

But, what if he did evacuate? What if Tarkin survived? What would be the consequences of his continuance?

Immediate Repercussions

Tarkin was a hard-nosed, battle hardened leader. He was respected, he was strong and he was merciless. In seeing the Death Star’s decimation, his pet-project I might add, he would no doubt be furious and demand immediate retribution.

Tarkin is well known in getting his way too. I’m sure if he wanted his revenge, it would be almost a done deal.

For instance, in the Novel Tarkin written by the great James Luceno, the Moff is flawlessly described and portrayed as an ingenious military leader who gets what he wants through his own sheer will.

I assume Tarkin would instantly begin the planning on how he’d throw the return punch back at the Rebel forces as soon as he sat down on his evacuation shuttle.

He’d gather a research team and spare no resource in doing so too. His endgame would of course be utter annihilation for the likes of those who ultimately embarrassed him and took away his prized possession, the Death Star.

His Next Move

Tarkin would get crafty. He understands warfare better than anyone and he’d make sure everyone knew it too.

One way or another, he would discover the Rebel base on Hoth and unlike Vader, I would have to imagine Tarkin would order a space bombardment.

Although I wouldn’t be all that surprised if he decided to raid the base and take prosoners…

Tarkin loved to make an example….(Alderaan)

What’s Next?

When Tarkin was alive, Vader, although completely in a class of his own, had to consult with Tarkin.

Vader might have been a Sith but when it came to the Galactic Empire’s  military, few if any were ahead of Tarkin.

It’s interesting in A New Hope, Tarkin gives the orders and everyone does what he says.

Then, in The Empire Strikes Back, it’s Vader who is now calling the shots.

If Tarkin survived, he’d undoubtedly still be in that position of power. That is unless the Emperor was so bold as to punish the Grand Moff for the loss of his prized battlestation.

It’s worth giving some thought too since Vader practically puts on hold any plans for the Empire and goes on a personal vendetta in sending a massive amount of Imperial resources to chase after the Millenium Falcon.

In my opinion, if Vader would have concentrated his attention on the bulk of the Rebellion, wherever they may be, the Empire would have drastically benefitted. This is exactly what Tarkin would have done.

Tarkin wasn’t a man who messed around. He was a to-the-point, black-and-white, high ranking military official whom saw to it that his missions were completed, always.

What Does it Mean? 

So what is the final result of Tarkin surviving the Death Star? Complete annihilation of the Rebellion.

I really don’t think Tarkin would allow the Rebels to continue to win and take it to the Empire as they did.

I mean, let’s be real, Vader practically allows the Rebellion to rip the Empire little by little as he goes off on his own crusade.

The threat the Rebels posed became so legitimate that the Emperor himself made the decision that his presence and supervision was needed.

I don’t exactly know how or when but you can bet that the Grand Moff Tarkin would not mess around with the Rebellion after a near brush with death and the loss of his station.

Tarkin’s strike would be so severe, that it would be fair to pose question of long it would take for the Rebellion to cease to exist.

Maybe there wouldn’t even be three movies in the original trilogy!

With Tarkin at the helm, the Rebellion’s days would certainly be numbered and eventually, the Empire would go on to crush their nemeses “with one swift stroke.”

-Sith Pacify out

What if Luke turned to the Dark Side?

What if?

Everyone knows at the end of Return of the Jedi, Luke fulfills his destiny as he symbolically denies the Emperor one last time and proclaims himself saying “I am a Jedi, like my father before me.”

But what would have happened if Luke succumbed to his emotions and struck the final blow to kill Vader?

Would he then go on to pledge himself to the Emperor or try to engage the Dark Lord in conflict as well?

First off, it’s important to understand this…Luke, much like his father, heavily relied on the advice from his role models.

Anakin had Chancellor Palpatine fill that void, that didn’t go so well for him but for Luke it might have been different.

As for Luke, he had old Ben Kenobi. A force in his life that would remain a major stalwart so much so that he would go on to name one of his sons Ben.

However, in this moment, Ben was not with him. Therefore leaving Luke dangerously open to seduction.

So, imagine Luke is standing over Vader’s lifeless corpse when the Emperor moseys on over.

Someone like Luke who would realize the gravity of the situation would almost immediately would look for guidance.

I’d imagine that the Emperor, using his crafty and grandfatherly advice would attempt to brainwash Luke to the point of no return. Yes, that’s right, to the Dark Side.

Now time to go back to the original question. Would Luke turn on Sidious in this moment? Maybe after he realized that it might be the only way to turn a heinous situation into a pertinent one and still remain one of the good guys.

I’d have to say, yes he probably would.

Of course in the movie, after he defeats Vader, Luke sees the flaws in his aggressive actions and tosses away his weapon and acknowledges his fate.

So for arguments sake, lets say Luke engaged the Emperor.

Luke vs Sidious

When the Emperor first lays eyes on Luke, there is a sense of trepidation and fear that even Luke feels emanating from the Dark Lord.

Not that this would have really mattered but nonetheless, the Emperor was afraid of Luke and saw him as a threat.

With this being said, I find it hard to believe that Luke would really stand a chance. After all, he’s completely decimated from the Emperor’s force lightning.

Plus, with the Emperor already feeling threatened and a tinge of fear, I’m sure he’d release his full arsenal of power.

Luke’s Jedi upbringing was incomplete and fragmented since both of his teachers died/killed at some point during his teachings.

With this being said, as you saw in the ROTJ, Luke would have been obliterated by the Emperor’s lightning.

He simply did not have the necessary training to comprehend how to counter the Emperor’s crackling electric energy spewing from his finger tips.

With his father now no more and the Emperor’s complete lack of mercy, Luke would be a goner.

You also have to understand this. The fact that the Emperor would need another enforcer since Vader has departed, I could very much see the Emperor end his electrical barrage at the last second and force Luke to swear his loyalty.

Of course he’d probably allow his darkness to handicap Luke in someway (similar to what happened to Anakin) in order for Sidious to feel more comfortable around a force like Luke.

Now it would remain to be seen if Luke would pledge himself (I doubt it) but nevertheless that’s how things would most likely play out.

Luke Wins

Consider the fact that the Emperor in his old age is practically ancient and by the look of his face alone, he looks prehistoric!

What would have happened if Luke got up close to the Sith Lord? Right there would be a turning point.

Not in ROTJ, but in the expanded universe, the emperor has said it himself. He considers lightsaber combat primitive and barbaric, something he likes to boast saying it’s a Jedi action.

The Emperor believes in conflict through the force.

Now what happens if Luke was able to incapacitate Sidous from using his force abilities?

I very much doubt that the Emperor carries around a lightsaber of his own anymore and I bet he’d be weaker than ever with it as well.

There is something to be said of his ability to augment his physicality and possibly raise his competitive edge up higher through exposing himself to the force.

Still, I don’t think he would be able to match Luke’s prowess. I mean, just look at Luke. He’s a physical specimen just like his father was.

Luke’s Next Move

Now that Luke has eliminated the heads of the Empire, what would his next move be?

He could easily just exit the Death Star and return to his friends. However, he could just as easily assume control of Imperial operations and follow a similar path that Anakin did.

I tend to think Luke would do the latter.

He even realizes himself that he had a strange fascination and enjoyed the power of the Dark Side as it surged through him and around him as he stands over his father.

Luke is an emotional person. It’s only up until he enters Jabba’s Palace does he begin to take charge of his emotions.

The key is, his emotional outbursts are still there, just guarded.

Of course it’s toned down compared to his bout with Vader in The Empire Strikes Back but it does remain in his character.

End Game

If Luke did end up joining the Dark Side, it signals ultimate doom for the Rebellion and future Jedi hope.

Luke would go on to be possibly the most powerful, dynamic and unopposed Sith Lord the galaxy had ever seen.

Reason being, all the Jedi competition would practically be eliminated and extinct!

That’s one way to remain at the top!

It’s plausible to say, Leia could still sway Luke or maybe Luke could even sway Leia.

Still, I can’t see Leia turning and abandoning her cause. She’s just too invested. Plus the Empire did kill her adopted parents so that’s a big hurdle to get over as well…

Leia just seems to stubborn and set in her ways compared to Luke but hey, ya never know!

One thing is for sure, it would be a dark dark day if Luke ever turned to the Sith.

-Sith Pacify out