Ever since Star Wars entered the geek stage; there has been a conflict between it and the already established Star Trek. This discussion has raged on for multiple generations now, never with a clear winner, but leaving destruction and ruined families in its wake. I say no more! It is time to settle this once and for all! Star Trek would not stand five minutes against Star Wars in a fair fight in space!  So let's get down to it, and see who comes out on top in this battle of the "Stars"!

Round One:  Fleet Size and Composition 
In the Star Trek universe, be it TOS, TNG, DS9, Voyager, or Enterprise, almost every ship in the Federation is traveling alone. ALONE, no escort, no back up, sometimes light years away from help. Oh we all know why, they are on their mission of “peaceful exploration” that frequently ends in bloodshed, but they are very rarely with another ship. Furthermore almost every ship in the Federation is outfitted with technology and personal for this mission of exploration, no combat. Yes they CAN engage an enemy at a moment’s notice, but they can’t stay in a fight for long, due to the presence of civilians, children, and a lack of armaments on the ship.

On the flip side of that we have the Rebellion and the Empire. Both sides know the other is actively looking for them and take the necessary precautions. Never will you see a capitol ship from either side travel ANYWHERE without a full escort. Frigates, cruisers, destroyers, patrol ships, a full complement of fighters, the whole nine yards. In order to get the drop on a fleet requires you knowing where they are and sending a bigger fleet at them. Surgical strikes are met with minimal success when attacking a fleet. 

The Score:  Star Wars - 1    Star Trek - 0

Round Two:  Capital Ship Type 
If history has taught us anything in the last one hundred years in terms of naval combat is that carrier based capital ships are far superior to that of a battleship. The fighters and bombers that the carrier has can rain more death and destruction on their enemy than a handful of big guns ever could. Star Wars capital ships are all carriers and Star Trek only has battleships. Almost every Star Wars ship carries a compliment of fighters, from the Mon Calamari and Imperial Star Destroyer to the Nebulon B Frigate and Acclimatetor class Star Destroyer. The Federation, Romulan Star Empire, Klingion Empire, Gorn Confederation, all of them, they don’t use carriers in any fashion. True they have shuttles and those do have weapons, but even the biggest ships only have half a dozen shuttles in their shuttle bay and let’s be honest, which will win, a Type II shuttlecraft or an X-wing?

The Score:  Star Wars - 2   Star Trek - 0

Round Three:  Firepower
What is this!?  Is Star Trek going to win one? As a matter of fact yes. This one comes down to simple physics. Star Wars uses LASER (Light Amplification by Stimulated Emissions of Radiation) which is more or less very focused light, no mass, minimal stopping power. Star Trek uses phasers, a device that uses energy to accelerate mass to the speed of light, converting most of the mass into energy. A phaser hits with both mass and energy dealing more damage. Furthermore you have the photon torpedo, which is kinda a misnomer because it really is an anti-mater torpedo. The reason you always hear about core breaches and stuff in Star Trek is because of the anti-matter that it uses as fuel. Hoping back to our friend Einstein, he gave use the equation E=MC2 or Energy = Mass x (Speed of light)2. When matter hits anti-matter you get a complete mass to energy conversion, and in the case of a photon torpedo, that’s a lot of anti-matter that just hit matter. Boom.

The Score:  Star Wars - 2   Star Trek - 1

The Final Round:  Speed
Star Trek’s mode of transportation is a work of fantasy, not science fiction. You cannot travel faster than the speed of light (thank you Albert Einstein). Let’s imagine for a moment that it can, just for the sake of arguing, Star Wars is still faster. Let's also say that both sets of stories only take place in the Milky Way galaxy. The Milky Way is about 100-120 kilolight-years in diameter, and a kilolight-year is 1,000 light-years equaling about 100,000 light-years across. In Voyager it was going to take the crew 75 years to get home at warp 9 and they were only 70,000 light-years from the Alpha Quadrant. 

That same distance, 70,000 light-years, is like going from Dantooine and the secrete rebel base to Endor, which will take maybe a day in hyperspace. As another nail in this coffin, all of the rebel fighters have a hyperdrive.

The Final Score:  Star Wars - 3   Star Trek - 1

Even given the better firepower of the Federation, they would still get clobbered in a fight with either the Rebellion or the Empire. Star Trek has fire superiority, but that's it. They will have to wade through more ships and fighters that can out maneuver them. If they try and run all it will do is prolong the inevitable, because the Star Wars ships are faster. Perhaps today is a good day to die.

Star Trek is not without its merits. It did help teach the world about racial and social tolerance in a time when the country needed that lesson. It also inspired an entire generation to become scientists and engineers, helping to push the world into this new age where lots of the gadgets that seemed so far-fetched in 1969 are now common place. But if you ask me, Star Wars is SO much cooler.

Live long and Prosper, and May the Force be with You

What kind of world do we live in when a Galactic Empire get pushed around by a mouse? I mean, what did they ever do to the mouse the roared? Well whatever the reason may be Lucas Arts has been shut down by Disney, who says "After evaluating our position in the games market, we've decided to shift Lucas Arts from an internal development to a licensing model, minimizing the company's risk while achieving a broader portfolio of quality Star Wars games," Disney said in a statement. "As a result of this change, we've had layoffs across the organization. We are incredibly appreciative and proud of the talented teams who have been developing our new titles." It would be fine if it just ended there, but the games are not the only thing to suffer as all other projects have been put on hold since they serve as more of a distraction leaving Disney the ability to focus on just the next film. Not that every game has been a hit but in the last few years there have been some very solid games to come out.

First to come to mind are the Lego Star Wars titles, granted they are not the most difficult of games to master but they are a lot of fun. It’s not a true button masher but the puzzles and game play are very interactive and have improved over the years with the environments and characters. It’s very well known that I am an achievement whore but there are a few on the Star Wars games that are downright tough to unlock, and any Lego lover will be completely captivated by the series. Each movie has its own section in the game and once the free play is unlocked you truly get to play as your favorite character or your very own Jedi, but then that’s where this series excelled for me. The story mode was fun and to see all six movies in a Lego perspective was humorous and quirky but the free play with the hidden areas and treasures is the best of any game I have ever played. 

Republic Commando was cool and had its moments of fun, but did get a little sluggish in places and the AI acted like a kid with A.D.D. and a bouncy red ball. The beginning of the Clone Wars and running a special ops mission for a shooter wasn’t all that bad of an idea, by far the best character to come out of it was Scorch…Well the only one I remember that is but it was the first good look at the Clones as they started to expand the design of different specializations. Knights of the Old Republic was a much more enjoyable platform for me than Republic Commando; the ability to customize the group and weapons was fun and the story was something we hadn’t seen at the time. A look in the past to a fallen Jedi left to your decisions on how the character progressed to the Light or Dark side of the Force. The planets you got to visit we cool, but left you wanting to see more as the environments were not all that expansive and you had limited roaming available to you.

Yes I know, for all the game people, there are a load of other shooter games out there, Dark Forces and some titles I have even forgotten just because they were painful and I didn’t like them. One of the reasons I don’t do game reviews…I like to stay positive, that’s why I have saved these two games for last. Force Unleashed and its sequel. I loved this game and have to say a true success in every way. I very rarely run through a game a second time (well except for achievement points) for the sake of the story but it pulled me in. At the end I was left with questions and wanting to know what happened to the character, did he live, there has to be more story and then came Force Unleashed II. Yes it answered questions but it did seem a little rushed. The first one did not disappoint with length, content, or game play and the final fight with Vader gave me chills. Again the characters destiny is in your hands, to a point but the game pushes you in the direction it needs you so it can complete the story but an awesome pay off. The Sequel was just as enjoyable for the game play and you come out fighting with a lot of your abilities still intact from where the story left off. It just felt as if the story and game were short, as if they were rushing to get it out and maybe they were since the first one was raved about by fans and gamers alike. I have to admit the best mission on the second game was the Endor one…I still laugh at kicking Ewoks and the noise they made as they went sailing into the brush. (bwwwwaaaahaahahahahah).

So maybe you’re not sold, maybe I have only proved why Disney pulled the plug and now happy with just focusing on the movies but I am telling you it’s a giant mistake. Star Wars Kinect, absolutely brilliant! If for no other reason than the ability to create something new and completely interactive, able to tie it into the movies and shows is untapped. It would be like taking that new show Defiance to a whole new level and to have the creative power house right next door to help in the whole process. This game has been fun, a challenge, and yes I have even used my light saber to play just to see what it would be like. It was ground braking, and for me a chance to enjoy Star Wars on a whole new level; who doesn’t want to feel like they are a Jedi? You forget rather quickly that you’re off the couch, jumping around, waving your arms around as you throw things on the screen at advancing troops. It’s face paced, flows well from one encounter to the next as you take the steps towards becoming a Jedi. I would recommend if you haven’t done it already, go and pick up these games and hold on.

Maybe I am being narrow minded, maybe this will open it up to other ideas and grow the Star Wars universe as different visions are applied. Maybe I will finally find out what a Jawa looks like under his hood…..I bet he’s a Ninja, but then that’s a story for another time.

Welcome to Star Wars Friday my friends!  I am going to go a little outside the box this week, so bear with me.  I am currently taking a Philosophy of Science Fiction course here at college, and we are going over the concept of free will in relation to everything.  Now, my teacher happens to be a huge geek as well (hence teaching the sci-fi course here) and we related free will to the clones in Star Wars. The main point of topic was “Order 66” from Episode III.

For those of you that might not know what Order 66 is shame on you. But just for review Order 66 reads as follows: “In the event of Jedi officers acting against the interests of the Republic, and after receiving specific orders verified as coming from the Supreme Commander (Chancellor), GAR commanders will remove those officers by lethal force, and command of the GAR will revert to the Supreme Commander (Chancellor), until a new command structure is established.”  So in short this order is to kill the Jedi with no question about it. Does this give the clones a choice to not kill the Jedi when this order is giving? Do they have a voice about it or will they just follow orders like a solider is supposed to? My professor believes that the clones didn’t have free will, and as much as I would like to disagree with him, the facts are over whelming. I guess it is time to discuss free will.  

Free will is defined as, according to the online Webster’s dictionary, the power of acting without the constraint of necessity or fate; the ability to act at one's own discretion. Now I don’t believe that it was fate that the clones kill the Jedi, however I do believe it was of their own discretion and acting without constraint. Could they have not killed the Jedi? Did the clones have free will? Did they not?
The clones have many different things programmed into them. Stated in Episode II, they are better than machines because they do have the power of thought and abstract thinking, but they are very obedient. So two things come into play here, abstract thinking and obedience. 

When we first hear of this order it is when Obi-Wan is talking to Commander Cody on Utapau. Orders are given and Obi-Wan takes off on his ride. As Obi-Wan is taking off, Commander Cody gets a message from The Chancellor saying “The time has come. Execute Order 66.” Okay cool. What does this mean we all asked ourselves first seeing this movie? Next thing we know Commander Cody is talking to some other clones saying “Blast him!” pointing to Obi-Wan climbing up the mountain. BAM! He is shot. He lives of course, but not the point.  The point of this is that Commander Cody just turns around and orders his troops to kill someone that he has known for years and become friends with! This would insinuate that there is no free will right? This would also possibly start the contradiction of if the clones can really think in abstract ways. 

If the clones were able to truly think, and not just be robots, and had free will, wouldn’t the clones ask what the Jedi had done before going off and shooting all of them? Wouldn’t the clones feel guilt or remorse for killing their comrades, their friends?  It clearly states in the order that IF the Jedi are acting in a way against the Republic to kill them. Not a single clone wants to know what the Jedi have done? Not a single clone? This would lead me to believe that what was said on Kamino was wrong. That these clones are not any better than a robot, and do not possess abstract thinking. If these clones were to have abstract thinking, they wouldn’t have all just turned around and killed their Jedi friends and leaders. Moral values would have come into play.  

I wanted to believe that the clones would have had free will, that the clones still had an independent thought process and were able to decide from right and wrong, but the actions that they commit choose to prove otherwise. One would find it hard to believe that someone would just turn around without hesitation and kill their friends.  

Order 66 was given, and it was executed without a second thought. 

The one thing that can be said about George Lucas is very accommodating to the fans, well was anyway. He has always been open-minded to letting the fans help shape some of the Star Wars universe as long as it had the look. Something that could fit in the world with creatures, costumes, and the visual was the most key element to the story. I have seen my fair share of fan films some good and some not so good, and some that left me just scratching my head in disbelief but god love em for trying. To try and bring a vision of the Star Wars universe to life is no easy task and takes a certain level of courage to see it through. Here are a few of the ones that stand out to me as the stars, one that filled a very good hole in the Darth Maul story and would have been cool to see with a bigger budget. The other a more lighter side and focuses on the day in the life of a Storm Trooper and what a reality show about them might just look like. Now some of the quality is a bit dodgy in parts but hey what do you want from a guy holding a camera with little to no training. But I have found that sometime it’s best to just let the finished product speak for itself it’s not Robot Chicken, but then that’s a story for another time.

So here we are at last.  After discussing a pair of films that split the fan base straight down the middle, we come to the one Star Wars movie that blends both the best and worst elements of the franchise all in a two hour window.  That's right, today we spotlight the end of the prequel trilogy with Revenge of the Sith.

As always with the Star Wars Spotlight, no need to discuss the plot. We know how this one goes, and this is really a fine opportunity to discuss what makes this particular film the best of the prequel trilogy. But before we get to the good stuff, let's talk about something unique about this particular movie.  The fact that while it is the king of the prequels, it suffers badly from a case of mistaken identity.  Half of the film remains true to the romantic themes of the first two prequels, before giving way to the magic of the original trilogy.

The reason I make mention of that, is because the split between the past and the future is so sudden that the experience is jarring for certain.  We go instantly from the growth of Padme and Anakin's love and the mystery surrounding the Sith to bam - Darth Vader and the Emperor just like that.  Yes, I get we see elements that build to Vader, but truthfully the moment he turns arrives at breakneck speed. Yet once the choice to turn to the Darkside is made by Anakin, the film finally finds its stride. Despite whether or not Hayden Christensen was the right choice to play the elder Skywalker matters not, simply because there are some solid moments of evil.  The attack on the Jedi temple and the sheer fury that Skywalker/Vader reigns down is fantastic to say the least and it makes one wonder, why didn't we see more of this sooner?  

I think after revisiting the prequels once more, that is the question that stands out in my mind.  That perhaps all three films needed that dark air hanging over them to draw us in.  Really in the end the first six films are about Anakin Skywalker and his journey, and the harsh truth is that we really only see the best parts of his journey at the end of the series.  There was a grand opportunity here to really bring us a tortured character, and to really build up the need for a rebellion rather than imply it.  

Regardless, Revenge of the Sith ends up being a lot of fun, and the fan boy moments at the end of the film are absolutely worth the wait.  Granted, the "No" moment is one to forget, but I did find myself getting chills the first time Vader's mask locked into the place and the steam and smoke above him moved gently as he took his first breath as one of science fiction's greatest villains.  

In fact the final shot on Tatooine manages to wipe away any negative emotions directed at the prequels.  Only because we know that what comes next is one of the greatest trilogies in the history of film.  

With talks of the next new movie looming and the fact that George Lucas himself is hemeragin information about who’s signing for the next picture along with the mouse trying to contain every bit of information about the next set of movies. There has been one very large over sight that may have gone unnoticed, who will be doing the Star Wars comics? Not to be the one to rain on everyone’s parade and not that everyone cares about the future of the Star Wars universe in regards to the comics. Oddly enough I do; not from a sales perspective, or ordering point of view but from the story side of things. 

For the last decade since obtaining the license Dark Horse has done everything it can to not only grow the Star War world but continue the story in both directions of the time line. Since they have had the rights to the property we have seen some fantastic stories ranging from Boba Fett being hunted to the very creation of the Jedi. We have seen then end of Chewbacca and 3P0’s head on a spike to the inception of the Dark Side into the Jedi order and how easy a trip down that path can be. Now with the big bad mouse in charge where does it all go? Dark Horse has had such a brilliant run with its Star Wars titles I hate to see it come to an end. Granted the sales have not been record setting but what they have been is consistent with sales, art, and stories that the fans have wanted to see. There are a few examples of this, and some that stand out to me are the infinites series, some of the Vader titles along with the compendiums to the movies that have given us some great back stories to the characters that we would see on the big screen.

The Infinities is more of a “what if” and shows the other paths taken if things went wrong or a different choice had been made. For example what if Luke had missed in the run on the Death Star? A great question that is answered in this series as well as what if Luke had completed his training before he faced off with Vader. There was also the series The Vader Quest, a four issues limited series that covered the hunt for Luke Skywalker by Vader, who knew how important Luke would be to the Rebels . There other stories but the list could be endless and the only thing that helped me through the prequel movies were the back stories of Yoda, Mace and OB1, and how they were filled in by some brilliant story telling in the comic medium. Now I‘m sure your sitting there, scratching your head, trying to figure out where I am going with this. Fact; Dark Horses contract with Lucas is over at the end of the year. Fact number two; the mouse owns Marvel comics who owned the rights to Stars Wars back in the day during the first set of movies. So who’s to say that they won’t option to take it back in house and give it back to Marvel? 

With the movies looming and such, make a unified front to have a consistent market share and control it all. The mouse has already started to shut down any fan based films and any stray thoughts out there and where is Star Wars Detours? It’s almost been a year now since it was mentioned at Star Wars Celebration, on hold till the paper work is done? Who knows if we will ever see it now, where will it end? It’s like the Emeror controlling the Storm Troopers through the force. I don’t want to see it come to an end at Dark Horse to be honest, and in fact, I have enjoyed some of the stories. I had heard the rumor they thought of doing a Knight of the Old Republic series of movies. The game series has been very popular and the comic title consistent with some spectacular ideas. I doubt we will ever see it on the big screen but with the conclusion of the Clone Wars next year we may see it as a TV series. One of the two more recent releases for the Star Wars universe has been Dawn of the Jedi and the newly re-launched Star Wars title picking up right after the fourth movie New Hope.

Dawn of the Jedi was great, exploring the different aspects of the Jedi and there way of life as they evolve in different environments on different planets. The creation of different temples and just how someone became a Jedi at the inception of the “religion” the Jedi don’t even have light sabers yet. From this series we get to see a lush and fertile Tatooine, not the desert planet that we have come to know and love as well as how the Sith came into being as a race not just a darker side to the Force.  The other title that has just started that I mentioned earlier was Star Wars and as issue two has been out for only a few weeks the story is already a captivating one. This is set right after the first Death Star has been destroyed and both sides are feeling the impact. The Rebels on the run trying to find a new home now that Alderaan has been destroyed and their base exposed on Yavin 4. Leia has been given command of her own special team to try and avoid any further information being leaked to the Imperials by what can only be a spy within the Rebellion. Luke and Wedge are part of the team along with half a dozen other characters, mission, find a new home by whatever means necessary since the Empire has made it all but impossible to hide on any inhabited planet. The Empire is also coming to terms with the lost of so many troops, equipment, and over two decades worth of production cost for the Death Star. What I love about this series so far is everyone has issues and we get to see them first hand. Darth Vader seems to have it the worst as the shame of his failure is still fresh and reminded of it by the Emperor as he takes Vader’s command away from him, sending him on some mission that will be explained in the issues to come. Han and Chewbacca are also having issues settling into their new roles as “rebels” are soon on the run from Slave 1 with the reward from saving the Princess burning a hole in their pocket.

Great story telling that I fear will come to its end when and if it leaves Dark Horse; I could be worried about nothing. Maybe the mouse will leave things the way they are since it has been working so well for the last few years. Then again with Marvel part of the family why would they want the license anywhere else? So if it does come back to Marvel, will they keep the time line already established or start fresh? What I do know, for now, I will enjoy the new Star Wars title that has the kid in me wanting to play with all of my Star Wars action figures, but that is a story for another time.

There is something that has been boggling my mind for quite some time now. There is a character in Star Wars that you either love him, or you hate him. This character created an almost worse feud and divide between the fans than the one of  “Oh, well I LOVE the original trilogy,” or “I love the new set of movies.”  Here is a claim that I have heard before of this man.    

“The greatest enemy to the Alliance is a member of the former Republic Senate. This man was responsible for a great hardship and death in the final years of the Republic. He was responsible for proposing the emergency powers to the supreme chancellor and started the fall of democracy and hope in the galaxy. This man is the former representative of the sovereign system of Naboo, the Gungan Jar Jar Binks!”  

Now honestly, can you really hate a man for that? I mean, someone had to start somewhere to get the Chancellor to his position of power to create these epic movies. Is this the only reason people claim to hate Jar Jar? No, I don’t think that is it. Because I’m not too sure how many people realize that Jar Jar is the one that brought about the rein of the Empire, as this was only pointed out to me quite recently. Claims against Jar Jar say that he is a pointless character, that he doesn’t do anything for plot, he gets in the way, and that he is just flat out annoying. Jar Jar got in the way and was to his own claim, very clumsy. But still, these are all very little reasons to hate someone with such a passion. AND!  This, honestly sounds like another character… C3PO anyone? Didn’t hear people screaming and complaining about him back in the 70’s and 80’s to get rid of him, all he did was talk to the Ewoks. 

            Jar Jar provided comic relief in Episode I. Without him it would have been all very serious Anakin trying to smuggle his way into the movie. I loved Jar Jar, and loved all the Gungan’s along with him. Also, take this into consideration. Without Jar Jar, we would have never met the Gungans, and we would have never been able to use them in the battle on Naboo. Granted, it wasn’t them that saved Naboo it was Anakin getting into a ship like he shouldn’t have… but still the droids would have taken over Naboo and everything would have been over right there. As Jar Jar wasn’t NEEDED for the plot of the movies, he was still there, and I still loved him. Are most side-kicks really NEEDED for movies though?  Did we need Chewy? Did we need C3PO and R2-D2? Did we need Count Doku? Did we need any of them? We just wanted them there. People wanted Jar Jar around. At least someone did, because he was written into the script. 

So my friends! I ask that you cut Jar Jar some slack. It’s not his fault he is clumsy. Could you keep your balance all the time with those long legs and ears? No, didn’t think so. =) 

Time for a little science, history, and strategy this week readers! That’s right; we aren’t called geeks for nothing! =) Story time first….

            Admiral Piett stands at the window, examining the situation unfolding in front of him. The rebels have dropped out of hyperspace at the edge of the Ryloth system, and judging from the fleet composition and orientation it is apparent that they did not expect to see anyone in orbit of the planet. Piett gives the order to engage the rebels, and instantly the bridge of the Executor sprang to life. Orders from lower ranking officers being shouted across the room, communication channels lighting up as posts from across the ship report in. Piett moves back to the rear of the bridge to consult the holomap. The rebels had started to reform their fleet and deploy there fighters. He watches as the symbols indicating his Tie squadrons as they approach their target, the flag ship of the Rebellion Home One and Admiral Ackbar, Piett’s counterpart.

Space combat with large ships is a delicate dance with deadly results. The commanders of these large capitol ships have to take everything into consideration before making their move. In the Star Wars movies you see both Imperial and Rebellion Admirals standing by large windows looking at the battle as it unfolds. They are getting reports of the situation from all of the other officers on the bridge. But how accurate is this? How much training did these commanders need, and if we had the technology who would they be with today’s navy? 

I think we all know the core components that go into making bad movie stew.  Rough script, bad acting choices, bad acting period, bad special effects, the list goes on and on.  But sometimes we look at our favorite films years later and see them in different light, and sometimes during that process we deem some films that we love absolutely terrible.  It is a label that often follows the prequel trilogy of Star Wars but is it truly justified?  

In fact in the last Star Wars spotlight I pointed out that there were actually some awesome parts to the movie, the stuff that childhoods are formed on.  Yet the disdain for the series continues, and the anger that stems from Episode I has certainly carried over to the sequel; Episode II:  The Phantom Menace.

Now like last time, there's no need to discuss the plot.  We were all there in the theater watching, and we all walked out with that same odd feeling of disappointment as we did with the first one.  It is that feeling we will continue to focus on, simply because this film was bigger in many ways.  More planets, more action, yet we still scratch our heads when asked to find something positive about it.  
Does it have a little too much political drama in it?  Yes, it certainly does.  That could be part of the problem.  Does it have too much Jar Jar?  Let me put it this way, yes.  So are these the chief reasons we dislike this film?   I would honestly say no.  While the last film clearly removed some of the magic we came to expect from the series, the underlying issue truthfully is our own expectations.  Again, tons of awesome moments in this movie.  We finally answer the question as to where the heck the Empire got all of those darn stormtroopers.  We got a rocking lightsaber battle, in fact the entire finale on Geonosis is pretty damn impressive.  

Now I'm not necessarily scolding everyone here, there are flaws that make you cringe watching this film.  But I truthfully believe that we all walked into these three movies expecting something epic. Therein lies the problem, I don't think we knew what we really wanted.  Was it more lightsaber battles?  Because we got that.  So what did we really want?  Some are immediately going to this read this and say "something good" and I get that.  But with Episode VII around the corner, maybe this time we need to give Star Wars something different as a fan base.  We should in no way expect a lower quality product or simply give up on the franchise.  But we should look for the core elements in the series that we feed off of, the adventure, and the excitement of the fact that Star Wars will indeed continue.  

If anythingwe should definitely embrace these films for what they are and we should be proud of the fact that one our favorite franchises that has influenced us in so many ways, is now becoming a family tradition, and these stories are finding the immortality they deserve in the hearts of our children.  

In the Star Wars universe, there is a clear sign of good and evil. You have the Jedi on one side, and the Sith on the other. The word Jedi seems to automatically calm me. They bring peace throughout the galaxy and believe in the force. The Sith are the opposite. They want only power and total power over everything. They as well believe in the force, but use these powers for destruction. Odd enough, the force isn’t the only thing that the Jedi and the Sith have in common. They both have a code that they live by. We all have that “as my grand pappy used to say,” phrase that we might refer to every once in a while in a stressful situation, but these words are what they live by. 

            To some people this might seem like a simple poem to talk about peace and serenity with the mind. When you break each line down, these are words that truly represent the Jedi. They always push aside their feelings in whatever mission they go on. They bring peace to their minds. Emotion clouds judgment, and when your sole mission is peace and democracy, emotions will tend to get in the way of that quickly. Knowledge of the force and the universe at large is something that every Jedi contains. With knowledge, you can create peace. Passion is an emotion, so this would make sense that they are to have none of it. Serenity to me is really the same thing as peace. Harmony is mostly related to music. Notes progressing together in sync making a melody of bliss. The Jedi seek to do the same thing with life, live it in sync and harmony with everything around them. There is no death, only force. The force is everything. It is the air we breathe, the food we eat, the wind we feel. It is everything. With the force, we never die, we only become a part of the universe. 

            Now, the Sith I feel is so much more relatable to me. Is there truly peace in the world? Does anyone every truly reach peace? You need some kind of emotion to pull you through life. You need motivation, a reason to live and live the way that you do. Emotions can however give you strength. Passion will. That picks you up and gives you that motivation to continue on and finish your task, whatever that task may be. Most would say this next line is a little evil in nature, but stop and think about it. Through strength I gain power. Power within yourself. You become stronger, and you have to power to then, attain victory in whatever battle you face. Whether this battle be against a savage beast or yourself, victory will come from strength. With victory over anything in live you become free as well. There are no chains to hold you back once you have won your battle.

            Are these codes really all that different in nature? They are set in place to help guide you through life, through your missions, battles, and to help you against yourself. One sounds like a sensei created it, while the other sounds like a dictator, but this is only because of phrasing.  Both have strong points to which we could all gain knowledge and learn deeply from. Which do you feel can guide you through your trouble more?