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Alongside confirming the likely date we’ll see the official announcement of the Samsung Galaxy S11, the Korean firm also kickstarted CES 2020 by unveiling the Q950TS – an 8K QLED TV with a screen that takes up 99% of the front.

First announced earlier today via Samsung’s Korean press site, the Q950TS is surely going to be one of the star attractions here at CES 2020 thanks to its truly stunning design. The lack of a true bezel surrounding the screen makes it look like the picture is floating and we were simply blown away by it when we had a first look during a Samsung preview event.

The 8K QLED TV boasts Samsung’s Infinity Screen (similar to the Infinity Display branding it uses for its current crop of flagship phones) which it claims delivers a display that covers 99% of the TV’s front. It also packs a Full Array Dimming Backlight, a deep-learning AI upscaler along with a rejigged UI. Samsung has also said that every model in the lineup will meet the requirements of the 8K Association’s Certified Test Specifications as well as the CTA 8K Ultra HD Display Definition.

The AI upscaling tech’s ‘deep learning method’ is said to be able to upscale content up to 8K resolution regardless of what the original image source is and this is thanks to a new AI quantum processor that generates its own algorithms to improve the quality of the source image. Another part of the AI feature set aims to reduce data loss during streaming and this will initially work with Prime Video thanks to a partnership with Amazon.

There’s also a new ‘Adaptive Picture’ mode that provides optimised brightness and contrast in any viewing environment. For instance, the TV will recognise the environment you’re in – a strongly sunlit room, for example – and alter the settings accordingly without you having to do anything.

Audio is a big part of this TV too, with ‘Object Tracking Sound Plus’ for recognising moving objects and Q-Symphony for getting the best possible sound out of the TV and soundbar by combining them together. You will need a specfic Samsung Q-series soundbar for this to work.

One of the less obvious features you’ll find here is Samsung Health, which can deliver fitness videos and existing workout content from your phone. We’ve seen Samsung Health previously on the brand’s smartphones but bringing it across to a large canvas like the television does seem to make a lot of sense, especially for workouts like yoga;.

We’re still waiting to hear pricing and release details for the Q950TS and we’ll update this story with more information once we get it.

The post We've seen Samsung's bezel-free 8K QLED Q950TS at CES 2020 and it's stunning appeared first on Trusted Reviews.

The Venus Smart Makeup Mirror is one of the standout gadgets of CES 2020, boasting multiple functions such as an Alexa-supported smart display speaker, mood lamp and a standard makeup mirror. 

The mirror doubles up as a touchscreen, and is capable of displaying animations. Ask Alexa for the weather and the Venus Smart Makeup Mirror will see the temperature reading and weather animation pop up on the screen. 

Related: Oral-B’s smart iO toothbrush

With an integrated speaker, Alexa will speak back to you just like it would with an Amazon Echo speaker. With the smart speaker technology integrated into this makeup mirror, you’ll be able to find out the weather, check your calendar and play music via Spotify, all while you give your face a makeover. You can even use the display for video calling a friend. 

The Venus Smart Makeup Mirror also feature Skin Diagnostic technology. Here the smart device can detect red skin or wrinkles, and then suggest cosmetic remedies to improve your skin quality. 

While obviously not one of the more advanced features, the mood lamp function of the Venus Smart Makeup Mirror will still certainly be a very helpful one. The rear of the mirror has a light, so when you flip it back in a 90-degree angle it will start functioning like a mood lamp. You can change the light to various colours too. 

Related: CES 2020: date, times, news and announcements

The Venus Smart Makeup Mirror was named as CES 2020 Innovation Awards Honoree, proving this is one of the most exciting gadgets to be shown at the Las Vegas tech conference.

When will you be able to buy one? The Venus Smart Makeup Mirror has been confirmed to launch in March 2020. There’s no official price for the Venus Smart Makeup Mirror just yet, although I was told to expect it to be available somewhere under $400. 

The post This CES 2020 Alexa-powered mirror gives you personal beauty tips appeared first on Trusted Reviews.

Your smartphone comes from China, a country where ‘phone commerce’ via a messaging app is commonplace. It’s the home of Huawei, Alibaba, Baidu, Tencent and Xaomi, and it’s home to massive investments in AI, 5G, self-driving cars, robotics, electric vehicles and even missions to Mars. Here are just a few ways that an increasingly high-tech China is creeping ahead of the rest of the world.

1. A 'super-app'

China has a population of 1.4 billion people. About 1.1 billion of those use WeChat. Take that in for a moment. Globally, Facebook has 2.4 billion users. WhatsApp has 300 million. In China, WeChat (called Wēixìn in Mandarin, which translates as 'micro-message’) – essentially a messaging service owned by tech giant (and the world’s fifth-largest company) Tencent – is how people interact with … everything and everyone.

As well as social media, WeChat works as a mobile payment app, with all retailers – including buses and metros in China – scanning a QR code on the app to make the transactions. It can be used to book flights and hotels just as easily as buying food from a supermarket or even a street vendor. WeChat balance is now the primary way to pay and receive money in China. Who needs banks?

It does have a rival – Alibaba’s Alipay – but with a 79% market penetration in China, WeChat has been called China’s ‘digital life force’, but it’s push to become popular globally has nevertheless failed. It seems destined to be only the fifth-most used app in the world, after Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger … but it’s way ahead of all of them in what is can do.

China moves fast. We’ve all heard the tales of how fast its construction companies work, notably the building in 2015 of a 57-storey skyscraper in 19 working days. But it’s China’s other mega-tech projects that stand out. Take its bullet trains. Japan is still thought of by many as the home of the bullet train with its famous Shinkansen, but over the last 15 years China Railway High-speed (CRH) has constructed a much more extensive network, and makes its own Fuxing-class bullet trains.

Now the world’s longest high speed railway network, China’s bullet trains travel between 155–217 mph. Land at Shanghai’s Pudong Airport and you can even sample the future of ultra-high-speed trail on the Shanghai Maglev, a magnetic levitation train that reaches a top speed of 267 mph.

China has plenty of other mega-tech projects. There’s the Three Gorges Dam, a hydroelectric gravity dam that spans the Yangtze River and it fuels the world's largest power station. Also the Aizhai Suspension Bridge, the world's highest and longest suspension bridge, and the 16-mile Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge that hits makes land at two artificial islands on its way. And don’t forget the Shanghai Tower, the world's second-tallest building at 2,073 ft., and the Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST), the largest single-dish radio telescope for astronomy in the world.

What’s more, China’s ‘Belt and Road’ initiative is seeing it invest US$6 trillion in big construction projects – such as highways, ports and airports – in its neighboring countries.

3. 5G networks and AI

How is 5G working out for you so far? After a flurry of advertising in 2019 around various network launches, the fuss has died down. Why? 5G doesn’t really exist in the UK and the US outside of city centres, that’s why. Cue China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom, which have brought forward their plans to offer high-speed connectivity.

Not surprisingly, China is getting one of the world's largest 5G deployments. 5G is already available to in 50 cities in China, and 130,000 5G base stations are about to go live. What’s more, China is also home to two thirds of global investment into artificial intelligence (AI), recently replacing the US. When it comes to cutting-edge technology, it’s all about China.

4. Dockless bike-sharing

Thousands of cities around the world now have bike-sharing schemes. You get the app, sign-up, pick-up a bike from a rack, use it, and return it. Easy. So why is China going down a more high-tech route?

The latest craze is for dockless bike hire, which removes the need for physical central hub and instead uses virtual mapping, Bluetooth and GPS-driven geofencing to keep track of where they are. Mobike in Shanghai – which has about 1.5 million dockless bikes – has an app that tells riders where they can and cannot park their bikes when they’re done with them. If they leave them in random places, an alarm goes off on the bike, and they receive a text message warning. The spread of 5G is only going to help schemes like this.

5. Electric vehicles

No one is saying China is an eco-friendly country. It’s got a bad reputation for pollution and it uses half of the world’s concrete. However, it’s already the largest market for battery-powered cars in the world, being both the largest manufacturer and buyer of electric vehicles.

It makes almost all of the world's electric buses. In short, the electric vehicle revolution is already underway, and China is owning it. Your first electric car? It will probably be from China.

6. Ambitious space program

China now launches more rockets each year than any other nation, and although western media is routinely dismissive of it, the Chinese National Space Administration (CNSA) – China’s NASA – is definitely going places.

It doesn’t have the budget of NASA, but in 2019 it landed a spacecraft and lunar rover on the far side of the moon, with stunning scientific return. Not even NASA can do that. If all goes to plan in 2020, the CNSA will launch its Chang’e-5 mission to scoop-up some moon rock and launch it back to Earth. Then it will launch an all-new space station. Finally, it will send its Huoxing mission to Mars.

What’s more, that’s all being done with massive space rockets designed and built solely in China. Further proof, if any was needed, that when it comes to technology, China is creeping ahead of much of the world.

• Seven bizarre gadgets to expect at CES 2020

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker leaves fans with some lingering questions, including a few that can only be answered if you pick up the recently released Visual Dictionary. But when it comes to one of the movie's biggest mysteries - how Emperor Palpatine survived the events of Return of the Jedi - the answer is locked away in deleted footage.

In an interview with HuffPost (via CBR), editor Maryanne Brandon reveals Episode IX was originally supposed to have shed more light on Palpatine's return. But ultimately, the scenes dealing with the hows and whys of Palpatine's return were trimmed in order to prevent fans from being bombarded with exposition.

Continue reading…

ProtonMail has launched an encrypted Google Calendar alternative for beta users, making the idea of ditching Google’s Gmail a bit less daunting. 

ProtonCalendar is an end-to-end encrypted desktop app. The title, description, location and participants of every event you schedule are encrypted before they reach ProtonMail’s servers, meaning that not even the provider can access the personal data that may be hidden in your events.

Related: Best laptops

In its current form, ProtonCalendar allows users to create and delete events, set reminders and set events to repeat daily, weekly or monthly, with more features scheduled to arrive between the beta and the app’s public release in 2020.

These include a share calendar feature, an option to sync your ProtonMail inbox with your ProtonCalendar and iOS and Android apps for the calendar.

The launch comes after a rough end of the year for rival Google’s calendar app, during which many users found their calendars spammed with events from third party groups sneakily targeting email inboxes.

That, plus the fact that Google routinely looks through the information in your inbox and calendar − yes, that includes the content of emails − might have made you consider alternatives.

ProtonMail called the tech giant out in its announcement of ProtonCalendar.

“We believe everyone has the right to plan dinner with friends without announcing to Google who will attend,” the Proton Team wrote in a blog post.

“For that reason, once ProtonCalendar is publicly released, a basic version will be available to all ProtonMail users (including Free users) while paid Proton users will benefit from additional functionality.”

ProtonCalendar is available in beta for paying ProtonMail users now, though the company plans to roll out the app to free users within the year once the beta is complete. ProtonMail users with paid plans can find the calendar on the sidebar in ProtonMail’s Version 4.0 beta.

The post ProtonMail’s encrypted Google Calendar rival makes ditching Gmail a bit less daunting appeared first on Trusted Reviews.

Last year at CES, LG was all about the Signature Series OLED TV R, a 65-inch television that rolls up from a brushed aluminum base -- a device we saw the bare bones of a year early courtesy of its screen-manufacturing arm. At CES 2020, LG Display wil...

Kyle McGinn of Dead Rhetoric recently conducted an interview with frontman Hansi Kürsch of German power metal veterans BLIND GUARDIAN. A few excerpts from the chat follow below. Dead Rhetoric: This [BLIND GUARDIAN's new all-orchestral album, "Twilight Orchestra: Legacy Of The Dark Lands"] was done for over a 20-year span. What sort of feeling does it finally coming out give you? Hansi: "I'm relieved, and I'm just happy that we have come to the point where everyone involved — it's ready for people to listen to it. I'm overwhelmed still by the amount of work, but I'm more than just proud to have accomplished it and having the chance to give it to the people. That people will have a chance to listen to it — that's a relief! Over the years, we've been talking about that so many times. We've had to describe what it would sound like, and what it would be about, musically. I could literally see the question marks over the heads of people who never really understood what we were trying to say. If you haven't listened to it, it's very difficult to get an idea of what we are talking about. But once you have listened to it, you just figure, 'It makes sense, what the guys have spoken about for twenty years now.'" Dead Rhetoric: There's obviously no metal band in the background but how do you feel that the "Twilight Orchestra" differs from the traditional BLIND GUARDIAN experience outside of that? Hansi: "It does a lot of storytelling, and I believe that is what BLIND GUARDIAN is standing for as well. Now we have a combined conceptual album, but even if each BLIND GUARDIAN album isn't always a concept album, you still have these narrative aspects on each of them. This might be defined a little bit stronger on this album, but it shouldn't be different than what we have been doing since 'Nightfall In Middle Earth', at least. I believe the exploration of musical territories, not just because of using the classical instruments, but also in the way that we treated them — and sometimes abused them. They were supposed to do things that they would not normally do in a traditional orchestral arrangement. Some of them go into a metal direction, some go into a more jazzy direction and the orchestra had to play this in a classical way and capture these elements as well. That differs from what we do in BLIND GUARDIAN. Also, my singing might be a bit more elaborated in terms of dynamics and the way that I express myself. Other than that, it's certainly in the tradition of BLIND GUARDIAN." Dead Rhetoric: So, do you feel that some of the songs could be translated in such a way that you could play them live with BLIND GUARDIAN? Hansi: "Yes [laughs], that is very likely and very possible. We've had a few discussions about this during the creation process and production process. At the very end, we decided that the original intention was to be without using a metal band, but of course, we discussed using a metal band to make it more understandable for people to see what the album was about. But we didn't feel the necessity. The second step, after everyone had an idea about the original intention — it could be doable, but what we realized is that once we go into such a direction, the whole thing needs to be rearranged. We need to create space for the band, which means the orchestra as to take a step back. It also means that the orchestra has to be recorded again and rearranged. It would be very difficult, though it is doable. Though it's very unlikely that we are going to do this within the next two years. I'd rather see this as the beginning of another BLIND GUARDIAN experience, and we will bring this to the stage at a later time. For now, we have just released the album and we will immediately start he production for a new heavy metal BLIND GUARDIAN album, for which we have already composed most of the songs. That's our mission for the next year and after that we will for sure come up with at least a few shows featuring 'Legacy Of The Dark Lands' in the classical orchestration garment in the way that it was originally intended to be performed." Dead Rhetoric: What do you have planned for 2020? You've already mentioned the new BLIND GUARDIAN album. Hansi: "There's a lot of production for BLIND GUARDIAN, that's for sure. I would think this will occupy most of the year. My ideal schedule looks like we will end up handing in the next BLIND GUARDIAN album to the record label in September or October at the very latest. What I have on the agenda for 2020 is the release of the next DEMONS & WIZARDS album. We did some touring over the summer and it was quite an impressive experience to bring DEMONS & WIZARDS to the stage in a real touring format for the first time and see how the people reacted. It was a very pleasant surprise. At the same time, when we had some off time, we finished the successor for 'Touched By The Crimson King', and it's a very intense metal album. It will be released in the beginning of next year. Jon [Schaffer, also of ICED EARTH] and I discussed if that there is a chance for us to free up a few spots to add DEMONS & WIZARDS shows, but that is up in the air. The album will be released in the first half of 2020 and this is something that people can really look out for. It's a very vivid, entertaining and classy album." You can read the entire interview at this location. "Twilight Orchestra: Legacy Of The Dark Lands" was released November 8 via Nuclear Blast. To create the concept, lead guitarist André Olbrich and Kürsch worked alongside German bestselling author Markus Heitz, whose latest novel, "Die Dunklen Lande", was released on March 1. The book is set in 1629 and contains the prequel to "Legacy Of The Dark Lands".

Warning: This article contains major spoilers about season 4 of The Expanse.

While the majority of season 4 of The Expanse consists of material about events on the planet of Ilus that come from book 4 in the series, Cibola Burn, showrunner Naren Shankar (who already discussed the big changes from the book with EW) also brought in a fair amount of what he calls “bridge” material to connect events from books 4 and 5 — and subsequently seasons 4 and 5 of the Amazon show.

That meant the earlier introduction of a key villain from book 5, Marco Inaros. Naomi’s former lover, and the father of her child, Filip, Marco has a plan to attack Earth and install Belter dominance — and we saw that plan unfold at the end of season 4. Using stolen Martian clocking technology, Marco launched an invisible asteroid toward Earth in the season 4 finale, a move that could wreak havoc among all three factions (Earth, Mars, and the OPA).

Marco’s big move has already claimed its first victim, as David Strathairn’s Ashford (a bad guy in the books who whose story was extended and redeemed on the TV show) hunted down the renegade, only to be captured by Filip and sent out the airlock by father and son to his death.

We asked Shankar what the season 4 asteroid cliffhanger means moving forward into season 5, why they killed off Ashford, if we’ve seen the last of bloodthirsty Murtry and protomolecule Miller, and more.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: First of all, you really changed up the role of Ashford from the books, and made us actually root for the guy. And you do that only to then make us later mourn his death. Why decide to kill of that character and make him one of Marco’s early victims?
NAREN SHANKAR: It wasn’t anything other than we loved David Strathairn in season 3, and then, as you know, the character of Ashford doesn’t extend beyond the end of the third book, but David had a great time, and we had a great time with him. The relationship that was developed with Drummer and Ashford was so interesting, and he was very open to coming back to the show for season 4. And as we started talking about how do we do the bridge adaptation into season 5, it gave us a great way of starting the Marco storyline and introducing the character and then having this really tragic end.

Because, also, the reality is, a lot of times with actors and with the way this show works in terms of how it shifts perspective, having a guy like David on for years and years and years is probably not even practical, so there were a lot of different factors that came into it. Believe me, we would’ve loved having him till the end of the series, such a delight to work with and everybody just absolutely loved him.

And , she was so emotional at their parting, genuinely emotional about it because he was just such a great presence on the show. But it was all of those factors that worked together that gave us this great opportunity, and it’s heartbreaking at the end. And when you think of the complex number of things that are happening at the end of it, that he doesn’t get Marco and he knows that Filip is Naomi’s son as well, and the fact that he knows he’s going to die, so he tries to do something smart at the end of it, even as he knows that he’s about to killed, it’s heroic and tragic and moving. Yeah, I’m just glad it worked out the way it did.

You end the season by sending that giant rock hurtling towards Earth. Can we expect a similar result from what happens in the book?I don’t know if I can talk about season 5 spoilers, but when you think about it — again, obviously, you’ve read the books — it takes a lot of time for these things to get from the outer reaches of the solar system to the inner planets on ballistic trajectories, so it’s a great opportunity because in the books, these things were launched a while ago, so here we get to see a launch. Here, we also get to see really what stealth technology is. We talked about it for years. You can even think about it going back to episode 1 of the show — the Belter they’re torturing is somebody who stole stealth composites, that Avasarala is torturing, right? That’s a serious thing. Now we see why it’s so serious.

And when you see it getting sprayed on the rock and then it gets activated and then the rock turns essentially just into space, blackest space, you understand what it is. When you’re watching season 4, the storyline is so loaded towards Ilus, but it’s really the secondary storyline back in the solar system that’s going to take precedence in season 5, and so this was a sneaky way of bringing it back to that focus at the end of the season in a way that people, I don’t think, really would have expected.

You extended Ashford past where we saw him in the books, so what about Murtry? Is his story on the show complete and is this the last we’ll be seeing of that character?Yeah, Murtry was always that way. He’s certainly in the world, so who knows? Again, we had such a great time with Burn Gorman, but Murtry the character is not in book 5 of The Expanse, but you never know. You never know who’s out there.

And is this the end of Miller?We brought the poor man back from death so many times, but the version of Miller that is the protomolecule refracted version of Miller’s consciousness that has been projected into Holden’s head, that version of him says, “It’s the end” in episode 9. “This is the end for me.” Now, the protomolecule is a hive mind. It’s like one part of it communicates with all other parts of it. Does that mean there’s no Miller at all left period? I don’t know.

You talked about bridging into season 5. Obviously, the big crux of book 5 is this relationship that you clearly seem to be setting up between Naomi, Marco, and their son, Filip, who’s introduced at the very end here. I have to assume that’s going to be a major story moving forward, right?It certainly is setting up that way, without question. The idea of stealing stealth composites, we thought that that was a great way to tie the story on Mars to the larger story in the Belt because, and it’s tricky to see, but Filip is one of the Belters that’s stealing the stealth composites. And that’s a big deal.

It’s interesting because you show how fractured parts of the OPA are here in season 4. What does that mean for the OPA moving forward as Marco’s plan is carried out?Well, it’s a fundamental problem with how they’re trying to form a government. It’s like they have a whole bunch of warring factions and people who’ve got a lot of personal animosities and grudges. It’s hard to unify that kind of a group. They’re not a constitutional government, everything is negotiated, and those are very, very difficult structures to hold together because everybody tends to pursue their self-interest of small groups, and that’s what Fred and Dawes have actually been working against. Dawes has Ceres station as a power base, Fred has got Tycho as a power base, so they’re a bit more stable and larger, but they’ve got a lot of people who don’t necessarily want to tow the company line, and that’s a very difficult group of people to govern.

A big part of Amos’ story in book 5 takes place on Earth. Will we see any of that in season 5 or do you have different plans for Amos?Look, obviously, that’s a huge storyline in book 5, and the evolution of Amos as a character is just one of the really fascinating things in the storyline. It’s like this sociopathic personality who has enough inside of him to understand when he’s being bad and the fact that he wants to try to be good by attaching himself to good people. That storyline is continuing. And what’s happened, obviously, on Ilus is he got uncorked a little bit and he got, yeah, I guess, in a “relationship” But there are clues in season 4 as to the direction of Amos in season 5, and so I would just say think about his storyline quite carefully from episode 1 on and you will see, I think, at least indicators to where we’re going in season 5.

I think my favorite shot of the entire season might’ve been after Murtry hits Amos and he just turns around with that bizarre grin and goes, “Thank you.” was very specific about that, and I think was too. When Murtry tries to sucker punch him, it gives him permission to release the beast, so to speak, and it was just so scary. And it was like, “Oh, f—, I gave him my best punch and he wasn’t expecting it and that was in response? Uh-oh.”

Holden’s had this thing in his head, and it looks like it is finally out. What does this mean now for that character moving ahead?He’s been hanging on to this for a long time. He’s been the prophet, right, with getting visions effectively, if you want to talk about Miller in that sense. So, it is a good question: What is Holden’s next step? Because, now, he really has, maybe inadvertently, but he really has opened the door, because what Holden’s actions have basically laid bare in season 4 is that, unless you have a chunk of protomolecule, the machines aren’t going to come to life. They brought that with them when they came to Ilus, inadvertently because it’s on the Roci, and Miller turning everything on is what caused the problem because that’s what the protomolecule was designed to do. What Holden and his guys have proven is that these worlds are safe, right? Well, they’re safe so long as there’s no protomolecule to turn things on.

Related content:

The Expanse stars tease ‘chaos and bedlam’ for season 4 — watch action-packed new trailer Amazon renews The Expanse for season 5 The Expanse star Steven Strait shares ‘crazy’ story of Amazon resurrection

The Mandalorian finale contained several big revelations expanding the mythology of the Disney+ series — and had a pair of cameos that you might have missed.

Spoilers ahead for the season one finale of The Mandalorian.

— The Mandalorian’s face: Mando finally permitted his helmet to be removed by IG-11 in order for the droid to save his life. And Mando looks like… well, he looks exactly like star Pedro Pascal, with no alterations to his appearance.

— The Mandalorian’s name: Din Djarin. (Pascal previously let this slip in an interview).

— The Mandalorian’s backstory: Stitching together fragments from previous episodes, we’re told Mando is not from Mandalore. His family was killed during an attack by B2 Super Battle Droids — which is why he mistrusts droids so much. He was rescued by a squad of Mandalorians and raised as one of their own. It’s unclear who was commanding those Battle Droids, however.

— Cara Dune is from Alderaan. As part of Moff Gideon’s helpful exposition, we learned the former Rebel shock trooper played by Gina Carano was from the doomed planet destroyed by the Empire’s Death Star in A New Hope.

— Greef Karga is a disgraced magistrate. So Carl Weathers character was a former lawman of sorts.

— Moff Gideon’s backstory: “Moff” is a rank so we already knew Giancarlo Esposito’s character was a former Imperial regional governor. Now we learn he was also a Imperial Security Bureau officer (which is like the Imperial KGB) during The Purge of Mandalore. Also, he was supposed to have been executed for war crimes.

— Gideon has the Darksaber! This is a biggie. The Darksaber is an ancient one-of-a-kind black lightsaber created by Tarre Vizslam — the first Mandalorian inducted into the Jedi Order. The weapon passed through various characters in its long history (including Darth Maul). Bo-Katan Kryze from The Clone Wars was the last known holder of the weapon. The finale suggests Gideon stole the Darksaber during The Purge of Mandalore.

And the two cameos were the actors who played the bantering, Baby Yoda-punching Scout Troopers in the opening scene: Jason Sudeikis (SNL, We’re the Millers) and Adam Pally (The Mindy Project).

There are also at least a couple huge burning questions left too — rather key questions that are being held for season 2 (or beyond).

— What’s up with Baby Yoda? The season repeatedly teased Baby Yoda’s backstory and why Gideon was so obsessed with The Child, but that surprisingly wasn’t further illuminated in the finale.

— Who was the booted figure at the end of Episode 5? Everybody seems convinced that was Boba Fett, but the figure did not make a second appearance this season.

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• Website design trends have changed dramatically over the past 10 years, especially when it comes to homepages.
• When more people were browsing the internet on desktops than mobile phones, designers often tried to cram as much information on a page as possible.
• A look back at the homepages of popular websites shows how text-heavy layouts have given way to vivid images and minimalist design.

• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The internet doesn't look like it did a decade ago. Back in 2010, smartphones, mobile browsing, and social media were still relatively new trends. It wasn't until 2016 that mobile browsing took over as people's preferred way of surfing the web.

Instead, most people visited websites from a desktop computer and came in through the front door: the homepage. Web designers, who knew how valuable this real estate was, often packed the homepage full with as much information as possible. Today, that approach has given way to sparse layouts and lots of pictures that try to grab users' attention.

As the decade comes to a close, Business Insider took a look back to see how some of the most popular websites' homepages have evolved over the years.

SEE ALSO: These clothes use outlandish designs to trick facial recognition software into thinking you're not human

In 2010, Amazon was pushing the Kindle hard and books were still its top-billed category.

Now, Amazon doesn't even think people read books anymore. Or, maybe it's just too busy serving us up Prime videos.

AOL's 2010 homepage left us dazed and confused with clashes of colors, nonsensical icons, and a cluttered layout.

The revamp dialed it back a bit — minus that slide show with 81 slides. 81!

Apple went minimalist long before it was cool.

And yet somehow Apple managed to go even more minimalist...

Back in 2010, CNN still used its inside voice to give us straight news headlines and videos that weren't set to auto-play.

The refresh turned up the volume with lots of "breaking" and "trending" labels and a bigger focus on opinion, reaction, and analysis pieces.

In 2010, eBay wanted us to find our next purchase by combing through a brightly colored word cloud that might as well have been written in Comic Sans.

But eBay eventually grew up, and now it wants us to get credit cards like real adults.

ESPN used to have a million menus to sort through — but at least most of the content was free!

Disney, the site's new owner, really wants us to sign up for ESPN+ so we can watch all the sports. But at least they gave us that handy scoreboard for free.

Facebook used to tell us everything it knew about a person. And Zuck used to look a lot younger.

Facebook also realized people don't like reading that much and decided to place more emphasis on the "face" than the "book" part.

The Huffington Post once looked like the melting pot of the millennial internet — news, blogs, videos, and even social!

Then it got real cool, minimalist, and started dressing in all black. Oh yeah, and it goes by HuffPost now.

IMDb used to cater to us movie trivia buffs who wanted to deepen our knowledge of cinema.

Now, it knows we really just want to watch new trailers and ogle at Ryan Reynolds even if the movie is garbage.

Microsoft also used to have a thing for gradients — and it was still trying to get us to use Internet Explorer.

Microsoft eventually caved to the minimalist aesthetic, too — but at least now it has some quality hardware for us to browse!

MSN used to be a go-to spot for news on the internet, even though we had no idea where to go on this website.

MSN's new site at least gave us a cleaner menu and links to popular sites. (And it's competing with AOL for the longest slideshow award.)

Remember when Netflix used to only cost $8.99? Remember when it used to ship DVDs? Remember what a DVD is?

Netflix doesn't need to mess around anymore. We all know how this works. Sign up, pay up, and get unlimited access to hit titles like 'Boss Baby' and 'Sextuplets.'

The New York Times was trying to go global in 2010. Also, it apparently felt the need to remind us we could actually click on headlines by making them all blue.

Today, the Times' site has much more multimedia content. It has everything from podcasts to videos to images to traditional text headlines to draw us in — but only so far before we hit that paywall.

Pinterest used to be a big fan of neutral colors. Also, it made us request an invite to join. Also, Brad Pitt and baby otters — what more could we ask for?

Now, Pinterest has a much cleaner site, but also highlights the focus on metadata and tagging that allows the site to categorize images.

Reddit's design aesthetic was … no design aesthetic. No frills, few pictures, just words — as many words as it could fit on the page.

Reddit finally introduced some graphic elements and much-needed spacing, without sacrificing its popular news feed format.

Twitter was just a few years old in 2010, as we can tell from the cute baby bird, bubble-letter logo, and friendly reminders of what the site even did.

Twitter's look has gotten a bit more sophisticated since then — and the bird got a haircut.

Walmart had a surprisingly simple and easy to navigate website by 2010 standards.

Walmart also caught the minimalist craze and discovered the importance of pictures. But it still wants us to know it has tons of deals — that hasn't changed.

The Weather Channel's website used to have some killer graphics.

The Weather Channel's website still has some killer graphics.

WebMD wanted us to know that there are a lot of health conditions we might have — and that it has answers.

Now WebMD just gets straight to the point about reminding us that we're only here because we're sad and sick.

Yahoo had lots of fun little icons to remind us about all the things we can do online.

Now, Yahoo looks like a serious news site (but somehow we can't move past that wayward exclamation point).

YouTube looked like it was still a rough draft in 2010. Also, it really liked to use borders.

In 2019, YouTube has its own video awards show, its website is dominated by images, and its algorithm operates sneakily in the background.

Just like Facebook used to be "The Facebook," Business Insider used to go by "The Business Insider." Also... more gradients.

Eventually, Business Insider — like most websites on this list — discovered that images speak a thousand words and a thousand words don't belong on a homepage.

Babu Frik, the breakout character from Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, is voiced by Shirley Henderson, the actress who played Moaning Myrtle in the Harry Potter movies.

Henderson was born and raised in Scotland with one of her earliest film credits in Trainspotting opposite Ewan McGregor. She later went on to a role in the Bridget Jones movies and Moaning Myrtle in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Moaning Myrtle (left) and Babu Frik (right)

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Episode 8: "Redemption"

The first season of The Mandalorian has come to a close, and it's time for Mando and Baby Yoda to move on. Warning: The following contains spoilers for the Season 1 finale of The Mandalorian. If you're not caught up on the Disney+ Star Wars show, avert your eyes ir all hope will be lost. Episode 8, titled "Redemption," gets the gang all back together as Mando, Cara Dune, Greef Karga, and IG-11 take on Moff Gideon and his army of Stormtroopers and Deathtroopers.

Throughout the episode, there were plenty of moments that connected back to the animated series The Clone Wars. Why? Well, that series did a lot of the legwork when it came to the history of Mandalore and Mandalorian tribalism. Also, it's a fantastic series that you should watch. The average Star Wars fan is going to miss a lot of the connections to this series, but don't worry, we got you covered.

Going through Episode 8, we found 11 Easter eggs and references that you need to know more about. This is especially true with that final scene with Moff Gideon. Because without extensive knowledge of the Clone Wars animated series, that final scene will be more confusing than anything else.

Now, let's get onto breaking down some of the key things we noticed from "Redemption." Then, if you've missed them, make sure to check out our Easter egg guides to Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, and Chapter 7.

1. Bored Scout Troopers

Rarely do we get to see what Stormtroopers do in their off time. However, a couple of Scout Troopers guarding Baby Yoda have a bit of free time while Moff Gideon and company have Mando pinned down. Like previous episodes, these rolls are played by comedic actors you probably know. One is Adam Pally--reprising his role from Episode 7--and the other is Jason Sudeikis, who you probably know from Saturday Night Live or the movie Horrible Bosses.

2. A familiar heavy blaster

The E-Web Heavy Repeating Blaster, which Gideon threatens our heroes with has actually appeared in Star Wars canon before. Early on in Empire Strikes Back, a Snowtrooper was setting one up during the Battle of Hoth.

3. Another person from Alderaan

Moff Gideon sure does know way too much information about our heroes. He reveals that Shock Trooper Cara Dune was originally from Alderaan. That's the planet where Leia Organa grew up on… also, it's the first planet the Death Star blew up in A New Hope.

4. Mando's name finally revealed

Although actor Pedro Pascal accidentally revealed Mando's true name during an interview, Gideon officially revealed his name in Episode 8, and it's Din Djarin. You'll hear that name a few more times throughout the episode.

5. Night of a thousand tears

The Mandalorian series has a ton of connections to the Clone Wars animated series, and the "Night of a Thousand Tears," which is a reference to the Siege of Mandalore, when the Jedi came to Mandalore to dispose Darth Maul (he was still alive, and better than ever) of his rule on the planet. During the siege, Order 66 took place--that moment where Palpatine decided all the Jedi needed to be killed. It was a coup in the middle of a siege on a planet that was already going through some tough times. This is also promoting the new season of The Clone Wars, as the Siege has been mentioned but never shown, and Season 7 will cover this battle--which takes place at the end of that show's timeline.

6. "Mandalorian isn't a race"

When the expanded universe was a thing, you could be a Mandalorian but not born on Mandalore. This is back in the day when Boba Fett was still considered part of the tribe. Here, the series goes back to those roots when it's explained that Mandalorian isn't a race. It is a creed. As long as you follow the code, you can be one. But again, we've alluded to the fact before that this tribe may be sect of Death Watch (from Clone Wars) who hold tradition above anything else, which means they may be willing to accept outsiders. This is getting deep into Clone Wars and Rebels lore, mixed with some speculation.

7. Blue Mandalorians

Obviously, this isn't a bunch of blue Boba Fetts running around, saving Din from Separatist droids--because Boba was a child at that time too. So why do all these Mandalorians wear the same colors? As we've mentioned in other Easter egg pieces, armor color is very important to Mandalorians. It signifies something about that. Because these Mandos seem to be wearing blue, that means they are reliable. You probably need reliable soldiers when facing battle droids.

8. Flame Troopers

Here's a new Stormtrooper for live-action. Flame Troopers have appeared in Star Wars Battlefront as well as on the Clone Wars TV series--the clone version. This is the first time in live-action we get to see one of them though.

9. No one knows what the Force is anymore

If you think about Star Wars in the grand scheme of things, people not knowing what the Force is or the Jedi are in the Mandalorian is pretty weird. Order 66 happened in Revenge of the Sith, 30 years prior to the events of this episode. So Din being confused about Jedi is pretty bizarre, especially when the Vizsla house has already been established in Episode 3, and one person from that house is Tarre Vizsla, the first Mandalorian Jedi--more than a thousand years prior to this episode. You don't just forget about one of the ruling bodies of the galaxy over the course of half of a lifetime.

10. A weird R2 Unit

We've seen a lot of R2 units throughout the years, but this is the only one--that we can think of--that had long legs and arms. It just looks weird.

11. Darksaber

The biggest moment of the season finale is easily the most confusing to the average Star Wars fan. Gideon gets out of his crashed TIE fighter, holding what looks to be a lightsaber that's black. This is called a Darksaber, and everything about this moment connects back to The Clone Wars TV series.

The Darksaber was created by the previously mentioned Tarre Vizsla--the first Mandalorian Jedi, a thousand years before the Battle of Yavin. After Tarre's death, it was stored in a Jedi Temple until someone from House Vizsla stole it and handed it down through the generations. The last time was saw it on Clone Wars, the Darksaber was in the hands of Pre Vizsla, as he led Death Watch. During Rebels, it popped up again in the hands of Sabine Wren, and she handed it over to Bo-Katan Kryze to fight the Empire.

How Gideon got the Darksaber is unknown. He may have stolen it from Paz Vizsla--the blue Mandalorian Din fought with in Episode 3--as Pre could be his father. This is never confirmed on the series. Gideon has an artifact that is deeply rooted in Mandalorian history that belongs specifically to one of the houses.

The Mandalorian just wrapped up its first season, but Mandalorian showrunner and executive producer Jon Favreau confirmed that The Mandalorian Season 2 will be released in fall 2020.

Favreau tweeted out the Fall 2020 release window today, the same day The Mandalorian Season 1 finale aired on Disney+. He also tweeted a photo of a Gamorrean, suggesting at the very least that a member of that species might appear in Season 2.

Season 2 of #TheMandalorian coming Fall 2020 pic.twitter.com/8VQYLDMQ0V

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Tesla isn't the only car maker with grand visions of EV charging robots. Volkswagen has created a prototype charging robot that would navigate to your car in the parking garage, saving you the trouble of hunting for a coveted (and likely rare) EV cha...

Today, Tesla began pushing its "holiday update" to its vehicle fleet. The changes include one present for EV owners who appreciate the great outdoors (though not enough to sleep on the ground): Camp Mode. The feature, reported by Electrek, allows Tes...

The first season of Miracle Workers focused on Daniel Radcliffe, Geraldine Viswanathan, and Karan Soni as employees in heaven trying to stop God (Steve Buscemi) from destroying Earth. Now the show is returning for a second season, but since it was crafted as an anthology series, it’s going in a completely different direction and has absolutely nothing to do with the story from the first season. But not everything is different.

Miracle Workers: Dark Ages takes the same cast from the first season and turns them into medieval villagers just trying to get by in one of the most difficult and dark periods in human history. Needless to say, things are pretty bleak when people get excited to watch someone get killed in the middle of the village square. Watch the Miracle Workers: Dark Ages trailer for a glimpse.

Miracle Workers: Dark Ages Trailer

Honestly, I never would have imagined that we’d see Daniel Radcliffe starring in a cable comedy series on TBS, but the success of the Harry Potter franchise has afforded the actor a certain amount of creative freedom that allows him to tackle whatever roles interest him without the concern of financial or critical success. Thankfully, it appears the first season was popular enough to warrant the continuation of the series, albeit with something completely different.

As for the concept of this season, it feels like it might be too close to the coattails of Netflix’s animated series Disenchantment. Though that show features fantasy elements, the same comedy vibe feels like it’s shining through. But hopefully this cast will make it easy for the show to offer something different.

While I like the idea of the story and setting changing every single season with the same cast involved, I can’t help but think that the Miracle Workers moniker doesn’t quite work as well with this season. Obviously there needs to be some kind of overarching title in order to have some kind of brand associated with each season, but that title only seems to apply to the first installment. But it seems like that’s not a concern for TBS.

This time, Miracle Workers will span 10 episodes. Jon Bass and Lolly Adefope are also returning with the primary cast members for this new season, and as the trailer revealed, they’re being joined by Peter Serafinowicz (The Tick) as the king.

Miracle Workers: Dark Ages centers upon a group of medieval villagers trying to stay positive in an age of extreme income inequality, poor healthcare, and widespread ignorance. This 10-episode installment will feature Daniel Radcliffe, Steve Buscemi, Geraldine Viswanathan, Karan Soni, Jon Bass, and Lolly Adefope returning in new roles and facing new challenges. Executive produced by Lorne Michaels’ Broadway Video with Andrew Singer and Katy Jenson executive producing alongside Rich, Radcliffe and Buscemi.

Miracle Workers: Dark Ages premieres on TBS starting on January 28, 2020.

The post ‘Miracle Workers: Dark Ages’ Trailer: Daniel Radcliffe Isn’t a Fan of Medieval Times appeared first on /Film.

Between the final seasons of Game of Thrones and Mr. Robot, Avengers: Endgame wrapping up the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s “Infinity Saga”, Glass serving as the final installment of M. Night Shyamalan’s unexpected Unbreakable trilogy, and of course the ending of the Skywalker Saga with this week’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, 2019 has lived up to its billing as the year of the finale. 

Unlike any of the others, however, J.J. Abrams, Chris Terrio, and the entire Lucasfilm team have undertaken the immense task of wrapping up more than four decades-worth of iconography and pop culture-defining mythos. Naturally, the past few weeks have seen an influx of fans revisiting the entire series to prepare themselves for a conclusion that promises to pay off all that’s come before. But that brings us to an age-old question for overly-obsessive nerds such as ourselves…

What’s the best way to watch the main Star Wars Saga films, anyway?

This might not seem very tough, as the choices basically boil down to either chronological or release order (for the purposes of this article, let’s limit the discussion to these two while ignoring other random permutations, such as the popular “Machete order” for reasons that will become clear). For the most part, the issue largely appears to be split along generational lines; anyone of a certain age to remember when the Original Trilogy was the only trilogy tend to consume the series the one way they were able to – sequentially – while anecdotally, younger fans prefer starting with the Prequels first and moving forward chronologically.

Well, as much as I’d love to be the Millennial to kick off the Generational Wars in style and condemn an entire swath of the movie-going population with the words “Ok, Boomer”, I’m just here to state my truth -–watching the films in release order is the most logical way for them to be seen and, more importantly, leads to the most rewarding experience overall. Not convinced? That’s alright, let’s pull a Luke Skywalker (or a Rey!) and go on a little journey of self-discovery together. No pressure or anything.

The Continuity Conundrum

The basic appeal of chronological order is pretty straightforward: in an attempt to maintain some semblance of continuity, experiencing the tragedy of Anakin Skywalker’s rise and fall before rewatching the Originals adds extra meaning to his actions decades later in-universe as Darth Vader. I’m not here to quibble over whether the Prequels actually succeed in their ambitions, to be clear, but the haphazard approach of Episodes I-III does raise uncomfortable questions for these viewers. Isn’t this a franchise that’s shown itself to be almost aggressively antagonistic towards such efforts in the past? What if trying to manufacture and project continuity onto Star Wars is really no different from crowbarring a square peg into a round hole and forcing something that simply doesn’t belong?

Over the years, Star Wars’ relationship with continuity has proven to be… shaky, to say the least. You may recall a stray instance or two of simmering romantic tension between Luke and Leia Organa at certain points of the Original Trilogy, culminating in Return of the Jedi with the siblings’ official, uh, family reunion – a revelation that thankfully makes no mention of a certain ill-advised kiss between them in the past. Lucas similarly played fast and loose with the true identity of Darth Vader, an incredibly resonating plot twist that was slightly easier (though no less awkward) to ret-con. Then you have the Prequels, at which point the utter futility of chasing continuity is laid bare amid several confusing additions (Anakin built C3PO and palled around with R2D2 for years before ignoring them altogether when he encountered them as Vader?) and flat-out contradictions to previously established lore (Qui-Gon Jinn trained Obi-Wan instead of Yoda? Leia remembers her mother despite Padme dying in childbirth?).

Lucas’ well-meaning desire to fill in historical gaps left by the Original Trilogy ended up largely hit-or-miss, but perhaps it’s worth considering whether he was even trying to create a perfectly seamless bridge between trilogies in the first place. What if our craving for overly-literal, impossibly smooth timelines is completely at odds with what Star Wars is all about? Maybe some stories simply aren’t meant to be reverse-engineered into a neat-and-tidy box of continuity, ready to be consumed chronologically without ever taking into account the context of release order.

Ultimately, it may come down to the basic fact that Star Wars just isn’t the MCU. This isn’t a value judgment on such a pop culture darling, as the clear emphasis on a vastly interconnected universe has more than paid off for the Avengers in terms of audience investment and worldwide appeal in the MCU (even after finding itself at the center of a seemingly never-ending firestorm in recent months). But when it comes to the sprawling, decades-spanning drama of the Skywalker family, the decidedly old-school inspirations and space opera trappings at play point toward a far more mythological tone.

In a universe where legendary triumphs are traditionally passed down through oral histories – consider iconic moments such as C3PO reciting our heroes’ adventures to the Ewoks in Return of the Jedi, or the tale of Luke’s last stand against the First Order living on and inspiring hope among the oppressed and downtrodden in the very last scene of The Last Jedi – it almost feels antithetical to its very essence to demand a strict adherence in-universe to rote plot points and lore.

Star Wars is about a great many things: hope and perseverance, friendship and family, love and loss, triumph and tragedy, mythology and storytelling. But as far as I’m concerned, continuity and chronology are among the last things that ought to define the saga, even during rewatches. In that spirit, I say embrace the messiness and lived-in charm of release order and leave the overly-literal bookkeeping of chronological order to Wookiepedia!

The Rule of Two

One of the many new additions The Phantom Menace made to traditional Star Wars lore occurs near the conclusion, as Master Yoda gravely intones to Mace Windu about the disturbing return of the Sith, “Always two, there are. No more, no less. A master, and an apprentice.” Symbiosis (balance, if you will) is an issue that hangs over the entire Prequel trilogy just as the mysterious Prophecy of the “Chosen One” hangs over young Anakin. While this Rule of Two proved to be a source of consternation among some fans, let’s apply this principle to the Original and Prequel trilogies. Perhaps the nature of balance best exemplifies why release viewing order is the best way to go.

By his own admission, George Lucas’ main motivation for moving forward with his prequel trilogy was to fill in crucial backstory of characters and events “…because things that I thought would be self-evident about the story, the audience didn’t get. Over the 10 years after Return of the Jedi, I realized people misunderstood a lot – such as where Anakin came from. So it was a way of finishing the whole thing off.” In other words, this means that Lucas approached the Prequels through the lens of the Originals – specifically, how he could fill in the gaps and eventually bring things full circle again – as he brought balance to both trilogies at once.

So here’s where watching the films chronologically gets complicated. It strips away crucial context of how the Prequels actively engage with viewers’ knowledge of the Originals at all times, as opposed to making concessions for those whose first exposure to Star Wars would be out of order (as it clearly was for so many who jumped aboard with the Prequels, me included!). But this approach, as alienating as it may have been for newcomers and lifelong fans alike, resulted in the most successful weapon this divisive trilogy has in its back pocket – a sense of inevitability.

Thanks to the Originals, we know that the Prequels should explain why the Empire must rise and the Jedi must fall. Since we’re following Anakin’s journey and already know his endpoint, we realize this is a Greek tragedy in space instead of a Cambellian hero’s journey. By treating the Prequels as prequels and watching them after the original story, we’re in the right frame of mind to pick up on as many meaningful insights as possible.

Think of Anakin’s fateful decision to forsake his duty and try to save his mother from torture and death after his foreboding visions in Attack of the Clones, an explicit parallel that neatly calls to mind Luke’s moment of choice to cut short Yoda’s training and help his captured friends after his own Force vision in The Empire Strikes Back. There’s the evocative sequence of the Republic’s new clone army assembling together after their victory against Count Dooku’s Separatists, which would otherwise play as a triumph if it weren’t for John Williams’ sinister Empire theme blaring in the background as the future Emperor, Chancellor Palpatine, oversees the beginning of the end of the Republic from on high. You can even take note of Qui-Gon Jinn’s actions in The Phantom Menace, whose arrogant and reckless behavior, blinding obsession with Anakin as a tool to fulfill prophecy rather than as a person with inherent worth, and casual indifference to oppression (if the “quick and easy” path leads to the Dark Side, as Yoda explains to Luke, then using the Force to influence a roll of the dice for custody of Anakin instead of freeing both mother and son from slavery feels far more monstrous than anything Luke ever did) all come across as a shocking indictment of the Prequel-era Jedi Order, urging us to cast a more skeptical eye upon these supposed “guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy” than ever before.

And all of this, every thematic underpinning that unites past, present, and future throughout the Prequels, would be lessened when viewed through the prism of inert, sequential storytelling in chronological order. The overriding ideas Lucas aimed to tackle with these films, from purposefully undercutting the aura of the Jedi to depicting in excruciating detail how democracies can essentially vote in favor of their own slide into authoritarianism with a big enough push, all stem from an informed perspective grounded in awareness and familiarity with the events of the Originals.

There’s a good reason why inevitability only works as an effective narrative tool when paired with hindsight. After all, what good is a cautionary tale without first witnessing the consequences that makes one necessary in the first place? To the chronological order-or-bust truthers out there, is it really worth diluting the full weight of what the Prequels represent and rendering the Originals as mere footnotes to revisit down the line rather than treating them as the focal point through which so much of the Prequels are filtered through… all in favor of constructing only a vaguely cohesive timeline of events, split into two distinct periods that never really gel together anyway?

The Rule of Two ended up being the downfall of both Darth Sidious at the hands of Vader/Anakin and Supreme Leader Snoke at the hands of Kylo Ren/Ben Solo, but that needn’t be the case here. Do what Anakin could not: search your feelings, let go of superficial concerns about continuity, and bring balance to the trilogies by watching them as they’re best equipped to be – in order of release.

“This Will Begin to Make Things Right”

So where does the Sequel Trilogy come into all this? Well, J.J. Abrams’ and veteran Star Wars writer Lawrence Kasdan’s The Force Awakens and Rian Johnson’s The Last Jedi both share fascinating dynamics with the previous two trilogies that only add more credence to release order viewings… to say nothing of Rise of Skywalker and the implications of Emperor Palpatine’s shocking (pun most definitely intended) return.

In an amusing twist, it was practically a boon for The Force Awakens to follow the mixed reception of the previous trilogy. The existence of the Prequels allowed even more of a distance between the Originals and Sequels – a neat bit of serendipity that gave Abrams and Kasdan license to turn our new protagonist Rey (and to a lesser extent, Finn) into Star Wars fans of their own, as a younger generation living in and among the wrecked husks of the previous conflict between the Rebellion against the Empire and the Jedi against the Sith. In that way, we really feel a sense of history when Rey admits that she only ever thought of Luke as a myth or when an older skeptic-turned-believer Han Solo confirms the truth of the Jedi and the Force.

The Sequel Trilogy films have also made a point to engage with an incredibly potent theme that ties into both prior trilogies – the current generation spurred into action to right the wrongs of the previous one. In particular, The Last Jedi picks up where The Force Awakens left off and uses the self-imposed exile of Luke Skywalker to ram this point home. Devastated by his failure in training Ben Solo, Luke internalizes the legacy of the Jedi as one of long-term failure, as well – blinded by arrogance and apathy and myopia, Luke rightfully points blame directly at the vaunted Jedi Order for paving the way for Darth Sidious to rise, nearly extinguish the Jedi, and install the fascist regime of the Empire.

If this sounds familiar, it’s only the entire point of the Prequels. The Last Jedi truly reckons with the lasting repercussions of the Prequels while contextualizing the events of the Original Trilogy. With The Rise of Skywalker seemingly resurrecting the Emperor himself, the stage is set for the most hands-on demonstration yet of bringing all three trilogies together. 

The impact of the Sequel Trilogy grappling with the ramifications of the Prequels, however, can’t help but feel watered down when viewed immediately after Return of the Jedi. Leaving the emotional heavy-lifting to mere nostalgia, rather than the tangible passage of time filled by the Prequels, arguably does a disservice to George Lucas’ approach to Star Wars in the first place. This isn’t a matter of always abiding by authorial intent – after all, Lucas himself would likely endorse chronological viewings given his insistence that the first six Episodes are meant to tell one complete story – but rather choosing the avenue that leads to the most insightful results possible.

At the risk of revealing myself as a Sith by speaking in absolutes, the answer is clear – by far the richest, most rewarding method to experience Star Wars is through release order.

Conclusion

Though it remains to be seen how The Rise of Skywalker handles ending a total of nine saga films, it’s hard to imagine any developments chaotic enough to throw off any of the conclusions drawn here (then again, famous last words!). Regardless, there’s more than enough textual and thematic evidence in the eight current Episodes to point towards one definitive answer. So start with the Original Trilogy, pivot to the Prequels, and finally bringing it all home with the Sequels.

Alright. Now that that’s settled, I’ve got a bone to pick with how some of you have been watching the MCU…

The post Deciding the Best Order to Watch the ‘Star Wars’ Movies: A Complete Investigation appeared first on /Film.

Since Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is wrapping up the Skywalker saga, it’s pretty much the last time for some key characters to make a significant appearance in the long-running sci-fi saga. And since it’s the end of an era in a galaxy far, far away, there are plenty of people who wanted to get in on the last chapter of the story that began all the way back in 1977.

That’s why there are plenty of cameos to behold in The Rise of Skywalker, some in the form of new characters, others being characters from previous installments of Star Wars. We’ve got a list of all the Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker cameos that we know of so far, but beware of major spoilers as we name them.

J.J. Abrams as D-O

There’s a new droid on the scene in The Rise of Skywalker. His name is D-O, and he rolls around on a single wheel with a tiny megaphone for a head. He’s found in an abandoned ship that’s key in Rey’s journey to figuring out who she is. BB-8 uses some of his own energy to wake him up and he’s suddenly part of the gang. Unlike BB-8, D-O communicates through computerized words, though not in a sophisticated, advanced way like C-3PO. Instead he speaks in short phrases and sometimes single words. And it just so happens the voice used to bring him to life belongs to J.J. Abrams.

Chris Terrio as Aftab Ackbar

As we expected, the son of Admiral Ackbar makes an appearance in The Rise of Skywalker. His name is Aftab Ackbar, and he’s a small supporting character among the Resistance ranks. Poe Dameron even refers to him as Junior at one point, and he’s one of the key pilots during the final battle. While the physical presence of the character is played by actor Tom Wilton under a prosthetic headpiece, the voice is provided by The Rise of Skywalker co-writer Chris Terrio.

Warwick Davis as Wicket W. Warrick

Once The Final Order has been wiped out, we get a series of shots where different planets are celebrating victory as Star Destroyers fall from the sky. One of the shots takes us back to the Ewok village on the forest moon of Endor, and we see Warwick Davis back as Wicket W. Warrick from Return of the Jedi, and he his son Pommet Warrick is with him, played by Davis’ real life son Harrison Davis.

Talented Stormtroopers

There are a number of Stormtroopers throughout The Rise of Skywalker, but a few prominent ones are played by some recognizable names. In the credits, we have FN-2802 played by Radiohead producer and musician Nigel Godrich, FN-0878 played by Dhani Harrison, the son of The Beatles singer, songwriter and guitarist George Harrison, and FN-1226, played by Sleight and Sweetheart director JD Dillard.

We’re sure there are plenty more Stormtroopers played by celebrities, especially since we saw musician Ed Sheeran in Stormtrooper gear in one of the behind the scenes featurettes. We’ll update this section as more of these cameos start to surface.

Ed Sheeran Played a Resistance Alien

Speaking of Ed Sheeran, even though the pop star was spotted in Stormtrooper gear in some behind the scenes footage from The Rise of Skywalker, it turns out he played someone else. Oh My Disney posted a list of The Rise of Skywalker cameos (which we mostly already knew about), and they revealed the above image, noting that Ed Sheeran is under that alien head.

Rey’s Parents

We finally find out who Rey’s parents are and they’re played by Jodie Comer of Killing Eve and the upcoming Free Guy, and Billy Howle, a lesser known actor who has appeared in The Outlaw King, Dunkirk and On Chesil Beach.

Lin-Manuel Miranda Joins the Resistance

Though we’re not certain he’s easily visible at any point during the movie, Hamilton creator and star Lin-Manuel Miranda was a Resistance fighter in the movie, as evidenced by a featurette from behind the scenes.

John Williams as Oma Tres

In a brief appearance, longtime Star Wars composer John Williams appears as a bartender on the planet Kijimi. The camera lingers on him for a moment as our heroes make their way through a cantina full of aliens, and at first you don’t recognize him since he has some tech on his face, but it’s clearly John Williams, and he’s named in the credits as Oma Tres.

Mark Hamill as Boolio

Towards the beginning of The Rise of Skywalker, this alien has a message for our Resistance heroes about a mole in the First Order. That alien is named Boolio, and he just so happens to be voiced by Luke Skywalker himself, Mark Hamill.

Kevin Smith as a Kijimi Local

The Clerks director himself revealed that J.J. Abrams gave him a cameo as a bundled up local on Kijimi, where our heroes take C-3PO for a dangerous reprogramming. The filmmaker explained how the cameo came about over here.

Snoke and Darth Vader

No, we don’t actually see these characters (though we do see the cloned body parts of the former Supreme Leader), but when Kylo Ren arrives on the Sith planet Exagol, the Emperor’s voice morphs into the voices of Snoke and Darth Vader for a brief second. Andy Serkis and James Earl Jones both returned to reprise their roles.

Denis Lawson as Wedge Antilles

During the final battle on Exagol, a whole slew of ships show up to help the Resistance take down The Final Order. We don’t get a glimpse of many of the pilots behind these ships, but one familiar face pops up to tell Lando Calrissian that he’s doing some nice flying, and it’s none other than Denis Lawson as Wedge Antilles, one of the Rebel pilots who flew against the Empire throughout the original Star Wars trilogy. Fun fact: Denis Lawson is Ewan McGregor’s uncle.

Harrison Ford as Han Solo

Yes, in what is one of the most surprising cameos of the entire movie, Harrison Ford returns as Han Solo. He’s not a Force ghost exactly, but rather a memory that lingers inside Ben Solo and appears after he becomes very conflicted about his place in the galaxy. He speaks with Ben about finally giving up the dark side. There’s even a wonderful callback to one of Han’s most famous lines from the original trilogy.

The Voices of Jedi Past

Here’s what you probably came to this article to confirm. In the climax of The Rise of Skywalker, Rey hears the voices of many Jedi who came and perished before her as their power begins to flow through her. She now represents all the Jedi, just as the Emperor is embodied by all the Sith. Here are the voices that Rey hears throughout this moment:

• Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker
• Olivia D’Abo as Luminara Unduli
• Ashley Eckstein as Ahsoka Tano
• Jennifer Hale as Aayla Secura
• Samuel L. Jackson as Mace Windu
• Ewan McGregor and Alec Guinness as Obi-Wan Kenobi
• Frank Oz as Yoda
• Angelique Perrin as Adi Gallia
• Freddie Prinze Jr. as Kanan Jarrus
• Liam Neeson as Qui-Gon Jinn

For all of the Jedi who you might not remember from the live-action movies, they were prominently featured in The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels animated series and the actors and actresses playing them are the ones who voiced them in those respective shows. This is the first time the live-action movies have brought in characters who have only appeared in animated form, like Kanan Jarrus and Ahsoka Tano. We hope this is a gateway for them to get the live-action treatment at some point.

The post Here Are All the ‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’ Cameos (That We Know Of) appeared first on /Film.

When The Expanse was cancelled by SYFY, a core group of fans, lovingly called the Screaming Firehawks, worked hard to find it a new home. In May 2018, Jeff Bezos responded to everyone’s efforts, which included flying a plane with a banner that said  “Save The Expanse” over Amazon Studios’ main office, by announcing that Amazon Prime Video was picking up the show. Fans and cast and crew alike were ecstatic, and all have been waiting for the new season, which dropped on December 12th. 

The fourth season is a great one (read /Film’s spoiler-free review is live), and while the core of the show remains the same in its new home, there are some noticeable differences that came with the move to Amazon. Read on to learn how the move to a new network has impacted the viewing experience of the show. 

Episodes Drop All at Once Instead of One-Per-Week

The most obvious change with The Expanse’s move to Amazon is that the entire season was dropped at once versus the one episode per week model on SYFY. There are pros and cons to this change, as there are pros and cons to binge watching in general. On the plus-side, fans can inhale the fourth season over just a couple of days if they’re so inclined, potentially even staying up until 3:00 AM on a work night to get in as much viewing as they can. Instant gratification can be a good thing, and is often satisfying. What is lost, however, with the drop-all-at-once format is the shared sense of anticipation, the reddit and Twitter conversations that take place during the week while everyone’s waiting for the next episode to drop. There’s something to be said about dropping the season bit by bit (HBO’s Watchmen is a great example of this), and while I’m sure serious fans will still have those in-depth online conversations about the new season, some of that feeling of watching something communally will be lost. 

There Are No Commercials

There’s really no downside to this one—being able to watch a full episode with no interruptions is a dream. Granted, there is a cost to the viewer in that they have to pay for an Amazon Prime subscription, but that’s the new streaming platform reality we all live in, and at least with Amazon Prime you also get other benefits that the conglomerate has to offer. 

F-Bombs and Other Salty Language Flows Freely

A free reign on swearing was one of the things I was probably disproportionally excited about when I heard The Expanse was moving to Amazon. Those who have read the books know that Avasarala swears like a sailor most of the time, and this was lost when it was on SYFY, especially in the first two seasons when there was almost no swearing allowed at all. Characters swore more freely in the third and final season on SYFY after the network made a move to allow F-Bombs, but in the fourth season swears flow freely from almost every character, and it is wonderful. Avasarala is also back in full force, and even tells Holden at one point, “Don’t put your dick in it. It’s fucked enough already.” I can’t imagine such a line—a line from Cibola Burn, the fourth book in the series by James S. A. Corey, by the way—ever making its way on the show if it was still SYFY, F-Bombs now allowed or not. 

There Was an Investment in CGI/Special Effects

Mild spoiler warning here! Skip this section if you don’t want to learn a few things that happened in the fourth season!

The latest season of the show involved most of the characters spending time on Ilus, an alien planet covered with looming ancient alien relics. Creating an entire world isn’t cheap, and though a sci-fi series is never as cheap as shooting something contemporary, my bet is the fact the fourth season would spend a lot of time on Ilus was one of the reasons SYFY decided to cancel the show; it would just be too expensive. Amazon was willing to take that on, and the rendition of Ilus, particularly the horn-like ancient alien relics, was well done for the small screen. There were a few effects that didn’t land as well—Holden falling/floating through the glowing purple protomolecule transport system, for one, looked a little too fake for my liking—but they clearly invested their money in the CGI that mattered the most. 

We Already Know There Will be a Fifth Season, And It’s in Production Already! 

Amazon Prime Video is taking a long-term view of the show, and announced in July 2019 that they had already greenlit the fifth season of the series. This commitment to another season before the last season had even aired is something that the streaming platform has done for other Amazon Originals as well, and it gives The Expanse cast and crew some creative breathing space. Instead of looking at each season discretely, unsure if the show will be around for another, the promise of  another season allows for cross-season story arcs. One only has to look at the introduction of the character Marco Inaros to know there are scenes in Season 4 that will seed the conflict of Season 5, and the show as a whole is better for it. The only downside is that we’ll likely have to wait a year to see how those seeds blossom. On the upside, given the quality of the first four seasons, I have no doubt that the fifth won’t disappoint either, though we’ll have to wait a bit to find out for sure. 

The post How ‘The Expanse’ Changed With Its Move From SYFY to Amazon appeared first on /Film.

The time has come for Keanu Reeves to murder everyone again. Not literally, of course, but on the big screen. The actor is now back in training for two big action sequels: John Wick Chapter 4 and The Matrix 4 – two movies, by the way, that are both currently set to open on the same day. Reeves was recently at Taran Tactical Innovations, with guns at the ready and his wonderful facial hair that he shaved off for Bill and Ted 3 returned to its rightful place.

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I’m thinking he’s back – chapter 4. ?Keanu starting his training for John Wick 4 & Matrix 4? . . #johnwick #matrix #keanureeves #trainingmotivation #traininghard #combatmaster #firearms #film #stunts #gunsdaily #actorslife #needmoreguns #tti #tarantacticalinnovations #tarantactical #woah

A post shared by Taran Tactical Innovations (@tarantactical) on Dec 16, 2019 at 9:21am PST

I feel the need to add a disclaimer to this post since the pic above is very gun-centric. America needs sensible gun control, now more than ever. I firmly believe that with all my heart and soul. Also, I really like to watch movies where Keanu Reeves has a bunch of guns and shoots people. Does that make me a hypocrite? I guess. To quote Walt Whitman, “Do I contradict myself? Very well, then I contradict myself, I am large, I contain multitudes. Also, I love me some guns in movies.” Okay, I added that last part.

As you can see above, Mr. Reeves is back in action, gearing up to film both John Wick Chapter 4 and The Matrix 4, both of which have a May 21st, 2021 release date (one of them is going to move at some point, so don’t get too excited). Keanu takes this stuff very seriously, which is why he looks so damn cool running into neon-lit rooms and gun-fu-ing everyone to death. Taran Tactical is also his go-to place – he trained there for John Wick Chapter 3 as well, as you can see in this video, which also features co-star Halle Berry.

“Keanu came out, and keep in mind I’ve trained other actors, and usually they just want like three or four hours of training one day so they don’t have some dorky cup-and-saucer grip or something else stupid and blow it,” Taran Butler, founder of Taran Tactical, previously said. “Keanu wanted to be next level.  He’s kinda never satisfied, and you can see that in some of the YouTube videos where he wants to go again, try and go faster, get better and better, and that attitude is why he’s so good.”

The post Keanu Reeves is Training to Kill Everyone Again (in ‘John Wick 4’ and ‘The Matrix 4’) appeared first on /Film.

Star Wars references from Episode IX

The final film in Star Wars' nine-episode Skywalker Saga, Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker, is finally upon us. Rey, Finn, and Poe face their final battle with the First Order, and a whole host of mysteries and character arcs set up across the sequel trilogy are finally getting resolved as the galaxy deals with a showdown that will determine whether its future is one of hope, or one of darkness.

In wrapping up the 42-year story, Rise of Skywalker takes a whole lot of looks back on the films of the past, bringing back a host of old characters and tying up more than a few major plot points and mysteries. It's full of references to past movies as well--not just with returning characters, but with moments, lines, and images repeated that conjure up eight movies' worth of memories. The references are so densely packed, in fact, that it's very possible to miss them all.

We've run down a full list of every callback and Easter egg we caught in the Skywalker Saga's conclusion. From stormtroopers hunting droids on Tatooine to unused material from Return of the Jedi, here's every Star Wars tidbit that shows up in The Rise of Skywalker.

Note: This gallery is full of spoilers for The Rise of Skywalker--if you want to remain unsullied, turn back now!

1. The Sith Temple

Though the legendary Sith planet of Exegol is new to The Rise of Skywalker, the giant spooky structure found there isn't. We've seen Sith temples like this before, specifically in Star Wars Rebels on the planet Malachor. We also know from the most recent Star Wars video games that Emperor Palpatine was big on seeking out Jedi and Sith artifacts during the height of the Empire, so it tracks he might have discovered this cool Sith place over the years that would be useful to him later.

2. Palpatine Explains His Dark Side Powers

When Palpatine gives some quick explanation to Kylo Ren about how he's not dead yet, he repeats a line he once used to seduce Anakin Skywalker to his side. After telling the story of Darth Plagueis the Wise, Palpatine hinted that he commanded the ability to defeat death. "The Dark Side is a pathway to many abilities some would consider to be unnatural," Palpatine tells Anakin--as well as Ren. Anakin's fear of Padme's death is what brought him to Palpatine's side in Revenge of the Sith.

3. Return Of Snoke

Fans have been wondering and speculating about the origins of First Order Supreme Leader Snoke since he was introduced, somewhat vaguely, in The Force Awakens. Back then, some guessed that Snoke might be a Palpatine clone. Turns out that's not far off the mark, since we see a bunch of Snoke clones in tubes on Exegol. Apparently, Palpatine was manipulating or puppeteering Snoke(s) to drive the First Order from the shadows and regain his power.

4. Tracking Through Lightspeed

A big plot point in The Last Jedi was the First Order's ability to track the Resistance fleet even after that fleet jumped to hyperspace. We didn't get much information on how "active tracking" worked, except that it was supposed to be difficult or impossible. The First Order apparently has spread the tech out quite a bit, because we see TIE fighters track the Millennium Falcon through multiple jumps to lightspeed.

5. Rey's Jedi Training

When we catch up with Rey, we find her working on her Jedi training near the new Resistance base. Like Luke, she's fighting flying, orb-like remote droids that can shoot at her, while trying to maximize her connection to the Force by wearing a helmet with an opaque blast shield. It's almost exactly the same setup that Obi-Wan put Luke through on the Millennium Falcon in A New Hope, except on a larger scale.

6. Leia The Master

Later in The Rise of Skywalker, it's established that Leia Organa isn't just Force-sensitive thanks to her Skywalker lineage--she actually trained with her brother Luke toward becoming a full Jedi, or nearly one. With Luke gone and no other Jedi around, it falls to Leia to train Rey. The apprentice even refers to the general as Master Leia.

7. Remembering Luke Vs. Vader

During her training, Rey has a vision that calls back a bunch of things from past movies, including the loss of her parents when she was small, Kylo Ren's visit to the Sith temple on Exegol, and Luke's confrontations with Darth Vader in the original trilogy. Listen closely and you can hear some of Luke's dialogue from The Empire Strikes Back, when Vader revealed to Luke who his real father was. It's pretty apropos given what Rey will learn about her own family history later in the movie.

8. The Sacred Jedi Texts

Though Luke thought Yoda destroyed the sacred Jedi texts, it turns out, Rey snagged them before she left Ahch-To in The Last Jedi. The texts also include Luke's personal notes, which Rey uses in The Rise of Skywalker to try to track down the Sith dagger that will lead the Resistance to Exegol.

9. The 42-Year Festival

On Pasaana, Rey, Poe, and Finn find themselves hanging out at a big party the local people are throwing. As Threepio informs them, the festival only happens every 42 years. That sounds like an innocuous number, but it's actually a reference to the release of A New Hope way back in 1977. The party marks the beginning, and the end, of the Skywalker saga.

10. The Return Of Lando Calrissian

Hey, remember Lando? The former Rebel general is back, although we're not sure what he's been up to since the end of the war with the Empire more than 30 years ago. We do find out that when Luke went his mission to Pasaana to try to find Exegol years earlier, Lando was one of the people who accompanied him. And it's on Pasaana where Rey and her pals discover Lando.

11. "Chewie, Old Buddy"

During the Battle of Endor in Return of the Jedi, Lando vouches for Han, telling others in the Rebel fleet to trust that Han and his ground assault team will succeed in knocking out the shield protecting the Death Star II. Afterward, he mutters to himself, "Han, old buddy, don't let me down." Lando echoes that sentiment when he sees Chewie for the first time in The Rise of Skywalker, calling Chewie "old buddy" as well.

12. A Bad Feeling About This

Lando reads off the classic Star Wars line just as the First Order shows up to chase down Rey and her pals.

13. Space John Williams

Carlo Allegri | Getty Images

Longtime series composer John Williams doesn't just make music for The Rise of Skywalker--he actually shows up in this movie in a brief cameo on Kijimi, as a bartender. His character name, Oma Tres, is also an homage--it's an anagram of "maestro."

14. Using The Force On A Ship

Force power creep is definitely a thing in Star Wars movies, with each new film concerning Jedi making them more and more powerful. In The Rise of Skywalker, we see Rey stop a ship in flight with the power of the Force, and then battle with Kylo Ren as he tries to break it free. We've seen Jedi lift sedentary ships before--Yoda did it in The Empire Strikes Back and Luke does it in Rise of Skywalker. But what Rey and Kylo do in this movie is more akin to the classic scene from the video game Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, in which protagonist Starkiller rips a Star Destroyer out of flight and crashes it with nothing but the strength of the Force.

15. Force Lightning

The Rise of Skywalker spends a lot of time teasing what's going on with Rey. The biggest moment is when she and Kylo Ren battle with the Force over the cruiser they believe contains the captured Chewbacca. As the two grapple for the ship, Force lightning bursts from Rey's fingertips, destroying the transport. It's a power we've only seen Palpatine wield, and for the first time suggests the massive amount of dark Force capability Rey actually has within her.

16. Stormtroopers On The Prowl

The First Order is out in force during the middle portion of The Rise of Skywalker, apparently trying to subdue planets in the wake of their massive victory against the Resistance. On Kijimi, we see First Order patrols doing house-to-house searches against the local population. Listen closely, and you'll catch a line of dialogue from one of the troopers from A New Hope, one delivered after some troopers knock on the door where C-3PO and R2-D2 are hiding out: "Door's locked--move on to the next one."

17. "Never Tell Me The Odds"

C-3PO loves to tell other characters the odds of plans failing and everyone meeting certain doom. After delivering the bad news a few times in The Rise of Skywalker, calling back his jokey lines in The Empire Strikes Back, Rey puts the odds question to Threepio in regards to whether there's another way to get the information they need from the Sith dagger, apart from wiping his memory.

18. The Emperor's Throne Room

Revisiting the wreckage of the Death Star, located on another of the moons of Endor (not the forest moon from Return of the Jedi) is a poignant image in and of itself. But when Rey gets into the hulking space station, she visits a key location: the Emperor's throne room. It was here that Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker had their duel, and where the Emperor tried and failed to turn Luke to the Dark Side one last time.

19. The Sith Throne

Palpatine gets his own version of the Iron Throne in The Rise of Skywalker, hanging out in front of a big rocky chair that he intends to take as soon as he can transfer his spirit into a better body. Though he had a more modest throne in Return of the Jedi, this Throne of the Sith is actually an unused concept from that movie, as CBR reported.

20. Ghost Dad

After their duel on the (other) Endor moon and Rey takes off in Kylo Ren's ship, the former Ben Solo finds himself visiting with the ghost of his father, Han Solo. Kylo mentions that what he's actually interacting with is just a memory (as opposed to a Jedi Force ghost), but the distinction doesn't seem to matter much. This is Han as we last saw him in The Force Awakens, repeating his final interaction with his son, and giving Kylo Ren a chance to be redeemed as Ben Solo.

21. Han And Ben Relive The Past

As Ben talks with Han and relives their last moments together, he utters a line from The Force Awakens: "I know what I have to do, but I don't know if I have the strength to do it." In that movie, Kylo's line preceded him murdering his father and seemingly solidifying himself as a warrior of the Dark Side. In The Rise of Skywalker, Ben uses the same line as a chance to cast off his Kylo Ren persona and embrace who he was.

22. "I Know"

Han also gets to reiterate a classic line. In the last moments of their interaction, Ben says, "Dad," as if beginning to say something in the vein of "I'm sorry," or probably more aptly, "I love you." Han cuts him off to repeat one of the most famous lines in Star Wars: "I know." It's the answer Han gave Leia in The Empire Strikes Back when she admitted she loved him, and one Leia echoed in Return of the Jedi when Han admitted the same to her.

23. Luke Joins The Force Ghosts

Star Wars has a long history with Jedi returning from the great beyond as Force ghosts, in order to further mentor their Jedi apprentices even after they're gone. Luke got good advice from both Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda after they'd died, and he takes the opportunity in The Rise of Skywalker to help Rey along the path, as well.

24. Jedi Knight Leia Organa

As mentioned above, it turns out that Luke trained Leia in the ways of the Jedi at some point during the years between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens. Leia might have abandoned that path--ostensibly to save Ben Solo, but that didn't really work out--but she clearly was pretty far along. That echoes a lot of stories from the old Expanded Universe of Star Wars, from before Disney acquired Lucasfilm. In the old comics and novels, Leia became a Jedi in her own right as well, but with some very different outcomes.

25. Luke Raises His X-Wing

After giving Rey her pep talk, Luke provides her with everything she needs to get back into the fight--the info on where to get the Sith wayfinder, a new lightsaber, and even a ship. That would be his old X-Wing, which he apparently parked underwater when he arrived on Ahch-To, as seen in The Last Jedi. As he lifts it from the depths, you'll hear a musical cue from The Empire Strikes Back--it's the same music that played when Yoda lifted Luke's X-Wing from the swamp of Dagobah.

26. Porgs!

The Rise of Skywalker has its own slate of cute new additions to the Star Wars universe that will definitely make their way onto new merchandise. But when Rey returns to Ahch-To toward the end of the film, it gives the movie an opportunity to slip in something cute from the last movie, too. The Porgs are back, but only just long enough to remind you that you love them.

27. The Holdo Maneuver

After Kylo Ren makes his deal with Palpatine, he gets a whole fleet of Star Destroyers capable of annihilating planets that he means to use to subjugate the galaxy. The Resistance finally makes its way to Exegol to destroy that fleet, when a new character played by Dominic Monaghan suggests destroying the ships with the use of "the Holdo maneuver." That's a reference to The Last Jedi, where Vice Admiral Holdo jumped to lightspeed while in the path of the First Order's command ship, sheering it in half. It's not so much a maneuver as a suicidal ramming, but it probably would get the job done against some of those Destroyers.

28. Palpatine's Catch-Phrase

Lots of characters reiterate iconic lines throughout The Rise of Skywalker to recall big moments in the original Star Wars trilogy. Palpatine's interactions with Rey feel a lot like his interactions with both Anakin Skywalker in Revenge of the Sith and Luke Skywalker in Return of the Jedi. When Rey finally seems to acquiesce to his desire to turn her to the dark side and use her body to be reborn, he runs out the lengthy "Good" that is a staple of both those previous moments.

29. Snap Wexley

There are a few minor characters who have appeared throughout the new Star Wars trilogy, even though they haven't had a ton of screen time. Pilot Snap Wexley is one, and if you're familiar with the novels taking place between the new movies and the original trilogy, you know that Wexley is a big deal in the Resistance. Unfortunately, he meets an untimely end during the final battle of The Rise of Skywalker, solidifying for Poe Dameron that this might not be a fight the Resistance can win.

30. Wedge Antilles

Just as things look their darkest, though, Lando Calrissian makes his appearance with a massive fleet of people willing to fight the Final Order. Among them is Wedge Antilles, the legendary Rebel pilot, back in the cockpit. Though Wedge also appeared in supplementary novels that took place after Return of the Jedi, this is the first time we've seen him on screen in the new trilogy.

31. Lando Pilots The Falcon

Lando's return in the final battle of The Rise of Skywalker also allowed him to fly the Millennium Falcon yet again, the ship he has a ton of history with. The Falcon originally belonged to Lando, as we saw in Solo: A Star Wars Story, but he lost it gambling with Han Solo. Lando eventually got to pilot the ship again in the Battle of Endor in Return of the Jedi, where he and the ship were instrumental in the destruction of the Death Star II and the fall of the Empire. Lando gets up to a few more heroics with the Falcon in this movie, for old time's sake.

32. Jedi Of The Past

As Rey is trying to stop Palpatine once and for all, she's empowered by the ghosts of all the Jedi who came before her. We hear the voices of a bunch of different characters from across the Star Wars canon, including Obi-Wan Kenobi (both Ewan McGregor and Alec Guinness), Anakin Skywalker, Luke Skywalker, Yoda, Mace Windu, Qui-Gon Jinn, Kanan Jarrus from Star Wars Rebels, and Ahsoka Tano, Aayla Secura, and Luminara Unduli from Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

33. The Return Of Red 5

Rey takes Luke Skywalker's classic X-Wing with her to Exegol, and in the waning moments of the battle against the Final Order, she escapes in the ship as well. The rest of the Resistance detects her ship and its legendary callsign: Red 5, Luke's designation during the Battle of Yavin. Given the conclusion of the film, it's fitting for Rey to inherit Luke's radio designator as well as the Jedi Order he tried to save.

34. Chewie Finally Gets Recognition

There's a running joke with fans of Star Wars that goes all the way back to A New Hope. After rescuing Leia from the first Death Star, she honors Han and Luke with medals during a flashy ceremony. C-3PO and R2-D2 are also present, as is Chewbacca--but unlike the humans, Chewie doesn't get a medal, even though he was just as essential to the rescue as anybody else. The Rise of Skywalker finally corrects that oversight, with Maz Kanata taking a second to present Chewie with the medal his bravery has earned him throughout the series.

35. Ewoks!

Though Rey, Finn, and Poe visit a moon of Endor when searching for the Sith Wayfinder, they don't visit the moon of Endor--the forest moon from Return of the Jedi. Instead, they drop by a separate moon. But you couldn't mention Endor or show the Death Star II's wreckage without calling to mind the loveable but deadly teddy bear people who helped defeat the Empire: the Ewoks. A quick passing shot after the Final Order's defeat reminds us that, yes, Ewoks are the best.

36. Revisiting Bespin, Endor, and Jakku

In the aftermath of the battle with the Final Order, we see the Imperial fleet destroyed from a number of different viewpoints. It's a quick tour of notable planets from the series, including Bespin from The Empire Strikes Back, the forest moon of Endor from Return of the Jedi, and Jakku from The Force Awakens. These scenes also mirror a similar victory tour that appeared at the end of the Special Edition version of Return of the Jedi, which showed locations such as Tatooine and Naboo as well.

37. Don't Forget Nien Nunb

Lando's co-pilot from the Battle of Endor in Return of the Jedi has shown up in the past as a pilot for the Resistance. He's again seen fighting the Final Order at the end of The Rise of Skywalker as well, because it wouldn't be a rebellion's last stand without Nien Nunb.

38. Tatooine And The Lars Farm

In the final moments of the movie, Rey returns to where it all began: Tatooine. She revisits Luke's boyhood home, the moisture farm of Owen and Beru Lars, and where Anakin's mother Shmi Skywalker also once lived. And finally, since she can't bury Luke and Leia, her mentors, she commits their lightsabers to the desert sands instead, under the twin suns that once set behind Luke before he started on the path to become a Jedi.

39. More Force Ghosts

Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Yoda all got to show back up at the end of the story and wish everyone well after their deaths back in Return of the Jedi. Here, the Skywalker twins get a chance to give Rey one last sendoff on Tatooine.

40. A New Skywalker

We get payoff for the title of the movie with its last line. Rey, who never knew her family, adopts one, while simultaneously casting off the lineage she was born to in favor of one she chooses.

41. The Sith Holocron

Though it's referred to as a "Wayfinder" throughout the movie, the tiny pyramid device Rey and Kylo Ren use to find Exegol is actually a Sith holocron. These semi-mystical devices were used by both the Sith and the Jedi to store information, and have appeared in a lot of non-film material, including Star Wars Rebels.

42. "Never Underestimate A Droid"

Unfortunately, the death of Carrie Fisher between The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker means that, in order to complete Leia's arc, the filmmakers had to make use of footage from the previous two movies. Leia's line, "Never underestimate a droid," gets a callback from Rey during an action scene--but it was actually a bit of dialogue from The Force Awakens, and appears in a deleted scene on the home video release.

43. Force Healing

It hasn't shown up in the films before, but the concept of using the Force to heal has been used a few times in Star Wars fiction. It's something that characters have used in the cartoon series, and of course, healing yourself with the Force is often a Jedi power in Star Wars video games. Right before Rey mended wounds with the Force, though, Baby Yoda exercised the same gift on The Mandalorian.

44. The Sith Language

Yes, the Sith have a language. In fact, in some ancillary material, there was a whole race known as Sith (or Sith Purebloods), separate (but related to) the Dark Jedi order. Both Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader could speak the language, which appears in both The Clone Wars and the Lords of the Sith comics.

45. Palpatine's Spirit Transfer

We know from Revenge of the Sith that Palpatine is at least aware of some pretty gnarly Force powers that allow him to cheat death. The promise of those powers is how Palpatine seduced Anakin Skywalker to the Dark Side. Using those powers to transfer his spirit into Rey's body tracks with what was set up in the Prequels. It's also a plot point from the "Dark Empire" comics arc from the Expanded Universe, in which Palpatine transferred his spirit into clones in order to extend his life.

46. D-0's Voice

Several original trilogy characters reprise their roles in The Rise of Skywalker, and there are a few cameos along the way as well. One that's not super obvious is that of director JJ Abrams, who provides the voice of the cone-headed droid D-0.

47. "This Is Madness!"

One of C-3PO's earliest lines in the Star Wars trilogy is to remark on the Empire attacking Princess Leia's diplomatic transport, intoning, "This is madness!" He says the same thing in The Rise of Skywalker after having his memory wiped. He also remarks on his first laser battle, though we know he's been a part of countless battles over the years.

48. Shades Of The Knights Of The Old Republic

A secret Sith emperor, a hidden superfleet, a former good guy fallen to the Dark Side and taking over the galaxy--if it all sounds familiar, there's a reason. While The Rise of Skywalker borrows some ideas from old Extended Universe stories like Dark Empire, it also has a few that come from other sources: video games. The idea that the Sith have an instant, hidden, and super-powered fleet is a major plot point of The Knights of the Old Republic, for instance. And one Dark Jedi using the Dark Side to stop a worse, scarier Sith Emperor is part of what's going on in both KOTOR and Star Wars: The Old Republic.

Warning: Spoilers follow for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Proceed at your own risk. You have been warned. Seriously. Even if it's just about our lord and savior Babu Frik, they're still spoilers y'all. For more on TROS, here's the Ending Explained.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, the conclusion to a saga over 40 years in the making, is definitely a divisive film. One aspect of the movie almost everyone agrees upon, however, is that Babu Frik is a precious, wonderful, special creature that has stolen our hearts and must be protected at all costs.

Continue reading…

To round off what has been a truly rubbish year across the media, popular tech site, The Inquirer, has just published its last posts. The site will remain up until March but won’t be publishing fresh content over the next few months.  

The decision to close came from the site’s publisher, Incisive Media, and apparently was a big surprise to staff.

On the site, editor Carly Page wrote: “We were informed by our publisher last week – Merry Christmas! Happy Tory landslide! – which has made the decision that due to a recent decline in digital advertising, along with a change of focus for the business, it was time for The INQUIRER to go dark.”

Speaking to Press Gazette, Chris Merriman, associate editor, said that the site still had a healthy audience, averaging about three million unique monthly visitors.

“On paper certainly it was in good health which is why from our point of view, because we have nothing to do with ad sales and campaigns and things like that, we weren’t to know there was anything wrong,” he said.

The Inquirer was founded by Mike Magee in 2001. It was purchased by VNU in 2006, who were in turn bought out by Incisive Media in 2007. Over its 18 years of operating, the site has published news, features, opinion pieces and reviews, most of which carried the site’s trademark humour.

Writing about her experience of the site, editor Page described it as a publication that “energised tech journalism with its fearless attitude, snarky reporting, world-reaching exclusives and its ability to have an, er, bit of fun now and again.”

The news follows a year in which publications faced a string of ruthless cuts and closures. BuzzFeed, VICE and New York Media all slashed their staff numbers this year, leaving a lot of journalists out in the cold.

The post The Inquirer ceases publishing just before Christmas appeared first on Trusted Reviews.

A month ago the European Union issued marketing authorization for a vaccine to prevent the Ebola virus in adults, and now the FDA has approved it. While noting that Ebola cases in the US have been very rare, director of the FDA's Center for Biologics...

Watchmen spoilers ahead!

HBO's Watchmen has finally come to a close, and the finale cemented it as one of the best shows of 2019--and easily one of the best shows to appear on TV in years. As such, we haven't been able to get enough of this show. But the Peteypedia documents that HBO has been publishing online aren't the only companion piece we've been paying attention to--there's also the official Watchmen podcast, in which host Craig Mazin (showrunner of HBO's Chernobyl) has been interviewing Watchmen showrunner Damon Lindelof after each block of three episodes of the show.

Like clockwork, the podcast's final episode appeared in our feed after last night's finale, and we've been poring over it ever since to glean every last bit of information we can get out of it. Lindelof is candid during the conversation, and he addresses everything from the show's complex politics to the question of a second season.

Keep reading to find out everything we learned from the official Watchmen podcast, then check out our explanation of the show's ending, and our list of Easter eggs and references in the show's final episode, and our answer to the ultimate Watchmen question: Who was Lube Guy?

1. Damon Lindelof wants Watchmen fans to consider it worthy of the name

Lindelof says in the podcast that although he doesn't need comics fans to adore the show, he does hope they consider it worthy of the name Watchmen: "For people who have had a 30-year relationship with Watchmen like I have, or came to it later, people who have a pre-existing relationship with this, who may have watched the show with their arms crossed from the jump--which is how I would have been watching it, had I not been making it--if their arms gradually sort of unfolded. I don't need them to be clapping at the end, but if they made it to the end of Episode 9, and they're sort of like, 'OK, this thing can call itself Watchmen,' that was the brass ring."

2. Judd was covering his own butt when he helped attack the 7K compound

One thing that may prove confusing on a re-watch once you know how everything plays out is the fact that Judd was so gung-ho during the attack on the 7th Kavalry compound in the first episode--considering he was part of the organization's leadership all along. Lindelof explains this by examining the situation the 7K found themselves in after the member driving the lettuce truck had his run-in with the cop:

"This cop has now made this guy as a member of the 7th Kavalry. And this guy--who knows what he knows?" Lindelof says. "This guy basically changes the bad guy plan when he shoots the cop. So we're seeing an aberration. And so now Judd Crawford is basically spinning. He's like, 'Crap. The original bad guy plan was this guy was never gonna get pulled over, we were gonna finish making our cage, we were gonna go trap Doctor Manhattan and do our thing, and the rest is history. Now I've gotta improvise.' What he wasn't counting on was Angela beating a confession out of this dude who they pull into the pod, who says there's a 7th Kavalry cell that's basically at this cattle ranch. So Judd knows the only way through this is to take these guys out, and what he's doing is he's making sure that no one survives."

3. Keene's original plan was convoluted, but it makes sense

Throughout the series, the 7th Kavalry's ultimate goal became gradually more clear. Keene put the cops in masks to somehow help himself get elected president--a plan that took shape even as it transformed due to the revelation to the 7K that Cal was Doctor Manhattan in disguise. It's fairly convoluted, but the way Lindelof explains it makes sense:

"Keene's ambition is creating some kind of culture war...the 7th Kavalry starts to exist independent of Joe Keene [because of reparations]. Joe Keene doesn't start the 7th Kavalry. So he's the junior senator from Oklahoma, and he sees that this reparations legislation was passed, now the 7th Kavalry is starting to exist, and he starts to see, 'OK, well, this right-wing terror organization of white supremacists, there's a little bit of overlap in our Venn diagram of beliefs. My father, Joe Keene senior, was a member of Cyclops,' and there's this feeling of like, 'We've had to hide our faces, and now the 7th Kavalry is out there making a point of this.' At the same time, he's pro-police, Joe Keene. So it's sort of like, 'I identify with both the bad crazy racists in masks, but also the cops. So in a perfect world, I'll be able to control both sides. And the best way for me to control both of them is to put them all in masks so you can't tell the difference between them anymore.'

"You know, look, I'm the first to say that this logic makes your head spin a little bit, and as Keene is revealing his bad guy plan--which is a trope of the genre but also a trope of Watchmen...Keene even says something to the effect of like, you know, 'I'll admit it's, you know, it's a little harebrained.'"

4. Lindelof wanted Lady Trieu to have a clone of Angela at one point

During the podcast, Lindelof revealed an alternate idea of something Angela may have found on the other side of the door in Episode 7:

"OK. There's gonna be a tube running out of Angela's arm. It's gonna be connected to something. She thinks it's her grandfather. If, at the end of Episode 7, she goes barging through that door and it's Will, then what? Can't be him, and it can't be a red herring--it can't just be like, there's just a garbage bin there and some goop going into it. There needs to be something in that room. So let's start to kick the tires of what it would be. The idea that I fell in love with--and it's important for me to talk about this, because believe it or not, Craig, every idea I have is not a great idea, and thank god for the other writers--I was like, 'What if it's a clone of Angela?' So Lady Trieu has just grown another Regina King."

However, the show's other writers pointed out that it was late in the story to introduce such a huge new element, and besides, they were already doing a storyline involving clones on Europa.

5. There's a good explanation for why it was an elephant instead

So why the elephant? Lindelof explains, "These are foundational ideas stacked on ideas. But I believe it was [writer] Lila Byock who said, 'It should be an elephant.' An elephant never forgets, that's Lady Trieu's symbol, and more importantly, I think that the idea sort of came out that like, Lady Trieu wants to store these memories. And so instead of having there be like a hard drive, that elephant not only has Will Reeves' origin story in it, but god knows what else. And so it's out there wandering the world, you know, with all these [memories]."

6. Lindelof explains Veidt's single tear during his trial

One good question Mazin has for Lindelof is why Veidt shed a single tear during his trial on Europa. "Is he sad there because he is feeling guilty about what he has done? Or sorry for himself? Or is because he knows that he's going to have to leave them soon?" Mazin asks.

"This is gonna be the most frustratingly pretentious answer ever, but it's all of the above and also none of the above," Lindelof replies. "And I think that what I'll say is, in Episode 8, he does demonstrate to Jon in Cal's form probably the most real emotional moment that he demonstrates in the course of these nine episodes. Which is that he saved the world, and nobody even knows it. And the beautiful utopia that he had envisioned has not come to pass….He's raining down these baby squids just to kind of keep the status quo, but he's now at a point in life where he's like, 'I'm gonna die, and I've now acknowledged I lose to humanity. Humanity is too inherently f***ed up and self-destructive for me to ever save the world permanently. And more importantly, they've rejected my utopia.' And there's real resentment there: 'Why oh why must they continue to build their godforsaken bombs?' And so when he's crying in the trial...what he's crying about is this isn't utopia either."

7. Veidt wrote his own trial out of boredom

One question that we as viewers had was whether Veidt's trial was part of his grand plan, or if he was just killing time until Lady Trieu's rocket could make it all the way out to Europa. It turns out the answer is more complicated than we envisioned.

"He's in a waiting period now. This trial is just basically, he's killing time. It's Life Magazine in purgatory while he's waiting for Lady Trieu's ship to come and pick him up. He's literally written all this dialogue. So the reason that Crookshanks winks at him is because he wrote the closing argument. When he says, 'I'm writing a play,' The Watchmaker's Son is not the play that he was writing. The play that he was writing is everything that we've been watching, you know, to some degree. He put himself on trial, A) to kill time and not go insane, but also maybe if he has all these people yelling, 'Guilty!' at him, he'll feel guilty. He doesn't. He doesn't feel guilty."

8. The writers debated Doctor Manhattan and Angela's romance for an entire month

Mazin poses a great question about Angela and Jon's romance: "I know why he falls in love with Laurie. He's in a team with her, they meet, right; but why does he fall in love with Angela?"

Lindelof replies, "The question that you're asking now, I would say dominated like, probably a full month of conversations in the writer's room, and out of the writer's room, and via text, and in emails--this insane paradox."

9. Lindelof is good at explaining Doctor Manhattan

It can be hard to wrap your mind around the time paradoxes that Doctor Manhattan's unique abilities create. The same was true in the original comics. Here's how Lindelof explains it, in the context of the scene in the books when Manhattan attends a meeting for a new masked hero group called The Crimebusters:

"One could ask, why would Doctor Manhattan attend a meeting that he knew would end in failure? Wouldn't Doctor Manhattan know, when he attended this meeting, that he's going to meet that woman that he's gonna spend the next 15 years of his life with? Wouldn't he also know that he's eventually going to tire of this woman? So why do it in the first place? The original Watchmen isn't asking any of those questions. And the paradox that exists with Doctor Manhattan is, he knows what's going to happen, but he hasn't experienced the emotionality of it yet. So when Angela says to him, 'What's the moment where you fell in love with me?' He literally doesn't know...because he hasn't fallen in love with her yet. But if he falls in love with her at any future point, that becomes retroactively retconned, and so in his own estimation, he was always in love with her.

"So I think that we have to think of Doctor Manhattan in terms of, why would he go to Europa to create life in the first place, if he knows that ultimately he's going to leave Europa because the life that he created only wanted to worship him? He still has to go through the motions, in the same way that if you or I were deeply and profoundly in love with someone, and then suddenly down from the heavens an angel appeared and said, 'Craig, I have some bad news for you. You're gonna be married to this person for 12 years, and then they're gonna leave you,' or, 'they're gonna pass away,' would you then say, 'I'm breaking up with this person'? or would you go through the next 12 years?"

10. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II didn't know Cal was Doctor Manhattan at first

"When we shot the pilot, we hadn't told Yayah his true identity," Lindelof says. "And the reason that we didn't tell him is because Cal doesn't know he's Doctor Manhattan, and therefore it didn't feel like something Yahya needed to know. But then once we got picked up and we were going to series, I was like, 'We have to tell Yahya who he really is, because even though he's not conscious of it, he still is Jon Osterman. He doesn't have Jon Osterman's memories, but he has his personality.'"

11. The Veidt statue twist was inspired by Saw 2

Lindelof says "Saw 2 was the inspiration" for the Adrian Veidt statue twist, and for something that happened in Lost as well. "There's something that we did at the end of the third season of Lost, in the finale, where we play with time, that is a twist that was inspired by the movie Saw 2," he says. "And I was sort of like, 'That twist was so good, I think that there's ways to actually mass produce it. And I could use it again.'" The twist involves a father looking for his son, who his actually trapped inside a box that has been right next to him the entire time.

12. Lindelof sees Will as the Dumbledore of this series

In trying to explain why Will does what he does throughout Watchmen--especially where it pertains to the roundabout way he conveys his story to Angela--Lindelof compares Will to Dumbledore from the Harry Potter books: "There's this thing that drives me nuts in the Harry Potter books--which I adore--which is that Dumbledore, who knows everything and can rescue Harry at any moment and is the most powerful wizard, makes himself completely and totally scarce until the very end--until Harry has defeated whatever the evil is in that particular [story]. He could have helped, but Dumbledore always says kind of the same thing, repeating a very effective emotional idea, which is, 'I couldn't intervene, or else you wouldn't have learned the lesson for yourself. Now that I'm stating the lesson, you know it already, but I'm going to verbalize it for you.'"

Similarly, by the time Will outright states what this is all about in the scene at the theater in the finale, Angela already knows.

13. Angela is done being Sister Night

Lindelof confirms that Angela won't put on the habit and face paint again: "I think that I can say that Angela's days of wearing a mask are over. Because that was part of our intention too, which is, let's do the reverse--normally the first season ends with the character putting it on. 'I am Iron Man.' For her, it's basically like, 'Now it means something completely different for me to spray paint my face.' And the last time that we see her do that is in the fourth episode. She's actually not Sister Night for the last five episodes of the show."

14. Lindelof still doesn't think he'll do Watchmen Season 2

Despite the show's success, LIndelof hasn't budged on this. "My instinct right now at this precise moment of time is I don't know, and probably not," he says. "These nine episodes, which basically constituted two years of my life, and finally engaging down this road, the thing that needed to happen was I needed to have a satisfying answer for two questions. Question number one was 'Why?' and question number two was 'Why now?' I don't have satisfying answers to those questions for a second season of Watchmen.

"The answer to 'Why?' can't be 'Because the first season worked and you just do more' or 'We're just gonna build on the pre-existing themes more.' So I don't have an answer to 'why.' And then 'why now?' The timeliness of what I wanted to say in our 2019 suddenly coalesced with all these other things, as we've talked about, you know, that my antenna was receiving, particularly as it relates to the writing of Ta-Nehisi Coates, and just sort of everything that was happening between the police and people of color and the country, and saying, 'Can you talk about this sort of a thing in a pop culture construct like Watchmen? And if anything could hold it, it could be Watchmen. And I just--I have to do that.' I'm not feeling that compulsion right now."

That said Mazin suggests that, knowing Lindelof, he may come up with something eventually, which Lindelof seems to agree with. So who knows?

15. Lindelof didn't see the ending as a cliffhanger

This one is just hilarious, considering the way the series ends. Lindelof compares Angela's foot hovering above the pool with the top spinning at the end of the Christopher Nolan film Inception, an ending he says he absolutely loved.

"I was having breakfast with Tim [Blake Nelson, who plays Looking Glass]," Lindelof says. "And Tim obviously read the finale, because he was in it. And we were talking about, 'So when are we gonna come back and do more?' Because that's the way that it works is...you just assume there's gonna be a second season if the first season was any good or worthwhile or anybody watched it, etc. etc. So that's the way that it works. And I told him what I'm telling you now, and I said, 'I think that Season 1 ends in a way where the story feels complete.' And he said, 'If you think that the way that the first season ends is not the biggest cliffhanger of all time, you are f***ing nuts.' Those were his exact words. And it occurred to me for the very first time that people were going to perceive this as a cliffhanger, versus an ending."

No kidding, man.

Do you hope Watchmen returns for a second season? If it did, what would you want to see? Let us know in the comments below.

Chapter 7 - "The Reckoning"

The first season of Disney+'s The Mandalorian is coming to a close, with one episode left, airing on December 27. Because the latest entry in the Star Wars movie saga hits theaters on December 20, Chapter 7 of The Mandalorian his the streaming service on Wednesday, December 18 instead of its normal release date on Fridays. Most likely, this was done to avoid releasing the same day at Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

This week's episode was all about getting the band back together for one final mission. We saw the return of IG-11, Cara Dune, Kuiil, and Greef Karga as they face The Client and his dirty Stormtroopers one last time. However, this isn't the finale of Season 1. There is still one more to go before we see how it all wraps up.

While the episode focused much more on story and development rather than gifting hardcore Star Wars fans Easter eggs here and there, "The Reckoning" did have some interesting moments worth discussing, from character's backstories to new character appearances.

Now, let's get onto breaking down some of the key things we noticed from "The Reckoning." Then, if you've missed them, make sure to check out our Easter egg guides to Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, and Chapter 6.

1. Kuiil worked for the Empire

Although he doesn't get into too much detail, it's revealed the Ugnaught (Kuiil) served on the Empire during the war, and he owed his client--The Empire--a debt. Later, he explains he was sold to the Empire and got his way out by his work ethic. He obviously didn't want anything to do with the rulers of the galaxy.

2. Baby Yoda is strong with the dark side

While Cara and Mando are arm wrestling, Baby Yoda comes to his keeper's defense to Force Choke Cara. This doesn't make Baby Yoda a Sith or a part of the Dark Side though, as various Force-sensitive beings have access to different powers. He just happens to know how to do the Force Choke, much like the man that made it famous, Darth Vader--who just so happens was born the same year as Baby Yoda.

3. This move is from a video game

For the first time in live-action, we get to see someone use the ability Force Heal. While this Force power has appeared once on The Clone Wars animated series, it's primarily been seen in various video games throughout the years, including Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Star Wars Galaxies. Baby Yoda attempted to do this in Episode 2 of Mandalorian but was shooed away.

4. Scout Troopers

We've seen Scout Troopers before, most notably in Return of the Jedi on the forest moon of Endor. However, it's typically good old fashioned Stormtroopers acting at gatekeepers at various establishments--like in A New Hope at Mos Eisley. Seeing a Scout Trooper in this position is very new. Also, the voice behind the mask was none other than Adam Pally, who you may know as the cameraman obsessed with Tony Stark in Iron Man 3.

5. More backstory on Mandalore

The Client has a chat with Mando about the Empire, and how great they supposedly are because they allegedly improve on everything the "touch." However, the Empire's takeover on Mandalore was a bit hostile. Even when they ruled over the planet, they attacked the people there. This can all be seen on the animated series Clone Wars and Rebels.

6. Death Troopers

The Empire may not be as fledgling as we thought. Aside from plenty of very clean Stormtroopers closing in on Mando and company, we get a group of Death Troopers, which are an elite force that serves as protection to high-ranking Imperial officers. These troopers have appeared multiple times in Rebels and in the movie Rogue One.

7. Moff Gideon

Finally, we get to see Giancarlo Esposito as Moff Gideon, a high-ranking Imperial officer. Before this, the Empire seemed like a completely crumbled group with a few Stormtroopers holding onto the past, but Gideon seems to have restored some power to the Empire. This could be the beginnings of the First Order.

Warning: This article contains spoilers about tonight’s episode of Watchmen.

When writer-producer Damon Lindelof first started working on HBO’s Watchmen, the former Lost showrunner joked in an open letter to fans: “Endings. I’m GREAT at them.” Yet the first season finale (and perhaps the series finale as well) for Watchmen did indeed have a great ending. “See How They Fly” tied together several of the show’s hanging story threads for an emotional and fitting send-off that continued the show’s penchant for faintly echoing ideas, and even story points, in Alan Moore’s original graphic novel all while operating on its own unique frequency.

Below Lindelof answers some of our lingering burning questions (and we also asked Lindelof whether there will be a season 2 of the show, which he answers in a separate story).

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Why did Dr. Manhattan let himself be killed and/or what did his death accomplish? 
DAMON LINDELOF: You’re illuminating the fundamental paradox of Dr. Manhattan — or any being who can see the future — which is: If you can see a future that you would rather avert, why don’t you avert it? In the case of Dr. Manhattan, once he sees the future, it’s already happening. And he’s a fairly passive character — of all the people to be bestowed with god-like abilities it just so happens to be this guy who doesn’t really have ideas on his own very often; he needs to be told what to do. So while it plays like resignation and passivity, he’s not even making a conscious choice because for him it’s already happened. But this leads us to the second part of your question, which is the more interesting part. I think that there’s an argument to be made that everything that Dr. Manhattan does in this iteration of Watchmen is about acknowledging that as long as he exists there will be those who are in pursuit of his power. And anybody who wants to take his power is probably not a good conduit for it. And so he should probably pick someone who will take his power and use it responsibly.

So one could make the argument that is what happened when he picked Angela . In many ways, Will is the other side of that coin. He’s giving Angela a sense of legacy — “This is where you came from, this is who you are, I was the first masked crime fighter and here’s why I did that and here’s what I’ve learned. As I get closer to the end of my journey than the beginning, and I want you to know these things so that you can process them.” And then the last thing that Will says to Angela is the last line of dialogue in the show, that “Manhattan was a good man, but he could have done more.” And that’s a tossing of the gauntlet in terms of what someone like Angela might do with that power — if she doesn’t sink to the bottom of the pool.

I was about to say, you surprised during part of that answer because it sounded like you were making your open ending less ambiguous by saying he did indeed give his powers to Angela. I’m assuming that’s something you wouldn’t want to be official.
I mean, what’s official? The only thing that’s official is the show itself. If somebody reads an interview that I do with you, 50 years from now that’s not gonna mean anything. If we wanted to put a definitive answer to that question on the screen, we would have. We ended the show the way that we wanted to. But I would say that if you look back at the breadth of the season, I think what our intention was is obvious. We’re not trying to be cutesy about it. It just felt the ending that we went with was meant to be more cinematic than ambiguous. It doesn’t feel ambiguous to me, but I’m the least qualified human on the planet to talk about ending ambiguity.

I might have missed this: But was it ever explained what was crashed into the field that Lady Trieu purchased?
I’ll answer that because it was not meant to be ambiguous. It was . It was knocked off course. It hit a meteor or something. So it was landing in a different spot than it was supposed to.

The seasons seem to turn a bit from being more of a vigilante crime story into a rather moving love story in the final episodes. Was that a deliberate shift?
That was always kind of a part of the design. One of the things that made the original Watchman so unpredictable and exciting is kind of what you just described — it starts as a whodunnit and then it becomes like a deep meditation on loss and power and colonialism. Ultimately it boils down to the fundamental relationships between these characters so that you feel something when Dr. Manhattan looks down at Dan and Laurie cuddled up spooning. As someone who doesn’t really consider himself to be a romantic, I really like romance. I have romantic entanglements with these kinds of stories. So I knew the calculus of the finale would be about Angela losing someone who she really loved and the audience is only going to care about what happens in the finale plot-wise if they have some investment in that relationship.

Tom Mison and Sara Vickers, who played Ozymandias’ clones, were fantastic. Is there any particular anecdote that stands out in terms of what they had to go through to film all those versions of their characters?
Tom and Sarah were incredible … I think the courtroom scene in particular, the fact that Sarah had to deliver the closing argument and then afterward she had to play about 30 versions of herself reacting to herself giving the closing argument. And Tom had to do the same thing and also play the Game Warden. There’s a tremendous amount of clone hours that goes into rendering those sequences because we’re literally mapping their faces on to . Those are not CG faces that we just programmed, they have to do all the performances. So big props to Tom and Sarah, they were truly incredible — as was Jeremy. There’s only one Jeremy Irons, but hundreds and hundreds of Phillips and Crookshanks. 

Readers will kill me if I don’t ask this: Who is, what is, why is Lube Man?
I’m so excited that you did ask. I would say Lube Man is one of those things that delighted us to no end in the writers’ room even though it was going to be just five minutes in the show. We talked a lot about who he was and where he came from and why he was dressed the way that he was dressed. But we were like: This is just going to be a scene in episode 4 that’s in the midst of other insane things happening. We did not expect him to resonate in the way that he has and we’re thrilled that he did. I will just direct the readers to the final Peteypedia entry. For those not familiar with Peteypedia, it is our ancillary materials written by mostly Jeff Jensen and other writers as well. The Peteypedia will have its finale moments after the finale airs. I will not give you a definitive answer to your question, but I will say all the clues are there to reach the obvious conclusion.

Nine episodes are literally an odd number of hours to have in a season, and you have such a great ensemble cast. Is there anything that you wished you could have explored that you didn’t have time to get to?
I think it’s disingenuous to say “Yes” because if we wanted to we could have done it. But there were many plates spending and so many balls in the air. I wish we had done a deeper dive on Lady Trieu , that we had gone back into her past and showed her childhood because we talked a lot about that. That would have been really interesting and maybe made us care a lot more about that character before she reached her inevitable end. Also, Hong is such a fantastic actor. But as we got into the end game of the show we realized we were doing that with Angela and with Manhattan and the story started to feel like it wasn’t moving forward anymore. But of all the characters, I would have liked to know more about Lady Trieu and Red Scare — Andrew Howard is a phenomenal actor and got reduced to having some good clever one-liners along the way. We had a good backstory cooked up for him as well. And it’s not that we didn’t have time to do it but as the season went on the focal points of the season wanted to be Angela and Will and Cal.

What was the story point that resulted in the most debate while writing this season?
I don’t know if I would necessarily categorize anything that happens in the writers’ room as a “debate.” It was always more about the idea that we wanted the Tulsa Massacre of 1921 to start the pilot and to explore the origin story of Will Reeves. That sounded like it’s the right idea. Now how are we going to do it? So the “debate” was always about how if we do this wrong, it’s going to be exploitative and painful and inauthentic and virtue signaling — none of those things are what we wanted the finished product to reflect.

We wanted it to be authentic. We wanted it to feel real. We knew that it would make people uncomfortable, but at the same time it’s inherently provocative so it can’t be exploitative. So we would have an idea along the lines of saying that it’s important for Dr. Manhattan to be Cal while acknowledging that Cal was a black man and Dr. Manhattan is a white man. And so it wasn’t a debate, but there was a deep, deep discussion on whether there is any way to do that well. There’s no avoiding controversy because it’s a controversial idea.

A lot of that comes through experimentation and talking about other “what-ifs.” Like: What if Angela selected a white body for Dr. Manhattan to inhabit? Well, then you have an issue where you’re moving through the world where a black woman is married to a white man and that has another frequency to it that this show would need to address. So you try all these different permutations and then you end up going with the one that feels most right. And you have to present it with confidence, but at the same time acknowledge that if you get it wrong, it could be harmful. Everybody was okay with the show being bad — although we wanted it to be good. What everybody was solving for was that the show wouldn’t be harmful

Your show was exploring a lot of ideas and was saying a lot. Ultimately what were you trying to say the most?What we were trying to say was that this was going to be a story thematically about appropriation with a sort of meta fundamental understanding that we were also appropriating Watchman itself against the wishes of its creator . We were telling a story about how nasty appropriation can be, and more fundamentally this idea of the American dream from the perspective of oppressed peoples, starting with Native Americans and then moving into slavery. And we wanted to tell a story about the superhero. What if the phenomenon of masked vigilantism and people who dress up to fight crime, what if that was an idea invented by an African-American man for all the right reasons? And he had to hide his race as an issue of survival? He didn’t wear his mask because it was fanciful, but because he would be murdered if people knew who he really was. And then the culture basically took that idea and turned it into superhero-ing.

All that felt like an incredibly terrifying idea, but it also felt like Watchman. That’s where we began the journey and the story that we wanted to tell. And whether you like the show or you don’t like the show, I think that the conversation around the show has been really exciting for those of us who made it. Because all the things that we were talking about in the writers’ room are now happening among the audience. And that’s what we were hoping for.

Next: Damon Lindelof explains why there might not be a Watchmen season 2 

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Lucifer‘s showrunnners are just as curious about Constantine’s (Matt Ryan) previous relationship with Lucifer (Tom Ellis) and Maze (Lesley-Ann Brandt) as you are after Ellis’ cameo in the Arrowverse’s “Crisis on Infinite Earths” crossover.

In The Flash installment of the five-hour CW superhero event, Constantine, John Diggle (David Ramsey), and Mia Smoak (Katherine McNamara) traveled to Earth-666, home of Netflix and WBTV’s Lucifer, because they needed the Devil’s help retrieving Oliver Queen’s soul from Purgatory. During the exchange, which takes place before the events of Lucifer‘s pilot, the fallen angel said he was only helping them because he owed the chain-smoking occult detective for a favor he did for Maze way back when.

Although the Lucifer team did consult on the scene, it was primarily the brain-child of Flash writer and Lucifer fan Lauren Certo, who co-wrote the hour with Sterling Gates — including that line hinting at a previous devil’s bargain between Lucifer, Constantine, and Maze, which got their wheels spinning.

“I have thoughts,” Lucifer co-showrunner Joe Henderson tells EW about that piece of dialogue. “By the way, credit where credit is due: That scene, we only added two things to it. One, I pitched the flirt joke, which Tom surprised the actor who plays Diggle with. I wish we’d been covering his side because you got a great reaction from him. And then the Constantine, Constantyne , that was Tom having heard about the debate from one of our writers. Other than that, that was all them . And I thought they did such a wonderful job of capturing the voice, knowing how to write Lucifer, because Lauren Certo, watches the show is a fan of it, wrote our Lucifer, which was lovely.”

“I have theories and we should explore it in the spin-off,” he adds as both him and co-showrunner Ildy Modrovich laugh. And no, there isn’t actually a spin-off in the works.

Henderson went on to reveal that he’s been dreaming of a Lucifer-Arrowverse crossover ever since the conclusion of last year’s Arrowverse event, “Elseworlds.”

“A year ago when they announced ‘Crisis on Infinite Earths,’ I called the executive of DC and I’m like, ‘If there are infinite earths, that means Lucifer‘s on one of them. And I don’t know if they’d already thought of it. I still haven’t actually asked Marc Guggenheim. I’ve been meaning to. I don’t know what was the chicken and the egg, but all I know is like that has been something that I’ve been wanting to do ever since I heard it happened and I can’t believe we actually did it. It’s the coolest thing,” he says.

“Joe fought very hard for that one,” says Modrovich, with Henderson adding, “It was a tricky thing to do, but it’s just awesome. When Tom and Matt Ryan got together, like they were outside their stage and they’re both like talking about the characters and what they could do, and I’m just like, ‘My mind is blowing cause Lucifer and Constantine are brainstorming a scene together and having the time of their lives.’ It was just delightful.”

Lucifer is currently in the middle of production on its final season, which will be split into two parts and is expected in 2020.

“Crisis on Infinite Earths” resumes Jan. 14, 2020 with Arrow at 8 p.m. and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow at 9 p.m. on The CW.

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Kids say the darndest things when they have a lot of questions about Star Wars.

At least that was the case on Monday’s prime time installment of Jimmy Kimmel Live, which was titled Jimmy Kimmel Live After Darth: A Star Wars Special and was dedicated to all things Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. During the special, the host of ABC’s late-night talk show provided a forum for the youngest fans of the franchise to ask the tough questions to cast members and director J.J. Abrams.

“Hey, Rey, can you really do a backflip or are you just a liar?” asks one girl to Daisy Ridley, which cracks up the actress and gets her to admit that, “Umm… Ummm.. I’m a liar.” “Do droids eat and go to the bathroom, or do they just pee in their pants?” asks one little boy. “Their pants,” answers a flustered and amused Abrams. Another little girl wonders if BB-8 is a boy or a girl. “I don’t know if we ever found out if BB-8 is a boy or a girl,” says Ridley. “Oooh, that’s a really good question,” says Keri Russell and asks Oscar Isaac for his assessment. “Definitively a boy. I’ve seen it,” he deadpans. “I was surprised. Little compartments open up and there are surprises there, so definitely boy.” Adds Russell: “That’s so gross. That’s sick.” (Sick or not, it coincides largely with what EW learned in 2015 from the head of the Force Awakens creature shop.)

Click on the video to see one kid ask wayyyy too many questions at the same time, another to ask Billy Dee Williams why he pronounced Chewbacca back in the day, and a third take out her oversized aggression on the Emperor.

Abrams and Rise of Skywalker stars Ridley, Isaac, Russell, Williams, John Boyega, Anthony Daniels, Naomi Ackie, and Kelly Marie Tran also sat for an interview with Kimmel and played a game of Force Family Feud.

Jimmy Kimmel Live airs weeknights at 11:35 p.m.

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Spoilers from The Mandalorian episode 7 and speculation follow.

Yoda once said: “Judge me by my size, do you? And well you should not!”

Wise words. But have we all been making the same mistake by judging Baby Yoda by its off-the-charts cuteness?

Baby Yoda — a.k.a. “The Child” — shot into the pop culture stratosphere following the November premiere of the Disney+ series The Mandalorian. Those big eyes, that tiny frame, that wrinkled head, the cooing noises, the bone broth sipping, playing with cockpit controls, helping out Mando — what’s not to love?

Episode 7, “The Reckoning,” was posted on Disney+ a couple of days early this week. It planted an intriguing seed midway through the story. Mando (Pedro Pascal) and Cara Dune (Gina Carano) are playfully arm wrestling. Baby Yoda is watching. And suddenly the little green kid Force Chokes Cara Dune. “That is not okay!” she exclaims. “It almost killed me!”

In the films, its characters like Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader and Kylo Ren have used this ability — it’s considered a Dark Side/Sith-y power.

And Mof Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito) warns Mando about The Child: “You may think you have some idea what you’re in possession of, but you do not.”

The episode ended on a cliffhanger with Baby Yoda captured and Mando and Cara overwhelmed by Gideon and his legion of Death Troopers.

So what does all that mean? Have we been deceived? What if Baby Yoda only helping Mando for its own temporary self-interest and biding its time before its true self is revealed?

Granted, there is almost no way the character is an adorable demon seed mini Sith lord, although that would be a terrific twist — if all this time Mando has been fighting to protect something hugely destructive and with secret evil intent. But this is still Disney, after all. The Child was certainly being overly protective of Mando and doesn’t have a concept of what its force powers mean.

So what is, then, going on with this character? One fan theory is Baby Yoda was either cloned from the actual Yoda, or that Gideon plans to clone the child to create force-sensitive troops of some kind. Earlier in the season, Baby Yoda was given to Dr. Pershing (Omid Abtahi) for “extracting the necessary material.” Pershing wore the insignia of Kamino, the planet which cloned the army from Jango Fett. Now in Episode 7, the ugnaught Kuiil (Nick Nolte) seems to shoot down one of the theories, saying he used to work in a cloning facility and that the child is “too ugly” to be a clone.

Here’s what’s certain: There is only one more episode of The Mandalorian left — next week’s finale directed by Taika Waititi.

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