You have reached Fandom Shmandom. The ultimate
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of. Well, not yet. Not yet? It's our first flippin'
recording. We've done like an episode. But it
will be. It will be. To learn more about fandoms
of all sorts, shapes, and sousophones, stay tuned.
Today, we begin our part one deep dive on Star
Wars with a shallow dive into our favorites.
We are going to see what our current favorites
are and what we objectively think is the best
in the same categories. Then... Over the course
of more research, watching, re -watching, reading,
playing, and replaying everything we can get
our mitts onto for the research of this podcast
series, we will see if our favorites remain the
same and stand the test of time, or if they will
be replaced by new favorites. Fantastic. Yes,
yes, yes. So this is the first actual recording
that Sierra and I are putting together. We're
doing this before we've recorded or done any
research on anything else so that we're standing
sort of right where we are as a fan before this
podcast starts. Yes. So that's pretty exciting.
Yes, it is very exciting. And I will make a small
disclaimer on all of my answers. a fan of star
wars however i have not seen everything i haven't
seen some of the shows i haven't played some
of the games i've obviously seen all the movies
guys don't you know hold on to put the pitch
forks away it's gonna be okay this actually gives
a pretty good opportunity for some fresh which
I'm very excited about. And I've wanted to watch
all the things. I just haven't gotten around
to it, guys. I have a busy life. I don't. I stay
in my house all day long, but I have a busy life.
And it's really just taken up by all the other
fandoms that I'm a part of, which is kind of
why we're doing this. So some of my answers are
going to be based on popular opinion. But you'll
see. Yes. Conversely, I am a huge Star Wars fan.
I read a ton of the original Expanded EU before
Disney took over before. Kind of dropped that
off for a while because I was upset that Disney
took that all away. I've now pretty much read
all of the prequel books. I've watched all the
things. I've read a ton of comics. So I'm a little
bit more informed than Sierra at this point,
but by the end we will both be very, very well
researched before everything else. But we wanted
to get a snapshot of who we are as fans before
jumping into all of this. And so here we go.
To start, our first category is going to be the
prequel movie. We'll state our favorite prequel
movie first, and then we will go over what objectively...
We think is the best. So those are two different
lists for us at time. Sometimes they sync up.
Sometimes they don't. Sometimes I'm like, yeah,
my favorite fruit is a blueberry. But objectively,
a perfectly ripe mango is clearly the best fruit.
So those are the two sort of different wavelengths
that we're going to be on. First up is prequel
movie. And mine is. Revenge of the Sith, which
I kind of think is the only right answer for
the prequel movies. It's got kind of everything
that you want. It's got a really great storyline.
You get great character arcs. There are clearly
flaws with every movie in Star Wars, and we'll
deep dive into those as we go. But I think given
mainly the problems of sort of the first two
movies, Revenge of the Sith stands out among
them. Although I will give an honorable mention
to Phantom Menace, which is closer to being the
best, my favorite prequel movie than I think
some would put it down. But it's going to end
up being Revenge of the Sith. What about you,
Sierra? Mine is also Revenge of the Sith. kind
of the same little caveat as well of phantom
being maybe a little bit closer than one might
think. Uh, because if the whole movie was the
duel of the fates, it would be the best thing
in on the planet. Um, I also just have a bunch
of nostalgia for the whole pod racing. My brother
and I were really into all that. Yeah. My brother
and I were like really into it with like fake
pod race and stuff around the house and whatnot.
So I just have a little bit of a nostalgia on
that movie. But overall, when it really comes
down to like what I enjoy watching and what I
would watch repeatedly, I think it would go Revenge
of the Sith for sure. Yeah, I think so. You know,
it's funny. I quote. phantom menace more than
i think any other star wars movie other than
i am not a committee that's probably the line
that i i quote the most from star wars but i
i say now this is pod racing anytime something
exciting starts to occur that's fast pace uh
in life or uh when i'm finally getting somewhere
with like you know building a computer or putting
electronics together or building uh like a fence
or anything like that where it's finally starting
to come together i'll be like it's working it's
working i love i love that movie and like phantom
menace is one of those things where it's like
yeah it has to me the best moment of the the
trilogy even over obi and anakin's duel mainly
because of the the music behind dual of fates
um which is just amazing it's just like the rest
of the movie especially jar jar binks is like
oh okay Okay. All right. All right. When can
we go back to Obi and Maul and Qui -Gon? Can
we do that now? You say that, but I also, part
of my nostalgia is my dad, for whatever reason,
just thought Jar Jar Binks was the most hilarious
thing at the time. Him and everyone that worked
on Phantom Menace. Well, because he's objectively
hilarious. Like, I mean, he might be annoying,
but like, he's really funny. And especially like,
you know. we were younger at the time that it
came out. And my dad knew that if he quoted Jar
Jar Binks, we'd all crack up. So like, I have
a bunch of memories of just all, all talking
with the Jar Jar Binks lingo. And so that's just,
you know, I got banned from talking about quotable.
That's funny. Okay. So objectively we're, we're
aligned. We both have revenge. And I think we've
talked pretty clearly. Without deep diving into
the movie, I think it's objectively got the best
scene -to -scene moments and movement and arc
and satisfaction level. Where by the end of the
movie, there's not a huge thing to point out
and be like, wow. Unlike Attack of the Clones,
those Padme Anakin scenes sometimes are a little
rough. Although if you remove a lot of those
scenes, that movie's pretty good. I honestly
have watched it and fast forwarded all of their
scenes before. And it did make the movie better.
I did find, I found like, I think it was on YouTube
or something. Like someone had posted the movie
without those scenes. And I was like, oh, okay.
Oh, this movie's pretty good. I don't know where
these people came from at the very end. Who's
Anakin? Who's Padme? But I call that doing the
eldest. Did you ever read the Eragon series growing
up? Um, hate me. Um, I read the first one and
loved it and then I just couldn't make it through
the second one. So, so this is precisely what
I'm talking about, Sierra. Um, I call it eldest,
like the eldest maneuver because when I was reading
that one and I made it for the, through the first
three, I've never read the fourth one. Um, I
aged out of it by the time he released the fourth
one, but I call it the eldest maneuver because.
I was reading that book and, you know, it goes
back and forth between Aragon's perspective and
his brother's perspective. And I did not like
the Aragon scenes. halfway through the book and
so i just started skipping that part to just
read his brother's portion so by the time it
gets to the end and it's like they meet up i
was like i have no idea what happened with this
guy but but his brother i'm super stoked about
so from here on out it should be called the eldest
maneuver um okay so just to sum up we both have
revenge as our fave although duel of fates and
phantom can hit hard And hit right and hit in
that sweet spot just where it needs to. But we
also have Revenge as the objective best of that.
Yeah. All right. Our next category is something
I think everybody can figure out. Our favorite
OG trilogy movie. I'm just going to, if you'll
allow me. I will. I'm going to just spoil this
whole category here. There's only one answer
for both of us, for both our favorite and objectively
the best. It's Empire. Yes. Empire Strikes Back.
I don't honestly know too many people who would
argue too fiercely against that answer. I know
that for a lot of people, you know, original,
New Hope. holds kind of that nostalgia quality
that we were talking about um you know it's the
one that started it all and it's the only nominated
for an oscar for best picture yeah so you know
there's there's there are some things to be said
for the other ones but i i'm going to go out
on a limb here and just say i think overwhelmingly
empire Kind of has that seat. It takes that throne
for the OG trilogy and for a lot of people overall.
Now, interestingly enough, two recurring guests
on our other podcast, The Three Broomsticks,
Garrett Fielding and Christian Richardson, both
have their favorite as Return of the Jedi. So
maybe we can get one or both of them on to sort
of defend that at some point, just to give some
controversy. Yes, for sure. But also I'm going
to give you because we have not much to say about
the original trilogy and we're going to deep
dive on all of this. I'll give you a very funny
anecdote about my family's history around Empire
Strikes Back. My parents got married that summer
that Empire Strikes Back was playing. And, you
know, this was before VHS had come out. So the
only way to like rewatch a movie was to be in
the theater. So Star Wars movies ran for a long,
long time. A New Hope, I think, in some theaters
ran for over a year. And Empire Strikes Back
came, and I forget what the actual release date
was on it, but in the summer of 1980, my parents
get married, and they go and they watch Empire
Strikes Back. They both love the first movie,
etc., etc. I mean, there's a reason why I got
indoctrinated at three years old. Star Wars was
my first movie. My parents call my dad's folks
and, you know, explaining what they're doing
on their honeymoon, et cetera, et cetera. And
one of the things that they said is we watched
Empire Strikes Back. And my grandfather has been
hard of hearing all his life. He was in a military
accident in the 50s. But he has hearing aids
and he can hear, just, you know, not super well.
And he's a huge baseball fan. Huge baseball fan.
And what he heard was Empire Strikes Back. And
so he took my grandma to the movie after church
one Sunday and is a real I will not waste my
money guy. So he sat down for Empire Strikes
Back. Oh, no. And watched the whole movie utterly
confused. And so because that's the only Star
Wars movie that my grandfather's ever seen, it's
obviously my favorite. Now I'm teasing. But yeah,
so that's it for the OG. Not much to say. It's
Empire. It's always going to be Empire. I think
that's objectively the right answer and is both
of our faves. So that's good for us. Yes. Moving
into a bit more discourse, we've got our fave
sequel movies where I have landed on The Last
Jedi, which. May have lost us half of the podcast
listeners who are even willing to try this out.
Because that is such a controversial movie. And
when we get to the actual deep dive on it, I
will really jump in and build the case why I
think that's the best of these. As my fave and
also as my objective, not to spoil that, but
it is my objective as well. It's the relationship
between Kylo and Rey is extremely interesting
in that movie. I love the choices that they made
with Luke's character in that moment. Again,
we'll talk way more about that when we get to
it. I love Leia's story. I love Poe's learning
to be humble and listen and to hope. I love the
ending of that movie with that. awesome image
of Rey lifting the rocks up and tapping into
her Force powers in a real significant way where
she has control. And I love where that movie
leaves off. It's super satisfying. So that's
why I have Last Jedi as my favorite. My favorite
is Force Awakens. Boo! Boo! A new whole ripoff!
Boo! I'm just teasing. So I have kind of a pessimistic
Which maybe will spoil a little bit. And again,
this is all like where we're coming in right
now. So, of course, over the over the time that
we're going to deep dive on Star Wars, opinions
may change. But I went into Force Awakens very
excited. Yeah. Slightly apprehensive. Yeah. I
so behind the scenes. My friends and I went to
a casting call for Force Awakens. Wow. And so
we went to a casting call for Force Awakens.
I got kind of pulled to the side at one point
and asked if my hair color was real. Neat. Which
led us to speculate as to what kind of people
they were looking for for these roles. And it
ended up being. kind of the opposite um because
the people that they were pulling aside from
at least our casting call and were more like
people of color or girls with like red hair for
ray but then for finn they were looking for like
A Luke, basically. Yeah, a white blonde man.
A tall, white blonde. And his name was Sam originally.
In the first, not to toot my own horn with my
great name here, but yeah, he was a Luke Skywalker.
He was tall, white, blonde, and his name was
going to be Sam instead of Finn. So yeah, so
it was, we kind of got every, we went in with
like these ideas, you know, and obviously the
casting came out and we were like, oh, they ended
up kind of flipping everything. Yeah. But one
of the girls that we actually went to college
with, she got like she went to the next round
and like actually got to read some of the script
and like had to sign an NDA and all sorts of
stuff. So like I went into Force Awakens pretty
excited because I'd had this kind of like little
backstory like. you know hint at what it was
like to cast the the movie and everything and
was really looking forward to it and came out
of that movie honestly pretty excited about it
and was like wow okay this was really great and
then the next two movies happened yeah and i
just felt like everything that i had been excited
about ended up getting cut or like turned around
or didn't end up happening and things like that.
And that's kind of like, it'll be a theme for
me. Like I so desperately wanted Finn to be a
Jedi. Yeah. And I think a lot of people feel
that way, but that was something that I honestly
like have a really hard time even now, like letting
go of. I mean, so. Yeah, what they do with this
character in Rise of Skywalker kind of maybe
supports what you're saying, but... So anyway,
so that's why Force Awakens is my favorite, is
because it was kind of like pre -letdown. Yeah.
And so, like, objectively, I do think I agree
that Last Jedi objectively is better, but I have
a really hard time working... Through my bias.
Yeah. I, you know, to me, Force Awakens was something
that I came into really excited for. Super, like,
I must have watched the trailer 10 ,000 times.
There are two big fandoms in my life. Harry Potter,
which obviously we cover at Three Broomsticks,
and I was on Alohomora before that. And then
Star Wars. You know, 2015 when the movie came
out is this weird place where it's like Fantastic
Beasts is coming out. Cursed Child is coming
out. Force Awakens is coming out. And it's like,
wait, wait. Oh, yay. All this stuff's happening.
And so I went into Force Awakens super excited.
And then I came out going, okay, cool. I'm really
stoked for this. But I'm a little let down by
what seems such a copycat of A New Hope. Yeah.
In basic plot points. I think how it should have
ended that famous YouTube. series that makes
fun of plot holes in movies they animated it
where they were like okay here's star killer
based the big one and here's the original death
star and here's the old death star and then they
put it over where it turns into the mickey ears
where the death stars are the mickey ears and
it was like oh yeah okay okay and it just felt
like the whole star wars team together was a
little too nervous to deviate too much from what
had already been established. And I know that
was a Lucas complaint about Force Awakens as
well. And so I came out being like, I love the
new characters. I'm really excited about the
future of this. Feels like Poe wasn't in it nearly
as much, but that's okay. We've got lots of time.
They spent a lot of time with Han. I love what
happened with the movie. I'm really excited about
Kylo. But also at the same time, I kind of wish
the movie was a bit more different from A New
Hope. Yeah, for sure. And I was willing to take
the ride with Last Jedi. It very much deviated
from sort of expectations and setup. And we'll
talk about all the different things that kind
of get in the way of them having a clear through
line when we deep dive into these movies more.
But I was willing to take the ride and not just
follow exactly what... I felt like the movie
was setting up before, which is why I love The
Last Jedi so much. I think when we talk about
Rise of Skywalker, we'll talk about Rise of Skywalker.
So that's it. Fave sequel done. Over with. Nice.
Our next category is our favorite series. Our
favorite TV series. Yes. I'm very excited about
this. My favorite TV series is the animated Clone
Wars series, partially because I haven't seen
a lot of TV shows, but also because Clone Wars
animated series is amazing. Yes. If it just I
we again, we will deep dive. Yes, we will. We
will deep, deep, deep, deep, deep, deep dive.
But it is amazing. If you haven't seen it, definitely
give it a shot. There are two different ways
to watch it. You can watch it in the order that
it is released, or there is a chronological order
because it is technically an anthology type series,
which I did not know the first time that I went
and watched it. And so there was a slight bit
of confusion on my part when I was going through
and going, wait a second, I thought that already
happened. Just know that going in. But you can
watch it in either way. I, after having watched
all of the films so many times and really liking,
especially Anakin's character in Revenge of the
Sith, but not so much. I was like, well, but
how, you know, they're talking about how amazing
he is and how good he is at what he does and
how great of a Jedi he is. And I don't understand
how he gets there. This is how he gets there.
And it blows my mind, like how much character
development is in that show, is hidden essentially
in that show. Because obviously Clone Wars came
out before. Everybody was like, oh, yeah, TV
shows bridge gaps in movies. This is how it goes.
And, you know, the Marvel -esque stuff and the
Star Wars TV shows and everything like this was
pre all of that. And so it got missed and it
should not be missed. Yeah. If Clone Wars was
just seasons five, six and seven, I'd be right
there with you. I have a tough time with seasons
one and two when it's really the Disney show
pre Disney takeover when it's not technically
canon and they're just kind of making a show
to fill time. And I mean, there's great stuff
with it. And, and I think they were really, I
think everyone on that project is trying their
best. I'm not trying to shoot down the people
who worked on it. It's just like, it's made for
a very specific demographic. And. So that's kind
of why that show, I love, I love the show Clone
Wars. It's really fun. And it does, I think Hayden
Christensen said he had to watch it for preparation
for when he's on Ahsoka to see what, you know,
they'd done. And he came and he thanked the writers
because he was like, what you guys have done
for Anakin's character is remarkable. It's amazing.
So it's a really good show. Everybody should
watch it. Also, Ahsoka. Ahsoka. We'll talk about
Ahsoka. We will. We'll talk about Ahsoka. We'll
get there. We'll get there. We'll get there.
Yes. But I think it's just a really excellent
show. And we'll put out on social media the couple
ways that you can watch. Obviously, as you were
saying, the sequence. Just watch one all the
way through. Thank you. Yeah. And then there's
the chronological, which we'll put out on social
media so you guys can see that too. Now, my favorite
series. I will shout out an honorable mention
to the OG animated Clone Wars, which. is in this
2D, almost Samurai Jack from Cartoon Network
animation style, where Mace Windu takes out a
thousand robots with one force move. It's amazing.
That's where General Grievous gets introduced,
and it leads all the way right up to Revenge
of the Sith. That was the first time that I'd
experienced a TV show sort of bridging a gap.
It doesn't go on for seven seasons. It's like
two. And so there's not as much... time to deal
with all these characters. So I just give that
a nice little shout out. I'll also give a shout
out to see parts of Mandalorian, which I really,
really love. And the new Ahsoka show, which I
thought was really amazing. And sort of on the
flip side of my actual pick, Ahsoka is like,
I think the best version for TV shows of exploring
the force. So I might say Rebels to me, it's
Ahsoka. And there's just a little bit of... It
just hits a little different when it's live action
and matches up a little bit more with the movies
to me. And so Ahsoka, I think, does the best
of Exploring the Forest. My pick is Andor, which
is not a controversial pick right now, as we
record this in May of 2025. And Andor's final
three episodes just dropped. And it's all the
rage in a lot of critically acclaimed as well
as fans loving it. It's not a controversial pick,
but sometimes the pick is the pick. Sometimes
LeBron James is MVP. Sometimes the Warriors win.
Sometimes it's just like the people that are
the best are going to win. And Andor, to me,
is timely. and it explores the world, the political
world of the Empire, and shows us why Luke's
justified in blowing up the Death Star. Not that
we needed much justification, but it really shows
us what the Empire's doing from a day -to -day
basis of politics and gives a great commentary
on how things go wrong in the real world, too.
So I'm going to go with Andor. Nice. Yeah, which
kind of leads into, objectively, At this point
is a review based on the reviews of others. I'm
going to go with Andor. Just everything that
I've been seeing recently. Spoiler alert. I have
not seen it. So no spoilers here. Not yet. Okay.
Mine is also Andor. And that is hands down, no
doubt. And it could be overtaken by other shows.
There's a lot to come out, right? We'll see.
We'll see. We'll see. That moves us into our
favorite video game of Star Wars. And I'm coming
out swinging with an oldie but a goodie. I'm
going out with Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic
from the mid -aughts, which I played on a PC.
It was my first PC game. I hacked into it with
some cheat codes like you would with The Sims
during those days and turned up the speed a thousand
percent because... Goodness gracious, it takes
forever to walk around the desert of Tatooine
with your main character. Listener Sierra has
not yet played this game. Nope. So I can't really
mention anything because there's so much potential
for spoiler just by briefly diving into things.
That game is Bioware, which, lo and behold, is
actually my... favorite video game company out
there i know sierra and i both love dragon age
i think is our favorite video game uh maker and
we'll definitely be doing some dragon age podcasts
on here and bioware is like you know there's
the system of like you can have dialogue choices
that was a first for me you can uh choose light
side or dark side and your character changes
based off of what you do and you can unlock different
things depending on if you're neutral light or
dark that was all new for me You could dual wield
lightsabers. That was new for me. There was just
a ton of stuff that I thought was great about
that game. But mainly it came down to story and
just like this awesome cast of characters and
you're flying around in your ship, the Ebon Hawk,
and you're going to all these worlds to solve
a mystery. And to me, it is the best Star Wars
video game supposedly being made into a remake
like they did with Final Fantasy VII. Like with
most new Star Wars projects, I doubt it's ever
going to come out at the moment until I actually
see it, a trailer, more of a trailer for it.
So that's where I'm landing and I won't say anymore.
Nice. Well, my favorite is Jedi Survivor. Great
game. Which narrowly beat Jedi Fallen Order,
the first one for me. I just think. While you
don't have necessarily the choices, I just think
that the gameplay is excellent. I think that
the characters are very interesting. It feels
like you're playing a movie, which I kind of
love. And then in Jedi Survivor, slightly more,
well, a lot more open world, being able to just
run around and explore, run into different. Creatures
and enemies and whatnot. And I, yeah, I found
myself sinking a whole lot of time just walking
around. Yeah. And getting frustrated by not being
able to jump to certain places. So I, yeah, I
will, I'll talk a little bit more about it later,
but I just really love, yeah, I just really love
it. Yeah. I think it was also kind of what re
-sparked my interest. Love of Star Wars? Yeah,
exactly. My interest in my love of Star Wars
was playing these games. So, yeah, I just, I
want another one. Same. Or I want to replay them
again and again. I'm really excited, Sierra,
for you to play. uh star wars the force unleashed
one and two yes um because yes you'll see how
especially the first one fallen order kind of
is the disney's next step into a i think a better
game genuinely i love the force unleashed games
um but i think the fallen order games are a little
bit better especially better than force unleashed
2 which anybody who's played that knows is criminally
short but uh you'll see how the mechanics for
That kind of feed right into Fallen Order, and
I'm excited to hear your takes on all of that.
Yeah. They've been sitting on my shelf for a
while, so I'm excited. Good. Excellent. Objectively,
we're aligned. You, because of rumor mongering,
and mainly Garrett and I talking your head off
of KOTOR for Patreon content for Three Broomsticks.
But we both have KOTOR as the objective. Yes.
Which we will say no more about. Indeed. Moving
on from general content to characters, I think
our favorite prequel character, my favorite is
Obi -Wan Kenobi. I think he's amazing. I think
he's great. I think he has a very interesting
character development. Sometimes I think maybe
he... comes across a little more one -dimensional
in comparison with Anakin's fall and whatnot.
But seeing him go from Padawan to Master... Master
on the Council. Yeah, exactly. Yes, granted a
membership on the Council as well as the rank
of Master. I think that he is... Just very interesting.
I've always liked his character. The fact that
it's Ewan McGregor, just cherry on top. But yeah,
so Obi for me. Obi's great. Really, really an
excellent pick. Very close to mine as well. I
love Ewan McGregor in that role. You're right.
At points, because... Obi's character development
feels a little bit more subtle, which is not
hard as compared to Anakin's childlike wonder
into killing children. He can feel a bit flat
and lost in the movie. Just the character, not
Ewan McGregor's acting. But overall, he still
has much character growth. And we get so much
more of it, too, with the Obi -Wan show. That
being said, he's not my pick. My pick is Qui
-Gon Jinn, Jedi Master Qui -Gon Jinn, played
by Liam Neeson. And, like, my father figure for
all of 1999. I'm kidding. My dad is a great dad
and was awesome and absolutely my father figure.
But Qui -Gon Jinn just captured my imagination
and gave a seriousness and a religiousness to
the Force that I don't feel like we'd really
seen before. You know, Luke and Mark Hamill has
those moments of, like, deep sort of cognitive...
feeling where he's like mentally in control.
But Qui -Gon and Liam Neeson brings this almost
prayerful sense. I mean, and it was also like
they make Qui -Gon look, and I think this is
purposeful, a little bit more of like the sort
of European depiction of what Jesus looks like
as well. So that's not hurting in that regard.
But his seriousness, his wisdom, his willingness
to push against authority for the sense of what's
right, and his tragic demise. really affected
me. I remember two characters that have affected
me that much in the moment of being like, wait,
no, no, no, no, no, no. They're going to save
him. He's going to come back somehow. We'll see
him as a force ghost in just a second. Was Qui
-Gon Jinn and Sirius Black. Sirius Black, same
thing. Oh my gosh, he's going to be a ghost.
Like, he's going to come back. Like, just in
my bones felt that. And it was the same for Qui
-Gon. And he's just an absolute peach of a character.
And then ironically, We moved to the objectively
best prequel character, and it's neither of our
favorites. But objectively, we both thought Anakin.
There's just not really another option here,
I feel like. Anakin going from the childlike
wonder to child murdering, as you stated. And
just everything that he has to go through. All
the time and the learning and his fall and et
cetera, et cetera. There really is no better
character in terms of realism. And I have said
this on other things before. I don't know if
it's been in a recording thing, but I harp on
this all the time. The reason why Anakin is annoying
at times is because he's real. Everybody knows
a person who was that annoying as a teenager.
When they're 19. If you don't think that you
know someone that annoying, it was you. It was
you. Yeah. Sorry. But, like, it's so real, and
that's why it's so uncomfortable. Yeah. And I
think that it's perfect. Like, the director was
like, Hayden, be a 19 -year -old boy in love.
And he was like, got it. You got it. Nailed it.
In one. And everybody was like, oh, it's so cringy.
And it's like, well, yeah. That's the point.
It's a 19 -year -old boy in love. What did you
think it was going to be? You know, and I think,
so, Anakin's character arc is... Really well
done. And that's the whole point of the prequels,
is to show two different things. Sort of the
politics of how dictatorships gets created from
a broad stroke and how the Jedi fell, mixed in
with how Anakin was created to become Vader.
And I think George Lucas gave an interview at
some point where he's like, Vader's misunderstood
and people don't know where he came from. And
where he's not wrong because he knew Vader's
backstory. It was also kind of like, yeah, but
he's misunderstood because... Because we don't
have any information. Right. Like, nobody knows.
We don't have context. And so they did. He told
us. And that arc that he takes from the boy who
wants to help as much as he can and can't believe
that Jedis can ever be killed goes to being a
young man who's overprotective and can't let
go. And so he needed his grandson in his ear
going, you gotta let go! But he doesn't. And
so that arc is just unbeatable to me. Yeah. And
so he ends up being the best character, even
if you don't like the writing in Attack of the
Clones, right? Even if you don't love the monologue
about sand, that still tells us a lot about Anakin's
character. It tells us a lot. The sand that he's,
you know, they're in Lake Como when they fill
that scene. The sand there is soft. It is warm.
It is glorious. There's probably a nice little
breeze. It's not. The sand of Tunisia, where
it's coarse and it gets everywhere. And yet he
still hates it no matter where it goes, right?
And that little line ends up giving us, whether
you like this or not, it gives us reason as to
why Vader never goes to Tatooine to look for
his stepbrother and stepsister -in -law. Because
he hates that planet so much that he will never
step foot in there. Therefore, that is why Luke
is safe with his family. That's why Obi -Wan
is safe, you know? There's just such rich detail
for his character provided in all three movies
that it's nigh impossible to beat. And for us,
makes him the best objective character. Jumping
into when he's Vader, we're talking now about
our fave OG trilogy characters, in which I have
made a very firm decision, very conclusive decision,
that it's Han Luke Leia. One entity. When you
put this doc together and I'm looking through
the notes and I'm trying to figure out who this
favorite is, I cannot separate these three. And
maybe that's just because I've done too much
reading about all of them together and read Carrie
Fisher's books and read books detailing the history
of how this got made. But, you know, it almost
wasn't Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford and Carrie
Fisher. There was that trio up against another
trio. And they decide to go with Harrison and
Mark and Carrie. And from that point forward,
those movies are built on the relationships of
the trio. Something that we don't get as much
in the prequels. Although we do get some, right?
We get Obi and Padme and Anakin. But not to the
same extent that you get Han, Luke, and Leia.
And we certainly don't get it nearly as much
in the sequels. No. Poe doesn't even meet Rey
until the very end of Last Jedi. So those three
together, their synergy as actors and therefore
on screen kind of is Star Wars to me, which is
why I can't really make a decision. You know,
I go back and forward. Leia's my favorite character
in the first movie, in A New Hope. Luke is my
favorite character in Empire Strikes Back. And
Han is my favorite character in Return of the
Jedi. I don't know. Chewie, I guess. He's also
great. R2 -D2, fantastic character. But to me,
it's those three, and maybe I'll make a better
decision at the end of this whole journey. Maybe.
Well, I've made a decision, and it's Han. Well
done. Han's a favorite. I love a rogue, an outsider
to the Force. I love his disbelief in it. Even
when confronted right in his face. It just I
love the humor that he brings and the overconfidence
that type of a character has always appealed
to me. Give me a sassy character who will just
speak his mind any day. Yeah, I just appreciate
that type of a character, especially in a world.
where things are so crazy all the time, I just
feel like it brings a sense of, like, reality
and kind of bringing people back down to Earth.
Yes, ironically, since we're in space. So I just...
That's my thing. My special shout -out is to
11 -year -old Warwick Davis as Wicked the Ewok.
I feel like no matter what... If Warwick Davis
is in the movie, you're going to figure out a
way to mention him. I will figure out a way to
mention him. I will, because he's amazing. I
just recently read a thing about how he was talking
about Harry Fisher and how she was, like, offering
him snacks and stuff all the time. And basically,
like, the best possible person that an 11 -year
-old Ewok could want around. He had a little
crush on her. Yeah, so cute. So, yeah, I just
think that that's really sweet. But anyway, yes,
Han Solo for the win. We both have the same Han
shot first. As our expert Garrett Fielding will
tell you, no, Han didn't shoot first. Han shot,
period. Shot, period, yes, exactly. Okay, so
our objective is the same. It's Vader. It was
funny because when we put together this document,
we put it down. We both had Luke as our objective
best character for this spot. And then we both
went back and we're like, no, no, it's Vader.
And there's literally at the exact same time.
Precisely. We were way far down. And without
talking about it, we'd both went up and we both
saw each other edit Luke to Vader. Vader. It
was awesome. There's great. So the honorable
mention of Luke Skywalker, incredible arc during
the series. You know, those moments of like,
will he, won't he to the dark side are really
great. But like, but, but, but Vader is like
probably one of the most iconic people in film
ever. Period. Yeah. And the most important part
of Star Wars period. The thing that got people
to the theater, period. The biggest mystery in
cinematic history, period, from a mass production
standpoint. Like, there's really not much more
to say. He's an incredible character. Obviously,
it's a continuation of Anakin, but it's so different.
Yes. It's very, very different. It provides the
emotional tones that you need for this series
in a way that people just didn't expect and is
one of the reasons. To me, it's the reason why
people like Star Wars is initially Vader and
James Earl Jones' amazing voice. Exactly. So
that's that on that. Not much else to say. Bet
nobody can guess what's coming up next. It's
our favorite sequel character. I have a little
bit of a longer answer just in terms of a little
bit of joking. So my real answer is Kylo Ren.
I'm just going to spoil it here. He's my favorite,
but I think he's also objectively the best. And
I think there's a variety of reasons. And what
it really comes down to is he's the most intriguing
in terms of where he directly comes from, but
then where he also draws his. kind of his like
self lore and i think that he has the most dramatic
choices to make um the most interesting abilities
the i won't necessarily say most interesting
character development but i will say that just
i think it really just goes back to his choices
like in every kind of section of every film he
has a choice um and he's kind of all over the
place on where he goes and i think that that
makes him fascinating and those choices though
feel earned that's the thing is that each time
you kind of understand a little bit why why he's
making that choice and it makes you feel there's
such a there's such a oh yes oh no with him Exactly.
Yeah. You're like, Oh, okay. So he chose, he
chose in this direction. So like, clearly the
next time he has a choice to make like this,
he'll make the right one. And then he doesn't.
And you're like, Oh no. Oh no. Oh, so yeah, that's
my, that's my answer on that. My, um, my, my
runner up is little BB eight Q lighter thumbs
up. I just I think droids in general over the
course of the entire Star Wars universe are just
amazing and fascinating and all the different
types that there are and I just he's You can't
not love him. Like, he's so cute. And literally
every time he does the lighter thumbs up, every
time I watch that movie and he does the lighter
thumbs up, I crack up. Like, I like die laughing
every time because it's the perfect comedic timing.
And then my other honorable mention goes to,
oh, what could have been? What could have been
indeed? What could have been? Oh, that would
have been so good. I also have Kylo for my favorite
character, I think. And I was really close to
putting Rey. But ultimately, I found a little
bit more... Like, the torture within him is really
interesting to me. And I am a sucker for characters
going through that sort of emotional upheaval
up and down and up and down and back and forth.
And I think his character, fairly or unfairly,
gets the most nuance. His character gets a lot
of attention, sometimes at the detriment to Finn
and to Poe. His relationship with Rey is really
interesting. His struggles with Snoke are really
interesting. His hatred of Luke is fascinating,
although a little unexplored in the third film
for me. So I have Kylo there as well. Yeah. For
my objective two, it's Kylo, although I do have
honorable mentions to BB -8, who I think is...
Kind of, if I start to think about it too hard,
I start to talk myself into BB -8 is the best
character in that movie franchise. Because he's
amazing. She's awesome. She's fantastic. She's
so good. You'll hear me refer to BB -8 as she.
I think canonically in the movie, it's he. Although
it's a droid, so it doesn't really matter. But
the original creators and designers of BB -8
designed her to be with... her being called she
and the movie just decided to go away from that
and but for whatever reason that's stuck on my
head so you'll you'll hear me say bb -8's called
she doesn't doesn't actually matter it's a droid
yeah that's why you keep people hear me say that
for the rest of this entire series i also part
of me is also like bubble freak from rise of
skywalker is a pretty dang good character for
being such a minuscule part and pun unintended
And so I'm like, again, if I start to think of
it too hard, I start to like high school debate
myself into being like, no, it's definitely Babu
Freak because blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
So it's Kylo for sure. But don't let me think
too hard because it'll be either Babu Freak or
BB -8 after too long. If I start thinking too
much, it'll be Maz. Maz. Nice. Okay, moving into
our fave TV series character. I have Ahsoka.
Who we've spent the most time with in all the
series. And Clone Wars Season 7 really comes
in pinch -hitting in here for the win. I could
have put a lot of different people for this.
I love Grogu. I love the Mandalorian. I really
like Savine Wren. I really, really love Thrawn.
In a way that almost made me put Thrawn for this,
but that has to do with books and like old non
-canonical EU stuff too. So I went with Ahsoka.
Ahsoka's character arc and character development
is really fascinating, both from live action
and from animation. So I just end up with Ahsoka
there, even though I, as like a... teenager when
Ahsoka was like, oh, Anakin had a Padawan between
episodes two and three. And I was like, what?
And we didn't hear about that in Revenge of the
Sith? What are you talking about? That's impossible.
And started crying like Luke in Empire. So, anyways.
Ahsoka is my pick. My pick is tied between Anakin
and Darth Maul. Both of which, because of Clone
Wars series, spoiler alert, Maul is dope. And
not bad. He's a little too Kenobi for the first
season for me. Yeah, but I feel like the rest
of it kind of makes up for it. His monologue
in season seven is amazing. Yes, especially with
my honorable mention of Savage. Which I'm floored
he made it anywhere near a fave character. seriously
i just as soon as i like had him as soon as i
saw him i was like okay he's fascinating he's
really cool and just the play between him and
maul that play is great yeah you're right there
is like compelling that's why i think he's like
honorable mention is really just like that relationship
yeah yeah totally but i just i feel like There's
so many interesting things that happen with Anakin.
There's so many interesting things that happen
with Maul. And we kind of bounce back and forth
and we see their developments and then their
interactions with the same people, but in different
ways. And it's just, yeah, I mean, I just think
that the Clone Wars series does so much to really
dive into their characters and mine them for
all they're worth. And I think it's... Worth
it. I'm so excited for you to watch any of the
other shows that you haven't seen as well. I
know. Just talking about this makes me so excited.
Yes. Objectively. Objectively. You have who?
Objectively, from what I have heard, again, from
what I have heard, it's Cassian Andor. Yeah.
That just, he seems to be in the hearts of the
people. Especially right now. Especially right
now. He's in the zeitgeist for sure. Especially
right now. So that's what I've got. Obviously,
that's probably going to change. Or at least
I will have a dedicated answer by the time we
revisit this. By the time we revisit. After 70
,000 hours of Star Wars content. I have... This
took me a long time to come up with. Objectively,
as of right now. And again, I haven't seen the
end of Andor. Maybe it is Cassian. I do have
a character from that show, but it's... And I
won't tell you what part of the show that she's
in, but Marva Karasi Andor is Andor's mother.
And she, to me, she's played by Fiona Shaw, who
was Aunt Petunia in the Harry Potter movies.
And she's phenomenal. And I think that character
arc is really interesting and great. And it's
a little bit like Qui -Gon to me, where it's
like, wow, really perfect, but also not the entire
time. Interesting. She's there. Qui -Gon's not
there the whole time. She's not there the whole
time. Yeah. So I know this spoils maybe a tiny
bit, but I have her right now as my objective.
But this is the answer that I think most convincingly
will change and will continue to update the more
Star Wars makes things. Yeah. True. True, true,
true. We are moving into our last favorite character,
and that is of video games. So obviously with
my more limited network of video game playing,
I went with, I could not decide between Cal,
BD -1, and Bodakuna. Super hard. So Cal Kestis,
Bodakuna, BD -1, all from the Jedi series, Survivor
and Fallen Order. And I will have zero spoilers
on this for anybody who has not played. But I
think that the character developments, the heart
-wrenching points in their storylines, the interactions
they have with each other as well, all just amazing.
The voice acting is phenomenal. and acting acting
because they do a lot of acting acting exactly
yeah and acting acting um for sure because that
was all very much mo -capped um and then i i
would frequently just like go places and like
sit down just to watch bd1 sit down and like
wag his little legs together and i just have
a lego of him it's prominently in our living
room i have i have the um Like the Black Series
figure of Cal that has the beady one. Nice. Yeah,
it's just, it's so cute. So anyway, that's my
favorite. My favorite character is the main character
of KOTOR, the playable character. And that's
literally all I can say because there's, you
know, there's big stuff in KOTOR. So you'll just
have to play it, Sierra, and then we can actually
have a proper conversation. Okay, that's fine.
objectively i have heard that your favorite is
the best but i also wonder how much of that is
because you can pick some stuff yeah decide things
and so i i i wrote that but as i'm saying it
i kind of also objectively feel like maybe not
and i i kind of want to throw Cal back in the
mix. Cal's a great point. Objectively the best,
but I'm going to leave this one pretty open for
future decisions. Yeah, I mean, again, I could
high school debate myself into BD1 being the
best video game character because it just really
sinks you hard into that first game, which can
be a little clunky at the beginning before you've
upgraded a bunch of powers, so BD1 kept me playing.
Right. Okay, so... This starts to get into game
theory, which is not what this podcast is about.
The reason why I don't have the playable character
from KOTOR as the objective best is because there's
so much variation there. I think the type of
character that I played, which was all good,
that's the best character there. But it's malleable,
so I didn't put it. From a gaming perspective...
Playing the Ewok in Ewok Hunt in Battlefront
2, the EA version, is a phenomenal experience.
Just to explain a little bit of that level, Ewok
Hunt is massive online player. So you're all
together. It's like 20 of you, I think. And 17
of you are stormtroopers running around in the
dark. And you can turn your flashlight on or
off. And three of you, if I'm getting this right,
are Ewoks running around in the dark with night
vision. able to see and to take out the stormtroopers.
And it's really hard to spot the Ewoks, but you're
trying to do like a make it to the escape ship
before. And it's just like that playing as the
Ewok is a phenomenal experience. And also it's
an Ewok, so it's super cute. If we're taking
it out until we're talking about actual character
characters, I have either Karthor Nassi or Bastila
Shan from KOTOR. They're your sort of two counterparts.
So in a Dragon Age version, it would kind of
be like Varric would be Carthel Nancy and Bastila
would be Isabella from Dragon Age 2. Although
Bastila has a much more important role than Isabella
does in Dragon Age 2. So I actually have one
of those two. Both phenomenally acted. Great
character arcs. Really fun. Really cool stuff.
Nice. Moving on to our last. Category before
a couple of bonuses, we've got our fave overall
movie and then our fave overall characters. And
none of this should really come as a surprise
for fave overall movie show. I've got Empire
for my fave. And you, Sierra, have? I have Empire
and Clone Wars tied with, as I was thinking about
it, honorable mention going to Revenge of the
Sith, which surprised me. As I was writing it,
I have a question, question, exclamation mark.
Yeah, but that's my feelings at the moment. Honorable
mentions would include Last Jedi, A New Hope,
and Rogue One before we even got near sniffing
revenge. But sure, this is why it's good for
the pod. We have different opinions. Oh, see,
you know, and I didn't even... throw Rogue One
or Solo into my brain when I was thinking of
this because we didn't have them in the categories
above. Yeah. I know. Rogue One is really good.
Gotta tell ya. Anyways, for objective, we both
have the same. It's Empire. We've talked about
it enough. Moving on to Fave overall character.
My favorite overall character, not really going
to come as a shock, Han Solo, Obi -Wan Kenobi.
If I had to pick between the two, I think I would
still lean Obi -Wan over Han. And as I'm saying
it, I'm like hemming and hawing about it. But
I do think that I would give a slight edge to
Obi -Wan. Yeah, that's my gut feelings on this
decision. That's a tough gut decision. I, you
know, if I had to choose one of my life depended
on it, I don't know that I'd survive. There's
just, you know, like, okay, maybe Vader, maybe
Han, maybe Luke, maybe Leia, maybe Qui -Gon,
maybe Karan Horn, who you don't even know. Okay,
well, we don't need you spontaneously combusting
about this one. I think Han, if I really, really
have to push, and a lot of that has to do with
Harrison Ford's just... Like he makes a whole
career out of this movie. So I think, but who
knows? But for objective. Objectively, we both
said Bader. Yeah. We talked about it. He's yeah.
He is Star Wars. Yep. Exactly. Too iconic. Bonus.
Faith Droid, which when you put this in here.
I swore at you because I don't like picking this
because I love all the droids, like, so much.
They're so good. When you watch the Obi -Wan
show, Leia's droid will melt your heart. I'm
just going to tell you. Oh, gosh. Okay, so I,
maybe controversially, this is, I think, the
first time that I would rank a sequel thing over
anything else. I have Deebo. No, I'm kidding.
I have BB -8 for my fave droid. Honorable mentions,
of course, to R2 -D2. If we're picking an MVP,
it's R2 -D2. But when in Last Jedi... I mean,
the entire series is R2 -D2's account. I mean,
it's supposed to be, and then they kind of mess
that up with Force Awakens. So, honorable mentions
to R2 -D2, pick an MVP. But with BB -8, when
Poe says to Finn, don't wait for me, and BB -8
takes off to go prep the X -Wing while Kylo's
attacking the ship at the beginning of Last Jedi.
And then the ship blows up and BB -8 goes flying.
I, like, gasp and was, like, legitimately concerned
for this little hunk of junk's well -being. Another
honorable mention goes to Chopper. Have you watched
Rebels, Sierra? I forget. No, I have not yet.
Okay. I've seen a few episodes, but I have not
committed to the whole show yet. When you see
it, you'll know why Chopper's in this list. Honorable
mention to Chopper for very different reasons
than BB -8. Very excited. My list, in order.
I will go 4 -3 -2 -1. So, fourth place, R2 -D2.
Crazy. We've talked enough about him. He's amazing.
Third place, K2SO. Great pick. Second place,
BB -8. Awesome. And first place, BD -1. Also,
like, I can't really argue with it. I mean, it's
not my list, but it's a great list. It's a great
list. This is one of the most difficult things.
Yeah. I put it on myself, and I hated myself
for it. Yeah. Objectively, we both have the same
droid. He's almost going to be R2. It's almost
what Vader is to Star Wars. R2 is also to Star
Wars. Exactly. Yeah. Like normally you would
say what Legolas is to Lord of the Rings. Luke
is to Star Wars. But it's just like what Vader
is to Star Wars. R2 is also to Star Wars. Yeah.
No. He's too iconic. He's too perfect. Yeah.
And then our bonus bonus. Our favorite duel.
Yeah. Okay, we're not touching objective here.
There's no way to do it. There's way too many.
There's no way. Neither of us know sword theory.
I know some. Oh yeah, that's right. You're a
black belt. Yeah, I know a fair amount. But we're
still not going to get into it. I don't know
anything about sword theory. No. Also, there's
too many styles that different characters go
with, so it would be a lot. But anyway. My head
exploded. I, again, brought this on myself. And
then my head exploded. Because I was like, obviously,
it's going to be Maul v Qui -Gon and Obi. And
then I was like, no, but obviously, it's going
to be Anakin versus Obi -Wan. And then I was
like, but Luke and Vader is so iconic. And then
I was like, you know what? The Finn -Kylo fight
before Rey jumps in? That's pretty intense. And
then I was like, you know what? But there's something
like just so great about that first moment that
you see Yoda reach out and the lightsabers in
his hand and he's doodling Dooku. And then and
then you've got all the Clone Wars series has
just so many. You've got Ventress versus Anakin.
You've got Obi and Ventress versus Maul and Savage.
You've got Maul versus Ahsoka. Sidious versus
Maul and Savage, which like. Oh, my gosh. This
is starting to sound like binary, where you just
see zeros and ones in front of your face. Oh,
my gosh. And then you've got Anakin versus Dooku
in the series. There is a theme. Two of them.
One of them, Clone Wars, is awesome when it comes
to duels. Also, Maul just makes for a really
cool duel. I'm making a split -second decision
right this minute, based on gut and gut alone.
And I am going... Anakin Obi -Wan on Mustafar.
Yeah. Okay. So, I have a couple of honorable
mentions, but you and I have the same pick. And
I think it's because of the emotional stakes
in that. And the way it ends. Exactly. Even though
I'm not a huge fan of, like, the I hate you line.
Like, everything about sort of... You love my
brother? I love those lines. Yes. I... yeah,
that's, that's my favorite duel. The, the amount
of choreography, the behind the scenes of that
is really intense. How much, uh, Obi -Wan and,
and, and, or Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen
are, are having fun for a second, then boom,
back into it. Yeah. It's really cool. It's, it's
great emotional stakes. It's incredible graphics,
especially at the time. They just do all of these
really neat things there. Amazing. So cool. So
I would say that one, but honorable mentions
to, Duel of Fates. That's Maul, Obi, and Qui
-Gon. And honorable mention to Ahsoka Maul in
Clone Wars Season 7, which might be one of my
favorite animated things ever. And an honorable
mention to Acolyte, Episode 5, the Sith Kimir,
going up against several Jedis. Stay tuned for
that. Stay tuned for that, Sierra. Honorable
mention to that because I really like that fight
sequence. Stoked. There it is. So stoked. And
that's it for us. So we're going to sign off
here. Thank you guys so much for listening. Please
stay tuned for... So much more Star Wars content.
So much more fandom content. No, this is not
just a Star Wars podcast. We promise. We swear.
This is just the first one we're touching on.
You got to start somewhere, guys. Got to start
somewhere. So, yes, we are starting here, which
is a pretty good place to start. Yeah. Got to
say. And we will be diving into so many things.
We've kind of given you a taste of all the breadth
and wealth of. content that we're going to get
into um to really like flesh out what star wars
fandom is all about yeah and we'll be doing other
other fandoms as we go breaking things up stay
tuned through it all if you want to see how our
favorites change over the course of all of this
we are I, for one, am very interested to see
how my favorites are going to change by the end
because I know that some of them will. I'm fascinated.
For yours more than mine, I think. You've had
a little bit more time to sit with these decisions.
I have. I'm going to have a lot of fresh knowledge.
Yes, you are. Much fresh knowledge. This is going
to be great. I'm very excited. Please rate and
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so much for listening. And fare thee well. Tip
your waiters. Fandom Shmandom was created by
Sam Williams and Sierra Obermark. The show is
produced by Aurelia Lieb. The editor is Brittany
Fisher. The music is by Jeremiah Alves. So listeners,
this is Sierra Obermark watching out of context,
just the Acolyte episode five fight scene where
the Sith Kimir fights a bunch of Jedi. Oh, there's
like others. Oh, that's no, I don't like that.
Which thing didn't you like? The giant pill bugs.
Oh yes. That is terrifying. Oh, man. Sorry about
the pill bugs. Oh, hey, I know him. Yes, he's
from Squid Games. Yeah. It keeps like cutting
to unrelated things. I know. I don't know why
this scene is put together like this. Yeah, it
seems very spliced, obviously. That's not how
the show's edited. It's just the fight sequence.
Oh, that's so weird. Yeah, I don't know why it
keeps going over to the pill bug stuff. Mm -hmm.
Ooh, ouch. A young Padawan. It's like, yeah,
the same person is in both scenes, and it just
keeps going back and forth, and I'm like, wait,
wait, wait, wait, wait. Split that pill bug down
the middle. Yeah. God, his helmet is so cool,
though. I know. Dun -dun -dun! Okay, the beginning
of that is the coolest part. Yeah. Like, partway
through the trees, and you just see, like, the...
Ugh. That's very cool. Right? I'm excited. I'm
very excited. Oh my gosh. It's such a great sequence.
Isn't that a great fight sequence, too? It's
such a good fight sequence, for sure. It's great.
Yeah, I understand why that is in your... why
that is definitely up there in your uh honorable
mentions yeah absolutely