Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Episode 28: Bren Derlin

Cheers everybody! Today's episode is Major Bren Derlin, or as you may know him, the jerk that had to lock Luke and Han out of the Hoth base when he closed the doors for the night. But he was concerned about Princess Leia and the rest of the rebels safety, so he can't be that much of a jerk.

The most interesting thing about Bren Derlin is the actor who played him. John Ratzenberger, who is famously known as the know-it-all mailman Cliff Clavin from Cheers, disguised his face (sweet mustache) and voice for this role. It was a little before Cheers, but you would never know it was him.



Bren Derlin was a male Human officer of the Rebel Alliance. Bearing the rank of Major, Derlin served as the operations and security chief at Echo Base, the Alliance headquarters on the planet Hoth, under the command of General Carlist Rieekan. In that post, Derlin had to order the closing of the base door to avoid putting the whole base in risk. By doing so, however, he risked the lives of Luke Skywalker and Han Solo, two valuable Rebels. Soon after that event, Derlin served during the Battle of Hoth. During the Battle of Endor, Derlin served as Unit leader.





Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Episode 27: Life Debt

When I say Life Debt, you instantly think of Wookiees, right? Well there's another Life Debt in the Star Wars universe that we all seem to have forgotten... JAR JAR!

In this episode we discuss all kinds of Life Debts in Star Wars and even throughout general television and film. We discuss why Chewie and Han should have just been friends, and who we would want to owe us a Life Debt. Fun stuff!




The life debt was a social institution found in many honor-bound cultures throughout the galaxy, including the Wookiees, Trandoshans, Gungans, Noghri, Talz, and Srrors'tok. To summarize, if a person's life was saved by another, the saved person was obligated to pledge their life to protecting and looking after their savior, even to the point of sacrificing their own life, if necessary.





  

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Episode 26: Malakili

Last week we discussed the Rancor, so naturally we needed to follow up with Malakili. You may know him as the big shirtless guy that cries after the Rancor's death in Return of the Jedi. But there is so much more to him than that!



We get down to the facts. What happened after the Rancor died? Which actor(s) played him? What's up with his choice of clothing? (We talk quite a bit about his fashion choices.)



Malakili was a male Human from the Core World of Corellia, a creature tamer and servant of the Hutt gangster Jabba Desilijic Tiure on Tatooine. Malakili took care of Jabba's rancor.





  

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Episode 25: Rancor

It's time to talk about a beast. A massive beast that almost consumes our hero Luke Skywalker. It's the Rancor, Jabba's destructive pet that he keeps in the basement for entertainment.

The Rancor scene is one of the most iconic scenes in Star Wars and when watching it back, it all happens so quickly. We discuss how it holds up today, as well as other Rancors throughout the Star Wars universe. There are a bunch of them and of course, they have wings and all kinds of other ridiculous things going on.


Rancors were large carnivorous reptomammals native to the planet of Dathomir. They were usually born brown, but in special circumstances, such as the mutant rancor, jungle rancor, and the bull rancor, their color may have differed.






  

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Episode 24: Budallenj Prill (a/k/a The Volleyball Alien)

In this episode we dig up one of the most bizarre Tatooine aliens... Budallenj Prill (a/k/a The Volley Ball Alien). He's another blink-and-you'll-miss-it character that fanboys didn't seem to blink or miss. His prop, which is 100% a volleyball, led to more expanded universe content than some proper characters. And when you hear what they named his volleyball beacon thing... you'll know exactly why.



A Balandisian from the planet of Tatooine.