Feeling nostalgic for Avengers: Age of Ultron, Furious 7, Jurassic World, and the rest of the movies of 2015? Or perhaps you’d just like to see some of their most memorable moments Lego-fied? If either is the case, the YouTube channel Toscano Bricks has you covered with “2015 Movies in Lego,” a three-and-a-half-minute look back at the past year in film through a distinctly blocky lens. The supercut features Lego recreations of climactic scenes from the big three above, not to mention The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 2, Spectre, Mad Max: Fury Road, Fifty Shades of Grey, and of course Star Wars: The Force Awakens. See how many you can identify in the video above — but be warned, there are some spoilers.This weekend, Star Wars Rebels returned from its winter break with not one, but two new episodes. Together they formed “Ghosts of Geonosis,” a one-hour special that details the series’ return to Geonosis, the birthplace of the Death Star. As a tie-in to last month’s Rogue One, “Ghosts of Geonosis” represents the show’s strongest connections to the live-action films.
Let’s examine the secrets that our favorite rebels found on Geonosis. Both parts of “Ghosts of Geonosis” feature the Rebels debut of Saw Gerrera. Straight out of Rogue One, Oscar winner Forest Whitaker brings his character to the animated series. In doing so, Whitaker takes over the role from voice actor Andrew Kushino, who originated the character on Star Wars: The Clone Wars. I’ll be honest: I found Saw’s role in Rogue One to be underwhelming. Whitaker delivered a great performance as the aging warrior, but director Gareth Edwards and the Lucasfilm Story Group simply didn’t give Whitaker or his character a large enough role. Consequently, Saw had a minimal impact on the overall plot of Rogue One. There should have been a bigger payoff for having Whitaker in Rogue One, especially since Saw is the first animated character to cross over to the saga’s live-action films. For that reason, Saw’s debut in “Ghosts of Geonosis” was stronger than his role in Rogue One.
The one-hour special provided Whitaker with more room to develop Saw, which he largely could not do in Rogue One thanks to his limited screen time. It was awesome to see Saw reconnect with Captain Rex and meet Ezra Bridger and Kanan Jarrus, only to come into conflict with them over their methods. Seeing Saw threaten to shoot that Geonosian egg was particularly chilling. The lingering question from “Ghosts of Geonosis” is whether Saw will continue to appear on Star Wars Rebels. It seems like he has yet to fully sever ties with the rebellion, as he does before Rogue One. Moreover, “Ghosts of Geonosis” excluded two important aspects of Saw’s character, namely his familiarity with Galen Erso and the fact that he raised Jyn Erso as his adoptive daughter. Even a one-hour special has its limits, but perhaps Rebels will further develop Saw in future appearances. My first thought upon seeing the new Imperial officer in “Ghosts of Geonosis” was that she was Rae Sloane. Within Star Wars literature, Sloane has become a fan favorite since she debuted in A New Dawn, which pitted her against Kanan and Hera Syndulla.
Since then, Sloane has gone on to become a key protagonist in Chuck Wendig’s ongoing Aftermath Trilogy. Unfortunately, that’s not Sloane in “Ghosts of Geonosis”. Instead, it’s a new character, Captain Brunson. On a story level, it makes sense that it’s Brunson and not Sloane in “Ghosts of Geonosis”. Brunson is considerably less competent than Sloane, for Brunson allows the rebels to outwit her. Moreover, Brunson commands a light cruiser, whereas Sloane captains a Star Destroyer, so it wouldn’t make sense for Sloane to get demoted. Brunson is a welcome change from the series’ human Imperials, who — aside from Governor Pryce and Agent Kallus — have seemed a bit generic. Admiral Konstantine and Admiral Titus just aren’t that memorable. (Maybe they weren’t intended to be memorable, but the point still stands.) Perhaps Brunson’s healthy dose of ambition will prove useful to Grand Admiral Thrawn as he enters his endgame. The other highlight of “Ghosts of Geonosis” was seeing writers Steven Melching and Matt Michnovetz, as well as voice actor and sound mixer Matthew Wood, develop Klik-Klak as the first relatable Geonosian character in Star Wars history.
Until now, the Geonosians have always been villains. Examples include Poggle the Lesser and Queen Karina the Great, who were antagonists for the prequels and The Clone Wars. Unlike Poggle and Karina, Klik-Klak is relatable as a character. His people have suffered from genocide under the Empire, just like Zeb Orrelios lost most of his fellow Lasat. Ezra and Captain Rex point out that Klik-Klak’s story of loss also parallels that of Saw Gerrera, who lost his sister Steela to the Separatists and his planet Onderon to the Empire. Klik-Klak is just trying to preserve his people’s culture. And as one of the last Geonosians, he’s appointed himself as the protector of the last Geonosian queen egg. Klik-Klak’s extended role in “Ghosts of Geonosis” is one of the most compelling parts of the special. Moreover, Klik-Klak’s relatability is a testament to Ezra’s ability to connect with other people, across boundaries like species and language. Ezra is gradually becoming the accidental diplomat of the Ghost team.
Nevertheless, that will make any regression on his part that much more heartbreaking. There’s no telling what the rest of season three has in store for Ezra. Even though the new year has started, some things don’t change. Fellow Fan Contributor Robert Mitchell is back to help with our rundown of other observations: Next Saturday, Zeb and Chopper find a damaged droid on Atollon. Little do they know that it’s a new Imperial probe droid. Will this be how the Empire uncovers the secret location of Chopper Base? Tune into “Warhead” on Disney XD this Saturday, January 14 at 8:30 P.M. After that, check out our Recap and Reaction here on Fandom! 5 Revelations From the ‘Star Wars Rebels’ Season 3 Mid-Season Trailer Would you like to be part of the Fandom team? I think we can all agree that Legos are the best toy ever. And YouTube videos in which Lego people act out movies and such are the perfect way to break up a dreary day. Well, put in your headphones and close that Excel doc.