Utapau & Its Inhabitants
Today I want to give you a bit of back story on the planet Utapau. Star Wars ?historians? will recognize this name from the original drafts of Star Wars. It was even at one point Tatooine. I?m glad to see the planet name resurface but did you know its origin is actually derived from the two species that inhabit the planet? There are two kinds of beings that inhabit the planet as you know. The Utai are the shorter, CG aliens you?ve seen on Starwars.com (Art of Revenge) and the Pau?ans are the creepier folks that look like Tion Medon.
The short Utai have always lived in the sinkholes that spot the planet. After a climate change, the Pau?ans migrated down into the holes and the two species co-exist in a mutually beneficial environment. The Pau?ans represent only about 30% of the population of Utapau and are the city administrators and bureaucrats. The Utai are the labor class.
There?s a main city called Pau City, where Obi-Wan arrives, lands and talks with Tion Medon who is at first cagey but then secretly informative. He?s the master of port administration for Pau City so he has to be careful about what he says. The Separatists have come to occupy the world and the Utapau people accept this with no arguments, however, in secret, they?re preparing to rebel. When Obi-Wan arrives, Tion Medon, ever the bureaucrat, acts as if nothing is out of the ordinary. However, while Obi-Wan?s starfighter is being refueled, Medon whispers to Kenobi that the Separatists have indeed taken over Utapau.
But why is Obi-Wan there in the first place? Well, as you know he?s after Grievous. Palpatine enjoys this because with him out of the way, Palpatine can goad Anakin a little quicker. Dooku?s out now and Palpatine has stepped up his plans to replace him with Anakin. Obi-Wan?s not around to keep Anakin on the straight and narrow, like a drug addict who?s lost his ?sponsor? in a way. He?s got no one to keep him in line and the ever-persuasive Palpatine can work his Dark Side mojo.
Anakin sort of resents Obi-Wan, as seen in EPISODE II as well. It was really Anakin who saved the day in rescuing Palpatine and bringing that crashing ship down to the surface of Coruscant. He also saved Obi-Wan?s neck that day, rendered unconscious for a time by a Magna Droid. If not for Anakin (and R2-D2) that mission would have totally failed, yet the Jedi Council hold Obi-Wan in high esteem and consider him the only one talented enough to go after Grievous on Utapau. I say totally failed, because the Jedi not only wanted to save Palpatine, but bring back Dooku alive, and this was not done.
Why did the Separatists take over Utapau? Well, for a visual answer, head to Starwars.com and read the webstrip Reversal of Fortune by my friends (though they'll never admit it publicly, the bastids) Tom Hodges (artist) and Paul Ens (writer). There are panels there that show Grievous arriving and bringing the whole Separatist Council (Nute Gunray, Rune Haako, Wat Tambor, San Hill, etc.) to Pau City for protection; a temporary sanctuary. Darth Sidious sent them there, of course.
So what about this Boga creature? Well, for starters, Boga is not the name of the species like the Wampa, it?s the creature?s name. The creature is actually a veractyl. I like the dinosaur-like name. Anyhow, Obi-Wan chooses Boga based on his feelings that she?s a good creature and she is FAST. She takes Obi-Wan ten levels down the sinkhole in record time. Unfortunately, Boga will be yet another EPISODE III casualty, lost to a barrage of clone trooper fire, after the clones turn. The Utai are the keepers of the veractyl and have learned how to tame them over the years. They?re the equivalent of Utapau horses.
Tion Medon is a great looking and intriguing guy. He?s not a major character in the film by any means and his screen time is probably quite short but his back story is fun and fascinating. Just like Chewbacca, he?s been around a long time. He?s not only ?old? but he?s been the Master of Port Administration for over 200 years! He has an aide named Lampay Fay who looks a lot like Tion only with darker robes that don?t go up over the ears or anything. These guys are high brow citizens with ancestors who were key to the planet?s history. They look creepy but are good beings. Pau?ans have those creepy teeth for a reason ? they like their meat raw.
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Emotional Rescue
Well it?s Valentine?s Day and I already used my Billy Squier reference so here?s a Rolling Stones reference for ya. Valentine?s Day is supposed to be a happy holiday but we?re talking about the deep, dark EPISODE III here which is a tragedy by all means, especially in the romance department.
Well, start to make fun of me now because in my old age, I?m getting sappy. Seeing some of the stuff I?ve seen and reading more and more about the film, I?m starting to get the impression that if it?s done correctly, the dialogue is right, and the scene goes as I think it?s going to go, I may come close to tearing up (aka getting emotional) in the movie theater. I?ve seen some pics of the dying Padmé and one shot actually gave me a little chill when I thought of the weight of it all. Now seeing that scene, moving, with dialogue and all that, might get me going. Obi-Wan is there, with his hand on top of her head and the emotion is definitely there. If all goes well this will be the most dramatic and heart-tugging moment in the whole saga. Check this out:
Feelin' it?
Vader/Anakin dying never made me choke up, sad as it was. Obi-Wan?s death was sudden and kind of shocking and then there was a lot of action so there was no time to feel anything for me, plus his voice came back so it didn?t bother me. Yoda dying was always a little weird to me because he was walking around just fine and then sort of just?dies. I was sad but nothing too bad. Shmi?s death was dramatic but I was wayyyy more into Anakin?s reaction! There were others but no death will come close to the emotional response, if done correctly (and I?m sure it is), that this death scene will evoke. I surely hope this is the case. Just thinking about it actually makes me a little sad. When you see the photos, I think you?ll agree ? it?s just tragic on many levels. She just had twins and has to say hello and goodbye at the same time. I can?t imagine having to do that. Come on Lucas old buddy, don?t let me down!
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Rumor Recap
Well, last time I threw together a bunch of little random facts for you, some reported already, some new, some just here for fun. I'll throw a few more here for you now and when I can clear a few more, I'll surely pass them on.
- The Jedi Starfighters are now called Jedi Interceptors and they're not the only ships that have a TIE fighter reference, there are other small ships that look like the letter H from the front in the film, most noticeable escorting Palpatine's Theta-class shuttle from Mustafar to Coruscant to rebuild Darth Vader. These ships are called V-Wings.
- Another medical droid that works on Vader is FX-9. Fans will know that name is similar to FX-7 from EPISODE V. They look a LOT alike except FX-9 is black and has some rounder parts. He's got blood splattered all over him too - neat stuff. Nice visual connection.
- General Grievous doesn't know he's serving both Palpatine and Darth Sidious and therefore doesn't understand why he can't just assassinate Palpatine. Otherwise he would have just killed him and not captured him, scoring a major victory for the CIS. He doesn't know that Palpatine is Sidious. He is a General and just wants to win the battle.
- The Invisible Hand is blown in half due to communications mistakes. Palpatine is on board, of course, and it's basically Anakin and R2 that guide the ship down to the surface.
- The remains of the Invisible Hand doesn't crash into anything too dangerous. It actually crash lands (controlled crash) on what looks like a big runway but in the middle of the city. There are some great shots of this, with the Fireships all around. The cockpit view is breathtaking.
- The bad dream that Anakin has is of Padmé dying in childbirth which, unfortunately, comes true. The part Anakin didn't see is that it was he who was responsible for it.
- The troopers that accompany Anakin Skywalker on his killing-raid of the Jedi Temple are members of the 501st Legion. That should make certain fans VERY happy. (Not sure if this is mentioned in the film itself at all.)
- Commander Gree is the clone commander who betrays Yoda on Kashyyyk. Commander Cody turns of Obi-Wan on Utapau. Bail Organa uses a homing beacon to contact them after the clones turn.
http://www.starwarz.com/tbone/movie_news/