Latest news with #DarthJarJar
The Hindu
15-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
How ‘Andor' is shaping the 21st century liberal mind
As a Star Wars fan, I've long been familiar with the strange, combustible ecosystem of its fandom. This is after all that notoriously wretched hive of scum and villainy where grown men in cosplay rail against the 'woke mind virus' they believe Disney smuggled into their decidedly unpolitical galaxy. But in the past few months, something remarkable has been happening. The conversation has veered off its usual course — past the endless gripes about Rey's lineage, past the tired Darth Jar Jar conspiracies and the incessant Filoni-worshipping — and landed somewhere far more charged. Suddenly, posts joking about subredditors ready to be 'tied to a missile and fired at Tel Aviv' started flooding my feed, and astonishingly, people weren't flinching. It's telling. For perhaps the first time, Star Wars seemed to be driven by something more urgent and tangible than nostalgia and merchandising. The idea of political awakening has rarely felt so freshly, almost violently, excavated from the franchise's marrow. And it's all because of Andor. In the month since Andor concluded its second season, the Star Wars spin-off has morphed into a radicalising force for disaffected liberals, post-left thinkers, and a whole generation of Reddit-warped digital revolutionaries. Tony Gilroy's cerebral slow-burn about fascism, imperialism, and the machinery of resistance has slipped the bounds of allegory and re-entered orbit as a cultural touchstone. The series feels so precisely timed that it makes a galaxy far, far away feel disturbingly proximate. In this moment of global exhaustion on political, ethical and ecological fronts, it was perhaps inevitable that Andor would become one of the most politically charged pieces of popular culture in years. But the series, it appears, has gone beyond, galvanising viewers who had until recently remained comfortably aloof from the language and logic of revolutionary struggle. Andor is the bitter pill in the sugarcoated saga of the franchise's space operatics. Of the many spin-offs Lucasfilm has produced in its Disney era, the series has emerged as a taut political thriller for a more mature audience. If George Lucas conceived Star Wars as an allegory for the Vietnam War and American imperialism, then Tony Gilroy strips it down to the bone to reveal the machinery beneath. Diego Luna's Cassian Andor is the titular reluctant hero conscripted by circumstance. His transformation from a disillusioned hustler to an ideologically hardened rebel charts a slow, tragic arithmetic of resistance. Gilroy's writing eschews the romanticism of lightsabers and chosen ones. Instead, it focuses on bureaucratic cruelty, resource extraction, media manipulation, and state-sanctioned terror, all rendered in disconcerting detail. The cartoonish villainy of the Empire from the Originals has now turned into an uncomfortably close reflection of the very real systems that valorise control over justice. In its sophomore season, much of the plot centres on the planet Ghorman, which the Empire has developed a particular interest in. With a visual language that evokes the Paris Commune, Tiananmen Square and the Gaza Strip, the season portrays imperial agents concocting the myth of the insurgent to justify genocidal force. The idea that a Disney series could tilt the political compass of its audience toward a kind of digital Maoism might sound absurd. And yet, scroll through Reddit, Instagram Reels, or Twitter posts from the last two months and a distinct shift in tone is undeniable. The r/Andor subreddit now fuels threads dense with mini-Marxist reading groups, complete with debates on resource imperialism, postcolonial analysis, the ethics of insurrection, and heated reflections on real-world repression. okay let's let them cook for a bit — A-100 gecs (@PinstripeBungle) June 5, 2025 As the genocide in Gaza rages and Los Angeles simmers with anti-immigration crackdowns, this freshly radicalised troup of internet rebels turn to the series for clarity. That it took a Star Wars show to radicalise a chronically online generation feels ridiculous, but as Emerson reminds us, fiction has a way of smuggling in truths. Remember that part in #Andor when all those reporters on Ghorman made it sound like the Ghormans were violent and the Empire HAD to send in soldiers to stop things from getting out of hand but in reality the soldiers WANTED things to get out of hand? Yea, that was crazy huh? — mktoon (@mktoon) June 9, 2025 Andor's dour framings of colonial occupation and the fragmented, often contradictory decisions required to resist it, seem to have spoken directly to a global audience watching democracy buckle under its contradictions. Viewers across the world have taken to the internet to project onto Andor their own experiences. But two particular moments in the global discourse have refracted this phenomenon into something unmistakably real. As the Israeli bombardment and successive blockade of essential services in Gaza has escalated into what international observers, UN rapporteurs, and many across civil society openly describe as a genocide, scenes from Andor resurfaced across social platforms. Clips from the show's depiction of state-sanctioned terror and ethnic cleansing during the infamous Ghorman Massacre, as well as Senator Mon Mothma's powerful speech calling a genocide for what it is, have been juxtaposed with footage from the Palestinian people under siege. For many viewers, the parallels have been far too precise to be coincidental. what is the most sickening about this is that it's not even fiction. As soon as you open the news this is exactly what is happening in Gaza. #Andor is a brilliantly fictionalised reflection of our current reality. — Hannah (@skywalkrbxcky) May 8, 2025 To be clear, Andor is not about Gaza. It is neither a parable nor a direct allegory, at least not officially. But the manner in which Gilroy and his team of writers evoke the psychological texture of the paranoia, the fragmentation of solidarity, and the calculus of sacrifice of life under occupation, has created a cultural conduit through which people are making sense of horrors unfolding in real time. Posts reading 'Ghorman is Palestine' began circulating. One Reddit user wrote, 'Never have I felt more on the side of the Palestinian cause than after watching this. I understand resistance in a way that I never had before'. It's impossible not to see the parallels between the Imperial plan for Ghorman in Andor season 2 and what has been happening to the Palestinians in Gaza. — Matt K. (@MattJKoe) May 8, 2025 Meanwhile, as Southern California has become an unexpected epicenter of anti-immigration protests, Trump has unleashed the National Guard on protestors, branding them 'insurrectionists'. In just three days, federal agents raided shops and day-labour centers in broad daylight, kitted out like Call of Duty villains with drones, tear gas, unmarked vans; all to hunt undocumented workers guilty only of crossing borders drawn over their ancestors' land. This is the same thing. Stay safe, my friends — Punch It Chewie Press (@PunchitChewie77) June 8, 2025 Videos from LA circulated showing police evicting migrant families from public shelters, blocking access to water distribution points, and cordoning off aid stations under the pretext of 'order.' Soon, stills of protestors being tear-gassed collided online with excerpts from Nemik's The Trail of Political Consciousness. The final bequest of the doomed young Trotskyist is this revolutionary manifesto. 'Freedom is a pure idea,' he writes. 'It occurs spontaneously and without instruction.' His words now permeate every neo-communist twitter page or Instagram account like digital samizdat. Remember this: the imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that. — major fartagaz | Andor Forever (@fartagaz) June 9, 2025 Across the internet, Star Wars fans began overlaying scenes of Andor with footage of National Guard crackdowns and ICE raids. Even symbols of the (Star Wars) Rebellion began sprouting up in solidarity, captioned, 'Los Angeles, you have friends everywhere.' Today, as tens of thousands filled the streets in the United States as a part of the 'No Kings' uprising against Trump's jingoist military parade in the capital, the iconography of rebellion was everywhere, with banners scrawled with 'I have friends everywhere' making their way across the country. Elsewhere, Californian State Secretary Alex Padilla's forcible removal and Governor Gavin Newsom's Palpatine-laced rebukes of Trump have fused into the Andor-fuelled consciousness of the chronically online. Clips of Padilla being dragged from a press conference in full view of cameras are being circulated alongside the uncanny echo of Ghorman Senator Dasi Oran's silencing in the series. It's getting scary how Andor is reflecting real life — Brooks | 🏳️🌈 (@brookstweetz) June 12, 2025 Meanwhile, Newsom's Palpatine parodies of Trump's Truth Social rants have weaponised the symbolism of Star Wars against its own American iteration of the Empire. A ONCE GREAT AMERICAN CITY HAS BEEN OCCUPIED! — Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) June 10, 2025 Outside the show, Andor has spurred a strange and telling shift in perception. Many of those who began watching the series for its impeccable production value and claims of 'peak Star Wars', have found themselves grappling with the banality of evil and the mechanisms of imperial propaganda that might be hitting a little too close to home for comfort. If there is something almost surreal about this convergence of pop fiction and real-world atrocity, it may lie in the friction between what Andor shows and what it withholds. What has made Andor's political afterlife different from that of earlier cultural moments is its sincerity. None of this feels ironic or decorative. The Maoist memeification is tongue-in-cheek, but the desire behind it is very real. The jokes about 'joining Hamas' after watching Andor feel inane, but aren't entirely facetious. At the very least, Andor has made political violence or armed resistance thinkable again. People are not simply pretending to be rebels. They are looking for models of survival, action, and integrity in an apathetic world that is collapsing around them. In this way, Andor didn't ignite the moment so much as give it a grammar. It gave the disillusioned a way to articulate something beyond despair. A franchise born of mythic messiahs has turned messiah-skeptic, embracing a new insurgent modernism that's finally ready to ask the only question that counts: What must be done? And the answer feels increasingly inexorable. One way out. Of course, one shouldn't overstate the case. Watching Andor does not a cadre make. It is still a piece of fiction, nestled within a media empire whose primary function is to generate profit. But Andor proves that even in the most commodified corners of culture, something meaningful, germane and subversive can take root.
Time of India
04-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
5 things to look forward to at the Death Star Live Event in Fortnite
Image via Epic Games. Finally Chapter 6 Season 3 is about to end with the hands of Death Star Sabotage live event in Fortnite. The ongoing season in the game termed as Galactic Battle was actually a treat for the fans because of the epic collaboration with Star Wars. This collaboration brought so many in-game themed contents including the AI Darth Vader companion. However, it's time to bid adieu to this fan-favorite season, and there is no better way than enjoying the Death Star Sabotage event to the fullest. What can fans expect from the Death Star Sabotage live event in Fortnite? Exciting treats await the fans in Fortnite's Death Star Sabotage live event. | Image via Epic Games. Just like the recent Star Wars collaboration, the Death Star Sabotage live event in Fortnite is again going to be another crossover with this huge franchise. This event is going to be launched on June 7 at 2 PM EDT, which will eventually mark the end of Galactic Battle aka Chapter 6 Season 3 in the game. However, no more details have been shared by Epic Games about this upcoming event. Still, that doesn't stop the fans from speculating about the potential rewards from this event. Here's what fans can expect from the Death Star Sabotage live event: 1. Sabotage the Death Star As the name suggests, the core of the event revolves around infiltrating and destroying Death Star. Players will embark upon a journey with the Rebels to prevent Emperor Palpatine from taking control of the skies of Oninoshima. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Esse novo alarme com câmera é quase gratuito em Itambacuri (consulte o preço) Alarmes Undo This event is surely going to offer a deep narrative display. 2. Taking control of Death Star Players will be able to get a chance to take the control of the legendary starship, Star Destroyer, from Star Wars. Players have already seen how lasers have been raining down from above in the battlefields live in matches. This is because players will soon be able to become the pilot of that Starship. All they need to do is to teleport to Star Destroyer by a rift gate that appears when the first storm circle closes. After being transported, players then can wreak havoc with the ship's Turbolaser Cannons for around 90 seconds. 3. Darth Jar Jar emoticon We have already seen the Darth Jar Jar skin in the recent Star Wars collaboration. Now, players will be able to get a Darth Jar Jar emoticon, thanks to the Death Star Sabotage live event. In order to redeem this, players need to connect their Twitch profile to their Epic Games account. 4. Login bonus The event is going to begin from June 7, but players who will log into the game once from June 3 to June 10 at 9 AM EDT will get two login rewards: a brand new loading screen called 'Assault on the Death Star' and the Quicksilver Baton Spear Pickaxe, which Fortnite players are already familiar with. 5. Twitch rewards Players can get an array of Star Wars themed content by watching their favorite streamers on Twitch. As they immerse themselves into popular streams, random objects will pop up on the screen, on which players have to click to collect collecting enough number objects, players will avail themselves with exciting sprays like the Jedi Order, the First Order, CIS, the Galactic Empire, and the Rebel Alliance. Read More: Fortnite Death Star Sabotage live event: Date, start time, how to join, and what to expect
Gizmodo
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Gizmodo
LEGO's Dark Falcon Starship Returns to Its Star Wars Day Price for Memorial Day, and Cheaper Than Black Friday
What in the name of the Kessel Run has happened to the Millennium Falcon? It's turned to the Dark Side? The answers lie in the great LEGO Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy Disney+ show, but the LEGO Star Wars kit that brings it to life is on sale at Amazon for 15% off right now, just $153. This is one of the hottest LEGO Star Wars kits out there, in huge demand since it dropped. It's an incredible gift for Star Wars enthusiasts ages 10 and up, with 1,579 pieces that come together to create an amazingly detailed model of the Dark Falcon and 6 minifigures including Darth Jar Jar, Darth Rey, and Bounty Hunter C-3PO. (We'll explain.) See at Amazon A Mixed-Up Galaxy In LEGO Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy, bad is good and good is bad, which is why the iconic Millennium Falcon is now dark, and among its passengers are Sith versions of Jar Jar Binks and Rey and a Jedi Vader. Darth Jar Jar's minifigure even has the 2-ended lightsaber made famous by Darth Maul. The Dark Falcon LEGO set itself is loaded with fun details that lend themselves to fun play, including a removable cockpit that fits 2 minifigures, 2 spring-loaded shooters, 2 rotating cannons, a gunner post for 2 minifigures, and a radar dish. The top panel of the Dark Falcon flips up to reveal a detailed interior, which includes a command center, bunk beds, entertainment area, a jail cell, and a throne for Darth Jar Jar, who in the LEGO Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy series is the ultimate source of evil. (This at least we can imagine since we were never huge Jar Jar fans.) The Sith Is With You? The Dark Falcon is just one of the great LEGO models from LEGO Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy. Check out Jedi Bob's Starfighter and the TIE Fighter and X-Wing Mashup sets for a deeper dive into this fun and mixed-up universe where Jedi are Sith and Sith are Jedi. The Dark Falcon is also the perfect birthday gift for a kid 10 or up who's also a huge Star Wars fan, especially now while it's on sale for 15% off at Amazon. The 1,579 pieces present a challenging build, but it's a fun and rewarding project that you can display for everyone to admire, or tear down and rebuild again and again. The LEGO Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy Dark Falcon with 6 minifigures is just $153 during this Amazon sale. See at Amazon
Time of India
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Darth Jar Jar to join Fortnite universe with v35.10 Star Wars update
Image via Epic Games Fortnite's ever-expanding universe is about to get even more chaotic and exciting. In its upcoming v35.10 update, scheduled for May 15, Epic Games is introducing a wave of fresh Star Wars content, including one of the internet's most infamous theories turned reality - Darth Jar Jar. According to credible leakers and insiders, players can expect a slew of new cosmetics, themed weapons, and gameplay enhancements tied into the ongoing Galactic Battle season . While force powers and lightsabers have already been part of recent gameplay updates, the highlight of this week's patch appears to be the long-awaited arrival of Darth Jar Jar Binks. Darth Jar Jar joins Fortnite after years of speculation First teased in the Galactic Battle trailer, Darth Jar Jar is a dark twist on the quirky Gungan character from the Star Wars prequels. Originally born as a fan theory suggesting Jar Jar Binks was secretly a Sith Lord, the character now makes his way into Fortnite's multiverse in skin form. Though Epic Games has not officially confirmed a release date, reliable sources suggest that Darth Jar Jar and other Star Wars-themed cosmetics will start appearing in the game following the May 15 update. Players could even see two different Jar Jar Binks skins, including a LEGO Fortnite version, hinting at Epic's plan to extend his reach across multiple game modes. What else is coming on May 15? Leakers like ShiinaBR have pointed out several other additions coming with the v35.10 update. The Mandalorian Jetpack, Wookiee Bowcaster, and CA-87 Jawa Scatter Blaster are all expected to be added to the loot pool. These will provide players with new ways to counter melee-based attacks like lightsabers, offering better balance during combat. Epic may also introduce more character skins, including a possible new variant of General Grievous, along with Icon Series emotes and potential crossover content. While the exact downtime has not been revealed, updates typically begin around 4 AM EDT, with servers going offline briefly for maintenance. Speculation is already heating up about what comes next for Fortnite, with rumors suggesting that Chapter 6, Season 3 could take a sharp turn toward a superhero-themed storyline. Prominent leakers like HYPEX have hinted at upcoming files pointing to capes, enhanced abilities, and skin designs that could tie in with either original heroes or even another major collaboration. For now, Fortnite fans will be glued to the Item Shop, eagerly awaiting the official drop of Darth Jar Jar and whatever surprises Epic still has up its sleeve before the next chapter begins.
Yahoo
03-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Fortnite Chapter 6 Season 3 launch recap — Star Wars comes to Fortnite
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Fortnite Chapter 6 Season 3 just landed , meaning that the extended downtime that began at 2 a.m. EDT / 11 p.m. PDT has officially ended. With that new season comes a fresh batch of content from a Galaxy far far away. The new season kicks off a new Star Wars-centric update called Galactic Battle. This means there will be a brand new Battle Pass and map locations — not to mention new characters and skins. if you ever wanted to play as Darth Jar Jar (yes, really), this is your chance. Here's our coverage of the launch as it happened, and what you can expect to find in the now-ongoing season of Fortnite. Yes Fortnite is down right now, but don't worry too much — this is all planned. Fortnite Chapter 6 Season 3 is due to land later today (May 2), and that means the servers needed to go down to prepare. Servers officially went offline at 2 am. EDT / 11 p.m. PDT / 7 a.m. BST this morning. At this point we're unsure how long the outage will actually last. So far Epic Games hasn't said anything about the downtime, or when we can expect Galactic Battle content to be available. We'll keep you up to date with the latest news on when Fortnite will be playable as soon as we hear it. The official cinematic trailer for Galactic Battle has been released, giving us a glimpse of what's to come once the Fortnite outage is over. In the trailer we can see Star Destroyers appearing through a hole in the universe, launching TIE Fighters, stormtroopers and all kinds of other Imperial nasties into the world of Fortnite. Also making an appearance are Rebel X-Wings, with Luke Skywalker leading the charge, Mandalorians, a Samurai-ified version of Darth Vader and the Death Star. To name just a few. If this trailer is anything to go by, Fortnite is going to be full to the brim with new Star Wars content and characters over the course of the season. Of course Darth Jar Jar makes an appearance as well. Which is quite exciting, assuming to subscribe to that particular fan theory... Fortnite has confirmed that servers are back online, meaning the Galactic Battle update is now yours to enjoy. While this is certainly good news, the amount of people flooding to Fortnite to enjoy the new season may cause some stress on the servers — and further downtime. We're hoping that doesn't happen. But we're covering the launch of the new season right here with live updates. So if Fortnite does have some problems with the influx of players, we'll be the first to let you know. The launch of Chapter 6 season 3 (or Galactic Battle) is only the start of what Forntite has to offer in the coming weeks.. In fact, Epic Games has confirmed that Galactic Battle will receive weekly updates, adding new weapons and content into the battle royale. Here's the official schedule: Tales of the Underworld (watch first two episodes in Fortnite) - May 2, 2025 The Pull of the Force – May 8, 2025 Mandalorian Rising – May 22, 2025 Star Destroyer Bombardment – May 29, 2025 Death Star Sabotage – June 7, 2025 It's not clear what extras these updates will actually bring to Fortnite just yet. So we'll have to wait and see whether our favorite Star Wars weapons and characters will be playable at some point over the next month. A lot of Star Wars fans will have heard the not-so-serious theory that Jar Jar Binks was actually a Sith Lord. We even got to see Darth Jar Jar make his official debut in the Lego rebuild the Galaxy series last year. Fortnite Galactic Battle takes things a step further, bringing Darth Jar Jar to the game. This is a brand new skin, which means you can actually play as an evil version of bumbling character. Any good multiplayer game knows that new content should always offer new places to explore. Fortnite is no exception. 4 new Points of interest (POIs) are being added to the Galactic Battle season as a result. The first is Outpost Enclave, a rebel base with a distinctly Tatooine feel to it. To counter that we have a First order base populated by Stormtroopers. Vader's Samurai Solitude is a blend of Star Wars and historic Japan featuring the Samurai Vade mini boss. Finally there's the Resistance Base, which is in the forest and houses the Millennium Falcon. Aside from Darth Jar Jar, there are a bunch of other new skins coming to Fortnite as part of Galactic Battle. They include Poe Dameron, a Wookie Team Leader, Resistance Evie and Emperor Palpatine himself. Later on in the season will also give gamers the chance to unlock General Grievous, Mace Windu and a customizable Mandalorian skin. An hour ago, Fortnite was down and Down Detector was flashing red across the board. Now, though, with the game back up, reports of issues have dropped back down to a slightly less scary-looking orange. As of the last update at 12:38, Down Detector only had 32 reported issues with Fortnite in the U.S. — suggesting that the servers are holding up to demand pretty well. Though this may change as more of the continental U.S. wakes up and jumps into the game. We'll keep you posted on how that goes. One of the bigger news stories from the start of the week involved Apple and its ongoing feud with Epic Games. A court ruled that Apple has ignored an injunction from 2021, and means Apple has to allow app developers to direct users to off-app payment systems. That was one of the reasons Fortnite got kicked from the App Store in the first place, and Epic CEO Tim Sweeney has confirmed this means Fortnite could return to the Apple App Store in the U.S. as early as next week. What this means is that Fortnite will be officially playable on iPhones and iPads for the first time in several years. Who knows, maybe this means you'll be able to play Galactic Battle on your iPhone now? Obviously no Star Wars-centric video game is complete without the lightsaber. And there will be plenty of lightsaber action going on in Galactic Battle. heck, there's even an unlockable purple lightsaber, for those of you hoping to complete the Mace Windu look. But what about other weapons? Star Wars isn't just about lightsabers. Fortunately there are plenty of blasters to enjoy as well: Reliable DL-44 Blaster Pistol Heavy CR-2 Blaster (an SMG!) Close-range ACP Scatter Blaster and BARM-ST12 Scatter Blaster Close-to-medium range DLT-19 Blaster Rifle Long-range IQA-11 Marksman Blaster Rifle All-purpose A280-CFE Blaster Rifle (unvaulted) Highly accurate DC-15 Heavy Blaster Rifle (unvaulted) Empire standard Issue E-11 Blaster (unvaulted) First Order standard issue F-11 Blaster There's also a "Thermal imploder," a grenade that kicks off a compression vacuum that ignites to cause some pretty major damage. Enough to rip holes in buildings. Remember back before Episode 9 came out, Fortnite hosted a special Star Wars event that led into the events of the movie? Galactic Battle doesn't quite have anything on that scale, but it is giving fans chance to watch the next Star Wars series early. Tales of the Underworld officially hits Disney Plus on May 4th, but Fortnite players will be able to watch the first 2 episodes from 10 a.m. ET today (May 2). I've been a big fan of Star Wars' "Tales" series, thanks to it offering smaller stories in the Star Wars universe. So any kind of early access sounds like a good deal to me.
