Fantha Tracks writers give their responses, initial gut feelings, deep dives and thoughts on the nine episode second season of Star Wars: Visions. Beware of spoilerific elements in here.
Sith
Review by Ross Hollebon
Greeted with “Sith” by Rodrigo Blass of El Guiri Studios in Spain on May the 4th, my mind was opened, my creativity was challenged, and my emotions were cloaked in a tension-riddled, animated hug of Star Wars duality. This episode is a summation of one Force user’s journey. One tempted and trained by the Dark Side, but overcome by good. Unmatched visual detail and living linework litter this short film, but two still frames tell the viewer everything.
At :52 we meet Lola, with her mechanical arm, and two stark white trails interrupting her long dark hair. She nests in darkness, awakened from a nightmare engulfed by a spider web of negative space in a black hole. Just out of reach, the paths on the floor are smooth, rounded, and inclusive of multiple bright colors. The black is solitary, jagged, and menacing—disrupted by paint splatters and intersecting brush strokes.
Exactly 12 minutes later (12:52) this stage of Lola’s discovery is complete. After confronting her former Sith Master, she has learned to integrate a symphony of colors and darkness into a finished piece. The art portrays her hand grasping the ignited dual saber she created, one end yellow and the other red, embracing good and bad, and allowing the push and pull of the Force to co-exist.
In between, Lola’s loyal droid E2 is introduced, destroyed, and rebuilt. Her artistry, empathy, and talent are on full display. She faces her own past as the Sith Master and his henchmen attack. Lola and E2 drive a modified TSMEU-6 wheel bike, similar to that used by General Grievous, and exposes her ferocity in a combination of fight-and-flight modes.
Lola perseveres because she accepts that “light and darkness are part of the painting. Part of me.”
Screecher’s Reach
Review by Chris Davies
The second episode of Season Two of Visions comes from Irish studio Cartoon Saloon (Wolfwalkers, Song of the Sea) and it’s the biggest surprise of the show so far. The story follows Dal and her friends as they seek a reprieve from the drudgery of the workhouse by venturing out in to investigate the supposedly haunted Screechers Reach.
I was immediately struck by the art of this episode. It’s absolutely gorgeous and perfectly in keeping with the studios Celtic origins. The tone was immediately playful, despite the bleak setting, and the cast of young characters endearing. After the anime inspired and tonally heightened first season I found the naturalism refreshing and was easily drawn into this world of friendships and hardships. All of this just makes the second half hit that much harder.
This is the closest Star Wars has ever come to true horror and it was bloody wonderful. The character revelations that follow the terror have an emotional punch weighted that I just wasn’t expecting. It’s a tough watch and uncompromising in it’s vision but the highlight of both seasons so far. Who knew we needed an Irish ghost story in Star Wars?
In The Stars
Review by Jonathan Hipkiss
The third episode of the anthology series is brought to us by Chilean production company PUNKROBOT STUDIOS and is one of many episodes this season to use stop-motion animation. This episode tells a beautiful story of one of the saga’s greatest storytelling strengths…family. We find ourselves on a desolate planet that was once rich in life but has now been ravaged by the Empire and two sisters who are struggling to find hope during a dark time. There are some visually striking colour palettes on display here with the ground and sky cast in a murky grey to emphasise the barren wasteland of our protagonist’s home world while the paint that the younger sister uses to tell a backstory comes alive with a beautiful gold. The mural dances with life as we learn that when the Empire came to this world, the mother of the two sisters stood up against their new oppressor however she fell at then hands of the Empire and became a star to watch over the two girls.
The music is wonderful too in this episode as the main theme that has been put together accompanies us throughout. It’s a wonderful flute piece that perfectly fits the heroism and exotic motifs of this planet’s culture. Eventually, the two sisters head to the Empire facility in an attempt to take down the agents of evil and of course, in pure Star Wars fashion, they learn that only through family can they truly work together and find something bigger than themselves. The Force comes into play here to serve as a storytelling device which happens a fair amount through these episodes but, then again, the writer’s are pushed for time and there are no lightsabers on offer here which makes a welcome change. Towards the of the episode there is some wonderful direction during the climactic fight between sisters and Empire that would not be out of place in a canonical episode of The Mandalorian and a heart-warming final scene that shows the star of the mother watching over the girls illuminate the planet which tells us that during our darkest times we only need to look up to the heavens for guidance and the stars will light the way.
I Am Your Mother
Review by Carl Bayliss
When the animators were announced for Visions season two, a few eyebrows were raised at theme of Aardman, the British company known for their stop-motion animation and the humour so readily on display in the successful ‘Wallace & Grommit’, ‘Chicken Run’ and ‘Creature Comforts’. How would a studio who base so many of their characters accents in the North of England fare with a Star Wars story?
The answer is ‘I am Your Mother’ (the in-jokes start here folks), the tale of a young pilot ‘Anni’ who has avoided telling her mother about the family race day at the Academy as she’s too embarrassed by her, their astromech and the space tug they call their ship. Before any of that happens we get the scene set by Wedge Antilles (voiced by Denis Lawson) who takes every opportunity to plug his own ‘Wedge Antilles Merch Stand’. We get cheeky Jawas stealing parts, and some great in-jokes (a welders mask that is Din Djarin’s helmet, another stand featuring items ‘touched by the hand of Luke Skywalker’ where another familiar looking hand, that of Maz Kanata snatches the lightsaber before another jawa can take it) and lots of underwear, a nod to Carrie Fisher and her story that George Lucas said there was no underwear in space. Aardman projects typically have loads of additional things going on in the background so it’ll take even the keenest eye a few repeat watches to spot everything. We also have the antagonists, the Van Reeple’s whose ship has a mini Death Star laser to take out opponents and who have hair styled to look like Vader’s helmet.
For people who have questioned whether you can ‘do’ an out and out comedic project in Star Wars, this is your answer – and for me it’s a big YES. Like all Aardman output It’s charming, heartwarming and funny, and yet pulls in lots of elements from the Star Wars universe – the race itself is reminiscent of the Boonta Eve podrace and as previously mentioned there are lots of little nods to the wider saga. It also works in the context of the whole Visions series, as it sits nicely between the more serious, darker episodes and gives us a story that at its heart echoes the mainstay of every Star Wars story, that of family. Now, can we PLEASE have Star Wars Detours?
Journey To The Dark Head
Review by Greig Robertson
Journey to the Dark Head created by Studio Mir is the closest short we get to the anime feel of the first season of Visions and one of the reasons why it’s my favourite. This short is a stunning piece of anime with a very ‘Star Wars’ story at it’s heart. Ara is a young mechanic who can see visions told via rain patterns on stones beneath the light side/dark side statues towering above a hidden temple on the planet Dolgarak. The galaxy is at war and the Sith are apparently winning against the Jedi. Ara can’t determine what the latest rain pattern on the stone represents, but strongly believes that by removing the Dark Side statue head it will turn the tide of the war in favour of the Jedi.
Ara visits the Jedi Council to ask for the Jedi’s help to remove the head of the statue and we are introduced to Toul, a young Jedi who lost his previous master to the Sith Lord Bichan (Voiced in the English dub by Daniel Dae Kim from Lost) who is tasked with joining her on the mission to Dolgarak. Bichan senses Toul and follows him to Dolgarak where we see the two face each other on the back of a speeder, high in the clouds near the statues.
We get an epic lightsaber battle in the clouds, some back and forth banter between the two lead characters and what is a short could easily be made into a feature with a bit of work. Whilst not up there with the like’s of The Duel from Season 1, this is my favourite of the new season shorts and highly recommend anyone to give this season a go. The animation is fantastic, the prophecy stones on the temple are a nice touch and the design of Bichan is really cool.
The Spy Dancer
Review by Mark Newbold
This second season of Star Wars: Visions has been a stylistic treat, incorporating nationalities into the fabric of the storytelling with ease and delivering a tapestry of stories that pull the very corner of the curtain back on the galaxy, showing us tales – or versions of tales – we imagine could be happening the galaxy over. One such tale – The Spy Dancer from Studio La Cachette – offers us a lavish, graceful look at what on the surface appears to be a passive resistance, luring the troops of the Empire into a false sense of security while quietly plotting behind their backs, but the core of the story isn’t that rebellious activity but rather the lost love of a mother and her child.
Our inspiration is the French Resistance of the Second World War and we join our cast of characters as Loi’e, secretly working for the Rebellion, dances to a captivated crowd of Imperials. She’s graceful, magnificent, but her attention is drawn by a shadowy character from her past, and she stumbles, saved only by the swift actions of Hétis, a younger dancer who wishes for more proactive measures against the Empire rather than the subtle placing of tracking beacons Loi’e is doing. Telling her friends to flee, Loi’e decides to take out the mysterious Imperial, but stops when she realises this isn’t the monster she thought it was but instead her stolen son, who was taken from her twenty years before and is now an officer of the Empire.
To give too much more away would do the episode a disservice, suffice it to say the animation, music, character design and performances are entrancing, and like many of the other episodes on display, deeper investigation in animation, fiction or comics would be most welcome indeed.
The Bandits of Golak
Review by Eric Onkenhout
India has such a rich and diverse culture, and a part of that was on display in The Bandits of Golak, the seventh episode of Star Wars Visions season two produced by 88 Pictures. At the beginning of the episode, we can hear sitar-like music, which is synonymous with Indian culture. A Cosian is seen inside a crowded train racing across the barren landscape. Jedi Master Tera Sinube is a Cosian. A young girl, Rani, stares out a train window with a worried look. Her older brother Charuk offers her some water, but she is more concerned about their Pa’s well-being. What struck me immediately were the bright colors in the clothing. It’s clear right off that Rani is Force-sensitive, which Charuk and Rani want to keep secret but fail to do so. Witnesses catch her using her “special powers” and alert Stormtroopers on the train.
Throughout the episode, we can hear music based on common Indian instruments. Eventually, an Inquisitor finds Rani and Charuk at a local village near a train depot. After a brief interrogation, a village elder reveals herself as a Jedi and duels the Inquisitor to protect the children. Once she defeats him, she invites Rani to join the Jedi ranks, to which she agrees, leaving Charuk behind…for now. The Bandits of Golak wasn’t wholly original. The child hiding their powers, the unassuming feeble elder revealing themselves to be Jedi Masters, and the Inquisitors are all things we’ve seen before. However, it’s the beauty of the episode that makes this one of my favorites. I personally loved the water parting to reveal a tunnel where the Jedi train underground. I wouldn’t mind revisiting Rani and Charuk in future stories.
The Pit
Review by Dan Lo
The Pit, the eighth episode of Visions Volume 2, is summarized as “A young prisoner, forced to dig for kyber by the Empire, plans an escape for he and his people.” Clocking in at 18 minutes including credits, I was not expecting too much complexity beyond the description. As it turned out, the advertised character did in fact dig for kyber against his will under the tyranny of stormtroopers, as well as succeeded in climbing out of a large pit. Then, he was captured and brutally killed. Wait, what?
That was the moment that heightened my appreciation for the episode, which up to that point was fairly straightforward if not a bit predictable. Not because I disliked the apparent main character and was glad to see him killed off, but rather an appreciation for the risk taken by the writer(s) to do so. Of course, the unexpected setback was not in vain. In the end, his actions inspired his fellow captives to not give up, their eventual rescuers to leave the comforts of their gleaming city to defy Imperial forces, and ultimately an awakening of the Force in a young girl.
Aau’s Song
Review by Mark Newbold
Of this batch of nine wonderful dips into the worlds of the Star Wars galaxy you’d be hard pushed to find a more fitting finale than Aau’s Song. Produced by Triggerfish, we travel to the world of Korba, where vast mines of kyber crystal have been corrupted by the dark side. Here we meet young Aau and her father Abat. Aau has unique skills, her voice having a distinct effect on the kyber crystals, but keen to protect her Abat tells her to stop using her voice. However, Aau is inquisitive, and leaping across a chasm she heads up the mountainside and down into the mines, locating the kyber crystals and using her voice to change the crystals, until her father finds her and pulls her out. The mine begins to crumble and as they run across a rope bridge it breaks, both of them plunging into the ravine as huge boulders threatening to crush them. Fortunately, Abat’s friend Kratu arrives and uses the Force to protect them from the rockfall and once safe she offers Aau the chance at a new life. Two weeks later Aau makes her choice, leaving Korba with her fathers blessing and a new life, the crystals of Korba now purified.
The craft and design is beautiful, the detail so well observed, showing how broad the canvas is for Star Wars when animation styles like this and the other eight on display can all equally evoke those GFFA feels and deliver something so special, and while it’s fair to observe that of the 18 Visions epsiodes so far most of them focus on Kyber crystals, Jedi vs Sith and padawans leaving their homes to chart new horizons, the way these stories are told is refreshing, giving us a variety of styles and tones that make each one unique. Here’s hoping season 3 expands the scope of the storytelling, but steers true to Lucasfilms determination to work with creatives who have such keen eyes for detail, lovingly evoking the Star Wars we know and love and delivering short tales that feel every bit at home in the galaxy far, far away as any canonical adventure.
For more of our Star Wars: Visions coverage check out our Visions Volume 2 interview with James Waugh, Josh Rimes and Jacqui Lopez.
We were part of a special roundtable with ‘Sith‘ director Rodrigo Blaas.
You can also listen to the conversation with Rodrigo on Making Tracks.
- Hardcover Book
- Lucasfilm Ltd. (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 240 Pages - 02/20/2024 (Publication Date) - Dark Horse Books (Publisher)
