26: Witches and Monsters Arc (Clone Wars 56 - 58)

After a brief hiatus due to health, travel, and a half dozen other delays, we are back to the Clone Wars. And what a return it is. We begin on the world of Bardotta, where a culture of force sensitives (and Jedi haters) are led by a queen with the best taste in men we've seen so far in this series. Then, finally (well...), we (sort of) learn the (tentative) truth about a mystery we've long been driven to understand. NEXT TIME: Episodes 119 - 121 ("Voices," "Destiny," and "Sacrifice)  Show Notes Deaths: Peteen, Silman, Lom Pyke (and his probably some of his boys)

1 Mar 20232h 31min

Today on AMCA, we're teeing up something special for those of you who love it when we go wild creating our own AUs and OCs!  About six months ago, Ali and Austin of AMCA joined the rest of the cast of our sister podcast, Friends at the Table, to do a two day charity marathon raising money for the National Network of Abortion Funds. As part of that effort, we set a bunch of stretch goals, including the promise that we'd play a Star Wars TTRPG one shot over here on AMCA.  Today we make good on that promise, thanks to Jess Levine, who has come through to help facilitate an Andor-era session of her game Going Rogue, which "weave[s] narratives about troubled martyrs mired in messy, ethically gray conflicts who must face the possibility of making the ultimate sacrifice." We use the system to tell the story of an unlikely band of rebels sent into the outer rim to... well, you'll see.  Also! For the rest of the month, you can pick up Jess' Going Rogue 2E along with Riley Rethal's Galactic 2E (the game which Going Rogue most directly builds off of) in a special bundle for just 18 bucks!  NEXT TIME (for real): Episodes 116 - 118 ("The Disappeared, Part I," "The Disappeared, Part II," "The Lost One") Show Notes Character Sheets and Play Materials!

1 Feb 20234h 58min

Have there been better arcs of Clone Wars? Absolutely. Have there been arcs that more cleverly dissect the hypocrisy of the Jedi or Anakin's fall to the dark side? Undoubtedly. Are there better duels, dogfights, and tests of will? Of course. But has there ever been a Clone Wars arc as toxic as this one? Oh, no my friends, in that regard we have absolutely peaked. NEXT TIME: Episodes 116 - 118 ("The Disappeared, Part I," "The Disappeared, Part II," "The Lost One") Show Notes Major Deaths (RIP to a real one): Teckla Minnau Normal, Expected Deaths (Sad imo): Commander Thorn, Bec Lawise Additional Deaths (It is what it is): Rush Clovis Hosted by Rob Zacny (@RobZacny) Featuring Alicia Acampora (@ali_west), Austin Walker (@austin_walker), and Natalie Watson (@nataliewatson) Produced by Austin Walker Music by Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal) Cover art by Xeecee (@xeeceevevo)

18 Jan 20232h 32min

Happy New Year! As everyone moves into the new year, we're moving both backwards and forwards at the same time. With the Autumn of Andor (mostly) behind us, we return to our ongoing Clone Wars rewatch. But we also move forward into a new season, picking up with Anakin Skywalker feeling a little more dour than usual as he leads a tired clone force in a circular battle against a foe he thought was long since vanquished. The already troubled situation slips into crisis when... well, you should really watch these episodes and/or listen to us dissect them to get the whole picture. Just know: Today, we finally answer one of the longest running mysteries of the franchise.  NEXT TIME: Episodes 113 - 115 ("An Old Friend," "The Rise of Clovis," "Crisis at the Heart") Show Notes Deaths: Jedi Master Tiplar, Commander Droid Kraken, Tup (CT-5385), Fives (CT-27-5555) 😔 😔 😔 Hosted by Rob Zacny (@RobZacny) Featuring Alicia Acampora (@ali_west), Austin Walker (@austin_walker), and Natalie Watson (@nataliewatson) Produced by Austin Walker Music by Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal) Cover art by Xeecee (@xeeceevevo)

4 Jan 20232h 29min

In our final episode of the year, we're joined by Kirk Hamilton of Strong Songs, Triple Click, and the Kotaku review of Destiny 2 fame. (No, really, it's one of my all time favorite reviews. Go read it!) Over on Strong Songs, Kirk recently dove headfirst into Nicholas Britell's excellent Andor score. Today, he's joining us to talk through music's place in the show and in Star Wars in general. Join us as we unpack the differences between Britell, John Williams, and the other musicians who've worked in the franchise. And don't worry, we sneak in one more theory about Cass' sister for good measure! Show Notes "Evolution of the Star Wars Main Theme" by Star Wars Audio Comics on YouTube (Used around minute 20) Brad & Will Made a Tech Pod "When Music is Torture" by an interview with Lilly E. Hirsch by Maggie Wang Hosted by Rob Zacny (@RobZacny) Featuring Alicia Acampora (@ali_west), Austin Walker (@austin_walker), and Natalie Watson (@nataliewatson) Produced by Austin Walker Music by Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal) Cover art by Xeecee (@xeeceevevo)

23 Des 20221h 51min

As promised, the Autumn of Andor continues! Today, we've got the first of three guest-filled episodes coming to you this December. We are joined by Adam Serwer, author of The Cruelty Is the Point: The Past, Present, and Future of Trump's America, staff writer at The Atlantic, and life long Star Wars fan. We share and contextualize our final feelings on Andor, explore the tensions and consonances between the Lucas, Filoni, and Gilroy visions of the franchise, and (if you are very patient) try to unravel whatever the hell was up with that Karn/Mosk hat swap. NEXT TIME: TBD, but expect us to either pick up either our headphones or our character sheets. Show Notes "Star Wars Gets Political" by Adam Serwer "Tony Gilroy, forgive me for this post" - BB-8 on Andor & the Hero's Journey  Brasso's Actor posting Killing in the Name The Great Game, the Atlantic's World Cup Newsletter Finally, an important communique from the inimitable poet, sociologist, and comic book author Eve Ewing, as hand delivered by Adam Serwer: p.s. Eve, you are ABSOLUTELY welcome to come thru!

7 Des 20221h 38min

Surprise! Thanks to a very kind mystery contact with their own very kind mystery contacts inside of Lucasfilm (and/or Disney Plus), we were given last minute screener access to the Andor finale. And you better believe we hustled to watch it, prep our notes, and deliver the longest episode of our Andor season and one of the longest episodes we've ever recorded. Come for our emotional reactions to the return of voices we'd thought we'd heard the last of. Stay for our dive into 2000s-era anarchist philosophy. And then rate us five stars for all the time we dedicate to talking about our very favorite absolutely rotten relationships. ALSO: As a special bonus for our Patrons, we recorded our own live reactions when we group watched this episode together. Go to patreon.com/civilized, support us at the $5 level, and you can hear each of our exuberant pop offs, our surprised gasps, our wavering voices, and our howls for the most rancid of love stories.   NEXT TIME: No episode on the 30th (this is that episode), and potentially no episode on the 7th. But we have a bunch of great stuff queued up for December, so look forward to it! Show Notes The Coming Insurrection by the Invisible Committee We are Everywhere: The Irresistible Rise of Global Anticapitalism Hosted by Rob Zacny (@RobZacny) Featuring Alicia Acampora (@ali_west), Austin Walker (@austin_walker), and Natalie Watson (@nataliewatson) Produced by Austin Walker Music by Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal) Cover art by Xeecee (@xeeceevevo)

23 Nov 20223h 31min

As Cassian and Melshi put distance between themselves and Narkina 5, the rest of the galaxy spins just thus, aligning such that many of our principal players will wind up together on Ferrix. And those that won't, well, they're busy uh... talking about Trad Chandrillan customs, so, you know, equally as exciting.  Like many of you, we have spent the last ten episodes on the edge of our seats, eager to know what comes next. But with today's episode, written by Tony Gilory and directed by Benjamin Caron, we are a step past eager. We are desperate. Join us in desperation. You can support the show and gain access to a monthly Q&A cast by going to patreon.com/civilized NEXT TIME: Andor Episode 12 (TWELVE. THE SEASON ONE FINALE. AHHHHHH)  Show Notes Shout outs to Chase for this one. Hosted by Rob Zacny (@RobZacny) Featuring Alicia Acampora (@ali_west), Austin Walker (@austin_walker), and Natalie Watson (@nataliewatson) Produced by Austin Walker Music by Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal) Cover art by Xeecee (@xeeceevevo)

21 Nov 20222h 36min