Aedile Report Number Five

Introduction:

Xizor climbed the podium, looking weary and slightly bent. His comrades immediately saw the change in him. His eyes half-closed, his body not carried in that so well known regal matter, his face carrying a few new scars.

"Children of Ragnos," he began, and even his voice sounded tired. "I have returned."

News, Announcements, Competitions:

Operation Frozen Fortress! Our Quaestor is upset at the lack of participation, remedy that, and fast! cracks his whip

Also worth of mention are the Tournaments (those of you lucky enough to still have SW games functioning on your PC, me not being one of them) and see if you can beat my own Apprentice in Quaestor's Questions on the Message Board.

Achievements, Arrivals and Departures:

Achievements:

Nekura Manji: Steel Cross and Scroll of Indoctrination.

Xhedias: Steel Cross, Cluster of Fire (x2) and Crescent with Sapphire Star. Been busy, eh Xhed?

Isaiah: Cluster of Fire (x2)

Kat Pridemore: Cluster of Fire (x2) and Crescent to Amethyst Star.

Sharmin Wheyes: Promotion to Protector, well done. Also Crescent with Emerald Star and passing the MSN Messenger and Conflict Mediation examinations.

Gllen Nadis: Joining the Krath, good move. ;) Also IRC basics and Sith Core passed.

Lech: Legion of the Scholar for being great at the QQ comp.

And the most important event of the last week, we have two new lightsabre wielders in our Clan and House! Both Macron Goura and Kat Pridemore have reached the long-expected Dark Jedi Knight rank, which gives them the right not to get beat up so much by us Equites. ;) Congratulations to you both!

Arrivals and Departures:

None that I am aware of.

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Lastly, I would just like to say I apologise for being on and off lately, things have been rough 'round here. I try my best, however. Thank you.

Oh, and a review for Episode III: (it does contain spoilers)

I have been observing the process of this film being created very closely for the past year or so, even though I tried not to spoil myself silly (which I managed to do, somehow :P). And, after watching it, I must say that I was not disappointed. Lucas is forgiven. Forgiven for Jar Jar, forgiven for Christensen and Lloyd's dreadful acting in Clones and Menace, forgiven for the cow beings of Clones... Everything.

Now, first of all, what I truly enjoyed about this film:

• The battles. Firstly, the Battle of Coruscant. Visually stunning, the people of ILM have gone a long way since AOTC. By the moment that Anakin's starfighter begins twirling about, avoiding enemy fire, you know you're in for a thrill. No unnecessary dialogue, just good clean action.
  

Then we have the boarding of Grievous' starship, the comic bits with R2, which I've found really enjoyable, Grievous himself who gets 10/10 for coolness, the duel between Anakin and Dooku... But I'll get to that later.

Then we have the Battle of Kashyyyk which is short and sweet, and the Jedi Purge which is almost too painful to watch, bringing tears to one's eyes.

• Two words: Ian McDiarmind. He practically delivered this film by himself. By his very first cold "Kill him" directed at Anakin, to "Are you threatening me, Master Jedi?" and "Every Jedi is now an enemy of the Republic", Mr. McDiarmind sent chills down my spine even before he underwent his transformation from the "innocent" Chancellor to the puppeteer himself, Emperor Palpatine.

• The rest of the cast. Ewan McGreggor is simply Sir Alec Guinness incarnate. He carries himself with the wisdom, strength and compassion that are to define his actions throught the whole film. When betrayal comes, he truly touches your soul with the hurt in his face and words, until he finally decides to follow the long path of exile.

Natalie Portman and Hayden Christensen have also gone a long way since AOTC. Despite the weak love dialogues they have, and some of Christensen's wooden acting not having succumbed wholly just yet, they deliver. They're a young, naive couple, torn and driven by forces above them. They're victims of fate, or rather of the Force.

Also worthy of notice are Frank Oz as Yoda, Sam L. Jackson as Mace Windu, Matthew Wood as Grievous and Jimmy Smitts as Senator Organa.

• The duels. Duel of the Fates, eat your heart out. Grievous VS. Obi-Wan, Mace Windu VS. Palpatine, Yoda VS. Palpatine (DAMN, I'VE BEEN WAITING TEN YEARS FOR THAT) and... Anakin VS. Obi-Wan. By the end of that last duel, I hardly think anyone can call himself a SW fan if they have not felt a lump in their heart by Obi-Wan's last words to Anakin as he slowly burns. "You were the chosen one! You were supposed to bring balance to the Force, not cast it into the shadows. You were my brother, Anakin. I loved you..."

• The Suit. Nothing further needs to be said. ^_^

Now, the bad bits:

• Both Grievous and Dooku's premature deaths. They are both presented as these uber cool leaders of the Separatists, they wield so much power as Sith and Droid General that you simply do not expect them to die by decapitation and a blaster shot. What I believe Lucas should have done was, instead of creating Darth Maul AND Dooku AND Grievous, he could have easily presented General Grievous for Episode I, have him be the villain guided by Sidious, instead of having a bunch of 'disposable villains' 'til Episode III, and either Anakin and Obi-Wan having a hard time killing him then. Now that would be fulfilling, just as Darth Vader was the main villain for the OT and just how it was fulfilling when he was defeated in Episode VI.

• The dialogue. Even though Lucas has managed to deliver some amazing pieces of dialogue for this episode, in comparison to the last two, the romantic scenes were just too cheesy. For example, in the Original Trilogy, a simple "I love you. - I know" was so...perfect. It simply didn't need silly lines like "You're so beautiful" "Probably because I'm so in love" and the lot.

• Anakin's turning could have been a bit more...gradual, but it worked nicely nonetheless. It showed that these things were going through his mind for a long time now.

• The mention of midichlorians and the presence of Jar Jar at the funeral. Both immensely horrible.

That's all I can come up with, at the time.

In general, Lucas has fixed everything that was wrong with Episodes I and II, and has given us an episode which is even better than Episode VI and almost as good as A New Hope. It truly was a fitting end for a true epic.

9/10