1 00:00:03,320 --> 00:00:06,359 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio. 2 00:00:09,640 --> 00:00:11,760 Speaker 2: Hi, my name is Robert Lamb and this is the 3 00:00:11,840 --> 00:00:15,040 Speaker 2: Monster Fact, a short form series from Stuff to Blow 4 00:00:15,120 --> 00:00:19,520 Speaker 2: Your Mind, focusing on mythical creatures, ideas and monsters in time. 5 00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:26,000 Speaker 2: Over the weekend, I like a lot of you, went 6 00:00:26,079 --> 00:00:29,520 Speaker 2: to see two thousand and five Star Wars Episode three, 7 00:00:29,680 --> 00:00:33,040 Speaker 2: Revenge of the Sith on the big screen, taking in 8 00:00:33,120 --> 00:00:36,640 Speaker 2: the culmination of the Clone War, the fall of the Republic, 9 00:00:36,760 --> 00:00:40,000 Speaker 2: and the death of the Jedi Order. It's a dark 10 00:00:40,040 --> 00:00:43,560 Speaker 2: tale for many younger viewers, perhaps the first tragic story 11 00:00:43,680 --> 00:00:47,199 Speaker 2: arc they ever saw, and one that still ruminates on 12 00:00:47,280 --> 00:00:49,879 Speaker 2: the state of our own world. Since the film is 13 00:00:49,920 --> 00:00:53,239 Speaker 2: perhaps fresh on many listeners' minds, I thought today might 14 00:00:53,280 --> 00:00:54,880 Speaker 2: be a good day to turn our attention to the 15 00:00:54,920 --> 00:00:59,280 Speaker 2: fauna of the planet Urdapao, where Obi Wan Kenobi finally 16 00:00:59,400 --> 00:01:04,160 Speaker 2: hunts down General Grievous. Far from just another desert or 17 00:01:04,240 --> 00:01:08,840 Speaker 2: forest world, Utipaal is delightfully weird and fittingly morose for 18 00:01:09,000 --> 00:01:13,080 Speaker 2: the darkest Star Wars film entry. As described in Star 19 00:01:13,120 --> 00:01:17,319 Speaker 2: Wars Galactic Maps, written by Emily Fortune, It's a dry, 20 00:01:17,600 --> 00:01:22,039 Speaker 2: windswept world quote pock marked with giant sinkholes into which 21 00:01:22,080 --> 00:01:26,440 Speaker 2: the oceans drain, and its underground cities built from millions 22 00:01:26,480 --> 00:01:31,039 Speaker 2: of animal bones. Matthew Stover, in his novelization of the film, 23 00:01:31,280 --> 00:01:34,800 Speaker 2: describes these sinkholes as being the size of inverted mountains, 24 00:01:35,120 --> 00:01:39,800 Speaker 2: the interior walls riddled with industry and urbanization. The planet 25 00:01:39,880 --> 00:01:44,200 Speaker 2: is home to two sentient species, the diminutive uta, serving 26 00:01:44,240 --> 00:01:49,360 Speaker 2: as the planet's labor cast, and the tall, gaunt, carnivorous pollens. 27 00:01:50,000 --> 00:01:53,440 Speaker 2: According to Star Wars Alien Archive, written by Natalie Club 28 00:01:53,520 --> 00:01:57,400 Speaker 2: and Katrina Palante, the long lived pollens originally lived on 29 00:01:57,440 --> 00:02:01,920 Speaker 2: the planet's surface till a climate forced them underground to 30 00:02:02,000 --> 00:02:05,840 Speaker 2: live with the Utah, but given their sensitive vision, the 31 00:02:05,920 --> 00:02:08,640 Speaker 2: pollens were more than happy to abandon the surface world 32 00:02:08,720 --> 00:02:12,799 Speaker 2: for the pits. Likewise, their sensitive hearing required them to 33 00:02:12,840 --> 00:02:16,800 Speaker 2: wear special dampeners, perhaps due to the loud echoes of 34 00:02:16,919 --> 00:02:20,240 Speaker 2: life in the sink whole cities of Utapao. The pollens 35 00:02:20,280 --> 00:02:23,320 Speaker 2: in the Utah domesticated at least two different native reptile 36 00:02:23,360 --> 00:02:27,400 Speaker 2: species to serve as their steeds, the winged dactylians that 37 00:02:27,480 --> 00:02:30,720 Speaker 2: we might compare to some of Earth's larger terosaurs and 38 00:02:30,840 --> 00:02:35,239 Speaker 2: the scampering verractyls both are adept at navigating the sinkholes 39 00:02:35,240 --> 00:02:38,840 Speaker 2: of Utapal, the dactylians by flight and the use of 40 00:02:38,880 --> 00:02:42,800 Speaker 2: the pit's thermal updrafts, and the verractyls via their wide 41 00:02:42,840 --> 00:02:47,000 Speaker 2: gate and five toed feet. Obi Wan famously makes use 42 00:02:47,080 --> 00:02:50,960 Speaker 2: of a verractyl in his pursuit of general grievous. We're 43 00:02:51,000 --> 00:02:53,840 Speaker 2: also told that a huge noss monsters live in the 44 00:02:53,880 --> 00:02:58,360 Speaker 2: planet's sink whole bounds surface lakes and rivers. Here on Earth, 45 00:02:58,400 --> 00:03:02,840 Speaker 2: we also have sinkhole ecosystems. As Laura Bicker describes in 46 00:03:02,880 --> 00:03:06,640 Speaker 2: a twenty twenty four article for BBC, China's giant sinkholes 47 00:03:06,639 --> 00:03:10,320 Speaker 2: are a tourist hit, but ancient forests insider at risk. Quote. 48 00:03:10,360 --> 00:03:14,560 Speaker 2: These cavities in the Earth trapped time, preserving unique, delicate 49 00:03:14,560 --> 00:03:19,280 Speaker 2: ecosystems for centuries. These environments, generally caused by the dissolution 50 00:03:19,400 --> 00:03:23,240 Speaker 2: of soluble bedrock like limestone, by ground water or even 51 00:03:23,320 --> 00:03:28,200 Speaker 2: underground rivers, have been found to contain unique organisms, especially plants, 52 00:03:28,560 --> 00:03:33,440 Speaker 2: and sometimes serve as naturally protected habitats for endangered flora 53 00:03:33,480 --> 00:03:37,320 Speaker 2: and fauna. So while we may often think of sinkholes 54 00:03:37,400 --> 00:03:41,720 Speaker 2: as natural pitfalls of destruction, sometimes harboring the bones of 55 00:03:41,800 --> 00:03:45,800 Speaker 2: animals that fell inside them. They can also serve as refuges, 56 00:03:46,360 --> 00:03:49,080 Speaker 2: so it's perhaps fitting that the sinkholes of Uodapaal came 57 00:03:49,120 --> 00:03:51,600 Speaker 2: to serve as a last redoubt for much of the 58 00:03:51,640 --> 00:03:55,720 Speaker 2: planet's life. It's also interesting, though perhaps unintended, that the 59 00:03:55,760 --> 00:04:01,040 Speaker 2: planet's decimated surface and life sustaining sinkholes resembles the state 60 00:04:01,080 --> 00:04:05,360 Speaker 2: of life on the republic slash Imperial capital world of Coruscant, 61 00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:10,360 Speaker 2: where in place of biological life, one single vast city 62 00:04:10,480 --> 00:04:14,040 Speaker 2: covers the surface of the planet, and deep vertical ventilation 63 00:04:14,200 --> 00:04:19,159 Speaker 2: shafts dive down to starports and an entire undercity far beneath. 64 00:04:19,720 --> 00:04:23,400 Speaker 2: During the days of the Galactic Empire, these depths even 65 00:04:23,520 --> 00:04:28,000 Speaker 2: harbored some of the remaining embers of the Rebellion. Tune 66 00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:30,880 Speaker 2: in for additional episodes of The Monster, Fact, The Artifact, 67 00:04:31,080 --> 00:04:34,960 Speaker 2: or Animaliustupendium each week. As always, you can email us 68 00:04:35,040 --> 00:04:46,840 Speaker 2: at contact at stuff to Blow your Mind dot com. 69 00:04:46,960 --> 00:04:49,919 Speaker 1: Stuff to Blow Your Mind is production of iHeartRadio. For 70 00:04:50,000 --> 00:04:52,799 Speaker 1: more podcasts from my Heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, 71 00:04:52,960 --> 00:04:55,680 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.