WEBVTT - From the Vault: The Mighty Sarlacc 0:00:05.720 --> 0:00:09.440 Hey, welcome to Stuff to Blow your mind. My name 0:00:09.480 --> 0:00:12.600 is Robert Lamb and I'm Joe McCormick. In today it's 0:00:12.640 --> 0:00:16.000 not Saturday, but we're bringing you a vault episode. We 0:00:16.000 --> 0:00:17.800 we missed a day of work this week, and to 0:00:17.880 --> 0:00:20.440 cover for the time off, we're we're subbing in an 0:00:20.480 --> 0:00:23.239 episode from last May. This is the one from May 0:00:23.440 --> 0:00:27.720 I think twenty second called the Mighty star Lack. You 0:00:27.720 --> 0:00:32.040 can guess what it's about. A creature from tattooed. That's right. Yeah, 0:00:32.080 --> 0:00:33.760 this is this is really fun when we get into 0:00:33.960 --> 0:00:35.280 you know, talk a little bit about just sort of 0:00:35.320 --> 0:00:37.520 the Star Wars lore of the star Lack, but mostly 0:00:37.560 --> 0:00:41.240 we talked about, uh, stuff in the real world, actual 0:00:41.320 --> 0:00:45.159 terrestrial organisms that that are kind of parallel to this 0:00:45.400 --> 0:00:50.080 imagined creature. Now, one thing that that definitely has changed 0:00:50.240 --> 0:00:54.000 since we recorded this episode is the second episode, I'm sorry, 0:00:54.040 --> 0:00:57.360 the second season of The Mandalorian came out and officially 0:00:58.040 --> 0:01:02.600 brought Boba Fette back into the live action UM Star 0:01:02.640 --> 0:01:07.000 Wars canon. So anything that I say in this regarding uh, 0:01:07.080 --> 0:01:09.080 you know, Boba Fett being dead or if you should 0:01:09.120 --> 0:01:11.880 stay dead, just take out that with a grainess of salt, 0:01:11.920 --> 0:01:14.920 because he has come back, and uh he I thought 0:01:14.920 --> 0:01:17.479 he was awesome, So I'm I'm very much in favor 0:01:17.480 --> 0:01:20.160 of Boba Fett being alive again. Uh in the live 0:01:20.200 --> 0:01:23.720 action played by Tamara Morrison, who of course played Django 0:01:23.800 --> 0:01:27.800 Fat and played all the clones in the prequel trilogy. Now, 0:01:27.920 --> 0:01:32.720 did we ever decide whether the burp was canon? Um? 0:01:32.760 --> 0:01:34.240 I guess the burp is still in there, So I 0:01:34.240 --> 0:01:36.679 guess the Bourp is canon. Yeah, far as I know, 0:01:37.160 --> 0:01:40.959 nobody's nobody's corrected us on that. Okay, Now I'm not 0:01:41.000 --> 0:01:43.800 sure where what that says about, you know, about the 0:01:43.840 --> 0:01:46.160 digestive system of the creature. We still don't know how 0:01:46.280 --> 0:01:49.160 how Boba Fett escaped. But when he shows up again 0:01:49.800 --> 0:01:53.400 in uh uh in the Mandalorian, which I believe this 0:01:53.480 --> 0:01:58.160 is also his first canonical appearance. Um, you know, um 0:01:58.480 --> 0:02:01.960 after the star Lack incident, he is like visibly scarred up, 0:02:02.520 --> 0:02:06.559 possibly by like digestive juices. So uh we we still 0:02:06.560 --> 0:02:09.200 are going to have to await the full story when 0:02:09.200 --> 0:02:13.080 he gets his own his own series this fall, the 0:02:13.080 --> 0:02:16.840 Book of Boba Fett. That is the best scar story 0:02:16.919 --> 0:02:19.560 I've ever heard, you know, that's like the scene in 0:02:19.639 --> 0:02:22.320 Jaws where they're comparing their scar. I got this, you know, 0:02:22.440 --> 0:02:25.920 thresher's tail. Uh more, A eel bit me through my 0:02:25.919 --> 0:02:29.320 wet suit. Oh yeah, well I was partially digested by 0:02:29.400 --> 0:02:32.440 a giant creature that lives in the ground. Yeah, but 0:02:32.560 --> 0:02:34.440 you know, but Boba plays it cool, so if you 0:02:34.480 --> 0:02:36.200 were to ask about it, he'd probably like be like, 0:02:36.440 --> 0:02:40.400 I've gotten a scrape once. Anyway, let's go ahead and 0:02:40.480 --> 0:02:49.240 jump into it. Then the Mighty Sarlac. And now for traffic, 0:02:49.280 --> 0:02:51.200 we take you to week Way Ray in the Channel 0:02:51.200 --> 0:02:55.519 five sky skiff. Hey, Jim, we're pretty clear of sandstorms 0:02:55.520 --> 0:02:57.679 across much of the dune seed this morning, so that's 0:02:57.720 --> 0:03:01.320 great news for sky hopper landspeeder traffic. So far, however, 0:03:01.400 --> 0:03:03.320 we're already seeing a bit of pre boot to Eve 0:03:03.360 --> 0:03:07.040 classic traffic heading into Moss aspect. Plus, things are dragging 0:03:07.120 --> 0:03:09.280 to a halt out near the Great Pit of Carcoon 0:03:09.600 --> 0:03:11.720 and the walt rafts are playing as it looks like 0:03:11.760 --> 0:03:15.840 the huts are hosting another multi skiff Sarlac offering. Always 0:03:15.840 --> 0:03:19.079 best to steer clear unless you've got an invite, especially 0:03:19.080 --> 0:03:22.920 if you've got an invite. All too true. Ray. Now 0:03:23.000 --> 0:03:25.280 let's check in with Merge surgeon on for a look 0:03:25.280 --> 0:03:27.760 at this week's solar activity. Looks like we're in for 0:03:28.040 --> 0:03:34.040 a double helping of solar flares. Welcome to Stuff to 0:03:34.040 --> 0:03:43.640 Blow Your Mind production of My Heart Radio. Hey you, 0:03:43.680 --> 0:03:45.520 welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind. My name is 0:03:45.600 --> 0:03:48.800 Robert Lamb and I'm Joe McCormick. And here we are, 0:03:49.000 --> 0:03:51.760 finally here in a galaxy far far away. I did 0:03:51.760 --> 0:03:54.400 not think we would end up doing Star Wars content, 0:03:54.560 --> 0:03:57.240 especially so close to May fourth, but not on it. 0:03:57.920 --> 0:04:02.800 Things are getting strange. Yeah, Now, fittingly, we're recording this 0:04:02.880 --> 0:04:06.560 episode on May the fourth, but that that just benefits 0:04:07.000 --> 0:04:09.000 the two of us. The listeners are gonna get it 0:04:09.040 --> 0:04:13.200 a little later. However, since the May the fourth like 0:04:13.320 --> 0:04:18.360 sales begin before May the fourth, I think it's okay 0:04:18.360 --> 0:04:21.479 to assume that May the fourth is just generally a 0:04:21.480 --> 0:04:24.440 a you know, a multi day, even multi week affair 0:04:24.520 --> 0:04:27.800 in which we celebrate Star Wars. Yeah, it's like Christmas 0:04:28.080 --> 0:04:31.440 gradually creeps out to the edges. Yeah, the thirty days 0:04:31.480 --> 0:04:34.839 of May the fourth or what have you. Uh. Now, 0:04:34.920 --> 0:04:37.479 so you've been going on a Star Wars expedition in 0:04:37.520 --> 0:04:41.560 your house, right, Yeah? Yeah, we've been watching all the 0:04:41.680 --> 0:04:45.040 all the movies. We also watched The Mandalorian. I think 0:04:45.080 --> 0:04:48.240 at this point we've watched everything except the most recent one, 0:04:48.560 --> 0:04:50.440 and we're going to catch that one tonight because it 0:04:50.560 --> 0:04:54.000 just dropped on Disney Plus. But yeah, we've been we've 0:04:54.000 --> 0:04:58.640 been full, full blown into the Star Wars um and 0:04:58.920 --> 0:05:02.480 it's been It's been pretty fun because I've I think 0:05:02.520 --> 0:05:06.360 I've been personally been like several different stereotypical Star Wars 0:05:06.360 --> 0:05:09.760 fans over the years. I was born in seventy eight, 0:05:09.800 --> 0:05:12.960 so the original trilogy and their associated toys were just 0:05:13.000 --> 0:05:15.800 a key part of my childhood and uh and just 0:05:15.839 --> 0:05:19.160 as aspects of their structure were based on you know, 0:05:19.279 --> 0:05:23.320 archetypes of comparative mythology. You know, these films introduced many 0:05:23.360 --> 0:05:26.880 of us to some of these mythic energies. So I 0:05:26.920 --> 0:05:30.200 remember loving these films as a child. I remember lapsing 0:05:30.279 --> 0:05:32.680 somewhat during what I think of as like the Star 0:05:32.720 --> 0:05:36.919 Wars Dark Age of the early and mid nineties. I 0:05:36.960 --> 0:05:39.120 think that's when I was getting like the Star Wars 0:05:39.160 --> 0:05:42.919 Insider fan magazine. Oh cool, Yeah, and he'd kind of gone, 0:05:43.600 --> 0:05:45.800 uh underground. I mean, I don't want to say underground, 0:05:45.800 --> 0:05:48.320 because obviously there was there was still tons of content 0:05:48.400 --> 0:05:52.640 coming out, and you know, the Expanded Universe and so forth. 0:05:52.680 --> 0:05:55.560 There were books, there were comics, there were there were games, 0:05:55.960 --> 0:06:00.840 but it wasn't as as prevalent in the pop culture 0:06:00.880 --> 0:06:03.240 at that time. But of course it was gearing up 0:06:03.400 --> 0:06:08.800 because then came, uh, the the prequels, right um uh Now, 0:06:08.839 --> 0:06:11.320 I I too remember reading some of the Extended Universe stuff. 0:06:11.320 --> 0:06:14.240 I'm getting into that and the like the late nineties. 0:06:14.720 --> 0:06:18.200 But then we had Phantom Menace, and I remember being 0:06:18.240 --> 0:06:21.080 first of all, like super excited for it. And then 0:06:21.120 --> 0:06:23.400 I was a bit of a prequel apologist there for 0:06:23.440 --> 0:06:26.120 a bit regarding the Phantom Menace, and then I became 0:06:26.200 --> 0:06:28.400 kind of a snarky fan who focused only on the 0:06:28.400 --> 0:06:31.280 flaws of the prequel films. And I'd say I didn't 0:06:31.320 --> 0:06:35.440 fully recover from that until I watched The Mandalorian with 0:06:35.760 --> 0:06:37.960 my family, uh, and we all loved it. And then 0:06:37.960 --> 0:06:40.160 we started watching all the films again. And and now 0:06:40.200 --> 0:06:43.479 I'm I'm leaning into the force. I'm I'm I'm just 0:06:43.520 --> 0:06:47.040 saying I'm enjoying all of them. I've enjoyed each film 0:06:47.720 --> 0:06:49.920 that I've watched, and and she really kind of tried 0:06:49.960 --> 0:06:52.599 to watch them you know, with my son, but also 0:06:52.680 --> 0:06:55.599 kind of threw his eyes and it's been a blast. 0:06:55.920 --> 0:06:58.640 What are his favorites? He tells me that his favorites 0:06:58.760 --> 0:07:03.640 are The Phantom Menace and let's see Phantom Menace and 0:07:03.720 --> 0:07:06.960 Return of the Jedi, but especially Phantom Menace. He in 0:07:07.000 --> 0:07:09.720 fact requested that we watched that one again, and so 0:07:10.120 --> 0:07:14.320 we watched half of it last night. Those It does 0:07:14.360 --> 0:07:16.600 not escape my attention that those are the two that 0:07:16.680 --> 0:07:20.280 have the highest quotient of cuteness content they do. They have, 0:07:20.440 --> 0:07:22.400 They have cuteness, but then also they just have a 0:07:22.400 --> 0:07:25.200 ton of creatures. And I think that's also key because 0:07:25.280 --> 0:07:28.760 like The Phantom Menace, most of it takes place on 0:07:28.920 --> 0:07:33.040 like a dinosaur ridden uh you know planet where there's 0:07:33.080 --> 0:07:36.720 just you know, monster after monster after monster, and and yeah, 0:07:36.760 --> 0:07:38.880 you have the comic elements as well, and you have 0:07:38.920 --> 0:07:41.920 an actual child in it, which I think also is 0:07:42.560 --> 0:07:45.880 adds to this kind of anchor for younger viewers, going 0:07:45.920 --> 0:07:48.200 against what I was just saying about cuteness. Obviously, Return 0:07:48.240 --> 0:07:49.640 of the Jedi is where we get the the e 0:07:49.760 --> 0:07:53.080 walks the classic Teddy Bear planet. But the first half 0:07:53.120 --> 0:07:56.640 of Return of the Jedi's just when we rewatched it 0:07:56.720 --> 0:07:58.960 not too long ago. I was like, man, I loved 0:07:59.000 --> 0:08:00.680 this wasn't when I was a kid. But the first 0:08:00.680 --> 0:08:03.400 half of this movie is gross. It is full of 0:08:03.480 --> 0:08:08.400 like just like like nasty, slimy critters everywhere and and 0:08:08.400 --> 0:08:12.080 and horrible monsters and uh. And I would say, actually, 0:08:12.160 --> 0:08:14.400 the thing maybe that stands out the most in my 0:08:14.440 --> 0:08:16.960 mind is going to be the subject of today's episode, 0:08:16.960 --> 0:08:22.160 which is the Sarlac. Yes, yes, the Sarlac features heavily 0:08:22.200 --> 0:08:25.160 into this portion of the film, and it is It's 0:08:25.160 --> 0:08:28.400 just something that just captures uh. It certainly captures the 0:08:28.440 --> 0:08:31.760 young imagination, you know, here's this pit, here is this thing. 0:08:32.080 --> 0:08:34.720 And I think it also played well with the action 0:08:34.760 --> 0:08:37.240 figures growing up, because you could you could pretty much 0:08:37.320 --> 0:08:39.640 make a sarlac. There wasn't. I don't think there was 0:08:39.679 --> 0:08:43.880 a starlac um like action play set or anything, because 0:08:44.240 --> 0:08:47.000 how wrong you are, really they had one, because I 0:08:47.040 --> 0:08:49.000 was just thinking you just had you had dirt, you 0:08:49.040 --> 0:08:51.680 had holes, you had things you could do with like 0:08:51.720 --> 0:08:54.800 a bedspread, and you had instant Starlac. Robert, I want 0:08:54.800 --> 0:08:56.600 you to scroll all the way down to the bottom 0:08:56.640 --> 0:08:58.640 of our notes and have a look at the images 0:08:58.720 --> 0:09:01.760 I've attached for you. All these would fill you with joy. 0:09:01.800 --> 0:09:05.000 This comes from a board game that I found evidence 0:09:05.040 --> 0:09:07.960 of on the internet late last night. I think, uh, 0:09:08.000 --> 0:09:12.440 it's called Battle at Sarlas Pit. It was released at 0:09:12.480 --> 0:09:15.080 the same time as the movie, or sometime around the movie, 0:09:15.080 --> 0:09:17.640 I guess, to help promote it. And it is a 0:09:17.840 --> 0:09:20.760 It is a board game with a sarlac like a 0:09:20.760 --> 0:09:24.280 cardboard sarlac cone set up, and then it's got a 0:09:24.280 --> 0:09:26.880 little barge or skiff on top where it looks like 0:09:26.920 --> 0:09:32.679 you you. You play with miniatures of Han Solo, Luke, Skywalker, Chewbacca, 0:09:32.679 --> 0:09:34.840 and I guess maybe that's also supposed to be Leia. 0:09:34.960 --> 0:09:36.840 It's kind of hard to tell. The miniatures are not 0:09:37.200 --> 0:09:40.440 super detailed, and you have to fight your way through these, 0:09:40.720 --> 0:09:43.640 you know, green pig face guards and Boba fette to 0:09:43.960 --> 0:09:46.240 to confront Jab of the Hut, and I guess if 0:09:46.280 --> 0:09:49.600 you lose, you fall off into the starlacks mouth. Well 0:09:49.600 --> 0:09:52.520 that it looks beautiful, I mean, especially the cover art 0:09:52.559 --> 0:09:55.840 in this box, it's incredible, and in the set itself 0:09:55.920 --> 0:09:58.679 is is pretty ingenious, especially given the time. I can't 0:09:58.760 --> 0:10:02.440 obviously I can't speak for the actual gameplay, but it 0:10:02.440 --> 0:10:04.880 looks intriguing. Yeah, I've never seen this before. Well, I 0:10:04.920 --> 0:10:07.320 know you're a miniatures guy, so I was wondering if 0:10:07.320 --> 0:10:09.679 you might end up looking this thing up. I might 0:10:09.760 --> 0:10:12.400 have to the miniatures. It looks like the miniatures are 0:10:12.400 --> 0:10:16.640 supplied poorly painted, or perhaps they're supplied unpainted. And what 0:10:16.679 --> 0:10:19.000 we're looking at here is the work of a child 0:10:19.520 --> 0:10:23.320 roughly painting. Then I can't tell, but yeah, I'm gonna 0:10:23.320 --> 0:10:25.600 have to look into this more. This this is interesting. 0:10:25.679 --> 0:10:27.559 If I had known this existed when I was a kid, 0:10:27.600 --> 0:10:31.000 I would have insisted on it. So I guess we should. 0:10:31.160 --> 0:10:34.080 We can assume that most listeners have probably seen Return 0:10:34.080 --> 0:10:36.400 of the Jedi, don't The star Lack doesn't need a 0:10:36.440 --> 0:10:39.400 lot of explaining, but just to do the very basics, 0:10:39.400 --> 0:10:42.040 we should explain what happens in the movie. So the 0:10:42.160 --> 0:10:45.480 role in the plot is you remember our heroes Luke Skywalker, 0:10:45.520 --> 0:10:49.440 Han Solo Chewbaccah. They are sentenced to death by the 0:10:49.480 --> 0:10:51.920 gangster Job of the Hut. He's the big slug guy 0:10:52.480 --> 0:10:54.920 and job Job of the Hut says the method of 0:10:54.960 --> 0:10:57.880 execution for these three heroes is going to be a 0:10:58.000 --> 0:11:01.679 kind of alien desert. For version of the pirates walking 0:11:01.720 --> 0:11:03.800 of the plank, right, you know they're gonna be forced 0:11:03.840 --> 0:11:07.200 to walk the plank off of this floating barge or 0:11:07.559 --> 0:11:11.280 this floating boat type thing into this hole in the desert, 0:11:11.679 --> 0:11:14.240 and the droid C three p o translates job as 0:11:14.280 --> 0:11:17.760 execution order. He says, you will therefore be taken to 0:11:17.840 --> 0:11:21.240 the dune sea, this big desert, and cast into the 0:11:21.320 --> 0:11:25.840 pit of Carcoon, the nesting place of the all powerful Sarlac. 0:11:26.200 --> 0:11:29.080 In his belly, you will find a new definition of 0:11:29.160 --> 0:11:32.840 pain and suffering as you are slowly digested over a 0:11:32.960 --> 0:11:37.439 thousand years. And I'm not gonna lie. That concept haunted 0:11:37.480 --> 0:11:41.040 me as a child. I was like, slowly digested over 0:11:41.080 --> 0:11:45.680 a thousand years. Wouldn't it be over sooner than that? Yeah, 0:11:45.760 --> 0:11:49.680 there's this idea that it extends your suffering, that it 0:11:49.760 --> 0:11:52.080 is to enter into the Sarlac is to kind of 0:11:52.240 --> 0:11:56.920 enter into an underworld or an afterlife of pain. It's 0:11:56.920 --> 0:12:01.360 like going to hell. Yeah, yeah, hell of digestion. And 0:12:01.600 --> 0:12:06.240 I also love how in C. Three pos translation, there's 0:12:06.240 --> 0:12:08.600 this idea, Yeah, that's that's not only the star Lak, 0:12:08.679 --> 0:12:11.600 it is the all powerful Sarlac. There's this idea that 0:12:11.640 --> 0:12:14.079 it is a thing that is revered that it almost 0:12:14.080 --> 0:12:17.600 has a divine quality to it. And certainly, as we 0:12:17.640 --> 0:12:20.280 see in the film, it's not something that is defeated. 0:12:20.640 --> 0:12:23.560 It is not something that is really truly overcome. It 0:12:23.679 --> 0:12:27.320 is just avoided and escaped at best. Well, it's not 0:12:27.440 --> 0:12:30.160 really the enemy, right, it's kind of the setting. It's 0:12:30.240 --> 0:12:31.960 the threat in the setting. It's kind of in the 0:12:31.960 --> 0:12:35.160 way that in most zombie movies the zombies are not 0:12:35.240 --> 0:12:39.600 really the enemy. They're more like a hostile environment in 0:12:39.679 --> 0:12:42.480 which the drama between the characters is set. Usually in 0:12:42.480 --> 0:12:45.560 the zombie movie, you've got a human villain, and the 0:12:45.600 --> 0:12:48.040 same is true here. Clearly the villain is Jab of 0:12:48.080 --> 0:12:50.320 the Hut, not the not the star Lac. And of 0:12:50.360 --> 0:12:53.680 course so it's very satisfying when when Leah chokes out 0:12:54.080 --> 0:12:55.720 Jab of the Hut, that's like a great you know, 0:12:55.800 --> 0:12:58.480 defeat of the villain scene. But there's no need to 0:12:58.559 --> 0:13:00.520 kill the Sarlac. It's just do in its thing in 0:13:00.559 --> 0:13:04.120 the desert. That's right. Yeah, there's this It has this 0:13:04.200 --> 0:13:06.840 quality where the Sarlac is kind of like a pet. 0:13:07.200 --> 0:13:10.160 It's kind of like a pampered pet of of Java, 0:13:10.200 --> 0:13:12.280 as much like the Rain Corps is that we see 0:13:12.320 --> 0:13:15.400 earlier in the film, but it also feels like something 0:13:15.520 --> 0:13:17.960 that is greater than Job and certainly it's something that 0:13:18.280 --> 0:13:22.520 will will outlive Java. Yeah. So one thing I really 0:13:22.600 --> 0:13:25.560 liked about this monster when I was a kid um 0:13:25.840 --> 0:13:28.600 was something about the way that the monster was presented 0:13:28.679 --> 0:13:31.640 visually the pit of Carcoon and the Sarlac. It was 0:13:31.720 --> 0:13:35.600 that the monster wasn't just in a pit. The monster 0:13:36.320 --> 0:13:39.600 was the pit. Uh And and so to explain this 0:13:39.640 --> 0:13:42.240 a little bit more, it's kind of like a presented 0:13:42.480 --> 0:13:47.520 visually as a bio geological hybrid, like a cave or 0:13:47.559 --> 0:13:50.560 a hole in the ground that has tentacle tongues and 0:13:50.600 --> 0:13:54.480 eats bounty hunters alive. You can't tell where the animal 0:13:54.679 --> 0:13:58.600 stops and the earth begins. And as a point of comparison, 0:13:59.480 --> 0:14:02.559 I think I'd used the appeal of like the biomechanical 0:14:02.840 --> 0:14:05.760 artwork of hr Geiger that and how that influenced the 0:14:05.760 --> 0:14:09.280 creation of the xenomorph in the Alien films. The xenomorph 0:14:09.440 --> 0:14:12.480 is basically supposed to be an animal, but it has 0:14:12.559 --> 0:14:16.520 tons of body features that look like parts of industrial machines. 0:14:16.920 --> 0:14:20.000 It's an animal made out of tubes and hoses and 0:14:20.160 --> 0:14:23.800 hinges and pistons, and I think I always thought the 0:14:23.800 --> 0:14:25.960 Star Lac was cool because it was like this, but 0:14:26.040 --> 0:14:30.280 with geology instead of machinery. Uh, it's it's a mouth 0:14:30.440 --> 0:14:32.640 that is the earth. It looks like the teeth are 0:14:32.680 --> 0:14:35.320 coming out of rock or coming out of the sand. 0:14:36.040 --> 0:14:38.360 And uh. Of course this is all predicated on the 0:14:38.360 --> 0:14:40.400 fact that I grew up watching the versions of these 0:14:40.440 --> 0:14:43.960 movies before the special edition remasters. So the version I'm 0:14:44.000 --> 0:14:45.880 used to seeing is the original, where it's just the 0:14:45.920 --> 0:14:49.600 gaping mouth that blends into the earth and has these 0:14:49.680 --> 0:14:52.560 rings of inward facing teeth and the tentacles that reach 0:14:52.600 --> 0:14:55.520 out from who knows where and grab things. When the 0:14:55.560 --> 0:14:58.000 remasters came, of course, they added a big c g 0:14:58.200 --> 0:15:00.680 I beak poking up out of the pit it, which 0:15:00.720 --> 0:15:03.680 sort of eliminates some of that bio geological magic. I 0:15:04.440 --> 0:15:06.400 try these days not to be one of the guys 0:15:06.440 --> 0:15:10.320 who's just constantly shrieking about how Lucas ruined things and 0:15:10.360 --> 0:15:13.560 complaining about remasters and prequels and all that, but I 0:15:13.920 --> 0:15:16.400 will say I do not like this change. I think 0:15:16.400 --> 0:15:19.040 it's creepier in the original version without the c g 0:15:19.200 --> 0:15:21.600 I beak. I like it when it's just the hole 0:15:21.640 --> 0:15:25.560 in the earth, the cave with teeth. Yeah, I I 0:15:25.600 --> 0:15:28.880 certainly grew up with the the unedited version as well, 0:15:28.920 --> 0:15:31.840 and so that's that's probably the version that was that 0:15:31.880 --> 0:15:34.240 It's cemented in my mind the most. And I used 0:15:34.280 --> 0:15:36.280 to feel, I think a lot stronger about it where 0:15:36.280 --> 0:15:40.200 I'm like, nope, original Starla only. But I don't know, 0:15:40.280 --> 0:15:44.560 I can I'm okay with the redesign. I just wish 0:15:44.600 --> 0:15:47.360 that the c G I would maybe get another, you know, 0:15:47.360 --> 0:15:48.960 a fresh coat of paint to make it look a 0:15:49.000 --> 0:15:52.560 little sleeker. But but still like I also, I understand 0:15:52.560 --> 0:15:54.960 that they are part of the original concept was that 0:15:55.040 --> 0:15:57.600 it would have those elements, but they weren't able to 0:15:57.640 --> 0:16:00.200 make it happen because they just didn't have the the 0:16:00.200 --> 0:16:04.440 budget of the technology to implement it at the time. Um. 0:16:04.480 --> 0:16:07.720 But but I and I also think that the addition 0:16:07.800 --> 0:16:11.480 of the plant like elements doesn't completely take away from 0:16:11.600 --> 0:16:14.840 what you were describing, this idea of the monster as 0:16:15.240 --> 0:16:20.320 as pit, the monster as earth. Um. There's something very primal, 0:16:20.440 --> 0:16:25.080 primordial even about about the star Lac. And you know, 0:16:25.240 --> 0:16:27.160 some people, I think a lot to like to criticize 0:16:27.200 --> 0:16:29.040 Lucas and you know that they want to go all 0:16:29.080 --> 0:16:32.200 in on this idea that well, Lucas depended on all 0:16:32.240 --> 0:16:34.800 these other creative people and anything that he got right, 0:16:34.800 --> 0:16:38.560 he only did accidentally. But I I suspect that, you know, 0:16:38.680 --> 0:16:40.840 that he was really onto something with this idea of 0:16:40.840 --> 0:16:44.200 the star lac Um. I think there there is something 0:16:44.800 --> 0:16:47.360 intentionally primordial about it. And well, we'll get into that 0:16:47.400 --> 0:16:50.160 as we go. Well, I think it just it suggests 0:16:50.200 --> 0:16:53.640 the magical thinking that that that is so common in 0:16:53.720 --> 0:16:57.760 human culture, that characterizes caves and pits in the earth 0:16:57.840 --> 0:17:00.280 as a mouth. I mean that kind of that kind 0:17:00.280 --> 0:17:03.960 of language is extremely common. Yeah, So before we get 0:17:03.960 --> 0:17:06.520 a little bit more into some mythic parallels for the 0:17:06.560 --> 0:17:08.640 star lac I want to talk just a little bit 0:17:08.640 --> 0:17:12.880 more about its presumed biology and its biology is presented 0:17:13.000 --> 0:17:15.719 uh in Cannon, and also just a little interpretation on 0:17:15.760 --> 0:17:19.520 our part. So obviously, the vast majority of the star 0:17:19.680 --> 0:17:24.280 lacks bulk is hidden beneath the sand, leaving only its spiked, 0:17:24.280 --> 0:17:29.280 tentacled mouth exposed. Now, presumably the star lac just normally, 0:17:29.440 --> 0:17:32.360 you know, waits there. It doesn't move, It just waits. First, 0:17:32.440 --> 0:17:35.040 you know, some creature to fall into it. You know, 0:17:35.119 --> 0:17:37.560 some of the mega fauna of tattooings such as the 0:17:37.640 --> 0:17:40.320 do back or the bantha. You know, it just waits 0:17:40.359 --> 0:17:42.480 for them to wander close enough to fall in or 0:17:42.560 --> 0:17:47.320 succumb to those fast moving, grasping tentacles. And if this, 0:17:47.560 --> 0:17:49.680 you know, seems rare enough for currents, we have to 0:17:50.040 --> 0:17:53.560 consider that it's it has an alleged one thousand year 0:17:53.640 --> 0:17:57.720 digestive cycle, so presumably it has a slow enough metabolism 0:17:57.800 --> 0:18:00.800 that it doesn't need this regular feet gings. It can 0:18:00.840 --> 0:18:04.119 get by on the odd bantha that just falls in. 0:18:05.000 --> 0:18:06.640 And then on top of that, we have to consider 0:18:06.720 --> 0:18:10.040 that this star lac might be in a privileged situation 0:18:10.080 --> 0:18:14.200 as well, sustained by regular feedings from Job as pleasure barges, 0:18:14.440 --> 0:18:16.920 because let's face it, Job is the type of fella 0:18:17.040 --> 0:18:19.919 that's liable to just throw people into the sarlac on 0:18:20.119 --> 0:18:23.280 a weekly or bi weekly basis, So we may not 0:18:23.520 --> 0:18:27.159 be observing the sarlac in its natural environment. This this 0:18:27.200 --> 0:18:31.040 could be a domesticated sarlac of sorts. Yeah, yeah, I 0:18:31.320 --> 0:18:34.440 think we have to take that into into account now 0:18:34.920 --> 0:18:38.200 in terms of like, you know, turning to the literature 0:18:38.480 --> 0:18:43.000 for you know, explanations of something like the sarlac Uh. 0:18:43.040 --> 0:18:45.359 That can be a bit confusing because, first of all, 0:18:45.480 --> 0:18:47.280 you know, it's presented as it is in the movie, 0:18:47.480 --> 0:18:49.840 and I think a fair amount of mystery about it 0:18:49.880 --> 0:18:52.920 is ideal. Like, for instance, C three Po doesn't turn 0:18:52.960 --> 0:18:55.480 to you and explain everything about the star Lak. He 0:18:55.520 --> 0:18:58.159 doesn't go into a big ten minute monologue about it, 0:18:58.200 --> 0:19:00.520 because you're supposed to do some of the work, right, 0:19:00.520 --> 0:19:03.720 It's supposed to inspire you, right, Yeah, I mean what's 0:19:03.800 --> 0:19:05.920 cool about it is that you can't see so much 0:19:05.960 --> 0:19:08.000 of it. It's a mystery. It's hidden under the earth. 0:19:08.320 --> 0:19:10.399 I think some of that would be spoiled if you've 0:19:10.440 --> 0:19:12.680 got a better look at it, or you've got C 0:19:12.840 --> 0:19:15.440 three po explaining its whole life history. As much as 0:19:15.440 --> 0:19:17.160 I would have wanted that when I was a kid, 0:19:17.160 --> 0:19:20.520 and we were talking recently about like children, you know, 0:19:20.600 --> 0:19:23.479 being obsessed with Cannon and the stories they love and 0:19:23.520 --> 0:19:26.040 like wanting to know all the details, I mean, I mean, 0:19:26.080 --> 0:19:27.840 I bet when I was like eight, I would have 0:19:27.920 --> 0:19:31.240 just wished that the Star Wars movies included like Star 0:19:31.280 --> 0:19:36.520 Wars illustrated encyclopedia pages as as like scenes throughout them. 0:19:36.520 --> 0:19:38.720 But yeah, it works better as a mystery. I think 0:19:38.840 --> 0:19:42.879 that's my adult mind. Yeah. Now that being said, this 0:19:43.040 --> 0:19:45.919 this sort of mystery has inspired lots of people, and 0:19:45.920 --> 0:19:49.119 so you have you have a number of different uh 0:19:49.200 --> 0:19:53.520 you know, expanded universe treatments of the Star Lac as 0:19:53.560 --> 0:19:57.800 well as compendiums that attempt to explain to some degree 0:19:57.840 --> 0:20:00.360 what the Star Lack is and you're gon to deal 0:20:00.440 --> 0:20:03.400 with you know, conflicting accounts and uh and and so 0:20:03.480 --> 0:20:05.560 forth if you start looking at all of those. But 0:20:05.920 --> 0:20:08.160 I do want to touch on some ideas that were 0:20:08.160 --> 0:20:11.520 presented in a relatively new book that came out, Star 0:20:11.600 --> 0:20:15.640 Wars Alien Archive, which I've been reading with my son. Uh. 0:20:15.680 --> 0:20:18.440 It's you know, it's basically a you know, a monstrous compendium, 0:20:18.520 --> 0:20:22.520 a monster manual of Star Wars aliens, and it's pretty fun. 0:20:22.520 --> 0:20:26.959 It has these fabulous illustrations in it, and it you know, 0:20:27.040 --> 0:20:30.399 doesn't have everything that shows up in the Star Wars 0:20:30.400 --> 0:20:32.600 films and TV shows, but it has quite a bit, 0:20:33.119 --> 0:20:36.440 uh you know, everything from you know, from from from 0:20:36.520 --> 0:20:40.000 major characters and and and major aliens to even a 0:20:40.040 --> 0:20:42.480 few things that for instance, only show up in one 0:20:42.520 --> 0:20:46.440 of the Ewoks movies. So it's a fun collection. Naturally, 0:20:46.480 --> 0:20:48.600 of course, there's an entry on the Mighty star Lack. 0:20:48.720 --> 0:20:50.360 So I just want to touch on a few of 0:20:50.400 --> 0:20:53.440 the key points, uh that that are that are made 0:20:53.720 --> 0:20:57.960 in this Lucasfilm Press book. First of all, it's described 0:20:58.000 --> 0:21:02.640 as quote terrifying carnivorous beast, and this seems to fall 0:21:02.760 --> 0:21:06.240 more on the animal side of interpretation. Some people try 0:21:06.280 --> 0:21:09.080 and I guess explain the starlight is being more of 0:21:09.119 --> 0:21:13.359 a plant, uh And it is sometimes described as reproducing 0:21:13.400 --> 0:21:16.760 by spores, which leads in list to more of a 0:21:16.920 --> 0:21:19.600 you know, fungal explanation. But of course none of this 0:21:19.680 --> 0:21:22.840 is exactly limiting when we're ultimately talking about an alien 0:21:22.920 --> 0:21:26.159 life form that may you know, easily skew the lines 0:21:26.240 --> 0:21:29.439 that we draw on Earth between one kingdom and another. 0:21:29.720 --> 0:21:31.800 That's exactly right, I mean, yeah, if we want to 0:21:31.800 --> 0:21:35.879 be real technical sticklers, the difference between plants and animals 0:21:36.040 --> 0:21:39.440 is an evolutionary division that you know, they are different clades. 0:21:39.440 --> 0:21:42.720 You can sort their histories differently, and you know, animals 0:21:42.720 --> 0:21:46.000