Star Wars: Forces of Destiny – Sands of Jakku Released
Star Wars: Forces of Destiny, the latest canon series entry in the Star Wars galaxy, has debuted its first episode entitled “Sands of Jakku”. The two minute 48 second video stars Rey (voiced by Daisy Ridley) and BB-8. Check out the episode below and a summary afterwards!
The episode’s intro credits begin with an inspirational quote from Maz Kanata:
“The choices we make, the actions we take, moments both big and small, shape us into forces of destiny.”
The episode takes place on Jakku (obviously) and appears to occur shortly after Rey rescued BB-8 from Teedo, before meeting Finn. Rey and BB-8 encounter the same type of creature BB-8 rolled by at night in The Force Awakens, a creature that we all likely assumed was a harmless adjunct in the grand scheme of things, but it turns out not to be the case, not at all. The harmless looking wide red-eyed alien has a lot more going on under the sands of Jakku than we imagined, and it turns out this creature, known as a Nightwatcher Worm, feeds on junk and is more than happy to satisfy its hunger with BB-8.
The Nightwatcher Worm speeds after BB-8 and Rey underneath the surface, almost reminiscent of something out of a Tremors movie. It catches up to them and Rey pulls a move out of Luke Skywalker’s playbook, by wedging her staff vertically into it’s mouth to prevent it from biting. Well much like the Rancor (rest in peace), the Nightwatcher chomps down, flinging Rey’s staff across the dune, but Rey is able to catch it.
Unfortunately, the beast is able to speed past Rey, settling under, and eventually rising up to snatch up BB-8 in it’s mouth and return below the surface. This instantly made me think of Luke vanishing in the trash compactor, or R2 into the depths of the swamps of Dagobah. Rey, knowing the monster wants junk, baits it by tossing her staff into the ground. As the creature blasts out of the sand to eat the staff, BB-8 is launched, and lands safely in Rey’s arms until they arrive back at her fallen AT-AT home.
Rey offers to make peace with the Nightwatcher and feeds it a piece of junk, enough for it to leave them alone and safe. That is a pretty solid lesson in conflict resolution for our young Star Wars fans don’t you agree?
Rey looks upon BB-8 and says:
How did I find you? I’m just lucky I guess.
We can’t blame her, he is pretty adorable. So what did you all think of the episode? For me it was an enjoyable three minutes that taught us a few things: That alien we saw in The Force Awakens is certainly not just some harmless creature whose nap was disturbed, and that Rey is a quick thinker and has a few tricks up her sleeves to get out of tough situations, like Luke Skywalker before her.
I am certainly looking forward to watching more of these as we go along! How about you? Sound off in the comments and be sure to head to The Cantina.
“For my ally is the Force, and a powerful ally it is.”
You can find my canon Twitter profile @JohnnyHoey
John Hoey is the Lead Editor and Senior Writer for Star Wars News Net and the host of The Resistance Broadcast podcast
"For my ally is the Force, and a powerful ally it is."
But are these canon? I thought not, but the description suggests that it can be put in the canon timeline
I can’t point to a specific article, but I remember reading somewhere that they are canon. Sorry, I know that’s not much to go on.
I had my answer anyways. Thanks.
They are canon
“Developed by Lucasfilm Animation, Star Wars Forces of Destiny will remain true to the Star Wars canon, showing how choices both big and small ultimately shape the destinies of beloved characters.” from StarWars.com
Oh. I recalled a very early article stating they wouldn’t be. That’s good to me. My logic: if it’s canon, I’m watching it. Want to get a complete picture of the timeline
My logic: if it’s Star Wars I am watching it, canon be damned.
Well that quote doesn’t actually say they’re canon. Just that they ‘remain true’ to canon. I’m sure it’s a moot point though. I think it’s safe to consider all new Star Wars canon now that Disney is overseeing everything.
Yes they are canon
The moral of the story is to be kind to creatures that are trying to eat you.
and understanding the nature of things.
Was anyone else waiting for Rey to say “You’re lucky you don’t taste very good”?
Cool Tremor… I mean Star Wars short. Pointless really but the art and animation was pretty nice.
Clever use of JJ’s eyeball critter. Good action sequence.
I agree, lovely animated short imo.
Agreed. It very much harkened back to the old Legends continuity to where small stuff became big plot points. And really, I honestly felt like this display did more to make me like Rey than all of TFA. Honestly, this just makes me more excited for TLJ because I can imagine what Ridley is like under RJ. Something a lot like this. 🙂
Interesting thoughts. You know, this question kinda comes from the ‘other camp’, but.. do you think maybe a sense of danger was there that maybe wasn’t present and/or emphasized in the movie? Maybe more of a sense of ‘earning’?
Sincerely curious.
I love this, the animation, Daisy’s voice acting and BB-8′ noises are movie-quality, the music is perfect and i thought the use of the “little alien” from the movie was brilliant, i’m looking forward to more of these.
I will say this; I really did love this short. I daresay this might be my favorite I have seen of Rey, ever. It helps that Abrams bad direction of the actors is a non-presence. The animation and Ridley’s voice acting( she is a fantastic actor) really do sell the part. I also LOVED the use of the eyebell critter.
THIS is what LF should do more. It very much harkens back to the old Expanded Universe, where small aspects that seemed throwaway were used to create stories. I also adored how she used her staff and how she took out the creature.
I like how open ended that was, so you could imply she used the Force or not. And her line by the end, was sweet. So yeah, this short was awesome.
And I will totally keep it in mind when I eventually rewatch TFA. So, it pleases me to say this; good work LF and to the staff. I look forward to seeing all of these. 🙂
I wholeheartedly agree, my main problem with legends was that i felt like lots of things felt out of place or weren’t particularly coherent with the timeline, which i think is something that LF have improved on drastically, so far with the new canon timeline they have shown great coherency in making separate stories and events such as this one feel believable and this particular sequence wouldn’t feel out of place in TFA, it’s exciting to know that this is the first of many in this neat little “spin-off” series.
This short works well because it feels like it could be a deleted scene from the screenplay.
Exactly, i couldn’t have said it better myself.
If that was the case, then it shouldn’t have been deleted. 🙂 Because, really Ridley’s acting(which even in TFA was top notch) complimented well with the writing. I mean she was cool.
Like really badass. And to know that Rian Johnson will be directing her, I look forward to seeing her in the movie. 🙂
I will partially agree with you on Legends. Some stuff, like Luke and the Dragonsnakes, were a cool expansion on his training with Yoda. During an awkward time period, but the brilliance of ESB is how vague it was with the training. But when you have certain moments, like finding out that Porkins from Rebel alliance’s overweight appearance is due being a specific species of human then yeah, that is awful.
But regarding this short, yes it fits and honestly, makes Rey a lot better in my view. But again, JJ Abrams cannot direct his actors well. So, yeah; less Abrams Rey and more of this Rey, please. 🙂
“The choices we make, the actions we take, moments both big and small, shape us into forces of destiny.”
…
Sonmi-451:
“Our lives are not our own. From womb to tomb, we are bound to others.
Past and present. And by each crime and every kindness, we birth our
future.”
Not bad. In a way, this reminds me of the Boba Fett animated short from the Star Wars Holiday Special. I don’t mean that as an insult either.
Terrible.
That was actually quite good.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/a21d5bfda23c94c41fdb1303bbc0e761db3f4d9d388792926b9998f2b01c7e89.gif
I know, right? This short to me, actually, made Rey a compelling/ cool character. I managed to connect with her more than most of TFA. So fingers crossed that TLJ can capture this aspect.
Was that daisy ridley’s voice? It sure sounded like her.
Yes, it is. Most of the original actresses are coming back: Rey=Daisy, Maz=Lupita, Jyn=Felicity, Ahsoka=Ashley, Sabine=Tiya.
Next time I watch TFA I’ll know that worm is more than he appears. Never gonna look at it the same way again.
Disney the masters of animation comes with this flash looking garbage … i know kids cant tell the difference but they could come up with something better
Anything to save a buck. Sad thing is there are pro-animators on YT who could have done a better job for cheaper.
Simple and sweet. I like the concept. There’s a moral undertone to it that is nice and subtle. This is for kids, yet has something to appeal to more hardcore fans.
Very touching that Rey had compassion on a creature that acted simply because it was hungry and needed something to eat.
I have a feeling that’s not what the creature shop intended when they worked on TFA lol
This sequence should’ve been in the actual film. You can’t have too many monsters in a Star Wars movie.