New Details on Fathiers, the Caretakers, and Porgs from Star Wars: The Last Jedi!
Two weeks ago a new book by DK titled Star Wars Made Easy, part of the “Journey to Star Wars: The Last Jedi” series, was released offering some interesting new details on The Last Jedi. The book is aimed at the younger audience and new Star Wars fans who want to get some simple and brief explanations about everything in the galaxy far, far away. The portion dedicated to Episode VIII shares some new bits of info about the fathiers (aka space horses), the Caretakers and the Porgs…
POTENTIAL MILD SPOILERS!!!
You surely remember that during the Episode VIII filming in Dubrovnik, we encountered a curious photo of a horse-like creature, which was part of an action sequence from the movie. We’ve seen Finn and Rose riding the creature on the streets of Dubrovnik, transformed to look like the city of Canto Bight in Star Wars: The Last Jedi (see photo below).
Also we’ve seen several videos with explosions and speeders at high speed on the set, so we can safely conclude that we will witness another exciting Star Wars chase sequence on the streets of the casino city of Canto Bight. And it seems that Finn and Rose’s pursuers will be put to the test, because according to this new book, these magnificent creatures are extremely fast:
The impressive puppet they built on the set will most likely be used only for the close-up shots, and the actual running sequence will be CG. They also used another head prop during one of the days of filming when they were on one of the city walls, where obviously there will be an interaction between the heroes and the fathier they use to escape from whatever they are running from.
And of course we’ve got the best look at the fathiers from The Last Jedi behind-the-scenes reel, where we are shown a creature in what appears to be stables in one of the casinos (see title image).
Also the Star Wars Made Easy book has a new image of the casino interior, where you can see fathiers with jockeys on some of the windows. Obviously, these races are very popular there. I wonder if we will witness an actual race in the movie. It would be really cool.
Next we visit the book’s description on Porgs and the Caretakers:
Shocking, right? The cute porgs are edible!
Many of us were making funny posts on Twitter about porgs ending up in Chewie’s stomach (which Han tells us in ROTJ that the Wookiee is always thinking with), especially after this shot from The Last Jedi behind the scenes reel with the porg feather on Chewie’s mouth:
But now yet another book makes a different revelation, hinting that it was not Chewie who is after the porgs after all. Special thanks to reddit member u/greatjorb88 for taking the picture and u/AlbertChessa for reposting it!
We can only speculate, but from this image it seems that the Caretakers are using musical instruments (looks like a fish bagpipe) to lure the porgs and catch them with nets. Hunting birds using music was a common technique in the past in some parts of the world.
Also as Albert Chessa pointed out that:
“We don’t see evidence of porg pelts being used as Caretaker clothing, though in a separate image the Caretakers seem to have ‘fishing gear’ that resembles Japanese fishing hats and Seaweed Nets, which leaves only one other, kinda sinister purpose to their beautiful melodies…”
You probably remember that a few months ago EW interviewed Rian Johnson, who described the Caretakers as:
“They’re kind of these sort of fish-bird type aliens who live on the island. They’re all female, and I wanted them to feel like a remote sort of little nunnery”.
They can communicate with Luke through what Johnson describes as “a blubbery sort of Scottish fish talk” but they’re not thrilled to have him hanging around.
It’s funny that Johnson compared their speech to Scottish, and now we see them using bagpipes (traditional Scottish instruments) to lure porgs!
Some of you might think that it will be too much if we see the cute porgs end up as a dinner for the natives, but remember those cute teddy bear-like Ewoks from Return of the Jedi, who almost ate our heroes alive?
Also, I really doubt that they will show us how they eat the poor things. It will be most likely a funny situation when Rey or even Chewie learn that the Caretakers eat porg stew or something. Let’s not forget that when you live on a rocky island, the options for food are not that great, there are a gazillion porgs there, so it makes perfect sense.
There are even more interesting tidbits in DK’s “Star Wars Made Easy” book. We bought it ourselves, and we think it’s a great way to introduce Star Wars to your friends and kids. If you want, you can already get the book online or buy it from the nearest book store.
Founder of SWNN, MNN and The Cantina forums.
Born on April 24, 1980.
Considering the Porgs are based on Puffins, it was a naturally conclusion they could be eaten.
I’m hoping they’re vicious but cute, like Jack Russells, but I’m not holding out much hope.
I kind of want the Porgs to have a Large Marge moment, like Chewie goes to eat one and it just growls right in his face. I’d LOVE that, especially for everyone who already bought Porg merchandise thinking they were cute, innocent little creatures.
or Blue Demons…
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I was thinking those little mushroom guys from “Mom and Dad, Save the World”.
And when Chewie pulled the porg body from the twisted…burning…wreck…it looked like this: http://www.i-mockery.com/minimocks/largemarge/large-marge-animated.gif
Exactly!
Nobody eats Puffins, Her Majesty the QUEEN forbids it.
Iceland eats them. I don’t believe our British law governs the whole world, last time I looked.
I was being silly, but really, they eat the things?
Yeah, they’ve the biggest population of them. Elsewhere protected, provided it can be enforced. I believe the Swan is protected by law as well, only to be killed and eaten by Royalty, but again there are cases of them being trapped.
The fact that the caretakers seem not to want Luke hanging around is very interesting to me… maybe they know that he will draw the wrong kind of attention to their peaceful preservation of Jedi history
Maybe he’s just been a whiny freeloader for several years now, and wish he’d just leave. lol
The “caretaker” design is honestly the only one i dislike, they look terrible in my opinion. Love the other two though.
Yeah I didn’t care for them either. They look like Stitch had sex with the cast of the 90’s sitcom ‘Dinosaurs’.
True, lol!
The Space Horse is a fantastic design, retro yet executed with the technology of 2017. I hope they make its runcycle look similar to that of a hare rather than a horse, that would be just amazing.
I was thinking of a big cat gait, but I like your hare idea!
I love what I am hearing. The space horse, in particular, seem really cool. I love how they are prized and used on Canto Bight for racing and are reserved for the wealthy and elite. That is very indicative of the real world when you consider Polo and even races to which wealthy patrons would bet money. And I do love the close up puppet shot; I just hope that the CGI can blend well with it.
As for the Caregivers, I love them. Their designs are weird, but not distracting in my view. And the way they use music to hunt Porgs/ eat them is fantastic. Which poor Porgs, but hey; those things as far as I am concerned are too cute and will suck your soul. 🙂
But what I am interested in is the role of the Caregivers and specifically their relation with the First Jedi temple. I feel like a lot of people are neglecting the First Jedi temple. The fact that Luke is on this world and that this race exists means there has to be something a lot more. I wouldn’t be surprised if the first Jedi worked hand and hand with one another and benefitted. And as a result experienced cultural diffusion with one another. Overall, I am super hyped for TLJ.
And really, I cannot wait to see more. 🙂
The majestic space horse. Like the majestic space duck from Dragon Ball Abridged xD
“[the horses] will most likely be used only for the close-up shots, and the actual running sequence will be CG.”
I expected them to use stop-motion puppets.
Off topic, but hope it’s okay to share:
That new new illustrated book, Star Wars: On The Front Lines, emphasizes several times the new canon history fact: that the remaining Imperial forces gathered at Jaaku for a final battle against the New Republic, and that they were protecting a secret Imperial research facility:
“…Rax drew the Imperial Navy to Jaaku, a desert planet housing a secret Imperial research facility.”
“…Rax believed that Jaaku represented a critical step in executing one of the late Emperor’s contingency plans.”
“…giving Rax the time he needed to excavate any of Palpatine’s forgotten assets.”
“The nature of Gallius Rax’s ‘contingency plan’ could not be discerned, though evidence remained of his fanatical fixation on ancient Sith artifacts and the unmapped blankness of the Unknown Regions. New Republic agents dug for more information on Rax… but came up empty.”
“When the Empire deployed AT-ATs to protect its research facility…”
“[AT-ATs] staged a last-ditch defense of the Imperial research facility.”
POSSIBLE SPOILER FOR THE NEW MOVIES:
These new little details (AT-ATs defending the facility and Rax’s reasoning) align perfectly with the theory (which I think is stronger now) that Rey was created by Imperial scientists. The idea is that Palpatine wanted to create super soldiers strong with the Force. She was cloned from Luke’s DNA taken from his severed hand.
The fact that Rey lived in an AT-AT, one which probably defended the Imperial research facility where she was created, fits symbolically and ironically. She is the product of the dying Empire’s “contingency plan”.
Not really. I’m sorry, I just don’t see it. The Empire was long gone by the time Rey was born.
Ages not lining up never stopped a major plot development in the past…
Actors age, yes. Rey is 19 in-universe. They have flat out said some of these theories (like her and Kylo being twins) are impossible because of that.
Wishful thinking never made a fan theory better.
Rey’s birth could of been delayed or it takes simply longer due to the force. Coming from a test tube there are countless reasons to explain the time difference.
All of the Jakku/Rax/Contingency stuff in “On the Front Lines” comes
from “Aftermath: Empire’s End”, which essentially explains the entire
deal with the Imperial bases on Jakku. I’d suggest giving that a read.
Yeah this was in a book called Empire’s End.
Chewie pulling a Sylvester on a Porg? It can’t be.
It’s more likely that Maz Kanata has white feathers “down there”, if you know what I mean.
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OMG! Empire remake confirmed!:
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/048521e92e7c9b6b366eb83ad376709f03cb2e98104aba1093008181eda859c6.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/d6f46d8edf29e97033c1b66ca51dc164d75aec6defcc054f7a07e3fa09c566c9.jpg
R E H A S H
REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!1!11one!!
Space Horse?!?! Really?!?! They can’t actually say that out loud in the movie. That is just super lazy and funny.
That was just the article title. They are pretty clearly called fathiers.
Well I already want to hug it and squeeze it and call it George. So it’s working so far!
Thanks so much to SWNN and ViralHide for shouting me out in the article! 😀 Can’t wait to see more info on the Fathiers and Caretakers, my two most anticipated aspects of the film (Ice Fox and Ach-To Seal-Sloths after that).
Also I just wanna say, I have my best reading-coverage-leading-up-to-release-of-a-Star-Wars-film memories with SWNN – the black star field background, the whole vibe of the site is really ‘cosy’ 😀 Well done Pomojima and the whole team! 😀
Thank you for the kind words and the great input on the story. 🙂
Yes. They do a really good job of making this site feel like home. I been coming here everyday since 2013 when it was “Star Wars episode 7 news” and I always trust this site first. Now it’s episode 8 this year and it’s still the best. Thank you viral and co for putting so much work into it and keeping it true for the fans.
These caretakers and porgs are gonna be a very new addition to Star Wars creatures. So I’m guessing Luke just stays away from them and does his own thing.
Hmmm, a CGI horse-thing action sequence feels a bit too prequel-ly for my liking……
Even if they promise to not have any of them fart in the face of a supporting character?
No one can use cgi for anything ever. Got it.