Synopsis: After headstrong Luke nearly delivers the good guys into Palpatine’s clutches, Master Yoda and the ghost of Obi-Wan Kenobi unearth the Holocrons – last remnants of the secrets of the Jedi – to further Luke’s training. But Darth Vader also seeks the Holocrons, and he’ll stop at nothing to get to them first! Meanwhile, courageous superclone Jek-14, a -sensitive clone, comes out of retirement to help bolster the Rebels. Share all the action-packed thrills of these interlocking, intergalactic adventures in Lego Star Wars: The New Yoda Chronicles!

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Lego Star Wars: The New Yoda Chronicles 7.5

eyelights: its mashup of the ‘Star Wars’ universe.
eyesores: the awkward commercial fade-outs.

“We’re not afraid of you, Anakin!” “My name is Darth Vader!”

In 2014, a new mini-series of Lego Star Wars was produced. However, since the series was being moved from the Cartoon Network to the Disney Channel, they had to rebrand the popular animated show “The New Yoda Chronicles”. Interestingly, it also departed from “The Yoda Chronicles” by taking the action to the time of the original ‘Star Wars’ trilogy, not the prequels, leaving Yoda on the periphery.

1. Escape from the Jedi Temple: This one takes place right after the explosion of the first Death Star, with Luke, Leia, Han, Chewie, C-3PO and R2-D2 celebrating their success aboard the Millenium Falcon. But little do they know that Darth Vader is after them. On Dagobah, Yoda and Obi-Wan reminisce about the events at the end of ‘Revenge of the Sith‘: in the Lego Star Wars universe, they agreed that Ben should get the holocrons, source of all Jedi knowledge, to train Luke in the future. He proceeded to do exactly that – with the help of the Padawans, and a newly-gung ho C-3PO (who just had his memory wiped and didn’t remember his previous programming). 7.5

2. Race for the Holocrons: Now made aware of their existence, Luke is out looking for the holocrons with the others. Unfortunately, his newly-minted Jedi sense takes him to the wrong places. Meanwhile, Darth Vader is looking for Luke, so he winds up stealing the Millenium Falcon from Han and Chewie – who land on Dagobah, reuniting “Ian” with Yoda. Now the race is on between Luke, Vader and… the Jawas to get to the holocrons first on Tatooine. Expect a land speeder, pod racer and sandcrawler chase. It’s a silly good time. 7.5

3. Raid on Coruscant: Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine are having fun routing planets they feel are sympathetic to the rebellion. They end up on Tatooine, chasing Luke, Leia, Han and company, after which Palpatine sends Vader to attack “Wookieworld”. But little do they know that, while the Imperial forces are all dispatched to Kashyyyk, the rebels are planning an attack on Coruscant. Expect a massive space battle. And a confrontation with Palpatine. And the able assistance of the Sith Clone.

Um… and dancing Wookies. 7.25

4. Clash of the Skywalkers: Since Emperor Palpatine was after Luke, our heroes decided to fake the latter’s death in a spaceship battle with Darth Vader – buying them a short amount of time. Meanwhile, Han is charged with setting up a base on Hoth. After they realize that they were conned, Vader and Palpatine track Luke to Mustafar via a holocron that he has been using. Expect space battles and a chase through an asteroid field. Oh, and the requisite lightsaber duel between Luke and Vader.

And… uh… line dancing. 7.25

‘Lego Star Wars: The New Yoda Chronicles’ is one giant mashup of Star Wars references from across the series, and that’s fun – it’s no longer constrained by the prequels, even as it is limited to franchise references (i.e. the only thing that’s not from the films is the Sith Clone). While I feel that this Lego version was one inch away from overstaying its welcome, it remains a good time all around.

Sadly for fans, at this time these are the last of the ‘Lego Star Wars’ episodes.

But… there is another…

Date of viewing: December 8, 2015