The final day of Star Wars Celebration Europe:
Don’t judge, but I didn’t go to the Bad Batch Panel. I’m switching hotels tonight and I needed time to repack my suitcase; Bad Batch isn’t one of my faves, so I didn’t pressure myself to get done in time.
The first panel I attended was hosted by Atomic Mass Games, makers of the Star Wars miniatures games. I saw some of these being demoed on the show floor: there are two space battle games, one where you control an entire fleet, and one that focuses more on ship-to-ship battles with the flagships.
Similarly, there are two troop-based games: one where you take control of entire infantry forces, and another where you have a select group of heroes battle it out.
The dangerous thing about these games is that, beyond the starter set, you buy the miniature pieces you want individually, and paint the miniatures yourself. The games aren’t the sort I play, which is a good thing, because I could see miniature painting to take up my entire existance.
After that, I headed over to a panel presented by Doug Chiang, the head creative at Lucasfilm. My favorite panels at Celebration are always more about process than hype: lore and mythology, inspiration and parallels, technology and technique. I really enjoyed Chiang’s presentation last year, so I thought I’d see as much of it as I could before I had to go grab my seat for the closing ceremony.
Chiang didn’t disappoint. He gave some awesome examples of real-world settings that inspired those in The Mandalorian and Obi-Wan, real buildings that became incorporated into fantastic sci-fi structures, and real vehicles that inspired starships. Plus, he showed concept art for epic moments in the show, some of which never came to fruition, and images of the behind-the-scenes of using their LED surround stage that has been used instead of green screen for some of the epic backgrounds.
It all has to end sometime…closing ceremony is simultaneously my favorite and least favorite moment of Celebration. I never want it to be over, but I also never feel more like I’m among my people. The Celebration crew work hard all weekend to capture footage of all the very best moments, and cut them together into a big montage to send us off. It’s overwhelmingly beautiful to see all the moments that made me happy over the weekend compressed together into a few minutes of film, interspersed with footage of Star Wars fans of all ages, origins, sizes, and shapes laughing, cheering, and living in the moment together. I always cry.
The very, very last act of every Star Wars Celebration is to announce where and when we all get to do this again. I was genuinely not expecting this:
I’d better start saving my pennies and learning Japanese.
And after that entire emotional roller coaster, my trip still wasn’t done!
Now, I headed back into the center of London to meet my parents—who’ve been trekking around Iceland all weekend—for a chance to all explore the city together.
There’s going to be a little bit of culture shock as I shift gears from a galaxy far, far away to a city that’s very, very old. My new hotel is cute and cozy, and mere steps away from St. Paul’s cathedral.
For dinner, we sought out a little pub called Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese. It was rebuilt in 1667 after a fire wiped out most of that part of London. The place was a popular hangout of Charles Dickens, G. K. Chesterton, and Mark Twain (when he visited). The inside was cozy, softly lit, with dark wood and the hallmarks of a building that’s been around for centuries. We had fish and chips, bubble and squeak, and sticky toffee pudding. It was all delicious.
I’m very, very glad I don’t have to go back to the real world yet.
Laura Writes 