by Joe Iconic, Reporter

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 Force-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!

LEGO Star Wars: The New Yoda Chronicles collects season two of the Lego Star Wars: The Yoda Chronicles.  Set in the time after the first Death Star was destroyed, Luke Skywalker and his friends embark on a new quest, with series favorites returning, and humor all around.

Episode Highlights:

“Escape from the Jedi Temple” – Luke gets his friends into some trouble and Yoda and the ghost of Obi-Wan decide they need to take his training to another level.
“Race for the Holocrons” – Luke searches for the sacred crystal Holocrons that could help him complete his training.
“Raid on Coruscant” – Luke raids the Coruscant to get the Holocrons back from the emperor.
“Clash of the Skywalkers” – The Emperor sends Darth Vader and his whole force to destroy Luke and recover the Holocrons.

Bonus Features:              

Alternate Ending: “Clash of the Skywalkers.” In this alternate version, will Luke win against the Sith Lord or will Vader be victorious?

Familiar Voices and Laughter for All:

For a treat to fans, Anthony Daniels returns to voice C-3PO, and Billy Dee Williams returns as Lando Calrissian.  Series regulars Tom Kane returns as Yoda, and Matt Sloan returns as Darth Vader. The humor in the first series also returns, with some really great moments.   On the scale of Star Wars parody, LEGO Star Wars: The New Yoda Chronicles ranks with Adult Swim’s Robot Chicken, yet safer for the entire family.  These episodes also stays truer to the Star Wars storylines than many of the LEGO movies that mixed genres and different movie worlds.

Overall:

LEGO Star Wars: The New Yoda Chronicles has a genius in its design, meeting the common ground on that Venn Diagram of fans of Lego and Star Wars fans.  The escalation of All Things Star Wars before the upcoming Star Wars: The Force Awakens movie is a wonderful, exciting, and brilliant thing to watch for all Star Wars fans, whether brand new padawans or older nerf-herders.   Parents, for the first time ever, have choices on which way they chose to pass on their love of Star Wars to the next generation.   LEGO Star Wars: The New Yoda Chronicles is kid-friendly, relatable animation, and humorous for all.  Star Wars fans, long starving for new material, now have a buffet of choices, from Star Wars: Rebels to the new digital release of all six movies, to the new line of toys which came out recently on Force Friday.  Still not enough?  There is the incredible ongoing Marvel Comics series by gifted Jason Aaron (Thor, Doctor Strange), one of the rising stars of the industry.  The Force is truly with us, in great quality, and in great variety.

That said, LEGO Star Wars: The New Yoda Chronicles is not the best jumping on point.  It is highly recommended to start with LEGO Star Wars: The Yoda Chronicles, which is the first season.  Otherwise, the very first episode, Escape from the Jedi Temple, is full of new characters with very little background.  For those who have seen the first episodes, they will be rewarded with Jek-14 and other great characters from the previous episodes.

Also, LEGO Star Wars: The New Yoda Chronicles is of course non-canonical. For the purist, this may not be the Star Wars you are looking for.  However, LEGO Star Wars: The New Yoda Chronicles gives wonderful references to the original movies, and has some interesting parallels with the ongoing comics.  In Star Wars #9, Luke is dealing with the same Holocrons that are central to the plot of these episodes.   Battle-ready C-3PO can be viewed at least as a distant echo of the murderous protocol droid introduced in the ongoing Star Wars Darth Vader series.  So for being non-canonical fun, it has a surprising amount of references to canon, both new and emerging.  LEGO Star Wars: The New Yoda Chronicles is lighter fun, and a great choice for sharing with the family.

Rating:
ComicsOnline gives LEGO Star Wars: The New Yoda Chronicles 5 out of 5 scruffy Nerf Herders.

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