The Fanon Menace/Season 2

The Fanon Menace: Season 2 followed (loosely) the storyline of Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope, Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, and Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. During the season, Princess Leia was kidnapped and freed, the Death Star battle station was destroyed twice, the Jedi Order was reborn, and the Dark Lord of the Sith's apprentice, the notorious Darth Vader was redeemed to the light side of the Force.

Above the lonely planet of Tatooine, a space battle raged. The dark forces of the Galactic Domain had lost the Death Star plans, and they intended to retake them. Unable to find what they were looking for, the Domain retreated to the Death Star battle station, taking with them the Rebel leader, Princess Leia. Meanwhile, in an attempt to return a pair of droids to the Rebellion, a young farm boy, a rather crazy old Jedi Master, and a brash smuggler and his Wookiee companion rescue her from her predicament. The resulting conflict saw the destruction of the Death Star, but also cause the relocation of the Rebel base. This base was quickly discovered by the Domain and evacuated, and Luke Skywalker, now a crucial component in the Rebellion, travelled to the planet of Dagobah to complete his Jedi training. Upon the rash advice of his mentors, he travelled to Cloud City on Bespin, where he lost his lightsaber and right hand, and where the smuggler Han Solo was turned into carbonite. After having a cybernetic replacement for his hand installed, Luke, accompanied by Chewbacca, Leia, and their new friend, Lando Calrissian, freed Han from the clutches of the vile crimelord Jabba the Hutt. Succeeding in that, the heroes returned, Luke to Dagobah to finish his training, the others back to Rebel Headquarters, only to find that they were required to destroy the Death Star II. Luke returned just in time for the end of the briefing, and a small strike team assembled to hit the shield bunker on Endor. After the shield was destroyed, Luke decided to turn himself in so that he could duel Vader and achieve the status of True Jedi. He succeeded, and the Death Star II was destroyed by his counterparts in space. The season ended with a huge celebration with the Ewoks on Endor.

Preface
"A dark day in Star Wars history just got darker…"

- tagline for The Fanon Menace: Season 2

After the formation of the Galactic Domain nineteen years earlier, the galaxy fell into darkness under the rule of Darth Sidious and his apprentice Darth Vader. Many planets fell into subjection under the Domain and were forced to join in order to provide protection. Other planets were conquered, while other remote planets remained unharmed. On one such remote planet, Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi hid among the locals as a hermit, watching over one of the galaxy’s final hope.

On another planet, one that was suffering from the force of the Domain, Leia Organa, the Senator from Alderaan, joined forces with other struggling senators to form a resistance to the Domain, her father one of them. She became the chief advocate in the senate for the move back to the democracy of the old Republic. It was because of her demanding presence in the senate that she became subject to attack.

During this period, Darth Sidious’ true identity as a Culprit was revealed. There were many claims about him being one previous to what happened in his chambers on Naboo, however, no one sought to take action against him. Most claims were shot down by the opposition, claiming that if Sidious was a Culprit, then Darth Vader had to be the second. This was proven false because he became Vader after the facts had already been tampered with. Despite the opposition, the two Jedi still sought answers, only more discretely than before, due to an aura of resentment towards the Jedi. During their search, the two Jedi were led to a small cruiser under attack by the Domain above the remote planet of Tatooine.

Part I - A True Mope
Part I of Season 2 of The Fanon Menace followed Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope. The season opened on the Tantive IIVI, where the crew had just attempted to repel a Domain invasion. Princess Leia hid the plans in a place where not even the notorious Darth Vader could find them. The Dark Lord, frustrated by his inability to find the stolen plans, kidnapped Leia and took her to the massive Death Star battle station, where she was scheduled to be terminated because she refused to divulge the location of the plans.

Meanwhile, on the small planet of Tatooine, a young farm boy, named Luke Skywalker, found two mysterious droids, which led him to Obi-Wan "Ben" Kenobi, a strange old hermit, who gave the young lad a lightsaber and began his training as a Jedi Knight. After dragging his would-be mentor from the Mos Eisley cantina onto the Millennium Falcon, a decrepit old YT-1300 freighter, the group of now four individuals and two droids travelled to Alderaan…or so they thought. Han Solo, the navigator, made a slight error on his hyperspace calculations and wound up in an asteroid field about 30 parsecs from Alderaan. This was conveniently the same asteroid field that the Death Star had taken up temporary residence.

The Millennium Falcon was captured by one of the tractor beams, but the stalwart crew escaped before they were detected. They regrouped in a control room outside the hangar, where Obi-Wan decided that he would disable the tractor beam so that they could escape. Luke, Han, and Chewie went to the detention block, where they freed Leia and made a daring escape from the battle station, leaving Obi-Wan, who became one with the Force in his practice duel with Darth Vader, behind.

When they arrived on Yavin IV, where the Rebel base was located, they were greeted by Mon Mothma and Bail Organa. There they were informed that the Domain had tracked Bail's ship, and the Death Star was very near. Luke was drafted into the starfighter corps of the Rebellion, and wound up taking the battle station out with a well-placed proton torpedo.

Part II - The Domain Cancels Out
Part II of Season 2 of the Fanon Menace followed Star Wars: Epsiode V: The Empire Strikes Back. The opening scene found Luke Skywalker and Wedge Antilles in their X-wing starfighters, scouting the ice planet Hoth for potential bases. They discovered a prefabricated base that they could have, built by Han Solo and Chewie, who were stranded there due to nav system breakdown, for the small price of allowing Han to stay with the Rebellion. Reluctantly, Luke agreed and landed, while Wedge returned to the Rebel fleet to report their discovery.

The base was short-lived, however, as the Domain discovered it shortly after the Rebels did, and planned an attack. The shield held the fleet off, and while the Domain sent AT-ATs, AT-STs, and IFT-Ts to take the shield down, the generator was well hidden, and General Veers was left searching for it for hours before giving up. In the meantime, the Rebels escaped, Han, Leia, Chewie, and C-3PO in the Millennium Falcon, Luke and R2-D2 in Luke’s X-wing, and Mon Mothma and the rest of the Rebellion in the transports. Luke travelled to Dagobah to continue his Jedi training while the crew of the Falcon experienced hyperdrive troubles and ducked into the asteroid field near Hoth to make quick repairs.

The asteroid that C-3PO picked for their repairs turned out disastrous. First, while Han was fixing the engines, he realized that he had left his spare hydrospanner on Hoth, and that his main set was with his old friend, Lando Calrissian on Bespin. Then they made the incredible discovery that they had landed not in a cave, but the mouth of a record-size space slug, and barely escaped, only to fly out of the asteroid field and into a Star Destroyer. With some quick thinking on Han's part, they managed to fly out with the garbage, fooling all on the Star Destroyer but Admiral Thrawn and Boba Fett. The Falcon and her crew limped to Bespin, taking an entire hour to get there, rather than the five minutes it would have taken by hyperdrive.

Meanwhile, Luke had arrived on Dagobah to continue his training under the tutelage of Master Yoda. He passed the first test with a little help from a friend, John, and started his training. He was well on his way to becoming a Jedi Knight when Yoda and Obi-Wan saw a possible future on Bespin, and sent him off to fix it. As a result, he dueled Vader, losing his right hand, and, more importantly, his lightsaber, in the process.

Leia and Han wound up having dinner with Vader, Leia's father, before Han was frozen in carbonite and taken away by Boba Fett, who was going to collect the bounty on his head, placed there by Jabba the Hutt. In a vain effort to free their friend, Leia, Lando, and Chewie, with the help of Lobot, freed themselves from the Domain stormtroopers and escaped in the Falcon. They were trying to leave the planet when they ran into a cloud bank and wound up underneath the city again, where Leia accidentally caught Luke as he fell from his duel.

With the whole gang together again (with the exception of Han) and the hyperdrive fixed, the crew of the Falcon returned to fleet, where they expected to drop off Luke, Leia, and the droids before continuing on to Tatooine to rescue Han from the clutches of the evil crimelord. However, things did not go quite as planned…

Part III - Return of the Cheddar
After discovering that Luke, Leia, R2-D2, and C-3PO had accidentally stowed away on the Millennium Falcon, Lando, Lobot, and Chewie had to change their game plan. The decided plan required the droids to be sent in first, and everyone else later, if the droids failed. The plan would have been foolproof, had R2-D2’s selective memory loss forgotten that he was supposed to be traded to Jabba in exchange for Han, so the droids were kept anyway. Lando and Lobot went into the palace undercover, in the guise of guards, and Leia pretended to deliver Chewie for a bounty. After a heated debate over the price, Leia walked away with 20,000 credits. Shortly after this debate, Luke walked in, escorted by Bib Fortuna. The almost Jedi Knight attempted to Mind Trick Jabba, but failed, and the pair wound up in a rather mindless argument while Leia freed Han from the carbonite. However, the entire group wound up captured and taken to the Sarlacc, where they were scheduled for execution.

Again, things did not go as planned, and the escape attempt almost flopped but for some quick thinking on Leia's part. R2-D2's lightsaber throw missed Luke's outstretched hand and the would-be Jedi fell into the sand. Lando knocked the guards off the skiff and the droids jumped off the sail barge, but things began falling apart when Boba Fett landed on the skiff. Lando fought him hand-to-hand, but was nearly defeated when Leia knocked him off the skiff, next to the guards already disposed of. After picking Luke up, the group left Tatooine, where Luke returned to Dagobah to finish his training and the others returned to the Rebel fleet.

On Dagobah, Luke discovered that the only thing he had left to do before becoming a Jedi Knight was to sign a contract, given to him by Yoda, and duel Darth Vader. It was here that Obi-Wan revealed that Leia was Luke's sister, which Luke was somewhat unsurprised with, since the old Jedi had accidentally given that surprise away at their first meeting. From there, Luke returned to the Rebel fleet, ready for his next assignment.

As luck would have it, Luke arrived just in time to join the assault team whose mission was to destroy the shield bunker protecting the Domain's new superweapon, the Death Star II, located on the Forest Moon of Endor. After arriving, Luke quickly left the main group and turned himself in while the rest of the team blew up the shield bunker. After leading the Domain garrison to the destroyed bunker, Luke was taken to Darth Vader and the Emperor, where he defeated the Dark Lord of the Sith's apprentice. At the moment of extreme peril, Luke was saved by someone completely unexpected, who knocked Sidious into a deep pit, thus temporarily saving the day.

While this was happening, Lando was leading his group into the Death Star II, where they were about to destroy the shield generator once and for all. After a final battle between Lando and Boba Fett, the small task force succeeded in disabling the generator and escaped the battle station. The Rebel Alliance returned to the surface of Endor, where they celebrated their amazing victory with the small, cuddly Ewoks.

Episodes
Episode 1: Escaping the Fist (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3) Episode 2: Crash Landing Episode 3: Hero’s Calling Episode 4: Lost and Confused Episode 5: Obi-Wan’s Home Episode 6: Exploding Developments Episode 7: Cantina Episode 8: Leaving Tatooine Episode 9: Death Star Episode 10: Rescuing the Princess Episode 11: Epic Dual Episode 12: Yavin IV Episode 13: Final Showdown Episode 14: Ceremony Episode 15: Hoth Episode 16: Rescuing Luke Episode 17: Battle of Hoth Episode 18: Fleeing Hoth Episode 19: Asteroid Episode 20: Escaping Death’s Bite Episode 21: Dagobah Episode 22: The Vision Episode 23: Bespin Episode 24: Meal With Vader Episode 25: Confrontations Episode 26: Fleet Assembly Episode 27: Yet to be announced Episode 28: Yet to be announced Episode 29: Yet to be announced Episode 30: Yet to be announced Episode 31: Yet to be announced Episode 32: Yet to be announced Episode 33: Yet to be announced Episode 34: Yet to be announced Episode 35: Yet to be announced Episode 36: Yet to be announced Episode 37: Yet to be announced

Cast

 * Anakin Skywalker....Josh McGraw
 * Bail Organa....Jonathan Racey
 * Beru Lars....Rebekah MacTavish
 * Bib Fortuna....Jonathan Racey
 * Boba Fett....Jonathan Racey
 * Biggs Darklighter....Josh McGraw
 * C-3PO....Seth Hoover
 * Captain Pellaeon....Seth Hoover
 * Captain Piett....Seth Hoover
 * Chewbacca....Jonathan Racey
 * Cleigg Lars....Jonathan Racey
 * Dak Ralter....Jonathan Racey
 * Darth Sidious....Seth Hoover
 * Darth Vader....Seth Hoover
 * Domain Crewman....Jonathan Racey
 * Domain Lieutenant....Josh McGraw
 * Domain Officer....Rebekah MacTavish
 * Domain Pilot....Jonathan Racey
 * Domain Sensor Operator....Joshua McGraw
 * Ewoks....Rebekah MacTavish
 * Frank....Josh McGraw
 * General Dodonna....Josh McGraw
 * General Veers....Seth Hoover
 * Grand Admiral Mitth'raw'nuruodo....Josh McGraw
 * Grand Moff Tarkin....Seth Hoover
 * Han Solo....Seth Hoover
 * Jawa....Jonathan Racey
 * Jabba the Hutt....Jonathan Racey
 * Lando Calrissian....Joshua McGraw
 * Leia Organa Skywalker....Rebekah MacTavish
 * Lobot....Seth Hoover
 * Luke Skywalker....Seth Hoover
 * Mon Mothma....Rebekah MacTavish
 * Obi-Wan "Ben" Kenobi/Force Ghost Obi....Josh McGraw
 * Owen Lars....Jonathan Racey
 * Qui-Gon Jinn....Seth Hoover
 * R2-D2....sound effects
 * Rebel Mercenaries....Joshua McGraw
 * Rebel Pilot....Jonathan Racey
 * Rebel Transport Operator....Rebekah MacTavish
 * Scout trooper....Joshua McGraw
 * TK-421....Josh McGraw
 * TK-422....Seth Hoover
 * Wedge Antilles....Josh McGraw
 * Yoda/John....Seth Hoover

Characters

 * Beru Lars, wife of the owner of the homestead
 * Boba Fett, competent bounty hunter
 * Biggs Darklighter, Luke's long-time friend from the past
 * C-3PO, bringer of bad news
 * Chewbacca, who is afraid of the dark
 * Cleigg Lars, former owner of the homestead
 * Dak Ralter, who hangs around Luke 'cause he thinks he's cool
 * Darth Sidious, the mastermind behind it all
 * Darth Vader, dum-dum-dum-da-dum-dum-da-dum-dum
 * General Dodonna, Santa Clause in disguise
 * General Veers, the good bad-guy general
 * Grand Moff Tarkin, who mixes up his words
 * Han Solo, formerly known as Indiana Jones
 * IG-88, souped-up nice mechanized embodiment of destruction
 * Jabba the Hutt, the creepy slug thing that eats bugs
 * Lando Calrissian, the only good-looking guy around
 * Leia Organa Skywalker, who is sympathetic to stormtroopers
 * Lobot, the brains and brawn of Lando Calrissian, the only good-looking guy around
 * Luke Skywalker, who still has adolescence to go
 * Obi-Wan "Ben" Kenobi/Force Ghost Obi, who can still do an amazing Jedi Backflip
 * Owen Lars, owner of the homestead
 * R2-D2, who has selective memory loss
 * Ryluk Shouja, stud of a background guy in the cantina
 * Stormtroopers, those guys in white who can’t shoot
 * Tesh Vohore, background guy in the cantina
 * TK-421, the omnipresent stormtrooper
 * TK-422, the omnipresent partner of TK-421, the omnipresent stormtrooper
 * Wedge Antilles, Luke’s long-time friend from the future
 * Yoda/John, the dyslexic Jedi Master
 * Bail Organa
 * Captain Pellaeon
 * Captain Piett
 * Domain Crewman
 * Domain Lieutenant
 * Domain Pilot
 * Domain Sensor Operator
 * Grand Admiral Mitth'raw'nuruodo
 * Jawas
 * Mon Mothma
 * Rebel Mercenaries
 * Rebel Transport Operator

Creatures

 * Acklay
 * Krayt dragon
 * Larger-than-live, dripping-with-mucus, green-eyed, sharp-toothed, nerf
 * Mynock
 * Rancor
 * Wampa

Locations

 * Alderaan
 * Dagobah
 * Swamp
 * Yoda's House
 * Endor
 * Domain Shield Generator
 * Ewok-shaped Tree
 * Jungle
 * Tree-shaped Ewok
 * Hoth
 * Frozen Wastelands
 * Han's base
 * Hoth asteroid field
 * Tatooine
 * Anchorhead
 * Dune Sea
 * Homestead
 * Jabba's Palace
 * Junland Wastes
 * Mos Eisley
 * Yavin IV

Vehicles

 * 74-Z speeder
 * All Terrain Armored Transport
 * All Terrain Scout Transport
 * Cloud City Twin-Pod Cloud Car
 * Executor-class Star Dreadnaught (Super Star Destroyer)
 * Firespray-31-class patrol and attack craft
 * IFT-T light tank
 * Imperial I-class Star Destroyer
 * MC80a Cruiser
 * Multi-Troop Transport (modified for hyperspace travel)
 * X-wing starfighter
 * YT-1300 light freighter
 * Y-wing starfighter

Organizations

 * Galactic Domain
 * Remnants of the Jedi Order
 * Rebel Alliance
 * Sith Order

Filming
Principle filming for Season 2 started on August 22, 2008. The filming for Season 2 took on a new look, using a high-definition camcorder to film most of the shots used in the film. The original standard definition camcorder was used, however, briefly. The director also decided to change up the angle of shot, noticing that Season 1 was filmed from more of distance. He rectified this by bring the camcorder closing to the characters as well as lower, not always relying on a tripod for stability, doing what he called, “up-close and personal”. He would often use a binder or another form of a prop to angle the camcorder down, still, without being so far away from the characters.

Music and Sound
The music for Season 2 consisted mainly of tracks from the Original Trilogy composed by John Williams.

Release
The first episode of Season 2 was scheduled to be released on September 19, 2008. A teaser for the season was released about one month before the trailer, which came out a week before the first episode.