Rick and Morty is soon returning to the small screens with the remainder of season 6, a run that will undoubtedly feature even crazier adventures with the titular duo, but the sci-fi world woke up to tragic news today as we learned Greg Bear, the prominent author of speculative fiction books in Star Wars, Star Trek, and Halo universes and the co-founder of San Diego Comic-Con, has passed away at the age of 71.
Check out all of this and more in today’s roundup of science fiction news from around online circles.
Greg Bear passes away at the age of 71 after suffering a stroke
One of the most prolific sci-fi writers of the past century and a man who was a geek to his bones has just passed away at the age of 71. Greg Bear penned a number of bestsellers in his life, and even went on to write tie-in books in Star Wars, Star Trek, and Halo. The novel Rogue Planet — bridging the gap between The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones — was his work. He also wrote the Forerunners Saga in the Halo universe.
Bear was also one of the five co-founders of San Diego Comic-Con, the biggest comic book and speculative convention in the world. The creative had been facing a number of health issues, but his most recent stroke hospitalized him, with his wife Astrid Bear now confirming that he has indeed passed away.
Rick and Morty season 6 will feature a gob-smacking cameo from season 4
The sixth season of Rick and Morty officially continued its run today with “Full Meta Jackrick,” which is supposed to be the seventh episode out of the planned 10 outings. Rick has now fixed his portal gun, so we can expect the Smith family to get into all sorts of shenanigans in alternate realities and deep space for the next couple of weeks.
Now, the show’s co-creator Justin Roiland has teased long-time fans of the series by revealing that one of the upcoming episodes will feature a “crazy” cameo from season 3 or 4. “I want to say there’s a really cool, and probably unexpected [cameo.] We go back to something we did in season 4. No, season 3? Was it season 3? I can’t remember what season was it. Well, I don’t even want to say because I don’t want to spoil it.”
Star Wars theory explains how Palpatine kept everyone perfectly obsequious
We have seen Palpatine’s rise to power and even borne witness to his abject cruelty, but is everything that happens in the Imperial rule his fault? A new Star Wars theory involving Andor explains how the big bad may actually be using a canon weather device to keep the Coruscant weather downcast and gloomy so that the people will be more easily brought to heel.
The city planet is — after all — the center of the former Galactic Republic and the beating heart of civilization in the galaxy far, far away. If we were thinking like a totalitarian tyrant, then keeping a close check on the three trillion individuals living in Coruscant would be a priority, lest they come to the undesirable conclusion that they don’t have to tolerate the Imperial rule any longer.