This Monday brought with it the first in a new series of Star Wars online animated shorts. Titled Star Wars: Forces of Destiny, the 16 part microseries will showcase the kickass women of the galaxy far, far away and following on from episode one, “Sands of Jakku,” we now have the second instalment. Titled “BB-8 Bandits,” it continues to flesh out Rey and the little droid’s adventures on the desert world.
As with “Sands of Jakku,” this short fits within the narrative of The Force Awakens. Specifically, between Rey’s rescue of BB-8 from fellow scavenger Teedo and her journey to Niima Outpost to broker a deal with Unkar Plutt. In “BB-8 Bandits,” Teedo tracks Rey and the droid down and attempts to grab BB-8 for scrap once again.
Interestingly, this episode links back in with Monday’s outing, as Rey calls on the help of the junk-eating Nightwatcher Worm to dispatch Teedo and his cronies. It could just be a one-off connection, but this callback does suggest that the episodes centring around one character will be linked together – which could mean that the series will make up a collection of mini-arcs.
“BB-8 Bandits” features Daisy Ridley reprising her role as Rey, while subsequent episodes will see other Star Wars leading ladies take centre stage, like Princess Leia, Ahsoka Tano, Padme Amidala, Jyn Erso and Sabine Wren. As with Ridley, Felicity Jones will also reprise her role of Jyn from Rogue One, while Lupita N’yongo provides the opening voiceover for each episode, in character as The Force Awakens‘ Maz Kanata.
Star Wars: Forces of Destiny can be both viewed online on YouTube and on The Disney Channel, beginning July 9th. Give it a watch up above and be sure to let us know what you think.