Before the dark times.

For over a thousand generations the Jedi Knights were the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic, before the dark times...

Although the Toronto Saber battle has been going on for sometime now I only discovered it three years ago, or maybe I only built up the nerve to attend for the first time three years ago.

My first year attending involved myself and my then nine year old son and it was fantastic!  Being surrounded by like-minded fans who, armed with glowing swords, helped brighten the dark night sky with fun, enthusiasm and laughter.  

It was a evening that words can barely hope to describe.

Come the following October, having listened to my son and I sing its praises for a year, my wife and my eldest son decided to join in on the fun for the 2016 Toronto Glow Sword Battle!  And once again, by the time the evening had come to an end we were all talking about how we couldn't wait for next years event.

Fortunately that time has once again arrived with Saber Battle 2017 taking place tomorrow night, Saturday October 7th, at Toronto's Nathan Phillips Square.  Unfortunately this will also be a sobering event with the organizers announcement that this will be the final Saber Battle in Toronto.

From a fan who has enjoyed each of these events, thank you to newmindspace for all your hard work and effort in bringing a community of fans together to celebrate their shared love of Star Wars. Much like the warriors who have helped to brighten the October night sky, you have in some way brightened the lives of all those fortunate enough to participate in this gathering.

On behalf of the small team that makes up CanGeek.com, I can't recommend enough that if your reading this, you make the effort to go out and get involved in tomorrow night's event. As it draws to a close it will be sad, like saying a final goodbye to an old friend, but I wouldn't miss it for the world.

Thanks for reading.

Is the USS Discovery controlled by section thirty-one?

I've always felt like Section thirty-one is highly under utilized in the Star Trek Universe, but maybe that's about to change.

This past Sunday was make or break day for me with Star Trek: Discovery, having watched the series premiere I was left feeling a sense of hopelessness and concern with the direction this new series was taking. Last week I blogged that this was not the Star Trek of my youth, and at the time that seemed like a negative, but not so much anymore because context is for kings!

From the Battlestar Galactica reboot to Babylon 5, I've always enjoyed my science fiction a little on the dark side, maybe that's why Star Trek appealed to me because it was a shining light at the end of a very dark tunnel. This would also help to explain my initial reaction to this much darker take on the universe that Gene Roddenberry created.

However with the introduction of the Discovery and Captain Lorca, my outlook began to change, because Jason Issacs is a master at portraying dark and evil characters - and make no mistake about it the character of Lorca screams section thirty-one! 

Michael Burnham was on her way to a Federation penal colony to serve a life sentence for her actions aboard the USS Shenzhau, however her shuttle was intercepted by the Discovery because Lorca had need of her expertise. Burnham was once again assisting with what can only be assumed to be top secret research, and taking part in an away mission to recover critical data to that research.

Once the away mission had concluded Burnham was offered the opportunity to remain on Discovery by Lorca, who then sent the shuttle and its three other passengers on their way to their final destination - or did he?

Could it be that Starfleet is unaware of Michael Burnham's presence on the USS Discovery? At the beginning of the episode when the shuttles pilot was lost to the darkness of space no further mention was made of it. Assuming that Captain Lorca is indeed section thirty-one then he would do whatever he felt necessary to achieve his goals, such as destroying a transport shuttle so that its occupants are perceived deceased.

And with the transport of a hostel life form to the Discovery by her chief of security is it safe to assume that Lorca is not the only section thirty-one operative on board, or could the USS Discovery be a black ops vessel fully maned and controlled by section thirty-one?

I said it before, this is NOT the Star Trek of my youth, and now I'm realizing that's not necessarily a bad thing. I'm beginning to enjoy the direction this series seems to be taking and I look forward to seeing just how far down the rabbit hole the shows production team is willing to go.

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