Let’s face it: entertainment these days has grown less and less creative. So much of what we see lately is either rehashed or rebooted. Even Disney’s latest, Jungle Cruise, has its basis in an amusement park ride. That’s why film fans are so excited for Ryan Reynolds’ upcoming adventure, Free Guy, a truly original story. (Stay tuned in the coming days for our spoiler-free review!) Sometimes, however, creativity can still breed contempt. Look no further than Star Wars for that phenomenon. The High Republic is a ripe new era creators can fill with imaginative creatures and characters… instead they gave us “Geode.”

Geode; Star Wars; The High Republic
Image: Jake Bartok for Lucasfilm Ltd.

First, let’s back up a minute and talk about Star Wars creativity, generally. The Mandalorian? Fantastic new content that only nostalgically and tangentially touches on the past. The sequel trilogy? In many respects, that was a clear-cut redo of the original with new characters. The Bad Batch is great, but a continuation of previously told stories. Thus, creativity at Lucasfilm is all over the board. So with Star Wars: The High Republic comes high expectations for something new. In some ways it has delivered (with the Nihil, especially). But… it also gives us Geode, a sentient rock, that, does, well, a whole lot of nothing. It’s literally the pet rock of the galaxy far, far away.

Star Wars misses the mark with Geode

Lucasfilm creative arts manager Phil Szostak made a valiant effort to defend the decision to create a character out of a rock via Twitter:

Love Geode, you might, Phil, but it’s still a rock. Likening the “character” to kyber crystals doesn’t help your argument, either. Kyber crystals at least do something. As Szostak mentions, they power lightsabers and superweapons. They create energy. I.e., they have a point. The High Republic rock, to the contrary, well, let’s just say his (her? its?) purpose remains as unclear as the decision to make a character out of a rock in the first place.

Geode; Star Wars; Marvel; Korg; Taika Waitit
Korg sets the bar for sentient rocks. (Image: Marvel Studios)

Now Taika Waititi’s Korg from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, on the other hand? That, Geode, is how you do a character made of stone. Maybe Waititi will take note of that when his Star Wars film comes to fruition.

Source: Inside the Magic