With the Star Wars franchise having been going for almost 50 years, it’s no surprise that there would be a lot of different projects with various tones and target audiences. Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures is definitely aimed for the younger side of the fandom, but it’s still a pretty good show, whether or not you’re a Star Wars fan. This article will talk about the holiday episodes for the show to show how good it is. Those holiday episodes involve Dunkutu Day and Life Day, the franchise equivalents to Thanksgiving and Christmas. The former holiday is even about being thankful for all you have. Before that though, let me tell you what the show is all about and my thoughts on it.
Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures is a 2023 show that came out on Disney Junior and Disney Plus, fittingly enough, on May 4, 2023. The show takes place over 200 years before the original Star Wars movies during the High Republic era, and is produced by Wild Canary and Lucasfilm. The series is developed by Michael Olson (who worked on Puppy Dog Pals), Shellie Kvilvang O’Brien (who worked on The Powerpuff Girls 1998 and Puppy Dog Pals), Lamont Magee (who worked on the Black Lightning show), and Lucasfilm executive producers Josh Rimes and James Waugh. The show focuses on a trio of younglings named Kai Brightstar (first voiced by Jamaal Avery Jr before later getting replaced during late season 1 by JeCobi Swain), Lys Solay (voiced by Juliet Donenfeld), and Nubs (voiced by Dee Bradley Baker), with their mechanic friend Nash Durango (voiced by Emma Berman) sometimes tagging along. Together, the three heroes live on the Jedi temple at Tenoo where they’re trained by Master Zia (voiced by Nasim Pedrad) in lessons about cooperation and teamwork as they go out on all sorts of adventures.
Let me just say that I love this show a lot. I really do. Admittedly, it’s more from being a Disney Junior fan and not as much as Star Wars fan since I’m more a casual Star Wars viewer (I never even heard of the High Republic era before this show was announced), but there’s still plenty of fun for everyone. One thing I like about the show is that it’s the first Disney Junior show to also be a Disney Plus original. This means embracing both the likable characters, positive messages, and wholesomeness found in many preschool shows as well as the more relaxed standards of streaming that can allow for something with a bit more maturity and intensity. The young characters are all pretty good. Kai is an impulsive, but well meaning kid who just wants to be a hero. Lys is a level headed and compassionate animal lover. Nubs is basically like a little brother with how he’s pretty strong and energetic yet also sensitive. Nash is someone who has quite the spunky demeanor who’s there to lend a hand. They’re all really good. The show has had four holiday episodes so far. Season 1 has “The Harvest Feast” and “Life Day” while season 2 (which came out back in August, and still has new episodes coming) has “The Great Gomgourd Quest” and “The Missing Life Day Feast”. Let’s talk about the episodes now.
1. The Harvest Feast
Let’s start with “The Harvest Feast”, which is written by Rick Williams and directed by Casey Lowe. The episode involves our Jedi trio helping a father named Tey (voiced by Jake Green) and his daughter Fiorna (voiced by Lena Josephine Marano) prepare for a Dunkutu Day feast on Omaka. However, we find out that the father has a feud with Grandpa Roog (voiced by Christopher McDonald), and they try to reunite with them. We have an episode with a primary message on being able to communicate and work things out. We also have a secondary message on how tradition is good, but you shouldn’t be afraid to mix things up sometimes. Both work pretty well.
There’s a lot about the episode that works pretty well. A good example comes from the opening, where we see our Jedi trio helping out Tey and Fiorna get ready for the feast. Kai brings up how it would be easier to carry heavy vegetables with droids until Tey and Fiorna (mostly Tey) say how it’s tradition to do things by hand. Kai respects this, and everyone helps out the old fashioned way. It’s a nice moment showing how everyone has great respect for each other even when there’s disagreements. Tey comes across as pretty nice and reasonable, with Fiorna having quite the heart for following her family. It makes the next scene more of a surprise, where he sees that droids are causing at the feast, and he immediately thinks Grandpa Roog. It builds up a nice sense of intrigue as you wonder how someone as nice as him can be this disdainful of a family member. We then find out from Fiorna that her father and grandfather got into an argument during the last Dunkutu Day, and aren’t on speaking terms with each other. That definitely adds context to why he’s like this. Of course, Fiorna wants her whole family together while also not wanting the chaos to continue, showing how she can keep her priorities straight despite what’s happening around her. It’s with this where our young Jedi trio come to try and convince him to come.
When it comes to introducing Grandpa Roog, the episode does a pretty good job with him too. Sure, he is immediately introduced telling everyone to get out when he thinks they’re trespassing, but then softens up a bit when finding out that they’re friends with Fiorna. It helps convey that he’s someone who does show some value his family. We then see why he and Tey stopped talking to each other. He made droids to help pick out gomgourds since he’s too old to physically help out by himself. This helps build some sympathy for him because of how he wants to help out, but just didn’t convey his intentions clearly when they messed up. Plus, we see more of his reasonable side when he goes back with the Jedi when they save his droids from falling off a cliff.
Things go pretty well at the end, though it’s not easy. The droids cause havoc, and Tey and Roog still aren’t on good terms with each other. However, they do forgive each other when explaining the situation. Plus, when deciding to hold the feast at Roog’s home, Tey says how they can repair the droids to help next year, and that doing some new things isn’t bad. That ends the episode pretty well.
2. Life Day
Up next, we have “Life Day”, which is written by Katie Kaniewski and directed by Anthony Bell. This episode involves our Jedi trio, Masted Zia, and Master Yoda (voiced in this show by Piotr Michael) going to Kashyyyk to celebrate Life Day with the Wookies. However, Lys accidentally loses their special orb decoration and tries getting it back. The episode gives a really solid message on how holidays are best spent with loved ones, and you shouldn’t feel personally obligated to fix everything that goes wrong in order to show your love.The episode definitely works by putting Lys into the spotlight. You see this most notably in the beginning, with how she’s shown to have befriended one of the Wookies, who she nicknames Jo. We see some cute moments of them bonding almost like sisters.
The fact that Lys even learned their language fits with how episodes like “Visitor’s Day” show how she wants to go above and beyond to please others. There’s this sense of personal obligation that she feels in trying to get the orb back. She’s actually quite determined to the point of messing up quite a bit. Her impulse is similar to Kai’s impulse when he feels strongly about something. It feels believable coming from her given how she has very strong compassion for others, and sometimes can’t think straight when her feelings are very strong. She’s not one to tolerate anything bad if she’s responsible for it in some way.There’s a scene near the end that I want to point out. Just as Lys gets the orb back, she sees that it’s broken. This would understandably make her sad, but it’s taken a step further. She actually sounds like she’s on the verge of tears, which is so unlike her. She’s had sad moments before, but not to this extent. You can definitely tell that things went horribly wrong. Of course, things do get a bit better. Lys tells the chief what happened, and while surprised, is also very understanding of her mistake. The chief then gives a speech basically saying how Life Day is important, not because of decorations, but because of how it celebrates the bonds you have with your loved ones. Given how the show emphasizes love and friendship, probably moreso compared to other Star Wars projects, this feels very sincere. The ending also works, where Jo puts the damaged orb in the tree, and then all the orbs light up. One would probably ask “How would this work?”. You don’t question the moment. You just take in how sweet it is to see. It’s a nice way to end the episode.
Now we move onto season 2, which is certainly different, but still good. It introduces a new Padawan named Wes Vinik (voiced by Gunnar Sizemore), who acts as a surrogate big brother to the Jedi trio. It also makes The Ganguls into more prominent villains. Now, let’s get into these episodes.
3. The Great Gomgourd Quest
Up next, we have “The Great Gomgourd Quest”, which is written by Cavan Scott and directed by Casey Lowe. This episode has the Jedi, along with Wes, returning to Omaka for Dunkutu Day. When a bunch of kroop birds take the gomgourds, Fiorna, Nubs, and the droid HM-7, go on a quest to get some more. So yeah, that’s a dynamic I never thought I’d see. Then again, season 2 has been more experimental with its its storytelling, which includes some character dynamics not seen before, and it works pretty well. There’s a solid message about how the holidays are still good when spent with others, even if not everything is there.
This episode is interesting in how Fiorna is written. They seem to highlight more of her being kind of impulsive. She’s the one that’s most insistent on going through with the adventure despite Nubs not being fully onboard with this. A good example would be when some of the fruit they collect falls over, and she wants to keep going despite him being reluctant. Fiorna wants to get food from the gomgourd patch even with the kroop birds being present despite potential danger. Some would say this behavior is out of left field, but I think it works. When you look at her debut, she was mainly reserved, and didn’t try too much to intervene in the conflict so that she wouldn’t lose both of her family members. Now that she has them both reunited, we get to see more of how she is with a more stable family foundation. She’s still as kind and caring as possible. She’s just really letting her feelings cloud her better judgement. Even if she makes foolish choices, she’s at least still trying to do something for others.
The ending definitely helps wrap things up pretty well. As everyone goes to find the kids, Fiorna apologizes for what she did. They don’t take it too hard since they’re just happy to see her. They even bring up how what they have doesn’t matter as much as being together. That’s pretty nice to see. It’s a good way to show that fancy, material possessions aren’t that important so long as the love for others shines through. That’s a sweet way to end the episode.
4. The Missing Life Day Feast
To finish things off, we have “The Missing Life Day Feast”, which is written by Brian Hall and directed by Shellie Kvilvang O’Brien. It’s an episode all about The Ganguls. The episode has the Jedi returning to Kashyyyk to celebrate Life Day with Jo and her brother Rudi. Of course, things get complicated when the leader Sellaacc (voiced by Grey DeLisle) wants her nephew Daynaal (voiced by Judd Goodstein) to take everything from the Life Day Feast with her. The problem is that he doesn’t want to do that since he’s not bad. The episode goes for a solid message about how showing compassion for others is a strength, not a weakness.
This episode is interesting in how much it mirrors Sellaacc’s debut in “The Ganguls”. Both episodes focus on Sellaacc getting a largely well meaning kid who’s rather reluctant to be a thief, but has no choice in the matter on what to do. Both episodes even involve turning on her at some point. Fortunately, this episode manages to stand out from that episode. The episode shows a family clash between Daynaal and Sellaacc when it comes to sentimentality. Sellaacc comes to see anything related to sentimentality as something that’s weak, and shouldn’t be worth celebrating. This fits for her character given how she’s incredibly cruel to others, and just barely shows decency when working with someone whose interests align with hers. She’s power hungry, and will do anything to keep it that way. Contrast with Daynaal, who’s actually quite sweet. He keeps questioning if this is really good, and says how it’s not too bad to be decent. I find this to be quite fitting given how the show has established how not all pirates are bad. Some are decent people who just need some guidance, like Chigg for example. You can definitely feel for him as it feels like he has to compromise who he is as a person just for the sake of making others happy.
Of course, the episode shows that while Daynaal is very nice and sensitive, he’s not someone to be messed with. This is best shown during the second half of the episode, where the Ganguls come across the Jedi, unsurprisingly leading to a clash. When he has them cornered, he pretends to guard them and tells Sellaacc to get everything else ready. He actually goes to free them and ask them for her help. Even if he can be a bit devious, he’s much more willing to help people when need be. This actually helps with the ending. When Sellaacc is about to cut down the tree, Daynaal stands up to her, and says how this isn’t right. Seeing him, and the rest of the people coming in to stand her up actually convinces her to leave, albeit not too crushed by her own nephew standing up to her. Some would wonder what would happen to Daynaal given how he doesn’t seem to have a home to go to, but he does at least have friends to help steer him on the right path. It’s a nice ending.
And that’s my review of all the holiday episodes of Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures. These episodes were definitely a lot of fun, and had some good heart to them. I’m not sure how I’d rank them, but I do gravitate towards the Life Day episodes more. And that’s all I have. What do you think of the episodes, and the show as a whole? Feel free to comment.
