Backlash Review - Part 1
Cover of Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi: Backlash
Here is the long-awaited, probably not-much-anticipated recap/review for Allston's latest book, Backlash. I wish I could sing its praises, but even Favorite Author is letting me down a little bit. It's slow, the characters are kind of acting like idiots, and only one J/J scene so far (yes, I realize that last one is a personal preference, but oh well). Under the cut you'll find my thoughts on the first fifteen of thirty-one chapters in the book.
Chapter One
-“Vestara had even cut him, a graze to the cheek and chin that had spattered her with blood-blood she had later tasted, blood she wished she could take a sample of and keep forever as a souvenir.” (4) Oh crap, please don’t tell me that even Star Wars is going all vampire, too.
-“A moment’s distraction, and suddenly Lady Rhea was in four pieces, each drifting in a separate direction, and Vestara was hopelessly outmatched. She had saluted and fled.” (4) Sorry, that’s just a really amusing image to me. Run for your life, but be sure to be respectful first and salute your enemy. What?-“It also meant acquiring sufficient credits to fund a secret, no-way-to-trace-it hypercomm message.” (4) You have to appreciate authors who don’t fall into the trap of turning everything into techno-babble but are able to call a spade a spade in order to keep things moving and not make the reader stop and pull up some definition or schematic of something to understand the store.-“The current location of the Jedi school was not known. Hapes was ruled by an ex-Jedi and was rumored to harbor more Force-sensitives, but it was such a security-conscious civilization that Vestara doubted that she could accomplish her mission there in secrecy.” (5) Those of you who still actually read the books, feel free to correct me, but I thought the Lost Tribe of the Sith, from which Vestara hails, were oblivious to galactic affairs of the last few centuries if not eons. Granted, you could argue that they could pick up some nuances in the Force, but how would Vestara know about the Jedi School’s location being a secret and about Tenel Ka? I could very well be missing something, but this is kind of weird to me.
-“[Han] waved a hand between her eyes and the console monitor. ‘Hey.’
[Leia] barely reacted to his presence. ‘Hm.’
‘New message?’
‘From Ben.’
‘Another letter filled with teenage talk, I assume. Girls, speeders, allowance woes-‘” (5) Ahh, another generation of Skywalker whining. Makes me think of Luke wanting to go to the Tosche Station to pick up some power converters. Which makes me think of Robot Chicken’s sketch about what he actually meant about that. Oh, and for the record, Leia clarifies that Ben’s message is telling them about running into some Sith.
-“Han tried to keep his voice calm, but the last Sith to bring trouble to the galaxy had been Jacen Solo, his and Leia’s eldest son.” (6) Shouldn’t that be elder son? Was there a third son we don’t know about? Sorry, little things like that bug me.
-Crap, now Allston is using “barvy”. Dude, you are my last hope for continuing this series. Please don’t fall into the vat of suckiness that has consumed all the either current EU authors (sans Stover).
-“’She somehow scammed a port worker into thinking she’d paid for a complete refueling when she hadn’t-‘
Luke smiled. ‘”The Force can have a-“’
‘Yeah, so can a good-looking girl.’” (8) I’m glad Ben has inherited his mother’s sense of using other means than the Force to reach an end.
-Luke and Ben figure out that Vestara is heading to Dathomir. Luke is now giving a brief tutorial on the planet, and I realize that it might be necessary since we haven’t really been here since the YJK series or Courtship of Princess Leia, but would Ben of all people really need to know this? Hasn’t he been around Tenel Ka enough to know about the home of the rancors?
Chapter Two
-And speaking of rancors, it only took us till the start of the second chapter to find Luke being attacked by one. One downside of ROTJ, I mentally picture the following action scene in claymation miniature and other crappy special effects that seemed totally amazing the year I was born.
-Love the father/son banter and the fact that Ben has his mother’s sense of humor:
“’A Jedi without a lightsaber-‘
‘Is a lot less dashing to the girls.’
‘Not what I was going to say, but probably true.’” (18)
For clarity’s sake: while doing battle with the rancor, Luke sensed that it was being controlled by a Force-user. Sure enough, a Dathomiri witch pops out long enough to start a lightening storm that fries all of their electronics and lightsabers before she disappears again.
-I really like the dynamic duo of Jaina and Cilghal:
“’Jedi Skywalker has informed us-and I point out that, because it comes from young Ben, it is no violation of the Grand Master’s terms of exile-‘
‘You’re splitting hairs.’
‘I have no hairs to split. Young Ben informs us that the dark side of the Force is powerfully represented in the Maw cluster, and the Sith are at large again in the galaxy.’
‘What?’
‘Sith. Your uncle and cousin fought them. But these do not follow the Sith Rules of Two. They apparently follow a Sith rule of However Many They Need.’” (19)
-And now Leia is explaining to Allana/Amelia that once upon a time her grandpa (no, not Han, the other one) was going to marry Leia. Because the child’s sense of family isn’t screwed up enough.
-Explanation of what happened to Zekk (aka the book that was supposed to be written condensed into a paragraph): “Zekk had been their daughter’s mission partner-and Jagged Fel’s rival for her affections-until a couple of years earlier, when he went missing in action during the Battle of Uroro Station. After a weeks-long search, the Solos and the entire Jedi Order had finally given up and declared him dead… only to have him show up six months later, fully recovered and romantically involved with an agent of the Hapan throne, Taryn Zel. Neither Zekk nor Taryn would discuss what had passed during those six months-or why Taryn had neglected to inform the Jedi of his survival-but Leia thought it likely they had been on a mission for Allana’s mother, Queen Mother Tenel Ka.” (21-22)
-Love the difference between Allston and Denning. Allston actually cares about Han (or rather Leia making sure Han is) saying appropriate things in front of his young granddaughter:
“Allana’s eyes went wide. ‘Alone?’ she gasped, looking up from the cockpit captain’s seat. ‘Have you guys gone barvy? I’m eight.’
‘So?’ Han shrugged. ‘When I was your age-‘
‘Han!’ Leia shook her head. ‘You don’t need to give her any ideas.’
Han scowled. ‘Come on, she’d never-‘
‘She might,’ Leia insisted.” (24)
For the record, Han mentioned earlier in the page that when he was eight he was stealing his first starship. Han and Leia are leaving Allana alone with 3PO (and Zekk and his new Hapan chick on lookout nearby) alone in the Falcon while they go look for Luke. I’m not sure how I feel about this or all the italicized words in that dialogue and the couple of bits that follow it.
-Han and Leia meet up with a team of natives who will help them find Luke and Ben. One of them, a huge man named Carrack, introduces himself by saying the witches like signs of power so he’s around to blow stuff up. Oh, I miss the Wraiths. Can we go back in time and let Allston write two or six of those books? Pretty please?
-“Her accent, though, was pure backcountry Corellian: ‘Yliri Consta. I’m your lead driver.’
Han snorted. ‘I’m my lead driver.’ Then he frowned. ‘You look a lot like…’ He struggled for a moment for the name, then he had it. ‘Sarita Consta, the holodrama star.’
‘My older sister. I used to do stunt work for her. When she switched to comedy, working for her became just too boring.’
Leia nodded, sympathetic. ‘I felt the same way when Han switched to comedy.’
Han glowered at her. ‘Hey.’” (27) Was that a dig at Harrison Ford or am I reading too much into this?
Chapter Three
-We open with Jag walking into his quarters and unbuttoning his shirt. We all have those fictional characters that we wish were real, and this mine. So give me a minute to enjoy this… ok, we’re good now.
-Jag moves into a secret chamber off his bedroom where he houses his personal flight simulator. He seals himself in to release some stress, puts on his helmet, and notices and odd, sweet smell. He throws off the helmet and he’s locked inside the simulator. Woe to those who try to capture/kill my fictional boyfriend. Bad things are going to happen to you. Like him shooting you in your kneecaps. He manages to take down six bad guys dressed as stormtroopers before his guards arrive.
-Jag has a Chiss attendant (Ashik). Cool, but I wish they’d brought Shawnkyr back.
-“Jaina sat while Jag paced. ‘It’s all pretty much according to formula.’
On the sofa, maddeningly calm in contrast with Jag’s nervous energy, Jaina looked confused. ‘Whose formula?’
‘Oh, there’s got to be a book or file somewhere. Conspiracy, A Methodology, by Emperor Palpatine, annotated by Ysanne Isard, with a foreword by the Warlord Zsinj. The best selling resource for plotters for the last three decades. Don’t you think?’” (33-34 ) First, I like the little role reversal here of Jaina being the calm one and Jag being a ball of energy. And I’d totally by that book. Probably just for shelf decoration. I’m scared of what it would do to my mental state if I read it.
-Allow me some fun with posting J/J banter:
“’You took out six armored veterans trying to kill you. That’s very, well, Imperial.’
Jag snorted. ‘My deputy minister of trade, perishable goods, was in the suite above mine. I shot her in the foot while she was entertaining a guest. Not so very Imperial.’
‘Well, that’s not what everyone is talking about.’
‘Good.’ Finally somewhat calmed, Jag moved across to sit beside her. ‘I just don’t know if I can pull this off, though. Hold things together long enough for the Empire and Alliance to reunite, and beyond. Effect any sort of change.’
Jaina shrugged. ‘Think about what you have accomplished. You’ve saved lives. You’ve maintained the honor of the Fel family name and brought it into a new generation. And you’ve shot a deputy minister in the foot.’
Despite himself, he grinned. ‘Couldn’t let that one go, could you?’
‘You could start a whole new Imperial custom. “Dance, fool, dance!” Zap, zap, zap! “Ow, my toe!”’
‘Just keep quiet, will you?’” (35)
Chapter Four
-Daala is now contemplating whether or not the course of action she’s taking against the Jedi is the right one. And honestly, I’m not sure whether it is or not or what the path should be.
-Allana is talking with her Mom while waiting for Han and Leia to return on Dathomir. I realize this isn’t the side of the family tree they need to be most concerned about, but it’s one of them. I can’t imagine giving up a child to be raised by someone else, but shouldn’t they be a little more careful about all of this? I don’t understand what this whole setup actually is.
-And, yes, we have Anji the Nexu travelling with us. Goody. And now she’s mad because Leia promised the next tie they went to Dathomir, Leia would let Allana ride a freaking rancor. And here they are, and Leia ditched her without any mention of rancor-riding. Ugh.
-Yay for some quality 3PO and R2 banter. They are, after all, the quintessential prissy wife/exasperated husband duo.
-One of Daala’s military chiefs calls her out on not charging Niathal. Daala says the Mon Cal’s only mistake was trusting Jacen. Military guy (Jaxton) says that that’s all Skywalker did, too. Daala argues that Niathal’s case is different because “she’s one of us”-meaning she’s a naval military officer. Jaxton says people think she’s making an exception and trying to set a precedent so that if Daala ever screws up, they won’t prosecute her (a Chief of State who came up through the military and is female) either. Jaxton says she needs to put Niathal to a military tribunal with impartial judges who, odds are, will acquit her and then Daala can start moving on.
Chapter Five
-It seems with each book I find less and less of a reason to believe in the Force as something special. Here, the witches are using the Force by “casting spells”, and while I’m sure this has come up before when events took place on Dathomir, it’s just one more thing in my mind to decrease the specialness of the Force. There’s always some new magic trick (no pun intended) that can be accomplished with the Force. Wouldn’t surprise me in the future if you can use it to do stupid little things like peel an apple. I guess I’m just growing weary of its deus ex machina-ness. I want to see some limits placed on it.
-Han pulls some risky maneuver with the landspeeder to make a surprise entrance to the witches who are attacking Luke and Ben with flying rocks and boulders. “…Han decided that only a handful of pilots could have pulled off such a maneuver. Himself, Jaina, Luke, Wedge, Tycho. That was it.” (59) While I adore all of the characters just listed, all but one of them is approaching or past the age of sixty at this point in time. And, yes, I know the claims that “sixty is the new forty” in this series, but can you honestly tell me that their reflexes aren’t a tad bit slower than what they used to be? I realize that you need heroes in a series, but this is a galaxy with trillions and trillions of people, and only five people could do that? Shady.
Chapter Six
-Jag’s kidnapping wasn’t planned by one of the Moffs (which he correctly assumed) but by a Kuati senator named Haydnat Treen because she wants Moff Lecersen (the one who put together the smear campaign on Jaina and Jag’s relationship) to be Emperor. For the record I think this may be (although I could be totally wrong) the first time we’ve seen the E-word mentioned in these books. One more step closer to the Legacy comics?
-The Kuati senator wants the old Empire restored. She’s okay with women having power, but she doesn’t like Daala because she’s promoted aliens “far, far past their level of competence. She clearly has no sense. Another reason why Fel must go, of course. Despite his ancestry, he’s Chiss on the inside. Not at all human.” (66) So we still hate non-humans, but chicks are cool. Yay, progress!
-Due to some loop holes the Kuati Senator put into place with the latest rounds of Emergency Executive Privileges, her senatorial committee would take control of the budget if those powers were enacted. So her big plan is to dispose of Jag, have Lecersen become Imperial Head of State, spin Daala to look bad in the media and make her resign, use her power over the budget and influence with the military to become Alliance Chief of State, marry Lecersen and become the first Empress of the “reforged Empire”.
-Also in this chapter, Daala calls Niathal to give her a heads-up that the next day she’ll be served with a subpoena and summons to come to Coruscant to face the military tribunal. Daala suggests, to make things easier, that Niathal just admits that trusting Jacen was a mistake. Niathal says she can’t do that because she didn’t make a mistake. “If you walk out on an empty field and the ground suddenly gives way beneath you, and there was no way to predict it, was any part of your decision making a mistake? No…. There was no way to predict that Jacen Solo would become what he became. Therefore, no mistake.” (70) As you can imagine, Daala isn’t happy about this.
Chapter Seven
-More short jokes for Luke. The witches have decided to team up with the good guys because they recognized the Big Three’s names.
-The witches told Luke that he left quite an impression on his last visit when it came to rights for Dathomiri males. All along there had been groups of men who ran and lived by themselves, but after Luke came the numbers in these groups rose. The men would make raids on Witch tribes when they were weak to steal supplies and mates. And ten years ago, the witches that Luke is with now (Raining Leaves tribe) had a huge setback when the men killed all their elders. The younger witches tracked down and killed all the men over the age of ten whether or not they had something to do with the attack. “Olianne’s voice, mocking and harsh, floated forward from the rear of the speeder. ‘So what is it like to be a hero, Skywalker? Shall we name our boy-children after you, in your honor?’” (76) Honestly I’m not surprised that somewhere out there Luke gets this kind of treatment. While he has done a ton of good for the GFFA, some of his things have backfired. And even some of the good things he’s done came at high costs. Just another reason why I wouldn’t want to be in his position.
-And, naturally, these witches found Vestara first and adopted her into their clan. They’re already protective of her and don’t want Luke near her.
-Back on Coruscant, Daala is awakened by her add, Wynn Dorvan. He calls her to the comm center where there’s a transmission waiting for her from Mon Cal. When the emissary came to deliver summons to Niathal, Cha’s aide went to get her and found her dead. She’d committed suicide.
Chapter Eight
-And now Allana (with her Nexu) have escaped the Falcon. Time I guess for hilarity to ensue.
-The Raining Leaves witches take the group to a place where their clan is to meet up with the Broken Columns clan-made entirely of men. The two have been trading for a few years, meet once a year to arrange marriages and births, exchange children to go with their gender-affiliated tribe. Now the two are officially joining in a first for Dathomir. Both Chiefs will marry each other, and unlike the arranged marriages that have been taking place, this marriage will last longer than a year. The Chief for the guys? A Hapan named Tasander Dest.
-Luke and Ben meet up with Vestara. She says she’s with the witches now and doesn’t want to go back to the Sith. She won’t give Luke any information about her people. Luke and Ben know that she’s playing the witches and she plays Ben, too, by drawing him into argument about whether or not good and evil is the same things as Jedi and Sith.
-Allana does some snooping, but doesn’t find R2 and heads back to the Falcon.
Chapter Nine
-Daala’s miffed at dinner because her personal chef decided to serve seafood the evening Cha Niathal killed herself. Also, another Robot Chicken moment.
-She’s at a dinner with another military leader who is telling her that there are rumblings against her in the armed forces. He personally thinks that’s she taking things too far with the Jedi. They need to be allied with the government, but not controlled with the severity that Daala is imposing.
-Daala wants to make a move against the Jedi, but the officer suggests that she doesn’t:
“’I think there’ a risk of alienating them, as Colonel Solo did. We want the Jedi to be a well-integrated Alliance resource. Too much pressure, too much overt action, runs the risk of turning them into a completely uncooperative element.’
‘You wouldn’t offer that advice about, say, an elite military unit.’
He shook his head. ‘No, I wouldn’t. But then, commandos don’t usually have super powers or a tradition that goes back to the very beginnings of the Old Republic.’
‘But it’s commandos the civilian population should admire and respect. More than they do the Jedi.’ She frowned, considering.
Bwua’tu grinned again. ‘You’re going to use the Mandos, aren’t you? To send against the Jedi!’
Daala’s voice turned sharp, as if Bwua’tu’s mind-reading exercises had been meant to hurt her feelings. ‘Now, cut that out.’
‘If you wish.’
Finally, she smiled at him. ‘Sorry. I’m just touchy. Are you staying tonight?’
‘If the invitation’s open.’
‘You know it is.’” (96)
Thoughts on this: another round of Jedi versus Mandos? Haven’t we done this fourteen times already in the last ten books? And did Daala just extend a booty call? To a Bothan? The hard-core Imperials think it’s awful for Jag to be engaged to a Jedi, just wait till they hear that Daala hooks up with a non-human.
-The Jedi are quietly readying Stealth Xs to form a strike team, presumably led by Kyp, to go to the Maw after the Sith. Hamner is reluctant to jump into attack mode, and Saba thinks they should’ve left yesterday. Same ol’ same ol’ with the Jedi Council it seems.
-The joys of having a sixteen-year-old son: “A couple of meters away, Luke sat up, fully awake, serene. ‘Your emotions betray you.’
Ben gave him a scowl. ‘Your emotions wander around short-sheeting beds and putting everyone’s hands in bowls of warm water.’” (100)
-The two Dathomiri clans are about to hold their own sort of Olympics, and the Big Three and their group must also participate if they want any respect. Ben is excited about the Riddling competition while Han is hoping for something along the lines of Wine Tasting or Bragging.
-Ben approaches Vestara and the two duel verbally. Ben realizes how frustrating it must be for his father when he acts like a smart ass. And now anytime I see the two of them talking, I wonder if gabri’s idea of the two of them ending up together holds merit with the profic authors and TPTB.
Chapter Ten
-Just had to wait two more pages for more details supporting my last comment:
“’Dad, is it true that Teneniel Djo tried to marry you against your will?’ Teneniel Djo, mother of Tenel Ka, had been a Witch of Dathomir.
‘If marry is the word, yes. So be careful who you smile at around here. I’m not ready to be a grandfather. Or even a father-in-law.’
‘Don’t worry. What are my prospects here? A bunch of women who are used to ruling their men, and one Sith girl.’” (109)
-Trouble at the Dathomiri Olympics when poisonous snakes were called from a different region to attack. One tried to kill Han, the other five went after the Broken Columns (the male camp). Four men died. A brief fight breaks out over whose to blame, but Luke calms everyone down and everyone agrees the attack was sent by the Nightsisters.
-First instance of crazy Jedi (Chev named Saar); first time this has really been brought up. Kind of hoping it had all magically disappeared.
Chapter Eleven
-Saar runs out into the street where Cilghal happens to be. She says it’s pointless to converse with him; she knows how it will go. They duel briefly before Cilghal Force-slams into a cement wall.
-“Cilghal sounded gruff, even defensive. ‘Sometimes to heal, you must first hurt.’
Jaina grimaced. ‘In just a few words, you’ve summed up my love life.’” (123) Insight into what happened between Jag and Jaina after NJO?
-Tyria! Yay Wraith cameos.
-Jaina’s about to prep a shuttle to get Saar to Hapes when Tyria notices that media coverage starts to loop even though it still says live feed; Jaina senses an attack and alerts Hamner. Daala gave the Jedi one hour to turn Saar over and promised there would be consequences if it didn’t happen.
-Yep, Mandos are attacking the Temple. Fabulous.
-“Tyria looked back toward the apprentice. ‘Report five-plus Mandos. Tell them to consider sending reinforcements.’
‘I’ll reinforce you-‘
Tyria’s voice turned sharp. ‘Abandon your post and you’ll be tasting my boot from a direction you never expected.’” (126)
-Mandos have vibroswords. Yay for happy flashbacks to Wes’s duel on Adumar.
-One Mando took Tyria out with a punch to the jaw. Another group of Mandos is coming through the next hangar over. The young apprentice goes off to stop the new Mandos and Jaina hopes he can last more than a few seconds. But Raynar shows up to send the apprentice back to his post and take on the Mandos himself. Dear Allston, why must you be combining Denning and Traviss’s prize characters in your books?
-“’I am Jedi Thul,’ he told them. ‘I have not fought for real in many years. I should be a pushover. Come get me.’” (129) If you’re going to distract the enemy, you should at least do it with somewhat amusing dialogue.
-Apprentice comes back to help Raynar and together they take out that group of Mandos. “[Jaina] nodded. ‘How’d the boy do?’
‘Not bad. Not so good at taking orders. I remember when you were like that.’
She finally grinned at him. ‘Still am.’” (132)
-Mandos retreated. Government security teams surrounding the Temple, which means the Stealth-Xs can’t leave to chase down Sith in the Maw. Arrest warrants are out for Hamner, Kyp, Jaina, Thul, and everyone else caught on a recording of the attack and reorganized.
Chapter Twelve
-Allana sneaks out of the Falcon again, but then comms 3PO to tell him she’s sneaked out and where she’s going to look for R2. And again-how has her identity been kept a secret all this time?
-She starts a fire outside the mechanic’s shop and sneaks inside. She finds R2, but can’t get the restraining bolt off before the mechanic puts out the fire and comes back inside. She hides but the mechanic finds her and grabs her. She screams and kicks him. Her Nexu attacks him (without killing him due to safety features and grooming). He finally catches her and tells her that he can’t let her go. As he moves to take her to the trash compactor, 3PO enters: “’I say, I think you should unhand the little girl. If you do not, I will be forced to thrash you.’” (143)
Chapter Thirteen
-R2 wakes up and saves them all. If he hadn’t, Zekk and his Hapan chick were hiding in the hangar ready to attack, but still wanting to obey R2’s order of stay hidden from 3PO and Allana.
-Some cute dialogue between the droids and Allana, but I’m too lazy to type it out-sorry.
-Back with the witches: the two clans are fighting over what their new name should be. Using his crime solving skills (a logic I don’t really follow at all), Ben helps them agree on Bright Sun Clan. After the vote lightning bugs show up overhead, which is apparently weird because the weather is too cold. Instead of realizing they’re about to be attacked (because they’re all dumb), they all stare at the pretty lightshow until the bugs start to sting people. Luke and Ben sense a couple of Nightsisters nearby and go off to take them on.
Chapter Fourteen
-Nightsisters move off. Only causality is Tribeless Sha (the native who was in the group helping Han and Leia and the new character with the coolest name), who was killed hours before the lightning bug attack.
-Han and Leia receive Allana’s distress signal that she sent out at the end of her last scene, but apparently Allana doesn’t hear her grandparents’ reply. 3PO lets slip that there’s an anti-personnel blaster near the ramp where the mechanic is trying to break into the ship. (I’m assuming the one we saw in action in ESB). But since she can’t find the “Repel Bad Men” button, she starts to power up the ship.
-“Finally there was a shudder through the Falcon. The nose dipped farther but did not come to ground again. The engines strained, and then the ship lurched and resumed her speed of a moment before, leaving in her wake a tremendous gap in the fence.
‘Artoo reports obstruction cleared. I calculate the total cost to repair damages at-‘
‘I don’t care.’
‘That doesn’t include punitive compensation, pain compensation, sentimental value compensation assuming that the fence serves as a treasured memento to someone-‘
‘I don’t care. I just want to know how long I’m going to be grounded.’
R2-D2 tweetled.
‘The odds say fifty point four two Coruscant years.’ (166-167)
Chapter Fifteen
-After getting the Falcon temporarily repaired and hearing about the Mandos attacking the Temple, the Solos decide to leave Dathomir and head back to Coruscant.
-Somehow without Daala noticing, the funeral for Niathal has turned into a huge morning event. She’s pissed. And she can either go to the funeral and risk being assassinated because everyone (civilian and military) is hating her right now, or she can skip it to stay alive but look like a jerk for not attending. On advice from Wynn Dorvan, she picks the latter. In order to help her public image, she wants the heat turned up on Tahiri and wants everyone to be reminded that she’s an assassin and “not a sweet young orphan who sells baked goods door-to-door”. (175)
-Tycho is the first person to give an address at the funeral. He retired from the military just after the end of LOTF, apparently. His hair is white now. I wonder if people make jokes about his hair matching Winter’s.
