If You're Not Watching The Freemaker Adventures... You Should Be.

With the recent digital release of Season 2 of LEGO Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures and no announcement on Season 3 yet, what better time than to let everybody in on this little gem of a show. This most recent series in the LEGO Star Wars TV universe debuted on Disney XD in June of 2016 and wrapped up Season 2 in August of last year. This is the fourth show under the LEGO Star Wars banner which started with The Yoda Chronicles back in 2013.

In case you're late to the game, The Freemaker Adventures follows three siblings, the Freemakers, who make their living salvaging and rebuilding destroyed ships from around the galaxy. Rowan, the youngest, discovers he has a strong connection to the Force early on which puts him, his brother (Zander) and sister (Kordi) directly in the path of Darth Vader and the Emperor. They are thrown smack dab in the middle of the war pitting the Empire against the Rebel Alliance during the events sandwiched between Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and Episode VI: Return of the Jedi.

Throughout the two seasons, the Freemakers encounter all sorts of characters both new and familiar to any longtime Star Wars fan. The show seamlessly interweaves between events very familiar to us, including the Battle on Hoth and the Battle of Endor, where these siblings, and their trusty droid Roger, seem to be either one frame ahead or behind so many notable Star Wars moments. Whether it's encountering Lando Calrissian on Cloud City or meeting with Admiral Ackbar on the bridge of the “Home One”, these Freemakers seem to skirt every important event.

While not considered officially canon, the show comes awfully close and does a great job of filling in the blanks for pivotal scenes from the saga films. It's often a case of revolving doors as the Freemakers make an unseen influence on the official timeline without disrupting it, quite genius really. But don't tell the show's creators/executive producers Bill Motz and Bob Roth the show isn't canon…

Bob Roth: We don't think of it as a non-canon show, that's a designation that some have to put on the show for a myriad of reasons. We approached them as if these are real stories that really happened in the Star Wars universe. The LFL story group, who were great, never treated the show as a second class show.

Bill Motz: We approached it in our minds at least as if it was canon. In our minds, these events happened, just a LEGO-ized version. What happens to them after that is not for us to decide.



And in true LEGO Star Wars fashion, the show is a ton of fun and is maybe the funniest series on TV right now. Of course, the humor is in context but it's not Meta, which is refreshing and separates itself from past efforts such as Mel Brooks' Spaceballs or the Family Guy Star Wars episodes. As Bill has said, “Humor is important, but the drama is also important. The fate of the galaxy is at stake. We want our characters to handle the dramatic as well as the funny.” It's tough to call this show a parody or satire as it incorporates so much of what we know and love about the Star Wars universe, and not just the films either. In fact, the second season features characters from other TV series' such as everyone's favorite Twi'Lek Hera Syndulla, again voiced by Vanessa Marshall.

Like I said, the show may not be considered canon, but it certainly contains canon specific details (Hera is still alive?) and contains more Star Wars in one episode than some entire films do. This show runs deep my friends and if you consider yourself a hardcore fan, this is the show for you. If you're looking for something to do, watch an episode and see how many references you catch, but I warn you, it's a lot.

So, the question is why aren't people for the most part watching it? Why haven't people taken to this show the way they took to The Clone Wars or Star Wars Rebels? The answer is likely due to the overwhelming amount of Star Wars content that exists right now, and people don't want to spend their time watching something that isn't necessarily considered canon. There's also the fact that its LEGO based which will naturally turn some people off, erroneously dismissing it as juvenile or apathetic. They would be wrong however, according to Bill and Bob…

Bill Motz: We are immensely proud of each and every episode, but we're very self-critical of our career, but not this show.

Bob Roth: Our mission to ourselves when we started was we wanted people to have every emotion you have watching a Star Wars movie, replicated right here watching this series. We wanted surprises and shock and laughs and emotion and big feelings and everything you feel when you watch a Star Wars movie, we wanted to bring that home and put it into these LEGO characters. That's what we were shooting for, if you love Star Wars, if you genuinely love the Star Wars movies then this series is bringing you more of those feelings you get when you watch those movies.

The show is incredibly sincere and forthright and despite the animation aspect and the fact that it's part of the LEGO universe, feels wonderfully didactic, especially the familial portion of the story. That is where the show becomes recognizable to any Star Wars fan outside of the obvious, the themes of hope and perseverance are front and center.

But what about a third season? When we last saw the Freemakers, they had just helped the Rebel Alliance destroy the second Death Star and were celebrating with their fellow rebels on Endor. Rowan, finally getting enough courage, approaches Luke Skywalker and reveals his Force abilities to him, effectively ending Season 2. Up until now, the show has manufactured ways to keep the team from becoming part of history, that may become difficult the longer the show goes but it's a critical point if they are to remain outside of canon.

Bob Roth: Well, no Season 3 for the Freemaker Adventures. But that doesn't mean there won't be more LEGO Star Wars fun and if you're a fan of the Freemakers we highly recommend you stay tuned. We can't say any more than that but we will say we feel very satisfied with where we took Rowan and that his story came to a satisfying conclusion.

Bill Motz: Our show does a good job of paralleling the features so that had to end obviously.

So, whatever is up next for the Freemakers remains to be seen but if I was a betting man, this won't be the last time we see or hear from Zander, Kordi, Roger and perhaps Rowan. Either way, if you want your fix both seasons are now out on digital formats so if you haven't had the pleasure, this is the show you're looking for. You won't regret it.

Season 2 of LEGO Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures was released on March 13th in North America on all formats.

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