Happy May the Fourth to all of you and May the Force Be With You! We’re using today as a day to not just celebrate Star Wars but to sneakily celebrate our own one year anniversary as well so I’m bringing you the last out of three posts. Because yes, Clone Corridor has been in existence for roughly a year! I myself can hardly believe it. At the beginning of the day Rogue 68 wrote about what we’ve been able to do with Clone Corridor, while Leonie wrote about seeing a new generation of Star Wars fans blossom. So in this final post I really just want to say a quick thank you to everyone.

When we started Clone Corridor in late April/early May last year  I genuinely could never have imagined all the different things that we have had the privilege of enjoying since then. For me personally this blog very much started out of slight disgruntlement over some of the feelings that Anaheim triggered. I felt, like many other fans, that there was some strong anti-Prequel feelings rising up once again and somehow I also felt surrounded by people who simply wanted me to stop talking about Star Wars. So I wrote my first ever blog post about Star Wars, ‘The Risk of Ignoring the Prequels’, and I never could have imagined that it  would resonate with as many people as it did. I was absolutely overwhelmed with the response we got and the new people I met and that’s really what I want to celebrate for a moment.

I think everyone who starts a blog, a podcast, a Youtube account, etc. does so partially out of slightly selfish reasons.We had so many thoughts and opinions on Star Wars and we really wanted to share these, but it would have been so boring had it not been for the Star Wars fan community. Live-tweeting with everyone during Star Wars: Rebels, staying awake for new The Force Awakens trailers, sharing in the Rogue One excitement, it has been incredibly valuable. Everyone’s insightful comments on some of our analysis posts have also helped me see some aspects of Star Wars in a completely different way, making me appreciate it all over again. I’ve also loved giving over the reigns to other fans for the My Star Wars Moments posts, which we’re bringing back soon, because reading everyone’s stories made me so happy.

For me personally the experience of writing for this blog and engaging with everyone else has been incredibly rewarding because I’ve grown in confidence as a Star Wars fan. Since my first ever post was about the Prequels I can’t help but bring them up again. As an unapologetic Prequels fan it can be quite easy to feel like no one agrees with you or you’re an outcast in your own fandom, but through Clone Corridor I have found so many people with similar opinions, who are as passionate about all of Star Wars, and can talk about it just as rationally as we try to. It’s been great to interact with so many different people, to discuss and embrace new ideas and simply have to pleasure of getting to know you all. So far all of the contact has been online but I really hope to see many of you at Star Wars Celebration in London this July!

May the Force be with you all, always!