title: Blanchard's transsexualism typology

text: The concept of autogynephilia has been criticized for assuming that only trans women experience sexual desire mediated by their own gender identity. Serano states that autogynephilia is similar to sexual arousal in cisgender women. Two studies have tested the possibility that cisgender women can also experience autogynephilia. Jaimie Veale and colleagues reported in 2008 that an online sample of cisgender women commonly endorsed items on adapted versions of Blanchard's autogynephilia scales, although they stated that it is unlikely that these women experienced autogynephilia in the way that Blanchard conceptualized it. Moser created an "Autogynephilia Scale for Women" in 2009, based on items used to categorize MtF transsexuals as autogynephilic in other studies. A questionnaire that included the ASW was distributed to a sample of 51 professional women employed at an urban hospital; 29 completed questionnaires were returned for analysis. By the common definition of ever having erotic arousal to the thought or image of oneself as a woman, 93% of the respondents would be classified as autogynephilic. Using a more rigorous definition of "frequent" arousal to multiple items, 28% would be classified as autogynephilic. While Blanchard stated that "autogynephilia does not occur in women", Moser writes that both studies found "significant numbers of women" scoring as autogynephilic, using measures similar to Blanchard's.


title: Blanchard's transsexualism typology

text: In 2010, Lawrence criticized Moser's methodology and conclusions and stated that genuine autogynephilia occurs very rarely, if ever, in cisgender women as their experiences are superficially similar but the erotic responses are ultimately markedly different. Her comment was rebutted by Moser who said that she had made multiple errors by comparing the wrong items.


title: Blanchard's transsexualism typology

text: In 2013, Lawrence criticized both the Veale et al. and Moser studies, arguing that the scales they used failed to differentiate between arousal from wearing provocative clothing or imagining that potential partners find one attractive, and arousal merely from the idea that one is a woman or has a woman's body. Francisco J. Sánchez and Eric Vilain state that, as with nearly all paraphilias, characteristics consistent with autogynephilia have only been reported among men.


title: Blanchard's transsexualism typology

text: In 2022, based on application of Blanchard's original Core Autogynephilia Scale, Bailey and Hsu stated that "it remains unknown whether any natal females experience autogynephilia, as originally conceptualized by Blanchard".


title: Blanchard's transsexualism typology

text: Blanchard studied two groups of trans women: those who came out as transgender earlier in life and were mostly if not exclusively attracted to men (androphilic), and those who came out later in life and were mostly if not exclusively attracted to women (gynephilic), in order to understand what made them different from one another. He uses the terms "homosexual" and "non-homosexual" for these two groups, relative to the person's sex assigned at birth, not their current gender identity. He proposed that many late-transitioning trans women were driven to do so not by gender dysphoria, but by an extreme paraphilia characterized by an erotic interest in oneself as a woman (autogynephilia).


title: Blanchard's transsexualism typology

text: Blanchard said that one type of gender dysphoria/transsexualism manifests itself in individuals who are almost if not exclusively attracted to men (homosexual transsexuals averaged a Kinsey scale measurement of 5–6 and six is the maximum, or a 9.86±2.37 on the Modified Androphilia Scale), whom he referred to as "homosexual transsexuals", adopting Freund's terminology. The other type he defined as including those who are attracted almost if not exclusively to females (gynephilic), attracted to both males and females (bisexual), and attracted to neither males nor females ("analloerotic" or asexual); Blanchard referred to this latter set collectively as the "non-homosexual transsexuals". Blanchard says that the "non-homosexual" transsexuals (but not the "homosexual" transsexuals) exhibit "autogynephilia", which he defined as a paraphilic interest in having female anatomy.


title: Blanchard's transsexualism typology

text: According to the typology, autogynephilic transsexuals are attracted to femininity while homosexual transsexuals are attracted to masculinity. However, a number of other differences between the types have been reported. Homosexual transsexuals usually begin to seek sex reassignment surgery in their mid-20s, while autogynephilic transsexuals usually seek clinical treatment in their mid-30s or even later. Anne Lawrence states that autogynephilia tends to appear along with other paraphilias. J. Michael Bailey argued that both "homosexual transsexuals" and "autogynephilic transsexuals" were driven to transition mainly for sexual gratification, as opposed to gender-identity reasons.


title: Blanchard's transsexualism typology

text: Anne Lawrence, a proponent of the concept, argues that homosexual transsexuals pursue sex reassignment surgery out of a desire for greater social and romantic success. Lawrence has proposed that autogynephilic transsexuals are more excited about sexual reassignment surgery than homosexual transsexuals. She states that homosexual transsexuals are typically ambivalent or indifferent about SRS, while autogynephilic transsexuals want to have surgery as quickly as possible, are happy to be rid of their penis, and proud of their new genitals.


title: Blanchard's transsexualism typology

text: According to Blanchard, most homosexual transsexuals describe themselves as having been very feminine from a young age. Lawrence argues that homosexual transsexuals are motivated by being very feminine in both behavior and appearance, and by a desire to romantically and sexually attract (ideally very masculine) men, while autogynephilic transsexuals are motivated by their sexual desire and romantic love for being women. Lawrence also states that homosexual transsexuals who seek sex reassignment pass more easily as women.


title: Blanchard's transsexualism typology

text: According to Bailey and Lawrence, transsexuals who are active on the internet are overwhelmingly autogynephilic.


title: Blanchard's transsexualism typology

text: The typology is largely about trans women. Richard Ekins and Dave King state that female-to-male transsexuals (trans men) are absent from the typology, while Blanchard, Cantor, and Katherine Sutton distinguish between gynephilic and androphilic trans men. They state that gynephilic trans men are the counterparts of androphilic trans women, that they experience strong childhood gender nonconformity, and that they generally begin to seek sex reassignment in their mid-20s. They describe androphilic trans men as a rare but distinct group who say they want to become gay men, and, according to Blanchard, are often specifically attracted to gay men. Cantor & Sutton state that while this may seem analogous to autogynephilia, no distinct paraphilia for this has been identified.


title: Blanchard's transsexualism typology

text: In 1980 in the DSM-III, a new diagnosis was introduced, that of "302.5 Transsexualism" under "Other Psychosexual Disorders". This was an attempt to provide a diagnostic category for gender identity disorders. The diagnostic category, "transsexualism", was for gender dysphoric individuals who demonstrated at least two years of continuous interest in transforming their physical and social gender status. The subtypes were asexual, homosexual (same "biological sex"), heterosexual (other "biological sex") and unspecified. This was removed in the DSM-IV, in which gender identity disorder replaced transsexualism. Previous taxonomies, or systems of categorization, used the terms "classic transsexual" or "true transsexual", terms once used in differential diagnoses.


title: Blanchard's transsexualism typology

text: The DSM-IV-TR included autogynephilia as an "associated feature" of gender identity disorder and as a common occurrence in the transvestic fetishism disorder, but does not classify autogynephilia as a disorder by itself.


title: Blanchard's transsexualism typology

text: Moser advances three reasons to question the inclusion of autogynephilia as a sign of a clinical disorder: (1) a focus on autogynephilia may have overshadowed other factors involved in gender dysphoria, creating "a new stereotype" which patients seeking sex reassignment must adhere to; (2) some proponents of the theory suggest that trans women who do not report sexual interest consistent with their typing according to the theory are mistaken or "in denial", which is disrespectful and potentially harmful; and (3) the theory could imply that "all gender manifestations [are] secondary to sexual orientation".


title: Blanchard's transsexualism typology

text: The paraphilias working group on the DSM-5, chaired by Ray Blanchard, included both "with autogynephilia" and "with autoandrophilia" as specifiers to transvestic disorder in an October 2010 draft of the DSM-5. This proposal was opposed by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), citing a lack of empirical evidence for these specific subtypes. "With autoandrophilia" was removed from the final draft of the manual. Blanchard later said he had initially included it to avoid criticism: "I proposed it simply in order not to be accused of sexism [...] I don't think the phenomenon even exists." When published in 2013, the DSM-5 included "With autogynephilia" (sexual arousal by thoughts, images of self as a female) as a specifier to "302.3 Transvestic disorder" (intense sexual arousal from cross-dressing fantasies, urges or behaviors); the other specifier is "With fetishism" (sexual arousal to fabrics, materials or garments).


title: Blanchard's transsexualism typology

text: Advocates for the transgender community have challenged Blanchard's and Bailey's explanation of transgender women's motivations to seek sex reassignment. Trans activists and scholars have argued that the theory unduly sexualizes trans women's gender identity. Philosopher Matt Drabek writes that Blanchard's work threatens to undo the advances made by feminist, queer, and transgender advocacy groups in separating gender identity and sexual orientation from biological sex. Arlene Istar Lev says, "Many transwomen find Blanchard's theories insulting, and his insistence that these are evidence-based scientific truths, has only further enraged both the professional and activist communities". According to Simon LeVay, some fear that the concept of autogynephilia will make it harder for gynephilic or "non-classical" MtF transsexuals to receive sex reassignment surgery. Blanchard, Bailey, and Lawrence have each argued that any trans woman who would benefit from SRS should receive it.


title: Blanchard's transsexualism typology

text: Critics of the theory include transfeminists such as Julia Serano and Talia Mae Bettcher. Serano writes in the "International Journal of Transgenderism" that there were flaws in Blanchard's original papers, including that they were conducted among overlapping populations primarily at the Clarke Institute in Toronto without nontranssexual controls, that the subtypes were not empirically derived but instead were "begging the question that transsexuals fall into subtypes based on their sexual orientation," and that further research had found a non-deterministic correlation between cross-gender arousal and sexual orientation. She states that Blanchard did not discuss the idea that cross-gender arousal may be an effect, rather than a cause, of gender dysphoria, and that Blanchard assumed that correlation implied causation. She describes the typology as flawed, unscientific, and needlessly stigmatizing.


title: Blanchard's transsexualism typology

text: Serano also states that the wider idea of cross-gender arousal was affected by the prominence of sexual objectification of women, accounting for both a relative lack of cross-gender arousal in transsexual men and similar patterns of autogynephilic arousal in non-transsexual women. She criticised proponents of the typology, claiming that they dismiss non-autogynephilic, non-androphilic transsexuals as misreporting or lying while not questioning androphilic transsexuals, describing it as "tantamount to hand-picking which evidence counts and which does not based upon how well it conforms to the model", either making the typology unscientific due to its unfalsifiability, or invalid due to the nondeterministic correlation that later studies found. Serano says that the typology undermined lived experience of transsexual women, contributed to pathologisation and sexualisation of transsexual women, and the literature itself fed into the stereotype of transsexuals as "purposefully deceptive", which could be used to justify discrimination and violence against transsexuals. According to Serano, studies have usually found that some non-homosexual transsexuals report having no autogynephilia.


title: Blanchard's transsexualism typology

text: Talia Mae Bettcher, based on her own experience as a trans woman, has critiqued the notion of "autogynephilia," and "target errors" generally, within a framework of "erotic structuralism," arguing that the notion conflates essential distinctions between "source of attraction" and "erotic content," and "(erotic) interest" and "(erotic) attraction," thus misinterpreting what she prefers to call, following Serano, "female embodiment eroticism." She maintains that not only is "an erotic interest in oneself as a gendered being," as she puts it, a non-pathological and indeed necessary component of regular sexual attraction to others, but within the framework of erotic structuralism, a "misdirected" attraction to oneself as postulated by Blanchard is outright nonsensical.


title: Blanchard's transsexualism typology

text: Blanchard's terminology has been described as confusing and controversial among transsexuals seeking sex reassignment surgery and as archaic. Frank Leavitt and Jack Berger write: "Transsexuals, as a group, vehemently oppose the homosexual transsexual label and its pejorative baggage. As a rule, they are highly invested in a heterosexual life-style and are repulsed by notions of homosexual relations with males. Attention from males often serves to validate their feminine status."


title: Blanchard's transsexualism typology

text: Trans sociologist and sexologist Aaron Devor wrote, "If what we really mean to say is attracted to males, then say 'attracted to males' or androphilic ... I see absolutely no reason to continue with language that people find offensive when there is perfectly serviceable, in fact better, language that is not offensive." Still other transsexuals are opposed to any and all models of diagnosis which allow medical professionals to prevent anyone from changing their sex, and seek their removal from the DSM.


title: Blanchard's transsexualism typology

text: Linguist Bruce Bagemihl criticized the use of the terms "homosexual" and "non-homosexual" to refer to transsexuals by their assigned sex.


title: Blanchard's transsexualism typology

text: In 2008, sexologist John Bancroft expressed regret for having used this terminology, which was standard when he used it, to refer to transsexual women, and that he now tries to use words more sensitively.


title: Blanchard's transsexualism typology

text: In the 2010 U.S. Tax Court case "O'Donnabhain v. Commissioner", the Internal Revenue Service cited Blanchard's typology as justification for denying a transgender woman's tax deductions for medical costs relating to treatment of her gender identity disorder, claiming the procedures were not medically necessary. The court found in favor of the plaintiff, Rhiannon O'Donnabhain, ruling that she should be allowed to deduct the costs of her treatment, including sex reassignment surgery and hormone therapy. In its decision, the court declared the IRS's position "at best a superficial characterization of the circumstances" that was "thoroughly rebutted by the medical evidence".


title: Blanchard's transsexualism typology

text: Julia Serano has written that trans-exclusionary radical feminists, or "gender critical" feminists, started embracing Blanchard's autogynephilia theory starting in the 2000's. One early proponent of the autogynephilia theory was radical feminist Sheila Jeffreys. The concept has been used to imply that trans women are sexually deviant men. The autogynephilia theory became popular on "gender critical" websites such as 4thWaveNow, Mumsnet, and the Reddit community r/GenderCritical.


title: Blanchard's transsexualism typology

text: According to an October 2018 review of anti-LGBT activities by the Southern Poverty Law Center, both Ray Blanchard and J. Michael Bailey have written articles for 4thWaveNow, which it describes as an anti-trans website. According to a study of that and other rhetoric, "Bailey and Blanchard's work has long been criticised for perpetuating stereotypes and prejudices against trans women, notably suggesting that LGBQ trans women's primary motivation for transitioning is sexual arousal." The study refers to autogynephilia as a discredited theory.


title: Blanchard's transsexualism typology

text: According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the autogynephilia theory has been promoted by anti-LGBT hate groups. These include Family Research Council (FRC), United Families International (UFI), and the American College of Pediatricians (ACPeds). In a May 2018 report, the Southern Poverty Law Center referred to Blanchard as an anti-trans psychologist.


title: Stormtrooper (Star Wars)

text: Stormtrooper are soldiers in the fictional "Star Wars" franchise created by George Lucas. Introduced in "Star Wars: A New Hope" (1977), the stormtroopers are the shock troops/space marines of the autocratic Galactic Empire, under the leadership of Emperor Palpatine and his commanders, most notably Darth Vader and Grand Moff Tarkin, during the original film trilogy (1977–1983). The prequel trilogy (1999–2005) establishes their origin as the Galactic Republic's clone troopers, clones of the bounty hunter Jango Fett, used by Supreme Chancellor Palpatine to "win" the Clone Wars and later to take over the government and exterminate the Jedi. Despite this, later stormtroopers are established as recruits; at the time of the original trilogy, only a few stormtroopers are clones, with the only known legion to still contain a significant number of clones being the 501st Legion, aka "Vader's Fist". In the sequel trilogy (2015–2019), the First Order employs stormtroopers under the leadership of Supreme Leader Snoke and his commanders, most notably Kylo Ren, General Hux, and Captain Phasma.


title: Stormtrooper (Star Wars)

text: The order of battle of the Stormtrooper Corps is unspecified in the "Star Wars" universe. Accompanying the Imperial Navy, stormtroopers are able to be deployed swiftly and respond to states of civil unrest or insurrection, act as a planetary garrison, and police areas within the Galactic Empire. They are shown in collective groups of varying organizational sizes ranging from squads to legions and for some, their armor and training are modified for special operations and environments.


title: Stormtrooper (Star Wars)

text: Stormtroopers' designs were intended to look "terrifying, but also supercool, super clean", with the helmets being "very stylized skulls". In early drafts of "Star Wars" and Ralph McQuarrie's concept designs, stormtroopers were to wield lightsabers and hand-held shields as common weapons not limited to the Jedi or Sith. George Lucas, when composing background information in 1977, stated that females did exist in the Stormtrooper Corps, although there were few stationed on the Death Star. He suggested that there were numerous in other units.


title: Stormtrooper (Star Wars)

text: While stormtrooper performers like Michael Leader ("Episode IV"), Laurie Goode ("Episode IV"), Peter Diamond ("Episode IV-VI"), Stephen Bayley ("Episode IV"), and Bill Weston ("Episode IV") have generally been uncredited in the film series, there have been a few exceptions.


title: Stormtrooper (Star Wars)

text: In "" (2002) and "" (2005), the clone troopers, which serve as the basis of what would become the Empire's stormtrooper force, were computer-generated images and voiced by Temuera Morrison, who played the bounty hunter Jango Fett, the template of the clone army. The child clone troopers were played by Daniel Logan, who also played Jango's clone son Boba Fett, and the clone troopers as young men were played by Bodie Taylor, who was cast for his resemblance to a younger Morrison. In "Revenge of the Sith", Morrison also played Commander Cody, the only named clone trooper who is seen unmasked in the prequel trilogy.


title: Stormtrooper (Star Wars)

text: In "" (2015), John Boyega stars as Finn, the former Stormtrooper FN-2187 who defects from the First Order and joins the Resistance, and Gwendoline Christie portrays Captain Phasma, commander of the First Order's stormtroopers. Daniel Craig has a small uncredited role as a stormtrooper whom Rey compels using the Jedi mind trick to let her escape from captivity, and director J. J. Abrams also cast "Alias" and "Lost" composer Michael Giacchino as FN-3181, and Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich as FN-9330. A riot control stormtrooper who calls Finn a traitor during the battle on Takodana, portrayed by stunt performer Liang Yang and voiced by sound editor David Acord, is identified as FN-2199 "Nines" in the anthology book "" (2015) by Greg Rucka. The trooper, armed with a "Z6 baton" and dubbed "TR-8R" by fans, quickly inspired multiple memes and fan art. Actor/director Kevin Smith also voiced a stormtrooper in the Takodana sequence.


title: Stormtrooper (Star Wars)

text: In "Star Wars Rebels", different voice actors have provided the voices of the stormtroopers, including David Acord, Dee Bradley Baker, Steven Blum, Clancy Brown, Robin Atkin Downes, Greg Ellis, Dave Fennoy, Dave Filoni, Tom Kane, Andrew Kishino, Phil LaMarr, Liam O'Brien, Freddie Prinze, Jr., André Sogliuzzo, Stephen Stanton, Greg Weisman, Gary Anthony Williams, and Matthew Wood.


title: Stormtrooper (Star Wars)

text: In "Ralph Breaks the Internet", the stormtroopers in the "Oh My Disney" website are voiced by Jesse Averna, Kevin Deters, Jeremy Milton, and Rich Moore.


title: Stormtrooper (Star Wars)

text: Jason Sudeikis and Adam Pally play scout troopers in "", the 2019 first-season finale episode of "The Mandalorian".


title: Stormtrooper (Star Wars)

text: Introduced in "Star Wars" (1977), the Imperial stormtroopers serve as the army of the Galactic Empire, establishing Imperial authority and putting down any revolts.


title: Stormtrooper (Star Wars)

text: In the prequel film "" (2002), the first clone troopers are cloned from bounty hunter Jango Fett, to be the Army of the Republic in the Clone Wars. In "" (2005), Chancellor Palpatine orders them to slay their Jedi generals in the Great Jedi Purge. After the change in regimes from the Galactic Republic to the Galactic Empire, the clone troopers who had served the Republic became the first generation of stormtroopers, enforcing the Emperor's will as military units, and law enforcement, policing the Emperor's ever increasingly oppressive laws.


title: Stormtrooper (Star Wars)

text: The Imperial Stormtrooper Corps swell in size after Palpatine almost completely replaces the clones with recruits and conscripts of the Empire, though the replacement of clones with natural beings lowered the effectiveness of the Empire's soldiers. With the Empire firmly stabilized and an Imperial Army and Navy established, the stormtroopers are integrated into Palpatine's personal army and stationed on Imperial bases and cruisers, as well as on the Death Star.


title: Stormtrooper (Star Wars)

text: As established in "The Force Awakens" (2015), after Palpatine's death, stormtroopers continue to serve under the factions that broke apart from the Empire. With redesigned armor, they eventually serve under the leadership of the First Order. In the First Order, an undisclosed number of stormtroopers are abducted as young children, given serial numbers for names and mentally conditioned for loyal service. Stormtrooper FN-2187, later known as Finn, plans his escape when his resistance to this conditioning puts him in line to be reprogrammed. Additionally, Rey's goggles were based on scavenged stormtrooper lenses.


title: Stormtrooper (Star Wars)

text: The streaming series "The Mandalorian", which is set after the fall of the Empire, portrays stormtroopers as freelance mercenaries in the service of Moff Gideon, a former officer of the Imperial Security Bureau.


title: Stormtrooper (Star Wars)

text: "Star Wars Legends" media such as games and comics feature a number of specialized stormtrooper units. The Marvel-produced comics of the late 1970s and early 1980s featured Shadow Troopers. Other specialists have included commandos and troopers equipped to work in the vacuum of outer space, such as the zero gravity Spacetroopers depicted engaging in extra vehicular battle in the 1991 novel "Star Wars: Heir to the Empire", and its 1995 Dark Horse Comics adaptation.


title: Stormtrooper (Star Wars)

text: A distinct variant known as "Shadowtroopers" appear in "", wearing black armour that incorporates a lightsaber-resistant mineral called cortosis. As a project of the Dark Jedi named Desann aligned with a Remnant of the Empire, the Shadowtroopers themselves had been immersed in a Force nexus on Ruusan, temporarily empowering them with Force sensitivity. This armour has a green synthetic gem set into the breastplate which sustained the otherwise temporary effect of their Force empowerment and combines with their abilities to render them near-invisible, with only a faint area of blue discoloration giving them away. In conjunction with their Force-granted telekinesis, reflexes, and agility, the Shadowtroopers are armed and trained in the use of mass-produced red lightsabers. Their combination of abilities allow them to lie in wait and ambush the enemy, representing formidable opponents even for trained Jedi, most often the game's Jedi protagonist, Kyle Katarn. Shadow stormtroopers appear in "" and wear exactly the same type of Phase III armor as normal stormtroopers but not white in color, but rather a mixture of silver, grey and red detailing. These troopers also possess the invisible feature and use this tactic to ambush their enemies, but only if stormtrooper officers call out for support.


title: Stormtrooper (Star Wars)

text: In "", Speedo-clad and stormtrooper-helmet-wearing "Beach Troopers" appear relaxing at the beach. In "", they also wear life jackets.


title: Stormtrooper (Star Wars)

text: According to "Star Wars" lore, Imperial stormtroopers are men and women who have been recruited (or conscripted) at a young age to serve as expendable foot soldiers of the Empire, gradually replacing clone troopers as their accelerated aging forces them to retire. These recruits are trained at Imperial Academies spread out across the galaxy where they undergo intense conditioning that instills fierce loyalty, strict discipline and ruthless efficiency while removing any sense of individualism or empathy. As the backbone of the Imperial Army, stormtroopers are dreaded for their brutality, carrying out atrocities in the name of Emperor Palpatine, and their fanaticism, engaging the enemy with no regard to casualties. Inevitably, some use their position for personal gain against a civilian population too terrified to resist. However, inconsistencies in academy standards led to stormtroopers of varying combat skill and ability compared to the superior clone troopers, which, among other things, can be seen in the stormtroopers' mainly variable, sometimes even weak, ability to hit the target in firefights. After subduing any remaining Separatist holdouts left over from the Clone Wars, stormtroopers primarily serve as an internal security and peacekeeping force until the Galactic Civil War where they start to engage the Rebel Alliance in large-scale battles.


title: Stormtrooper (Star Wars)

text: Unable to conscript millions of soldiers to fill its stormtrooper ranks, yet unwilling to switch back to using rapidly produced clone troopers, First Order stormtroopers are bred, trained and indoctrinated from birth, raised their entire lives for no other purpose. First Order soldiers and crews have constantly trained for combat in war games and simulations, making them much more effective one-on-one than the endless waves of stormtrooper conscripts fielded by the Galactic Empire. First Order stormtroopers are regularly put through mental indoctrination and propaganda programs, to make sure that they remain fanatically loyal and never hesitate or question orders. Being taken from their families at birth, these soldiers are not even given individual names for themselves but merely serial numbers, such as "FN-2187".


title: Stormtrooper (Star Wars)

text: The standard firearm for Imperial stormtroopers is the BlasTech E-11 blaster rifle, described in "Star Wars" sources as combining excellent range and firepower in a compact and rugged design. Features include a telescopic range-finding sight, accessory mounting rail, power setting adjuster, three-point folding stock, magnatomic adhesive pistol grip, and advanced cooling system. Plasma cartridges provide enough gas for 500 shots, though a standard power cell which energizes the gas to produce blaster bolts will last for approximately 100 shots. In addition to the E-11, stormtroopers employ a variety of different weapons as seen in the "Star Wars" films and other media. Examples include thermal detonators, sniper rifles, crew-served heavy repeating blasters, and mortars.


title: Stormtrooper (Star Wars)

text: Both firing and non-firing prop models of the E-11 were based on the Mk 4 Sterling submachine gun, with approximately 20 models built for the first "Star Wars" movie "A New Hope". External modifications to the Sterlings to transform them into blaster rifles varied based on the parts available but most were similar in design. This included an American Mk38 azimuth tank scope and a Hengstler industrial counter box affixed to the top and left side of the receiver respectively. The Sterling would continue to serve as the basis for or inspire other blaster rifle designs in the rest of the "Star Wars" films.


title: Stormtrooper (Star Wars)

text: Background literature explains how the First Order's stormtroopers were armed in secret by the Sonn-Blas Corporation, a subsidiary of BlasTech Industries and Merr-Sonn Munitions created to circumvent the New Republic's disarmament treaties. Building on classic design templates, they are meant to possess greater battlefield accuracy, ammunition yields and operational lifespans. Examples include the F-11D blaster rifle, SE-44C blaster pistol, and FWMB-10 repeating blaster cannon. For subduing civilian populations, First Order stormtroopers will also carry ballistic riot shields and riot control batons.


title: Stormtrooper (Star Wars)

text: As established in the original "Star Wars" trilogy of films, the troopers' most distinctive equipment is their white battle armor, which completely encases the body and typically has no individually distinguishing markings. According to in-universe reference material, this armor was developed and manufactured by the Imperial Department of Military Research, and consists of 18 white plastoid armor plates magnatomically attached to a black body glove. These plates are generally impervious to most projectile weapons and blast shrapnel, and will protect against glancing hits by other blaster rifles though a direct hit will penetrate. The armor also provides protection against inhospitable environments, including the vacuum of space for a short period of time. Their helmets are fitted with filtration systems for polluted environments, with hookups for incorporating an external atmospheric tank while operating in space or to filter potent toxins. The helmets also include built-in communication system and multi-frequency targeting and acquisition system linked to in-lens displays that provide tactical information, protection from excessive brightness, and vision modes for seeing through smoke, fire and darkness.


title: Stormtrooper (Star Wars)

text: Based on conceptual drawings by Ralph McQuarrie, Liz Moore and Nick Pemberton sculpted designs for the helmet, Brian Muir sculpted armor pieces for the stormtrooper costume. Muir, who was also responsible for sculpting the Darth Vader costume, worked out of the Art Department at Elstree Studios. The suit was molded and initially cast in plaster, with Muir sharpening the detail at the plaster stage. The plaster casts were then remolded and cast in fiberglass to use as the "tools" for the vacuum forming process. The suits were produced in house by Tashy Baines, the resident vacuum former, but then a problem developed with the machine. As Shepperton Design Studios had already been used to vacuum form the helmets, the fiberglass molds for the armor were then sent to them for vacuum forming the suits. By the end of production, two different helmets were produced; one for the common stunt trooper and a second design for close-ups. Fifty stunt helmets were produced in white-painted HDPE and six hero helmets were produced in white ABS plastic. Besides the material used, the two designs can be differentiated by differences in the eyes, the ears, and the mouth area.


title: Stormtrooper (Star Wars)

text: The copyright status of the armor design has undergone legal challenges. A 2004 lawsuit by Lucasfilm against one of the original prop designers, Andrew Ainsworth, who had been selling helmet replicas, confirmed the design to be under copyright in the US. However, a 2011 UK court decision in Ainsworth's favor deemed the costume to be industrial design, which is protected there only for 15 years. This puts the armor design in the public domain in the UK, and likely throughout the European Union.


title: Stormtrooper (Star Wars)

text: To differentiate the First Order stormtroopers from their earlier Imperial counterparts, the helmet and armor were redesigned for the 2015 film "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" by costume designer Michael Kaplan with input from director J. J. Abrams. Within the "Star Wars" setting, this armor is described as being an improvement over the previous iteration, including better joint design for greater flexibility, stronger betaplast armor plating, and upgraded helmet communication and targeting systems.


title: Stormtrooper (Star Wars)

text: The 501st Legion Elite Stormtrooper Unit, or "Vader's Fist", is a stormtrooper unit from the "Star Wars" movies and "Star Wars Legends" continuity. Commanded by the ruthlessly cunning General Maximilian Veers and composed of the best trained soldiers in the "Star Wars" galaxy, the legion earned a fierce reputation for completing missions considered unwinnable or suicidal. The 501st serves as Darth Vader's personal death squadron, whom he leads in the Jedi extermination. The 501st spearhead the assault upon the "Tantive IV" consular ship, and capture Princess Leia. During the Battle of Hoth, the 501st is instrumental in the destruction of the Rebel Alliance base, and nearly succeeds in capturing the "Millennium Falcon". Most of the background story linked to the 501st comes from "Star Wars" novels, the games "" and "", and the TV show .


title: Stormtrooper (Star Wars)

text: The elite 501st designation is resurrected by Grand Admiral Thrawn, who in the "Thrawn" trilogy is charged with the defense of the "Empire of the Hand" Imperial Remnant forces. Thrawn's 501st is composed of aliens and humans.


title: Stormtrooper (Star Wars)

text: The Legion's name is based on a fan organization of the same name; their inclusion in the official continuity was based on the worldwide organization's dedication to "Star Wars" fandom.


title: Stormtrooper (Star Wars)

text: Within the "Star Wars" franchise, several types of "military occupation specialist" stormtrooper units are seen. These include:


title: Stormtrooper (Star Wars)

text: Stormtroopers have become cultural icons, and a widely recognized element of the "Star Wars" franchise. In 2015, an Imperial stormtrooper helmet from "The Empire Strikes Back" that was expected to sell at auction for $92,000 sold for $120,000. In 2019, a team of biologists named a new genus of Colombian spiders, "Stormtropis", after the stormtroopers, noting the spiders, like the fictional soldiers, are "very similar to each other, with some capacity for camouflage but with unskillful movements". Stormtroopers also appear as cosmetic outfits in Fortnite.


title: ASAP Ferg

text: Darold Durard Brown Ferguson Jr. (born October 20, 1988), known professionally as ASAP Ferg (stylized as A$AP Ferg), is an American rapper from New York City's Harlem neighborhood. Aside from his solo career, he is a member of the hip hop collective A$AP Mob, from which he adopted a record deal with Polo Grounds and RCA, the same labels that helped launch A$AP Worldwide. Two years prior, Ferg's A$AP Mob cohorts A$AP Rocky and A$AP Yams, negotiated their own respective deal in 2011. His debut studio album "Trap Lord" was released on August 20, 2013, and was met with generally positive reviews. On April 22, 2016, Ferguson released his second studio album, "Always Strive and Prosper". On August 18, 2017, Ferguson released his second mixtape, "Still Striving", which was preceded by the single, "Plain Jane" (featuring Nicki Minaj). In 2019 and 2020, he released "Floor Seats" and "Floor Seats II" respectively, the latter featuring the single "Move Ya Hips" (featuring Nicki Minaj and MadeinTYO). In 2021, Ferguson signed an additional management deal with Roc Nation.


title: ASAP Ferg

text: Outside of music, Ferguson is the founder of the street fashion brand Traplord, namesake of his debut album.


title: ASAP Ferg

text: Darold Durard Brown was born on October 20, 1988, in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City to Trinidadian parents. Ferg was raised in Hamilton Heights. His father, Darold Ferguson, owned a small Harlem boutique and printed shirts and logos for record labels; including Bad Boy Records and performers Teddy Riley, Heavy D and Bell Biv DeVoe. Before starting his music career, Ferg initially aspired to start his own clothing line. Inspired by his father, who died of kidney failure, Ferg launched clothing and jewelry lines at a young age and attended art school. In 2005, Ferg began launching the "Devoni Clothing", that he designed and distributed high-end belts, which have been worn by Chris Brown, Swizz Beatz and Diggy Simmons.


title: ASAP Ferg

text: By 2009, he started developing an aggressive, trap style of hip-hop. "Trapping means hustling," he explained. "I went from painting to making clothes to rapping. I always put myself into everything I do one hundred percent. It doesn't matter what I'm working on. I want to perfect everything I do. Success is the only option. They call me 'Trap Lord' because my hustle game is impeccable." Friends since high school, A$AP Rocky recognized that Ferg had an "impeccable hustle game" and pushed Ferg to continue rapping as much as possible. They later joined the hip hop collective A$AP Mob, from which they both adopted their respective monikers. Since 2010, they collaborated on various songs such as "Get High," "Kissin' Pink" and "Ghetto Symphony", the latter being from Rocky's chart-topping major label debut, "Long. Live. A$AP" (2013).


title: ASAP Ferg

text: Ferg's debut single "Work", produced by Chinza and Fly, appeared on the A$AP Mob mixtape "Lords Never Worry", released on August 28, 2012. The song's music video quickly earned over 2 million online views and was dubbed one of the "50 Best Songs of 2012" by "Complex Magazine". On January 10, 2013, he announced "Trap Lord" would be the title of his debut album. When speaking on his debut album "Trap Lord", Ferg said: "I hope people take the good and the bad from what I've got to say, I've seen so much shit in my life. There were times I ducked bullets at a basketball game, and then I went to a fashion show. I've experienced depression. I've experienced triumph. I've experienced hate. I've experienced love. I learned how to be independent. I made it out of the hood, and now I want go to the top."


title: ASAP Ferg

text: On January 10, 2013, it was announced that he signed a record deal with RCA Records and Polo Grounds. On May 14, 2013, the remix to "Work", featuring fellow American rappers A$AP Rocky, Schoolboy Q, French Montana and Trinidad James, was released to digital retailers. On June 2, 2013, while revealing "Trap Lord" would feature guest appearances from hip hop groups Bone Thugs-n-Harmony and Onyx, Ferg announced that the album would be released on August 20, 2013. The album debuted at number 9 on the "Billboard" 200 chart, with total album sales of 46,000 copies in the United States. On October 15, he was named "Rookie of the Year" at the 2013 BET Hip Hop Awards. However, he was not there to accept the award as he did not think he was going to win. In 2014, Ferg appeared as a featured artist on the track "Hands on Me" by Ariana Grande, from her second album "My Everything". The album was released on August 22, 2014.


title: ASAP Ferg

text: On February 25, 2015, Ferg released the video for the single "Dope Walk", a track from his "Ferg Forever" (2014) mixtape in which he coined a viral dance of the same name. Composed entirely of iPhone footage shot during New York Fashion Week, the video starred fashion model Cara Delevingne and featured cameos from a host of other celebrities, including Kris Jenner, Kanye West, Diddy, Alexander Wang, Russell Simmons, Justin Bieber, Beyoncé, Rihanna, A$AP Rocky, Jeremy Scott, Les Twins, and Haim. Ferg told "Rolling Stone", "With 'Dope Walk' I wanted to bring back kids dancing and having fun again. That's how it used to be in Harlem. I remember everybody Harlem-shaking and 'Chicken Noodle Soup'-ing. Those were some of the most fun and memorable times in my life."


title: ASAP Ferg

text: In late 2015, Ferg directed the music video for rapper Future's "Thought It Was a Drought". In an interview with "The Source", Ferg stated that his "...new album is my best work yet. I put my all into it. I always tell people I really don't know what I'm going to do after this album, because I'm bearing so much truth with this album." On April 22, 2016, Ferg released his second studio album, which is titled "Always Strive And Prosper". The album's first single, "New Level" featuring Future was certified gold by the RIAA on August 11, 2016. In 2016, he and Playboi Carti embarked on the "Turnt & Burnt" tour which had 23 stops. On June 9, 2017, Lost Kings released "Look At Us Now" as a single featuring Ferg and singer Ally Brooke.


title: ASAP Ferg

text: Since 2015, Ferg is accompanied on tour by his dj TJ Mizell, who is the son of the legendary Jam Master Jay.


title: ASAP Ferg

text: In 2018, Ferg appeared in a video ad for Tiffany's with Elle Fanning remixing "Moon River" and later that year, he also narrated the Adidas World Cup advert 'Creativity is the Answer'.


title: ASAP Ferg

text: On September 1, 2020, it was alleged that Ferg was no longer in and affiliated with A$AP Mob by members of the group. This was later redacted by A$AP Nast on Twitter, with his statements retweeted by the official A$AP Mob Twitter account.


title: ASAP Ferg

text: On September 18, ASAP Ferg's official YouTube account was changed to only say Ferg, implying that he has departed A$AP Mob, but this has been unconfirmed.


title: ASAP Ferg

text: ASAP Ferg released his fifth album, "Floor Seats II", on September 25, 2020. It includes collaborations with Marilyn Manson, Dennis Rodman, and Mulatto, among others.


title: Colchis

text: In Greco-Roman geography, Colchis (; ) was an exonym for the Georgian polity of Egrisi () located on the coast of the Black Sea, centered in present-day western Georgia.


title: Colchis

text: Its population, the Colchians are generally thought to have been an early Kartvelian-speaking tribe ancestral to the contemporary western Georgians, namely Svans and Zans. According to David Marshall Lang: "one of the most important elements in the modern Georgian nation, the Colchians were probably established in the Caucasus by the Middle Bronze Age."


title: Colchis

text: It has been described in modern scholarship as "the earliest Georgian formation", which, along with the Kingdom of Iberia, would later contribute significantly to the development of the Kingdom of Georgia and the Georgian nation.


title: Colchis

text: Colchis is known in Greek mythology as the destination of the Argonauts, as well as the home to Medea and the Golden Fleece. It was also described as a land rich with gold, iron, timber and honey that would export its resources mostly to ancient Hellenic city-states.


title: Colchis

text: Colchis likely had a diverse population. According to Greek and Roman sources, between 70 and 300 languages were spoken in Dioscourias (modern Sukhumi) alone.


title: Colchis

text: Abkhaz, Scythian, Anatolian, and Greek names have all been identified in Colchis. Any of these groups could have constituted the ruling class. According to Rayfield, the first mention of Colchis is during the reign of the Assyrian king Tukulti-Ninurta I (1245–1209 BC) when he mentions "40 kings by the Upper[Black] Sea".


title: Colchis

text: Its geography is mostly assigned to what is now the western part of Georgia and encompasses the present-day Georgian provinces of Samegrelo, Imereti, Guria, Adjara, Abkhazia, Svaneti, Racha; modern Russia's Sochi and Tuapse districts; and present-day Turkey’s Artvin, Rize, and Trabzon provinces.


title: Colchis

text: Colchis, Kolkha, Qulḫa or Kilkhi which existed from the c. 13th to the 1st centuries BC, is regarded as an early ethnically Georgian polity; the name of the Colchians was used as the collective term for early Kartvelian tribes which populated the eastern coast of the Black Sea in Greco-Roman ethnography.


title: Colchis

text: According to Donald Rayfield, an ethnic makeup of Colchis is "obscure" and that Kartvelian names "are conspicuously absent from the few anthronyms found in Colchian burials." Instead, Greek, Anatolian, Iranian, and possibly Abkhaz names are present.


title: Colchis

text: The name Colchis is thought to have derived from the Urartian "Qulḫa". In the mid-eighth century BC, Sarduri II the King of Urartu, inscribed his victory over "Qulḫa" on a stele; however, the exact location of "Qulḫa" is disputed. Some scholars argue the name "Qulḫa" (Colchís) originally referred to a land to the west of Georgia. Others argue "Qulḫa" may have been located in the south, near modern Göle, Turkey.


title: Colchis

text: According to Levan Gordeziani, while the Greek "Colchis" etymologically descends from Urartian "Qulḫa", the Greeks may have applied the name to a different region (and/or cultures) than the preceding Urartians had. Further confusion rests in possible differences in the Greeks' own usage of the name Colchis in political and mythological contexts (i.e. the relationship between "Aia-Colchis" and "the land of Colchis").


title: Colchis

text: According to most Classical-era sources, Colchis was bordered on the south-west by Pontus, on the west by the Black Sea, as far as the river Corax. To its north was the Greater Caucasus, beyond which was Sarmatia. On its east it bordered the Kingdom of Iberia and Montes Moschici (now the Lesser Caucasus). The south of Colchis bordered Armenia. The westward extent of the country is considered differently by different authors: Strabo makes Colchis begin at Trabzon, while Ptolemy, on the other hand, extends Pontus to the Rioni River.


title: Colchis

text: The Greek name (') is first used to describe a geographic area in the writings of Aeschylus and Pindar. Earlier writers speak of the "Kolchian" (') people and their mythical king Aeëtes (), as well as his eponymous city "Aea" or "Aia ()", but don't make explicit references to a Kolchis nation or region. The main river was known as the Phasis (now Rioni) and was, according to some writers the southern boundary of Colchis, but more probably flowed through the middle of that country from the Caucasus west into the Euxine, and the Anticites or Atticitus (now Kuban). Arrian mentions many others by name, but they would seem to have been little more than mountain torrents: the most important of them were Charieis, Chobus or Cobus, Singames, Tarsuras, Hippus, Astelephus, Chrysorrhoas, several of which are also noticed by Ptolemy and Pliny. The chief towns were Dioscurias or Dioscuris (under the Romans called Sebastopolis, now Sukhumi) on the seaboard of the Euxine, Sarapana (now Shorapani), Phasis (now Poti), Pityus (now Pitsunda), Apsaros (now Gonio), Surium (now Vani), Archaeopolis (now Nokalakevi), Macheiresis, and Cyta or Cutatisium or Aia (now Kutaisi), the traditional birthplace of Medea. Scylax mentions also Mala or Male, which he, in contradiction to other writers, makes the birthplace of Medea.


title: Colchis

text: In physical geography, Colchis is usually defined as the area east of the Black Sea coast, restricted from the north by the southwestern slopes of the Greater Caucasus, from the south by the northern slopes of the Lesser Caucasus in Georgia and Eastern Black Sea (Karadeniz) Mountains in Turkey, and from the east by Likhi Range, connecting the Greater and the Lesser Caucasus. The central part of the region is Colchis Plain, stretching between Sukhumi and Kobuleti; most of that lies on the elevation below above sea level. Marginal parts of the region are mountains of the Great and the Lesser Caucasus and Likhi Range.


title: Colchis

text: Its territory mostly corresponds to what is now the western part of Georgia and encompasses the present-day Georgian provinces of Samegrelo, Imereti, Guria, Adjara, Abkhazia, Svaneti, Racha; the modern Turkey’s Rize, Trabzon and Artvin provinces (Lazistan, Tao-Klarjeti); and the modern Russia’s Sochi and Tuapse districts.


title: Colchis

text: The climate is mild humid; near Batumi, annual rainfall level reaches , which is the absolute maximum for continental western Eurasia. The dominating natural landscapes of Colchis are temperate rainforests, yet degraded in the plain part of the region; wetlands (along the coastal parts of Colchis Plain); subalpine and alpine meadows.


title: Colchis

text: Colchis has a high proportion of Neogene and Palaeogene relict plants and animals, with the closest relatives in distant parts of the world: five species of Rhododendrons and other evergreen shrubs, wingnuts, Caucasian salamander, Caucasian parsley frog, eight endemic species of lizards from the genus "Darevskia", the Caucasus adder ("Vipera kaznakovi"), Robert's snow vole, and endemic cave shrimp.


title: Colchis

text: Millet was the main staple crop in Colchis. Wheat grew in certain regions and was also imported by sea. Similarly, local wines were produced and some wines were brought from overseas. The Colchian plain provided ample grazing land for cattle and horses, with the name of Phasis associated with fine horses. The wetlands were a home for waterfowl, while Colchian pheasants were exported to Rome and became a symbol of excess condemned by Roman moralists. The Colchian hinterland lacked salt and demand was satisfied partially by local production on the coast and partially by imports from the northern coast of the Black Sea.


title: Colchis

text: Colchis provided slaves as a tribute to the Achaemenid Empire and Colchian slaves are also attested in Ancient Greece.


title: Colchis

text: The eastern Black Sea region in antiquity was home to the well-developed Bronze Age culture known as the Colchian culture, related to the neighbouring Koban culture, that emerged toward the Middle Bronze Age. In at least some parts of Colchis, the process of urbanization seems to have been well advanced by the end of the second millennium BC. The Colchian Late Bronze Age (fifteenth to eighth century BC) saw the development of significant skill in the smelting and casting of metals. Sophisticated farming implements were made, and fertile, well-watered lowlands and a mild climate promoted the growth of progressive agricultural techniques.


title: Colchis

text: The earliest attestations of the name of Colchis can be found in the 8th century Greek poet Eumelus of Corinth as ""Κολχίδα"" and earlier, in Urartian records as ""Qulḫa"" mentioned by the Urartian kings, who conquered it in 744 or 743 BC.


title: Colchis

text: According to Svante Cornell, "What could be conceived as the proto Georgian statehood emerged mainly in the Western parts of today's Georgia, with the kingdom of Colchis ("Kolkheti") in the sixth century BCE.


title: Colchis

text: Colchis was inhabited by a number of tribes whose settlements lay along the shore of the Black Sea. Chief among those were the Machelones, Heniochi, Zydretae, Lazi, Chalybes, Tibareni/Tubal, Mossynoeci, Macrones, Moschi, Marres, Apsilae, Abasci, Sanigae, Coraxi, Coli, Melanchlaeni, Geloni and Soani (Suani). The ancients assigned various origins to the tribes that inhabited Colchis.


title: Colchis

text: Herodotus regarded the Colchians as "dark-skinned and woolly-haired", an Ancient Egyptian race. Herodotus states that the Colchians, with the Ancient Egyptians and the Ethiopians, were the first to practice circumcision, a custom which he claims that the Colchians inherited from remnants of the army of Pharaoh Sesostris (Senusret III). Herodotus writes:


title: Colchis

text: These claims have been widely rejected by modern historians. It is in doubt if Herodotus had ever been to Colchis or Egypt.


title: Colchis

text: Many modern theories suggest that the ancestors of the Laz-Mingrelians constituted the dominant ethnic and cultural presence in the region in antiquity, and hence played a significant role in the ethnogenesis of the modern Georgians.


title: Colchis

text: Pausanias, a 1st-century BCE Greek geographer, citing the poet Eumelos, assigned Aeëtes, the mythological first king of Colchis, a Greek origin.


title: Colchis

text: The tribes living in the southern Colchis (Macrones, Moschi, and Marres) were incorporated into Persia and formed the 19th satrapy, while the northern tribes submitted "voluntarily" and had to send to the Persian court 100 girls and 100 boys every five years. In 400 BC, shortly after the Ten Thousand reached Trapezus, a battle was fought between them and the Colchis in which the latter were decisively defeated. The influence exerted on Colchis by the vast Achaemenid Empire with its thriving commerce and wide economic and commercial ties with other regions accelerated the socio-economic development of the Colchian land.


title: Colchis

text: Subsequently, the Colchis people appear to have overthrown the Persian Authority, and to have formed an independent state. According to Ronald Suny this western Georgian state was federated to Kartli-Iberia, and its kings ruled through "skeptoukhi" (royal governors) who received a staff from the king. According to David Braund's reading of Strabo's account, the native Colchian dynasty continued ruling the country in spite of its fragmentation into "skeptoukhies".


title: Colchis

text: Gocha R. Tsetskhladze explains that although Colchis and neighboring Iberia were once viewed as not having been under Achaemenid rule, "ever more evidence is emerging to show that they were, forming a lesser part of the Armenian satrapy".


title: Colchis

text: Mithridates VI quelled an uprising in the region in 83 BC and gave Colchis to his son Mithridates, who, soon being suspected in having plotted against his father, was executed. During the Third Mithridatic War, Mithridates VI made another of his sons, Machares, king of Bosporus and Colchis, who held his power, but only for a short period. On the defeat of Mithridates VI of Pontus in 65 BC, Colchis was occupied by Pompey, who captured one of the local chiefs (sceptuchus) Olthaces, and installed Aristarchus as a "dynast" (63–47 BC). On the fall of Pompey, Pharnaces II, son of Mithridates, took advantage of Julius Caesar being occupied in Egypt, and reduced Colchis, Armenia, and some part of Cappadocia, defeating Gnaeus Domitius Calvinus, whom Caesar subsequently sent against him. His triumph was, however, short-lived. Under Polemon I, the son and heir of Zenon, Colchis was part of the Pontus and the Bosporan Kingdom. After the death of Polemon (8 BC), his second wife Pythodorida of Pontus retained possession of Colchis as well as of Pontus, although the kingdom of Bosporus was wrested from her power. Her son and successor, Polemon II of Pontus, was induced by Emperor Nero to abdicate the throne, and both Pontus and Colchis were incorporated in the Province of Galatia (63) and later, in Cappadocia (81). Phasis, Dioscurias and other Greek settlements of the coast did not fully recover after the wars of 60-40 BC and Trebizond became the economical and political centre of the region.


title: Colchis

text: Despite the fact that all major fortresses along the sea coast were occupied by the Romans, their rule was relatively loose. In 69, the people of Pontus and Colchis under Anicetus staged a major uprising against the Roman Empire, which ended unsuccessfully.


title: Colchis

text: The lowlands and coastal area were frequently raided by fierce mountain tribes, with the Svaneti and Heniochi being the most powerful of them. Paying a nominal homage to Rome, they created their own kingdoms and enjoyed significant independence.


title: Colchis

text: Christianity began to spread in the early first century. Traditional accounts relate the event with Andrew the Apostle, Simon the Zealot, and Saint Matthias. The Hellenistic civilization, local paganism and Mithraic Mysteries would, however, remain widespread until the fourth century. Arrian listed the following peoples in his Periplus of the Euxine Sea written in 130-131 (from south to north): Sanni, Machelones, Heniochi, Zudreitae, Lazi, Apsilae, Abasgoi, Sanigs and Zilchi. Goths, dwelling in the Crimea and looking for new homes, raided Colchis in 253, but were repulsed with the help of the Roman garrison of Pitsunda. By the first century BC, the Lazica (or the Laz) kingdom was established in the region. Lazica became known as Elgrisi in 66 BC when Elgrisi became a vassal of the Roman Empire after the Caucasian campaign of Pompey.


title: Colchis

text: In Classical Greek mythology, Colchis was the home of Aeëtes, Medea, the Golden Fleece, and the fire-breathing Colchis bulls and was the destination of the Argonauts.


title: Colchis

text: Colchis also is thought to be a possible homeland of the Amazons. Amazons also were said to be of Scythian origin from Colchis.


title: Colchis

text: According to the Greek mythology, Colchis was a fabulously wealthy land situated on the mysterious periphery of the heroic world. Here in the sacred grove of the war god Ares, King Aeëtes hung the Golden Fleece until it was seized by Jason and the Argonauts. Colchis was also the land where the mythological Prometheus was punished by being chained to a mountain while an eagle ate at his liver for revealing to humanity the secret of fire.


title: Colchis

text: Apollonius of Rhodes named Aea as the main city ("Argonautica", passim). The main mythical characters from Colchis are:


title: Georgetown (film)

text: Georgetown is a 2019 crime film directed by Christoph Waltz in his feature directorial debut, and written by David Auburn, based on "The New York Times Magazine" article "The Worst Marriage in Georgetown" by Franklin Foer. The Georgetown neighborhood is a well-known historic neighborhood in the District of Columbia. Waltz stars alongside Vanessa Redgrave, Annette Bening and Corey Hawkins.


title: Georgetown (film)

text: It had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 27, 2019. It received a limited release in the United States on May 14, 2021, by Vertical Entertainment.


title: Georgetown (film)

text: An ambitious social climber becomes the main suspect in the death of his wealthy and much older wife.


title: Georgetown (film)

text: It was announced in May 2015 that Christoph Waltz would make his feature directorial debut with "The Worst Marriage in Georgetown", in which he would also star as the main character Ulrich Mott.


title: Georgetown (film)

text: In May 2017, Vanessa Redgrave was cast in the film as the wealthy socialite Mott marries in order to up his social status. Annette Bening joined the film, now titled "Georgetown", in September, with filming commencing in Toronto between August 3 and September 16, 2017.


title: Georgetown (film)

text: It had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 27, 2019. Its earliest theatrical release was in Italy on June 16, 2020. It was released in the United States on May 14, 2021, in a limited release by Vertical Entertainment. It was released on video on demand on May 18, 2021, by Paramount Home Entertainment.


title: Georgetown (film)

text: On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . On Metacritic, it holds a weighted average score of 49 out of 100, based on eight critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".


title: Georgetown (film)

text: "The Hollywood Reporter" praised the film, noting that "it's the kind of serious but broadly appealing, modestly scaled picture that people love to say doesn't exist any more."


title: Emily Maitlis

text: Emily Maitlis (born 6 September 1970) is a British journalist, documentary filmmaker, and former newsreader for the BBC. She was the lead anchor until the end of 2021 of "Newsnight", the BBC Two news and current affairs programme.


title: Emily Maitlis

text: Maitlis was born in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada to British Jewish parents; her paternal grandmother was a Jewish refugee who fled Nazi Germany. She is the daughter of Professor Peter Maitlis FRS, Emeritus Professor of Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Sheffield, and Marion Maitlis, a psychotherapist.


title: Emily Maitlis

text: She was brought up in Sheffield, South Yorkshire. She was educated at King Edward VII School, Sheffield, and then studied English at Queens' College, Cambridge. As of 2019 she was the only "Newsnight" presenter not to have attended a private school.


title: Emily Maitlis

text: Maitlis initially wanted to work as a director, prompted by her love for drama, but instead went into radio broadcasting. Prior to working in news, she was a documentary maker in Cambodia and China. She worked for the NBC network and was based in Hong Kong.


title: Emily Maitlis

text: She spent six years in Hong Kong with TVB News and NBC Asia, initially as a business reporter creating documentaries, and then as a presenter in Hong Kong covering the collapse of the tiger economies in 1997. She also covered the transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong with Jon Snow for Channel 4. She then moved to Sky News in the UK as a business correspondent, and then to "BBC London News" when the programme was relaunched in 2001.


title: Emily Maitlis

text: During 2005, Maitlis appeared as the question-master on the game show "The National Lottery: Come And Have A Go". She was a regular presenter on BBC News Channel for a decade between 2006 and 2016, alongside Ben Brown and Jon Sopel. She also presented "BBC Breakfast" and from May 2006 until July 2007 presented "STORYFix" on BBC News, a light-hearted look at the week's news set to up-beat music.


title: Emily Maitlis

text: In July 2007, Maitlis was appointed as a contributing editor to "The Spectator" magazine, an unpaid post. This had been approved by her immediate manager, the head of BBC Television News Peter Horrocks, but the decision was subsequently overturned by his superior, the BBC News director Helen Boaden.


title: Emily Maitlis

text: In 2012, Maitlis presented the "US 2012" election coverage on BBC One and the BBC News Channel alongside David Dimbleby, when incumbent US President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney were fighting for the presidency of the US. In 2016, she presented a news discussion programme called "This Week's World" on BBC Two, late afternoon on Saturdays.


title: Emily Maitlis

text: Maitlis was a main presenter of "Newsnight" on BBC Two, alongside Kirsty Wark and Emma Barnett. She first joined the programme as a relief presenter in 2006, working her way up to be lead anchor of the programme following the departure of Evan Davis in 2018. After each show, before bed, she answered emails from viewers. In April 2019, she published "Airhead: The Imperfect Art of Making News", a book describing how television news is produced.


title: Emily Maitlis

text: In November 2019, Maitlis interviewed Prince Andrew, Duke of York, about his relationship with American sex offender and paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, who died in August whilst awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. The interview was broadcast on the BBC's "Newsnight" programme on 16 November 2019. Due in part to the disastrous fallout from Prince Andrew's performance during this interview, he resigned from his royal duties. In February 2020, her interview with Prince Andrew won "Interview of the Year" and "Scoop of the Year" awards at the 2020 RTS Television Journalism Awards, and Maitlis is reportedly making a scripted drama with Blueprint Pictures of this interview.


title: Emily Maitlis

text: In 2019, Maitlis was amongst the highest paid BBC news and current affairs staff, receiving a salary between £260,000-£264,999. In July 2020 campaign group Defund the BBC ran billboards highlighting Maitlis' salary and that of Gary Lineker, with the heading "Are you still paying?"


title: Emily Maitlis

text: In 2020, Maitlis began presenting a BBC podcast, "Americast", with Jon Sopel, the BBC's North America editor. The podcasts originally focused on the 2020 election and contain analysis as well as an array of interviews from across the political scene. "Americast" received positive reviews and performed well becoming one of UK's most listened to podcast of any genre.


title: Emily Maitlis

text: On 22 February 2022, Maitlis announced her resignation from the BBC after signing with Global, the parent of LBC, to launch a daily podcast and joint radio show again with ex-BBC journalist, Jon Sopel.


title: Emily Maitlis

text: In an address at the 2022 Edinburgh TV Festival, Maitlis cautioned journalists about self-censorship in the name of being reluctant to take on populist critics.


title: Emily Maitlis

text: "The News Agents", a daily podcast from Global Media presented by Maitlis, Jon Sopel and Lewis Goodall was launched on 30 August 2022. The opening edition, titled "Trump – Prison or President?", focused on the FBI investigation into Donald Trump's handling of presidential documents, with Anthony Scaramucci, the former White House Director of Communications, appearing as a guest.


title: Emily Maitlis

text: In a "Newsnight" discussion concerning Brexit on 15 July 2019 it was alleged by a viewer that Maitlis had been "sneering and bullying" towards columnist Rod Liddle. Maitlis had accused Liddle's columns of containing "consistent casual racism week after week", asking Liddle if he would describe himself as a racist. An investigation by the BBC Executive Complaints Unit upheld the complaint against her, agreeing that she had been "persistent and personal" in her criticism of Liddle, thus "leaving her open to the charge that she had failed to be even-handed" in the discussion between Brexit-supporting Liddle and his anti-Brexit opponent Tom Baldwin. Douglas Murray described the segment as "more of a drive-by shooting than an interview".


title: Emily Maitlis

text: On 27 May 2020, the BBC said that Maitlis's introduction to "Newsnight" the night before, which discussed the allegations that the Prime Minister's chief adviser, Dominic Cummings, had contravened lockdown restrictions, "did not meet our standards of due impartiality". The BBC said in a statement: "The BBC must uphold the highest standards of due impartiality in its news output. Ms Maitlis started the show by declaring that Mr Cummings had 'broken the rules'". She stood aside as the host of "Newsnight" on that day after asking to take the night off. On 3 September 2020, a report by the BBC's Editorial Complaints Unit also ruled against Maitlis in the matter, stating Maitlis' comments "went beyond an attempt to set out the programme agenda" and that the "definitive and at times critical nature of the language" had "placed the presenter closer to one side of the debate" and thus "did not meet the required standards on accuracy or impartiality".


title: Emily Maitlis

text: In February 2021, Maitlis was criticised over lacking impartiality after sharing a tweet by Piers Morgan which condemned the government. Conservative Party politician Andrew Bridgen said the BBC journalist appeared to be ignoring impartiality guidelines.


title: Emily Maitlis

text: In her August 2022 MacTaggart Lecture at the Edinburgh TV Festival, Maitlis reflected on the incident, saying that BBC editors were initially complimentary. The following day, after a complaint from the Prime Minister's office, the BBC apologised and removed the segment from its streaming service. In the lecture, Maitlis also questioned the promptness with which the BBC apologised.


title: Emily Maitlis

text: Maitlis is married to investment manager Mark Gwynne, who is Catholic, whom she met while working in Hong Kong. She proposed to her husband while on holiday in Mauritius in 2000. They live in London and have two sons, Milo and Max. Maitlis is a keen runner and a WellChild Celebrity Ambassador. She speaks fluent French, Spanish and Italian, and some Mandarin.


title: Emily Maitlis

text: Maitlis presented the 2012 World Jewish Relief's annual dinner at Guildhall, London. Her family is Jewish, although she has said that they are "not very practising".


title: Emily Maitlis

text: During 2002, it was reported that Maitlis had been stalked for over a decade by Edward Vines, a former platonic friend from her time at university, who would appear at her place of work. He admitted to harassing Maitlis, and was sentenced to four months' imprisonment, but released because of the time he had spent in detention on remand. A restraining order was imposed. In September 2016, Vines was sentenced to three years' imprisonment for breach of the restraining order in respect of Maitlis. In January 2018, Vines was jailed for 3 years and 9 months for breaching a restraining order forbidding him from contacting Maitlis. He admitted two charges of breaching the restraining order by sending two letters to Maitlis, as well as emails and letters to her mother in 2015. In September 2019, while a prisoner at HM Prison Ranby in Nottinghamshire, he pleaded not guilty to breaching an order restraining him from contacting Maitlis by writing a letter with the intention of having it sent to her. That led to his being sentenced, in February 2020, to a further three years' imprisonment. In July 2022, Vines was convicted of attempting to break a restraining order by writing letters to Maitlis and her mother while in prison, for which he was subsequently received an 8-year prison sentence.


title: Emily Maitlis

text: In a BBC Radio 5 Live interview, Maitlis likened the long-term harassment to having a chronic illness.


title: Emily Maitlis

text: In 2012 Maitlis received an honorary doctorate from Sheffield Hallam University. She won Broadcast Journalist of the Year at the 2017 London Press Club Awards and the Network Presenter of the Year award at the RTS Television Journalism Awards in 2019 and 2020. She received the German Hanns Joachim Friedrichs Award in 2020.


title: Jacques, Hereditary Prince of Monaco

text: Jacques, Hereditary Prince of Monaco, Marquis of Baux (Jacques Honoré Rainier Grimaldi; born 10 December 2014), is the heir apparent to the Monegasque throne. He is the son of Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene, and twin brother of Princess Gabriella.


title: Jacques, Hereditary Prince of Monaco

text: He also holds the title of Marquis of Baux, which all the heirs apparent to the crown of Monaco have held since 1643.


title: Jacques, Hereditary Prince of Monaco

text: On 30 May 2014, it was announced that Princess Charlene was pregnant. After much speculation it was confirmed, on 9 October 2014, that the couple was expecting twins by the end of the year.


title: Jacques, Hereditary Prince of Monaco

text: On 21 November 2014, the palace announced that each twin would have the right to a salvo of 21 cannon shots at birth. In addition, the day would be declared a holiday. On 10 December 2014, Jacques was born at Monaco's Princess Grace Hospital Centre, two minutes after his sister Gabriella.


title: Jacques, Hereditary Prince of Monaco

text: The Prince's Palace of Monaco released a statement describing how the birth was to be celebrated in the principality. Forty-two cannon shots (twenty-one for each child) were to be fired from the Fort Antoine and church bells were to ring for fifteen minutes, followed by boat horns. The twins were presented on 7 January 2015 which was declared a public holiday in Monaco.


title: Jacques, Hereditary Prince of Monaco

text: Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella have an older half-sister, Jazmin Grace Grimaldi, and an older half-brother, Alexandre Grimaldi-Coste, from their father's previous romances.


title: Jacques, Hereditary Prince of Monaco

text: The newborn prince was baptised Jacques Honoré Rainier. Princess Charlene revealed that she chose the name Jacques, a name that is common in her homeland. The names Honoré and Rainier are common among previous rulers of Monaco. He received the title Marquis of Baux from his father.


title: Jacques, Hereditary Prince of Monaco

text: At this occasion, he was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of Grimaldi. A certified copy of this legal document is safeguarded in the Monaco cathedral, while another is at Bank of Monaco—Credit Suisse.


title: Jacques, Hereditary Prince of Monaco

text: When referring to Jacques in French, the palace has used the term "Prince Héréditaire" to refer to the prince. However, when mentioning the prince in English, the palace has referred to Jacques as "Crown Prince" instead of "Hereditary Prince."


title: The Office (American season 8)

text: The eighth season of the American television comedy "The Office" commenced airing on NBC in the United States on September 22, 2011, and concluded on May 10, 2012, consisting of 24 episodes. The series is an American adaptation of the British comedy series of the same name, and is presented in a mockumentary format, portraying the daily lives of office employees in the Scranton, Pennsylvania branch of the fictitious Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. The eighth season of "The Office" aired on Thursdays at 9:00 p.m. (Eastern) in the United States as part of the "Comedy Night Done Right" television block. It stars Rainn Wilson, John Krasinski, Jenna Fischer, B. J. Novak, Ed Helms, and James Spader, with supporting performances from Catherine Tate, Leslie David Baker, Brian Baumgartner, Creed Bratton, Kate Flannery, Mindy Kaling, Ellie Kemper, Angela Kinsey, Paul Lieberstein, Oscar Nunez, Craig Robinson, Phyllis Smith, and Zach Woods. This was the first season without Steve Carell as Michael Scott in the lead role and the only one to not feature the character in any onscreen capacity, although he is occasionally mentioned.


title: The Office (American season 8)

text: The eighth season largely centers on Andy Bernard's (Ed Helms) ascension to regional manager, as well as the antics of Robert California (James Spader), the new CEO of Sabre, a fictional printer company that owns Dunder Mifflin. Halfway through the season, Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson)—along with Jim Halpert (John Krasinski), Stanley Hudson (Leslie David Baker), Ryan Howard (B. J. Novak), Erin Hannon (Ellie Kemper), and Cathy Simms (Lindsey Broad)—travel to Florida to help set up a Sabre Store, where Nellie Bertram (Catherine Tate) is introduced. Eventually, former CFO of Dunder Mifflin David Wallace (Andy Buckley) buys back the company, firing California.


title: The Office (American season 8)

text: Despite debuting with moderate viewing figures, the departure of Carell affected the show's ratings, which fell as the season progressed. The season ranked as the eighty-seventh-most watched television series during the 2011–12 television year and saw a dramatic decrease in ratings from the previous season. Critical reception was polarized. Many critics argued that the series should have ended after the departure of Carell; many also felt that the season recycled storylines from past episodes. Other critics were more positive, complimenting various actors and their characters. It marked the first time since season one that the show did not receive any Emmy nominations.


title: The Office (American season 8)

text: The eighth season of the show was produced by Reveille Productions and Deedle-Dee Productions, both in association with Universal Television. The show is based on the British comedy series of the same name, which was created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). In addition, the two are executive producers on the show. This season of "The Office" was produced by Greg Daniels and Paul Lieberstein, the latter of whom serves as the showrunner. Returning writers from the previous season included Lieberstein, Charlie Grandy, Justin Spitzer, Carrie Kemper, Daniel Chun, Robert Padnick, Aaron Shure, Steve Hely, Amelie Gillette, Mindy Kaling, and B. J. Novak; the latter two were both also credited as executive producers. It was previously unknown whether Kaling would write for the series any longer. Kaling herself confirmed via her Twitter page that she would write the Christmas-themed episode, "Christmas Wishes". Three new writers joined the staff beginning in season eight: Owen Ellickson, Allison Silverman and Dan Greaney. The season also saw the directorial debuts of cast members Ed Helms and Brian Baumgartner; Helms directed the episode "Christmas Wishes", and Baumgartner directed "After Hours".


title: The Office (American season 8)

text: The series was renewed for an eighth season on March 17, 2011, began filming on July 25, 2011, and the season concluded filming on March 9, 2012. Jenna Fischer's pregnancy was written into the show, and Pam was again pregnant at the start of the season with a boy as she was in real life. Unlike the sixth season, there was no episode focusing on the baby's birth; it was instead announced on a blog. In an interview, executive producer Lieberstein stated that, with the departure of Michael Scott, the writers would explore further into the other characters on the show, such as centering on a specific character for an episode. On January 25, 2012, news broke that NBC was planning a spin-off series starring Rainn Wilson as Dwight Schrute, that would be set at Schrute Farms, Dwight's bed-and-breakfast and beet farm. The spin-off would be created by Wilson and executive producer Paul Lieberstein, but "Office" developer Greg Daniels would not be involved. Due to his initial involvement in the spin-off, Lieberstein stepped down as showrunner of "The Office". On October 29, 2012, it was revealed that NBC was not going forward with the proposed spin-off, although the original backdoor pilot, "The Farm" aired later in the ninth season.


title: The Office (American season 8)

text: Cody Horn, who guest-starred in the seventh season as Jordan Garfield, was originally supposed to be featured as a recurring character this season, but she did not return. The eighth season introduced several new characters. Stephen Collins, Dee Wallace and Josh Groban were cast as Andy's father, mother and brother, respectively, and appeared in the episode "Garden Party". From the episodes "Pam's Replacement" to "Last Day in Florida", Lindsey Broad had a recurring guest-star spot as Cathy Simms, Pam's temporary replacement while she was on maternity leave, and who remained employed at the company for a while after. Maura Tierney appeared in "Mrs. California", playing California's wife. Catherine Tate returned to reprise her role as Nellie Bertram, in a major arc starting in the episode "Tallahassee". Despite reports that she would also get romantically involved with Robert, this never occurred. Two writers for the animated comedy series "The Simpsons", Matt Selman and Matt Warburton, appeared in the Kaling-scripted episode "Test the Store", and "Simpsons" star Dan Castellaneta appeared in the episode "Turf War". While, it was initially announced that the season would introduce Stanley Hudson's "other daughter and a new male addition to the accounting department", these new characters never appeared.


title: The Office (American season 8)

text: At the time, this season marked the final year that some cast members—notably Helms, Fischer, Novak, and Krasinski—were signed on for the show, as their contracts expired at the end of the season; this caused speculation that several members of the main cast would leave the series following this season. The eighth season was Novak's last as a series regular, although he made a couple of recurring appearances in the ninth season. It was also Kaling's final full season, due to her pilot, "The Mindy Project", being picked up by Fox; Kaling portrayed customer service representative Kelly Kapoor. On February 28, 2012, it was announced that Spader would not return for a ninth season of the show. There was initial speculation that following the eighth season, Daniels was considering rebooting the series due to the possible departures of main cast members. However, a new deal was negotiated with NBC, and all the main cast members, sans Spader, Novak, and Kaling, would return for the ninth season, although several new characters would be brought on board for a "mini reboot". NBC also announced that Catherine Tate would become a series regular.


title: The Office (American season 8)

text: "The Office" employs an ensemble cast. Most of the main characters, and some supporting ones, are based on characters from the British version of "The Office". While these characters normally have the same attitudes and perceptions as their British counterparts, the roles have been redesigned to better fit the American show. The show is known for its large cast size, many of whom are known particularly for their improvisational work.


title: The Office (American season 8)

text: The series aired on Thursdays at 9:00 p.m. as part of "Comedy Night Done Right" television block. The season premiere, "The List" received a 3.9/10 percent share in the Nielsen ratings among viewers aged 18 to 49, meaning that 3.9 percent of viewers aged 18 to 49 watched the episode, and 10 percent of viewers watching television at the time watched the episode. "The List" was the highest-rated episode of the season. Despite this, it became the lowest-rated season premiere of the series since the series premiere. The rest of the season was unable to receive more than seven million viewers. The twenty-second episode, "Fundraiser" received only 4.17 million viewers, making it, at the time, the lowest-rated episode of "The Office" to ever air (although it was later beaten by several ninth-season episodes the following year). The season finale, "Free Family Portrait Studio", was viewed by 4.49 million viewers, making it the lowest finale for "The Office" to air, beating the first-season finale "Hot Girl", which was viewed by 4.8 million viewers. The drop in ratings led to a lower ad-price for the series, with an average cost of $178,840 per 30-second commercial. Despite this, the show was still one of NBC's highest-rated shows and ranked as the most expensive ad-cost for any NBC scripted series during the year it aired. Despite the lower live ratings, Nielsen Soundscan announced that "The Office" added up to 44 percent to its next-day "live plus same day" 18–49 rating when additional time-shifted viewing was added, such as DVRing.


title: The Office (American season 8)

text: The season ranked as the eighty-seventh-most watched television series during the 2011–12 season, with an average of 6.506 million viewers. The season also ranked as the thirty-second-most watched television series in the 18- to 49-year-old demographic. In this category, the show was viewed by an estimated 4.376 million viewers per episode and received a 3.42 rating/9 percent share among adults between the ages of 18 and 49. This means that, on average, the season was viewed by 3.42 percent of all 18- to 49-year-olds, and 9 percent of all 18- to 49-year-olds watching television at the time of the broadcast.


title: The Office (American season 8)

text: The eighth season of "The Office" received mixed reviews. While some critics felt that the show was still humorous in its eighth year, many others argued that the program should have ended after the departure of Steve Carell. "The A.V. Club" reviewer Myles McNutt criticized Robert California's role, noting that he is a character that "the narrative reacts to as opposed to something actually involved in the narrative". Alan Sepinwall of HitFix criticized Ed Helms' comedic performance as manager (calling him "a softer version of Michael Scott"), as well as the toning down of Robert California from his appearance in the show's seventh season's finale, "Search Committee". Sepinwall also expressed disappointment that many of the supporting characters were seemingly transformed into mere caricatures of their former selves. He stopped reviewing a majority of the Season 8 episodes since "Pam's Replacement", due to his distaste for the series. "Time" writer James Poniewozik also criticized the choice of Andy as manager, instead arguing that Jim should have gotten the job so the series could have been more ensemble-oriented. "New York" named Andy Bernard one of the most annoying TV characters of 2011. Early during the season's airing, Matt Zoller Seitz of "Salon" wrote a review in which he called the post-Michael Scott era of "The Office" "warmer and more reflective". After the season finished airing, however, Seitz penned another review, writing: "Fact is, the show's first post-Steve Carell year has been a mess, at times bordering on a disaster". McNutt gave the season a "C" grade overall, writing that the season finale, "Free Family Portrait Studio" was "a disheartening conclusion to the show's worst season, offering little optimism to sustain our already dwindling enthusiasm over the summer months."


title: The Office (American season 8)

text: Bret Fetzer of Amazon.com wrote that "it's best to approach this season as if it were a completely new series". He felt that it is unfair to compare the quality of this season to that of past seasons because "the series' previous heights were so very high". However, he called the year "uneven", because episodes would range from putting "Andy into Michael Scott-ish situations" to "seek[ing] out new angles on the well-established web of interpersonal conflicts". This vacillation between extremes meant that the episodes "sometimes" work. Hank Stuever of "The Washington Post" named the series the tenth-best series of 2011, specifically praising the actors' ability in "Mrs. California" to deliver cringe humor without Carell. "TV Guide" named it an honorable mention on their list of the best TV shows of 2011. Price Peterson from TV.com called the series "still one of the best shows on TV" and argued that, while "Season 8 definitely wasn't the show's best", the season "sneaked in some genuinely great jokes, new characters, and affecting plotlines." Despite the lackluster reviews many of the episodes received, many critics praised Ellie Kemper's performance as Erin Hannon. McNutt noted that "regardless of how down I was on this or any other episode, Ellie Kemper really has been tremendous all season." In addition, Kemper's performance in the episodes "Spooked," "Christmas Wishes," "Pool Party," and "Special Project," in particular, were praised by critics.


title: The Office (American season 8)

text: In retrospect, many members of the cast and crew felt that the season was not the show's best. Rainn Wilson said that the season made some mistakes "creatively"; for instance, he argued that the chemistry between Spader and Helms was "a bit dark" and that the show should have gone for a "brighter and more energized" relationship. Brian Baumgartner felt that the show "stayed status quo [with the previous year], but without a key piece" and "didn't make a firm decision" on the direction it was headed. Ben Silverman, one of the show's producers, said that "it didn't have the sense of purpose and focus" that the next season would have.


title: The Office (American season 8)

text: In the following table, "U.S. viewers (million)" refers to the number of Americans who viewed the episode on the night of broadcast. Episodes are listed by the order in which they aired, and may not necessarily correspond to their production codes.


title: The Magician's Nephew

text: The Magician's Nephew is a fantasy children's novel by C. S. Lewis, published in 1955 by The Bodley Head. It is the sixth published of seven novels in "The Chronicles of Narnia" (1950–1956). In recent editions, which sequence the books according to Narnia history, it is volume one of the series. Like the others, it was illustrated by Pauline Baynes whose work has been retained in many later editions. The Bodley Head was a new publisher for "The Chronicles", a change from Geoffrey Bles who had published the previous five novels.


title: The Magician's Nephew

text: "The Magician's Nephew" is a prequel to the series. The middle third of the novel features the creation of the Narnia world by Aslan the lion, centred on a section of a lamp-post brought by accidental observers from London in 1900. The visitors then participate in the beginning of Narnia history, 1000 years before "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" (which inaugurated the series in 1950).


title: The Magician's Nephew

text: The frame story, set in England, features two children ensnared in experimental travel via "the wood between the worlds". Thus, the novel shows Narnia and our middle-aged world to be only two of many in a multiverse, which changes as some worlds begin and others end. It also explains the origin of foreign elements in Narnia, not only the lamp-post but also the White Witch and a human king and queen.


title: The Magician's Nephew

text: Lewis began "The Magician's Nephew" soon after completing "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe", spurred by a friend's question about the lamp-post in the middle of nowhere, but he needed more than five years to complete it. The story includes several autobiographical elements and explores a number of themes with general moral and Christian implications, including atonement, original sin, temptation and the order of nature.


title: The Magician's Nephew

text: The story begins in London during the summer of 1900. Two children, Digory and Polly, meet while playing in the adjacent gardens of a row of terraced houses. They decide to explore the abandoned attic beyond Digory's house, but do not walk far enough, and find themselves in Uncle Andrew's study. Uncle Andrew tricks Polly into touching a yellow magic ring, causing her to vanish. Then he explains to Digory that he has been dabbling in magic, and that the rings allow travel between one world and another. He blackmails Digory into taking another yellow ring to follow wherever Polly has gone, and two green rings so that they both can return.


title: The Magician's Nephew

text: Digory finds himself transported to a sleepy woodland with an almost narcotic effect; he finds Polly nearby. The woodland is filled with pools. Digory and Polly surmise that the wood is not really a proper world at all but a "Wood between the Worlds", similar to the attic that links their houses back in England, and that each pool leads to a separate universe. They decide to explore a different world before returning to England, and jump into one of the nearby pools. They then find themselves in a desolate abandoned city of the ancient world of Charn. Inside the ruined palace, they discover statues of Charn's former kings and queens, which degenerate from the fair and wise to the unhappy and cruel. They find a bell with a hammer and an inscription inviting the finder to strike the bell.


title: The Magician's Nephew

text: Despite protests from Polly, Digory rings the bell. This awakens the last of the statues, a witch queen named Jadis, whoto avoid defeat in battlehad deliberately killed every living thing in Charn by speaking the "Deplorable Word". As the only survivor left in her world, she placed herself in an enchanted sleep that would only be broken by someone ringing the bell.


title: The Magician's Nephew

text: The children recognise Jadis as evil and attempt to flee, but she follows them back to England by clinging to them as they clutch their rings. In England, she discovers that her magical powers do not work, although she retains her superhuman strength. Dismissing Uncle Andrew as a poor magician, she enslaves him and orders him to fetch her a "chariot"a hansom cabso she can set about conquering Earth. They leave, and she attracts attention by robbing a jewellery store in London. The police chase after her cab, until she crashes at the foot of the Kirke house. Jadis breaks off and tears an iron rod from a nearby lamp-post, using it to fight off police and onlookers when they mock her.


title: The Magician's Nephew

text: When Jadis threatens the crowd, Polly and Digory grab her and put on their rings to take her out of their worldalong with Uncle Andrew, Frank the cab-driver, and Frank's horse, Strawberry, who were all touching each other when the children grabbed their rings. In the Wood between the Worlds, Strawberry, looking to drink from one of the ponds, accidentally brings everyone into another world: a dark, empty void. At first, Digory believes it to be Charn, but Jadis recognises it as a world not yet created. They then all witness the creation of a new world by the lion Aslan, who brings stars, plants, and animals into existence as he sings. Jadis, as terrified by his singing as the others are attracted to it, tries to kill Aslan with the iron rod; but it rebounds harmlessly off him, and in the creative soil of the new world it sprouts into a growing lamp-post. Jadis flees in terror.


title: The Magician's Nephew

text: Aslan gives some animals the power of speech, commanding them to use it for justice and merriment or else risk becoming regular animals once again. King Frank and his wife are then crowned. Aslan confronts Digory with his responsibility for bringing Jadis into his young world, and tells Digory he must atone by helping to protect the new land of Narnia from her evil. Aslan transforms the cabbie's horse into a winged horse called Fledge, and Digory and Polly fly on him to a distant garden high in the mountains. Digory's task is to take an apple from a tree in this garden and plant it in Narnia. At the garden Digory finds a sign warning not to steal from the garden.


title: The Magician's Nephew

text: Digory picks one of the apples for his mission, but their overpowering smell tempts him. Jadis appears, having herself eaten an apple to become immortal, leaving her with pale white skin. She tempts Digory either to eat an apple himself and join her in immortality, or steal one to take back to Earth to heal his dying mother. Digory resists, knowing his mother would never condone theft, but hesitates. He sees through the Witch's ploy when she suggests he leave Polly behindnot knowing Polly can get away by her own ring. Foiled, the Witch departs for the North, and taunts Digory for his refusal to eat the apple and gain immortality. Digory returns to Narnia and plants the apple, which grows into a mature tree behind them while the coronation proceeds. Aslan tells Digory how the tree works – anyone who steals the apples gets their heart's desire, but in a form that makes it unlikeable. In the Witch's case, she has achieved immortality, but it only means eternal misery because of her evil heart. Moreover, the magic apples are now a horror to her, such that the apple tree will repel her for centuries to come, but not forever. With Aslan's permission, Digory then takes an apple from the new tree to heal his mother. Aslan returns Digory, Polly, and Uncle Andrew to England. Frank and his wife, Helen (transported from England by Aslan) stay to rule Narnia as its first King and Queen. The Narnian creatures live in peace and joy, and neither the Witch nor any other enemy will come to trouble Narnia for many hundreds of years.


title: The Magician's Nephew

text: Digory's apple restores his mother's health as his father returns for good after being away on business in India, and he and Polly remain lifelong friends. Uncle Andrew reforms and gives up magic, but still enjoys bragging about his adventures with the Witch. Digory plants the apple's core with Uncle Andrew's rings in the back yard of his aunt's home in London, and it grows into a large tree. Soon afterwards, Digory's family inherits a mansion in the country, and many years later the apple tree blows down in a storm. Digory, now a middle-aged professor, has its wood made into a wardrobe, setting up the events in "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe".


title: The Magician's Nephew

text: Lewis had originally intended only to write the one Narnia novel, "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe". However, when Roger Lancelyn Green asked him how a lamp-post came to be standing in the midst of Narnian woodland, Lewis was intrigued enough by the question to attempt to find an answer by writing "The Magician's Nephew", which features a younger version of Professor Kirke from the first novel.


title: The Magician's Nephew

text: "The Magician's Nephew" seems to have been the most challenging Narnia novel for Lewis to write. The other six "Chronicles of Narnia" books were written between 1948 and 1953, "The Magician's Nephew" was written over a five-year period between 1949 and 1954. He started in the summer of 1949 after finishing "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe", but came to a halt after producing 26 pages of manuscript and did not resume work until two years later. This may be as a result of the autobiographical aspects of the novel, as it reflects a number of incidents and parallels very close to his own experiences.