I haven't seen a thread on the show, but as one of the bigger Star Wars fans on this site, I've been paying a lot of attention to this show with some high hopes. Although, knowing it's Disney and following The Clone Wars all the way through, I have an idea of what to expect. But I'm looking at this show and hoping to see the nostalgia created by the original trilogy or "Classic Era"/Rise of the Empire/Rebellion Era where the Empire is in power and rebels are on the run. The characters in the show thus far are a bit interesting. Of course more varied than the JEDI or CLONE characters in The Clone War. A Mandalorian, a pilot, a brute alien and scoundrel/swashbuckling type that made people connect with Han Solo, but also be a former Jedi. The voice talent in the show is pretty strong and a few heavies from Hollywood(Isaacs, Prinze, Oyelowo and my favorite BILLY DEE WILLIAMS!!!).
Again, I followed and for the most part liked The Clone Wars. Asoka Tano was absolutely annoying and the kid seems like he could be as annoying(at least this could be believably in character, instead of a Jedi acting like a spoiled brat), but audiences need someone to connect that they can tell the story through. I get that, I can deal. The Clone Wars did a good job with the "Wars" part of the show. They had a LOT of good action through the series. My hope is that this one will be able to live up not only to the standard set by TCW, but to the memories that we all have of the original trilogy that we'll all recall watching the show whether we want to or not. From the clips I've seen from the music, the sounds, the visuals all fill me with the same feeling I get watching the original trilogy or reading old Star Wars Adventure Journals, playing Dark Forces and playing old school WEG roleplaying games. That alone could help me over look some writing flaws I'm seeing. But it looks good. It certainly sounds good and when I watch it, I know it's STAR WARS. And that, in my book, is a very good thing.
1st 7 minutes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZn_TrwbPN8
Clone Wars was great, Young Justice was great ... I'm hoping this will be an awesome fusion of the two.
I am cautiously excited for Rebels.
I really enjoyed Clone Wars...sometimes. It was an odd show, each season essentially being 3-5 movies so any given arc I would either love or bored by. The best stuff like the Darth Maul stories were great. Asoka was annoying at first but I grew to like her by the end. I'm really hoping she reappears in Rebels.
I'm hoping with Greg Weisman on board he'll bring the kind of plotting seen in Young Justice and his other shows (pretty much all of which are among my favorites). I'm also hopeful that Rebels will pick up some of the hanging plots from Clone Wars. What I've seen of the cast so far has me interested, but not too excited. Looking forward to it.
Quote from: Starman on August 05, 2014, 11:49:13 AM
Clone Wars was great, Young Justice was great ... I'm hoping this will be an awesome fusion of the two.
Young Justice was a SURPRISINGLY really well written show, IMO. It was one of the fewer shows written by adults for kids in the voice of how kids think, instead of how adults think kids think. That's what I think made the dialogue work so well and made it seem like I was watching a show about kids instead of watching a kids show. Make sense? THAT'S what I can hope to see from SWR.
Here are a couple of shorts for SWR. Not Shakespear, but entertaining enough and still gives me the the feel of the classic trilogy.
"Not What You Think"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yy9waYcrE8k
"Machine In The Ghost"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgoDwquiwRM
Here's two more:
"Art Attack"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dSJRKB8x9E (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dSJRKB8x9E)
"Entanglement"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pxyXtBuXHM (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pxyXtBuXHM)
:thumbup:
Those were pretty good actually!
Shorts seem promising.
So STAR WARS REBELS: SPARKS OF REBELLION debuted last night on Disney(not XD) and also released on DVD.
My impressions were that it was a pretty good start. It was a lot of what I expected. This show had the look, feel and characterization of CLASSIC Star Wars. The swashbuckling, running from the Empire, fire-fights, music, lazy writing. It was very recognizably STAR WARS.
Spoiler
Admittedly, a lot of the writing and situations were clunky, waaaaaay to convenient a little too fantastic. How does a identified enemy ship not only approach a Imperial Star Destroyer without being noticed, but dock without being met by a couple of hundred stormtroopers? How can a group of five be able to outwit and outfight entire squad of stormtroopers? A few other very convenient situations that they seemed to gloss over just to tell a story. But overall, I was pleased again with the ambiance, but also appreciative of some of the themes and places that I've read and heard about, but really hadn't seen as much. Kessel Spice Mines, Imperial Security Bureau, holocrons. But again, it was very Star Wars. Even had some of the same shots we've seen in Star Wars movies. Those situations and situations make it worth a watch. Again, the writing(not the acting, which is actually very good) is lazy, but the action was good.
It was billed as the premiere episode, but the show doesn't really start until about another week or so, likely with this episode again, but it's a good start.
I just watched this, and I have to say, Shogunn is pretty much spot-on. I really enjoyed the ride, over all, but there were definitely some clunky bits.
Spoiler
They really need to get a better class of writers. On the whole, they did a good job, but come on, it's a good thing a Star Destroyer isn't bristling with weaponry or anything. It might have actually been difficult to fly away from a massive Imperial battleship if that wasn't the case. :P Their first escape made a certain amount of sense, as they had the distraction of an explosion in the SD's hanger, but the second one was just hand-waved. There were a few times that, in my mind, I heard Mike and the Bots (from MST3K) say, "Next on Plot Convenience Theater!" Despite those writing weaknesses, Shogunn is right. This FELT like Star Wars, in a way that nothing but the occasional game has managed in at least a decade.
I like the cast of characters for the most part, though the kid needs to develop relatively quickly or he'll be annoying. His Aladdin with Force powers bit is only going to carry him so far. I'm curious what Mandalorian girl's deal is. Her running around like a pink fairy Bobba Fett is a bit much, but I'm willing to be surprised on that score. I like Zeb, though. He seems fairly straightforward, and every team needs a heavy. The Twi'lek has some nice snappy patter to her, and I like what little we've seen of the droid, Chopper, as well.
Of course, the captain of the crew is particularly interesting. When he stepped forward during the showdown on Kessel...that whole scene was pretty darn awesome. THAT felt really perfect. Powerful, dramatic, archetypaly heroic. With some understanding of Star Wars lore, that scene resonated with significance.
The animation is alright for what it is, but I really just don't care for this type of CGI work. It always seems stiff and lifeless. So far this one is better than Green Lantern, but it's a shame we can't get a style that is more capable of portraying real action.
So, despite the weaknesses, I'm definitely onboard. I told my wife after I watched this first episode, 'to have a Star Wars show that is actually decent would be a remarkable thing.' I've been wanting that since I was a kid, and the possibility of actually getting it is pretty darn exciting. :)
I saw it and I liked it. If it can deliver the level of quality that Clone Wars did and bring a greater level of serialization then I'll be very happy.
Spoiler
Definitely nails a more classic Star Wars feel. Right down to the character armour where the Imperials, despite greater numbers and firepower still can't take down a small band of rebels.
I find myself liking each of the characters. The kid Ezra came off as far too good/lucky but hopefully that will tone down as the series goes on as he gets more skilled and other characters take the spotlight.
Quote from: BentonGrey on October 05, 2014, 03:28:18 PM
I just watched this, and I have to say, Shogunn is pretty much spot-on. I really enjoyed the ride, over all, but there were definitely some clunky bits.
Spoiler
They really need to get a better class of writers. On the whole, they did a good job, but come on, it's a good thing a Star Destroyer isn't bristling with weaponry or anything. It might have actually been difficult to fly away from a massive Imperial battleship if that wasn't the case. :P Their first escape made a certain amount of sense, as they had the distraction of an explosion in the SD's hanger, but the second one was just hand-waved. There were a few times that, in my mind, I heard Mike and the Bots (from MST3K) say, "Next on Plot Convenience Theater!" Despite those writing weaknesses, Shogunn is right. This FELT like Star Wars, in a way that nothing but the occasional game has managed in at least a decade.
I like the cast of characters for the most part, though the kid needs to develop relatively quickly or he'll be annoying. His Aladdin with Force powers bit is only going to carry him so far. I'm curious what Mandalorian girl's deal is. Her running around like a pink fairy Bobba Fett is a bit much, but I'm willing to be surprised on that score. I like Zeb, though. He seems fairly straightforward, and every team needs a heavy. The Twi'lek has some nice snappy patter to her, and I like what little we've seen of the droid, Chopper, as well.
Of course, the captain of the crew is particularly interesting. When he stepped forward during the showdown on Kessel...that whole scene was pretty darn awesome. THAT felt really perfect. Powerful, dramatic, archetypaly heroic. With some understanding of Star Wars lore, that scene resonated with significance.
The animation is alright for what it is, but I really just don't care for this type of CGI work. It always seems stiff and lifeless. So far this one is better than Green Lantern, but it's a shame we can't get a style that is more capable of portraying real action.
So, despite the weaknesses, I'm definitely onboard. I told my wife after I watched this first episode, 'to have a Star Wars show that is actually decent would be a remarkable thing.' I've been wanting that since I was a kid, and the possibility of actually getting it is pretty darn exciting. :)
Yeah, for years GL teased for a few years about a 'live action' Star Wars show, which never really materialized. We all rather grew up with the Classic Trilogy or at the very least our gaming/roleplaying/literary excursions in Star Wars were initially through the lense of the original trilogy. Now, the Prequel Trilogy had it's challenges, but there are things it did right like both Clone Wars series, comics and games, but it's the Original Trilogy we still hold dear. So to see this series, not only do we have high hopes for it, but to hear what we hear from it it resonates with us in a way The Clone Wars couldn't.
Spoiler
I didn't much speak about the characters, but I hear you Benton. They're compelling. I slightly disagree with you about Ezra. I understand the need for the kid. They need someone to tell the story through and to connect to the Disney audience, but unlike Ahsoka Tano, a wise-cracking, bratty, back-talking, maverick makes more sense with a orphan kid living in the Outer Rim in the Empire instead of a Jedi Padawan. A lot of it was still a stretch in believe though, I agree. The others were also intriguing. Kanan I can dig. Hera, I like too. I want to see more of her story. Now, I'm really interesting in seeing much more about Sabine. She could potentially be my favorite character, but I need to see more. I found out that she's only 16 years old, which is not only really young for a Mandalorian commando/warrior, but more than that she would have been a toddler during the end of the Clone Wars. Death Watch was all but disbanded with the death of Pre Vizsla. There was also the Mandalorian Protectors, but I don't know how much they'd pull from that storyline. So I'm really curious about where she comes from. Zeb is a little over the top, IMO. He's always portrayed as too angry or too friendly. I would like to see his characterization more stabilized. As far as the villains go, the main ones being Kallus(Oyelowo) and the Inquisitor(Isaacs) so far are okay. Oyelowo did a really good job with Kallus. Really believable. The Inquisitor remains to be seen, but with Jason Isaacs doing the work, I'm confident he'll be well done.
The animation is slightly different from The Clone Wars. The Clone Wars' animation was based off the art and framing of Tartakovsky's Clone Wars series. Star Wars Rebels seems more traditional. The stormtroopers are 'bulkier' than clonetroopers. The faces are less realistic and more cartoony.
But the overall pacing of Sparks of Rebellion was good. Yeah, it was too fast and convenient in spots. But the spots it wasn't, the action was really good. The corridor fight, the TIE Fighter chase scene and the rescue of the Wookiees were all pretty fun. It seems like THAT is what they wanted to do with this show and if that's what they want to go with it, I can't complain so much about the flaws because it's these scenes and the ambiance of being authentically STAR WARS will carry this series.
Just watched the latest episode "Rise of the Old Masters" and this was EASILY the best episode so far. The action was great. Characterization and level of Star Wars detail put me in awe!
Spoiler
We finally got to see "The Inquisitor" in action. The way it happened was pretty eventful and unexpected. I was pleasantly surprised to see not just a reference to the Jedi Purge, but the revelation that Luminara Unduli survived the Purge "as rumored". The first lightsaber battle we saw, in my opinion was made better by how the Inquisitor dissected Kanan's style, what he was taught and WHO taught him, which was a bit more telling about his background. That Depa Billaba was his master and given his age, we can also see why he might not have been comfortable training Ezra and why he was so persistent on finding Luminara. Very sparse detail was given, but it was enough for me to want to know more and to want to watch more. There weren't any convenient plot skips like there has been, it flowed well and wasn't an "easy" adventure for the characters. I'm still very impressed with the level of detail of the characters we're seeing. Kanan was focused. The Inquisitor was intimidating. Even Ezra, who sometimes is too good was imperfect. Overall a really good episode.
I am unspeakably disappointed this show is on freaking Disney XD instead of anything we get. :(
I've been watching old episodes of X-Men TAS and I saw this linked on the page. And it works pretty well.
http://dubbed-scene.com/cartoon/star-wars-rebels
Quote from: BentonGrey on October 28, 2014, 11:30:31 AM
I am unspeakably disappointed this show is on freaking Disney XD instead of anything we get. :(
Welcome to Canada, eh.
Anybody still watching this? I'm taping the episodes that get played in syndication, so I'm a bit behind, but I'm still watching it.
All-in-all, I want to like it much more than I actually do. It has its moments, but it also occasionally has really terrible plotting (like when the Rebel's entire plan is to charge a convoy of ships straight at an Imperial blockade) and poor voice acting. It doesn't suffer from the lack of energy in the animation that other CGI shows, like Green Lantern, did, but that is still occasionally a problem. I'm also totally not okay with them rewriting Star Wars canon, even though I should have expected it with the death of the EU. It hurts more than I expected. :(
Ha, but, it is a Star Wars show set in the period that actually matters. It has its strengths too, and they at least are willing to kill some stormtroopers. The idea of a failed apprentice taking on his own apprentice is pretty interesting, and there are elements of the show that have promise. I do have trouble buying the artist-Mandalorain, though. What a ridiculous character. I also keep expected the kid to break out into "A Whole New World."
I've been watching it, but Disney XD Canada is shuffling into another channel and I'm not sure if I'm going to still have it going forward.
The show got a lot better in the last episodes of season 1, and season 2 so far has been pretty good. Not amazing, but solid, with lots of continuity with Clone Wars (sorry if that's a turnoff for you Benton ;) ) the opening tv movie for season two was pretty awesome though.
Yeeeaaaah, pretty much all connections to Clone Wars and the Prequels make the show drastically less enjoyable for me. :P
Fortunately, since I have blocked as much of the Prequels from my mind as possible and never followed the Clone Wars much, I don't notice a lot of the connections, I imagine. :)
I'm surprised that there hasn't been more discussion about this here.
I'm glad you guys bought this back up because with the release of the new movies, I can't help but to have questions about some of the stuff I'm seeing in Star Wars still.
Naturally we know last April, the Disney acquisition erased Star Wars continuity like the Death Star did to Alderaan. And as a huge fan like I've been for decades, believe me Benton, I feel your pain. Probably more since I've practically committed to memory EVERYTHING from the Expanded Universe. Now, as it stands, outside of the 12 films(1-9, Rogue 1, Solo and Clone Wars), both Clone Wars series and Rebels were the only official canon to carry over from the EU. But there are MORE than several aspects from the EU that has found it's way into the The Clone Wars, Rebels and even the films themselves. For example, I remember hearing Disney saying that Shadows to the Empire is no longer part of continunity, but the Black Sun, Falleen, Xizor and the Outrider(YT-2400) all have made the cut. So is it feasible that Dash Rendar does exist? Aayla Secura, who was created in the comics as a padawan of another Jedi who was given legitimacy in Episode III, Quinlan Vos, herself was prominently in Episodes II and III. The Sith Homeworld, whether it was named Moroband or Korriban was still the same world in TCW. Even Coruscant itself received it's name from Heir to the Empire. Deathwatch, Juggernauts, 501st, swoop bikes, Boba Fett(technically). And then there's the entire The Old Republic series. It's the one video game that did survive the acquisition. But even they don't know if it's officially canon.
So yeah, everything after RotJ is wiped from existence. No Crimson Empire, Dark Empire or Heir to the Empire. No Kyp Durron, Kyle Kattarn, and no Mara Jade. But everything before? I mean, what we loved about the EU was it's ability to weave itself into the overall Star Wars story. It told us the backstory of that guy sitting with Sebulba was an undercover Jedi Master. It told us the backstory of how Lando lost the Millennium Falcon to Han. Told us how Jango Fett got hired to be the clone template. Told us these stories to make the universe richer. But now... who knows...
Anyway, I still watch the show. Or trying to. It needs to stop being as simplistic and light-hearted. I like the stories they're telling and the overall arch itself. I loved bringing back familiar characters like Ashoka, Hondo and Lando, but also extremely appreciate the series doing what the movies did and bring back the ACTUAL actors for these roles with Billy Dee Williams and James Earl Jones as well. But I'll keep watching. The Clone Wars had similar problems, but was not afraid of darker themes and harsher storylines, which were extremely gripping. So we'll see.
Basicly non of the Dark Horse series except Darth Maul:Son of Dathomir are cannon.Thats the official statement.So no Legacy,KOTOR etc,etc...
In general I felt that Disney caters to people who only saw New Hope.I mean there are other time periods,use them.
Second season of Rebels has been a bit slow.Its mostly just one shots.And I know Im a minority there,but Im glad some of the characters from Clone Wars returned.
Quote from: Shogunn2517 on December 02, 2015, 01:47:18 AM
Aayla Secura, who was created in the comics as a padawan of another Jedi who was given legitimacy in Episode III, Quinlan Vos, herself was prominently in Episodes II and III.
Was Quinlan Vos in Episode III? I think I read that he was meant to appear but got cut. It doesn't matter though, because he appeared in Clone Wars (and the new novel, Dark Disciple, which is based on an unproduced Clone Wars storyline) so he's canon regardless.
Spade, I'm also fond of the Clone Wars characters returning in Rebels. It kinda makes up for Clone Wars getting cancelled by making Rebels a continuation and thus making both shows seem like two parts of the same story. It's also helped the current batch of episodes IMO because they're a little bit more interesting for having returning characters. Otherwise they were a little boring.
He was mentioned. But you're right. He was in TCW, which was carried over so he's as official as Ashoka.
And I too am glad she's back. Along with Rex and Hondo, to kind of connect the two shows more than just cameos but kind of a continuation.
Seeing he survived Clone Wars,and his own series,you think Darth Maul will be back in this series?
Quote from: Spade on December 19, 2015, 07:16:23 AM
Seeing he survived Clone Wars,and his own series,you think Darth Maul will be back in this series?
I really hope not. Bringing him back on Clone Wars was not a good idea IMO. Like Pet Cemetery says, sometimes dead is better. This was one of those times.
I would actually say that TCW added some depth to Darth Maul.It really went a long way in fixing him and General Grivous.IMO villain based episoded where some of the best in the show.
I do think he'll appear in Rebels at some point. And yes, I'm firmly in the camp that bringing him back was a good thing. He was fleshed out a lot more, and his storylines were some of the absolute best in the series.
They brought Darth Maul back? How did they manage that after he was chopped in half?
I think that it had something to do with his hatred sustaining him and then he was given cybernetic legs or something like that.
Quote from: BentonGrey on December 21, 2015, 05:05:22 AM
They brought Darth Maul back? How did they manage that after he was chopped in half?
Getting bisected at the waist and falling down a seemingly bottomless shaft isn't as hazardous as you'd think, I guess. Which is why bringing him back in the EU, like Boba fett before him, was crappy. Sometimes characters nerds think are cool are actually chumps. Everyone just needs to deal with that.
Quote from: Talavar on December 21, 2015, 03:39:29 PM
Quote from: BentonGrey on December 21, 2015, 05:05:22 AM
They brought Darth Maul back? How did they manage that after he was chopped in half?
Getting bisected at the waist and falling down a seemingly bottomless shaft isn't as hazardous as you'd think, I guess. Which is why bringing him back in the EU, like Boba fett before him, was crappy. Sometimes characters nerds think are cool are actually chumps. Everyone just needs to deal with that.
Disney obviously didn't.
Well,if Palpatine survived,anybody can.(Yes,I know its not canon anymore)
Bobba Fett actually made at least a little sense. We just saw him fall into the Sarlaac. We saw Maul cut in freaking half! Fett had the possibility of escape, since the Sarlaac's digestion was so slow, but Maul was pretty clearly dead dead dead.
Boba Fett, Darth Maul, and now this outrage over Captain Phasma not getting to be kewl enough are all examples more of fan projection than any inherent worth in the characters themselves.
Honestly, I didn't think it was all bad. Yeah, it might have been a little wonky, but they made it make some sort of sense. And yes, the stories they told from it were actually really good.
Spoiler
That last fight with Darth Sidious was probably one of the best sequences of the entire series, IMO.
But I suppose no matter how we feel about it, apparently it's as much canon as Kylo Ren is. It's hard for me to imagine Darth Maul not coming back as an Inquisitor or challenges the Rebels in some sort of way. Bound to.
Regardless of how silly it might be that Maul survived, the Maul storyline of season 5 was great and my favourite arc of the show. Totally justified his survival to me.
Also the spider legs were ridiculously awesome. Actually that alone might have justified Maul's survival.
I will be very disappointed and surprised if Maul doesn't appear down the line in Rebels.
Quote from: Shogunn2517 on December 22, 2015, 04:24:36 AM
Honestly, I didn't think it was all bad. Yeah, it might have been a little wonky, but they made it make some sort of sense. And yes, the stories they told from it were actually really good.
Spoiler
That last fight with Darth Sidious was probably one of the best sequences of the entire series, IMO.
But I suppose no matter how we feel about it, apparently it's as much canon as Kylo Ren is. It's hard for me to imagine Darth Maul not coming back as an Inquisitor or challenges the Rebels in some sort of way. Bound to.
There is no way, despite what Disney is currently saying, that the cartoons, comics and novels being put out are going to stand up to the films. If the directors of Episode 8 or 9, or any of the forthcoming spin-off films want to have a scene where they all dance a jig on Darth Maul's grave, no one at Disney is going to stop them, saying: "oh no, Darth Maul totally survived. We showed that in a cartoon a few years ago." They will dance that jig, because the films are billion+ dollar money machines, and the ancillary stuff is relative chump change. Really, we just have a new EU to replace the one Disney (rightly) jettisoned when they took over. Any conflicts between EU stuff and the films will end the same way as before.
Rebels and new trilogy arent really in conflict since there is almost 50 years between them.
There is still money to be made on the Legends continuity,so I belive Disney will eventually return to it in some form.They just didnt want to experiment with two timelines this early,so they decided to start from almost zero.I didnt like it,but I can understand why they did it.
Quote from: Spade on December 22, 2015, 05:53:15 AM
Rebels and new trilogy arent really in conflict since there is almost 50 years between them.
Not yet there isn't. But next Christmas we're getting Rogue One, set in that same pre-Original Star Wars era as Rebels, and the folks at Disney/Lucasfilm have said all eras of Star Wars are fair game for further spin-off films. Though I was referencing Clone Wars moreso, Rogue One could easily contradict stuff Rebels has done or is planning to do, and further spin-offs, like the rumoured Obi-wan solo film, Yoda origin story, Boba Fett film, or others down the road could conceivably reference the prequel era more directly. So to believe Disney's current claim that everything being produced is equally 'canon' is silly. I remember the same thing being said when the EU was created the first time around, and that certainly didn't hold true.
Ok,there are multiple rebel cells,so Rogue one doesnt have to intersect with Rebels.Anyway,I doubt any movie has plans for using Darth Maul,so I think hes safe.Point is,last we saw him,he was alive and still in charge of Death Watch,so the possibility of him returning exists.
Speaking of continuity glitches,either the crew of Ghost dies by the time of original trilogy,or Yoda didnt know about them.I guess its possible he was lying...
Quote from: Talavar on December 22, 2015, 05:25:51 AM
Quote from: Shogunn2517 on December 22, 2015, 04:24:36 AM
Honestly, I didn't think it was all bad. Yeah, it might have been a little wonky, but they made it make some sort of sense. And yes, the stories they told from it were actually really good.
Spoiler
That last fight with Darth Sidious was probably one of the best sequences of the entire series, IMO.
But I suppose no matter how we feel about it, apparently it's as much canon as Kylo Ren is. It's hard for me to imagine Darth Maul not coming back as an Inquisitor or challenges the Rebels in some sort of way. Bound to.
There is no way, despite what Disney is currently saying, that the cartoons, comics and novels being put out are going to stand up to the films. If the directors of Episode 8 or 9, or any of the forthcoming spin-off films want to have a scene where they all dance a jig on Darth Maul's grave, no one at Disney is going to stop them, saying: "oh no, Darth Maul totally survived. We showed that in a cartoon a few years ago." They will dance that jig, because the films are billion+ dollar money machines, and the ancillary stuff is relative chump change. Really, we just have a new EU to replace the one Disney (rightly) jettisoned when they took over. Any conflicts between EU stuff and the films will end the same way as before.
Actually, it IS Disney that is saying that The Clone Wars and Rebels along with the films are what THEY termed the "immovable objects" of Star Wars history and stories. That's the entire point of the Lucasfilm Story Group. They have the final say over ALL stories INCLUDING the films and they've put them on the same level.
Moreover, I've been reading Star Wars media for decades and spoke with staff of Lucasarts to get a better idea of how continunity works. I've never felt that the EU was on the same level as the films. They've specifically stated that from the getgo in 91. That was the thing with the EU, it weaved itself in storylines established by the films, not to change it or to make it, but to be background for fans to enjoy. But it was never or was it meant to be official. Definitely not given the sort of stamp that TCW and SWR have been given.
Quote from: Shogunn2517 on December 24, 2015, 05:58:29 AM
Quote from: Talavar on December 22, 2015, 05:25:51 AM
Quote from: Shogunn2517 on December 22, 2015, 04:24:36 AM
Honestly, I didn't think it was all bad. Yeah, it might have been a little wonky, but they made it make some sort of sense. And yes, the stories they told from it were actually really good.
Spoiler
That last fight with Darth Sidious was probably one of the best sequences of the entire series, IMO.
But I suppose no matter how we feel about it, apparently it's as much canon as Kylo Ren is. It's hard for me to imagine Darth Maul not coming back as an Inquisitor or challenges the Rebels in some sort of way. Bound to.
There is no way, despite what Disney is currently saying, that the cartoons, comics and novels being put out are going to stand up to the films. If the directors of Episode 8 or 9, or any of the forthcoming spin-off films want to have a scene where they all dance a jig on Darth Maul's grave, no one at Disney is going to stop them, saying: "oh no, Darth Maul totally survived. We showed that in a cartoon a few years ago." They will dance that jig, because the films are billion+ dollar money machines, and the ancillary stuff is relative chump change. Really, we just have a new EU to replace the one Disney (rightly) jettisoned when they took over. Any conflicts between EU stuff and the films will end the same way as before.
Actually, it IS Disney that is saying that The Clone Wars and Rebels along with the films are what THEY termed the "immovable objects" of Star Wars history and stories. That's the entire point of the Lucasfilm Story Group. They have the final say over ALL stories INCLUDING the films and they've put them on the same level.
Moreover, I've been reading Star Wars media for decades and spoke with staff of Lucasarts to get a better idea of how continunity works. I've never felt that the EU was on the same level as the films. They've specifically stated that from the getgo in 91. That was the thing with the EU, it weaved itself in storylines established by the films, not to change it or to make it, but to be background for fans to enjoy. But it was never or was it meant to be official. Definitely not given the sort of stamp that TCW and SWR have been given.
Yes, I know. I said -
despite what Disney is currently saying. They're currently saying everything published, animated, etc. is canon. And when the EU first got launched, Lucasfilm said the same things. They were totally supposed to be official, starting with the Heirs to the Empire Timothy Zahn trilogy. But it didn't take long for things to start contradicting each other, and then the prequels came along and invalidated broad chunks of it. The cartoons, and comics and new novels are being considered canon, and what I'm saying, is that that'll last until a movie wants to contradict one of them.
m.youtube.com/watch?v=LJyxPDEvo9U (http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LJyxPDEvo9U)
Mid-season trailer.It really has everything.
Spoiler
-Ancient Sith artifacts?
-Anakin
-Princess Leia
-Cross-guard lightsaber
-Frank Oz as Yoda(he really did lie to Luke?)
-Old Master(Who looks very,VERY familiar)
Looks good!
Spoiler
Now, Yoda might not be lying to Luke, if Ahsoka, Kanan and Ezra come to bad ends before then.
(http://www.ew.com/sites/default/files/1452886291/STAR-WARS-REBELS-02.jpg)
^In case you missed it,Ezra's new mentor(maybe?).Looks familiar,right?
Quote from: Spade on January 17, 2016, 03:01:48 PM
(http://www.ew.com/sites/default/files/1452886291/STAR-WARS-REBELS-02.jpg)
^In case you missed it,Ezra's new mentor(maybe?).Looks familiar,right?
I saw that character in the trailer, but I'm not sure who it is.
Darth Maul.
Quote from: Spade on January 17, 2016, 04:08:55 PM
Darth Maul.
Really? I guess I can see it, if you assume the colours are leeched out by the darkness. That's too bad.
I've been binge watching the Clone Wars on Netflix, since I've been jazzed about Star Wars again, and Rebels seems to be bringing in more elements from it. I'd watched the first season initially, and couldn't get into it. I'm enjoying it more now -I think its later seasons have been better- but it definitely suffers in comparison to Rebels. How it handles the jedi characters in general suffers greatly, in that it doesn't know how to challenge them 90% of the time without making them look like they suck. Obi-wan gets captured in 3/4s of the episodes he's in, and constantly seems to be losing fistfights with bounty hunters -sometimes while armed with a lightsaber. As bad as Attack of the Clones is, in it he kicked Jango Fett's butt up one side of a landing platform and down the other, most of it with his hands tied. And there are a lot of other issues too.
Some spoilers for a show several years old follow...
Spoiler
I just got through the season where Ventress goes back to the Nightsisters, and Dooku has them attacked, and that whole section made me give my head a shake. I know Star Wars has the force, but magic? The nightsisters variously supercharge Savage Oppress (a hilariously terrible name, for a hilariously terrible character. He gets a week of sith training and then can seemingly take on all comers), make an enchanted polearm, try to kill Dooku with sympathetic magic/voodoo, raise an army of the dead, make an enchanted amulet, make invisibility potions, make bionic legs, and teleport. If this is supposed to be a variant on using the Force, than it makes the jedi and sith look like a bag of crap. All they can do is some light clairvoyance, telepathy and telekinesis, with a bit of electricity manipulation for the high end sith. And if it's not, and their magic is a separate thing, it doesn't belong in the setting at all. The writers of that whole section need to go sit in a corner and think about what they did.
And then they go and bring Darth Maul back, and it's even worse than I thought. So Savage Oppress finds him, and he's alive with no real explanation of how, sporting a fancy spider robot lower torso. Disregarding the lightsaber damage of getting cut in half (a major thing to disregard; if this didn't kill him, how did that little poke do in Qui-gonn?), the guy fell so far that the bottom was out of sight. But he sees surviving both of those fatal conditions one better, and survives for years lacking genitals, most of his digestive system, and all waste excreting organs. Forget shields or body armour - everyone should just hide behind Darth Maul, as he is clearly unkillable!
Bringing Darth Maul back really is a narrative crime, for a few reasons:
First, they murder rational thought to bring him back, then what do they do with him? Make him largely useless. He tries to kill Obi-wan, and fails, tries to become a pirate king, and fails - getting his leg shot off and his brother's arm lopped off in one of Obi-wan's rare displays of competence. That's as far as I've seen; maybe he'll come back and waste more screen time.
Second however, is that it undercuts Darth Vader, an actual good character. Vader has a semi-tragic backstory, where he was horribly disfigured by his former master, and needs a cybernetic suit to survive. Well, Darth Maul has that beat. Obi-wan cut him in half and dropped him to his death, and now he's got bionic legs (forgetting the bionic catheter and colostomy bag he should also need). It's a stupid example of one upmanship.
Third is related: it makes Obi-wan look like an idiot. Obi-wan cut this guy in half and dropped him down a bottomless pit, and he came back. Knowing that a sith could survive this, there is no way that he leaves Darth Vader for dead "only" having cut his arm and legs off and smoldering near lava. He has to know that of course he'll shrug that off.
Force Awakens spoiler:
Spoiler
Seriously, up until Starkiller Base explodes, Han's death in Force Awakens is slightly more survivable than Darth Maul's injuries. They both fall down bottomless pits, but Han only got stabbed with a lightsaber, not, again, cut in two at the waist.
Now, I'm no fan of Boba Fett surviving the Sarlaac pit, but this is so much worse. Fett only flew into a solid object head first, then fell into a monstrous eating machine. His survival doesn't damage the rest of the narrative (except in a broader sense, in that they won't let anyone "kewl" die). Maul coming back cheapens every death in the series, and damages two of the cornerstone characters of Star Wars.
Now I can't wait until... (Force Awakens spoiler again)
Spoiler
the new EU brings back Han, and the internet's new favourite, the stun-baton stormtrooper. Han will need some loopholes to jump through, but the stun-trooper guy only got shot!
This has all been pretty down on the show, but there are good parts too. Giving the clones some character, Ahsoka generally, making Anakin less of a whiny jerk, but I needed to vent.
Zabrak anatomy works differently?Well,if the creators want somebody back,he will be back.
-Witches-Actually that was an attempt to restore some magic to the Force after the whole midi-chlorians thing in the prequels.Also the Father/Son/Daughter episodes and Yodas journey later.Which also answers why Qui-Gon isnt among the ghosts at the end of RoJ.
-Clone wars start not-so-great but they get better.First 2 seasons are out of order and sometimes run on idiot plots.Sure Ahsoke,chase after the thief dont use the force to pull your lightsaber back.Or Obi-Wan,Anakin and Count Dooku getting captured by pirates?Surely,they are powerful Force users and can escape in 5 seconds?And Palpatine sends Jar Jar Binks with the ransom.I'm really starting to believe they were working together.
-In general episodes focusing on the WAR and the villains were better then just Anakin and Obi-Wan running around,or the Senate discussions.Those are pretty much similar to the prequels.
-IDK if it was never planned to happen or the show got canceled,but there are a lot of missed opportunities there.
-Savage Opress gets introduced,then becomes a muscle for his brother,then he dies.
-Unlike other villain Count Dooku never gets any development.Why is he a political idealist?And his plans to depose his master(obviously wouldn't happen) never goes anywhere
-Grievous complaining that he needs better soldiers then droids?Also quickly forgotten.Separatist did have their own cloning program in Republic comic,but Im not sure that's canon to CW.
-Mandalorians were pretty much just a take that at Karen Traviss.Making them a race of (all human,btw) pacifists wasn't a great solution.It would have been cool to see Mandalorian Protectors,just saying.
Back to the Rebels,season 1 was a bit shaky,but it got a lot better in season 2.And it promises to be even better if the trailer is anything to go by.
Not sure if anyone watched the last two episodes, but the subject matter is picking up a bit.
Last week, they introduced their second OT character(seen in the trailer), Leia Organa. The actress playing her did a terrific job IMO. Ezra's character is becoming more serious and acting less "kiddy". This week's episode brought back the Mandalorians and told us more about Sabine's past. Overall the show is getting better. The pacing is much better and from the trailer is gonna get more darker. I do have to say, it looks like there's going to be more Jedi-related material to be featured, which I'd rather not see. If I wanted to watch Jedi, I'd watch the Clone Wars. I mean, it looks interesting and I'll watch it but I think the focus should be "rebellion vs empire" and not "legacy of the Jedi", especially since they're trying to convince us that the galaxy is rather forgetting about them or thinking they're myths and such.
In regard to what you guys are saying about Maul and the Clone Wars, first of all I don't have as much of a problem with it, but secondly, not sure if you knew it but the Clone Wars was ended prematurely. They had other episodes planned that showed Darth Maul's fate, which was left fairly unresolved. But maybe he comes back in Rebels. Again it's a little frustrating because now it seems they've stop making Star Wars Rebels and started Star Wars: The Force Awakens the series.
Yes,it was nice seeing Mandalorian Protectors.Good episode,but the resolution fealt a bit rushed.
Quote from: Shogunn2517 on January 30, 2016, 04:00:32 AM
Not sure if anyone watched the last two episodes, but the subject matter is picking up a bit.
Last week, they introduced their second OT character(seen in the trailer), Leia Organa. The actress playing her did a terrific job IMO. Ezra's character is becoming more serious and acting less "kiddy". This week's episode brought back the Mandalorians and told us more about Sabine's past. Overall the show is getting better. The pacing is much better and from the trailer is gonna get more darker. I do have to say, it looks like there's going to be more Jedi-related material to be featured, which I'd rather not see. If I wanted to watch Jedi, I'd watch the Clone Wars. I mean, it looks interesting and I'll watch it but I think the focus should be "rebellion vs empire" and not "legacy of the Jedi", especially since they're trying to convince us that the galaxy is rather forgetting about them or thinking they're myths and such.
In regard to what you guys are saying about Maul and the Clone Wars, first of all I don't have as much of a problem with it, but secondly, not sure if you knew it but the Clone Wars was ended prematurely. They had other episodes planned that showed Darth Maul's fate, which was left fairly unresolved. But maybe he comes back in Rebels. Again it's a little frustrating because now it seems they've stop making Star Wars Rebels and started Star Wars: The Force Awakens the series.
I actually really like how they handle the jedi on Rebels. While Clone Wars dealt with them almost exclusively, they also wrote them terribly 2/3rds of the time. Rebels has been much better, and more consistent with the films, in that regard.
It's not that I mind how they're handling Jedi in SWR. It's just I'm looking at SWR to be more of a show about the Empire vs the Rebellion. Not that I'm saying the Jedi shouldn't be in it, it just seems they're pulling an awful lot of Jedi-focused stories.
This episode was reminiscent of Pitch Black.
It was also similar to a really good episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, only with Sisko and Gul Dukat in place of Zeb and Kallus.
What happened to Geonosis was actually partially explained in Marvels Darth Vader.Actually,good job at tieing everything in.
This was a really good episode. Nice to see Agent Callas being given some depth-up to this point, he's been pretty stock villainous. Also, can I get some spoilers: what happened to Geonosis?
Quote from: Talavar on March 01, 2016, 08:14:44 PM
This was a really good episode. Nice to see Agent Callas being given some depth-up to this point, he's been pretty stock villainous. Also, can I get some spoilers: what happened to Geonosis?
Lol, I was going to ask the same thing. I skimmed through the two trades but didn't see anything on Geonosis.
The planet was sterilized by the Empire.I assume it has something to do with Death Star plans.
This was an interesting episode.
Spoiler
Yoda, Anakin Skywalker, Darth Vader and the Grand Inquisitor are all in this episode. Though only one of which are actually real. I suppose we learn a little history of the Grand Inquisitor, that he was a Temple Guard... or so it seems. We learn (more) about Ezra's connection to the Dark Side. Though the entire episode seems to be a set up for the next episode on March 16th, which seems to be far more focused Ezra and the Dark Side.
And again what looks to be the return of Darth Maul....
Spoiler
So Ahsoka has meet with Anakin after the end of TCW.Sometimes just before RotS.
Im interested to see how this plays out.
https://twitter.com/LLAPSherlock38/status/705276928148840448 (https://twitter.com/LLAPSherlock38/status/705276928148840448)
A teaser for the finale.Recorded.
Spoiler
And Malachor?Malachor V maybe?
Quote from: Spade on March 03, 2016, 09:24:17 AM
Spoiler
And Malachor?Malachor V maybe?
Yes, I think that would be it.
Spoiler
It was mentioned in TCW so it make sense that we'll see Malachor V in SWR. Again, it begs the question of what they're doing with continuity. When parts of what is "Legends" is introduced, it doesn't validate the entire source, but only that piece. So while Malachor V has been mentioned and will likely be seen, how much of Knights of the Old Republic will also be introduced? Revan? Bastila Shan? Darth Malak? The Jedi Civil War? I'm curious to know what else from "Legends" will be made into official Canon?
It's worth noting that TCW and Rebels showrunner Dave Filoni has said that he had Darth Bane appear in the final arc of Clone Wars specially so he'd still be canon in the new Disney continuity. Darth Bane and Darth Raven from the Kotor games were originally going to cameo in the final episode of the Mortis trilogy (they even had character models made) but George Lucas vetoed it because it didn't fit with his at-the-time position on how Force Ghosts worked. So it's entirely possible that KOTOR is going to get some lip service here.
Spoiler
http://www.ew.com/article/2016/03/24/darth-maul-returns-star-wars-rebels?xid=entertainment-weekly_socialflow_twitter (http://www.ew.com/article/2016/03/24/darth-maul-returns-star-wars-rebels?xid=entertainment-weekly_socialflow_twitter)
Teaser for the finale.Its Darth Maul. ;)
Looks like he drifted for a bit after TCW and found his way to Malachor.And he adopted an attitude similar to Kreia,it seems.
Just saw the Season 2 Finale and, I gotta say, that was some gripping TV.
Anyone following this thread knows I'm a little weary of the "Jedi-focus" of Star Wars "Rebels". While it make sense in TCW, I would have rathered Rebels be focused on the Empire vs the Rebellion. I understand the inclusion, but didn't think it should be a focus.
Spoiler
That said, with this Episode, i didn't mind it at all. It felt completely in the vein of the original trilogy. You could see the parallels with Ezra/Maul relationship in comparison to Luke/Yoda and I think that was purposely done. So apparently the Inquisitorus had been looking for Maul. I know there was more story not released after he was captured by Darth Sidious at the end of TCW. There was the introduction of a another Inquisitor(Eight Brother) and he, Seventh Sister and Fifth Brother were all killed, which means next season they'll need more Inquisitors, which was suggested. The awaited confrontation of with Ahsoka and Darth Vader was pretty climatic. I dunno. Maybe it was because it was pretty riveting or my eyes were little weary from watching very intently or maybe it was seeing Darth Vader in an pretty epic lightsaber battle for the first time in over 30 years, I think my eyes got a little watery. It was a pretty awesome scene. Hearing James Earl Jones and his voice was a treat. I would love to know more about the battle at the Sith Temple. A battle with Temple Guards? Also would like to think the inclusion of the Kylo Ren style saber isn't just a cameo. It also looks like Kanan Jarrus will be blind indefinitely, which is a different path for the character. The story's going to get a bit more interesting. I imagine more involvement with Vader in S3 and Darth Maul now a known presence in the galaxy.
In all, season 2 had some interesting character development. The introduction and re-entry of other characters(Rex, Maul, Cham Syndulla, Hondo, etc). Also some re-entries. It was a good move forward for the story. The pacing of season one seemed to be dumbed down and disjointed at times, but season 2 I think picked up had a lot of Empire vs Rebellion and Jedi vs Sith storylines. All not breaking of where the story was going or the breath what is the Original Trilogy of Star Wars.
Already looking forward to Season 3!
Im a bit confused as to how spinning your lightsaber allows you to fly helicopter style...
Spoiler
There was a lot of deaths.Buffy and the rest of the inquisitors,Ahsoka it seems...
Funny that Maul survives another endless fall.Practice,I guess...
I couldnt predict Kanan would be blinded.
Was that Kreias voice on the holocron?
Anyway,great episode,cant wait for season 3. :thumbup:
Quite enjoyed it, just like you guys I can't wait for season 3. I want a trailer and I want it soon.
Gotta love the irony that the show got
better after they ditched Greg Weisman.
Spade, in response to your post:
Spoiler
If it worked for Dinobot from Beast Wars, Tails from Sonic, Dixie Kong from Donkey Kong Country and Squirtle from Pokemon, why not Star Wars?
The holocron voice (credited as the "Presence") was provided by Nika Futterman, the voice of Assaj Ventress.
Dave Filoni, the showrunner for S2 and Clone Wars, did a really good Q&A on IGN after the finale aired, and addressed a few things:
1. He's playing it coy if Ahsoka survived, implying that the figure we right before the fade out might be something or someone else than we thought. I don't know how many people would doubt it was Ahsoka if he hadn't said that. I personally think there's a really good chance he be trollin'.
2. He said he used Futterman as the voice because, like Georgey Boy, he likes to play up the similarities in some things, citing the Son from the Mortis trilogy of Clone Wars and Darth Maul, since they both were voiced by Sam Witwer. He pretty much straight up said, no, it's not Assaj, it has nothing to do with her. HE did say it was an Sith Master, and that he has a name for her, but is waiting to see "how people feel about it" or something to the sort. It's possible he meant for it to be Kreia, since he's shown an interest in including and even preserving the original EU in the past.
3. Filoni specifically says that Ahsoka's meeting with Maul, which never occurred in the Clone Wars show, is one of the untold "Legacy" scripts they didn't get to do in CW. Not only did he make sure to establish it as canon here, he made a point of describing the events of what really happened to voice actors Ashley Eckstein and Sam Witwer (noting that Witwer, being passionate about the series, would especially be into it) to fuel their performances. Filoni implied that a few familiar characters from Clone Wars went with Ahsoka to track down Maul and probably died (so business as usual in these shows ;) ). He makes a point of saying that Ahsoka was corresponding with Obiwan and Anakin to find Maul and that they had gone to rescue chancellor Palpatine from the Separatists at the time (the opening of Revenge of the Sith) so we have a bit of timeline of where both her and Maul were during Sith. Oddly, season 6 of CW brought it closer and closer to Sith with a number of plots and more focus on Palpy, making it seem like Sith was right around the corner.
4. Filoni also played it coy on how many Inquisitors there are, bluntly saying there's as many as they end up wanting to use in the show. He even posited that there might be more than seventh sister, and that one Inquistor can take over the number from another, similar to the Espada from Bleach. [that part's my addition]
As for my thoughts on the show? The thing I really take from it that, like Force Awakens, it really makes you want to see more; to see where these characters are going. Kanan's blindness, Ezra's seduction to the dark side, Maul escaping. The only door they really closed is the Inquisitors they killed off.
The battle station that they found and had to stop from activating reminded me a lot of the aliens' devices from Beast Wars. Considering the lightsaber helicopter, kinda makes you wonder?
The thing I really liked about the episode? Maul himself. I liked how he had an almost Yoda-esque persona he adopted while guiding Ezra (the Lightsaber cane was a nice touch), then dropped the act later on and brought back the more sinister take from Clone Wars. Between the end of CW and this I was dying to know how the heck they were going to clear up Maul's status quo for his appearance here. Turns out they cleared it up in a handful of vague, but very pointed and bitter lines. I also enjoyed seeing how Maul looks in the new art style, for me that's part of the appeal of seeing an old character brought into Rebels.
I'm enjoying how they're handling Vader and Ahsoka. I've been wondering since the end of season 1 if they were going to channel the Clone Wars version of Anakin and they did, but in clever ways. The hologram, the part where she hears Mant Lanter's voice, the small part of his mask broken open. I'd been wondering if an unmasked Vader in Rebels would even be recognizable as Anakin but they had a nice take on it that made it clear he was familiar to her. And of course there's the parallels to Vader and Luke in Return of the Jedi, with Anakin Skywalker being "no more". The problem, or potential problem at least, is the same as in Clone Wars. We already know the fate of this character (Vader). The curiosity is more Ahsoka's fate and how the actual scene(s) would go down.
Shogunn:...
Spoiler
The comic miniseries Darth Maul: Shadow of Dathomir showed that Palpy's plans for Darth Maul were to lure out the leader of the Nightsisters, Mother Talzin, so Count Dooku could kill her. Right after the Deathwatch clan pulled him back into their ship and they took off, and Palpy says they've "erased all trace of Maul". It seems that Maul later went into hiding and Palpy wanted to track him down again, either to use him again or finish the job.
So regarding the crossguard-blade lightsaber....I've actually been wondering if S3 of Rebels will try to try in more to the new movies....as much as they can with the decades of time between them. I just looked up that kind of lightsaber on Wookiepedia and apparently they were established, in a Force Awakens handbook that came out in December, as being ancient and present at the "Scourge of Malachor". Kinda wish either Ezra or Kanaan kept it.
Regarding Malachor:
Spoiler
They never make it clear if it's the real Malachor V (which blew up at the end of Kotor 2), or just a planet in the Malachor system, no doubt to have their cake and eat it too and not urine off EU/Kotor fans (As I understand it, KOTOR and even the Old Republic are non canon, but it might be an especially sore point considering the MMO's still being updated, so maybe they want to avoid calling attention to that). It certainly fits a similar profile. Given comments from Kreia in KOTOR II about how it "corrupts all life and feeds all death", it certainly makes you wonder if they might do more with the concept. Sith Ahsoka version 2.0? Zombie Inquistors? Kreia confirmed for Smash Bros?
Just noticed that Eight Brother will also be Gaelio in Gundam IBO.
Spoiler
So dying in season finale is a thing for him now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-bJu__WXmY (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-bJu__WXmY)
Spoiler
Mauls old man act isnt completely an act.He knows hes old,and this is his final push.This is his attempt at leaving his own legacy in the universe.
Season 3 will bring more familiar elements.Some people theorized that Grand Admiral Thrawn might be the seasons big bad.Which sounds very possible now.
To quote Axel Alonso---Im Super Excited for season 3. :)
Spoiler
[watches video] Interesting about Maul. I like that they mentioned what species the Eighth Brother was.
Given the bit Filoni says at the end, yeah, it could be Thrawn, that would be pretty cool.
That was a really interesting video. It highlighted why season 2 was much of an improvement over season 1. It expanded the galaxy. On season 1, all episodes seemed to end back on Lothal. In season 2, we see several new locations with each character getting their stories expanded, even the villains.
Btw... some thoughts...
Spoiler
They specifically gave a race to Eight Brother as a Terrell an Jango Jumper. I now can't believe that is a coincidence or his "death" coming the way it did. I mean if they said Eight Brother was a Bothan or a Doro or Caamasi and not a species specifically known for acrobatics they I'd believe his demise was final.
Moreover, I really liked how he also specifically point out that Season 3 will pull more from the Original Trilogy AND (again specifically mentioning) Rogue One. Which I believe we're at maybe 3 years BBY? With Rogue one due out later this year, I think theres a high chance we get introduced to characters and materal from the film during the early part of Season 3, which be airing before and after R1's release.
Exciting!
I just saw the two-part finale and really enjoyed it, as a whole. Specific thoughts follow:
Spoiler
Oh, how I wish they'd had another character to use than Darth Maul, because I really liked what they did here. Mirroring Yoda's intro in Empire Strikes Back, but in a sinister way was very effective, but it's still partially tainted for me because Maul's resurrection in the first place was such a narrative mistake. The lightsaber helicopters were painfully dumb, but then, I've never really liked the mechanized whirling lightsabers anyway. With the apparent deaths of three inquisitors, maybe we won't see them anymore. It's a shame that Seventh Sister is one of the two most assuredly dead, since she was the most interesting of them.
Kanaan's blinding was a little shocking for a kid's show. I'm curious how they'll deal with it going forward. On one hand, I'd like to see that dealt with over a period of adjustment, but on the other, I find it hard to believe he couldn't get some bionic eyes in the Star Wars setting.
Seeing Vader in action here was awesome. It really brought back that relentless, fearsome opponent of Star Wars and Empire. Ahsoka's fate is left open ended, but as much as I've come to like her as a character, I think she needs to go. All these jedi and other force wielders running around undercut the original movies greatly, and as the show progresses, they need to start getting weeded out.
Really enjoyed the finale!
Spoiler
Darth Maul was great, loved him acting as an evil Yoda. I hope next season they keep pushing the Ezra and the dark side plot line. An arc like that should help make Ezra more interesting. Really glad Maul is still around, he's been a highlight of Clone Wars and Rebels.
I could have sworn I saw Ahsoka walking out of the ruins at the end. I really hope she survived. Her confrontation with Vader was decent but I want something a little more for her ending.
I was disappointed the Seventh Sister and Fifth Brother both died. Just seems a little too clean, especially if the Eight is also dead, and I think there was some more potential to these characters. Who are they? How did they become Inquisitors? I'm sure we'll see more Inquisitors in the future though, and hopefully some answers.
I loved what happened to Kanaan. I'm a fan of when shows don't just stick to the status quo, and having Kanaan deal with being blind, even if he gets healed or gets replacements eventually should be worth a some good story or two.
I thought the super weapon temple was a bit lame. It didn't really go anywhere and it didn't add much to the stakes of the episode for me. Felt like they wanted the finale to feel bigger but didn't have the time to put anything real into it.
If those Thrawn rumors turn out to be true I'm going to be so excited. Thrawn is one of my all-time favourite EU characters.
Looking forward to season 3.
https://youtu.be/xmXp802sFgQ (https://youtu.be/xmXp802sFgQ)
SEASON 3 TRAILER! :)
New haircut,more Maul,Wedge Antilles AND
Spoiler
Grand Admiral Thrawn.
A lot of people did guess that one.
A lot of information about the third season, including a screening of the hour-long premiere, has come of the Star Wars celebration in England this weekend.
Spoiler
They seem to be really moving with Ezra & the dark side. Which is a fine storyline in and of itself, but at this point, I really feel like jedi are more trouble than they're worth. When the fall to the darkside rate feels like its 50%, maybe the galaxy would be better off if no one learned to use the force?
Thats a bit of the larger universe discussion-I don't think The Force was the problem,more that both the Jedi and the Sith take it to the extremes.Something so complicated cant be just black and white,yet its either getting rid of all emotions or being a psycho.Neither of those really sound like reasonable approaches.Thats just my theory.
Quote from: Spade on July 17, 2016, 12:50:18 PM
Thats a bit of the larger universe discussion-I don't think The Force was the problem,more that both the Jedi and the Sith take it to the extremes.Something so complicated cant be just black and white,yet its either getting rid of all emotions or being a psycho.Neither of those really sound like reasonable approaches.Thats just my theory.
Yeah, it is a larger universe issue, not specific to Rebels, but they seem to be going down a well-trod path.
Spoiler
I've always felt that having 2 (or more) jedi characters is problematic on this show, considering how close it is to the original trilogy era.
Dealing with Star Wars, I think you have to address its morality on its own terms, and can't import more reasonable moral values to it. Canonically, in-universe, there is no evidence that the jedi are wrong. Sure, they lose, but that's because one of their number does exactly what they say jedi must not do, and falls to the dark side. They're also complacent and arrogant, but a thousand generations of things largely working your way can cause that. Now we've got Ezra going to the dark side potentially in Rebels, Kylo Ren going to the dark side in Force Awakens, and who/whatever Snoke is. Teaching people to use the force since the Fall of the Republic is starting to seem like a bad idea at this point.
Well,it wasn't pointless in the original canon,the reboot pretty much invalidated everything heroes did anyway,but I assume because there will probably be a New Jedi Order in Star Wars episode 13 or so.Everything Disney did goes along a way-trod path.
Like,for example
Spoiler
,Thrawn chasing people over a Sith holocron?Straight outta SW: Empire at War games.Also,book "Thrawn" by Timothy Zahn is coming.
Quote from: Spade on July 17, 2016, 03:02:02 PM
Well,it wasn't pointless in the original canon,the reboot pretty much invalidated everything heroes did anyway,but I assume because there will probably be a New Jedi Order in Star Wars episode 13 or so.Everything Disney did goes along a way-trod path.
Like,for exampleSpoiler
,Thrawn chasing people over a Sith holocron?Straight outta SW: Empire at War games.Also,book "Thrawn" by Timothy Zahn is coming.
But even in the old EU, how many of Luke's students went evil? Half? It feels like half.
No, no, pre Yuzhon Vong (sp?), only, like two, maybe, out of dozens and dozens. There's the insufferable Kyp Durron; was there anyone else?
Quote from: BentonGrey on July 17, 2016, 06:45:43 PM
No, no, pre Yuzhon Vong (sp?), only, like two, maybe, out of dozens and dozens. There's the insufferable Kyp Durron; was there anyone else?
A quick perusal of Wookiepedia gave me Brakiss, Kueller, and Dal Konur as well, whoever any of them are. I personally bailed on the EU in the relatively early days. My previous post was (half)joking; but it does seem like the 'fall into evil' rate for jedi, especially in the old EU, was exceedingly high. Given the consequences, you have to wonder if having good jedi are worth all the bad ones/sith that crop up.
To get back on topic,Ezra is pretty much Skywalker-lite,so no suprise that he gets a similar story.
Does anyone else think Kanans mask looks a bit goofy?
Quote from: Spade on July 18, 2016, 04:32:56 AM
To get back on topic,Ezra is pretty much Skywalker-lite,so no suprise that he gets a similar story.
Does anyone else think Kanans mask looks a bit goofy?
A little. I'm torn on the subject...
Spoiler
on one hand, I'm glad they aren't trivializing his blinding injury, but I also feel like the technology of Star Wars should easily be able to hook him up with some bionic eyes or something.
Its been a few months,so no spoiler-IIRC he didnt lose his eyes,he suffered burns,so they cant just replace his eyes with bionic ones.
First episode was promising.We didnt see all that much from Thrawn,but okay,there is time.And Im sure Doctor Who fans will find this episode interesting. :)
So far season 3 has been on par with season 2, as in some episodes are great (Darth Maul) others meh. The Ryloth episode was an interesting example. The main Ryloth plot was just alright but Thrawn's appearance in it was fantastic! I only read the first of the Thrawn novels but even I can tell they're doing a great job nailing his character.
It's funny, I haven't read Thrawn's character in 20 years, but from what I remember of him, they got him true.
Spoiler
Was also really nice to see Wedge and Hobbie as well.
These past few episodes have been kinda fillerific.
Yep. Just like last season of Rebels, I've come to accept that, especially for the middle chunk of a season. Last year it was stuff like the space whales, this year it's smuggling/heist stuff with Hondo and fighter pilots and the like. Next episode is, I guessing, an Agent Kalus episode, based on the vague description I read. The one after that will about Darth Maul's/Ezra's vision, so I imagine that will be quite a big better.
I gotta imagine that sometime over the next two weeks there would be some crossover material from Rogue One... Perhaps character types or planets or something that's seen in Rebels or seen in Rogue One that will be in Rebels.
Or at least I'd assume. Could be wrong.
Maybe a nod,like the crossguard lightsaber last time.
I heard Forres Whittaker's chracter was gonna be on Rebels, but he looks totally different.
^I think he was already in Clone Wars,.
He was.
(https://static1.squarespace.com/static/51b3dc8ee4b051b96ceb10de/t/576add0af5e23162a7a2c8c9/1466621200121/?format=750w)
It starts like another infiltration episode,but it does end up playing into the larger story.And Thrawn is there,so thats always a plus.
I've been watching this a bit more lately. I'm several episodes behind because I can only take so much at a time, but it seems to be more or less of a piece with what came before, though a bit better. The show still just feels mediocre with occasional moments of excellence.
I'm glad that there don't seem to be Jedi under every rock so far this season. That's something. On a random note, does it bother anyone else that the Rebels have A-Wings coming out of the wazoo? I know the old canon has been jettisoned, but it will always be true for me. I can't get past the fact that, in the old canon, A-Wings didn't show up until much later in the struggle. It also really bothers me that these are advanced interceptors, but they regularly get waxed by regular old TIEs. These are minor issues, but they really do vex me inordinately. It's little things like that which, general quality of the show aside, just make it feel 'wrong' to me.
Wait till you see how they got B-wings.
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=605382836337170&id=517608048447983&refid=17&_ft_=top_level_post_id.605382836337170%3Atl_objid.605382836337170%3Athid.517608048447983%3A306061129499414%3A2%3A0%3A1483257599%3A7241872760301985326&__tn__=%2As (https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=605382836337170&id=517608048447983&refid=17&_ft_=top_level_post_id.605382836337170%3Atl_objid.605382836337170%3Athid.517608048447983%3A306061129499414%3A2%3A0%3A1483257599%3A7241872760301985326&__tn__=%2As)
Yeah, the A-wings and B-wing in Rebels kinda bugs me too--though the actual B-wing episode is nowhere as bad as that linked post makes it out to be. But we're living in a world where the Crystal Star, Courtship of Princess Leia, Jedi Academy Trilogy, Dark Empire comic, Darksaber and so many more are no longer canon, and that is more than worth the price.
In other news, didn't anyone catch the Rebels references in Rogue One?
Spoiler
The Ghost is visibly parked on Yavin 4, and supposedly takes part in the climactic space battle (which I didn't catch), a call over the PA goes out to someone with Hera's last name (either for her or her father), and a droid that looks like Chopper rolls by (which I also didn't spot personally).
Well,one guy making the whole thing in a junkyard is a bit cartoonish.Just saying.
Where Legacy,Dark Times,Other Sons of Tatooine,KOTOR are no longer canon.Because movies based on existing books or comics never work,right?
Spade, I actually have seen that episode, and it REALLY bothered me. I just don't see the point in A) replacing functional and interesting canon stories like that one, and B) doing so with inferior versions. While perhaps not quite as silly as that write-up makes it sound, it's still not a great story.
Ha, Tal, Courtship is pretty awful, I'll grant you that, and Academy has some huge (Kyp) weaknesses (Durron), but the price is too high for me, as the worst points of the continuity were already easy enough to ignore. I hardly ever thought about those books after I read them the first time, and, despite their weak points, they did often give us valuable and interesting additions to mythos, like Dathomir itself and the Witches, things that outlived their less than stellar origins to become respected parts of the canon. The same basic idea of the Witches, wild, untrained Force users who don't truly understand how they harness the power, has appeared several times in Star Wars materials to good effect.
For me, the price is far too high.
Quote from: BentonGrey on December 18, 2016, 03:12:49 AM
Spade, I actually have seen that episode, and it REALLY bothered me. I just don't see the point in A) replacing functional and interesting canon stories like that one, and B) doing so with inferior versions. While perhaps not quite as silly as that write-up makes it sound, it's still not a great story.
Ha, Tal, Courtship is pretty awful, I'll grant you that, and Academy has some huge (Kyp) weaknesses (Durron), but the price is too high for me, as the worst points of the continuity were already easy enough to ignore. I hardly ever thought about those books after I read them the first time, and, despite their weak points, they did often give us valuable and interesting additions to mythos, like Dathomir itself and the Witches, things that outlived their less than stellar origins to become respected parts of the canon. The same basic idea of the Witches, wild, untrained Force users who don't truly understand how they harness the power, has appeared several times in Star Wars materials to good effect.
For me, the price is far too high.
They could make a canon cartoon that was just The Wacky Adventures of Jar Jar Binks and have it run for 6 seasons and a movie, and, to me, it would still be worth it to have Dark Empire gone. That turd was so damaging to Luke's character, and was just wildly out of keeping with the entire Star Wars universe. Consigning the collected works of Kevin Anderson to the dustbin of history is just a bonus after that, along with a few other choice entries like
Courtship.
^Yup,there it is.Pick one thing you didnt like and somehow that justifies it.That one bad thing must mean everything else was also bad.
Yeah, I'm gonna have to agree with Spade here. I have fond memories of the EU and didn't have any particularly desire to see it jettisoned. Yes, there's bound to be bad stories/product but that's going to happen when you have so much of it. Tal expressed his opinion back when Force Awakens came out and I didn't agree with it then either (no offense intended, I just don't agree). As it happens I actually only read a small handful of Star Wars novels, which included the ones you guys didn't like such as Courtship and Jedi Search, as well as other ones people didn't like such as the Bounty Hunter Wars, and those were good enough for me to get me interested in the EU. Mind you, I only read the first installment of Timothy Zahn's Thrawn trilogy and I found it obscenely overrated, so maybe I'm just contrarian like that.
I actually missed the Rebels references in Rogue One, so good to know. I'll definitely have to try to catch them on a repeat viewing.
To bring it back to Rebels, a promotional image surfaced that indicates that a certain character will appear in Rebels:
Spoiler
Saw Guererra. I was just waiting for that to be confirmed.
On the topic of the latest episode, pretty good, but it's become depressingly evident that all the "good stuff" like Maul's vision and, potentially the business from the S2 finale involving Ahsoka will be saved for the S3 finale. I liked the episode even though I thought Ezra and Kanan seemed a little too at ease around Maul.
Spoiler
The reference to Pre Visla/the Deathwatch via the black lightsaber was a nice touch, as was the business involving the Nightsisters. Here's some cool Clone Wars trivia for you: the voices for the two Nightsister ghosts were provided by the voice actresses for Duchess Satine and Bariss Offee.
Quote from: Spade on December 18, 2016, 06:15:32 AM
^Yup,there it is.Pick one thing you didnt like and somehow that justifies it.That one bad thing must mean everything else was also bad.
I guess you missed the list, but it wasn't
one thing I didn't like. In fact, it's pretty much the reverse of what you said: the handful of good things drowned by everything else that was bad. Because the old expanded universe did have some good stuff--the original Thrawn trilogy, mostly, the X-wing books, um, probably a third thing--but the bad stuff kept piling up until the sheer weight of it overwhelmed the little bit of good. Multiple terrible trilogies and sub-series of books, bad fantasy novels with a thin Star Wars veneer laid over top, stuff that didn't understand what was important about the characters at all, and a bunch that was already invalidated by the Prequels. The people behind the old Expanded Universe very quickly realized quality didn't matter; garbage would still sell.
To keep this tangentially on topic, as much as the current Star Wars overlords say everything is canon, Rebels and Clone Wars and the books & comics coming out now are still an expanded universe. Forest Whitaker played someone who was from Clone Wars in Rogue One, but nothing about his role in the movie depended on anything from the cartoon. Stuff from Rebels had blink and you missed it cameos in Rogue One. Now, I don't love Rebels--I think it's okay, with some stronger episodes here and there, and that's pretty much my feelings about Clone Wars as well. But an effort is being made to keep things consistent and unified now that was missing from the old EU from almost its earliest days.
I know I'm in the minority, but I never thought of the Star Wars extended canon as real canon. I mean, anything that is not in the original medium (in this case the original medium being the live action movies) is expendable to movie makers.
@Talavar Thats another straw argument.It wasnt canon already.But it was.Everything,and I do mean everything had to be okayed by George Lucas.
Im not that versed in the books,my domain was mostly DH comics,and I cant really remember anything sooo horrible.
@Outflah See thats the thing.It was as deep as you wanted to dive in.You just wanted the movies,thats cool.You wanted more,it was there.
And if it was all so terrible it had to be wiped from existance,why the hell are Disney and Marvel retreading that same ground?
It wasn't that it was terrible. It was that they didn't want to worry about contradicting something somewhere in all the years of stories when the sequels came out. It would have been pretty much impossible not to do so.
Maybe they shouldn't have made such a big deal about it, but there was no way to do any sequels if they didn't. Not unless they directly adapted the pre-existing material.
^And that obviously wouldnt work.Who would want to watch a movie based on a book?
And having 2 universes at the same time also wouldnt work.Because peoples minds would implode.I mean a work of fiction having 2 or more timelines?Unheard off.
I agree that canceling the old extended universe was unnecessary. They could have just declared it a separate universe and let authors continue to write in it.
Quote from: catwhowalksbyhimself on December 18, 2016, 05:33:16 PM
I agree that canceling the old extended universe was unnecessary. They could have just declared it a separate universe and let authors continue to write in it.
My point exactly.Or at least let the ongoing series like Legacy 2 finish properly.
Fun Fact: The Old Republic is the only story still going in the original continuity,because EA has a contract they couldn't cancel.
Quote from: Spade on December 18, 2016, 04:44:44 PM
@Talavar Thats another straw argument.It wasnt canon already.But it was.Everything,and I do mean everything had to be okayed by George Lucas.
Im not that versed in the books,my domain was mostly DH comics,and I cant really remember anything sooo horrible.
What was a straw argument? That I didn't outline how the EU was filled with terrible books? I felt it was a given, but if someone wants to defend any of the terrible books I've listed, I'm game. For those just curious, here are some rather on the nose recaps of a few of them in all their stupid glory: http://io9.gizmodo.com/the-dumbest-thing-the-star-wars-expanded-universe-did-t-1740235732 (http://io9.gizmodo.com/the-dumbest-thing-the-star-wars-expanded-universe-did-t-1740235732), http://io9.gizmodo.com/this-star-wars-expanded-universe-story-proves-that-luke-1744243073 (http://io9.gizmodo.com/this-star-wars-expanded-universe-story-proves-that-luke-1744243073), http://io9.gizmodo.com/crystal-star-really-is-the-worst-star-wars-book-ever-1788426849 (http://io9.gizmodo.com/crystal-star-really-is-the-worst-star-wars-book-ever-1788426849).
As to 'soo horrible,' here's what happened in Dark Empire: the Emperor resurrects himself in a clone body a few years after RotJ, re-unifies the Empire and goes on the offensive with new superweapons that were apparently just sitting on ice, Luke joins the Dark Side and becomes the Emperor's apprentice for a bit, a bunch of random other Jedi, good and bad, are revealed to have survived too, the Emperor reveals further force powers dwarfing anything seen before in the films (beyond just cheating death a couple more times), more Imperial superweapons turn up, the Emperor tries to reenact the plot of Ghostbusters 2 and take over Leia's kid's body for himself, and then it finally all implodes after making bad fan fiction look good in comparison.
Not only is Dark Empire terrible in and of itself, but it actively undoes or contradicts key developments of the original films, a hallmark of terrible EU writing. Luke resists the Dark Side in RotJ and Empire even when it might have saved his life/his friends' lives/the Rebellion; here he joins up because the Emperor reveals a new party trick. The Imperial resources and super weapons that keep popping up verge on the side of comedy. It is awful.
The straw argument of: It was never canon anyway.We heard that before.And the straw argument of: X sucked,so the whole thing had to go.
Yeah,there was something stupid in some obscure RPGs manual that you didnt like.Makes perfect sense to throw out the baby with the bath water.
At least Dark Empire was original,unlike a certain movie I could name.And if the new owners disliked it,they could have just ignored it.
Next up will be the straw argument of:They didnt take your comics.That one always comes up.
Quote from: Spade on December 18, 2016, 05:15:45 PM
^And that obviously wouldnt work.Who would want to watch a movie based on a book?
And having 2 universes at the same time also wouldnt work.Because peoples minds would implode.I mean a work of fiction having 2 or more timelines?Unheard off.
Well, it's not like you can't interpret the new movies as an alternate universe anyway. You don't really need a studio executive to say "this is a different universe with an alternate future" to be able to imagine that it is. In the end it's all fiction anyway. I'd worry less about what a bunch of bigwigs consider officially canon and just enjoy what you think is good.
Yeah,the problem with that is that those stories stopped.They took away the resolution to those stories.I cant go back and enjoy things that never happened.Like the games that got canceled,for example.
True. Most of my favorite movies never got sequels, so I know dem feels.
Quote from: Spade on December 18, 2016, 06:36:40 PM
The straw argument of: It was never canon anyway.We heard that before.And the straw argument of: X sucked,so the whole thing had to go.
Yeah,there was something stupid in some obscure RPGs manual that you didnt like.Makes perfect sense to throw out the baby with the bath water.
At least Dark Empire was original,unlike a certain movie I could name.And if the new owners disliked it,they could have just ignored it.
Next up will be the straw argument of:They didnt take your comics.That one always comes up.
Where did I say it say it was never canon? I think you're confusing me with Ouflah, who said:
Quote from: Ouflah on December 18, 2016, 04:15:51 PM
I know I'm in the minority, but I never thought of the Star Wars extended canon as real canon. I mean, anything that is not in the original medium (in this case the original medium being the live action movies) is expendable to movie makers.
This stuff was canon, it was just 75% terrible. I mean, Ouflah is right: the movies will always have primacy over the ancillary materials. Just like the Marvel movies will continue to largely ignore Agents of Shield and the Netflix shows. Eventually this new canon Disney is making will contradict itself, and when it does, it's the movies that will matter. But still, not my argument.
And the books I was referencing were hardly obscure RPG manuals. These were coming out right after the Thrawn trilogy, foundational books to much of the EU, and most were best-sellers despite sucking hard. I don't really know what you think the EU was without books like these? RPG manuals, maybe.
Finally: Dark Empire was original? With its resurrected Palpatine, multiple Death Star stand-ins, and rehashing the climax of RotJ (not to mention Ghostbusters 2)? You're either joking or using that word wrong. Sure, Disney could have pretended it didn't exist, but if they just picked and chose from the old canon, how would that be different in practice from what they are doing? Thrawn is on Rebels, after all. Some elements of the old EU are making the jump into the new canon.
Look,everything that runs for 40 or so years will have its share of cr@p,thats true.
I can ignore the bad things that did happen,but I cant enjoy the good things that didnt.I cant watch Star Wars Detours,when Disney refuses to release it,for once.
Another thing,it was never meant to replace the movies,but to supplement them.Its a bit more interesting if you can say: Oh,I know that guy.
And the DisCanon has its share of weird and stupid too.Lightsaber crystals being sentient?
Quote from: Spade on December 18, 2016, 05:15:45 PM
^And that obviously wouldnt work.Who would want to watch a movie based on a book?
And having 2 universes at the same time also wouldnt work.Because peoples minds would implode.I mean a work of fiction having 2 or more timelines?Unheard off.
You're a funny guy...
Quote from: Shogunn2517 on December 19, 2016, 07:09:33 AM
Quote from: Spade on December 18, 2016, 05:15:45 PM
^And that obviously wouldnt work.Who would want to watch a movie based on a book?
And having 2 universes at the same time also wouldnt work.Because peoples minds would implode.I mean a work of fiction having 2 or more timelines?Unheard off.
You're a funny guy...
A bit too much,I know.Im just trying to say a blank slate reboot was not the only option they had.
Quote from: Talavar on December 17, 2016, 05:53:18 PM
Yeah, the A-wings and B-wing in Rebels kinda bugs me too--though the actual B-wing episode is nowhere as bad as that linked post makes it out to be. But we're living in a world where the Crystal Star, Courtship of Princess Leia, Jedi Academy Trilogy, Dark Empire comic, Darksaber and so many more are no longer canon, and that is more than worth the price.
In other news, didn't anyone catch the Rebels references in Rogue One? Spoiler
The Ghost is visibly parked on Yavin 4, and supposedly takes part in the climactic space battle (which I didn't catch), a call over the PA goes out to someone with Hera's last name (either for her or her father), and a droid that looks like Chopper rolls by (which I also didn't spot personally).
I know there were a few folks here who said they didn't see or catch all of the SWR Easter Egg/References in Rogue One.
Spoiler
-The first I caught of course was the Hammerhead Corvettes. They had a prominent role in Leia's SWR episode and were prominently used to turn the tide of the battle for the Alliance in Rogue One.
-It took another viewing and while I did NOT see the Ghost parked in Yavin, it's pretty clear in the final battle, you can see it when the Alliance fleet arrive at Scarif and in the "#1 in theaters" commercials they show, you can also see it in the lower left hand corner if you don't want to go watch the movie again.
-Hera(or General Syndulla) is called on the intercom after the scene of the Alliance Council when Jyn is walking away.
-After they begin to leave the hanger, Chopper is seen rolling out of the hanger, exiting screen left.
-Also, though he hasn't been in the show yet, Saw Gerrera will be appearing in SWR shortly and of course he has a prominent role in the movie.
-Lastly, in Jedha, you can see Hondo and his band come on screen when- joking. Hondo's not in it.
Okay, so I saw Rogue One again and have a couple of edits from the previous post:
Spoiler
-The Ghost is INDEED parked at Yavin Base. It is seen CLEARLY with the first open shot of the Yavin temple is shown. Or at least 3/4ths of it on the left side of the screen. Additionally, it's seen once or twice during the battle sequence as well.
-Chopper isn't seen when the Rebels leave, but rather is seen when they cut back to Yavin during the battle.
Additionally, more Rogue One connections:
Spoiler
http://screencrush.com/rogue-one-star-wars-rebels-cassian-andor-fulcrum/
Cassian Andor uses the codename "Fulcrum" also used by Ahsoka Tano and Agent Kallus. That said, and judging from the popularity of the character, I can only imagine he shows up and maybe rather prominently in SWR over the second half of Season 3 and likely Season 4 as well.
https://youtu.be/upN-7ALj2OU (https://youtu.be/upN-7ALj2OU)
The mid-season trailer.
Gotta tell ya, I got excited watching that trailer, especially when you-know-who showed up.
Hmm...that looks pretty decent for the most part.
Quote from: Silver Shocker on January 06, 2017, 01:45:33 AM
Gotta tell ya, I got excited watching that trailer, especially when you-know-who showed up.
Sabine's mom?
That depends, is Sabine's mom Bo-Katan? Cuz she's supposed to show up in Rebels too. Though the stuff with Sabine in general does look pretty cool.
Spoiler
I am of course talking about Obi-Wan Kenobi :thumbup:
Who sounds like he has a new voice to make him sound more like Alec Guiness. Well, we know whatever happens, he's not going to die in this show, so maybe Maul's not making it out of this alive?
Quote from: Silver Shocker on January 06, 2017, 02:47:28 PM
That depends, is Sabine's mom Bo-Katan? Cuz she's supposed to show up in Rebels too. Though the stuff with Sabine in general does look pretty cool.
Spoiler
I am of course talking about Obi-Wan Kenobi :thumbup:
Who sounds like he has a new voice to make him sound more like Alec Guiness. Well, we know whatever happens, he's not going to die in this show, so maybe Maul's not making it out of this alive?
Yeah, I know I was joking..
But you are right. I saw an casting update about it and it's pretty spot on IMO.
So I looked it up, and Obi Wan Kenobi will be voiced by Stephen Stanton. (http://screenrant.com/star-wars-rebels-obi-wan-voice-actor/) He voices Tarkin in both Clone Wars and Rebels, and voices the protocol droid who talks like Alan Rickman. In addition to playing a few different characters in Clone Wars, he also played Obi-Wan in a fan film and the video games Battlefront II and Empire At War. So clearly he has some experience playing Obi-Wan.
He certainly sounds the part in that little snipit.
This week on Rebels: Saw Guerrera, Clone Wars references, and...
Spoiler
~We gotta Death Star! We Gotta Death Star! We Gotta Death Star! We Gotta Death Star! And Ya Know That We Got It! Death Star!~
Bwhahahahahaha!!!!!
After 40 years,we now know...that SW characters have use the toilet sometimes.And what was with that song?
So, that last episode..... Made me feel quite a few emotions.
Spoiler
The long awaited rematch of Darth Maul and Obi Wan Kenobi was needless to say hyped up like crazy, they built the tension up for weeks and through the whole episode and while they stood off against each other and then.... 1.6 seconds later(yes, i timed it), it was done.
Not sure if I'm upset by it. I couldn't imagine much more being that authentic, but man that was quick.
But the last scene when Obi Wan visited the homestead... it kinda give me the feels.
Overall good, but just made me feel a type of way about it.
Quote from: Shogunn2517 on March 20, 2017, 12:00:10 AM
So, that last episode..... Made me feel quite a few emotions.
Spoiler
The long awaited rematch of Darth Maul and Obi Wan Kenobi was needless to say hyped up like crazy, they built the tension up for weeks and through the whole episode and while they stood off against each other and then.... 1.6 seconds later(yes, i timed it), it was done.
Not sure if I'm upset by it. I couldn't imagine much more being that authentic, but man that was quick.
But the last scene when Obi Wan visited the homestead... it kinda give me the feels.
Overall good, but just made me feel a type of way about it.
I really enjoyed this most recent episode.
Spoiler
They really nailed classic Obi-wan, and having him put down Maul in a quick flash of moves felt like something out of Kurosawa, rather than the overly showy lightsaber fights that don't go anywhere of the prequels and Clone Wars. And as a hater of Maul's resurrection, can I get a hallelujah that he's gone for apparent good? Obi-wan put him down like the punk character he was.
Wow,this is the first time somebody complained about showy fights.Really does take all kinds.:)
Not much of a complaint... more of a "well damn"
Quote from: Spade on March 20, 2017, 02:40:05 PM
Wow,this is the first time somebody complained about showy fights.Really does take all kinds.:)
Not sure if you mean on this forum or in general. If it's in general, then I'd guess you're not familiar with the Mr. Plinkett reviews? The idea is apparently "overly choreographed" means it's too unrealistic to be compelling. Or rather, that it wasn't an acceptable substitute for a lack of dramatic imperative (which IMO, Clone Wars and Rebels were better at than the Phantom Menance anyway). A lot of people also complained that Yoda fought in the prequels, flips and all. I know people complained about that back when the films came out. Though as Honest Trailers pointed out, they might have gotten the idea for the flips from the Dagobah scenes from Empire Strikes Back, something that amuses me, and I imagine, makes Prequel haters spout steam out of their ears like a kettle.
Spoiler
As someone who does like Darth Maul, I have no complaints about the way this went down. I'm just surprised I didn't see it coming.
I havent see the review,but too unrealistic?Really?
Lets face it,two old guy gently poking each other wasnt really that exciting.
I complained about New Hope.Now I will hand over my geek badge and lazer gun.
Actually funny thing, the guy who does the review, literally refers to the Vader vs Obi-Wan fight in a New Hope as two old guys awkwardly flailing at each other. His argument is that it's till superior because we care about the characters and the story.
Personally I've never drank that particular Kool-Aid. It's possible to do visually interesting fight and interesting story to go with it. Look no further than the Luke/Vader fight in Jedi.
And yeah, I loves me the original trilogy, but the fight in A New Hope looked pretty weak, regardless of their age and with regards to their supposed skill level. The light saber fights in Empire and Jedi were much more visually using what the special effects guys were able to do at the time . And in the case of Jedi, Luke's aggressive attacks lacking grace or style fit his emotional state and the tone of the scene.
The fight in this episode of Rebels fit the tone of the scene as well.
Season 3 Finale of Rebels...
IMO, it was quite good. Not as good as season 2's finale(which had much more emotion), but this finale had many of the elements we appreciate in Star Wars.
Spoiler
Where season two was focused on the Force-centric side of Star Wars, season three was focused on the "wars" side of Star Wars a full-scale air, space and land Battle of Attollon. The Empire would win the battle, but thank's to Admiral Sato's sacrifice and Mandalorians(btw, a little goofy that like a half dozen dudes can destroy an entire starship). Kallus was finally revealed, captured and joined the rebels. Also said towards the end that the Rebels were headed to Yavin, which would fit the Ghost being apart of the Rebel fleet in Rogue One. In all, it was entertaining, but now I can't help but to wonder about season 4. This season's big bad was Thrawn. Prior to that it was a combo of Inquisitors, Kallus and a few others. We haven't seen Ahsoka or Vader since the end of season 2. Will Thrawn remain the big bad? Or will there be a new pursuer? Krenic? Ozzel? Veers? Or someone else from EU/Legacy like Daala or Jerec? I'm sure we'll see more characters from the films blended through. Cassian Andor, General Merrick, Crix Madine, Carlist Reeekan perhaps. Still can't imagine why Boba Fett hasn't popped up yet.
I like what the show is doing. It's focus is deliberately blended the elements of Star Wars that fans like and I for one appreciate it. Glad we got another season. Hope to see it catch up to Year 0.
I mostly agree.
Spoiler
Thrawn is pretty awesome;after a whole season of letting them escape.Im not really sure why he decides to channel ESB,instead of just nuking the whole place from orbit,but whatever.
Quote from: Spade on March 26, 2017, 09:19:16 AM
I mostly agree.
Spoiler
Thrawn is pretty awesome;after a whole season of letting them escape.Im not really sure why he decides to channel ESB,instead of just nuking the whole place from orbit,but whatever.
Spoiler
He was under orders to take the officers alive, nuking the planet is kinda counter intuitive to that.
I liked the finale. A couple points on the season as a whole:
Spoiler
I've really liked the development of Kallus over the show. In season 1 and most of 2 he was just this semi-competent Imperial who lost so often to the Rebels that he couldn't really be taken seriously as a main threat. That was kinda necessary while they were building up the main cast and a more fun adventurous type of story telling. I didn't care for the character all that much. But towards the end of 2 they had that episode with him trapped on an ice planet with Zeb and that really fleshed him out and I was hoping they build on that this season. Very happy with how that turned out, and looking forward to him joining the Rebels, that should be a cool new dynamic.
I would have also been happy with a sad death at the hands of Thrawn.
Quite pleased with Thrawn's portrayal. They correctly kept his involvement limited for most of the season, lest he lose too often to be taken seriously (like Greivous in Clone wars, and Kallus). He never quite hit the level of awesomeness I was hoping for, but I loved his personality and demeanour. He was also physically competent which I think is new to the character.
If it wasn't for that meddling Bendu and that idiot Konstantine he would have won.
Probably the bit of the finale that has stuck with me is Bendu's final words to Thrawn "I see your defeat. Like many arms surrounding you in a cold embrace." I'm a big fan of Thrawn, I half want him to just win, so I'm really curious how he goes down.
I was hoping for a bigger story with Maul, something more like his Clone Wars Mandalorian story line, but I was satisfied. I actually (half-jokingly) called his 2 second one hit KO prior to the episode, but what I really liked was how he reacted to dying. How he learned that Obi-Wan was protecting the Chosen One and that he hoped Luke would avenge them. Bringing Maul back to life was pretty ridiculous (I loved the spider legs) but I really liked how they fleshed out his character and he gave Clone Wars a nice shot in the arm. His use in Rebels was interesting. He was less evil monster and more tired warrior. His end seemed to really bring that into focus, I think he wanted to die there and bring all the pain to an end.
To me the big disappointment was with how the show handled Kanan's blindness and Ezra's flirtation with the Dark Side. Both of those were done with in the first episode. Part of that was the time jump between seasons, but I feel they dropped the ball on both. Kanan played mostly as if he still could see. We barely saw him learning to use the Force to overcome his disability. I really wanted a long story arc where he had to come to terms with what happened and learned to be a new kind of hero - but maybe that was too much to hope for from a kids show. It also made me think of Netfix's Daredevil, where all his body language shows that he's blind. I didn't see that in Kanan.
Ezra's Dark Side brush was just too short. They could have milked that for most of the season, and really played him off of Kanan and Maul.
So season 3 was alright for me. Some good stuff, a lot of okay stuff, nothing really bad. The show never quite reaches the levels I'm hoping it will, not on a consistent basis, but I like it.
Next season I'd like to see the Inquisitors again. Unless I missed something there should be a few more out there. Also hoping they get back to Ashoka, I was a bit surprised they didn't pick that up already. A few more returning characters would be nice (Boba Fett and Cad Bane come to mind), and maybe a little romance.
And more Thrawn.
If we are already taking about the next season,and missed opportunities of Clone Wars...Durge.Hes a bounty hunter,why not?
Or considering the Empire at War inspiration of this season,I wouldnt be surprised if Tyber Zahn shows up next.
Spade,
Actually, last I checked the Zahn Consortium has been placed in the official canon. Even though Tyber Zahn has not. Actually, now to mention it, the "underworld" of Star Wars has taken a bit of a backseat in the series, particularly over the last few seasons. I mean, we've gotten Hondo and he's been a constant. Again, no Boba Fett. No Black Sun. No Jabba the Hutt. Or any other Hutt really. It would be nice to see some other Clone Wars figures show up. Like an older Jaybo Hood. Or other figures from Kanan/Caleb's past.
And isn't Ventress still alive?
Quote from: Podmark on March 26, 2017, 06:43:41 PM
Quote from: Spade on March 26, 2017, 09:19:16 AM
I mostly agree.
Spoiler
Thrawn is pretty awesome;after a whole season of letting them escape.Im not really sure why he decides to channel ESB,instead of just nuking the whole place from orbit,but whatever.
Spoiler
He was under orders to take the officers alive, nuking the planet is kinda counter intuitive to that.
I liked the finale. A couple points on the season as a whole:
Spoiler
I've really liked the development of Kallus over the show. In season 1 and most of 2 he was just this semi-competent Imperial who lost so often to the Rebels that he couldn't really be taken seriously as a main threat. That was kinda necessary while they were building up the main cast and a more fun adventurous type of story telling. I didn't care for the character all that much. But towards the end of 2 they had that episode with him trapped on an ice planet with Zeb and that really fleshed him out and I was hoping they build on that this season. Very happy with how that turned out, and looking forward to him joining the Rebels, that should be a cool new dynamic.
I would have also been happy with a sad death at the hands of Thrawn.
Quite pleased with Thrawn's portrayal. They correctly kept his involvement limited for most of the season, lest he lose too often to be taken seriously (like Greivous in Clone wars, and Kallus). He never quite hit the level of awesomeness I was hoping for, but I loved his personality and demeanour. He was also physically competent which I think is new to the character.
If it wasn't for that meddling Bendu and that idiot Konstantine he would have won.
Probably the bit of the finale that has stuck with me is Bendu's final words to Thrawn "I see your defeat. Like many arms surrounding you in a cold embrace." I'm a big fan of Thrawn, I half want him to just win, so I'm really curious how he goes down.
I was hoping for a bigger story with Maul, something more like his Clone Wars Mandalorian story line, but I was satisfied. I actually (half-jokingly) called his 2 second one hit KO prior to the episode, but what I really liked was how he reacted to dying. How he learned that Obi-Wan was protecting the Chosen One and that he hoped Luke would avenge them. Bringing Maul back to life was pretty ridiculous (I loved the spider legs) but I really liked how they fleshed out his character and he gave Clone Wars a nice shot in the arm. His use in Rebels was interesting. He was less evil monster and more tired warrior. His end seemed to really bring that into focus, I think he wanted to die there and bring all the pain to an end.
To me the big disappointment was with how the show handled Kanan's blindness and Ezra's flirtation with the Dark Side. Both of those were done with in the first episode. Part of that was the time jump between seasons, but I feel they dropped the ball on both. Kanan played mostly as if he still could see. We barely saw him learning to use the Force to overcome his disability. I really wanted a long story arc where he had to come to terms with what happened and learned to be a new kind of hero - but maybe that was too much to hope for from a kids show. It also made me think of Netfix's Daredevil, where all his body language shows that he's blind. I didn't see that in Kanan.
Ezra's Dark Side brush was just too short. They could have milked that for most of the season, and really played him off of Kanan and Maul.
So season 3 was alright for me. Some good stuff, a lot of okay stuff, nothing really bad. The show never quite reaches the levels I'm hoping it will, not on a consistent basis, but I like it.
Next season I'd like to see the Inquisitors again. Unless I missed something there should be a few more out there. Also hoping they get back to Ashoka, I was a bit surprised they didn't pick that up already. A few more returning characters would be nice (Boba Fett and Cad Bane come to mind), and maybe a little romance.
And more Thrawn.
Like a lot of what you said and just a few things to touch on:
Spoiler
I didn't really see Thrawn's inclusion as him at a constant loss as much as some. I saw Thrawn in this season play chess. Or (Spade) playing a real life Empire At War game. Setting pieces, learning his opponent, suring up his base and ultimately attacking. That's Thrawn. And you pegged it right, from the voice acting, to the look to demeanor, that's EXACTLY how I saw Thrawn in my minds-eye 20 years ago.
Also about Inquisitors, the names were "Fifth Brother" and "Seven Sister". I would imagine(and I actually GMed a game using the motif) that there's at least 5 more Inquisitors for them to use. Perhaps Inquisitors we know like Jerec or Tremayne outside of the "Brother" or "Sister" Inquisitors. I don't think the Grand Inquisitor from season 1 went by that numeration.
Shogunn:
Spoiler
Ventress unfortunately was killed in a canon novel. I was quite disappointed to learn that but from what I've heard it was decent conclusion to her arc.
I'd really like if they used some of the characters from the Kanan's comic.
Has anyone else had a huge problem with Mandalorians running around all over the place in this show? A) When I was a Star Wars fan back in the day (we walked five miles to school, up hill both ways! In the snow!), the Mandalorians had been wiped out in the Clone Wars. That was more or less the established canon, and Bobba Fett was interesting because he was a survivor and a mystery. B) It makes no sense for a warrior culture to survive in the Empire. It doesn't fit the setting.
I'm slowly catching up here, but I find that my issues remain. It just doesn't quite fit for me.
We even had Mandalorians in Legacy,way after Clone wars.So Bobba definitly wasnt the only one who survived.
Well, this thread has been dead for about a year, but I'd figure with the series closing out, I thought I'd come back and share some thoughts, about the finale, the season(particularly the last 5 episodes) and the series overall.
Spoiler
Overall, I thought it was a pretty good closing. It tied up loose ends and storylines of different characters. It was nice to see characters from back as far as season one show up and take part in the end. Vizago, Mart, Hondo, Ketsu, Gregor and Wolf. I also like how THEY were the ones fighting the Empire and not the Rebel Alliance, if anything for the sake of preserving continunity with the Battle of Scarif being the Rebellion's first victory like ANH said it was. The drama was high. It was real "Star Wars". The ending, of course it gave me quite a few questions. Although Dave Filoni did confirm that BOTH Ezra AND Thrawn survived the hyperspace jump with the Purrgil's. Where they went, who knows. Apparently, Ahsoka returns and joins with Sabine to go search for Ezra AFTER the Battle of Endor. And even though he dodges, I have to imagine the next Filoni series will be with Sabine and Ahsoka in a post ROTJ environment searching for Ezra. There were also the others we saw too. Although we know that Zeb and Kallus survive the war, but what they did during the war remains unknown. Same with Sabine. Did they stay on Lothal? It'd explain their absence. But did they stay with the Spectre crew? Did they join the rebellion? Chopper and Hera of course were in the Battle of Scarif and Endor. It was also nice to see(hear rather) Gilad Pellaeon get "canonized" in this episode as well.
Lastly, Jason Sydulla... I guess that's one Star Wars question I've never wanted to ask to have been answered.
Now, the last 5 episodes of this season, IMO were probably more impactful than we've seen of anything Star Wars recently. There was more content and plot devices in this final bit then probably the entire series. More specifically:
Spoiler
TIME TRAVEL
It's been pretty hotly contested over the last week, Star Wars introducing such a major science fiction device into the universe. It introduced it, but they made it in such a way that it seemed insular and purposeful and not completely accessible. I mean, I suppose it should have made sense, given what we've known about Star Wars for the last 37 years, that Jedi actually can see the future, that they have the ability to have a greater connection to overall events in some sort of way. But with Ezra saving Ahsoka from Vader, which lead to the last scene from season 2 that we saw. But clearly, Ezra knows he can't change things that happened, whether it was with his parets or Kanan. As far as the last three, we saw Lothal rebel against the Empire. The Emperor show himself as he would look to most people, without the hood and the Darth Sidious visage. We FINALLY after 35 years see Royal Guards DO something. It was pretty much nothing, but it was at least SOMETHING. Again, though nothing's confirmed officially, but the word is "Star Wars Resistance" has been copyrighted and could be the title of the Sabine/Ahsoka series. But these last few episodes, however you feel about them were VERY revealing. If not a little frustrating.
As for the series overall, IMO I think the second half of Clone Wars was much stronger and darker, but the series itself had it's highlights and lows as well. It was good to see the how the Rebellion start in official canon. It was good to see how the Rebellion works. The battles and the climaxes in the series were a lot of fun and well done. the characters that were introduced and reintroduced were refreshing. From the Mandalorians, fringers and Imperials. It was nice to see characters from the movies show up in the series from Leia, Lando, Wedge and Saw. Ezra like Ahsoka earlier on in their respective series were VERY annoying. It's obvious the character(s) were written to give the younger audience a perspective to relate to. The series had a lot of lazy and too convenient plots(particularly at the end), which slowed the show down as much as they were annoying. But it gave us "Star Wars" what we know as classic "Star Wars". I was afraid with Kanan being a Jedi and Ezra being his "Padawan" made me fearful the series would come off too Jedi-centric in a era and setting that I thought should be focused on a different war. But overall, and what the ending emphasized is that the series is less about "Rebels" and more about Ezra and the Spectre crew. As long as I keep that in mind, I can be okay with it.
Quote from: Shogunn2517 on March 06, 2018, 07:37:57 AM
Well, this thread has been dead for about a year, but I'd figure with the series closing out, I thought I'd come back and share some thoughts, about the finale, the season(particularly the last 5 episodes) and the series overall.
Spoiler
Overall, I thought it was a pretty good closing. It tied up loose ends and storylines of different characters. It was nice to see characters from back as far as season one show up and take part in the end. Vizago, Mart, Hondo, Ketsu, Gregor and Wolf. I also like how THEY were the ones fighting the Empire and not the Rebel Alliance, if anything for the sake of preserving continunity with the Battle of Scarif being the Rebellion's first victory like ANH said it was. The drama was high. It was real "Star Wars". The ending, of course it gave me quite a few questions. Although Dave Filoni did confirm that BOTH Ezra AND Thrawn survived the hyperspace jump with the Purrgil's. Where they went, who knows. Apparently, Ahsoka returns and joins with Sabine to go search for Ezra AFTER the Battle of Endor. And even though he dodges, I have to imagine the next Filoni series will be with Sabine and Ahsoka in a post ROTJ environment searching for Ezra. There were also the others we saw too. Although we know that Zeb and Kallus survive the war, but what they did during the war remains unknown. Same with Sabine. Did they stay on Lothal? It'd explain their absence. But did they stay with the Spectre crew? Did they join the rebellion? Chopper and Hera of course were in the Battle of Scarif and Endor. It was also nice to see(hear rather) Gilad Pellaeon get "canonized" in this episode as well.
Lastly, Jason Sydulla... I guess that's one Star Wars question I've never wanted to ask to have been answered.
Now, the last 5 episodes of this season, IMO were probably more impactful than we've seen of anything Star Wars recently. There was more content and plot devices in this final bit then probably the entire series. More specifically:
Spoiler
TIME TRAVEL
It's been pretty hotly contested over the last week, Star Wars introducing such a major science fiction device into the universe. It introduced it, but they made it in such a way that it seemed insular and purposeful and not completely accessible. I mean, I suppose it should have made sense, given what we've known about Star Wars for the last 37 years, that Jedi actually can see the future, that they have the ability to have a greater connection to overall events in some sort of way. But with Ezra saving Ahsoka from Vader, which lead to the last scene from season 2 that we saw. But clearly, Ezra knows he can't change things that happened, whether it was with his parets or Kanan. As far as the last three, we saw Lothal rebel against the Empire. The Emperor show himself as he would look to most people, without the hood and the Darth Sidious visage. We FINALLY after 35 years see Royal Guards DO something. It was pretty much nothing, but it was at least SOMETHING. Again, though nothing's confirmed officially, but the word is "Star Wars Resistance" has been copyrighted and could be the title of the Sabine/Ahsoka series. But these last few episodes, however you feel about them were VERY revealing. If not a little frustrating.
As for the series overall, IMO I think the second half of Clone Wars was much stronger and darker, but the series itself had it's highlights and lows as well. It was good to see the how the Rebellion start in official canon. It was good to see how the Rebellion works. The battles and the climaxes in the series were a lot of fun and well done. the characters that were introduced and reintroduced were refreshing. From the Mandalorians, fringers and Imperials. It was nice to see characters from the movies show up in the series from Leia, Lando, Wedge and Saw. Ezra like Ahsoka earlier on in their respective series were VERY annoying. It's obvious the character(s) were written to give the younger audience a perspective to relate to. The series had a lot of lazy and too convenient plots(particularly at the end), which slowed the show down as much as they were annoying. But it gave us "Star Wars" what we know as classic "Star Wars". I was afraid with Kanan being a Jedi and Ezra being his "Padawan" made me fearful the series would come off too Jedi-centric in a era and setting that I thought should be focused on a different war. But overall, and what the ending emphasized is that the series is less about "Rebels" and more about Ezra and the Spectre crew. As long as I keep that in mind, I can be okay with it.
[obligatory grumbling about internet spoilers when Canada got the show a week late moving on]
I was quite satisfied with the way this series wrapped up. It reminds me of Deep Space Nine's finale (a series I resented finished rewatching and a personal favorite) with a threat defeated, some tragic but poignant casualties and a nice coda to show where many of these characters ended up. This is, I guess I should say was, a show that like the 2012 TMNT and The Walking Dead, I want to really like ALL of the time instead of about HALF of the time. But it stuck the landing where it counted by having the back half of the final season be nothing but the good stuff.
Spoiler
Kanan's tragic death was moment that, like Negan's debut in Walking Dead, in my opinion was so well done that me having it spoiled did little to mitigate from its emotional effectiveness. Having Ezra tempted to undo it only to ultimately accept it as final was a very good way to add poignancy and develop his character. I was joking that Ezra was becoming Bran Stark from Game of Thrones and that ended up being more true than I knew with him literally peering through time to learn things the audience was aching to get closure on. Ian McDiarmid as Palpatine, befitting the character and actor absolutely stole the few scenes he was in. Never before have found this "Evil Sorcerer", as I've taken to calling him, more terrifying than when he haunted Ezra and Ahsoka in that time chamber. In a show full of callbacks to Clone Wars (more on that later) I especially like how they found a way to present Palpie as, well, Palpatine in a way that genuinely played like a proper "reveal" of him as the Emperor/Sidious as if this and the show it's a follow up to were one continuous story without simply relying on knowledge of the rest of the franchise. (indeed, the Prequels did the same thing despite it being common knowledge in the EU) Like tying James Earl Jones' Vader To Matt Lanter's Anakin via Ahsoka, it felt very appropriate and was a moment I was genuinely expecting and hoping to see since the first time we saw the Emperor in this series.
QuoteI also like how THEY were the ones fighting the Empire and not the Rebel Alliance, if anything for the sake of preserving continunity with the Battle of Scarif being the Rebellion's first victory like ANH said it was.
I actually didn't even think about that until I read your post but that's a good point. Pretty impressive.
The returning guest stars was a nice touch. I particularly enjoy Hondo so I was glad he showed up and had a decent role. He seemed a better fit in this just because the writers didn't struggle to make him a credible but fun and harmless antagonist like he was in Clone Wars. Here he had more of a Quark-like harmless scoundrel energy.
I actually did wish Zeb had more to do. I was glad they had that last scene with him and Callus but I was hoping for more. Though I was expecting Zeb to get the short stick. In a show full of characters with meaningful long-term story arcs, he was the character who largely stayed the same. At least he got to take out Ruhk. That was pretty sweet.
Pelaean cameo was great. While it's been said many times before I think it bears repeating: Thrawn was really great. Well cast and well written, he even had a really awesome theme music (which is certainly a Star Wars tradition) The thing that consistantly impressed me about Thrawn in this is in some series' you have characters who we're
told are brilliant strategists but they don't actually come as all that brilliant. Stryka and Obsidian from Transformers Beast Machines are probably my go-to example of that. But with Thrawn it's the opposite. Nobody in the show has to keep
telling us that he's incredibly intelligent because it comes through what he says and how he speaks and carries himself. I also liked seeing Ezra react to his art collection.
The way they wrote out Thrawn and Ezra was pretty well done. I'm not entirely convinced that Sabine's search for Ezra will the focus of the next show. I think they might do what Rebels itself did and relegate leftover plots from Clone Wars as a secondary element a new cast and show stumble upon. I could be wrong though. It's all in the Filoni's hands. The implication that we might follow the Rebels cast into the post-RotJ era EA Battlefront II/Shattered Empire style is an intriguing one. Old Woman Ahsoka in the time of the First Order?
I was also very happy and pleasantly surprised to see the Mortis Gods come up again. That whole concept was promoted as being important when it happened in Clone Wars and yet while that arc was a good one it didn't really amount to anything other than a pre-Maul Sam Witwer villain and some really fun fanservice, and I always wondered if they were going to do anything with it again. Sure enough it managed to get some use here. I also was pleasantly surprised to see the space whales of all things get payoff. That episode was still the poster child for "Why isn't this show better" but it's nice to see it pay off in a big way in the end.
Ezra, like Ahsoka, was a character I didn't mind as much as others but whom I did enjoy seeing develop and mature. To me that's positive of having such a character, which makes it much more disappointing when other shows don't have such growth.
And indeed. We have Jacen (apparently it's spelt that way as a deliberate nod to the pre-Disney EU character). Possibly the first ever half-Twilight offspring. Which considering their role in the Star Wars mythos, kinda surprising it didn't come up MUCH earlier. Apparently it's a human looking kid with green hair, that's kinda lame. On that note, this show really was just Firefly with a Star Wars skin, wasn't it?
Ball's in Fioni's court now. On that note, has Filoni confirmed whether Cad Bane's dead or not? Because I'd really like to know.
Yeah Thrawn though... :thumbup:
It's almost not
exactly how I would have imagined him, but actually much better. Like going back to when I read Heir to the Empire, it's pretty much what I was reading coming off the page. The way he looked, sounded, the way he acted and all the things he did was EXACTLY what I thought it would be before I knew what it could be.
Additionally:
Spoiler
As much as I would love to have it my way and have the new series take place in the Classic Era, if they went with a Sabine/Ahsoka team up series in a Post-ROTJ/Pre-TFA era, I'd definitely watch and thoroughly enjoy, mostly because those two characters are probably two of the better characters from BOTH series. I could easily see them carrying a series. Alas, who knows. I gotta imagine they would come with a new cast of characters in some form or fashion like they did for Rebels from Clone Wars and have some characters from the previous series bleed in and guest star from time to time.
Also, now it could possibly seem an entire Heir to the Empire-lite series can actually still happen now. Thrawn's absence in the GCW now makes sense. He could return in a post-Shattered Empire/Aftermath era like he did in the Zahn trilogy. And maybe other Legends characters could follow #crossesfingers
Something else a lot of folks I don't think caught on to, even from Star Wars Explained and other reviews, is about the Purrgils. You SS might not have minded them so much, but there was a lot of blowback online from them being used more or less as a lazy plot device and stretching credibility. And I see what they mean. After they jumped while holding on to Thrawn, I have to imagine that going into a vacuum, detectors on board the Star Destroyer would sense this and the windows would automatically be covered with durasteel, which I suppose would amputate the tentacles, freeing Thrawn... But more than that, something else they didn't pick up was that the Purrgils don't HAVE hyperdrive in their internal organs, but they actually are the source of the technology itself! After they were discovered, sentient beings reverse-engineered their ability to enter in a pocket-dimension and created the technology on their biology. But I do like how like almost no episode was just "filler" episodes from the series. Even the stuff we thought was just throwaway stuff played back into it. Like with the Mortis Gods.
Hopefully, by the next series we can see MORE Legends characters brought over to Canon. STILL patiently waiting for Revan, Exar Kun, Ulic Qel-Droma, Dash Rendar, Xizor, Kyle Katarn, C'Boath, Mara Jade(though those latter few might be a little problematic for continunity).
Looking forward to what Filoni comes up with next!
Quote from: Shogunn2517 on March 14, 2018, 04:59:39 AM
Yeah Thrawn though... :thumbup:
It's almost not exactly how I would have imagined him, but actually much better. Like going back to when I read Heir to the Empire, it's pretty much what I was reading coming off the page. The way he looked, sounded, the way he acted and all the things he did was EXACTLY what I thought it would be before I knew what it could be.
It wasn't that surprising that Thrawn turned out so well considering that Filoni was a Thrawn fanboy. He made that clear from the early days of Clone Wars when he adapted the "Thrawn Maneuver" for a space battle in one of the first arcs of the show, admitting that in the web featureless that accompany each episode.
Quote
Additionally:
Spoiler
Something else a lot of folks I don't think caught on to, even from Star Wars Explained and other reviews, is about the Purrgils. You SS might not have minded them so much, but there was a lot of blowback online from them being used more or less as a lazy plot device and stretching credibility. And I see what they mean. After they jumped while holding on to Thrawn, I have to imagine that going into a vacuum, detectors on board the Star Destroyer would sense this and the windows would automatically be covered with durasteel, which I suppose would amputate the tentacles, freeing Thrawn... But more than that, something else they didn't pick up was that the Purrgils don't HAVE hyperdrive in their internal organs, but they actually are the source of the technology itself! After they were discovered, sentient beings reverse-engineered their ability to enter in a pocket-dimension and created the technology on their biology. But I do like how like almost no episode was just "filler" episodes from the series. Even the stuff we thought was just throwaway stuff played back into it. Like with the Mortis Gods.
Spoiler
I had not heard what other fans thought fan outside of this thread so I didn't know lots of fans thought it a deus ex machina or what have you, but I'm not terribly surprised. But your explanation that the windows would have locked down actually makes perfect sense. As far as explanations of they Thrawn and Ezra survived, that makes as much sense as anything. As for Purrgls jump to hyperspace, it reminds me of how the space travel in Futurama was explained to work.