General Star Wars Random Thoughts Thread — Page 450

That’s an excellent point. Trying to force an explanation when none is really needed has just created more inconsistency. I’m not opposed to the idea of the kyber crystals having some connection to the force, but they way they are going about it just isn’t very good or well thought out.

Like, I’d be ok with them having a kind of presence in the force, like a vibration or something (crystal vibrations are something that plays right into the mysticism angle). I mean, that idea works well with the scene where Chirrut senses Jyn’s necklace in Rogue One.

But having them be semi-sentient and Sith having to bend them to their will to get them to work? And then “bleeding” in response? It’s just dumb.

canofhumdingers said:

Like, I’d be ok with them having a kind of presence in the force, like a vibration or something (crystal vibrations are something that plays right into the mysticism angle). I mean, that idea works well with the scene where Chirrut senses Jyn’s necklace in Rogue One.

But having them be semi-sentient and Sith having to bend them to their will to get them to work? And then “bleeding” in response? It’s just dumb.

Exactly. Even in the old Legends continuity there were Sith who didn’t wield red lightsabers, like Exar Kun.

I remember when I was a kid me and a friend speculated that if the Emperor were to wield a lightsaber it would be purple, implying a deeper connection to the dark side. Of course we were just a couple of kids brainstorming over idle subjects.

From how I understand it, turning a crystal red doesn’t just happen like a mood ring, Sith have to turn crystals red in a ritualistic process.

And because a Sith uses a non-corrupted crystal doesn’t mean it turns off or stops working. From what I gather, when a crystal is aligned with you and how you use the Force, then a Jedi and their lightsaber act more as one. If a Sith uses a Jedi lightsaber or vice versa, it doesn’t mean it stops working. But when a Sith’s kyber crystal is attuned with the dark side, then their lightsaber is more responsive to the wielder.

The way I think of it, it is like a duelist using a sword they’re familiar and comfortable with. You adapt to the sword’s weight and feel until handling it becomes natural. Kyber crystals work in a similar way, but on a spiritual or mystical level instead of a physical one.

fmalover said:

According to the Disney canon, Kyber crystals are inherently resistant to the dark side of the Force, and dark siders must bend them to their will for them to work in their lightsabers, creating a bleeding effect which is why all dark siders have red lightsabers.

If that’s the case then Anakin’s lightsaber should have stopped working because it would have sensed his turn to the dark side in ROTS, or at least should have turned red due to Anakin’s dark side influence, but no, it keeps functioning as normal when used for very obvious dark side actions like slaughtering children.

canofhumdingers said:

That’s an excellent point. Trying to force an explanation when none is really needed has just created more inconsistency. I’m not opposed to the idea of the kyber crystals having some connection to the force, but they way they are going about it just isn’t very good or well thought out.

Like, I’d be ok with them having a kind of presence in the force, like a vibration or something (crystal vibrations are something that plays right into the mysticism angle). I mean, that idea works well with the scene where Chirrut senses Jyn’s necklace in Rogue One.

But having them be semi-sentient and Sith having to bend them to their will to get them to work? And then “bleeding” in response? It’s just dumb.

It’s true. All of it.

I don’t know why the writers just couldn’t chalk the different colours up to tradition. I’m sure in the real world, cardinals in the Catholic Church could wear silver robes with green sparkles if they so wanted, but they don’t, and it’s not due to any convoluted practical reason.

I can understand that. Why not make the colors the Jedi and Sith use just be based on tradition? Maybe Jedi don’t use red because all Sith started using red to differentiate themselves, and so the Jedi do no want to associate themselves with the Sith. But maybe it wasn’t always that way, and in the past Jedi also used red and Sith uses blue, purple, etc. But still, I prefer the corrupting idea for synthetic kyber crystals like in legends.

But they could easily change this by having there being different types of “kyber” crystals, where some already have certain colors and don’t have to “bond” with a Force-user.

Maybe different color crystals could come from different places. On Ilum they could be colorless, but maybe the crystals on Korriban could’ve mostly been red (which led to the red=Sith tradition). We know that places can be attuned with the Force in different ways, like the dark side cave on Dagobah, so places that could be described as Force-nexuses could have different crystal colors and it wouldn’t contradict canon at all.

It could also explain why the prequel Jedi only used blue and green, because those are the only colors found on Ilum. Maybe the prequel Jedi only used Ilum out of tradition, which would tie into their very dogmatic ways and would allow for Old Republic Jedi have more lightsaber color variety.

And like I said, maybe the crystals on Korriban are mostly, if not all red. You could still have the canon “bleeding” method, but it just isn’t the only way to acquire one.

And another reason it makes a lot of sense is because of Mace Windu. Are you telling me Mace was the only Jedi with a personality or faith unique enough to be the only Jedi with a purple lightsaber? But, if purple crystals are very rare and can only be found on a certain planet, it makes more sense as to why he is the only Jedi with a purple crystal (and I think the legends backstory is similar to this idea).

Is Dagobah really a swamp planet? I know single-biome planets are common in this series, but is Dagobah conclusively presented as one in the films themselves? IIRC, what we see of the planet from space is shrouded in heavy cloud, hiding the topography. For all we know, Dagobah’s a terrestrial planet like Earth and Luke just landed in the equivalent of the Everglades.

The ‘Wesa Free!’ from the Victory Celebration may have been an unused clip of Ahmed Best as Jar Jar:

OBI-WAN takes over the controls and the OPEE SEA KILLER instantly releases the sub from its mouth.

JAR JAR
Wesa free!

As the sub zooms away they see a larger set of jaws, munching on the hapless KILLER. The jaws belong to the incredible SANDO AQUA MONSTER. The lights on the tiny sub begin to flicker as they cruise deeper into the gloom.

QUI-GON
There’s always a bigger fish.

Does that mean Jar Jar is in the Original Trilogy?

He’s been there for a long time.

Uh okay so in ROTJ they escape the Ewok trap when R2D2 uses a tiny saw. But is that weird flashing light supposed to be the flickering edge of the blade? It looks weird and bad even if it’s just part of the device.

I will never not hate Yarael Poof.

So I’ve been watching Star Wars Rebels with my kids on D+. Four episodes in and it’s pretty darn great for a kids’ cartoon show. It does have some pretty lazy dialogue, though. I swear the writers were taking bets on who could make the most reference to famous lines from the OT in a single episode.

But the characters are good, if not terribly original and the storyline so far is fun and interesting. And, importantly, it just looks and feels like you automatically think a kid’s Star Wars cartoon should look and feel like.

I gave up on Rebels after the 2nd season. There were moments of greatness en par with anything from TCW, but they were overwhelmed by all the juvenile crap.

I was looking through the list of episodes on Disney+, and maybe it’s just because I’m only remembering the good stuff, but damn was there some good stuff in there. I’m excited to dig back in at some point.

Well, I’m going for it. I’m watching all the “official canon” versions of the theatrically released live action Star Wars films (mostly via Disney+) in preparation for TROS. I haven’t watched the prequels in over a decade and the special editions of the OT in even longer.

The Phantom Menace - you know, I don’t hate it. I don’t particularly like it, but I don’t hate it. It has some good things in it. Obi-wan and Qui-gon are both great casting choices and pretty well acted given the material and environment they had to work with. And Qui-gon is actually an interesting character. Darth Maul is also a positive. He looks cool in a very space-age-medieval Star Warsy way and he’s kinda mysterious and ominous. There’s some decently cool locations, sets, and costumes. Much of what we see on Naboo and Coruscant look like natural extrapolations/evolutions of the kind of designs we see in Cloud City, and that’s a good thing.

The story is also not terrible on paper. It had the potential to be a cool political drama/thriller a la something from the BBC. Unfortunately it falls WAY short of any of that potential and ends up being just incredibly boring for long stretches.

I’ve made some lengthy posts about sword combat in the Star Wars franchise and have been particularly critical of the prequels, so I was curious to see how this would hold up. The combat is not terrible. It’s not very realistic, even for a movie, but it’s fun and engaging and it doesn’t immediately make me roll my eyes or groan in disgust. It’s decent stage combat. And, more importantly, it’s fun and exciting to watch, even for someone who can apply a pretty critical eye to choreographed sword fights.

Overall it could’ve been a lot worse. I doubt I’ll have any desire to revisit it again anytime soon but I don’t recoil at the thought of sitting through this movie again someday.

Attack of the Clones - I think I watched this movie in its entirety 4 times now. I saw it opening night and hated it. I saw it again the next day because we had already bought the tickets and I wanted to give it a second chance. Then I bought the dvd when it came out and gave it a third chance and have never watched it again until now.

My opinion has not changed. I will admit that I was surprised the first third or so fared better than I remembered. I always thought the chase for Zam Wessel on coruscant was boring but I actually enjoyed it this time. And overall I felt much the same as I did about TPM: not great but I don’t hate it.

Then we have the worst, most awkward and unconvincing romance scenes I’ve ever sat through. Then we have Padme comforting Anakin after slaughtering an entire clan of sentient beings. Then we have the droid factory and battle scenes with 3PO where he quite literally becomes a cartoon.

And then Yoda uses a lightsaber.

I hate this movie. It is wholly unredeemable and I have no desire to see it again.

Oh and the sword choreography in this absolutely sucks. It’s a big step down from TPM.

Anyone here that still has not seen The Last Jedi? Am I the only one?

Probably?

canofhumdingers said:

My opinion has not changed. I will admit that I was surprised the first third or so fared better than I remembered. I always thought the chase for Zam Wessel on coruscant was boring but I actually enjoyed it this time. And overall I felt much the same as I did about TPM: not great but I don’t hate it.

What else about the first third of the movie did you feel made it fair better than what you remembered?

Then we have the worst, most awkward and unconvincing romance scenes I’ve ever sat through. Then we have Padme comforting Anakin after slaughtering an entire clan of sentient beings. Then we have the droid factory and battle scenes with 3PO where he quite literally becomes a cartoon.

Do you not like that Anakin slaughtered the Tuskens, or that he told Padme he did and didn’t seem to register that big red flag?

I hate this movie. It is wholly unredeemable and I have no desire to see it again.

Oh and the sword choreography in this absolutely sucks. It’s a big step down from TPM.

Yeah, the swordplay definitely feels like a downgrade compared to TPM, not only with the choreography but the location felt less interesting as well. I think it would’ve been an interesting contrast if they had shot and blocked the choreography more akin to the fight scenes in Ridley Scott’s The Duelists. It would have shown how Dooku was a more dangerous opponent than the aggressive Maul because if you made one mistake he would exploit it and kill you. It would have made the duel tense in a different way, and suited Christopher Lee’s capabilities as an actor. I almost feel like they may have been going for this, but it doesn’t feel like it was shot or cut with that in mind.