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Ahsoka (live action series) - general discussion thread — Page 12

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Vladius said:

Darth Tremor said:

Sideburns of BoShek said:

Darth Tremor said:

What is ironic is how The Rise of Skywalker was billed as “The End of Skywalker Saga” and ever since it’s the Skywalkers who get all the attention with Luke’s return in Mando S2 and BOBF and Anakin’s return in Kenobi and now Ahsoka.

The reality is the center of AGFFA is the Skywalker Family. Proof of that is no IP has been able to stand without Anakin/ Vader or a Skywalker.

I think this is why I enjoy Visions series, just fun Star Wars stories about anything and everywhere in the GFFA, that don’t really feature known or legacy characters. If we didn’t like one episode, there is always another. I wish there were more, and look forward to the 3rd season.

It could be why some of us are looking forward to Acolyte, and even Skeleton Crew? That it isn’t made or has input by Filoni or have that “Volume look”, and that is will be crafted by different talents, a different approach and look as well, I hope. Acolyte should definitely be free of the fan service or Skywalkers, and Mangold’s film too.

The Acolyte is on my watch list solely because I have wanted a treatment or story from the dark side or “larger view of the Force.”

I love Visions, and I agree they are refreshing in that they do not depend on any Major Legends characters or Legacy ones; in a way they go back to he fresh blank slate ANH gave us, when all was new and big reveals and secret bloodlines weren’t the focus.

I am crossing my kyber crystals that at some point Visions and The Acolyte will be the norm. New characters and points of view. That said I would be a liar if I said I have not enjoyed Hayden’s return as Anakin & Vader. He was the Tragic Hero I most connected with in the prequels, his duality and learning to accept it is something I aspire to; to come to terms with the Ashla and Bogan in myself.

It’s unclear what exactly all the dark Anakin stuff in Ahsoka means (if there is any meaning) but that’s not how the dark side works and you shouldn’t try to integrate it into yourself in real life.

Many interpretations believe it shows Anakin’s Spirit has accepted both light and dark sides of himself, that like The Father in Mortis, he keeps the Son (dark) and Daughter (light) in balance in himself.

I believe Dark Anakin / Mustafar Vader that Ahsoka battled was her working out her pain and trauma over His fall, and choosing to “live.”

I also add Jedi Lore that the last trial to become a Jedi Knight is to face the dark side. Anakin tells Ahsoka, “I am going to finish your training.” So Ahsoka had to face Lord Vader to become a Jedi Knight like Luke did in ROTJ, Kenobi faced Lord Maul in TPM to become a Jedi Knight, and etc. One has to face the dark side in themselves and without in a vision or fighting a Sith or Acolyte of Darkness in the flesh.

Of course embracing the dark side in real life is ill advised, unless you interpret “There is Only Passion,” (Sith Code) and “From Passion I gain Strength,” (Sith Code) to mean the definition of passion that is “ardent affection” (5a of Webster Dictionary) or sacrificial love as in the Passion of Christ. Most people use the definition of passion that is “uncontrolled emotion,” but there is also uncontrolled conviction in passion too, “he is passionate to end injustice.”

“There is a tremor in the Force.”

“Give yourself to the dark side.” -Lord Vader

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Darth Tremor said:

Vladius said:

Darth Tremor said:

Sideburns of BoShek said:

Darth Tremor said:

What is ironic is how The Rise of Skywalker was billed as “The End of Skywalker Saga” and ever since it’s the Skywalkers who get all the attention with Luke’s return in Mando S2 and BOBF and Anakin’s return in Kenobi and now Ahsoka.

The reality is the center of AGFFA is the Skywalker Family. Proof of that is no IP has been able to stand without Anakin/ Vader or a Skywalker.

I think this is why I enjoy Visions series, just fun Star Wars stories about anything and everywhere in the GFFA, that don’t really feature known or legacy characters. If we didn’t like one episode, there is always another. I wish there were more, and look forward to the 3rd season.

It could be why some of us are looking forward to Acolyte, and even Skeleton Crew? That it isn’t made or has input by Filoni or have that “Volume look”, and that is will be crafted by different talents, a different approach and look as well, I hope. Acolyte should definitely be free of the fan service or Skywalkers, and Mangold’s film too.

The Acolyte is on my watch list solely because I have wanted a treatment or story from the dark side or “larger view of the Force.”

I love Visions, and I agree they are refreshing in that they do not depend on any Major Legends characters or Legacy ones; in a way they go back to he fresh blank slate ANH gave us, when all was new and big reveals and secret bloodlines weren’t the focus.

I am crossing my kyber crystals that at some point Visions and The Acolyte will be the norm. New characters and points of view. That said I would be a liar if I said I have not enjoyed Hayden’s return as Anakin & Vader. He was the Tragic Hero I most connected with in the prequels, his duality and learning to accept it is something I aspire to; to come to terms with the Ashla and Bogan in myself.

It’s unclear what exactly all the dark Anakin stuff in Ahsoka means (if there is any meaning) but that’s not how the dark side works and you shouldn’t try to integrate it into yourself in real life.

Many interpretations believe it shows Anakin’s Spirit has accepted both light and dark sides of himself, that like The Father in Mortis, he keeps the Son (dark) and Daughter (light) in balance in himself.

I believe Dark Anakin / Mustafar Vader that Ahsoka battled was her working out her pain and trauma over His fall, and choosing to “live.”

I also add Jedi Lore that the last trial to become a Jedi Knight is to face the dark side. Anakin tells Ahsoka, “I am going to finish your training.” So Ahsoka had to face Lord Vader to become a Jedi Knight like Luke did in ROTJ, Kenobi faced Lord Maul in TPM to become a Jedi Knight, and etc. One has to face the dark side in themselves and without in a vision or fighting a Sith or Acolyte of Darkness in the flesh.

Of course embracing the dark side in real life is ill advised, unless you interpret “There is Only Passion,” (Sith Code) and “From Passion I gain Strength,” (Sith Code) to mean the definition of passion that is “ardent affection” (5a of Webster Dictionary) or sacrificial love as in the Passion of Christ. Most people use the definition of passion that is “uncontrolled emotion,” but there is also uncontrolled conviction in passion too, “he is passionate to end injustice.”

Anakin clearly turned away from the dark side at the end of ROTJ. That was the point. The interpretations that he was using the imagery to confront Ahsoka and scare her a little bit make a lot more sense, though the show itself doesn’t really say. I absolutely despise all the Mortis stuff and I think it did a lot of damage because it’s nonsense.

I agree with the Jedi trial idea but if we’re basing all of this on Clone Wars and Rebels, didn’t she fight Darth Maul, and then Darth Vader himself already?

I don’t interpret it that way. I think these are the worst ideas that people came up with over the years:
*the “light side” means no emotion and the dark side means all emotions
*“balance in the Force” means equal light and dark sides in the galaxy and so it always ends with the Jedi and Sith wiping each other out over and over and this is the Force’s fault (unironically agreeing with Kreia’s philosophy without questioning her at all)
*you’re supposed to be “balanced” in yourself by having equal light and dark sides and this just means having normal emotions instead of no emotions or too strong emotions
*there are “Gray Jedi”

The dark side is a perversion of nature. That’s why it tends to result in people becoming cyborgs or hideous pale monsters with yellow eyes. It backs the Empire and the destruction of the natural world. The Force and the Jedi already encompass the entire spectrum of normal emotions. The Force already has Yin and Yang in it or however you express that.

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Episode 6 First I rewatched episode 5 and it just solidified my thoughts that it just wasn’t very good. The 2nd half didn’t feel any better the second time, it felt just as slow and plodding as it did the first time. In fact, you can easily cut 15 minutes of that episode and lose nothing of value. It could’ve been a short 30-minute episode.
This episode in comparison, while still a little slow was a big improvement. We get a lot of reveals about Balon and his apprentice, the return of Thrawn, and Ezra and Sabine’s reunion. I’m pretty sure a lot of people are going to complain about the creatures that Sabine finds, but I found them great, and a big part of why I felt this episode was paced much more effectively. The episode felt really focused on reintroducing Thrawn and exploring the new planet and Galaxy they’re in. Still, it didn’t really feel foreign enough to be another Galaxy. However, I still can’t help feeling like the past 2 episodes should’ve been condensed into 1, even though this episode was much better it was still too slow I think they could’ve trimmed 10 minutes by cutting out some superfluous scenes or combining some of them into 1. These past 2 episodes easily should’ve been 1 big hour-long episode and that would solve pretty much all of the pacing problems with the 2 of them as a whole. Still, I get the feeling that the final 2 episodes might be really interesting as it’s really hinting at some kind of huge power on the planet they’re on, and I could see Balon potentially betraying Thrawn. Also, eventually, Exra will learn that Sabine teamed up with the enemy and I’ll be interested to see how that develops.

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As soon as Ezra was on screen for ten seconds, it was the least annoying ten seconds I’ve ever had with him.

I know I’ve made some very poor decisions recently.

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Hal 9000 said:

As soon as Ezra was on screen for ten seconds, it was the least annoying ten seconds I’ve ever had with him.

Sabine on the other hand is as insufferable as Ezra was in the series

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In Episode 6 I particularly enjoyed the visuals. The approach to the witches planet was commendably stately and unrushed, the statues and the tumbled stones gave it a timeless ancient feel (they’ve been subtly referencing ancient Henges, leylines, etc a fair bit in Ahsoka which is giving it a nice distinction beyond what we’ve previously seen in Star Wars).

A couple of things caused dissonance. Firstly was that the galaxy they arrived at seemed exactly like the one they left - perhaps it should have had a different visual look (for example a bright Milky Way style band across it)… Secondly, the Stormtroopers suspected Sabine - with all her fighting prowess - wouldn’t last long, they set the wasteland up as being Mad Max brutal… but then we arrive at a Hobbiton village of friendly turtles! The turtles wore waistcoats and appeared to have a culture that would be at odds with such a barren environment. (That said, the creature work on them was fantastic!).

Those small niggles aside, I think the series has found its stride and improved immeasurably after the first two rather clunky episodes. Good stuff!

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Some random thought mainly on episode 5, with just a little of episode 6.

I’m a little surprised too that Filoni retconned his own epilogue of Rebels finale so he could just show Ahsoka becoming “Ahsoka The White” in this; a reprise of some fleeting scenes from events in The Clone Wars, to apparently solve a four-episode inner conflict about Ahsoka’s concerns about teaching Sabine and wanting avoid the pitfalls of her former master. Which to me already seemed resolved with Ahsoka acknowledging Sabine has Mandalorian skillsets, experience and an approach that can compliment her training, in the fourth episode. And something it appears that Ahsoka has forgotten from their time spent together before reuniting for this latest adventure.

Or is it the four-episode stoicism that Ahsoka has overcome? That she should adapt to the times, accept that things are what they are, let go of what was, and be her own person, so that her legacy won’t be that of “death and destruction” (something Baylon said to un-nerve her with in their fight just previous?). The issues Ahsoka has in Episode 5 with reconciling Anakin with the monster he became (in itself a retcon; ignoring he became a monster when he slaughtered the Tusken village before meeting Ahsoka), her inability to prevent Anakin somehow “becoming” that monster, or belief she could have somehow prevented his final turn to the dark side and serving Palpatine. It is difficult to care at this point, given the writing on offer for this four-episode stoicism.

Now Ahsoka will be like her old self again, like Ahsoka The White, as she was before this latest adventure started? (edit: episode 6 has Ahsoka back to being the stoic character of the previous five episodes; and unfortunately not the more emotive and expressive version that Ashley Eckstein played the character of so well, for so many years)
 

The reprises were well executed, Hayden and Ariana Greenblatt were accomplished in them, although the scenes did have a “theater production” style scope to them, and there was little stakes within as most of the heavy lifting was in the WBW setting. It would appear the take away highlight of the series will be these fan service reprises, and that is such a pity, and a failure, if so. As others have noted, retconning the Rebel epilogue does now also raise the question, if Ahsoka and Sabine are no longer going off to find Ezra during the Original Trilogy era, then what were they doing during that time?

 
 

New Republic laziness and ineptitude yet again? (and the writing for the New Republic too!)
 

Mon Mothma: “Do you have Morgan Elsbeth?”

Hera (instead): Nearly, we just missed them. If your Senators hadn’t delayed us last time, we’d have like caught them in time - and both Morgan Elsbeth and the Dark Jedi would likely be in our custody.

Mon Mothma: “Do you have evidence of Imperial Remnant?”

Hera (instead): Yes. The two Dark Jedi that boarded a New Republic ship, killed many of the crew and freed the prisoner Morgan Elsbeth (who previously gave up information about Thrawn to Ahsoka) have just been missed; but we know they are using a high powered Hyperspace Ring to apparently go find Thrawn. The same Hyperspace Ring whose engine parts were supplied by Imperial Remnant or those loyal to the Empire (and announce themselves as such: “For the Empire!”), whose location we found out about from the memory cell of a droids sent by those Dark Jedi. Our ships’ sensors have readouts of that Hyperspace Ring and we also have testimony of the New Republic pilots. In 5 minutes: Ahsoka is going to follow the two Dark Jedi and Morgan to the next galaxy over, using these Hyperspace traveling “StarWhales”. The same “StarWhales” we know that took Thrawn and Ezra disappeared years ago during The Battle of Lothal; a well known Rebel engagement vs the Empire, and mention of these “StarWhales” can also found in the Jedi Archives. Luke may be interested in this y’know; Thrawn, Imperial Remnant, Dark Jedi, missing Jedi, Force-attuned “StarWhales” with long history of hyperspace abilities. Why am I answering these insipid questions to you? Have you been hit on the head or taking some stupid pills since Andor? Why are you acting like this? Oh, you’re now an ancillary character in a Filoni series. Filoni… of course. Got it.

Mon Mothma: “You and Ahsoka Tano are to return to Coruscant with the Fleet. The Senate oversight Committee is going to determine whether your command should be germanely suspended. You are going to need her testimony to help you. And yes, I too wish the scenes with the New Republic were written not as an afterthought with little substance, weight, or realism, and lacking in awareness of the past events. Has anyone seen Tony Gilroy? (Just asking for a friend).”

“In the future it will become even easier for old negatives to become lost and be “replaced” by new altered negatives. This would be a great loss to our society. Our cultural history must not be allowed to be rewritten.” - George Lucas

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I enjoyed Chapter 6 as it moved the story onwards instead of attempting to do some sort of attempted character arc or “fix”. A little jarring that Sabine found Ezra so quickly, just a few hours away from where she was released?

The night sister dark magic likely keeping the “Night Troopers” alive was interesting, it would appear they have been through a lot, and lost many troopers during their time in this galaxy. I hope they do something worthwhile with this, not it is not just a gimmick without any worthy story or substance. No droids or Imperial officers left on the Chimaera was also noticeable.

Even with Thrawn finally appearing on screen I was more interested in Baylon and Shin. It would seem we are still getting Rebels character Thrawn and not so much Zahn’s Thrawn. I hope that will change in the next two episodes to be more of the EU character, or at least a half/half version of him. I did get a blue Elon Musk feel from him, and have seen a few others pick up on that too!

The turtle species (Noti?) were very “Ewok”, and I am okay with that. Maybe their clothing was little too clean and new for a species living on a desolate wasteland (new costumes, like the brand new look of the inside of the old Ghost and Ahsoka’s old ship? 😃) I am actually looking forward to the next episode, especially if the story is now moving forward again.

The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear.

Formerly Emre1601 - computer hard drives are brittle too!

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Emre16O1 said:
A little jarring that Sabine found Ezra so quickly, just a few hours away from where she was released?

Made sense to me that they did this, wrote Ezra and Thrawn out in the same episode, write them back in the same episode.

It’s like rhymetry, it poems.

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I don’t get why people are saying “oh people are going to hate the turtle aliens for sure!” They are easily the least offensive, most normal thing in the show lol. I loved the porgs in TLJ too. I’m much more concerned with everything else going on.

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Vladius said:

I don’t get why people are saying “oh people are going to hate the turtle aliens for sure!” They are easily the least offensive, most normal thing in the show lol. I loved the porgs in TLJ too. I’m much more concerned with everything else going on.

For me it’s because it happens a lot with Star Wars. People complained about the Ewoks in the OG trilogy, people complained about both the porgs and the caretakers in the sequel trilogy, and people complain about a lot of the things targeted at children in both the Clone Wars and Rebels, despite both being kids shows (eventually incredibly mature and well done kids shows but a kids show nonetheless) so I’m just assuming people will be complaining about the turtle people. And I do enjoy the Turtle people. I also agree that there are much bigger problems in this show like the really bad and slow pacing and the god awful Hera and the republic subplot.

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Vladius said:

I don’t get why people are saying “oh people are going to hate the turtle aliens for sure!” They are easily the least offensive, most normal thing in the show lol. I loved the porgs in TLJ too. I’m much more concerned with everything else going on.

I agree. What bothers me most about the show is the fact that it is something made strictly for those who watched Rebels. The series assumes that all its viewers have already watched the animation and simply continues the arcs of the characters created there, making no effort to re-present their motivations in a satisfactory way. I haven’t watched it, and I have a really hard time caring about the journeys of Ezra, Sabine, Hera, etc. As their arcs are a vital part of Ahsoka’s story, the series itself has been pretty boring for me.

Thrawn himself, I found to be a very dull character. I would be much more engaged in the story if they created something that addressed more of the events of the original trilogy or even the mandoverse. For example, if it were revealed that Grogu’s kidnapping was an order from Thrawn or something like that.

It’s no wonder that Baylan and Shin have become two of the public’s favorites, after all they at least have a certain charisma. All the other characters so far, including Ahsoka, are very poorly worked (at least, in my opinion).

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Sirius said:

What bothers me most about the show is the fact that it is something made strictly for those who watched Rebels.

The problem is that they had stated MULTIPLE times before the series aired that it was basically Rebels, Season 5. Watching Rebels beforehand is a requirement to understand what is happening in the show.

So it is kind of funny to me that people complain about that as a weak point for the show, the solution is easy… watch Rebels first. This show is a SEQUEL. Are you going to watch Jedi before Empire? Or Last Jedi before Force Awakens?

The Skywalker Saga:
I · II · III · IV · V · VI · VII · VIII · IX
This is the way.

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DZ-330 said:

Sirius said:

What bothers me most about the show is the fact that it is something made strictly for those who watched Rebels.

The problem is that they had stated MULTIPLE times before the series aired that it was basically Rebels, Season 5. Watching Rebels beforehand is a requirement to understand what is happening in the show.

So it is kind of funny to me that people complain about that as a weak point for the show, the solution is easy… watch Rebels first. This show is a SEQUEL. Are you going to watch Jedi before Empire? Or Last Jedi before Force Awakens?

So why not just make it animated and call it Rebels Season 5?

Making it live action implies that it’s a continuation of the current live action shows like Mando Season 2 where Ashoka showed up previously. It’s totally understandable why average viewers are confused that they have to watch an animated kids show set before the Galactic Civil War to understand what’s happening in a presumably adult-oriented post-Galactic Civil War show.

The worst part for me is the implication that the medium has no bearing on the message, which is simply not true. You can’t expect a character in animation to read the same when ported to live action, and vice versa. This is not to say that one medium is better than another, but to treat them as interchangeable is ludicrous.

You probably don’t recognize me because of the red arm.
Episode 9 Rewrite, The Starlight Project (Released!) and ANH Technicolor Project (Released!)

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I actually feel like this show is in a lot of ways trying to be for people who didn’t watch Rebels, though. It pulls this trick where there’s a new status quo as a refresh. The previous backstory becomes incidental exposition in service of a New Story.

For example, Sabine and Ahsoka’s history isn’t something Rebels watchers would be familiar with. New audiences and Rebels fans got that information at the same time. Functionally, the reception of that isn’t going to be that different between the two audiences. It’s a whole new dynamic we’re all on the same page of being introduced to.

This becomes the excuse through which the creative team can adapt and change certain things. Sabine is a slightly different character in these new dynamics. Ahsoka’s balance and zen is re-interpreted as overly detached; a character flaw as opposed to culmination. All of a sudden Thrawn isn’t just a smart Imperial who won battles, he’s Palpatine’s heir apparent. These things aren’t being worked through off of Rebels nor are they just picking up where it was left, they’re retcons in context, entirely new material out of it.

I think this is all a bad thing, btw. The show’s dialogue is overly expositional in service of this storytelling mode, and if the characters don’t feel entirely familiar, they’re play acting long-term relationships that haven’t been fleshed out anywhere, just told to us existed at some point. It’s more unnatural as a continuation of Rebels than it is as its own thing.

Andor: The Rogue One Arc

not a Jedi apologist or a Jedi hater but a secret third thing

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DZ-330 said:

Sirius said:

What bothers me most about the show is the fact that it is something made strictly for those who watched Rebels.

The problem is that they had stated MULTIPLE times before the series aired that it was basically Rebels, Season 5. Watching Rebels beforehand is a requirement to understand what is happening in the show.

So it is kind of funny to me that people complain about that as a weak point for the show, the solution is easy… watch Rebels first. This show is a SEQUEL. Are you going to watch Jedi before Empire? Or Last Jedi before Force Awakens?

The problem there is Dave Filoni came out on several occasions whilst promoting Ahsoka and said the viewer didn’t need to watch previous content like The Clone Wars, Rebels or The Mandalorian to be able to watch or understand the Ahsoka series:

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/VNnuuMq_0_M - at IGN

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/EpPTx3ImSug - at Collider

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ZKacg7a9L9s - at IGN again

Dave Filoni Confirms Ahsoka Viewers Won’t Need to Have Seen Rebels, Offers Suggested Episodes - at ComicBook

Dave Filoni Says You Don’t Have to Watch THE CLONE WARS to Understand AHSOKA - at Geek Tyrant

Ahsoka Creator Reveals If Star Wars Rebels Is Essential Viewing - at CBR

^ 'Filoni, who co-created the Ahsoka Tano character with Star Wars creator George Lucas, confirmed that Ahsoka won’t assume that audiences are familiar with Rebels in an interview with Collider. “I don’t think you would need to watch any [episodes of Rebels],” he said. “They’re all available on Disney+, so you can check them out there and that would be great, but… for me, if you really were interested in [Rebels] and if it got people that maybe don’t – aren’t as interested in animation into it, I would start [with], probably, like, maybe the episode, “Jedi Night,” where the sad thing happens to Kanan. Even if you didn’t understand what that was, it would propel you forward. If you just watch Season 4 [of Rebels], you’d be set [for Ahsoka].”
 

So “no”, Filoni stated the viewer didn’t need to watch previously released content.

From the 1st video from IGN, where Dave Filoni says: “I think it is important you can watch them of their own”.
 

NFBisms excellent post above also highlights some of the problems watching this series even despite being familiar with the previous content.

The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear.

Formerly Emre1601 - computer hard drives are brittle too!

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NeverarGreat said:

So why not just make it animated and call it Rebels Season 5?

Making it live action implies that it’s a continuation of the current live action shows like Mando Season 2 where Ashoka showed up previously. It’s totally understandable why average viewers are confused that they have to watch an animated kids show set before the Galactic Civil War to understand what’s happening in a presumably adult-oriented post-Galactic Civil War show.

In all honestly, it likely should have been animated. But since they want Thrawn as the big bad of the Mandoverse, and they painted themselves into a corner with the ending of Rebels, what other choice did they have?

The Skywalker Saga:
I · II · III · IV · V · VI · VII · VIII · IX
This is the way.

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Emre16O1 said:

^ Dave Filoni: “I don’t think you would need to watch any [episodes of Rebels],” he said. “They’re all available on Disney+, so you can check them out there and that would be great”.

Let’s not take things out of context…

“They’re all available on Disney+, so you can check them out there and that would be great, but… for me, if you really were interested in [Rebels] and if it got people that maybe don’t – aren’t as interested in animation into it, I would start [with], probably, like, maybe the episode, “Jedi Night,” where the sad thing happens to Kanan. Even if you didn’t understand what that was, it would propel you forward. If you just watch Season 4 [of Rebels], you’d be set [for Ahsoka].

The Skywalker Saga:
I · II · III · IV · V · VI · VII · VIII · IX
This is the way.

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NFBisms said:

I actually feel like this show is in a lot of ways trying to be for people who didn’t watch Rebels, though. It pulls this trick where there’s a new status quo as a refresh. The previous backstory becomes incidental exposition in service of a New Story.

For example, Sabine and Ahsoka’s history isn’t something Rebels watchers would be familiar with. New audiences and Rebels fans got that information at the same time. Functionally, the reception of that isn’t going to be that different between the two audiences. It’s a whole new dynamic we’re all on the same page of being introduced to.

This becomes the excuse through which the creative team can adapt and change certain things. Sabine is a slightly different character in these new dynamics. Ahsoka’s balance and zen is re-interpreted as overly detached; a character flaw as opposed to culmination. All of a sudden Thrawn isn’t just a smart Imperial who won battles, he’s Palpatine’s heir apparent. These things aren’t being worked through off of Rebels nor are they just picking up where it was left, they’re retcons in context, entirely new material out of it.

I think this is all a bad thing, btw. The show’s dialogue is overly expositional in service of this storytelling mode, and if the characters don’t feel entirely familiar, they’re play acting long-term relationships that haven’t been fleshed out anywhere, just told to us existed at some point. It’s more unnatural as a continuation of Rebels than it is as its own thing.

Excellent post.

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Generally, I like the series. Especially the new galaxy intrigues me and I am exited about Baylan’s true motivation. However, Peridea was not really foreign enough for my taste. It feels odd, that the night sisters are speaking basic and that they know about the Jedi.

“Vader! Hologram, now!”

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This show is kinda boring. Everyone in it is very dry and detached. That’s all I can really say beyond weird contrivances and things that just seem to happen to move things along without really being explored properly. People act on things that aren’t said, but don’t say things that would help certain actions be taken. It’s all very weird. I’m pretty sure Kanan did some basic training with Sabine but she never learned anything from Ahsoka. I could be mistaken but bulding up so much of this on an apparent falling out or a tragedy that’s barely mentioned is also weird.

Other things are just out of nowhere. Like that whole Anakin dream thing seems to be nonsensical given how difficult accessing the time warp world was before in Rebels, and how it seemed to function. It’s not like… overtly bad like Mando S3. But it’s not great in ways that are hard to explain. Which is odd when the Clone Wars Finale and the Bad Batch were a lot more interesting.

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I also love how when you criticize the show people come out of the woodwork to tell you you don’t get it because you haven’t seen Clone Wars or Rebels. I have seen those shows. I like about half of Clone Wars and a quarter of Rebels. It doesn’t make this show any better either way.

Even if Clone Wars and Rebels were explicitly required viewing, which they’re not, they’re still doing those characters dirty. I don’t even like Ahsoka, Sabine, Ezra, or Hera, and I still think they’re not getting them right except for maybe Ezra.

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If you haven’t seen those shows it’s probably better since you’d have no prior expectations. If anything this often feels like a stilted creepy cosplay rather than a continuation. Especially all the contact lenses they picked.

Imagine if your fave was Sabine in Rebels, but now she’s just an idiot: taking them map without thinking who else wants it, taking Balan’s offer without thinking that she’s obviously leading him to Ezra. She wasn’t a complete dope before right?

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Critique from episode 6. If Baylan has trained (maybe even raised Shin), why has he never told her his plans etc prior to this? Why is she asking him if he misses the temple and the Jedi; shouldn’t she know. It would have worked better for her to observe “You still miss the temple” instead of asking him.

Other than that, honestly I’m a fan of the creativity and direction here. I’d have liked a bit more legendary planet/origin and mysterious power talk in the early episodes to set all this up (maybe in place of just talking up the threat of Thrawn and his one potentially returning ISD).