#Not Ahsoka spoilers that screenshot was in a trailer

[yardikins]

i love when Star Wars men have feral children

[lightwise]

The Force Pt. 1 - Ahsoka, Sabine, and the Implications of Jedi Training and Talent

SPOILERS FOR AHSOKA EPISODE 3 BELOW (Technically spoilers for the entire OT and TPM too, but if you need that warning at this point...idk why you're in this corner of Tumblr ;):

Alright, I'm a little late making this but let's get into the big discussion from last week's episode of Ahsoka: Sabine being trained (as a Jedi...sort of), and what implications it has for Force use, talent, and Jedi training.

I was one of the people who when the trailers for Ahsoka aired, was very much not happy at the implication that Sabine was going to be retconned to have Force sensitivity and be trained as Ahsoka's apprentice. I have a bit of frustration with characters being headcanoned to be force sensitive or retconned to be force sensitive in general, but especially in this situation, it didn't make sense to me.

However, once episodes 2 and 3 aired and Huyang so graciously gave us and Sabine his opinion of her Force sensitivity and potential talent (aka the worst he's ever seen in his entire 25,000 years, not sure you can make a burn sicker than that), I was unexpectedly very excited at the direction this was taking: someone who is not measurably or traditionally strong or even decent in the Force trying to train and open themselves up to use it. Or, looking at it another way, taking Jedi principles after the fall of their Order and way of life, and learning to take some of those principles and add them to an already formidable repertoire and heritage of being a Mandalorian.

I went back to all three movies in the OT and TPM and pulled screenshots to compare and contrast Sabine's training with Luke and Anakin's. There are many more areas that Force usage is discussed (such as Yoda teaching clones how to tap into it in the first episode of TCW) but I wanted to focus on our original sources of how George viewed it working, and how the audience was first introduced to it--through Jedi Masters training their padawans in the movies.

First we have the classic introduction to the Force from Obi-Wan in ANH: The Force is "an energy field created by all living things," and it "binds the galaxy together". It flows through and in everything, whether or not they are aware of it or can harness it. "Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter."

Ahsoka states it as: "The Force resides in all living things."

During Obi-Wan's first (and maybe only in-person) training session with Luke, he tells him to stretch out with his feelings and let go of his conscious mind to be able to feel the Force flowing through him and predict where the training droid is going to strike next. Ahsoka asks Sabine to concentrate, feel her presence, and sense what is around her in order to defend herself. While Obi-Wan does make the mention that a Jedi can feel the Force flowing through him, and this is something that Sabine is unable to do at the moment, the emphasis is expanding one's ability to feel and sense what is around them, and not rely on their cognitive thinking abilities or five senses alone.

Now, from here you could argue that George seemingly presented two schools of thought between the OT and the PT on what exactly made someone eligible to become a Jedi. In the OT, midichlorians are not mentioned, but strength in the Force is, which could be interpreted as "you only become a Jedi or are capable of being a Jedi if you are strong in the Force." But I don't think that's the case. For one, this is mostly said about Luke in the OT and Anakin in the PT--the Skywalker family and the Chosen One in particular. It's presenting more of an upper limit on what being a Jedi looked like, not necessarily defining the minimum requirements.

With TPM, George introduced the concept of midichlorians, marking them as integral to at least Anakin's abilities with the Force and his place as the Chosen One. However, again this is applied specifically to him, and when discussed for other Jedi there is no "minimum" given as a requirement, nor even that they are required at all. And while having the highest midichlorian count of all time set Anakin apart, it did not automatically make him a Jedi or a strong Force user--it made him someone who had the potential to tap into it more easily than say, a Jedi with a lower midichlorian count, or say, a Mandalorian who has an indeterminably low aptitude for the Force. He also is mentioned as having a specific power--seeing things before they happen. But this is just one type of way to tap into or use the Force.

Also, I find it interesting that the term is "the Force is strong with..." not the other way around. Either the Force residing in all living beings contradicts the Force being strong with certain individuals (due to midichlorians or not), or it is meant to be two parts of a whole. While George retconned and changed infinite aspects of these stories and wrote them out of order, I don't think this is an area where he intended to blatantly contradict his worldbuilding.

*I am going to have to reblog in order to finish adding images to this post...see my next post for more!*

[writingforfun0714]

Bad Batch Trailer

So I did a breakdown of the new Bad Batch trailer here but I decided I wanted to include screenshots along with an analysis/deep-dive into what the story is for S2.

Warnings: LONG AF post, spoilers (obviously), slight headcanons maybe, lemme know if I need to add more

**Screencaps are read up to down then left to right**

Opening Beach Scene:

The trailer opens up to a beautiful beach, but a bunch of giant crabs race out, chasing Hunter, Wrecker and Echo. Echo is annoyed w/ Wrecker, saying that they went over the plan 5 times. That indicates Wrecker may have compromised them during a mission. Wrecker argues that he at least got the package while Hunter contacts Tech for a pickup. Tech, flying the Marauder, flies in and tells Omega to grab the tow line. We see Omega running after the line as the crabs run at her. She draws her bow and fires at one, hitting it’s shell, stunning it briefly to use as a step. She jumps off the crab and grabs the line.

Hiding Briefly Scene:

The next scene is shown very briefly. It looks like Hunter and Wrecker are hiding in wreckage/rubble as 2 former Republic gunships fly by overhead. If I had to guess, I’d say this is set as the Batch go to rescue Gungi, but this is just a guess and not confirmed or anything. Judging from the background with the ruined building, it looks like an industrial place.

New Character Intro:

The next scene introduces a new character named Phee Genoa (turn on CC on Youtube). From her dialog, it’s clear that she knows Cid and Cid has told her about CF99 (despite her agreement to keep them a secret). I’m sure that’ll cause Hunter some conflict with Cid. It’s unclear if she’s a mercenary or if she’s a rebel (or some new surviving Jedi or something-considering Cid was a contact for the Jedi and that’s how the Batch came to know her). I’m pretty certain she’s voiced by Wanda Sykes. I could see her being a Rebel leader or even possibly knowing Saw Gerrera (allowing him to show up again).

Quick Shots:

I decided to include screencaps from 3 different scenes because they all go by in about half a second. The 1st screencap shows the Marauder flying to a pale green planet that could be Kashyyyk (Idk if we’ve ever seen it from space). The next shot is focused on a door as what appears to be workers run by. I’m assuming the door is how the Batch sneak in or something. The last shot is of an Imperial officer with 6 stormtroopers flanking him. They are shown later on.

Doing More Scene:

This is also a rather small scene, but I thought it was incredibly important. Echo tells Hunter that they should be doing more. Now there’s a few ways to take this. Echo could be talking about helping form the Rebellion. Echo, as the reg of the group, could be talking about rescuing more chipped clones. They already rescued Gregor (while Rex presumably went after Wolffe) so he could be talking about rescuing Howzer (since he was arrested at the end of the Ryloth arc) or just clone brothers in general. I definitely think this season Echo will get the Batch to open up/be more respectful towards regs. I suppose he could also be talking about Omega and wanting to do more for her, to make sure she’s prepared/can handle herself (though I think this option is the least likely). I really hope Echo is talking about rescuing other chipped clones cuz I HC that the Rebellion started w/ Ahsoka+Rex (and Bail) and a bunch of un- chipped clones plus the beginnings of people wanting to step up and fight—like Saw Gerrera.

The Beast Scene:

The next scene shows this giant mech walking, causing an explosion. I can’t tell if it’s pure robot like Kuvira’s mechasuit in Legend of Korra or if it’s an armored animal of some kind. I did see a theory related to this creature. The theory is that it’s an armored clone of the Zillobeast. The Zillobeast arc is only 2 episodes and ends with the creature dying and Palpy wanting a clone of it. Nothing ever came of it during CW so BB S2 would be a great time to bring back cloning (especially since Tipoca City is destroyed). I actually do agree with the theory and think it’s pretty possible that it is a clone of the Zillobeast but I also think there’s a good chance it’s something unrelated so we’ll have to see. It cuts to the Batch+Rex infiltrating an Imperial room (the windows). The way the trailer is cut, at first, I thought they were inside the giant beast, but w/ the cityscape in the distance in the windows and the barren landscape the beast is shown on, I don’t believe they are related.

Having a Future Scene:

The next shot is of Cid saying that the Batch can have a future (if they pull off a heist) and as Cid says ‘future’ it cuts to the shot of Omega. It’s a quick scene but I think it’s important, especially the transition between Cid and Omega. The Batch struggled to figure out what they wanted to be (both as characters and as a show) and the fact that Omega has been shown to be more capable than she already was, makes me think that Omega growing into more of a soldier will translate to being a rebel/part of the rebellion.

Disobedience Scene:

The next scene has Cody’s voice narrating over it before showing Cody with Crosshair. He tells the sniper that more and more clones have been questioning the order (showing clones running). Crosshair replies with ‘they are traitors like the jedi’. If you look at their faces, you can see the different emotions they feel. Look at the doubt on Cody’s face. He’s obviously thinking about Obi and he looks conflicted about what he’s done. Cross looks sad!!! Look at his face! He’s probably relating the clones Cody’s talking about to CF99.

Good Soldiers Follow Orders Scene:

The next scene has Cross’ voice saying ‘good soldiers follow orders’ over him firing off a sniper bullet. It transitions to a battle tank with a still-active battle droid getting hit and exploding. This is the first time we see battle droids post O66 in BB that are still active and on their own. We do see battle droids in ep6 Decommissioned, but most were in pieces and all were deactivated. They were reactivated and helped the Batch fight off the security droids, but this is the first time we’ll see them still active/at a battle.

Burning a Forest:

The explosion from the battle tank is cut w/ fire from a flamethrower used by a Trandoshan (possibly a Trandoshan hunter). I personally think this is how Gungi got captured. With all the foliage and plant life, I’m assuming this is Kashyyyk. I’m wondering if the Trandoshans captured Gungi and sold him into slavery (with the droids). 

The Right Choice:

The next scene is of Omega sitting with her legs pulled up and she’s clearly upset. She’s with Echo and she tells him that ‘you all gave up everything for me’. Echo tells her that they made the right choice, and it cuts to Tech, Wrecker and Omega, with Wrecker and Omega looking at Tech as if to say ‘good job’. That last screencap is probably after Tech’s race that’s shown later.

Helping Others:

When talking with Omega, Echo tells her that there are others that ‘need our help’. These are the people that are shown when Echo talks. They are laborers, probably being mistreated. I don’t know what planet this is, if we’ve seen it before, but the closest one I can relate it to is Geonosis. It’d be interesting if this did turn out to be said planet (but I’m not sure how likely that is so I wouldn’t put too much stock into that theory).

Stay Back:

The next scene shows Omega, Gungi and Echo being cornered by some new droids I don’t think we’ve seen before. When CC is on, it says the main droid is called Axis Leader. When Axis Leader questions what’s going on intimidatingly, Omega draws her bow and shouts ‘stay back!’. Gungi lowers his blaster and uses the Force to grab his lightsaber from the droid.

Wrecker and Tech:

The next few shots are of Wrecker and Tech. The 1st one is of Wrecker and he has a rocket launcher (or something similar-I’m not good at identifying weapons/ships). He fires it at what appears to be an early-model TIE fighter, hitting it’s right wing, shooting the ship down. Then it cuts to a race that seems similar to pod-racing (from TPM). Tech is shown inside one of the pods, looking serious, before it cuts to Wrecker fighting off some aggressive creature. Since Tech is the pilot, it makes sense he’d be the one to do something like racing (I’m reminded of the entrance they made in CW S7 when Tech speeds the Marauder in and clones have to dive out of the way). I’m interested as to why this is actually happening. Could it be related to a job for Cid or the new character Phee Genoa? Is it just some characters that show up in an episode (like Roland/the Pykes).

Shooting:

This is an interesting scene. We get a couple shots of what appear to be the same area. The 1st shot is of Tech and Echo. Echo fires at the ceiling while Tech aims. They appear to be underground somewhere. It could be deeper inside Ord Mantel given that they have mining tunnels or it could be somewhere totally different (or a planet we’ve been to before, just not Ord Mantel). The next shot is of Omega also firing up at the ceiling (I believe that’s Phee Genoa with her-but I could totally be wrong—I can’t really tell who it is tbh). I’m guessing that they are in some underground maze of caverns or something and they get separated. Echo and Omega appear to be doing the same thing which is interesting. I don’t think they’re firing on creatures but up on a rocky ceiling, either trying to shoot their way out, or trying to see how high it goes (considering their bullets/arrows are lights). If that is Phee Genoa w/ Omega, I’m wondering if that’ll be when we get her backstory. The Batch obviously got separated from Omega so it’d be interesting if the 2 started talking or something (like how Roland was talking w/ Omega about his mom when they were handcuffed). 

The next scene shows a group of battle droids get hit with a grenade or something that causes an explosion. It changes to Cody and a few clones, also in gray armor, fighting the droids. It then cuts to a close up of Cody in his helmet. Cody says ‘we are not the enemy’ over the video.

The Imperial Officer:

The Imperial officer with the 6 stormtroopers appears from earlier. They stand in front of 3 masked individuals who are either in charge or hired for protection of the settlement they’re at. ‘The Empire seeks to establish peace and order throughout the galaxy’, Cody’s voice narrates over the video. Honestly I have no idea who these people are/could be. I’m assuming they are new characters as far as I’m concerned. The starship flying above some industrial area could be related to the masked people here or the laborers/workers shown earlier. Uniformed workers help load boxes for stormtroopers before switching to one of the masked people pointing a blaster at the officer.

Peace Was Never an Option:

Another new character named Tawni Ames is introduced, though we only hear her voice as she narrates over this scene. ‘Peace?’ She asks, appearing to talk to Cody (when talking about not being the enemy). ‘Peace was never an option’ she says. As she talks, Emperor Palpatine is shown in the Senate room. During his POV shot, out in the seats/the things they sit in, it appears as if someone is looking at Palpatine. If I’m being honest I only saw one theory about why we see Palps here and it’s Boba. The theory is that Boba ends up meeting Omega and sneaking her into the building and that’s why she sees Palps. The theory is that Boba learns about CF99 and another ‘pure Jango’ clone and ‘kidnaps’ Omega. Under false pretenses, he befriends her, but he really wants to turn her in to Palps for a reward. As they spend time together, she slowly gets under his skin (kinda like Cross) and Boba ends up choosing not to give her up. As for the new character, based on dialog alone, it seems like she’s actually talking w/ Cody, meaning this is someone Cody knows. I wonder if this is someone he and Obi-wan saved during the war or something.

Escaping the Droids/Bail Cameo:

The next few scenes happen pretty quick. The first is with Tech and Hunter. They appear to be escaping the droids (like Axis Leader). Presumably this is after Gungi grabs his lightsaber and they have to fight their way out. The next shot is of an Imperial industrial factory looking place exploding and what appear to be clones running. The next shot is of Gungi and Omega. They appear to be talking before something gets their attention. They could either be talking about the droids/what’s going on, or the other padawans. In the other trailer released about 6mo ago, there’s a boy who looks like an older Pietro (Pedro?), the cocky padawan with Omega when she says ‘let’s go’. There is also the rumor going around that Katooni, the Tholothian padawan, is a love interest/crush for Omega so they definitely could be talking about the other padawans. I also think Hondo will be mentioned and/or appear. He knows Boba and was able to convince the boy to do the right thing so it’d be interesting if he meets Omega as well. The next shot is a quick moment with Bail. He showed up in TotJ so honestly, I’m not surprised to see him again (don’t get me wrong, I’m really happy to see him again, I just wasn’t surprised). The next shot is of someone escaping on a speederbike on what appears to be Coruscant (but could be a different planet). I don’t know who it is, but it’d be cool if it was Bail (though I think his model has a different body shape—thicker/broader) cuz we don’t get a lot of action shots of him (since he’s a Senator). Crosshair’s voice narrates over the speederbike scene at the end with his ‘We do what needs to be done’ line. 

Infiltration Scene:

The next scene seems to be the Batch+Rex sneaking in (presumably the heist job Cid talks about earlier) and seems to be related to the scene shown earlier with the Batch+Rex sneaking around a room as Tech grabs some sort of black case. The next shot is of clones in a doorway, firing, probably at CF99+Rex.

Our Differences:

The next shot is of Hunter and Echo, presumably set during the scene when Echo tells Hunter they should be doing more. Hunter asks Echo ‘you know what makes us different? We make our own choices’. I wonder if Hunter is talking about clones v droids or CF99 v reg clones. The former would make sense just because of the video edit. Hunter is attacking a droid and still-active battle droids are also shown, adding a possible threat. The latter would make sense because we have the introduction of Cody. Hunter could be talking about CF99 vs regular clones because it looks like they will fight clones again. 

Rex’s Mission:

One of the last scenes shown is a hologram of Rex on the Marauder. Echo asks him what he needs. Rex asks them if he can use them for a mission. Omega looks to Echo, who in turn, looks to Hunter, the 2 clearly wanting to help. Tech looks at Hunter, unsure.

Last Scene:

The last scene is one of my favorites tbh. Tech and Omega outrun an explosion. The last 2 shots show Tech grabbing and shielding Omega from the explosion, which also reminds me of the other trailer where Omega is falling and Hunter catches her.

What I’m expecting to like:

—Rescuing more chipped clones obviously

—More Echo/Tech bonding time w/ Omega

—Gungi’s arc—In relation to the Katooni rumor, I do think it fits Omega to be gay. Her friendship w/ Hera proved that Omega works well with a female character. Although I will say I hope it’s kept rather tame, at least at first. More bonding/friendship type stuff before kissing. Like a lingering hug and a double hand squeeze (like Asami and Korra in the finale) would be adorable I think. Plus Omega is super sheltered and would be inexperienced in that area so I think any kind of social relationship would be friendship-turned more kind of thing.

—I really hope that Boba rumor is true. He doesn’t even have to be related to the Emperor or anything. I just wanna see him show up and meet Omega. But I’m so nervous with how he’ll look. Each time we see him he’s more and more whitewashed (including TBoB—w/ the skin bleaching Tem had to do). I don’t dislike much about CW, but Boba’s design in the Rako Hardeen arc killed me specifically because of Boba’s whitewashed design. 

—Cody. That’s it. Cody. Everything about him.

—Crosshair’s choice. I’d honestly be pretty surprised if Crosshair decides to rejoin CF99 when they meet up again. I really think the better choice would be to go off on his own for a bit before returning to CF99.

—I noticed AZ wasn’t in any trailer footage (of either trailer) but I hope he recovers memories of Fives and Echo grieves properly. Echo was done so dirty and even though it seems like he’ll get a more prominent role, along with Tech, I still don’t like that he hasn’t acknowledged Fives.

—I’m curious about the new characters introduced: Phee Genoa and Tawni Ames. Phee definitely seems like a rebel leader based on her design, but as I said earlier, she could be a mercenary. I believe the ‘heist’ Cid talks about is Phee’s idea/plan. The other character is only heard so we don’t know what she look like, but she says THE LINE!

What I’m more 😒/upset about because they didn’t show—IMPORTANT—THIS COULD CHANGE so don’t come at me. Trailer footage isn’t meant to reveal too much about the story so anything mentioned here could show up.

—HOWZER!! WHERE IS HE!? IS HE ALRIGHT!?! IS HE SAFE!?!

—The clone cadets on Kamino. I believe one of them asked Nala Se if they’d still be soldiers after being sent somewhere else. ARE THE CHILDREN OK!?

—I hope Hondo shows up. He hasn’t really been mentioned when I search BB S2 stuff but I’ve always enjoyed him/his character.

—The armor/clothes change. I wanna see the clothes shopping and armor painting. PLEASE!! More domestic scenes please. There were so many explosion scenes/action shots. Like yes, we get it, you do action-y stuff, but a nice, cute scene is always appreciated.

I think those are most of my thoughts on this upcoming season. Honestly, this show gives me mixed feelings (the whitewashing). Their character models always gets to me when I try rewatching S1. And this is a serious question—

They seem different compared to S7 of CW—am I crazy/is it real? Like Wrecker is excited when they get shot down in CW but he’s fuckin terrified in BB?? Like they all just seem…different in CW compared to BB. Lemme know if I’m being stupid or something.

Hope you liked the analysis and a BIG THANK YOU to anyone/everyone that likes/reblogs!! Let’s talk Bad Batch!❤️