#but also I don’t want Dave filoni to ruin him…

[spicysucculentz]

my sincerest reaction to clone wars style thrawn

[hegodamask]

Unfortunately Disney would never make a palpatine centric story.😔 they won’t even do a Darth Vader show or movie, and he is arguably the face of the whole franchise. Dave Filioni’s brand of Star Wars is what they are invested in, and he does some interesting work, but it’s way more side character good guy focused. And of course forcing Ahsoka into everything as much as possible.

Oh I know but one can dream 😔

I wouldn’t want a Vader series anyway though. There are six movies and tons of other stories about him already!

I think it’s more than just Dave Filoni’s influence tbh. I don’t think they’ll ever put Star Wars’ most evil character at the centre of a story out of fear it’ll ruin the “mystery” of the character 🙄

Also TROS has done so much damage to the wider fandom’s perception of him. They’d announce a series and all the comments would be like “somehow Palpatine returned AGAIN?”

[warlordthrawn]

I know timeline wise Eli Vanto could show up in tales of the empire but I do not want him to. I don’t want them ruining him.

Also I highly doubt Dave Filoni even knows who he is. I don’t think he’s read any of the new Thrawn books. 😂

[photogirl894]

Okay, I got some things to say for people upset about Crosshair...

(Not really any spoilers)

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm a little sad that we hardly got to see him, too, and I'm anxious to find out what's going to happen to him, but people...

Have you forgotten that he's trying to freaking KILL the Bad Batch??

Yes, I know, he's part of the squad and their brother, but he's against them right now. He's tried to kill them TWICE! Both in situations where he had backup and they had no way to pin him down and get him to see reason. He was shooting at them and so were a bunch of other troopers in both scenarios. Not exactly a time to just stand around and talk!

"They're not even trying to save him..."

Again, he's trying TO KILL THEM!!

Hunter and Omega at least tried to tell him about the chip in episode 8, hoping he would see reason. How is that "not trying"? Plus, they had to run from him or else they would die. They can't exactly do much for him at this point right now! Don't tell me that you wouldn't run from an old friend or even a family member who's trying to kill you because anyone would! You wouldn't want to, but if it came down to it, you all know would run from them, too, if you had tried and failed. Plus, they can't reach out to him in any way because he'll find out where they are and the cycle begins again.

"They care more about Omega than Crosshair..."

Well, first of all, she's a freaking child! Of course, she's gonna get more attention. Plus, in the new episode, she's been kidnapped. What did you think the Bad Batch was gonna do?? Try and negotiate with their traitor teammate who's hell-bent on terminating them or go to rescue their kid who's been taken? The answer's pretty obvious 🤦‍♀️

Guys, I know we all want them to get Crosshair back and it's still possible because we still have 7 episodes left, but come on. Use your heads! You all have these headcanons of Crosshair being this perfect, precious being who deserves all the happiness in the world, which I agree, he does, but that's not who he is right now. He is a soldier for the Empire heavily under the influence of an inhibitor chip and is on a mission to terminate his old squad. If they tried to go to Kamino to rescue him, they'd be walking into a death trap and would surely be killed, so it would be for nothing. They haven't been able to get Crosshair alone since his programming was intensified; he's had soldiers around him, so they can't stun him or take him down to get his chip removed. There's literally been no opportunity to try and save him!

First episode: Crosshair turned and the Bad Batch had to run.

Second: they went to Saleucami to find Cut and figure out how to disappear, but they had to flee the planet from the Empire.

Third: their ship was falling apart and they got stranded. Not much they can do there.

Fourth: they're out of supplies and have to stop somewhere so they can keep going and get attacked by a bounty hunter who's after Omega.

Fifth: they go to Cid about the bounty hunter and she makes them do a job for her to get the info.

Sixth: they're working for Cid so they can get money to survive for the time being and they're going on another job.

Seventh: Rex shows up with information about the inhibitor chips and they go to Bracca to get them taken out.

Eighth: Crosshair arrives on Bracca and tries to take them out again.

Ninth: they escape him and go after Omega, who's been taken.

Where in any of that do you see any opportunity for the Bad Batch to have gone after Crosshair???

It's not possible yet!

Guys, be patient! It's still possible that they'll get him back somehow; we still have half a season, but you're all getting caught up in your fluffy, happy headcanons about Crosshair that you're missing the bigger picture. They had to leave Crosshair twice because he was trying to kill them and, like most people, they didn't want to die. Yes, Crosshair is their brother, but they also know he's not himself right now. Yes, they care a lot about Omega, but she's also a child who's still figuring out her way in a new world. Of course, they're gonna protect her more. They can't do much for Crosshair right now.

This is a pattern I've noticed among Star Wars fans. They get so wrapped up in their own theories or headcanons about how a story should go or what characters should be like and when things don't go the way they want, then they get mad and hate the content. That's what ruined the sequel trilogy for a lot of people (I don't want to hear anything about the sequel trilogy or why anyone hates it because that's not the point here) and I don't want that to happen with the Bad Batch. It is a great show! Let's not forget that! I know we all want Crosshair back with the Batch; believe me, I do, too, but I realize that there hasn't been a chance for them to really try yet. Don't let your personal headcanons for Crosshair ruin the show for you and just actually sit down and think about it. Dave Filoni has a plan and I'm trusting him. He's given us a lot of great things in the Star Wars universe, let's not forget. He gave us the Bad Batch in the first place!

Crosshair's time will come eventually. At least, that's what I'm hoping. Just be patient, guys. Have your happy headcanons for him in fanfics, but don't let them ruin your perception of the show. We've still got more adventures coming!

Rant over.

[padawanlost]

Why do people seem to hate Dave Filoni all of a sudden? I mean I'll confess I don't really like the way some characters were changed in the The Clone Wars series, but Filoni and Lucas did do a LOT of things right in that series. Its actually really deep and explores some very important moral and social issues like the impact of war especially on young people. Is it because Filoni has been critical of the Jedi at times? Honestly, I don't see anything inflamatory in what he says, and I don't think he's just randomly pulling stuff out of the air. Some of what he says is supported in old canon materials. The Jedi aren't perfect, I fail to see why legitimate criticism is such a big deal.

Before anything else, this ask was sent before the bad batch premiered so I won’t get into *that* right now.

That being said, this fandom has had a very interesting love-hate relationship with Filoni, so allow me to provide some context before we get into the heart of the issue.

Before The Clone Wars (2008) premiered the anti-prequel movement was still strong. A lot of people still accused George Lucas for ‘ruining’ star wars forever, so when the show premiered filled with action scenes, jedi, sith, badass moments and humor, Filoni was hailed as the savior of the franchise. Finally someone who understood what star wars was *really* about had come and saved us all from the prequels boring issues.

 That mentality last for quite some time. sure, there were voices of dissent but the general vibe was that Filoni had truly fixed star wars and the prequels. It was very similar from what happened to Game of Thrones. When the show premiered HBO and D&D were hailed as these god-like superwriters who could do no wrong. As the show progressed fans started noticing the cracks but most people still believed the show and its creators above criticism. only now that some time has passed that people are becoming more objective about the content and realizing the signs that something was off were always there. Of course, Filoni didn’t have a fiasco similar to Got’s Season 7 and 8 but the long waiting period between TCW’s season 6 and 7 gave people a lot of time to think objectively about the show, which made them realizing Filoni was, after all, just a man. And TCW was not an ‘alternative’ to the prequels, it was just an extension of it.

The themes people hated in the prequels were deeply imbued into the clone wars because a show about war must be, by definition, a show about politics. Whether people are ready to admit it or not, star wars was always about politics. I mean, the OT was about reestablishing a democratic government. It doesn’t get more political than that lol

And we can speak of PT-politics without talking of the Jedi Order. And here lies the core of the issue: people’s sudden realization of this truth. Somehow, for a very long time, some fans didn’t realize the clone wars  (and sw in general) was all about poltical (anti-war) allegories.  

Here’s a Filoni interview from 2013 that discusses the fandom reaction to the jedi:

StarWars.com: I was at the Lucasfilm fan screening of the finale, and I was keeping an ear on the crowd’s reaction to certain scenes. I was kind of surprised at the reaction when Ahsoka doesn’t take her Padawan braid back. Dave Filoni: Right. StarWars.com: Because people gasped at first, and then a lot of people started cheering. Dave Filoni: Yeah! Fantastic, huh? StarWars.com: What did you make of that? Dave Filoni: I was really, really surprised by that. Really surprised. I didn’t think people would be against it. But I certainly didn’t think that people would applaud it, necessarily. I think that there’s a certain element there… I mean, we weren’t trying to paint the Jedi in a bad light, but certainly you understand her reasons for wanting to leave. We’ve kind of taken a generation of Star Wars fans and really made them reassess that whole time period to the point where at the end of it, they’re on the side of this young girl who’s like, “Yeah, this isn’t gonna work for me.” And I think people feel that right now. They are often in a situation that they’d rather not be in and they wish they could just walk away, and maybe she embodies that. Maybe there’s something going on there that we’re not aware of. But I don’t know, I was pretty fascinated by that. It was a pretty surprising reaction. George and I went over those final scenes quite a bit. One of the big things was, the whole scene with the Council at the end used to take place outside where Anakin and Ahsoka talk. And it was definitely George, when we watched the first cut of it, who said, “I want to split this so that it’s half-inside, half-outside. And the outside is just Anakin and Ahsoka.” It was very important to him to separate the two of them out and just have this conversation between them. He wanted kids to know that she didn’t blame Anakin for it and that she wasn’t upset with Anakin. And I thought it was a great call. When I re-shot the scene it was pretty phenomenal. There was a debate about Ahsoka at the end, and her just going back to the Jedi at the end of it, and that was the initial impulse. But I kind of argued, “Well, wait. We have an opportunity here with her out to change her story dramatically.” And I’m always looking for those opportunities, because you’re not sure when they’re gonna come, to just grab something and change it dramatically for her. I thought, to do that whole storyline and then have her come back would almost be expected, so why not challenge that.[x]

Unlike what the narrative sold on tumblr says, Filoni and George talked about what was going on in the show (he was reason for Maul and Mandalore, two fan favorites, being on the show). But because accepting Filoni knew what he was doing means accepting George also knew what he was doing when drawing political and social parallels between real life and star wars, it’s much easier to just hate on Filoni and/or George (depending on what they are saying).

It’s kind of like selective hate. When Anakin is being abusive or when Padmé is being assaulted Filoni is a fucking mastermind. But when he’s criticizing the Jedi Order he’s a dumbass who doesn’t know shit about star wars. Or at least don’t know as much as people who have never talked to George Lucas, talked to anyone linked to star wars or has explored the full contents of the star wars lore know.

Look, I’m not defending Filoni here. He’s made plenty of decisions I don’t agree with it, but I find quite surprising how people can’t be rational about it. or, at the very least, be critical of the things that truly matter and have an affect on people in real life like racism, sexism and abuse. Idk, I just find interesting how the fans hating on him for being slightly ‘critical’ of the jedi Order seem to have no problem with the racism, whitewashing and sexism in the show. It really shows what people’s priorities are.

[always-a-slut-for-star-wars]

i also dont want transphobio dawson or din to be separated from the baby if either of those are what you are referring to

at least they did bo right.

I was mainly referring to Ahsoka and the Rosario Dawson stuff :((( I don’t want a alleged TERF playing my favourite character of all time. Don’t get me wrong, Dawson is a GREAT actor but she we don’t know if she is a GOOD person 🤷🏼‍♀️ and also, I’m worried that because ahsoka will be live action she’s going to look funky *cough* like Bo-Katan’s hair *cough*. I think because we are all so used to her being animated that she’s going to look wrong in live action 🤭 that might just be me but I’ve been hoping that she wasn’t going to be in any live action for that reason and when all the rumours started appearing I didn’t believe them, but then... they’ve all come true so far. I LOVE Ahsoka and I don’t want her to be ruined by a) a TERF and b) weird live action.

However, I was very happy that Bo-Katan was done right and most of all that she was played by Katee (aka the voice actress in clone wars and rebels).

I do have faith in Dave Filoni and I trust him but I’m still worried he’s going to mess up the most important character to me :((( I know Ahsoka is his creation but she’s my baby 🥺

And also, I want my baby to sound like my baby. I want Ashley Eckstein to be Ahsoka again :( it’s going to weird if she sounds like Dawson or another actress :((

Anyway, I guess we will see, either next week or the following I’d imagine. If y’all agree with me, let us hope, and if you don’t agree, then lucky you and I hope you have a good time not stressing 😭

[dalekofchaos]

Unpopular opinion. Ahsoka should have died  in TCW or Rebels

This is not me hating on Ahsoka, because Ahsoka is one of my favorite characters in Star Wars altogether, but Ahsoka should not have lasted as long as she did, she has been overexposed. 

The Jedi are supposed to be all extinct by the time of the Empire, Obi-Wan and Yoda should be the only survivors. Ahsoka lives beyond Order 66, throughout the Galactic Civil War and Filoni plays favorites and literally uses time travel to bring her back. Then apparently she lasts beyond the Galactic Civil War(why did she not meet Obi-Wan, Yoda, Luke or Leia?) Like fuck it is convoluted that she's survived this long. Hell, I will also say that Ezra, Cal and Cere should be dead too. Thrawn's fleet should have crushed the Rebels on Lothal and Vader should have killed Cal and Cere in Fallen Order.  No one but Obi-Wan, Yoda and the Twins should be left alive from the Jedi. Luke is the Last Jedi for a reason.

I came up with an emotional death for Ahsoka in Order 66,  Rex kills her and then Rex kills himself. But for sure if Ahsoka survived  Order 66, she should have died against Vader in Twilight Of The Apprentice. She should have died against Vader, it would solidify him as the monster that he is at this point in time: the one that can only be saved by his son who in turn would be saved by him.

It took away all the tension and emotion by using World Between Worlds in bringing Ahsoka back. Filoni pulled a Moffat by having a dead character come back to life an episode/season later. Kind of insulting. Like imagine if Leia used WBW to prevent Alderaan’s destruction. Yes it would be satisfying to prevent a tragedy, but for story purposes it takes away the tension and the monstrosity of the Empire.

I think it would have been a good end if she was killed by Vader. In their fight she even says "I won't leave you, not this time!", but then time travels out of them and never tries to go to him again. I don't really know what they'll do with her, she isn't mentioned once in the sequels by Luke, so seems unlikely they met up. I don't think there is much they can do with her, not to mention its now dumb that she didn't turn up in the OT.  

Better she get killed by Vader in a poignant death scene. With her lamenting she couldn't give Anakin a proper burial with Padme much less kill Vader.

I am not happy about Ahsoka appearing in The Mandalorian. Just...what are you gonna do with her? I am much less happy they are ruining her legacy by having a transphobe play her. She outlived the Empire AND the Skywalkers since Filoni said Ahsoka isn’t dead(good god man let her go) It's clear at this point that Dave Filoni doesn't know when to let go of her as a character. I like her, but It's kind of insane to me that she's now a part of all 3 eras of Star Wars. George Lucas wanted Ahsoka to die at the end of The Clone Wars, but Filoni somehow convinced him that she should live. 

Ahsoka has been overexposed and it shows. She's a great character, but she's just become as overexposed as Maul was.

[let-fans-be-fans]

STAR WARS Episode 8 - The Last Jedi

Only read after watching The Mandalorian s2 e8

Imagine a Lucasfilm Story Group that has actually worked as a group since 2015.  Chuck Wendig’s draft of the first Aftermath novel has been roundly mocked and pulped before ever being committed to print.  This isn’t about that, though.  This is the germination of the story seed that is planted in The Mandalorian, so join me as we explore one of the possibilities that could have happened within the Star Wars universe: What If Grogu (the Child/Baby Yoda) first appeared in TLJ?

Ahch-To, the steps.  Luke Skywalker regards his guest Rey with a quizzical expression, telling her simply but firmly “I can’t take that, but there is a place for it somewhere...” and the two move inside Luke’s little hut.  Passing by a large levitating pod, Rey (and the audience) experiences mental flashes of meeting Finn.  Smash-cut to Finn himself waking up in the recovery suit in the med-bay.  Finn/Rose/whatever sub-plot (this post isn’t about fixing THAT car-crash, let it marinate) ensues, does what it does.  This timeline’s Rian Johnson, however, is co-existing with LFL’s Story Group and especially Dave Filoni.  They’ve cooked up one hell of an A-plot, and it continues thusly:

Rey never sees what is in the pod, and begins to wonder if Luke is messing with her or starting to go a little peculiar from isolation, on account of how he talks to it.  In fact, something is starting to make her feel slightly more at ease.  Maybe even a little guilty when Luke’s mood turns sombre and he says, “I know.  About Han, and Ben...”  We maybe even get a little nostalgia-boost by Luke opting to use the training remote and blast-shield helmet to start training Rey.  It’s like poetry, it rhymes.

All through this time, Luke has not withdrawn himself from the Force out of shame.  He has always kept himself open to it, learning from the spirits of his teachers.  The night that Rey decides to leave and try to aid the Resistance (or to confront Kylo Ren for her own reasons) is the night that Luke receives a visitation from two very unexpected spirits.

That’s right, y’all.  The first Force ghost appearance of a non-Force-sensitive character in the Saga.  Padmé and Anakin show up to give Luke the news that some strange, dark figure has attempted to kill Leia by shooting at her private chamber on the Resistance flagship, only for Luke to not understand why they don’t know the attacker’s name.   “You don’t need to hide it, to protect him.  You know, as well as I do, that it was Ben!”  Anakin shares a concerned look with the spirit of his wife, and the next thing he says would absolutely blow the cinema audience out of every single seat in the house.  “Luke?  Son, listen to me.  Who is this Ben?”

That’s right.  Anakin Skywalker, the former Sith Lord Darth Vader, has absolutely no idea that our sequel trilogy’s Vader-like antagonist (his own grandson) even exists.  Even as the Force ghosts watching over Luke and Leia and their families for all this time, both Padmé and Anakin explain that from their perspective, something is bending the Force itself around Ben Solo, pulling him away from not only the Light side, but also from its Dark side.  “The boy, Ben Solo, is living his entire life surrounded by a wound in the Force.  This wound, it’s very subtly, slowly eating him!”

Luke is still in shock from hearing the ghosts of his parents telling him what is happening to Kylo Ren.  Rey is trying to keep him out but the villain is urged by his twisted Master, the Supreme Leader of the First Order.  Their telepathic communication is picked up on by Luke, who all at once sees what has truly become of his nephew.  Ben Solo appears to his uncle, surrounded by tendrils that look like animated cracks in a pane of window glass.  This is the wound in the Force, and its presence is felt most strongly by the eldest living Force-sensitive on the island of Ahch-To.  A short cry splits the cracked and bleeding image of Kylo Ren and Rey wakes with a sudden start.  Luke is frowning as he looks toward the floating cradle, then he makes his decision.  We (and Rey) are about to meet the 100 % physical in-camera puppet.  Cast and crew are made to sign an infinite supply of Non-Disclosure Agreements, Rian Johnson is talked into only letting Mark Hamill, Daisy Ridley and the puppeteers onto the sets while everybody else is shooting their things.

The cradle pod swings back its protective lid slowly, and there he is making his debut before an audience that paid full movie theater (remember those?) ticket prices.  Exuding full fucking “Gizmo in the box on the coffee table” energy, the Child glances sleepily between Rey and Luke.  This is why the legendary Jedi Master left the civilized New Republic, he tells Rey.  The massacre of his first generation of Jedi students, the betrayal by his nephew, all of it would have been for nothing if he couldn’t save one very important life.  Rey is sworn to protect the Child, who is old enough now to speak his own name.   “Grogu?  Is that what he said?”  “One of his protectors told me it’s his name, right before telling me how I looked just like my father.  We had a pretty good laugh about that...”

Leia/Poe/Holdo subplot, and [THE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPH WILL ONLY INCITE SHOUTY BEARDO YOUTUBERS TO SCISSOR THE HEADS OFF ACTION FIGURES THEY BUY WITH THEIR OWN MONEY, THEREFORE IT IS CENSORED TO SHIELD THE AUTHOR FROM PROSECUTION]

Before the Holdo manoeuvre, the Hyperspace Karen or whatever you want to call it, Rey acts out the plan that she and Luke have concocted in secret so that Chewbacca in the Millennium Falcon can safely evacuate both Luke and Grogu.  Rey hasn’t been told about the wound in the Force that swirls around Kylo Ren, but for some reason she can now see the same churning mass of tiny cracks in reality, and they spread out behind the Supreme Leader Snoke in much the same manner that Palpatine’s throne sat before the spiderweb-looking window of his tower on the Death Star.   This is it, we think.  Snoke is the wound in the Force drawing Ben away from his true self.  Even as the lightsabre that Rey brought with her ignites and strikes Snoke dead, the audience is thinking along with Rey that the wound is going to close up.

IT GETS BIGGER.  AND IT FUCKING CONSUMES SNOKE’S BISECTED CORPSE LIKE A SHADOW VERSION OF THE THING FROM THE 1982 MOVIE

So no.  Rey sees it happen, but Kylo remains completely oblivious as he takes up leadership of the First Order.  Something about the way he accuses Rey of the murder makes us think he really believes it too.  As Rey narrowly escapes, haunted by the sight of the living animalistic wrongness that ate Supreme Leader Snoke, General Hux is rather confused.  “Forgive me, ah, Supreme Leader.  But you are the first Supreme Leader of the First Order.  There was never a previous holder of that position, my Lord.”  I know!  Right!?

The Resistance’s last ships have limped along the supply line to the long-abandoned old Rebel holdout on the silicate world of Crait.  The wreckage of Snoke’s flagship the Supremacy, hangs in space, permanently suspended in the wake of the Holdo manoeuvre.  From the epicentre, a single pinprick of darkness begins to expand hungrily to devour the light from the hyperspace explosion.  The great wound left in the Force crawls across the destroyed vessel, the thinnest tendril of its immense darker-than-space form now separated from Kylo Ren.  Or, so it would seem, anyway...  Reunited with Rey, Luke gives her an understanding nod when she informs him of how the lightsabre of his father was literally ripped in half by the destruction of Snoke’s flagship.  Some of the elder members of the Resistance don’t have the slightest clue what Rey’s mysterious words mean.  As far as they know, Kylo Ren has been the brutal enforcer of the First Order, only recently declaring himself the first Supreme Leader of the faction.  Finn and Rose both speak up in defense of Rey, both of them surprised to hear that Leia also knew of Snoke’s death and the destruction of the flagship by her erstwhile friend, Amilyn Holdo.

Nobody can agree what happened, because a large subset of Resistance personnel share vague, half-formed memories of things as Luke, Rey or Leia tells them.  No droids, or Chewbacca, share their recollections, and uneasy looks pass between members of the post-war generation and the Skywalker twins.   It’s a quirk of the Force!  Every sentient born after the death of Emperor Palpatine, the unfortunately waylaid Maz Kanata informs them via hologram, possesses a significantly higher potential for Force abilities than the generation who grew up on the fringes of the rise of the Empire, the clamp-down on Jedi and suspected Jedi.

It would seem that this Force baby boom did not extend to First Order space (being mostly disaffected ex-Imperials, their families would be more careful to weed out any aberrations in the bloodline and try not to be of interest to the Emperor) as only Kylo Ren, their rightful Supreme Leader and master of the Knights of Ren demonstrates any ability to touch the Force.  That voice that only he can hear in the presence of Darth Vader’s ruined helmet tells him, its tone and pitch and cadence shifting (starting as the booming bass rumble of Vader’s synthesized voice before being joined by the harsh rasp of Snoke.  The low, menacing tone of Maul and the cackling, wheezing Palpatine.)  Power is the only thing worth holding onto.  Let the past die, kill it if you have to.   Cut out the weakness that keeps you bound to things like family...

“This is not going to go the way you think.”

Driven on by the maddening chorus of voices, Supreme Leader Kylo Ren has now managed to track his hated Resistance opposition to the deserted world of Crait.  Ships entering the vicinity of the mysterious hyperspace blackout are slowly consumed, vanishing into the great wound and becoming officially non-existent.  Alone against his crazed nephew, the Jedi Master Luke Skywalker steps out onto the crystalline plain before the bulkhead doors of the former Rebel base.  He cannot be hit by the guns of the lumbering walkers that his errant nephew orders to fire on him.  Kylo’s attempts to telekinetically barrage Luke with the salted earth of Crait simply do not phase the man.  As he calmly reminds Kylo: “The Rebellion is reborn today. The war is just beginning. And I will not be the last Jedi.” Kylo Ren’s dangerously unstable lightsabre blade harmlessly passes over Luke as he ducks out of its reach.  Finally, the angry young man seizes his moment and lashes out at Luke’s midsection.  Nothing?

The Jedi Master nods his head slowly, the camera pulling back to reveal him sat in a meditative posture atop a flat-headed rock just off the shore of his home island on Ahch-To.  Focusing his will through the Force, Luke appears not only in front of Kylo Ren, but also between Leia and Rey inside the base.  The two of them in turn are surrounded by a loose semi-circle of the younger, more Force-sensitive recruits of the Resistance including Finn and Rose Tico.  All of them, opening their conscious selves to the Force, are helping to shoulder the burden that Luke has taken on.  Proudly, Luke slowly rises from his seat and sends a mocking salute to Kylo.  “See ya ‘round, kid...”

The last supplies are loaded onto what few Resistance carriers and short-range fighters they have left, as well as the famous Millennium Falcon. Rey and Grogu both agree that their first priority is to properly re-establish contact with Luke Skywalker.  Furious, Kylo retreats to his ship-board meditation chamber, pounding his gloved fists into the ashes surrounding the remnants of Vader’s helmet.  Cursing the scavenger girl seems to spark some interest in the bizarre otherworldly whispers, the flash-image of Rey in the dark young man’s thoughts prompting the inner voice to remark, “We shall be re-united soon enough.  Yes, you will see what new powers I possess in time, sister...”

SMASH TO END CREDITS!

[starlady38]

The Mandalorian, Chap. 13 - “The Jedi”

Corralling my thoughts with bullet points under the cut. Not very positive.

Her lekku just aren’t the right fucking length. That is not optional. This show’s budget is $15M/episode and they couldn’t get the lekku to look right? WTF.

One of my questions after the Rebels finale was whether Ahsoka still carried lightsabers. Now my question is…is she a Jedi (again)?

TCW S7 made me think that she would have gone back, in a way that was actually somewhat difficult to square with her insisting constantly in Rebels that she wasn’t a Jedi. 

Doth the lady protest too much? The Bendu also called her a “former Jedi Knight” in an unfilmed scene, so.

It’s completely impossible to tell anything from this episode of course because the show is maniacal about not telling anyone anything, but there were a lot of opportunities for Ahsoka to deny being a Jedi and she didn’t take any of them.

Her being a Jedi (again) after her vision quest or whatever in the Sith temple on Malachor would actually fit with the ending of TROS, which I do my best to ignore, but that one thing (which is literally heretical but that’s another story) did happen and it would make sense.

I had assumed that the end scene of Rebels was ROTJ +0-4, but now I think that this episode actually takes place before it?

I guess the question is whether Ezra and Thrawn are still stuck together wherever. We have no information about that, but if they are and Ahsoka is looking for Thrawn, well, there you go.

I do think it makes some sense for Ahsoka to be sensitive to Force-wielders having emotional ties, but her lines about attachment contradict everything else we’ve seen in previous canon about her! Particularly Rebels, where Kanan and Ezra are acknowledged as Jedi by her and they obviously have attachments. Make it make fucking sense.

If it was just a way to continue the Mandalorian’s endless fetch quests, well, just fucking say “sorry I can’t train him, I’m on my own quest” or whatever.

Putting the kid up on a plinth in a random ruined temple and seeing whatever Force-wielder shows up seems like a bad idea! But that’s just me.

It also seems like the Mandalorian should have explicitly said, “Hey this child has been an Imperial test subject,” even if he hasn’t put together that the Imperial remnants are trying to create Force-wielders by transfusing midichlorians into them. That is something that it seems like Ahsoka would want to know!

I said when this show started that it would be funny if they were rewriting the Thrawn trilogy in reverse, and…maybe my joke was on the money??

Star Wars stop hiring transphobes

I don’t think Filoni is a terrible director, and it’s obvious that Lucasfilm is going to continue letting him do whatever, regardless of people’s complaints about giving other creatives a chance. But I do think you can tell his preference for static images coming out of animation in this episode in particular.

Does Ahsoka know Luke Skywalker is alive? Why had Cara Dune never heard of him? Bedlamsbard has remarked that this show seems like it takes place in an AU where Luke and Leia never existed and honestly you can’t disprove that contention using the show itself!

Why not just send Grogu to Luke Skywalker, weird CGI be damned. Star Trek cast a young Spock recently, it can be done.

Why in god’s name did they not get Ashley to at least dub her voice. Or just have Ashley perform her!

If it was because of fight training, I have to say…those fight scenes weren’t great. I get that reverse wielding is very difficult, but those fight scenes were bad. Ahsoka defeated Darth Maul without a scratch on her, twice, and I’m supposed to believe a rando with a staff disarmed her? Please.

Dear Dave Filoni, having Asian main characters in other media does not mean you get a pass on the racial politics of cowed Asian villagers menaced by white people with guns.

I SAW THE PHANTOM MENACE TEN TIMES IN THE THEATER AND I WILL NOT STAND FOR THIS YADDLE ERASURE.

[starwarshyperdrive]

I’m concerned about the Star Wars canon

I’ve always been a huge Star Wars fan but didn't follow the old EU (extended universe) because it was too convoluted and well.. a bunch of gobbledygook (granted there were some good bits in it, who doesn’t love the Thrawn trilogy even though he is pretty much a different character now), so I actually welcomed the new canon. Start over with a clean slate and make sure everything is connected, makes sense and feels Star Warsy. So far the story group has done a decent job, even though there were some questionable bits and pieces. As hardcore Star Wars fan and apologist I can force myself to get behind a lot of things and I was cool with the Bendu somehow, but the Clone Wars Mortis arc, as well as space whales and the world between worlds really rubbed me the wrong way. A lot of people are celebrating Dave Filoni as savior of the true Star Wars spirit and he is certainly an inspired artist and nice guy but I once again have to wonder whether or not some of the comic bookish stuff REALLY fits the Star Wars universe. Yeah I know ‘it’s a huge universe bla bla’ but do we really have to accept everything?

Someone recently described hardcore fans (such as myself) as a ‘cult’ and Star Wars Celebration to a religious ceremony and if I’m being honest and self-reflective I can’t really argue against it, but that’s also why you always need to check yourself and not just ‘swallow’ everything without questioning it. Keep a critical eye. Things like time travel and other super hero stuff ( I haven’t seen any of the recent Marvel or DC movies) have no place in Star Wars. Of course Star Wars is for everyone, but does that then also mean we need a Star Wars romcom, a Star Wars coming of age movie ..or ..?  I don’t know..porn? Leave that to fan fiction. 

Star Wars was always more about mythology, some sort of buddhist Excalibur and I am seriously concerned that at some point the ‘people in charge’ will forget that and it will become a shallow bubble gum entertainment focus on ‘what is selling at the moment’. A good example are - again - all the super hero movies picking up on trends. I don’t want a Thor Ragnarok Star Wars movie with a Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack. Don’t make everything the same. Keep Star Wars unique. Keep ‘that Star Wars tone’.

‘XY doesn’t UNDERSTAND Star Wars’ is an overused and abused phrase and in so many ways pointless as there are many facets to Star Wars especially now that we have generations of fans who grew up with the prequels, the Clone Wars, Rebels or even Resistance - I should point out that I actually liked Resistance because it’s not tempering with the mythology - but the lore has been laid out in the original trilogy and everything needs to acknowledge that. We cannot have some Terminator-franchise kind of disaster a la ‘Ezra traveled back in time and actually was there with Yoda on Dagobah’ or what not. 

By now it’s common knowledge that - despite what they say - there has been no overall plan for the sequel trilogy, which is quite concerning and feeding into my concerns that it’s all downhill from here (after The Rise of Skywalker and the Mandalorian or course). I know a lot of people who vehemently defended The Last Jedi when it came out, mostly as a reaction to all the stupid hate it got for the wrong reasons and I am one of them myself, but most of them are admitting now that there is something off about the movie. It is written into a corner and not picking up on the clues given in The Force Awakens. It has some amazing scenes and I will keep defending it, but there are some scenes that just don’t feel right and leave a bad aftertaste. I frequently rewatch all the movies and besides Attack of the Clones it’s the only one where I think ‘Now I have to endure THAT bit again’. I go to a lot of Q&A and it’s interesting to see how people who have worked on the movie feel the same. Even if you 100% loved it and it’s your favorite movie ever, let’s be honest - the humor is completely out of place. Fart jokes in The Phantom Menace > Your Mom jokes. And it’s just too long. Of course we all want MORE Star Wars, but where does it end. Would you go and see a 6h movie? If you are a good filmmaker you should be able to say what you want to say in the same about of time as the other movies. But that’s just my personal 2 cents. It just felt like someone who was hellbent on doing his own thing for the sake of doing his own thing and not for the sake of the story. Don’t get me wrong. It was a great idea to (spoiler alert) kill off Snoke that casually, so the movie has redeeming qualities that save it for me. Then again, as a Star Wars fan I WANT to like it. I still watched it 13 times or so. I was in the room for the trailer reveal at SWCO. I want to take ownership and be part of the hardcore fan community, but they shouldn't bank too much on it. I still want a good movie. I’m not gonna be meek and mild about something contradicting the core mythology. Ryan Johnson is allegedly still doing his trilogy and then there is the Benioff and Weiss trilogy. They didn’t exactly do a great job wrapping up Game of Thrones and left fans in awe about how the show ended and have not really proven that they can handle a franchise well either. Will all off them have free rein and just go to town on a Star Wars story as they please? Am I the only one who finds this a bit odd?!

I trust JJ Abrams to do the right thing and I hope my trust is not misplaced. I think the allegations of The Force Awakens being a A New Hope reboot are misplaced as there are also a lot of similarities to The Phantom Menace, so.. if you’re a fan you know what comes next.. ‘it rhymes, it’s like poetry’. So it makes sense. So I think ‘he gets it’..

My main concern in the new canon overall. I made an effort to get all the publications of the new canon, but the books and comics already started to get weird again. Star Wars always had a slight alien but yet familiar vibe and some stories feature people smoking cigars, drinking coffee in the morning and doing other stuff never depicted in Star Wars before. How long until someone gets a Star Wars burger at Star Wars McDonalds or orders Star Wars pizza while watching Star Wars HoloNetflix. I’m sorry. That’s ridiculous. It’s not automatically Star Wars just because you use Star Wars terminology like death sticks or Nerf steaks. Watch the movies and make an effort.

 And now the novelizations of the movies are apparently not considered ‘hard canon’ anymore because the authors didn’t know the direction the next movies are going, so the clues and hints may be completely useless. So why do I force myself through some really not very good books then (others are great, no generalization here)? That’s quite alarming. Wasn’t the entire reason they got a story group to avoid that? What’s with all the loose ends?  That's also why I think they will shy away from using canon characters in the movies (for the most part). Its easier to have a self contained canon universe where you can introduce Purge Troopers in a comic and then have them in a video game. I once read an interview with one of the Star Wars authors who invented a character and then got told ‘give him that name / make him this person’ instead of having this particular character in mind from the start. This is how you lose consistency. I’m well aware that over hundreds and thousands of years that’s EXACTLY how ancient history was written, which is why there are flood legends all over the world and why Jesus and Mithras are pretty much the same person, but they DID NOT HAVE A STORY GROUP and ancient mythology hasn’t been written over a course of a few years.

At the same time it’s interesting how there seem to be purists who are very determined to bring that original Star Wars vibe back. Like Jon Favreau with The Mandalorian. And like I said earlier about Resistance. Its so much easier to do that if you stay away from the mythology. It’s really tricky and so much could go wrong. The stuff introduced in Rogue One like Guardians of the Whills and the temple of Kyber is a perfect example how it’s done. Some of the stuff in the Clone Wars and Rebels is the complete opposite, so I’m really curious to see how Dave Filonis involvement in The Mandalorian pans out. He is really great with stuff like Mandalorians, Clones and I even came to accept Ashoka after reading the book and seeing her all grown up as Fulcrum, but I’m very skeptical when it comes to his ‘mystical side of the force’ interpretations.

In conclusion I know that I sound like a preacher and George Lucas repeatedly stated it’s ‘just for 10 year old kids’ but tell that to all the dead Bothans.

Please just don’t ruin Star Wars.

[aces-to-apples]

DVD commentary meme! Whatever part of Family Before Honor you'd like to talk about, please!!

Alrighty, since there isn’t much of it posted and chapter two isn’t very long to start with, I’ll just do that then. Author’s commentary on chapter two of “Family Before Honor” beneath the cut:

Two Months

Domestic: 1) of or relating to the home, the household, household affairs, or the family. 2) no longer wild; tame.

I suppose the first thing to note is the pattern of the chapters and summaries—each chapter, and there’s only going to be three, is titled based on how long it’s been in the fic since Cut’s death and each summary is the theme on which the chapter is built. “Two Months” is more meant to bridge the gap between “Two Hours” and “Two Years” and is based around Rex making the transition from military life to civilian life. Settling into a rhythm with Suu and the kids that works for everyone.

Rebuilding the La’Cuane farm is an undertaking both larger and smaller than Rex had first estimated.

Ah, yes, “La’Cuane”. Because fuck Dave Filoni. Before I watched The Deserter, I was under the impression that Lawquane was most likely pronounced more like “lah-kayn” but, as is my custom, when I learned the “official” version I said “nah, fuck that” and came up with my own. So, “Lawquane” is a mistranslation as so many Basic Twi’lek names are. Because fuck you, Dave.

The first few days are an unending game of hurry-up-and-wait: for Republic forces to finish routing the Seps, for Jesse and the boys to come back to retrieve him when he didn’t answer their comms, for Suu to sniffle and stutter her way through the story they’d cooked up to explain his ‘death.’

I just don’t like “Seppies”, okay? I just don’t. “Covies” I’ll accept from Halo, because Marines, but “Seppies”, “tinnies”, and “shinies”? Mmm, how ‘bout the fuck not?

Then waiting for various scans of the remains to come up positive for Fett’s genetic material, for ‘his’ chip to come up too damaged to ping as more than simply present, for Kenobi—well, it turns out that Kenobi had a softer heart than Rex had ever thought. From what Rex spies, he looks damn near devastated for a few heartbeats after Suu tells him the news.

Departing from @norcumii’s version, “Dead Men Tell No Tales”, I decided that it’s too early in the war for Rex and Obi-Wan to have actually started a romantic relationship and kept it as more of a “what if” kind of thing for them to regret. More pining, that way ;)

Then the children march up to him and Jesse, carrying Rex’s armor in their undersized little arms, and Jek loudly proclaims that they want to keep Rex’s bucket. “He was like a, a superhero,” Jek says earnestly, and next to him Shaeeah nods vigorously. “He was so brave and he saved us from the monsters and we’ll take really good care of it.”

Listen, the La’Cuane kids are just insanely cute, okay? And according to Legends (I think?) they were aware enough that they had several million uncles out there in the universe that Shaeeah wrote a book about it, so they absolutely grew up with stars in their eyes about their extended family.

Suu makes a little scene of chastising them, calling it disrespectful, saying that his brothers should have his helmet, it was only right. Rex is dazed by the layers of manipulation they all go to just for him to keep his face; he’s even more dazed by how well it works.

Kenobi clearly melts at the display but looks to Jesse, Kix, and Hardcase for the final decision. Rex can read the silent conversation between them as clear as day. When Jesse crouches down to gaze intently into the visor of Rex’s helmet, he knows the children have won.

“I think that’s a good idea,” Jesse says decisively, and it’s settled. Quieter, he adds, “I think he’d like that…”

If Rex wasn’t so traumatized right now, he’d be absolutely indignant that Jess just blatantly lied like that. How dare you slander the good name of Captain Rex, good Lieutenant, by implying this small child whom he only knew for a few hours and “died” to protect should keep his face when Kenobi is standing over there trying not to cry. Come say that to his helmet, coward!

Rex doesn’t think about where Cut’s bucket had ended up.

I like throwing out lines that if you think about them for longer than it takes to read them then they might become incredibly depressing. What did happen to his helmet? What happened to his armor?

Jek clutches the helmet to his chest in victory and Shaeeah smiles sweetly and Suu has this fond, exasperated look on her face that Rex assumes comes standard with being eyn buir. The children magnanimously offer the rest of his armor to the men, stacked as neatly as they could manage. Rex stares as Kenobi helps pack it away with the supplies for safekeeping, subtly pocketing his left vambrace as he does.

I’m gonna be honest, at this point canon and fanon have merged so much for me that I don’t even know what’s true and what’s not. Just go with it.

Rex doesn’t think about maybes and what-ifs.

Then Kenobi turns back to Suu and his gaze goes past her to the ruined farmhouse and Rex gets the feeling that Kenobi’s about to do one of those terribly un-Jedi-like things he had never, ever admitted to sometimes doing. He pulls out a credit chip and Rex knows.

He has to turn away from the scene and take careful breaths. Kenobi wasn’t perfect—Cody has spent hours venting to Rex and Wolffe and whoever else managed to meet up at once about his hypocritical, sanctimonious Jedi—but just like Skywalker, just like Tano, just like Windu and Yoda and Secura and every other Jedi, he had his moments of breath-stealing goodness.

Listen, I love some Jedi characters to death, but I have—had, now that Tumblr filters out posts with words like “fuck” and “wank” in the tags when you search for them and pretends they don’t exist—a #fuck the jedi order tag for a reason. The narrative tends to frame both the Jedi Order and most Jedi characters as Righteous and Good, while also having them commit pretty heinous acts and tossing the audience horrific implications/pieces of information at the same time. I’ve said it somewhere before, but The Clone Wars wants to have its “deep, edgy, grimdark exploration of war” and eat its “fun, wacky space adventures” too and while we’ve all noticed the tonal whiplash that the show gives us, it plays hell with the narrative itself. Unspeakably bad shit happens in one arc, and nobody ever mentions it again. The Jedi control a slave army, and that’s Bad, but we’re told that they care about their troops and want to help them Later, which cancels out the Bad and keeps them Good Guys. In universe, it absolutely doesn’t work. We all know the Jedi pull some fuckshit every two weeks, so you bet your ass the clones know it too and routinely get sauced and rant about it to each other where no one can hear them. But they also can be extremely helpful and empathetic between three to five every other Thursday. Sorry, just mentioning #fuck the jedi order sends me off into a rant and I actually deleted a lot of other stuff from this part because Not Important.

Rex should’ve known his last act as a captain, and his first act as a free man, would be finally witnessing one of those moments.

And then Kenobi is gone, his brothers are gone, and the work begins.

- - -

It’s slow-going, and at times back-breaking, and it quickly becomes apparent that the nerve-damage Kix had warned about has set in good and proper. After the children have gone to bed, Rex and Suu go outside to have a rousing argument about what to do—the first of many on the horizon.

I know, I know, it’s common wisdom that disagreeing with your partner are normal but knockdown drag-out arguments Are Not and while I absolutely understand that, I come from a family with an absurdly large number of siblings that subscribe to the Taika Waititi School of Siblings and therefore it’s perfectly reasonable to shout yourself hoarse about some nonsense or other and get mad and stomp off and then two hours later throw a pillow at the other person’s head and say “hey dickhead come look at this funny post what’s for dinner later”. And as such that’s how every sibling relationship I ever write will function because I genuinely don’t understand siblings who don’t drag each other at every opportunity and then pop up around a corner like an awful gremlin to scare them at 2:30 in the morning just to fuck with them.

Suu demands they use part of Kenobi’s credits to pay for surgery to remove and replace the dead arm; Rex counters that he can function with only one arm, but none of them can function without a roof over their heads and walls to shield them from the elements. Suu says that they will contact a doctor she knows on the other side of the planet tomorrow and that’s final; Rex blinks, says understood, sir, and stands down.

The next morning, between frying eggs and waking the little ones, Suu apologizes for 'pulling rank’ on him. Rex can tell the words sit strangely in her civilian mouth. He accepts her apology and says nothing about how he hadn’t even noticed his own automatic reaction to her tone the night before, but. That was exactly how he’d reacted, wasn’t it?

When next they argue, about him ‘overdoing it’ and ‘exerting himself too much’, he’s ready for the gut-punching Commanding Officer Voice and shouts back when it’s his turn to talk. It works for them.

Listen, I don’t know about you, but when I hear certain tones of voice I automatically respond in certain ways. Like the vocal version of being full-named.

- - -

“White is death,” Rex explains once the final layer of base paint has settled on the plastoid. He runs his hand firmly down the prosthesis in its finalized form, from the ball of the synthetic shoulder to the tips of each finger. It’s as much to test that the molecules of paint bind properly as it is to get himself used to the difference. “White is the bones of those long gone. White is the snow that covers the fields in winter. It… stifles, and kills, but it’s also. Possibility, I suppose. White armor is shiny and new, but that just means it has yet to prove itself. You never know what you’re gonna get when you scratch beneath the surface.”

I had a lot more of @izzyovercoffee’s Mandalorian color theory stuff that I ended up cutting just because it didn’t really fit, but you should check them out because they’re suuuuuuper interesting. I love cultural worldbuiding shit like that.

Hanging on his every word, Jek and Shaeeah nod breathlessly. They watch as he picks up a foam brush and dips it into a small pot of 501st blue. He sets it to the very top of the arm and brings it down in a smooth, careful, practiced motion.

“Blue is reliability,” he continues. The unbroken line he draws down to the wrist is thinner than it was on his armor, but copying his armor isn’t the point; the point is to create something new out of its loss. “It’s faithfulness, and consistency. It’s the sky—the very air—and you can always in trust that.”

Listen, if you want subtlety, go read deadcat’s stuff. If you want to get bashed over the head with this shit, you’ve come to the right place.

Lastly, he picks up a fine detail brush and dips it into a second pot.

“This one is different,” he says eventually, gauging his little cadets’ avid expressions. “You use red to honor a parent and the word for ‘red’ in Mando’a is ge’tal—literally, ‘almost blood.’ It’s a complicated word, because to Mando’ade, your family isn’t always going to have the same blood as you. It might not be red at all—it might be green, or blue, or something else entirely. But with family, you’re always ready to spill others’ or your own in order to protect them; it’s about honor… and love.”

“Mom,” Shaeeah deduces, her voice quiet as a mouse as they all gaze at the sharp, cutting magenta that coats the brush.

Rex nods.

“Just so.” He twirls the brush around and offers it to them. “Now, what should we do with it?”

Listen, it’s very important to me that we cut that toxic masculinity shit out of Star Wars, stop linking pink to femininity, more important stop linking femininity to weakness, and ultimately I want to see more clones wearing pink. Pink flowers and curlicues mixed in with 501st blue on Rex’s sick robot arm? Sign me the fuck up.

—

Aaaaand that’s the Author’s Commentary on Chapter Two of Family Before Dishonor, hope you enjoyed!

[frxstguardian]

My review of the Rebels S4 finale

Overall, I’m very pleased with the finale. It was a proper sendoff to all the characters we love while leaving room for future adventures/stories. It was a fitting conclusion to Ezra’s story, ending where we began on Lothal. For me, Rebels was honestly the most enjoyable part of current Star Wars canon, not the movies, so I eagerly await Dave Filoni’s next animated TV show. 

Spoilers below the cut.

Ezra: This boy has grown up so much since S1, from a street rat to a leader, Jedi, and hero. Opening the last episode with Ezra talking to his parents was a sucker punch to the gut. I’m so proud of how confident/competent he is compared to the scared lost boy from S1. Ezra singlehandedly planned and led a mission to liberate his planet and even put backup plans in place! Also he legit threatened to let the wolves eat Governor Pryce omfg what a badass. Idk why but when he said “one last time” before crawling into the vents like the old days is the exact moment I realized how far he’s come. Back in S1, I used to think Ezra was annoying and generic, but now he’s one of my favorite Star Wars characters and it’s gonna be agony waiting years to see him onscreen again.

Sabine: I thought Sabine would return to Mandalore and retake the Darksaber or at least be Bo-Katan’s second-in-command/heir apparent? Maybe they’ll revisit Mandalore in the next animated TV show idk. But her ending was still fitting. I think she felt she owed it to Ezra to stay and protect Lothal especially since Zeb’s people needed him and Hera wanted to fight with the Rebellion. Also I love that Dave Filoni kept their relationship platonic in the finale. I think it was implied that she’s keeping Ezra’s lightsaber for him?

Hera: Every time any character referred to Hera as “General Syndulla” I ascended to higher dimension. Tbh she didn’t really have much to do in the finale, since her major storylines were earlier in S4. Also Hera randomly wearing makeup in the epilogue scene felt weird/OOC but oh well.

Zeb: I legit thought Zeb was gonna die for a minute during that fight with Rukh. Also is kalluzeb canon now omfg??? I watched an interview where the voice actors for Zeb and Pryce were both like “we ship it” haha.

Thrawn: Thrawn’s monologue to Ezra where he completely outmaneuvered the rebels really showed why he’s a scary opponent. I can’t believe the Bendu was being literal when he prophesized Thrawn’s defeat in S3... Filoni knew all along and played us just like with Ahsoka and those Topps cards. Also Thrawn’s henchman Rukh was so annoying and not interesting as a villain, I’m glad he’s finally dead lmao. Since both Ezra and Thrawn survived I’m interested how his character will be relevant moving forward.

Pryce: I liked Governor Pryce in the finale after she was pretty bland in S3. The voice actress did a really good job. The interaction between Pryce and Kallus acknowledging their shared history as Imperial officers was a nice touch. Also Thrawn didn’t have to obliterate her entire life with “I expected Governor Pryce to fail, but not so completely” but he DID and it was SAVAGE.

Palpatine: Okay Palpatine was so good in this episode! His grandfatherly Chancellor persona dressed in white was so unnerving since we know what he really looks like. The hologram flickering into his hooded Emperor persona was freaky in a good way. Ian McDiarmid’s voice acting was impeccable. I was expecting him to say “DO IT” but he never did haha.

Ahsoka: I’m glad Ahsoka only showed up at the end. It would’ve distracted from the main cast otherwise. Bless Dave Filoni for confirming she lives post-ROTJ though. Her Gandalf the White cosplay was stunning a;lsdkfjal;dj.

Miscellaneous: Honestly wasn’t expecting the purrgil and yeah it’s a deus ex machina but it was a nice callback and a clever solution to the “where is Ezra during the OT?” problem. Ezra couldn’t defeat Thrawn but he could remove both himself and Thrawn from the equation and finally give the rebels an advantage. I guess Filoni got around “Scarif was the first major victory for the Rebellion” bc technically the liberation of Lothal was Ezra’s personal mission that Rebel Command never authorized? Kevin Kiner’s music was brilliant as always and elevated every scene to new emotional heights. Dave Filoni himself revealed as the voice of Chopper oh my god...

Epilogue: The parallels between the openings of the pilot and the epilogue!!! ALSO BLUE SKY BLUE SKY BLUE SKY. That was the first time we ever saw a clear blue sky over Lothal and it’s so beautiful and symbolic. Jacen Syndulla’s design honestly isn’t that bad, like the green hair is kinda atrocious but he’s not that ugly haha. What an ominous name choice though... How many years was the time skip? Even right after the Battle of Endor is 5 years later which is longer than how much time Ezra spent with his family on the Ghost :( Sabine’s short hair is a lesbian haircut a;lksdjfl;asjdf;j. My Ahsoka and Sabine dream team riding off into the sunset together to find Ezra <3

Top 3 emotional moments:

The entire “Sabine sees Ezra” scene

Ezra crying while letting go of his parents

Ezra’s goodbye before jumping to hyperspace

Top 3 dramatic shots:

Ezra igniting his lightsaber with 3 giant wolves behind him

Ahsoka arriving with a wizard cloak and staff

Ezra facing the Emperor in the ruins of the temple 

Top 3 dialogue lines:

“For that boy, there is nothing I would not do.” BIG MOOD

“It was an honor to fight with you for something we chose to believe in.” BRB CRYING FOREVER

“You think you can take whatever you want. Things you didn’t make, didn’t earn! Things you don’t even understand.” Me while Ezra (and Hera when Thrawn taunted her with the stolen kalikori) lecture Thrawn on cultural appropriation: “Go off!!!”

[twentysomethinginorlando]

Star Wars: The Last Jedi Review

Having now seen Star Wars: The Last Jedi a second time and ridden Star Tours with the new scene, I now feel like I have a better handle on the movie to talk about it. SPOILERS AHEAD, you've been warned. 

I personally did not grow up on Star Wars. Honestly, looking at my upbringing, I'm not sure how my parents turned out such a nerd. I didn't see the movies at all until I was twelve or thirteen, and they never really resonated with me. I feel terrible saying this now, but I never cared for Leia. Or for Padme for that matter. I didn't relate to them in the slightest.  

Then I moved to Orlando, and found myself at Star Wars Weekends. While I didn't get a lot of the references, and didn't have a great understanding of the canon, I love fandoms. I love people who are passionate about what they love. I love cosplay! The last year of Star Wars Weekends I went as Jedi Korra, because apparently I don't know how to cosplay anyone but Korra. (Changing that this year, come MegaCon!)  

Then in 2015 I found myself at the opening night release of The Force Awakens, and suddenly I found myself in love with Star Wars. Because of Rey. Finally I had a character I cared about! Finn and Poe and BB-8 were all great too, but I had a badass female character to root for at last.

I was out of town when The Last Jedi released, and found myself staying off the internet for days trying to avoid spoilers. Somehow I managed it, and saw the movie only knowing there were mixed reviews and that a lot of the complaints were dumb.

Seeing the movie the first time was incredibly stressful. My heart was in my throat as the Resistance lost all their bombers, and all I could think as Finn headed for that battering ram canon was, "I swear to God, if Finn dies without seeing Rey, I'm not going to be able to handle it, oh my god, do not pull a CW on me right now." (I have a lot of feelings about the whole Supergirl/Mon-El thing that's happening right now.)

The second go around was much more enjoyable because I already knew what was going to happen. I could sit and enjoy the story. Some of the things I hadn't like the first time seemed not to matter anymore, and I found the positive side of things. The first time, the entire Rose and Finn adventure seemed pointless since it didn't pay off and I was super annoyed by the whole thing. The second time I realized how accurate it was. Sometimes you try your hardest and fail anyway, and find out you trusted the wrong person. I still think Benicio del Toro's character DJ felt a little out of place, and I didn't care for him, but he makes some very good points about the larger scheme of things, and has one of the best lines in the film. "Eh, they blow you up today, you blow them up tomorrow."

Luke says the war is just beginning, but hasn't the war been going since Anakin fell to the Dark Side? DJ kinda has a point. I really hope he shows up again, because that will make him his presence in this movie mesh better.

Poe Dameron has quickly become my second favorite character behind Rey. His trolling of Hux at the start of the movie made me so happy, and everything he did over the course of the film made me love him even more. Even his introduction with Rey, which was well over due. I love that he treats BB-8 like a dog.

I love that we got to see Finn grow. He grew in the first movie, but watching him go from running away to getting ready to sacrifice himself was wonderful. I also love that his literal first thought upon waking up was Rey. Not about himself. For someone so self-centered from the start, he has a habit of putting her first. "Rebel scum." Indeed.

Most of all, I loved Rey's story line. I love that she kept up with Luke, that she didn't give up. I love that we got to see her training with both her staff and the saber, and I desperately hope we get to see her with a lightsaber staff in Episode XI. I loved her interactions with Kylo Ren, I love that we got to see her soften for him, BUT NOT HAVE FEELINGS FOR HIM. I want my girl to be happy and single and a powerful and SHE DOES NOT NEED A LOVE INTEREST! That throne room fight scene was one of the best I've ever seen, and I loved every second of it. It's going right behind the No Man's Land scene in Wonder Woman in my list of best moments in film in 2017. The way Kylo Ren brings her the saber and they immediately go back to back to fight the guards is beautiful. That second when she figures out to drop her saber and catch it in her other hand to kill the guard is just brilliant. I even love Kylo Ren fighting with the saber in one hand and one of the guard's weapons in the other.

I've already gotten into several arguments on Facebook because I like the Porgs. They were actually created to help disguise the fact that the island they were filming on was covered in puffins and I think it's brilliant. I'm really proud of myself I haven't bought one. Yet. I did buy a silly Lightsaber refillable cup though...

Since the Force Awakens I have been mildly convinced that the writers of the new Star Wars are Avatar: the Last Airbender fans. Case in point, Dave Filoni, who is behind the Clone Wars and Rebels television shows, left the first season of Avatar to go make Clone Wars. Disney fought the rights to Star Wars in 2012, just after the first season of Legend of Korra. I can't be the only person who seems some similarities between Korra and Rey. When Force Awakens came out, my friends and I kicked around the theory of Kylo Ren pulling a "Zuko", meaning he'd follow a similar pattern as Prince Zuko and we would eventually get "Hi, Kylo Ren here." The Last Jedi stayed pretty true to this theory, Zuko did betray Katara in the season two finale, "The Crossroads of Destiny", and Kylo turned on Rey when she refused to stand with him. So in theory, Kylo could still come join the band of heroes in the final chapter, but I don't know who he would be standing with them against. Snoke is dead! I mean, he's dead dead. So maybe we actually get a true raged out Sith Lord as our bad guy? Honestly, I'd be okay with that.

Not everyone can be redeemed.

This already went on longer than I planned so just a few final notes.

 I don't think Phasma is dead. At least I hope not.

I don't think Rey's parents are nobodies. I don't want her to be a Skywalker, because we're embracing the idea that anyone can be Force sensitive, but I don't think they're "nobodies". I think Kylo Ren was trying to manipulate her. I'm still partial to her being related to Obi Wan, but I'm open to other ideas.

I love how Kylo Ren fights but that stupid sideways stance of his needs to go away.

I think we're going to see Han haunting Kylo Ren.

I figured out Luke was a Force projection, but not for the same reasons as everyone else apparently. I didn't realize he was younger, I thought he just cut his hair to be more presentable. The footprints gave it away pretty quickly, but I just had a gut feeling. I love when I'm right!

All the people saying this "ruined" Star Wars are welcome to their opinion, but I happily disagree with them. We're going in a new direction that was badly needed.

I LOVED the new scene on Star Tours. Poe now gives you the message about the rebel spy, and I was the Rebel Spy! I’m totally down with Poe needing my help. What I didn’t like was that in showing up on Crait, the Star Tours speeder should have been visible in the movie and it’s impossible for C3-P0 and R2-D2 to be in two places at once. But I can’t get over that. Doesn’t make me twitch nearly as much as Gringotts at Universal’s storyline does.

[theabominableblogger]

Rewatching “Twilight of the Apprentice”

My emotions regarding this episode can be found here.

“Experience outranks anything.”  “Then I definitely outrank you.” :(

Knowledge is power, Ahsoka.  I mean, Petyr Baelish goes on and on about it like a broken record.

So much greeeyyyy....

What’s Old Tongue?

Now you know crap’s going down.  They don’t play the Rebels fanfare with the main title.

Oh yeah, Ezra, now’s the time to play with light beams.

Remember in the “Son of Dathomir” comic, Sidious made Maul inhale the ashes of Malachor to feel the pain of the dead?  I mean, shit man...

Discount Pompeii

Eighth Brother, I see you back there, you sneaky git.

Someone please get those stupid Inquisitor lightsaber helicopters and throw them IN THE TRASH!

“Put your weapon away, I mean you no harm.”  Yoda!

Maul in his Old Man disguise talking to Ezra is like Jafar in his Old Man disguise telling Aladdin about the Cave of Wonders.

The parallels are there, guys!

I don’t think Ezra really knows who Jabba is and that’s hilarious.

Plus Maul has met Jabba before in TCW

EMPATHY!

I think one of the best things about the characterization of Maul is that while he’s this super badass villain who does not hesitate when it comes to killing fools, he has emotional attachments that he doesn’t seem grasp as real until Savage and Mother Talzin die. Plus, he relates with Ezra to the point in “Visions and Voices” where he says they could work together as brothers (and yes, I yelled at that part, you can ask @maeve-pendergast about that).

*Eighth Brother falls* WASTED

That’s right, Filoni, saturate the color!

So does Maul still consider himself a Sith?  He got pissed when Ezra accused him of being one and he sure as heck ain’t a Jedi but he addresses Ezra later as his “apprentice.”

The Sith Holocron AKA Not a Toy *glares at the Bendu*

Even Maul is freaked out when Ezra goes “Throw me!”

The subtitle for this episode should be “In Which Ezra is Grounded”

Oh my God, those stupid helicopter lightsabers!

It’s like Dave Filoni has a secret Tumblr that no one knows about it and has been reading my reaction posts and going “Oh she doesn’t like them?  Well she’s not gonna like this!”

DUAL BLADE!!

Guys, just let Maul do his thing.  He outclasses all the Inquisitors.

Wait, isn’t there a deleted line where Maul mentions something about an “endgame?”

“Two Jedi and a part timer.”  Ouch.

Kanan does not have time for anybody’s shit.

Oh my God, the Eighth Brother’s stupid...

Oh my God, Ezra....

WHY is there a saw blade in the Inquisitor lightsaber?!?  When you’re this far away from Ezra, Eighth Brother goes “You know what this calls for?  My short range saw blade that also spins and then I’m gonna hit him.”  But nope, he’s like “No, lemme draw this out... let’s make it look cool so that I can tell the guys at work that I actually did this shit.”

OH MY GOD, STOP WITH THE SPINNY LIGHTSABERS!

*Inquisitors fly off* GRRRRR....

Foreshadowing Thrawn!

Umm, Ezra just saw the Seventh Sister get decapitated right in front of him.  Kid should be traumatized.

*Eighth Brother falls to his death*  Yeah, fall to your death.

*Kanan gets blinded* AAAH AND YOU EVEN SEE THE BURN MARKS!

Hey Nika Futterman!

“Lady Tano”

In Which Kanan becomes Daredevil and completely whoops Maul’s butt

Darth Vader...

Oh my God, Anakin, so extra.

It’s gotten to the point where I’ve only seen this episode three times (including this time) and I can quote pretty much all of the Ahsoka and Vader confrontation.

Thanks, fandom.  You ruined me.

“I need a lot more training.”  Ezra, not the time for quips.

Aaaw Chopper’s holding Kanan’s hand.

AAAAHHH!!!!

How is that Temple Guard mask staying on Kanan’s face?  Does it hook on behind the ears?

Oh God, not Matt Lanter... I’m not ready for more feels...

Too late

The music!

Ahsoka Lives!

Oh my God, both Kanan and Ezra are crying!

Oh God, Hera....

Kanan smiles as she runs her hands down his face.

Bye guys.

REEEXX!!

Ezra...

NO I DON’T WANT A LIGHT HEARTED COMMERCIAL AFTER THIS, DISNEY XD, NO THANK YOU!

[im-no-jedi]

whelp I finally got to watch the finale of Rebels tonight and I HAVE FEELS

firstly I wanna say that I am REALLY pleased with how everything turned out, it was a really good finale and a good end to the show imo. I only have minor nitpicks tbh. now onto the list:

that fight between the Rebels and Pryce’s troops was AWESOME, it felt like a TCW episode. I mcfreaking lost it when the wolves showed up (especially when Gregor mentioned Wolffe’s wolfpack!!) \o/

I knew that Ryder wasn’t actually betraying them, I mean it was pretty obvious by everyone’s reactions, they only seemed semi-surprised when Pryce showed up LOL

I’m glad we got to see so many of the characters in that episode, but only half of them were a part of the other episodes, which I understand why, but I still would’ve liked to see them do stuff (and it was unclear whether or not any of them died either).

going back to the wolves, I’m SO glad they were so involved in the whole process, even when Ezra wasn’t there. I wish they had just eaten Pryce and Ruhk when they had the chance ROFL

the dome being a giant ship was AWESOME, it made for an epic explosion when it blew up in the end (it was like a mini Death Star!!) \o/

Kallus in that black suit mmmmmm BOI *3*

“they CAN fly!!” XDXDXD

literally everything with Hondo tbh, he’s always been one of my favs since TCW, I’m so glad he was a part of it all

Ikora, I mean Ketsu, was also a fav as always haha

Ezra friggin sneaking out through the vents, I was torn between laughing and crying slkdfjguhiogkfj

Ezra laying those sick burns on Thrawn, he friggin called him out on his art theft and everything, FRIGGIN TAG YOUR UNSOURCED ART THRAWN xP

I about leaped into the TV when Palpatine showed up, I was NOT gonna let him touch my boy >:C

Chopper getting fried and Sabine just casually brushing it off like “ugh srsly” XD

IT WOULDN’T BE A DAVE FILONI SERIES WITHOUT A CLONE TROOPER DYING AT SOME POINT LOLOLOL F U DAVE

seriously I can’t believe Rex had to deal with both Waxer and Fives dying in his arms, and now Gregor too, WILL YOU FRIGGIN QUIT IT FILONI OMFG XC

Ruhk getting fried was my actual favorite part lolololol

I can’t believe Palpatine pulled a Harry Potter on Ezra with his parents like SRSLY. CAN U NOT. (I sobbed a lot hahaha)

I c wut u did thar with Ezra chucking the rocks at those guards Filoni, Luke is rolling in his grave rn ROFL

I WAS VERY EXCITED TO SEE THE PURGILLS SERIOUSLY I WAS YELLIN IT WAS THE BEST DEUX EX MACHINA POSSIBLE HAHAHAHA

normally I prefer characters choosing to turn to the good side, but I was glad Pryce did the whole “go down with the ship” bit LOL

I knew Ezra was gonna do something stupid with Thrawn cause that’s what Ezra does, but in this instance I’m ok with it cause HE’S NOT DEAD!!!! I will forgive you for Gregor dying only slightly less now, Filoni \o/

also didn’t the Bendu mention something about arms embracing Thrawn while he was dying?? cause kudos to the writers for that one too \o/

seeing Lothal finally be free made me so happy OMG I can’t even describe it :’D

aaaaaaand now for my thoughts on the prologue that I was not expecting at all:

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

and that’s it

......kidding!

SABINE’S HAIR. not thrilled about it, but not bad either. not sure why she decided to cut it like that but whatevz.

Lothal was so beautiful OMG I’m so happy that it thrived so much after the Empire was defeated there :’D

REX BEING A PART OF THE BATTLE OF ENDOR IS CANON!!!!!!

mixed feelings on the Zeb and Kallus part cause 1) yay I’m really happy for Kallus that he doesn’t have to feel that guilt on his shoulders anymore about the Lasat, but 2) that was SO blatantly for the shippers it almost ruined that moment for me lolololol (thanks TLoK! :| )

THE NOISE THAT I MADE WHEN I SAW THE KANERA BABY WAS UNHOLY AND SHOULD NOT BE REPEATED

SERIOUSLY I CANNOT BELIEVE THAT FILONI WENT THERE

I LITERALLY DONT CARE ABOUT WHETHER OR NOT THATS WHAT TWILEK AND HUMAN HYBRIDS LOOK LIKE, IM JUST FRIGGIN SCREAMING THAT KANAN AND HERA DID THE DO AT SOME POINT CANONICALLY!!!!!!!!!!!! 8D 8D 8D

I’m confused about what Sabine did exactly after the war, did she just live on Lothal in Ezra’s old apartment or what? I wasn’t really listening to that part where she talked about herself tbh, I was too busy still screaming about the Kanera baby lolololol

AHSOKA FRIGGIN TURNED INTO GANDALF I CANNOT BELIEVE

if they don’t tell the story of Ahsoka and Sabine going to look for Ezra in some form, I’m gonna RIOT

I FRIGGIN KNEW FILONI WAS CHOPPER, I KNEW IT FROM THE MOMENT HE TOLD THAT LITTLE GIRL AT CELEBRATION WHO VOICED HIM ROFL

one last thing I wanna mention, in the Rebels Recon for these episodes, Dave made a point to say that he really wanted to show Ezra and Sabine’s relationship as purely platonic, and I am SO glad about that cause I never liked that ship and we NEED more sibling-like relationships between characters, especially between a male and female \o/

I hope Ezra and Thrawn enjoy their trip to the astral plane with Shiro and Zarkon R O F L