#especially if he's never going to be mentioned on the ahsoka show

[martianbugsbunny]

With every passing Wednesday I look back on that cameo in the Mandalorian with a slightly greater sense of fear

[tangents-within-tangents]

Echo canonically being sentimental (and a sweetheart)

With his armor, there's also the "For Hevy" memorial, the fact he kept Rex's handprint, and that he put the Bad Batch skull on his armor before he even joined them

Echo holding 99 as he died has always stuck out to me as one of the saddest/sweetest things in TCW (especially since the show rarely actually shows clones mourning/expressing much emotion)

I also noticed that Echo is often the one to mention his brothers by name, and make sure they're remembered. And of course his entire thing about saving his brothers and leaving no one behind. (Also that he turned the call signs into this like nickname/inside joke thing with Omega is so adorable to me ahh)

--

And then there's whatever this is:

Not even a reaction to the name (and we know they are good at implying expression under those helmets)! I know this is old news but it bears saying lol. They had the perfect opportunity here to not only address Echo's loss, but also to honor Fives and the sacrifice he made to discover the chips. A sacrifice which saved Ahsoka, Rex, and now the Bad Batch. This is obviously not the first time Echo and Rex talked about Fives, he knows he's dead (I firmly believe he would not have left the 501st if Fives was still alive), but come on! This did the bare minimum to check the box of 'mention Fives.' How about you cut Wrecker getting attacked by a sarlacc or whatever and give that screen time to show us an actual conversation?

Like I found this bit in an interview:

While the conversation obviously never happened onscreen, Corbett says that doesn't mean it never happened, suggesting the two talked offscreen, saying "For Fives, I imagine that Rex and Echo had that conversation after he was rescued off of Skako Minor, and I know in Season 1 we did have Rex reference Fives on Bracca," adding "So, in my headcanon, they've had many conversations about Fives."

And I'm just like... Jennifer! You don't have to have headcanons, you are literally the writer! Show us!!

(Also he should have gotten his handprint again no I will never let this go)

[theoraclej]

well, that was bitterly disappointing to the depths of my soul.

yes, I'm talking about Tech.

he deserved better. the BATCH deserved better. OMEGA deserved better.

I don't like the way they basically just erased any and all grief for Tech except for a couple of fucking off-hand mentions that barely whetted the appetite for more of the only character I really identified with

because I'm the info dumping autistic guy in my irl groups

and to see him shuffled off in the manner they used was a fucking insult

and to be teased about it by the show creators

or worse, harassed by the bad lot of Star Wars fans

and to kill off their autistic guy who DEFINITELY had chemistry and the first hints of flirty bonding with a Black woman is a bad look, v bad look

imo they botched the whole finale, not just the Tech thing because like look:

I guess this zillo beast is just gonna live on that planet now, instead of getting involved in the story they had it fuck off to the jungle - what

CX-2? who was he? too bad we'll never know because he was dropped before he was identified

it was shot so dark, everything was hard to see, and mind you my television set is especially tuned for it to NOT be dark because I hate that shit, I am going to be forced to watch it again despite not wanting to so I can listen to the audio descriptions and better understand the fights

they totally dropped Omega's force sensitivity stuff, like I wanted to know more about that, and about the other kids, will they even be safe? cause we know the empire keeps stealing force sensitive kids

speaking of those kids, what even was the point? the research was destroyed yet we know project necromancer is eventually successful or maybe they're retconning that too, who knows, all the rules are off the table and nothing matters

writing was inconsistent for an episode meant to be important

Crosshair did not deserve to have his hand cut off. I know prosthetics are "easier" and "more accessible" in this universe but also I don't give a fuck, just insult to injury and more, this man has suffered enough from the moment they jacked his chip up to 11

back to Tech: they spent so much time being cute little shits about him that his return seemed inevitable, as I watched the season I kept counting down time left for him to show up, and I had hopes all the way through until the first fade to black, only to be bitterly reminded of his death with the goggles in Omega's ship

--

two highlights I did enjoy - Omega and Hunter at the end, making me wonder if there will be a show about Omega set during the rebellion or if she'll show up in The Mandalorian or Ahsoka

Nala Se killing the shit out of rampart as she herself died, thank you Nala Se

but overall UGH, I will be tender from this one for awhile, I almost want to cancel Disney+ until I feel able to watch Star Wars stuff again

might write some fix-it fic, I'm too hurt right now tho

I'm commiserating with the rest of you who seem to have much the same reaction to this disaster of a finale

so yeah, we all deserved better, fictional folks and real folks and zillo beasts alike

[servethelight]

Shit I’ve noticed during my clone wars rewatch and my interpretation (very Obi-Wan focused because he’s my favorite character lmao):

(Includes spoilers obviously)

+ I love this show to bits, but it has horrible issues with consistency. Every other episode there is a new weapon or something introduced and we’ll never see it again. This is very prevalent in especially the first seasons.

+ Obi-Wan is such a fucking enabler. Like he tells Anakin his plans are stupid at least twice during the Malevolence episodes, but then joins him on all of those. It’s literally like: “Anakin this plan is reckless and won’t work, anyways what’s my part in your plan?”

+ Rex running into that metal pipe. I forgot about that and laughed for 20 minutes straight.

+ Anakin pulls a “Are ya winning son?” on Obi-Wan about Ahsoka.

+ I once saw a post that it isn’t confirmed that Obi-Wan and Cody are friends, but you have Obi-Wan literally marveling on how competent the commander is and Cody always going the extra mile to save his general’s ass. To me that’s pretty much a friendship.

+ The Jedi are in general very gentle, but quite touchy. They might not go for hugs, but there is always someone touching someone’s shoulder or waist. And they’re just so fucking kind. I don’t think I ever noticed that as a kid, but they’re so respectful about life and culture and always helping someone. I just love them so much.

+ And I love the understanding and kindness the clones have. They’re soldiers and programmed to kill, but they’re also good people in most cases. I just wanna hug most of them.

+ My mother told me I cried as a child during the episodes with the Zillo beast. Well, I didn’t cry again, but I’m still so fucking mad at Palpatine for putting that poor creature in that position. If he just had listened to Mace Windu (more of the characters should actually, just saying) that poor animal wouldn’t have killed people and found its end like that.

+ Mortis is quite hated by the fandom but for me it’s a defining showcase of Obi-Wan’s, Anakin’s and Ahsoka’s relationship. I’ve seen people in the fandom saying that Anakin would’ve turned out differently if Obi-Wan would’ve told him he’s proud and took care of his feelings. This episodes literally show that he does exactly that and Anakin still doesn’t give a shit.

+ Anakin tells the son in his dream, that he’ll never come to the dark side willingly. Only to walk over to the literal manifestation of the dark side like 10 minutes later to save Ashoka. I came to the conclusion that the only way to tempt him was by promising to save his loved ones. I still think it was a really awful and greedy thing to become Vader for that, but I must admit it’s a noble character trait to put others first.

+ Kit Fisto doesn’t have nipples. Therefore I’ve concluded he’s isn’t a mammal and hatched from an egg like Nemo the clownfish. (And no, that isn’t a animation thing, Rex does have nipples when his shirt is off).

+ The discussion with my gf about Kit Fisto nipples and Star Wars biology also touched the topic of “how does Maul use the bathroom”. My conclusion is: he has a stoma, because the lower abdomen, where that would be, is always covered.

+ Hardcase mentions he is hyperactive. I now see him as my favorite ADHD clone, because having ADHD myself I can fucking relate.

+ I forgot Waxer died on Umbara and bawled my eyes out. Waxer is one my favorite clones and when he cried while dying I just couldn’t take it.

+ My friend spent the entire Umbara arc just simping for the clones (mostly Jesse), while I was suffering. So maybe they look hot or something for people attracted to men in this episodes.

+ In the episode after the Umbara the duo usually consisting of Waxer and Boil is sent out, but this time it’s just Boil and I was about to bawl again.

+ For being called “the negotiator” Obi-Wan gets his ass beat quite a lot after his “negotiations” (aggressive flirting).

+ While I’ll never forgive Obi-Wan for doing that Raako Hardeen shit, I nearly pissed myself when the Ziro the Hutt’s ex gf is flirting with not one but two women there. Like I didn’t expect her to be the fucking gay rep in clone wars.

+ I’m seriously never forgiving Obi-Wan for that. I can’t get over Ahsoka’s tear filled eyes while she’s holding his corpse. Also she doesn’t seem angry like Anakin just massively sad and disappointed after it is revealed that he’s still alive. Personally I believe she’s starting to doubt the order here.

+ Point three on hating on my favorite character for that shit, I feel like Anakin becomes quieter and less playful after that disaster.

+ Maul is me. He’s obsessed with Obi-Wan and mentions that he has massive problems what is going on inside his head. As a mentally ill person, that makes me feel really seen lmao.

+ The underwater episodes and the ones with Ventress on that train were just the most beautiful worlds I’ve ever seen. Like the planets in general are so beautifully designed in clone wars, I’m so in love.

+ Motherfucking “I said fuck the council and became a child soldier for a rebellion at 13” Obi-Wan Kenobi seems very reluctant on doing it again. There are two entire arcs of him disagreeing on helping rebels. First I didn’t understand, because like dude you literally did this before, but since he talks about his worries about bringing the separatists in or worsen the situation, I think the poor man is just a little bit traumatized.

+ After the events of Onderon I’m pretty sure Ashoka is already filled with doubts about the order, the republic and the war. I also feel like she’s feeling massively led down by Obi-Wan again, which broke my heart because I love their relationship.

+ I just realized he fails Ahsoka a third time, when she is captured by Hondo and Obi-Wan is supposed to help her. Instead he gets attacked by Grievous and is forced to postpone the helping them until they help themselves. I mean it’s not his fault but in Ahsoka’s place that wouldn’t feel good to me.

+ This particular fight with Grievous ignited my love for Obi-Wan again. Before he attacks Grievous he helps an injured clone and when he goes into the fight, Grievous directly kills a clone. Instead of his usual witty remarks, he just goes: “you’re gonna regret that” and jumps Grievous. He just loves his clones as much as I do.

+ One of the most beautiful shots in the entire series for me is in the episode before the droids find Gregor. This WAC droid looks into the desert and it reflects in his eye. Because of the cracks in the desert ground it looks almost like a retina. Beautiful metaphor of combining something artificial and metallic with an organic and almost human part. This was such a fucking raw shot for me, it took my breath away.

+ Tarkin is an asshole, but he’s climbed the asshole latter so hard after he has been mean to Plo Koon.

+ Shotout to Obi-Wan for convincing the order to let Anakin go after Ahsoka. Additionally the whole time he acts in her support only to be shut down by the council. I didn’t remember him doing that so I was surprised.

+ Fives tells the plot with the inhibitor chips to a cab driver. Do you think the cap driver ever thinks back after the war and is like: “Fuuuuuuck”?

+ I kid you not, the clone bar has gender neutral bathrooms (and no, it’s not bc the clones are all male, in the bar are also women). The bathroom are just decided by humans, hutts and a third species I cannot quite recognize.

+ I forgot Teckla gets shot, NOOOOOOO

+ I always say clone wars anakin is better, but Jesus stop acting like a jealous bitch. Padmè deserves an award for putting up with his bullshit. Obi-Wan too. He even tries to give him reassurance by telling him that feelings are not forbidden and Anakin just bitches at him.

+ Obi-Wan casually passing on babysitting duty for Jar Jar fucking killed me (and yes, taking care of Jar Jar is babysitting duty).

+ Never in a million years I would have thought to see Jar Jar admitting to fucking this queen, but here we have him saying he was making love to her last night. Imma set myself on fire and I believe Windu will join me.

+ You could also call the clone wars the exposition wars. Every episode has their one minute exposition in the beginning, but I feel like a lot of the dialogue is used for exposition.

+ Obi-Wan doesn’t learn shit. That man got drugged by Hondo, but yet still accepts drinks from the Pykes. MY BROTHER IN CHRIST PLEASE DONT

+ I AN GOING TO SCREAM. You have been informed that the Clones have a behavior influencing chip in their brains and then you find out Dooku was behind the creation of the clones and no one connects the fucking dots. I love the Jedi, but goddamn are you all dense.

+ Do you think Hunter thought Rex was screwing his general? Because their conversation sounded kinda suggestive and then they trail off to do something secret.

+ Ahsoka going “my older brother thought me”after kicking a guy where it hurts most. I now imagine Anakin going to Ahsoka as soon she got to be his padawan: “Listen up Snips, if you ever facing a creepy guy, you kick them right there”

+ When the sisters make their escape I don’t get why they don’t let Ahsoka fly. She’s clearly the more capable pilot.

+ Controversial opinion: I have a strong dislike for Bo Katan. She’s a fucking terrorist who doesn’t betray the deathwatch when they murder an entire innocent village, no but when there’s Maul trying to take their authority. Says a lot about her character if you ask me.

+ I mcfucking cried when the clones painted their helmets according to Ahsoka’s face markings and my flatmates gf came in and asked me if everything’s alright. I am fucking embarrassing I have seen this scene three times already but I still bawl like a baby.

+ Also my dear Obi-Wan can you quit being an ass? A “hello Ahsoka, nice to see you” wouldn’t have killed you.

+ Through the whole show most of the characters seemed to appear increasingly tired towards the end. Especially Obi-Wan and Ahsoka, but other characters aswell. The only one who seems to stay energized is Anakin. He becomes more serious but I feel like he’s the only one at the end that is still going into battles with full energy. It almost felt like he’s especially thriving in a war scenario which is incredibly sad.

+ The beauty of that last scene with Vader is truly unparalleled. I don’t ever think a tv show can recreate that.

+ I still love this show to bits and I cried 5 times total during that rewatch, shit this was nice.

[fandomsandflyingstingrays]

I thought I'd be more coherent if I wrote this in the morning and I was entirely incorrect so get ready for an absolute mess of Ahsoka thoughts!!

I love the palette of the show- I don't think we've ever seen anything in live action quite this colorful and it fits the Rebels look perfectly. Side note Lothal especially is gorgeous and I can't wait for people to make gifsets of it so I can reblog them endlessly

Additionally: the music!! I went feral every time I heard themes from Rebels and burst into sobs listening to the end credits. Kevin Kiner sir you have not lost your touch

Speaking of sound design: I'm so glad they didn't change the iconic loth cat noises. I would die for Sabine's kitty

Now, I miss the voice actors a lot, and I stand by the fact that this would have been better animated, but I do think the live action actors embodied the characters very well. They were well-written and had wonderfully consistent mannerisms

Also all the little Rebels easter eggs! Ryder! Jai!! As soon as I saw the guy standing next to Ryder I was like "is that Jai?" and I literally screeched "YES" when he was introduced as a senator

I wasn't expecting them to mention Ezra as much as they did! I kind of thought he'd be vaguely haunting the narrative like Kanan, at least for the first few episodes, but no- he is driving the story and I love that for him

I am a little confused as to why Sabine and Hera thought he was dead since Rebels never gave off that impression, but as reasons to explain why they didn't look for him for ten years go, I guess that's the most plausible. My thought is that they initially believed he was out there, but assumed he would be the one to find their way back to them, and lost hope when it didn't happen

As much as I'm anticipating Jacen, I actually wasn't too disappointed he wasn't in these episodes. It looks like the vast majority of footage in the promos was from these episodes, so there's plenty of time for him to appear later on

Overall: I'm satisfied! I'm emotional!! And I can't wait to see where the story is going from here

[jedi-enthusiast]

Did you ever see that trailer for that SWTOR expansion Legacy of the Sith? It was one of the most anti-Jedi things I have ever seen in my life and painted them as being no better than then Sith, and that made me so mad!

No, I haven't seen it and---at this point---I'm going with the "canon is what I decide, fuck you Disney" way of consuming any new Star Wars media.

George Lucas created Star Wars and the Jedi, and he was very fucking clear that the Jedi were the good guys---so I know that, above all else, I'm right when I say that the Jedi were good. I know that, whatever anyone else says, the Jedi were moral and good and they were doing their best in a shitty situation where they just could not win.

Which means that all of the other stuff that's coming out where people are leaning into the edgy "everyone's actually evil, and there's no good in the world, and good guys can never actually be good because who would actually ever be selfless and kind????" narrative that's, for some reason, gotten so popular nowadays---I'm either ignoring it or taking it with copious amounts of salt.

That Legacy of the Sith expansion? Ignoring it.

Acolyte? I might just watch it so I can hate on it, but honestly I'll probably just ignore it.

The Ahsoka show? I'll watch it, but my expectations are very low.

Etc. Etc.

People can say whatever they want about my doing this, but honestly---thanks to Disney handing over a vast amount of creative control to people who don't actually give a fuck about Star Wars and people like Filoni, who's now just pulling shit out of his ass to lift up his OCs--- with the newer stories and timelines and shit, you almost have to make up your own reasons for why things are happening/why certain characters are doing/saying things.

Take Bo-Katan for example and how the writers are portraying her in the Mandalorian.

----------

They're completely ignoring the fact that she was a member of Death Watch (a violent terrorist organization), that she had a hand in her sister's death (since she did help Maul alongside Visla, even though she was vocal about not wanting to/thinking it was a bad idea), or that she even fucking had a sister.

So now, since all of that is happening, you have to figure out for yourself why, in-universe, Bo-Katan is ignoring all of that---and that's obviously going to be colored by whether you like her or not.

Is she ignoring that she was a member of Death Watch because she thinks it doesn't matter/wasn't a big deal/wasn't bad? Or is she doing it because she can't face the guilt she feels over having been apart of it?

Is she ignoring that she had a hand in her sister's death because she doesn't really think she was responsible, since she vocally didn't support helping Maul? Or, again, is it out of guilt?

Is she not mentioning Satine because she wants to erase the fact that Mandalore was successfully peaceful for decades under Satine's rule until she [Bo-Katan] fucked it up and basically kicked off the whole "Mandalore basically dying/hanging on by a thread" thing, so she doesn't want anyone to know that? Or is it because she's still filled with so much grief and guilt that mentioning Satine is literally painful for her?

You have to make those assumptions and those decisions, because the writers just don't give a fuck anymore.

----------

So, with that in mind, everything that George Lucas didn't have a hand in, especially regarding the Jedi? I'm taking it as a suggestion, and a suggestion only.

[bleadingheartart]

I don’t know how I feel after watching the Ahsoka premiere.

There were some parts I really like but other things just aren’t quite working for me. Specifically Sabine and Hera felt a bit off.

I feel like at the end of rebels Sabine had grown and become way more mature and it seems like this show is sort of going back on that??? Idk but she feels very teen coded despite being in her mid to late twenties at this point.

Hera also feels very different like they took away the fiery and stubborn parts of her character and are just focusing on like the supportive mom aspect which like could maybe work if they mentioned Jacen at all but idk. I don’t think I’m vibing with this version of her. Especially the bit where she’s like “oh these people they have the same powers as you” as if she’s never seen a Jedi before??? Like girl you and Kanan were basically married??? And you helped raise Ezra??? Like you know what a Jedi is!!!

Still I think the Sabine padawan stuff could be cool depending on how they handle it and I’m really digging all of the Thrawn mystery stuff so far. I do hope they explain how he’s connected to the Knight sisters but like I’m always up for witches in Star Wars so whatever. Also thank fucking god they had that line about Sabine being Ezra’s sister cause going in I was really scared they were gonna go the shipping route and I’m glad they aren’t. Hopefully.

To finish this off I shall list the things I am hoping will happen at some point in this series:

1. Kalazeb confirmation (or at least for them both to show up together on screen. I’ll take what I can get lol)

2. Helicopter lightsabers (there was a second in episode 2 where I thought this was about to happen but sadly it did not. I know everyone clowns on this as being stupid (and it is!) but it’s good stupid and just like imagine how much stupider it would look in live action. That’s the dream.)

3. Chopper kills a man.

Anyway those are my thoughts

[katara-stan-club]

Talking over the Ventress episode with my mom has (I think) solidified that as much as I liked Ventress and love the fight sequence, it really felt like the middle of the season got derailed just to have Ventress show up and maybe tease a Ventress show? Whether it be how she survived as part of Tales of the Jedi s2 or in a new spinoff show about The Path or something, this appearance didn’t feel natural for TBB to us. Granted, maybe by the end of the season we’ll feel differently and be eating humble pie, but that’s where we stand right now.

More rambling under the cut, you have been warned.

Like it really feels that they specifically had Rex not know what an M-count is just so Ventress could show up and say it, which feels a little :/ come on now. Between Rex possibly having contact with Ahsoka and being the Captain under Anakin “The Chosen One” Skywalker, it feels very odd to have him NOT know what the hell M-count could be.

It’s also frustrating from a narrative perspective to have 2 episodes dedicated to the gang finding out what M-count means, when we the audience have known what it meant since it was first mentioned! I would’ve been fine with Fennec saying at the end of last episode something like “All I know is M-count is something to do with the Jedi, so good luck with whatever you need that info for cause the Empire will never let it go”, and then the Ventress episode could have instead been “well is it safer to stay on Pabu and hope the Empire doesn’t know where we are, or are we endangering all these people’s lives by being here? Can we ever have a stable place to live, or should we constantly be on the run from the Empire, thus painting a bigger target on us by giving us more opportunities to run into them?” But by having both episodes be “what could M-count mean for Omega?” and basically tell us what we already know: they are never gonna be safe from the Empire because they will never stop looking for Omega, it feels like a lot of ground was lost that could have been dedicated to other things, like letting Omega interact with characters other than Crosshair.

Also it’s such a weird episode cause they kinda had to avoid the whole Ventress died thing because that would bog down the episode by confusing people who hadn’t read The Dark Disciple, but it leaves people who know about it hanging with how the hell it happened?? Like there’s that one line about many lives but it doesn’t really answer anything, which is whatever but at the same time super frustrating cause it feels like such an unnecessary can of worms to open? Especially in the last half of the last season of a show that’s already got A Lot going on.

I do wonder how different I would’ve felt about this episode if it had been Quinlan instead of Ventress, because A) he’s not dead and B) we already know he’s got Stuff he’s doing (The Path) so it’s not unreasonable to see hints of it early on in the reign of the Empire. Also having another character of color come back would’ve been nice, since we STILL haven’t actually seen Phee outside of one singular holocall this season, let alone any sighting of Shep and Lyana.

[gaeasun]

Ahsoka Season Finale

I watched the season finale. im not happy! why exactly im not happy i'll put below but. Basically Filoni took some of the main things we know about the Jedi and undid it.

Sabine now has the Force, apparently! Because the Force resides through all living things, and now that has been entirely retconned to mean that anyone can use the Force if they simply wish for it hard enough. and she suddenly can use it strong enough to throw people meaningful distances, on her second use ever.

Sabine was a Mandalorian. Sabine being Mandalorian has always been one of the most key parts to her character. But apparently isnt anymore other than wearing her armor. Considering her family (that were coincidentally on Mandalore when it got bombed despite not actually having their home base on that planet) are now all dead, I suppose that explains part of it. And I also suppose perhaps Sabine could have felt that training as a Jedi was her best connection to her Rebel family, especially Ezra, however considering they never actually mentioned once why Sabine wanted to train to be a Jedi thats unfounded and there is currently no reason, and therefore no good reason for her to do that. and yes there should be a reason, considering that this was entirely unorthodox.

They so badly ignored what they'd said before about Kyber crystals. That they are attuned by the Force to their user. That lightsaber was Ezras, and he'd bonded to it. And he did not "give it to Sabine" he actually handed it to Chopper. You might say semantics, I might say, lightsabers are now just being treated as glowy swords when they are actually supposed to be sacred to their Jedi. Also, Ezra just randomly found his own kyber crystal apparently. It is a witchy planet so ill accept that. but he might have said two words about it.

The whole point of training Jedi young was so they would learn to control their abilities before they could learn how to abuse them. Every Jedi we've seen that was taken in later struggled hard with the dark side, including Ezra, Quinlan Vos, and most notable Anakin. Sabine is around thirty, making her older than all of them. And she lost her family in a convenient tragic attack. Why is no one even stopping to think (in the show) about this.

No Rex. Rex played SUCH a huge role in Ahsokas life and now they sidelined him so hard its not even funny. Where was Rex when Anakin was Vader? Still by her side, when everyone else had left or died. They were trauma bonded besties! But no one cares about the clones apparently. No matter what universe, ours or theirs, they are perpetually abandoned by their creators. STOP PLEASE.

Ahsoka barely used reverse grip. it has been her thing FOREVER. but now she barely used it even twice across eight episodes, not even to deflect blaster bolts which would have been pretty easy to show. if you cant do this in live action then i have a solution: dont do the show in live action. or just get different choreographers. but It has defintely been shown there is live action ability to do reverse grip fighting, not doing it is lazy.

this point is my biggest beef. Despite this series being centered about the Jedi, and going outside the tradition of what we have always seen Jedi as, they never even settled on a new meaning of what a Jedi is. heck, they never even ASKED the question of what a Jedi is. i guess its just someone who swings around a lightsaber. thats all we've seen anyways. Force not required. Ideals? Guidelines? Tenets? Not even mentioned.

The fact of the matter is, the Jedi have always been a religion centered around the Force. Maybe you can serve the Force without having it! Which actually sounds really noble and could have been explored! but the thing about religions is, you follow their cause and their rules and align yourself to them. you do NOT do your own thing and redefine everything around you and force it to now include you. pretty sure thats what we call a cult. im not calling what is being done a cult, but i am saying is that this show (and primarlily Feloni) remade Sabine AND remade the definition ( without clearly stating one) of Jedi to "force" it to fit into their own thoughts. its downright disrespectful and i wish they'd never made this show in the first place. it was not worth it.

[skoulsons]

hello sorry im still thinking and it’s nearing midnight which means Emotion TM and Rot TM o’clock

this is about ahsoka because I’m incapable of having any other thoughts about anything

also im sorry this is. so long. my Rot never sleeps nor does it care about the word count

Thinking about the “Shin, release her.” “Shin.” But also their relationship in general

Now, we don’t know how long Shin has been with Baylan. I’m not aware of any sort of timeline for how long someone stays as a ‘padawan’ (though, yes, baylan and shin aren’t jedi and aren’t following it the typical way), but shin could be with him for 5+ years at this point. Or maybe just 2 or less, we don’t know.

But what I find so interesting is the trust that’s there. Back in the first episode, Morgan sends Shin to Lothal on her command. Shin is like… master what. And baylan reassures her and tells her to go to Lothal and that she is “looking for Sabine Wren.” Shin gets excited when she hears that, and episode 4 gives a little more context into that.

Baylan knows Ahsoka. He mentions in episode 4 that Anakin spoke of her. And I’m sure Baylan, after getting close with Shin, has probably shared stories of his time in the Order, Jedi he knew/met, his own master, among other things. Now, also in episode 4, Baylan knows of Sabine. How her family was killed, etc. How he does I have no idea. But, again, something he could’ve told Shin as it relates to Thrawn bc of Ezra and all that good stuff.

But to go back, Shin gets excited when Baylan does confirm and tell her to go. Also, kind of knowing Shin’s character, could’ve been a sort of ‘thrill of the hunt’ going out and looking for her. Either way, Baylan trusts Shin to send her out on her own.

Next is when Morgan does the whole star map shenanigans and Morgan talks about where Thrawn is banished and what the goal is. After Morgan leaves, Shin asks him questions about it. “What happens when we find Thrawn?” Baylan mentions war in response. Then, which is still a line that has me short circuiting bc im insane, Shin asks “what about us?” SOMETHING ABOUT THE US AND STICKING TOGETHER AND IDK FOUND FAMILY THINGS 🤠 and Baylan responds with “Power. Such as you’ve never dreamed.” It still follows along the trust lines. Shin follows him, obviously, as he’s the master and so she feels the need to ask him like, “hey, this has been going on for a little while, what’s our future goal?”

Then, in episode 4, there’s that scene (forgive me mis-quoting) where the four of them are on Seatos and Morgan mentions something about stalling (??) and Baylan says that “but you will” line to Shin and, without needing to say anymore, gives her the go ahead to go into the forest and track down Ahsoka and Sabine with Marrok. He has a trust and faith in her that she’ll do what is needed while he stays with Morgan

THEN, of course ahsoka ‘kills’ Marrok and runs to Baylan, Shin eventually comes back after running from Sabine. Shin makes it to Baylan and Ahsoka and immediately Ahsoka thinks Sabine is dead. Right after Huyang asked them to stay together and they’re getting back into their master and padawan rhythm and Sabine was left with the girl who stabbed her through like less than a week prior. So Ahsoka goes after Shin while Baylan isn’t immediately in front of her and force throws her into the one pillar and knocks her out cold. Baylan gets pissed and uses very powerful swings to push Ahsoka to the edge when she was already weak from picking up the map.

When Baylan has Ahsoka over the cliff, he says “it didn’t have to come to this” which had me THINKING. He has that line in episode 2 (??) about “It’ll be a shame (to kill Ahsoka). There are so few jedi left.” Baylan also still holds a lot of respect for the Jedi, and I think that especially shows through in the fact that Shin has a padawan braid. Baylan then continues with (forgive my misquote again I think) “but you know no other way”. Like. I cannot believe he would’ve pushed her to the edge of the cliff and eventually set her off if she didn’t throw Shin. I think that was Baylan, over anythin, fighting for his padawan and seizing the opportunity he had over Ahsoka to go through with something that he didn’t originally plan to do. But that’s my personal opinion and view rn. That could change.

And then, of course, Shin wakes up after Baylan and Sabine have their little chit chat and she starts to force choke Sabine. Baylan, immediately, is like ‘no no stop I told her I wouldn’t harm her and gave her my word, what are you doing, child’. He says, not in a super commanding or harsh tone, “Shin, release her.”

Now. How many people has Shin force choked in front of Baylan when Baylan didn’t want her to? My bet is zero, probably. Maybe one, idk.

Now we know I love analyzing, especially overanalyzing which is evident by my TLOU ones. But Baylan doesn’t freak out when he notices what Shin is doing. He’s not upset, either, because he knows her. But the very simple ask of “release her” really gets me. It tells me that they’ve built up such a trust and respect there that something small like that is enough to get her to stop and/or stand down. There’s enough there for Baylan to say it and for Shin to know it and drop it. There’s enough there that that’s all Baylan should need to say for her to stop.

Also- rabbit trail- but Shin’s immediate reaction to waking up and seeing Baylan stand, actually somewhat comfortably, across from Sabine probably sent raging signals through Shin because that’s the enemy, so she immediately goes to go after Sabine. Again, personal take, I think it’s on behalf of Baylan and protecting him and not just Shin’s personal vendetta (pretty much, at this point) against Sabine. But maybe that’s my brainrot talking. Idk protecting the other is so 🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻 but I also think it can fit in this context

But she doesn’t. Not at the first one. Understandable, honestly. The run-ins she’s had with Ahsoka and Sabine haven’t been the kindest and also she’s right across from Baylan and he’s not trying to kill her. So she keeps force choking her and disregards Baylan’s first ask.

But, again, going back to there being enough there. ALL it then takes it is for Baylan to go “Shin.” for her to look at him and stop. Baylan isn’t demanding anything. He’s not loud or aggressive or anything. His tone is very reminiscent of saying “trust me” without the words. And so Shin drops Sabine. Reluctantly, considering the look she gives him, but she trusts him enough to know that it’s fine and that he’s already worked it out.

THEYRE JUST SO. THEY GET ME. THEY GET ME ON A LEVEL I DIDNT KNOW EXISTED 🤮🤮🤮

[trashquisitor-shirozora]

I think you bring up a fantastic point about the lack of context that Ahsoka provides to its audience, despite being marketed as entry level, despite Filoni saying not to bother watching Clone Wars or Rebels, despite them saying they're making a new story that doesn't rely on anything else. I was one of two sacrificial lambs who watched it, so the remainder of the group wouldn't have to, and the other lamb had never watched any Clone Wars or Rebels, and therefore was really fucking confused what was going on, and kept having to stop to get stuff explained, cuz the show sure as hell wasn't going to.

It's sadly a continuation on the precedent that Favloni with reuniting Grogu and Din in BOBF. Especially since this is all just lead up for Dave's little Heir to the Empire pet project, he's going to be needing to yank a lot of characters out of their normal characterization (Thrawn is the most obvious example for this) which is easier when the audience doesn't have preconceived notions of what that characterization looks like from previous shows.

I'm half "yeah, I remember reading Filoni saying that" and half "wait, did he really say that?" and I don't know what to say now that the first two episodes dropped. Imo, while TFA relied a little too hard on nostalgia it was able to ride on cultural osmosis and also did a halfway decent job introducing us to Rey, Finn, and Poe. The movie gave us enough of a glimpse into each of their backstories and what life was like before the inciting incident on Jakku to help us understand, relate to, and connect with the characters. I didn't get that with Ahsoka. If I didn't already have working knowledge of who Hera and Sabine were, I wouldn't know what the fuck to do with them because they weren't introduced in a way that gave me an idea of their relationships with each other, with Ahsoka, with Lothal, with Ezra, with the Rebellion.

It wouldn't have been that hard to do it. When that ceremony was happening in Lothal with the mural, we could've gotten a really condensed and maybe extremely embellished summary of Rebels that culminated in the Battle of Lothal and whatever the fuck Ezra did with Thrawn and the space whales. When we actually meet Sabine, we could've gotten some useful information out of her banter with the pilots; she could've mocked Ryder's speeches, quoting almost verbatim what he said to imply that she's heard his shit before many many many many many times, and said she was too fucking tired and Done to go through yet another ceremony/commemoriation/speech. I don't know shit about fuck about Ryder Azadi (I had to google his name because I don't remember if it was mentioned anywhere but that's auditory processing shenanigans for you) so I don't know if that's in-character for him so if it's not, give that assignment to some new face. Or have us briefly shadow a New Republic visitor who isn't too familiar with what happened at Lothal and asks for a summary from a local. I don't know, just do something to give unfamiliar viewers some fucking context for why we're on Lothal and why Sabine matters.

This goddamn assumption that everyone tuning into Ahsoka somehow already knows all about TCW and Rebels because they either already watched all of that or had to the time, energy, and fucks to give to watch them after Ahsoka debuted in the Mando Show is goddamn arrogant imo. I have a lot of other thoughts about this particular sticking point but this isn't the place. I'm real happy for the people who did watch the other two shows and enjoyed them and had a great time and all that, but I wasn't that audience and I'm not in the position right now to try to join in. I'm just watching along and taking notes.

[singswan-springswan]

clone content on social media

clones making tiktoks in between campaigns.

clones pranking each other and recording shaky reactions as they struggle to muffle their laughter + when they run screaming down the corridor trying not to slip because Rex in a towel wasn’t happy to have pink hair dye snuck into his fancy shampoo that Ahsoka bought especially for him.

clones trying out baking challenges with the limited array of materials available in their mess halls.

clones spending hours practicing goofy dances and memorizing songs to lipsync while they dance in unison.

clones messing around in the hanger after a major dog fight to shake off the post-battle high.

clones cracking stupid jokes and pretending they are worth wheezing on the ground for.

clones chasing native fauna on-planet because pets are against regulation but imploring them to come close I have a treat in a dumb high baby voice is not.

clones inventing increasingly creative and dizzying trick shots out of random items in the barracks. 

clones smuggling in janad kai’tome and trying the one-chip challenge/some of them being absolute deities and others bawling their eyes out after one nibble.

clones holding “make me laugh, get .20 credits” signs in the mess and recording the attempts of various vode (plus one very awkward one of Anakin’s that goes viral because he is dumb and cringey).

clones making reaction videos with their squads.

clones being excited when people like their content.

clones ignoring the comments wondering why there are fewer of them in this post than the one before (where did those guys go? are they ever coming back? I miss Rook and Fender! Hope to see them again soon!).

clones ranting about how the shift to phase II armor made them change their paint design.

clones putting up polls for which thumbnail of nose art looks better.

clones interviewing each other about Republican politics and giving wildly off-kilter answers because most of them have no clue what the Republic government is like.

clones enacting skits of the Jedi or Sith and making fun of Seps. 

clones showing off their collections of droid parts that are very against regulation.

clones creating content with the unspoken agreement to never mention the war, never announce deployments, never speak names of dead vode, never detail what really goes on between updates, never acknowledge the countless feeds and series and blogs and stories that have abruptly stopped producing never to post again.

oblivious civilians being content to observe.

when they wonder, they’re never curious for long.

[noddytheornithopod]

Alright, time to speculate about Ahsoka and the future of the Mandoverse! Spoilers will be discussed.

So I think it's very clear we're getting a Season 2... but what is Season 2 going to look like? How will it be structured? I say this because while everything in Season 1 starts from the same place, in Season 2 it won't be so simple. I'm not really sure that you can do a show with two groups of characters now completely disconnected from each other. From what Ahsoka is saying, it sounds like they're not in a rush to get back home, either. There is a chance they could still do this, but even in Season 1 we never really got an episode evenly split between galaxies. So what if... it's going to spin off into TWO shows instead of one?

So basically, Ahsoka S2 would follow Ahsoka and Sabine and whatever Baylan and Shin get up to, and then you'd have a second series following Ezra, Hera, etc as they fight against Thrawn's Imperial Remnant-Nightsister alliance.

With how Ahsoka sounded about being on Peridea, I have a feeling her and Sabine will be there for a while. Maybe they'll get back in Season 2, or maybe they'll be on Peridea until the movie (because let's be real, there's no way Filoni is gonna do his big Heir to the Empire movie WITHOUT his oshi :v). Of course, there IS the chance it's just Ezra, Hera, etc vs Thrawn for the movie, but see above comment about Filoni and Ahsoka.

I also have some thoughts about WHEN the movie might come out. It's very simple if you know basic Star Wars history... 2027. Aka, on Star Wars' 50th anniversary.

Of all the upcoming confirmed movies, Filoni's is probably going to be the big crowd pleasing fanservice one. Fan fave big bad, OT-adjacent time period, modern fan faves like Mando, and likely even OT characters appearing (even if they're deepfakes lol).

This is very loose speculation and who knows how this will hold, especially with the SAG-AFTRA strike still not being resolved, but I'm personally betting that's what the plan is. Just hope they don't rush things if they want that.

Oh yeah, also worth mentioning: it's possible that the Mandalorian Season 4 is actually about Mando and Grogu joining Hera and Ezra via Carson Teva. I mean, if Mando is fighting Imperial Remnants, he's GOT to know about the most significant one, right?

But yeah, who knows what could happen, the ending of Ahsoka means they could pull many directions to take the different Mandoverse shows and even the movie in.

[just-prime]

Ahsoka ep 3 : 30 minutes of nothing

Welp...Kinda says it all in the title. I'll never understand the inconsistent episode length thing that Disney is doing, but it really takes me out of a show when it ends during what feels like the middle of an episode.

For those who're not watching Ahsoka...here's what happened

Main Plot

-ahsoka and sabine flew from one place to another -ahsoka is trying to force sabine to get a force connection (which forgive me for calling bullshit on...but bullshit) -they find the giant hyperspace ring no one has noticed is being built -they get shot at by some disposable minions -the audience oohs and aahs at some purrgil -ahsoka and sabine land their ship in the forest -and then the episode ends by main mr bad guy sending goons into the forest

Side Shit

Mon Mothma is Chancellor of the New Republic...for some reason? Maybe this was another legends thing, but I don't understand why after overthrowing the Emperor, who came to power through the chancellorship, something Mon Mothma WITNESSED, why that would be the form of government the New Republic hangs its hat on.

Also, once more, the New Republic is BAD at its job with idiots running it. I get that there's a lot of 'Where the fuck is Luke?' going around, which is utterly fair, but I am also offically on the 'Where the fuck is Leia???' train because that woman would not stand for this level of incompetence.

Jacen has offically been de-gremlined and it's horrifying. He looks like a reject anime protagonist with his green hair and starry eyed idealism. Gross. Get him out of here. Please note Kanan has still not been mentioned, only very obviously talked around.

The girlies are fighting. I don't get why Morgan and sith apprentice chick have beef, but they do. Doesn't really make sense, and I fear that with only 5 episodes of varying length we're not going to really get any decent backstory. Especially with episode 4 having to be lead up, while Dave Filoni's name plastered to episode 5 makes it clear which episode Thrawn will be making his live action debut in.

All in all a deeply anticlimactic episode with some pretty screensavers as backgrounds. Wasn't seething with rage like during the premier, now more bored and unimpressed.

[sailforvalinor]

I saw you post on seasons 1 through 4 of Dr. Who and I wanted to know more about your accidentally Christian pile. What are some other works do think unintentionally emphasized Christian doctrines or morals?

Ooooooh, really good question!!

So the first thing that comes to mind here is Marvel’s Agents of Shield--each season has it's own story arc and themes, so it's hard to pin down just one thing here, so I'll just talk about a few. I'll talk about the obvious one first: Season 3 in particular has a lot of Christian imagery (though in this case, it's definitely on purpose). You see a flash-forward of a cross necklace at the beginning of the season floating in a spaceship in space right before it blows up, and then you watch as that necklace get passed around from person to person, knowing that whoever ends up with it at the end of the season is going to die. I won't spoil anything more, other than to say that it results in quite a bit of Christ/crucifixion imagery and themes.

Other than this, there's a lot about the redemptive power of love (Fitzsimmons my beloved), individual guilt and how to handle it, how to let go of shame, the inevitable defeat of evil--I know there's more, but that's all I can think of off the top of my head. (AOS girlies/gents, feel free to chime in!) Additionally, one of the main characters explicitly a Christian, and while he's not portrayed perfectly, he's never ridiculed for it by the other characters or the narrative, which is a breath of fresh air. There are of course some things I don't approve of (prepare to have your skip button ready once or twice in the earlier seasons), but it's still a fantastic show, and by far the best show Marvel has ever come out with.

Harry Potter’s a pretty obvious one—Harry has to sacrifice himself and be fully willing to die to kill Voldemort, the fight with the basilisk in Chamber of Secrets has some Biblical parallels—but I’m fairly certain that these themes were deliberate, so I suppose they don’t really count. But they do to me, so 😂

Star Wars is another big one for me—of course, a la George Lucas’s original vision, SW is much more directly influenced by Buddhism, but I find that it often can’t help dipping into Christian themes. I find this is especially true with anything that has Dave Filoni’s name attached, likely because he in turn is pretty influenced by Tolkien and Lewis (Ahsoka is meant to parallel Gandalf, the World Between Worlds in Rebels was inspired by The Magician’s Nephew’s Wood Between Worlds, etc). Mandalorian season 3 in particular blew me away—baptism! Redemption! Rebirth! Mandalorian denominations/sects! Seriously, I was expecting them to come down hard on the strange rules that sect holds themselves to and for Mando to completely reject them—but they didn’t?? It was SO fascinating.

Kingdom Hearts is probably one of my favorite demonstrations of John 15:13: “greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” Otherwise, I can’t really think of any super prevalent Christian themes I noticed, but that one is just so strong and so important to the themes of the series, I couldn’t not mention it.

Final Fantasy XV has something similar going for it—although what I’m going to say has MAJOR spoilers, so if don’t want to be spoiled, go ahead and skip this (and play the game because it’s great—but Noctis having to willingly sacrifice himself by sitting on a throne in order to purify his kingdom is as blatant as you get. For crying out loud, he’s called the One True King. However this only holds true for the base game—the dlc’s (except for Episode Prompto, but that’s just because it doesn’t really apply to that plotline, also it’s incredible) and the novel in my opinion kind of ruin it.

Legend of Zelda is an interesting one, because it is of course heavily inspired by Shinto, but a few Christian themes sort of snuck their way in there. In Skyward Sword (oh and spoilers for Skyward Sword). Hylia, though certainly not meant to be a direct Christ figure, chooses to be reborn as a Hylian (basically a human) in order to save her people. The difference here is that Zelda does not know that she’s Hylia, and she never regains her goddess status (at least presumably until she dies of old age), but it’s an interesting parallel nonetheless. Also, there’s a famously creepy cutscene in Twilight Princess where we get the story of how the Twili were banished from Hyrule for dabbling in dark magic, and the sequence has always reminded me of the Fall.

Those were just a few that I thought of off the top of my head—I’m sure there are more, but that’s all that’s coming to me at the moment 😂

[ahsoka-in-a-hood]

Just taking the clone wars into account I honestly was surprised to learn of Filoni’s jedi-critical views. In large part I guess it was just that I watched tcw after reading lots of Obi Wan and Anakin centric fanfic, and in comparison the show barely even registered as critical, since it’s so much milder than like 80% of fanfic was. For one it does something fanfic rarely did, which is treat the council and the larger jedi body as a group of diverse people with differing opinions and constant challenges, and not an almost faceless cold single entity whose narrative function is primarily to cause problems for the protagonist, not to be people in their own right.

And then there was simply the fact that I never took Anakin to be a reliable narrator, especially since he’s covering up naughty war crimes left and right on the show, and I never really took Ahsoka as a speaker of objective truth either, since she’s young and still parsing out her teachings and philosophy by show’s end without ever reaching a conclusion, since her story doesn’t really have a conclusion, just a series of traumatic breaks. If they were meant to be the mouthpieces, it never even occurred to me.

The other big thing was the war and the clones. See, my feelings about the war in the movies were very mixed up with the political commentary it was making about what was happening in real life, and the result was pretty messy. The condensed narration didn’t help- yes, there was the through line with the trade federation’s behavior in Naboo and then their involvement with the Separatists, and the plans they were making that Obi Wan listened in on- but even so, the whole war was off screen, and it was still mixed up in this clunky Iraq war commentary. The movies do also point out more than once that the breakdown of diplomacy was something bad Palpatine did and through him the republic (though I wouldn’t say it holds the jedi to account for that so much as the Senate). Meanwhile the cartoon just uncategorically depicts the separatists as aggressors who are doing cartoonishly evil things, and the need to defend is inescapable. Even more than that, the clones- the chips really do change everything.

The fact that the jedi led these men for three years and earned absolutely no goodwill or loyalty enough for any of them to even hesitate to shoot them in the back just wasn’t a great look for either of them. But of course, that’s not the story anymore. It’s such a different story. The jedi-clone relationship is now one of my absolute favorite things. It’s complex and it’s compelling. Most importantly, it’s not characterized by indifference.

So, yeah, I hadn’t clocked that Filoni was actually much closer to the popular fanon on all this. It’s funny, I got into a conversation with someone recently, one of those people who had earnestly thought the prequels were meant to depict the jedi as arrogant and cold and out of touch, and I mentioned the things Lucas had said on the subject, and they were like- are you telling me Lucas fucked up and accidentally told a different story than the one he intended? But what’s funny is that I’m now sitting here thinking the same about the clone wars. Did Filoni accidentally write a much more nuanced and jedi-friendly story than the one he thought he was writing, or was that just me reading him wrong?

Well at any rate, I’m going to watch the tales of the jedi soooon and I guess I’ll see how that tracks. (though round one at least I might disengage my critical brain and just enjoy)