#oh thrawn we're really in it now

[autismmydearwatson]

What I think: Thrawn alliances is a comedy but it's also a tragedy because thrawn KNOWS its anakin, he can see it in every move vader makes, and everyone around him pretends anakin died, including anakin, and he doesn't know why. He doesn't know the full story of anakins fall, but a long time ago he met a jedi who was probably the first jedi who wasn't trying to kill him, and did a whole lot of other batshit things instead. But even though anakin was impulsive and vengeful and singlehandedly destroyed a planets environment, he was a good man and an honorable warrior and that's all that mattered to thrawn, and obviously thrawn admired anakin enough that he thought the mention of anakins name could get him clemency from the Empire. Instead anakins walking around in an oubliette and he's seven inches taller and hates thrawns guts but obviously he's STILL anakin skywalker and it's obvious, why does no one else see it? So he continues to bring up anakins name so that vader will stop being a rage-filled bloodthirsty idiot and stop pretending his old self is gone, thrawn keeps trying to unearth anakins chutzpah and his valor and his anakin-ness, and it's not until the epilogue that thrawn has accepted that, one way or another, anakin has gone and there's just a tired, vindictive cyborg in his place

What I say:

[hydr0phius]

Some crack summaries (and just general notes) of Greater Good like how I did with Chaos Rising

Ar'alani: We have technology to aim our weapons with but I'm going to just eyeball this shot here.

...

Thalias: *enters the bridge, is exhausted*

Samakro: Wow, you look like shit.

Thalias: Thanks so much. I really appreciate that.

...

The side of Thaliamakro in this book has me giggling and kicking my feet. If they don't get together romantically I am still here for the friendship. I love them skdjfhsdjf. SAMAKRO SHE'S NOT A SPY THOUGH, MATE-

...

Laknym & Thalias: *open their mouths to explain something to Che'ri or to ask a question of each other while they're down in secondary command*

Kharill: SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Thalias: We're-

Kharill: SHHHHHH. NO. NO TALKING. SHUSH.

...

The ominous things being hinted at about the Stybla family's past (the most vicious warriors etc). I'm intrigued. Tell me MORE.

...

*Samakro & Thrawn talking about keeping the Magys on the Springhawk & it's low key an argument*

Samakro: And what do you suppose the Syndicure will think of this?

Lakinda, internally: I hope I don't get dragged into this.

Thrawn: Actually, I wasn't going to tell them *looks at Lakinda*

Lakinda, now officially in the argument: Uhhhh

...

Lakinda: STUPID THRAWN TAKING ALL THE DAMN GLORY!!!!! I DISLIKE THIS MF-

...

Thalias: *wakes up*

The Magys in hibernation:

Thalias: Who the fuck put that the- wait, I said Thrawn and Samakro could put it here. Uh. *proceeds to dress for the day throwing side eye looks at the hibernation chamber and wondering if the magys is just suddenly going to wake up and jump scare her (she's not)*

...

Thalias: *opens the door*

Che'ri, instantly looking inside: WHat's ThAt-

Thalias: A coffin!

Che'ri:

Thalias:

Che'ri: That's a bit weird.

Thalias: The Magys is in hibernation to stop her from offing herself.

Che'ri: o h.

...

Ba'kif: *giving the new orders for Thrawn to be shifted out to the Paataatus again, except there's a lot of political shit going on at the same time*

Samakro: *needling for a bit more info in a subtle way*

Thrawn: *no fucking idea what's happening, but not too pleased about going to the Paataatus hive-home world when he's got a Magys in hibernation in Thalias' room and a puzzle to solve back on Sunrise*

...

Jixtus having music and beanbags at his meeting with Haplif. Haplif struggling to get out of the beanbag with dignity. Jixtus telling him he should bird watch more often.

...

Thurfian: *frothing at the mouth with sheer rage after hearing about the scuffle over Sunrise with the unknown dreadnaught + Lakinda's assistance*

Zistalmu: *approaches*

Thurfian, internally: What if I just laid into him? What if I gave him a verbal lashing? A bit of a tickle up? I'd feel better if I tore something to shreds-

(Also Thurfian): Don't do that. Focus on the end game. FOCUS ON THE END GAME.

Zistalmu: You look happy.

Thurfian: Fuck you-

...

Lakjiip: Look at this *hands Lakuviv the metal report from the Agbui jewellery*

Lakuviv:

Lakuviv: THat's fucKING NYIX ALLOY-

Lakjiip: I KNOW

...

Haplif: *does anything*

Lakphro: What are you planning??? I'll find out. I'll know-

...

Lakjiip: Tell no one of these brooches.

Lakphro: Of course.

*later*

Lakphro: *calls his cousin who is married to a scientist who has connections with other scientists that work with metals etc* Hey so there's this jewellery I'm going to send it to you in the mail-

...

Lakbulbup: Send it through express post.

Lakphro: Have you SEEN the rates for that lately????

...

Qilori of fucking Uandualon. Back again and causing havoc we're all going to see later. He's going to be the reason the skywalkers are targeted by the Grysk, isn't he...

...

Shimkif: Marry me.

Haplif: wHAt-

Shimkif: It'll gain Yoponek and Yomie's trust. It'll be fake too

Haplif: Oh ok.

...

Shimkif: Sorry I was gone so long. I was busy poisoning birds.

Haplif: Amazing.

Yomie: I found another migration up north.

Haplif, internally: No the hell you did not-

...

Haplif: I don't like birds. I've had enough of birds.

Shimkif: *poisons Yomie*

Haplif: Nice, we're out of here.

***

RIP Yomie, you had the brains to figure the Agbui out, but your silly fiancé did not and now we're in a bit of a pickle. Haplif giving Yoponek the brooch he took from Yomie's corpse to Yoponek and telling him she left it for him to pin it to her dress on their wedding day when they met again and Yoponek just believing that day will come and meanwhile Yomie's floating in the damn VOID-

I'm sad about them.

...

Ar'alani: You need to identify yourselves.

Battle Dreadnaught: We've been begged by the people of this world to protect them from threats.

Ar'alani: Oh, so you've talked with the Magys, too?

BD: The what?

Ar'alani: The leader of the people of Sunrise.

BD: Never heard of it.

BD: We were begged though. We will get rid of you if you don't leave.

Ar'alani: Mate-

...

Ar'alani: You need to bring that asteroid's missile with you

Lakinda: Ok.

*later & with no asteroid missile (too slow to get it out intact in time to provide aid to the Vigilant)*

Ar'alani: uUUhhhhh we might not do well with this now...

*more battle. Lakinda lays into the damaged side of the Dreadnaught and pretty much takes it out after Ar'alani draws enemy fire to her ship.*

Ar'alani: Yeah, nice.

...

Lakinda: Oh my stars, what if Thrawn's not even that good? What if it was just Ar'alani all along- no. No, he is good. He just learned from the best. *is a little bit obsessed with Ar'alani and Thrawn's history*

...

Ar'alani: Ok, Csilla said you have to go help Thrawn with the pirates, but I know you have beef with him-

Lakinda: I do NOT have beef with Thrawn.

Ar'alani: You get this annoyed look and tone whenever you interact with him even if he's not being annoying.

Ar'alani: Anyway, as Admiral I can just keep you here if you don't want to go.

Lakinda: No, it's fine.

Ar'alani: Sure.

...

HHhhh ok. Haplif is getting so much Chiss info and Lakuviv and Co. are completely unaware they're being played and I'm scared about how this whole thing with the Nyix mines is going to play out.

...

Lakbulbup: Hey so there's this guy called Senior Captain Thrawn and he's good with analysing art-

Lakphro: Yeah fine. Send the brooch to him.

...

Captain Fsir: aaaaa help, we're being attacked by Vagaari scouts.

Thrawn, off mic to the bridge crew: This is a set up.

...

Thrawn: I have a plan but I need to see inside your ship first.

Fsir: What-

(He got invited over and took them down so fast at the "pirate base" because of it lmao).

...

Lakooni: *comm dies after she sends the emergency family summons* LAKUVIV. Your comm is shiet

Lakuviv: That officer you were talking to was me, I'm sorry it had to go this way *pulls a blaster on her* if you'll follow me to my private rooms-

Lakooni, absolutely furious: I'm going to fuck you up so bad for this, do you even know? Do you know what you've unleashed? I'll end your entire career, you backstabbing son of a bi-

Lakuviv: *raises blaster a bit higher*

Lakooni: FIne.

(I can't be the only one whose mind went straight to the gutter and wondered if AO3 had anything with them jxfkjeasdfkjsd)

...

Every time someone says "yeah, we'll swing by," (which is a lot actually now that I think about it) gave me a bit of a giggle. It made conversation feel more real.

...

Lakinda when the summons came through: Ok but does Thrawn NEED me there? no. He just needs my ship *leaves*

...

Apros when Grayshrike eventually meets up with Springhawk: Lakinda got called away on a family emergency order put out to all CEDF Xodlak that weren't in immediate battles or on critical missions.

Thrawn, pissed: WHAt-

Samakro, also pissed and angry at Apros: DID YOU TRY TO STOP HER?

Apros, not able to be pissed with Thrawn because he's higher rank, but able to be pissed with Samakro because they're the same rank and therefore fair game: YES. WHY THE FUCK WOULD I NOT?

Apros: oh btw, Thrawn, she said this had come for you *gives him Lakphro's brooch*

Thrawn: Ooh, pretty.

...

Thrawn to the Magys: Wakey wakey, do you know what this is? *holds up the brooch*

The Magys: The work of my people. It looks new, though.

Thalias: surprise, they're not dead.

The Magys: There is hope!

*when they've put The Magys back into hibernation*

Thrawn: We also have three families being scammed.

Samakro: *grumpy noises*

...

Lakinda, just woken up: What do you want?

Thrawn over comms: You're being scammed. There are no mines. It's a set up.

Lakinda: Damn.

Thrawn: I have a plan though!

Lakinda once he's explained: From the bottom of my heart, what the fuck-

Samakro: That's insane actually.

Thrawn: Well if you two come up with anything better, let me know <3

...

Samakro convincing everyone that Thrawn's plans are strictly military and that he's got no clue with politics and doesn't know how to play them anyway (which is still wild to me tbh. I don't believe it) and then even convincing himself on it too/that Thrawn's their best commander even if his plans are insane sometimes.

...

I'm still processing the 3 families showdown over Sunrise but Thrawn's plan worked a treat even with family politics fucking up Lakinda's end (my girl got thrown in the brig for talking to Thrawn/warning him that at the end of this the embarrassment at finding out they were being scammed would have worse fallout than the actual fight that they didn't think of when they were making the plan).

...

Lakinda: Oh my gods it was Ar'alani copying Thrawn's tactics the whole time-

...

Thyklo: Patriarch Thooraki is dead.

Thurfian: Ah. Condolences.

Thyklo: You're replacing him.

Thurfian: It is an honour.

Thurfian, internally: holy FUCK- Zistalmu is going to lose his damn mind lmfao.

[jedi-enthusiast]

My Thoughts on Episode One

Keep in mind that these are just my thoughts that I've written down as I watch the show, they may change or I may expand on them later.

"Former Jedi Knight Ahsoka Tano-"

Bitch, she was never Knighted! She was a padawan!

I see we're already starting off strong /s

Although, I will say, I'm glad they put "the EVIL Galactic Empire" because the way some people talk about the Empire is like they're trying to make it seem like it wasn't that bad---at least this shuts those bootlickers up. So, silver linings!

----------

Ngl I think Dave Filoni was trying way too hard to recreate the "hallway scene" with Darth Vader in Rogue One and failed miserably.

Also, if people keep referring to Ahsoka as a "Jedi" throughout this episode, I may or may not explode.

-----------

"The Order doesn't exist anymore."

And I am once again reliving Order 66 and crying, thanks a lot.

----------

"Let's just say I didn't follow 'standard Jedi protocol.'"

Given what we see of her interrogation tactics in that one TCW episode with Luminara, as well as Anakin's tactics, when not following "standard Jedi protocol" ...I'm more than a little concerned by what Ahsoka means by this. Did she torture Morgan? Did she take Morgan's mind apart like Maul did to Jesse?

C'mon Ahsoka, what did you do that wouldn't have been standard Jedi protocol?

----------

"They seem to have abilities like you."

Hera, you were literally basically married to a Jedi and you were also captured by Maul at some point, Kanan talked to you about this stuff and you experienced it...you know what a Sith is.

Ahsoka, you also know what a Sith is.

They're literally wielding red lightsabers in the holo.

Why are both of you acting like you don't know this?

Also, why is Hera talking like she wasn't literally at the battle of Lothal and like she also didn't know of/have beef with Thrawn?

----------

Once again with calling Ahsoka a Jedi.

Also, Ahsoka has always said "I am no Jedi' or said that she isn't a Jedi anytime someone has called her that since she left the Order, so why isn't she denying it now?

----------

LOTH CATS OH MY FUCKING GOD-

----------

Ok, I know Ezra's recording is supposed to be this really emotional spurring moment but like...

1. The dialogue feels so utterly flat- (so far most of the dialogue has felt that way for me tbh, it's like...none of the characters are really talking like the characters, yknow? And it all just feels so stilted, like they don't know themselves or the people around them).

And 2. Ezra wouldn't have had time to make a recording??? Him taking out Thrawn was a spur of the moment decision, they didn't know everything was gonna happen the way it did, so how exactly did he make this recording???

----------

FDSLKJALJHFJA IT WAS A NIGHTSISTER TEMPLE???

MORGAN IS A NIGHTSISTER???

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

----------

"Ahsoka Tano's former apprentice is on Lothal...you're looking for Sabine Wren."

I assume this is gonna be explained later, so I'm attempting to hold in my judgement---but since when did Jedi start taking non-Force-sensitive apprentices?

Kanan taught Sabine how to use the Darksaber so she wouldn't hurt herself and so that she would let go of her fear/anger/pain so she could face her family---so why in the world was Ahsoka teaching her, and since when is taking a Force-null as an apprentice a thing?

I'm just so confused.

----------

"There is nothing easy about being a Jedi."

AHSOKA HAS SAID REPEATEDLY THAT SHE IS NOT A JEDI, WHERE IS THIS COMING FROM????

Also, again, since when can Force-nulls become Jedi?

I'm assuming that they're taking the "Sabine is Force-sensitive" route for this, even though it's very weird considering she never showed signs of it in Rebels, but I still feel like they should've already revealed that if that's the case---because right now it's just confusing.

If they don't go that route then I genuinely already hate the route this is going as far as Jedi stuff goes.

----------

"Anakin never got to finish my training. Before the end of the Clone Wars, I walked away from him...and the Jedi."

*long sigh* not this bullshit again.

Ahsoka he literally helped Palpatine commit genocide against the fucking Jedi---that was probably a bigger factor in you not finishing your training than you deciding to take some time to figure yourself out. Seek therapy, please.

----------

I'm gonna be honest, this lightsaber battle between Sabine and the apprentice is...so disappointing.

To be fair, though, I've been disappointed by every lightsaber duel since everything set in the Prequel era---nothing can really live up to those duels.

----------

Since when can people live through getting stabbed with a lightsaber, without drawing on the Dark Side?

Sabine should be fucking dead, like Qui-Gon was in TPM.

And before anyone says- "oh it's the end of the episode, you don't know if she's still alive" -yes I do, because I already know she's in episode 2.

----------

My thoughts on episode 2 will probably either go up tomorrow night or sometime this weekend, I don't know yet because I'll be moving into my dorm tomorrow.

Already though I can safely say: my expectations were literally in the ground and I'm already disappointed.

[tarisilmarwen]

Ahsoka "The Jedi, The Witch, and The Warlord" Liveblog

Woo boy, there were certainly some Choices in this.

Yeah yeah, I'm late and spoilered to hell I know, look, I have been Going Through It out in realspace and my priority has been finishing Whumptober fics, cut me some slack.

Anyway.

Lars Mikkelson continuing to crush it as Thrawn.

"Even I fell victim to the... heroics of a single Jedi." Looooooool another bit for my collection of Pissy!Thrawn moments.

We're not going to get an explanation for why the Nightsisters and Thrawn are so tight, are we?

Morgan looks a little bit trepidacious about all of this ha ha.

All right, a point in this show's favor, this look at Nightsister rituals and culture is interesting.

And the flaming sword is cool, I'll admit.

Ngl, the editing really needs to be tightened up in this scene, we really only needed the one or two establishing shots before cutting into the interior.

Eman continues to be the perfect Ezra. I love him. 10/10 no complaints.

Ngl, this is sweet on the surface that Ezra's new saber has pieces of Kanan's buuuuuuuut *waves Green Saber Ezra Supremacy flag*.

Sabine, let him borrow y'all's lightsaber and YOU build a new one.

Ah goody, an Exposition Reveal.

-_-

This... doesn't actually explain Baylan's "Your family is dead because your Master didn't trust you." line btw. JUST SAYING.

I don't even know what the narrative wants anymore re. Sabine's choice to gamble Thrawn's return for Ezra.

Aaaand please not to be reminding me of the Wrong Jedi arc kthnx.

Oh good an action scene.

Ezra and Ahsoka being cool Jedi together, nice. Could be more emphasized and staged even more coolly tho.

Well poop, I guess that's the reason why we had to risk stowing away on Thrawn's ship.

Oh good! This holomap thing is exactly the kind of plot device I actually needed for one of my Sabezra Week fills.

Lol Thrawn be taking NO chances lololol.

Oh hello finally some of Thrawn's theme in the score here. Thrawn using the men's loyalty and fanaticism towards him personally to achieve his goals, fits the culty vibes, sure.

I am liiiiiviiiiiiiiiiiing for the subtle nervousness in Ezra's voice when talking about Thrawn finding the Dathomir castle and waking the witches. PLEASE CAN I HAVE A THOUSAND WHUMP AND ANGST FICS ABOUT THE IN-BETWEEN BEFORE EZRA'S ESCAPE FROM THE CHIMAERA?

His arms are so comfortably around Sabine awwwwww.

Thrawn be all srs bznss and I'm loving it.

Yeah no, Jedi!Sabine is REJECTED, she did not have any kind of necessary mental or emotional breakthrough, she wasn't shown calming her mind properly, sorry Dave THE LEGWORK AIN'T THERE, Imma fix this to be Ahsoka in the inevitable rewrite/fixfic that I've apparently decided I'm doing.

Oh Ahsoka is helping too, well I'm still not having Sabine be able to do it.

HAAAAAAAAAA THAT PISSED LOOK OF THRAWN'S OH MAN THE SNARLING LIP CURL, THE RAGE, YES PLEASE MORE.

The struggle to recompose himself OH MAN.

This is peak Mirrorverse!Thrawn and I'm here for it. I love seeing my headcanons playing out onscreen.

Aaaaaand this would have been the perfect scene to have Ezra and Sabine sharing the Our Lightsaber, meanwhile Sabine should be fully kitted out Mando style.

*simmers*

STAGE THIS DIFFERENTLY SO THAT SABINE'S BESKAR IS NOT CONSTANTLY LITERAL PLOT ARMOR PLEASE.

Aahhhhhhh Ezra my love! <3

Should have either let him use the Our Lightsaber or continued with the Force martial arts though, pick a lane. Or have a conversation about why they need to actually get him another saber.

Eman is... waaaaaaay better at this than Rosario, sad to say, lol.

Look at him GO THERE'S MY BOY.

I love him.

Oh what are we doing now?

Ohhhhh the zombie!troopers!

Lol Ezra must have left before the Nightsisters could show Thrawn their zombie techniques.

Eman makes this look flawless, I am in love.

Battle Couple Sabezra moment, awww.

"I missed you."

FAKSJHFAKJFHHKKHHHFHFH OKAY DEAD.

DEAD AND DECEASED.

LIKE THE ZOMBIES LOL.

Aaaaaaaaand I'm gonna adjust this in the fixfic, because right now it looks like they were waiting to actually dock.

And my typing is being slowed down hang on a second.

Still dumb.

Okay back.

Thrawn basically telling Morgan, "Right, so you're going to have to go fight the Rebels and stall die for me, mmkay?"

She's looking like she might regret all of this now lolol.

I do like how the finale is making it very very easy for me to fix later lol.

Like here. Morgan should have attempted to stop Ezra and Sabine. Just a small attempt, and then blocked by Ahsoka, and Ezra and Sabine run around and outmaneuver them.

BATTLE COUPLE SABEZRA. :D

Aaaaand final trailer shot accounted for.

Okay, can there be a little more effort on the choreography there please?

Oh no Sabine, EZRA SAVE HER.

Or we could retcon Sabine into actually legitimately being Force Sensitive and have her pull the Our Lightsaber.

SIIIIIIIIGHHHHHHH.

*grumbles, takes down notes about how to fix this in my rewrite*

Oh come on Ezra, you can jump that.

Catch me melting at the sheer and utter trust Ezra has in Sabine's abilities.

(But also, screw this, she's getting a jetpack in the rewrite.)

Aaaaaaaaaand I do hate that they got separated again, screwing alllllll of that.

Nice of the troopers to just politely stop shooting.

Yeah so, this is basically gonna be a 1 v 100 for Ahsoka when I rewrite it, let my girl have a hard fought climactic battle, she can take it.

"Your friends are dead." Uhhhh nah they ain't what does this bit of dialogue even connect to?

Lol Ezra gets to put on the big boy stormtrooper armor.

The vaaaaaaaaaguely panicky twitches that Thrawn has here. A+, excellent, no notes.

No kill like overkill LOLOLOL.

Thrawn, internally: Shitshitshitshitshitshitshiiiiiiiiiiiiit.

Ah Thrawn is going to try Break Them By Talking. Ezra tanked this let's see if Ahsoka can do the same.

Nope, she's Affected.

Aaaaaand he out.

Bye Thrawn!

Hmmmmgh, yeah no, because in my rewrite I'm axing the entirety of Sabine actually becoming a Jedi it's going to be better that she goes with Ezra on the Eye of Sion instead of stays with Ahsoka, if she stayed a Jedi then yes that's what the conclusion should have been that makes narrative sense now that I see it.

But also again, I Do Not Like That Plot Point so--*grumblegrumble mumble*

Hi Morai!

Bandit queen Shin? I could dig it.

Baylan chilling with Mortis god statues.

I STILL DO NOT SEE ANY SOLID EVIDENCE THEY'RE GONNA DO ABELOTH GUYS, SORRY.

And Thrawn is setting up base on Dathomir. Lol wait til he finds out that there's basically nothing there anymore lololol.

Those uh... those be a lotta dead troopers. Probably most of the Chimaera crew.

...Cripes did they die naturally, did Ezra kill them, or did Thrawn pull some kind of Jonestown thing in order to enact his eventual revenge?

Oh maaaaan what if it's that last one, that would fit with the cult-like chanting in his intro omgghghhhggkajsfkjh.

Frick man, Thrawn fixing to unleash an undead army on the GFFA that can really only be taken out by lightsabers.

Oh come on, you're telling me Ezra was on the Eye and didn't pull some last minute shenanigans before he left?

Didn't screw Thrawn over one last time for nostalgia's sake?

(He and Sabine are blowing up some engines before they skedaddle, in the fixfic.)

HERA AND EZRA SHOULD HAVE BEEN ALLOWED A HUG, FILONI.

The attempt at bookends here is cute but no. LET HERA HUG HER SON.

THIS DOESN'T EVEN REALLY WORK AS A BOOKEND.

YES THE PART WHERE CHOPPER RECOGNIZES HIM IS CUTE BUT THIS IS WASTED DRAMA. THERE'S NO REASON FOR THIS.

LET HERA HUG HER SOOOOOOONNNN.

This whole scene just doesn't work because we're trying to shoehorn it into being a bookend for the opening, it doesn't wooooooooooorrrrrk.

THEY SHOULD HAVE HUGGED.

*furiously taking down notes on how to rewrite this scene*

*grumbling*

Blah blah Sabine can feel Anakin there but Ahsoka can't? blah blah blah.

Aaaaaaand closing us out with "As The Sun Sails And The Moon Walks"

Well.

Where do I begin?

Okay so... final verdict... I DO actually like this show.

THAT BEING SAID.

There was soooooooo much about the execution and so many of the narrative choices that I just NEEDED to be better and it frustrates me. Because this show by all rights should have been a spectacular emotional thrill ride like Kenobi and it just wasn't.

A lot of the problems and nitpicks I had with Kenobi are exacerbated here, especially under Filoni's brand of, "I didn't care for what Lucas did with the Prequels, here let me fix it." NO FILONI IT DIDN'T NEED FIXING IT WAS FINE! HOW THE FORCE WORKED WAS FINE! THE JEDI WERE FINE!

But there's such GOOD STUFF in here that I can't discount it all fully like I can with the Sequel Trilogy. (Which, believe me, I have attempted to workshop and fixfic but ultimately gave up on.) The purrgil lore! The Ancient Dathomiri! Another galaxy! Whatever Baylan was up to! Sabezra being adorable! Thrawn!

Soooooo yeah, basically join me sometime in the future for when I inevitably create a fixfic AU for this show like I did for Aldnoah.Zero because unfortunately I can't give up on this show I need to fix it, just hand me the characters and story and I can fix it.

Can't do much for the camerawork, choreography, and occasional stiff acting (Not you Eman, Natasha, Ray, Evan, and Lars, you're all great.) but I can at least salvage that part lol.

Ultimately... mid. Excellent premise and cool concepts brought down by subpar execution and some frankly baffling narrative decisions. But gimme like a week and I will workshop a Fanon AU that I can be completely happy with.

Hopefully we get a Season Two? Maybe? Or resolve everything in the Mandoverse movie?

Peace out, y'all.

[lorrainestea]

Tales of The Empire - Morgan Elsbeth story thoughts:

Honestly about the whole series, I'm happy we got more Morgan content, but it still seems to... Shallow? I hoped we would know about her life before, at least two minutes of showing her just chilling with her friends and mom and living her life before everything turned rapidly. It would be even more tragic to see how she lost herself after the horrors she witnessed.

Also loved the woman from the Mountain Clan, good job at taking care of traumatized teenager who's mom was killed right in front of her eyes and then be like "Hey, come here and look how your home is burning and everyone you loved is dead and burning, but you just live in peace now and forget all your fears, they're stupid". Morgan acted stupidly and harshly when she wanted to destroy the rest of the droids, but omg she herself said she was a child, a traumatized child feeling guilty about her mother's death and just wanting to protect others. She felt like she must do something to protect them and of course in her head made sense that go in a fight it's the only option. She needed understanding and something better than being basically told "Calm down". And then that woman told Morgan she knows her destiny and she feels sorry for her? Ma'am that's a child that just lost everything, how about a little sympathy and try to help her otherwise when "Don't worry about anything, everything is okay" for some very strange reason didn't work?

Not to mention that we didn't even have a chance to see Morgan dealing with her emotions properly. Idk how about you, but if my people were all killed, my family was killed, I was almost killed and my culture, one part of me, just disappeared and my whole life changed this dramatically, I can imagine losing a will to live when there would be nothing left for me anymore. And again, I would need someone by my side who wouldn't even have to understand, just be there for me and see my point of view.

So let's agree Morgan needed therapy more than anything and let's move on.

Oh and for some reason Morgan lost her marks but not the crescent one on her forehead and Merrin apparently never lost hers? Like what?

They skipped the part of her life I was so curious about, I mean how exactly did she start designing weapons? How exactly did she get her post on Calodan and how did she build her lil gang?

And to her meeting with Thrawn... Look, I didn't even read the whole first Ascendency book and I still agree Eli Vanto should be there if anything else doesn't make sense (**ahem** Morgan designing TIE fighters that she would never design because Thrawn used a design of Chiss technology **ahem**). Also was it really so clown of me thinking we're gonna get deep dive in Morgan's relationship with Thrawn? Was it so naive to think they were like a mentor and a student and Thrawn saw potential in her and helped Morgan direct her ambitions and plans because it was somehow convenient for both of them?

Or am I supposed to believe that this was their whole relationship and the reason why Morgan was willing to sacrifice everything and risk everything to pick him up from a distant galaxy?

I love Morgan, I'm happy we got an extra 30 minutes of her and Diana could once again give her life, but this didn't help to completely see under the surface where the iceberg is.

[roboknight-prime]

Ezra: [After Defeating Thrawn] Sabine? Sabine, do you read? Sabine, come in.

[Ezra turns around as he sees Sabine appears, now the projection of a force ghost]

Ezra: How...?

Sabine: Oh, I'm the strangest thing you've seen all day?

Ezra: But if we're here...

Sabine: It worked. You did it. Just like you always do.

[Ezra looks around the void for a way out]

Ezra: So how do we get out of here?

Sabine: [hesitates] I'm not coming with you this time.

Ezra: What?

Sabine: Most of me is down there. I only held enough back to get you off the ship.

Ezra: No. That's not... we go together.

Sabine: It's already done.

Ezra: I am not leaving you here.

Sabine: Ezra...

[Sabine gently touches Ezra's chest]

Sabine: I've waited so long to do that.

[Ezra looks away from Sabine for a second, as he knows what had happened and what she did in order to save him rather than saving herself..]

Ezra: It was my job to take care of you.

Sabine: We were supposed to take care of each other. And we did.

[Ezra and Sabine share a brief but loaded look, knowing that this is the last time they'll see each other again..]

Ezra: Sabine... please...

[Sabine backs away slowly]

Ezra: Wait...

Sabine: Welcome home, Ezra.

[Sabine disappears as Ezra stays frozen in place as his world comes crumbling down when he realizes… he lost the one that he loved and the person that was closest to him. Ezra will now regret not telling Sabine how he'd really felt about Sabine. As he didn't get the chance to tell her… that he loved her more than a friend..]

[frasier-crane-style]

I'm not sure Ahsoka is even a story

People have been comparing the writing to an AI and... they've got a point there. I mean, stuff happens... barely... but it's like there's no attempt to dramatize or sex things up or impart any excitement or conflict or nuance into the story. Dave Filoni has one move and it's spamming lightsaber fights and starship dogfights constantly.

(Speaking of which, remember in the movies when lightsaber fights would end with SOMEONE dying or at least being maimed? People get IMPALED in Ahsoka and they're there in the next scene like "get some sleep, you need it." Like being impaled by a lightsaber is a cold. Not even a bad cold. They might as well put the lightsabers away and settle things by arm-wrestling, it resolves as much!)

(I'm convinced that Marrok was a studio note added at the last minute because someone realized they had made a show with eight hours of people trying to kill each other with laser swords and no one actually dying.)

I actually read a quote by Timothy Zahn where his idea was that, in their decade-long exile together, Thrawn and Ezra had been forced into an uneasy alliance against an even greater threat. Like, yeah! That's dramatic! That's Something and not Nothing.

When you watch the show, though, it's more like they've just gone off to summer camp. Ezra sees Sabine again and he's just like "hi, how are you?" He's older and he hasn't changed at all. Neither has Thrawn. He's painted his Star Destroyer a bit and he calls his Stormtroopers Nighttroopers now (surely not to sell new merchandise instead of the same old action figures)... other than that, no change in his character whatsoever. Same guy.

Oh, he's teamed up with the Nightsisters, but that just amounts to him getting the obligatory Imperial superweapon. Does anyone really think this isn't going to turn into another plot coupon quest to stop him from using his new toy to destroy the New Republic before it gets destroyed anyway?

I mean, how can you not brainstorm SOMETHING interesting happening with this setup? It's impressive! A kind of anticreativity.

What if Sabine was in love with Ezra, then gets there and finds out he's gotten hitched to a cute Rodian or something. Or maybe he's gone kind of mad with isolation and is using the Dark Side, but doesn't know better in his crazed state?

Or Thrawn could be this Colonel Kurtz figure who's gone around the bend and his Stormtroopers all worship him like a cult leader. Like, right now, what does he even have against the New Republic? Why does he like the Empire so much? What is he trying to achieve? What benefit does he get from challenging the NR over simply suing for peace? It's insane--this one specific character is meant to be a galaxy-killing threat based solely on him as a person, but we know nothing about him as a person. (And he squeaks out a victory over three people, BARELY, and we're supposed to buy that the universe should be quaking in its boots.)

Filoni actually even stumbles upon a good vein of drama. Sabine betrays the galaxy to save her platonic friend. No one cares. Ezra doesn't care, Ahsoka doesn't care--why should the audience care?

Ahsoka trains Sabine to be a Jedi (that's its own rant, by the way), but stops because she worries Sabine will go the same way as Anakin. Jedi are all about nonattachment and Mandalorians are all about clans and lineage. Then, at the worst possible moment, Sabine proves her right, makes the exact same choice that Anakin did to go with saving a loved one over the fate of the galaxy... and Ahsoka just shrugs and goes "eh, no big!"

And I get it. I'm a comic book fan. I don't want to see noble, experienced characters flying off the handle at the drop of a hat and attacking their loved ones because it's their turn to hold the conflict ball. But these characters have no emotions at all! I don't care how good a person you are, if your bestie sells a nuke to Neo-Nazis to get you out of debt, you should probably raise your voice a little.

Also, is the last episode the first time they actually set up that Ahsoka and Sabine's conflict is over this "I'm afraid of her turning out like Anakin" thing? Well after it's resolved? Why? You have eight hours of TV show, you can set this up early on and then pay it off later (not next season, but later).

'Ahsoka has an astral-plane pow-wow with Anakin and gets over her issues' is a decent plot, but you have to actually depict her issues ahead of time, you have to dramatize them in a certain way so we know what the heck you're talking about!

Imagine if in Back To The Future, the first time we saw George McFly was when he punched out Biff and saved Lorraine. You wouldn't care at all, right? It's just a guy punching another guy. We have to know that George is a pussy and that Biff is his tormentor and that he's in love with Lorraine from afar--once we know all that context, THEN it's a triumph for him to punch Biff.

Your show can't just be people punching each other out! It also has to be reasons to give a shit about the punching!

You don't have to spell everything out, but you can't just show Rosario Dawson crossing her arms and expect us to know "oh, she's traumatized from Anakin becoming Darth Vader, she never got over that." You have to put that into words and imagery! Show us her ACTING! Let us RELATE to her! Introduce these people to us and let us get to know them! You can't coast on everyone already liking them because they look like old cartoon characters.

[isagrimorie]

[initial reactions] Star Wars Ahsoka 1x06 - Far, far away

Why is this show only 8 episodes??? I want to spend more time in Peridea!

Peridea, where Purgill comes to die, and the homeworld of the Witches of Dathomir. I get it now when House of R posited one of the reasons why Filoni loves Tolkien is that the setting is always in places with ruins and structures of once great empires because this is what Peridea is.

Also, there are more threatening powers in this new galaxy, as hinted by Baylan. He wants to break the cycle of the Jedi rising and falling and all its folly. Baylan claimed that he trained Shin 'to be more'.

And interestingly, Sabine 'reeks of Jedi,' but Baylan and Shin don't.

Thrawn is here! I believed he'd be shown in the last episode of the season but no! Filoni once again zigged when I thought he would zag and we're seeing Thrawn - weathered and his opinions on Force users changed.

ALSO IS ONE OF THE GREAT MOTHERS CLAUDIA BLACK???? I have to rewatch the credits later.

And we saw Ezra and Oh my... I get it now he looks HOT. Especially with that beard and okay, I kind of ship Ezra and Sabine a bit because of this. He aged and matured well, it didn't translate in the animated series but here?

Hello, sailor!

I love how Sabine went all... Sabine Alone, and she got a dog horse of her own. She might also have an affinity for animals.

But oh, Sabine 'I named a weapon after Duchess Satine' Wren, of House Disaster Lineage... strikes again. Ezra won't be happy with this, he of House Mace Windu.

I love the small scene that we saw of Ahsoka, who might have been riding the euphoria of rebirth but still has unresolved issues, as I mentioned last episode. She's chosen to live and embrace life, but all those issues don't go away. Ahsoka still has concerns, especially about Sabine's decision-making.

There's a really interesting discussion of destiny and fate that might be a throughline through everything and underscore Ahsoka's series. I wonder where they're going with this.

I love how Peridea looks so high fantasy, and it's brought on with the creatures, and really Baylan, Shin fit in but also Sabine with her Mando armor and cloak.

I love the weathered structures and ruins and the mention of the Great Witch Kingdom of Dathomir. Why did some of the Nightsisters migrate to another galaxy? What vast threat is there that they need a whole new Galaxy's distance to escape?

Baylan talks about the cycles the Jedi go through from rise to fall and how disillusioned he is of it-- how he loved the idea of the Jedi but not the reality of their flaws. This episode is the most dialogue-heavy of all episodes. PLEASE FILONI MOVE AWAY FROM FAVREAU'S LITTLE-TO-NO-DIALOGUE APPROACH.

I love that Ahsoka is being treated as this mythic, larger-than-life threat. 'She is coming.' is the new 'Winter is coming'.

I KNEW I KNEW AND TOLD MYSELF THIS WAS THE FIRST OF A THREE-PARTER!

DID I LISTEN TO MYSELF??? NO. OF COURSE NOT.

Sometimes, the wound is self-inflicted!

If the last episode was a love letter to Clone Wars fans, this episode is a love letter to Rebels fans.

[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.

[movietimegirl]

Ahsoka ep 7 thoughts time! It's not in order.

Hera is in court and of course THAT guy had to be there🙄

Mandaolore and Moff Gidon name drop! Mando S3 is took place before Ahsoka Comfriend! Looking forward to Din and Grogu will meet the ghost crew!

I know Hamato did not just say Moff Gideon was just a random warlord. Like...what? This guy knows nothing.

It's my boy CP30 in the name of Leia Organa!

"Mere droid" Chopper is about throw hands!

Hera has been saved! Leia is a queen!

Ahsoka is training with Anakin's training log. Apparently, it was the last one. 🥺

Also Ventress, Dooku, and Grievous name drop! Woo!

OH my god! They are shooting at the Space Wales! Leave them alone!

Oh good, the wales are noping out there.

Into the Space wale grave yard we go.

Meanwhile, more Sabine, Ezra, and space crabs!❤️

Ezra catching up on things. And hey...Zeb name drop!

"That's what they say" I believe that was a jab at the sequel trilogy 🤣

I believe Sabine left Jacen out on purpose. She wants Ezra see him for himself. I going to pass away when he finds out that he is the son of Kanan.🥺💚

Ezra is really asking how Sabine got and she keeps saying it's complicated. The truth is coming in the final. Oof🤧

"What? Why? I mean...Congregations." Oh, Ezra. Eman Esfandi is doing such an awesome job bringing Ezra to life. I'm going to make a separate post because deserves so much praise for his performance! 👏🏾

Baylan is leaving Shin? Come on now! What on this planet is so important to him leave his appearance like that?

Ahsoka is reaching out to Sabine. She hears her. And the night sister knows his location.

Ohhh, Thrawn knows Anakin was Ahsoka's master. Now the question is, are they going to make the books canon? Because Thrawn has actually met Anakin during the Clone Wars and later Darth Vader. It'll be interesting how Filoni will handle this.

Ahsoka and Huyang it on the way.

Ezra, Sabine, and the crab people are under attack!

"Take us a prisoners" That was SO Ezra!

Ezra taught them how use a slingshot! It's true! It has to be!

Ezra dosn't need his lightsaber, he has force! Ngl, he remind me of Chirrut Îmwe when he fought 🥺

Ezra got moves! Stopping that lightsaber! Only to grab a blaster 🤣

Ahsoka and Baylan rematch! Fight! Huyang is air support.

Ha! Ahsoka took his ride

Ahsoka has arrived! It's the big three people!

I really feel bad for Shin here. Ahsoka said she can help her but she ran off, a lot going on in her mind. Where is she going to go now?😢

Ahsoka and Ezra hugs! Ahsoak laughing 💚💙🧡

Ezra holding crab's hands🥺

Thrawn did that to buy to get the heck out of here. Always one step ahead. They are going to have to stop him in the final.🥶

And that's it! I'm pretty sure I missed some things, wooo! Anyways, can you believe we're down to the final already? Times flys. Rick Famuyiwa is directing the final and I am hyped and scared on what's gonna happen. Till then, see ya then.👋🏽

[twilightofthe]

okay i put all my cranky thoughts into a separate post that's now drafted and it made me feel better so i'll be able to watch this episode now lol but if it gets me worked up again i'm posting the rant i'm sorry i cannot be helped or changed or saved <3

ANYWAY AHSOKA EP 2

also i forgot to say so last episode but kevin kiner my ABSOLUTE BELOVED the return of the king is real so happy to have you here my dude the ending and full theme was absolutely gorgeous

anywayyyyyy so i am guessing sabine did not make like satine and survived her shish kabobing

well there's ahsoka

oh yeah there's bean she's fine she'll be fine xD

damn filoni really gave more handwaving to having a character survive a major impalement vs me twisting myself into fucking knots writing anakin getting run through lmao

ahsoka sorry but actually i'm gonna blame u for this you still kinda seem like a mess and i don't think you were a very good teacher to sabine and now ur dropping back in on her when she's convenient to you?

well at least we know why she's so adamant against training baby yoda lol

ope here's goth girl and the fuuuuck is his NAME again i keep calling him fucking bryan

i like the fancy sithy-looking sundial tho

pfff second ep is "toil and trouble" guess we're getting witchy!

OH YEAH WAS SABINE'S KITTY OKAY

THEY BETTER BE OKAY

I SWEAR TO GOD

yea ahsoka what happened to showing up in the nick of time and saving kanan and ezra from inquisitors in rebels u were slowwww girlie

OK GOOD THE CAT IS OKAY

that's all that matters

ope one more droid hanging around ezra's place

GIRL UR SITTING UP ALREADY?!

GIRL HOW CAN U BREATHE

we do love the mechanic girl of my heart

sabine does love her explosions

no huyang hera just likes explosions

sabine works best under explosive pressure we LOVE HER

ope back to corellia i guess? we can reuse the old solo sets?

sabine

you were just

impaled

"but she's not the one who needs to hear it right now" ahhh there's the sabine and hera dialogue. ugh but i'm still not used to natasha and mary i can just hear tiya and vanessa doing it instead :(

WHY DO Y'ALL KEEP MAKING SABINE AND AHSOKA ANGRY EXES TF

"ancient ppl from a distant galaxy" waaaaaaait are they bringing in those eu dudes

no wait i think i remember something about these guys that was mention as the big bad in the canceled animated rebels sequel

or it could just be the chiss lmao

that could be it too, makes sense why they'd want thrawn

ok that is some real cool galactic map visuals i am an absolute sucker for a good starmap

ok but wait how the fuck did y'all get a map to thrawn anyway did the space whales write it

also sorry morgan but i don't personally think thrawn would go for u nothing personal you are hot but you don't quite seem his type

waaaait is fucking thrawn gonna have force sensitivity now THAT would be absolutely hilarious and he'd hate it so much

who's marrok i have no memory

y'all you can't just make thrawn work for you didn't he only work with the empire cuz he had to because it would advantage his people somehow (has read zero thrawn novels and only seen rebels)

please tell me sabine is in the fucking vents of ahsoka's ship

THERE'S THE GHOST WHERE IS CHOPPER

I AM NO LONGER FUCKING ASKING

okay so i think my issue with Mary is she doesn't have any of the same authority and purpose Hera's meant to hav

CHOPPER

CHOPPER

MY MURDERBOT

MY SON

MY ANGEL MY EVERYTHING

Anyway

yeah

oh yeah harping in that the new republic is a total fustercluck

ew a capitalist

bro you know hera used to steal from people like you for the rebellion

sdlkfjsdk omg sabine's mom needs to talk to the teacher to keep her from getting expelled

but also y'all sabine is like 25-30 right now she's not a kid

@ ahsoka bitch you have no fuckin clue what you're doing doooon't talk about readiness

y'know maybe the imperial era just advanced medicine so later impalements don't kill people

oh oh so it IS ezra's!

sabine go find luke he'd love to have you

STOP WITH THE GAY DIALOGUE

ok so yeah she likely doesn't have force sensitvity

goddammit huyang neverMIND

so sabine IS force sensitive :) and kanan and ezra just never brought it up :) great :)

hera my beautiful ship nerd ily

bitch do NOT fuck with hera she has more presence than anyone ever

hera my dude you know better than anyone that if a ship wants to take off you gotta go try and stop it in person

ah i have been waiting like 5 long years to watch hera best pilot there was kick aerial ass

we STAN

chopperrrrrrrrr

oh yeah ahsoka's fighting an inquisitor too lmao

CHOPPER GET THEIR ASS

CHOPPER ADD TO YOUR KILL COUNT

ok this hera and chopper banter is perfect i do love it

VICTORY FOR MY GHOSTS

oh and good job ahsoka lol

aghhh sabine and her therapy cat i'm ;_;

theeeeere's sabine's mando armor

SABINE AND KANAN'S FUCKIN KNIFE I'M GONNA EVEN IGNORE THE BAD MULAN HACKJOB ATTEMPT

okay it seems like mary's kinda on and off for hera so far, she has her moments but she can't hold them

rosario keeps losing me i'm sorryyyyyyyy

natasha is doing GREAT

aaaaaand we redoing the end of the rebels epilogue!

god this makes me miss zeb

and kanan obvs but i've come to accept his death

zeb's still hanging around where is he!!!!!

ah all is right

sabine has her gay haircut back

here we go gay roadtrip to find ezra time

alright so i'm still not really vibing with jedi!sabine at All but i have concluded that this show is watchable but honestly not that good, writing-wise, sorry dave, so i think i'll be able to watch it with my brain turned off

goddammit first i thought the holograms visiting morgan were nightsister witch ghosts xD

RIGHT RIGHT HIS NAME IS BAYLAN NOT BRYAN

morgan stop simping for thrawn i guaranTEE he's not your type

oKAY

we are through with the two episodes! it is very late for me so i'm gonna sit and think on what i've seen so far and shitpost a little. i did really like seeing my rebels blorbos again even if the live action actors don't quite have their groove yet. obviously very excited to retrieve ezra <3 so yeah that was that and i'll be back for more next week!

[adhd-mode-activate]

Hilarious tidbits from me and my siblings watching Mando

"Are we going to recap the entire show up to now?" "yeah, but they don't say anything about Boba Fett" "Oh because that's not important at all" - my siblings during the series recap

"YO"/"Hard to beat that entrance"/"Guess what we're having for dinner, boys!" - the myriad reactions when Mando swoops in and obliterates the giant croc

"Looking into hyperspace cannot be good for you, child" "eh, he'll be fine" "isn't hyperspace sickness a thi--OH MY GOSH SPACE WHALES" "ASK THEM WHERE THRAWN AND EZRA ARE" - honestly how we retain anything while screaming like this is a wonder

"Why do these guys look like live action Hondo thugs?" "oh darn they don't work for Hondo" "dude did all of them really just ignore the menacing guy in full armor in the background?? Idiots"

*when seeing the pirate captain for the first time* "ew"

"Is Bo-Katan pouting?" "Yes" "Absolutely" (bonus: literally every time she complains about Din being part of a cult all of us respond with some variation on "YOU WERE PART OF DEATH WATCH SHUT UP")

(episode 2) "Did she just con him?" "Yes" "okay cool"

"Din just because the atmosphere is breathable doesn't mean that Mandalore isn't cursed." *sees the freaky cavemen with clubs* "TOLD YOU"

"Every time they say Mines of Mandalore I expect them to say the Mines of Moria. Actually, I'm just gonna call it that"

*on seeing the cyborg thing* "EW EW EW EW KILL IT" (this was repeated every time it left a certain shell and started running around in something ELSE utterly horrifying)

"There's a Mythosaur in the mines, isn't there?"

*on seeing the entrance to the mines* "I TOLD YOU IT'S LITERALLY THE MINES OF MORIA"

"MYTHOSAUR I TOLD YOU SO--that's the end of the episode??!?!" "Tune in next week to see them all get eaten by a legendary creature! Woohoo!"

[bylightofdawn]

Genji is being so unbearable this morning and woke my grumpy ass up at 9 something yet again. My morning has been improved somewhat by the new Ahsoka trailer.

I'm sure people are going to find reasons to nitpick and bitch because that's suddenly become the cool thing to do with any and all Star Wars content. Which hey, I feel you fam, we have definitely seen a relative downward spiral in the quality of content versus the uptick in amount. I completely agree with people's right to bitch and moan too so don't take this as me saying "Ugh you can't please everyone, all the nerds are whinging that we broke their beloved franchise again" I just don't want us to turn into say the MCU level of fandom.

I definitely don't want to see Star Wars turned into the next MCU which is definitely a trajectory we've been headed in lately. So I totally get the concerns and complaints.

It definitely feels like we get one Andor level show every 6 series or something like that. So I'm not expecting a whole lot from Ahsoka.

But do I care if it's going to most likely be a mid at best series after this trailer?

Fuck. No.

Because we got to see live action Rebels. We got to see Ezra and it's prolly just a hologram message but oh my god after years of agonizing on where he's at, with the return of Thrawn do we FINALLY get to know what happened to Ezra?

Will we FINALLY be able to retire the "Where is Ezra, is he safe? Is he alright?" meme?

Felony knows exactly what he's doing giving us just a taste with having Zeb show up in Mandalorian. We all lost our fucking minds screaming where is Kallus. And now we're going to get the Ghost crew???

Do I hate Hera's design? Yes, am I questioning what the fuck is up with her lekku from the like 2 seconds we see of her? Yes.

Did Chopper look janky as fuck? Sure. Now ask me if I care Nope. I am hyped and easily manipulated by House of Mouse. But it's also a trailer so like you gotta take anything you see with a grain of salt.

I'm looking forward to people arguing for the next three months online on whether or not Baylan and whoever the hot goth chick whose name we have no idea is are really not Sith because their lightsabers aren't bright scarlet red. I love watching pressed pedantic fanboys (and fangirls) bickering over the banalest of bullshit.

Meanwhile, I'm gonna be in my lane wondering if Kallus will be in this so we can finally get confirmation that KalluZeb is going to be canon. Whether or not I WILL FINALLY GET MY FENN RAU CONTENT and other assorted light-hearted squeeing over silly Star Wars shit.

Because it ain't that deep at the end of the day. I could definitely make the argument that it's a silly space opera with space wizards and a questionable grasp of physics at best.

If you want nitty-gritty realism then go re-watch Andor which had no space wizards in it. But since this is going to be a Jedi or Jedi-adjacent driven vehicle, I know to turn off the critical thinking part of my brain and just enjoy the spectacle.

[tarisilmarwen]

Ahsoka "Fallen Jedi" Liveblog

Let's go let's go let's go let's go let's goooooooooooooo!

Oh I'm so excited for this I already know there are Developments.

Hype hype hype hype.

Oh we're starting off with complete silence are we? Okay.

Sabine trying to raise Hera. :(

Ahhhh yes it's the "Ahsoka and Sabine butting heads about saving Ezra versus stopping Thrawn" convo Sabezra fandom predicted.

"Can I count on you?" Low blow Ahsoka, recalling Ezra's own words.

"I know how much Ezra means to you." *falls into this line, dies*

Oh don't let Huyang get shot, come on now, you already had him get blasted once.

Buncha trailer shots in this episode I'm guessing.

"Stay together. You always did better that way, in my opinion." Ha ha ha this would be a sweet line if we had ever actually SEEN Ahsoka and Sabine working together. *grumbles*

Hera going off by herself to go help Sabine and Ahsoka lolol. That little face she makes when she says, "Watch me."

Baby Jacen is still super precious.

The GHOOOOOOOOOOSSST!

This sequence would have been the perfect spot to drop Zeb in, you know. Just saying.

Go girls go, go, go, you need to get on that ship before it leaves!

And it's my favorite new villain couple.

If Shin could have a bit more personality she'd be more interesting but "feral" is wearing thin.

OH AND NOW WE HAVE A TICKING CLOCK DEVICE.

There were people complaining that this moment where Ahsoka wipes Marrok was lifted from "Twin Suns" but in context... no it's just Dave's usual thing for cool samurai finishers.

Oh wow Shin looks extremely unnerved at Marrok dissipating into green Nightsister mist.

Did... Morgan take all the guards and droids with her? Just leaving Baylan there by himself to handle Ahsoka huh? What a bitch.

"One must destroy in order to create." Nooooooooo they really don't Baylan, that's grade A horseshit.

And stinks of Empire and Sith apologism.

The map is gorgeous. Wish they'd turn the saturation and contrast up just a smidge more so the colors could POP.

Oh this music cue is great!

YES! LET BAYLAN CUT LOOSE. Man is a beast.

Ahsoka's trying to disengage long enough to get the map. :((((

Ha ha, nice. Mandalorian trick.

Ooooof the map burned Ahsoka's hand?

Ahsoka where's your shoto blade?

Right, like Sabine's dinky little blaster is gonna do anything to that map, sure Ahsoka. You just burned your hand on how super overheated it was and all it was doing was generating hyperspace coordinates for a cross-galactic jump, you think a shot from a small firearm is gonna pierce it?

Oooooh that angle-back closed-eye look from Baylan... he's telepathically reading her like a book isn't he?

"Your family died on Mandalore because your Master didn't trust you." WELL I'M JUST GOING TO PATENTLY IGNORE THAT BECAUSE NO FILONI, YOU CANNOT JUST DROP THAT IN LIKE THAT.

Getting real tired of character motivations being reveals and not outright stated from the start.

ALSO WHAT EVEN THE HELL IS HE TALKING ABOUT???!???

THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN REALLY NICE TO ACTUALLY SEE, OR YOU KNOW, TALK ABOUT BEFORE THIS MOMENT.

Anyway as I said, excising this bit entirely from my personal canon, Clan Wren is fine, they're just in hiding like all the other Mandalorian clans.

"And I... to serve a greater good." Ohhhhhhhhhhh I see what you did there, nice paralleling Baylan to Thrawn.

SABINE CHOOSES EZRA.

(I mean I knew it was coming because I was spoiled but still.)

Sabine, Sabine, my poor heartbroken babygirl, this is such a human choice, it's not the choice a Jedi should make but then Sabine isn't a Jedi, I maintain that this is all still playacting and cope that Ahsoka is indulging.

Sabine is falling into the classic Attachment trap but also there are no good choices here. She could try to destroy the map, but I seriously don't think it would work, and then Baylan would just kill her and take the map back anyway.

Maybe she could run but with their ship damaged she wouldn't make it far, she'd have to hide in the woods and avoid Shin and Baylan and whoever else she's stranded and fight them all off by herself for who knows how long until maybe Hera gets there. And she has no way of knowing if Hera's coming.

Oh ouch, I thought Sabine was having a "What have I done?" reaction to handing Baylan the map, but no, Shin is just choking her.

HERA MADE IT.

See it takes Baylan deliberate sustained direct contact with his lightsaber blade to destroy the map, no way was Sabine's blaster gonna do shit to it.

SABINE DID NOTHING WRONG, I WILL DIE ON THIS HILL.

Again, guys, this would have been the perfect sequence to have Zeb in.

Uhhhhhhhhh I would move away from the ring if I were y'all.

HO JEEZ.

OH BOY.

WELP.

Chopper sounds really unnerved.

THE WORLD BETWEEN WORLDS. THE STAR VOID.

Unless it's a weird-ass Force vision lol. Which is still possible.

Yeeeeeeeah I'm going with Force vision, Anakin should be blue and glowing, shouldn't he? Unless things work differently in here.

The Imperial March is not reassuring.

Okay well... that was a thing.

I'm starting to wish Deborah Chow had been showrunner for this, Filoni is doing... okay-ish (not really) but I really think this story needs and deserves a director willing to go all-in on the emotional resonance and beats of the story.

Which isn't to say the Kenobi show didn't have its problems (ho ho boy could I list the nitpicks and writing issues I had with it) but Ahsoka isn't quite reaching the highs it needs. Everything is way more subdued that I think it should be. I don't know how much of this is the writing, how much is the short mini-series format, how much is the cinematography or the directing.

THAT BEING SAID I AM HERE FOR SABINE MISSING EZRA SO MUCH SHE SACRIFICES HERSELF AND THE MAP FOR THE CHANCE TO FIND HIM.

See everything about her motivations makes so more sense if she's in love with him, sorry Filoni, the ship is still sailing.

Baylan got a bit more characterization here and got marginally more interesting, while Shin just... continues to be wet paper. RIP Marrok we hardly knew ye. Hope they explain the green mist shit soon.

Natasha's shoulders must be sore from carrying this show lol. Someone please let Sabine hug Ezra, she will feel so much better.

[aesadraws]

psst do a starred war

Oh boy oh boy my latent brainrot since like 2015 haha

Send me a fandom and I’ll tell you my:

blorbo (favorite character, character I think about the most)

That's Cassian Andor babyyyy. And I actually don't really have a good caveat of "but that's only because of his show" because honestly this hyperfixation has been so fierce after such a long time of just.... Not fucking caring about any particular character The Most™. I love a lot of SW babes and will continue to love so many of them for years to come, but Cassian fucking snuck his way to the top.

scrunkly (my “baby”, character that gives me cuteness aggression, character that is So Shaped)

😍 Grogu, my baby boy, my sweet peanut, light of my life. But you know what? He shares the pedestal with BB-8 because I will still see cash-grabby merchandise of that sweet seeet orb and lose my marbles. They need to be friends!

scrimblo bimblo (underrated/underappreciated fave)

People mcfucking sleep on Captain Phasma and that "people" includes the people who created her! I swear to god if they hadn't shot themselves in the foot with the Boba Fett "looks cool and is functionally useless" vibes she'd be so much more loved by casual and hardcore fans. If you're reading this right now and think I sound like an insane woman, go read her fucking book. Sail the high seas to if you have to, it's fascinating.

glup shitto (obscure fave, character that can appear in the background for 0.2 seconds and I won’t shut up about it for a week)

It's gotta be Ruescott Melshi now. See, when I most recently rewatched Rogue One ahead of the Andor premiere I just kinda thought it was a cool small detail to give Cassian an old friend who would ride with him to infiltrate Scarif. Now I see that man in gifsets and get all 💕 because!!! That's Cassian's friend!!! That's his best buddy who [REDACTED]!!!

poor little meow meow (“problematic”/unpopular/controversial/otherwise pathetic fave)

....... This is me we're talking about, I think we both know who it's gonna be. General Armitage Hux. Stupid dumb ginger general played by a great actor who deserved better writing to work with and more of a chance to actually be a menace. But hey, he lasted more movies than Tarkin so that's gotta count for something right?

horse plinko (character I would torment for fun, for whatever reason)

I'm gonna get blasted by old school fans for this lmao. Han Solo. I love this slick piece of shit turned marginally less of a piece of shit. I love seeing him panic and have to improvise out of bad situations. I would lie to save his life but I would also be the one to kick him into a garbage can.

eeby deeby (character I would send to superhell)

*unrolls a long list* Let's see... Palpatine, Snoke, Syril Karn, Grand Admiral Thrawn (with nothing but respect), Moff Gideon- *this goes on for awhile*

[swgohgamer-alt]

WEEK 6: Finally got Captain Rex up to 7 stars. Now it's just a matter of leveling up the Phoenix crew each time my player level goes up, and continuing to gear them. I was able to get through the final tier of the Palpatine journey using this team. So he's now at 7 stars as well. But the Phoenix team doesn't quite have the juice yet to get through the last two tiers of the Thrawn journey. So I'll continue to focus on Phoenix until they can get Thrawn done.

As far as mods, I do have level 15 mods on the Phoenix crew, and they were all done according to the "best mod" configuration at swgoh.gg. So I'm calling those "done" and have shifted mod resources to my pilots. Mace has an all-health set all at level 15. Plo also has an all-health set - they aren't all leveled up to 15 yet due to a lack of credits, but we'll get there. I'm currently working on farming some offense mods for Snips.

I finally 3-starred Hard Fleet node 1-B, which is great because that's where I get Anakin's starfighter. So now I can sim that node. I definitely want to focus on ships & pilots once I'm done using Phoenix to wrap up Thrawn. My fleet arena shard is still being led mostly by Endurance & Executrix capital ships, so I feel like it's ostensibly a fair fight. (Less so on the squad arena side, as it looks like a bunch of folks took advantage of the most recent lightspeed bundle. Oh well.)

The guild is no great shakes - we're undersized and underpowered, but I can't really complain at this point. Still sticking with it & hoping the guild grows as I grow. I haven't yet had a chance to participate in a raid, but it looks like we'll have enough tickets in the next few days to kick one off, so it'll be interesting to see how that goes.