#thrawn was pissed lol

[crosshairslongasslegs]

only the apprentice of anakin skywalker can make thrawn’s face look like this

[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.

[ramblingsofafanatic]

WIP Game

Thank you @martianbugsbunny and @seth-shitposts for tagging me (both here and my main account)! I've hit a bit of an art/writers block so maybe this will help me get out of it. (Please i have too many wips save me)

Rules: In a new post, list the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them and then post a little snippet of it or tell them something about it! And then tag as many people as you have WIPs.

I have quite a bit so i'll organize them below a read more, because ive decided to hell with it have the name of all 61 of my wip files from various fandoms xD. Theyre not all like the official title - just the document names.

Also since I have so many WIPs, i am tagging anyone who sees this and wants to do it! I'm being serious if no one else has tagged you directly please take this as your opportunity to talk about your wips (and like you can tag me as the person who tagged you so i can ask you about your wips? please?)

We will put these in the order of what i think will be most interesting to people, not necessarily the order of my personal interests rn lol

Kalluzeb:

1. Part 4 - I Love You (I Know You 'verse)

2. Adoption fic

3. Autistic!Kallus

4. Bedtime

5. Caf Shop AU

6. Lasat-Cat Likeness

7. part-time soulmate, full time problem

8. are you okay?

DinLuke:

9. "You will be the end of me"

10. A merry, crackling fire

11. Assassination attempt

12. Bed rest

13. Broken bone

14. Chronic pain

15. Crying

16. Death of a sibling

17. Identity Crisis

18. Imposter Syndrome

19. Loneliness

20. Making Out

21. Scars

22. Sleeping on the couch

23. Social Anxiety

24. Warm Blankets

Newmann:

25. Taking Care

26. There are many benefits to being a marine biologist

Danbert:

27. Dan doesn't need to know. but he finds out anyways.

28. Dan praise kink testing

29. Herbert Nightmares

30. Megan's brother

31. puns

PatCap

32. Professors!AU

Codywan:

33. ORDER 66 BECAUSE PAIN

34. Royalty/Bodyguard AU

Obikin:

35. Modern!AU

Hankcon:

36. Baked With Love

Good Omens:

37. Season 2 fix-it

TBB

38. Platonic Techo

Balaine (my oc world)

39. Valyra and Nomi

40. Cities and Towns Descriptions

41. Customs and Rituals Ideas

42. History of Balaine

Other Original Stories

43. Adalia

44. Dear Ceylan

45. Nick Of Time

46. Favourite Record

Thrawn x Reader

47. Empire Doesn't Have Sick Days

48. Looking For This?

TBB x Reader (really inventive titles with these ones)

49 The Tech Hug Research Proposal

50. Crosshair 1

51. Echo 1

52. Hunter 1

53. Tech 1

54. Wrecker 1

Kallus x Reader

55. kallus x reader

Prequels

56. anakin x reader

57. anakin x padme x reader

58. would you do the same for me? (obiwan x reader)

The Sandman:

59. 5 times you kiss morpheus and 1 time he kisses you

Shame fics (its piss kink im sorry)

60. Shame xD (Kalluzeb)

61. Listen... dont read this filth (Danbert)

AND DONE!! Bet you thought i was lying about the 61 wips huh? i was tempted to cut out quite a bit of these but as i said earlier: fuck it have fun go for it, plenty to choose from.

[ultrakahlannightwing]

Okay, I'll be the first to admit I only know surface details on some important Clone Wars/Rebels stuff. But I am baffled and pissed on behalf of Sabine (and I didn't even completely like her characterization).

I was told she had maybe 2 kind of Jedi Masters. And Ezra was around too. And she has a lightsaber, right? You're telling me no one taught her Shii Cho? Like she was hacking at the air like she was doing a bad version of Shien/Djem So. She was a lumberjack, and I'm surprised that Sith apprentice didn't change up her own form faster to cut her down.

Probably reading way too into it and rp'd way too much Master/Apprentice but no way my apprentice would have a saber and not know Shii Cho! I am so bewildered!

And I'm done. I can buy Drathomir thinking they're close allies of Thrawn before I buy a jedi pupil not knowing Shii Cho. lol

[noddytheornithopod]

New Ahsoka ep was good, a lot of it was just action but there were some cool other moments too. I'm itching for the finale now. All the pieces are in place, now I guess we see what it leads to. Spoilers below

Biggest questions are around Baylan and Shin. Baylan seems to have accepted Shin is on a different path and ready to let him go after training her, but I wonder if Shin is going to go back to him instead of Thrawn like she was told to.

If that does happen, is Baylan going to abandon her? He brought her along all this way and likely raised her for much of her life, only to dump her like this. I hope the finale makes Baylan's motivations clear. Ahsoka offering Shin help also feels like foreshadowing.

No Carrie Fisher means no Leia unless they're gonna do a weird deepfake, so they have C-3PO save Hera in court, lol. Leia's backing Hera, and Mothma while trying to stick to procedure can't help but wonder if Hera's got a point. Also wow, Xiono doesn't even believe in Jedi RIP

I might be biased because I read Thrawn: Alliances and projecting that onto the episode, but the way Thrawn talked about Anakin definitely felt like he was familiar with him.

I'm actually amazed Sabine wasn't busted yet, I guess they're saving all the drama for the finale. Enjoying her and Ezra back together for sure.

No green smoke from the Night Troopers when they die... but I'm not gonna write off them being undead just yet. Maybe the "dead" ones who didn't retreat are gonna come back to life in the finale, lol. If they're just fanatical Nightsister allied stormtroopers it's fine though.

Also Thrawn is definitely pissed at Baylan fucking off like that, wonder what's going to happen there, and what Shin will do?

[twilekchiss]

As the Mom of quite the bunch of kids herself, how do you think Asha would get along with Soontir and Syal Fel? Would her kids get along with their six?

Oh, it's been so long since I've read anything Legends, but likely so! Asha's fairly amiable, I like to think, provided no one severely pisses her off. I admit, I can't remember the Fels too well, but when away from the Imperial court, Asha likes to make honest connections with people, especially people Thrawn trusts (because then she trusts them). So I'd like to think she'd get a long great with them. At least she and Syal would bond over pregnancies and motherhood, I think.

If there were, say, all in something like The Empire of the Hand, I imagine the children would see a lot of each other. And Asha loves children, so I could see her in the kitchen, counting heads as she makes snacks for all the kids running around her place, whether they're Chiss, Twi'lek, human, or some combination of any of those, lol. Or other, idk, she wouldn't question it. Random Mon Cal kid rolls up? They're getting hugs and food, too, lol. So adding the Fel kids into the mix? Asha wouldn't bat an eye.

What little I have of Asha's children, well, I can imagine there would be close bonds, but perhaps not always easy ones. Aden, the eldest, is very broody, and the second eldest, Azar, is competitive af. They butt heads with each other and probably any of them more strong willed Fel kids. Ariellis, the eldest daughter, is a bit stuck-up, I'd love to see her get humbled by one of the other Fel kids. She needs it. Thistle/Istlet is down for A D V E N T U R E so if any of the Fel kids wanna explore, she's the one who'd drag THEM around. Elrin and Erisse are quieter, more delicate, especially Elrin, and would prefer the more bookish Fel kids.

Un'hee I see a little more separate from all of them, not having grown up with them. A little more aloof, still haunted by her own past. Quiet. But, at the same time, she loves all of them just the same. They are her family.

Idk, this was a hard one 🤔

[fallenrepublick]

omg that Thrass post is HILARIOUS and I would read a whole book on it and also a sequel with the same situation starring someone and Maul LOL except Maul would be PISSED and jealous af cause who is this PERSON his crush seems so enamoured with, fucks sake!! LOL I just love your ideas they are all so good!!!!

Why thank you! I've gotta say... Thrass having the Common Sense Braincell, but not the Romance Braincell is 🤌🏻 peak blue boy-

He might be a dummy, but he's our dummy

I can see him sitting with his two friends, one of which is his literal brother, and he's just agonizing over every little thing you say, trying to decide if it's romantic or only as a friend.

"I highly doubt anyone would truly propose marriage to someone they only saw as a friend..." Thrawn will sometimes drone, doing his best not to sigh despite the fact it's the fifth time he's said it this week. It's Monday. "They very likely are simply dropping hints, hoping you will... take the situation into your own hands."

"Okay, but you say that! You don't know what they're thinking," Thrass insists dreadfully, "If I bring it up? And they say they were only joking and are truly in lov with someone else?? I'd entirely ruin our friendship... I'd rather suffer like this for eternity than risk them hating me..."

"You can't actually be this dense, right? Please tell me you're not this dense." Ziara pinches her nosebridge.

-

And then there's Maul. It's not really up for debate that Maul struggles with being able to identify affection in his path, even if he's being clung to on a daily basis. It simply... does not process whatsoever. Yet on the other hand, he can pick up on your mentioning of any "romantic" interests on your mind.

This mystery man... who could it be? Who could possibly be so worthy of your admiration... Of course, he's very aware that he is not worthy of it, yet there are few who are. He must find out... He must ensure they are good enough for you, at the very least.

Your descriptions are vague. A fierce personality, eyes that you find yourself "lost" within, a brilliant colour to his being that only makes your day that much better to see.

All of that... it can't be... no! It must! There's only one possibility!

Savage!!!

[amikoroyaiart]

this might overlap with the thrawn answer lol but for the ask meme - eli vanto best boy please! or samakro if eli was already asked

Eli beloved 🥺❤❤

Favorite thing about them:

I love that he is so smart but he lacks self confidence in what he's doing (so relatable!). He's very kind but I also adore that he really couldn't stand Thrawn in the beginning and learned to like him 😂❤

Least favorite thing about them:

He's perfect tbh I find it very funny how he overreacted when he and Thrawn met again in Treason BUT CAN'T BLAME HIM THRAWN YOU COLD BITC-

Favorite line:

“I’m not completely comfortable with the idea that the Empire is using slaves, sir.”

BrOTP:

Eli and Faro, Eli and Vah'nya, Eli and Un'hee (he's her dad)

OTP:

Thrawn and Eli

NOTP:

Eli and Vah'nya because I see them only as friends, nothing more

Random headcanon:

He definitely taught Un'hee saying 'yall' and Ar'alani is pissed about this. I just love imagining Un'hee following him everywhere like a duckling. He also brushes her hair.

Unpopular opinion:

Eli Vanto trilogy when PLEASE I miss my boy.

Song I associate with them:

Find you - The Phantoms

Fav pic:

Mood😂

[not-the-tie-youre-looking-for]

Greater Good Liveblog—Part II

⚠️Spoilers for Chapter 4–Chapter 6 of Thrawn: Ascendancy: Greater Good and Thrawn: Ascendancy: Chaos Rising⚠️

Chapter 4

HAPLIF??? ON A CHISS WORLD??? NO NO NO!

So Haplif is on Celwis, a Chiss farming world, saying that he and his family are refugees wanting to sell spices and maybe jewelry to pay for fuel to be on their way. they’re planning on being there maybe six months?

they also seem to have a sponsor, Coduyo’po’nekri, a young man currently on a “wandering year” which sounds like a gap year lol

The land they’re given is a plot on Rancher Lakphro’s grazing land. and understandably he’s kind of pissed lol

really cool to see the less uptight side of chiss life lol. the people seem a lot more chill here

Memories 2

Flashback to Haplif’s wanderings in the Chiss Ascendency. He is having a really hard time trying to navigate Chiss politics because they’re so focused on weird family things lol

he finds two Chiss, Yoponek (who showed up in the last chapter) and his betrothed, Yonnie. Haplif talks them into traveling with him as guides

seems like guy also has some kind of psychometry, like Cal kestis and quinlan vos, as he can glean some of their emotions by touching their foreheads

very interesting indeed...

Chapter 5

Back to Ara’lani and the vigilant. They come out of hyperspace at the next Nikardun bases and fold the ship already destroyed. which is pretty frightening

Ja’fosk sends a message that Thrawn is needed back at Csilla with all due speed. Ara’lani wonders why Ba’kif didn’t tell him about the assignment with the Pacc. Wutroow thinks it’s the Syndicure that wants him, do to the language used in the transmission

I’m thinking thurfian is finally putting his plan in action here...

Lakinda is send to retrieve thrawn while the Vigilant looks over the area to make sure there are no more Nikardun traps.

Back in the Springhawk, Thalias and Samakro have a very interesting conversation about how Sky-walkers are treated in the fleet; Samakro doesn’t like the image Thalias is giving him about the attitude of caregivers, and thinks it should be fixed

he also ends up feeding her a fake story about thrawn that he hopes with prove that she’s a spy for thurfian

and speak of the devil—

We learn that the head speaker of the Mitth convinced the Patriarch, who had some misgiving about Thurfian, to elevate him to Syndic Prime

Thurfian also sees Thalias as kind of a sleeper mole; he knows that the last time he tried to get her cooperation, he failed, but he’s determined not to let that happen again

Chapter 6

Not Lakinda trying to bribe her sky-walker to go faster with snacks— 😂

Lakinda also thinks that there should be some updates to Sky-walker care 😬 Bat’nih’s caregiver seems pretty eh

One of Lakinda’s officers wants to enact emergency protocol to get to thrawn faster, which would require waking up Bat’nih. Lakinda’s response is basically “wtf? no?? she’s tired let her rest”

Back to thurfian, who’s helping a member of the Evroes family settle a land/crop dispute with the Xodlaks. says he needs to get out of the office more asdfgjkl

[tarisilmarwen]

Rebels Rewatch: "A Fool's Hope"/"Family Reunion And Farewell"

*singing*

~I'm glad that you were here with me/Here at the end of all things.~

Live reaction version.

Yeah be prepared for a lot of Lord of the Rings quotes and song lyrics in this one, lol.

Hey, don't blame me, the writers were the ones who made it clear they were hopeless Tolkien nerds.

And yes I am packaging both (all three?) episodes together. This is how it was aired, this is how it was experienced, you're gonna get the full treatment.

This does mean though that I will be very stingy with the pictures. Apologies. Blame Tumblr, not me.

Anyway, we start off the finale by gathering all the disparate parties that we completed the Friendship Fetch Quests for. Rex, Kallus, Gregor, Wolffe, Hondo, Melch, and Ketsu are all Back For The Finale. Which is a trope that I absolutely love in all shapes and forms, and it's even more appropriate for this show given that Ezra's main character "superpower" is literally making friends.

The connections and bridges he built all come back to aide him, not for any selfish motives of their own or because "the enemy of my enemy", but simply because Ezra has asked them to come.

"It's for Ezra," is all Hera has to say, and Hondo is immediately, genuinely pledging, "For that boy, there is nothing I would not do."

It is... incredibly heartwarming.

And I told y'all Hondo was a romantic at heart, and genuinely misses the days when the Jedi were around. And also that in the Rebellion Era, the Jedi still represent the nobility and goodness of the past.

After the titlecard, which still has no fanfare, we get this scene:

Come, you all knew I was going to cap it. Sabine's concern is so soft, the hand she places on Ezra's shoulder and the way she asks if he's okay so gentle.

The visual similarity in this scene and two scenes prior to this are interesting. This scene is firstly visually reminiscent of the Kanan-Hera scene in the beginning of "Kindred" (inviting comparison to the main canon ship of the show), and also the Kanan-Ezra scene at the beginning of "Jedi Night" (which emphasizes again that Kanan and Sabine are the two Most Important People in Ezra's life).

Ezra sits in the exact same pose, in the exact same place, that we saw Kanan meditating at, suggesting that he is also hearing the echoes of things to come, having similar visions of the future. This is certainly supported by his dialogue, where he mentions, "Something's changed... Something's happening." and that he's had a vision of Palpatine sending Thrawn back to Lothal.

Honestly I'm surprised it took Palpatine so long, lol. Thrawn: Treason supposedly takes place over the course of... a week? And the events of "Rebel Assault" to "A World Between Worlds" can't have been more than three or four days.

(This is why I reject the official canon timeline for Rebels, Season Four's events are crammed into the space of a month or two AT BEST.)

But anyway, Palpatine is pretty pissed off about the whole Temple thing so yeah, he's sending Thrawn back to retrieve Ezra personally. This seems to be a big ol' sticking point for our favorite blue bastard because he is NOT HAPPY when he turns back up.

You can't blame him really. He'd barely left Lothal and his TIE Defender project got literally blown up, so he had to spend the budget meeting arguing for what was essentially a smoking crater, and the wager he made with Krennic et. all. ultimately went nowhere because he lost on a technicality, and then the Emperor starts questioning his loyalty because his old Ascendancy friends showed up during the shenanigans, and then Palpatine dismissed him to go clean up the mess on Lothal and fetch him back a teenager for Sith sorcery bullshit.

...He'd had a very bad week, is what I'm saying.

I got off topic there, where was I?

Oh yes, Ezra's risky gamble. Fun fact, that was the original title of the episode, "Ezra's Gamble". I assume they axed it because it would give too much away. And like I've said before, if they could have avoided showing Ryder in footage taking the Dome for the finale previews, they could have really sold his false betrayal.

Pryce does not look like she's having a good week either lol.

Ezra continues to be cryptic about things, yet another hint to us that he's gotten "insider information" from the Force, as it were, and has made plans according to multiple possible outcomes. This is just one of the reasons why he outmaneuvered Thrawn, the other major one being that there was no possible way for Thrawn to predict Ezra throwing space whales at him lol.

This interference by the Force could have been a bit of a Deus Ex Machina but I think it's pretty clear that the Force only shared what might happen and left Ezra to figure out a solution on his own.

And his solution was space whales. XD

That comes later though, after this very risky gambit with letting Ryder broadcast their location to Pryce. A lot of things could have gone wrong. Hera might not have made it back in time. Ryder could have decided to genuinely betray them. Rukh could have gotten in a lucky strike and incapacitated him.

We are apparently putting a LOT of trust in the Force today.

This action setpiece is a great one so I'll just cover a few of my favorite highlights:

All the shots that track Sabine as she jetpacks around the battlefield.

Ezra versus Rukh.

Zeb going full feral with the minigun.

And of course on the other side of things Hondo trying to count the number of times he'd been collided with pulling off this exact maneuver they're using lol. The blockade seems to have thinned from "Rebel Assault", not as many capital ships?, so maybe I was right in that Thrawn called for reinforcements to repel the attack. Still gives Ezra the highest kill count by proxy at the end of things.

Oh and once again there's a moment where someone threatens Sabine in order to force Ezra to surrender. <3 Love that.

Pryce is awfully smug until the Ghost shows up, lol. (To heroic Main Theme fanfare into the Rebel Alliance theme of course.) Someone on the writing team understood the power of a good Eucatastophe. (Tolkien term, it means "the sudden happy turn to good".)

The clones also get a leitmotif fanfare as they debark the Ghost.

And we get a lovely Force Theme as Ezra gets his most badass shot.

Hell yeah.

The wolves sequence is amazing. The dramatic chorus, the chaos, the wolves skirting the veeeeeeeeeeery boundary of what's allowed on a Y7 show lol.

You know some of the troopers got ate.

One last shoutout to Hera using the Ghost to straight up smack a gunship out of the air and now we've come to the end of the setpiece. It can be hard sometimes to fill a full episode with one action sequence but this episode pulls if off perfectly. It never feels stale or boring, there are multiple bits and moments that just work. (I've always loved the moment where Ezra lunges for Ruhk's energy staff and uses the momentum of Rukh lunging for the same to straight up yeet him off the platform.)

Ezra's completely nonphased at Hondo's slung arm shoulder hug now aww.

Moving right along into the next segment...

This soft intro with Ezra talking to his parents' picture, telling them they are the inspiration behind his actions, how he wishes they could meet his new family, how he knows what he needs to do, but he's afraid. T_T Hgn he's precious and so mature and I love him so so much.

He knows what he might have to do, guys. He knows he might never actually see Lothal again and he's still prepared to make that sacrifice if he has to.

He's SUCH a good Jedi you guys I can't.

Kallus gets a token line here about his defection which is... okay. But again, really needed more from this arc for it to have a full impact.

"We come to it at last; the great battle of our time."

One casual wolf threat later, Pryce has agreed to transmit the victory codes and our heros fly off to the capitol to pull off their boldest venture yet.

I will never ever get over this moment. Sabine so attuned to Ezra even without the Force that she can tell just by looking at him how distracted and sad and scared he is.

How Ezra so clearly wants to tell her but holds back, and substitutes instead a declaration of absolute faith and trust.

And how she sees right through that and knows Something Weird Be Up With The Boy, Yo.

But like so many other conversations between the two, things are left unfinished, the mission and circumstances taking precedence.

Love the two quipping back to Pryce tho. <3

Still a crapton of air pollution over the city. This would clear up dramatically in the climax, for a bit of a symbolic moment.

There are SO many callbacks to previous moments in the show in this sequence, I noted a couple of them in my original liveblog but I'm certain there's a few I missed.

The music cue is great too, as is the effective silence once they've taken the bridge. A little bit of musical breathing space before things get hairy again, courtesy of Rukh ambushing the others back at base and stealing a gunship.

You know? I'm not quite sure what the plan was for if they managed to destroy the Dome before Thrawn got back. Seems a little shortsighted to blow up all the fighters and equipment and your city shields. A single Star Destroyer is more than capable of leveling cities and there are several in orbit around Lothal.

This honestly lends even more credence to the idea that, Force visions aside, Ezra was largely making this up as he went and had NO idea what he was doing lol.

Indy Ploy versus Xanatos Gambit. Indy Ploy wins by virtue of there was no way the Xanatos Gambit could predict the level of crazy Ezra's ideas were.

Amazing how empty the streets are when they've been emptied of Imperials.

Thrawn arrives, per schedule, and parks right over the Dome so that can't launch, lest they create catastrophic collateral damage. Important to note, for the people who want to nitpick No Endor Holocaust scenarios, the show specifically details that the city shields put out by the Dome deflected the Star Destroyer wreckage when the purrgil came, and that the Rebels directed the Dome to explode over the bay, not the city. The Cadet Academy is also a completely different building.

I mean, sure the debris from the Dome probably isn't great for the bay's ecosystem but honestly the water was probably already super polluted from the factories, they had to clean it up anyway.

Where was I? Right, Thrawn getting to be really awesomely creepy. The placid, "Are you quite finished?" gives me chills every time. Once again let me praise the expression work on this show because Ezra's soft Oh Crap look is amazing.

The dawning horror on Sabine's face too.

And then this music cue! The tension is drawn out just long enough for us to fully appreciate the horror.

:((((((

They even give us a nice wide-shot to appreciate just how much damage just those few seconds of bombardment did.

I had a rant here originally about the dumbass headcanon that Thrawn targeted empty buildings in this sequence (that may or may not have originated from Timothy Zahn himself) but if you've been following me you already know how I feel about it. It's asinine and I won't entertain it. Moving on.

Backed into a corner, Ezra knows he has no choice but to give himself up to Thrawn. This track in the score, "Sabine Sees Ezra" perfectly captures the sorrow and drama. It starts with a strained version of Ezra's theme, that doesn't resolve, fading instead into mournful original strings. Hera's entreaties for him to stay are painful, we can't help but think of what must be in her head--she just lost Kanan, she's afraid to lose him too. But Ezra is a Jedi. He is the guardian of Lothal. So he must make the sacrifice no one else can. He can't choose to be selfish.

So while Hera and the others try to figure out a way around the problem of Thawn, Ezra goes to confront it head on, secretly signaling to Chopper, who has been entrusted with so much of this plan.

And Sabine sees him.

It's a consistent theme throughout their relationship. She sees him. She notices him. She's attuned to when he's upset. She perceives him in a way that's unique from everyone else.

And he trusts her so implicitly that he silently asks for her help here, and after a moment of agony she does it, because she trusts him too.

These two just break my heart. :(

Sabine keeps looking back at the empty spot where he had been. T_T

There's a theme here about attachment and loss again, and it comes from Sabine. Like a Jedi, she's able to let go of her fear of loss and trust Ezra, whatever happens, and is able to encourage Hera to do the same. Her theme plays out here, strongly, before giving way to an excerpt of the Main Titles theme, uniting the Rebels in their heroism.

Ezra's theme playing again here, skittish and frightened. Once again the expression work is heartbreaking. Ezra looks like he's steeling himself, holding back his fear. He's resigned to his purpose, but that doesn't mean he's enjoying it.

AND NOW WE GET MY FAVORITE HANNIBAL LECTURE/SHUT UP HANNIBAL EXCHANGE! :D

The dialogue between Thrawn and Ezra here is so good.

"You could have chosen to let your people die. However... you chose to be a Jedi." Jedi cannot help what they are, the Jedi Code is like an itch he cannot help it *sobs in Kenobi feelings*.

Thrawn pontificating about how petty things like ethics get in the way of being efficient. He picks at Ezra from several different angles in this conversation, first by deriding the moral code of the Jedi, then by pointing out that their righteousness did not save the Jedi in the end, all that's left are frightened poorly trained children--a clear dig at Ezra himself. He laments what a shame it is that the Jedi didn't apply their powers in a way he deems would have been effective, implicitly suggesting that the Jedi should have used their power to dominate and conquer--Might Makes Right, after all, if you have the means to achieve a certain end you should use it.

Ezra tanks that calmly, pointing out that the Force isn't a weapon.

So Thrawn switches tactics, now lamenting that he must destroy Lothal (no you don't you asshole you can literally just disobey orders and defect, the total genocide of Lothal is entirely within your power to prevent) and oh, isn't it such a shame about Sabine.

And that hits Ezra's berserk trigger lol.

He snaps back at Thrawn. You're a tyrant, a bully, you didn't make or earn any of this, you just took it because you could, because you think your strength makes you right.

Thrawn essentially confirms that, "Yeah, having power does make me right." before leading him down to where the Temple doors have been set up for his meeting with the Emperor. Which kind of makes me think Thrawn wanted the opportunity to dress Ezra down and soften him up for Palpatine's manipulations because he could have just had the troopers shove him into the hanger first thing.

Subtle animation appreciation moment: The way Ezra keeps looking around in astonishment, wide-eyed, at the sight of the Temple doors.

Palpatine cloaks himself in white like an angel of light for this final temptation, wearing the guise of a friend or kindly old grandpa. It's every bit as unsettling as it seems.

Meanwhile with the B-Squad, Mart reveals that--like Chopper--he has also been entrusted with a crucial part of Ezra's "Just in case" plan. (Theirs is an underrated friendship, fanficcers you have let me down, again, why do I have to write all the things I wanna see more of?)

That shot of the wolves running alongside and under the Ghost. *chef kiss*

I have no idea when Ezra found time to figure out a signal the purrgil would respond to but I very much want to see that scene.

Sabine: "He [Ezra] knows what he's doing." Lol are you sure about that, 'bine? I think he had no clue the whole purrgil thing would work.

Palpatine is so slimy here, ugh. Acting like he did Ezra a favor by desecrating the Jedi Temple. Ezra's all ready to fling back anything ol Sheev throws at him here until Palpatine takes aim right at the heart of his greatest weakness.

Because after all this time, Ezra has never quite fully gotten over and accepted the loss of his parents. He's still at heart a lost little boy who misses his mom and dad.

The score goes almost Stravinsky-esque here, suggesting the Faustian nature of the deal Sidious is offering.

Meanwhile down in the gullet of the Dome, the Rebels are working feverishly to regain control of the the shield generator. There's some great coordination here between the teams and the control, Sabine really shines as a leader.

Word of God behind the scenes confirms Ezra is seeing THE day his parents were taken, his seventh birthday, when he could hear his mom and dad calling for him but didn't come because he was goofing off.

Hey uh, can this boy's life stop being ENDLESSLY SAD please? That'd be nice.

Love how Gregor calls for "something drastic" and Zeb immediately thinks, "Right, yeeting myself at the enemy." lol.

Gotta respect a man whose strategy is to fling himself full force at the enemy.

And the obligatory Make TCW Fans Cry Moment with Gregor here.

Palpatine keeps digging. This is your heart's desire isn't it? Don't you deserve this? All you have to do is open this one little door. He tries to keep Ezra's attention and focus on himself, even when Ezra asks what will happen to his friends if he makes this choice.

You can undo their deaths, Palpatine promises, about Ezra's parents. You can save them. I can help. It's the exact temptation he offered Anakin all those years ago.

"I have the power to give you what you want. You won't have to face this loss."

Like a devil, what he offers is a two-edged sword. What he is offering can't actually exist. Because if Ezra goes to be with his parents on the day they were arrested, how will he be able to make it here to open the door for Palpatine? Will Palpatine have to trap him in a closed loop, retrieve him from wherever he will end up in the alternate timeline, to ensure he can't fix this one fatal mistake?

See Palpatine doesn't care about breaking the timeline, he will gladly do it and rule over the ruins. But if Ezra reaches for this vision, he dooms his friends. He allows Palpatine to gain power beyond his wildest imaginings, turn himself into lord and master of time itself, a physical god.

So Ezra must deny himself, accept the loss, and let go.

And he does.

The Emperor's hologlamour flickering and failing as his rage ascends is really effectively creepy. Also HOW ABOUT THEM RETURN OF THE JEDI PARALLELS?

Years down the line, yet another pure-hearted Jedi boy will stand before the Emperor, throw his offer in his face, and tell him where to shove it. Even the dialogue mirrors Luke's.

"You're wrong. I have a family. I don't need anything from you."/"Never. I'll never turn to the Dark Side. You've failed, Your Highness. I am a Jedi, like my father before me."

"Unfortunate. Destroy him!"/"So be it, Jedi. If you will not be turned, you will be destroyed!"

Poetry. Pure poetry. <3

Ezra gets a nice little face off against the Royal Guards, with some lovely whump in the form of whatever those pikes are doing to him, but manages to weasel himself out of the situation. And then somehow fights his way all the way up to the bridge. So proud of him.

The Rebels get the shield up just in time to prevent Thrawn's full scale bombardment, Rukh frying rather dramatically in the process. Lol and ouch with how irreverent Zeb is over the comm.

So now all that's left to do is break the stalemate and remove Thrawn from the chessboard.

HELL YES.

Oh hoooo man this twist isn't even really a twist it just makes too much sense for Ezra, for his character, for the themes of the show, for how to take Thrawn out as a threat while respecting his acumen as a strategist. (Gotta throw something at him he would never suspect lol.)

The musical build-up is amazing. Dooming low bass notes, drolling percussion. The strings build up, crescendo-ing.

AND THEN THE "WRATH OF NATURE" CUE FROM "THE CALL" COMES IN WITH GLORIOUS FULL ORCHESTRA.

The Hyperspace theme comes in as well, and the purrgil proceed to utterly decimate Thrawn's fleet. By proxy this gives Ezra probably the highest kill count on the show, as the purrgil must have taken out the orbital construction stations, a good chunk of the Star Destroyers up there, and all three of the ones above the city. (Somehow Palleon survives to join the Council of Evil in Mando Season 3 lol.)

Sabine looks SO confused, ha ha.

What a great shot.

Thrawn tries to get in a final, Taking You With me speech only for Ezra to be like, "Joke's on you that was the plan all along. You're not taking me with you, I'm taking you with me."

I do love Thrawn's increasingly panicky WTF expressions as things progress.

THIS ADORABLE #MARRIED BANTER BETWEEN EZRA AND SABINE AND THEN HOW THEIR THEMES ARE TONALLY INTERMINGLED IN THIS CUE.

Subtle animation appreciation moment: The way Ezra's left arm hangs limp after Thrawn shoots his shoulder and the pained grimace he gives when he turns around to seal the door behind them.

He looks exhausted.

Pained grimace number two as Ezra raises his injured arm to wind up IN AN EXACT TABLEAU OF THE POSE KANAN HAD AT HIS OWN HEROIC SACRIFICE.

HELLO YES, ALSO ANOTHER ONE OF MY FAVORITE MOMENTS BETWEEN EZRA AND SABINE AS SHE BEGS HIM TO GET OFF THE CHIMAERA.

ALSO IT BEARS EMPHASIS BUT LOOK HOW THE GLASS SHARDS STILL WHEN EZRA RAISES HIS OTHER ARM.

EZRA IS LITERALLY HOLDING THE OXYGEN INSIDE THE BRIDGE WITH THE FORCE, WHILE HOLDING THRAWN AND THE DOOR IN PLACE, WITH AN INJURED ARM.

Ezra Bridger is the greatest shut up.

The purrgil charge up. Everything goes white. His theme bellows at full heroic volume and then...

Quiet.

Utter awed quiet.

Right, so you wanna know the other of the two times I cried at this show? Ezra's sacrifice right here. Waterworks.

"We set out to save the Shire, and it has been saved. But not for me. I have been too badly hurt. The last pages are for you, Sam."

Sabine is handed Ezra's lightsaber by Chopper, and takes up his mantle, finishing his mission and leading all the rest of them to safety as the launch the Dome and blow it. (Her journey to becoming co-protagonist is complete.)

Chopper gives us a final goodbye message from Ezra (that makes me sad again), and they soar over a triumphant freed populace.

Fade out and then...

*SOBS ABOUT THE BOOKENDS FOREVER*

Shot for shot. Shot. For. Shot. And I am UNDONE.

Lothal is free. The Empire never had a chance to retake it. Likely couldn't spare the manpower from the rest of the galaxy, first off, also replacing all those ships they had in orbit has gotta be expensive, and I suspect Palpatine just put glassing Lothal on hold until the Death Star was completed. And well... we know how that turned out lol.

The Fellowship broke, but they seem to all keep in touch, if Sabine's voiceover is any indication. Kanan's legacy lives on. Our crew found peace.

And last...

A sworn promise to find a precious friend and bring him back home.

The finale of Rebels is near perfection. With a very few quibbles here and there (the purrgil could have been just a smidgen more set up, Kallus's arc still needs to have some decent onscreen content for his redemption happy ending to be earned) it is the best Rebels has to offer.

The callbacks and bookends undo me. The music is full of wonderful dramatic cues. The animation is gorgeous. Everything comes to full completion and it is a very satisfying end.

Overall Season Thoughts:

Season Four is almost a bit nostalgic, returning to the tightly written narrative of the first season, but even more tightly tied together. None of the episodes feel wasted or superfluous. The major character death midway through is given plenty of narrative weight and time for the characters to adjust and grieve. Objectively it's probably the best season overall, none of the episodes are misses.

Even with the unanswered mysteries, the season feels solid, and a fitting conclusion to the overall Rebels saga.

---

And that was Star Wars: Rebels, the little show about a Found Family that could. It is my favorite new Star Wars content and what actually dragged me back into fandom after years away. It is heartwarming and exciting, poignant and hopeful and I'm so so glad I was taken on this journey.

Here's hoping the lost son of Lothal can make his way home soon.

[counterspelling]

The great dilemma of my life is that I wanna get into the Star Wars expanded universe stuff (or legends or whatever they're calling it now in wake of the new movies), but I get nervous about it because 1) there's so much of it and 2) I don't want to be called a faker because I've traditionally been more into Star Trek

Anon, you are absolutely not a faker!! People like what they like and that’s totally fine, and there’s never a time limit on becoming a fan of something. You can like both Star Trek and Star Wars and anyone who tries to set up a rivalry between them or say you can only like one doesn’t make sense and is pulling some gross fandom gatekeeping bullshit. There’s no requirement list for liking something, just be into what you’re into. :)  And if anyone ever tries to tell you you’re not a fan of something for whatever reason they come up with, they’re wrong. If you like something, you’re a fan, and it’s not a race or competition to see who is the ~best fan~

There is absolutely A TON of stuff in the EU though, you’re right, and what you should read depends on what you’re looking to get out of it. It’s a lot like comics where you pretty much pick and choose what you want to read and what you personally consider canon, lol. Cut for excessive EU talk lmao

Qualitatively, the best books are basically the standalone books and a trilogy with a duology sequel. My personal rec list for just the most well-written books are:1. Razor’s Edge by Martha Wells - A Leia book set between ANH and ESB with a heavy dose of beautiful Han/Leia UST and portraying their relationship as the way I’ve always seen it in that era, as very good friends who trust and rely on one another who’ve been falling in love for years and know it but are constrained by circumstances. It also is one of the only books to deal with the fallout of the loss of Alderaan. If you like Leia or Han/Leia it’s the book for you, and is hands-down my fave EU book2. Tatooine Ghost by Troy Denning  - a post-ROTJ novel about Leia and Han on Tatooine. It’s about Leia dealing with her heritage and Denning is one of my fave EU authors because he handles characters and feelings very well and always writes Han/Leia with the respect and love and humor they deserve3. Kenobi by John Jackson Miller - post-ROTS Obi-wan in hiding on Tatooine and coming to terms with like… everything lmao4. Scoundrels by Timothy Zahn - immediately post-ANH canonical Ocean’s 11 AU about Han putting together a team to pull a heist. Zahn is the most well-regarded EU author and he’s really great at characterization and always has interesting plots5. Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor by Matthew Stover - post-ROTJ Luke novel that did a great job at characterization. Stover also wrote the ROTS novelization which is probably the most popular movie novelization

The series that gets rec’d the most as the best place to start is definitely Timothy Zahn’s Thrawn trilogy. It’s set like 10 years post ROTJ and focuses on Han, Luke, and Leia and introduces the character of Mara. I have mixed feelings about this trilogy because I think Zahn does a great job at handling the universe and the team and he’s one of my favorite authors for characterization, but he spends so much time on the villain Thrawn that I just get pissed off every time because I think he’s a terrible character and it’s a waste of pagetime lol. But this is so, so many people’s entry point into the EU, and they’re good books! Then there’s the Hand of Thrawn duology sequel set another 10 years or so after that.

So that’s my list for if you’re looking for just the Best Books. But my heart really lies in the books that take place after that, from the New Jedi Order onward, about 20 years post-ROTJ because that’s when the Solo kids grow up enough to take center stage in the main books alongside their parents. Jaina, Han and Leia’s oldest child and only daughter, is tied for my all-time favorite character, and this is the era where she really gets to shine. If you want to see Luke start and rebuild the Jedi Order and not give up even when a student goes bad and kills millions of people, if you want to see a bunch of jedi working together, if you want to see Leia as a jedi, if you want to see Han and Leia in love and working together for 40 years, if you want to see Han and Luke and Leia as a family who support and help and tease and love one another as they grow older together, this is where you get it.

You can’t really pull a qualitative rec list for this era though because each book builds on the previous. The NJO is a 19-book series split up into shorter series within, but I can’t imagine just picking up a random series in it. It would be like watching ROTJ without seeing ANH and ESB, you would technically be getting a full story but you’d be missing so much context it would hardly be worth it. So that’s the biggest problem, you have to basically commit to 19 books to get the story. Then it’s followed by the Legacy of the Force and the Fate of the Jedi series, which are shorter ~10 book series each, but still require you to read every book in continuity. And because of all the different authors in every series, characterizations aren’t always handled the best and different authors have different strengths, so it can be a little frustrating. But I love the Skywalker and Solo families, so if you have the time and the inclination, it’s where my heart is.

[kabaszo]

What’s that face!? Practicing expressions again (Thrawn again lol). Is he annoyed? Angry? f***ing pissed? 

[caddy-crystal-queen]

So, how I think Maul should die in Rebels...Beware, rant and theories ahead...

So, I watched Sam Witwer in Once Upon A Time as Hyde a few months back and was shocked that they killed off such an interesting character on his central episode and it gave me a really bad feeling about Maul, as the characters are played by the same actor. I don’t know why, it just gave me a really bad feeling that Maul is gonna die this season. So, question first: Do I WANT to see Maul die? Personally, absolutely not. Hell, if it were up to me, the precious Zabrak would survive just about anything and work to get the happy ending I feel he deserves after being fucked over out of everything that’s ever made him happy. But...thus is a mere fangirls dream...

So I have two theories as to how Maul will die in Rebels. They’re somewhat intertwined but I think it’s gonna happen in one of these two ways. So sit back, relax, and read my theories. 

Scenario #1: So, Ezra has the vision about Maul and all that other fun jazz and goes to Tattooine to stop him from killing Obi-Wan Kenobi. He gets there just as the battle is getting heated, with Maul somehow getting the upper hand (The episode should swap POVs between Maul and Ezra if they’re gonna do this, not to mention it would bring on all kinds of Maul angst, which I’m all for!). Ezra hurries in and saves Obi-Wan, but of course at a price: He agrees to be Maul’s apprentice on the conditions that he’ll leave this petty grudge behind him and move on, as well as help save his friends in the fight against the empire. Maul, unable to resist the temptation, begrudgingly agrees and the two head out. Well, they get back to the rebel base only to find things have gone straight to hell compliments of Thrawn (Because screw the hand basket when it comes to Thrawn right? lol). So Ezra and Maul rush in an attempt to save the day and they start out pretty good, kicking ass and taking names and things seem to be going in the Rebel’s favor. Well, then Maul and Ezra, because Plot Reasons, get separated during the big fight. As Maul defeats opponent after opponent, Ezra, some ways away but still visible to Maul, is getting his ass kicked. Seeing his young apprentice getting tossed around triggers a clone wars flashback in which Maul lost Savage in a very similar fashion. Maul is faced with the same problem as he was before and once again, angsty zabrak is best zabrak. Realizing he could lose Ezra the same way he lost Savage, Maul hurries in to save his apprentice, preferably with a roar of something along the lines of “Not this time!” or “Don’t you dare touch him!”. Basically Maul just goes on full protective brother mode and thus kicks more ass and takes more names. BUT for all his efforts Maul is mortally wounded. Kanan steps in to help as Ezra drags the dying Maul to a somewhat safer area and Maul dies in Ezra’s arms, comforted that at least someone gave a damn in the end, even if he believes he deserves no damns at all. 

And that’s theory number one, and that would be a real tear jerker :( 

Scenario 2: Pretty much the same as number one, but rather than getting separated and Maul dying, they manage to stay together and, with Kanan’s reluctant help, manage to get the Ghost Crew at least out of danger for the time being. With this in mind, Maul survives to season 4, but is a...reluctant member of the crew, only staying for Ezra’s sake. Kanan and the others are, reasonably, pissed that Ezra would make such a dumb bargain, but Ezra vouches for Maul anyway and it’s with great reluctance that they let Maul stay on the ship and be a part of the crew. Our wonderful Zabrak is none too happy about the situation either but comes up with a plan to inevitably get Ezra away from the ghost crew and just squarely have him as an apprentice and companion, and that’s his first goal throughout the season. However, much to his own surprise, Maul actually starts getting attached to other members of the crew for various reasons, but the defining moment is when he and Kanan are put in a situation where they have to rely on each other for survival, and at the end of that episode they more or less consider each other to be more “Worthy Adversaries” than actually saying friends. It’s this very episode that Maul would come to the conclusion that “Hey, maybe I like these guys...a little”. And shortly thereafter Maul and Kanan are teaching Ezra both dark and light arts respectively. Things seem to go well, the rebels win some fights and lose others but they’re there for each other so everything’s okay, sorta. Throughout the season, we see Maul kinda learn that having friends isn’t all that bad and that he doesn’t need to be the bad guy and that his life is indeed his own, but the past comes back to bite him in the robotic ass if the ghost crew ever goes back to Mandalore for Sabine (which I would frikkin kill to see that episode XD talk about an awkward situation), which he would work harder still to gain her trust. But at the end of the season, Maul would hopefully face off against Vader in an attempts to save his new friends. The fight ends in a draw because again Plot Reasons and a mortally wounded Maul is once again dragged away by Ezra and the others back to safety. Rather than just dying in Ezra’s arms, Maul dies surrounded by friends and, like in theory one, is actually glad to have people that care about him, even going as far as far as to apologize to Kanan for blinding him and apologizing to Sabine for all the crap he put Mandalore through (Whether or not they forgive him is kinda up in the air). But most importantly he thanks Ezra for not giving up on him and all that. In the end he dies something of a hero and Ezra uses both his light and dark side training as a means to honor both his living and deceased masters. 

I know this is probably not gonna happen and it kinda got a little long and corny and I’m sorry for that but I really, REALLY, just want his death to mean something and preferably something positive and maybe have him learn a few life lessons himself. I mean seriously, what would be the point in bringing him back just to kill him like what, three episodes later? Then again, the makers of OUAT did it with Hyde, so who’s to say they won’t do with Maul? I sure as hell hope not as I really think he has a lot more story to tell. But the again, what do I know? I’m just a fangirl...

[elle-lavender]

for the meme: star wars animated

my beautiful cinnamon roll too good for this world fave: Ahsoka

my trash-shit fave: Hondo, lol

my I love to hate them fave: Thrawn

my I hate to love them fave: Agent Kallus. Was not expecting that.

my I wouldn’t piss on them if they were on fire non-fave: Azmorigan

my I didn’t care about them either way at first but the fandom makes such a big deal about them now I can’t stand them non-fave: It’s more that the show makes a big deal out of him. I kind of wish Maul would just die already?

my I could take them or leave them kinda non-fave: Plo Koon

my I will go down with this ship and I won’t put my hands up and surrender, there will be no white flag above my door. I’m in love and always will be fave ship: Kanan/Hera

my dirtybadwrong fave ship: Chopper and AP-5! 

my they’re cute together and I dig them but I’m not all that terribly invested kinda fave ship: N/A

my I didn’t care about this ship either way at first but the fandom makes such a big deal about it now I can’t stand it non-fave ship: Ezra/Sabine

my MAKE IT STOP non-fave ship: Sabine with any dudes, really. 

[tarisilmarwen]

Rebels Rewatch: "The Honorable Ones"

Kallus starts growing the nigglings of a conscience and also I never want to visit Bahryn ever.

Does this count as Friendship Fetch Quest episode? I mean... we do technically recruit an ally, albeit we make one out of a consistent former enemy, and he is important to things later...

Yeah, you know what, I'm counting it.

Geonosis looks gorgeous.

Oooooof SO many Death Star foreshadowings in this conversation. This is in fact where they started construction on the Mark I, as far back as the Clone Wars. Some time between now and then (Wookiepedia thinks it's between "Breaking Ranks" and now), the project was moved, the orbital stations scrapped, and the entire population of Geonosis genocided to conceal the project's existence.

Just, you know, your ordinary Tuesday for the Empire.

Hi Kallus!

Love Chopper getting to be an absolutely murderous psychopath again lolol.

Ohhhh hey, this cue is from back in "Droids In Distress" when they were about to blow up the ion disruptors. How fitting, lol.

Ezra is still Not Fond of leaving people behind.

He looks so worried. :(

Love how Kallus and Zeb stop fighting for a second when they realize they're about to crash. Matching Oh Crap expressions and everything.

Ngl, I felt that cry of agony deep in the recesses of my childhood.

(I fell off some parallel bars once in gym, didn't break anything, but my first scream? Sounded not too unlike that.)

Lol Ezra banging on Chopper. "Yes, we want him back! Don't be a sleemo!"

Jeez, how terrified Kallus must have been, stuck in the exact scenario that traumatized him so in the past. Lucky for our favorite asshole Zeb is the honorable type.

Yup, yeah, pissing his pants terrified. David does a really good job with Kallus this episode, it's one of the first times they let him show a bit more range and he does shrill and hysterical very nicely, if I may say so.

Kallus is so assured of the Empire's fairness and nobility, aww let's shatter that to pieces this episode. :D

Worried Ezra continues to be worried. <3

He is already shivering, nice little animation here. Also lol @ Zeb pettily pulling the heater closer towards him.

Ahhh the glowing rock of friendship. Love that Kallus keeps it after this.

"You're going to hurt yourself!" <3 See this mother hen behavior right here is why I stuck the Iron Squadron kids with him in my Mirrorverse series, Kallus being a fussy fretful Team Mom is hilarious.

Ah NOPE, nope, nah-uh. Nooooooo thank you.

The bonzami are actually really well-designed. They look like prehistoric dinosaurs of some kind. Definitely evocative of all my childhood nightmares about T-Rexes.

Kallus parroting the Might Makes Right and Social Darwinism of the Empire, leading to Zeb beginning to ask pointed questions.

Oh man there was a really good analysis on here someone did about Kallus's fighting style, how he's better at close quarters than distance/ranged, I wish I remembered who wrote it.

Subtle animation appreciation detail: That pinched guilt in Kallus's expression.

Oooh yeah, that's the good stuff.

Kallus launches into his tragic backstory, possibly to try and remind himself why he personally hates Lasats, rejustify in his head how it was okay for him not to question orders when told to use the ion disruptors--("They deserve it, they're bad people, they kill the injured!")--and the connection to Saw is not a coincidence I think, the writers expand heavily on the whole "It's how we fight that matters." and "The ends justify the means." conflict later on down the line. Numerous characters on this show like Saw and Thrawn and Kallus to an extent represent what happens when you go too far to fight those you consider monsters. I've always loved how firmly Rebels comes down on the side of "The means do matter."

Probably one of the reasons I'm still kind of relucant to watch Andor, I know fandom loves that "I burn myself for a sunrise I'll never see." quote but eehhhhhhhhh.

The exchange right after Kallus's story is a bit clunky, I get what the intent was--that there are people in the Empire who aren't cold and bloodthirsty and evil and the Rebels shouldn't write them all off like they're the same--but it's clumsily executed.

PPFFFFTTTTTT LOLOLOL. KALLUS CANNOT BELIEVE THE SHEER PETTINESS IN ZEB HURLING THE BO-RIFLE OUT OF THE CAVE RATHER THAN LET HIM HOLD IT.

Hey remember when I said I love David Oyelowo's hysterical Kallus voice? Yeah.

Zeb's prehensile feet put to good use again.

Ohhhhh yeah no that's absolutely a terrifying concept for me. Nope.

"Hey we didn't get eaten! Are we friends now?"

There's some debate in the fandom about the inconsistency of the stories Kallus tells from "Droids In Distress" to here. Some parts of fandom point to how he almost gleefully bragged about giving the order to use the ion disruptors and others point out that he couldn't possibly have been high enough in the ranks at that point to actually have the authority to do that.

I tend to fall more towards the latter camp, that he wasn't actually THE one to give the order but he didn't question it and passed it right along due to his prejudice against the Lasat, and only said what he said to Zeb to rile him up. As much as he hated Lasats though, there has been some guilt severely weighing on him since then, and I'm pretty sure it's partly due to his confusion over the Honor Guardsman giving him his bo-rifle. There was a note of aggravated self-defense in Kallus's voice when he explains to Zeb how it was given to him, like he's dispensing with an act and being all, "All right look here's how it really happened."

This conversation is slightly less clear but to me reads like Kallus is detailing his thoughts from the moment he'd been given the order. Like it's mid-battle and it's going harder than they anticipated and the weapons are handed out and he's told to use them and he realizes, "Oh. The Empire is not playing around are they?" and he shoves down his own potential qualms about it and just passes on the order.

Zeb, having had his character development, is dismissive of Kallus's attempt to explain the massacre, saying that it doesn't affect him anymore, basically.

They're so happy to see him. <3

Awwwwwww.

Subtle animation appreciation moment: Zeb's little elbow bump to Ezra's arm as they climb up the ramp.

Ohhhhhh man the behind the scenes had a little plot bit that they should have kept, basically it was not the Empire that retrieved Kallus from Bahryn, it was a scavenger ship, the Empire spent a paltry two rotations looking for him and then wrote him off, he had to make his way back to them on his own.

Konstantine doesn't even look at him.

:((((((

Kallus's redemption is a bit of a polarizing topic in fandom. Personally I'm very fond of it, I like Kallus as an antagonist-turned-Rebel, I think he's a lot of fun post Heel Face Turn and the many myriad fanfics that bridge the gap between "Zero Hour" and Season 4 featuring Kallus slowly blending in to the Spectres are among some of my favorites.

But it's also one of my major nitpicks because it's a bit lacking in legwork. Show👏me👏the legwork!👏 Like 90% of all writing problems can be solved just by expending some effort. Don't just have Kallus as the new Fulcrum offscreen between seasons I need to SEE it.

That being said, this is a mostly tightly written Locked In A Room type episode, well-paced, decently animated. Fandom definitely loves it and I'll still give it fairly regular rewatches since it's another of the husband's favorites.

Next up, we return again to Lothal for Force Weirdness.

[tarisilmarwen]

Rebels Rewatch: "Hera's Heroes"

*whispers* Is our favorite blue bastard back? Oh you betcha.

The episode title seems to be a reference to Hogan's Heroes, an old boomer-era TV show dark comedy sitcom about a P.O.W. camp in Nazi Germany.

...No listen, the charm is, I'm told, that the German officers are portrayed as bumbling idiots and the P.O.W.s basically run an entire clandestine resistance campaign right under their noses. So there are all kinds of shenanigans involved and a lot of taking the piss out of the Axis Powers and honestly some of it seems right in line with what kind of mischief the Rebels have been known to get into so the shoutout makes sense to me.

Anyway.

Cham and Numa return!

"The Empire is getting better at anticipating our moves!" Ha ha yeah he... he has a tendency to do that. It's a little scary sometimes.

Now taking bets on whether or not Thrawn showing up on Ryloth was premeditated in order to draw the Spectres out.

"My daughter is always serious." Lol, love how this joke comes back later.

This music cue is great, I love it. Lot of rapid build-up to the serious horn variation of "Shenanigans".

"You didn't think this through did you?" LOL love that awkward little noise the Scout Trooper makes, he's just like, "Oh..."

Zeb being a perfect big brother asking Ezra if he has the Scout Trooper set yet and knocking out the trooper awww.

Hugs! Lovely to see that Cham and Hera have repaired their relationship.

Yeeeeeeah I don't think it was Slavin that you underestimated, Cham. I think it's pretty heavily suggested it was actually Thrawn who ousted y'all from the house there.

Hera is a bit reluctant to include everyone in what's arguably a very personal and selfish mission but they're all for it, so into the fray we go.

I think I may have had a little mourning moment the first time I watched this, upon the realization that Ezra doesn't fit in his cadet uniform anymore.

Zeb nudging Kanan in the arm to let him know it's time to charge out. <333 And Sabine grabbing his wrist and keeping hold of it until they're both on the blurrg. See, little touches like this are great, just a nice subtle way of showing Kanan's blindness without calling direct attention to it.

Some really nice Hera and Ezra interaction this episode, I really liked that, they don't get to be on missions together much so this is refreshing.

Do we know if this is a reused asset from TCW? Looks almost too nice to be one lol.

:((((((

Droids can have PTSD apparently, Chopper is unusually sad about this crashed Y-wing, grieving his former pilot maybe?

*strains ears* This soft music-box like cue almost sounds like Leia's theme. It's too short and buried under the dialogue for me to tell and even Clone Gunner Commander Jedi doesn't have it extracted.

HHFHFHFFFFFHH FRICK.

The man can jumpscare me just walking into a room, gah.

"The Rebel activity is far from here." As Ezra and Hera are literally sneaking past them lol told you the reference to Hogan's Heroes was deliberate.

Oooh the harp in this cue, nice!

Chopper's finally over his drama in order to assist.

We return to Hera and co. after a brief setpiece back in the canyon and Chopper readily plays "malfunctioning droid" again for a distraction.

Hera smoothly slipping back into her Ryloth accent to try and deflect suspicion. <3

Ezra trying to at least stay next to her even if he can't break cover.

Thrawn already totally knows it's Hera.

Ohhhhh boy it's time for creepy Cultural Appropriation!Thrawn, with him analyzing the details of his opponents' culture and traditions in order to find ways to hurt and oppress them more effectively for the Empire.

Since he studied up on Twi'lek culture he knows what a kalikori is, and its significance. Therefore he knew immediately that someone trying to smuggle one out of the compound would have to have some kind of personal emotional connection to it. This kalikori was found in Cham Syndulla's office, ergo, family of Cham Syndulla. Ergo, obviously, Hera Syndulla, noted Rebel insurgent.

See I kind of like this method of showing Thrawn's "strategic art analysis", which was practically magic bullshit in the original Heir To The Empire trilogy. Thrawn comes across as brilliant but not OP here, instead.

By the way, "Thrawn's Web" is the perfect musical leitmotif for him. Creepy plinky music box notes giving way to slowly building cathedral organs, ominous and refined.

I almost feel like I need to take a shower after this exchange it's so freaking creepy. Thrawn almost exotifies Hera here, breathlessly gushing and envious about how she was "forged" by war, while he merely studies it from the outside.

Making Hera the primary rival/foil to Thrawn was a really inspired decision for Rebels, contrasting her passion to his apathy, her warmth to his cold sterility. The villainous respect he has for her makes their interactions cordial with a hostile edge.

Plus, with all his focus on Hera, identifying her as the primary threat, he completely misses all the Force Bullshit that Kanan and Ezra are capable of throwing at him lol.

After all, he repeats the idea, "To defeat an enemy you must know them." and as he later confesses to Ezra in the finale he doesn't know the Force.

(It's almost impossible for him to know, Palpatine has spent so much effort destroying and hoarding other Force disciplines. Way to screw yourself Palps.)

Worried spacemom when Thrawn stuns Ezra. <33333

:((((

Thrawn's picky insistence on using the "correct" pronunciation of Hera's name is also creepy.

Thrawn: "Really too bad you're probably gonna be executed immediately. Anyway I'm taking your family heirloom for my art collection, definitely not as some kind of sick trophy of my besting you noooooo not at all." Hera: "Kriff you, bastard!"

Thanking Hera for her "hospitality" when the Empire literally invaded and occupied her house, he's such an asshole. It's great. I love him.

Ngl, not gonna lie, really dig Feral!Thrawn. I have a thing about seeing normally calm, stoic characters just completely lose their shit and go berserk. ('s'why I took Thrawn through a slow Villainous Breakdown in my "Mirrorverse" series.) Even this brief loss of control is just *mwah*.

"What'd I miss?" He's so cute.

"And my daughter is not important?!" Awww, see, character growth!

Love this conversation, Ezra reassuring Hera that he doesn't regret coming along to support her on this.

Chopper running full tilt into Ezra lol.

Hera gave the murderbot permission to find and plant explosives, uh-oh, ha ha.

Caps that could easily be watercolor paintings number 337.

Slavin seems very confident and snooty. Something that becomes a pattern on the show is that Thrawn will let more incompetent underlings fail so he can learn more about the Rebels, will set them up to fail sometimes.

Also something I noticed before but this little moment reminded me, the Stormtroopers tend to be pretty rough with Ezra, they're always shoving at him or manhandling him for absolutely no reason, they're just petty.

Chopper laughing maniacally as he plants the detonators. <3

"You were serious?!" You're the one who said she was always serious my dude, lol.

Impressive move from Kanan, redirecting that rocket at the AT-DP.

You know I think maybe Thrawn likes the cat and mouse thrill, obviously he sacrifices smaller victories for eventual much larger ones but I also think he's just really into having a worthy opponent.

Preeeeeettyyyyyyyyyy.

Hera talking about how her mother's memory is kept alive via the love that Hera's Found Family shares, while Zeb is giving Ezra noogies in the background aaaaah I love it.

I think I remember wanting this episode to have been a little longer??? Not quite sure why I thought that now, maybe I just really wanted more of it at the time.

Thrawn gets his first personal up-close encounter with the Spectres and even if he's hands off about actually closing the trap on them this episode we can tell he's got major plans coming, and is factoring what he learned about Hera specifically into them for later. This did annoy certain fanbros who forgot that this was Thrawn's whole thing and decided it was Plot Armor because kids show but frankly I ignore those types of people and my fandom experience is better for it.

As I already said, love the Hera-Ezra interaction, love the music, this episode is honestly a bit laid-back and unassuming compared to the tense premiere and dramatic previous episodes. Lulls you into a false sense of security. Just like Thrawn. XD

I'll be talking more about him later, trust me, I have Opinions™.