Star Wars: Return of the Thread

[Reply #360 on:]

I'm going to go in with the expectation he will be nothing like how Zahn writes him at any point in his career,

That's a particularly low expectation, but I can see why you have it. Personally, I expect just the barest hint of Zahn's Thrawn, given that Filoni and Favreau are involved and are supposedly fans of the Zahn trilogy's Thrawn.

The beauty of setting the bar so exceedingly low is that if there's even a shred of Zahn's genius within the upcoming episodes, I'll be pleasantly surprised and thrilled instead of run through with disappointment.

For what it's worth, I thought they did alright with him in Rebels for the most part. A few times along the way things felt a bit off, like the uppers told Dave and crew they couldn't go the distance with Thrawn's ruthless, calculating nature because of the show's target audience. But otherwise they understood the assignment. If they can muster that much, I'll have no issues.

[Reply #361 on:]

I thought Thrawn was actually a very good villain in Rebels, and elevated the show significantly. It remains to be seen if that will carry over, though I'm not setting my expectations too high.

My main thoughts on episode 3 is...

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Is Hera fucking stupid? She didn't mention to the chancellors that three dark-side force users stole a hyperdrive. That's some pretty damn solid evidence that something fishy is going on, and would have been useful to share. Obviously at least one of those New Republic chancellors will turn out to be an imperial loyalist so I'm sure they could've written another way for them to deny support.

Additionally, Hera seriously undersold the threat that Thrawn poses. "He killed my friends!" comes off as nothing more than personal, but "He's a strategic mastermind that is absolutely impossible to outsmart" is not only a better pitch, but also 100% true. I might be wrong but I'm pretty sure Mon Mothma was involved with the conflict against Thrawn as well, so her testimony should mean something.

they are legitimately running with the 'Sabine is a Force user' idea. Heaven's sake. If anything in this show drives me up a wall it's this. It's now not enough to have badass Mando training to get things done? Why is it that now, that isn't enough to help fight a threat when it's always been perfectly fine before?

Yeah, I'm not a fan of that idea. Sabine already has a lot going for her; she's a terrific marksman, engineer and all-round badass. They did seem to put a lot of emphasis on the idea that the force runs through every living thing, which makes me think that instead of turning her into yet another traditional force-wielder, she might be weaker in some way. This wouldn't be so bad, since it lines up with Ahsoka's history of doing things unconventionally. Training somebody that the Jedi would consider "untrainable" is fairly on-brand for her character.

[Reply #362 on:]

I thought Thrawn was actually a very good villain in Rebels, and elevated the show significantly. It remains to be seen if that will carry over, though I'm not setting my expectations too high.

My main thoughts on episode 3 is...

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Is Hera fucking stupid? She didn't mention to the chancellors that three dark-side force users stole a hyperdrive. That's some pretty damn solid evidence that something fishy is going on, and would have been useful to share. Obviously at least one of those New Republic chancellors will turn out to be an imperial loyalist so I'm sure they could've written another way for them to deny support.

Additionally, Hera seriously undersold the threat that Thrawn poses. "He killed my friends!" comes off as nothing more than personal, but "He's a strategic mastermind that is absolutely impossible to outsmart" is not only a better pitch, but also 100% true. I might be wrong but I'm pretty sure Mon Mothma was involved with the conflict against Thrawn as well, so her testimony should mean something.

they are legitimately running with the 'Sabine is a Force user' idea. Heaven's sake. If anything in this show drives me up a wall it's this. It's now not enough to have badass Mando training to get things done? Why is it that now, that isn't enough to help fight a threat when it's always been perfectly fine before?

Yeah, I'm not a fan of that idea. Sabine already has a lot going for her; she's a terrific marksman, engineer and all-round badass. They did seem to put a lot of emphasis on the idea that the force runs through every living thing, which makes me think that instead of turning her into yet another traditional force-wielder, she might be weaker in some way. This wouldn't be so bad, since it lines up with Ahsoka's history of doing things unconventionally. Training somebody that the Jedi would consider "untrainable" is fairly on-brand for her character.

Ok, just watched the latest. STILL not to Thrawn yet. Which- I'm pretty sure nobody would consider a spoiler given how much of a cocktease all the other shows have been in terms of getting to the main event. Anyways.

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You're correct that Mon Mothma is already aware of Thrawn, how he operates, and what sort of threat he poses to the Republic. How and why the others didn't agree to sending Hera to scout is beyond me. I get that one of them is likely a traitor but there's a whole nuanced political game that could have been played there. But of course, why bother with interesting political warfare in our plots because we all knew Hera was going to say 'F it, bye!' and go anyways and she does here.

So: Sabine. We're here again to talk about the problem child. As you said, she's an excellent marksman, engineer, and all-around badass. So why in God's name is it that every time they have Sabine doing something she's been canonically excellent at in the past, she's so dog crap stupid at it now? They had a lot of ingredients here to have a "girl boss" character without stepping backwards so far with her.

I guess at least they remembered that beskar armor is actually useful against lightsabers. Speaking of, it wasn't lost upon me that she left her helmet behind during her saber battle with Shin, who I've sworn this entire time looks like Billie Eilish, so I keep calling her that. I'm positive that's slap-to-my-face-unsubtle symbolism in regards to Sabine's character direction. I feel this bodes ill.

Also... remind me: did we see or have dialogue about Sabine's family being murdered sometime after Rebels? Because last I remember, they were totally fine and under Bo-Katan's leadership. Nothing in her Wookieepedia article suggests she died on Mandalore at any point after Rebels. It's certainly never covered explicitly in The Mandalorian or BoBF. It's probably a nitpick, but it ticked me off that dialogue swore Sabine had 'no family left' and that it's just soooo tragic her only family ever in the history of ever died on Mandalore. Boohoo. Hera, Chopper, and Jacen aren't still alive or anything to be part of her family too. OH WAIT. THEY ARE. AND WE ALL KNOW AHSOKA AND EZRA ARE ALIVE TOO. D'oh! For very beginner fans, this bit of plot won't hold contention; they can naively assume it's Tragic Backstory™ setting up her choice to go with Morgan, Baylan, and Shin and leave it there. But anyone who's watched the animated stuff is gonna have a bone to pick with that.

I will say, I think you're right that Sabine won't outright be Jedi. This is explicitly called out at least two times in this episode, at least once by Shin and once Baylan. And it's fine if she's going to be trained in one more way to be deadly. An unconventional apprentice as you put it. But it's also like- if everyone can be a Jedi no matter the talent or Force sensitivity, then nobody's one. The whole point is that Force-user, Jedi, have an enhanced connection to life. If at some point Sabine singlehandedly turns agains all of these Force-wielding people... that really should immediately end in her getting Force- crushed to death. But of course they won't let that happen.

So... Ahsoka's in the world between worlds again. I got a little emotional seeing Hayden again. What got me too this go round is that they actually let Rosario have emotions! Her fighting Baylan held lots of anger and clouded judgement, and her meeting Anakin... The amount of confusion and dumbfounded excitement seeing her old Master. Where has all THAT been this entire time? For now, I'll keep my mouth shut on how I feel about sending Ahsoka to the world between any old darn time as a 'get outta death free' card but I digress. Next week.

[Reply #363 on:]

You're killing me with that Billie Eilish comparison. I can't unsee that now.

Also, damn me for forgetting that it's Wednesday and there's a new episode out! I may have clicked that spoiler tag... prematurely.

[Reply #364 on:]

The instant I saw her I couldn't help myself. Now, you all must also share my plague. 

Godspeed during your watch through this week's episode. I'm curious to see how you interpret it all, even with my run-down.

[Reply #365 on:]

I was slightly dismayed by episode 3 of Ahsoka; it wasn't it's shorter length, I just didn't find it that great. I didn't think the chemistry between Ahsoka and Sabine was good enough and a lot of the dialogue seemed particularly wooden. I agree on the criticism of Hera; the whole meeting seemed contrived. The enemy fighters seemed barely an inconvenience and when I assume the Sion is designed to ferry objects and/or vessels within its ring, it seems daft that it has no way of knowing what's actually passing through it.

So, now I come to Episode 4

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Which is basically, the heroes march on the bad guys and they fail.

I also found there to be little suspense but that's probably partly due to the simple fact that the trailers reveal that the bad guys do reach Thrawn, so everything in the meantime is clearly irrelevant.

But then when I think about it long enough, I fall into the same trap that many former-fans tout (in principle) - it doesn't matter if the heroes succeed in stopping Thrawn starting a war or not, THE LAAAST DAAY OF THE REPPPUBLIC!!!11 is still coming regardless.

I know some who discard even Andor because they know that ultimately everything Cassian fights and dies for is going to be undone by the Sequels, but I completely disagree with that; for me, Andor works as an insight into a moment in (fictional) history that skilfully plays off real-world inspirations and realities in which you are invested in what Cassian gets up to even if you know precisely how his story ends.

I'm still not quite getting that from Ahsoka just yet. I'm not so heavily invested.

But, don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed episode 4; the direction seemed much better, the sabre fights were genuinely intense and even though some of his dialogue/motivation seemed a little ill-formed, I thought Ray Stevenson's performance was fantastic.

That said, I'll be fucking furious if he isn't anticipating Sabine trying to fuck shit up the second she gets the opportunity. I also want a tiny bit more explanation for his motives; we can guess at them at least, which is good, but I can't help but think one might ask him why he wants to destroy the New Republic and he'd say "have you fucking seen it!?"

I thought Marrok just being a long-dead Inquisitor merely reanimated by Nightsister witchcraft to be a great little detail, although  that's a detail to be utterly lost on the less-lore-aware.

And Anakin appearing to Ahsoka? Well, yeah, having been concerned that Ahsoka had been a little too stoic up to this point, this episode really allowed her to emote. I emoted too...

One thing I might disagree with you on, Zoidy, but it's largely speculation on my part.

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I'm guessing, even though (IIRC) the Rebels epilogue seemed to just gloss over the events after Ezra's sacrifice until after the fall of the Empire, in which time the characters just seemed to age and change their look (that sounds far more dismissive than I intend it to be) I think that might be being retconned into something a lot less blissful.

I suspect Clan Wren really were eradicated by Gideon's forces on Mandalore; I suspect this might have been the source of a lot of strife between Sabine and Ahsoka, that Ahsoka forbade her from getting involved or something (the question of "trust" might just be Baylon twisting words though - just as an aside, it's kinda ironic that Stevenson voiced one of Clan Wren's mortal enemies as well; surely his would be a voice Sabine would be painfully reminded of).

I think at some point (now), the Ghost crew went their own ways, and possibly acrimoniously. Hera sees Carson and his squad go out of their way to join her. Where the fuck is Zeb? They bring him back into live action to show him as one of Caron's friends and possible squadmates, but when the mission is to help Hera rescue Sabine and Ahsoka, and damn the consequences, he's like "nah, fuck that!"

Really???

Yes, I'm probably reading too much into that, but it would sort of reinforce the concept that Sabine feels she really only has Ezra left. Not that there's any evidence that she doesn't care about Hera, or actively hates Ahsoka at all, but I wonder whether that family she had aboard the Ghost is not actually broken, and Ezra is the only one she doesn't feel tainted somehow?

Or you know, Filoni is a hack. We'll see I guess!

[Reply #366 on:]

One thing I might disagree with you on, Zoidy, but it's largely speculation on my part.

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I'm guessing, even though (IIRC) the Rebels epilogue seemed to just gloss over the events after Ezra's sacrifice until after the fall of the Empire, in which time the characters just seemed to age and change their look (that sounds far more dismissive than I intend it to be) I think that might be being retconned into something a lot less blissful.

I suspect Clan Wren really were eradicated by Gideon's forces on Mandalore; I suspect this might have been the source of a lot of strife between Sabine and Ahsoka, that Ahsoka forbade her from getting involved or something (the question of "trust" might just be Baylon twisting words though - just as an aside, it's kinda ironic that Stevenson voiced one of Clan Wren's mortal enemies as well; surely his would be a voice Sabine would be painfully reminded of).

I think at some point (now), the Ghost crew went their own ways, and possibly acrimoniously. Hera sees Carson and his squad go out of their way to join her. Where the fuck is Zeb? They bring him back into live action to show him as one of Caron's friends and possible squadmates, but when the mission is to help Hera rescue Sabine and Ahsoka, and damn the consequences, he's like "nah, fuck that!"

Really???

Yes, I'm probably reading too much into that, but it would sort of reinforce the concept that Sabine feels she really only has Ezra left. Not that there's any evidence that she doesn't care about Hera, or actively hates Ahsoka at all, but I wonder whether that family she had aboard the Ghost is not actually broken, and Ezra is the only one she doesn't feel tainted somehow?

Or you know, Filoni is a hack. We'll see I guess!

I think everything you said could and would be completely buyable with proper set-up and execution, which is where this show ultimately seems to keep stumbling for me.

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Like the thing with Sabine's family being decimated on Mandalore by Gideon. It's fine to have Baylan mention that her family died to rankle Sabine and to get her onto his side, Ahsoka be damned, but that could've been prefaced with Ahsoka and Sabine fighting about it earlier on. I think that would've strengthened Sabine's resolve to basically give the finger to Ahsoka.

As for Sabine and Hera, and even Zeb and Jacen to a certain extent... If they all had a falling out so bad that Sabine no longer considers any of them family enough to say to Baylan 'Hey, I still have people left thank you very much. I'm blowing up your map now, k?', that's a plot thread worth telling to Rebels fans if nobody else. It could be a misdirect or something but... it has me a little concerned. If it isn't a misdirect, then what happened in the years after Rebels ended to make them fall apart? Even a smattering of flashbacks or dialogue would be interesting to see/hear. It's been odd to see her almost act like the Ghost crew never existed. Maybe it's just one of those 'Not terribly relevant? Why bother talking about it?' type of things? Something about that feels off though.

About Zeb.

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I think he definitely should be there, helping Hera, Sabine, and Ahsoka out regardless of him having taken time to help his own people. Like you said, he's clearly still alive and well, and I'm pretty sure he's one of Carson's squadron mates. My hot take on why he's not present in this show is that Lucasfilm didn't want to spend any budget adding him in. That's a really dumb reason for him to be MIA but I digress.

[Reply #367 on:]

Conversely, I think everything you said is an entirely fair criticism.

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With that in mind, Sabine's obsession with finding Ezra is a contrivance. That said, I've just thought up another straw to clutch at that might explain things, but equally might not be set up right.

I'm one of those sort of people who will overthink the small stuff and miss the big; I somehow love speculating over so many lingering threads in an attempt to explain what I've seen and not fully understood; except, many times it really is just down to bad writing.

But anyway. So, I was about to say I liked how they played Sabine's ultimate reluctance to destroy the map straight away. The foreshadowing with the "I can trust you, right?" "Er, yeah, sure!" seeds the doubt.

Except... Ahsoka's a Jedi; she'll feel the bullshit, right??? Unless, Sabine is very good at projecting. Or something. She somehow convinces Ahsoka that she'll totally stick to the plan and that Ahsoka should not seriously worry at all, maybe she convinces Baylan that she is so desperate just to see Ezra that she's not actually a threat? I mean, what Baylan tells her about family is only what she told him first...?

But yeah, where's the effective set-up to that? She seems good at doing the opposite to what people expect but letting down politicians is completely something else. Basically I've either elevated the writing or exposed it at its worst...

On the subject of Zeb and family

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You're absolutely right about there needing to be more to address the notion of the Ghost crew disintegrating after Rebels. I fear it's not the first time that a recent Star Wars project has, shall we say, subverted expectations, but at least TFA went some way to explain it.

You're also most likely correct with Zeb being too expensive. But unless they have a very specific role for him later on (and explain his absence) then whether he's too expensive or not, his not being there is another contrivance. Zeb should be there, but they clearly don't want to give that much focus to him at this point, and couldn't possibly write the story in such a way that would accommodate him, ergo we'll just assume he doesn't give a shit...

One wonders whether, should there be a mission to follow the Sion (I'm guessing that Ahsoka will learn to be one with the Purrgils and have them take her and the others with them to the other galaxy; one hoping that their migration doesn't take a bloody long time...) then the whole gang will muster, and Zeb will then appear. Who knows, maybe Rex will be there too?

But if Zeb doesn't appear at all, I think fans should be justifiably unimpressed; so much of the show so far has been set up in a way that basically says "look everyone, it may as well be Rebels Season 5!" what would be the reason not to feature Zeb? "Oh, well, we didn't want everyone to assume it was just Rebels Season 5..."

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I was reminded that they're apparently putting next week's episode on the Big Screen so presumably quite a lot is going to happen in it. Despite some of my negativism I'm still hopeful that it'll be spectacular. I might have to get up extra early to watch it before I go to work. We'll see...

[Reply #368 on:]

Okay, I'm not gonna lie; I enjoyed episode 4 quite a lot. This is a very flawed show, but its shaping up to be passable, which is more than can be said for most modern Star Wars content. But episode 4 was genuinely good in my opinion.

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I love the implication that Marrok was simply a reanimated corpse the entire time, what with the cloud of green witchy mist erupting from his body. I was telling my brother that I think his design somewhat resembled the Eighth Brother. Apparently a non-insignificant number of people were expecting a big reveal on his identity? Not sure why; they never really implied that he was somebody important or that he was deliberately trying to remain anonymous. He was just muscle, and some people wear helmets just because they can. Can you imagine how bullshit it would be if he turned out to be Ezra? That would be dogshit writing, even by Star Wars standards.

Even though it's frustrating to see Sabine acting so immature, her moral dilemma presented in this episode is believable and I can get behind it. It's been a long time since I've seen Rebels, but from what I remember she was much closer to Ezra than anybody else on the squad. This whole debacle is probably meaningless for casual viewers though. This relationship is completely unseen for those that haven't seen Rebels, and the threat of Thrawn so far has been vague at best; all talk and no show. That said, I have no doubt that they'll nail his genius Moriaty-style deductions on the battlefield, since that was already done in his cartoon appearance under Filoni's supervision.

Baylan is awesome. Excellent performance and the mystery surrounding his background and motivations is very intriguing. Of course, this will be meaningless if they can't give a satisfying answer to these things so I'll reserve full judgement on his character for now. Dedra Meero is currently my favourite Star Wars villain.

As for Zeb, I believe he's a Y-Wing pilot. Or least, he was wearing a blue pilot uniform in The Mandalorian which I think is what they wear. The guy is huge, so frankly he'd look kind of goofy in an X-Wing to be honest. I guess there's no reason Hera couldn't have had some Y-Wings escorting her either, so perhaps it was a matter of budget. Oh and by the way, that little scene with Morgan's big ring jumping into hyperspace looked amazing. It's great to see they can still pull off visually striking sequences.

[Reply #369 on:]

Episode 5.

Lots to unpack here. Let's go.

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This, for me, was easily the best episode so far. Sure, pretty much nothing happened yet again, but it was a lot of cool nothing. Ahsoka going to the World between Worlds, I realized after the fact, was just a rehashing/retelling of what journey she went through during Rebels' ending. That was made blatantly obvious with her swapping outfits to her white gear.

I will say, what an absolute TREAT to see Hayden again. He always delivers when he's put on screen, and he did so again here. The lightsaber battle between him and Ahsoka was superb, especially for this series. If they had a very limited budget for saber duels, this is surely where it was used. The only time it felt a bit weak was when Hayden was fighting Ahsoka in the flashback to her Clone Wars years. The young actress didn't quite have the experience in saber fighting like Hayden does, but that's certainly not her fault. That said, the girl played young Ahsoka well overall.

I know Ahsoka was a kid in TCW, but I really got that sense here more than I ever did in the cartoon. She looked and sounded so young and innocent, confused and scared about being in a war, becoming a child soldier against her will as Anakin talked down to her on the battlefield.

Remember last week when I wanted some gosh darned flashback content concerning Mandalore? Well, we got that. We just didn't get it tied into Sabine's moment. Monkey's Paw way of getting what I wanted I guess, heh. Anyways, they used the same actress for both of Ahsoka's younger parts. I felt that during the Siege scene, something heavy was missing from her performance. She still sort of conveyed the young and scared and lost aspects of Ahsoka as a newly-minted Padawan, and not the hardened edges of an experienced warrior. But even so, you can tell she put her all into the part and what she did deliver was commendable. Ironically, the younger actress got to show more emotion than Rosario's ever been let do thus far. But... on that note, that might be changing now that she's had her 'coming to Jesus' talk with Anakin. She was certainly smiling a lot more.

The imagery this go around was pretty sublime; Dave's always been pretty great at drawing emotion from flashback sequences and character introspection pieces, especially in tandem with Kevin Kiner's music. Now, what exactly Ahsoka learned from her lesson outside of 'war is hard and I choose to live despite the pains it's caused me' I don't know. Maybe that was really all the lesson was about and I'm trying too hard to dig deeper. But I'm sure someone else will gently and kindly fill me in if they Get It more than I did.

Some minor quibbles: Hera should have automatically believed Jacen when he said he heard and felt something out in the waters. Why would she doubt him when she knows he's got the Force? I also thought it a bit silly that she could 'hear' the lightsabers like he could when she's not at all attuned to the Force. Maybe Kanan's ghost never left and channels some ability to her or something? Minor, but I did kinda laugh about that.

Again the political storytelling here is weak but what else is new? You'd really think Mon would've given Hera and co. more deference as far as their unorthodox mission goes given that Leia was name-dropped and approved of what they were doing. Y'know, on top of the fact they're standing on a planet with remnants of the freakin' map they were after, not to mention the dais that read it. C'mon, all of that is evidence, people. Also, the way in which all of these officers speak to one another is very Joss Whedon.

Some of the purrgil sequence looked pretty hokey graphically. As was predicted, they're Ahsoka's ticket to finding Sabine, Ezra, and Thrawn. I'm sure none of us are particularly shocked by that.

In summary I know this episode amounted to a lot of fan service and retreading/retconning of what's already canonically happened in the past... but damn if it didn't work on me. I won't say it's the best Star Wars I've ever seen, because it certainly isn't. But if you ask me, it's the best that Ahsoka's given us, and some of the best that Disney's given us in live action. It's a pity that the show overall hasn't been at least this strong.

Or, y'know. This episode is just as mid as the rest of the series, and the nostalgia bait worked on just me.

[Reply #370 on:]

Agreed!

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Well, in particular in the a) 50 minutes and the story thread creaks slowly forward and b) I sure am a sucker for the fan service.

I could be fairly critical of some aspects; there was quite a lot of this episode where not a lot actually happened. First unfair comparison - Andor. I'd say at least 4 episodes in that season equate to "but just not yet" but for the most part I'd argue very little time is wasted because the payoff at the end is all the more superb because it took the time to cultivate our interest. I think this episode of Ahsoka was over-padded.

When it comes to Ahsoka and Anakin, I think the overall plot device mostly worked... Second unfair comparison: Arcane. In about 2 minutes the character of Silco, through flashback, perfectly encapsulated the live or die trope:

"...And all the while this question lingers before you: 'Have you had enough?' It's funny. You could pass a lifetime without ever facing a choice like that. But it changes you forever..."

And I never really felt that Ahsoka was ever really drowning, that Anakin never really was asking her "Have you had enough?". I've felt so little stakes this series, it's disappointing. The only time I felt alarmed was Sabine's first duel with Shin and Ahsoka facing off with Baylan, because Baylan's fighting style was as new (to Star Wars) as it was visceral.

I appreciate the direction Filoni was taking the WbW bit, but Ahsoka's victory wasn't quite so profound; I thought they could have done even more with her and Anakin, and even though it was addressed - Baylan's accusation that her legacy is bound to Vader and is one of destruction - I don't think it was answered, and I don't mean in a "that comes later", it just wasn't satisfyingly answered.

Moving on, I can't help but think that in the wake of JJ Abrams wiping out the New Republic to make his rehash of the original trilogy make sense, Filoni has listened to fans going "the Republic must be fucking idiots to allow the First Order to do what they did!" and he's gone "...why yes, turns out there were! I'll show you why you shouldn't even mourn them!"

That said, a part of me sort of wonders whether or not Mon (and Leia apparently) are so stand-off-ish because there's this fear that if they start cracking heads together and dictating stuff, the Republic's legitimacy as a "not the Empire, honest!" might be in danger. All the while, there's been little seeds, sometimes massive unwanted tree trunks, of detail which paints that a dithering Republic leadership just allows the galactic elites to carry on as they've ever done, full of corruption and self-interest.

Or, we could go with a third unfair comparison, Spaceballs...

"Evil will always triumph, because Good is dumb..."

But anyway, if I stop going on about all that for a moment... There's so much I loved about it!

I thought Hayden Christensen really delivered as a Filoni Anakin; he took on the role as laid out by Matt Lanter and was totally convincing. I quickly forgot about any de-aging shenanigans and would have happily followed him for the rest of the episode.

The actress who played the young Ahsoka was really good - it was just slightly mentally jarring that I had always seen Ahsoka in TCW as just very young but still hadn't really considered her as a child until now. That said, my only criticism would be that during the Siege of Mandalore, Ahsoka had matured greatly, imo, and I'd almost argue that the actress appeared too young.

The scene with the Trooper holding her hand was extremely touching, though was slightly let down by the towel they placed over the trooper's head, so as to just remind everyone that there weren't even going to bother to attempt to even remotely depict Tem Morrison's face there.

But he was there - and he was Rex - yahoo!!! I just think, as much as I loved seeing X-Wings gliding over the sea, Rex was the epitome of a cameo; they could have expanded on the role just slightly and done a lot more; i.e. maybe Ahsoka would trip over and Rex would help her up by hand, further emphasising the bond Ahsoka had with her fellow soldiers.

I also, now, fear that that's the last we'll see of Rex and that we'll never see Zeb prominently, if at all, because it is just Ahsoka on her way, and if we were to ask, the response would be "the show's called 'Ahsoka'! Come on!"

Anyway, I'm being negative again.

So, yeah, having Ahsoka re-baptised is something I whole-heartedly approve of. It sort of implies what I hoped would happen with her - that she comes out of her shell and emotes a bit more - returns to being the bold, adventurous but fun Ahsoka - is actually what's going to happen.

So while I think the episode wasn't perfect, and that the show in general is not quite lighting me up as much as I hoped for, I'm still enjoying it and my hope for its near-future is still very high.

Side note, Jedi Survivor went on Sale a couple of days ago (and I've got a new job) so I've been playing that most free moments I have. Performance issues aside, I'm loving it!

[Reply #371 on:]

Finally got around to seeing ep 5.

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I agree that this was quite a strong episode. It also further proves that George Lucas is not that great of a director, since apparently Hayden was indeed capable of delivering a strong performance this entire time. In fact, it was quite surreal seeing all the Clone Wars imagery adapted into live action; the armour Anakin wears, Rex, young Ahsoka (and on that note, I'm VERY glad they didn't use her disturbingly skimpy original outfit).

Seeing her as literal child is actually quite shocking, and was a brilliant decision from a writing perspective. It finally puts this into perspective, about how fucked up her life was to be fighting wars at the age of 14. It also put to rest one of my earlier issues with Ahsoka's character, regarding her stoic vibe; she has not had a normal life. She's seen some serious shit.

I'm still not entirely sure why she ended up in the world between worlds. It's been ages since I saw Rebels, but didn't Ezra deliberately access it from a very specific point, rather than somewhere completely arbitrary? Obviously she wasn't underwater the entire time, because she would've drowned.

The excellent cinematography is also worth pointing out. Seeing Anakin march into the distant fog, and then have a strike of lightning highlight a Vader-shaped silhouette was so freaking sweet. Honestly, the scenes with Hera were the weakest parts of the episode but they weren't too bad.

You'd really think Mon would've given Hera and co. more deference as far as their unorthodox mission goes given that Leia was name-dropped and approved of what they were doing.

This. Even if Hera was completely out of line it's not like she was doing anything particularly wrong aside from wasting time. Her reputation is strong enough that the idea of disobeying an order over something insignificant being enough to have her rank stripped is just daft, especially with multiple big-shot senators supporting her.

Some minor quibbles: Hera should have automatically believed Jacen when he said he heard and felt something out in the waters. Why would she doubt him when she knows he's got the Force?

We don't know how often he's used the force, and it might not have immediately occurred to her that he wasn't just listening with his ears. I'd personally let this one slide since she took him seriously reasonably fast.

I could be fairly critical of some aspects; there was quite a lot of this episode where not a lot actually happened. First unfair comparison - Andor. I'd say at least 4 episodes in that season equate to "but just not yet" but for the most part I'd argue very little time is wasted because the payoff at the end is all the more superb because it took the time to cultivate our interest. I think this episode of Ahsoka was over-padded.

Interesting thoughts. I think we can all agree that Andor is slow. Now, for me, that's not a bad thing at all if the story can deliver what's being built up in a satisfying conclusion. Andor definitely succeeded in this regard; there was plenty of foreshadowing and build-up leading to Cassian's first meeting with Luthen, the Aldahni heist, the prison escape, and the riot on Ferrix. However none of these (besides the first) were telegraphed at the beginning of the series. It never took more than a few episodes to give the viewer what they've been waiting for. Really, the only major dangling thread currently is Mon Mothma's plot, which will presumably be resolved in season 2. But lets compare that to Ahsoka. We're up to episode 6 now (which surely has to be where Thrawn appears, right?). It's taken ages to get to this point, and there hasn't really been many other mini-goals along the way for them to pursue. This to me makes it feel like Ahsoka is slower than Andor despite the completely different pace.

Side note, Jedi Survivor went on Sale a couple of days ago (and I've got a new job) so I've been playing that most free moments I have. Performance issues aside, I'm loving it!

You're in for a treat. That game is amazing. I loved Fallen Order, but Survivor somehow managed to improve it in basically every way.

[Reply #372 on:]

Finally got around to seeing ep 5.

Good job avoiding all the spoiler-thumbnails on YouTube!

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I definitely agree that Hayden comes across far better here than he did in the films, but then his character seems very different too, which miiiiight whiff of Filoni hijacking him, but also talks of a character growth; the general consensus I gather is that it is Anakin we see, not just a figment of Ahsoka's imagination. So he's been there, gone through Vader and out the other side. There was some speculation that he's embodying the prophecy as foretold by the Father, back in that CW episode - he does represent balance in the Force and is proactive about it, which makes it such a crying shame that he was almost completely overlooked in the Sequels, but hey, one help but not think the sequels would have been utterly different if Filoni had penned them.

But yeah, there's still question marks about the WbW; if I recall correctly, Ezra was presented with the image of Ahsoka about to be killed and impulsively yoinked her out of the way. I rather think something a little different has happened here.

But while we're at it, having watched the flashback clips a few more times, I feel I should praise the young Ahsoka actress some more; while I contended that she still looked younger in face than I associated Ahsoka being at the time of the Siege of Mandalore, I've got to give props on her still selling two very different versions of Ahsoka; she did capture the older version really, really well.

On the subject of Andor - yeah I hear people talk of "pacing issues" and agree that it is a slow burner, but you point out something really important; this was episode six. In Andor, we'd have just finished the second of two very distinct story-arcs.

Presumably, now Ahsoka is in the other galaxy, having been reborn as The White, things are going to move along very rapidly now. I just really, really, really hope they don't spend an age building up Thrawn only to defeat him almost the moment we actually meet him, just because we've ran out of time...

We'll see though, as I say, I don't want to sound like I'm shitting on the show, I'm really enjoying it, it's just... hmm, I'm not certain how I'd sell it to my parents, for instance.

You're in for a treat. That game is amazing. I loved Fallen Order, but Survivor somehow managed to improve it in basically every way.

Thank you, I've just completed the main storyline and I have to agree with everything you said. To think it's sometimes a rarity these days where the follow-up to something you really love is just even better.

On top of everything, they did a really good job not only with the acting but the performance capture as well. There were points where I was genuinely caught by how effective and convincing it was. Cal has gone from being an interesting character to one of my favourites in Star Wars.

[Reply #373 on:]

Good job avoiding all the spoiler-thumbnails on YouTube!

Welllll I had a few things spoiled. Nothing major.

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I saw Anakin with a red lighsaber and young Ahsoka besides young Gamora from Infinity War (apparently it's the same actress!)

Man, I wish you guys were here when Andor was on. It would have been wonderful discussing that on an episode-by-episode basis!

Jedi: Survivor spoilers below. Very big ones, in fact.

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My one complaint with the story is something that might sound like a nerdy nitpick, but actually has pretty huge implications. I don't like the fact that Bode has a red lightsaber. Bleeding a kyber crystal is a ritual that basically says "Yep! I am fully committed to being evil now!" which I feel is at odds with Bode's character, who was really in it for the self-preservation. That being said, I still really loved that twist as well as the scene with Cere getting her rematch with Vader.

I can't wait to replay it!

[Reply #374 on:]

Oh man, I do wish I came here while Andor was on, for those very reasons!

Also

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Wow, same actress playing young Gamora too? I'd seen it referenced but thought it was just a meme; that's mighty impressive otherwise. As I say, she was fantastic as Ahsoka; I reckon she'll have a lot of success in the future!

But on the subject of spoilers and Jedi: Survivor and, well, being spoilt.

MASSIVE SPOILERS below:

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Frustratingly, I didn't avoid the spoilers.

I carelessly caught glimpse of a comment boasting about "oh, that last battle against Bode" so I had to play the entire game looking side-eye at Bode going "but you're going to betray us, aren't you?" and some special kind of swine on YouTube decided to proudly showcase Vader "killing absolutely everyone" and so sweetly used the thumbnail of him gutting Cere, so I knew a) she'd die and b) the Archive and everyone in it was fucked.

So that was a bit of a shame. Thankfully, I was spared a lot of the particulars, so I still got to enjoy it a lot and be swept up in the story.

Bode is a great example of a tragic villain; one who really, despite being an ISB plant, could have remained a genuine friend if not for a fateful decision. I think my only criticism is his reasons for finally turning against Cal; namely that everything was kosher until Cal decided he was going to bring along everyone on the Hidden Path too. "Yuck, I don't like other people being safe and in paradise" seems a bit weak, but not entirely out of the realms of possibility for a self-centred and desperate mind. How more powerful might it have been, though, if Bode had argued that bringing more and more people to Tanalorr would only increase the chance of the Empire finding it, forcing his hand? Maybe that is explained like that, I just didn't catch it.

I think I agree that his blade being red was too basic. Perhaps, like Dagan's blade turning red was a narrative confirmation that he had gone full-on darkside-evil, maybe Bode having a red blade was just the narrative explaining that he was actually beyond redemption at this stage.

But yeah, heading back to Cere, I was waiting for Vader to kill her, thanks to that fecking thumbnail, and when Cal grabbed her as she lay dying it seemed a little cliché even, but then, as I said before, Cameron Monaghan's subsequent performance (and its capture) utterly, utterly caught me off guard.

Props again to the composers; I thought they did a truly wonderful rendition of a John Williams-esque score for Fallen Order while Survivor's score is possibly a bit more individual, it's just as evocative.

Jedha and especially Koboh are stunningly beautiful; all environments in both games are really, really well done. I think my only issue with Jedha is that encountering some of the fauna there... let's just say that they deserve being zapped by the Death Star...

[Reply #375 on:]

Episode 6

At this point in the game, the biggest flaws that I could point out (and have numerous times) are deeply inherent to the story itself and cannot be fixed or hoped to be fixed. That aside, here are some thoughts.

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The good:

• Thrawn and Ezra finally showed the heck up.
• Baylan had some interesting flecks of characterization, and his padawan seems to be questioning his decisions.
• Speaking of, it was nice to see a very slight set of emotion's from Baylan's padawan. And some talking.
• We got real Nightsisters this outing. Not whatever Morgan is. Young? Uninitiated? She looks nothing like them either way; dunno if they'll touch on that or not.
• The dog-rat mount was kinda cute and charming.
• The hermit crab people we sort of interesting too I guess.
• Lars Mikkelsen is such a wonderful casting for Thrawn vocally.

The Eh/Bad

• Thrawn physically should've looked more imposing in my opinion. I wouldn't have minded him having stronger shoulders on his uniform and a more exaggerated face via makeup, though the latter might've come off corny. Or perhaps because I watched Rebels, I simply have the unrealistic expectation for Thrawn to look as exaggerated and pseudo-cartoony as the other Rebels characters have been (except Sabine).
• Whole lotta nothing happened like usual to get to things.
• Was there really much of a point to having Ahsoka in this one? Sure, she and Huyang talk about what amounts to the balance of the Force, and the cause/effect of everyone on that but... eh.
• Sabine was a total jerk for not telling Ezra she sacrified the entire galaxy's safety just to come find him. Whoopsie~
• I've said it before and I'll say it again: Sabine is really, really bad at fighting. Holy cow. She's stupid levels of sloppy.
• I'm curious to know why/if Thrawn let Ezra off his ship to end up on this godforsaken, colorless rock of a planet. If Ezra escaped, why does Thrawn care if he's got the Nightsisters to help him back to the known galaxy? Let the guy die or stay stranded on a planet with zero ships in or out. By the time Ezra hitches a ride home, the Empire will have risen again, surely.
• This is totally on me, but I kind of presumed after Rebels' end, Ezra and Thrawn would stick together. Not by choice, mind. But as a never-ending battle between getting back to the known galaxy/to stay lost forever. Of course Ezra wanted to be found and wanted to return home. But I'm sure he knew that might not be possible given Thrawn's incredible mental prowess. Escaping the guy takes one heck of a curveball.
• I thought it was interesting that Thrawn didn't immediately go and start digging for information about Ahsoka himself, and that he had his crew do it instead. While this isn't necessarily out of character or anything, it felt off somehow. I'm too lazy to go look at Wookiepedia, but didn't he know about her in Rebels, if only in a rudimentary sense? Or no?I could be wrong there.
• Pretty convenient for the Nightsisters to not have foreseen this whole dang plot coming.

Overall, I'm not sure where they really want this thing to go. They have two episodes left and that's it. Unless they carry these characters into another series, the good guys gang has to hurry up and take Thrawn out as a threat. So much time was wasted in the front end of this show that could've been used to really set up Thrawn, set up Ezra, tells us what they've been up to while also showing us the rest of the Rebels cast's lives up to current...

Also- Would Thrawn desire to essentially conquer the Republic once he gets back to the known regions? Timothy Zahn's newer Thrawn books pen him more as a man joining with the Empire because he basically needed a place to go after being exiled from his own people, plus he wanted to keep his people safe from outside invaders. Sidious of course took full advantage of Thrawn by playing politics, and had him commit numerous atrocities on his behalf all in the name of helping the Chiss.

Anyways, that's not really relevant to the show or anything; if Rebels' canon was thrown out the window I'm sure the Thrawn novels old and new, and the comics as well were all thrown out the window.

[Reply #376 on:]

Hmm, yeah...

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Nothing particularly aggravating about this episode; just quite a lot of nothing again.

It's my biggest fear right now that because they've brought Thrawn in so late to the game, whatever they do with him is going to be underwhelming if they do eliminate him by season's end. I sort of wish you didn't remind me there's so little time left.

Don't get me wrong, Lars was and is excellent as Thrawn but already some things grate me. I know he didn't travel to the new galaxy of his own free will, but I did sort of wonder whether he'd have formed a mini-Empire of his own in the meantime. The answer: scarcely surviving. Don't worry though, lads, the rest of the bickering Remnant, followed by the galaxy, will instantly bow down to his barely-functioning Star Destroyer and dwindling private army.

I suppose some of that has to be established to make the threat of being marooned deeply unappealing but it's almost like the show is relying too much on the audience just knowing who Thrawn is already and using that as context enough, but what happens if they haven't read the books or watched enough of Rebels?

I'm also a little bothered by an introduction to a whole other galaxy in Star Wars and it's basically just any other planet. We're given (so far) no inkling that there's anything of any note whatsoever out in this new galaxy, while the old galaxy is so unbelievably rich.

I'm beginning to agree with the notion that Sabine is just coming across as incredibly dumb. She really did just want to see Ezra, trusted the bad guys implicitly, didn't care for the risk and seemingly didn't have any great plan on how to get back. Hmm, great!

But there were aspects I really like; Baylan has always been an interesting character and just continues to grow ever thus; Shin though is becoming more intriguing in her own motivations and I'm excited to see where they go, almost more than the rest of the characters. That said, if I was Baylan though, I'd probably do more to subtly clip her over the head when she says "...so then we become emperor of galaxy, так?" like that's not an absolutely massive red flag.

Ezra was great - even if I was or wasn't really into Rebels, I like him already.

There were plenty of good titbits of subtle directing and acting; the aliens were very fun and creative. I also wonder whether I'm right in getting a somewhat unholy vibe from Thrawn's troops? Somewhat imagining that they're mostly reanimated corpses brought back by Dathomiri Magick. Though a bit like with Marrok, are we going to have a repeat of the myriad of YouTubers speculating as to who he might be only to discover that he is exactly nobody?

Cool design though!

     

[Reply #377 on:]

Hmm, yeah...

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It's my biggest fear right now that because they've brought Thrawn in so late to the game, whatever they do with him is going to be underwhelming if they do eliminate him by season's end. I sort of wish you didn't remind me there's so little time left.

Don't get me wrong, Lars was and is excellent as Thrawn but already some things grate me. I know he didn't travel to the new galaxy of his own free will, but I did sort of wonder whether he'd have formed a mini-Empire of his own in the meantime. The answer: scarcely surviving. Don't worry though, lads, the rest of the bickering Remnant, followed by the galaxy, will instantly bow down to his barely-functioning Star Destroyer and dwindling private army.

I suppose some of that has to be established to make the threat of being marooned deeply unappealing but it's almost like the show is relying too much on the audience just knowing who Thrawn is already and using that as context enough, but what happens if they haven't read the books or watched enough of Rebels?

I'm also a little bothered by an introduction to a whole other galaxy in Star Wars and it's basically just any other planet. We're given (so far) no inkling that there's anything of any note whatsoever out in this new galaxy, while the old galaxy is so unbelievably rich.

I'm beginning to agree with the notion that Sabine is just coming across as incredibly dumb. She really did just want to see Ezra, trusted the bad guys implicitly, didn't care for the risk and seemingly didn't have any great plan on how to get back. Hmm, great!

But there were aspects I really like; Baylan has always been an interesting character and just continues to grow ever thus; Shin though is becoming more intriguing in her own motivations and I'm excited to see where they go, almost more than the rest of the characters. That said, if I was Baylan though, I'd probably do more to subtly clip her over the head when she says "...so then we become emperor of galaxy, так?" like that's not an absolutely massive red flag.

Ezra was great - even if I was or wasn't really into Rebels, I like him already.

There were plenty of good titbits of subtle directing and acting; the aliens were very fun and creative. I also wonder whether I'm right in getting a somewhat unholy vibe from Thrawn's troops? Somewhat imagining that they're mostly reanimated corpses brought back by Dathomiri Magick. Though a bit like with Marrok, are we going to have a repeat of the myriad of YouTubers speculating as to who he might be only to discover that he is exactly nobody?

Cool design though!

     

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To your first point, that's my worry as well if they don't draw him into another series. And I agree that the fact he's almost a space hobo is a bit... odd. Ingenuity peeks through with his having fixed his ship and troops how he did, but dude. He's Thrawn. He should've taken a ton of planets into his orbit to forge himself a scaled military outfit or something if not a political leadership with followers.

To your second point, I agree. This new galaxy just feels like...where we came from. It's nothing ethereal and strange. We end up on a death rock of a planet and that's it. Which we've never stopped seeing from Disney Wars. Learn to make new planet types already!

Again I agree with the Baylan and Shin assessment. They've both become interesting and it's a pity they're not the focus. Ahsoka (and Sabine) are supposedly the show's focus and are THE most aggravating and boring things here to sit through. Ironic. Then again, if they were the focus, they'd probably be as fun as cardboard to watch so I'll take what I get.

Ezra is pretty much the only Rebels character that feels, so far, in-tact from how we last left him. Not feeling the beard and scraggly hair look personally, but his dad looked like that in photos we'd seen of him, so maybe Ezra's trying to copy the look. I'll be curious to see if he's got a new lightsaber or if he's learned any sick new tricks since his pseudo exile. I also wonder if he'll mention Kanan at all.

Y'know, now that you mention it. The troopers definitely felt unholy. Their armor was dingy and cracked all over the place, held together by strands of red cloth and by gold. The imagery of Chimera and the troopers' armor being repaired like they were reminded me of Kintsugi, the art of fixing broken pottery and ceramics with lacquer mixed with gold flakes. Such a practice makes the broken thing whole again, and makes the history of the piece visible for all to see. That's an interesting visual to use for Thrawn I think, especially given his penchant to study art to learn about others. Enoch's armor was easily the most unholy of the lot because the trooper face was blown away and that vacant, eternally staring golden mask replaced it. Whether that was a found object or part of Thrawn's collection, who knows.

As for whether the troops are dead or reanimated corpses, I'd bet on the latter. I'd imagine that after spending so long in a strange new place, most of his troops would've died to the harsh realities, if not age. Also, Wookiepedia has them specifically listed as 'Night Troopers'. Oh and the rat-dog things are 'Howlers' apparently.

[Reply #378 on:]

Late to the party, again.

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That episode felt oddly uneventful despite finally introducing Thrawn and Ezra. Thrawn looks and sounds wonderful (and I am quite amused by his dad-bod. I suppose it's been a decade and he's an old man now). His legion of fucked-up-looking stormtroopers is amazing, especially Enoch, his commander. It was especially funny when he stepped forward after Sabine demanded Ezra's location; I really thought he was gonna dramatically remove his helmet and "SURPRISE, IT'S ME, EZRA!"

Now, to be a bit more negative... the reunion between Ezra and Sabine has to be one of the most anticlimactic things I've ever seen. Seriously, there was absolutely no emotion there whatsoever, and I expected far more from two long-lost friends seeing each other for the first time in over ten years. I can buy Ezra being a little bit cheeky straight off the bat, but Sabine has no excuse after going through so much trouble getting there. Even the bad seasons of Game of Thrones pulled off the scenes with Stark siblings reuniting. Despite that, the dude playing Ezra nailed it. He's got his mannerisms, attitude, even his voice and appearance is similar.

I'm not entirely sure I understand Thrawn's motives, either. If he wants Ezra dead then I guess that means he escaped the star destroyer at some point. But if his main goal is just to get back to his home galaxy, then who gives a shit? Leave him. He has no way of following. Oh, and speaking of star destroyers, how is that thing still flying? Surely they would have ran out of fuel by now. And does Thrawn even know that the empire was defeated long ago? So many questions left hanging...

Also interesting that apparently the Night Mothers/Sisters are native to this galaxy. So I guess they just colonised Dathomir, and appropriated the name? I was already confused with how multiple races referred to themselves as Dathomirian, although I guess that's simply because Star Wars is usually very shallow when it comes to the cultures of aliens.

I think one of the reasons Baylan and Shin are the most interesting characters is because their motives are so ambiguous. I'm a little worried that it's just gonna be a letdown when we get the full picture, but I'll try to stay optimistic. It also never occurred to me just how young Shin was, even though it's kind of obvious in hindsight.

I'll be curious to see if he's got a new lightsaber or if he's learned any sick new tricks since his pseudo exile. I also wonder if he'll mention Kanan at all.

Stuff like this is why I wish the episode was a bit longer. Surely one of the first things Ezra would do is ask about the others. Tell him that Hera has a kid, Sabine! That's a perfect starting point for small-talk. Also, it would have been nice if he acknowledged that she kept his lightsaber. I also doubt he built a new one... the dark and arid nature of the planet doesn't seem like they type of place to find kyber crystals.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Sabine is really, really bad at fighting. Holy cow. She's stupid levels of sloppy.

It seems like she's adopted the Din Djarin technique of using Mandalorian armour as a crutch, and deliberately tanking many hits. This has to be a retcon; since I thought her armour was a less-durable beskar alloy rather than Din's pure beskar.

[Reply #379 on:]

Late to the party, again.

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That episode felt oddly uneventful despite finally introducing Thrawn and Ezra. Thrawn looks and sounds wonderful (and I am quite amused by his dad-bod. I suppose it's been a decade and he's an old man now). His legion of fucked-up-looking stormtroopers is amazing, especially Enoch, his commander. It was especially funny when he stepped forward after Sabine demanded Ezra's location; I really thought he was gonna dramatically remove his helmet and "SURPRISE, IT'S ME, EZRA!"

Now, to be a bit more negative... the reunion between Ezra and Sabine has to be one of the most anticlimactic things I've ever seen. Seriously, there was absolutely no emotion there whatsoever, and I expected far more from two long-lost friends seeing each other for the first time in over ten years. I can buy Ezra being a little bit cheeky straight off the bat, but Sabine has no excuse after going through so much trouble getting there. Even the bad seasons of Game of Thrones pulled off the scenes with Stark siblings reuniting. Despite that, the dude playing Ezra nailed it. He's got his mannerisms, attitude, even his voice and appearance is similar.

I'm not entirely sure I understand Thrawn's motives, either. If he wants Ezra dead then I guess that means he escaped the star destroyer at some point. But if his main goal is just to get back to his home galaxy, then who gives a shit? Leave him. He has no way of following. Oh, and speaking of star destroyers, how is that thing still flying? Surely they would have ran out of fuel by now. And does Thrawn even know that the empire was defeated long ago? So many questions left hanging...

Also interesting that apparently the Night Mothers/Sisters are native to this galaxy. So I guess they just colonised Dathomir, and appropriated the name? I was already confused with how multiple races referred to themselves as Dathomirian, although I guess that's simply because Star Wars is usually very shallow when it comes to the cultures of aliens.

I think one of the reasons Baylan and Shin are the most interesting characters is because their motives are so ambiguous. I'm a little worried that it's just gonna be a letdown when we get the full picture, but I'll try to stay optimistic. It also never occurred to me just how young Shin was, even though it's kind of obvious in hindsight.

I'll be curious to see if he's got a new lightsaber or if he's learned any sick new tricks since his pseudo exile. I also wonder if he'll mention Kanan at all.

Stuff like this is why I wish the episode was a bit longer. Surely one of the first things Ezra would do is ask about the others. Tell him that Hera has a kid, Sabine! That's a perfect starting point for small-talk. Also, it would have been nice if he acknowledged that she kept his lightsaber. I also doubt he built a new one... the dark and arid nature of the planet doesn't seem like they type of place to find kyber crystals.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Sabine is really, really bad at fighting. Holy cow. She's stupid levels of sloppy.

It seems like she's adopted the Din Djarin technique of using Mandalorian armour as a crutch, and deliberately tanking many hits. This has to be a retcon; since I thought her armour was a less-durable beskar alloy rather than Din's pure beskar.

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Y'know, I was kinda expecting Enoch to be Ezra too. But perhaps that's too plot-twisty for Dave to bother with?

You're right in that it was suuuuper odd that Sabine didn't basically fall down bawling her eyes out when she found Ezra. Her whole motivation for any of this was to find him at all costs. Including, apparently, screwing the entire known galaxy. And yet she's wooden. Like you said, she didn't even tell Ezra about Jacen or what anyone's up to.

To your Thrawn points: Chimaera is probably flying on some fuel source from some planet Thrawn ravaged. He's a very smart guy; he'd figure out some way to cut deals with people to get fuel, or something to make it. It's still a stretch though... I don't see how he'd know anything about the Empire considering he was literally exiled but if he does know... I call BS. If it were that simple to contact known space, he'd have reached out and asked for a pick-up back home. Speaking of, if he's merely in the unknown regions, wouldn't it be within the realm of possibility that he's near the Chiss Ascendancy, or a place he'd know from their travels?? Maybe I'm going through mental loops with this and I've hurt myself with confusion.

I checked the Legends page on Wookieepedia, and Dathomiri are the product of human females and male Zabrak mating. They're not initially inherent to the planet Dathomir itself. The Canon page differs to point out they came from Peridea and settled on Dathomir. So I guess technically, in both canons, they colonized Dathomir. Which- I kinda presume was a nothingburger planet before that point, based on the article.

Honestly. Sabine should've waved Ezra's saber in his face and gone 'Hey bestie I kept this for you. You need it back now?'

If I'm not mistaken, you're correct in that Sabine's armor wasn't pure beskar. Which legit does make it all the dumber she uses it as a huge crutch. At least Din using it makes sense, as it's pretty impervious to everything, especially lightsabers. Still, both of them should be way better marksmen.

[Reply #380 on:]

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Yeah, just last week we were congratulating Dave on reminding everyone that not all Mandalorian armour is made of pure Beskar, but now I suspect the likes of Din and Bo and Boba proving to be such tanks, people would be shocked/confused if Sabine's armour didn't work exactly the same way.

I appreciate the criticism of the reunion, although I still felt they had good chemistry. I'll reserve more judgement until we've seen the follow-on dynamic in the next episode.

Now you mention it, I too was strongly minded to think that Enoch was Ezra but in some ways I'm glad it wasn't, but also disappointed. So, who is Enoch? Well, he's seemingly Thrawn's most trusted lieutenant, but otherwise nobody of importance. So why build him up, because he's bound to die like a chump anyway? "Ah, yes, well, do you get the reference? Enoch, the most faithful? Like the three Mothers and Fate? We like showing off our knowledge of ancient mythology, don't you see? Remember that episode from Season 3 of Mando - "The Spies" and how everyone was convinced it referred to either the Armorer or Axe who were both so blatantly dodgy, but in fact it was just a reference to ancient Judaeo-Christian mythology in which 12 Israelites scouted ahead to find the Promised Land. Clever, no?"

If they go anywhere with that then I'll be most happy; if not, my appreciation will go as far as how much I appreciate the quality of the rest of the story.

On the subject of Dathomir and what came before; I saw it suggested that some of the writing on the temple in Peridea is actually Zeffo markings; as we know from Fallen Order, Dathomir had a Zeffo presence, presumably before the Dathomiri came along. Add to that the extremely subtle re-introduction of the Rakatans into D-Canon with their name drop in Andor and a sprinkling of their glassing of Tatooine mentioned in BoBF (I think?) I'm interested in just where they're going with the deep, deep lore journey they're setting up.

At least there seems to be a purpose to this, as Baylan is looking specifically for some sort of supreme power that started, or at least pre-dated everything else. I guess we'll find out whether his story was originally due to end at the end of this season or not.

Actually there was something else regarding Jedi Survivor:

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We were discussing why Bode's lightsaber should or shouldn't be red. I've just realised something made obvious only in the end-game lore dump: It's not his lightsabre, it's Dagan's; Bode stole it after their final encounter for his own use. Does clear up quite a few things!

[Reply #381 on:]

Actually there was something else regarding Jedi Survivor:

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We were discussing why Bode's lightsaber should or shouldn't be red. I've just realised something made obvious only in the end-game lore dump: It's not his lightsabre, it's Dagan's; Bode stole it after their final encounter for his own use. Does clear up quite a few things!

Damn, I never noticed! Well I can put that thought to rest, then!

[Reply #382 on:]

Damn, I never noticed! Well I can put that thought to rest, then!

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As I say, totally didn't notice it during the main play through, only after trying to be all completionist on Bode's story, then cross-referencing with Wookiepedia.

But yeah, I've collected everything except all the seeds; trying out the gunslinger stance, which is a lot more fun than I ever gave it credit for during the main play through, then, once everything is near-enough 100%, I'll start the story again

[Reply #383 on:]

Episode 7. We're nearly done with this mini-series.

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I have so many questions. Most of them tied to 'why did we waste so much precious screen time on things that don't matter?'

The good:

• Thrawn was excellent to see in the little screen time we got with him. Lars commands attention in the role. It was also nice of Disney to remember they have canon, and canon novels at that. Thrawn name-dropped Anakin, having met him during the late-ish(?) Clone Wars era. And of course he met him again as Vader, but I don'y think he knows they're one and the same. Unless of course, he does. Which- if Zahn was writing him, he'd be able to deduce they're the same guy. I digress.
  
• Ezra was quite charming. The actor really seems perfect for the role. I'd been on the fence about him when we first met him, but this improved things a lot. I liked how he'd grown his Force abilities to trust in them beyond using a weapon. Ironically enough he's been the best fighter this entire season. That said, I was kinda surprised he kept insisting Sabine keep his old saber and that the reason he did so wasn't because he'd built a new one.
• More Anakin nostalgia baiting. Again Hayden is so good to see on screen, and in Clone Wars garb to boot. I almost wish we'd seen even more of his messages. If we're wasting time anyways, why not waste it on something we can enjoy?
• I like Carson. I have no idea why he barged into Hera's meeting instead of being there outright to stick up for her, but he's always such a charming fellow. Just something about him makes me kinda smile when he shows up.
• The Force push effect on Shin's saber when Ezra held her back was interesting.
• Shin starting to question how insane her master is was interesting.

The eh/bad:

• I have to say, Thrawn really should have been in this far more than he was. Criminally underutilized. But then, perhaps, the less he's used the better with Dave writing solo on this series?
• Ezra being the most potent and accurate fighter, yet carrying no weapons until he takes a trooper's blaster... I have to wonder if that was intentionally a dig at weapons violence.
• Sabine can chop and stab troops and mercs and they die. Continuation of inconsistent lightsaber physics.
• Hera's court martial and subsequent kiboshing of said martial was expected but, like the rest of the political side of this show, written in abysmally amateur fashion. I do not buy getting to mouth off to senators and walking away untarnished, much less basically fist pumping. Seeing 3PO was a painful reminder that Carrie is no longer with us... I will say though, Leia would get her friends out of trouble if she felt the need was great. She'd met the Ghost crew, so she'd understand their mission. Regardless this feels like a quick and dirty way to free Hera up for one big stinkin' reunion/ final battle or something.
• Shin's motivation for running was fear, and because Baylan essentially threw her to the wolves. I get that. But I'd be really curious to know more. More about her history, what drives her decisions. I can also infer she ran because if her old master could go back on his words, so could Ahsoka. I wonder how her arc will end?
• I guess Baylan is running off to attempt his Big Scheme™ to become the new Emperor or whatever he's planning. Thrawn seemed surprised that he'd gone missing. Frankly, he shouldn't have been. He knows very well that Jedi (and surely Sith) are unpredictable. Aslo the Night Sisters were literally hissing and booing him being there, along with Sabine. They only didn't seem threatened by Shin.
• I guess the purrgil are damn near impervious to bombs, and them going to hyperspace so close to a planet is okie dokie and definitely doesn't cause any harmful ripples or anything.
• Sabine STILL didn't tell Ezra what she'd done to get to him. She skirted the issue HARD.

There's probably more that I didn't mention because my brain already dumped everything that occurred. I'm sure you guys will bring up some key points too. I can't believe we're nearly at the end.

[Reply #384 on:]

I thought it was a pretty decent episode, albeit with a few flaws.

I've strung together a few thoughts, probably missed a few and forgot others...

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Adopting a similar approach, but let's start the other way round:

The Bad:
I swear that Senator could not be more two-dimensional. I would have predicted that he ends this season pulling a gun on Mon Mothma and/or Hera while crying "For the Empire!!!" for all his nuance and progression, but I'm told that lives on to be the utter arsehole father to a character in Star Wars:Resistance which, unfortunately "nobody watched".

Those snub fighters are fricking useless! Even when flown by Hero-villains they're ineffective but when flown by normal minions they are barely an inconvenience. At least Thrawn tactically calls them off to save them from being utterly humiliated...

While Baylan and Ahsoka's rematch was good it seemed utterly unnecessary, like it was somehow needed purely to show Ahsoka had grown more powerful since last they met. That's the only thing it added to the narrative, otherwise it could have been completely avoided and it would have made more sense.

The Mid:
Each time I see Thrawn's tactical genius alluded to, I expect to see it demonstrated. It's kind of working for now, but I'm still bothered that anyone who hasn't known Thrawn before this series will still not really appreciate how he poses any sort of threat.

At the end, Thrawn does some mental gymnastics to spin what Morgan can plainly see as A Very Bad Thing into somehow a strategic Good Thing, as now Ahsoka has lost invaluable time. But while he made a very good point about sending Sabine far, far, far away as a decoy for Ahsoka to follow, all I can think of is SHE HAS A SHIP! SHE CAN TRAVEL VERY FAR VERY QUICKLY! YOU CAN'T SEEM TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT THAT SHIP! SABINE KNOWS WHERE YOU ARE, YOU'RE IN A FRICKING STAR DESTROYER SAT ABOVE A MASSIVE TOWER!

Unless of course he really is seconds away from being completed anyway, or that, like Merrin, the Reverend Mothers (I don't know) can Magick his ship out of sight. There were comments of course that he could have loaded quicker if he didn't divert troops away from this duty...

What I will comment on vis-a-vis Baylan is I don't think he was surprised but disappointed. If anything, yes, he might have his own reservations about Jedi, and the Mothers may have booed and hissed at Baylan, but I rather think that Thrawn was trusting of Morgan's personal recommendations and any failure lies primarily with Morgan and judging by her performance I think she knows this.

In the meantime, it's intriguing that two sets of nomads on this forsaken, extragalactic wasteland still presumably have repulsorlift and blaster technology (not to mention metalwork). Did they nab this off Thrawn? Did the Dathomiri bring this technology with them to main galaxy?

Also, I don't know if I'm disappointed that the so-called Night-troopers aren't unholy zombies but seemingly just regular men who presumably have aged better than their armour has. It adds to the rag-tag, barely-getting-by aesthetic while allowing Dave to dabble in his Weebery. Thrawn is still pristine though, which actually poses questions.

It raises more questions about Enoch. It probably makes me even angrier when he inevitably just dies like a chump. Maybe he doesn't though, maybe they take the Enoch allusion to its maximum extent?

That said, I did actually view the Stormtroopers as a threat and unlike so many of them in the Mando shows, I thought they, erm, Died Well, so that was pleasing.

Though yeah, I did see that nomad that Sabine ran through with her blade and think "it's okay though, he'll get better!"

I'm okay with the whales hypering back out amid the minefield; but it did sort of seem to reinforce and contradict Thrawn's orders to destroy them with extreme prejudice - or you know, just really bother them until they leave. It kinda worked as per his intentions...?

Does make me think that those mines took a lot of effort and resources to deploy, and while I absolutely would believe that a standard Star Destroyer would be capable of that, let's say I guess he's lucky to still have that capability compared to seemingly everything else he doesn't anymore. But I'll forgive that.

While it was a pleasure to see Threepio again, (minus the fact that his stomach seemed this time to just be a couple of wires over a mesh like I've never noticed before, and I think I saw Anthony suck his stomach in at one point; all that sounds very harsh criticsm though) the whole committee hearing seemed extremely lightweight in its power and I would agree with its amateurish writing, though I would argue that Jon Stewart has proven on occasion that you can absolutely mouth off at senators during committee hearings (though especially if they're too chickenshit to bother to pitch up).

Leia bailing out Hera makes perfect sense, but it hides from the fact that presumably if Hera was passed through to Court Martial, if it wasn't entirely within the Defence Forces it might go through the Defence Council at which point Leia would quash it there; it looks better to blatantly lie to stop that blatantly being obvious later.

Threepio representing Leia is indeed a painful, painful reminder that she's no longer here, although let's face it, if Carrie was around, they'd still body-double, deep fake her face and her voice just like they've done with Mark anyway.

Buuut, overall, I'll give the scene a pass because it does actually work within the context of the narrative. Heading in, reading the description, I was thinking "fuck me, we absolutely cannot have the penultimate episode dedicated to Republic internal bitching!" It actually was just right.

The Good:
I've warmed to all the main characters now, they all largely seem to be in their element. The relationship between Ahsoka and Huyang has only got better and it sounds like David Tennant's having more and more fun. I remain completely enamoured with Eman Esfandi as Ezra, he's perfect, and I still think he and Sabine have good chemistry. I liked Ezra's fighting style a lot; a Jedi with only the Force as their ally during armed combat is, when you think about it, surprisingly underutilised in Star Wars. Yes, it was somewhat countered by him grabbing a blaster later on, but it might have echoed the slight desperation of the moment plus, after all, his original lightsabre had a blaster built into it. That might seem a weak argument though...

I'm happy that Baylan actually addressed the fact that Shin is just power-hungry and quite calmly recognises that their paths really don't align. That's fine. There's massive fan theory about what he's off to find, but then, I still remember how convinced everyone was about the rabbit in Wandavision. That said, I don't think he's actually looking to become an emperor of anything; I suspect he's following some old "youngling-tale" about some almighty power that sort of started everything and he's going to awaken it and ask it to come back and reset the galaxy. Whether or not that's Abeloth or whoever I guess we'll see. I suspect, technically, it'll be a far greater threat than Thrawn could ever be and it will be the stinger for season 2, or the movie, or whatever comes next maybe. As I say though, such a godawful shame that we've lost Ray Stevenson.

There's one remaining line from the trailer that hasn't been shown; it's Ahsoka talking about something dark coming. While most would predict that it's simply for the trailer or has been otherwise cut, most thought that Anakin's lines in this episode which were also in the trailer must have been cut and they weren't. Maybe it's Baylan's misdeeds that she is referring to, though I'll be a little disappointed if Baylan's quest is reached in the short time they have before everyone else escapes back to the main Galaxy because that'll be a little too easy.

As for Shin, I continue to like her character. I've seen commentators convinced that she's bound to be reformed. I'm not; she's overly ambitious, tempestuous and cruel; the best outcome I see for her is that she's marooned. Whether or not she goes on to become Queen of the nomads for a later appearance is fine; I suspect she'll fall into the trope of many overly-ambitious villains. 

I did enjoy the final reunion; yes it's bothersome that Sabine still hasn't come clean, I'll forgive the show that so that it wouldn't take away from the scene.

Basically, I'm optimistic, now, that Season 1 is only a precursor and it won't try and tie everything up in a bow by the end of next episode; i.e. Thrawn escapes, with or without his Star Destroyer and its cargo, the heroes probably return and Baylan sets up a Thanos-level threat that comes later in Season 2/the Mando/Ahsoka/Skeleton Crew Movie™

It would sort of make some narrative if Thrawn returns only to be swatted the moment he returns by the New Republic, because everything Hera's been trying to achieve, and that's her Hero moment, but I'd be whicked-sweet-angered if that's the case, almost as much as he's swatted before/as he leaves, as then he really will have fallen flat.

Baylan/Abeloth/Thanos would however still be a good thing because it proves that even if Thrawn is swatted after having been criminally underused, at least he wasn't the only threat, with Baylan having been there the entire time, and having two threats/storylines going forward would be a great outcome and remedy a few criticisms I've had for the show's pacing so far.

Where some of my optimism falls down, however, is presumably everything raised as universe-shattering at this point is rendered meaningless because we already know that the Sequels have detailed what comes next...

So yeah, I guess I'd say I remain hopeful that I won't be bitterly disappointed next week...

One more thought about Jedi Survivor (for now):
(Heavy Spoilers later on)

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I'm just about 100% everything, including the collectables, God help me. I'm technically missing one more conversation strand with Moran, the initially-reclusive blue guy in the Cantina. While I've been chatting with the other characters I've met along the storyline, now that the story's over and there's a Star Destroyer looming overhead, many of them are straight-up leaving forever; fuck me that's depressing!

So, if not for a bout of Fresher's Flu (working at a Uni is fun!) I would have already restarted the storyline. This time I'll focus even more on the given mission rather than pausing to explore every nook and cranny for loot.

But what I look forward to most from my second play through is that the one character that was never spoiled to me...

ahem... (last chance)

Cordova.

And I realised that, while I somewhat rushed through the Jedha sections initially, I never really stopped to talk to him enough. Or Cere, really, for that matter. Got all their databank entries, apparently, but can't help but feel there were other conversations that I never got to have with them.

Now I'll get a second chance, because they'll be alive again. Now I get to talk to them so, so much.

It's an extremely weird and somewhat heart-breaking feeling...

[Reply #385 on:]

I also thought it was decent, and I'm starting to notice a pattern: the less Sabine-heavy episodes are better. Not to say that I dislike Sabine, but her characterisation has been mediocre.

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The opening scene with Hera's trial was painful to watch. First of all, none of the guy's accusations made any sense. How can we get invested in the politics of the New Republic if the dialogue is so crummy? Second, it seemed like Mon was the judge, which as Hera's friend seems like a pretty big bias. Anyway, thankfully that scene was short and it was all uphill from there.

I'll echo the sentiments that Ezra's casting is brilliant. His line about insisting they can capture them as prisoners was so on-brand for him. It was also neat seeing his unique fighting style. I groaned slightly when he insisted he didn't need a weapon, because I thought they'd take the route of him going all zen and shit. Thankfully, it seems that was wrong; he's just rusty with his lightsaber usage and prefers to defend himself they way he'd been doing so for the past decade.

One concern is that they're going to rush the ending, because it feels like there's a lot of loose ends. Best case scenario is that Baylan's story is concluded so they won't need to recast him for another season, and Thrawn actually does manage to return to the main galaxy, preferably by using his big brain. He's been all talk so far. They really need to actually show him outwit his opponents to demonstrate his intellect, otherwise he's just another Moff Gideon. Maybe they can even leave the heroes behind, so the next season can have more focus on this galaxy.

[Reply #386 on:]

Tagged for spoilers:

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I cannot state enough how disappointed I am that this Thrawn is not Zahn's Thrawn.

But I did love seeing the Chimaera in the sixth (?) episode.

[Reply #387 on:]

Final episode. I'm not sure if this is going to lead into another series or movie or what. But we'll talk about it under the cut.

tnuc, I think you speak for us all when you express your disappointment.

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Good:

Kevin's music this outing has been superb as always.
Ezra was so on point and in alignment with his Rebels character! Why couldn't everyone else be so accurate?
Ezra having Kanan's lightsaber was touching. If anyone deserves it, it's him. Never mind Disney wants to sell more Kanan sabers.
We FINALLY got to see actual Night Sister things happen.
More Thrawn on-screen.
The idea of Thrawn being back on the chess board so to speak, in and of itself, is thrilling. Less thrilling, perhaps, is the idea that this erases the old Heir storyline entirely.
I don't know why, but seeing Thrawn get visibly irked by all the Jedi antics was fun for me.
We didn't waste much if any runtime! Yay!
Zombie troopers~!
Ezra chopped a zombie dude's head off, even though they didn't show it happening outright.


Bad/Meh:

Enoch totally underutilized and frankly pointless.
They really had a whole scene that could be put to a modern-day meme. Sabine taking those two TIEs out with the wings of Ahsoka's ship and then crashing it only to walk out like a baller and go "Got em'!" I genuinely cracke d up laughing at how corny that scene was.
It took them literally until now to explain the Mandalore thing.
Choreography was still overall very abysmal.
I guess Shin and Baylan's plot points are just- going to float in the ether now.
As per the entire series, Convenience Plot Devices and Points occurred to move the story along.
They really went with The Force is Female and retconned Sabine into Jedi powers. She can barely grab a saber in one scene, and then punts Ezra up onto the Chimaera in the next scene? Major levels of BS.
Sabine lost her helmet twice in this episode, yet it magically showed up when she needed it. I guess Mando armor has teleportation capabilities now.
Unless the Noti (hermit crabs) kept a spare mount after the attack on their encampment from Episode 7, there shouldn't have been two Howlers. And if they did keep some from then... they should've had a few more than two, right? I genuinely wasn't counting and won't go back to check.
Was kind of surprised that Sabine chose to help Ahsoka instead of going home with Ezra, which was the entire point of her mission. To get Ezra back into her life.
I nearly laughed again when Thrawn essentially tells Ahsoka in a bit more eloquent wording 'Bye, Felicia' and leaves the Unknown Region to go to Dathomir.

Questions:

Why didn't Hera go running to Ezra upon his return? She's basically his adoptive mother.
How did Chopper immediately know it was him while everyone else was prepared to blast him?
Why must Anakin's Force ghost be so sexy, and why must he keep taunting us with the idea of better content?
If Thrawn knows a great deal of knowledge of Anakin, then based on what he tells Ahsoka before he leaves her behind...did he know Anakin became Lord Vader? I'd be inclined to say he figured it out. But maybe that's me having wishful thinking?
Bets from anyone that Morgan isn't dead? Two reasons: She's female and she's a Night Sister. She can be resurrected stupid easily.

[Reply #388 on:]

I managed to stay spoiler-less but catching glimpses of other people's thoughts first thing this morning (having to wait literally all day to actually watch it) filled me with exceedingly low expectations.

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I actually found it relatively satisfying.

There were some dumb bits and plot contrivances; one might imagine that the Jedi Shuttle actually has enough spares to build two fully-functioning replicas considering how fixable being blasted out of the sky is. At least the TIEs proved that much more effective than the snub fighters but mein Gott had Thrawn been brave enough to  send four TIEs then he could have won everything there and then...

I'll agree on the choreography, sadly; Ahsoka verses Morgan was good, but the three heroes just looked bored as the Nighttroopers strolled into the room. I guess if they knew that they were about to be resurrected then it might have impacted on their behaviour because initially they looked so, so, so stupid. But hey, I thought the zombification worked; the literal Deathtroopers also worked really well; more than just Rule of Cool.

Does sort of lead me on to Sabine finally getting her Force powers. Yes, it was foreshadowed (and even lampshaded) all season long so I can't complain too much about her twitching her Lightsaber, but now it seems the second she's found it, she's mastered it. I was still looking on with a sense of disbelief that soured the emotional weight of her risking fucking up Ezra's jump.

Just by-the-by, though, I think the two Howlers that the good guys have is the one that Sabine was given plus one that Ahsoka stole off Baylan.

So yeah, apart from that, I loved the music again and quite a few things worked out as I had foreseen as I sort of hoped they would: Baylan finds the Source, Shin finds herself the Queen of the Nomads, Thrawn isn't swatted and actually "wins" (for now) and Season 2 is nicely set up. They didn't wrap everything up; they barely wrapped anything up; I'm actually fairly excited for more which is not something I thought I'd definitely be.

But yeah, it's not perfect; thinking on the content too much might yet sour my mind; it's not nearly as well-written or shot as Andor, I don't think it appeals to enough casual fans, a lot of time was wasted, Dave was too self-indulgent. But I liked it though. We'll have to see what happens next I guess...

And by that I mean, if we ever get a season 2...

[Reply #389 on:]

Caught up!

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-Part of me is glad they didn't try to tie up every dangling thread, although given their strong presence previously, it seems stupid that Baylan and Shin were basically absent from the finale.
-The duel between Morgan and Ahsoka was great, and the highlight of the episode as far as action goes.
-Hera's plot ultimately went nowhere. What was the point of all those New Republic scenes in previous episodes?
-Having Thrawn actually win is good, although it's disappointing that his victory can be attributed to brute force rather than outsmarting his opponents.
-The tone seemed wrong. Thrawn returned to the main galaxy, so... they completely failed. Sure, Ezra made it back, but Sabine and Ahsoka seem far too optimistic.
-On that note, how could Ezra possibly be okay with this outcome? Sure, he didn't choose it, but having him verbally acknowledge it would be nice.
-Not sure why they felt the need to move at turtle speed in the shuttle. Where's the urgency?
-The zombie Stormtroopers were great.