xerxeskingofking wrote: they DO mention its shields, but they clearly are struggling to deal with the attacks as they've been loosing engines already at that point. it might be a case the sheilds are less effective in atmosphere, or just plain old Plot Armour. Then again, we rarely see star wars shields do much more than stop one or two shots most of the time, so its not beyond the norm.
Ship shields in Star Wars do, in general, look fairly weak. For a pirate ship like the one shown, It would seem to be quite well armed for its size so it probably doesn't have great shield since the energy used for the shields are probably used for the weapons and the thrust capacity too. If I were a pirate ship, I would priories speed and firepower over defensive characteristics like shields or armor. Attacking the engines is probably also the weak spot, especially in atmosphere it would lead to a crash and more of the ship's energy is probably diverted to keep the ship in the air instead than on the shields, weapons and sensors. I bet those ships are at their weakest when in the atmosphere. I would have expected the Mandalorians to actually board and capture the ship though and it to be useful against that mysterious imperial warlord.
It could be as you say they had diverted power to weapons - and it was Bo Katan and Din catching them with their pants down that prevented a rejig of what was feeding into where.
The ship definitely seems overgunned for its comparatively small size, so I figure the risk accepted is “our lower shield output won’t matter because we’re either not facing a threat, or can reliably fend them off”
Why would something that fires self-propelled warheads need extra power? How would the weapon even benefit from such a boost?
God... I'm suddenly reminded of the 200th episode of SG-1.
"How exactly is having weapons at maximum going to help the situation?" "The audience isn't going to know the difference; they love weapons at maximum!"
Absolutely love the overall design. It’s compact, and pretty well armed and suited to its purpose.
At first I was a bit “but why kinetic weapons” for the underslung batteries. But given they seem dedicated bombardment guns, and the ships relatively small size (small than a CR-90 perhaps?) it may very well be to pack in maximum firepower without draining too much power.
And whilst I know this will probably annoy some when I point it out? That’s another canonical example of No Ship Shields whilst within an atmosphere, matching the Final Order’s issue over Exegol. And now I think about it? I can’t immediately think of something in the New Canon where a ship’s shields are seen to work in atmosphere? Though granted for that to be a conclusion I’d need an encyclopaedic knowledge of Clone Wars and Rebels etc. So as ever, happy to be proven wrong with relevant, new canon examples.
I seem to remember the pirate bosun saying the shields were depleted after a couple strafing passes, actually.
H.B.M.C. wrote: Diverted power to weapons... the weapons that were firing warheads?
Except they also clearly had a bunch of laser cannons on top of the ship in addition to the underbelly guns. Plus, even their solid ammunitions require energy for moving the turrets and their targetting systems. Even if Star Wars weapon system are archaic by a futuristic standard, they are not completely analogue either.
H.B.M.C. wrote: Why would something that fires self-propelled warheads need extra power? How would the weapon even benefit from such a boost?
God... I'm suddenly reminded of the 200th episode of SG-1.
"How exactly is having weapons at maximum going to help the situation?"
"The audience isn't going to know the difference; they love weapons at maximum!"
I mean, they sure got that right.
AduroT wrote: Doesn’t really matter in the end. The only defenses that do are plot armor.
Oh, I didn’t realize Bad Batch last week was the season finale. That was a rather disappointing season overall. It was just starting to get interesting and have things happen.
AduroT wrote: Oh, I didn’t realize Bad Batch last week was the season finale. That was a rather disappointing season overall. It was just starting to get interesting and have things happen.
Yeah, I had the same reaction. It wants to be an Empire Strikes Back feeling cliffhanger ending, but it didn't feel like a cliffhanger really. I only noticed when I went back to the episode list to see how many more there were and saw both season 1 and 2 were at 16 episodes.
Latest episode of the Mandalorian was a bit weird. The "Star Wars themed police procedural" was not bad in and on itself, but I was surprised that the reason why the droids were going rogue wasn't due to some Imperial machination like the show had hinted in episode 3 and 5. Instead we had a former Separatist popping up which does show how much the Galaxy has turned into a shitshow following the fall of the Empire, but is not relevent to the comming season final (and we already knew very well that the galaxy was in chaos).
I was not surprised that Bo-Katan would end up with the darksaber again, but I expect it to change hands again before the end of season 4. In fact, I am unsure that Bo will survive the end of season 3.
So far season three seems to suffer from the episode 2 syndrom of a trilogy as it seems to be spending a lot of time building and foreshadowing things that will happen only in the following season.
H.B.M.C. wrote: And here I was thinking we were done with side quests. *sigh*
It is kind of remarkable how the main quest advancement in the last four episodes happened in the last two or so minutes of each one.
epronovost wrote: So far season three seems to suffer from the episode 2 syndrom of a trilogy as it seems to be spending a lot of time building and foreshadowing things that will happen only in the following season.
It's in good company then since we just got that with Bad Batch.
It's in good company then since we just got that with Bad Batch.
I think it's much worst in Bad Batch, maybe it's because there is going to be twice more episodes of the Bad Batch than the Mandalorian. At least, there was plot relevent elements in all episodes so far, but yes, episode 3 and now 6 were mostly filled with adventures without any payout (yet). Episode 4 did looked like a filler episode, but it had an important payout in episode 5.
Seeing Lizzo and Jack Black looking like themselves was enough to pull me right out of whatever story they were trying to tell with this. Usually cameos are subtle and less distracting. Andor was actually pretty immersive in comparison.
They'll probably greenlight this for one final season and move on as the ratings are in decline.
Not sure if it is fair to compare viewing figures with season 2 (October 2020) when the World was in various stages of pandemic lockdowns.
That said this season has just felt a bit off to me, and I am not really sure why. Also given his more recent interactions with Droids like IG 11 and R5D4 wasn't Mando's eagerness to kick off with the various droids a bit misplaced? But the way he booted the Super Battle Droids was hilarious.
Different droids one could argue. His general dislike might be gone but the hatred of the droids that burned his home and killed his family isn't likely to go away.
Star Wars needs Lizzo and Jack Black cameos like I need anal polyps. Yeah, both are talented, but I still dislike them and don't think they fit in barely disguised roles.
At least Bill Burr plays against the type somewhat and Sasha Banks actually looks like she could break your neck.
Edit: It feels like the show was really a backdoor for the redemption of Bo-Katan.
It’s a moments like these I’m reminded how poorly they removed Asajj Ventriss from the story.
As a former Jedi and former Sith, if they’d saved her in the background for something like Ahsoka, and not killed her off for mangst we could’ve seen her and Ahsoka found their own force user academy, one based in keeping balance in the Force, rather than the failed ultra-Puritan Sith and Jedi approaches.
The James Mangold sounds like it could be great, and I expect the Dave Filoni one to feel like a feature length episode of the Mandalorian.
The last one is curious. I suspect this is what the sequel trilogy should have been - Luke rebuilding the Jedi Order 15-25 years after RotJ and defending it against those who wish to tear it down. The concept has potential, but I suspect it will just be a reminder of what could (and arguably should) have been.
It's nice of Disney to tease Ahsoka, but you know, they can save themselves the trouble. I'm going to watch it anyway. Mission accomplished. Might as well release it already.
Gert wrote: Different droids one could argue. His general dislike might be gone but the hatred of the droids that burned his home and killed his family isn't likely to go away.
Alternatively he's learned to deal with particular, individual droids in a controlled environment but seeing a society that basically gave up its citizens' independence to vital reliance on droids freaks him out and he reacts, let's say, very honestly.
Aash wrote: The last one is curious. I suspect this is what the sequel trilogy should have been - Luke rebuilding the Jedi Order 15-25 years after RotJ and defending it against those who wish to tear it down. The concept has potential, but I suspect it will just be a reminder of what could (and arguably should) have been.
It's a tough one. It builds on a very divisive foundation. I don't know the director, but because once upon a time after I learned that J.J. Abrams wasn't directing Episode 8 I carelessly said whatever, it can't get worse, I am fully prepared to keep my mouth shut and wait for another hold my beer moment.
Should have done a Finn movie instead, honestly.
As for the other two, Filoni's is bound to be entertaining, so no complaints from me. And the other one had better be a cave dwelling hobo who tries and fails to lift a rock with his mind for three hours straight, with a post credit scene where the rock jitters just a little bit. But more likely, and I don't enjoy drawing on the negative experience of the sequel trilogy here, it's just a super hero origin story and the first Jedi dude is going to know all the tricks before the movie is over.
Being a bit more serious, is that actually assured? I don't know my history that well, but that must be in the pioneering days of space flight and not all the big species would be about at that time?
So depending on who they are, they might actually be ground bound mystics?
Good point. Still, we'll have to see if that's going to be a meaningful distinction. I could see a desire to glamorize the Jedi by having them pioneer Force mastery.
Geifer wrote: Good point. Still, we'll have to see if that's going to be a meaningful distinction. I could see a desire to glamorize the Jedi by having them pioneer Force mastery.
Could go the way of Imperial Psykers. Finding a way to positively channel those otherworldly abilities for the benefit of wider society.
Heir to the Empire was the first book of the Thrawn trilogy. It's a nice Easter Egg.
I think I've watched the Ahsoka trailer 5 times already. I'm really really looking forward to that show, but I have to temper my expectations with the unfortunate truth that most D+ shows (and especially Star Wars D+ shows) really suck. I so do hope that they have a full story to tell, rather than 3 and a half episodes of story stretched over 10 episodes.
Acolyte I don't know enough about to really care. Skeleton Crew isn't even something we know much about. More Andor? Cool. The episodes where things happened were great, and I'm hopeful that in Season 2 they'll finally reveal what the point of all the Mon Mothma time wasting was. What else is there... oh yeah... a Rey movie. Nah. I liked Rey in TFA, but then they fethed up her character completely. Don't need another movie of her never struggling at anything, always succeeding at whatever she's trying to do, and pulling new skill and abilities completely out of her ass without any effort or training. Got enough of that in the two worst SW movies ever made.
But hey, Ahsoka. Live action Hera, Sabine, CH0P, Thrawn and even Ezra (eventually). I'll hold onto that hope, no matter how flimsy it may be...
From IGN:
IGN wrote:"I really wanted to delve into the Star Wars universe and tell the story of this entire world that I loved so much from the perspective of the bad guys," Headland said. "What I pitched to Kathleen [Kennedy] was Frozen meets Kill Bill. Shockingly, she didn't kick me out of the building… This is when the bad guys are outnumbered. They are the underdogs. I'm really excited for you guys to see things you haven't seen in live action yet."
I just don't believe this for one second. I don't believe that Disney would allow a bad-guy centric story that doesn't at least involve someone changing side to the good guys. They've yet to manage it, even in Squadrons it happened. As soon as Reva appeared in the Obi-Wan trailer I knew that (firstly) a good chunk of the show would be about her, and not Obi-Wan and that (more importantly) she would switch sides. Battlefront managed to have Iden Verso be a bad guy for all of 8 seconds. This show has to convince me that it's not another bait'n'switch.
It might've been the worst one since the episode that introduced Fennec Shand in season 1. Or the season opener where Mando only trusts the IG unit until he gets a new droid in the second episode and forgets all about the original side-quest he started in ep one (that's gonna bug him, having that quest still active in his Quest Log but being unable to complete it because he already completed the story mission it relates to with a different droid! ).
A complete "We'd love to help you, but complete our side-quest first!" set-up, which is just tiresome at this point given how much time they've wasted telling very little story this season so far. It commits the sin that crime shows with big-name guest actors do, where the big name guest actor is probably the one that's guilty - so, yeah, who else would it be but Christopher Lloyd's character? - and then we get droid bars, droid bar cards, nano-machines (son!), and then, to top it all off, the show wastes yet another big set up, this time the conflict over the Darksaber.
There was a real point of conflict. Bo needs it. Dinn has it. She has to win it in combat. They've become solid allies. Will she turn on him? Will he take a fall in a fight? Would that make it legitimate? How will they resolve this very interesting plot development set up at the end of Season 2... oh no he finds a mind numbing loophole and just gives it to her. Ok. Sure. It could be worse. They could completely invalidate the purpose of the first two seasons in a different show... no wait they did that as well in The Crime Lord of No Crime.
And SOD-breaking stunt casting certainly didn't help either.
This show has 2 more episodes to get to the fething point.
H.B.M.C. wrote: This show has 2 more episodes to get to the fething point.
Okay, so room for another side quest and a half. Because the point of this season seems to be for Bo-Katan to reclaim the Darksaber, the throne and all of Mandalore. Which as it turns out is super easy, barely an inconvenience. No reason to waste lots of screen time on that.
H.B.M.C. wrote: It might've been the worst one since the episode that introduced Fennec Shand in season 1.
Maybe I just like police procedurals XD
But I stand by it! I think the only reason the episode comes off badly is because of it's place in the season and the season being so lackluster. In terms of plot and set up, it was the most S1 episode of the show since season 1.
I also didn't notice Jack Black was even in the episode but I don't follow famous people all that closely so it's probably easy for me to not care who they are XD
I definitely recognized Jack Black immediately. Even at first glance from a distance I was like Wait, was that him? It’s him! I’m not terribly familiar with Lizzo though so that one escaped me until I read who she was afterwards.
AduroT wrote: I definitely recognized Jack Black immediately. Even at first glance from a distance I was like Wait, was that him? It’s him! I’m not terribly familiar with Lizzo though so that one escaped me until I read who she was afterwards.
I did recognized Jack Black, but frankly, maybe it's just me, but I don't care about celebrity casting. To me they are just actors playing characters and Jack Black played well his role as an overly sympathetic ex-Imperial officer.
After the conclusion of this episode though, I'm starting to wonder on what kind of cliffhanger this season will end on (since this season's story line seems to be design as a part 1 of at least 2). I'm currently thinking it will end with Bo's death/capture and Grogu's possible capture again (I'm sure he will get shot though and whoever does this will become, in my eyes, Star Wars' greatest and vilest villain). I'm almost certain this season's ending will be on a bad note for the heroes unlike the first one.
I half expect them to show up to mandalore and find some <bad guy here> there, the one who launched all those tie fighters that the story didn't bother even trying to explain or have the characters seek answers about because it was too busy doing... A series of unfortunate events that may or may not be related but feel kind of random either way.
AduroT wrote: Oh, I didn’t realize Bad Batch last week was the season finale. That was a rather disappointing season overall. It was just starting to get interesting and have things happen.
Yeah, I had the same reaction. It wants to be an Empire Strikes Back feeling cliffhanger ending, but it didn't feel like a cliffhanger really. I only noticed when I went back to the episode list to see how many more there were and saw both season 1 and 2 were at 16 episodes.
It felt like it a cliffhanger ending was written, but they didn't know how to join it to the season they'd written. So they just... placed... the cast at the appropriate end states and went with it. They had to be there, she had to do the sacrifice, that guy had to be over there, and that's a wrap. There were no stakes or engagement, we're just cycling back to 'rescue girl from evil cloners' state from the first season. But this time at a Legendary Location rather than some random abandoned city!
Ahsoka trailer took me off guard. No idea what's going on in it, but I'm puzzled by the sheer amount of red lighsaber people running about.
Haven't taken the time for the latest episode of Quest Cycling with Mando, mostly because I remain un-invested in task:task resolved, activate the Skyrim 'Radiant Quest generator' for random new quest.
Lana Beniko is a Sith from SWTOR and that blonde girl with the orange lightsaber looks an awful lot like Lana Beniko (who also had an orange lightsaber).
Apparently Filoni got the green light to make a movie and it will be an Avengers type film where they bring together The Mandolorian and Ashoko characters.
Ahtman wrote: Apparently Filoni got the green light to make a movie and it will be an Avengers type film where they bring together The Mandolorian and Ashoko characters.
And hopefully the brightly coloured Vespa gang from the Crime Lord of No Crime.
I like to think there's a chance for that, even if it's just a cameo. Let's be realistic here. No matter what Disney/Lucasfilm put on the label, there's no real distinction between Mando and Book of Boba. It's as much Mandalorian season 2.5 as season 3 is The Restoration of Bo-Katan Kryze.
Seems pretty likely Filoni’s film will focus on the defeat of Thrawn.
Also, spoilers in the wild for the next episode of Mando.
Spoiler:
The clip begins with Elia Kane speaking to Moff Gideon on hologram, and she tells the character played by Giancarlo Esposito that "Karga was aided by Mandalorians." Gideon then says he will deal with them before speaking to Captain Pallaeon about the whereabouts of Grand Admiral Thrawn.
"Grand Admiral Thrawn is missing," Moff Gideon says.
"With respect, our one hope for success relies upon the secrecy of his return," Pallaeon replies.
"I never hear a word of Thrawn. You've spoken of his imminent return. Perhaps it's time that we look to new leadership."
So Ahsoka, as I've said I've had a thing for Ms Dawson since the criminally under rated Josie And the Pussycats film so was going to watch the show anyhoo, but sticking in a crazy bot is the key to the Star War (heck even L3-37 was a half decent idea done badly) so C1-10P is a good sign
It's honestly disgusting how the executives went from claiming that there was no source material for the sequels to blatantly ripping off the EU but with replacing the characters with their own OCs.
Since when can the elite battle droids move that fast?!
Kind of bummed the cause was what it was. I was hoping for a droid rights thing instead of the heck yeah we love being slaves thing.
jumping back a bit here, but watching it agian, i would argue it could be less a "happiness in slavery" thing and more a case of just....not wanting to die. the bartender makes clear that most of the droids were looking at deactivation and effective death before being reprogrammed for the planetary labour force. working shifting boxes is at least a living, and they clearly have some form of actual down time (given the existence of the robot bar in the first place), so its honestly not the worst deal they could have. it makes sense they are worried about being replaced and are willing to help prevent that.
Didn't a movie about some flyboy just make big bucks and win an Oscar? Seems strange that Disney wouldn't want that but in Star Wars.
Gert wrote: Good. With a specific end date in mind they can actually work towards a goal rather than have another train wreck like this last season.
But what will that goal be? Retiring on a tropical island or getting dead (except for Omega)?
Normally you'd expect "it's Disney" as an answer to that, but Rex is pretty active for the time being and eventually he'll have to get retired and positioned for Rebels. Would be neat if his group and the Bad Batch just got crushed and gave up any attempts to fight the Empire for the time being.
Geifer wrote: But what will that goal be? Retiring on a tropical island or getting dead (except for Omega)?
Normally you'd expect "it's Disney" as an answer to that, but Rex is pretty active for the time being and eventually he'll have to get retired and positioned for Rebels. Would be neat if his group and the Bad Batch just got crushed and gave up any attempts to fight the Empire for the time being.
Honestly, I don't know or really care all that much. All I know is that it needs to end before it gets any worse.
One of the visions shorts looks a lot like Aardman.
Gert wrote: Good. With a specific end date in mind they can actually work towards a goal rather than have another train wreck like this last season.
Rare are the shows that remain good passed the fourth or fifth season anyway. I was surprised the Bad Batch didn't set itself up for closure at 2 seasons and the fact season two was basically excellent Crosshair/Rex episodes and very mediocre Bad Batch episodes hammers on the fact it probably should have been setup for a two season run instead of three. It does gives hope the third season will have to have a more cohesive plan with fewer "adventure of the week" episodes. The Clone Wars formula of story design doesn't really adapt well to the Bad Batch type of adventures I would say. To an adult audience it also has the massive disadvantage of comparing to Andor as a "life under the Empire" type of franchise and for younger audience, it would have to compare to Rebels. These two series are pretty much the most critically acclaimed series in Star Wars.
Getting way more adventurous with the animation styles in that one it looks like.
They had me at the Wallace and Gromet puddy episode tho XD
Indeed that's going to be quite interesting. The first Visions season was rather good too come to think of it some episodes like "the Duel", "The Elder", "The Village Bride" and "The Ninth Jedi" were particular standouts to me; almost wished for a sequel for all of these.
I do love the greater variety in animation and writing style for the next season.
It's nice to get to the point where they're running out of season and things start to happen. Good episode.
Spoiler:
It wouldn't be me if I didn't start with the elephant in the room:
Moff Big Head: Behold my new and improved Not-So-Dark Troopers, now with trace amounts of beskar protecting the right ankle from blaster fire from the rear provided it comes in at a precise 41.7° angle and it's a cloudy Tuesday afternoon. Are you impressed Mandalorians?
*lone Mandalorian goes on to massacre a whole platoon by himself*
Moff Big Head: Whatever. The important thing is that I look cool in it.
I feel compelled to drag up a quote from a couple of pages ago:
AduroT wrote: Doesn’t really matter in the end. The only defenses that do are plot armor.
Star Wars armor in a nutshell.
That said, it's fun to watch and has a couple of interesting things. And I don't mean obvious Imperial spy lady being revealed as an Imperial spy.
I actually appreciate that it's flat out said on screen that the Imperials didn't just go home after Endor. I mean we knew, of course, but it's nice to hear it acknowledged like that.
If my memory of things that happened a quarter of a century ago isn't wrong, they're inverting Dark Trooper development compared to Dark Forces. We got all droid phase three troopers in season two and now the improved troopers are fleshy phase one guys (presumably). I think phase two was troopers with cybernetic enhancements. I wonder if we'll also see that down the line.
The fight with the red guys was nice. I guess they do know more than to just stand around.
So now we know why they had the failed IG side quest. I wonder if it will be used for anything other than breaking up the one fight. I suspect it’ll get trashed in the finale.
Return to orbit under attack? I expected them to clear the clouds and find the fleet outright destroyed already. Everything being fine when they returned was actually rather anti-climactic to me.
My understanding was the dudes in white weren’t the new Dark Troopers, rather Moff was claiming they themself was the new improved version, as they stated it being themself inside the armor, while their suit was so much fancier and had the Cylon eye on their chest.
The armor Did help the Imperials and Mandos alike. I clocked multiple times people on both sides got shot without going down. The Imperials were stated to be wearing Beskar alloy, which I imagine is intended to mean a “watered down” mass produced version which isn’t As good as the hand crafted stuff the Mandos wear (though I wonder who makes the blue guys’ stuff which appears far more uniform in appearance as well). I’m going to assume Paz gets to stand up to more because with their sheer size and strength they get to wear heavier/thicker armor.
A little disappointed it was the Moff. They had been quite completely defeated so it’s a bummer to see them right back and in an even stronger position than before. I did like the secret Imperial counsel though, and the set up for why Thrawn isn’t around right now. Do we know if the next season of Mando will be out before or after the Mando-verse movie with Thrawn?
Oh, how much of the privateer’s budget went into the truly insane amount of paint and work hours that would be required to paint the Mandolorian crest a size to fill up the bottom of that light cruiser?
AduroT wrote: (though I wonder who makes the blue guys’ stuff which appears far more uniform in appearance as well)
Aren't they originally House Kryze troops/loyalists that survived the purge? I figure there's a rule that you have to look the part and they're still wearing stuff from back in the day, whereas the cultists get their look from individual clans they come from or as foundlings wear something that relates to whoever found or sponsored them.
AduroT wrote: Oh, how much of the privateer’s budget went into the truly insane amount of paint and work hours that would be required to paint the Mandolorian crest a size to fill up the bottom of that light cruiser?
Perk of being a merc, huh? Sneak into your contract that your employer's army of droids give your cruiser a new paintjob while you sit back, relax and sip on your blue milk.
The Big Fight I found to be superb. As soon as the Mandalorians figured out the enemy were wearing Beskar, we see a change in strategy and targetting. Going for the weak points, showing a solid understanding of their own armour’s weaknesses and exploiting that.
By comparison, the Imperials just didn’t come across as incompetent as such, just not having real practice against a foe like the Mandalorians. Indeed we see at least some successes, but not as good as the Mandos when it comes to knowing where to aim, and indeed how to evade that sort of stuff.
Very excited for next weeks finale. Given Gideon mentioned clones, and we saw what I presume were clones in tanks? Who’s the donor? Could they be Feets? Djarin? Someone else? Could they be folded into the new Mandalore when Gideon is inevitably defeated?
Also also
Spoiler:
I reckon we’ll see New Republic support next episode. Constable Sensible of course found Moff Gideon’s transport shuttle, then….nada on that front. Not a chance is he going to just shrug his shoulders and pootle off
It's interesting that they are both doing a wait for Thrawn and Hux is doing a project Necromancer (Palpatine and the First Order with whatever Kylo Rens master was called).
AduroT wrote: Oh, how much of the privateer’s budget went into the truly insane amount of paint and work hours that would be required to paint the Mandolorian crest a size to fill up the bottom of that light cruiser?
In the nicest way possible, I hope to god this is it. We're pretty clearly set up and ready for Ahsoka now so I'd like to think Mando is done until they do that movie I really wish wasn't going to be a thing.
There's nothing left to do but follow Grogu on becoming a Jedi/Mandolorian and I really don't want to sit through a season of that.
Gert wrote: In the nicest way possible, I hope to god this is it. We're pretty clearly set up and ready for Ahsoka now so I'd like to think Mando is done until they do that movie I really wish wasn't going to be a thing.
There's nothing left to do but follow Grogu on becoming a Jedi/Mandolorian and I really don't want to sit through a season of that.
A quick check produces hundreds of articles saying 'Season 4 unannounced officially, but already written,' so I'm afraid you're out of luck.
MechaGrogu huh? Alright then... but I still believe firmly that there was no plan to include him in this season until someone higher up went "You can't do Mando Season 3 without Baby Money Maker!". He should'a stayed with Luke.
Anyway, the actor playing Pellaeon was none other than Xander Berkeley. He's been in all sorts of things, and if he's going to be playing Pellaeon going forward, and in Ahsoka, then that's a good get. Very happy to have him. I also love that Domhnall Gleeson's brother Brian is playing General Hux's father.
I'm very confused by what Gideon is talking about at the end. Is his suit the final Dark Trooper suit? Were the Jumptroopers/Super Commandos the final Dark Trooper suits? Did they imply the Jumptroopers/Super Commandos had beskar in their armour? If so, how come they died in droves? Are they all clones of Gideon? It really wasn't clear at all.
Praetorians were cool though. Either way it's nice to see something happening on this show. Shame we had to spend so many weeks faffing about to get here.
And I still don't trust the Armourer. I was fully expecting to see her ship emerge from the clouds to find the fleet on fire.
Voss wrote: A quick check produces hundreds of articles saying 'Season 4 unannounced officially, but already written,' so I'm afraid you're out of luck.
Joy of joys. If it's another season like this I'll be sorely disappointed.
Good episode this week, even if it's tinged with frustration at how long it's taken to get there. There are a lot of interesting avenues they could have explored with the New Republic and Imperial Remnants but it still feels a little tacked-on and rushed. Bringing back Moff Gideon is kind of annoying, though so obviously foreshadowed at least everyone was prepared for it. I'd rather have seen the build-up be more about various Imperial Remnant forces and the realisation they are not as defeated as they seemed to be.
It feels like we're headed for a cliffhanger season ending. I can't see how they wrap all this up in one episode in a satisfying way.
Slipspace wrote: I'd rather have seen the build-up be more about various Imperial Remnant forces and the realisation they are not as defeated as they seemed to be.
About this point, I think we're kind of getting that. But just we, the audience, and the characters who hang out in the Outer Rim. Notably not the New Republic. This, in my opinion, is how "somehow Granny Palps has returned" is done right. We as the audience get to see the setup for the return of Thrawn and a unified Imperial Remnant and we get to see why and how it escapes the notice of the other notable galactic power. It's the kind of setup missing from The Force Awakens where the audience is left to scratch their head how a demilitarized New Republic gets caught with their pants down so hard when the aggression and military might of the First Order is so obviously not something that developed overnight.
Right now we have a space cop who sees a part of the picture and is getting ignored by his superiors because the New Republic somehow believes it dealt a crushing blow to the Empire. We don't know exactly how, but we get from the meeting that Imperial efforts very much try to maintain that idea. It's quite possible that when everyone went home after Endor, that was strategy leading to this point, which would make the end of Return of the Jedi a lot less silly. Make a last big effort to appear as a threat with Operation Cinder, get the New Republic to engage in a final battle that is made to feel like a last stand, and anything and anyone stashed away for rebuilding the Imperial military and planning the campaign to retake the galaxy could plausibly drop under the radar.
I'm sure the realization that the Imperial Remnant is still a force to be reckoned with will come to the New Republic once Thrawn enters the stage. The meeting suggests it's even set up on Imperial side that Gideon's operation is and remains small. He is a big name to the New Republic and finding upon his capture that his means are very limited just reinforces that he's a small time warlord and there is no more big Imperial threat. Unless Ahsoka is set up to resolve things quietly by stabbing Thrawn with a lightsaber. We'll see how that goes. I'd have to rewatch the trailer, but if Thrawn is presented as heir to the Empire, it stands to reason that the New Republic should find itself involved and no longer able to deny that the Empire is back in force.
It does make me think about how small the scale is. Like the planet Navaro, or is that the city? They seem interchangeable, and that one small city is the entirety of the planet. Now this Mando group expect to take and rebuild an entire planet as well?
Speaking of, what’s with the Mandos and giant monsters? For a group who symbolizes themselves with the skull of a giant monster they are really bad at dealing with them.
Hey, what’s with those rocks? Yep, the rocks are moving. Something big is definitely coming up. Should we like stop or turn the ship? Nah, just keep heading straight for it, I wanna see how this plays out. Good thing we got these guys who survived here for years to guide us.
To be fair, the plan was to establish a base around the ancient cultural center of Mandalore and get other Mandalorians across the galaxy to return once it's established that the planet is still habitable and under Mandalorian rule. That sounds reasonable enough to me.
A good episode for sure, but not quite good in the way season 1-2 were still. This is way more action figure clashing but it was really fun and the action was very well done. Having "there's too many of them" guy actually pull it off was very inspired.
Mecha-Grogu is a little.... meh, but I'm sure it will look better once he's been outfitted with some beskarr plating.
Slipspace wrote: I'd rather have seen the build-up be more about various Imperial Remnant forces and the realisation they are not as defeated as they seemed to be.
About this point, I think we're kind of getting that. But just we, the audience, and the characters who hang out in the Outer Rim. Notably not the New Republic. This, in my opinion, is how "somehow Granny Palps has returned" is done right. We as the audience get to see the setup for the return of Thrawn and a unified Imperial Remnant and we get to see why and how it escapes the notice of the other notable galactic power. It's the kind of setup missing from The Force Awakens where the audience is left to scratch their head how a demilitarized New Republic gets caught with their pants down so hard when the aggression and military might of the First Order is so obviously not something that developed overnight.
Right now we have a space cop who sees a part of the picture and is getting ignored by his superiors because the New Republic somehow believes it dealt a crushing blow to the Empire. We don't know exactly how, but we get from the meeting that Imperial efforts very much try to maintain that idea.
We do know how. That, at least, has been on screen multiple times. The New Republic is drowning in paperwork (even the droids are frustrated by the amount of files they're dumping on people's desks), busywork and putting out fires and dealing with requests from everything that was wrecked by a generation of imperial exploitation, and the people managing the queues of minor crises are the wrong people.
The New Republic is struggling with the idea that they just declared the Old Republic reborn, and are finding that it simply isn't that easy, and rebels don't replace an entrenched bureaucracy.
I'm sure the realization that the Imperial Remnant is still a force to be reckoned with will come to the New Republic once Thrawn enters the stage. The meeting suggests it's even set up on Imperial side that Gideon's operation is and remains small. He is a big name to the New Republic and finding upon his capture that his means are very limited just reinforces that he's a small time warlord and there is no more big Imperial threat. Unless Ahsoka is set up to resolve things quietly by stabbing Thrawn with a lightsaber. We'll see how that goes. I'd have to rewatch the trailer, but if Thrawn is presented as heir to the Empire, it stands to reason that the New Republic should find itself involved and no longer able to deny that the Empire is back in force.
The fun part is this is a shell game in its own right. Gideon throws them off Thrawn, and Thrawn himself throws them off the First Order. That they're dealing with a succession of independent warlords with 'remnant forces' is why they CAN deny the Empire is back. Add in the gangs and pirates in the Outer Rim, and there's a lot less clarity for those in the Core Worlds, especially the ones constantly putting out fires. This is definitely the backstory that TFA needed done first, because it makes a lot more sense if Leia's frustration and Resistance group was born out of this mess. (A lot of the sequels still don't, but that part does).
Voss wrote: A quick check produces hundreds of articles saying 'Season 4 unannounced officially, but already written,' so I'm afraid you're out of luck.
Joy of joys. If it's another season like this I'll be sorely disappointed.
You know that if you don't Ike a show you don't HAVE to keep watching it....
Cut your losses, wash your hands of it. & go watch something you do like.
And also why I exclusively watch utter drivel like Geordie Shore, Made in Chelsea, Jersey Shore, Big Brother, Love Island, and all other mindless “reality” pap. 24 hours a day. Because high blood pressure is a sign of virility.
ccs wrote: You know that if you don't Ike a show you don't HAVE to keep watching it....
Cut your losses, wash your hands of it. & go watch something you do like.
Except there were episodes of this season that I did enjoy it was just that overall it wasn't as strong as the previous seasons. Combined with the rather poor showing from Bad Batch, it's made for a disappointing run.
I was disappointed that Andor is getting a second season because the first was so well done and wrapped up really well, that honestly, I don't think we need 3 more seasons of seeing Cassian murdering people for the Rebellion.
Indeed, lots more murder in his future. But still its great you can take the season as one neat story and end there if you like, and the writers did it knowing they had two seasons.
Except there were episodes of this season that I did enjoy it was just that overall it wasn't as strong as the previous seasons.
While the season is not over yet and my overall appreciation of the season is certainly going to change in function of such an important episode, I would say that the season 3 of the Mandalorian is little better than the season 1, but worst than the season 2. I think that season 1 might appears better mostly because I had lesser expectations from the show and from the Star Wars franchise. I think the Mandalorian and later Andor raised the bar quite a bit for what a Star Wars show/movie can do.
H.B.M.C. wrote: Shame they completely reversed the entire point of seasons 1 and 2 just to put him back in the show, but forgot to write any plot that involves him.
Considering the plot of the show is the unification of Mandalore and Mandalorians; Grogu's part in the plot has been mostly about learning to be a Mandalorian himself and helping Din and Bo-Katan in said reunification effort. In episode 1 he learns about star navigation, in 2 he applies it and learns more about Mandalore's rather tragic history, in 4 he starts his training and a new piece of armor (and seems to be fully integrated as a foundling), in 7 he helps calm down infighting and who knows where his learning will lead him in the season final (I suspect he will be key to saving Din in some way).
Since when can the elite battle droids move that fast?!
I happened to watch Attack of the Clones last night and both B1s and B2s charge into the arena at the beginning of the battle. So it looks like B2s have been able to run at speed since their first appearance.
H.B.M.C. wrote: Shame they completely reversed the entire point of seasons 1 and 2 just to put him back in the show, but forgot to write any plot that involves him.
Considering the plot of the show is the unification of Mandalore and Mandalorians; Grogu's part in the plot has been mostly about learning to be a Mandalorian himself and helping Din and Bo-Katan in said reunification effort. In episode 1 he learns about star navigation, in 2 he applies it and learns more about Mandalore's rather tragic history, in 4 he starts his training and a new piece of armor (and seems to be fully integrated as a foundling), in 7 he helps calm down infighting and who knows where his learning will lead him in the season final (I suspect he will be key to saving Din in some way).
Eh. That might be part of the plot of the season (and even that's iffy given how uneven the season has been, especially the writing for Bo-Katan, who seems to have a different role every episode- broken noble, hero, convert, ambassador, princess, back-to-mercenary-leader, crusader), but I could argue that coping with failure (especially long-term failure) is more the plot of the season. No one achieves anything that lasts, and everything keeps falling apart, even when the writers have to pull out the Idiot Ball and force the scavvers to steer the good ship Glass Pirate into a mountain turtle. That they spotted ahead of time. But the next part of the plot requires the merry band to be unable to flee (except that one guy), so the ship had to go.
This was different. I enjoyed the season, and I don’t hate the finale.
It’s just….stuff is clearly missing. I can only think the ran out of budget for the space Battle. Which is a shame, as new Star Wars, beyond Rogue One, is yet to truly satisfy that craving. Indeed them nailing and producing the best space battle in Rogue One just makes it all the more annoying.
In summary? What’s there is good. But thanks to odd missing scenes, it’s not Great.
AduroT wrote: Those little jet packs can break atmo?! Apparently fuel is only a concern when chasing pterodactyls…
Or more likely they weren’t fully fuelled as they weren’t planning for a combat op. Also, Axe Wolves isn’t the same flavour of Mando, so may have a different model of jet pack.
Monday - Don’t like them, luckily I’m Dead
Tuesday - Take girl for a drink. Dead
Wednesday - Dead
Thursday - Dead
Friday - I’m in love, but Dead
Saturday - night I feel the air is getting hot. But still Dead
Sunday - lazy afternoon, being Dead.
I don't think it's a question of budget. The intention is clearly for the season to be about the reclamation of Mandalore. Which is all good and well, but then they go and take up an inordinate amount of time with things that have nothing to do with it. And not just side quests. I appreciate the Imperial and New Republic parts in isolation, but:
- Pershing's fate is immaterial to the reclamation of Mandalore.
- New Republic reintegration program and Imperial infiltration of it is immaterial.
- Nevarro's piracy problem that gives the Mandalorians a new home for all of five minutes is mooted right after with the quest for Mandalore.
- Imperials as adversaries with a base on Mandalore are not necessary, if an understandable choice.
- Gideon being the season's bad guy adds nothing even if we accept that Imperials should be involved. I know, I know, he oversaw the purge of Mandalore which makes it personal and gratifying, but we already got that last season. The same people fought him, beat him, and he did nothing in the meantime that has any specific bearing on the retaking of Mandalore.
If I were to give the benefit of the doubt, I'd say all of that is cool to have because we are now in MCU territory and the show has to set up and reference other shows for a greater whole. That's not a problem per se, but it's clearly distracting from the actual point of the season and does it in a pretty jarring manner because the side parts lack relevance to the main plot. Notice how I'm not including the side quest on Planet Droid. There's nothing wrong with the occasional cute breather for the main characters. But exposition on the New Republic, which again is actually something I want to see, adds nothing to the reclamation of Mandalore and just eats up runtime that could have been spent on something more relevant. Similarly, recycling Gideon adds a personal conflict that was already resolved and detracts from the planet as a valuable source of raw materials for the Imperials. Any old commander could have been put in charge of mining and research there. But with Gideon it's right back to dismantling his cloning program (again) and getting into a drawn out boss fight between the same people that were there last season.
It's an issue with the hero driven action Star Wars has had from the beginning, if you will. Because the big bad leveled up between seasons the heroes need another shot at beating him. At that point it becomes all about that confrontation while all that boring military campaign thing necessary to actually win takes place in the background. And with no focal character to shine a light on any particular part, the respective part takes a backseat to the character showdown. Want a good space battle? Then you need an ace pilot in your main cast and a villain to fight in space. If you don't have that, and Mando doesn't, no space battles for you.
This is not a question of budget. It's the writers'/director's choice what to include in the story. Stuff is missing because of questionable choices or focus on the wrong things. That's not a problem that can be solved by throwing money at it.
Monday - Don’t like them, luckily I’m Dead
Tuesday - Take girl for a drink. Dead
Wednesday - Dead
Thursday - Dead
Friday - I’m in love, but Dead
Saturday - night I feel the air is getting hot. But still Dead
Sunday - lazy afternoon, being Dead.
Spoiler:
The issue with ramming a cruiser up his ass is that we don't see the body. So, you know...
Just years after being set up, we see it’s still quite fragile. Easily infiltrated by former Imperials. Limited resources to police.
This is what is giving the Imperial Remnant a chance to fester and grow. Bo Katan’s fleet was pretty modest. But by direct comparison to the Pirates, clearly quite powerful. Whilst they didn’t do a great job of it, that does show us something of the wider background.
Specifically, whilst nobody seems particularly willing to pick a fight with the New Republic directly, it’s relative fragility and thin spread forces can’t protect people as the Grand Army once did - and for many planets, that’s possibly all their population knows.
It’s definitely ham fisted, and I dare say opinions may improve once we see Ahsoka and Skeleton Crew, which seem set to expand this time period’s picture. Also one does wonder if the cancelling/shelving of Rangers of the New Republic caused some scripting difficulties. Not presenting that as an excuse, just a reason.
You know, I’m gonna say there really Wasn’t a full season plot. The season may have ended with the retaking of Mandalore, but it wasn’t About the retaking of Mandalore. It’s just a series of events that show the greater world the story is taking place in and how things have grown and changed. New Navaro, New Republic, New Imperials, New Mandalore, etc. A kind of episodic/serialized hybrid, where each episode leaves a hook for the next, but they’re each largely telling their own story (barring the obvious two part finale).
Also Gideon totally isn’t dead. We didn’t see no body! Not even a scorch mark where they were standing! Plus there’s the bit where they had a mustache in the first two seasons, but no mustache in this season, just like the clones.
Just years after being set up, we see it’s still quite fragile. Easily infiltrated by former Imperials. Limited resources to police.
This is what is giving the Imperial Remnant a chance to fester and grow. Bo Katan’s fleet was pretty modest. But by direct comparison to the Pirates, clearly quite powerful. Whilst they didn’t do a great job of it, that does show us something of the wider background.
Specifically, whilst nobody seems particularly willing to pick a fight with the New Republic directly, it’s relative fragility and thin spread forces can’t protect people as the Grand Army once did - and for many planets, that’s possibly all their population knows.
It’s definitely ham fisted, and I dare say opinions may improve once we see Ahsoka and Skeleton Crew, which seem set to expand this time period’s picture. Also one does wonder if the cancelling/shelving of Rangers of the New Republic caused some scripting difficulties. Not presenting that as an excuse, just a reason.
That doesn't sound like you're actually disagreeing, to be honest.
I will ask though, how is it that we had perfectly functional Imperials in the first two seasons without much of a clue how screwed up the New Republic is but in the third season a look at the state of the New Republic becomes relevant even though all of the factions still don't interact with it?
Yes, it's cool to see, just in case I haven't been clear about it the last two times. But it's not functionally necessary for the story told in this season.
AduroT wrote: You know, I’m gonna say there really Wasn’t a full season plot. The season may have ended with the retaking of Mandalore, but it wasn’t About the retaking of Mandalore. It’s just a series of events that show the greater world the story is taking place in and how things have grown and changed. New Navaro, New Republic, New Imperials, New Mandalore, etc. A kind of episodic/serialized hybrid, where each episode leaves a hook for the next, but they’re each largely telling their own story (barring the obvious two part finale).
I have a hard time separating the progression of Din overcoming exile, reintegrating into his cult, helping Bo-Katan unite disparate Mando groups and the final battle to retake their planet and heritage. That's a pretty strong story thread, even if it gradually developed instead of starting out with the final outcome as the predefined goal.
In my opinion it's a question of balance. Throwing in state of the union vistas is great, but not when it comes at the expense of the main draw that makes you come back. But this season had little in the way of nuggets on the side and opted for extensive info dumps instead. Just like Boba and the sand people. It feels like this could have been done more elegantly.
Doc might be right, though. Having a grand plan spanning several intertwined shows and then scrapping one of them could lead to a need to cram information in elsewhere just so the necessary stuff is covered and later shows can progress as intended.
Opinion has softened, as it was mostly me disappointed that we didn’t get to see the Space Battle. I feel justifiably cheated by that, but on second watch there’s still plenty to enjoy here.
I did really like how Gideon is essentially a huge nerd that got really far into the Imperial power structure.
He just makes his own OC version of himself and wants to insert that into reality which I find hilarious in a good way.
AduroT wrote: Those little jet packs can break atmo?! Apparently fuel is only a concern when chasing pterodactyls…
Or more likely they weren’t fully fuelled as they weren’t planning for a combat op. Also, Axe Wolves isn’t the same flavour of Mando, so may have a different model of jet pack.
Except they're professional warriors and the crap with bird stealing children had happened multiple times before. That they'd get caught with their pants down so many times would be embarrassing, especially since the ones who can wear those things 24/7.
The 'different model of jetpack' just deserves an eyeroll.
Geifer wrote:Want a good space battle? Then you need an ace pilot in your main cast and a villain to fight in space. If you don't have that, and Mando doesn't, no space battles for you.
Good thing no one gave the main character an overtuned space fighter...
which they left behind, I guess? I was confused when the second half of the season just had him as a passenger on Bo's personal dropship. (Except it dealt with the obvious problem that a one-man fighter didn't work for him)
More setup with no payoff for the show.
That card has been soo villainously and maliciously abused that it has no meaning.
I half expect it'll continue to be abused until the actors are fired in full view of everyone and told to never come back in front of hundreds of cameras.
And even then they might just 'Young Indiana Jones' the character and have Jaden Smith play him as the boardroom desperately scrambles to refind the movie magic it murdered without really thinking about it until it was too late.
It's getting kind of obvious from S3 than Mandalorian was originally intended as a 2 or 3 season show but has been forcibly prolonged because every other Star Wars show has been less than smashing for one reason or another.
The writers room had no idea where S3 was going except that it had to go 'somewhere.' Which is ultimately the same problem a lot of Disney related franchise shows and movies are suffering from.
After watching the last episode I have to say it was pretty good. It wasn't mind blowing from technical point of view or rich in surprise unlike the ending of season 2 which was really good, but it had great moments. I like the idea that Gideon is basically a massive Star Wars nerd and from within his universe is grand plan was both ambitious and probably one of the smartest. He had a very Disney death. I'm also glad they didn't pull a "this big name character comes to the rescue". I was bummed by the fact we didn't get a space or rather high atmosphere battle. I do get that it's mostly because of budget reasons. The special effect were generally good in this season with the fight against the Shriek Hawk and the fighter battle with Bo, Din and the Tie Interceptors being a particularly notable moment. But, there were so more oof moments like Gideon death's or the Mandalorian jetpack assault (though I do like the idea of the Armorer hammering people on jetpack). The concluding scenes were great. I hope they will make a 4th and final season. While this one is about as good as the first one and significantly worst than the second, it was still a good show overall though it did had its weaker episodes (3 and 6 in my opinion with 2, 5 and 7 being my favorite ones).
Gideon's clone farm goes into explaining all the way back in season 1 why he was so interested in the kid. He needed force sensitive samples so he could make force sensitive clones.
In particular I enjoyed the fight in the hallway with doors. Dinn just upgrading weapons as he went.
Gideon's clone farm goes into explaining all the way back in season 1 why he was so interested in the kid. He needed force sensitive samples so he could make force sensitive clones.
In particular I enjoyed the fight in the hallway with doors. Dinn just upgrading weapons as he went.
That would have to be the Worst assignment in the base. Standing there, locked in your little box, no chair, no bathroom, death pits to either side with no handrails, and apparently really easy to weaponize your own shields against you.
Gideon's clone farm goes into explaining all the way back in season 1 why he was so interested in the kid. He needed force sensitive samples so he could make force sensitive clones.
In particular I enjoyed the fight in the hallway with doors. Dinn just upgrading weapons as he went.
That would have to be the Worst assignment in the base. Standing there, locked in your little box, no chair, no bathroom, death pits to either side with no handrails, and apparently really easy to weaponize your own shields against you.
Oh 100%. But it's the normal Star Wars is built by insane people thing. Why did you place a port for a astromech at astromech height (on the invaders side) right in front of your super secure, super secret, bases series of energy doors to the super secret project? How come nobody filled it with concrete (plastcrete?) to stop this from happening to them all the time?
It's the same question about why the Endor super secret shield generator base had a astromech port at knee height to get into it?
Making someone stand there in front of the death pits at that point is just icing on the dumb design cake.
Hm. Do you think the death pits are connected? One big death pit below a bridge with multiple openings? Or are they each a separate death pit chute? Could Mando have just hopped into the first death pit and jetpacked over and out the death pit at the end while all the guards inside their energy shield boxes just look on like Wait no not like that?
AduroT wrote: Hm. Do you think the death pits are connected? One big death pit below a bridge with multiple openings? Or are they each a separate death pit chute? Could Mando have just hopped into the first death pit and jetpacked over and out the death pit at the end while all the guards inside their energy shield boxes just look on like Wait no not like that?
More questions. This is a base designed to produce and be manned by troopers with Jet Packs. ARE those death pits? Or is that how the guards get in and out of there energy door cubicles? And if so, why didn't any of the jet pack troopers use their jet packs when they fell in the death pits? And why is there a lock for the energy doors at all? And why were they energy doors and not like... just a big thick wall? (To access to the super secret clone farm you need to use use a Jet Pack to go bellow the base, over to a secret hatch, and up into the clone farm type of deal).
I did absolutely love how stupidly video game logic that whole scene was along with how on brand the total lack of safety railing turned out. It was my kind of dumb.
Space battle was better than I expected. It obviously wasn't the focus of the episode anywhere and largely just did a good job of setting up the final setpiece.
There's some excellent choreography throughout the episode. Special note to the bit where Bo slides off the ledge to right herself and fire back behind.
Really, the episode was a pretty excellent series finale. It ties up ideas left from the first episode and gives us a nice big showdown with the villain over some stakes that actually matter. I was pretty happy with the episode, but thoughts on the season as a whole to follow.
You got 3 seconds of space battle! Don't be greedy! And don't wonder what happens to all the TIEs and why the interceptors were doing strafing runs rather than suppressing defences for the bombers.
It's only a Light Cruiser and they have the numbers that suppression is a given regardless. The Tie Bombers weren't even needed in that situation as the Light Cruisers can be taken out quite handily with starfighter-level weaponry.
Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote: I really feel like there’s a story behind the lack of space/lower atmos battle.
Yep. Its goes something like this: 'they are not willing to spend a couple million out of their billion dollar profits, despite this being the de facto flagship series that's currently carrying the franchise.'
I just don't think a real space battle made sense to the story. It didn't really involve any of the characters we were focused on. We see to the point where its clear he's outmatched and then cut away for the reveal to the end. Any real space battle would have essentially been filler in an episode that was already video game levels of action sequences strung together over any real plot.
Well, at the time of production, I suppose you could make a case for animation companies telling Disney to go feth themselves, but I don't see why there would be a narrative push for 'more to the story' than Disney Corp wanting to have more money.
Btw, about the ending of the Mandalorian, now that Grogu has been officially adopted and now is called Din Grogu, does that mean that Din is actually a family name and his father's first name is actually Djarin or is Din's first name bestowed upon his son as some sort of "junior" title?
Been Nephew herding at sisters so took advantage of the big telly to have a Star Wars binge
Book of Bob was a bit muddled suspect its a jury rigged take on the rumoured movie, the Mando episodes was fine but beige curtains otherwise
Mando S3, again I think the Mando story was maybe 4-5 episodes at best and all the Bo-Selector bits are a trailer for Katee getting a show of her own, mostly ok but the MCU CGI climax was a tad template
Bad Batch S!, interesting and I'll give season 2 a run at some point
Andor, yep still not meshing with this one, its fine and her from Good Omens is hella purty
Also, the Nephew's Beagle took rare notice of Grogo bit odd as she barely reacts to telly at all
On the Mandalorian, it almost feels like they squished two seasons together into one; S3 could/should have been the Navarro + Coruscant storylines, setting up the Imperial remnants and the Mandolorian colony and then S4 could have been and expanded version of retaking Mandalore and defeating Moff Gideon.
Turnip Jedi wrote: Been Nephew herding at sisters so took advantage of the big telly to have a Star Wars binge
Book of Bob was a bit muddled suspect its a jury rigged take on the rumoured movie, the Mando episodes was fine but beige curtains otherwise
Mando S3, again I think the Mando story was maybe 4-5 episodes at best and all the Bo-Selector bits are a trailer for Katee getting a show of her own, mostly ok but the MCU CGI climax was a tad template
Bad Batch S!, interesting and I'll give season 2 a run at some point
Andor, yep still not meshing with this one, its fine and her from Good Omens is hella purty
Also, the Nephew's Beagle took rare notice of Grogo bit odd as she barely reacts to telly at all
Couple of things.
1. No mentioning doggies without sharing photo of doggy. Probably.
2. Don’t bother with Bad Batch S2. It’s really not great. Predominantly filler. At least, don’t bother with the whole of the thing. Select episode are excellent. The rest are utter, utter bobbins of no consequence.
epronovost wrote: Btw, about the ending of the Mandalorian, now that Grogu has been officially adopted and now is called Din Grogu, does that mean that Din is actually a family name and his father's first name is actually Djarin or is Din's first name bestowed upon his son as some sort of "junior" title?
Yeah, but it’s a pretty acceptable reason for a filming delay. Much better than hearing about some kind of executive meddling or issues with an actor’s behavior.
epronovost wrote: Btw, about the ending of the Mandalorian, now that Grogu has been officially adopted and now is called Din Grogu, does that mean that Din is actually a family name and his father's first name is actually Djarin or is Din's first name bestowed upon his son as some sort of "junior" title?
This drives me slightly nuts, particularly since we've got lots of important family names among the Mandalorians. It's weird, I'm sure someone will have a lengthy explanation for it, but ultimately I'll just accept that Din Grogu rolls off the tongue better than Grogu Djarin.
Yeah it didn't make much sense to me either. Maybe its not a last name thing. Maybe they put Dinn's first name in front of his name to indicate that Grogu is Dinn's apprentice?
Din wasn't born a Mandalorian right? He was adopted by them after they rescued him from the battle droids as a kid, so i just read it that whatever culture he was actually born into had their firstname/lastnames round the other way, and he kept his original naming even after being rescued/adopted by the Mandalaorians. Makes sense in my head.
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Lance845 wrote: Yeah it didn't make much sense to me either. Maybe its not a last name thing. Maybe they put Dinn's first name in front of his name to indicate that Grogu is Dinn's apprentice?
Nicky J wrote: Din wasn't born a Mandalorian right? He was adopted by them after they rescued him from the battle droids as a kid, so i just read it that whatever culture he was actually born into had their firstname/lastnames round the other way, and he kept his original naming even after being rescued/adopted by the Mandalaorians. Makes sense in my head.
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This is the most likely explanation; MDG mentioned Star Trek's Bajorans earlier but even here on our planet there are places where people's names are the other way around (Korea, for one). No reason why Din Djarin would change his name just because he became a foundling, at least so far as we know.
Family names come first in Japanese, and given that Japanese cinema had a huge influence on Star Wars it's not surprising it would crop up somewhere, though it's confusing in this case as other Mandalorians don't follow that convention.
Bo-Katan's family name comes after her personal, as do the names of all the other Mandalorians far as I know.
Din is weird and confusing in that his family name comes first unless that's just some holdover from his pre-Mandalorian life.
This is both the first new joke in Pitch Meeting in years, and a perfect incapsulation of why I didn't enjoy Mando S3:
Yeah, definitely spot on for the video, it's unfortunate they couldn't stick to the premise of a spaghetti western bounty hunter story and had to spiral off into Star Wars street the way it did.
The intern skit has the same problem of most things that repeat something disappointing to make a point about why it doesn't work in that I still have to sit through an awkward side plot.
The "that's this show" moment was gold.
I think what sums up Mando 3 is that its clear that a lot of people involved weren't really on board anymore. There's definitely people giving it their all, but everything has a sense of obligation behind it.
LunarSol wrote: The intern skit has the same problem of most things that repeat something disappointing to make a point about why it doesn't work in that I still have to sit through an awkward side plot.
The "that's this show" moment was gold.
I think what sums up Mando 3 is that its clear that a lot of people involved weren't really on board anymore. There's definitely people giving it their all, but everything has a sense of obligation behind it.
The fact that Pedro wasn't even there for parts of it says a lot. Not just the final scene, but whenever there was a conflict with Last of Us filming, he was over there and they just had someone else in the suit and dubbed lines in later.
creeping-deth87 wrote: Can't really blame the guy for that either, last of us was orders of magnitude better than anything on Mando
I entirely disagree.
Whilst Last of Us is by no means crap, and my criticism isn’t linked to Mr Pascal or Ms Ramsay? It’s not a patch on The Walking Dead’s middling season. To much wander and waffle, which given it kicked off with Good Stuff, and a Safe Zone? Made me wonder “erm…..why do you need the Safe Zone?”. Because the genuinely dicey “oh no my pants, I hope the not-zombies don’t have an acute sense of smell” were incredibly few and far between.
Indeed the entire premise of needing Safe Zones is largely undermined by a lot of what happens. Not for Ellie, who grew up in one and can’t reasonably be expected to know better. But Joel? He’s been out there many, many times and survived.
Mando S3, whist imperfect, was for me, a far more compelling watch that Last of Us. And it wasn’t the I paid £22 to specifically see.
Voss wrote: The fact that Pedro wasn't even there for parts of it says a lot. Not just the final scene, but whenever there was a conflict with Last of Us filming, he was over there and they just had someone else in the suit and dubbed lines in later.
Isn't that what they did in previous season too? With Pedro Pascal not being on stage on many occasion with a body double doing the physical presence and him doing the line as a voice actor; basically the same deal than with Darth Vader and James Earl Johns?
Voss wrote: The fact that Pedro wasn't even there for parts of it says a lot. Not just the final scene, but whenever there was a conflict with Last of Us filming, he was over there and they just had someone else in the suit and dubbed lines in later.
Isn't that what they did in previous season too? With Pedro Pascal not being on stage on many occasion with a body double doing the physical presence and him doing the line as a voice actor; basically the same deal than with Darth Vader and James Earl Johns?
Ssshhhhhhhhhhhhhuh! Don’t poke factually accurate holes!
LunarSol wrote: The intern skit has the same problem of most things that repeat something disappointing to make a point about why it doesn't work in that I still have to sit through an awkward side plot.
It absolutely dragged out, but honestly, I don't think it would be as effective in making the point if it didn't.
A tangent isn't a problem if it doesn't overstay its welcome.
Geifer wrote: As is so often the case, at least we get a good Pitch Meeting out of a dodgy thing.
The weirdest thing about it is that the entire concept basically has 4-5 jokes and just recycles them constantly, but by pinning the tail to the donkey every time the jokes remain fairly entertaining, even enhanced by your knowledge that the joke is coming.
It's almost like doing the same thing over and over again can work as long as you're just just phoning it in and have a strong understanding of basic narrative principles.
Geifer wrote: As is so often the case, at least we get a good Pitch Meeting out of a dodgy thing.
The weirdest thing about it is that the entire concept basically has 4-5 jokes and just recycles them constantly, but by pinning the tail to the donkey every time the jokes remain fairly entertaining, even enhanced by your knowledge that the joke is coming.
It's almost like doing the same thing over and over again can work as long as you're just just phoning it in and have a strong understanding of basic narrative principles.
Are Pitch Meetings good, or are they good at knowing their audience and respecting them?
Voss wrote: The fact that Pedro wasn't even there for parts of it says a lot. Not just the final scene, but whenever there was a conflict with Last of Us filming, he was over there and they just had someone else in the suit and dubbed lines in later.
Isn't that what they did in previous season too? With Pedro Pascal not being on stage on many occasion with a body double doing the physical presence and him doing the line as a voice actor; basically the same deal than with Darth Vader and James Earl Johns?
I have no idea if they did it that way the previous season, never seen it mentioned before.
As for Vader... no, not really. At least as an adult (or even as a teenager), I have never really had any illusion that Jones was anything but the voice of Vader. The actor in the suit was basically irrelevant, with a limited range of motion for physical acting. The only thing that mattered with Vader was the line delivery. For Mando, from day 1 there was a lot of cheerleading about what an amazing actor Pedro Pascal is. If he's often not there and given that the dialogue is often trite recitation of things that are happening or things he will be doing, Pedro is what becomes kinda irrelevant.
Disney has effectively punctured the illusion and the whole bubble deflated.
I suspect there was little other outcome with the variety of animation styles at play. I'm curious how many of them are affected by the language as well. There were a couple in season 1 that were DRAMATICALLY better in Japanese.
I got more out of this season than the first one. Not sure if that's because I have a better idea what to expect of Visions or because the second season is less subject to Japanese anime conventions. I'm inclined to say it worked better for me because it's closer to conventional Star Wars.
Season 1, being anime heavy really surprised me, as I’ve never really got on with anime as a rule. Visions challenged that. Whilst there’s one or two I probably wouldn’t bother watching again, I didn’t find any torturous to watch.
Season 2 has a greater variety of styles and influences. The Aardman one confuses me. On the one hands, it’s Aardman’s usual, gentle, charming style. On the other? It just felt a bit try-hard?
Defacing Statues was a good one. Another exploration of light mixing with dark.
Train Bandit King was ok. Kid was dumb. Saber fight was hella sweet. Probably full of cultural references I don’t get?
Pit was meh.
Plushy Miners was cool. The style was… odd. It wasn’t bad, but I don’t think I’d want to see it used in a full series myself. Would appeal to kids I imagine. I think it had the most intriguing story though. I’d say I want to see more of it but I’m not sure what else you’d have to tell.
Hm, I’m missing two of them. Must not have left much of an impression? One thing I’m thinking as I write these is none of them left me wanting more. Some of them told nice stories that I did like, but nothing I wanted to see more of. Season one had several that I would love to see a full series based on, and this season just lacked that.
I didn't love any of them as much as I loved the best of Season 1 (The Duel, The Twins, The Ninth Jedi, The Elder) but I will say they were more consistent and they absolutely did a phenomenal job of bringing in a huge variety of cultural lenses to the series. I think it created some safer stories told with more interesting perspectives.
Impressions on each:
1. Sith - One of the best animated of the bunch with a really cool visual style, particularly once we got out of the bunker into the more detailed world. Bare bones story, but a lot of style.
2. Screecher's Reach - A slow burn that didn't initially sell me, but ended up telling a compelling story by the end. Sound design really shone here.
3. In the Stars - This one really didn't do it for me. The stop motion was cool with some notably excellent bits, but it was also far and away the most by the numbers story, awkwardly told that I mostly remember for having a Death Star level cascading failure design in the end.
4. I Am Your Mother - Fun Wallace and Gromit style silliness, but also kind of tame. I enjoyed it more than I expected based on the opening minutes, but it would take remarkably little to make this not Star Wars.
5. Journey to the Dark Head - Easily one of the top entries this time around. Team Korra was clearly going for a full pilot similar to Production IGs "The Ninth Jedi" from last time. The only thing keeping it from taking top honors from me is some surprisingly incomplete fight animations toward the end.
6. The Spy Dancer - This one takes the crown, IMO. Initially I wasn't wowed by the art style and expected something of a Fantasia expression of pretty pictures. Instead we get probably the best realized story of the entire anthology and some actually wonderfully designed and animated choreography. Definitely a pleasant surprise.
7. The Bandits of Golak - I would not take issue with anyone declaring this the best of the bunch. There's nothing truly unique in the story and the little girl's totally irresponsible actions that get quite a few people killed are hard to waive off, but the blend of cultures here shows so much love from 88 Pictures. Probably the one that has me curious to look into their other work.
8. The Pit - This story probably has a little more faith in humanity than I do, but its a solid story. Felt a little slow and a little rushed at the same time. Definitely could have been better. I kept expecting it to really wow me and never quite got there.
9. Aau's Song - I feel like this would have been better suited elsewhere in the lineup instead of the anchor. Fluffy, fun and rather beautiful, but didn't really have the punch to feel like a satisfying finale.
I an interesting bit of trivia. Some have done the math and figured out that the new Star Wars game (Jedi Survivor) takes place the same year as the Obi-Wan miniseries.
Spoilers for both
Spoiler:
At the end of Jedi Survivor Vader and Cere Junda (one of the surviving Jedi from Order 66 who was also in Fallen Order) duel again and while Cere puts up a good fight, dropping things on Vader and setting him on fire, but of course Vader kills her. It is speculated that that is the reason Vader is in the bacta tank at the beginning of Obi-Wan as he is recovering from his fight when he gets that force tingle.
So, the 'High Republic' show 'the Acolyte' looks to be cancelled, and the showrunner fired.
A producer was fired back in March and filed a lawsuit over it, she was apparently axed for unspecified reasons.
High Republic seems cursed. There are novels and such (poor, based on quick impressions), but everything for screens or games seems to be trapped in a soul-sucking void. Which probably means more recycling of the same old, same old.
Voss wrote: High Republic seems cursed. There are novels and such (poor, based on quick impressions), but everything for screens or games seems to be trapped in a soul-sucking void. Which probably means more recycling of the same old, same old.
I'd use the word 'aggressively mediocre' rather than cursed.
They took the idea of going back to the golden age of the Republic and the Jedi and they were too afraid to own any of that idea.
First novel is quite enjoyable. Star Wars, but not as we know it.
Second one I got as a Cursed Audio Book. I say Cursed, because every time (twice) I’ve tried to use it for commute entertainment,mmy sodding car broke down. Trust me. That’s not something you want to repeat more than twice.
I seem to remember expressing interest in The Acolyte. So I guess this sucks. But who knows, it might have ended up like Obi-Wan or the sequel trilogy and that would suck even worse.
Final trailer - looks good hope it doesn't disappoint but with Dave at the helm it should be in safe hands. Double episode premiere confirmed. Looks like Sabine was training as a Jedi at some point. Nice to see Thrawn at last and the Purrgils will feature again - from some of the leaks a lot of the footage is from the early episodes. Nice flip of the "I am no Jedi" line.
I’m seeing CR-90s, MC-90 (I think? Maybe MC-80?) and a Hammerhead Corvette. Not familiar with the central or top right Mon Cal ships are, but I’m pretty sure they’re the same model. Frigate of some kind I reckon.
Oh and the rear of a Nebulon B.
Just a split second after the camera pans right and we see another Mon Cal ship, possibly bigger than the one in the screen grab.
Also just noticed the image contains what looks like a Cr-90 with a bigger engine block in the background. Can confirm that’s just an artefact of the grab blurring it a bit.
still have my fingers crossed for a smart Thrawn rather than one determined to fail on the same basis that Palp did as in the galaxy is far too vast to be "properly" ruled, especially if you keep making stupid "Ieggs in one basket" mega-weapons rather than a big fleet, although he's kind of on a loser as the First Order has to happen...t
LordofHats wrote: Why even bother with Star Wars street if you're going to radically alter a character out of nowhere oh wait Book of Boba Fett.
Two things that came across quite strongly in the Original Trilogy were:
1. Boba Fett has a heart of gold and wishes there to be no crime anywhere.
2. He feels deeply about protecting his people, that being the people of Tatooine, where he's not from, nor ever lived.
His series was a bizarre mix of Dances with Wolves and Crime Lord of no Crime.
Sabine was a fun character who could be really interesting outside the shadow of the rest of the cast.
And they just slapped force powers on her, as if that was... I just don't get it. Is it just so they can insert some pointless drama between Sabine and Ahsoka? Can they just not be friends?
Yeah, not enthused at the reveal of Sabine being a Padawan of Ahsoka randomly, really doubt they'll be able to do Thrawn justice with how they've wasted Moff Gideon in the Mandalorian and the rando Ex Inquisitor/Sith wannabe duo are probably going to be "misunderstood" villains again ala Reva with a last minute heel turn.
The real question is if we're going to get some Obi Wan hijinks again of the Leia undercoat hiding variety or closer along the lines of Book of Boba Vespa gang chases.
Turnip Jedi wrote: still have my fingers crossed for a smart Thrawn rather than one determined to fail on the same basis that Palp did as in the galaxy is far too vast to be "properly" ruled, especially if you keep making stupid "Ieggs in one basket" mega-weapons rather than a big fleet, although he's kind of on a loser as the First Order has to happen...t
Yeah, smart Thrawn is a must. I think they pulled it off in Rebels where his defeats were either part of a (actually successful) plan or he got thwarted by things he did not understand and could not plan for. It would be a pretty big failure if they changed the character to be inexplicably dim to enable a cast of overly dumb good guys to succeed in spite of their general lack of competence. Writers have been struggling with that forever.
He's also been gone for a while, and has to rebuild or reorganize what's left of the Empire without the industrial base of the Republic turned Empire. It would be dead easy to let him make all the right choices and still end up in a fairly weak position.
Ultimately it doesn't matter much. We know he'll get thwarted by a small band of plucky rebels (eventually anyway, considering the Dave Filoni wrapup movie that's supposed to bring all the shows together) to make the sequel trilogy happen. In my opinion they should actually let him look good in failure instead of making him a moron who was bound to lose.
So yeah, fingers crossed.
H.B.M.C. wrote: So, this is about Sabine becoming a Jedi, despite having no force ability whatsoever?
Just like Mando S3 was really about Bo-Katan, and Obi-Wan was really about Reva.
Wonderful.
I'm tempted to give them the benefit of the doubt until the show removes it. Sabine got possessed by the spirit of a dead Nightsister once. It would be trivial to use that as a justification that the Force started flowing through her. Give it some time to manifest since it wasn't a part of Rebels, and there you go.
Is Sabine actually Ahsoka's Padawan or is it a jest. They've obviously travelled before and though Ahsoka isn't a proper Jedi it's still reminiscent of an older Lightsaber wielder travelling and training a younger one. Sabine was also trained by Kanan and IIRC he used the term Padawan as a term of respect between them during their training and in turn Sabine called him Master.
Honestly I think maybe folks are reading a bit too much into it even if cynicism is a bit justified given the slate of shows so far. But you never know, it could be as good as Andor.
LordofHats wrote: Why even bother with Star Wars street if you're going to radically alter a character out of nowhere oh wait Book of Boba Fett.
Two things that came across quite strongly in the Original Trilogy were:
1. Boba Fett has a heart of gold and wishes there to be no crime anywhere.
2. He feels deeply about protecting his people, that being the people of Tatooine, where he's not from, nor ever lived.
3. He's a ruthless executioner who will kill first and ask questions later, so nasty that even Vader has to play nice with him.
BoBF could have been a decent show if they'd actually gone with the reformed killer idea and had him genuinely become a heroic figure after his near-death experience but instead they kept trying to portray him as the ruthless bounty hunter one moment and then oops, now he's a father figure to some random kids and wants to be a "crime lord" that does no crime. I don't know that it would have been ideal but at least it would have been consistent.
Sabine was trained to use the Darksaber. Here we see her using a Lightsaber. And Ahsoka was a Jedi Knight who has trained others.
The dialogue in the trailer is ambiguous. And we don’t see Sabine demonstrate force abilities. The closest is her lying prone with her hand held out and being told “you have no power”.
Add in we know Disney like their trailers to mislead to preserve story surprises? And I’m far from convinced Sabine is a force user.
It would be great to see her be a fake Jedi, like Haja Estree.... but with many more colorful explosives. Sabine's been established as a good swordfighter, and trained with Jedi. A bomb/inquisitor fight sequence would be really cool.
I'm aprehensive but hopeful on this one. Rebels turned into one of the best new additions though I feel like it lost steam as they tried to resolve Thrawn. There's equal chance it continues that course, but given how much of the success of Rebels was a result of wrapping up Clone Wars with it, its equally likely that this is going to really elevate those characters much the way Rebels itself gave Ahsoka such a huge boost in popularity.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who found the Sabine thing weird. Its been a while since I watched Rebels but I was pretty sure they never established that Sabine was being trained in the Force by Ahsoka.
That being said, its long been maintained by the Star Wars creative team (George Lucas, Pablo Hidalgo, Leland Chee, and also Dave Filoni) that literally anyone can learn to use the force given enough time, effort, and training, but very few do for a number of factors (the Jedi Order basically holding monopoly over knowledge of the force and limiting access to it, Jedi/trained force users being so rare that the vast majority of the galactic population would never encounter them or witness their abilities first-hand, thus believing them and their abilities to be fairy tale, superstition, or exaggeration, etc.). The midichlorian thing was meant to represent the Jedi Order had become institutionalized and bureaucratized and had become less "Jedi", more "Order". George had intended to explore that more (which he partially did through the Clone Wars series) but the backlash to the concept after The Phantom Menace pushed them away from mentioning the concept again in film.
I would guess that after much criticism and debate over that concept that anyone can use the force (because its not really clearly spelled out or delineated on screen), they might be trying to make it a bit more explicit.
Turnip Jedi wrote: Wut ? Wait ? Padawan Sabine, because being a tech genius and mistress of the rattle can wasn't enough she has to be a space wizard too ?
If you aren't a space wizard, you're a nobody. And nobodies can't affect the universe in Star Wars. You have to be part of a legacy.
Speaking of nobodies...without the cut to Chopper and the subtitles, I wouldn't have realized random twi'lek was supposed to be Hera.
Hera does indeed look nothing like the original character. I also strongly dislike this general trend of making Twi'lek just humans with noodly appendages. Put some prosthetics on there please, those are aliens.
That's such a weird thing to get annoyed about when Twileks are either spikey teeth creeps like Bib Fortuna or absolute super models like every single Twilek dancer with the only unifying feature being the head tails.
BertBert wrote: They managed it with sabine, so it must be possible.
It is odd that the human playing a normal looking human somehow more closely resembles the animation than the human playing an animated alien, but some mysteries were never meant to be solved.
BertBert wrote: They managed it with sabine, so it must be possible.
It is odd that the human playing a normal looking human somehow more closely resembles the animation than the human playing an animated alien, but some mysteries were never meant to be solved.
I'm not convinced that they're trying to match the animated characters*. Bordizzo was a great pick for Sabine, but on the other end of the spectrum we have the Grand Inquisitor and Fifth Brother. Hera isn't all that terrible. Winstead's chin is massively off, but aside from that it's not the worst choice.
Maybe they chose based on correct boob size. That would explain a thing or two about Fifth Brother.
* And frankly, Rebels does have problems of its own. Ahsokas head is quite changed from her Clone Wars appearance, and (technical deficiencies of the live action alien masks aside) live action Ahsoka went back to Clone Wars in appearance instead of continuing Rebels.
Togruta heads grow/change shape as they age, thats even evident if you compare early TCW Ahsoka to late TCW Ahsoka (or the flashback sequences of baby/youngling Ahsoka). Rebels Ahsoka was supposed to be "adult stage" basically.
When they introduced live-action Ahsoka, they very specifically said they had to alter/reduce the size of her head prosthetics as it was too unwieldy for the actors and stunt doubles to perform in.
Sure, I figured it was supposed to be like that. I'm just saying now that we have a live action Ahsoka set further down the timeline, there's a discrepancy. And that suggests to me the show makers are focused more on practical solutions than continuity, which sets expectations for their casting choices.
And despite some tantalising bits here and there? Star Wars is yet to deliver a proper Space Battle since Rogue One.
So far as I’m aware Ahsoka will eventually tie into Mando and presumably Book of Boba, so I’m not expecting this oversight to be corrected in Ahsoka.
But I needs it. Look at Endor. Look at Scarrif. Exegol promised so much but was short on the delivery (I did enjoy it overall though).
I can’t keep watching and rewatching the same fan films to get my fix. Well that is of course a lie. I absolutely can and absolutely will do that. But I wants more!
I'm told Rise of Skywalker gave you a cavalry charge in your space battle. Why aren't you happy with that? It's like a bombing run with legs, which makes sense. Ships don't run! You wanted horsies all along and you got them! There!
As for Ahsoka, Hera is in it and she's a pilot. Would be rude not to give her something to do. Sure, we don't know if that will translate into a fleet battle or just a dog fight. But at least there's a chance, according to my crackpot theory of why Mando didn't get one.
But, granted, since we're expecting Mandalorian Book of Bobahsoka - The Movie! there's a good chance that they're reserving the big, climactic, expensive fleet battle for that.
I’m just disappointed we didn’t get as much red hot, ship on ship action as we could’ve over Exegol.
But, hey. It did at least let us finally see B-Wings in action on the big screen. Kind of. I mean we see a couple, one of which gets immediately gibbed. But given they were cut from Return of the Jedi due to filming issues, and inexplicably weren’t added in for the Special Edition, I’ll take what I can get.
Geifer wrote: But, granted, since we're expecting Mandalorian Book of Bobahsoka - The Movie! there's a good chance that they're reserving the big, climactic, expensive fleet battle for that.
Apparently the rumour of a big crossover film is bunk.
The last thing Star Wars needs is Star Wars Avengers.
After the successes that were Rebels and Mandalorian, you'd think they'd pick up that Star Wars stories not riddled with excessive cameos and their own sense of having their own bloody story to tell is the meal ticket.
Not constant back-references to prior material and side-bit characters that don't stand on their own very well.
TBF the news around anything Star Wars seems a bit crazy right now.
Acolyte was canceled then supposedly not canceled, there was a big rumour that there was going to be a super crossover and then nothing from the Star Wars Celebration confirmed that.
Gert wrote: TBF the news around anything Star Wars seems a bit crazy right now.
Acolyte was canceled then supposedly not canceled, there was a big rumour that there was going to be a super crossover and then nothing from the Star Wars Celebration confirmed that.
Which combined with the huge issues we're seeing in the film/TV industries right now was considered a plausible event.
Look all I'm saying is that in terms of Star Wars stuff gets banded about and people believe it largely because Disney is all about the almighty dollar. Crossovers sell big to the more casual fan who can look at all their favorite characters in one place and that's the majority of any audience. If the Big Wigs believed a Baby Yoda/Boba Fett/Ahsoka movie would sell then chances are it would happen which is why that rumour was so easy to believe.
That is what I blame for the decline of X-Wing and similar SW TTGs. Old SW movies were full of space battles. Nothing for years.
And then AMG takes over the 'running' of X-Wing, and there is nothing on-screen to bring in new players, or make current players way to buy stuff.
That is what I blame for the decline of X-Wing and similar SW TTGs. Old SW movies were full of space battles. Nothing for years.
And then AMG takes over the 'running' of X-Wing, and there is nothing on-screen to bring in new players, or make current players way to buy stuff.
I feel a bit sorry for X-Wing. FFG made a good fist of it, drawing on the old EU and the new. Then of course they were bought out, and palmed off.
That is what I blame for the decline of X-Wing and similar SW TTGs. Old SW movies were full of space battles. Nothing for years.
And then AMG takes over the 'running' of X-Wing, and there is nothing on-screen to bring in new players, or make current players way to buy stuff.
I feel a bit sorry for X-Wing. FFG made a good fist of it, drawing on the old EU and the new. Then of course they were bought out, and palmed off.
It's main issue was just that FFG waiting too long to launch second edition into a more sustainable format. By the time they did, they'd bled the Rebellion era completely dry, both making conversion kits pricy and leaving no real new content to release for players in the new edition. They're STILL trying to release 2nd edition repacks of the 1st edition ships to this day. The new faction starters are overall a good idea but there's been so much card content even if you wanted to get back into the game I'm not honestly sure how you do it at this point.
Part of the problem is just the sequels didn't give them as many toys to sell as they clearly hoped and Clone Wars didn't really get its redemption when the game really needed to introduce it to space out their releases of Rebellion content. Instead you had a game that once demanded players collect everything try to convince players they could affordably upgrade about a quarter of their collection to the new edition.
Rumours that Lucasfilm has a contingency plan for if the writers strike drags on and they will combined season 4 of the Mandalorian and season 2 of Ahsoka into a film that take takes place after the current series but before the planned "Heir to the Empire" film so as to tie up loose ends and set up that film.
I don't know why they don't do that in the first place. Makes no difference to me, but 9pm ET has got to find a much larger audience than unlocking stuff at 3am ET.
Letting the rest of the world enjoy something while America is still sound asleep doesn't seem like something American companies would aim for when they premiere stuff.
Gotta say the first two episodes live up to the hype. Still don't really care about Cassian's character (*dead man walking*), and especially not this continuing obsession Disney has with blander than bland poor child origin stories, but damn. There's a subtlety and a nuance to this show that Disney has desperately needed to instert into...
Well basically every piece of milquetoast gak show they keep putting out.
I gotta give special props to ep 2 and 3 though, for how it builds this rollercoaster of a godzilla threshold. Atmosphere like the metal clangs of the town. Characterization gak thugcops lying through their egos because they're literally too stupid to realize they have no idea what they're doing. Especially nice touch, I feel like harping on because the story handles this while still portraying the characters involved like people rather than bland cardboard cutouts. They're fallible more than evil. Clever characters are defined as much by their luck and quick thinking as any sort of special ability. Unclever and even unlikable characters still have qualities that make them compelling to watch.
Show deserves its reputation so far. If all the rest of the Disney+ programming were even close to this good, it would have more than my banal curiosity.
Andor was compellingly dull. Yes, that's contradictory, but Andor (the show) was contradictory. It was simultaneously the best of new SW and the worst of new SW. You could have episodes of abject boredom punctuated by some of the best moments in the series ("Never more than twelve..."), you could have characters that give tremendous speeches (Luthen) and characters who spend every moment of their screentime doing sweet feth all with no plot advancement at all (Mon Mothma).
Entertaining. Frustrating. But not frustrating like every other D+ show, which are generally frustrating for their lack of actual plots, terrible pacing, endless side-questing, and abysmal runtimes that leave you half-way through acts or even scenes like the people in charge have never heard of script structure in their lives.
Geifer wrote: Letting the rest of the world enjoy something while America is still sound asleep doesn't seem like something American companies would aim for when they premiere stuff.
Especially when you're a company that's not making a whole lot of money, is experiencing negative North American subscriber growth (for two consecutive quarters!) and want to shift over to a paid advertiser mode.
It definitely comes through where the episodes after the first 3, are nowhere near as good as the first 3.
Episodes 4, 5, and 6 in fact have no reason whatsoever not to be 1 episode. 2 at the absolute tops. 7 has the same issue and I won't be surprised is I feel 7 and 8 could have been one episode.
For the quality of the writing and the great attention to details that matter, it's amazing how the show lost momentum fast to focus excessively on tedium.
It's still better than most of the stable by the pure virtue that the plot actually makes sense and isn't bending over backwards to suck its own dick, but yeah. Those first three episodes are of markedly better quality than the next 4.
Good news: Kevin Kiner is doing the music for this. He did the music for Clone Wars/Rebels, and is the only composer (IMO) to have ever captured the style and use of themes that Williams did for the original films.
Opening scenes are really strong. Republic fleet looked beautiful. And some decent Jedi action.
Interesting on the “run a match on their lightsabers”. Never considered they’d be so unique. And they’ve certainly the right Droid for the job.
Clancy Brown! Yay! Lothal looking gorgeous. E-Wings missing the upper gun, but looking great. And always nice to see a bit of the old EU recanonised.
Ooooh! Night sisters! Dare I hope this is a way to bring back Asajj? They did her dirty and she deserves better.
And what may be an Inquisitor? Certainly that’s an Inquisitor’s lightsaber on that background character.
Also really liking the music here.
Ahsoka’s shuttle is very very cool.
Overall the design work here is super strong.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Ahhhhhhhh this is so good!!!!
Part 2
Spoiler:
Correlia! New ship type! Some decent lightsaber action! The fear they were gonna say Yuuzhan Vong!
It’s implied Elsbeth wanted Ahsoka to find the map thing, despite clearly knowing where it was. I’m guessing she’d been disarmed, this was her saving time whilst incarcerated, having had some contingency in place to bust her out. That way, less to no time wasted.
Oh that big old ring ship! Reminds me of the hyperspace rings used in the Prequels. Either this is a ship designed for a super long haul jump (which between galaxies, it would be) or something is gonna use it as a hyperspace ring.
Automatically Appended Next Post: No post credits scenes, for the record.
My expectations were high after Andor, and this one takes the SW spinoff series back to their mediocra and forgettable roots. sigh
I had a bad feeling about the trailer, and the first episode confirmed my suspicions. But hey, at least its made for the female audience, inclusivity and all that..
First impression: it's ok. The "puzzles" straight out of a video game were kind of lame and could have been brute forced in a few minutes, making the characters all look like idiots. But I guess if you had something genuinely difficult to open the map it wouldn't be possible to show it on-screen, so meh. Overall it seems to be doing a decent enough job of bridging the gap between the end of the OT and the dumpster fire of the sequels, so far as such a thing is possible at all. So far I guess I'll rate it not as good as Andor or Mandalorian S1, better than the mess of Boba Fett and Obi-wan?
Automatically Appended Next Post:
tauist wrote: But hey, at least its made for the female audience, inclusivity and all that..
Lolwut? Do you think that having female characters is "made for the female audience" or was there something else you're referring to here?
At some point some military/security force needs to implement anti-Force firing regimens where someone counts off and they all fire in simultaneous waves of multiple blasts at the same time instead of the stream of fire that lets them deflect each bolt individually.
I’m really curious to find out why an ancient map is pointing to the location of a recent individuals location.
I wonder if they’ll stick with Sabine being ungifted in the Force the whole time or if she’ll unlock her secret hidden potential and get OP during the climax.
Thoroughly enjoyed this. Felt like some of the best episodes of Rebels easily. Some really great choreography that's a nice mix of OT heavy swings with a little more acrobatics. Tons of little beloved toys brought to life. Story so far is quite solid with a really compelling cast of villains.
I really liked how the villains have more of a hard defensive stance and heavy overpowering strikes when they go on the offensive. Mixing in the cloak is also a nice flair that gives the apprentice an instant niche.
One main complaint:
Spoiler:
I know she's the everyman, but Hera talking about Jedi like this unknowable enigma comes across as super weird when her understanding of Kanan was one of the best written relationships in the franchise in Rebels.
Overall though, this is as good as it gets. Probably not quite as good as Andor, but everything I'd want out of Star Wars when focused on the Jedi side of things.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
AduroT wrote: At some point some military/security force needs to implement anti-Force firing regimens where someone counts off and they all fire in simultaneous waves of multiple blasts at the same time instead of the stream of fire that lets them deflect each bolt individually.
I’m really curious to find out why an ancient map is pointing to the location of a recent individuals location.
I wonder if they’ll stick with Sabine being ungifted in the Force the whole time or if she’ll unlock her secret hidden potential and get OP during the climax.
I think if you count off you're not going to get a chance to fire at all, but realistically this is just part of the trope of a guy fighting off a room of baddies that face the hero in waves rather than dogpiling.
I'll be very curious to see what the state of things are at the end of the road. Given why they're out there, it could be as simple as a map of space whale migration routes. Maybe a sect of Nightsisters worshiped them and put up a temple in their spawning grounds or something?
A good question. Her arc is clearly focused on unlocking her potential at the moment, but given her history it would probably be more appropriate to have her find her own path forward.
And what may be an Inquisitor? Certainly that’s an Inquisitor’s lightsaber on that background character.
He's apparently a new character named Marrok (though since he's got a mask everyone is convinced he's Ezra). I just hope there's a reason he looks so similar to Eighth Brother. Interesting enough, Filoni already used that name in Clone Wars for the dog of bounty hunter he likened to Snake Eyes. This guy is definitely cut from the same cloth as the Joe.
Only one grumble from me. And make no mistake it is a nitpick.
Spoiler:
When the baddies have boarded the New Republic Cruiser, we see a pair of troopers blasting off screen, down a hallway. Only for their own mates to cos running it up first.
Gives the impression of “they can’t kill you if you is already dead. It’s a mercy, really”.
And now some praise. We see a fair few survivors of that attack being patched up. In terms of ruthlessness that tells us something about our Ersatz Sith. That they may favour efficiency over brutality.
By count off I mean like one guy setting a steady beat/pulse, something that the rest of their men all time their shots to so they all fire at the same time.
AduroT wrote: By count off I mean like one guy setting a steady beat/pulse, something that the rest of their men all time their shots to so they all fire at the same time.
Alternatively you can program it into your vats of grown soldiers with brain chips. Seems like it worked pretty well last time.
I honestly just don't think its something common enough for people to put time into despite us seeing it regularly. I mean, if you're not even going to program it into Dark Troopers, what hope do you have with rotating security details.
I think I might just not care about new things anymore.
I don't think I've really enjoyed a D+ Star Wars show since Andor.
Bad Batch 2 was rubbish, Kenobi was rubbish, Mando 3 was mediocre at best, and I just couldn't get into Ahsoka.
Maybe I'm just tired from work but I could not get into the first episode past about 15 mins.
I'll try again at the weekend, maybe with some models to paint but I don't have high hopes.
Gert wrote: I think I might just not care about new things anymore.
I don't think I've really enjoyed a D+ Star Wars show since Andor.
Bad Batch 2 was rubbish, Kenobi was rubbish, Mando 3 was mediocre at best, and I just couldn't get into Ahsoka.
Maybe I'm just tired from work but I could not get into the first episode past about 15 mins.
I'll try again at the weekend, maybe with some models to paint but I don't have high hopes.
If you would have told me 10 years ago I wouldn't be excited for new Star Wars and Marvel projects I would not believe you.
That difference between ‘that wasn’t what I’d hoped for’ and “JEEBUS FLIP CAN YOU NOT FRAME A SCENE YOU HACK”.
Because there’s a world between the two.
No, I’m not therefore implying “anyone who disagrees is an idiot”. I’m just trying to encourage folk to Use Their Big Words”. Or at least explain why you didn’t enjoy a given offering.
Otherwise I’m gonna file you under everyone that watched Robocop and didn’t get it’s a satire. And a bloody good one at that.
Otherwise I’m gonna file you under everyone that watched Robocop and didn’t get it’s a satire. And a bloody good one at that.
*tongue in cheek mode* why is it everyone keeps calling all the good things satire. At some point I feel like when we have fantasy creations satire starts to lose meaning because you can see real world messages in almost anything and if it isn't perfectly documenting current life; then its probably possible to say that a fantasy is a positive or negative satire on some aspect of current life. Most often because authors and creators are often inspired by the life around them. Even Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, which was built off the back of Norse legends - was in part a commentary on modern life and war during his life.
I just watched live action Rebels and I want more. So far, so good.
Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote: Oh that big old ring ship! Reminds me of the hyperspace rings used in the Prequels. Either this is a ship designed for a super long haul jump (which between galaxies, it would be) or something is gonna use it as a hyperspace ring.
You ain't no Grand Admiral without a flagship. The hyperspace ring is going to fit a Star Destroyer. Yeah, that one. It's a hyperspace ring/intergalactic tow truck for the Chimaera.
AduroT wrote: I’m really curious to find out why an ancient map is pointing to the location of a recent individuals location.
I'll be very curious to see what the state of things are at the end of the road. Given why they're out there, it could be as simple as a map of space whale migration routes. Maybe a sect of Nightsisters worshiped them and put up a temple in their spawning grounds or something?
I'm confident that it's exactly what it looks like. Ezra calls purrgil to the rescue, purrgil migrate to their summer home with the Chimaera in tow, purrgil migration routes have been extensively studied by nature lovers of the past and can be traced accurately even in the present. Boom, there's Thrawn's location!
Otherwise I’m gonna file you under everyone that watched Robocop and didn’t get it’s a satire. And a bloody good one at that.
*tongue in cheek mode* why is it everyone keeps calling all the good things satire. At some point I feel like when we have fantasy creations satire starts to lose meaning because you can see real world messages in almost anything and if it isn't perfectly documenting current life; then its probably possible to say that a fantasy is a positive or negative satire on some aspect of current life. Most often because authors and creators are often inspired by the life around them. Even Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, which was built off the back of Norse legends - was in part a commentary on modern life and war during his life.
Very true, but Robocop is very very explicitly satire. I get we're in tongue in cheek mode, but I feel like that needs to be explicitly stated these days because no one seems to understand what that means either
My son loves Star Wars and my wife loves Baby Yoda, and I couldn’t convince either of them to start Mando3 or Ashoka. At this point I think Space Precinct would be an easier sell than another D+ Star Wars show.
There are just too many and too frequent releases, with many of them being outright disappointing. I'm going to watch Ahsoka tonight and I'm hoping for something on par with Andor.
BertBert wrote: There are just too many and too frequent releases, with many of them being outright disappointing. I'm going to watch Ahsoka tonight and I'm hoping for something on par with Andor.
It's not as good as Andor, but it's about as good as Rebels.
I wouldn’t put it quite on par with Andor, I feel it lacks the originality of that setting, but it’s definitely better than Obi/Boba and doesn’t yet display the level of absurdity those two did. The “worst” moment was probably
Spoiler:
Hera chasing an escaping ship in a shuttle without guns so her droid could physically throw a tracking device at it from a few feet away, and then no one stopping somewhere to check after they escaped to make sure such a device hadn’t been planted by the shuttle that chased and buzzed them.
AduroT wrote: I wouldn’t put it quite on par with Andor, I feel it lacks the originality of that setting, but it’s definitely better than Obi/Boba and doesn’t yet display the level of absurdity those two did. The “worst” moment was probably
Spoiler:
Hera chasing an escaping ship in a shuttle without guns so her droid could physically throw a tracking device at it from a few feet away, and then no one stopping somewhere to check after they escaped to make sure such a device hadn’t been planted by the shuttle that chased and buzzed them.
Yeah, not to be too hopeful when we're only two episodes in, but if the show keeps it up, it'll be as good as Rebels, to whose story Ahsoka is a continuation. If you liked Rebels, you shouldn't be disappointed with Ahsoka. It's nowhere near the catastrophe that is Obi-Wan.
The interesting bit here to me (someone more Starwarsy than me can correct me if I am wrong) is that this is showing that Ezra jumped to another Galaxy.
If I remember correctly, with the exception of the Yuuzhan Vong, SW is entirely bound to a single galaxy. No extra galactic travel has ever been done.
Lance845 wrote: The interesting bit here to me (someone more Starwarsy than me can correct me if I am wrong) is that this is showing that Ezra jumped to another Galaxy.
If I remember correctly, with the exception of the Yuuzhan Vong, SW is entirely bound to a single galaxy. No extra galactic travel has ever been done.
So what else are they maybe introducing here?
Correct. The Galaxy far far away has always remained an isolated galaxy. That's why the Vong feels like such a genre shift; its literally an "alien invasion" story despite being set in a world in which aliens are a pretty normal concept.
Whether they're introducing Vong (please no) or not, might just come down to the Thrawn story. He's always been absent from the OT because he was busy beyond the outer rim. Basically the same thing here; but now he's just unable to return on his own.
That difference between ‘that wasn’t what I’d hoped for’ and “JEEBUS FLIP CAN YOU NOT FRAME A SCENE YOU HACK”.
Because there’s a world between the two.
No, I’m not therefore implying “anyone who disagrees is an idiot”. I’m just trying to encourage folk to Use Their Big Words”. Or at least explain why you didn’t enjoy a given offering.
Some people might not have the time to write a full review of every Star Wars show they didn't like every time a new one comes out, especially if they've already done so in this thread, however, I will humour you.
Kenobi
Spoiler:
The story was not enjoyable. It felt like the writers were trying to come up with a convoluted reason as to why Leia would know Obi-Wan when it would have been fine if she'd just been brought up on bedtime stories while basically forcing Kenobi off of Tatooine for some reason because sitting on a planet for close to thirty years specifically protecting Luke was wrong somehow?
Reva was not an interesting enough character to have that much time dedicated to her.
The best bits were of Vader which isn't surprising because he's consistently done well in every show or movie he appears in.
Mando 3
Spoiler:
It was directionless. There was one overarching background plot that kept getting dropped and picked up all over the place in favour of one-shot episodes.
We are now seeing too much of Baby Yoda to the point where instead of being an active hindrance to Mando because he's a baby in combat, the little frog just yeets around and looks stupid when it does so.
The best part was Gideon essentially being the Star Wars equivalent of a Weeb for the Mandolorians and even then his legitimate threat was ended within the span of an episode.
Bad Batch 2
Spoiler:
Again, directionless and felt like they were just doing things that weren't ending up going anywhere.
The episodes that focussed on Crosshair were better than every other episode in the series.
Kenobi is obviously a "Star Wars Story" film script that go reworked and bloated into a D+ series. I think it might have had the best potential as film of the bunch but it definitely didn't benefit from the extra screen time.
Mando 3 is a series that was clearly made out of obligation rather than any sort of passion. It doesn't appear like anyone involved wants to be there.
Bad Batch 2 I honestly have no idea about, like at all. With the studio closing perhaps the people who actually championed the characters had already left? This one is just bad but I really don't know why its as bad as it is.
That difference between ‘that wasn’t what I’d hoped for’ and “JEEBUS FLIP CAN YOU NOT FRAME A SCENE YOU HACK”.
Because there’s a world between the two.
No, I’m not therefore implying “anyone who disagrees is an idiot”. I’m just trying to encourage folk to Use Their Big Words”. Or at least explain why you didn’t enjoy a given offering.
Some people might not have the time to write a full review of every Star Wars show they didn't like every time a new one comes out, especially if they've already done so in this thread, however, I will humour you.
Kenobi
Spoiler:
The story was not enjoyable. It felt like the writers were trying to come up with a convoluted reason as to why Leia would know Obi-Wan when it would have been fine if she'd just been brought up on bedtime stories while basically forcing Kenobi off of Tatooine for some reason because sitting on a planet for close to thirty years specifically protecting Luke was wrong somehow?
Reva was not an interesting enough character to have that much time dedicated to her.
The best bits were of Vader which isn't surprising because he's consistently done well in every show or movie he appears in.
Mando 3
Spoiler:
It was directionless. There was one overarching background plot that kept getting dropped and picked up all over the place in favour of one-shot episodes.
We are now seeing too much of Baby Yoda to the point where instead of being an active hindrance to Mando because he's a baby in combat, the little frog just yeets around and looks stupid when it does so.
The best part was Gideon essentially being the Star Wars equivalent of a Weeb for the Mandolorians and even then his legitimate threat was ended within the span of an episode.
Bad Batch 2
Spoiler:
Again, directionless and felt like they were just doing things that weren't ending up going anywhere.
The episodes that focussed on Crosshair were better than every other episode in the series.
That difference between ‘that wasn’t what I’d hoped for’ and “JEEBUS FLIP CAN YOU NOT FRAME A SCENE YOU HACK”.
Because there’s a world between the two.
No, I’m not therefore implying “anyone who disagrees is an idiot”. I’m just trying to encourage folk to Use Their Big Words”. Or at least explain why you didn’t enjoy a given offering.
Some people might not have the time to write a full review of every Star Wars show they didn't like every time a new one comes out, especially if they've already done so in this thread, however, I will humour you.
Kenobi
Spoiler:
The story was not enjoyable. It felt like the writers were trying to come up with a convoluted reason as to why Leia would know Obi-Wan when it would have been fine if she'd just been brought up on bedtime stories while basically forcing Kenobi off of Tatooine for some reason because sitting on a planet for close to thirty years specifically protecting Luke was wrong somehow?
Reva was not an interesting enough character to have that much time dedicated to her.
The best bits were of Vader which isn't surprising because he's consistently done well in every show or movie he appears in.
Mando 3
Spoiler:
It was directionless. There was one overarching background plot that kept getting dropped and picked up all over the place in favour of one-shot episodes.
We are now seeing too much of Baby Yoda to the point where instead of being an active hindrance to Mando because he's a baby in combat, the little frog just yeets around and looks stupid when it does so.
The best part was Gideon essentially being the Star Wars equivalent of a Weeb for the Mandolorians and even then his legitimate threat was ended within the span of an episode.
Bad Batch 2
Spoiler:
Again, directionless and felt like they were just doing things that weren't ending up going anywhere.
The episodes that focussed on Crosshair were better than every other episode in the series.
Someone absolutely insisted that they needed to remake Dances with Wolves but no one was interested. But he was really really annoying so they just said feth it and gave him a few episodes of Mando Season 3 to tack onto the end hoping it would be so bad both shows would be canceled and they could make their true passion project;
I'd argue that they had so little interest in Boba Fett that they just abandoned him and made two more episodes of The Mandolorian before reluctantly going back to finish off the Boba Fett "storyline".
The story was non-existent and it was massively overhyped.
It should have been titled "The Mandolorian: The Book of Boba Fett". I think then it would have tempered expectations at bit but it wouldn't have saved the poor show it was.
LunarSol wrote: Bad Batch 2 I honestly have no idea about, like at all. With the studio closing perhaps the people who actually championed the characters had already left? This one is just bad but I really don't know why its as bad as it is.
I'd argue season two of the Bad Batch doesn't work because it actively avoids putting the main characters in focus. It spends a lot of time on a smorgasbord of ideas that never get resolved on the clones' end. The main characters help out all manner of side characters with their problems, but precious little happens to advance their own story. They already spent all of the first season paying off an imaginary debt and it still takes them forever until they finally part ways with Cid, except they don't. Not really. They saw how the galaxy becomes a worse place already in the first season. It's the reason they defected in the first place. Yet the second season spends an inordinate amount of time making the same point over and over, to little extra effect on the Bad Batch. They just keep bumbling along instead of resolving how they want to deal with the situation. They keep flip flopping between running and fighting the Empire, which they've done plenty of during season one.
It's highly problematic to use the second season to set up things already set up and partially resolved in the first season, while managing to decrease overall plot resolution compared to the first season. The audience wants to see progress but doesn't get it, and gets that fact rubbed in their face. I can only assume that the motivation was to have the second and third season as a single story arc, what with the second one ending on a cliffhanger like that. So we got all setup and no resolution, and that's just not satisfying.
I'd have been down for Fett's show being a Dances with Wolves type thing, to help transition him to being a 'good guy'. I'd also would've been happy for Fett to be a 'Bad guy with a code of honour'. What ruined it for me was slow speeder bikes, Fett trying to run a crime syndicate with two people and the splicing of another TV show.
Kenobi's show was fine-ish. Obi-Wan getting out of his fug and coming to terms that his old student and friend was lost to him...that's a story. But Reva, long coats and dodgy speeders took the gloss off it.
The Mandalorian has reduced itself to being a 'Baby Yoda' toy commerical. No wonder Favreau killed himself off.
Ahsoka has started well. A text scroll at the start, light sabres, threat of Empire. And I haven't seen the cartoons. The extra-galactic stuff has made me go 'wut?' though. Star Wars should be in it's own self contained galaxy. It give's me the dreadful feeling that they might threaten to find Earth., and then someone will link to that stupid comic panel where Chewie becomes bigfoot.
The biggest problem with Bad Batch Season 2 was how repetitive it is.
1. Go to a planet to get something for Cid.
2. Something bad happens (usually with Omega).
3. The Bad Batch have to give up the thing they were after to survive/rescue Omega.
4. They return empty handed.
Am I the only one who didn't particularly care for Andor?
I didn't hate it, but it was just too slow with not enough happening.
Obi-Wan I thought was fine except for not focusing enough on the titular character; I didn't hate Mando 3 either, though I do agree with a lot of the criticism.
Andor worked for me because whilst undeniably Star Wars, it was far from Star Wars by the numbers.
I’m not sure “dark and gritty” or “mature” are suitable terms (not least because both terms have been used so much they’ve lost all meaning), but perhaps sober is the right term?
The classic elements are there, but dialled down to pretty much realistic levels. Or at least as realistic as we can hope for space opera.
And Maarva’s speech absolutely nails the reason for rebellion. For untold centuries, Ferrix has kept its head down and done what it does. It’s a happy enough status quo. Then, at the slightest excuse, The Empire comes in mob handed and trying to dictate everything.
That early scene with the hammering? Absolutely amazing tension building, with again Maarva doing some heavy narrative lifting. The fear in the CorSec troopers is absolutely palpable. They don’t know what’s coming next, and until that guy opens fire, they were doing everything they could to get their job done, without escalating it further than absolutely necessary.
Even when they’re planing and executing the heist, we get different flavours of Rebels, including an honest to goodness wide eyed True Believer, complete with manifesto of dearly held beliefs.
We even get further Imperial Nonsense when Cassian is lifted and imprisoned when he actually had nothing to do with that particular crime.
For me it was a refreshingly bleak look at the Galaxy near the zenith of Imperial Power.
Not to mention a universally brilliant cast. I loved every single actor and performance.
Kenobi and Boba are clearly just movie scripts that got a bunch of filler material to give it enough runtime to justify being a TV show without the budget it was intended for. Kenobi made a better go of it, largely on the back of a wildly overqualified lead.
With Boba you can see a pretty decent, Solo level film. You might even be able to edit the film back together with a bit of effort. Quick plot outline:
- Movie opens with Boba attacking the palace Jabas palace, sits on the throne, put up the title.
- Boba tours his empire, subordinate warns him they're pushing into Pike territory, Boba ignores the warning.
- Evil Chewie attacks Boba. He survives and is put into a bacta tank to heal.
- Flashback of Boba escaping the sarlacc, being rescued by sand people, dances with wolves, comes back and finds them dead.
- Boba recovers declares war on the Pikes. Big battle scene riding the rancor in.
- Boba corners the Pikes leader who has some speech about how crime is run.
- Boba tells him he's not interested in running Jabba's empire and just wanted revenge for the death of his family.
- Bobba kills the Pike leader and is last seen walking off into the twin sunset.
That's enough for a 90 minute action film It just doesn't work for 6ish hours of television.
Ahsoka has started well. A text scroll at the start, light sabres, threat of Empire. And I haven't seen the cartoons. The extra-galactic stuff has made me go 'wut?' though. Star Wars should be in it's own self contained galaxy. It give's me the dreadful feeling that they might threaten to find Earth., and then someone will link to that stupid comic panel where Chewie becomes bigfoot.
The truly weird part about it is the Star Wars galaxy has this big 'Unknown Regions' scrawled across roughly a third of the map, other regions (like Hutt Space) that (bar a few set worlds) aren't visited all that often, and a plethora of hidden things. It doesn't really need to go extra-galactic, that just becomes a burden to explain (and meta-explain why).
).
