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It could be!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Also?

I’m really enjoying the deliberate lack of emotion coming from Shin Hati, the Maybe-Not-Sith Apprentice.

Because it’s not wooden acting. There is emotion there, but you can tell it’s being tightly controlled.

Also I wouldn’t be surprised if Baylan Skoll flips, and comes back to the light. There’s something about the performance where I feel he’s having doubts about his path.

I definitely want to know more about most of our new villains, which is a great thing for sure. Really enjoyed the episode overall. Shields were probably a little more effective than we've ever seen but probably close to some videogames. Mostly felt like they dragged out the taking fire scene a little long than anything.

The opening training sequence was wonderful. Hera being very very bad at playing politics was kind of infuriating. Bad guys stole a Star Destroyer class hyperdrive, focus on that.

I'm curious if Sabine is going to be our new Corran Horn. He couldn't really use the Force to affect physical objects but was able to redirect energy.


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 AduroT wrote:
The red forest makes me want to play more No Man’s Sky, and it Did recently drop another big content update…

Spoiler:

We’re definitely Supposed to think the other evil force dude is Ezra, right? It that a red herring? It kind of feels too obvious or cliche.

I think so, but it doesn't make a whole lot of sense for that to be the case. It's not IMPOSSIBLE, but seems very at odds with the character. If there's a "bad things for good reasons" angle to it they're going to have to work very hard to explain why he doesn't just reveal himself and explain to his friends and if its a mind control angle its just kind of dumb.

The other speculative options:

I also liked the Villain Starfighters.

Not exactly stock fighters I’d say, but importantly not the awful Uglies. Rather they seem to be adapted from…something? Definite shades of Grievous’ personal fighter, and close to the gunship destroyed in Mando S1.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:


Also I wouldn’t be surprised if Baylan Skoll flips, and comes back to the light. There’s something about the performance where I feel he’s having doubts about his path.

That, or is also the possibility he never truly went full "Dark" but is instead playing a long game working with Morgan towards different ends already, based on some of what we have seen. Personally I would love to see that approach, as it would be a great way to show an example of the sort of Sentinel deep cover shenanigans we know exist within the lore but have not really seen too much of on screen. The orange lightsaber also potentially supports this, as Sentinels often would have a yellow blade, so the blood orange could be a hint towards a Sentinel that dipped a bit into the Dark (Yellow + Red) as part of his overall goal.

 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?

Its been long established that the galaxy far far away is orbited by a number (iirc, 5) of satellite companion dwarf galaxies. As someone else pointed out, the Rishi Maze (technically "Companion Aurek) where Kamino is located (technically Kamino isn't in the Rishi Maze, just near it, but its location is considered extragalactic.

The Vong weren't the only extragalactic entity in the old EU either, just the most prominent. George Lucas and Dave Filonis planned to include the Vong in The Clone Wars, but they would have retconned away some of the more problematic issues with their depiction (i.e. their force blindness/immunity).

In canon, there was reference in one novel to a smuggler that was wanted in "eighteen galaxies" - assuming that wasn't an author being dumb and not knowing what a galaxy is or the character making an exaggerated boast, that might imply that canonically there are at least 17 companion galaxies.

In this case though, its likely that Thrawn and Ezra are just in the Unknown Regions of the star wars galaxy, rather than a different galaxy.

So I've gotten around to watching the first three episodes and what can I say?

I like it so far. Quite a lot in fact.

I've not been the biggest fan of rebels, but this has me hooked. I enjoy the quiet and contemplative demeanour of Ahsoka and Rosario Dawson just works. Sabine is also pretty well cast and thankfully not portrayed as hyper-competent, but as flawed to the point where she might be entirely unsuited as a padawan. It's going to be interesting to see, how she grows into becoming a not-jedi.

The antagonists seem believable enough and, with the possibility of Thrawn returning, the stakes are high. The prospect of seeing them reach the other galaxy holds so much potential that will hopefully be realized in some ways. New races, maybe a new enemy altogether? Can't wait to find out. I'm also looking forward to the reveal of Marrok and if those not-sith have any goal beyond greed and power.

All in all good stuff that has me wanting more, and leagues above Kenobi and Boba Fett, both in terms of scope and execution.

Only downside?

Well actually, there’s two.

1. It’s an entire week until more wonderful.

2. Baylan either doesn’t survive this season, or will have to be recast following the sad passing of the actor.

Which means if I’m right, and he does flip (having to no longer betray his true self with the demise of The Empire) then we may miss out on a longer redemptive arc/follow up.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:

2. Baylan either doesn’t survive this season, or will have to be recast following the sad passing of the actor.

Which means if I’m right, and he does flip (having to no longer betray his true self with the demise of The Empire) then we may miss out on a longer redemptive arc/follow up.

He hasn't received much characterization so far, so my guess is that he's an "in" for his two apprentices and will die to further their arc.

Also another nice touch?

Ahsoka and Baylan both use pre-Imperil shuttles to get about. Like they’re both clinging on to what was.

Given their relevant positions, I believe it is through choice, as Ahsoka could surely requisition a more modern one, and Baylan, being a mercenary (or so we’re told at least) could probably do the same to some degree.

Fun episode.

 Gert wrote:

Spoiler:

And wayhay we get to see how inept the New Republic is from a new POV. Great. Awesome. Thank you sequels for forcing that narrative.

Also, as Hera hinted at?

well, as episode 2 shows, gutting the entire republic of former imperials would be basically impossible anyway. They are 100% reliant on them at all levels as part of the New Republic, as they are literally the only people with experience in running a galactic nation. Basically every single major political figure we see in the New Republic was either a active member of the imperial governing structure, or a the very least, a willing accomplice in it. Add to that the large number of rebels who were imperial defectors themselves, and it becomes absolutly impossible to barr former imperials form the republic.

I;d imagine the imperial amnesty program we see in mado only has a comparatively small number of the former imperials in it, mostly former military. certainly, all the members of it we see talk about military service or civilians working as part of the military R&D complex.

You wonder how many people in the government bureaucracy worked in the old republic, through the empire, and into the new republic. The management might change, but the job remains the same.

The Empire only lasted for twenty four years. That's half the time to retirement and thus plenty of time to work for both Republics. Like a bureaucrat cares what logo is on that stamp that goes on form E34-509, as long as it's stamp C17 and gets the signature of two supervisors within two workdays of filing.

Also remember the rot of the Old Republic was something Palpatine exploited, and strategically encouraged. But he didn’t create it.

Which leaves plenty of room for corrupt politicians that wanted nothing in particular to do with Mr Prune.

I just want to know why the Republic costumes in the opening scene were so awful. All the other costumes have been fine, but those specifically looked like cheap Halloween costumes from a fly-by-night store.

the new republic military uniforms? yeah, im also not a fan of them. The security guards seem to have a uniform that's pretty cut the same as the imperial one, but this time in blue, not grey. they seem much too....Imperial....for my tastes. I'm also not a fan of the huge rank badge (particular on the officers who also have collar tabs which could be rank badges), but thats more that it'd be awkward to wear the whole time. I accept its meant to be a TV friendly system, but the Imperial rank bars were also that, and much better looking, frankly.

The officer uniforms with the blue and brown look OK to me, though. I'm 90% sure that blue/bown look is a reference to the Old Republic uniforms of KOTOR, which were like that, so I'm guessing its a deliberate choice in-universe to use uniforms that harken back to the Old republic and the nostalgia for that "better" time.

It DOES seem to be rather light-weight material, but given they are all working in a shipborne environment, thats not a huge issue. Its not much worse than real life navy uniforms for duty wear (google royal navy or RAF duty uniforms, its pretty much a collared shirt and trousers.).

notably, general Sulla doesn't bother with anything resembling the official uniform, sticking to her rebels era orange jumpsuit with a leather jacket instead, and just straps the rank badge on that. Main Character Custom Uniform syndrome strikes agian.


i'm guessing the poor fit was just a issue of creating a lot of "one sizes fits all" uniforms for extras to wear that result in some poor fits on screen.

Mrs. GG and I are loving the show so far. Other than a few very minor details, like the quality of those brown and blue uniforms.

It was not the color of the New Republic ship's officers uniforms that bothered me, it was the material and tailoring (or lack thereof) as well as a lack of distressing to make them look “lived in” that made them look more like costumes than uniforms. High resolution TV is a lot less forgiving than decades old film. Or since so many of the costumes have been brilliant it made have been a conscious choice by the costume designer to try to say the New Republic Navy is very inexperienced and has a low budget.

General Madine in Return of the Jedi…

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
And in terms of “where the blinking flip are we”? The end of Empire Strikes Back shows the Rebel Fleet well outside the main Galaxy.

Spoiler:

Whether that’s in deep space or looking on from the Rishi Maze or simply proper intergalactic space you’d need to look into with a Google.

What they're looking at here is a protostar, not the galaxy.

MarkNorfolk wrote:
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..

Yeah, I would have loved a whole series of Fett's time with the sand people. They could have gone places with that, and it was a great opportunity to flesh out a group that have largely just been window dressing until now. The crime syndicate with no employees was silly even by my incredibly low standards.

It’s not. The non-film media I read specifically had them hiding out outside the Galaxy, specifically so the Empire had as little chance of finding them as possible.

But to be completely fair? I couldn’t tell you the exact book, or whether it’s new or old expanded universe.

I just had that galaxy view pegged in the same category as sublight travel between star systems and parsecs being used as time rather than distance.

It’s also worth keeping in mind how hyperspace works.

It’s not Warp Speed ala Star Trek, where you set your heading and off you go, bending the laws of physics.

Hyperspace depends on charted routes, taking into account known gravity wells, space anomalies etc. You can make a blind jump, but you’ve no way of knowing where you’ll end up, and may not be able to find your way back.

Other than that? Your only limitation seems to be fuel and your engine not burning out.

So jumps between galaxies (as seen in Attack of the Clones, Kamino being in a dwarf Galaxy) are possible - but you’re gonna want a chart or lane to follow.

And that’s what Elsbeth has now.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
It’s not. The non-film media I read specifically had them hiding out outside the Galaxy, specifically so the Empire had as little chance of finding them as possible.

But to be completely fair? I couldn’t tell you the exact book, or whether it’s new or old expanded universe.

Yup, the old canon had them lurking just outside the galaxy in some material. Other material referred to it as a star. At least one version of the novelization, based on the screenplay, said it was a red Dwarf.

In the new canon, it's a protostar, at least according to Wookiepedia.

 Nevelon wrote:
You wonder how many people in the government bureaucracy worked in the old republic, through the empire, and into the new republic. The management might change, but the job remains the same.

All those guys in Andor's hall of bureaucracy are still there in Ashoka. Probably complaining now the empire has gone outer planets don't file reports as regularly. Though the lack of terrorist bombings is probably a plus.


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 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
It’s also worth keeping in mind how hyperspace works.

It’s not Warp Speed ala Star Trek, where you set your heading and off you go, bending the laws of physics.

Hyperspace depends on charted routes, taking into account known gravity wells, space anomalies etc. You can make a blind jump, but you’ve no way of knowing where you’ll end up, and may not be able to find your way back.

But fighters and similar do seem to jump to hyperspace whenever they fancy.

(We will leave aside the new films use or not of hyperspace.)

Astromechs can hold multiple hyperspace calculations, my guess is you do at least two before jumping in.

One to get you there, one to get you out. Possibly multiple escape routes, as running away is inherently less costly overall than losing a ship and its pilot.

Yeah, the 'charted routes' are just known safe paths. They can go into hyperspace more or less anywhere outside of a gravity well, but need an astromech or a nav computer to chart a safe path from wherever they are to wherever they are going, or they run the risk of running into something on the way. Something that has featured as a plot point mid-escape sequence in any number of Star Wars stories.

 insaniak wrote:
Yeah, the 'charted routes' are just known safe paths. They can go into hyperspace more or less anywhere outside of a gravity well, but need an astromech or a nav computer to chart a safe path from wherever they are to wherever they are going, or they run the risk of running into something on the way. Something that has featured as a plot point mid-escape sequence in any number of Star Wars stories.

This article from Wookiepedia pretty much covers it:

Large objects in realspace cast "mass shadows" in hyperspace, so hyperspace jumps necessitated very precise calculations. Without those, a vessel could fly right through a star or another celestial body. Because of the danger, there existed predetermined hyperspace routes which interstellar travelers could take. The discovery of a new, safe hyperspace route could play a pivotal role in war, as it would allow naval forces to move faster unbeknownst to their adversaries. The Galactic Empire employed Interdictor vessels which utilized gravity well projectors that created artificial mass shadows, both to pull them from hyperspace and to prevent them from making the jump to it.

Try to fly through a planet or a star and it's mass shdow would pull you out of hyperspace and then it's 'Game Over Man, GAME OVER!'

I’d always wondered how blockades were supposed to work with so much open space.

MarkNorfolk wrote:
I just had that galaxy view pegged in the same category as sublight travel between star systems and parsecs being used as time rather than distance.

Yeah, just a pretty end scene visual in ESB.
Of course the EU just had to expand on/over-explain/ruin it....