Ahsoka

[Techwright]

On 10/19/2023 at 4:35 PM, PeregrineFalcon said:

Ryan George of Pitch Meeting has a hilarious take on Ahsoka.

 

 

 

Ryan does make some very good points, including some I'd not considered.  To address a few of them:

Spoiler

Some of these bits of humor come from a viewpoint that doesn't know the background of the characters:

Sabine the artist & engineer: As demonstrated repeatedly in Rebels, Sabine's art background is more than just knowing how to graffiti.  She's formally studied art and is more aware than most in terms of meaning in design and culture.  Plus, she's an engineering prodigy.  It makes perfect sense she'd be the one to examine the sphere and holoscans of the site's layout and art.  Also, sure they could have turned the facets of the sphere, but then they might have set off a booby trap in the device.

 

Sabine the Sacrificer of the Galaxy:  In Rebels, quite a bit is made regarding the impulsive nature of Sabine, as well as the tunnel vision that accompanies her impulsive choices.  She created a weapon that threatened all of Mandalore in a way none other had for tens of millenia simply because she was fascinated by the engineering design possibilities leading to tunnel vision about the realities of its creation.   She nearly destroyed the rebels chances of survival once just to get revenge on a Mandalorian who critically injured a friend of hers.  This surrender of the sphere to get a chance to see Ezra is entirely within her nature, just on a bigger scale than ever.

 

Sabine's lightsaber survival is quite probable.  They made a deliberate effort to show the strike was on her right side away from vital organs.  Gut wounds take time to die, and I'd suspect cauterized gut wounds take longer.  Star Wars has a well-established history of bacta healing of serious damage, both via tanks and kolto packs.  Star Wars has also demonstrated the speed at which droids can perform surgery.  So in theory, emergency surgery to stabilize the cauterized wound, and either a brief time off-screen in the tanks, or more likely bacta injections at the wound to speed healing (but there's still scarring).  And in case it is asked, the oft-comparison of Quigon Jinn's death is not really a comparison.  His was through the center mass, likely destroying the vitals of heart and lung.

 

Sabine's sudden surge in force powers was indeed weird, but I like to explain it in comparison to a weakening earthen dam: first a trickle, then the break, and the water pressure releases in a power full jet and flood of water.  For Sabine, the dam finally burst with the lightsaber pull, and the flood of force was in effect for the jump-push.

 

The zombie troopers:  yeah they started slow, but as the story progressed, they became faster and more efficient as they became more like their former living selves.  The two death trooper zombies were a significant threat.

 

 

[Techwright]

Latest update:  https://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/news/rosario-dawson-gives-a-disappointing-update-on-ahsoka-season-2/ar-AA1mu9M9

 

While other sites, including the one that got me looking, are reporting that Ahsoka season 2 has been cancelled, this simply does not appear accurate.  Rosario was stating that there's apparently a delay in the process, which is understandable given two details:

1. Disney's current money woes and their aggressive pruning to deal with it.

2. Ray Stevenson's tragic passing.  Given that his character was apparently being set for a massive role in season 2, it stands to reason that they'll want to think it through carefully.

 

What I take from this:

1. Season 2 will likely only be delayed, not removed, and will likely be live action.  Ahsoka, the character, IS Star Wars to a great many, and it would be akin to ending Anakin's or Luke's story mid-stream.  They need to push forward to a clear completion.

2. Considerations as to how to do this are necessary.  I'm wondering if one consideration would be if they'd be better switching to high-quality animation to conclude it.  It perhaps is more cost effective, and would allow Balan Skoll to be recast (my guess would be with the remarkable Stephen Stanton) without causing a disruption to the viewers.  Personally, I feel they need to stay in the live action mode, but everything must be cost-effective these days.

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

On the biz side: DIsney is currently fighting off two sets of "activist investors" - large groups of shareholders who nominate directors for the board that others can vote for, who then change the company, usually to get it to try to make profits they can take.

 

D+ is still lossmaking, but "only" $387m loss in Q4 this year compared to one and a half billion last year. The SW series were a large chunk of that spend - Ahsoka S1 is rumoured at $100m+. Mando and Andor both clocked around $15m to $25m per episode, so that's been relatively slimmed-down already.

 

They also generated huge interest in the SW franchise, which means... more merch and licensing deals. Yes, you too can buy Mando helmets and Lego, Ahsoka lightsabers. headpieces and Loth stuffies, and Andor electrified carpeting to keep your little ones safely tucked up in bed.

[Techwright]

3 hours ago, ThaOGDreamWeaver said:

They also generated huge interest in the SW franchise, which means... more merch and licensing deals. Yes, you too can buy Mando helmets and Lego, Ahsoka lightsabers. headpieces and Loth stuffies, and Andor electrified carpeting to keep your little ones safely tucked up in bed.

 

I can't believe you mentioned all that and not a certain small, big-eared, big-eyed green frog-gulper.  My mom's best friend is a sweet little old Swiss lady who'd never watch any sci-fi but is absolutely bonkers for the little guy, and has numerous representations around the house, from plushies to plant pots, even a little mechanical one that waddles around on the floor terrifying the cats.  I swear, if they made an urn like him, she might just want her ashes stored there when the time comes.

[Without_Pause]

IIRC, Disney was expected to run in the red this year as well, and then be fine in 2025. In all honestly, Disney+ is still slow at putting out new content compared to other services. I think it is still way too early to know how the streaming wars will work out as various services buy out others. 

[Coin]

On 8/24/2023 at 11:36 PM, ThaOGDreamWeaver said:

"Oh, yes. We’re the only ones who know how to make things work. You see, the only thing the good people are good at is overthrowing the bad people. And you’re good at that, I’ll grant you. But the trouble is that it’s the only thing you’re good at. One day it’s the ringing of the bells and the casting down of the evil tyrant, and the next it’s everyone sitting around complaining that ever since the tyrant was overthrown no one’s been taking out the trash. Because the bad people know how to plan. It’s part of the specification, you might say. Every evil tyrant has a plan to rule the world. Good people don’t seem to have the knack."

--Terry Pratchett, Guards! Guards!

 

You quoted Pratchett. Therefore, I now love you.*


*Not actually love, love you, more of a platonic matesy slap-you-on-the-back, pals kind of way. You know, like Colon and Nobby. I'll even let you be Colon!

Edited January 8, 2024 by Coin

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

1 hour ago, Coin said:

 

You quoted Pratchett. Therefore, I now love you.*


*Not actually love, love you, more of a platonic matesy slap-you-on-the-back, pals kind of way. You know, like Colon and Nobby. I'll even let you be Colon!

I used to be more of an Angua. But I'm all right naaoooowwww....

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

Small bit of news: Ahsoka Season 2 is... "in development". Which could mean a lot of things, but more hopeful than no news at all.

They've not been in touch with Dawson yet about that, but presumably picks up where S1 left off. 

 

However - The Filoni has bigger things on his mind...

 

Edited January 9, 2024 by ThaOGDreamWeaver

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

Small rez on the thread for a bit of news: following the sad exit of Ray Stevenson, Rory McCann - who was also one of Ray's mates - will take on the role of Baylan Skoll.

 

It's different enough to be respectful, and let's face it, it's a tough ask to pull off a beard as perfect as Ray's. But I think the Hound should be able to bring the gravitas.

[BrandX]

I don't think there's any need to be different or the same to be respectful.  Ray died, the part continues, it has to be recast.  The important part is just to give it the right actor.  Any relation or ability to look like the deceased is not an issue.

 

At least they're being smart and actually recasting it and not being stupid like they were with Black Panther.  Maybe they've learned their lesson.

[Techwright]

On 8/5/2025 at 4:59 PM, ThaOGDreamWeaver said:

 Rory McCann ... will take on the role of Baylan Skoll.

 

 

It's different enough to be respectful, and let's face it, it's a tough ask to pull off a beard as perfect as Ray's. But I think the Hound should be able to bring the gravitas.

 

Rory McCann is one of those whose work is known to others but almost unknown to me.  Fortunately, I saw him as the villain Jurgen in the Jumanji franchise, though that didn't give me a lot to go on for weighing his potential for anything other than a snarling villain.  I apparently also saw him in an episode of Monarch of the Glen, but it's been so long ago I've no memory of any specific episode.  I read Rory has 3 inches in height over what Ray had.  That's impressive, as Ray had a COMMANDING presence.  

 

Now, had I been picking, I'd have picked Liev Schreiber.  Almost identical height to Ray, slighter build, perhaps, but he can take a page from the Christopher Reeve manual for bulking up.  Most especially,  Schreiber can portray gravitas well, which will be essential in marrying up any future performance of Baylon Skoll with the work Ray laid down.    But as long as Dave Filoni had the final say in who takes over the role, I'll be fine with the choice.

[Triumphant]

Loved the dude in Game of Thrones.  A bit hard for me to imagine him as Baylan, just because the personalities of the two characters are so different.  Going to be a hard sell for me, whoever plays the role, but I'll certainly give the man a fair shake, given the quality of his acting.  Keeping my fingers crossed and hoping for the best. 👍

[Triumphant]

Quote

Ryan does make some very good points, including some I'd not considered.  To address a few of them:

 

I had originally sort of glossed over this bit of the topic and hadn't bothered with watching the posted video (which, to be fair, actually was pretty humorous).  I assumed it would simply be more spiteful criticism of poor plot/writing in Star Wars.  These sorts of complaints always make me groan, because frankly, Star Wars has never mainly been about top quality storytelling or peerless acting (Irving Kirshner, Alec Guiness and James Earl Jones not withstanding).

Star Wars (granted, this is merely my opinion- feel free to disagree.  Many do) is about a modern take on old pulp adventure sci-fi serials, which famously used over-the-top action, melodrama, and somewhat two-dimensional, black and white good guys and bad guys to awaken the spirit of adventure in 12 year old boys who were typically the target audience of such entertainment.  Star Wars (to me, anyway), is a modern take on this old form of entertainment, and is meant to appeal to both the 12 year old boy (or girl, sure- why not?  Women can enjoy tales of high adventure as much as any of us) and also to awaken the 12 year old boy (or girl) in all of us jaded old adults.  To give us that sense of wonder, excitement, and fun that our own imaginations could conjure up when we were children, but which has (perhaps) atrophied a bit in our more mature years.

If you want to REALLY dial in on things like writing and acting in Star Wars, then you can do that- sure.  That's already been proven in real time by the Disney series Andor.  But while I aknowledge that Andor is brilliant science fantasy, it doesn't really feel like Star Wars to me anymore.  It departs from the formula to produce something that is a piece of artistic genius on all fronts, but that's not (again, IMO) what Star Wars is about, or what I'm looking for when I read a story or comic, or view a film or TV series set in the Star Wars universe.  I want to awaken the 12 year old boy in this tired, cynical, jaded old 54 yrs-aged body and mind, living a very hard life (not trying to piss in anyones ear about it, but thems just plain facts, folks), in a very difficult time for citizens in these United States of America (and also, the planet Earth generally).

These days, It's less about want and more about NEED to escape from that grim reality for a little while, to let the wonder of that 12 year old boy fly free and lose myself in another world, just so I don't completely lose what fragile portion of my sanity remains and succumb to a complete mental breakdown.  🤪

Edited 4 hours ago by Triumphant