Ahsoka

[Techwright]

1 hour ago, Shred Monkey said:

 

It is clear to me that fixing Star Wars is Filoni's main purpose in life.  Truly a noble cause, as impossible as it may seem.

 

"Main purpose" = "he was ordered to do so", though if anyone even has a chance at fixing that sorry mess, it is Filoni.

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

On 6/23/2023 at 12:46 PM, Techwright said:

Of course, this means that Freddie Prinze, Jr. would get to play Kanan in live action.

Unless he's been ordered not to disclose the role, Prinze has said he's not really a fan of the idea.

Kanan has one of the great sci-fi exit scenes and the guy should be left in peace.

 

But. Maybe he's trying to conceal his involvement, or they hadn't waved a big enough cheque at him at the time.

 

There's the obvious way that Caleb could reappear via timey-wimey stuff using the World Between Worlds (boo!).

The other is that a Loth Wolf named Dume with oddly similar markings appeared to Ezra in a dream sequence. So Kanan may be quite capable of reaching out through the Force in other ways. Plus, who doesn't want a Loth Wolf around? Whoosa good boy? WhoosagooddeadJediOHYESYOUAREyesyouaaaarrree. 15/10.

 

 

[Techwright]

3 hours ago, ThaOGDreamWeaver said:

Unless he's been ordered not to disclose the role, Prinze has said he's not really a fan of the idea.

Kanan has one of the great sci-fi exit scenes and the guy should be left in peace.   If Prinze doesn't want to do it, I shall respect that. 

 

But. Maybe he's trying to conceal his involvement, or they hadn't waved a big enough cheque at him at the time.  It'd not be the first time a Disney project and cast had to go to lengths to conceal plot points.

 

There's the obvious way that Caleb could reappear via timey-wimey stuff using the World Between Worlds (boo!).  I'm still convinced that World between Worlds was created as a pressure valve to undo anything that threatens the survival of the franchise, and in Kanan's case, we already received the "can't save everyone" discussion.  While the Sequel Trilogy is contemptible (to many) and other projects like Obi-Wan Kenobi are tepid, these are not planet-killers.  Considering the disgust at The Last Jedi, that's saying something about what screws up in the future.  Hey, if we're lucky Ahsoka might do it to the Sequels, but with another Rey project in the works, I doubt it, unless it is to highlight Rey post-universe alteration.  Regardless, it's why I suggested the temple knighting: it's a one-time, special appearance, and a bookend to Kanan's own temple knighting.  But I also noted Luke and Ahsoka, so...options.

,,, Plus, who doesn't want a Loth Wolf around?  Elderly grandmothers with granddaughters fixated on red apparel come to mind, as do Russian ducks.

 

 

 

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

Ahsoka final_final_FINALCUT_trailer.mov has been dropped (well, there's still a month to go to release, so there'll be more stuff like TV spots and EPKs to play with.)

 

 

Some new stuff - including Baylan getting more followers, another Jedi temple that appears to be a map room rather than a gate to the World Between Worlds, and what looks like an Inquisitor. Oh, and neat new 'do for Sabine.

 

EDIT: one other thing. Baylan also wants to find Thrawn. Why do I feel that's bad news... for Thrawn?

 

Whaddawethunkabadit?

Edited July 11, 2023 by ThaOGDreamWeaver

[Techwright]

"Some new stuff"?  There's a lot there.

 

Breaking it down:

 

Spoiler

1. At 0:20 - that relief resembles the style of several "Salvator Mundi" paintings from the Renaissance: one hand vertically raised, one hand holding a sphere.  I suspect that's deliberate to show the gravity of...whatever is being represented on the wall.  World dominating, world altering.  The backdrop to it, of course, suggests an astronomical map, or the "World Between Worlds".

 

2. At 0:25 - the "stonehenge" resembles the Jedi meditation circle ruins that Grogu used to contact...HIM.  (The Mandalorian Season 2)

 

3.  At 0:28 - Thrawn's pupil is back.  I'm not sure why she was allowed to escape offscreen at the end of The Mandalorian episode "The Jedi", but it looks like she may have a larger role here.  What puzzles me is why she appears to be aligned with Baylan, and why he himself is not activating the holo-map.  Is this a point at which he is aligned (or deceivingly so) with Thrawn?  Some have speculated that Baylan is a replacement for Dark Jedi Jorus C'Baoth from the books.  Indeed, some feel he may even be C'Baoth, just operating under a pseudonym.  I don't remember much from the Legacy books, but I recall that C'Baoth and Thrawn had an uneasy alliance at one point.

 

4. At 0:36 - I'm not an expert on Star Wars ships, but I'm pretty sure those are former Rebel fleet ships.  The big organic looking one is an MC80A Star Cruiser, and I can see a "hammerhead" in the distance.

 

5. At 0:39 - Hera and Chopper in the Phantom II chasing what looks like a big round target, but probably is a bomb.  Curiously, this fight is in the atmosphere somewhere over water.  There appears to either be a large floating ship or city (or work platform of some kind?) that they are jetting away from.

 

6. At 0:45 - That's Huyang descending the stairs with Ahsoka.  Huyang is a centuries old droid, possibly much older than Yoda, and served the Jedi as the lightsaber instructor, parts inventory master, and designer.  This scene seems to imply that Ahsoka has found Huyang and is bringing him in on the situation.  He's voiced by David Tennant, and I'm wondering if, like Alan Tudyk with K-2SO in Rogue One, David is going to be doing the mo-cap for him as well.

 

7. Also at 0:45 - Now we come to the really puzzling stuff.  Over the next several scenes, it seems to be suggesting that Ahsoka and Sabine had:

     A.  ...a master and padawan relationship at some point between 1 BBY and the present (probaby around 10-12 ABY)

     B.  ...a falling out, and a blame game for that failure.

Unless something was written in a canon book or comic, none of this was hinted at, at least in everything filmed.  There had been a fan theory that Sabine was latent Force-sensitive, but I never saw it, and I've watched Rebels through 3 times, as well as viewing many clips.  Perhaps their master/apprentice arrangement was in martial arts training only, and not force powers.  Their reactions do seem typical to their personalities.  Sabine tends to want to throw away and walk away when things don't come easily to her, probably a side effect of her genius-level military engineering mindset.  As for Ahsoka, this seems to be the second time she's walked away from training a pupil.  Perhaps she has an internal struggle that she might be passing on Anakin's flaws?  It's kind of ironic that she apparently walked out on Sabine.  Ahsoka was considered reckless and therefore untrainable by other Jedi, until Anakin recognized that he could make the difference.  I'm very curious to see what this master-pupil relationship was.  It's also clear that it happened before the last scene in Star Wars: Rebels, so Ahsoka's appearance and somber tapping of the staff was not their first meeting since Ahsoka came back, and the scene now has all kinds of new vibes with this revelation.

 

6. At 0:54 - Sabine's helmet reads "B3B" in Aurebesh.  I've not a clue what that could mean, but there ya go.

 

8.  At 1:24 - New Inquisitor. I've no idea of his title. His thin, athletic appearance evokes the late Eighth Brother, but I've never seen his cool helmet before.  I guess it makes sense that some inquisitors would have survived the Emperor's fall.  We've never been told how many were active, though my suspicion is that Filoni set the number at 21: 10 brothers, 10 sisters, 1 Grand Inquisitor.   By my reckoning, we've seen or read of 12 so far, and two of those were known but never named: a Twi'lek and whatever the one was portrayed in Tales of the Jedi.  That still leaves another 8 unaccounted for.  Frankly, if I were this inquisitor, I'd be shaking in my boots.  Ahsoka has killed two of the known 12, three if you count her combined efforts with Kanan and Maul resulting in the falling death of Eighth brother.  And she beat two others in combat, only to be driven off by significant reinforcements.  That's not counting having bested Darth Maul and having fought Vader to a tie.  Yes, boot shaking, and maybe some Depends undergarments.  This inquisitor is only going to win by bringing overwhelming odds. 

 

Also, he appears to be battling Ahsoka on that structure in the water that Chopper and Hera were flying away from in an earlier shot.

 

7. At 1:26 - A recreation, at least in part, of the last scene in Rebels.  So we now know  Sabine had longer hair until just before that scene.  Anyone know the significance of a Samurai hair cutting ceremony? (at 1:13) We've seen two of the Rebels do this: Sabine here, and Kanan, just before his last mission.

 

8.  At 1:30 - YAAASSS - a giant purgill (space whale-squid).  We're on the right track.  Now I can see why Hera disliked purgills so much.  Something that massive could create absolute havok in the space lanes. (Absolutely epic scale of purgill tentacles at 1:32)

 

9. At 1:31 - curiously Ahsoka has changed into a blue and white uniform.  I suspect this is the uniform of the New Republic (some of the guys with big white helmets were wearing similar earlier), though I've no idea why she's wearing one.  I don't think Ahsoka has ever worn a uniform, so this is very surprising.

 

10. At 1:36 - We finally see Thrawn.  While I was not expecting Mikkelsen to look as robust as his animated counterpart looked, I'm a bit surprised at the makeup.  Thrawn had a pronounced forehead design in Rebels, and it's almost non-existent here.  Also, and I've no idea whether it has been brought into canon, the Legends material says that Thrawn's species lives about a decade less than humans.  I did the math a while back and Thrawn would be near the end of his species lifespan.  I don't know if that will play a part of the story or not.  It may explain why they didn't try to make Mikkelsen look more robust: showing Thrawn in his twilight years.

 

11.  At 1:40 - There's that tease again: a suggestion that Sabine may have a latent Force ability, or perhaps just a very weak one. "You have no power". Yes, but she's been training to fight Jedi and Inquisitors for a long time now.

 

12. At 1:44 - So Baylan knew Anakin, suggesting that Baylan has a split from the Jedi at some point (probably during the Clone War since he reference Ahsoka's past), rather than being brought up as Dark Jedi.  And yes, it's pretty clear he's Dark Jedi now, despite his claim that he's not Jedi.

 

13. At 1:49 - Jedi temple go "boom".

 

14. At 1:51 - Huyang again. Is it just me or does the idea of a Jedi-supporting droid with centuries of knowledge suddenly appearing suggest that he is the key to unraveling the mystery of the Jedi temple(s)?

 

15. At 1:54 - Sabine's armor is painted in subdued colors and very tidy.  She was more or less a bright-colored graffiti artist.  Why the change?  Does it represent something about her current state of mind?

 

 

 

I've written a lot in the box.  Hopefully some if it proves useful to others.  I'm impressed with this trailer, It seems to show an attention to detail that Obi-Wan Kenobi was lacking.  Hopefully this will be Filoni's masterpiece to date.  With The Mandalorian having taken some nasty punches last season, there are only Tales of the Jedi and Andor as current canon series that folks still speak highly of.  Ahsoka could be some much needed recovery to the franchise.

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

On 7/12/2023 at 2:38 AM, Techwright said:

With The Mandalorian having taken some nasty punches last season...

 

[WARNING:INCOMING RANTETTE]

 

Other than the Jack Black episode ...which... had some fun bits, but was a really strange bottle episode to throw in generally, not just at that point in the story...

...I was most entertained by Mando, and it felt like a good place to park him and the small one's story for now. It played a little with canon but, IMHO, didn't add enough new things to the mix. Greatest Hits of Mandalore, sure, and great to see the old place in live action. 

 

Andor is very much Tony Gilroy's creation (who is determinedly not a fan of Star Wars, still less its fandom), where he's doing his own thing with the toys in the Lucasfilm toybox. And all the better for it. We saw new worlds, ideas that haven't been on screen before (like the corporation-states that happily allied themselves to the Empire, the shipbreaker world, the Eye, James Bond Q-Ships vs Imperial Traffic Cops, and that actual nightmare-inducing prison.) Most of all, with one or two exceptions, you got very detailed human characters, portrayed by fine actors.

 

(PS: support the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes if you'd prefer your spacey/capey content to have human created content in the future, and stick laxatives in the Huel of any passing techbro who says AI can do it just as well).

 

I feel Rebels is much the same. It got a bit of stick early on and was dismissed as a kids' show, but Filoni patiently built a team you grew to bond with, didn't pull emotional punches and introduced some wild new ideas like Purgill, the World Between Worlds, and the Bendu (even though that seems to be mostly an excuse to get a legend like Tom Baker on your show. Can't blame him, can you?)

 

Now that Dave has The Big Budget, yes he's got the band back together in live action. Which is gonna be fun anyway.

But I'm hoping he can carry on creating, taking creative risks, show us something we ain't seen before and take us places we ain't seen before. Damn the critics.

 

Because I still want that sense of wonder and terror I had age four when the big weird man with the breathing problem came out of the dark in the swamp tunnel.

[Techwright]

14 hours ago, ThaOGDreamWeaver said:

 

[WARNING:INCOMING RANTETTE]

 

Other than the Jack Black episode ...which... had some fun bits, but was a really strange bottle episode to throw in generally, not just at that point in the story...

...I was most entertained by Mando, and it felt like a good place to park him and the small one's story for now. It played a little with canon but, IMHO, didn't add enough new things to the mix. Greatest Hits of Mandalore, sure, and great to see the old place in live action. 

 

Andor is very much Tony Gilroy's creation (who is determinedly not a fan of Star Wars, still less its fandom), where he's doing his own thing with the toys in the Lucasfilm toybox. And all the better for it. We saw new worlds, ideas that haven't been on screen before (like the corporation-states that happily allied themselves to the Empire, the shipbreaker world, the Eye, James Bond Q-Ships vs Imperial Traffic Cops, and that actual nightmare-inducing prison.) Most of all, with one or two exceptions, you got very detailed human characters, portrayed by fine actors.

 

(PS: support the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes if you'd prefer your spacey/capey content to have human created content in the future, and stick laxatives in the Huel of any passing techbro who says AI can do it just as well).

 

I feel Rebels is much the same. It got a bit of stick early on and was dismissed as a kids' show, but Filoni patiently built a team you grew to bond with, didn't pull emotional punches and introduced some wild new ideas like Purgill, the World Between Worlds, and the Bendu (even though that seems to be mostly an excuse to get a legend like Tom Baker on your show. Can't blame him, can you?)

 

Now that Dave has The Big Budget, yes he's got the band back together in live action. Which is gonna be fun anyway.

But I'm hoping he can carry on creating, taking creative risks, show us something we ain't seen before and take us places we ain't seen before. Damn the critics.

 

Because I still want that sense of wonder and terror I had age four when the big weird man with the breathing problem came out of the dark in the swamp tunnel.

 

Regarding Mando series/season 3:  There were two problematic episodes, which at 1/4 the season doesn't really mark the season well.  On an American school grading scale, 75% is a solid "C", passing, but not much else.  Besides the Jack Black episode, I also mean the long, drawn-out episode with Dr. Pershing.  I can't immediately tell you how to fix the Black episode.  The Pershing one, though, was directed by one of the cinematographers who were being given a chance to share their vision.  What it should have had is someone higher up with more experience and a critical eye reviewing it and saying: "trim the Pershing portion by 50%, and give that bit to the Mandalorians."  I did enjoy the rest of the season, and the end bits of those two shows.  Actually, I enjoyed the Jack Black-related storyline to some degree.  Seen the Clone Wars droids again in live action was fascinating, and the city was interesting.  Someone just needed to work with the dialog and overall goofiness.  It's like JarJar: he would have made a great character if Lucas had reigned him in about 50%.  Naive, klutzy, but a bit more gravitas.  Enough gravitas at least to make it believable that he'd become the Gungan representative to the Senate, while remaining naive enough to nominate Palpatine.  But I digress.

 

Andor is a real gem with one exception:  Gilroy seems determined not to use the aliens and droids that already exist and are ubiquitous in Star Wars. (K-2SO units being the exception.) He has droids. He has aliens.  Now let us see the new creations seemlessly blended with what has been the foundation of the franchise.

 

I have said for years that Rebels would have been better accepted initially had there been two changes:  1) use the same or similar animation style to The Clone Wars.  The Rebels animation style immediately brought many to the conclusion that it was a goofy kids show.  2) Reign in Ezra's off-the-wall behavior.  I can't tell you the number of times over the full show that I heard him say "trust me" or "I know what I'm doing" and the entire crew just sighs and gives in, despite him having not done his homework before making the statement.  His immediate trust of everyone, and some of those repeatedly, only to learn of betrayal was off-point as well.  You don't survive as a street rat for 8 years by blindly trusting everyone.  That may sound like I don't like Rebels.  I actually do.  I've seen it through 3 times, and watch an untold number of bits of it while viewing others reactions.  But what I like might have been improved a bit. 

 

As to the upcoming Ahsoka:  Dave will do a good job.  He has only a little previous experience with live action, but no one knows Star Wars better at this point, not even George.  And Dave is surrounded by a great team of fan-directors who surely will lend him their skill, especially Jon Favreau.  This will NOT be Obi-Wan Kenobi, though doubtless there are already those preparing their doom-and-gloom YouTube videos to state otherwise, sight unseen.   I've only one concern: that the lightsaber fighting look polished.  Ahsoka's live-action premier had, well, less than a speedy performance in that category.  I realize animation exaggerates somewhat in speed, but it resembled more of Episode IV fighting rather than Episode I or Episode III, which it should resemble.  Ahsoka two decades before fought with a ballet dancer's grace and speed. Hopefully, they brought in Ray Parks to improve that.

 

Dave is definitely going to show us a sense of wonder.  Don't forget, he's the one in both The Clone Wars and in Rebels that deliberately expanded on the mystic side of the force stories giving us things like the Mordis Family, the Lothal Jedi Temple, lothwolves, and of course, the World Between Worlds. 

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

7 hours ago, Techwright said:

Hopefully, they brought in Ray Parks to improve that.

Erm... no. Ray had a bit of a h0rneh-on-main Instagram incident during lockdown that caused a disturbance in the fandom. And whatever the truth of the situation, neither he nor the SW press room handled it well. He doesn't have a single IMDB credit since 2020. 

 

However, the stunt co-ord on this one is a friend of the Filoni family: Ming Qiu, wushu mistress and regular double for the likes of Ming-Na Wen (as Fennec Shand in Mando & BoBF), Maggie Q (M:I:3), Lucy Liu (Kill Bill) and more. This might explain the change in style from the balletic/kinetic to sweeping and elegant.

 

Oh, and if you've got a minute, I think Ming's got the chops to handle this gig.

 

Now onto something a little more spoilery. M'learned coll was inquisitive about a new character, and something popped up on the SW insta...

Spoiler

 

It's not necessarily the same new character, but dropping a new book slightly over a month pre-Ahsoka seems to be a bit like a teaser.

 

Full article here...

https://www.starwars.com/news/rise-of-the-red-blade-behind-the-pages

 

...but a quick TL;DR version seems to tie in quite well with the themes of Ahsoka. Much like our lead, she survived Order 66 and became disillusioned with the Jedi, but rather than just quitting, was either blinded by grief or conned into falling to the Dark Side and hunting down her former friends.

 

I'm kinda hoping I'm wrong, since fighting an eebil/misguided version of yourself is one of the most damn tired tropes in TV and movies.

But then again, we can hope Filoni won't fall for that, and we get a redemption or "ally against a greater threat" arc. Since whoever Baylan's new crew are respect neither the light nor the dark...

 

[Techwright]

@ThaOGDreamWeaver:  you've said much new to me there.  Taking it in order:

 

1.  Ray Parks - I was not aware. Ouch.

2. Ming Qiu - I watched the video, and she definitely can perform spectacular fights. Impressive.  Most impressive.  If she can choreograph and teach as well, this could be interesting.  (As as side note, I've watched Ming Na Wen in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. as well.  If Ming Qiu is the stunt person there, I've seen her work before, and just didn't realize it.  Melinda "The Cavalry" Mae was a favorite character from that show, partially because she could fight. )

 

Addressing the spoiler box:

Spoiler

3.  Interesting.  I wonder what "Sister" number of the red-skinned Inquisitor is?  I'm not certain this is the same character.  The shots in the two trailers seem to portray a male character, notably taller than Ahsoka, but then this is Star Wars where a female Inquisitor doesn't have to have the female framework. It also wouldn't be the first time in Hollywood that a stunt actor portrayed the opposite biological gender to achieve a specific look the director sought.

4. Tidbits within the full article:  I was unaware of a pink pachydermoid in Star Wars.  The only elephant-like creature I knew of were the blue Ortolans (such as Max Rebo), which the author says she also included. (You got to wonder if she's getting the two types to meet.) 

 

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

1. Very. I'm not sure what he's up to these days, but my Bothan spies detect very little trace of his activity beyond some Insta posts.

 

2. Ming was indeed Ming's stunt double for The Cavalry, but a lot of it is still... er... Ming Prime.

Between them they took home two of the big prizes at the Action Icon Awards - MQ as Stuntwoman of The Year (and that is a tough field in every sense of the word), and MNW Action Icon Of The Year.

 

3: ...and we walk once again into the Cave Of Spoilers...

Spoiler

3. Palpatine is an equal-opportunity despot, and Inquisitor armour wisely leans to the practical rather than, er, comic book fans.  Plasteel basques are for formalwear only.
(Same with my military-oriented toons, based on the old truism that where an eye falls, a bullet follows. 

Y'all don't want any more attention centre mass than you need).

 

Empire has a better picture... IMDB has no listing yet for a character who fits this description.

 

Having a dark-clad, poorly lit character notably taller and thin, and then setting the fight in the trees is a neat touch, as it's going to confuse the protagonist's and viewer's eye a bit as to where they are at any moment. Thinking Slenderman.

 

4. Last time I saw any pink Ortolans was three tequilas down at London Comic Con. They were nice.

 

Edited July 19, 2023 by ThaOGDreamWeaver

[Techwright]

21 minutes ago, ThaOGDreamWeaver said:

3: ...and we walk once again into the Cave Of Spoilers...

  Hide contents

3. Palpatine is an equal-opportunity despot, and Inquisitor armour wisely leans to the practical rather than, er, comic book fans.  Plasteel basques are for formalwear only.
(Same with my military-oriented toons, based on the old truism that where an eye falls, a bullet follows. 

Y'all don't want any more attention centre mass than you need).

 

Empire has a better picture... IMDB has no listing yet for a character who fits this description.

 

Having a dark-clad, poorly lit character notably taller and thin, and then setting the fight in the trees is a neat touch, as it's going to confuse the protagonist's and viewer's eye a bit as to where they are at any moment. Thinking Slenderman.

 

4. Last time I saw any pink Ortolans was three tequilas down at London Comic Con. They were nice.

 

 

Screen Rant has dug up more information...

Spoiler

Screen Rant is stating that stills from the trailer refer to the Inquisitor as "Marrok".  They've also confirmed that the stunt person behind the mask is a stunt man, though likely a different actor will be the face of the character.  This does not, however, mean the character is male.  And indeed, "Marrok" might just be a placeholder name.  It seems it is the name of a pet in The Clone Wars, looking much like a cross between a hyena and a bat, though Screen Rant seems to think it is an alien wolf, and we all know how much Dave Filoni loves wolves...

Source: ScreenRant

 

 

 

Side note: Much as I'd like it to be her, I think the theory that this particular inquisitor is Barris Offee, Ahsoka's former friend and later betrayer, is not accurate.  The stunt actor is much too tall for Barris, though she is a bit taller than Ahsoka (as kids anyway), and the stunt man matches her slender nature.

 

 

 

Now to shoot holes in many of Screen Rants other theories:

 

9.) Not Ezra Bridger.  Too tall (Ezra by age 19 was shorter than Sabine), and Filoni took a good many episodes to demonstrate Ezra's sorting light from dark and rejecting the dark side.  It makes no sense to go the other way.  Especially since there's tacit information that Ezra was one of at least 3 light-side children born the week the Dark Side triumphed.  I've long said that the creators were showing the Light Side sowing the seeds of the Dark Side's overthrow the moment it came to power.

 

8.) Not Barris Offee - While I do think Barris will be addressed at some point (she's too pivotal a character for Filoni to ignore), this one doesn't match up well.  Barris is, quite possibly Ahsoka's "Joker", and the story might be told in future Ahsoka seasons.

 

6.) Likely not a flashback.  The trailer shows Hera and Chopper in the Phantom II pulling away from the structure on water where Ahsoka is fighting the Inquisitor.  While it's not entirely beyond conception that it is a flashback,  Filoni would have to find a moment to sandwich into a story that mostly flowed episode to episode, with the possible exception of the season jump from 3 to 4.

 

5.) Likely not the Eighth Brother, unless there's a retcon.  This is actually a theory I held for a while.  Eighth Brother was, by species, a Terrelian Jango Jumper, and as the species name implies, they had jumping abilities rivaling the Jedi.  I'm not seeing this put to use in any of the fight sequences seen, even moments where it would seem an appropriate response.  The helmet and armor are different too.  Not to say that he didn't survive and adapt a new outfit, but Star Wars tends to go for the iconography when dealing with costumes.  One last detail, and this one is a bit shaky:  Every shot I've seen of his hands, shows the Eighth Brother with a grip of two fingers wrapped around the blade handle, and the way he's drawn makes me wonder if the "pinky" finger is actually a second thumb.  This is not seen in another Jango Jumper in Clone Wars, but it would not be the first species to show notable differences between members.  Just look at the Twi'leks: brow ridges for some, extra head tails for some, and male head tails attaching differently than female ones.

 

3.) Likely not a clone.  As this has portions set after The Mandalorian season 3, we now know that the cloning process is not yet perfected, and that the most advanced version perished.  As seen in The Clone Wars, a clone does not automatically maintain their donor's training and muscle memory.  These would need to be learned, and a cloned inquisitor would therefore not have enough time to go up against Ahsoka.  Fully trained inquisitors died at her hands quickly, and even Darth Maul could not defeat her.

 

2.) Not Galen Marek, aka "StarKiller".  First, "Starkiller" is now canonically the name of the third Death Star: Starkiller Base.  Galen Marek's backstory would have to be rewritten, and his power level subsided to a point where Ahsoka would have a chance against him.  All of which would leave us wondering if this is really the same character.

 

1.) Not Mara Jade.  Too tall, and doubtful this Inquisitor would walk away alive after a couple of conflicts.  You'd also need to bring Luke into this.  (Which may happen anyway.  Get what you can from Mark Hamil while you can.)

 

Their theory 4 does have merit however:  an Inquisitor dispatched to find and retrieve Thrawn and the Seventh Fleet.  Should he find Thrawn around the time the Empire falls, it makes sense he'd stay with the most powerful survivor of the Empire.

 

 

[Techwright]

New, short Ahsoka trailer dropped:

 

 

Some things noticed I'd not seen in the others:

Spoiler

1. There's actually 2 Ahsoka vs. inquisitor fights - at the start of the trailer there's one at that industrial-looking site, and at the trailer's end there's one in a darkened forest.

 

2. The trailer's opening attack has a droid with a two-pointed spear.  I'm going to assume this is either a beskar or beskar-coated weapon, since it's been established that there are few other substances that can withstand a lightsaber.  (That said, we do know of one other substance: the zillo beast's scales.  Though I suspect the scales secret will eventually be revealed, I doubt this weapon is made from the organic secret.)

 

3. Overhead shot of a run through the darkened forest.  Ahsoka is obvious.  The one a step behind to her left is not, but as they are not running to impede her, I suspect the figure in dark armor is probably Sabine.  This forest comes up later in the trailer.

 

4. Back shot of a ship.  Ahead is a forest.  The same as Ahsoka is running in?

 

5. On Lothal, Sabine going high speed on the freeway.  There's an e-wing that appears to have been pacing her pealing off.  I'm not certain but I think this is the first time, at least in live action, that we've seen e-wings onscreen, unless there were some at the pilot's bar where we saw live action Zeb.  I've wondered why Star Wars went this route, as the e-wing looks strikingly similar to Battlestar Galactic vipers, and for that matter, several other sci-fi fighter craft since 1978.

 

6.  At 0:23, visually framed by Hera to the left of the shot, and the ship staircase that Ahsoka is on to the top and right, there's a white, silver, and apparently blue R2 astromech unit in the distance.  While I'm not saying this is R2-D2, and quite possibly is just a common droid, it is interesting to see one in a show rumored to have Luke make another appearance.

 

7.  Hera is wearing the red 5-dot rank badge of general of the New Republic.

 

8. At 0:27 Baylan is ordering a crew to "hunt them down".  At least one in the crew appears to be one of the droids of the same model that was with the inquisitor at the beginning of the trailer.  Is this to suggest that the Inquisitor is working for Baylan?  I'm not clear if Baylan is working for Thrawn or using his allies for some reason.  In the original books, there was a rogue Dark Jedi who had an uneasy alliance with Thrawn, and I've wondered if Baylan is a re-imagining of this character.

 

9. There's two lightsaber fights going on in the dark forest, seemingly simultaneously: Sabine, using Ezra Bridger's lightsaber,  is fighting Baylan's apprentice, and there's the second Ahsoka vs. Inquisitor fight.  Watching Ahsoka, she appears to have her opening stance in Form V, her best form (I don't know these details, I had to look them up), but it seemed all wrong because she was holding her saber over her head.  Then it occurred to me: she's missing her second light saber.  She normally starts with both on and pulled into a crouch from which to spring.  So something's happened to her second white lightsaber.  It's clearly not with Sabine, at least from the info in the trailer.

 

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

New Anakin-centric mini-trailer...

 

 

Mini-trailer-mini-thoughts:

Spoiler

• There is the hint that Baylan - like Kylo later on - may have been inspired by Anakin's transition to the more powerful, untamed Vader. But, like many villains, they think they see where he went wrong and they could put this right... (cue timey-wimey-malarkey?)
• There is also the hint, based on the cutting of the dialogue together - "I will always be there for you" and "I could use the help", along with assorted other hints dropped during prediction - that Anakin may show up, either as a Force Ghost or through the aforementioned timey-wimey-messing-about-which-really-isn't-good-for-the-fabric-of-spacetime, and give everybody a helping hand. The one gives Filoni plenty of expo dialogue chances plus reconciliation, the other creates a potential temporal paradox that needs resolving.

 

[Techwright]

11 hours ago, ThaOGDreamWeaver said:

New Anakin-centric mini-trailer...

 

 

Mini-trailer-mini-thoughts:

  Hide contents

• There is the hint that Baylan - like Kylo later on - may have been inspired by Anakin's transition to the more powerful, untamed Vader. But, like many villains, they think they see where he went wrong and they could put this right... (cue timey-wimey-malarkey?)
• There is also the hint, based on the cutting of the dialogue together - "I will always be there for you" and "I could use the help", along with assorted other hints dropped during prediction - that Anakin may show up, either as a Force Ghost or through the aforementioned timey-wimey-messing-about-which-really-isn't-good-for-the-fabric-of-spacetime, and give everybody a helping hand. The one gives Filoni plenty of expo dialogue chances plus reconciliation, the other creates a potential temporal paradox that needs resolving.

 

 

Couple of thoughts:

Spoiler

Baylan mentions that "few would live to see what he became".  Is it now public knowledge that Darth Vader was actually Anakin Skywalker?  Because it was a closely guarded secret during the Empire era.  Ahsoka herself wasn't sure until actual confrontation.  I could see close friends and family of Anakin protecting that secret to allow the memory of the good that he did during his days as Anakin to prevail.

 

Anakin's speech sounds like they got Hayden to re-record lines that Matt Lantern said in the animation for episode 5 of "Tales of the Jedi".  I'd be curious to see whether they try to recreate that moment in live action or if it was just a voice over done for the trailer.  One thing I really like about this voice over:  Hayden gets to sound confident, not emo.  It's one of the big turn-offs in the live action Anakin, and I'm not blaming Hayden.  He performed as he was instructed.  But from the moment I first her Matt Lantern's voice with Anakin, I realized this was the Anakin I'd been wanting.  This was the young man who'd rise to skilled, unorthodox general, and train the greatest padawan of her age.  This trailer's voice over finally hands that power and confidence to Hayden.  I knew he had it in him, he just wasn't allowed to do anything more than emote or rage.  Live action Anakin acted like a teenager in crisis. Animated Anakin acted like a post-college twenty-something.

 

Probably the biggest reveal by this particular trailer, or perhaps confirmation, is the large text lines "A New Jedi Will Rise".   This seems an obvious reference, but it could perhaps be a deception.

1. Ahsoka - as of Star Wars: Rebels, Ahsoka clearly states she is "no Jedi".  This allows the Original Trilogy to remain intact.  There was only one Jedi ready to confront the Emperor and win back Vader.  However, in her first live appearance in The Mandalorian, her episode is titled "The Jedi".  This could be coy, and referring to how others perceive her, but it was Dave Filoni who wrote it.  So perhaps Ahsoka contacted Luke and through him accepted an invitation back into the Order? This might allow for her to be formally knighted in this upcoming Mini-series.

2. Ezra - is the trailer card being coy and it's really Ezra who is the New Jedi?  Yes, he is a Jedi...padawan.  He was never knighted.  A knighting here could fulfill that tease.

3. Sabine - frankly, I think this a long shot.  The trailers have tried to sell us on the idea that Sabine has been in Jedi-style training with Ahsoka, as if Sabine were a latent force user, and Ahsoka figured it out.  I really think what we'll see is that Ahsoka was training Sabine in non-force lightsaber technique.  It would give credence to Baylan apprentice trash-talking Sabine in their lightsaber clash by saying she has "no power".

4. Another? - It's entirely possible that we'll find that Ezra has taken a student.  Most of the events of Ahsoka are supposedly taking place 14 years after Ezra went missing.  Alternatively it could be someone else.  Does Baylan's apprentice turn and embrace the light-side?  So many possibilities in this numbered point.

 

 

 

 

 

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

 

Thoughts:

Spoiler

18 hours ago, Techwright said:

Is it now public knowledge that Darth Vader was actually Anakin Skywalker?

Possibly. Depending on how far this is after the fall of the Empire - we know Mando was five years later, so this is presumably a year or so later still - all kinds of juicy rumours could have come out, though I doubt Luke would have been the one running his mouth about it. (Han? For sure.) 

 

Even the truth-and-reconciliation amnesty hinted at in Mando with Doc Pershing's minisode might not have brought that to public scrutiny. Not least because in the firey demise of the Death Star, very few imps would have witnessed the fall of Vader. And you wouldn't wanna be talking about that guy unless you were really really sure he was a small pile of extra-crispy Sith nuggets. Maybe not even then.

 

(Side note... is there anywhere where we find out how Kylo got hold of grandad's helmet?)

 

What I think this is intimating is that Baylan had that knowledge himself. Plot possibilities:

• Baylan turned Inquisitor.
• Baylan was hunted by Vader, recognised the twisted mind of his old colleague, and quite wisely ran for it.

 

And where would he run? Probably to the Unknown Regions. Per the lore guides and one of the Thrawn books, it's an incredibly difficult and dangerous place to get around unless you're Force-Sensitive - which makes it an ideal hiding place for Jedi, and might be the reason Thrawn can come back into play... if he's got a Force user on side.)

 

18 hours ago, Techwright said:

"A New Jedi Will Rise".

Betting on either Sabine or Shin Hati for this one. We know Ezra is in the series, and that Filoni really wants to get the band back together. But he might just be in flashback, and he's going to have been through a lot. In fact, I'm even betting on a face-heel turn...

 

One other thing... while having a nose around about this, they may run across the Skeleton Crew during the series, who are also lost in the Unknown - and from the D+ release schedule. They were originally going for a Nov/Dec 2023 release but have been quietly bumped off the slate.

 

Edited August 15, 2023 by ThaOGDreamWeaver

[Techwright]

17 hours ago, ThaOGDreamWeaver said:

 

Thoughts:

  Hide contents

Possibly. Depending on how far this is after the fall of the Empire - we know Mando was five years later, so this is presumably a year or so later still - all kinds of juicy rumours could have come out, though I doubt Luke would have been the one running his mouth about it. (Han? For sure.) 

 

Even the truth-and-reconciliation amnesty hinted at in Mando with Doc Pershing's minisode might not have brought that to public scrutiny. Not least because in the firey demise of the Death Star, very few imps would have witnessed the fall of Vader. And you wouldn't wanna be talking about that guy unless you were really really sure he was a small pile of extra-crispy Sith nuggets. Maybe not even then.

 

(Side note... is there anywhere where we find out how Kylo got hold of grandad's helmet?)

 

What I think this is intimating is that Baylan had that knowledge himself. Plot possibilities:

• Baylan turned Inquisitor.
• Baylan was hunted by Vader, recognised the twisted mind of his old colleague, and quite wisely ran for it.

 

And where would he run? Probably to the Unknown Regions. Per the lore guides and one of the Thrawn books, it's an incredibly difficult and dangerous place to get around unless you're Force-Sensitive - which makes it an ideal hiding place for Jedi, and might be the reason Thrawn can come back into play... if he's got a Force user on side.)

 

Betting on either Sabine or Shin Hati for this one. We know Ezra is in the series, and that Filoni really wants to get the band back together. But he might just be in flashback, and he's going to have been through a lot. In fact, I'm even betting on a face-heel turn...

 

One other thing... while having a nose around about this, they may run across the Skeleton Crew during the series, who are also lost in the Unknown - and from the D+ release schedule. They were originally going for a Nov/Dec 2023 release but have been quietly bumped off the slate.

 

 

Responses:

Spoiler

Unless the incident of Kylo acquiring Vader's burned helmet was in the canon books or comics, it's not been "seen" yet.  I'm not really surprised, considering its another point in JJ Abrams' bizarre writing style.  That said, it's toward the credible side of that style.  From the moment I saw and realized what it was and what was happening, it made sence that an emo Ben Solo would go to the Moon of Endor and search for the funeral pyre/grave. 

 

Pure speculation, but I don't think Bayland turned Inquisitor.  His saber is orange.  We don't have a lot of canon info on canon Dark Jedi yet (there's all kinds of crazy stuff in the Legends material), but it appears that Sith bleed their kyber crystals until they are red.  Dark Jedi only do it until they turn red-orange.  Legends Dark Jedi didn't necessarily bleed crystals, and several colors were used.

SMALL SPOILER FOR OTHER, RECENT MATERIAL: 

Spoiler

There's a Dark Jedi crystal bleed demonstrated in the recent canonical game Jedi: Survivor.  It ended up red-orange.

 

More pure speculation, but I'm guessing Baylan will continue a narrative trend of Jedi deserting the Order or distancing themselves from it while staying within it, each in their own way and for their own reasons.  The one constant is that they grew tired or disgusted with the Order's rigidity which had grown to the point of blindness and bad judgement.

 

If the Unknown Regions are as crazy as Wild Space (the other section of the galaxy of which little is known) they are indeed formidable.  Lira San, homeworld of the Lasats is in Wild Space and if you've seen Rebels, you know it's one of the craziest, most dangerous areas of the Star Wars galaxy.

 

I'm going to be very surprised if Ezra Bridger turns dark side. Massive spoilers if you've not seen Rebels:

Spoiler

Ezra actually did turn dark side in the beginning of season 3 of Rebels, though not to a point beyond redemption. He grew that way listening to siren speak of a Sith holocron and his own deep-seated need to keep his makeshift family safe, but snapped out of it when his darkside plans collapsed, threatening his own life.  The series finale gave him his chance to go darkside again, with enticements from Darth Sidious himself tempting Ezra on the weakness of before, this time to save his real family, and Ezra demonstrated he'd grown enough to resist succumbing again.

 

I'm not going to be very happy if they show that the masked inquisitor in the trailer is actually Ezra.  The figure is far too tall and lean for Ezra, who has always been portrayed as slightly shorter than Sabine, and has already gone through his growth spurt onscreen. (He was 18 when he disappeared.)

What does have me curious is whether he may have a long-standing injury or not, and whether a very practical-sounding theory regarding him is true:

Spoiler

Ezra was shot in the upper chest at the climax of the fight with Thrawn.  As he was onboard an Empire ship, and was thrown to points unknown, he likely would not have access to medical aid. 

 

Ezra's lightsaber was left with Sabine.  We've seen the green saber with Sabine in these trailers.  The theory is that, without a lightsaber, Ezra has developed a powerful, force-fueled martial arts style.  Kyber crystals, of a quality needed for lightsabers, are rare in the galaxy.  The Jedi for years had been getting all of theirs from Ilum, but that planet is still in First Order hands and is being converted into Starkiller Base at the time of The Mandalorian.  Ilum was not the only source of quality kyber in ancient Jedi days, so it may be that Ezra has rediscovered a source and acquired a new lightsaber.  As seen in Rebels, he's very resourceful at creating a lightsaber from bits and pieces.  If they go this route, I'd not be surprised if we see a second blaster-lightsaber.  I find the original to be more iconic to his nature than his green one.   I'd add that, as we've seen one Inquisitor in the trailers thus far, there's a chance that Ezra defeated another.  If so, he may have done an Ahsoka move, purging the crystal to white and using it for a new lightsaber.

I admit I'd completely forgotten about Skeleton Crew, which is sad because I'd been looking forward to seeing Jude Law in Star Wars.  I'd also been hoping to see more of the really well done Nikto pirate Vane, who is rumored to be a big part of this show.  I wonder what the reason for the removal from the schedule was?  Something to do with Disney's upheaval of Disney+ for cost reasons? Retooling/reshooting the show? Other?

 

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

So, the great day dawns. Grab your blue milk shake and Bantha Poddu Popcorn Bucket, and here we go with episode one...

Spoiler

• Right from the get-go, Dave is letting us know he can do Proper Star Wars. The crawl... but in ominous blood red.  Scene-setting music with a taiko backbeat. (Yes, we know both you and Lucas wanted to be Kurosawa, that SW was heavily ripped off from The Hidden Fortress, yadda yadda.) And a Big Damn Ship pulling into our view.
• Morgan Elsbeth was The Magistrate from the Mando episode "The Jedi". And some folks with what looks like a souped-up Imp shuttle want her busted out.
• Lotsa callbacks to Vader/Emperor sequences. "We are No Jedi"... so what are they?
• HALLWAY SCENE! Yep, he's a Filoni Badass. And can lock pick with the Force. Neat trick.
• ...mercenary badass? Who's paying him?
• Ooh, there's a Map-guffin. Love a mapguffin.
• Ahsoka badass walk. Bet she's handy with a canopener.
• Map room puzzle. Make sure the staff isn't too long. Holocron?
• Robots think far too two-dimensionally. Except for Huyang... who has also learned enough to be sassy. 
• Callsign "Fulcrum" still... and here's Hera. (Not that I'm a grumpy girl, but it feels like Hera was meant to be greened up for CGI and they didn't bother overlaying in the end. Though to be honest, this way might have been better, and Favreau and Filoni are wise enough to cut something if it doesn't look the business.)
• Speaking of which: here's Dave's first big birthday cake for the Rebels fans: Lothal in full 3d and living colour, kids...
• ...and the one and only Clancy Brown back as Governor Ryder Azadi. 
• Sabine gets a very Bond-esque metal track to introduce her and some fun with the local cops. Guessing that's some kind of new sub-orbital fighter: looks very 70s Buck Rogers, but I like it.
• Your second helping of visual cake: their old comms tower/treehouse base. 
• Kitty! 😻
• So Morgan is a descendant of the Nightsisters. Okay... and Sabine is now a target.
• Big, tricky, breaaaaaathhhhyyyy reunion scene. Hitting the FF+10 button a few times here.
• Huyang confirms Baylan is ex-Jedi, and that Shin is the apprentice.
• ...aaand of course Sabine's run off with a lunatic babygoth Sith on her tail.
• LolthCat: "do I eat this? Can I play? No? MUST BE EVIL". Yup, cats are the same all over the galaxy 😸
• Seen too many Hellraiser flicks not to worry about puzzleboxes...
• ...and there the bad guys are. Get the feeling Shin was toying with Sabine a bit. But then comes the... kill?
  (Dudes, it's not a cliffhanger if you give it away in all the trailers. But yeah, good cliffhanger.)
• Cut to black... and a message for Ray.💔

All in all, very solid episode. Dave may need to learn that Big Ponderous Pauses do not necessarily good drama make, and some of the stuff was telegraphed a bit too far ahead. But compared with the setup episodes in some other series we've seen, it clicked along nicely, some decent cold open action, and General Badassing Done all round.

 

Can we hold it together for Episode Two and keep the beat going? We'll be right back after this word from our sponsor, Smurfy Fruity Oaty Bars...

 

Edited August 23, 2023 by ThaOGDreamWeaver

[Mr. Vee]

ep 2 is going to be a later today problem for me

Spoiler

The fledgling New Republic evidently gives their generals bubble packs of lozenges as signifiers of rank. Either that or Hera's just rocking some extra flair. Also I think Sabine's projector was a painted Viewmaster projector and until the buttons and twists worked I was convinced the map was a petanque ball. Props to the props department.

 

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

And we're back for Episode 2 

Spoiler

• So Sabine didn't need a week in the dunk tank after that? Must have got lucky.
• Okay, we're going wilder than Wild Space or the Unknown Regions. Your princess blue smurfy nemesis is in another castle galaxy. Something we've not seen before: some kind of wormhole or stargate?
• Scary ominous red forest. A "Reflex Point"? 
• Ask the cat. Ask the cat. Ask the cat... or the sneaky drop droid, that'll do.
• I'm liking the writing they've got for Huyang. Very Tennant.
• The map we saw in the trailer isn't the World Between Worlds, it's all the worlds. An ancient civilisations's navigator map. The Star Wars Universe just got an awful lot bigger...
• Peridea: A fairytale land of smurfs and eebil? Still, it's a really neat way of writing all new canon...
• Chop!
• Pragmatism? Or is the rot is already setting in in our New Republic? Yep, they're greedy buggers.
• Huyang being spiky and motivating. But he's not the only "helpful" droid around...
• An actual evil person here as well as a disposable HK. Not Shin as she's shown... so who is that Inquisity person under the mask? According to the credits, it's "Marrok" - and they're an ex-Inquisitor. So, unless the Databank is lying to us, we have a new character to duel.
• Sabine's got her armour out. And Mando drums. Plus neat haircut. Hope she leaves someone to take care of the cat.
• That is a very big ship. Or we're crossing over with the Halo universe. Not sure.
• Baylan is not quite the psychopath his padawan is. Does he think Ahsoka can be turned?

Another very decent ep, more mysteries to unpack, and The Band Is Getting Back Together. Oh, and do stick around for the rather pretty end credits.

 

34 minutes ago, Mr. Vee said:

The fledgling New Republic evidently gives their generals bubble packs of lozenges as signifiers of rank. Either that or Hera's just rocking some extra flair. Also I think Sabine's projector was a painted Viewmaster projector and until the buttons and twists worked I was convinced the map was a petanque ball. Props to the props department.

Hehe... never build anything fancy when you can respray something you found in the junk and stick some extra buttons on it. 

 

And, yeah, I guess Rebel crews get a number of ranking Strepsils / Vocalzones depending on how much shouting at people they have to do in a day...

 

Edited August 23, 2023 by ThaOGDreamWeaver

[Mr. Vee]

Spoiler

 

[Techwright]

Just finished episode 1.  Haven't seen episode 2 yet, but after I write...

 

The non-spoiler bits:  This was some of Filoni's best work.  I truly hope the series holds to the end.  Not only from great storytelling, and a great cast, but even details like the use of light and shadow (especially on Lothal), and the willingness to both have moments of silence and slower pacing, in essence, letting it "breathe".  I know he recieved counsel from his Mandalorian directors, and it seems to have really paid off.  Combat seems improved from the Mandalorian episode "The Jedi". 

 

Responding to previous comments, then may add one of my own:

 

7 hours ago, ThaOGDreamWeaver said:

So, the great day dawns. Grab your blue milk shake and Bantha Poddu Popcorn Bucket, and here we go with episode one...

  Hide contents

• Right from the get-go, Dave is letting us know he can do Proper Star Wars. The crawl... but in ominous blood red.  And straight up rather than angled. I wonder why he chose that? Scene-setting music with a taiko backbeat. (Yes, we know both you and Lucas wanted to be Kurosawa, that SW was heavily ripped off from The Hidden Fortress, yadda yadda.) And a Big Damn Ship pulling into our view.  Yep, same thought occurred to me, despite being a different angle then A New Hope.
• Morgan Elsbeth was The Magistrate from the Mando episode "The Jedi". And some folks with what looks like a souped-up Imp shuttle want her busted out.  I saw a YouTuber call it before the show stated it:  Morgan Elsbeth a Night Sister.  I guess I should have realized it from the name, which sounds like it could be a character on Bewitched. Until the YouTube comment, I didn't see that one coming.  Makes me wonder why she didn't fight with Night Sister magic in The Mandalorian, when canon NS survivor Merrin uses it all the time.
• Lotsa callbacks to Vader/Emperor sequences. "We are No Jedi"... so what are they?  Best guess is Dark Jedi, and since Star Wars is looking toward the distant past, it may be an introduction to the offshoots of the Jedi Order of the distant past.  Most of that, if not all, is Legends stuff now, but the MMO, Star Wars: The Old Republic hinted at it in some of their earlier work:  Dark Jedi of old were those who felt they could act with either side of the Force, sort of a gray area, though usually the scale tipped.  I don't think they're a reference to Jedii (with two "i's"), which is an even earlier form. I also don't think they're attempting to be Sith.  They'd have bled their sabers to full red if so, and there are other clues.
• HALLWAY SCENE! Yep, he's a Filoni Badass. And can lock pick with the Force. Neat trick.  Small hallway scene, only a handful of guys.  But he carved through a ship's worth to get there, so I'll give it to him.
• ...mercenary badass? Who's paying him?  That is a very good question.  I'd drawn the assumption from Season 3 Mando that Thrawn was back and just staying hidden.  This puts an entirely different spin on it.  While it's possible that Captain Pellion or Elsbeth hold the coin,  I now see the council session in Mando in a new light.  I'll make a big guess:  Darth Sidious.  He exists, won't come forward as he's in no shape to do so (hello Sauron), but for those who know he still exists, he'd be able to relay staggering amounts of funds to two Dark Jedi.  They may not be all he wants in Sith, but they can be manipulated.  Second guess would be Snoke, but I don't think we're that far along yet. 
• Ooh, there's a Map-guffin. Love a mapguffin.  I keep looking at the brass sphere wondering where I've seen it before.  I'm pretty sure I've seen a similar mcguffin elsewhere.  Maybe I'm just remembering the complex-looking sphere that Starlord grabbed in the first Guardians movie.
• Ahsoka badass walk. Bet she's handy with a canopener.
• Map room puzzle. Make sure the staff isn't too long. Holocron?  I love how Filoni has her take her time with the movable pillars.  Without saying a word they manage to portray that she's using the Force to figure out how far to turn each pillar.  Also, I like how the sphere was hidden in crumbling, compacted debris.  It's an odd note, but a good one.  I'm not sure if he was suggesting that a casing was so ancient that it disintegrated, or that he was showing that so many centuries of dust and earth had encompassed and compacted around it, but either way it works.
• Robots think far too two-dimensionally. Except for Huyang... who has also learned enough to be sassy.   Storm troopers are not much better.  Kanan used a similar method to dispatch one, though Ahsoka moved with a much greater speed.  Huyang has earned a sassy nature, putting up with centuries of padawan snarkiness. 
• Callsign "Fulcrum" still... and here's Hera. (Not that I'm a grumpy girl, but it feels like Hera was meant to be greened up for CGI and they didn't bother overlaying in the end. Though to be honest, this way might have been better, and Favreau and Filoni are wise enough to cut something if it doesn't look the business.)
• Speaking of which: here's Dave's first big birthday cake for the Rebels fans: Lothal in full 3d and living colour, kids...  Everything looked amazing.  Even knowing it was the Volume, it was amazing, even the interstate.
• ...and the one and only Clancy Brown back as Governor Ryder Azadi.   So, so glad he got to play the live version!  And did you notice whom he thrust up to the mike?  Jai Kel!  The character was one of the other young men like Mart that Ezra brought to the greater Rebel fold.  In animation he was voiced by Dante Basco (Ruffio in Hook, Zuko in Avatar: The Last Airbender).
• Sabine gets a very Bond-esque metal track to introduce her and some fun with the local cops. Guessing that's some kind of new sub-orbital fighter: looks very 70s Buck Rogers, but I like it.  That's an E-Wing, and I think this is the first live appearance of them, unless they were at the pilot's bar in Season 3 of The Mandalorian.  Yes, very Buck Rogers.  Me likee.
• Your second helping of visual cake: their old comms tower/treehouse base.  Again, spot on.
• Kitty! (I couldn't get over how good this puppet looked!)😻
• So Morgan is a descendant of the Nightsisters. Okay... and Sabine is now a target.
• Big, tricky, breaaaaaathhhhyyyy reunion scene. Hitting the FF+10 button a few times here.
• Huyang confirms Baylan is ex-Jedi, and that Shin is the apprentice. If we weren't sure before, Shin's obvious braid makes it very clear she's a padawan and not the apprentice. Love how they let the 1000+ year lightsaber builder figure out the who-is-it. So glad they brought him back.  He's a great detective.  Maybe when all this is over he could, I dunno, find some small seaside community in need of a grizzled old detective?
• ...aaand of course Sabine's run off with a lunatic babygoth Sith on her tail.  I love how they're teasing the audience about Sabine with "is she/isn't she" a latent force user.  How else could she stand up to a force user in combat.  Not perfect, it seems. I'd put good Monopoly money on her being trained in combat by Ahsoka, but not in the Force.
• LolthCat: "do I eat this? Can I play? No? MUST BE EVIL". Yup, cats are the same all over the galaxy 😸  Fun!  But more to the context, Lothcats are more tuned to the force than most humans.  We saw this often in Rebels, though admittedly most often with the white lothcats. The lothcat was sensing something supernatural about the sphere, and it set the cat off.
• Seen too many Hellraiser flicks not to worry about puzzleboxes...  The Ghost of Rubick's Puzzle Past was tormenting me during that scene.  I'd spent a lot of time and anguish in the early 1980's mastering those things.
• ...and there the bad guys are. Get the feeling Shin was toying with Sabine a bit. But then comes the... kill?
  (Dudes, it's not a cliffhanger if you give it away in all the trailers. But yeah, good cliffhanger.)
• Cut to black... and a message for Ray.💔

All in all, very solid episode. Dave may need to learn that Big Ponderous Pauses do not necessarily good drama make (oops! Well, friendly difference of opinion there, so long as it doesn't drag out too long), and some of the stuff was telegraphed a bit too far ahead. But compared with the setup episodes in some other series we've seen, it clicked along nicely, some decent cold open action, and General Badassing Done all round.  Much better than Obi-Wan Kenobi, and I hate saying that.  I liked Debra Cho's work in The Mandalorian, and I liked all the characters (except the Inquisitors. Terrible translation of them) and actors (not the actors' faults) in Obi-Wan Kenobi.

 

Can we hold it together for Episode Two and keep the beat going? We'll be right back after this word from our sponsor, Smurfy Fruity Oaty Bars...

 

 

And one thought of my own before Episode 2:

Spoiler

This is taking Ahsoka Tano in an unexpected direction.  I'm warming up to the idea.  She has, likely, the fullest character arc in Star Wars: going from birth and savant force user to mouthy, impulsive, and at times disobedient little brat padawan, to mid-teens confident padawan, to sombered late teens self-doubter (caused by the Jedi Council's reckless moves), to restored-confidence, exceptionally-skilled ronin, though with a rapidly sombering and quiet nature. Now we're seeing that sombered character start to twist into a jaded soul, and this episode, she finally realized there was a flaw in her.  You could see it in her bearing when she discussed walking out on Anakin and then Sabine. (And possibly the real reason why she refused to teach Grogu?) I hope this doesn't become a tragic flaw, but instead one that Ahsoka must work through and rise above.

 

 

[Techwright]

Episode 2 is down:

 

10 hours ago, Mr. Vee said:

ep 2 is going to be a later today problem for me

  Hide contents

The fledgling New Republic evidently gives their generals bubble packs of lozenges as signifiers of rank. Either that or Hera's just rocking some extra flair. Also I think Sabine's projector was a painted Viewmaster projector and until the buttons and twists worked I was convinced the map was a petanque ball. Props to the props department.

 

Yeah,

Spoiler

It's one of the few design choices I don't really gel with.  I get why they did it: The Empire had oversized, rectangular Chicklets, so we'll have round lozenges, 'cause people need to know we're different.  I looked it up.  Still same numbers and colors for the various rankings and divisions.  I'm fine with the circles, it's the spacious blister pack behind them I wish they'd remove.  Oh, well.  Who ever said the New Republic was smart?  Probably the guy that invites two Jedi wannabees onto his ship for capture.  Oops.

10 hours ago, ThaOGDreamWeaver said:

And we're back for Episode 2 

  Hide contents

• So Sabine didn't need a week in the dunk tank after that? Must have got lucky.  Yeah, the missing bacta tank was odd.  It's been demonstrated that enough exposure could erase the long-term acid burns of Boba Fett, so why not use it?  Also curious is the lack of mechanical parts.  Star Wars medicine is rather quick to use mechanicals over regrowing, though they've demonstrated the technology.
• Okay, we're going wilder than Wild Space or the Unknown Regions. Your princess blue smurfy nemesis is in another castle galaxy. Something we've not seen before: some kind of wormhole or stargate?  Man, I am there for it.  First off, in a sense, we have seen this before, just not this distance.  Kamino, the water planet where the Fett clones were bred, is technically in a close-neighbor galaxy.  I believe the galaxy actually intersects the main story galaxy, making travels relatively easy, if a bit distant.  Ever since I learned that there's a pair of dwarf galaxies closer to Sol then the center of the Milky Way (one of which has repeatedly passed through the plane of our galaxy), I've wanted sci-fi stories where the folks of one galaxy leapfrog to another to find new adventures. 
• Scary ominous red forest. A "Reflex Point"?   Lost me on that.  What does "Reflex Point" mean in context?
• Ask the cat. Ask the cat. Ask the cat... or the sneaky drop droid, that'll do.  Yes, I see I was not the only one who thought she'd do a Jedi Mind Meld.
• I'm liking the writing they've got for Huyang. Very Tennant.  Agreed.  Loving the character, though I already did.  I do wish we'd get a story as to how he survived and met up with Ahsoka.  Maybe in Tales of the Jedi.
• The map we saw in the trailer isn't the World Between Worlds, it's all the worlds. An ancient civilisations's navigator map. The Star Wars Universe just got an awful lot bigger...  Ya, and this has me fascinated.  What can of worms is Filoni opening up here?  At first I thought Filoni might be referencing the Legends characters of the Yuuzhan Vong, but digging into Wookiepeda for extra-galactics, I think I've hit on something much closer, and something that would be known to Night Sisters, especially those from Dathomir:  the Kwa.  Check out the page and the first descriptive paragraph.  Does this not sound like the show lifted from Wookiepedia?
• Peridea: A fairytale land of smurfs and eebil? Still, it's a really neat way of writing all new canon...
• Chop!  Love the dialog when he hunting through the scraps in a tool chest I never knew he had.  The live action droid is perfect.
• Pragmatism? Or is the rot is already setting in in our New Republic? Yep, they're greedy buggers.  The Mandalorian Season 3, in an otherwise awful episode, made it clear: The New Republic was so focused on winning, they didn't have a  proper game plan for rebuilding.  There's massive waste, espionage leaks, and hubris from the winners.  One begins to see Favreau/Filoni's plans for welding the Sequels to the Originals, and giving weight to the survival and rise of the First Order.
• Huyang being spiky and motivating. But he's not the only "helpful" droid around...
• An actual evil person here as well as a disposable HK. Not Shin as she's shown... so who is that Inquisity person under the mask? According to the credits, it's "Marrok" - and they're an ex-Inquisitor. So, unless the Databank is lying to us, we have a new character to duel.  I believe the character was actually called Marrok twice in the show so far, though it may yet prove to be a pseudonym.
• Sabine's got her armour out. And Mando drums. Plus neat haircut. Hope she leaves someone to take care of the cat.  Yeah, first thing I thought of was the pet.  Get a long-term feeder and litter-box cleaner. Or hire a droid.  The haircut matches the final scene in Rebels.  Actually, that meeting at the mural is a near-perfect match for Rebels, with one notable difference:  Ahsoka is not carrying a metal staff, which she tapped in the animation.  So it has left me wondering if this was a second such meeting or a mistake upon recreation.  By the way, the armor's paint job looked pretty tame for Sabine Wren: clean straight lines and dark colors.  As she's been known to repaint a lot, I wonder if this implies the pain job was done while her master/padawan dynamic was in a tailspin.
• That is a very big ship. Or we're crossing over with the Halo universe. Not sure.  I'm noticing it looks very similar to the booster craft that SW fighter pilots have been using since the Prequel Trilogy to launch them over greater distances in the galaxy.  The size of this thing makes me think the Eye of Scion (Practically a Halo ship name, or maybe one from Andromeda) either will serve as a similar booster ring for Thrawn's command ship, the Chimera, or as a hyperspace portal allowing the entire remnant of the 7th Fleet to return (minus those who stayed behind.  Captain Pellion, for example).
• Baylan is not quite the psychopath his padawan is. Does he think Ahsoka can be turned?  I'm going to double-down on a previous comment and state that I believe Baylan is the mirror opposite of Ahsoka: both left the Jedi Order, Ahsoka choosing to uphold the best training of the Order and maintain the Light (possibly because she's part Mortis Sister), and Baylan leaving the Order for reasons yet to be told, and slipping towards the Dark Side. His hesitation might be because he sees this comparison.  If I were to guess, Baylan may believe in rebuilding the Jedi Order, just in his image.  Not sure what sort of Unlimited Power he thinks returning Thrawn is going to give him, but clearly he has goals beyond just a mercenary paycheck.

Another very decent ep, more mysteries to unpack, and The Band Is Getting Back Together. Oh, and do stick around for the rather pretty end credits.  The music has been good as well.

 

Hehe... never build anything fancy when you can respray something you found in the junk and stick some extra buttons on it. 

 

And, yeah, I guess Rebel crews get a number of ranking Strepsils / Vocalzones depending on how much shouting at people they have to do in a day...

 

 

This episode surprised me by making one big stride forward in connecting the dots between Original Trilogy and Sequel Trilogy:

Spoiler

The shipyards.  If you know the Sequel Trilogy (SPOILERS IF YOU DO NOT)....then you know that there's both a First Order and a Last Order.  The First is the visible remnant of the Empire.  Their job is to survive, harrass, placate the New Republic into thinking that's all there was, and rebuild. This they did it in spades, converting Jedi planet Ilum into Starkiller Base, aka Death Star 3.0.  But there's also a Final Order, with an absolutely staggering size fleet.  I've always wondered where they'd have gotten such a fleet, especially without the New Republic finding out.  I don't think JJ Abrams ever considered it.  Filoni has, and we see at least part of his explanation:  the two Orders were continuing operations in plain sight of the New Republic, using the Capital to provide a steady stream of classified parts.  My hat is off to Dave Filoni.  In context of the New Republic's glaring weaknesses, this makes a lot of sense.  Now if he could just explain how Anakin was the Chosen One bringing balance back to the Force, but oh, not really, that's Rey's job, well, that'd be great.

 

 

Edited August 24, 2023 by Techwright
Added material

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

18 hours ago, Techwright said:

The New Republic was so focused on winning, they didn't have a  proper game plan for rebuilding. 

"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!

[biostem]

Some of my thoughts below:

 

Spoiler

With how much the rebels were able to get away with while the empire was in power, it should come as no surprise to anyone that imperial remnants are very much alive and well within the new republic.  What doesn't make sense to me is that the empire very clearly didn't care about most of its soldiers/officers, so why anyone would remain loyal after its collapse is beyond me.  Maybe they just bought into it that much?

 

I'm surprised that Hera, now a general, would both travel only in the Phantom 2 and without anyone besides Chopper accompanying her, (yes Ahsoka was with her that one trip, but not even any other guards or Zeb)?

 

Where's Hera & Kanan's kid during all this?  Is he an adult by this time or still a kid/teen?

 

The droid mentions that Sabine has the lowest force ability he's seen - is that still above what a "normal" person would have, or is she basically a normie using combat training and experience, being trained in Jedi combat techniques?

 

Are they intentionally building up the New Republic's incompetence and already-growing rot to lead to the sequel trilogy and First Order?

 

It's sure a good thing that none of those HK droids don't clearly and conspicuously activate their self destruct while fighting in melee range...

 

[Techwright]

17 minutes ago, biostem said:

Some of my thoughts below:  (responses in orange)

 

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With how much the rebels were able to get away with while the empire was in power, it should come as no surprise to anyone that imperial remnants are very much alive and well within the new republic.  What doesn't make sense to me is that the empire very clearly didn't care about most of its soldiers/officers, so why anyone would remain loyal after its collapse is beyond me.  Maybe they just bought into it that much?  Quite possible.  It was stated on another show (Bad Batch?) that the Empire right from its start was recruiting starry-eyed loyalists to staff its ranks.  Ahsoka herself mentioned greed as a factor. They're parasites to the Empire's stolen wealth and power.  The lamprays will feed on the shark all day.  Back on loyalty, we saw elsewhere an Imperial shuttle pilot so enamored with (or brainwashed by) the Empire that he took a bullet for spouting a stream of insults at an Aldaranian survivor.

 

I'm surprised that Hera, now a general, would both travel only in the Phantom 2 and without anyone besides Chopper accompanying her, (yes Ahsoka was with her that one trip, but not even any other guards or Zeb)?  Chop and Hera have repeatedly proven to be a formidable opponent in whatever craft they fly.  That, and it is supposedly peacetime, and she's meeting one of the most lethal Force users in the galaxy.  Perhaps she's a bit vulnerable in hyperspace, assuming the First Order has an interdictor, but my money is on those two.

 

Where's Hera & Kanan's kid during all this?  Is he an adult by this time or still a kid/teen? His father died in 1 BBY.  This is on or near 12 ABY, so Specter 7 would be about 12.  My guess is that he's with friends or a trusted sitter.  Probably few generals have their kids in tow at the office. Alternatively, he might be the second kid to be recruited for Luke's Jedi Academy, though we've no idea if he's Force sensitive. (For his sake, and that of Hera, I hope this isn't his path.)

 

The droid mentions that Sabine has the lowest force ability he's seen - is that still above what a "normal" person would have, or is she basically a normie using combat training and experience, being trained in Jedi combat techniques?  Good question.  I don't have a clear answer.  I'm seeing several reaction folk talking like she's always been nominally force sensitive, but I've watch the show 3 times (and countless scenes repeated), and I've never seen a clue for that.  The fact that some of these reaction folk believe she'd not be able to wield a lightsaber without the Force suggests to me that they don't understand lightsabers very well. They are tools, improved by force use, but still a tool.  I will make a guess by starting with a point towards comments made throughout Star Wars:  the Force is a part of every living thing.  Ahsoka was probably training Sabine to be better in combat and to be able to hold her own, at least for a time, with a lightsaber and against force users.  This creates a master/padawan dynamic without needing the Force. Standard combat training provided by a "Jedi".  Perhaps along the way, they managed to awaken the trace amount of Force that exists in her, but it would be negligible against a force user, which we've not watched.

 

Are they intentionally building up the New Republic's incompetence and already-growing rot to lead to the sequel trilogy and First Order?  Bingo

 

It's sure a good thing that none of those HK droids don't clearly and conspicuously activate their self destruct while fighting in melee range...    Well, true, but we know what those bombs can do.  What we don't know is what those bombs might do if a lightsaber wielder attempts to destroy or severe them.

 

 

I went through the credits on episode two and was surprised to see the following list just casually down in the stacks:

 

 

• Robin Atkins Downes is a prolific voice actor, known in Star Wars as the voice of the animated Freedom Fighter Cham Sindula, Hera's dad.  But I first encountered him as live action Byron on Babylon 5.
• Sam Witwer is a Star Wars legend.  He's one of the few able to correct Dave Filoni (and has, to the shock of all) as his knowledge of the franchise is nearly as great as Dave's.  He's possible best know as the face and voice of Starkiller, from the non-canonical games of The Force Unleashed. However, he's become known for voicing the animated Darth Maul, and has played several other animated roles (and some live cameos?) including voicing Emperor Palpatine for a time.
• Matthew Wood is the voice of pretty much every Clone Wars era droid, and even the voice of the cyborg general Greivous in all works, live an animated.  He briefly played the role of Bib Fortuna, Jabba the Hutt's major domo and replacement.  He's also one of the lead sound designs in Star Wars back to the Prequel Trilogy.  Due to his volume of contribution, he also ranks in the "legends" category.
• Helen Sadler has become the voice of Rey in all animated and game productions for Star Wars.

I learned something interesting about Ahsoka's villains.  Not sure if it will have any bearing on the story, but I'll put it out there anyway:

Spoiler

If you know the work of Dave Filoni, you'll know that wolves are his favorite animal.  They show up everywhere, most notably on planet Lothal.  Dave even plays a New Republic pilot named Trapper Wolf. 

 

Within the context of this show, Ahsoka, we have several villains, but currently only 3 with light sabers.  They are Baylan Skol, Shin Hati, and the Inquisitor Marrok.

Skoll and Hati it turns out are the names of two wolves in Scandanavian legend.  Skoll is a chaser of the sun, and Hati is the chaser of the moon.

Marrok's name apparently comes from Sir Marrok, a knight in Arthurian legend who is turned into a wolf by the sorceress Morgan.  Our fourth villain is known as Morgan Elspeth.  Whether this tale will influence the story of Inquisitor Marrok, well, we'll see.  This may explain why his armor was designed to look like medieval knight's armor, something several reactors have commented upon.