#animated version of Thrawn

[getthrawnin]

Something done a LONG TIME AGO and somehow it got flagged for sexual content. Let's if this one does not get flagged.

[engagemythrusters]

yeah the grand inquisitor looked better in rebels.

[ladyknight33]

At first I didn't believe this. But the Trailor looks awesome.

Excited for the stories, but secretly hoping that Eli Vanto might make a tiny appearance. Judging from the rank plaque on Thrawn's chest, this is prime Vanto era.

Oh and more Grand Inquisitor? Yes!!

I've decided that we like villains because they are more complex characters than the heroes. Their backstories and motivations are powerful.

finally got him in the clone wars art style but it came at the cost of his cunty eyeliner :(

[applesaucesea]

Ahsoka trailer is out! And surprise surprise I’m not excited.

[stevesnightmares]

they wasted the rebels sequel for a live action that the people who only watch live action star wars didn't even care about because it was full of characters and storylines that they don't know instead of making an animated rebels sequel for the fans and people who actually wanted and cared for it, all because they thought a live action version would be more profitable than a cartoon.

the people who actually care for either thrawn or star wars rebels and its characters wanted an animated series, not an 8 episodes live action version that doesn't really deal with ezra and what he did while lost in space with thrawn; that seems to want to make thrawn another imperial villain without his books depth; that doesn't deal with the rebels characters and their emotions; that condenses such an anticipated storyline in 8 episodes; much more that went wrong.

who exactly is the target audience? because rebels fans wanted an animated series that actually did justice to the storyline and people who watch only live action star wars weren't really interested in it either, I had to almost force my father to watch it with me.

so disappointing and sad. a rebels requel was one of the things I was looking forwards to the most when it comes to star wars and they just ruined it.

(there were good moments, don't get me wrong, there were some really good moments and some that I loved, but still, can't help the disappointment and the thought of what could've been had we gotten a book or an animated series instead)

[xiema]

Oiran Thrawn

I said I wouldn't apologize for it. 😉

I've often seen artists use pencil linearts and wanted to try it out. And I have to say I like it, they make the images look much more vivid than the sharp ink outlines.

I also made a second version that is more like the comics even though I kept my anime-like artstyle. Honestly somehow I don't like it that much but I don't want the time I put into it to be for nothing, so it's posted anyway. Maybe someone will like it.

I would be very interested in which one you like more.

[gffa]

CONGRATULATE ME, I HAVE MADE SO MUCH PROGRESS ON GETTING THROUGH THE HIGH REPUBLIC STORIES, thanks to my library having a bunch of the audiobooks and comics in! I'm actually a little further than this along (I've read more than half of the 2021 High Republic comic series, more than half of Edge of Balance, more than half of Monster of Temple Peak, more than half of Convergence, etc.) but this is still a good reflection of how up to date I am with THR stories:

MAIN STORYLINE NOVELS - PHASE I:

The High Republic: Light of the Jedi

The High Republic: A Test of Courage

The High Republic: Into the Dark

The High Republic: The Rising Storm

The High Republic: Race To Crashpoint Tower

The High Republic: Out Of The Shadows

The High Republic: Mission to Disaster

The High Republic: The Fallen Star

The High Republic: Midnight Horizon

MAIN STORYLINE NOVELS - PHASE II:

The High Republic: Path of Deceit

The High Republic: Convergence

The High Republic: Quest for the Hidden City

The High Republic: Cataclysm

The High Republic: Quest for Planet X

The High Republic: Path of Vengeance

MAIN STORYLINE NOVELS - PHASE III:

The High Republic: The Eye of Darkness

MAIN STORYLINE COMICS - PHASE I:

The High Republic (2021) - 15 issues

The High Republic Adventures (2021) - 13 issues

The High Republic: The Monster of Temple Peak - 4 issues

The High Republic: The Edge Of Balance - 2 manga volumes

The High Republic: Trail of Shadows - 5 issues

The High Republic: Eye of the Storm - 2 issues

MAIN STORYLINE COMICS - PHASE II:

The High Republic: The Blade - 4 issues

The High Republic (2022) - 10 issues

The High Republic Adventures (2021) - 8 issues

The High Republic: Edge of Balance: Precedent - 1 manga volume

The High Republic Adventures: The Nameless Terror - 4 issues

MAIN STORYLINE COMICS - PHASE III:

The High Republic: Shadows of Starlight - 4 issues

The High Republic (2023) - 3 issues [ONGOING]

The High Republic Adventures (2023) - 1 issue [ONGOING]

MAIN STORYLINE AUDIODRAMAS - PHASE I:

The High Republic: Tempest Runner

MAIN STORYLINE AUDIODRAMAS - PHASE II:

The High Republic: The Battle of Jedha

ONESHOT COMIC ISSUES - PHASE I:

Star Wars Adventures (2020) #6 - "The Gaze Electric"

The High Republic Adventures: Free Comic Book Day 2021

The High Republic Adventures Annual 2021

The High Republic Adventures: Galactic Bake-Off Spectacular

Star Wars Adventures (2020) #14 - "A Very Nihil Interlude"

The High Republic Adventures: Free Comic Book Day 2023

ONESHOT COMIC ISSUES - PHASE II:

The High Republic Adventures: Quest of the Jedi

ANTHOLOGY NOVELS - PHASE I:

Star Wars: The High Republic: Starlight

ANTHOLOGY NOVELS - PHASE II:

Star Wars Insider: The High Republic: Tales of Enlightenment

ANTHOLOGY NOVELS - ALL PHASES:

The High Republic: Tales of Light and Life

I don't know what I'm going to do after I finish all of these! Maybe finally read the second Thrawn trilogy or get around to the second and third Padme books or, ooh, Outbound Flight got an unabridged audiobook version and I never did finish that one! It's been fun to have a bunch of audiobooks to listen to via my library and one thing I will say for The High Republic stories, is that I do think they're some of the best interconnected storytelling Star Wars has had outside of the animated series' continuity with the movies. I do feel like they often times are hamstrung by "so much of the cool stuff happening is just a repeat of the things the Jedi in the Clone Wars did", but the sense of all these moving parts that work together, different authors all having a pretty coherent take on the characters and plot, despite being in so many different books, is really well-done. They're fun to get through, and that's what I'm really looking for.

[cosmiccherrylimeade]

Tales of the Empire review, the problem with Filoni

Spoilers for "The Path of Anger" below

So, to start off with the obvious, Dave Filoni has never read a single Cannon Thrawn novel. The timeline of events in this episode made no sense for the timeline of the novels. Thrawn was an admiral, yet he was already accompanied by Rukh and Pallean, whom he wouldn't even MEET until he reached grand admiral status. At this point in the Cannon novels, he would have been accompanied by Eli Vanto, not Pallean. In fact, he wouldn't even meet Pallean until the events of Treason. The choice by Folini to overhaul this story erases the conical nature of the "Cannon" Thrawn novels.

Before I get into my real point on the problem with how Filoni writes, I'll give my review of the episode as a whole. It was fine, not much to write home about. The animation was beautiful as to be expected, and very expressive. The writing was... just ok. The empire was depicted as cartoonishly evil, though it is a cartoon so, maybe that's justified. For a short that was supposed to teach us more about Morgan and her motivations, I feel like we didn't learn much about her that we didn't already know? She's good with ship design, she wants revenge and power, etc. Nothing new. Personally, I found the pacing of the episode to be quite boring, it was very slow despite the short runtime. Overall, I don't know if I would recommend it, though I thought the episodes following Barris were quite enjoyable.

Now for the real problem I have with these episodes: Filoni's insistence on his own version of cannon at the cost of others' work. I don't deny Filoni is a good writer and director, Rebels is one of my favorite shows of all time! But he's been on this power trip after being essentially being handed the reigns to Star Wars. There was a period where Star Wars was a collaborative effort between a ton of creatives working on something they loved, the second golden age, that made it into a beloved franchise for a new generation. But now it's just Filoni, and he decides what part of other creative works he'll pick and choose to tell his own story. I feel so bad for Zhan. He created this beloved character, and wrote AMAZING NOVELS, only to have his incredibly complex character be forced into a 2d stereotype. Filoni needs to do better because if he keeps going down the path of writing he has been Star Wars is going to be a shell of its former glory.

[pocket-thrawn]

Getting an Admiral Thrawn (that hideous green uniform lmao) in Clone Wars style animation feels like a huge win to me, despite them doubling down on the Chiss eyes having pupils and no bioluminescence.

And his voice. I love how it's changed from the Rebel's version, I think to sound younger/less familiar with Basic.

I think this is the first time I've been truly excited for something Star Wars since 2020.

[readsalot1]

I would like there to be a fic where the "three solobrats" and early love interests (YJK, JJK era, so A/T, J/TK, J/Z) end up time-travelling to the prequel era (probably shortly after Geonosis), and the Organa-Solo kids are excited to meet their not-evil-yet granddad.

This goes off the rails when Tahiri freaks out as soon as Anakin 1.0 enters because that is the monster of folklore who slaughtered a whole tribe of Tuskens, down to the youngest baby.

Because you can't convince me that in this AU a) Anakin doesn't go down as some sort of ghost/horror story in Tusken culture, and b) curious baby force-sensitive Tahiri didn't wander off at some point and end up seeing the echo of the slaughter.

The prequel-era council obviously freaks out about 1. the time travel, 2. some of the time travelers are Anakin 1.0's descendants, 3. Anakin 1.0 apparently committed genocide (note: the fandom doesn't view this with the right amount of horror, even in light of his second genocide--the Jedi), and decides to temporarily suspend his duties until they can perform an investigation of sorts into his decision-making capabilities.

Anakin 1.0 is initially thrilled because OMG GRANDKIDS and one of them is named after him (wahoo!!), but quickly becomes pissy because the friend of his mini-me (EW, she was raised by Tusken Raiders [careful Ani1, your racism is showing] even though she's human) gets him in trouble with the council.

Anakin 2.0 now has even more issues/worries about his namesake, and turning out like him [note: this was a big plot point in his early appearances].

Jaina & Jacen are kinda worried about this because now their granddad was bad from an earlier point??? and they don't know what to do with that. (Jacen is jumping from joy because a bunch of animals that went extinct during the Empire's rule are still alive; Jaina finds out there were apparently seven lightsaber forms before Knightfall, and decides to crash all the basic training classes. This is hilarious because she's older than the enrolled students for the more basic forms like Shii-cho.)

Tenel Ka and Zekk are along for the ride:

("Wait, she's the heir to the Hapes Consortium?" "yes" "and they're letting her be a Jedi too?" "yep" "politically is that allowed?!?" "I mean her mom's from Dathomir?" **jedi padawan noises of imploded worldview**)

("so Zekk what about you" "oh, I'm a Coruscanti street rat :)" "ah ok, so the order found you easily!" "I guess your version would, but the Jedi got massacred, so I didn't start training until I was a teenager :)" **choking noises** "oh yeah, Emperor Palpatine was a total hardass, I'm so glad my friend's parents got rid of him, I'd probably be dead or totally evil if he was still in power" --at this point the padawan(s?) they're chatting to [maybe Barriss; she seems politically aware enough to worry about the heir of a major political power also being a Jedi--she's probably also read about Xanatos] decides to bring them to the council)

It goes something like "Didn't they mention, Darth Vader & the clones slaughtered pretty much the entire Order. Some of the younger padawans escaped (their masters died for them (and oh, doesn't that hit hard)) and ran until dark siders who served the Emperor hunted them down (this can be vaguely compliant with some Rebels content; assume the Rebellion-era is more fusion with new canon, except Thrawn doesn't engage as much with the Lothal cell, and thus is around for the Thrawn trilogy on to proceed (thus inquisitors exist and so too do the Hands--maybe Mara is Palpy's spy in the inquisorius's ranks; Starkiller can be Vader's; Death Star plan theft follows TFU more than R1) it hits hard that some of their own (their children, their future) work to destroy the vestiges of what they were).

Then they find out that Darth Vader, the Sith Apprentice--the emperor's attack dog, his right hand--is Anakin (1.0), the boy they took in, the one they protected, the one some viewed as their savior, the boy winning battle after battle, the one shining bright, the Hero With No Fear, the boy whose fear of losing everything, everyone he cares about is slowly tearing him to shreds, the foolish, foolish boy who will doom the galaxy to save one person and fail at that, the buy who burned and burned, scorching those around him until he was alone, and still burning, until he burned himself to save another foolish boy, the younger burning like a candle, steadily, warmly, rather than like the sun, and Anakin (they can't bring themselves to hate him, even knowing what he will do--they see the sweet child who loved his mother, who wanted to free all the slaves in the galaxy), seeing the warm, kind candlelight of the other boy, the brave, foolish child, his child, his son, and knowing he will burn him, sees the vacuum of space (the cold, cold man who made him burn everyone, who made him lose everyone, until only the vacuum was left behind, the only one he could not burn away), sure to take the air around the lone, kind candle, and the sun (Anakin) burns itself (himself) out, becomes a supernova to push the vacuum (empty, cold, always hungry) away from the candle (the son), and saves the brave, foolish boy who came to help him, but he feared burning most of all (the burning sun of Tatooine burns himself out, after burning with hatred for the better part of two decades, for another desert child, one who burns with warmth, like a hearthfire, and asks for the girl who burns (with the passion of justice, with compassion, the girl who is like him but not for instead of burning the world for those she loves, she who would burn herself out, the girl who would burn her enemies (those who seek the harm the world) for any who deserve kindness, who burns internally, but is willing to burn others as well) to forgive him, and she does, eventually, she names her steady hearthfire of a son after him, and hopes against hope that he (her son, one of her three suns) will have a happy ending, that he will not burn himself out like his grandfather, his namesake [Anakin, her son, he burns too: for his siblings (they will burn as well, his brother like his grandfather--maybe he should have been Anakin instead--and his sister, burning, the one to put out her twin's light, twin suns of Tatooine, one snuffed out the other), his friends (they break apart, the group splintering, fragmented after the war is won; even before), his love (she breaks, in a way not even being shaped by the black holes, put under pressure in the hope of her becoming one, can do; for a while she fades away to almost nothing, invisible, until the brother, seeing the broken, invisible girl takes her, and tries to make the broken puppet of a girl dance for him; it works for a time, building more cracks in her skin until she shatters, and the people who loved him, Anakin the second, the bright boy who burned himself away too soon, see the girl again, no longer invisible, and try to help her [pray they are not too late to put her (shattered, porcelain, crushed spirit, a shell of her former bright self) together again]), for the galaxy; but at this part of the story we don't know his fate, to burn and burn until there is nothing left, until the force takes him away, to burn so hot, so bright, so light, that his enemies (true voids in the force--black holes--not like the cold, hungry vacuum that desired, took the sun of his grandfather) burned away as well; he burns away, but as a hero. This does not stop his mother from her agony; it is all his father can do to hold himself together to stop her shattering like the girl everyone forgot, the invisible girl who loved his son, who would (and does) do anything for the memory of a boy who left the galaxy too soon].

This is the story they tell: of the angry sun who burns everyone (especially even those who offer him kindness), the boy-candle, the girl who burns with the heat of a thousand suns but never harms those undeserving of that fury, the scoundrel with the hard exterior who inside is kind, the brave wookie warrior who lives [and dies, though they will not know it for a time] to protect them, the saviors of the galaxy;

and others as well: the girl who was almost snuffed out by the vacuum, who burned as a quiet ember, whose flame was reawakened by the boy-candle; the boy who parallels her, who was trained by the angry sun to burn like him but refused, who burned out over and over again trying to prove himself, and, in the end, burned out to save the galaxy, who sent the message to the rebels that worked to end the war [the message, that, too late for some, still saved billions, perhaps trillions of lives, had it not been sent (how many worlds could have shared Alderaan's fate?)].

[helix-enterprises117]

My Headcanon Star Wars Timeline

This might also double as a "Star Wars: A Beginner's Guide," so if you want, you can also use this as a reference for Star Wars stories you can pick up if you want to get into the franchise; but ultimately, this is not the main point of this post.

Pretty much all Pre-BBY Legends stories: How the Sith and Jedi came to be, how lightsabers were created, the first wars, how everything started out as a high-fantasy before it evolved into proper sci-fi, the fleshing out of the midi-chlorians as entities in Star Wars... it's all so damn fascinating.

KOTOR - KORTOR II: SITH LORDS - SWTOR: The Knights Of The Old Republic games, and it's unofficial third entry in the form of 'Star Wars: The Old Republic,' are stories that take place in an even LONGER time ago in the same galaxy that's far, far away. The first game talks about Revan, the second talks about 'The Exhile' and the third game has both characters be greater-scope forces in the background that influence the events of the game.

The Prequel Trilogy: I never had a problem with these movies. I grew up playing the LEGO games, so I guess it never registered to me that these were bad. But I love the prequels.

The Clone Wars 2003: Unpopular opinion, but this is way better than Clone Wars 2008; no offense to anyone who loves the 3D Show, but the 2003 cartoon is a flashy and high-octane series that NEVER stopped and it had an appealing art/animation style. More importantly, the characters here are far more faithful to their film counterparts than 2008!CW. Plus, Grieveous was a straight BADASS in this show.

Republic Commando (both the book & the game): The book is generally a good read, but the game is basically "What if Star Wars made a Halo game?"

Revenge Of The Sith - Junior Novelization: While RotS is a good movie, the book is... it's just so much better. It goes in-depth into Anakin's descent into complete madness, properly fleshing out his paranoia and his trust in Palpatine; it makes everything he's gone through in the film more believable.

Jedi Fallen Order, Force Unleashed, Force Unleashed II, Jedi Suvivor: These four games, all taking place in-between episodes III and IV, are two sides of the same coin. Both are epic hack-n'-slash games where you play as a lightsaber-wielding force-user. But that's where their similarities end, the Force Unleashed games are power-fantasy games where you are so unbelievably powerful that you can do just about anything; the Jedi games are a more traditional journey from zero-to-hero where you start out weak and the gameplay requires a bit of legitimate skill to properly master.

The Han Solo Books: The REAL origin story of Han Solo. Born of a family of thieves, Han joined the Imperial Navy because he wanted to fly. He meets Chewy and loses his job. Other goofy stuff ensues.

Rogue One: Didn't think a movie that was based ONE LINE IN THE OPENING SCRAWL OF THE FIRST MOVIE was gonna be as good as it was, but here we are.

The Radio-Drama version of the Original Trilogy: I love the movies, but I love the radio-drama adaptation WAY more; as it expands upon and fleshes out the things in the films that left me scratching my head, it has more context to a lot of it's scenes AND it has a bunch of other extra scenes that weren't in the movies that make listening to the radio-drama a fresh experience.

The Mandalorian (seasons 1 and 2): I haven't seen season 3 (I'm sure it slaps, though), but I think this is an awesome sequel show to the original trilogy.

The Courtship Of Princess Leia: I just— this book is so damn funny, I can't wrap my head around it. (Plus, I love Han and Leia as a couple).

The (original) Thrawn Trilogy & Dark Empire: While I'm well-aware that the Thrawn books are pretty much loved by many a Star Wars fan, Dark Empire (I've noticed) is a lot more contested... but I love the Dark Empire SO MUCH. I love the idea of the World-Devastators and Luke turning Dark is awesome.

All of the Post-BBY Books from the Legends continuity: Mara Jade, the Solo kids (Jacen, Jaina and Anakin) and Ben Skywalker are such cool characters that I'm actually depressed that they get de-canonized.

Star Wars Legacy: Cade Skywalker is a very interesting character, as he's a Skywalker who became a hedonistic criminal who doesn't want the burden of responsibility weighing on him by proxy of being a Skywalker, the Empire is actually kind of chill, and everything that we all thought we knew about Star Wars gets flipped on it's head. Legacy, in my mind at least, is an interesting way to end the story of Star Wars.

[garden-bug]

Star Wars is a mess guys

Why did Ahsoka feel like a fanfiction?

Also that might have been Grand Admiral Thrawn but it was NOT Mitth’raw’nuruodo. Thrawn is such a fascinating character and this show barely scratched the surface. It didn’t go into his motivation, his people, his background, his friends. It didn’t show why he’s so terrifying because of the loyalty he inspires BECAUSE he of his nature as an anti-villain. It felt cheap.

And where was Luke? This is the problem with it being live action. They can’t tell the story they need to tell simply because of the restrictions placed on them by their chosen medium. The scenes would have been more impactful as animation as well - it would’ve felt more familiar.

I was picturing Ezra’s face at the end, over the actor’s expression.

I think that says it all honestly.

I’m not denying that casting was brilliant and the actors were amazing. But that doesn’t mean this story as a live action will work.

It should’ve been animated or a book.

I’m glad I wrote my own version of Ahsoka and The Mandalorian S3. This just isn’t canon to me.

I don’t think Star Wars works anymore. The franchise is doomed if they continue trying to tell a story that they simply don’t have the parts or skill to tell.

It feels like Filoni is just doing stuff he thinks is cool like he’s writing a self-indulgent fanfiction. Except he’s banned from using certain characters, gay people aren’t allowed either (Star Wars is so, so hindered, limited and held back by how mainstream it is and how much Disney doesn’t want to dip their toe into ‘politics’ but that’s a whole other topic), and he can’t create anything too new or original or Disney gets scared (and so do the fans which is probably part of the problem as well).

God, Star Wars right now is like chewing steak for too long. It’s so dry.

Feel free to comment some links to fix-it or alternate versions of Ahsoka fanfics. I love stuff like that. This is mine:

[rughydrangea]

I can't hold it in any longer. I'm so deeply confused by Ahsoka. I just really don't understand who this show is for. Is it for regular people who watch The Mandalorian but have never seen the animated shows? Then the fact that all the main characters have years of history that those people know nothing amount basically guarantees that they will not find any aspect of this story compelling. If you don't know who Ezra is, why would you care if he's saved or not? If you don't know anything about Hera and Sabine's relationship, would you be interested in Hera's continuing presence in this show? If you've never seen Thrawn, how could you think of him as a genuine threat that everyone should be worried about? And if your only exposure to Ahsoka is in the live-action shows, then I'm sorry, but why would you want to watch a show about that character, who is very cold and appears to have no real emotions or inner life and whom you have been given no reason to be invested in?

On the flip side, as someone who has seen Rebels and The Clone Wars, speaking for myself I can say that this show is giving me nothing I want because it's simultaneously dependent on the backstory of those shows but is trying to be accessible. Ahsoka has a long, complicated, very fraught history with the Jedi order--something you'd have no idea about from what this show is giving us (the opening crawl called her an ex-Jedi knight! which she isn't! what is going on!). The intense bonds of love and family that tie together the Ghost crew members are alluded to here, but the actors can't really sell them, through no fault of their own, but because those bonds were so thoroughly established by separate versions of the character. I miss the warm, deeply intimate, sometimes fractious relationship that Hera and Sabine had, a weird cross between mother/daughter and older sister/younger sister that was such a lovely part of Rebels and that isn't really being recreated here. Most of all, I think Filoni's desire to keep the animated references down to a minimum has, in these first three episodes, resulted in the erasure of my personal favorite Ghost crew member! And to me it makes no sense! Ahsoka was never the main Jedi in Sabine's life--Ezra and Kanan were. The people who first taught Sabine to use a light(dark)saber were Kanan and Ezra. We got a Jacen appearance this episode, and he even says that he wants to be a Jedi, but a casual viewer would have no idea that Hera's pained reaction to this is because his father was a Jedi! Star Wars is all about legacies and the pain they cause and the ways that stories repeat themselves and the groundwork for that is all here, but we can't tap into it because this show is being made for people who neither know nor care who these characters are and where they are coming from!

And then there's the one bit of backstory that we're missing that makes me feel like I'm losing my mind. Multiple times in each of the three episodes that have aired so far, I have found myself thinking back through Rebels--was there a scene were it was suggested that Sabine was force-sensitive? The answer, of course, is no. So, given Ahsoka's kind of traumatic history with the Jedi order, why would she see a young woman with no kind of force sensitivity and think, oh, yeah, she should be a padawan? I just don't buy it. Ahsoka's ties to her Jedi life weren't severed when she was expelled from the order, or when she declined to rejoin it, obviously; we saw in s7 as well as in Tales of the Jedi that a lot of her journey is about coming to understand the value of the Jedi and the role that they played in the galaxy and how that legacy lives in her. But her path was different. She's a product of the Jedi order, but she's not one of them. Why she would think the only way to help Sabine to develop is to force her into a mold that a) isn't right for her, and b) ultimately wasn't even right for Ahsoka herself just makes no sense to me. And because we have no access to that first, unsuccessful attempt to teach Sabine, we have no idea why any of this is going on or what anybody is hoping to get out of this arrangement.

I should be done, but if I'm griping, one more thing. In TCW, Ahsoka is an endlessly compelling character. We see her grow from cute little brat to a thoughtful, compassionate young woman of deep conviction and principle, always questioning the world around her, always grounded by deep relationships. Her appearances in Rebels feel like the natural maturation of that character--she's older, calmer, more sure of herself, her personality that before was so bubbly having subsided into deep, flowing waters. But she's still animated by curiosity, kindness, and a sense of justice. She's obviously changed from who she was as a child, but she's still Ahsoka.

I personally see no continuity between this character I love in her animated form and the live-action version. It's not really a performance problem, it's that this Ahsoka just doesn't feel like Ahsoka, because she's missing the quality that I most associate with her: warmth. Ahsoka cares. Everything she does is out of a desire to help people. No matter how much she went through, how much she was hurt, she always came back to that. And that's just gone here. Here, she doesn't seem to have any kind of a personality (bizarre, given that she's nominally the main character). What drives her, what she cares about, the importance of her relationships in her life... I just can't see any of it. And it bums me out, because I love Ahsoka, and I want to watch more stories about her, but I want them to actually be about her, not this imposter.

So, uh, in conclusion, I really wanted a Rebels sequel and I really wanted more Ahsoka but this show is, for me, the absolute worst fulfillment of those wishes. And I'm sad about it!

[tarisilmarwen]

Rebels Rewatch: "Twilight of the Apprentice"

The shadow of Malachor looms in the very highly-anticipated Season 2 finale.

Right, so, technically I've already liveblogged this before and you can go here for some of my more, ah, realtime reactions.

(Spoiler alert: There was a LOT of screaming.)

So for this and other episodes that I've already reacted to before I'm mostly going to be focusing more on commentary and meta observations and also my favorite bits and moments, music and animation, that kind of stuff.

Let's dive in!

Ooh right off the bat we have the more serious version of the "Shenanigans" cue.

I know this exchange here between Ahsoka and Rex is a callback to when they first met. So a heart stab for TCW fans.

One thing I notice about Malachor right away is how dead it looks, even from space. Just a featureless plain gray marble.

We get down to the surface and it's even eerier. In the middle of a giant crater there's this wide, unnaturally glasslike smooth plain, only broken up by weird towering stone monoliths.

Malachor's whole aesthetic leans very heavily into the idea and theme of descending into the Underworld, into a place of darkness and shadows where the light can't reach. Somewhere underground, somewhere full of devils and demons lurking in wait, with many hidden traps and temptations to stumble over.

Like the one Ezra triggers by touching the monolith lol.

This really isn't a survivable fall but whatever.

The Sith Temple is actually kind of beautiful in a stark, harsh, Gothic kind of way.

This whole environment is really excellently creepy and ethereal. The ceiling above recalls a night sky, the holes like pinprick stars casting beams of light down. The palate is almost colorless, mostly grays and blacks with some splashes of red and white. The lighting is muted and dim, heavy contrast with the shadows. The music relies on dissonant chords. The sound effects are full of watery rumbles, voices whisper quietly that apparently only Ezra can hear.

Oh and there's the scorched ground and statues of people frozen in distress, like the casts at Pompeii.

"To defeat your enemy, you have to understand them." A sentiment echoed and repeated later by both Maul and Thrawn, and inspired by the writings of Sun Tzu in his Art of War. You have to figure your enemy out, learn how they operate and what motivates them, in order to beat them. "Knowledge" is another word they keep using this episode, our heroes need to seek knowledge about the Sith in order to figure out how to defeat them.

I'm still not quite sure what knowledge they were actually able to gain during this trip. Certainly the Force did basically slap the truth of Vader's identity in Ahsoka's face, to get her to confront it and break through her denial. There's maybe a lesson to be learned about not seeking quick, easy solutions to one's problems, which wouldn't fully sink in until "Twin Suns". (Ezra's obsession with finding "the key to destroy the Sith" can be traced straight back to the Malachor plot thread.) There's definitely a cautionary tale and warning about the nature of the Dark Side, that Ezra completely ignores due to his guilt and shame and self-blame.

On the surface level, technically, the mission does accomplish what it set out to do. All the Inquisitors we know about wind up dead, Vader no longer has any interest in harassing them, they keep the base safe. But boy the cost of it all.

It's probably really fitting that the finale takes place here on Malachor, a dead world with nothing left but stone remains and a creepy Eldritch Sith Temple housing a superweapon that must have killed everyone and everything on the surface, in the vein of The Deplorable Word or a nuclear bomb metaphor. The victory is hollow and meaningless, because there is no one left alive to appreciate it. Likewise our heroes' "victory" is pyrrhic and empty, they kill the Inquisitors but take more and heavier losses in return.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. We haven't even met Eighth yet.

Hi Eighth!

He's not really developed or explored at all and is really just a generic episode-specific antagonist and ancillary to Seventh and Fifth, but he serves his narrative purpose in splitting the party.

Kanan's worried shout for Ezra after he falls. <3

Ezra looking very nervous here, don't blame him.

HI MAUL!

Oh man, the pre-finale trailers spoiled Maul's appearance and fandom was bonkers about it. (The pre-finale anticipation and hype was crazy man, so much over-analyzing and hypothesizing. There was a Bingo Card we could fill out with our theories. This one was mine.) Not a small amount of people were speculating about the possibility of Maul corrupting and/or abducting Ezra at Malachor.

I was one of them. Obviously. Still a smidge bummed it didn't come to pass, just imagine how devastating that would have been on top of everything else.

Anyway, Maul pretends to be frail and weak and old and harmless like some kind of sick parody of the scene in ESB when Yoda's introduced to Luke.

The appropriate reaction to creepy old men lurking in the shadows lol.

Maul plays on Ezra's compassion at first, and then tempts him with what they came for, "knowledge". Ezra keeps a guard up, but cautiously allows Maul to lead him. I think he's figuring he's going to play this by ear like he did back in "Brothers of the Broken Horn", so he's not giving out his name or really trusting Maul yet. That would come later.

Lol, Maul has met Jabba, he knows full well Ezra's playing him.

There's some excellent tense music for the chase with Eighth Brother but I'm not going to really talk about those segments much since, frankly, all the interesting stuff is happening in the Maul and Ezra scenes.

They're in the roots of the Temple now, very Mines of Moria-esque vibe down here with the columns.

Maul still trying to break Ezra's guard down, playing himself up as an enemy of the Inquisitors and the Sith (even though for all intents and purposes Maul still is a Sith) and I love how awkward things get when Ezra asks him if he was a Jedi, he's all like, "ERRRRRRMMMM."

Talking about his Tragic Backstory though unlocks Ezra's empathy and Ezra lets slip his own grievances with the Empire that Maul immediately tries to manipulate to his advantage, sensing Ezra's anger about it.

Boy if I had a nickel for every time my favorite shows explored the "creepy older villain forcibly trying to make a younger hero their apprentice" plotline...

(I would actually have three nickels now because the Big Hero 6 cartoon also decided to do that plot YOU GUYS GOTTA FIGURE OUT SOMETIME THAT THIS PREMISE IS BASICALLY CATNIP FOR ME.)

Anyway, at this point I think Maul's mostly just using Ezra as a means to an end, he's not planning to kidnap him yet, just needs him for the doors. It's really interesting that whereas the Jedi Temple on Lothal emphasized the individual journey and separated the master and padawan, the Sith Temple forces them into kind of a codependent symbiosis--if one betrays the other like Sith are wont to do, the prize is lost and both of them die--making them have to use teamwork and a certain level of trust.

Chopper stealing Eighth's TIE to use against him is pretty awesome, admittedly.

Maul gives Ezra an abridged lesson in Sith/Dark Side philosophy: Channel your passions--your fear, anger, hate, any strong emotions etc.--through the Force for a lot of quick easy power. Ezra expresses misgivings but attempts it and this time does not immediately pass out, though he's clearly tired by the end of it.

Oh man the sound design here.

Also love that annoyed look Maul gives when Ezra complains about their progress. XD

"Yeah I'm killing you after this, I don't have to deal with this shit."

Watching the expressions on Maul's face is a trip, you can see the subtle little flashes of conniving and triumph.

Aaaaaand every time Maul puts his hands on Ezra I still feel an immediate uncomfortable protective rage. You leave him alone you cockroach. >:(

Enjoy the last vestiges of Ezra's innocence folks, this episode is what shatters that to pieces.

Always loved this sequence, it feels very evocative of the Cave of Wonders segment of Aladdin and also several scenes in Raiders of the Lost Ark.

SO much symbolism with the precipices and pits here.

Love this music cue too.

I already noted in a different post way back when that something subtle I love is how Maul's Force Grip catch around Ezra is clearly much rougher than how Kanan has caught him. Ezra's tiny panicked glances down are great too.

So riiiiiiiiiight about here is when I think Maul decided he was going to keep Ezra, you can see in his expression the mean satisfaction when he grabs the holocron, like he's gotten what he wanted. Ezra gets a prolonged moment of regretting all of his life's decisions before Maul finally decides to haul him up.

Look I know fandom makes fun of the helicopter sabers but I never minded them so this is my only comment about them.

Gah, Ezra's innocent little uncertain expressions here always hurt me.

You know, given the added context of TCW Seaason 7, along with the fact that they had already clearly integrated the unfinished arcs into the background continuity while writing Rebels, AHSOKA YOU SHOULD HAVE REALLY WARNED THEM ABOUT MAUL.

Cool shot is cool.

I haven't talked about the music much because it doesn't really stand out until the climax but it's appropriately menacing and dramatic and ominous, as it should be.

Sam Whitwer's vocal progression through the episode is also amazing, along with the slow shedding of his hood it's like Maul is revitalizing himself, reinvigorated, reclaiming his strength and purpose.

He found something (Ezra) to hang his legacy on and seized it. Or tried to.

Ezra sounds just a bit desperate to convince Kanan, this is likely a product of the straining tensions between them. Maul, meanwhile, takes full advantage of Ahsoka and Kanan's uncertainty to suggest using the holocron to activate the obelisk, not telling them of course that it will turn on the Sith superweapon. Which he's counting on to kill Vader and the Inquisitors.

Ezra's theme in cello bass here, as Kanan decides to trust Ezra.

Almost forgot about Seventh's ID-9 Seekers, didn't we?

Love Kanan's protective bitchiness towards Maul this whole episode. The conflict between him and Ezra is just a little bit contrived, Kanan's been harder on Ezra recently yes, but it also feels a smidge rushed. Then again Ezra's been fixating on trying to solve the fundamental problem of the Inquisitors possibly as a way to assuage his grief over losing his parents, like Anakin he thinks if he can maybe just get enough power he can prevent it from happening again, so he's letting his impulsiveness reign in the quest to find "the key to destroying the Sith" and it's making him have a repeat of "Vision of Hope" where he trusts the wrong person.

Ezra's bright little, "Trust me." here hurts so much because Kanan does trust Ezra, that's the only reason why he decided they would stay and then it all goes HORRIBLY WRONG *SOBS*.

This is a nice sentiment and all Ahsoka, and it shows how much faith you have in Ezra's goodness and Kanan's ability as a teacher BUT ALSO YOU SHOULD HAVE WARNED THEM.

Ezra's out of sight for like a minute and Maul's already picking at his insecurities and need for validation and trying to get him to murderize Seventh.

The momentary pride we feel that Ezra can't bring himself to strike in anger and hate vanishes when Maul tests the veeeeeery limits of the Y7 rating.

Ooof.

I hate this man I hate this man I hate this man I hate him so much. He snarls at Ezra for hesitating, berates his merciful Jedi instincts, and then picks up with that soft manipulative fake concerned tone again. He always uses this tone when he's trying to manipulate Ezra, we'll be watching for it next season, trust me.

Hhggnnl Maul glancing up and seeing the shadow passing over the gaps in the ceiling, he knows Vader's on his way. And he's definitely already made the decision that he's taking Ezra.

Love this brief triumphant cue here, for a moment it looks like they've won.

The matching "Oh crap" expressions on Kanan and Ahsoka's faces when Maul says, "You mean... my apprentice?" they are just a hair too late to prevent disaster.

Yeah so this moment pretty much traumatized fandom. For months.

DUEL OF THE FATES BABY!

And a very unhinged Maul getting a little too excited about using the Sith superweapon to kill everyone.

The presence in the holocron is likely a trace of the Sith Lord who created the superweapon, Darth Tanis.

Sound design appreciation moment, just LISTEN to it.

"The power will be mine! Ezra will be mine!" Very hinged. Much sane. If you had waited maybe five minutes, Maul, and resisted the urge to murder everyone you could have actually had what you wanted! But such is the nature of the Dark Side, the quick and easy way offers fast solutions but hollow ones, in the grasping for what you want it slips through your fingers.

ALL MAUL HAD TO DO WAS NOT TRY TO MURDER KANAN AND AHSOKA AND EZRA PROBABLY WOULD HAVE GONE WITH HIM. At the very least Kanan might have tentatively let Maul hang around. This is the tragedy of Maul's life, he is the king of self-sabotage.

[Insert ramble about the symbolism of Kanan taking up a Temple Guardian mask and how that relates to his role as Ezra's protector.]

I don't remember I think there was maybe one or two people who complained that Kanan shouldn't be able to beat Maul here, but for the most part fandom was agreed that this was awesome.

:(((

Please do note: Maul just kind of... assumed Ezra would use the Sith superweapon when he learned what it was. Ezra's too pure for that, alas.

WELL THAT'S NOT ABSOLUTELY TERRIFYING.

Ezra sassing Vader like Kanan sassed the Grand Inquisitor back in "Call To Action" lol.

And there goes Ezra's blaster-saber. :(

I've been a very good girl conserving my limited photos so now you get a lot of Ezra's terrified face.

The Ahsoka-Vader confrontation is pretty much perfect, even for someone who never really watched TCW and doesn't really have the same level of investment as a long time fan would have. Even without the context the emotions and drama come across well.

Ezra veeeeeeerrrrrrrry slowly and carefully trying to scoot away from Vader always makes me giggle.

Vader threatening to torture the information out of Ezra if Ahsoka won't give up any remaining Jedi she knows about. :(((

:((((((((

Still love how TCW recontextualized Ahsoka's angry, "I am no Jedi!" by reframing it as, "I can't be a Jedi anymore, you took that away from me, you killed the Order I loved and wanted to return to!"

I think I heard someone trying to describe Vader here as, "Picture an upright locomotive with a lightsaber." and that's apt, Vader is so heavy and powerful with every movement and swing. This is Vader in his prime, unleashed, against an opponent he won't hold back on and it is glorious.

Chopper guiding Kanan by the hand. :(((

Ezra's horrified realization. :(((((

Small note: Ezra's been nursing his right wrist this whole time, possibly sprained or burned a bit when Vader destroyed his saber. Also a nice parallel to ESB and Luke.

Ahsoka does her best but you can tell she's tiring here.

Some gorgeous animation as the Temple begins to seal back up.

How annoyed do you think Vader must have been to have a blind half-trained ex-Padawan and a scrawny 16-year-old kid managing to fight his Force Pull on the holocron?

Ahsoka swoops in for a Big Damn Heroes moment and breaks open his mask. You're welcome for the nightmares, kids.

Hello so many parallels to Luke and Return of the Jedi.

:(((((

Very effective bringing the orchestra full to the fore with almost no other sound or dialogue here. This whole sequence is brutally powerful.

Kanan and Hera's heartbreaking reunion. The sorrow on Rex's face, feeding into Ezra's clear guilt. Maul surviving to menace us another day. Vader limping off, out of the wreckage of the Temple. Tracking the convor as it flies towards the vague form of Ahsoka descending further into the Temple. The cut to the Ghost with everyone's silent worry and sorry. And closing on Ezra's murderous Kubrick Stare as he gets the holocron to open.

This finale is on people's favorite episode lists for a reason, lol. It's so dramatic and game-changing and tightly-written, leaves us perfectly fuming in anticipation for more.

You know how shows promise that, "Nothing will be the same anymore." in taglines to trick you into watching for the Next Big Twist? Rebels actually delivers on that promise.

It's an amazing ride.

Overall Season Thoughts:

Season Two is stronger than Season One in a lot of aspects. The animation is even prettier with the added budget, the stories remain well-balanced and woven together even with the added breathing room of twenty-two episodes to Season One's fifteen. The show takes advantage of that extra room to build up the finale, especially in the last few episodes, to very good effect. The expanded scope means we're facing bigger and greater threats, and also widening our cast, and yet none of the guest stars overshadow or overpower our mains, who are given plenty of chances to develop and shine.

Aside from one minor misstep in "Blood Sisters", this season is solid through and through.

Onwards to Season Three!

[just-prime]

7 down, 1 to go

We are almost in the home stretch people. One more week, and then this literal shit show will be over

This week we had Thrawn throwing shade, our heroes are reunited, and yet another dumb half hour of chasing our tails...followed by 8 minutes of credits.

First off, these actors clearly, desperately need any sort of combat training. Because everything feels so hollow and slowed down. Ahsoka was never this slow, and yes I know this isn't animation, but if nearly 60 year old Keanu Reeves can make action believable and smooth, so can 44 year old Rosario Dawson. Or 29 year old Natasha Liu Bordizzo. Or 26 year old Eman Esfandi. No hate to these actors (on this specifically) they clearly where just not given any of the proper training to pull of any of this combat believably.

Also, why is this show obsessed with making Ahsoka a FUCKING BAD PILOT. Anakin was the one (I'm assuming) who taught her to fly...so why isn't she good at it??? Every time she gets into the cockpit things immediately go badly.

Speaking of the combat, why is every shot in that chase sequence one of the same 4 angles nevers deviating from the simple tracking shot? Why is it so BORING? They could have had fun with these little bumper cars that the little hermit crab people have. Also, I struggle to believe that a species that lives on the homeworld of the Dathomiri witches are 'peaceful' and 'unarmed' and yet haven't been wiped out eons ago. Like, it's the ewoks again, but worse, because the ewoks at least had a believable amount of weapons and traps for their carnivorous teddy bear lifestyle!

Jumping back a moment to the cold open, once again this show is making me actively route against the New Republic. Remember when the New Republic was something that was to be celebrated? A representation of how good triumphs over evil, that love wins out in the end? That a father could see the error of his ways, and give everything he has to ensure that his children get to see a world better than the one he built?

3PO showing up is just one more in the long line of lazy cameos meant to engage the children and pacify the sceptics. I think we all know that if they could get away with it, Disney would have rolled out a plastic CGI soulless version of Leia. Hopefully that will never happen. Still don't understand why they didn't just have Zeb accompany 3PO to make Leia throwing around her weight more official.

Once again, I voice my complaint at this show's refusal to acknowledge Kallus. Sabine told Ezra about Zeb and Hera, why'd Alexsandr get left out? :(

Anyway, like I said, not a ton happens.

Baylan sits back and send Shin to do his dirty work. Unclear if he is still totally on board with everything that is happening.

Ahsoka swoops in at the last minute to save Ezra and Sabine.

Thrawn says "Anakin Skywalker" and doesn't immediately ask who that was, so I am taking that as a itty-bitty win for the Thrawn Alliances fans.

Oh, and the makeup still looks like absolute dog shit.

And it is very obvious that this is all going to end on a big old fucking cliffhanger to set up the Heir to the Empire movie.

So yeah, I hate everything about this, including the fact that we now have confirmation that Sabine is at least a little force sensitive.

[xiema]

THIS

This is the version of Thrawn I craved for years, an here he finally is.

Maybe (probably not) disney will go a step more and gives uns an animated adaptation of the Thrawn novels.

I personally prefer animatet shows and series over live action, in every aspect. In animation you can literaly do whatever you want, create places, creacures and spieces without them standing out or feeling off compere to the actors. Live action is very limitated.