#i still don't like MEW's hera

[bikananjarrus]

the fact that i have to deal with so many pictures of live action hera when looking up images of hera...heartbreaking. like that's NOT my WIFE !!!!

[lightwise]

Ahsoka Episode 3 Spoilers/Thoughts

So I never actually got around to listing out my reactions to Episode 3. I laid out some of my thoughts on Sabine using the Force here, in two parts because I'm surprised it's taken me this long to transcend Tumblr's image limit on a post.

SPOILERS BELOW THE CUT!

My love for Huyang continues to know no bounds...obviously

Still annoyed that Sabine's injury is basically non existent at this point even if she does fiddle with her waistband like it still hurts. Girl you are moving fine, why are we pretending it wasn't a completely unnecessary plot point.

"You told her that??" "It's true." (Still loving the Tech/Huyang comparisons, which I laid out here.)

Oooh the training mask looks like the temple guard mask Kanan put on when he was blinded.

Those wooden training sticks are really beautiful. The props department did not forsake the details in this show.

"Anger and frustration are quick to give power, but they also unbalance you." I honestly really like Ahsoka's version of this more than Yoda's "they lead to the dark side." They can be helpful and sometimes useful tools, and they are innately human emotions. But letting them run rampart will leave you unbalanced and out of focus.

Mon my beloved! I realllly want to know more of why her leadership in the New Republic wasn't able to thwart the First Order (or I guess Thrawn coming back?) She's so capable and intelligent all through her efforts to fight the Empire and advocate for her people. I wonder if she kept her powers too minimal as an overcorrection from Palpatine that she was unable to influence senators like Xiono to do the right thing. Like give me a Dr. Pershing Mando season 3 level episode here on what's going on in the Senate, I beg you.

All of that said, in a vacuum I definitely understand the Senators' efforts to want to put resources toward their people and building up the new Republic, not further military operations. That's not a bad desire at all. Unfortunately it's just too early to let up on security yet (even though that is the same tactic Palpatine used to start squashing dissenters of the Empire in TBB).

Sometimes the dialogue in this show feels like it's not connected to the Rebels characters we know. Hera assuming that Thrawn had died in the first episode, now here she's saying he killed friends that were like family to her? Idk if these are Dave's attempts to give some context to new viewers, but they end up feeling like the characters don't remember what we know about them.

MEW is definitely nailing Hera's strength and emotion though.

Jacen!! And his hair is still green! I wonder what the Lego fakeout was for then. He's so Kanan's son. And Hera's face here!!

The whole conversation about the Force between Ahsoka and Sabine ahhhhhh

Lol the cup is so obviously on a track in the groove in the table

The entire conversation about Sabine between Ahsoka and Huyang AHHHHHHHH

DISASTER LINEAGE :D :D :D

Is it just me or if Hera and Sabine are going to be wearing heavy makeup, Ahsoka should have her darker purple lip color?

Sabine is everyone their first time playing a video game.

"I have several thoughts on everything else going on" LOL

I LOVE Ahsoka's ship. Homey and agile.

I was very worried that Huyang would get wiped with that power surge, but I guess after 25,000 years he's learned to have a backup databank or two.

Ahsoka in a space suit heck yeah. That's Anakin's padawan and Plo's adopted daughter right there. And I love that it's a continuous shot showing her getting back onto the wing/into the ship.

Marrok talking and flying a ship is so funny to me. Especially given ep 4.

Ahsoka and Sabine's dynamic feels much more dialed in now.

THE SPACE WHALES HAVE ARRIVED AND THEY ARE BEAUTIFUL

Huyang completely unphased at them almost dying multiple times. He knows what Jedi shenanigans are like.

Seatos is absolutely stunning. I can't get enough of the gray fog and the red trees

The visuals and the banter in this episode are 10/10

Intergalactic hyperspace lanes followed by the path of the Purgill!!!!

Man I need Baylon's backstory NOW.

[retrob0t]

i finally pushed through my fears and watched the first 2 episodes of Ahsoka... I have thoughts™️

LA Ahsoka is still quite flat for me, sadly. Ahsoka use to be my absolute favorite character, and now I barely recognize anything about her that I use to adore. There's small, small bits and pieces here and there, but she feels so boring and emotionless at times. Is there a reason for this? I honestly cannot think of one, especially not after how quippy and sweet she was in Rebels. Not to mention, physically she just defaults to standing with her arms crossed and looking judgey. I'm hoping this can be expanded upon and maybe show us why she's now so different, but I'm nervous that there wont be any, since most of the Mando related shows & such lately has just been so devoid of any actual interesting character work. I'm not asking for much when I say I want character work, I just want her to feel like a character again, if that makes sense. 2. The music was quite good! Nothing wowed me, but I liked it! 3. Another thing that breaks my heart is just how bad Hera looks. Her eyes take me out of nearly every scene she's in. MEW is doing a decent job at Hera, but with how cakey her makeup is mixed with the contacts and rubbery lekku, it's just a bit jarring and depressing. 4. I'm also just not a fan of the makeup/prosthetics for MEW or Dawson, I honestly can't believe this is the best they could do. 5. Sabine being Ahsoka's Padawan is... is just so odd to me. Maybe as it goes on it'll make more sense and they'll tell us why Ahsoka started training her in the first place, but it's not entirely my jam. It doesn't help that I can barely remember a single line of dialogue between them in Rebels, so it feels even more out of place. 6. biggest nitpick in the world but they perfected the visual look of lightsabers in the sequels, I honestly don't understand why they decided to regress here. like legit, the blade doesn't have much energy to it. I know it's such a small thing but like, I just rewatched the sequels and man oh man did those blades look glorious. 7. My last thought because my heart can't take this and I really hate being negative, but thankfully this is like, a half positive: I adore Baylon & Shin and would absolutely read a book about them. No joke, I'm way more interested in them than Ahsoka & the gang, which makes me horrifically depressed, but at least I get some more edgy/mysterious force users to obsess over (as long as they turn out to be interesting in the end, but we only have 8 episodes, which is ALWAYS a perfect amount of time for characters to grow and develop) and they will probably be the main reason I continue to watch, just due to how rad they are. I truly wish I didn't feel so negative about these first 2 episodes, especially since Ahsoka & Hera (and Rebels) has been so precious to me for years. it just feels so blank with the returning gang. I dunno, man. maybe I'll rewatch the episodes soon and I'll probably try and stay up to date, but I'm more nervous then anything...

[smokeybrandreviews]

Lowered Expectations

If you know me, you know I shill hard for all things Star Wars. This blog is riddled with so much Star Wars content, it’s absurd. While I consider myself a fan of the greater universe, I’d be lying if I said my adoration didn’t start with Darth Vader. For me, he was this ominous, overpowering, force of nature who just embarrassed anyone willing, or dumb enough, to stand in his way. Then the prequels happened and we were introduced to Anakin Skywalker; A Vader before Vader. Those films sucked, with the exception of the last hour or so of the third, but it gave me a version of Vader i didn't think I'd ever see and i wanted so much more. Thankfully, Clone Wars redeemed those films and introduced my second favorite character in the entire series, Ahsoka Tano. Like most fans, I hated this kid so much in the beginning but, as the show progressed, Ahsoka became, arguably, the most developed character in the entire franchise and number two on my list. It helped tremendously that number one was her Master and their dynamic was pure, serotonin inducing, joy. And then things went bad. Anakin was Destroyed. Vader was created. Ahsoka was lost. That sh*t hurt. I never lost hope in seeing Snips again and Filoni rewarded my faith with her appearance in Rebels, and then again in Mando. The second they announce Ms. Tano was going to get her own series, i was all over it. Well, Ahsoka has finally dropped and I am decidedly meh about it.

After three episodes, I find myself at an impasse. It’s more confliction than anything. I was never a huge fan of Rebels but I didn't outright hate the show like a lot of the fandom. There were aspects i enjoyed, Ezra was not one of them, but Sabine Wren, is. Officially adding her to the Disaster Lineage by making her Ahsoka’s Padawan is everything to my Imperial heart. It makes so much sense that it would be Sabine, basically a Mando version of Ahsoka, herself, who would end up being Ahsoka's first student. Witnessing Snips make the same faces as Skyguy when her own Padawan does the same reckless sh*t she did when she was a Padawan, is just perfect. So why don’t i like this show more? I mean, if we’re being perfectly honest, this thing is tailor-made for me. The titular characters is basically my second favorite of the entire franchise, continuing her exceptional development in what has turned out to be the most gorgeous of the Star Wars serials. It focuses on Jedi and the force, aspects that always draw me in. There’s promise of an Anakin sighting in an interaction with an adult Snips, which I have wanted since Rosario first popped up on screen in that orange body paint. And, most important, this sh*t is a straight up adaption of Heir to the Empire. Obviously, it's going the way of “inspired by” but still, we're talking Thrawn and maybe Mara Jade. I Should absolutely adore this show so why am i so goddamn lukewarm?

I don't have an answer and that bugs the f*ck out of me. It's not Star Wars fatigue because there's no way i would get tired of sci-fi wizard having telekinetic laser sword fights ins space. That sentence just kills. It's not the performances because, even though everyone says they're wooden, they didn't seem that way to me. They seemed aloof and stoic; The way all those powerful in the force act. I already mentioned how gorgeous the show looks, you see every penny on screen, and even the practical sh*t looks really great. I mean, look at Hera's leku. They blend that obvious headpiece perfectly on to MEW's head. Speaking of, Mary Elizabeth Winstead is just another stroke of inspired casting after Rosario's Ahsoka, Natasha Liu Bordizzo's Sabine, and Lars Mikkelsen's Thrawn. I've heard grumblings that this has too much “GUUURL power” but I've never subscribed to that. The Force has always been Female and cats just need to get over that sh*t. I mean, Abeloth, the most powerful force entity in the entity of Legends, presents female so, you know, there's that. The pacing didn't bother me either but I'm a fan and enjoy the exposition and easter eggs. Again, tailor-made for me. This sh*t should have been an easy win for someone like me and it's not. Like, it's not a bad show and I am enjoying it, but this thing is definitely missing something and I cannot, for the life of me, put my finger on it.

[smokeybrand]

Lowered Expectations

If you know me, you know I shill hard for all things Star Wars. This blog is riddled with so much Star Wars content, it’s absurd. While I consider myself a fan of the greater universe, I’d be lying if I said my adoration didn’t start with Darth Vader. For me, he was this ominous, overpowering, force of nature who just embarrassed anyone willing, or dumb enough, to stand in his way. Then the prequels happened and we were introduced to Anakin Skywalker; A Vader before Vader. Those films sucked, with the exception of the last hour or so of the third, but it gave me a version of Vader i didn't think I'd ever see and i wanted so much more. Thankfully, Clone Wars redeemed those films and introduced my second favorite character in the entire series, Ahsoka Tano. Like most fans, I hated this kid so much in the beginning but, as the show progressed, Ahsoka became, arguably, the most developed character in the entire franchise and number two on my list. It helped tremendously that number one was her Master and their dynamic was pure, serotonin inducing, joy. And then things went bad. Anakin was Destroyed. Vader was created. Ahsoka was lost. That sh*t hurt. I never lost hope in seeing Snips again and Filoni rewarded my faith with her appearance in Rebels, and then again in Mando. The second they announce Ms. Tano was going to get her own series, i was all over it. Well, Ahsoka has finally dropped and I am decidedly meh about it.

After three episodes, I find myself at an impasse. It’s more confliction than anything. I was never a huge fan of Rebels but I didn't outright hate the show like a lot of the fandom. There were aspects i enjoyed, Ezra was not one of them, but Sabine Wren, is. Officially adding her to the Disaster Lineage by making her Ahsoka’s Padawan is everything to my Imperial heart. It makes so much sense that it would be Sabine, basically a Mando version of Ahsoka, herself, who would end up being Ahsoka's first student. Witnessing Snips make the same faces as Skyguy when her own Padawan does the same reckless sh*t she did when she was a Padawan, is just perfect. So why don’t i like this show more? I mean, if we’re being perfectly honest, this thing is tailor-made for me. The titular characters is basically my second favorite of the entire franchise, continuing her exceptional development in what has turned out to be the most gorgeous of the Star Wars serials. It focuses on Jedi and the force, aspects that always draw me in. There’s promise of an Anakin sighting in an interaction with an adult Snips, which I have wanted since Rosario first popped up on screen in that orange body paint. And, most important, this sh*t is a straight up adaption of Heir to the Empire. Obviously, it's going the way of “inspired by” but still, we're talking Thrawn and maybe Mara Jade. I Should absolutely adore this show so why am i so goddamn lukewarm?

I don't have an answer and that bugs the f*ck out of me. It's not Star Wars fatigue because there's no way i would get tired of sci-fi wizard having telekinetic laser sword fights ins space. That sentence just kills. It's not the performances because, even though everyone says they're wooden, they didn't seem that way to me. They seemed aloof and stoic; The way all those powerful in the force act. I already mentioned how gorgeous the show looks, you see every penny on screen, and even the practical sh*t looks really great. I mean, look at Hera's leku. They blend that obvious headpiece perfectly on to MEW's head. Speaking of, Mary Elizabeth Winstead is just another stroke of inspired casting after Rosario's Ahsoka, Natasha Liu Bordizzo's Sabine, and Lars Mikkelsen's Thrawn. I've heard grumblings that this has too much “GUUURL power” but I've never subscribed to that. The Force has always been Female and cats just need to get over that sh*t. I mean, Abeloth, the most powerful force entity in the entity of Legends, presents female so, you know, there's that. The pacing didn't bother me either but I'm a fan and enjoy the exposition and easter eggs. Again, tailor-made for me. This sh*t should have been an easy win for someone like me and it's not. Like, it's not a bad show and I am enjoying it, but this thing is definitely missing something and I cannot, for the life of me, put my finger on it.