#i was ahsoka in one of these see if you can guess which one
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voidartisan · 1 year ago
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Welp. It's the end of the semester again, so...
Jedi Council (& Co.) as Things That Have Been Said in My Classes or Apartment
(very long post incoming)
Mace: Obviously this is God's favorite dinosaur
Plo: I will pardon the mime
Obi-Wan: If God punches you in the face, then you deserved it.
Shaak Ti: Did you just misgender my plant?
Sasee Tiin: Never give up on your dreams kids, but remember to lower your expectations.
Obi-Wan: Bless his FLIPPIN' soul
*During a training exercise* Mace: Do you have a girlfriend? Fives: No Mace: Well today you do Fives: Awesome, thank you
Obi-Wan: I'm running on happy thoughts and ibuprofen and I'm running out of both
Plo: Would you like to jaywalk with me?
Even Piell: You're going places, kid. Maybe jail.
Yoda: Willing to steal another, I am
Mace: You know what the best way to avoid Alzheimer's is? Caleb:...exercise? Mace: Die young
Shaak Ti: I'm not sure I would trust anyone with my baby. Especially not a man in tights.
Plo: Last time I got in trouble for using the word "quirky." Ahsoka: No, you got in trouble for applying it to the Trade Federation
Kit Fisto: I'm really glad that oranges are one of the foods that have peels. I mean, look at this thing. If it were just left on the tree it would be unusable. I'm kind of surprised more things don't have peels. Depa: I don't know, I feel like a lot of foods have peels Kit: Kit: Oh maker, you're right. This is blowing my mind. Name one food without a peel. Depa: Doritos Kit: You got me there
Ahsoka, struggling with homework: Brains are hard. Yoda: Hrm. Squishy, I thought they were.
Kit, sitting down between Anakin and Padme: Forget leave room for Jesus, leave room for Kit. Every relationship could use a little more Kit.
Depa: Welp. Made direct eye contact with THAT person out the window
Plo: Would you like to be my adopted daughters? Trace: I mean...sure? Plo: Great! You're in.
Anakin, picking a piece of strawberry up off the floor: Do I have to throw this away now or can I just rinse it off and eat it? Ahsoka: I think that's up to you. Obi-Wan: Risk-reward, Anakin. It's just a piece of strawberry. Anakin: Risk *pops strawberry into mouth* Obi-Wan: THAT'S NOT WHAT THAT MEANS
Quinlan: What the fo' shizzle is goin' on in the House of the Commons my dude?
Mace: There's something about putting artichoke on pizza that feels...unethical
Anakin: You're crazy Obi-Wan: I respect your choice Anakin: I don't
Depa: My onion is growing another onion Mace: Congratulations, you're a grandmother
Kit: It ended in a dance party. All the best movies end in dance parties, like Shrek, Shrek 2---
Mace: I am suspicious of the powders
Oppo Rancis: I can't think of his name. There was this senator, he lied and cheated his way into office--- Obi-Wan: Which one?
Depa: I put so much garlic in this it's hurting my eyes. I can't wait to eat it.
Obi-Wan: I'm having an existential crisis. Yoda: *plays Dancing Queen by ABBA*
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dixieconley · 11 months ago
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How did Obi-Wan not notice the thing with R2D2?? And what if he did?
Obi-Wan: We need to talk about your issues with attachment. Anakin: ::panicking, thinking Obi-Wan's found out about his marriage:: You had a relationship with Satine Kryze! Obi-Wan: … And Ki-Adi-Mundi is married. Jedi can have relationships, Anakin. We've talked about this. Anakin: … I think I would have remembered that.
[Many many past conversations: Obi-Wan: ::lecturing:: Attachment… the code… meditation. Anakin: ::busy tinkering:: Yes, yes, master. Whatever you say, master. Obi-Wan: This is fine. This absolutely will not come back to bite me in the ass later.]
Obi-Wan: Regardless, we need to talk about your attachment issues. Anakin: What issues? You just *said* marriage is okay. Obi-Wan: ::derailed:: What's that about marriage? Anakin: This isn't about me and Padme being married? Obi-Wan: … Obi-Wan: No. Anakin: This is about what I did when my mom died then, isn't it? Obi-Wan: … Anakin: ::getting defensive:: They deserved it! Tuskens are animals. Obi-Wan: ::rubbing his nose:: Anakin. Stop guessing. You're literally making this worse with every word out of your mouth. There happens to be a Tusken Jedi. You've *met* him. Anakin:: ::sheepish:: Oh. So, um, what's this about then? ::finally listening for the first time in the past three years:: Obi-Wan: I came here to talk to you about the salvage operation you ran to rescue R2D2. Anakin: ::puzzled:: Master? You ordered me to go on that mission. Obi-Wan: ::pinching his nose:: Anakin, you do realize that the mission would have been completely unnecessary had you just wiped the droid as per procedure? Anakin: But R2's my buddy. I wouldn't do that to him. Obi-Wan: You got all but two of the men who went with you killed in an attempt to rescue a droid! Anakin: So? I would have done the same for Padme. Or Ahsoka, Obi-Wan: … Obi-Wan: You see no issue in trading sentient lives for an inanimate object. That, Anakin is the very definition of attachment and why you either see a mind healer or go to Jedi jail. Anakin: What? You can't make me see a mind healer! Obi-Wan: You're right. Jedi Jail it is. Anakin: Noooo! I'm gonna tell my good friend the Chancellor on you! Obi-Wan: ::fed-up with everything and feeling both sassy and sarcastic:: Oh, and what's he going to do, order the clones to turn on us and massacre all the Jedi right down to the initiates in the creche? The Force: ::shouting:: YES!!! Obi-Wan:: ::facepalm:: That absolutely came back and bit me in the ass.
Later: Cody: You have a Jedi jail? Obi-Wan: No. Cody: Sir? Obi-Wan: Seemed like a safe bet. ::bitter: He obviously ignored everything else I tried to teach him. Cody: Jedi can marry? Obi-Wan: Yes. Cody: Jedi. As in you. Obi-Wan: As in... Cody: ::suddenly two inches closer:: Obi-Wan: ::squeaking:: Me? Cody: ::smoulders:: Obi-Wan: After the war. Chain of command. Would be inappropriate. Because reasons. Cody: I see.
Two days later: Fox: ::eyeing the assortment of munitions Cody's just laid on his desk, including, but not limited to, slug throwers, thermal detonators, a handful of droid poppers and a rotary cannon:: So you say that the chancellor's a direct threat to the military command of the GAR and that I get to kill him if I agree to mute my external audio pickup and follow your orders? Cody: Yes. Is there a problem? ::looms menacingly:: Fox: ::jumps up:: No takesies backsies! Thorn! Thire! It's Lifeday and Cody's just got us all a present!
~~~
Palps gets wrekt. The Corries have the Best. Day. Ever.
Cody and Obi-Wan swear the riduurok. No one is surprised.
The mind healers ending *building* a Jedi jail just so they don't have to listen to Anakin whine any longer. (R2D2 has the option of joining Anakin. Which, no. C3PO is welcome to that. R2D2 is having none of that shit. Time to head back to his original family -- the handmaidens of Naboo. Who will let him have a little murder. As a treat.)
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eobe · 12 days ago
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And here he is – Captain Vaughn 🤩
Captain Rex didn’t feel like being Commander, but this is how we got Captain Vaughn, showing his loyalty and kindness only within moments in the 332nd company for Ahsoka (s7e9), so he's one of the underrated clones which would have deserved more sceentime *sigh* ♥️
We never got to see his face, so there’s so much space for head canons, isn’t it? 🥰 His look in this piece is inspired by this gorgeous look (<-) designed by @lonewolflupe 🫶 
I also want to share some process magic while I was working on Captain Vaughn, so ramble incoming 😁 Take a seat and have a caf ☕️ 
It’s always the eyes when I draw. They just lead the main energy of the character and that influences the face. So I sketched line after line and his face got clearer… with some unforeseen vibes! Since I’m not that fixed to templates anymore, there can be more variation, no matter how much I try to catch the right copy paste clone-face angles... or even colors 🤯 
Have a closer look into unusual clone eyes, oh yes 👀
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Lupe and I were chatting about his lighter look with freckles in her artwork (a bit Tech color palette with golden and copper tones) and I told her that I don’t know why, but I feel like some heterochromia in his eyes 😀 So his eyes are like this now – not planned and unforeseen, like it is often when art takes over ✨
I really don’t know what the Kaminoans were doing during the cloning process 😂 but we got some varied clones – for example ‚icy eyes‘ Edge from the Tango company, or the blue eyed drunk one meeting Fives in front of the 79s (I named him ‚Blues‘ hehe 😜).
Without guiding my lines along a template, doing everything out of my mind, sometimes I might get either feeling like crooked fingers or odd sight, but this can be the point where the true art magic begins, because I’m not in charge anymore. I can only shrug and surrender to the flow and I love it 🥰
So I don’t know when it happened, but look at him… 👀 WHY does he look a bit like Echo? AND Rex? And there’s something soft in his eyes what reminds me of Kix, too? And it just fits his calm and loyal character!
For Commander Wolffe for example it could never be this face and it would never happen in the drawing process like that, it wouldn’t fit, but… I’m rambling – I could never point to the lines or the moment where things like this happen. Yeah, they’re all clones and share the same face, but faces do shape after their thoughts, experiences and their lives – more frowning or more smiling 😀
Oh, I love this. Not really being in charge while drawing, but achieving so much more without being under the illusion of the concept of control what is we’re all be taught… holy force I’m really rambling and diving
Sorry not sorry, art is my passion I guess and art is my healing thing, too 🤩 I’m proud of you, if you read all this! Enjoy 🫶 
My personal ALT text mission (1 additional ALT text for a previous artwork with each new art posting!):
Captain Gregor's faces part 1 one of my oldest clone drawings, what an improving process since then, I barely can't believe it 🤩
Taglist: @eclec-tech @bixlasagna @returnofthepineapple @sunshinesdaydream @covert1ntrovert @general-ida-raven @vrycurious @dystopicjumpsuit @chaicilatte @groguandthebadbatch @justanotherdikutsimp @ladylucksrogue
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david-talks-sw · 8 months ago
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I got a good feeling about "The Acolyte"
Not even kidding. Like, I've spoken before about why I'm wary of it.
George Lucas' Star Wars is something that intentionally has black and white morality, rather than shades of gray. Those movies are meant for kids and projecting a "gray" morality onto them then proclaiming it was George's vision all along is doing so in bad faith.
The narrative of the Prequels doesn't frame the Prequel Jedi in as negative a light as Leslye Headland, Dave Filoni, etc etc do.
See here for more details, but bottom line: yeah, a show that has a darksider as the underdog is bound to demonize the Jedi (who are the actual underdogs in the Prequels), and obviously that rubs me the wrong way.
BUT.
The trailer looks fucking cool. It really really does.
youtube
And more importantly? I've done some research... and Leslye Headland is ticking a lot of good boxes, in my book.
1. The Acolyte won't be a 10-hour movie.
I've criticized Disney Plus shows before, explaining that a big source for most of their issues is that these series are being structured as "long movies" rather than, y'know, actual shows.
But in this interview with Collider, Headland addresses that: it'll be a series. Not a long movie that you need to watch across four weeks.
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Thank God. You have no idea how much that comforts me. Finally a showrunner who's, y'know, actually running a show.
And this goes hand in hand with what she told IGN, here, about how she's going about building suspense.
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Yes! Exactly! That's how it's supposed to be!
Like, compare this to Baylan Skoll's storyline in Ahsoka.
In no possible way was that emotionally-fulfilling. For 8 episodes we had no idea what he was after, and the season ended where we still don't know. What does he want? What is he after? Your guess is as good as mine, it's something Mortis-related.
So yeah. Maybe getting the Emmy-nominated trained screenwriter on board to run this was a good idea.
2. Maybe the Jedi will not be as demonized as I originally thought.
Don't get me wrong. 80% of what she says about the Jedi makes me cringe. It's the typical fan's interpretation and y'all know I disagree with that interpretation.
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It's painful to see her refer to the Jedi as an institution (not how the Prequels' narrative frames them) and to see her frame "Balance" in the "oh there's so many of them and just two Sith, that means the Force is out of balance" meaning... but at least she acknowledges the Jedi are a benevolent institution.
They're not an "elitist force hiding in their ivory tower" as others have described the Jedi.
Moreover, there'll be a variety of Jedi POVs, many personalities.
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Yord Fandar, is described as a strictly by-the-book Jedi Knight and guardian from the Jedi Temple, is an overachiever and a rule follower.
The question now becomes: will the narrative frame him as "your typical Jedi" or is it just this one guy? I'm hoping it's the latter.
I also like how her reasoning goes re: Jedi drawing their lightsabers.
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Which explains the hand-to-hand combat seen in the trailer.
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This teenager is coming at Carrie-Ann Moss with a dagger, of course the Jedi won't draw her saber.
3. She's a fan of Star Wars... but a screenwriter first.
You can tell in the interviews she's a fan. She's using words like "BBY" and "EU" casually. In the above-linked interviews she's bringing up the Nightsisters, Timothy Zahn, The Clone Wars, she mentions she has a tattoo of Ralph McQuarrie's concept art of Leia, the High Republic books, etc.
She's done her homework. She's a fan.
But the vibe I'm getting from these interviews is that she's weaving in these various lore-elements in a more organic way, rather than in the "fan-servicey" way Dave Filoni has been doing in his shows.
The references and Easter Eggs will be there, but the narrative won't bend over itself just so you can get it. Crafting a good story comes first, and Andor is a beautiful illustration of why this is true.
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Which is why I was never bothered about one of the writers never having watched Star Wars before getting the job. You need those fresh eyes when you're tackling something of this scale.
That makes sense to me. Maybe it's because of my own screenwriting experience, but yeah. That out-of-the box perspective is precious.
And like, obviously, that writer watched the films eventually, but for some reason everyone who bitched about Headland omitted that detail and opted for a more bad faith interpretation.
Hm. Wonder why.
Maybe it's the same reason that months ago this clipped audio circulated socials without context, in which she debates whether Star Wars only came from George Lucas and only Lucas is the key.
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The FULL context of that interview reveals that she's actually:
debating the "autheur director" myth and positing that it was achieved by a collective of excellent filmmakers and craftspeople that George was skilled and smart enough to recruit...
the studios now think it's a simple as hiring one guy and throwing money at him, because they have no idea what the fuck they're talking about. See Napoleon (2023) for example.
Yes, she also does a jab to the Prequels, which speaks to the generation of fans she's a part of... but overall she's giving Lucas props whilst also stating an ideological difference, that's it!
George is a proponent of the "autheur" theory, Leslye isn't.
However, guess what, in like half the talks George gave post-selling Star Wars? He's giving shoutouts to everyone who helped make the first film, even remembering their names.
So I'm not even sure he'd vehemently disagree with Leslye, in fact they'd prolly have a conversation about it and immediately bitch about how stupid studio executives are :D
But that's not as incendiary, is it? Again, the more I do the research, the more it feels like the reason most of these influencers are hating on her is purely sexist.
I mean, on IGN she's even acknowledging that she does plan on taking stock of fan reactions for Season 2.
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It's not a guarantee that she'll incorporate the feedback, but at least that's more consideration than, say, JJ Abrams or Rian Johnson gave the fandom.
She's even bringing the moral ambiguity that the Gray Jedi-loving edge-lords love so much.
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"No, she's a woke feminist! Anything she does is evil! Eww, girls!"
🙄
Needless to say... I'm gonna give it a shot.
I think it's gonna be a good show, I think it's gonna be a solid story.
I'm crossing my fingers that they won't as biased against the Jedi as it seems they'll be. Even if they are... if it's still an enjoyable experience, I'll gloss over it.
As @gffa states in this post:
Worst case? It's not a story from George. I can dismiss it from my headcanon without a moment's hesitation :D
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stealingpotatoes · 1 year ago
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The last episode of Ahsoka-
Literally- blow my mind- I had to stand up at least 3 times cause I was just so ???!!!!! !?!?!?!?!?!?!!??
Words can’t describe
The feeling that felt - xD
YEAH IM GONNA GO INSANE UNDER THE CUT ONE SECOND:
BITING THE FUCKING DRYWALL. BITING THE DRYWALL GNAWING CLAWING AND EATING IT. IM JUST. WHEN THE STAR WARS IS GOOD!! WHEN THE FANSERVICE ACTUALLY MAKES SENSE!!!! LIKE YES WE GOT TO SEE TCW ANAKIN AND TCW AHSOKA IN LIVE ACTION BUT IT ALSO ADDED TO THE STORY AND GAVE US CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT FOR AHSOKA AND SAID YEAH, THE FUN TONE OF CLONE WARS WAS BC THE CHARACTERS COULDN'T DEAL WITH IT ANY OTHER WAY. THEY WERE PEACEKEEPERS AND CHILD SOLDIERS WATCHING FRIENDS DIE ON THE DAILY AND IF THEY DIDNT JOKE THEN THE GRIEF WOULD TAKE OVER. AND THEY DONT SEE THAT IN THE MOMENT BUT ADULT AHSOKA REALISES HOW STRANGE IT IS
AND YEAH HAVING HER PLAYED BY A CHILD (also wow ariana greenblatt does such a good job i literally cant not imagine her when i think of babysoka now) RLLY DRIVES HOME HOW YOUNG SHE WAS. HOW FUCKED UP IT WAS. BUT ALSO WHAT THE CONSEQUENCES OF WAR ARE!! ALL THIS SAID WHILE FORCE SENSITIVE CHILD JACEN'S SO HEAVILY IN THIS EPISODE. AND W THE KANAN MENTION!!!! LIKE ITS POINTING OUT LOOK THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS IN WAR AND IF AHSOKA DOESN'T END THIS THEN JACEN WILL HAVE TO BE LIKE HER AND HIS FATHER AND I AM ONCE AGAIN BITING AT THE DRYWALL. IT DIDNT JUST GIVE CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT IT GRABS YOU BY THE FACE AND SAYS THE RETURN OF THE EMPIRE IS SERIOUS. WAR IS SERIOUS. ITS NOT THE CARTOON YOU GREW UP WITH.
AND ALL OF ANAKIN JUST GESTURES TO ALL OF THAT. HAYDEN SLAYED SERVED CUNT THROUGHOUT HE'S SUCH A GREAT ANAKIN NOW HE HAD SO MUCH RANGE TO THE CHARACTER AND THE FLICKERING ANIVADER AND RED LIGHTSABER. HE'S BOTH AT ONCE AND AHSOKA HAS TO ACCEPT THIS AND IM EATING DRYWALL AGAIN.
calming down for 2 seconds the cinematography was great this episode and the pacing was a definite improvement from ep1, which filoni also directed! this played into his directing strengths a lot better w the action and emotion. i won't lie i'm still not sold on the show as a whole i do think eps 1-3 were okay i guess, 4 was a step up and 5 is like. wow ok go girl. also the way they used anivader in this episode made me rlly sad for the kenobi show bc that show should've been smthn like this, using him as a vision for obi-wan's development instead of the villain of the show bc thats a tired fight but hey! this is abt ahsoka not kenobi i digress. SPEAKING OF loved how it was actually ABOUT the titular character for once. anyway. going insane. i don't have too much faith the show can keep this up but i'll be happy if it can reach smthn close to this as it goes on
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queenie-official · 1 year ago
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Chapter Seven: ‘Something New’ Bridgerton Au!Anakin
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Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
a/n: i’m back 🤭 this is a lot of fluff y’all so i hope you eat it up 💪💪 it’s bit long because i sort of combined chapter 7 and chapter 8 since it made more sense for it to be in this one compared to what i have planned out. anyways that’s all i’ve got say love you all 💋💋
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seven days, that’s how long you had with Anakin before the responsibilities of the world would catch up with you two. seven days then your honeymoon would be over. thankfully even though the first day was a little bit of a rough start it was what you needed to begin truly getting to know each other. and that’s exactly what you’d been doing, over the last four days you’d learned a lot about him- like his favorite color was light blue. and he wasn’t the youngest but in fact had a little sister making him the middle child, which honestly explained a lot.
you were currently taking a stroll with him in the royal garden, conversing and listening to him explain his family dynamic a bit more thoroughly. Anakin had told you how he’d purposely mess with his older brother to keep him on his toes since in his words ‘he’d be to stuck up and a complete stick in the mud’ if he wasn’t there. which prompted you to then ask what would he be now since he was here.
“that’s what my little sister is for, she looks up to me. practically a mini me but smarter” you snort a laugh at that and he smiles brighter. he truly had a pretty smile. “you sound like you adore her” you say with a soft smile and he chuckles “i do but never tell her i said that.” you quirk a brow “why not?” you ask curiously. “because she’d never let me live it down” he states a bit dramatically but completely serious and you can’t help the smile that never leaves your face only growing with each interaction.
“so Obi-Wan can never escape you then” you voice the thought out loud and Anakin laughs, everything about him you’ve been finding incredibly charming. “oh yea he’s never going to have it easy- Ahsoka is like my apprentice of mischief. star pupil” he said with a mischievous smile leaning in towards you as he speaks making you blush slightly. “only pupil” you point out and he rolls his eyes “for now.” your brows knit together in confusion “what’s that supposed to mean?”
“time will tell” he says with a shrug, you scoff and think about pressing more but decide to drop it. you’re both quiet for a moment, silently enjoying one another’s company as you continue the walk in the garden. the warm sun and floral smell from all the flowers creating the perfect bubble. it was your idea, coming on this walk- in fact you insisted he’d join you so you could show him your favorite spot. he seemed reluctant at first but you quickly realized that was just him messing with you and not how he truly felt. you felt your mind wonder back to his sister “it sounds like she cares about you as much as you do her, so how come she wasn’t at the wedding?”
“my mother was afraid she’d cause a scene- which to be fair i wouldn’t put it past her, she can be a bit….snippy and she’s not afraid to speak her mind it was just not the right time or place for that.” you let his answer hang in the air for a bit, in all honesty she sounded like a good person. a free spirit for sure but still a good person “she sounds like she’d make a good leader” you offer as a response. “i suppose” he says with a wrinkled nose, clearly not agreeing with the thought. “i personally can’t see her as much more than a bratty teen.”
“i’m sure that’s how Obi-Wan feels about you” you counter and he can’t help but laugh “well then i guess i got a taste of my own medicine” you giggle at the thought and begin to lead Anakin across the bridge. you where close to the spot you wanted to show him now, just a bit more of a walk but Anakin had stopped. when you turned to see why his footsteps ceased you where met with him looking over the bridge out across the water admiring the view of the fish swimming up the stream and the way the sun reflected across it. you take a moment to admire him first before walking back over and standing beside him to look over the stream yourself.
“i wish i could meet her, i feel like id love her” it came out soft, almost like you hadn’t fully meant to say it out loud. you could feel his eyes on you now, and then a sudden warmth on your back. his hand was pressed against the small of it, you had to fight back the way your cheeks burned at the action. “if she warmed up to you i think she’d like you as well” he says and you finally force yourself to meet his gaze. “as of right now i’m guessing she’s not to keen on me” you ask with a tilt to your head and he bites back a smile. “very much so” not surprising you did technically take away her brother.
“she’s the main reason i agreed” you blink a few times trying to process what he meant. “huh?” he pulled his hand from you and you had to fight a frown at the loss of contact as you watched him lean an elbow on the bridge railing “well i wasn’t really given a choice- but the reason i was so compliant in the matter, and i know this is selfish. was for her not my kingdom.” you mimic his actions leaning onto the bridge railing yourself as you listened to him speak carefully.
“the kingdom of Tatooine is falling, already on its last leg. i knew if i went along and everything went well then we would get the support we need from Alderaan, which would mean my sister would not have to bare witness to what would happen if we hadn’t gotten the proposal and that was the only reason i was remotely okay with everything.” you felt your heart tug at the confession, that familiar feeling of guilt resurfacing. “you’re a good brother Anakin” he smiled at the sentiment. a small silence filled the air before he spoke again.
“could you tell Obi-Wan that, he seems insistent on the fact i’m nothing but a bad influence” clearly the conversation had gotten a bit to emotional for his liking judging by how quick he was to play it off. you smile at that and pull off from the railing “well i never said you weren’t a bad influence.” you retort as you begin to walk off the bridge and continue the original intention of this walk. “ouch, you wound me” he places his hand over his heart in mock offense “honestly me a bad influence? doesn’t even begin to sound true.” he was smiling as he said it unable to take himself seriously with that statement and you can’t help but laugh “you are full of yourself.” he shrugs “i think i have every right to be” he says smugly and you can’t help but roll your eyes.
“so what does Tatooine need most?” you ask, promptly changing the question as you both round a corner, now in a much smaller section of the garden. the flowers where much more overgrown here the only clear pathway was leading to the center of some pillars. you turn to him with a smile, this was what you wanted to show him. it was your favorite place to hide when you where younger and upset. you’d stumbled across it on accident but it quickly became your favorite place.
he raised a brow but smiled regardless, taking the time to look around before following you up the path. the center of the pillars was clear just a bunch of grass. you plopped down on the ground opting to lay rather then sit after all your dress wasn’t exactly the sitting kind. he stood over you for a moment looking down and contemplating something, you weren’t sure what but you decided to just brush it off once he followed suit and laid down beside you. “what do you mean” he finally asks in response to your question. “i know our coronation isn’t for another few days but we could begin preparations now, and then once we are officially crowned we can take immediate action. so what in your opinion does Tatooine need most?” you explain, turning your head to the side to face him. tracing over his jaw with your eyes and trying to memorize each detail of his face from this angle as he thinks. it was strange how quickly you found yourself falling for him, but he made it easy and you honestly weren’t mad about it.
“the route of our problems is lack of funds. we have a high crime rate, not for lack of laws but lack of ways to in-force them.” he begins and you move your gaze back upwards, staring out at the passing clouds. “go on” this time he turned to look at you “the only jail we have is the palace dungeons, outside of that there’s nothing. and there chalk full already. we’ve thought of building more but all of the money rightfully goes towards feeding the people” he continues and you nod, turning back so you both where facing each other now. “so funds and military support would be most welcome?” you ask carefully wanting to make sure you got what he was implying.
“yes, of course food and supplies would also be a good help but with money they’d be able to buy their own” you hum a brief response before giving him an affirming nod “understood, then we have our priorities” he raises a brow, a small half smile appearing on his face “just like that?” you smile back “well we are to be king and queen, our word is law.” not entirely true, you both did have your own set of rules and regulations to follow. but overall you two where at the top, the people look to you not parliament. “i guess being a king isn’t as bad as i thought” he joked.
a comfortable silence fell once more, only this time you where staring at each other when it happened. you hadn’t realized just how close he’d laid next to you until now, his entire body pressed against your side. faces only inches apart, if you moved any closer you’d kiss. the thought made your stomach erupt with butterflies, it wouldn’t be your first kiss since technically that happened on your wedding day. however it was different then than now. now it was you wanting to kiss him and not a requirement, you felt uneasy. not use to this type of thing, you force yourself to break the eye contact looking back up to the sky before starting a conversation for a distraction.
“tell me more about Tatooine- the good parts what’s it like there?” you ask him and he laughs.“Tatooine has very few good things in my opinion- for starters we’re a desert kingdom, which means there’s sand for days.” he says annoyed and you turn your attention back to him with a raised brow “not a fan of sand?” you ask and bite back a laugh. “i hate it. it’s course and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere.” you couldn’t hold the laughter in anymore especially with how serious he meant it, brows furrowed like he was cursing the sand in his mind. “well remind me to never take you to a beach” you say in between giggles, it was his turn to roll his eyes at you as you kept laughing. “there is one thing that i love about Tatooine- aside from my family” his sentence pulls you back and you force yourself to calm down. “what’s that?” he relaxes more once you ask and smiles as he speaks “the races.”
“races?” he nods and begins to explain “we have horse races, i was a rider- against my mother and fathers wishes but they never exactly stopped me either. it’s not like i took place in the gambling side of things, i just like the adrenaline of it.” you watched as he spoke with the enthusiasm of a small child. it was cute and his eyes sparkled “have you ever won?” you wonder out loud. “oh yea just about every time i’ve raced, ill miss it” he says rather solemnly and that made your heart ache.
“what if we introduced the races to Alderaan? it seems like a harmless enough tradition” you spoke before really thinking and he snapped straight up like you’d just told him the best news in the world before he quickly shut himself down not sure if you where being serious. “honestly?” he presses needing confirmation before he allowed himself to be to excited. “why not, it could be fun a way to unite our kingdoms- people from Tatooine can come here to compete and vice versa.”
he’d kissed you then. it was gentle but passionate, a smile on his face the whole time. it made your head spin, face burn but you liked that and when he pulled away you did your best to act unaffected not quite ready to express yourself.
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The next two days with Anakin where just as sweet, you both where getting along great. opening up about any thought that came to mind. it was wonderful and then something changed.
you weren’t sure what caused it but he was acting different today. more shut off and distant, it hurt. this was the last day of your honeymoon and somehow you’d messed it up without even realizing. all day he’d been brushing you off and keeping as much physical distance as possible, your head was spinning trying to find where you’d gone wrong. each conversation you’ve had with him running on repeat looking for even the smallest inkling that you’d crossed a boundary of sorts but you kept coming up empty. you tried asking him what was wrong as well wanting to just rip off the bandaid but he simply said nothing was wrong.
talk about emotional whiplash, if nothing was wrong why was he acting this way. why would he not even let you get near him. you’d let him be alone for about an hour before you couldn’t take the pit of anxiety anymore and decided to face him once more. This time you weren’t going to stop asking him until you got an answer, so you made quick work to hunt him down. which was surprisingly easy compared to the last time he’d disappeared. you found him struggling to walk up the stairs, you where quick to rush up to him not even giving him a chance to process it was you who now stood beside him. “Anakin what happened?” you ask concerned reaching out to help him but he moves away from your touch. “i’m fine” he says curtly and you’re taken aback briefly but recover “are you confident in that fact because-“
“i said i’m fine!” he shouts and you go silent letting your arms fall to your side as you begin to pull back, feeling yourself mentally shutting down. you see a look of regret on his face when he finally looks at you, as well as a sheen of sweat on his forehead. actually now that you got a better look at him he was pale, sickly so. he took a deep bated breath before proceeding up the stairs.
“i mean it i’m fine.” you scoff at him before following behind, he was heading in the direction of his room and you where going to make sure he got there safely. “could you just leave me be” you roll your eyes and cross your arms “i’m not going anywhere Anakin so would you just let me help yo-” you watch as he began to fall backwards, in a panic you do your best to catch him only to realize just how heavy he was the second his weight hit your arms and you fall down with him.
he was out cold, you on the other hand where now stuck underneath him. at least you’d broken his fall.
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you wring out a wet cloth before placing it on his head that rested in your lap. you had gotten the attention of your guards and made them carry him to his room as you got a hold of the royal physician. that was two hours ago, now he was resting much more peacefully after he’d been woken up to take some medicine to help fight a fever. The Flu was what the physician said it was, and he’d insisted you not be in the room with Anakin in fear you might get it as well. as if that would stop you, he was sick and you wanted- needed to make sure he was okay. if you got sick in the process then oh well.
you watch over him carefully, running your fingers through his damp sweaty curls. what irked you about all of this was that he said nothing, suffered in silence instead of asking for your help. you thought you guys where finally getting somewhere. finally trusting one another- liking one another, learning to love one another and then he does this. ignores you, pushes you away when he needs you most. you see his eyes twitch and your mind goes blank, waiting patiently to see if he’d finally fully wake up. at least enough to have a conscious conversation.
soon enough his eyes do flutter open, looking around himself briefly to process his surrondings before looking at you. “you said you where fine” was the first thing out of your mouth a frown gracing your features and he had the audacity to smirk. “i was” he huffed, and you had to fight the urge to flick his head. “i’d believe you if you hadn’t passed out right after you said it” he remained silent after that statement and so did you. upset with his actions and not wanting to make a scene while he was sick you figured it best to just quit speaking entirely.
“why are you doing this” you raise a brow and he sighs knowing what you where going to ask “caring for me i mean” you feel your nose scrunch up, what a stupid question in your opinion. “I am your wife, it is my job” he closed his eyes at that “i didn’t think that applied to us” he said simply. “what?” your brows knit together “the duties of a married couple” he adds. it triggered you a bit, why would he think you wouldn’t want to help him. “you’re sick, was i just supposed to stand to the side and watch you suffer?” he opens his eyes and shrugs. “the vows i said may have been empty when i made them but i still made them nonetheless and i for one keep my promises.”
“so you’re only doing this out of obligation?” he asks and you frown “no-” he shifts slightly so that his head is more propped up on your thigh, closing his eyes and letting out a soft groan like it physically pained him to move. “then why? because you like me?” he smiles as he asks- unbelievable he could not possibly have the energy to be teasing you right now. “i’m doing this as your wife and nothing more” you say but it’s clear you aren’t being entirely truthful with that statement and you can tell by the look he gives you he’s not buying it.
“i think you just don’t want to confess you like me” he chuckles but quickly regrets it, closing his eyes again in pain. “if i did i would tell you” you say and begin to run your fingers through his hair again and watch as he relaxes. “well make sure you shout it” he mumbles. “i’m sorry?” he opens his eyes again, scanning over your face before answering “when you tell me you like me, shout it so i can hear you and know you mean it.”
“you’re delusional” you huff but can’t hide your smile and he’s quick to mirror you. “that’s probably the fever” he says with a shrug before allowing himself to doze back off to sleep in your lap.
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part 8
Tag List: @luvvfromme @gatekeepingirlboss @bimbo-baggins86 @iluvanakinskywalker @bby-imasociopath @curlycarley @burnthecheshirewitch @misscaller06
AHHH OKAY HERES CHAPTER SEVEN LOVES💋💋 side note i could not resist the urge to include Anakin’s hatred for sand- it was too good of an opportunity 😭 not to mention idk about you guys but i am completely with him on that ☝️as someone with sensory issues sand is one of my worst nightmares💀 anyway i hope you huns enjoyed Xx<3
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antianakin · 1 year ago
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I don’t know if you’re actually watching the Ahsoka series or not, but I was very curious on your thoughts on the newest episode, and the confrontation between Anakin and Ahsoka.
Bro traumatized her again. Lol. 😒🙃
I’m actually kind of satisfied that she showed a little resentment, but I still don’t like that she didn’t cuss him out or something.
Anakin not apologizing is infuriating at first glance, but I also think it fits his character.
It’s funny, if I think about it in a certain way: I wonder if Anakin himself views his “redemption” kind of the same way his fans do. He’s just like, “Why are you still pissed at me? I died stopping the Emperor, didn’t I?” 🙄
The only one I think he’d actually feel sad about is Leia, because of course he’d want his daughter to like him, but she never will now, because he fucking tortured her and blew up her planet.
You know… I don’t really view Anakin’s final moments as a true “redemption” in the eyes of the galaxy. George Lucas has a quote where he says parents are redeemed in the eyes of their children. I guess you could argue that Anakin redeemed himself in Luke’s eyes, but not the galaxy’s own.
And then there’s Leia, who will never forgive him or think of him as her father.
In a way, it’s almost fitting for Anakin, that each of his children represent something for him.
Luke represents forgiveness, and how it’s never too late to do the right thing.
Leia represents his mistakes and sins. As long as she lives, he’ll always look at her and remember the damage he’s done. She’d never let him forget it.
Which is funny, when going back to the recent Ahsoka episode, and how he was acting like a dick to Ahsoka.
Personally, I think he was purposely trying to piss her off to make her fight to not die.
Still though: he’s such a jackass. 😒
Anyways, I guess my main point is that I don’t view Anakin being a Force Ghost shows that he was “redeemed.” I view it more as a type of salvation. Like the Bible story where Jesus is on the cross with two other men next to him. And then one man decides to “believe in him” or whatever, and his soul is saved by the skin of his teeth.
This is kind of how I view Anakin’s act of saving Luke. His soul was saved, because he did a heel face turn at the last second. So The Force was like, “Good enough, I guess.” *Throws up hands*
Anyways, sorry for the long rambling. I hope you don’t mind the message. Haha. 😅 I just have found your blog really therapeutic, because while I like Anakin as the fascinating character that he is, it still just kills me how fandom woobifies him and blames the Jedi for their own genocide.
I don't mind this message at all, thanks so much for sending so many of your thoughts, this was great! It's going to be a long reply back, though, since there's so much to respond to and if you've been going through my blog, this probably won't surprise you.
I AM watching the Ahsoka show, I'm just putting my thoughts about it on a different blog to this one (this blog was created for me to be negative so I usually only review things on here if I KNOW I'm going to be negative about it, but I was hopeful I'd have positive things to say about the Ahsoka show lol).
I think I'm feeling RELATIVELY mediocre about the show. Like I don't hate the whole thing, I can see why it appeals to people, but it's not really hitting at what I would've wanted from a narrative perspective. It seems to be relying on fan service and pretty visuals rather than genuinely good writing to get them through. If you happen to be the fan being serviced, you probably like it fine. But if you are someone more like me, then you might be noticing that there aren't a lot of stakes, the character motivations are weak or missing, the two storylines aren't being spliced together very well, and the dialogue's just not that great. There's also several more nitpicky things that are really pissing me off about the show (the way they're treating Force sensitivity, Sabine being a Jedi at all for no good reason and how her character is being butchered, the very distant and aloof acting I feel like we're getting from everybody, and of course the requisite anti-Jedi bullshit that we can all expect from Filoni at this point).
But as for how I felt about Anakin and Ahsoka's scenes in the latest episode this week, I am personally of the opinion that it WASN'T Anakin at all. I know it's left ambiguous, so if people feel like it was truly Anakin in some way shape or form, that's fine, but I think it makes more sense to me personally that it wasn't. This is Ahsoka's manifestation of Anakin in a moment where she's literally drowning and emotionally at something of a low point and has to decide if she's going to live or not and that conflict plays out in her head the way we see it. I'm also open to the idea that this is one of those things where the Force "tests" the Jedi not unlike what we see happen on Ilum and Mortis and the Force is just utilizing Anakin's visage to bring Ahsoka's deepest fears out into the open.
What makes it interesting to me is that then we can look at the interactions as THIS IS HOW AHSOKA SEES HIM. Whether she thinks about it that deeply or not, THIS personality is how she remembers him. The immediate choice to be violent with her and test her fighting skills rather than talk to her more gently, the dismissive attitude he has towards her, the flickering back and forth between Anakin and Vader because she doesn't truly know which one he was most. He wasn't necessarily a great teacher and his way of teaching wasn't very Jedi-like, it's ruthless and merciless and unkind, and we see that reflected in their interactions in this episode, which could be a really interesting look at how Ahsoka still remembers him even if she didn't see it negatively at the time.
So him not apologizing isn't like... an indication of how Anakin might actually handle this interaction if it were truly him so much as just... Ahsoka being unsure sure if he WOULD apologize because she has no idea how much of him was Vader the entire time and Vader would clearly never apologize. I think the Anakin we see by the end of ROTJ probably would apologize at SOME point, especially if we're supposed to see him as redeemed and acknowledging/accepting of his sins, etc. But Ahsoka doesn't know that. Ahsoka probably kind-of knows through Luke that he turned back in his last moments, but she wasn't there for that, she didn't get to see it, and she obviously still has no idea what caused him to turn on the Jedi and become a Sith to begin with. Why did he come back for Luke and not her? Was it because she abandoned him? Did he just not care about her the way she thought? Was there something intrinsically wrong with her that he recognized from the beginning?
There's just too much uncertainty perhaps for Ahsoka to know if he'd actually apologize and she doesn't even necessarily need or want an apology so much as she just wants to UNDERSTAND. Because of course it leads into her doubts about HERSELF and whether being his apprentice (even for as short of a time as it was) has somehow influenced her to be more like him and if she should be worried that she'll go dark or cause a student of hers to go dark. If she doesn't know why HE made that choice, how can she trust herself? It's not entirely dissimilar to the statement she made at the end of the Wrong Jedi arc where she claims she's leaving the Jedi because if the Council couldn't trust her then she isn't sure she can trust herself, either. And now with Anakin going dark, she has to wonder if the Council saw something of that in her when no one else did, saw a future for her that she hadn't been able to see for herself yet.
I think personally I'd just rather look at this episode as the closest we're going to get to a "deep dive" into Ahsoka's psyche and character rather than try to analyze it as like "what does this say about Anakin." It's not Anakin's story anymore, it's Ahsoka's. Or it's supposed to be, anyway.
That all being said, I don't think it went far enough and I do dislike that we didn't get to dive into OTHER aspects of Ahsoka via other relationships in order to round out who she actually is. I don't think we know any more about her at the end of the episode than we did at the beginning. I don't think she really grows or changes through the episode at all. I don't know what the whole "choose to live" thing was about or how it connects to her overall arc because while, yes, she's obviously literally drowning in the moment, "choosing to live" is not something they've been exploring as an issue for Ahsoka throughout this season so far, so it didn't feel like this cool end to her character journey so much as just a really shallow one-liner made to sound badass without anything particularly profound behind it.
I think gffa said that one of the things you can tell about this show is that it's been percolating in Filoni's mind for so long that there's things he's leaving out because they're just totally obvious to him now and he's forgotten that the audience won't know some of it without being told or shown. If Ahsoka was depressed or suicidal or something like that, it never came across in the first four episodes. She barely seems to be struggling at all to me, personally. So maybe that's what Filoni wanted us to understand about her, maybe that was the intention, but it just didn't quite make it from his head into the writing or onto the screen.
And I keep going back to the Obi-Wan Kenobi show and the way they handled his character arc. They started him at a really low point where he's so CLEARLY depressed and just moving through life without actually living or finding any way to be happy. They spend so much time showing us how OUT of character Obi-Wan is in order for the pay off by the end and the slow growth of his character throughout the six episode story to feel satisfying. And while he's out of character in his depression, it's done in such a way that that's the POINT. We all know WHY he's out of character, we know what's causing him to be that way, it doesn't need to be explained because it didn't happen off-screen, it's literally the plot of an entire trilogy of films. It felt like a pretty natural extension of the state we last saw him in and it allows him the ability to actually have a journey that makes sense.
We've gotten NONE OF THAT for Ahsoka. Her relationship with Sabine is nonsensical and comes out of nowhere with zero explanation. Her weird thing about Padawans comes out of nowhere with zero explanation. Her aloof attitude is coming out of nowhere and does nothing to help us understand the state of mind she's in. She never seems to be acting SO out of character that it tells the audience how much she's struggling, but she's also SO flat that she no longer feels much like the Ahsoka everyone knew and loved from The Clone Wars. They're inventing new problems for her to have that make no sense instead of giving her a journey to actually deal with the problems she already had and hadn't gotten any resolution for. And they're unable to actually connect her problems from before into the Rebels storyline in a way that makes any real sense or feels genuine and meaningful for either Ahsoka or Sabine, so both storylines are getting half-assed and butchered in the attempt.
Personally, I think Ahsoka should've had a season set closer to ROTJ or even before it, just after she gets off of Malachor and 2-3 years prior to ANH, to explore her immediate reaction to Anakin's betrayal and have her overcome that on her own. Use original characters primarily, throw in Bail Organa or something if needed just to give her a quick plot, but let it be about AHSOKA. And only once her journey to finding herself is complete do we then move on to the Search for Ezra, which should be focusing WAY more on the Rebels characters than we're actually getting and should not involve any of the Rebels characters (except maybe Jacen) learning to be Jedi. Ahsoka would be a side character in this story because she has now had her story told and we can let Sabine and Ezra and Jacen and Hera be at the forefront of the story. (I also think we could've done something with Sabine that wasn't being a Jedi or her entire family being murdered off screen so she has an excuse to do a characterization 180 and act like a bratty teenager all over again.)
If I had to just change THIS episode a little, I have a few alternatives I've been thinking about. For one, I do just think we should've gotten to explore OTHER relationships beyond Anakin to emphasize the other things that Ahsoka is that aren't just "Anakin's Padawan." Rex, Barriss, Plo Koon, even Kanan or Ezra to try to make that connection to Rebels. She's been a friend, a commander, a rebel, a student, a mentor, an ally, a Jedi. She's been so many things that have nothing at all to do with Anakin and I think that might've been nice to explore as well. Yes, Anakin was important. Yes, she's fucked up about it. But that's not ALL THAT SHE IS. So I think starting off with her fears about Anakin is great, but then have her move on and sort-of go through it a little like Charles Dickens' A Christmas Story to show that she's more than this, too. This probably would've worked better if it had been a two parter thing rather than one 30-40 minute episode, depending on how many characters you wanted to throw in.
I also would've appreciated seeing her break and shatter at seeing Anakin. I wanted her to be ANGRY, to refuse to forgive him, to throw his betrayal in face. And then by the end of the episode, she lets it go. She's seen that she doesn't need to hold onto that anymore and it doesn't matter what choices Anakin did or didn't make, she's her own person and can make HER own choices. And so Anakin comes back at the end, and she's no longer angry. She can forgive him. I also would've wanted her to have been more snappy and frustrated and angry earlier in the season, as well, so we can TELL there's something simmering underneath that she's trying to keep repressed until it finally boils over in this episode.
The other alternative I came up with was the OPPOSITE idea where Ahsoka is basically just kind-of... in denial about it. She isn't acknowledging her own anger and pain and betrayal at all and she just wants to spend this time with Anakin the way they used to and Anakin is sitting there provoking her and trying to get her to break so she can let it all out. Eventually he gets her to admit it and get angry and yell at him and acknowledge her own pain finally so she can see how it's impacting her relationships in the present day. She's been trying up until now, but as Yoda's always said, sometimes trying isn't enough, and you just have to do or do not. She doesn't reject him at the end of this, but she can at least acknowledge what he did to her and how it's made her feel. You could even include some of her anti-Jedi bullshit in this and have her justifying Anakin's betrayal by saying the Jedi failed him the way they failed her and Anakin pushing back on that idea so that by the end of the episode, she can recognize that she's been blaming the Jedi because she's been uncomfortable with her inability to understand Anakin's choices and it was easier to blame the Jedi than live with that uncertainty.
I've discussed my feelings on Anakin's redemption a lot and they're definitely not in the majority. Personally, I just don't think he's redeemed at all. My definition of redemption is along the lines of "you can fix/undo the thing you broke/damaged" rather than just... "you decided to stop breaking things even if there's no way to fix it." It doesn't mean Anakin can't keep being a better person if he'd lived, or that he can't find redemption in more specific places (like Luke forgiving him for chopping off his hand), but that there is no redemption for what he did to the Jedi, to the clones, and to the galaxy at large. None. It doesn't matter what he does, it doesn't matter that he stopped himself and Palpatine, it doesn't MATTER. The Jedi and the Republic are still gone, the clones were still enslaved, the galaxy is still in shambles and traumatized from 25 years under the Empire.
You aren't the only one who's chosen to separate your definition of "redemption" from something else to make it make more sense. Someone else went for redemption being different from an absolution wherein you are just immediately forgiven of all of your sins because of one act or whatever, while redemption is the process of doing better. If that works for you, go for it. Personally, I just think Anakin isn't redeemed. He cheat coded his way into being a Ghost and the Ghosts don't make any sense anyway. I think it's definitely intended to represent his redemption IN THE NARRATIVE, like that's the point of the visual, but it just doesn't work for me, so I choose not to see it that way. It's ambiguous enough and the Force Ghost lore confusing enough that it's not that hard.
Your interpretation of Luke and Leia as the two sides of forgiveness is intriguing. I do think Leia could get to the point of forgiveness that basically looks like letting go of her anger because the man's dead anyway so there's no real point staying angry and understanding the history that may have led him to become the monster she knew, but that doesn't mean she has to LIKE him or ever consider him a father.
I think you could kind-of throw Ahsoka and Obi-Wan in there as different reactions to Anakin, too. With Ahsoka as someone who sort-of clings to who Anakin used to be and can't truly reconcile the two versions of him that she knew, and Obi-Wan as someone who rises above. Unlike Leia, he did know and love Anakin, but he is also able to let go of his anger and betrayal and accept Anakin for what he is now rather than pining for someone who no longer exists. And Ahsoka is the opposite of Luke as someone who also knew Anakin and loved him, but struggles a lot MORE with the revelation of who he was and his impact on her life. Everyone approaches Anakin and his relationship to them and his choices in a different way.
I wish the Ahsoka show wanted to explore any of that at all lol.
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legionofpotatoes · 1 year ago
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All other criticisms of modern Star Wars aside, the thing that gets me the most is how every single story is being written to fit into some Avengers-level grand finale that just isn't laying a solid enough foundation to make it worth the wait. Regardless of whether the individual stories are good or bad, what makes them fall so short, imo, is that there's usually no real payoff within their own runtimes (unless you count cheap callbacks or loose promises of More, which you shouldn't)
Like, I already knew halfway through Ahsoka that we were in for a cliffhanger and it's just like...alright, guess we'll see how this ends in about 5 years? Even Mando, which had a great first season and was poised to stand on its own two feet and ride off on a rootin' tootin' bounty huntin' adventure, has ultimately become yet another dusty path on the road to the current Big Plot with an indeterminate due date. That's not deliciously addictive media, it's a dry-ass carrot on a spindly little stick, lol
Of course, this is a problem that many franchises are happily getting cozy with lately because everybody wants to have their own Infinity War / Endgame moment, but I guess it seems a bit more egregious with Star Wars because, ironically, it used to work best because it had less overall focus. Like, sure, we had concurrent movies, animated series, and games, but they were always happy to do their own things and tell their own stories with definitive conclusions. Now it all has to funnel into the Big New Plot and, man, I honestly just can't bring myself to care when it feels like an endless waiting game
I definitely need to get around to watching Visions at some point because, every time it pops up, it sounds like the lifeblood that Star Wars sorely needs atm
Yeah the setup-and-payoff a-to-b type dramatic clarity that seemed so entrenched into the very bones of cinematic grammar - up to around the emergence of streaming, wink wink nudge nudge - is sorely missed in star wars atm. sure maybe downsized writers rooms fidgeting with limited series formats instead of doing actual seasonal TV has something to do with it, but even that is probably such a small piece of the larger issue that spins all this longform storytelling bullshit ferry wheel around.
Another part is certainly chasing the MCU business model of it all like you said. Carrot on a stick is verbatim how I've often described these things myself, the endless promise of another promise of another promise instead of forming a complete thought with a beginning and an end. servicing the plot before story at all costs. another part still is reverence towards the aesthetic trappings of the source material instead of its themes, trying to nail the exact texture of tatooine's huts and dial in the perfect balance of lightsaber choreography and pay homage to a thousand iconic shots before articulating something true in the text.
And like it's an endless laundry list, this confluence of capital-I Issues both industry-scale and creatively-driven that seem to be flaying the skin off the bones of whatever star wars even "is" nowadays. no one can answer that in the context of billions of dollars made off toys and storylines centering around this one moment in fictional history about sons and fathers and empires and rebellions. so they just keep twisting in the wind filling in any gaps within that period. I don't know nonnie, it's all so bleak. ahsoka and obi wan and even mando tbh. as charming as season 1 was, it truly felt like it coasted on its incredible restraint to avoid muddying its aesthetic with cameos, and lucked into effective storytelling as a result of that utterly unintentional alchemy. that's obviously well and truly gone now as its true optics have reared head.
what star wars is by itself is such a pointless discussion, right? andor argues it's a perfectly functional heightened universe that can support incredibly nuanced and dramatically charged stories of grassroots rebellion and the bureaucratic strain of fascist regimes. visions argues it's a world beholden to the force, an endlessly mutable and elegant metaphor that can support infinite monomyths and fairy tales. both are equally fantastic at executing on their takes, despite being in diametrically opposite extremes of interpreting the source. so it's not really about that at all, why the other stuff sucks this bad.
they're just bad at the craft of it, that's really it. whether it's auteur worship or business decisions rotting that fish down, it still rots all the same. maybe the new writers' guild contracts can shift the winds a little, because I was so securely done with star wars and then the aforementioned 2 shows came and affected me. so, so profoundly that I'm back on the hook again. like a lil sucker!
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kyberrebel · 1 year ago
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Things that went through my mind during Ahsoka Episode 5
NO NOW HUYANG AND HERA (and Jacen) THINK SABINES DEAD NOW
OKAY THIS IS IT
“You look old” Damn Anakin that was rude
So… Has Anakin just been watching over Ahsoka (and maybe his children) while he’s been dead? 
I don’t know if I have just gotten used to it, but his face doesn’t look as weird as in the last episode
Just seeing Hayden back as Anakin without even really doing anything yet is bringing legit tears to my eyes
“I’m here to finish your training” SIR??
The fighting between them is so good. It reminds me of the training-fighting between Anakin and Obi-Wan flashback in the Kenobi series 
Oh good, they don’t actually think Sabine’s dead
LEIA NAME DROP HELL YEAH
“There is something about the water… Can you hear it? The lightsabers?” Jacen is totally force-sensitive and I love it
KANAN NAME DROP IT WAS ABOUT TIME
A FLASHBACK??? *as I hyperventilate*
LIVE-ACTION CLONE WARS LETS GO
Damn Anakin looks fine here
Little Snips is so cute 
This scene really highlights just how young Ahsoka was during the war, and how kind of messed up it is to have a kid fight in a war, which I feel was sometimes lost in TCW
The acting is top-tier, from both Hayden and Ahsoka’s child actress
THE FLASH OF VADER FJVNFRENJE
“He was intense” I wonder if Huyang knows Anakin was Darth Vader
THE SEIGE OF MANDALORE IN LIVE ACTION YESSSS
So will they address the Vader-shaped elephant in the room in this conversation?
I guess so. I also literally screamed when the red saber came out.
THIS IS HAPPENING EVERYONE STAY CALM
I have so many questions… Was that actually Anakin, or was Ahsoka imagining him? If it was really him, was he just testing her? Or does he actually struggle with the dark side, even in the afterlife?
I knew she would come back to life in one episode. How many times now has Ahsoka been resurrected at this point?
I’m just now realizing that Ahsoka doesn’t have ears.
YAY SPACE WHALES ARE COMING IN CLUTCH
“I respectfully disagree” I can’t remember this dude's name, but I love him
YES LETS GO FINALLY FIND EZRA (and Thrawn ig)
This episode was amazing from beginning to end. It definitely deserved the theater release. Everything was just Chief’s kiss. Now let me go cry some more about the Anakin scenes 
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mydarllinglover · 8 months ago
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Stars Collided || Thirteen
Previous
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Anakin pushed off the doorframe, as he held the door open, giving her the space to walk in, which she did, and then he closed it, behind her.
She made herself comfortable, on his bed, as he shifted, in front of her.
"Ashoka's mad at me." He stated. "I can feel it."
"She's not mad." Lovisa refused, softly, shaking her head. "She.... Snips is just a bit, confused? About what she saw, about what happened to the Tuskan Raiders, she doesn't know how to feel about it."
"But, they killed my mother!" He grew angry, and Lovisa stood up from the bed, quickly, to try and calm him down.
"Yes, I know, Ani, I'm not attacking you, and neither is she, but... that's not exactly something you see every day, you still did something, rather shocking."
"So you're taking her side?" He furrowed his brows, as he looked down on her. "Out of everyone, you're taking her side over mine?"
"No, Anakin, stop this-"
He marched back over to the door, opening it wide.
"You can go back to Ahsoka, no one's stopping you." He fumed, staring at the floor as he waited for her to leave.
"Calm down, Anakin." Lovisa ordered, closing the door, once more, and leaning her back against it. "I am not choosing anyone's side, there are no sides. Ahsoka isn't mad at you, and no one is judging you for what you did, but you have to understand, you can't ever do what you did, again. We both agreed that we will never speak of this, again, but Anakin, that can't ever happen, again, you are a Jedi, it is not right."
He sighed, with defeat, as he threw himself down, where Lovisa was sat, moments ago.
"I know, I know, I'm sorry, I am so sorry, Princess." He dropped his head into his hands. "I do not know what is coming over me, I just... I feel so many emotions, and I can not control my outbursts."
"Well, you need to, because you do not snap at me, like that, ever again, I am still your future queen." She told him, bluntly. But then she walked towards him, kneeling as she placed her hands on his knees. "But, I understand, you're grieving, you lost your mother, in such a painful and scarring way, let yourself feel it, so that you can move past it, I am here for you, as a friend, as someone who cares for you."
"As something more?" He whispered.
"...Ani, we do not need to have this conversation at this moment, for another time." She looked away from him, standing tall, so that she could take a step back. "Can't you just lay it to rest?"
"But I don't want to!" He stood up from the bed.
Lovisa was regretting coming to see him, she couldn't deal with his ups and downs, it was unbearable, she wished she had just gone to sleep, beside her best friend.
"We don't even know each other." She looked at him, in the eye. "The last time we had seen each other was eight years ago, eight years, Anakin, and we were only brought together, because you were assigned a mission, if not, we probably wouldn't have seen each other, even longer, when this is all over, you will go back to Coruscant, and I will go back to the Palace, we won't see each other until who knows when, there is no need to make things more complicated."
"I'm in love with you." He burst out, making her freeze.
"That can not be possible."
"Don't." He was growing frustrated, once more. "Do not tell me how to feel! I know it to be true, how much more do I need to pour my heart out, to you, before you accept it?"
"Once we're in a reality where it can be, but we are not." She rolled her eyes.
"You were the first person to ever show me kindness, at that temple, the first to ever see me as human, who spoke to me, instead of just about me." Anakin confessed. "The other younglings, they looked down on me, as though I were scum, and I guess I was. They would taunt and laugh at me, calling me "Slave boy" ordering me around, leaving me out of their games, and I wasn't allowed to sit at their table, at lunch. I was told I would never amount to anything, that the prophecy was fake, I would never be a real Jedi."
"That's what you meant, about that man, you called him your old master." Lovisa pried. "You were a slave?"
"Yes." He sniffed. "until Qui-Gon freed me, so that I could become a Jedi, I vowed to free my mother, too, but I was never given the chance."
"But I thought the slave trade was abolished, my grandfather made sure of it." Lovisa was confused.
Anakin let out a cruel laugh, as he sat back down on the bed.
"How little you really know about the world, outside of the Palace, Princess. Not everyone actually listens to the royal decrees of the Kingdom, especially not this far out. Tatooine thrives on the slave trade and crime and so many other places, around."
"Why has nothing been done about it?"
"What can be done? Its much bigger than what anyone can handle, that's why its best to be kept under the table, out of sight, its best to be made contained, instead of a war breaking out."
"Why didn't you tell me, earlier? Why did you hide it from me?"
"Vis, you can't be that ignorant." He joked, but then he looked at his hands, as he licked his bottom lip. "I didn't want you to look down on me, see me as just the slave boy, like they did. Someone like you would never even see me as someone worth your time." He was ashamed, and it made her heartache.
"I would never think that." She told him, shaking her head. "Ani, I would never look down on you, for something that you can not help, I am so sorry that you would even think that, that you would hide a part of your past from me, you have gone through so much, and yet you're embarrassed to tell me? I feel horrible."
"Don't feel that way, Princess, that is not who I am, anymore, I was freed." He reached out for the girl, pulling her to stand in between his legs, and she automatically placed her arms around his shoulders, her fingers tangling themselves in his hair.
"For one more night, can we pretend that we live in the world where we are together, that we are happy, and unrestricted?" Lovisa whispered, as she looked at his beautiful golden face, as his lips pulled up into a smirk, one hand on her waist, as the other moved to rub up and down the back of her thigh.
"I won't let you become a memory, Vis." Anakin promised, as his face moved to the inside of her neck, brushing his lips against the sensitive skin, as her breathe hitched. "I won't allow you to let me become a mistake."
"You're a Jedi. What about the code."
"Fuck the code, Vis. My heart, my devotion, it belongs to you. I'd quit this second, if you asked me to."
"No." She shook her head, as she leaned back, welcoming his sweet kisses. "You have worked so hard, and so long to become a Jedi Knight. Your skills would be wasted, without the order, I won't allow that."
"Then I won't, but I've always believed that I can have my cake, and eat it, too." He smiled into her throat.
"You told me you loved me." Lovisa repeated his confession.
"And no word of it, was a lie."
"We are only nine and ten years, do you not think that is too soon, for such proclamations?"
"Not when I know that no one makes me feel the way you do. No one angers me, frustrates me, and annoys me, as much as you do."
"Keep talking, that's what every woman wants to hear." Lovisa told him, as she sat down, on his lap, her legs on either side of his, as she cupped his face, looking into his eyes, before trailing kisses down his cheek, past his jaw, and to his own throat.
"But, no one has ever made me laugh, feel as special, or as desired, I grow more mesmerised, by the sight of you, as the days go on, your beauty only furthers, in a room full of people, you make me feel as though I'm the only one you can see."
"Stop speaking of me so highly." She told him, as she lifted her head, to kiss his lips, in hopes that he would shut up.
"But why?" He pulled his face away from her.
"Because it's rather irritating." She admitted. "It makes my chest and stomach feel weird, I don't like it."
He chuckled at her.
"Do not laugh at me." Her face turned into a scowl.
"Vis, are you telling me you get butterflies, when I talk about you so dearly?"
"I'd say your words make me feel rather nauseous, actually." She rolled her eyes, once again.
"Have you ever had that feeling before?" He asked.
"No. Not until you started talking."
"Vis, you like me." He chuckled, a large grin on his face.
"No, I don't." She refused.
"Yes, you do." He nodded.
"You can't prove that."
"Your body is telling you, you do." He poked her stomach, and she slapped his hand away. "I get the same fluttering feeling." He kissed her in between his words.
"You do?" She asked, as she accepted his kisses.
"Of course I do."
"Enough talking." She pushed his shoulders, so that he fell, his back hitting the bed, as she remained on top of him, each of her hands landing beside his head.
He had no complaints at her surge of control, his own hands holding her waist, squeezing her, as their lips joined once more.
They continued to kiss, making out, on top of the bed, their hushed breaths and the movement of their lips against each other, filled the silence of the room.
Involuntarily, Lovisa had started to move her hips, in a circular motion, against Anakin, causing both of them to gasp.
"...Ani," She barely moved her face away from his, their foreheads pressed against each other.
"Yes, my love?" He gripped her silk nightgown, tightly, fisting the material, his eyes closed shut, as he focused on her.
"I... I want to go further, but I do not know how." Lovisa confessed, and her cheeks tinged pink, at her own innocence. "My mother, she never.... I only know this."
"Princess, do you not even know how babies are conceived?" Anakin asked, leaning on his elbows, as Lovisa sat up, still on top of him.
She shook her head.
"She said that it was something that my future husband and I would do together, once we are married." She began picking at her fingers, and Anakin took them in hers.
"I can't say I'm an expert... I've never done it myself, but... I could teach you what I know, if you would like."
"How do you know? I didn't think Jedi got up to such activities." She asked in an accusing tone.
"Growing up as a slave, and then an Padawan, you'd be shocked by the sort of conversations I happen to overhear." He smirked.
"How does it happen, it doesn't make sense to me, how can a man and woman produce another being, but it is only the woman that grows and births it. How is a baby even born?"
Anakin looked down, as he chuckled, awkwardly.
"Well, Princess, a baby is made up off of both a man and woman's genetics. And they do this, by having sex, look, uhm, I'll demonstrate it." He looked around the room. "Hang on." He moved Lovisa, so that she sat on the bed, as he got up.
She watched as he adjusted his trousers, moving to the bathroom, to grab whatever it was he was going to show her.
He came back with a bar of soap, and a cup.
Lovisa's brows furrowed in curiosity, as she looked at them.
Anakin laid back down on the bed, pulling Lovisa closer to him.
"Okay." He sighed, heavily. "So, you know how boys and girls have different... uh... parts?"
She shook her head.
"As in, we have different...?" She looked down, at herself, then his.
"Okay, this is gonna be more difficult than I assumed." He nodded at himself. "Okay, so, say this is what girls have." He held up the cup. "And this is what boys have." He held up the bar of soap. "It doesn't look exactly like this, but for the sake of explanation, it'll do."
"Are they all the same?"
"No... no, they come in different sizes, some are big, some small, but all that matters is that it gets the job done."
"What kind do you have?" Lovisa asked him, causing him to choke on his breath.
"Hmm?" He blinked, as he tried clearing his airways. "That's not important, right now, but what is, so uh, basically." He put the bar of soap into the cup. "It's kinda a uh... its pretty simple, I think, but, the guy put his, uh, parts, in the girls, and then next thing you know, nine months later, a baby comes out of the girls... parts."
"What?" Lovisa's eyes shot wide, her face turning into an expression of horror. "A baby comes out of there!? How? No, that sounds ghastly, no wonder women die, during this, who would ever even want that!?"
"Vis, calm- calm down." Anakin grabbed her arms, as she waved them about. "It's biology, your body is meant to do that, so it ... can do that, and most of the time, when making a child, its not that, that their focused on, its making it which is what they enjoy, I hear its rather pleasant."
"I'm sorry, Ani, but I think the moments passed, I'd rather like to go to sleep." Lovisa looked down, trying to erase her mind of the horrible images from their conversation.
"Princess, do not apologise, I wasn't expecting anything of the sort. It almost sounds like treason. Come on, lets lay down."
Anakin moved off the bed, untucking the duvet from the mattress, and waiting for Lovisa to climb under, before he joined her.
"You love me." Lovisa spoke, after a while.
They both laid on their sides, huddled close, their foreheads almost pressed together.
"I do." Anakin replied.
"Bad idea." She told him.
"Well, I didn't exactly plan to." He rolled his eyes.
"If we weren't who we are..."She began, choosing her words carefully. "Would we be happy together, do you think?"
"Of course we would." He said, with such promise, his hand moved to her leg, as it traveled up her skin, under her nightdress, ending up on her hip, he squeezed and then rubbed her waist, tenderly, as he imagined their life, away from politics.
"We'd get married" Anakin started. "You would wear this beautiful dress, and even though we don't have much money, we don't have royal money, you wanted a big fancy wedding, and when you saw that I delivered, oh, you just fell more and more in love with me." He smiled, teasingly, as she let out a giggle. "We live in a small cottage, surrounded by flowers and ivy, its secluded, but its not far from the town, we still need to go to our jobs, I'm a handy man, I'll do anything someone will pay me for, such as building, fixing and delivering things, but you're an artist, you sell your work, and make fortunes, it's where most of our income comes from, and people would travel all over, just to see your work. Eventually, you finally agree on having kids, but only the two, a boy and a girl, the boy, he's the spitting image of me, and you love to point it out, but funnily enough, you find that he's much like your sister, he has her heart, and kindness, and one of your favourite things that he does that reminds you of her, is how generous he is, which is nothing like his parents. But our girl, oh our girl is just a copy and paste, she's got your hair, and face, mouth and ears, your nose, but she's got my eyes, and my cleverness, but I guess she gets some of her witty jokes from you, but only sometimes, they're mostly mine."
"Hey." Lovisa swatted at him, but he caught her hand, kissing the palm of it.
"And every night, we sit around the table, as a family, and the kids tell us about their day, the boy will tell us about all the new friends he made, and the games he played, and how he had helped his teacher, which we're very happy to hear. But, then our girl begrudgingly tells us how she got into an argument, with someone, and we have to lie about the fact that she's right, because we don't want to encourage it, but it doesn't stop you from giving them both an extra spoonful of dessert, each."
"I love it." Lovisa admitted, she held back the tears that welled in her eyes. She kissed him, sweetly, then whispered against his lips "In another life, we'd be so happy."
"We'll be happy in this one, my love. I promise you." He looked at her, sternly. "We need to rest, I can only imagine the amount of trouble we'll be in, once we get back, tomorrow." He kissed her head, before cosying up, beside her, his hand was still holding her tightly to him, under her nightgown.
Lovisa had fallen asleep that night, in his arms, a huge smile on her face, as she let scenario’s of her and Anakin's different life, invade her dreams.
Next
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x-0ophelia0-x · 1 year ago
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A true hearts message.
Pairings: Ezra Bridger x F!Reader Warnings: Ahsoka S1 Spoiler! This was written at 3 AM -> should be proofread now
word count: I‘ll add it tomorrow
summary: you always felt strange feelings when Ezra was around you. Just when you finally decided to listen to your heart, it was too late. You were never able to tell him what you felt, and the same goes for him. When you finally found him alongside Ahsoka and Sabine, you both felt finally complete again.
authors note: thank you @densenubi for the idea! I hope you like it, had so much fun writing it, especially the beginning 😭😭 considering that it’s 3 AM right now, I’ll go to sleep and correct the mistakes tomorrow if there are any major mistakes c:
well then, this one even has a little bit of angst <3
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Our everyday life’s are filled with various kinds of what if‘s. 
They became important parts of our lives, accompany us throughout our most important decisions and even define us.
What if‘s belong to the greatest questions we could ever ask ourselves.
And what makes them so great? So individual? So special?
The fact that even we don’t and never will know the answer to them.
But most importantly. 
The fact that depending on what we chose, the ‚what could have been‘ will automatically be replaced into a ‚what‘ll never be‘. Destroying the chances of the opposite one to ever exist again.
-
„I don’t understand how they can be this oblivious towards each other“
Hera whispered, watching you two closely from afar. 
„Who? y/n and Ezra?“
Kanan asked while he leaned himself against the wall, looking at Hera. 
„Who else? Of corse I mean them!“
He chuckled at her. She was kind of the crews mother figure, she saw y/n, Ezra and Sabine as her own. Which was kind of the reason why she always got so excited when they were so close towards each other. 
But they were oblivious, even Kanan saw the tension between them and he is blind!
„I mean you can’t really see them.. but the way they look at each other or act around each other.. it’s painful to watch“
She sighed but Kanan only chuckled at her. 
And as if there wasn’t any better timing to her shipping you with Ezra, your faces moved dangerously close as you sorted the crates, gazing into each others eyes. 
The blue of his eyes always mesmerized you, and the same applys to Ezra with your e/c ones. 
You both stood still, basically panicking inside.
And Hera couldn’t contain her excitement any longer while she was still observing the scene.
„Oh my force! I think that they’re gonna kiss!!“
She whisper-yelled at Kanan. He shrugged it off.
„Wanna bet?“
„Bet on what?“
„I don’t know, choose something. If they kiss you win, if they won’t I win“
He said while grinning. 
„Okay then, the winner gets to eat a breakfast prepared by the loser to tomorrow. Prepare yourself though.. I‘m sure that this time they will finally feel the tension between them“
She said proudly, so sure that she’d win that bet. 
You felt your heart pounding faster, heat rising into your face and he felt the same. After staring into each others eyes for who knows how long you both moved your heads always from one another. Staring to the ground as if to avoid to lock gazes again.
„sorry I-„
„I didn’t mean-„
You both began simultaneously and then stopped, getting nervous now.
„You first“
You both started again, still avoiding eye contact. 
After hearing the same words from the other, you both started to laugh. 
Finding it funny how you both fell into each others words.
„I‘m sorry, I didn’t mean to come to close“
Ezra then said catching up his breath.
„Me too, I guess we‘re just both clumsy“
She replied while feeling the feeling of unease wash away and be replaced by a newfound happiness. 
„Clumsy you say? That was a perfectly synchronized attempt of a conversation“
He joked, also feeling how the unease was fading away as they continued talking. 
Hera at the other hand was dumbfounded. 
How where you two so blind? 
Her excitement washed away as she heard Kanan clear his throat. 
„Seems like I win“
He said victoriously.
„Just because you don’t see their bond and think of the negative!“
She whined, struggling to believe that once again, you both friendzoned each other. 
„I don’t always think of the negative“
He shrugged.
„I just know my Padawan and his inner struggles very well, I‘m his mentor after all, he tells me everything“
Kanan continued while he ‚looked‘ at her direction.
„So, you make the breakfast tomorrow?“
He asked with a smirk. 
-
You were back in your cabin now, laying on your bed while reading some reports on your datapad. 
Everything you could think of right now was the short moment you had with Ezra earlier. 
You couldn’t help but notice some kind of strange feeling taking over everytime you spent time with him. Sometimes it was warm, other times it was a rush of excitement but once again you didn’t know what it was or why it was there when you were around him. 
He is your best friend, of corse you’d spent time together or organize pranks against Zeb and Chopper.
But as of lately you noticed a change.
Whenever you walked close side by side your fingers were barely touching each other.
Whenever you talked about your stories, being your life when you where still small or his life back in Lothal, you felt as if you could trust him everything. 
Knowing that he wouldn’t judge you or see you any less. 
Whenever you had a mission you found yourself concerned for Ezra. 
Well, you were concerned for the whole crews well being, but Ezra kind of was the first person you had in mind when you heard an explosion or someone starting the blaster fire. 
And as if those observations weren’t enough, you noticed the crews strange behavior towards both of you. Always grinning whenever you where close. 
Being excited when you and Ezra hugged or trained together. 
But he was your friend. He didn’t see you in that way. 
And that was totally fine. While you still tried to decipher that strange feelings meaning, you were happy with how the things between you two where. 
Not thinking too much into it. 
The day had other days for you though when you heard someone knocking at your cabin door.
„Yeah?“
You asked.
„Can I come in?“
The voice asked, who you recognized as Ezra’s.
„I don‘t know if you can but you can try“
You answered, closing the datapad and sitting up, stretching your arms while he opened the door.
„Didn’t know that you were on your joker era“
He said, chuckling when all you did was to shrug.
„just one of my many mysteries“
You joked, looking at him and noticing that he was hiding something behind his back.
„Care to share?“
Ezra nodded, looking kinda proud of what he was about to show her.
„Zeb and Sabine returned from the mission and..“
He revealed what he was hiding behind his back.
It was a stormtroopers helmet. A new one.
„Didn’t have this one yet, it’s perfect for my collection! What do you think??“
He asked her, his excitement evident in his voice.
„You sure do love those helmets“
You laughed, looking at it while you tried to take in it’s features. 
„Well, I‘m Ezra the collector Bridger, loved by most, feared by stormtroopers“
He said proudly, acting as if he was twice the height he had, deepening his voice while he held the helmet high. 
Everything you could to was to watch in awe as he spoke about his collection, starting to feel the familiar feeling again. 
-
Nearly one year passed and a lot of things changed. 
First, that strange feeling you had grew stronger.
Whenever you and Ezra spent time together you felt some kind of tension between you two. 
At first you shrugged it off, thinking that it was just.. not gonna lie you didn’t even know what you where thinking.
But you for sure knew that you found comfort in Ezra’s presence, feeling safe around him, knowing that he’d always be there for you when you needed him, and the same counted for him. 
And just as you started to understand that strange feeling you felt whenever you were around him, everything changed. 
A lot happened to be honest, but the most important thing right now was that Ezra was on that ship.
The very one that was now being ‚held‘ and moved by the many purrgils you all saw through the window. 
It has to be Ezra’s doing. You were sure, connecting with creatures through the force is kind of his signature move. 
Everything that happened after that was just a blurr of memories. 
You could only remember seeing that the purrgils where preparing themselves to jump into hyperspace.
The panicked voices of everyone, trying to convince Ezra to leave the ship.
Your attempt to bring him back.
The extra amount of concern you always felt for him was stronger then ever back then. Deep down you knew that he wouldn’t come back, not as long as Thrawn was still there. This was his chance to get rid of him and you knew that Ezra wouldn’t back down from this.
He wanted to keep his family safe.
But unbeknownst to you, he even more wanted to keep you safe. 
“…. and remember, the Force will be with you. Always...”
And just like that he was gone.
There were no traces to where the purrgils could have taken the ship.
No known planets where they could have been.
Not a single hint to where he was now.
Ezra was gone and just when you saw the ship disappearing into hyperspace, you immediately felt a peng of pain in your heart. 
The closeness you felt, the warmth and the little excitement were gone.
As if they never existed. 
In that moment you just felt numb, slowly starting to understand everything.
Putting pieces together, recalling your memories with him, everything you felt.
All of that was gone now, replaced by a sudden worry, fear and emptiness.
It was just then when you realized that you started to fall in love with him.
That everything you felt was your body trying to tell you to listen to your feelings, to your heart instead of your brain. 
It all slowly came back to you and it was just that moment when you realized that you ignored the feelings for over a year now, while he was still by your side.
You had the chance to tell him.. but instead you chose to betray your feelings, keeping your mouth shut about this, scared of you he’d react. 
And now you realized that you ignored your heart for to long.
The moment you accepted your feelings for him, was the moment you lost him for maybe forever.
He was gone now and you never had the chance to tell him that he was loved. 
And all you could think about was about the ‚what could have been‘, followed by the bitter truth of ‚what‘ll never be‘.
The Version you'd be living now.
-
10 years passed by and they were the longest ones of your life. 
The events on Lothal plagued your mind.
His voice was a constant part of your dreams.
The memories from before that day replaying endlessly in your head.
The regret you felt since that day, of not telling him sooner or in fact just tell him about your feelings being unbearable. 
The mere thought that he could be dead by now, or suffering, making you even sadder.
And now?
Ten years later, after everything that happened, you found yourself on a Planet called Perridea. 
It was the purrgils’s cemetery, a destination they all had when they felt that their time had come to an end.
And now you were here, with Sabine and Ahsoka by your side. 
Finally fulfilling your personal mission, finding Ezra and to bring him back where he belonged. 
It was a chaotic reunion. 
Some kind of crab people found you, recognizing the sign on Sabines armor.
Even if you had troubles with communicating with them, they knew Ezra’s name.
Sabine then somehow asked them if they could lead us to him, telling them that we were his friends.
And that’s how we ended up here.
Standing in between the houses of the crab creatures, looking around, taking in the sight while trying to understand that this was the place where Ezra was living for 10 years now.
„I knew I could count on you..“
The group then heard, immediately turning around to lock gazes with the person in front of them.
He stood there, leaning himself against a wall while He had a warm smile, one she didn't see in a while now.
It was him.
Ezra was here.
Just when Sabine and Ahsoka hugged him, holding him into a tight embrace which seemed to be never ending, it was your turn.
Ezra had in fact the same struggle like you.
After he was stranded here, managing to escape from Thrawns flagship, hiding himself from his troopers, he had more then enough time to think and meditate.
And one thing that he noticed was that he felt that something was missing.
Not the fact that he was trapped in another galaxy, but a certain someone.
This someone being you. 
He also felt a new kind of feeling when he was around you and this feeling disappeared when he left Lothal, or well, his galaxy behind.
He realized that the only time where he followed his heart was when he sent himself away with Thrawn, straight into another galaxy.
Only to keep his family and his planet safe.
Especially you.
And just like you he was too late to accept that earlier.
One question left him sleepless during nights.
What if he had told you about his feelings before it was too late?
It all didn’t matter now though. 
You were the next, looking straight into his eyes while walking closer to him. 
You both pulled each other into a tight embrace, holding onto one another as if your life’s depended on it.
Taking each others warmth, scent, heartbeat and presence in.
You both were too scared to say something, not knowing what to say in the first place after all those years.
Instead you stood there, enjoying the moment and each others presence.
Ahsoka and Sabine stood before you, watching you as your hug now really seemed to be endless. 
The tension between you two was undeniable, but at the same time you both were just happy to finally relax under one another’s welcoming embrace.
They both grinned, just waiting for you two to kiss already. 
Sabine already shipped you both with Hera, back when Kanan was still alive.
Ahsoka started to ship you some time later, seeing you now though, reunited and relieved really filled their hearts. 
For the first time in a decade now you felt complete again, and the same went for Ezra.
When you pulled apart, you both started to take in each others features.
He was a man now, the boy you once knew grew up.
„you‘ve grown..“
You whispered, a hint of hapiness in your voice.
„would be worried if not.. it’s been some time“
He tried to joke.
„Even have a beard now.. now you’re not longer Ezra the collector Bridger but Ezra Bridger the wise“
You replied, returning to his sense of humor. 
„Hey..! I‘m not that much older!“
He then laughed, gesturing to his hair.
„See? Not one grey hair here. Totally young“
Ezra continued, giving you the proof you didn’t need to understand that he was mentally the same person you knew 10 years ago.
As for him, he was just happy that you managed to find him.
And when he showed you the small village, walking around and explaining them how they found him when he was in danger, he and you once again walked side by side. Very close even.
So close that your fingertips were touching his. 
This time you both didn’t pull away, but you also weren’t confident enough to walk hand in hand. 
Ahsoka and Sabine noticed that and couldn’t help but share knowing looks. 
Old habits die hard after all.
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darkladylumiya · 7 months ago
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My thoughts on Tales of the Empire
I'll start with my overall thoughts - the animation is really good, though at this point the contrast between more standard Clone Wars-style models and the more realistic ones who look like they could be from a video game is a bit jarring (though this could easily be a just me thing, I've not seen anyone else talk about this), the Barriss arc was way better than the Morgan Elsbeth one, which I doubt was a surprise to anyone, though I still have some issues with both. My big thing is that, compared to Tales of the Jedi, where we get little excerpts and character moments to fill out the characters and their progression through time, here Tales of the Empire is more or less our only source for info on these characters at this point in time. We know what happens with Dooku and Ahsoka in between their episodes - we have no clue what happened to Morgan to get her from Dathomir to running a planet for example, or how Barriss went from inquisitor to hermit healer (though this example is much less extreme).
Anyway, into the arcs proper. Get excited everyone, other force witch clans are back! Like the... checks notes Mountain clan. Not Singing Mountain. Just... Mountain. Cool, thanks Filoni. A decade later you finally make other Dathomiri clans canon, but you just shave a word off a name and now it's totally your own original idea, right? And don't worry, we'll have more totally original ideas from Filoni later, but first. Okay, the first episode is kinda like... a nothing episode. We end the episode with Morgan in the same position as she was halfway through, with a strange plot where Morgan immediately tries to seduce people to the Dark Side because... I don't know, she can? And again, we have no clue how she made it off planet. Dathomir doesn't exactly get a lot of space traffic, and apparently there are droid gunships still scouring the planet looking to kill literally any Nightsister left. Surely the first episode should have dealt with her getting off-planet? And not her sowing some dissent in a clan we've never met before and never see again? Some dissent which immediately ends and goes nowhere because most of them are now dead.
Anyway, next episode, she's in charge of a planet now because she has to be for The Mandalorian to still work - surely her getting to be in charge of a planet should have been an episode? Have the first one be her family getting killed and then her getting off-planet with some scavengers or pirates or whatever, the second episode is her rise to power over this planet and then the last is her meeting Thrawn? But sure, whatever, she's in charge already, cool. She's the designer of the TIE Defender, because they love beating my boy down. I'm not even going to ask how a Nightsister who has probably never even seen a starship before her clan got murdered figured out in the however many years it's been now knows how to design one of the best starfighters out there. Let's actually address that though - how many years has it been? The Battle of Dathomir was 20 BBY. The episode starts with a shot of Coruscant, where we see six Venators before finally an Imperial-class Star Destroyer appears. This implies to me that this has to be early on in the Empire, right? The first five years or so maybe? But then in Rebels season four there's an episode where they steal a TIE Defender prototype. So it took the Empire, or I guess Thrawn more specifically, at least seven years to go from design to a single test model? That's just strange to me, but who knows, it's been forever since I've seen that Rebels episode so maybe I'm just misremembering how they talked about it there. Anyway, the thing that truly got me was Pellaeon and Rukh. Fucking Rukh. But yeah, why was Eli Vanto not here but Pellaeon was? New canon more or less replaced Pellaeon's role with Vanto, so why is he not here now but Pellaeon is? My guess - because Filoni wanted to cover all the Thrawn bases. He read a brief summary of people and things associated with Thrawn in Legends and he put them all in one episode. We have Pellaeon, we have TIE Defenders, we have fUCKINg Rukh. I genuinely do not know why the FUCK Rukh is here.
Okay, let me explain. In the original Thrawn trilogy from the 90s, Rukh is Thrawn's personal bodyguard. Rukh is a Noghri, a species who regard Darth Vader as the savior of their people because their planet got nuked during the Clone Wars (it was an accident) and Vader came in and promised to help rebuild the planet, which he did. Very slowly, so the Noghri would always be indebted to him, because as it turns out they're very good assassins and commandos. But the important thing to note is that they're sworn to Vader, and serve him. Now in the books they work for Thrawn because they're more broadly sworn to the Empire, and after Vader is dead they end up working for Thrawn once he's in charge of the Empire. But Filoni doesn't care, the Noghri are associated with Thrawn and so here Rukh is as his bodyguard testing whether Morgan can fight. As soon as she got attacked, I immediately guessed it was going to be a Noghri, but once I saw the face of her attacker I was much less sure, because the head is completely wrong for a Noghri by the way, their head looks nothing like that. But anyway I lost it when Pellaeon said Rukh's name, because I knew I was fucking right. We're just pulling out all the sick Thrawn trilogy references, but not actually using these characters in any meaningful way - Rukh is here so his character page on Wookieepedia can have a canon tab now and so Filoni can show off his cred of pretending to have read a single book in his life. Oh yes, there is another thing Rukh is famous for by the way. KILLING THRAWN. I'm sure Filoni just forgot that little detail. Or who knows, maybe he'll just recreate it word for word at some point because he cannot do anything but steal from other people's work but do it in a worse and more amateurish way. I was so upset with Rukh being here with no explanation or justification I really did not care about anything else that happened in the rest of the arc. Thrawn shows up and recruits Elsbeth and then the third episode is just her killing a diplomat and burning a forest for no reason, yeah sure whatever who cares. I simply wish at some point there would be a notable character from Legends who is just... left there, and doesn't get dragged by cowboy hat man into whatever nostalgia bait ploy or attempt to pretend he has ever read a book, because the nostalgia bait doesn't work anymore. It just doesn't - it simply pisses me off. You're reminding me of better stories while I watch your lame shows, Filoni. Is that really what you want?
Ugh. Anyway, Barriss. I have a lot less to say because it's actually pretty good. I think it's way too short and she deserved way more screentime, or at the least not having to share an equal amount with Morgan Elsbeth (who I honestly forgot was even in the Mandalorian, I genuinely thought she was made up for the Ahsoka tv show for a while she's so forgettable). Anyway, the fundamental flaw is still that Barriss's massive heel-turn change of heart came out of nowhere and makes little sense with her character as established, so while this does a decent job at building upon that, it doesn't change that her arc in The Clone Wars makes no sense and was obviously chosen so that Ahsoka could be emotionally devastated by her best friend betraying her. A different complaint I then have is like... when did Barriss, woman who killed over a dozen people in a terrorist bombing, at least one of whom was someone she knew and liked, Barriss who murdered a woman in cold blood and purposefully framed her best friend so she could get away with this bombing, Barriss who convinces a wife to make her husband into a living bomb, Barriss who kills three clones with her friend's lightsabers to set her up even further and leads her purposefully where she has stashed more of the same bomb material, and indeed Barriss who kills someone who seemed to be her friend with the same technique she used to kill the woman who was about to rat her out - you want me to believe she suddenly has an issue with killing a village full of people? I'm sorry, but you have to actually explain how she sees this as different. Because you don't actually address at any point how she might feel about her terrorism now, or even what exactly her moral compass is. Killing innocents is good when she does it bad bad when it doesn't make the political statement she wants to make? I just don't get it. Anyway, final episode is the best of the series because it does the most to actually have a moral and message and actually does something pretty interesting? Whether she dies or not (I doubt she does personally), it's still an interesting setup for something else, either another season of this or a comic or book or whatever, to come back to and follow what the hell Lyn (and probably Barriss too) does now. I'm also glad Filoni finally remembered Barriss's specialty was healing actually, and not terrorism, even though we don't actually get to see her do any healing, with the Force or otherwise. Oh also, why does she look so old? It's like she aged 50 years over the course of 10? Like Lyn looks exactly the same but Barriss looks like she's 80. Idk, that was weird. Anyway I've rambled long enough, Filoni is still a hack who's never read a book in his life, but the Barriss stuff here was pretty good, at least somewhat enjoyable throughout. If you watch anything, watch that - all the Morgan Elsbeth stuff is terribly forgettable or outright frustrating.
5/6 edit: I’ve fixed Eli’s name (sorry Eli) and while it’s been pointed out to me that Rukh is in Rebels, a fact I was unaware of, I’m going to maintain the rant as it stands with this disclaimer here at the end - Rukh was in Rebels and was not originally added in this show. However, I still think his design sucks.
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archetypesanalysis · 7 months ago
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The Bad Batch arc in Clone Wars is deeper than you think!
I have seen many fans saying that the Bad Batch arc in the Clone Wars is fun and enjoyable, but it lacks depth. I disagree with that statement because I find this arc to be an important arc for Captain Rex, one of the protagonists in the Clone Wars. I will be referring to “Goddesses in Everywoman” and “Gods in Everyman” by Jean Shinoda Bolen for my analysis of the Bad Batch arc.
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A Bright Soldier of the Republic
At the beginning of the Clone Wars, Captain Rex starts off like any other clone trooper – a soldier that is loyal to the Republic and follows orders. However, as the Clone Wars progresses, Rex starts to see past the illusion of an ideal Republic.
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The YouTube video above has listed down five defining events that make him question everything. These five events are Slick’s betrayal, meeting Cut the clone deserter, the Umbara arc, Ahsoka being framed and hunted down, and Fives’ death. Surprisingly, these events evoke the archetypes each Bad Batch member has.
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Event 1: Slick’s betrayal
In “The Hidden Enemy”, Captain Rex and Commander Cody are tasked to uncover a spy in their ranks, which turns out to be a clone trooper named Slick. The archetypes evoke from this event are Hades, Hermes and Athena – which are Tech’s archetypes.
When Rex and Cody spot someone running off, they chase him through dark corridors but they lose him amongst other clone troopers in the mess hall. The chase scene gives the feeling that Rex and Cody are in a maze, chasing down someone who bears a similar face as theirs. This feeling evokes the imagery of the Underworld, the realm where Hades rules over.
Slick takes on the Hermes archetype, though he leans more towards its negative aspects. Slick is angry that his clone brothers are being enslaved by the Jedi, and he is fighting for their freedom. He becomes a spy, exposing the Republic’s plans to Ventress, which helps the Separatists to take the Republic forces by surprise. He is able to think ahead of others as he blows up most of the Republic weapons before Rex and Cody can stop him, and he quickly hides in the command center.
To catch Slick, Rex and Cody have to take on the Hermes archetype. They guess that Slick is hiding in the vents and they act out a scene: Cody leaves his blaster on the table while Rex goes to “secure the lockdown”. Slick comes out of the vents and grabs Cody’s blaster. He has fallen into their trap as the blaster is empty and Rex comes up from behind him.
After Rex and Cody manage to apprehend Slick, they bring him to Anakin and Obi-Wan. Slick explains that the Jedi has enslaved his brothers and he is fighting for their freedom. Rex and Cody understand Slick’s intention, but they also point out that he has put his brothers in danger, and that he will not have done that if he truly cared for them. Rex and Cody both take on the Athena archetype as they are loyal to their generals Anakin and Obi-Wan. Although they understand Slick’s intention, they still choose to arrest him for treason.
The moral of this episode is "Truth enlightens the mind, but won't always bring happiness to your heart." Slick, who has a strong Hermes archetype, is able to see the dark truth of the clones. It is said that truth can bring enlightenment, but it does not guarantee happiness. It is possible that Slick feels like he is trapped in the Underworld when he discovers the truth. This leads him to take on the negative Hermes archetype of the trickster.  
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Event 2: Meeting Cut the clone deserter
In “The Deserter”, two surviving commando droids use a sniper rifle to critically wound Rex. To better treat his wound, Kix, Jesse and Hardcase relocate him to a farm that belongs to Suu and her children. Rex then meets Suu’s husband, who turns out to be a clone named Cut Lawquane. The archetypes evoke from this event are Dionysus, Zeus and Demeter – which are Hunter’s archetypes.
Cut takes on the Dionysus archetype. After the First Battle of Geonosis, his transport was shot down and his brothers onboard were slaughtered. Realizing that there was nothing to be done, he ran away and deserted the Republic. The experience still haunts him and he does not want to kill for a living. Cut probably feels that his purpose is lost in that traumatic incident, and he may have wandered around aimlessly until he meets Suu. Dionysus evokes the divine child archetype, which gives a sense of specialness to a person, evoking the personal feeling that “my” life has a sacred meaning. This archetype helps Cut to view all clones as unique individuals, and that they should have a choice in choosing the life they want. His viewpoint is supported by the fact that clones have names to make them feel unique in an army where everyone looks and sounds the same. Moreover, Cut tells Shaeeah that she can do whatever she wants with her life, which shows that his supports his children’s individuality – a Dionysus trait.
Cut also takes on the Zeus and Demeter archetypes. Zeus is associated with oath keepers, and Cut has sworn an oath to his family. Demeter is associated with agriculture, and Cut chooses to be a simple farmer. Cut also serves dinner to his family and Rex, which evokes the Demeter archetype as the food provider. When a platoon of damaged but still-functional commando droids begin to attack the farm, Cut goes on to defend his family, upholding his oath to them.
As Rex prepares to leave, he chooses not to report Cut as a deserter as he respects Cut’s choice for a peaceful life. His decision means that he starts to appreciate the divine child archetype within every clone, even though he still sees the soldier’s life is meant for him.
The moral of this episode is "It is the quest for honor that makes one honorable." Upon first meeting, Rex accuses Cut of being a deserter as he thinks that clones do not have a choice beyond a soldier’s life. To Rex, the quest for honor can only be found in being a soldier. However, after learning what Cut has gone through and hearing his side of the argument, Rex begins to expand his mindset. Upon seeing how Cut is willing to do anything to protect his family from danger, Rex sees Cut being a family man deserves the same honor as any soldier do. Hence, Rex no longer views Cut as a coward for deserting the army, and lets him live in peace with his family.
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Event 3: The Umbara Arc
In the Umbara Arc, the clones have to deal with General Krell, who mistreats and dehumanizes them. The clones are outraged and seek Rex for guidance. Rex insists on respecting the chain of command as he is hesitant to speak against the Jedi General. However, once the clones find out that Krell is a traitor to the Republic, and he has staged a battle that causes the clones to unknowingly kill each other, Rex then leads the clones to arrest him. This incident causes Rex to realize that people with authority are not always good people, and he learns to trust more of his instincts instead of blindly following orders. The archetypes evoke from this event are Poseidon, Apollo, Artemis and Hera – which are Crosshair’s archetypes.
The clones are fighting on Umbara, a planet that has aggressive wildlife and murky conditions. The undomesticated wilderness of Umbara is associated with Poseidon and Artemis. Throughout the battle, the clones uphold their values of brotherhood and loyalty, which aligns with the Poseidon archetype. The creative aspect of the Poseidon archetype is demonstrated by the clones, most specifically Fives, Jesse, Hardcase and Tup. For example, Tup lures Krell to the carnivorous vixus plant, which causes Krell to be shaken down by the creature and stunned by Tup.
Throughout the arc, Rex keeps insisting the clones to obey Krell’s command despite the Jedi General is mistreating them, which evokes the Apollo archetype. Dogma greatly takes on the Apollo archetype as he follows orders without question. His tendency to follow orders is so great that he has no problem of executing Fives and Jesse for their insubordination, and he tries to stop Rex and the others from pursuing Krell.
On the other hand, Fives takes on the Artemis archetype as he openly and boldly voices his outrage at Krell’s mistreatment towards the clones. He is confident of his identity, saying that he is more than just a number, and that applies to all clones. He carries out his plans without the approval of Krell because he follows his instincts – an Artemis trait.
When Dogma realizes that Krell has betrayed the Republic and the Jedi General has taken advantage of his blind loyalty, Dogma takes on the spurned Hera archetype. He finds that all his loyalty and sacrifice have meant nothing to Krell, and he ends up killing Krell out of revenge (this also evokes the Poseidon archetype as the implacable enemy). Thankfully, as Dogma is taken into custody, he receives a nod of affirmation from Rex for his act.
There are four morals for the four-episodes arc.
"The first step toward loyalty is trust." – Loyalty means everything to the clones, which is also valued by Poseidon, Apollo, Artemis and Hera.
"The path of ignorance is guided by fear." – Rex is afraid of speaking against Krell and he tells the clones to obey his commands. His fear has led him to be ignorant of Krell’s true intentions.
"The wise man leads, the strong man follows." – Apollo is more of a follower, and he needs a wise man to lead him. The clones all take on the Apollo archetype, and they are in need of a wise general to lead them (and Krell is not that person).
"Our actions define our legacy." – There are times where our actions define our legacy, so we must make the right decision. When Fives and Jesse are ordered to be executed, the clones intentionally miss, indicating that they choose brotherhood over following orders that are clearly wrong, and they trust their instincts (positive Poseidon and Artemis traits). When Dogma realizes that Krell has taken advantage of his blind loyalty and has fooled him into killing his own brothers, he kills Krell as an act of revenge (negative Poseidon and Artemis traits).
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Event 4: Ahsoka being framed and hunted down
When numerous acts of terrorism against the Jedi Temple on Coruscant have been committed, Ahsoka is being accused for those attacks. Ahsoka is in fact innocent and wants a chance to prove her innocence, but the Republic is unwilling to give her that chance. Ahsoka then flees to the Coruscant undercity, and the clone troopers pursue her and they are given shoot-to-kill orders. Rex and Anakin know that this is not right as they trust Ahsoka, and they do everything to bring her in alive. Rex realizes that everyone is disposable in the eyes of the Republic for they only care about the results. When Ahsoka is eventually proven to be innocent, it only reinforces Rex’s belief that the Republic does not care about its people. The archetypes evoke from this event are Ares and Aphrodite – which are Wrecker’s archetypes.
Anakin is very protective of his Padawan Ahsoka, and he is willing to do anything to defend her and prove her innocence, which is similar to how protective Ares is to his children in Greek mythology. Anakin seeks out Ventress for information, and warns her that he will kill her if she is lying. Then, he finds out that Barriss Offee is behind the attacks, and he manages to arrest her and prove that Ahsoka is innocent. Besides Anakin, Rex also believes that Ahsoka is innocent. He disregards the shoot-to-kill orders, and does everything in his power to bring her in alive. His protectiveness towards Ahsoka is an Ares trait.
In this four-episodes arc, Ahsoka takes on a heroine’s journey that is similar to Psyche, who mainly has the Aphrodite archetype. The Psyche myth serves a metaphor for the psychological growth that a heroine may go through. In this myth, Psyche was a pregnant mortal woman who wanted to be reunited with her husband Eros, God of Love and Aphrodite’s son. The four tasks that Aphrodite gave to Psyche symbolize specific skills that a heroine must develop, especially if they are more emotionally and instinctively connected to others.
The first task Aphrodite gave to Psyche was to sort each kind of seed or grain into its own pile before evening. This task involved an enormous pile of seeds jumbled together, and it seemed impossible until the ants came to help. The task of “sorting the seeds” symbolizes a person’s need to turn inward and sift through their emotions, values and motives to find what is important to them. When Ahsoka is framed for the bombing at the Jedi Temple and for Letta Turmond's death, she flees the scene, knowing that almost everyone will not believe in her innocence. She escapes to the Coruscant underworld to sort out her problems by herself. The moral "Sometimes even the smallest doubt can shake the greatest belief" points to Ahsoka’s growing doubts of a confusing situation where she is framed for the crimes she has not committed. Her doubts shake her beliefs in the Republic and the Jedi Council. Hence, Ahsoka must learn to “sort the seeds” in order to gain clarity of the situation.
The second task Aphrodite gave to Psyche was to acquire some golden fleece from the terrible rams of the sun. A green reed advised Psyche to wait until sundown, when the rams would sleep. Then, she could safely pick strands of golden fleece off the brambles against which the rams had brushed. This task symbolizes a person’s need to acquire power without destroying themselves. Even though Ahsoka knows that the Republic and the Jedi Council have turned against her, she still remains compassionate. She helps a child to escape from a falling elevator. She is able to convince Ventress to help her prove her innocence instead of turning her in for the bounty on her head. She chooses not to kill a squad of clones led by Commander Wolffe despite knowing that they are here to arrest her. The moral "Courage begins by trusting oneself" points to Ahsoka’s trust on herself has given her the courage to face the harsh reality, and she does not become hardened or cynical by it (not “trampled underfoot by the rams”).
The third task Aphrodite gave to Psyche was to fill a crystal flask with water from a forbidding stream, which was etched deeply into a jagged cliff and guarded by dragons. An eagle came to her aid, symbolizing a person’s need to develop some emotional distance on their relationships. Ahsoka makes contact with her friend Barriss Offee, hoping that she can help her to prove her innocence. Barriss tells Ahsoka about a warehouse where the nano-droids are stored, which are used to bomb the Jedi Temple. Ahsoka heads to the warehouse to investigate, not knowing that she has fallen into a trap that Barriss has set up to frame her for the bombing at the Jedi Temple. When Barriss is arrested by Anakin and she confesses her crimes, Ahsoka is shocked at the betrayal. The moral "Never become desperate enough to trust the untrustworthy" becomes important to Ahsoka as she must learn to establish some emotional distance on her relationships – this includes her friendship with Barriss, and her temporary alliance with Ventress.
The fourth and final task Aphrodite gave to Psyche was to descend into the Underworld with a small box for Persephone to fill with beauty ointment. A far-seeing tower warned Psyche that she would encounter people who would ask her for help, and three times she would have to ignore their pleas and continue on with her journey. If she failed to do so, she would get stuck in the Underworld forever. This task symbolizes a person’s need to exercise choice by learning to say “no”. After Ahsoka is proven innocent, the charges against her are dropped, and the Jedi Council apologized for their actions. The Council asks Ahsoka to rejoin the Jedi Order, claiming that this was her "great trial", making her a true Jedi. Ahsoka exercises her choice by refusing their offer and leaving the Jedi Temple. She knows that she cannot go back, knowing that the people she trusted have failed her. No matter how much Anakin pleads for her to reconsider, Ahsoka chooses to stand firm with her decision, saying that this is something she must work through on her own. By leaving the Jedi Order, Ahsoka can finally determine her own life course. Although the future seems bleak for Ahsoka, the moral "Never give up hope, no matter how dark things seem" indicates that she has made the right decision, and that she will be alright in the future.
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Event 5: Fives’ death
When Tup succumbs to a mysterious mental disorder that results in the death of a Jedi Master, Fives is determined to uncover the truth. His investigations lead him to discover a conspiracy regarding the inhibitor chip hidden in the brains of clone troopers. Nala Se claims that the chip is meant to restrain the clones from violent, unpredictable action. Fives does not believe her, and he manages to convince Jedi Master Shaak Ti to allow him to plead his case directly to Supreme Chancellor Palpatine on Coruscant. However, his plan falls apart when he is accused of attacking the Chancellor. Fives informs Anakin and Rex about the plot against the Jedi, in which the inhibitor chip in every clone will be used to force the clones to kill their Jedi Generals. However, Anakin and Rex struggle to believe in him. Fives is then shot and he dies in Rex’s arms. The archetypes evoke from this event are Hephaestus, Hestia and Persephone – which are Echo’s archetypes.
When Tup's results come back negative for a virus, Shaak Ti wants an atomic brain scan to be done on Tup. However, Nala Se want to terminate the clone and do an autopsy. Fives is determined to find out the truth and he needs AZI to perform an atomic-level brain scan on Tup. AZI tells Fives that he cannot do that because it is against Nala Se’s orders. Fives then informs AZI that as a medical droid, his duty of saving a patient's life overrides all orders. Fives’ reasoning manages to convince AZI and he does an atomic-level brain scan on Tup. This is how they discover a tumour in Tup’s brain, which later turns out to be an inhibitor chip. Fives’ ability to convince AZI to disregard Nala Se’s order shows that Fives knows the protocol of medical droids very well and can find loopholes to break the system, which is something Echo does as it is a trait of the Hephaestus archetype.
When Fives discovers from AZI that he is about to get his memory erased, he quickly escapes from the clone security guards. He puts on a disguise as he sneaks into Kamino’s Genetic Records Hall and then the embryo room to discover the truth. Right now, Fives takes on the Persephone archetype, disguising himself as a regular clone trooper to gain access to certain rooms, and even finding alternate routes to evade capture.
Even though the whole world is against him, Fives is determined to expose the truth about the inhibitor chip to Anakin and Rex. Right now, Fives takes on the Hestia archetype as he firmly believes that what he is doing is the right thing to do, even if he gets killed or that nobody believes in him. The morals "The truth about yourself is always the hardest to accept", "The wise benefit from a second opinion", "When in doubt, go to the source", and "The popular belief isn't always the correct one" are all associated with Hestia – the need to turn inward, seek the “Self” for advice, and stay firm in one’s values and beliefs. Fives is able to do all of these until he dies.
Due to the effects of the inhibitor chip, Tup is experiencing Order 66 as a “nightmarish mission” and he claims that he is free from it upon his death. It seems that upon activation, the inhibitor chip sends Tup into a dark place (or the Underworld), turning him insane and eventually claiming his life. When Fives digs deeper into the truth about the inhibitor chip, he ends up “descending into Underworld” as the conspiracy begins to haunt him. Fives is treated like a mad person when he tries to tell Anakin and Rex about the truth, as if he has slipped into psychosis – in which Persephone people are susceptible to. As Fives dies in Rex’s arms, he claims that his missions and nightmares are finally over – as if his soul now descends into the Underworld and resides there – just like what has happened to Echo.
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Slipping into Depression
Fives’ death is the last straw for Rex. He tries to send a grievance report about Fives but upon realizing that the truth does not matter, he encrypts the report instead. His idealized viewpoint of the Republic has been shattered. The losses add up and now he slips into depression, feeling that his duty as a soldier is meaningless.
Rex means “king”, and now the king is wounded. In myths and legends, as long as the king’s wound remains unhealed, his kingdom will stay as a desert wasteland where nothing grows or thrives. The effect of Rex’s emotional wound can be seen during the Battle of Anaxes. Anaxes is one of the Republic's largest shipyards, and it is under attack from Separatist forces led by Admiral Trench. After weeks of heated battle and mounting losses, the Republic is losing its grip on Anaxes. The situation gets worse when the Separatists captures the main production facility for the Republic's battle fleet, impairing the generativity of the Republic forces. Captain Rex suspects that the battle droids are learning his strategy to the point that the Separatists can perform specific counterattacks. Commander Cody fears that the Republic could suffer more severe losses if the Separatists have figured out how to counter Rex, who is one the most talented officers the Republic has. Rex is suffering from a lack of creativity as he struggles to lead the Republic to victory.
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Moreover, Rex retreats in the barracks and stares at an old picture of him, Cody and the two ARC Troopers Echo and Fives. He laments their deaths and the losses suffered by the Republic forces. Rex views all of their sacrifices and loyalty mean nothing, and he is depressed. Although he has a feeling that Echo is alive, he does not want to tell the Jedi since they may think that he is crazy. Even Anakin notices that Rex has something else in his mind, but Rex refuses to say. He is isolating himself from others.
Cody is aware of Rex’s emotional wound and he understands how Rex feels. Cody calls in Clone Force 99, believing that their unique skills and their 100 percent success rate will be helpful for Rex in the Battle of Anaxes. I interpret this scene as a friend or a loved one introducing you to professional help.
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The Bad Batch Arc: Rex’s Healing Journey
At first, Rex is hesitant to meet Clone Force 99 because he has heard of their aggressive and unorthodox ways of completing their missions. However, as he embarks on a journey with them, he ends up appreciating them and viewing them as one of the finest soldiers he has ever met. I interpret the Bad Batch acting as guides or therapists to Rex, sending him on a path of individuation that will heal him.
The Geography of Rex’s Journey
Throughout the four-episodes arc, there are a few places that serve as a metaphor for the mind. Fort Anaxes, where the Jedi Generals and the clones discuss their plans, represents the conscious realm, where logic and willpower rule over. The wilderness of Anaxes represents the realm of emotions, instincts and memories – one part of the unconscious realm. Skako Minor represents the Underworld for Echo and Rex – the personal unconscious realm. Admiral Trench’s fleet above Anaxes represents another Underworld – the collective unconscious realm.
“The Bad Batch”: Remembering Oneself
Based on my interpretation, when Rex meets the Bad Batch, he is reminded of the events that have made him question everything: Tech reminds him of Slick’s betrayal; Hunter reminds him of Cut the clone deserter; Crosshair reminds him of the Umbara Arc; Wrecker reminds him of the time Ahsoka was framed and hunted down. Echo is not present because Fives’ death is a traumatic event that Rex has repressed it – just like Echo is trapped on Skako Minor.
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Wrecker, who has the Aphrodite archetype, helps to make the Bad Batch look less intimidating to Rex, Jesse and Kix. He is the first one to take off his helmet, creating an engaging and charming impression of the team. I imagine Wrecker being a therapist will involve getting you to meet new people for engagement, or getting you to do some creative work. In this four-episodes arc, Wrecker is helping Rex to engage with the Bad Batch, which allows him to expand his horizons and to see the Bad Batch as who they truly are.
As the clones depart for the Cyber Center, they have to travel through the wilderness of Anaxes because their gunship has been shot down by battle droids. They have to leave Fort Anaxes, which symbolizes leaving the conscious realm and entering the unconscious realm. Since the wilderness represents the realm of emotions, instincts and memories, this means that the Bad Batch’s aggressive tactics are more useful in battle. Moreover, this realm is associated with Poseidon, Artemis, Ares and Aphrodite because these archetypes are motivated by emotions. These archetypes are associated with Crosshair and Wrecker, and they play a major role in guiding Rex on this leg of journey. Hunter, who has the Dionysus archetype, is also associated with the wilderness, which allows him to bring the clones to the Cyber Center. Tech, who has the Hermes archetype, acts as a guide that helps the clones to move between realms.
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With Cody injured and unable to continue on, Rex decides to take charge of the mission. This leads Crosshair to point out why Cody has to call the Bad Batch in for this mission if Rex’s plans are so good. Crosshair has the Apollo archetype, which grants him the clear-sightedness to see through the blind spots that Rex is unaware of. Although Crosshair sounds rude to Rex, he is being blunt and brutally honest. In fact, Crosshair is helping Rex to recognize that something is wrong with him, which will enable him to start his healing process. I imagine Crosshair being a therapist will bluntly point out all your blind spots, so you can become aware of your problems and start healing.
Of course, being in the realm of emotions and instincts also means having a risk of being overwhelmed by those intense emotions. Soon enough, tension rises between Wrecker, Crosshair, Jesse and Kix, which almost escalates into a fight. Fortunately, Hunter, who has a Zeus archetype, is able to think above his emotions. He stops the fight and reminds everyone that they are all on the same side. He then lets Rex take charge of the mission.
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Thanks to Crosshair’s Apollo archetype, Rex recognizes his lack of creativity has become a major problem for the Republic’s forces in the Battle of Anaxes. For healing to take place, Rex must encounter new experiences with the openness of a child and the ineptness of an amateur. Inspired by Wrecker’s Aphrodite archetype, Rex’s experiences with the Bad Batch help him to regain and improve his creative skills. When Rex plans to take over a Separatist outpost, he takes a page from the Bad Batch’s strategy, which helps the clones to quickly overwhelm the droids and capture its command and communication center. This aggressive strategy is also implemented in capturing the Cyber Center. These victories show that Rex is starting to “find his harmony and bliss” as he is now on the right path. He is expressing his gifts as an experienced clone captain in a manner that is consistent to his personal values – to help the people he cares about. He is “finding his own myth”. The moral "Embrace others for their differences, for that makes you whole" becomes important for Rex in his path to individuation. Only when he is able to embrace the Bad Batch for their differences can he achieve “wholeness of the Self”. This moral is prevalent throughout the four-episodes arc.
As Rex continues on his journey of self-discovery, he begins to delve deeper into his unconscious, where he finds “whomever” he has buried and split off from his conscious awareness and left in the past is still alive. This dismembered “whomever” is Echo. When the clones take over the Cyber Center, Tech hacks into the computer system and discovers Rex’s algorithm. Strangely, it is not stored inside the center's memory banks but is instead being broadcast from another planet called Skako Minor. Tech, who takes on Hermes the guide of souls, digs deeper and receives an audio signal which sounds like a human voice. He drops the voice masking and it turns out to be the voice of a clone trooper. The voice responds “CT-1409” repeatedly, and Rex realizes that it is Echo’s identification number, which means Echo is alive.
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Rex is glad to know Echo is alive, but he feels guilty for leaving Echo for dead in the Citadel. The guilt he feels from that specific memory must have been repressed in his unconscious for so long. According to Jean Shinoda Bolen, whatever is dismembered and buried through repression is “buried alive”, so when it is uncovered, it exists as it was. Echo is currently trapped in a stasis chamber – as if he is “buried alive”. When Echo is released, he does not remember much and he does not know how he has gotten to Skako Minor. The memory that keeps repeating in his head is his last mission to the Citadel – a traumatic memory that is still fresh in his mind. As Rex is starting to uncover his feelings and remember who he once was, Echo’s voice calling out to him is like “whomever” is “buried alive” in Rex’s unconscious is begging to be “heard” and be “resurrected”. For Rex to heal himself, he must rescue Echo and “bring him back to life”.
Whatever is found in the unconscious must be brought into the consciousness to be known, this means Rex must the startling discovery that Echo is alive back to the Jedi Generals at Fort Anaxes. The clones are forced back into the Cyber Center as the heavy droid reinforcements begin to overwhelm them, which can serve as a metaphor of overwhelming emotions are starting to engulf Rex’s mind. This makes sense because Rex is so shocked to find that Echo is alive that he briefly ignores Hunter telling him they need to leave. Thankfully, Crosshair has secured a speeder craft and he is able to bring all the clones out of there. Right here, Crosshair is like Poseidon driving his golden chariot drawn by white horses over the waves, which stops the storms. His action of bringing the clones out of the Cyber Center can be interpreted as “bringing calmness and peace to them”. Besides the Poseidon archetype, Crosshair is also acting like Apollo, who has a connection to the distant realm of the Hyperboreans, as he brings the clones back to Fort Anaxes, which is a metaphor of the conscious mind (where Apollo resides).
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“A Distant Echo” and “On the Wings of Keeradaks”: Rescuing What was Lost
At Fort Anaxes, Anakin, Rex and Hunter are waiting for permission from the Jedi Council to embark on a rescue mission to Skako Minor in search of Echo. However, the Jedi Council denies the permission, which serves as a metaphor of the consciousness denying any access to the unconscious realm. This makes sense because we have been made to be afraid of our unconsciousness, where our repressed thoughts and feelings, traumatic memories, parts of us that we are ashamed of or being deemed as unacceptable, and untapped potentials reside. In a patriarchal society where its culture and identity align with Zeus and other sky gods (the consciousness), the unconsciousness (or the Underworld) is depicted as a fearful, hellish place rather than a source of riches (like Hades as Plouton or Pluto, the rich one).
Rex is insistent that if they are going to get permission, they should leave immediately. Even though they do not get the permission, they still proceed with the mission. At this moment, Rex is committed to follow his instincts and heart because he truly believes that Echo is alive. It takes courage to act upon what is true for you, no matter how risky it will be. By leaving the board road that has been travelled by others, which is being a good soldier that follows orders, Rex is living his own personal myth. This is also supported by a deleted scene where Obi-Wan points out to Rex that it is unusual for him to disregard authority.
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Anakin is worried that Rex is letting his personal feelings drive him too much on the rescue mission. Not knowing what to do, Anakin seeks out advise from his secret wife Padme Amidala, who serves as a metaphor of the anima, the unconscious feminine side of a man (which is devalued in the patriarchy). Carl Jung believes that a man’s anima affects his moods, emotional bonds, and how he perceives women. Anakin explains the situation to Padme, and she points out that Rex may have learned from Anakin to let his emotions be his motivator. She advises Anakin that he should support Rex's instincts on this mission, since Rex has always done the same for him. Anakin respects Padme’s wisdom, and he decides to proceed the mission even though Obi-Wan has come to report that the Jedi Council has denied permission to go forward with it.
It is worth noting that Echo has a Persephone archetype, which serves as the anima to all clone troopers. However, Echo is currently confined on Skako Minor, just like Persephone is trapped in the Underworld. In the Greek myth, winter comes when Persephone is in the Underworld. This myth serves as a metaphor for Rex’s current status – he is experiencing the lack of vitality as he is in his “winter” period. The anima can be described as “the soul” that brings vitality to a person’s life. For Rex to revitalize himself, he must bring Echo out of Skako Minor, which mirrors the myth where Hermes brings Persephone out of the Underworld and restores her to her mother Demeter.
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Although Hunter thinks that Skako Minor could be a trap, he is willing to lead the Bad Batch to help Rex and Anakin, mainly to ensure that they will be able to leave safely if the mission goes wrong. Hunter, who has the Dionysus archetype, encourages Rex to disobey orders and continue on with the mission. After all, this journey to Skako Minor can help Rex to become a hero – breaking away from his designated role as a soldier of the Republic. I imagine Hunter being a therapist will encourage you to follow your heart and break free, even if that means going against expectations that weigh you down, or leaving behind your stale life. Furthermore, by accompanying Rex on this mission, Hunter (who has a Demeter archetype) has initiated Rex into the Eleusinian Mysteries, which were rituals that celebrated the return of Persephone (Demeter’s daughter) from the Underworld, leading to spring. This initiation into the Eleusinian Mysteries ensures Rex will have a safe return from Skako Minor.
Rex, Anakin and the Bad Batch head to Skako Minor, which serves as a metaphor of a voluntary descent into the Underworld – an essential part of a hero’s journey. Tech, who has the Hermes archetype, becomes the guide of souls and the rescuer of the child. Moreover, Tech has the Hades archetype, which means he is familiar with the Underworld, and he can help Rex to discover riches from this journey. As the guide of souls, Tech safely lands the Marauder on the planet’s surface. They encounter the native inhabitants called the Poletecs, who choose to cut away from the outside world for they do not want to be involved in the Clone Wars. They are like the inhabitants of the Underworld, separated from the outside world. Since the Poletecs only speak in their own language, Tech acts as Hermes the god of speech, and becomes a translator.
The Poletec chief leads Rex, Anakin and the Bad Batch to Wat Tambor’s city Purkoll (which contains many rooms and corridors like a maze – an imagery of the Underworld). During the journey, Tech loses Echo’s signal, leading almost everyone to fear that Echo is actually dead and the Separatists are using him to lure them into a trap. While Rex is confident that Echo is alive, Anakin advises him that they should be ready for a possibility that Echo is dead. Rex understands Anakin’s concerns, but he refuses to give up hope. Since Tech also does not believe that Echo is dead, it is possible that he is affirming Rex’s belief. This makes sense because Hermes is described as the “inner guide”, “inner voice” or “inner self-helper”. This archetype plays an important role in one’s individuation journey as it helps a person to dive deep into their unconscious mind and find the pieces of themselves to be brought back to light (or the conscious mind). Since Hermes is the rescuer of the child, this archetype is tasked to find what was personally repressed in a person, and to resurrect archetypes that have been culturally buried. I imagine Tech being a therapist will involve helping you to recover the parts of you that have been repressed or lost, so you can feel whole again and that your life has meaning once more.
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The moral "The search for truth begins with belief" is taken up by Rex. He strongly believes that Echo is alive, which leads him to search for the truth. The search for truth is an essential part of the individuation journey for it leads a person to experience harmony and bliss as their actions begin to align with their personal values. Rex, who has lost so many of his brothers, finds hope when he discovers that Echo is alive, and he is not going to leave Echo behind (unlike that time in the Citadel). His determination to rescue Echo and keep holding onto hope eventually pay off when he and Tech manage to safely release Echo from the statis chamber and the computers.
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However, Rex, Anakin, Echo and the Bad Batch are not out of the woods yet. They are now surrounded by battle droids and they cannot call for reinforcements because their mission is unsanctioned. Just like the heroes need to leave the Underworld and return to the living world, a person cannot stay too long in the unconscious mind or they may not return to reality (the conscious mind). The moral "Survival is one step on the path to living" is important to Rex, Anakin, Echo and the Bad Batch. They must survive Skako Minor (the Underworld) if they have any hope of returning to Anaxes (the living world).
Fortunately, Echo, who has the Hestia archetype, is able to spend his unchosen solitude to gain access to the Techno Union’s database while they are using his memories to counter the Republic’s forces. With that, Echo leads Rex, Anakin and the Bad Batch through an exhaust pipe above the chamber to escape. He also brings the team to a long narrow pipe that leads to a building with a landing pad as a means to escape. Echo’s ability to guide Rex, Anakin and the Bad Batch across Purkoll indicates that his Persephone archetype has transitioned from Kore (nameless maiden) to Queen of the Underworld. He becomes their guide to the Underworld for he is no longer afraid of this dark realm they are in.
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As Rex, Anakin, Echo and the Bad Batch try to cross the pipe, they are trapped by D-wing droids on both sides. Crosshair loses his balance and nearly falls, but Wrecker pushes past his fear of heights to save him – which is a good sign because heroes have to face their fears in the Underworld, and they can leave the Underworld if they succeed. Tech takes on Hermes the alchemist as he uses a recording to summon several keeradaks, allowing all of them to escape. They return to the Poletec village they have encountered earlier in their journey. The Poletec chief is impressed that they have managed to tame the Keeradaks but is displeased that they have returned to his village, bringing the war with them. Rex apologizes for breaking their promise and he gives a speech denouncing the Techno Union. He even shows them the cybernetic prosthetics that the Techno Union have inflicted on Echo. Rex’s inspiring speech manages to convince the Poletecs to join forces with them to fend off the Separatists, which can be seen as a gift of Hermes (considering that Tech acts as a translator between both parties). Besides Hermes, Rex establishing an alliance with the Poletecs can be seen as a gift of Athena, which is one of Tech’s archetypes. It can be interpreted that Tech is helping Rex to heal and return as a great leader.
The clones, Anakin and the Poletecs successfully defeat the droid army, which means the heroes can now safely leave Skako Minor (or the Underworld). Rex tells Echo that when they get back it will be just like "old times", but Echo doubts it. After all, Echo has been turned into a cyborg and he has been tortured by the Separatists – his body and mind have gone through unspeakable horrors. Yet, his soul remains intact, and he holds a glint of hope for the future.
“Unfinished Business”: Integration and Homecoming
In ancient times, a traveller might visit the temple of a god or goddess to ask for help or to pay respects to the deity. On our life journey, we will encounter archetypes that take on various forms. As we enter the “temple” of a particular archetype, an unseen archetype is present too – which is Hestia. Hestia is the Goddess of the Hearth and Temple. She was the fire at the centre of a round hearth – resembling an image of a mandala that symbolizes the archetype of the Self, which Carl Jung described as the centre of our personality that brings wholeness and meaning. When you are doing something that gives you a sense of meaning, in which you feel a deep connection to who you really are, an archetype will be activated in you, and it will relate to the Self. This helps you to live an authentic life because you are consciously aware of your relationships to one or more activated archetypes, and yet, you feel centered like Hestia, who provides clarity and certainty that there is a sacred dimension in your life.
Echo is now brought back to Fort Anaxes, where he undergoes healing. His return serves as a metaphor of whatever is from the unconscious has been brought into the light or the consciousness. Since anything from the unconscious has been made to be supressed, it is natural for the conscious mind to be wary of their presence in the consciousness. However, healing can only take place when the conscious and the unconscious are integrated. Due to Echo’s horrifying experiences in the hands of the Separatists, it is natural to have lingering questions of his true loyalty and uncertain future. The Bad Batch, or more specifically, Hunter and Tech, do not trust Echo. However, Rex has known Echo for a long time, and he can see that Echo’s spirit remains intact despite the horrific experiences. Hence, Rex trusts Echo, which serves as a metaphor for a person to trust their unconscious mind, believing that it does care for their wellbeing.
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In Jungian psychology, it is believed that self-sabotage is a result of your unconscious trying to inform your consciousness that what you really need is not what you think. For example, perhaps you are saving money to buy a place far away from everyone so you can live in solitude, but every time you want to purchase a house, you find that you have self-sabotaged your plans. This may be a sign that your unconscious mind is telling you that you actually yearn to have connection with people. If you want to stop the self-sabotage, you must stand in between your consciousness and your unconscious – taking on the archetype of the Self. You must understand why your unconscious or Shadow is doing this to you, while not letting it consume you (with your consciousness or Ego acting as a guard). By integrating your consciousness and your unconscious, you can set out a solution that is personally satisfying for all parts of you, which by referring to the above example, it would be to buy a house that surrounds you with nature (the desire for solitude) but still provides a short distance for you to connect with other people (the desire for connection).
The moral "Trust placed in another is trust earned" is taken by Rex. Echo has earned Rex’s trust through his work, dedication and integrity back when he was on the 501st. Hence, Rex places his trust on Echo, believing that his fellow brother can secure a Republic victory on the Battle of Anaxes even though he has not fully recovered yet. Echo, who has the Hephaestus archetype, channels his pain and trauma into helping the Republic to win against the Separatists. Echo is aware that the Republic’s production of battle fleets has been wounded by the Separatists, just like how the Separatists have wounded him. Just like Hephaestus the crippled craftsman, Echo is motivated to do the right thing, because if he can help the Republic to reclaim Anaxes and get the production facilities running again, then he can heal himself too.
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Rex, Anakin, Echo and the Bad Batch depart Anaxes and fly to the Separatist fleet, it serves as a metaphor for them entering the Underworld. Skako Minor is the personal Underworld, while Admiral Trench’s fleet above Anaxes is the collective Underworld. Taking on the Hermes archetype, Echo is able to trick the battle droids to allow them to dock with the Separatist dreadnought, where Admiral Trench is located. Once the heroes board the main ship, they infiltrate the dreadnought's interface unit. Unaware of the recent events on Skako Minor, Admiral Trench orders his tactical droid to contact Skako Minor for Echo's algorithm. Echo plugs into the interface unit just in time when the tactical droid makes contact on Skako Minor. Admiral Trench is currently above Anaxes, as if he rules over the sky domain, which represents the consciousness. He gets the algorithm from Skako Minor, which represents the unconscious. The interface unit where Echo plugs into is a round shape, resembling the round hearth of Hestia. Right now, Echo is taking on the Hestia archetype, representing the Self that stands in between Admiral Trench’s fleet (the consciousness) and Skako Minor (the unconscious). Echo tricks the Admiral to mobilize all troops to the assembly plant and then he issues a feedback pulse that shuts down all of the Separatist droids, leading the Republic to victory.
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To connect with the Self and hold onto one’s centre, one must learn not to succumb to the intellectual and emotional forces, just like the myth where Hestia resisted the advances from Apollo and Poseidon, and took an oath of eternal chastity. For Echo, he faces Rex dissuading him from joining the battle due to his poor physical condition, the distrust from Hunter and Tech, and the trauma caused by the Techno Union. However, he is not affected by these things as he seeks to uphold his personal value to help others, keeping his centre intact. I imagine Echo being a therapist will encourage you to discover your personal values and act upon them, for you will find personal satisfaction, wholeness and meaning in life.
Admiral Trench and Anakin Skywalker are examples of how one can stray away from the Hestia archetype. Admiral Trench is arrogant as he trusts too much on the algorithm to lead him to victory. He leans too much on the intellectual forces, which are represented by Apollo. His overconfidence leads to his downfall when he does not expect the algorithm to fail. Unwilling to admit defeat, he activates a bomb in the assembly plant's fusion generator, which will blow up most of the planet and lead to many deaths. On the other hand, Anakin Skywalker confronts Admiral Trench and demands the final number in the sequence to disarm the bomb. Admiral Trench taunts Anakin, thinking that he won’t hurt or kill him because the Jedi are noble, in which the Admiral views it as a weakness. Anakin responds by severing the Admiral’s left set of arms, and claims that he has no such weakness like nobility. Anakin’s actions are emotionally driven, and it gets to the point of disregarding the values of the Jedi. The emotional forces, represented by Poseidon, has overtaken Anakin.
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Wrecker and Crosshair are examples of how one can stay true to themselves while doing their job. Wrecker takes on the Ares archetype as he charges at the droids and manages to rip them into pieces. Wrecker is more emotionally inclined and this is evident in his cheering and shouts as he takes down the droids. He feels true to himself in that battle – as if Hestia is present with his Ares archetype. As for Crosshair, he takes on the Apollo archetype as he places reflecting mirrors on the wall to make a perfect trickshot to mow down a platoon of battle droids. Crosshair is more intellectually inclined with his sharpshooting expertise. He feels true to himself when he pulls off the trickshot perfectly – as if Hestia is present with his Apollo archetype.
Having accomplished the mission, Rex, Anakin, Echo and the Bad Batch leave on the Marauder. Anakin gives Wrecker a remote detonator to blow up Admiral Trench’s fleet. The colourful explosions may be a symbolism of wholeness, which is the end goal of this journey of individuation. No matter how far this journey has been taken, every traveller looks forward to an eventual homecoming. Back in Ancient Greece, home was made sacred by Hestia’s presence in the fire at the centre of the round hearth. The fire was lit up to welcome a returning family member or a newborn. This ritual of acknowledgment and welcome—of homecoming—consciously recognizes new life as part of the whole. In psychological terms, “home” is where we connect with a spiritual centre – a sacred place of homecoming due to Hestia’s presence.
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Upon returning to Anaxes, Rex, Echo and the Bad Batch are praised for their courage and skills. The Jedi also tell the clones that they will be awarded with medals on the ceremony. However, the Bad Batch does not want to attend the ceremony because recognition and achievements are not their thing. In fact, they just enjoy the thrill of the adventure and they just want to help people. Hunter sees that Echo has a different path like theirs, and offers him to join the Bad Batch if he does not feel like he fits in with the regular clones anymore. Rex acknowledges the Bad Batch’s individuality, and Echo’s too. Rex encourages Echo to go with the Bad Batch because he respects his individuality. With that, the fire at the centre of the round hearth has been lit, indicating a homecoming. For Rex, his homecoming is Echo’s return. For Echo, his homecoming is being welcomed into the Bad Batch. As Rex turns around, he sees Echo and the Bad Batch salute, which serves as a metaphor of Rex finally achieving “wholeness” with all archetypes finally integrated into one. Now, Rex finally sees himself resembling the five members of the Bad Batch – a great leader like Hunter, a creative strategist like Tech, a passionate fighter like Wrecker, a loyal brother like Crosshair, and a wise sage like Echo.
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Surviving Order 66
Thanks to the Bad Batch, Rex returns to who he really is, while breaking free from his identity as “just a soldier of the Republic”. He regains his vitality and creativity. He continues to uphold his personal values like loyalty, brotherhood and justice. Since Rex has gone through the individuation journey, he is able to survive Order 66. When the inhibitor chip gets activated, Rex is able to resist its effect for a few seconds. He warns Ahsoka to stay back and tells her to "find him… Fives… find him!" Rex is able to briefly remember who he is before losing the fight to the inhibitor chip.
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Ahsoka has gone through the same individuation journey as Rex. She starts off as a bright Padawan of Anakin Skywalker, but she eventually comes to realize that the Republic and the Jedi Council do not care about her. She then leaves the Jedi Order to follow her own path. Although she no longer identifies as a Jedi, she continues to uphold the values of a Jedi – an indication that she has returned to who she really is, while breaking free from her identity as a Jedi. Rex is probably confident that Ahsoka will find a way to help him, which explains why he tells her to “find Fives”.
With the help of the astromechs, Ahsoka is able to retrieve files regarding Fives, Tup, the inhibitor chip and Rex’s encrypted grievance report. This serves as a metaphor of Ahsoka seeking answers in the Underworld, which are brought into the light. Then, Ahsoka and the droids manage to knock Rex out. Ahsoka then brings Rex to the medical bay. The medical droid does a scan on Rex but it finds no anomaly. Ahsoka puts her hands on Rex's head and recites the Guardian's Mantra: "I am one with the Force and the Force is with me," with the unconscious Rex joining in. The Guardian’s Mantra evokes the Hestia archetype as the Self is what we experience inwardly when we feel a relationship to oneness that connects us to the essence of everything outside of us – where “connecting” and “detachment” are paradoxically the same. Basically, to be connected with the Force is to be connected with the Self. By connecting with Hestia, Ahsoka is able to detect the inhibitor chip inside Rex’s head. A surgery is performed to remove it, finally freeing Rex from its brainwashing effects. Since Rex and Ahsoka have gone through their individuation journeys, they are able to avoid the fates that befall on the Jedi and the clones – death and the loss of identity. They have indeed broken free from their designated roles, and they are free to live out their personal myths.
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Conclusion
What seems to be a fun Clone wars arc turns out to be a story about the individuation journey, which is significant to our lives. The Bad Batch, which consists of Hunter, Tech, Wrecker and Crosshair, are born to be different. They never feel that they belong with the mainstream society, so they shape their own identities. They follow their heart, which is how they find harmony and bliss. They choose to live out their personal myths, and become guides to Rex during his lowest moment in life. Echo joining the Bad Batch adds a few more archetypes into the group, and connects them with the regular clone troopers. Later, Omega becomes part of the Bad Batch, and I imagine Omega being a therapist will teach you to be kind to yourself.
So, whenever you feel that your life has become dull and meaningless, or that you do not know where you are heading with your life, remember to have courage to take on the individuation journey. You are not alone on this journey, and I hope that one day, you will find wholeness, harmony and bliss – where you can be true to yourself.
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inquisitor-apologist · 2 years ago
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Force, I am SO frustrated with the Filonification of popular Star Wars. People keep on trying to make arguments about Star Wars, yet they refuse to actually watch Star Wars and make sensible criticisms about it because they’re literally just parroting whatever weird non-canonical shit Felony spit out in an article last week.
I was looking at this article:
And I was legitimately trying to look at the criticisms and see if I can agree with any of them, but they don’t make any sense and I can just feel Filoni oozing off them.
So imma rant, got it?
Mistake Number 1 that led to the fall of the order: They were too much into politics.
More specifically, the article claims that “they very much had a hand in the flipping the Senate” with reference to the Vote of No Confidence for Valorum in tpm, but it’s been a minute and a half since I saw the prequels, so I read the Wookie summary, and I might’ve missed something but I don’t think there’s any mention of them, like, voting or doing anything significant in the Senate in ep1? I feel like it would’ve been mentioned if it was even vaguely implied that the Jedi mind tricked the senate or lobbied for the vote to go one way or another, but it isn’t mentioned anywhere and it don’t square with what I remember, so I’m guessing they just made this up and convinced themselves it was canon? Tell me if you can figure out what they’re talking about or if there is a canon basis I missed.
Other than that, I do not remember a single scene where we saw the Jedi do anything more political than take orders from politicians or exist in the senate building in the prequels.
Mistake Number 2 that led to the fall of the order: Suppressing Baby Murderer’s emotions.
…A Take, certainly. So this one’s talking about Anakin’s grief over his mother’s death, which I agree would be a fucked-up thing to suppress. That’d suck. If it actually happened because… the Jedi do not know that Anakin’s mom is dead. They do not know that Anakin and Padmé went to Tatooine, since they were ordered to stay on Naboo. They are utterly unaware of everything that happens on Tatooine aside from Yoda feeling the Tusken Massacre in the Force. Yeah, Anakin told Obi-Wan that he’d had dreams about his mom dying, and he didn’t do anything about it, but that wasn’t Obi Wan suppressing Anakin’s emotions—that was just him saying that it sucked that he had a bad dream, since I don’t think Anakin said it could’ve been a vision or anything, so this one doesn’t land at all. Where did they get this idea???
Mistake Number 3 that led to the fall of the order: ‘Allowing’ Maul to take over Mandalore (somehow?)
I can feel my brain cells dying. Maul joined up with a terrorist group and some crime gangs to forcefully take over a neutral system. None of that was ‘allowed’ by the Jedi. They also say that the Jedi ‘sent’ Obi Wan to get rid of Maul when I remember Yoda telling Obi Wan some shit like “Send anyone to Mandalore the Jedi cannot” and then Obi Wan went to Mandalore anyway and it didn’t do shit. Anyway I feel like the author of this article might own a ridiculously annoying cowboy hat. Just a hunch.
Mistake Number 4 that led to the fall of the order: Baselessly Exiling Ahsoka (Baselessly?? There very much was base)
So. Wrong Jedi Arc my beloathed. Here we are again. The article claims that the Jedi “exiled Ahsoka Tano on mere suspicion alone and didn't even confirm whether she was involved in the bombing of the Jedi Temple or not”. Which. Hmm. So, there was a big investigation into the bombing that pretty definitely said that Ahsoka was almost certainly the bomber. It wasn’t ‘mere suspicion’, it was all the fucking evidence very clearly pointing to her. She ran away, she worked with a damn separatist assassin, she was found in a warehouse filled with the bombs. The audience know she was framed, but the characters don’t because the whole point of framing someone is to convince the other people they did it. If the Jedi had exiled her for this, they would’ve been being very reasonable and justified. Will also point out that the Jedi were forced by the Senate to exile her and did not want to. They apologized and let her back in as soon as they possibly could.
Also there’s this weird (actually!) baseless claim that Ahsoka was one of the most powerful Jedi in the Clone Wars. Which has no proof because it’s untrue—she’s a padawan with max 2 years of training. There’s no way she’s more powerful than a fully trained knight, of which there were still quite a few. But of course she is, because she’s Felony’s beloved OC who can do no wrong.
Mistake Number 5 that led to the fall of the order: Not giving Baby Murderer power
I am convinced that no one involved in writing or editing this article has actually watched RotS, and has only ever listened to Felony talk about RotS. They claim that ‘they invited Anakin over to the Council as a pseudo-member and his only task was to spy on the Chancellor. Not only was this political meddling once again, but it was also an insult to Anakin’ oh no, they insulted Anakin, clearly this means he’s justified in murdering them! Also, the Jedi Council apparently wanted to appoint Anakin, they weren’t literally forced into it by Palpatine. You know, that scene where Palpatine is like “yeah, I’ve forced the council to put you on the council even though they don’t want you there. You’re my spy on the council now” that didn’t happen actually. The Jedi were completely evil in not allowing the unstable baby murderer a full seat on their governing body when they were forced to put him there through nepotism. Them asking the only guy who’s close enough with the chancellor to investigate him because he’s overstayed his term and is overreaching with his powers is also completely evil and awful and unjustified. Uh huh.
Mistake Number 6 that led to the fall of the order: Mace Windu Wants To Kill Palpatine Right Away (direct quote from the article)
Yeah, you read that right. I can’t make this shit up, but filoni sure as fuck can. So, Mace Windu learns that the shady Chancellor that’s been overreaching with his authority and has overstated his term is also an evil Sith that has manipulated both sides of the war to gain power, causing the deaths of millions, including a shit ton of Mace’s people and friends, because said chancellor drafted them to fight in the war that he created. This would make Mace pretty damn justified in killing Palpy imo, but Mace specifically goes to arrest him for his crimes. Palpatine then kills three other Jedi Masters in cold blood and attempts to kill Mace, and when Mace beats him he still tries to arrest him—y’know that whole “You are under arrest, my lord” bit?—until the guy tries to fucking electrocute him with his fucking hands and it becomes clear that there is no way to take him in peacefully. Only after palpatine murders 3 people in front of him, attempts to murder Mace in combat, and makes it clear that he cannot be taken in alive does Mace attempt to kill him. No matter how you slice it, that’s not him wanting to kill the bitch right away.
Also the article tries to say that Anakin wanted to bring Palpatine in because he recognized that he should stand trial, which is technically what he says, but he also screams “I need him!” in that same scene so I think we know why he really doesn’t want Palpy to die.
Mistake Number 7 that led to the fall of the order: They didn’t train Luke and Leia
Now this might seem baffling because the article is supposedly talking about things that caused the fall of the order and Luke and Leia weren’t even born until after the fall of the order, but I can assure you that the article does not explain this in any way.
Still, let’s pretend this makes sense with the subject of the article and press on. The article asks what was stopping Obi Wan from training Luke as a Jedi on Tatooine. I feel like the answer might have something to do with the fact that the twins were so powerful that the Jedi were afraid that the emperor could sense them if they were next to each other. Formal training would make them stronger and more likely to be sensed, so they didn’t do it until they had to. This probably would be the most reasonable thing in here if the article wasn’t about what caused the fall of the order.
Mistake Number 8 that led to the fall of the order: Not telling Luke about Vader
Yet another Thing That Lead to the Fall of the Jedi Order that somehow happened after the fall of the order, but if I focus on that I might start screaming, so we move on.
This article leads you to believe that all the problems in ESB could’ve been solved if only Obi Wan had told Luke about Vader. Hmm. Yoda says in RoJ that Luke wasn’t ready for the information when he was told at the end of ESB, which seems very true based on the fact that Luke was unable to accept the information when told, was described by George Lucas as suicidal afterwards, and is suddenly unable to consider killing Mr. Evil Baby Murderer Space Fascist afterwards because of their family connection, and you want Obi-Wan to tell him earlier?
You know that OT Luke would, upon hearing that information before Cloud City, have immediately jumped in his X-Wing and raced to confront Vader. If he found Vader in that state, Luke would’ve been even more unbalanced and unfocused, which would’ve lead to him losing the duel worse and being either killed or captured by Vader, since Leia wouldn’t have been close enough to save him.
Mistake Number 9 that led to the fall of the order: Not believing people who had been dead for 1,000 years were back without proof
I want you to imagine a hypothetical with me: a guy that is somehow vaguely influential in politics walks up to the UN and tells them that Leif Eriksson and the Vikings are back and coming to kill everybody. This man has no proof beyond what he and a couple of people with him say , and there has been no indication of this at all before he shows up. I know in that scenario I’d want the UN to throw him out until he had proof.
That’s the modern day equivalent of Qui Gon telling the Jedi the Sith are back. He’s making a huge claim with no evidence. You can’t expect the Jedi to immediately believe him no questions asked. The instant there’s actual proof of this, we see the two most influential and powerful Jedi, Mace and Yoda, talking about how they need to look out for other Sith. They are taking the threat seriously, they just aren’t omniscient like the audience.
Mistake Number 10 that led to the fall of the order: When they were enemies of the state who would be killed if they didn’t hide, they hid
Truly, a horrible mistake. Now they’re mad at Obi Wan and Yoda for going into hiding, unlike other survivors of Order 66. Other survivors such as Kanan, Ahsoka, Cal, and Quinlan, perhaps. All of these characters went into hiding. Cal and Kanan were forced out of hiding, and Ahsoka helped with the early rebellion while remaining in hiding, but pretty much every order 66 survivor tried to go into hiding.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go cry.
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heirtotheempire · 1 year ago
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I know this is a bit of a touchy subject right now, but I want to discuss the differences between creating alien species and making them look non-human, versus simply having bad makeup. Because there is a distinction! Putting it all under a read more because it got a bit longer then intended😵‍💫
For starters, none of this criticism has anything to do with the actors. This is purely directed towards Disney's makeup department. I think the actors fit the bill appearance-wise, end of story.
Hera and Thrawn, in short, do not look all that great in terms of facial makeup. And as someone who adores these characters, it is frustrating! Disney, one of the largest entertainment companies on Earth, couldn't find the time, budget, or artists to work on the appearances of two main characters in this show they've been building up to for years.
Personally, my main problem with it is the lack of contouring. I've been saying this to my friend for weeks as well as mentioned it in reblogs on and off, but neither Hera or Thrawn have any sort of contouring done to enhance their face shapes. There is no emphasis on the cheekbones, or for Thrawn's forehead bumps, none of it. They rely on the actors' natural facial structures to do the work for them. Which, if it was cosplay or otherwise in person, is fine. But with studio lights, it causes a washed-out look, especially depending on where the light is coming from. To combat this (in an acting setting), makeup artists emphasize things such as the eyebrows and the cheeks and especially any wrinkles, to help bring out any facial expressions made.
How does this differ from aliens being, well. Aliens! Considering we don't have a real baseline for what real life aliens would look like, it's only fair to allow filmmakers to go wild with speculation, even if it's off-putting. But that isn't what the issue is here. The aliens we're focusing on here, Twi'leks and Chiss, do have similar facial structures to humans. They're humanoids! So their faces would reflect light and cast shadows just as much as a human face would. By all accounts, make aliens freaky looking, but basic rules of light still apply. We should be able to clearly see Thrawn's cheekbones and forehead bumps without having to pull out a magnifying glass, something that is possible via, you guessed it, contouring!
Also, considering this is fiction, things looking bad is more of a reflection on the effort being put into the show than anything else. They could have done more but chose not to. Star Trek has some fantastic examples of humanoid aliens being distinctly alien without being poorly designed (I've been watching TNG and it is quite fun!). As said before, I'm all for freaky looking aliens. But bad design and bad makeup ruins that. What is and isn't bad design and makeup does fall into a more subjective range, I won't shy away from that truth. But I cannot get over the lack of contouring in a show that can be so brightly lit! Disney's shooting themselves in the foot here!
At the end of the day this is a television show though. Lets not get mad at people who do or do not like the makeup, and people are allowed to critique it as much as others are allowed to enjoy it. No one is any less of a fan for not liking the Ahsoka show, and no one is less of a fan for loving the show. I've seen some... very nasty things in the tags in relation to this specifically as well as for the whole show. Not very fun.
To end this on a lighter note, here's a very wonderfully done makeup job on a cosplayer! I don't know how to make the embedded stuff go away whoops😭
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niobiumao3 · 8 months ago
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Okay but here's my main narrative issue with CX-2 as Tech within the canon context: it utterly undermines Crosshair's plot and goes in the face of the entire TBB throughline of agency and choosing to do and be the right thing even if it's hard.
Crosshair's plot--and the plot of all the regs--is one of agency after moral injury. The chip made them do horrible shit, but then its influence fades (or it's removed) and they're left with the reality of having done something they thought was right but know, deep down, was not. And this is horrifying, and breaks all of them in various ways. There's a series of contrasts being laid out in this, which Tech as a CX simply doesn't work with.
Those who made it out:
Cody, Howzer, and Crosshair all save themselves from it over the course of their personal plots. Rex is saved by Ahsoka but left with the emotional scars and determination to save others from it.
Those who are trapped:
Wolffe, a good man convinced he's doing the right thing. Other regs like Wolffe. And then we have the CXes.
The CXes being magically brainwashed, unlike Wolffe and the other regs who are caught by the moral injury of their chips, clashes with this and simply doesn't fit. But what does fit is the type of cult indoctrination and brainwashing we see in our own world. People who are highly vulnerable being targeted by such groups and recruited. That is a similar trap that Wolffe is in, he's just (in effect) recruited himself.
Why 'Scifi Brainwashing' the CXes is a Bad Plot
Scifi-magic-brainwashing is no different than a fully active control chip. It's the same thing, and the whole POINT of S2 was how those were failing or wearing off (or being removed). Why would the plot just roll back on that? 'Well now it's some torture horror method and not a biotech chip'. Okay why not just say Hemlock figured out how to make the chips work again? Hemlock's entire elevator pitch in The Summit was that he'd found a way to NOT NEED fancy biotech brainwashing. That was his point, that he'd found a way to 'convince' them instead. So Scifi-magic-brainwashing doesn't make sense here plot wise, and while Bad Writing is always an option, much of the season has been top tier. I don't think they'd negate their own plot so thoroughly.
What IS CX Conditioning
What Hemlock seems to be doing is more traditional cult indoctrination and brainwashing. You put people in a Situation--this probably does involve torture but that's not the same as mindflayers and control chips--and now you're testing their resilience (emotional AND physical). Conforming becomes a choice, and is once again about agency and deciding to do the right thing. This kind of decision is a common theme in TBB, and is undermined by magically forcing people to be something they're not. I grant you, the choice might be 'convert or die', but since Cross was resisting and still alive and not even completely physically wrecked we can assume it's survivable. Awful, but you can get through it.
And a traditional conditioning would fail on Crosshair precisely because he saved himself from the aftermath of his chip already. He slowly realized what was happening, what he was part of. He finally broke free by killing Nolan, a sort of reverse of the situation with Caleb/Kanan. The regs being conditioned, though, they've not already had this breakthrough, they're much more vulnerable to choosing the CX route. Crosshair has been through this rodeo, he knows it's all bullshit.
What about Tech?
Tech, IMO, wouldn't be susceptible to it either; I guess you can argue he might, but I think that gets into some ugly stereotypes about autistic people being amoral and morally gray and etc. Simply put, there's no reason for Tech to be vulnerable to cult brainwashing just because he didn't have to fight it off the first time. I know some people have tried to push back on this with 'anyone CAN be brainwashed' but like...okay we're back to, why would Tech choose that. That's the thing here--what motivation would Tech have for falling to that beyond 'make the torture stop'? Our mans walked on a busted femur for HOW long, defeated 3 clones with one? And this person would fall to traditional cult mentality? I don't know that I can agree on that.
Then there's the added narrative complications:
Tech would have revealed Pabu the second Omega escaped if he was a CX
...unless he had amnesia, which would fit with him being vulnerable to CX conditioning but now we have CX and amnesiac Tech??
How is this being resolved in 4 episodes, given we know the earliest they can reclaim him is ep 10/11 because we see CX-2 as part of the Pabu invasion?
Sure, they can magically fix him somehow (feel free to choose your preferred method) but now we're back to, this flies in the face of the TBB plot of choice and living with what you actually chose to do, as well as what you were forced to do. It negates Cross' plot, which was a 3 season journey of repairing himself. Now we'd repair Tech from the same thing in one episode? I don't see that happening.
Anyways. This is a perfectly fun plot for fics and the like, where we can fudge bits of the story, stretch it out like taffey, imagine different options. But the canon has severe runtime constraints which would hamper this kind of plot without hurting other narrative threads they've established. You'd need a good season to really lay out a Tech-CX-2 plot which wouldn't conflict with Cross's own plot. They don't have a season, they have 6 episodes max, probably less.
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