#what if they were doomed by the narrative!! what if they were tragic and heartfelt instead of a barely acknowledged friendship!!

[the-great-kraken]

not to come on this website and talk about the mcu in 2024 but. can you imagine watching in chronological order - as someone who has no idea about these movies - and reaching black widow's end credits.

people like to say it would ruin it because spoilers, but honestly, i think it would be a gut-wrenching way to experience it. you know natasha is going to die, and as far as you know, clint barton will kill her. civil war just layed the seeds of anger in the avengers, and then they didn't see each other for years.

the next time we see clint, his family is dead. he is ronin, and he is hunting killers. he has not seen natasha since they faced each other at the airport. natasha didn't save his family. you think you know how this ends, but it doesn't.

then you finally reach vormir, and all of a sudden, it makes sense. clint would never kill natasha - not unless she made him.

[yurimother]

The Best Yuri of 2020

2020 was hell in every way, and many of us are looking forward to new possibilities and advances in 2021. However, the year brought us many small moments and gifts worth celebrating. Among these, the explosive growth and change within the Yuri genre are among the most precious and most outstanding achievements. This second century of Yuri opened with a bang, as phenomenal new works, creators, and moments made their mark and helped change the future genre.

This annual list is a celebration of just a handful of the fantastic titles, people, and events in Yuri. There are likely some even greater ones that did not make the list because there is so much content in both English and Japanese that even I cannot keep up. However, among the troves of treasure, these titles stood out as shining examples of Yuri excellence. Some were released this year, others were recently adapted into English, and still, others are established titles that rose to prominence to dominate the conversation and my mind this year, but every one of them is worthy of being on this list and in your heart.

Here is the Best Yuri of 2020!

15: The Curse of Kudan Remastered

Japanese Yuri visual novel developers show no sign of slowing down as they continue to push to new heights and try new ideas. These are the same amazing people who brought us the delightful educational Yuri game The Expression Amrilato and the hilarious and surprisingly queer OshiRabu: Waifus Over Husbando’s. However, this most recent release, The Curse of Kudan Remastered, is their best work yet. Released near Halloween, this game brings a new edge of dark mystery and the occult to Yuri audiences worldwide.

The Curse of Kudan is available on MangaGamer, JAST USA, Denpasoft, and Sekai Project.

14: Adachi and Shimamura

English audiences were finally treated this year to Hitoma Iruma’s long-running and wildly successful Yuri light novel series, Adachi and Shimamura. Although the story struggles to gain traction, dedicated readers’ have their patience rewarded with a sweet tale full of gay pining. Alternatively, you can jump into its stellar anime adaptation, with gorgeous visuals and realized characters you will actually be willing to put up with the annoying Yashiro just to see where the title characters go. The series shows no sign of slowing down either, as the manga adaptation is coming to Western audiences next year.

Adachi and Shimamura is available to stream on Funimation. The light novel series is published by Seven Seas - https://amzn.to/3rTSZTK

Honorable Mention: Happy Go Lucky Days

The OVA adaptation of Fragtime got most of the attention this year. Still, director Takuya Satou and Pony Canyon also gave us this much-overlooked “love is love” anthology movie based on Takako Shimura’s manga (Sweet Blue Flowers, Wandering Son). The first short in the film, “Happy,” is easily the best Yuri anime of the year. It follows the beautiful yet realistic queer love story of two women hooking up at a mutual ex-girlfriend’s wedding, only for the relationship to blossom and warm viewers’ hearts. Sadly, while stylized, the budget demanded the animation cut a few too many corners. Additionally, the subsequent stories are at best tedious and at worst alarmingly problematic, which is why Happy Go Lucky Days only gets an honorable mention.

The OVA is streaming on HIDIVE

13: Mieri Hiranishi

The Yuri scene has many colorful creators with a breadth of different ideas and stories in the genre, yet few have provided as much humor and joy as Mieri. This talented creator spectacularly tumbled into the scene with her manga essay The Moment I Realized I Wasn’t Straight, which embodies the brutal honesty and realism of Nagata Kabi and matches it with exaggerated hilarity. She continues to chronicle her painful struggles of being a butch girl in love with butch girls in the monthly series The Girl that Can’t Get a Girlfriend. Alternatively, you can follow her on Twitter for just as much heart and laughter.

Read The Girl that Can’t get a Girlfriend on Tapas and Webtoon.

12: My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!

My Next Life as a Villainess has what can only be described as volcanic bisexual energy. Every character protagonist Catarina Claes encounters is entirely enthralled by her. Of course, she is far too preoccupied with her quest to avoid doom flags and change her ultimate fate to notice any romantic interest. The series is rewarding and well structured, as views are just as focused on how Catarina plans to avoid certain doom as they are with the various romantic misses her band of companions cooks up. While the “friendship ending” did not capitalize on its Yuri potential, it was perhaps the most satisfying possibility for this crazy harem, at least until season two comes out, which looks, unfortunately, to be significantly less queer.

My Next Life as a Villainess is streaming on Crunchyroll

11: Love Me for Who I Am

Kata Konayama’s manga series is less Yuri than a general LGBT work, but it has a lesbian character and explores her identity and struggles in great detail. Few titles before have captured the exciting and nervous waves of emotions that young people feel as they explore gender and sexual identities and try to find themselves. This heartfelt and extremely queer series rubberbands between cute moe dress up to tragic and gripping backstory, keeping readers on their toes the whole time.

Love me for Who I Am is published by Seven Seas - https://amzn.to/3rTSZTK

10: A Summer’s End – Hong Kong 1986

Oracle and Bone’s debut visual novel, A Summer’s End, is set in a vibrant and electric 1980’s Hong Kong. Drawing inspiration from classic Asian cinema, music, and fashion. The worlds of Michelle, a young office worker, and a free-spirited woman named Same collide. The two struggle to comprehend and accept each other’s feelings just as they struggle against society’s expectations and prejudices. An incredibly thoughtful and touching adventure, the creators incorporated vital contemporary elements include Asian LGBTQ rights and growing political unrest in Hong Kong, into this illustrious game.

The visual novel is available on Steam.

Honorable Mention: Goodbye, My Rose Garden

In the same vein as A Summer’s End, Goodbye, My Rose Garden is a beautiful period piece that incorporates LGBT views into its shattering narrative. The story follows a bright-eyed immigrant, Hanako, wanting to make a new life in England as an author at the dawn of the twentieth century. She takes a job as a maid to noblewoman Alice, but their relationship takes a turn when Alice asks Hanako to kill her. This poignant tale is beautiful and an honest depiction of love and its conflict with responsibility and society.

Goodbye, My Rose Garden is published by Seven Seas Entertainment - https://amzn.to/3hFSyaG

9: Shio Usui

Usui’s hit Shaikaijin Yuri manga Doughnuts Under a Crescent Moon could easily take this spot even though it is not even out in English until February 2021. The manga is already making waves and receiving constant praise. The characters and their journey to discover love and self-acceptance are as charming as they are relatable and grounded. However, it is the creator, Usui, who really deserves acclaim. Not just for their work on Doughnuts, but having a second serialized story, Onna Tomodachi to Kekkon Shitemita, in monthly Yuri magazine Comic Yuri Hime simultaneously. It is even more remarkable when you consider these two iconic stories are Usui’s first long-running works, as they only contributed one-shots before.

8: Bloom Into You: Regarding Saeki Sayaka

Bloom Into You is possibly the most iconic Yuri series in the past decade, and while the manga deserves its own place on this list, the best thing to come out of the series as a whole is easily the light novels. This trilogy by Adachi and Shimamura creator Hitoma Iruma dives deep into supporting cast member Sayaka. Readers are treated to a delightful journey as she discovers her sexuality, experiences heartbreak, and finally finds herself breaking free and falling in love. With the help of gorgeous illustrations by Nakatani Nio herself, Iruma masterfully captures Sayaka’s unique voice and emotions in this wonderful series. Whether a fan of the originals or not, every Yurijin must check out Regarding Saeki Sayaka.

The light novel series is published by Seven Seas - https://amzn.to/3hFSyaG

7: Our Teachers are Dating

The best a Yuri can get. This workplace romance follows two teachers at the start of a new relationship taking nervous yet enthusiastic first steps, including saying I love you, going on their first date, and even sleeping together. It is so heartfelt and salacious that readers will squeal the whole time. Additionally, our heroines are supported in their relationship by everyone they know, their students, colleagues, and even the principal. It is a perfect world for these two lovebirds! Our Teachers are Dating would easily be number one or two in any other year, but the competition is fierce in 2020. So even though this is only number seven, it is still a master class Yuri manga.

The manga is published by Seven Seas Entertainment - https://amzn.to/38XY3O9

6: Amongst Us

Who would have thought that a comedy alternative universe story spinoff of a fantasy action series would be the single best Yuri webcomic this year? Shilin’s astounding artwork illustrations the hilarious and irresistible journey of girlfriends Blackbird and Veloce. These two eccentric young women get into all kinds of everyday mischief that bounces between tender and touching romance, completely outrageous comedy, and downright thirst-inducing sorcery. Seriously, you should buy the first volume for Veloce’s back muscles alone. The storyline skips between time, but both their established relationship and their meeting as teenagers are adorkable and captivating.

Amongst Us is available online free on Webtoon and the comic’s website. The first volume is in paperback on Shilin’s site.

Honorable Mention: Éclair

There are a lot of Yuri anthologies out there, and they have done some beautiful things. Many focus on themes like Syrup. Others collect a series of stories by an author into one bound work. However, out of all of them, Éclair is the most successful. ASCII Media Works took some of the genre’s most extraordinary creators and let them do whatever they wanted, and the results are spectacular. The incredible talent behind Éclair somehow packs a full volume’s worth of story and character into just a few pages with every chapter. While the first volume came overseas a few years ago, Yen Press gave Yurijin a gift this year by releasing the entire rest of the series in which readers can get lost.

The anthology series is published by Yen Press - https://amzn.to/38XY3O9

5: I’m in Love with the Villainess

A small trend of isekai Yuri with villainesses emerged recently, and I honestly had few hopes of I’m in Love with the Villainess. The series is pretty popular, but I often find that this does not denote quality, and with isekai having some institutional issues, I suspected this would fall flat. Then the volume three cover showcased an incredible accomplishment, allowing for a lesbian relationship to blossom into a family with children, and it blew me away. Finally, I read volume one and realized that the series has incredible character, some of the best world-building I have ever seen in a light novel, thoughtful discussions of inequality and societal issues, and most impressively, open and frank discussion of queer identity and life Yuri has ever seen! This one is something special.

The series is published by Seven Seas Entertainment - https://amzn.to/3nedvdZ

4: The Last of Us Part II

Yes, I know this one is not Yuri and that a portion of the population despises this game and will likely be exceptionally angry at me for including it. However, I maintain that it was an incredibly challenging masterpiece. Naughty Dog did not take the easy route out and delivered one of the most devastating media experiences I have ever seen. As I said in my article about the game, playing it changed me, and it sticks with me to this day. The Last of Us Part II earns its spot on this list because it pushed boundaries more with LGBTQ inclusion than any other AAA game. From brave inclusion of LGBTQ themes to queer characters and storylines at its center, the game changes gaming and it will never go back.

The Last of Us Part II is available on PlayStation 4

3: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

She-Ra feels like the culmination of all the LGBTQ progress western cartoons have made over the past few years. From The Legend of Korra to Steven Universe, young people are finally seeing more LGBTQ people represented on the small screen. This epic fantasy concluded with an amazing and powerful lesbian romance, delivering on its queer promise and revolutionized representation in a trope-defying crescendo.

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power is streaming on Netflix

2:  The Conditions of Paradise

The greatest single Yuri work of all in 2020 was the English release of Akiko Morishima’s breakthrough manga, The Conditions of Paradise. Initially released in 2007, this anthology detailed the love between adult women. It was in every way a manga ahead of its time, and seeing it finally get a small piece of the recognition it deserves overseas is a true gift. The fact that we can own this legendary piece of Yuri history and Morishima’s other anthologies is nothing short of a blessing from the Yuri goddess.

The Conditions of Paradise is published by Seven Seas Entertainment - https://amzn.to/38bh4xq

Honorable Mention: Otherside Picnic

This eerie sci-fi horror series combines the best of pulse-pounding thrillers, complex and intelligent hard science fiction, and exciting Yuri romance. Author Iori Miyazawa spends as much time crafting a well-paced and intriguing narrative about a mysterious world where occult creatures roam as he does establishing two believable and grounded heroes in Sorawo and Toriko. The romance between the two may be slow to start, but their chemistry is undeniable and as the stakes and story build, so too does their relationship. Not only are the light novels incredible, but the series’ manga adaptation is coming soon to the West as well as an upcoming TV anime in early 2021.

Otherside Picnic is streaming on Funimation. The light novels are published by J-Novel Club - https://amzn.to/3niiv1g

1. Yuri subgenres

For a long time, Yuri was not a genre of its own, but elements of romances or bonds between women found in other works. Now, thanks to an increasing library of works, the advent of social media, and a wider audience, Yuri is a genre on its own, with many creators telling different stories in different styles. However, 2020 saw the continued emergence of something extraordinary, subgenres. Yuri is now so vast, we can actually categorize the works within. Depending on their characters, like classic schoolgirl romances or spicy shakaijin office affairs, their world, such as fantasy or isekai series and thrilling science fiction adventures, and even other elements within. One of my personal favorites is the feminist Yuri that emerges from titles like Sexiled, where women celebrate the accomplishments of other women and dismantle power structures stacked against them. Now, no matter what kind of Yurijin you are, there is something for you to love.

I am happy to leave 2020 behind, but I bring with me a renewed love and admiration for Yuri. 2021 looks to be a somehow even better year for the genre, and I am thrilled to experience every minute of it that I can. Yuri has transformed into something far greater than I ever thought it would be, and let us all enjoy its evolution and expansion together in 2021.

[orionsangel86]

“I Think It’s Time For Me To Move On”

...And Other Things That Have Destroyed Me This Weekend...

So there is this common trope within love stories which generally happens at the end of the second act in which everything goes wrong and we all think that the lovers are doomed to failure. Its pretty much standard in every Jane Austen novel, every romantic film every made, every single bloody love story. Go ahead, name one. I guarantee you the break up moment is there.

Within the epic love story of Dean and Cas, there have been many break up moments, and all have had their emotionally devastating impact on the relationship and the show...

But THIS was a different level. 

(For a nice summary of Destiel break up moments and understanding of this trope, @tinkdw​ wrote about it here.)

I didn’t think that there would be another moment within Dean and Cas’s relationship that could hit me this hard. The mixtape in 12x19, the wrapping of Cas’s body in 13x01, and the return of Cas in 13x05 are moments that I consider to be the very top of the scale in making this pairing undeniably romantic. Moments that pushed it beyond a platonic interpretation. These three moments have been the things I cling to when the show has otherwise made me doubt any conclusion to the DeanCas story, and since there hasn’t been another one of those moments since 13x05, until now I have been somewhat nervous that the story was dropped, or being forced back behind a platonic screen. 

15x03 has ripped that screen away. 

Emotional meta under cut...

This entire episode was an emotion fuelled dramatic roller-coaster that killed off three characters including our beloved witch queen in a scene that almost stole the show and practically canonised the SamWitch ship. Rowena’s death should have been by far the most torturous moment for viewers to endure, and it was extremely torturous and had me sobbing on a plane 3 hours into a 7 hour flight. That incredibly heartfelt moment between Sam and Rowena will probably go down as one of the top tear-jerking moments on this show. It was tragic in the best way - the way Supernatural is famous for.

But lets not gloss over the fact that in an episode where THAT should have been the climax, where THAT should have been the emotional highlight and end point, instead we get a further MORE dramatic stand off between Dean and Cas that pulled focus and ripped all of our hearts out just as violently as poor Ketch in the first act (a very clever and smug piece of meta foreshadowing there Mr Berens).

On a meta level, this is HUGE as a writing choice because they MUST know how this looks. This was the climax of the third episode of the finale season. The way Supernatural has always structured itself since Carver era is that the first three mytharc episodes of each season establish the direction of the story and set the foundations for the character level focal points and dramatic key notes to come. 

That the writers have chosen to end the foundation episodes with a DeanCas break up moment that was more dramatic than a Spanish Telenovela has just stunned me and left me reeling because I just can’t see how else this can go. This break up scene absolutely DEMANDS a huge reconciliation of the sort that will be part of the A plot of the season - the FINAL SEASON. Guys. Part of the reason I have been so quiet and so disillusioned with the show during late season 13 and season 14 was because they pushed any Destiel plot into non existent territory - it became kinda irrelevant and Dean and Cas just acted like friends (homoerotic friends yes, and sometimes like an old married couple, but it was mostly played as an afterthought imo), so for this to suddenly be brought to the forefront of the emotional story again is excellent news for us. 

The thing is, like with those huge moments I listed above, the break up scene is basically undeniably romantic when you break it down to its components:

1. It’s only Dean and Cas. 

Once again we have another scene of high stake emotions that excludes Sam. In a platonic reading of the show, it makes zero sense for there to be such a hugely disjointed relationship between Cas and Dean and Cas and Sam given he has known them both for so long now that if they were all “just friends” then surely Sam would also feel the impact of Cas’s choices as heavily as Dean. In a platonic reading, Dean comes across as an asshole, Sam comes across as being weirdly uncaring about his friend of 10 years, and Cas comes across as not even bothering to get Sam’s opinion before leaving. A romantic reading makes sense because quite literally THIS IS A ROMANTIC BREAK UP.

2. The words spoken. 

“Well I don’t think there is anything left to say.”

“I think it’s time for me to move on”

From Cas’s perspective at least, name one time in a piece of media where such language has been used for a platonic breakup sincerely? There have been heartfelt break up songs that use these exact words. (I should know I’ve spent the last 24 hours listening to them all).

That last line in particular is so heavy. It’s the last line of the episode and nothing about it is platonic. This is relationship terminology my dudes. “I need to move on, and get over you.” This is Cas’s bloody Adele song. My heart breaks for him, but if I was his sassy and fabulous best girlfriend right now I’d be sitting him down, sipping a cocktail, flipping my hair and telling him “Babe, you’re too good for him. Good Riddance. Let’s go out, have some cocktails, something pink and fruity. No dive bars for us darling. I’ll take you to Heaven... the fun one in London.”

In all seriousness though, from Cas’s perspective, this was him admitting defeat and giving up the fight for love. How anyone can possibly say Cas isn’t in love with Dean after this, well I just don’t know what show you are watching. This is the face of a heartbroken man who has just accepted that his love is unrequited. 

3. The many faces of Dean Winchester

On the other end of the scale, Dean was mostly silent after his poisonous words “And why does that something always seem to be you?”

Forgive the terrible gif quality I’ve no time for fancy gif work!

Look at his face here. He knows what he said was fucked up and he immediately regrets it. The way he swallows around that regret and then turns away.

and after Cas says that devastating final line and walks away? We get THIS reaction from him:

The jaw clench as he looks down. The sorrow on his face as he realises he has well and truly fucked this up. LOOK

Finally, he looks up, makes himself look up and watch Cas leave. If that isn’t the face of a broken man I dunno what to tell you. Anyone who thinks Dean is totally heartless and uncaring right now needs to reassess because this is NOT the face of someone uncaring. This is the face of someone who has just lost everything. Again. 

4. The FUCKING MUSIC

Seriously. The sweeping heavy drama of the low strings that come in right after Dean says that horrid line, that carry the weight of the look of horror and heartbreak on Cas’s face as they amplify the emotion there. As they blend seamlessly into the slow and subtle version of the Winchester family theme behind Cas’s heartbreaking speech and Dean’s stubborn stoic face hiding a multitude of emotion, until the violin dominates as Cas says “I think it’s time for me to move on” and the Winchester Theme swells to its climax, ripping all our hearts out just like poor Ketch as Dean watches Cas walk out of his life surrounded by darkness. 

I MEAN.

A friend on Twitter reminded us all of this point about the importance of this theme via @justanotheridijiton​ here which is essentially:

“The Winchester theme is not simply an aural marker to let the audience know when and how Sam and Dean love each other (any Supernatural fan knows that is the baseline of their relationship), but to provide narrative information, especially when the image and dialogue are incomplete or inconsistent with the true situation...  Seasoned fans will recognize the theme and its history of being paired with images indicating deep emotional bonding and a desire to do the right thing by the Winchester code. Here we trust our ears over our eyes to reveal the truth.”

So here is yet another key indicator that any surface read that this is actually an ending between Dean and Cas and that Dean really is just an angry asshole is utter bullshit. 

Honestly, this was PAINFUL, but it was painful in the best way. It was 13x01 levels of pain, but this time it was Cas choosing to walk away which makes all the difference. Dean’s greatest fear isn’t his loved ones dying on him after all, but of his loved ones choosing to leave him. This was exactly the kick up the ass Dean needs in order to win Cas back, classic love trope style. 

Hence my excitement at what is to come. Yes we won’t see Cas again until 15x06, but in the meantime I fully expect a good helping of angst and wallowing from a depressed Dean who has to deal with the fact that he has just lost the love of his life and it is all his fault. That he just pushed away the one person who promised they would always stay by his side. That has got to hurt. 

So yeah, this episode emotionally destroyed me, and I’ve only really covered the primary reason, let alone all my feels over SamWitch, Rowena’s death, Belphegor’s taunting of Cas over his deepest fears and then having to suffer through smiting a creature wearing the face of his son until his body was nothing but a burnt corpse... I wonder if Bobo had a bet going in the office over how much he could hurt us all? He was certainly enjoying scrolling through the Supernatural tag on Twitter and liking everyone’s reaction tweets including some brilliant Destiel related ones. I do love Bobo. Our Angst Goblin King. 

If anyone had asked me a few weeks ago what my thoughts were on the chances of getting explicit canon Destiel by series end, I would have said somewhere in the realms of 30-40%, considering it a battle of wills between DabbBerens and CW studio execs who I still feel are against it in general. I would have considered everything that happened after 13x06 as the writers getting a big NO on Destiel from the network and therefore having to pull back on any Destiel related plot points (purely my own speculation on BTS matters of course).

Now I am wondering if Dabb kept fighting the network? If he managed to wear them down into begrudging acceptance? I’m currently up to around an 80% chance of textual canon DeanCas if we continue on this path. If Dean is clearly shown to be mourning and hating himself over Cas next episode, and if this DeanCas dramatic plot line continues to be a focal point of the emotional story arcs... well...

I’m side eyeing 15x07 a lot right now. Only in my wildest dreams would I think that they might actually introduce an old boyfriend for Dean in a “coming out” episode, but the placement, timing, and potential is all there and I’m kind of once again donning the clown mask because I’m just in awe at everything that they are doing. I guess we’ll find out soon enough. In the meantime, I’m gonna paint my face in red and white and wear my rainbow wig and listen to break up songs on Spotify whilst trying to shove my heart back into my chest where Bobo Beren’s gleefully ripped it out with his hands like the demonic angst goblin he is. Wish me luck, I’m not sure I’m gonna get through this season with my emotions intact.

[rebelsofshield]

Star Wars: The Clone Wars: “Shattered” -Review

The true tragedy of The Clone Wars makes itself known in the tense and traumatic penultimate episode of the series.

(Review contains episode spoilers)

Darth Maul is in custody. With his puppet government ousted, Bo-Katan and her loyalists once again have control over the planet of Mandalore. Her mission complete, Ahsoka Tano prepares to deliver the captured Sith Lord to Coruscant. However, the arrival of clone Order 66 upends her reality and forces Ahsoka to confront dark secrets.

I compared last week’s episode “The Phantom Apprentice” to a horror movie. Nathaniel Villanueva’s direction created an eerie and doom filled landscape that not only sold the high stakes action of the narrative, but also made the audience fully aware of the horrific events that were just around the corner. It’s rare that dread has been the key emotion of a Star Wars project, but that has certainly been the case here.

This feeling of unease carries into “Shattered,” the third episode of The Siege of Mandalore and the penultimate of the series as a whole. Director Saul Ruiz continues the atmospheric tension of “The Phantom Apprentice” into this chapter before shifting full on into emotional terror. “Shattered” builds to and continues on from the event that viewers of The Clone Wars have dreaded since day one. Order 66 has arrived. And it will change everything.

The final moments on Mandalore are a surreal experience. There is a temporary victory at hand. Maul and his loyalists have been supplanted, but there is nothing but uncertainty in the future. Bo-Katan Kryze is now left with ruling a planetary a government, a task that she is hardly prepared for. Katee Sachkoff has consistently given one of the most understated and nuanced voice performances on this series and watching Bo-Katan take stock of the planet she has now inherited is a sobering moment. I’ve talked before about the cyclical nature of Mandalorian history. Change is never permanent for people whose primary language is violence. It’s a quiet moment in an episode where so much happens, but Ahsoka asserting that Mandalore will need new leadership only for Bo-Katan to express doubt that that can even happen is perhaps the perfect summation of everything that Dave Filoni and his fellow creators have done with these sad lost warriors to date. We know now through Star Wars Rebels and The Mandalorian the painful route that these peopleface over the next two decades. There may be the semblance of hope now, but Bo-Katan like us know it’s a false one.

Also, can we just acknowledge that creepy Mandalorian sarcophagus that Maul is trapped inside? It’s an eerie artifact that turns Maul into a devilish Hannibal Lecter that is carted around like a deadly caged animal. Ruiz directs these moments with a certain degree of foreboding, with numerous haunting shots of and through Maul’s furious eyes and his trapped panting. It reads like a visual red herring. The visual language here tell us to be wary of this trapped rogue Sith, but the real horror lies elsewhere.

Filoni and Ruiz smartly hide the true warning signs elsewhere. Ahsoka walks into a briefing with multiple Jedi including Mace Windu and Master Yoda. Obi-Wan has engaged General Grievous and Anakin has left to inform the chancellor of these developments and the deciding moments of the end of the war at hand. Mace Windu has long been positioned as the Jedi that is perhaps the most lost in the twisted new reality that the Jedi have found themselves in. His wariness of politics and war have lead him to be a full participant in its actions and it has hardened him as a person. If the Jedi are lacking in compassion, it is Windu that is devoid of it. His callous response to Ahsoka’s questions serve as reinforcement of all of her existing biases of an organization that turned its back on her when she needed it most. Their paranoia in this case may be warranted, but that’s invisible to Ahsoka who is justifiably frustrated and angry with them for their actions. One of the quietest of the many tragedies in “Shattered” is that Ahsoka once again lets her loyalty to Anakin and her distrust of the Council prevent the halting of the pain that is to come. She doesn’t share Maul’s suspicions of Anakin to the Council, just as much because she worries what they might do with this information as she distrusts it herself. Even Yoda’s kind hearted request of a message to give to Anakin falls on unwilling ears. In this moment, the failures of the Jedi, even the ones that are the closest to their ideal like Yoda and Obi-Wan, have doomed their fate and driven away the people that may have been able to save them.

The moment arrives all the same. The end of the Jedi and the rise of the Sith were doomed to occur no matter what. After a heartfelt discussion about the ending of the war between Ahsoka and Commander Rex, Anakin’s betrayal is enacted and the galaxy is upended.

It’s maybe the one moment in “Shattered” that doesn’t completely make work. The decision to mix in the actual audio of Revenge of the Sith for Ahsoka and Maul to sense from across the galaxy is an inspired choice, but there’s an uncanny feeling to it that can’t be escaped. While Corey Burton and Samuel L. Jackson’s Mace Windu performances are close enough in style and cadence to ignore, Matt Lanter’s Anakin was purposefully designed to be a more empathetic and heroic take on the character. Hearing Hayden Christensen’s dialogue is jarring and off putting. It’s an intersection of film and animation in a way that feels a little too awkwardly grafted for it to have the needed effect. It’s made even stranger by the layering effect of Lanter’s voice over Christensen’s for the final line of dialogue. There may be a reason for this choice, but I’m not sure it was the right move to make.

We are given little time to ruminate on this though before it all goes belly up and Rex and the rest of the clones begin the execution of the Jedi Order. It was always going to be a shocking moment, but in a moment of out of context cruelty, many of us given the events of Star Wars Rebels were led to believe that Rex would escape this sadistic fate in full. Even as he resists pulling his weapons on his friend, it becomes clear that we never got the full story from our clone hero and there are darker and sadder futures ahead.

Ahsoka’s escape and evasion of the hunting clones is a tragic and tense set piece. The visual irony of clones that were once so loyal to her that they modeled themselves in her image now forced to hunt her to the death is unnerving and effective. It takes a sweet moment from the start of this arc and turns it into a cruel cosmic joke.

I’m sure many of us clone junkies did find some justice in Rex finally finding the truth in Fives’s discoveries from last season. While it will never take away the hurt that such a determined and empathetic clone died as a disgrace in the eyes of his friends and allies, there is a welcome payoff that Rex’s final words before being subsumed by his programming is a recognition of his friend. It gives Ahsoka a mission to hopefully save her friend while also providing needed payoff for one of the darker moments in this series.

Ashley Eckstein has been killing it all season as Ahsoka, but the directions she takes her in here are new and unexpected. This is a more desperate, angrier, and more determined take on the character. At this point she has pretty much lost everything that has mattered to her, but instead of wallowing in despair, she meets it with resolve and unflinching competence. Her utilitarian use for Maul’s escape is a fascinating beat as it shows just how clear the limits of Ahsoka’s compassion are. She still cares about those that are close to her, but now faced with this all-encompassing tragedy, she has little faith in self-serving operatives like the unstable Zabrak.

Maul’s escape though does end up unleashing one of the most brutal set pieces in the history of the series. In a bone crushing combination of Darth Vader’s hallway massacre from Rogue One and the unstoppable determination and kinetics of some of the best Magneto moments from the X-Men films, Maul plows through a hallway of resisting clones. It is maybe a little indulgent in its violence and certainly is some of the most intense imagery we have seen on this show this season, but there’s a base pleasure in how Ruiz directs this carnage. Maul is the wild card here. We have mostly certainly not seen the last of him.

Ahsoka’s desperate rescue of Rex’s autonomy alongside a trio of loyal droids feels like a desperate battle for hope in the darkness of the final days of the Clone Wars. While we know that these two are destined to escape, Filoni and Ruiz still sell it all with heartstopping tension. Even when Rex awakens from his murderous trance, it only serves a small victory. Our heroes are far from out of the woods.

Kevin Kiner’s musical score is operating at the top of its game here and it may be the best sounding episode of the series in that regard. Kiner continues to play with the unsettling and eerie drones that were so prominent last week, but also mixes in the electronica of the series’ earliest days and cues from John Williams’s operatic Revenge of the Sith score. It creates a unique and tense audio landscape that sells the violent tragedy of it all with masterful precision.

Thank the Force we only have three days to wait. I’m sure nothing but more pain is on the way, but hopefully there’s catharsis too. I really hope there is.

 Score: A

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Skyward: How Alicization Upends All Previous SAO Arcs

Lately I've been playing Final Fantasy XIV to prep myself for Shadowbringers. It’s a fantastic game, filled with intricate storylines, character development, and dramatic cliffhangers. It’s been a kind reminder of how fun and cool MMOs can be, and how it brings people together to enjoy each other’s companionship and efforts. It’s also been a great callback to the emotional journey of the recently ended Sword Art Online: Alicization, which is to be continued in just a few months time.

    Sure, you say, Sword Art Online is an “MMO” story, but to what extent? And I would argue, you’d be right, up until Alicization. But what separates Alicization from any of Sword Art Online’s previous arcs is how grand in scope and storytelling it is. Whereas each arc was distilled into about twelve episodes or less, Alicization is a whopping two full cours—that’s nearly 50 episodes of content! It’s this kind of length that can seem daunting at first, but upon closer look, adds lofty support to the MMO narrative I think the series always tried to be. After all, a MMO does stand for massive multiplayer online, and Alicization’s depth and length matches the kind of audacious storytelling an MMO can have.

    Part of this can be seen in Alicization’s concept. Unlike Phantom Bullet or Fairy Dance, where Kirito was entering the game to save a specific individual or investigate a terrorist, Alicization has the hallmarks of the first arc: Aincrad. He’s trapped in a game against his own will, and dying in the game definitely means suffering death in real life. Time also passes quite differently in the game as opposed to the outside world. While this sounds like a duplicate setup, Alicization however, adds a twist: Kirito has none of the support he’s developed in the past four to five arcs. He is completely and utterly alone, without any solid contact or connection to anyone in the world outside.

  This kind of danger presents two fantastic opportunities. The first is that no one knows Kirito and his history. To other characters in the game, he’s just another poor farmers boy. This rips Kirito of the ridiculous and often overbearing list of achievements that made him so desirable (and hated), which led to weaker parts of the story, like his harem building. There is almost none of that in Alicization, and it is incredibly refreshing. It’s this erasure of already established heroics that reduces Kirito to a relatable human, making his emotions feel earned and natural rather than structured and inauthentic triggers for a more dramatic reveal or battle.

    The second opportunity, and perhaps the most distinctive part about Alicization, is the development of two secondary characters, Eugeo and Alice. One of my biggest issues with Sword Art Online was how little depth the supporting cast often had. They were often created as checkpoints for Kirito to progress through a game, only to be sidelined as a harem-like addition. This improved in certain arcs (Rosario’s Yuuki for instance, is a compelling character that stands outside of Kirito’s heroic narrative, and I think Sinon’s recovery from trauma in Phantom Bullet is definitely more compelling than most), but it’s really Alicization where secondary character development shines. Alice originally starts out as a captive of the corrupt system, and is even brainwashed to fight her own childhood friends. But through her own determination and strength, she breaks out of it and comes to make decisions for herself. She’s also on par with Kirito, and expresses no romantic inclinations towards him so far, just simple friendship.

    And Eugeo. Eugeo is easily one of Sword Art Online’s best decisions: he’s a fantastic foil to Kirito’s bravery and determination. Eugeo is kind, and with that kindness comes weakness, vulnerability, and honesty: things Sword Art Online have lacked in spades for a long time. What starts off as a journey with Kirito transforms into a story where we also travel with Eugeo, and nothing shows this better in the arc where they’re split off from each other and we see where that contrast in character leads to two very different developments.

  We see Eugeo fall (and it is so important that we do, in a franchise where heroes only rise). We see him pick up his weapon against his most beloved friend, and we see him cast it away again so easily, to defend that same friend. It’s dramatic, but it works so well: we’ve walked with a character completely different to Kirito for twenty four episodes, and we watch him end in tragic and heartfelt manner as he dissipates into pixels in Kirito’s arms. It’s a brutal reminder that despite how human he was (and he was probably the most human character in the franchise), Eugeo is ultimately a product of a game, and his life is only given so much meaning—as much as we can ascribe to it.

    From there, stakes rise further. Sure, Administrator is finished, but there’s still a whole another war to survive, and we have lost a dear friend. Kirito’s life hangs in the balance, with this, Alicization reminds me so very well of the end of an expansion in any MMO: emotional catharsis, but at a great cost. I couldn’t be more excited for War of Underworld.

  That’s not to say the first half has had its faults. Sword Art Online still relies on domestic and sexual violence as a case for heroism, and its long winded dialogue for world building could do with a lot more trimming and diversity. Despite these issues, Alicization has consistently proved itself to be a compelling story about MMO-style adventure, encompassing many of the traits that I feel make an MMO worth getting into. And no one better encapsulates this than Eugeo, a boy that started off as just another NPC, only to gradually develop into one of the franchise’s best characters.

    We may not know what’s in store for us without him to aid Kirito and Alice in War of Underworld, but it’s safe to say that his death has paved a far more interesting story with higher stakes as Kirito must not only navigate out of the game, but also save it: a more exciting, complete story than any of the ones from before. If you feel like Sword Art Online has lost its emotionally affecting touch that it might have once had, I can confidently say that Alicization is a perfect place to jump right back into.

  Are you looking forward to War of Underworld? Do you have any theories for what will happen next? Let us know in the comments!

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When not finding ways to doom all her ships, Natasha can often be found on her twitter as @illegenes, or writing more about anime on the blog Isn’t It Electrifying! Feel free to swing by and say hi.

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