#which is why in all their stories thrawn gets to just go home and have a happily ever after with eli vanto or whoever

[tarisilmarwen]

"Thrawn only joined the Empire to help the Chiss!"

Okay sure but have any of you bothered to self-examine why Thrawn chose to join the Empire instead of, say, the Republic, when that was still around? Or why he didn't chose to throw in with the Rebellion, put his tactical mind to use helping them overthrow the Empire quicker?

Could it be... perhaps... that maybe he values the Empire's military strength... more than he cares about the authoritarian tyranny with which it oppresses its own people?

Is it possible that he thinks the Empire's main problem is that it isn't effective enough, too much politicking getting in the way of sound strategy, but if he's around (and in charge) he can guide things so that those annoying little wrinkles (AKA the pockets of discontent and rebellion and fully justified anger at their rights and freedoms being trampled on) are all smoothed out and the overall Imperial machine is better, more in control of its assets, a stronger more unified bulwark against the outergalactic threat of the Grysk or the Vong or whatever.

Is it perhaps just a bit self-centered of him to only care about the Empire's ability to service his own goals and desires and be apathetic (at best) to the way it makes people suffer daily under its inherent systems? The Twi'leks and Wookies being constantly kidnapped and sold into slavery? The careless industrialization of arboreal worlds? The socialization and absorption of all private industry, forcing everyone to work through and with the Empire if they want to work at all? The systematic persecution of anyone remotely Force Sensitive? Is it not the mark of some kind of soul rot to be aware of all of that and go, "Yeah, but I don't care, they have the bigger guns, which is what I need."?

Maybe... just maybe... Thrawn has some Machiavellian tendencies and opinions and maybe this just might... make him not entirely a good person?

And maybe y'all should think about that before you come back and whine about his portrayal as a villain, as if all he has to do is explain to people that he did everything for a good reason and he gets an automatic narrative pardon for all of the shit he did while Grand Admiral that still needs to be addressed and answered for.

[just-prime]

Tales of Squandered Potential

Oh hello again everyone who follows me for my Star Wars ranting!

So! Tales of the Empire. The Hat Man is at it again.

Episodes 1-3 : The Path of Boredom

As expected, all of the Morgan stuff was not my thing. She was boring in Ahsoka, she was boring here. The entirety of the three episodes just hammered home "this lady is angry" in a way that felt overdone because there is no arc. There's no growth, no interest, no nothing. It all just feels like Filoni trying to retroactively make his one dimensional character that gets killed off in the stupidest way possible feel super badass. However because we know that she gets killed in the stupidest way possible, everything falls flat and none of it feels earned. It also doesn't actually answer any of the many many questions that Ahsoka raised about her. She's just there, standing in front of a fire. That's all she does.

Thrawn is there for all of about two seconds, and every moment of it is painful, because here's the thing. WE KNOW WHAT THRAWN WAS UP TO AT THIS TIME!!! We have the book that explains all of Thrawn's many exploits as an admiral. This is only more evidence for the idea that Filoni has never actually picked up any of the canon Thrawn books. Which we kinda already knew, but this is all but confirmation. As I've previously said, and will continue saying, Filoni needs to contextualize Thrawn as a 100% big bad otherwise his Heir to the Empire fanfilm won't actually feel earned, so he is systematically destroying any and all nuance that Thrawn has had to make sure that new viewers only ever see him as an unredeemable evil.

And I know that there are a lot of you out there who are holding out for the possibility that this is all a misdirect by Thrawn! That this is all part of his grand plan to go back and help the Ascendency, and that he's lying to everyone about his intentions. But the sad truth is that Filoni doesn't give a rats ass about anything other than cartoonishly evil Thrawn which means we're never getting Eli, or Karyn, or Hammerly or any of the characters from the six fantastic canon books that Timothy Zahn so lovingly created. That was made very clear with Filoni's prioritization of Admiral Pellaeon, who for those who don't know is actually in the new canon Thrawn books too! He wasn't just left behind in Legends, Zahn brought him back into canon too! But again, being the Legends fanboy that he is, Filoni doesn't care about where Pellaeon should be canonically, so instead he's just shoehorned into the episode for no other reason then Filoni likes him.

Episodes 4-6 : The Barriss Content

Soooooo, why didn't Barriss get a full fucking season to herself??? I get the idea behind the 15 minute episodes, but it really makes it hard to tell any sort of cohesive story. It works far better as a snapshot of a couple of days in someone's life. So unfortunately, while I did enjoy them, Barriss's episodes felt really rushed and I found it really hard to tell when things took place. How long was she at the Inquisitor training center? Was it a day? Was it a month? Really would have been interested in actually seeing the inner workings but it all has to get brushed over in favor of her becoming an Inquisitor. A seemingly intentionally not named Inquisitor which makes me feel like they've run out of early Inquisitor names. Unless there's a trial period before you get a proper number? I don't know it was just one of those things that niggled at me. Another thing that niggled at me (which was also mentioned by the wonderful artist @stealingpotatoes, go give her art some love) is that her design is kinda boring as fuck? Like, you have Birdy-Mc-Skullface right there with such a neat design and yet all Barriss gets is a motorcycle helmet with very slight voice modulation.

But I digress. The fact that Barriss commits herself to the Inquisitorium via a ritualized fight to the death, and then goes "wait, the red light saber wielding, all black wearing, Darth Vader serving inquisitors aren't here to help people?" before immediately bailing is so funny to me. This girl cannot for the life of her commit herself to an organization without becoming disillusioned within 1-3 business days.

I'm not sure how I feel about it all being about Lyn? I was very much rooting for her to totally die in the ice shafts instead of what felt like a very last minute redemption arc?

Though speaking of the last episode...HOLY SHIT OLD BARRISS IS FUCKING HOT. *coughs* Excuse me. Anyway. I would have loved to see more of what happened in between eps 5 and 6. Seeing how she and the jedi kid escaped the planet, and where the two of them did after than in the very hostile Empire would have been a facinating story watch play out. Also, who is this female friend that Barriss is referring to when she sends the child away? Is it Ahsoka??? If it is...WHY WOULD YOU NOT SHOW US THAT REUNION??? Like I get the whole point of this is to set up Barriss to make the jump to live action like every single other Filoni character is curseddestined to do, but also you've had people waiting years to find out what happened to Barriss and it feels like they burned their biggest story possibility on a throwaway reference. Did she find Ahsoka? Did Ahsoka find her? When did they find each other? Was it pre-Rebellion? Was it after Ahsoka was already functioning as Fulcrum? Given that we now know the Fulcrum name originated from Anakin, did Barriss recognize the name and seek this mystery person out? I don't know it just feels again like more wasted potential.

Final Thoughts

Fuck this animation is good now! Can we get a new writer?

Like, even for the shit I was annoyed by, the entire show just looks fabulous. It makes me really really wish that ANYONE other than Filoni could make content in this style. Let the writers of Jedi: Fallen Order and Survivor do a Merrin episode or a baby Cal episode. Or the people doing The Acolyte, let them do Tales of the High Republic! Let anyone other than Filoni have a chance to create within the world of Star Wars animated content.

[roninreverie]

Why Ahsoka's Thrawn isn't actually the real Thrawn

A theory by me, which I am going to be so annoying about for the foreseeable future, so let me just try to get most of it out of my system right here and now. 😅

---

So we all know by now that Thrawn is revving up to be the BIG BAD for the live action Star Wars series tying The Mandalorian into Ahsoka and working off of the Rebels finale.

I also remember hearing old rumors that they were going to be pulling a lot from legends lore for this show, and that Timothy Zahn was not really involved at all with the show itself. (Feel free to update me otherwise though.)

Now, the fact that they're calling him the "Heir to the Empire" in the teaser trailer is already a pretty decent confirmation that the legends lore nods are in full swing. So this raises red flags for Thrawn's character, who, as we know from the newer novels, has a bit more motivation to him than his legends counterpart, and while the two are not wholly dissimilar, there have been a few important updates to his character since the early 90's.

Not to mention, I've heard a lot of people saying "If Zahn isn't involved, it wouldn't really BE Thrawn, right?"

EXACTLY!

I have a very strong gut feeling that this Thrawn isn't actually going to be the Mitth'raw'nuruodo that we expect him to be, and here's why:

Evidence #1: The Beskar Spear

In Chapter 13 of Mando, we're introduced to Morgan Elsbeth who was apparently working so closely with Thrawn that Ahsoka Tano shows up to battle her and demand information on his wearabouts.

Do you really believe Grand Admiral Thrawn would think very highly of a woman who had tarnished the artistic craftsmanship and history of Mandalorian armor just to forge it into a spear?

Lest we forget how upset he got at Captain Slavin just for badmouthing Hera's kalikori in Rebels?

But Thrawn is a big-picture kind of guy, so swallowing his opinions on the dismissal to the value of art isn't necessarily out of character for him, and I'm not sure if they ever specified it was Elsbeth who had done the re-forging in the first place.

Moving on!

---

Evidence #2 Legends Lore and Fake Thrawns

There have been many versions of Thrawn since his creation in Zahn’s original trilogy/duology series, but did you know that there have also been multiple Thrawns existing in the Star Wars Legends universe?

I won't go into too much detail, but considering the Empire tried to keep Thrawn at arms reach up until he earned his Admiral status, and then some… they had quite a few backup plans to make sure the Chiss stuck around even after his “supposed” death.

Between Moff Vilim Disra hiring a con-artist actor named Flim, to fake the role and trick the galaxy... or the literal clone(s) who were set on backup timers and programmed with all of Thrawn's memories just in case of the Admiral’s untimely demise... it’s not as wild an assumption as you might think that there could be a few faux Thrawn’s roaming about in new canon. 

And we have been getting a lot of interesting nods to clones lately in the Bad Batch, especially concerning Mount Tantiss and the planet Wayland/Weyland.

Just some food for thought.

---

Evidence #3: Thrawn’s Death and Continuity

Though Legends and Canon Thrawn do have some similarities and ways to tie together their two universes, there have been updates to his story that cannot be ignored in the new canon, such as his inevitable death.

In legends, Thrawn was killed at the hands of his own Noghri bodyguard, Rukh, who was formally loyal to the Chiss until he learned that Thrawn had not been helping with the ecological disasters of his home planet as he'd promised, but instead had been purposefully keeping them present so that the Noghri people would remain indebted to the Empire. Discovering Thrawn's lies, Rukh stabs him through the chest in the ever-popular “it was so artistically done” scene, thus ending the deceitful Grand Admiral’s life in the old trilogy. 

Unfortunately for the latest iteration of Rukh, Garazeb Orrelios made sure that his new canon self's death was probably not the sort he would be able to get back up and brush off in a surprising twist down the road. 

This left the new-canon Thrawn without an assassin destined to carry out his death, and what many newer fans hoped would mean some sort of redemption arc, given the changes to the character since his reintroduction in Rebels.

I think it can also be stated that the newer version of Thrawn is a bit "kinder" for lack of a better word than his legend's self. Not enough to negate his antagonistic nature in Rebels of course, but maybe just not to the sinister degree as his past counterpart.

---

So in closing, I am going to be watching and taking notes, excited to see where this new "Thrawn" in the Ahsoka series, Mando, and heck... maybe even Bad Batch-- will play out.

I am going to be constantly thinking he's a fake until absolutely proven otherwise, hoping that the Thrawn I've spent all these years building up in my head is off saving the Chiss-Ascendancy with Ezra Bridger and Eli Vanto... and getting something of a redemption arc now that he's apart from the Empire.

Newer Thrawn never struck me as an irredeemable villain, especially in the novels, but I guess that's up to time to tell for sure?

I'm not going to let this theory ruin my expectations for the show and the character, of course, but I'll be super hype if this is the direction they've chosen to go with him.

Thanks for reading, if you did, and feel free to keep the discussion going in the replies/reblogs if you have anything to add!

[lorrainestea]

Morgan Elsbeth: The Scarecrow

If you follow any of my blogs - this one or @sarcasteacdraws - or just find the Morgan Elsbeth tag under my posts, you probably noticed I often connect my posts with Morgan with song lyrics by Tobias Sammet and his music project "Tobias Sammet's Avantasia". Even from the pieces of lyrics you can make a picture about his work, but I wanted to make a deep dive in one specific album (or more wise trilogy) - The Scarecrow, because the similarities between this story and Morgan Elsbeth's journey are insane.

Tobias composed three albums known as "The Wicked Trilogy" - The Scarecrow, Anger of Babylon and The Wicked Symphony. The trilogy tells the story of the main character simply known as Scarecrow. Scarecrow comes through a lot of pain because of tragic love, he is unhappy, broken hearted, on the bottom of his strength and probably in the darkest places he's ever been. Besides pain, depression and sadness he also feels rage and anger. And this is where Mephistopheles comes to a scene - he uses Scarecrow's weaknesses against him, promises glory, strength and revenge if he offers his soul. And Scarecrow agrees. At first you can hear in the songs how he enjoys the feeling of power in the delusion this will lead to happiness again. By the end of the trilogy Scarecrow realizes he made a horrible mistake. In the moment of weakness he traded himself for something as vain and unstable as power and glory. This battle is lost for him.

Morgan lost everything - her family, home, people and even her own heritage when the magic of Nightsisters left her. She was left scarred forever, she carried the trauma ALONE as there was no one who would understand. People who should take care of her let her down. It left so much pain and she wanted revenge. Rage and contempt were Morgan's guidance aside with her ambitions.

So yes, she is a perfect Scarecrow.

And who is Mephistopheles then?

It's simple - Thrawn.

Thrawn saw in Morgan an opportunity when no one else gave her a chance. He showed a real interest in what she wanted to achieve and thanks to his brilliant mind, he somehow made Morgan trust him and give him her devotion. Both Mephistopheles and Thrawn are smart enough to in final get what THEY want by supporting Scarecrow's/Morgan's hate and encouraging them to act in their rage. They feed the anger so it became an attachment and both Scarecrow and Morgan are stuck in place, blinded by their hate instead of finding how to heal.

In the song "The Toy Master" (sung by Alice Cooper - Mephistopheles and Tobias Sammet - Scarecrow) there is a part where Mephistopheles says: "I'm dealing in pain" which is a great parallel to Thrawn's line "Offer accepted" when Morgan offers her anger. And later there a verse in which Scarecrow responds "It's their turn to crash and burn" and again, parallel to "My world has been burning since I was a child, why this one should be different?"

It Tales of The Empire sadly is no deep dive in Morgan's and Thrawn's relationship so this is more of my theory and point of view. However it would actually make sense, don't you think? Thrawn is clever and think is much larger spectrum than the other Imperials. He sees in Morgan a potential - as long as her desire for revenge and the old pain buried under her anger live. She is basically willing to do anything, even risk it all and build a hyper space ring to travel in another galaxy because she believes Thrawn is alive. Her devotion makes her believe in him and his survival even though everyone else thinks she is just crazy.

And later on Peridea Morgan also realizes she maybe lost everything, same as Scarecrow lost his soul. For some reason (Filoni explain!) Thrawn left her behind and sends Morgan to death. She dies knowing she never felt peace again and she will never find it, she will never turn her pain in bringing her people back, she will never have a chance to finally let go of her attachment and that she probably served as another insignificant piece of Thrawn's mastermind plan. Who else would have the ability to help in such a hopeless situation then obeying, devoted, loyal Nightsister he let taste power and glory for some time?

And no, I'm not saying Morgan would achieve nothing without Thrawn - she was already a Magistrate when they met, but I think if he never got her a chance, maybe she would find a new purpose as she would slowly heal. Perhaps she would stop living in the past as she would realize causing pain to others can't change what happened and it can't change anything now.

Both Scarecrow and Morgan are tragic characters that can't be excused for causing so much pain to others, but they can be understood - they were hurt and the smart game master encouraged them to stay this way.

[thecleverqueer]

I love Rex just as much as the next person, but narratively and thematically, it does not make sense for him to show up in the Ahsoka series this season in the current timeline.

Narratively, the series is very pointed and driven with two specific goals in mind: 1.) to find Ezra and Thrawn and attempt to stop Thrawn’s return to the main Galaxy and 2.) for Ahsoka to make peace with her past and put the Anakin trauma behind her so that her own character can develop further.

Narratively (at least at this point and up until now), having Rex in the series doesn’t make much sense because: 1.) he is old AF physically. Physically, he’s pushing 85-90 years of age at this point. He would only serve to slow the pace down which seems pointless based on the number of episodes in the series. But also, where would he fit in? He’s clearly not going to be capable of fighting the way that he did even in his late 60s or early 70s. It’d be like taking grandpa out of the home to fight crime. Why in TF would you do that? 2.) Ahsoka had to get over her trauma on her own, without the advise or input of another mentor character or old friend. She needed to come to her own conclusions about everything to truly heal. Otherwise, she’s still the mentee. The point of this exercise was for her to become the mentor.

It’s also pretty clear that Rex and Ahsoka weren’t chilling or hanging out. Ahsoka seemed to be pretty much a lone-wolf in the beginning of her series with Huyang being her only real sidekick. She’d pushed everyone away, or at least, isolated herself due to the Anakin trauma and her fear of turning to the dark side herself. She would have had to have gone out of her way to find Rex which would have made the narrative both awkward and clunky.

And, this gets me to my final points…1.) as a fandom, we will not all get what we want in a series, and Dave has mentioned this. 2.) the most annoying aspect of recent Star Wars media is that it was not thoughtfully written and instead was jam packed with cheap, pointless fan service that has made the media pretty bad at times (insufferable at others). A story MUST be good. The Ahsoka series story hasn’t been bad so far, though I’ll give my final judgement at the end of everything… it could still get stupid and go sideways-there are still three episodes left. Rex showing up would be in the latter category. Unless his presence is warranted to move the plot forward or to serve some sort of thematic or narrative importance, leave him out.

As long as he isn’t dead, he’ll end up showing up eventually (likely just to die).

[fallingdeeperintothispit]

10 characters/10 fandoms

Thanks for tagging me @dirtbag-linecook-kyloren! Let’s get into it 🦆

We’re gonna go chronologically just like the post I was tagged in because it’s late and I have no original thoughts!!

1. Kirishima Eijirou / Boku No Hero Academia

So sweet. My boy. And so criminally underrated. I feel like I really connected with this character back when I was in the fandom, because for those who don’t know his origin story was that he was super boring and bland in the (Japanese equivalent of) middle school, and when he got to high school he had completely changed his personality and flourished. I wanted to be him in a way, strong and brave. (Was this where issues with gender began? Maybe.)

2. Pitch Black / Rise of the Guardians

HOOOOH BOY. So many people identify Jack Frost as their first animated crush, but goddamn it if I didn’t immediately start being totally obsessed with Pitch. Now, as the years have passed, it’s become difficult for me to tell if I wanted to be with him or /be him/, but I always thought that he deserved much better than he got.

3. Sokka / Avatar the Last Airbender

Sensing a pattern? Yep it’s another unappreciated side character used for relief that I identified with and stuck to like a cactus. I actually really liked his character when I first watched the show, and now am an avid Zukka fan! Will I ever write a fic for that? Maybe. But don’t worry, Kylux will forever and always be my main source of inspo. Those blorbos were made for each other.

4. Runaan / The Dragon Prince

Listen. LISTEN. I started watching this show years ago and it is SUCH A COMFORT. I adore it. As I watched the show, of course I immediately connected with Soren, but something about Runaan’s character and the fact that he was so powerful and cut off but also a father and a lover and he NEVER GOT JUSTICE,,, it impacted me. I’ve read every SCRAP of fic I can about his life pre-TDP. Love him to death. Save my boy next season please!!

5. Saiki / The Disastrous Life of Saiki K.

Something about a generfluid aromatic main character just hit home for me. The fact that it was so normal that Saiki was born a girl and just changed his gender and no one cares is such a tiny moment in the show but it introduced the idea of “this is ok” to me. I hold that show in a special place in my heart. Doesn’t hurt that it’s also hilarious.

6. Muriel / Good Omens Season 2

We come to the present! Or, well, a few months ago present. Loved the kiss scene. Cried at the ending. Something about Muriel made me want to protect them. They’re so,,, blorbo. Kinda reminds me of Mitaka, now that I think about it 🧐

7. Jim / Our Flag Means Death

Oh boy. OHHHHHH BOY. Him. I love him. I want to be him. Just,,,, JIM. His origin story, his love interest, his bloodthirsty personality, that one scene with Spanish Jackie… just a chef’s kiss all around.

8. Armitage Hux / Star Wars - Sequel Trilogy

SAY IT WITH ME: “HE WAS DONE DIRTY!!” He had so much potential and they just SQUANDERED IT. He could have been the next Thrawn! He had the brains for it, and the wit. I don’t know why Ylasmirs aren’t used more in Star Wars cannon. Did I mention that Hux was a GENIUS?! He built a better, more powerful Death Star and was killed by A CHARACTER THE FANDOM HAD JUST MET. Also, he was the spy??? REALLY?? …I’m so normal about him.

9. Clyde / Logan Lucky

Recently watched this movie with my family and adored it. It’s up there in my list of Perfect Heist Movies! I feel like Clyde’s character was really well executed, and at no point was he made lesser for being an amputee, which I really enjoyed. Also, with the Ferrari movie coming out, maybe another heist is set to happen 👀

10. Stensland / Crashpad

Listen. This movie. This fucking movie. It was SO BAD. And kinda misogynistic? But… I really enjoyed Domhall’s acting. Stensland was lovable and dumb and my heart ached for him when he got rejected. Does that excuse the movie’s weird ending? No. But I still like the character.

Honorable Mention: Captain Phasma / Star Wars - Sequel Trilogy

I love Gwendolyn Christie. I love a woman who can beat the shit out of me. I love a woman in armor. Need I say more? Also, that character’s death was very anticlimactic and I feel like she should have been in TROS.

No-pressure tags! @fridayincarnate @dragonflies-draw-flame @ironsoulmaker

[rebelsofshield]

Star Wars Ahsoka: "Dreams and Madness" - Review

Ahsoka's penultimate chapter is a fun and action packed outing that delights even as it does relatively little with plot or character.

As the New Republic debates Hera Syndulla's future, Ahsoka and Huyang arrive at the ancient world of Peridia in the hopes of rescuing their friends and preventing Thrawn's return to the galaxy at large.

I remarked last week that Eman Esfandi's portrayal of Ezra Bridger felt like a pitch perfect adaptation of the character's beloved appearance in Star Wars Rebels. In many ways, "Dreams and Madnesss" feels like an extended episode of Rebels. We get lots and lots of big flashy set pieces, cute alien sidekicks, heroic banter, Admiral Thrawn scheming in the backdrop, and even a somewhat optimistic ending.

In a way, it feels like writer and showrunner Dave Filoni is throwing a bone to fans of these characters and providing the fun, light on its feet outing that many have been missing in the long five years since Rebels' conclusion. And for much of its runtime, "Dreams and Madness" (which may be the most strangely titled outing that this series has had so far) serves up a healthy serving of flashy sci-fi spectacle. There's daring chases through alien minefields, a great chase sequence of bandits riding on Howler's trying to attack the adorable Noti in their shell-mobile-homes, and, of course, a marathon of Stormtrooper smashing, blasting, and slicing. Our heroes think of creative ways to outwit their enemies and even when things seem dire, they come out on top with a smile. Director Geeta Vasant Patel keeps the action moving and the pacing light and things never once feel like they are dragging their feet.

There's likely a reason this week's episode is so relatively lean and playful. It seems very likely that Filoni and the rest of Ahsoka's creative team are allowing us one glimpse of joy before letting all of this week's optimism shatter in what seems to be a very dramatic and eventful finale. I mean, floating beneath Ezra and Sabine's interactions is the true nature of how she found her way to Peridea and the revelation that Ezra's many years long sacrifice is about to be undone. This is all speculation of course. It feels like the right storytelling move to justify why an episode so late in the season should feel so relatively shallow and lacking in consequence, but we can't know for sure until we actually have seen what is to follow. As it stands, "Dreams and Madness" just has to be accepted at face-value: fun but in the end uninterested in really pushing its characters or narrative.

The one area where this doesn't seem to be the case is with our two Dark Side mercenaries, Baylan Skoll and Shin Hati. Here, Baylan abandons Shin, announcing that his true mission must take him elsewhere. There's no room for his apprentice's ambition and lofty goals of ruling as part of Thrawn's resurgent Empire in Baylan's vision. It's a relatively unceremonious parting which in a way makes Shin's confusion and uneasy behavior throughout the rest of "Dreams and Madness" feel so powerful. Shin has never seemed like a particularly stable person and without the grounding force of her master, she quickly seems unsure and out of her depth. Ivanna Sakhno wonderfully portrays Shin's discomfort and fear wonderfully here and her fleeing from her former enemies when offered a hand of grace is a powerful moment and some of the strongest acting this series has shown so far.

Baylan is another story. I love Ray Stevenson in this role, but I'm growing a bit tired of the teasing. Yes, we know something big bad and scary is coming down the line. Yes, I'm excited to see it. But at this point, Baylan's secret quest is joining the "what the hell was Ahsoka up to in the ten years prior to this series" category of annoyingly vague storytelling. If we don't get some kind of answer or resolution in the finale I'm going to break into Dave Filoni's home and make me watch as I eat his cowboy hat.

Separate from all the action on Peridea, "Dreams and Madness" also begins with a cold open depicting Hera Syndulla's court-martial. It's still not covering much of the way of anything new. Kazuda Xiono's dad is still a blowhard, the events of Mandalorian season three are acknowledged in passing, and the threat of Thrawn or an Imperial Remnant are ignored. (It'll honestly end up being hilarious if the New Republic disastrously underestimated the threat of a resurgent Empire two different times in its existence.) The decision to have Leia come to the rescue via C-3PO is a smart and logical move here. I don't quite buy the logic that every major event in the galaxy post-Return of the Jedi demands some sort presence from the Original Trilogy's trio, but it does feel a bit strange that Leia's opinions regarding her former friend and ally's court martial wouldn't matter. Having C-3PO (complete with Anthony Daniels's voice!) waddle onto camera and deliver a last minute message of exoneration is a great work around and helps avoid much of the ghoulish digital trickery that Lucasfilm has been too happy to play with in recent years. It's not a trick that will work that often.

And so with a surprisingly happy note, we arrive at the big finale. Ahsoka has a lot on its plate to resolve and answer and don't count as me optimistic that Filoni will be able to stick the landing, but I've been proven wrong before. Let's see how this goes.

Score: B

[amukmuk]

For the behind-the-scenes ask game!

For Belonging (just like. all of it, I can't pick just one):

7. What inspired the idea for the plot?

11. Was there a scene that you hadn't originally planned to include? Why did you decide to fit it in?

12. Was there a scene you wished you could have included? Why didn't it fit in?

:)

Hello, friend!!

7. What inspired the idea for the plot?

So, the first installation, Home, was written for a friend who was going through a tough time and I knew they loved a good Thranto!Dad story. From there I just fell in love with them and had to keep playing in the universe!

Green Soup and Ham was inspired by my own mother's terrible time making home made chicken noodle soup lol

I think the rest have all been little brain worms that have burrowed into my head and declared loudly to be written!

11. Was there a scene you hadn't originally planned to include? Why did you decide to fit it in?

Honestly, I never intended to include Granular at all. I knew I wanted Consequence to be 3 chapters. But, originally, when Eli dismisses Thrawn at the end of chapter 3 (you know, the part that killed all of us including me) he was supposed to turn to him and they were going to come back together to be a united front for Thunhe.

It just felt too easy to end it that way--like, Eli did awful terrible things and I think that he would have been spinning out to hard in the end to see his actions. So, the ending of Consequence was changed and Granular was born!

12. Was there a scene you wished you could have included? Why didn't it fit in?

Funny you ask this because the next installation has been at a standstill because I can't decide where to put it lol. It's a story of how Thunhe and Mid Captain Afwik have a sordid love affair (even though he is married and she is like a very junior officer). I think it fits best after Operation RomCom, but then I think I would have to rewrite their exchange in Consequence. OR, I could put it after Granular and it would be more improper coping mechanisms from Thunhe (which, truthfully, I feel bad writing about... again lol)

I don't know if that makes any sense, but thank you so much for the ask!! I love getting to talk about writing :D

[thrawns-backrest]

Eyy these are really cool! Thank you for the tag @random-user753!

Let's see... (as always my replies are super long lol)

do you find force users or non-force users more interesting?

I’ll have to go with non-force users on this one. Force users’ storylines sometimes feel a bit… samey to me. It’s either has to face the darkness inside slash tempted by the dark side (cue the force visions of their greatest fear, facing their fears etc.) or becomes disillusioned with the force after seeing some injustice. It’s why Obi-Wan was my favorite before whatever they did to him in Kenobi. Which was giving him that same story arc or even both of them at once actually, when his character never really felt like he was meant to go down that road, at least to me.

Kanan is a close second because he feels more grounded and lacks some of the more trite jedi qualities. Don’t get me wrong, I love my SW most when there’s force users involved but the characters I latch onto and want to dissect endlessly (Crosshair, Thrawn, etc.) are usually non force users. The ones that have to fight their demons the gritty way, y’know, without any readily available teachings for them to fall back on or reject.

4. what headcanon will you defend to the death?

Okay so we need a more controversial one here. How about: Thrawn and Ar’alani would have definitely ended up together if the Grysk war had ended and Thrawn had stayed home. I don’t care what anyone says, I’m a sucker for romances with a good healthy long standing friendship at their core. The snarky enemies to lovers trope is cool and all but characters who bring out the softness in each other? Sign me the hell up. And Zahn is really good at that, I mean Thrawn and Ar’alani are the perfect example. The demiromantic potential is just through the roof.

There’s also the way she accepts him for who he is, I still remember the Tech/Phee discourse where people pointed out how Phee felt like she was training Tech to fit in socially. Ar’alani feels like the opposite, the way she admires, embraces and encourages Thrawn’s unique traits while never trying so hard to correct him really hits the spot for me.

25. which character do you have a love/hate relationship with?

Hmm… yeah, that’s gotta be Anakin. Idk I’m always either cheering for him or want him off my screen asap. He can be the coolest and the cringiest, the softest and then the most toxic masc guy the next moment and I just… like, I know I love him in my heart of hearts and he’s a well-developed character but gosh. The amount of times I just want to throw a chair at him.

now right back at you! how about 8, 19 and 25 as well? :)) no pressure ofc

[supremeprince-bensolo]

what your thouget on ashoka finale and live action rebels?

I mostly enjoyed the season! I have a few gripes with the finale but it had its moments.

I thought the first 4 episodes were excellent! Those first 2 at introducing (or re-introducing) all the characters. I especially loved Sabine's introduction. The end of episode 4 was the high point for me - seeing Ahsoka wake up in the WBW and be greeted by Anakin!! So good!

But I did find the next episode a bit of a let down. It was cool and all seeing Ahsoka and Anakin clone wars flashbacks etc, but I don't really know what the point of it all was? I get that she was meant to have been 'reborn' as she started wearing white and crossing her arms less after, but she didn't seem all that changed or different? And all the stuff she went through in WBW was never mentioned again.

Baylan and Shin were awesome! But definitely underdeveloped. They were so fascinating and I wish we'd gotten more of them.

It did feel like Ahsoka wasn't really the main character in her own show. It was more about the Rebels and Thrawn's return, which is basically a sequel to Rebels (so why not just call it that?).

The finale was fine. Enjoyable. Just a bit underwhelming. Didn't really care much for the Morgan and nightsisters. The lightsaber fight scenes were a bit meh. Of course Thrawn was going to return, setting up the next big bad of the Mando-Verse. Ahsoka and Sabine were left behind - obviously they'll make it back at some point (so they're most likely planning a second season). Ezra made it home!! I'm super bitter they cut the scene short before he and Hera hugged. That was another issue I had, they kept cutting scenes just as something interesting or an important character moment was about to happen. The end with force ghost Anakin watching proudly over Ahsoka was a nice way to end the season. It just didn't really feel much like a finale? It's probably to set up for S2 or the movie but I just wish it had concluded things a bit better.

As for the live action Rebels:

Sabine - Natasha Liu Bordizzo is fantastic!! She was so great as Sabine! Crossed over seamlessly into live action. I'm not sure how I feel about her being full on force sensitive now - I really didn't think thats where her story was going? But she played it all really well regardless.

Ezra - Eman Esfandi is PERFECT!! He embodied Ezra perfectly. The way spoke and moved was straight out of Rebels. He absolutely nailed it!

Hera - I thought Mary Elizabeth Winstead did great with what she was given! She just seemed a little flat sometimes. It could've been because the makeup/prosthetics were limiting her performance, or maybe thats just how she was written? Idk.

Jacen - ADORABLE AND PERFECT! Seriously he was so great!

Chopper - Nowhere near enough screen time!

And we didn't see Zeb. Or Kallus. C'mon they could've given us a small cameo at least?

[tarisilmarwen]

Well I guess the stars have finally aligned correctly, here’s that post about all the things I don’t like about post-canon Adventures In Wild Space fic and headcanons and theories re. Ezra and Thrawn and why I’m hoping the Ahsoka show surprises me and uses precisely none of it.

1. The Grysk are boring and an unconvincing threat.

You want an extra-galactic adversary that packs a real punch, there’s really no topping the Yuuzhan Vong from Legends’ New Jedi Order series, who on top of being highly intelligent and charismatic fantatic religious crusaders had organic technology that was super freaky and completely alien which made them a much more interesting and legitimate threat.

The Grysk are cheap Walmart bargain bin Vong by comparison.  Do they even have personalities?  Have we even had any named Grysk at all?  The only thing they have going for them is their brainwashing mind control stuff which, again, the Vong did better and creepier.

2. Chiss politics are also boring.

I’m sorry I tried but my eyes glaze over every time.  Too many names to remember and it all just seems so tedious.

3. I am terminally uninterested in sympathetic/anti-hero/lionized Thrawn.

I feel like that should be self-explanatory but this fandom is notoriously bad at nuance so I’ll elaborate.

While I don’t mind Thrawn being a complex and interesting and slightly sympathetic villain I am not remotely interested in any storyline that makes excuses for, downplays, retcons, diminishes, or in any way tries to whitewash any of Thrawn’s crimes or misdeeds or otherwise allows him to get off scott-free from the consequences of them.

This is unfortunately why I have to be wary of Timothy Zahn himself as he’s reportedly suggested possessing a personal headcanon about the buildings in Capitol City being empty when Thrawn bombed them in the Rebels finale which... just... just no, Tim.  Just no.  That’s a stupid retcon and you know it.

Thrawn getting to go back to the Ascendancy as if nothing about his service in the Empire happened is not satisfying to me.  I am not interested in seeing him surrounded by sycophants singing his praises and saying what a good and brilliant commander he is.  I am not interested in making a sob story out of his motives for joining the Empire.  His motives do not matter.  It does not make one iota of a difference that he was doing everything “for the good of the Chiss”, none of that makes him a good person and I have zero interest in him being portrayed as such.

4. I don’t like Ezra’s heroism or sacrifice being made less important.

Tangentially related to the above.  I don’t like when fics have Thrawn be all, “Well I was planning on leaving the Empire anyway so really you did me a favor.”  I don’t like Thrawn immediately dropping hostilities and working with Ezra day one as if the whole purrgiling basically doesn’t affect or phase him at all.  I don’t like Zahn’s rumored empty buildings theory because it makes Ezra look like he’s stupid.  I’m... ngl... not especially fond of plotlines where Ezra’s reduced to basically the tagalong kid trotting on Thrawn’s heels around the Ascendancy, though it’s more tolerable than other plots admittedly.

I would flip an actual table if they have Ezra go evil.  Not even kidding.  I do not understand how or why anyone could actually want that.

5. I’m not convinced that Thrawn and Ezra would ever be friends.

Is it hilarious to do in fics/fanart?  Oh yes.  Do I want it in canon or anything that’s trying to be realistic or serious?  No, without some serious legwork put into Thrawn redeeming himself that would stretch my disbelief a bit too far.

Without seeing the legwork, the development, the character growth and growing respect between them, I just will not buy Ezra willingly going with Thrawn to the Ascendancy instead of amicably parting ways and making his way back home.

---

And there you have it, those are Tari’s Grouchy Fandom Lady Opinions about Adventures In Wild Space material and Ashoka Show theories, I would just like to emphasize and disclaim these are my personal thoughts I’m not trying to dictate what anyone should write, fic-wise, just trying to explain why I’m not interested in it and don’t wanna see it onscreen.

[not-the-tie-youre-looking-for]

Something that's been bugging me for years since the Legends finale. If Zhan had been the writer for Rebels, do you think he would have had Thrawn bomb Lothal to bring Ezra out? On the one hand, from Legends Thrawn's portrayal I imagine he would without a second of hesitation. On the other, Canon Thrawn has been much more... restrained? And on a third point, there's the fact that Legends and Canon Thrawn seem like they really could be the same person just at different points of time. cnt in next

...I'm just curious if anyone else was curious if Zhan agreed with that direction taken. Which, on that note, did Zhan ever say anything about his thoughts on how Rebels handled Thrawn? Both from a writing standpoint as well as an acting and musical one (Thrawn's various leitmotifs)?

Oh man. Ohhhhhhhh maaaaan. My friend, you have asked exactly the right person this question, because not only have I wanted to talk about this multiple times before, but I also have ~receipts~. 👀

⚠️Spoiler warnings for Star Wars: Rebels, The Mandalorian, the canon Star Wars novels Thrawn, Thrawn: Alliances, Thrawn: Treason, Thrawn Ascendency: Chaos Rising, and Thrawn Ascendency: Greater Good, and the legends Star Wars novels Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, The Last Command, and Outbound Flight.⚠️

Oh man. Where to begin.

Lets start with who Thrawn is, because depending on who you ask, you're gonna get different answers—whether you're strictly a Legends fan, Dave Filoni, a guy who's only seen Thrawn in Star Wars: Rebels, Timothy Zahn, or just a writer/artist fan like me.

To Timothy Zahn, the man behind our favorite chiss, Thrawn is a character that is constant in both attitude and personality throughout all of his content. In multiple interviews, ranging from Thrawn's debut in Rebels to the latest about the writing of the Ascendancy Trilogy, Zahn states that Thrawn in canon and Thrawn in Legends are indistinguishable.

And so I present the receipts:

In a 2017 interview with The Verge on writing the first canon Thrawn book Thrawn, Zahn is asked the following question and responds as such:

How do you navigate bringing back a character who already has an extensive backstory and audience expectations, with telling a new story that fits in the new continuity?

Actually, I didn’t find that to be a problem. I’d never written Thrawn in this part of the Star Wars timeline, so it was simply a matter of bringing him into the Empire and chronicling his rise through the ranks. It’s still the same character as in the 1990s books, just a decade or two younger and in a very different military and political environment.

In another interview with The Verge in 2018 (a few months after the finale of Rebels aired) about writing Thrawn: Alliances, he repeats this sentiment twice:

Thrawn feels like if it had been written before the canonization purge a couple of years ago, or if you squinted a bit, it would serve as a perfect setup for Heir to the Empire.

Oh, I don’t think you need to squint at all. I wrote him in these two books to fit in with everything else I’d done. So if someone at Lucasfilm snapped their fingers, and suddenly all of my other books were canon, and there would be no real retrofitting that would have to go in. It would all fit together.

Thrawn: Alliances feels more at home in the new canon, especially because Thrawn has been fleshed out a bit more in Rebels. Was there any adjustments for that?

Not really. I’m getting to play with more canon characters like Vader and Padmé and Anakin, but the character himself, I still see him as the same person. He’s got goals, and he won’t necessarily share them with you, but he as long as you’re going the same direction, he’s happy to cooperate and assist along the way.

...and this is referenced again in a 2020 interview with Polygon about writing Thrawn Ascendancy: Chaos Rising:

Along with Thrawn’s appearance in Rebels, Zahn would pen a new novel, Thrawn, that chronicled the character’s early days as an Imperial officer. Zahn didn’t have to change anything with the character, telling me in 2017 that “he’s like an old friend who I understand completely.” While Heir to the Empire was no longer canon, a reader could easily read Thrawn as a precursor to that classic novel. Thrawn went on to become a major presence in Rebels, and Zahn continued to explore his origins in Thrawn: Alliances and Thrawn: Treason.

The next day, an interview with IGN was published on the same subject:

Thrawn is an especially unique case because Zahn has been able to effectively continue the work he started way back in 1991 with Heir to the Empire. That novel may not be a part of official Star Wars lore any longer, but as Zahn explained, Thrawn himself is basically the same character regardless of continuity.

[....] The closest comparison between Chaos Rising and Zahn's earlier EU work is probably 2006's Outbound Flight, which is set during the Clone Wars and details the first encounter between Thrawn and the Galactic Republic (while also retroactively laying the groundwork for elements of Heir to the Empire). That novel is no longer canon, but Zahn told us he prefers to operate as if it were. He's making a concerted effort not to retread the same ground as Outbound Flight and to avoid contradicting the events of that novel as much as possible.

So yeah. In Zahn's opinion, Legends Thrawn is Canon Thrawn is Book Thrawn, and there is no difference whatsoever between Thrawns in, say, Outbound Flight, Heir to The Empire, Alliances, and Chaos Rising. I wholeheartedly disagree, but lets move on.

Now that the books are out of the way, its time for Rebels.

In July of 2016, after the trailer announcing Thrawn's canon debut aired, Dave Filoni had the following to say about Thrawn's character in regards to Timothy Zahn:

“I was pretty adamant with a couple of people saying, ‘Listen, we need to have Tim sign off on this. This is kind of a waste of time [otherwise],'” says Filoni. “We, of course, can do what we want with a character that Lucasfilm owns, but without Tim’s okay, what does it mean? That’s not going to be good. Once we had some stuff, we wanted to do what we thought was right and make the character. Then we brought him in. We had the production fully prepared. I said, ‘Look, if there’s something that Tim says that I think is really valuable, even if it changes something dynamically, we need to be ready for that and see what we can do.’ I wanted to make sure we did this right by everybody. We brought him in and we didn’t really tell him why. We just flew him up to Lucasfilm and sat him down in a theater and said, ‘Hey, we’re bringing Thrawn into the show.’ He was like, ‘Wow.’ and I said, ‘Yeah, wow. And I’m going to show him to you right now and you let me know what you think.'”

(Before we continue, keep that first highlighted sentence in mind for future reference. I'm going to come back to that later.)

Fortunately, Timothy Zahn was delighted at the show’s approach to the Empire’s imposing blue-skinned Chiss.

“We showed him some of the scenes with him,” Dave Filoni recalls. “He looked like a kid in a candy store. I think it meant a lot to him not just because it was his character, but because you have to imagine what he went through when it was announced that everything is Legends now, not Expanded Universe. I get that and I’ve always appreciated the work that goes into the Expanded Universe… For Tim, I think it was us saying, ‘No, no, no. We really like your character. We want him to be part of the real thing. The canon universe.'”

So in 2016, before we even saw Thrawn in action beyond a trailer, we were told that Zahn gave the OK, and he was chill with the way Thrawn was created in the show. In 2017, he gave a little more of the background of this process in an interview with FANgirl Blog:

The events of Thrawn dovetail closely with Rebels and shed light on some of Thrawn’s more seemingly surprising actions on the show, like when he appears to lose his temper and yell at Lieutenant Lyste. What was it like to see Thrawn come alive onscreen? Is he how you’ve pictured him in your head?

I don’t see my characters in terms of voice or appearance, but rather as personality or attitude. That said, I very much enjoyed the way the Rebels team brought him to life, in his appearance, voice, and actions.

I also appreciated the freedom I had to tweak certain incidents, such as the one you mentioned, and give additional or alternate explanations for the viewers who may have thought those were somewhat out of character for him.

He doesn't really elaborate on this, but we can assume he had SOME creative input on Thrawn's character, and he was overall pretty happy with the choices made in the show.

But then, we have this from that earlier 2017 the Verge article:

When did you learn that Dave Filoni was intending to bring Thrawn to Rebels, and did you have any input into how the character would be handled?

[...] I didn’t have any real input into how Thrawn was going to be handled, mainly because the lead time of an animated series is so long that much of season 3 had already been finished. But I trusted Dave and the team to do the character right. After all, why bring him into Rebels if you were going to drastically change him? Having seen the entire season now, I think we can agree that my trust was completely justified.

So... he didn't have "any real input," but was satisfied with it in the end? I guess? I don't know. We're getting into some contradictions now.

The last thing I've got in regards to Rebels is an interview Zahn did with the YouTube channel Star Wars Explained after the finale aired, where he responds to the following:

“So, maybe let's jump over to Rebels for a little bit. Now that it has wrapped up, how do you feel Thrawn was represented in Star Wars: Rebels?”

“They did a really good job—they not only understood the character and how to write for him, but they also understood the meta around how you defeat him. The only way to defeat Thrawn is to throw something at him he can't control, or can't anticipate. Given perfect knowledge and control, Thrawn will always find a way to win. But they understood, this is how you defeat him, these are the things we can use against him... so his portrayal in general, is very good; he's smart, he's anticipating, he's a step ahead of everybody, he's looking at clues and picking up on them, so I was very pleased with how the Rebels team handled the character."

I think these quotes answer many of your questions, so to answer your initial question: If Zhan had been the writer for Rebels, do I think he would have had Thrawn bomb Lothal to bring Ezra out?

Yes—but ONLY because at that point, the only established™️ Thrawn content was found in Legends, where Thrawn was a ruthless and calculating warlord.

However!

I do believe that if given the chance to re-write the Star Wars: Rebels finale using his now-canon novels as a solid background TODAY, Zahn would choose to not let Thrawn bombard Lothal's Capital City.

I believe this because he made one single very interesting creative choice when writing Thrawn that completely overwrote Thrawn's pre-established Rebels character: Thrawn was not responsible for the civilian deaths on Batonn—Pryce was.

And that's that on that.

A few months ago I would have ended it there, but today, Thrawn's story is no longer just contained in the novels and Rebels, but also in that of The Mandalorian.

This is where I will proudly say I have no idea what the fuck is going on. Before The Jedi aired, I was 100% sure that the next time we saw Thrawn, it would be nowhere NEAR the Empire, because Zahn was pretty adamant in the novels that Thrawn was only in the Empire to help. His. People.

So now he's apparently doing fuck-knows-what in fuck-knows-where and is STILL associated with the Seventh Fleet and Imperial Warlords???

Huh??? Despite the fact that he held no true loyalty to the Empire or to the Emperor??? It's been months and I'm still confused as fuck. Add to the fact that Zahn also doesn't know what the fuck is going on to the equation and we get a big fat question mark with one pretty clear answer that Filoni said himself that we have to keep in mind:

"We, of course, can do what we want with a character that Lucasfilm owns."

So I don't think Zahn has much control over Thrawn as we would all like to think. We can hope he gives us the crazy Thrawn and Ezra Space Adventure™️ novel all we want, but ultimately, Thrawn's fate does not rest in his hands.

If you guys have more to add please let me know!!! This is, obviously, a topic I am very passionate about, so I'd love to hear your thoughts!

[hrtiu]

Why The Believer is my favorite episode of The Mandalorian

There are a lot of unforgettable moments in The Mandalorian. Maybe your favorite episode is the season 2 finale, with those iconic Chanel boots. Maybe your favorite episode is The Jedi, with Ahsoka and her Thrawn teaser. Maybe your favorite episode is the finale of season 1, with IG-11′s sacrifice. All valid choices! But my favorite episode is S2E15: The Believer, and I’ll tell you why.

From the very first episode, Din’s relationship with being Mandalorian and the Code is framed as religious. He kneels in front of the forge while the Armorer makes his pauldron, he speaks formally to her, and lays the beskar and the payment for his last bounty out like an offering. 

It’s also not difficult to see parallels between covering your face and some real-life religious tenets (though these are imperfect parallels and be careful how you use them). As someone who follows a specific dress code due to my faith, I definitely immediately related to Din as a religious person.

Din’s devotion to his faith is, for the most part, positively framed in the show. The Creed’s emphasis on protecting and raising foundlings is a large part of why Din decides to rescue Grogu from the Imperials. In the prisonbreak episode, Xi’an suggests that it might be his Code that has made Din soft. In S1E4, Omera is tremendously respectful of Din’s faith even when it means he has to turn down her affection.

 His devotion to the Creed is what sets him apart from other bounty hunters. Sure, he’s a brutal, harsh man more than capable of violence, but he also has a strict code of conduct by which he lives his life.

Then we reach Chapter 6,  an episode that felt painfully familiar to myself and many other people of faith, I’m sure. The way Mayfeld asks Xi’an if Din ever takes his helmet off, as if Din isn’t right there in front of him. The way Xi’an mockingly parrots, “This is the Way.”

My situation obviously isn’t exactly the same as Din’s, but these scenes remind me of the prying questions, the teasing pressure to break my religious commitments, the mocking of beliefs I hold sacred. It really hit home.

Then things get complicated in season 2 when we find out that other Mandalorians consider Din and the Death Watch a cult.

I appreciated this in the sense that it demonstrates the wide variety of beliefs even within the same religion--but at the same time it had me worried. Was this going to be yet another “losing my religion” story? Was this going to be a tale of disillusionment and breaking free of Din’s restrictive past? I’ve seen a lot of stories like that before, and I was hoping to see something different.

Even before Din meets Bo-Katan, we see him gradually softening his adherence to the Code. He starts off meeting Cobb Vanth by challenging him to essentially a battle to the death for wearing Mandalorian armor, then cooperates for the rest of the episode with him to defeat the Crate Dragon. They part ways as friends.

In S2E6, Din is upset when Boba first demands the Mandalorian armor, but he’s not very difficult to convince to accept Boba as the owner of the armor after they fight together.

As a viewer who loves baby Yoda, we’re happy to see him make exceptions to keep Grogu safe. But as a person of faith, I was a little worried about where this might be headed and how it might undermine what I saw as a very positive message in season one. Then we get to Season 2, Episode 7: The Believer.

Right off the bat, Din sees himself forced to stretch the limits of his adherence to the Code in this episode. He goes with Mayfeld into the Imperial facility, covering his face with the helmet of an Imperial driver. Mayfeld immediately picks up on the inconsistency.

He picks right back up with the mockery and not-so-subtle digs.

Then we get a bit of a peak into where Mayfeld’s derision is really coming from. Yes, Mayfeld is speaking aloud the insecurities that Din is facing himself--the doubts about whether it actually means anything to live by his Code, the question of if his chosen way of life actually makes any difference. But Mayfeld is also revealing the source of his own derision as well.

See how the focus switches to Mayfeld? How his voice gets soft and he’s looking off into the distance? This is a man who is talking to himself. This is a man who’s trying to convince himself that every bad thing he’s done in his past is fine because everyone is equally guilty.

When faced with the terminal that requires a facial scan, Mayfeld actually tries to protect Din in his own small way by not even asking him to scan his face.

Mayfeld then hesitates to help Din when Din’s having a hard time with the terminal. He peeks in on Din, and you get the sense that he’s actually hesitant to disrespect Din’s code by looking at his face. Of course, when Din is confronted by the Imperial officer, Mayfeld steps in to help.

Then they talk with the Imperial officer who actually believes what Mayfeld acted like he believed before. That they’re all the same. That all moral codes--or lack thereof--are equally flawed and that therefore nothing matters. This is when we see the guilt that Mayfeld has been trying to hide all this time--the guilt that Din and his strict Code constantly remind him of.

This is the moment that has been haunting Mayfeld--one of perhaps many atrocities that weigh heavy on his soul. And as a viewer you can see how differently this event sit on his heart versus how it sits on the officer’s heart.

This is very reminiscent of what Mayfeld said earlier in the episode, but we can see that this officer genuinely believes it, while Mayfeld does not.

And this is where Mayfeld reaches his breaking point, where he can’t keep pretending that he doesn’t care or that everyone is equally bad.

And this is when Mayfeld turns from critic into ally and protector. He respects Din’s integrity, he understands that being imperfect doesn’t mean it’s not worth it. And this is what I was so happy to see. I was afraid that as soon as Din took his helmet off, the story would suggest that he’d finally seen the light and broken free of his restrictive Code. And yes, Din is likely going to be more liberal with his adherence to the Code in the future. We see this when he takes his helmet off in the next episode to say goodbye to Grogu. But he isn’t throwing it away.

So what’s the message of The Believer? To me it’s that faith is messy. Faith often involves evolution. In fact, faith generally requires evolution. But just because you mess up, just because you’re a hypocrite, just because you can’t always live up to your ideals, doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t have them.

And we can separate this from faith, too, if you want. Think about what’s right and wrong, examine the way you live your life, develop a moral code. It won’t necessarily be perfect, and you won’t always live by it, but at least you’ll have something. It’s always better to try than to give up.

And in Mayfeld’s immortal words:

[masterjedilenawrites]

Golden Linings: Chapter 1

Cal Kestis x reader

Series Summary: You and several of your friends have been captured for unknown reasons. After being rescued by a rag-tag trio on the hunt for Force-sensitives, you all strike a deal to aid in their quest while searching for a way back home... though your own priorities threaten to shift as you grow ever-closer to the sweet redhead Jedi called Cal.

Chapter Content: Some fighting and creepers being creeps

AO3 Link (In case you like it better over there, it’s okay, no judgement)

A/N: I don't really know where this story will go but I've been wanting to write a multi-chapter fic again (don't worry, I'm still working on my Thrawn & Eli one too!) and I wanted to do something with our precious Jedi cinnamon roll, especially after writing this post, which may or may not be woven in later, we'll see. I'm striving for a gender-neutral reader but may update to fem! since this is very self-indulgent I'm so sorry, sometimes you gotta write for yourself ya know?

Chapter 1: Fight and Flight

You were scared.

Terrified.

There almost seemed to be a disconnect between your body and your mind. The one was on auto-pilot, unable to stay still, taking you through street after street as if it actually knew where it was going. The other was shutting down, incapable of processing anything around you in a clear or productive way. Your eyes scanned buildings and faces and signs, but not a single one registered to you.

You were lost.

Scared.

Alone.

It had been a normal day at the start, the kind of normal that wouldn't have planted itself in your memory had it remained a normal day. It would've been indistinguishable from all the other normal days you'd had just like it in your life, and you would've continued on to live even more of them without a single care about it. That's how it should have been.

But now, now that you had been unexpectedly ripped from that sense of normalcy, thrown into this strange place with no options or even an explanation as to how any of this could have been possible, you were forced to accept your life was not as it should be, and that you had to do something about it.

Your feet halted at the thought. You had to do something. All this walking and wandering wasn't doing something... if anything, it was only a distraction, a way to postpone the inevitable acceptance of the situation for what it truly was. A scary, terrifying situation you wanted nothing to do with but had absolutely no choice. A lonely and confusing situation that was going to challenge your strength in a way you wished you didn't have to face, but secretly suspected you needed to. That's why bad things happened to good people, right? To test just how good they really were?

You had stopped at a street corner, one of the quieter intersections in this new town. Instinctually, you'd been trying to get away from the overwhelming hustle and bustle you'd initially found yourself in. Though, now that you were finally letting yourself process your surroundings, you realized that instinct, while good in intention, had actually led you to a not-so-great part of town that was starting to make your skin crawl.

There was litter in the gutters and grease on the walls of the buildings around you. A burst pipe was spewing from somewhere close by, and though it was open daylight, the amount of shadows seemed to have grown. You gulped nervously, not sure if you'd be able to come up with a plan here, or if you'd fare better back to the crowded parts you'd came from.

A whistle came from behind and your spine tingled unpleasantly. You knew what it meant but whirled to face it anyway. A couple of hunkered, wrinkly creatures seemed to be sliding toward you, their humanoid eyes narrowed but openly scanning your body.

"Lost, pretty thing?" one of them almost seemed to hiss.

You responded the way you'd done earlier, when you'd woken up in that dungeon of a room and realized your day had changed from normal to scary... you ran.

Your feet pounded the ground beneath you, sending jolts of pressure painfully up through your tired body. You didn't dare look behind to see if you were being pursued. You didn't hear anything, no further taunts or laughter, but that didn't mean you were completely free. And now you were running deeper into the more desolate parts of this unknown city. If you stopped, you may just find even worse threats waiting. That's what your stressed mind reasoned, anyway.

On and on you ran, one foot in front of the other, until your chest felt on the brink of bursting. You didn't want to, but you let yourself slow back to a stop, and as soon as you did, your legs immediately gave out beneath you. Your knees slammed on the ground and you'd probably feel the sting in them for a while, but you didn't care. Not when you couldn't catch your breath and that nagging sense you were being watched from the shadows sat uncomfortably in your thoughts.

The buildings were taller here, towering so high they blocked out most of the sky and gave the impression it was much later in the evening than you knew it to be. But everything was boarded up. Not a soul was in sight. What even was this place? Was it truly abandoned, or only made to seem so?

You were right to be suspicious. Your paranoia bubbled within you like a sixth sense, turning your head in the proper direction before you were aware of what you were doing. Just on the other side of the street before you stood a tall, glowering man dressed all in blank, flanked by IG droids. The man you didn't recognize, but there had been IG droids guarding that room you'd escaped from. You knew they weren't a common model of droid, so what were the odds they weren't the same as the ones you'd slipped past earlier?

"There you are," the man growled, confirming your suspicion. But what surprised you next was the glowing red light that suddenly jutted out from an object in his hand. It hummed menacingly, threateningly. You knew there was a word for it but couldn't quite call it to mind at the moment. All you knew was it was a weapon, and if you could summon back your breath, you should definitely start running again.

A blaster shot fired out of nowhere and you saw the man raise his stick of light up to block himself from it. How had he known to do that? You didn't have time to fathom it, instead watching as a couple additional figures rushed out of the shadows and toward the man and his droids. One of them hung slightly back, a blaster raised and firing at the droids. The second went straight for the man, producing a beam of light of his own, and clashing enthusiastically against his opponent.

You took the opportunity to put some distance between yourself and whatever this fight was about. You crawled down the street, pushing your back up against a wall you deemed safe enough, though on what criteria you weren't really sure. At least it provided a sense of stability in this otherwise chaotic situation. You didn't know who any of these people were; who the man was and why he was after you, who your rescuers were and whether they were actually friendly or merely enemies of an enemy. Heck, you were still trying to figure out who had captured you earlier that day and why. This fight of lights and lasers was mesmerizing, but incredibly overwhelming.

"So eager to prove yourself," you caught the man growling out. His red light had paused in its assault against the blue one, in favor of taunting the boy who held it instead.

"Oh, this is just good practice," the boy said, matching the man's pacing with his own.

His comment earned a gravely laugh. "Your eagerness makes you sloppy, and your over-confidence makes you weak. This is what happens to students without masters."

It was odd, but though the boy was several feet away from you, half-obscured in shadow and definitely hard to discern through your labored breathing and confused state of mind, you could still somehow tell the man's words upset him. But maybe you were just projecting. You'd be pretty pissed if someone called you weak, too.

Whether the boy would've snapped and resumed the fight or not, you'd never know. What little sliver of sky still remained above was then blocked out by the mass of a ship. It lowered itself as far into the narrow street as it could and sent bursts of wind of hurtling down, your hair whipping about in protest. You braced a hand in front of your eyes, peering through your fingers to see a ramp had been lowered, waiting.

The other figure, who'd made short work of the IG droids, was running toward you now. The man with the red light was temporarily stunned by the sudden arrival of the ship but quickly recovered. He swung his light at the boy and their fight recommenced. Your observation of it was interrupted, though, by the arrival of the woman who'd now reached you.

"Come on, dear, we gotta get out of here!"

She grabbed hold of your shoulder, prepared to help you stand, but you immediately flinched and tried to crawl away. You didn't know her, you didn't know anybody out here. How could you possibly decide whether you should follow her or not?

"Please," she implored, not chasing after you, but holding out her hand and urging you to take it. "We don't have much time. We can get you to safety."

You glanced over at the boy who continued to hold his own against the man who'd been after you, despite having been labeled as sloppy and weak. Surely these people were good, right? At the least, the blue color of his weapon seemed kinder than the red of the other.

The woman was right, there wasn't much time. And you didn't have much choice. You shook yourself, as if trying to physically dispel your own doubt, and stood. You took hold of the woman's hand and let her lead you toward the ship's ramp.

"Cal!" she called back toward her friend as the two of you ran.

If the boy heard he didn't seem to mind, continuing his fight with a determination you still weren't sure how you could detect from such a distance.

The woman jumped effortlessly onto the ramp and turned to hold her hand back out to you. You jumped as you reached for it, but your frazzled nerves must have gotten the better of your strength, as you weren't quite able to hold on for long. You teetered dangerously on the ledge of the ramp where your feet had only barely connected but couldn't quite get enough traction. One part of your mind was bracing itself for the impact of your inevitable tumble backward; the other part had the gumption to ignore the fear and think only of how embarrassing this would be.

And then something warm and solid pressed into your back, and an arm was wrapping around your middle, practically sweeping you away from the edge and up the ramp. You only barely registered a streak of ginger hair next to you as you allowed yourself to be helped into the ship. The ramp closed behind, sealing out the harsh sounds beyond and all the dangers it represented. Your ears seemed to ring from the sudden cut off, but you could hardly shake yourself free of it while you fought to stay balanced as the ship maneuvered itself upward and onward. It was a fleeting fight; you immediately stumbled toward the floor and slid back against the ship wall.

You were safe now. At least that's what you told yourself as you surrendered to your slouched position on the floor of this strange ship, and finally let yourself breathe.

[wisteriasxx]

Valentine’s Day HeadCanons!

A/N: Happy Valentine’s Day to everyone!! I made a headcanon list of how I think some of my favorite characters would treat you on Valentine’s Day, hope you enjoy❤️

Also I think most of this is gender neutral, I think the Thrawn one may be more dictated to a Fem! Reader but it’s whatever you make of it!!

Requests are still open <3

Warnings: lil nsfw

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Anakin

Anakin is going to just give you all his love all day. He’s going to set everything aside to spend time with you, no matter how busy he is or where he is, his only priority is going to be you.

He’ll probably show up with a gift of some kind, not you’re typical roses or chocolates though, he’ll probably give you something he made by hand or something he saw in a shop that reminded him of you.

He’ll offer you over and over again to make dinner for the two of you, but in my mind, I feel like Anakin would probably not be that good at cooking so you’ll want to make dinner.

After dinner, the two of you would sit outside, wherever you may be, and watch the sun set while sipping on spotchka and talking about your favorite memories with one another.

LOTS of kisses. I mean it might even get to the point of too much, but Anakin just wants you to feel loved, especially this day of the year.

Anakin is 100% the guy that’s gonna offer to “just give you a massage”, and then it ✨conveniently✨ turns to sex. But the sex is amazing obviously.

After all of the love making, the two of you will cuddle the night away. Anakin always wants to be the big spoon, he wants to feel you curled up against him, and in his mind, it’s a way of him knowing your protected. If Anakin isn’t the big spoon on some off chance, he always has you pulled close to him, with you cuddled up next to him, arm draped tiredly over his chest.

Obi-wan

We all know that Obi-wan is going to be the sweetest man to ever exist on Valentine’s Day. In fact, it wasn’t until this day of the year that you believed he could get any sweeter, since he’s always so nice and chivalrous all the time to you.

Obi-wan is definitely walking through the door with the most beautiful bouquet of flowers. The bouquet has all the workings in it, you’re favorite flowers and his, ribbons, jewels, maybe even some candy snuck in there.

He’s also a great cook some how. He makes the most delicious meals whenever he is able to cook. And for Valentine’s Day he’s going to make your favorite. He’s going to make breakfast, lunch, tea, dinner and dessert. Obi-wan is a man of quality, so only the finest for his love.

After dinner, he’ll take you outside, along with a bottle of fine champagne and the two of you will star gaze all night. It’s one of your favorite things to do.

The two of you will gaze at the stars and talk about anything that comes to mind for hours.

He’ll have you wrapped up in his arms, your head against his chest, holding you close, telling you how much he loves you and how he’s lucky to have you. He’ll tell you that he’s convinced you’re some kind of angel sent from the heavans.

Obi-wan isn’t the type to press for sex, but if you want it, he’ll give it to you in the most intimate and passionate way you can think of. Obi-wan may come off as a sweet and timid man at first, but in bed it’s a different story, and on the one day of the year dedicated to your relationship he’s going to completely let loose, a side of him you’ve never seen ;)

Ahsoka

Ahsoka is one of the most fun and most kind characters in Star Wars. Valentine’s Day is going to have a special meaning to her for you and everyone she cares about.

She’s going to take you on some crazy wild adventure to some planet she’s over heard you wanting to travel to.

Intially, she’ll have some plan for the two of you, but it will fall apart in a good way and the two of you will stray from your set path to do something spontaneous, creating more memories with one another.

Ahsoka likes to go out to eat, she doesn’t much care for cooking. She’ll take the two of you to you’re favorite restaurant and indulge.

Lots of hand holding with her, she’s always guiding you to your next destination on this day, and doesn’t want you anywhere away from her.

She’s going to do everything in her power to make you consistently smile throughout the day, she’s in love with your smile.

Her gift to you would be taking the two of you somewhere like a concert, a movie, or sight seeing on a new planet.

Plenty of cheek kisses and quick pecks to go around, she wants to be as affectionate as she can!!

Luke

For the sake of the headcanon, we’re going to talk about ROTJ Luke here.

Luke loves Valentine’s Day, because it means he gets to spend an entire, uninterrupted day with the love of his life. No Jedi business, no fights, nothing. Just you, and that’s the way he likes it.

Luke will bring you something special, and expensive, like jewelry. It’ll most likely be a necklace made of some kind of precious metal and small glimmering stones, nothing too flashy.

He’ll have 3P0 or someone else prepare dinner for the two of you for the sole fact that he wants to spend all his time with you, he doesn’t even want to be away from you to make dinner. And get ready for a lovely dinner outside on Endor.

The forest will be strung up with small, glimmering lights, with a low standing table and comfortable cushions to sit on. After the two of you are done eating, he’ll walk you through the forest to one of the waterfalls. And as the moon light and the stars reflect off the water, he’ll present the necklace to you. He’ll put it on for you, and when you turn to face him he can’t help but smile and kiss you.

After your little moment, the two of you will head back to your encampment and spend the rest of the night cuddling and drinking and laughing. The night will end with your head resting on his chest with him holding you close, fast asleep.

Han

Han usually was never one for the gushy stuff, which is why he would fail spectacularly at Valentine’s Day, but in the goofy, cute way.

He would definitely forget at first, and then when you present him with a gift or are being extra affectionate, thats when he realizes. he’ll of course talk his way out of your suspicions of him forgetting.

“Relaaaax, I’ve got a nice dinner waiting for us later don’t worry” *proceeds to find chewy to have him have a nice dinner waiting for the two of you later*

And then the gift, he realizes he doesn’t have anything. Han definitely consults with every woman he knows on what you’re supposed to get a woman on Valentine’s Day. And when he gets multiple answers, he thinks that there’s only one right answer, and that he has to figure it out somehow.

Shockingly, he’ll remember you talking about something that you love and conveniently the only place to get that something is guarded by imperials. But for you, Han would steal and smuggle anything.

He returns back to home base for you to see the falcon landing in a mass of smoke and damaged. Resulting with you quirking a brow in suspicion and question when he comes strutting down the ramp with whatever important thing he just stole for you.

Later the two of you will be sipping on spotchka waiting for your dinner, of course you’ll ask him over and over again where he got your gift but he tells you not to worry about it.

Dinner is surprisingly decent for being made by a Wookiee. Han cleaned up the falcon nice for the two of you to eat in as well.

After dinner Han is going to apologize for the horrible Valentine’s Day but you don’t care, you love him exactly the way he is, and you wouldn’t change anything about him.

Of course there will be make up sex ;) this is the most common way for Han to apologize, but you’re not complaining.

Boba Fett

With boba, you sit there and wonder if he even knows it’s Valentine’s Day. Just because it’s a holiday meant for couples, doesn’t mean he’s going to stop bounty hunting for the day, he takes his work seriously.

You don’t bring it up to him because you don’t want to add more to his already full plate

But he knows what today is, he just wants you to think that he doesn’t know. He just wants to work first, he’ll celebrate with you later.

When he’s away looking for his bounty, you’ll find a gift box on your bed saying it’s from him, opening it to find a luxurious, burning red set of lingerie. This of course puts a smile on your face, relieved that he didn’t forget about today.

After freezing his bounty in carbonite, he comes to your shared room on the slave 1 to find you lounging on the bed in your newly purchased lingerie, waiting for him.

Normally boba is the dominating one in the bedroom, but since it’s Valentine’s Day he’ll let you take the reigns and do whatever you please to him, all though your actions may have consequences in the future ;)

Din Djarin

Much like boba, you sit there and wonder if he even knows it’s Valentine’s Day, except with Din, he doesn’t. He’s completely clueless, but that’s okay.

He’ll act completely normal to you all day, doing daily routines, hunting bounties, or taking care of the child, doesn’t mean he loves you any less. You actually find it adorable that he’s clueless about today.

He doesn’t find out until later in the night when you present him with a small bracelet, forged from pure beskar. The bracelet has words in Mando’a engraved onto it. It reads “My protector, My light, My love, always”.

He’s so stunned by the gift he even takes off his helmet. Asking a bunch of questions like where you even got a pure beskar bracelet, or why you even got it in the first place, only for you to cut him off mid sentence with a kiss. And when you pull away, the phrase “Happy Valentine’s Day” slips gracefully from your mouth.

And that’s when he realizes he completely forgot. He would try apologizing a thousand times over but he would only get cut off again but the smooth feeling of your lips against his. He’ll promise you that he won’t ever forget again.

Grand Admiral Thrawn

Surprisingly, Thrawn is going to set aside his duties on the Chimera and spend the day and night with you. Being a grand admiral meant that he could go wherever he pleased whenever he wanted with no qiestions asked.

He’s going to take you to some huge Valentine’s soirée with Coruscants most elite political and military personal. He’ll buy you a whole new dress and jewelry for the occasion as well, this man has excellent taste.

He wants everyone to see you, he wants to show you off, he’s proud to have a gorgeous woman like you by his side.

After an evening filled with drinks and slow dancing, he’ll take you to the balcony of the venue. There you can see the Coruscant night skyline, filled with the gentle glow of all the buildings and the snow falling gracefully from the sky.

And here, Thrawn would definitely propose to you. The setting is perfect, you’re looking your best and he just can’t resist. He needs to make you his permanently, and what better day to do so then Valentine’s Day? The day committed to ones significant other and the love they share.

Thrawn is also definitely the type to ditch the party early to take you back to his place to have drinks and the best valentines sex of your life heheh

Kylo Ren

Kylo has a very strong and thick wall around his emotions, he doesn’t like showing them unless he’s alone with you. So for majority of the day, he’s going to act like Valentine’s Day doesn’t exist, he might even act like you don’t exist.

You can’t take it personally though, you know what he’s been through, besides, he’ll open up later when the two of you are alone.

And that’s exactly what he does. When the time comes for him to retire, he’ll find you waiting in his chambers for him. And you just stare at him, waiting. A more gentle side of him will come out and he’ll act like he’s totally not hiding a small gift box behind his back.

“What? Waiting for something are we?” He’ll ask, with a brow quirked.

You’ll flash him a small and bat your eyelashes at him. He’ll roll his eyes and with the smallest smile he’ll toss your gift to you. And yes, you can tell he wrapped it himself.

You’ll open the box to find a ring. Not a proposal ring, more of a promise ring, just a nice gift really. A small ring made of doonium, simple and elegant. And as you put it on, he can’t help his smile from growing a little bigger.

Plenty of hugs and kisses of thanks from you.

Kylo only wants one thing in return, which is you. You’re going to be taken for the ride of your life in the bed tonight ;)

Rey

Rey would give you the standard flowers and chocolate. She’s from Jakku and spent most of her life trying to survive and fighting to become a Jedi. She doesn’t know how to do anything beyond the bare minimum, you can’t blame her though.

You’ll take her somewhere she’s never been, which could be anywhere really. She’s surprised you’re going to such lengths to make this day more then sufficient for her.

You’re going to take her on some crazy adventure for her to enjoy as well. You’ll probably take her on a camping trip to multiple worlds, it’ll be more like a valentines weekend then just a day.

Something will happen along the way of course, whether it’s vicious creatures attacking you or first order stormtroopers, nothing the two of you can’t handle.

“Was this part of your plan to take me out?” She’ll ask as the two of you are fighting. “Is this not a fun Valentine’s Day festivity for you?” You’ll say to her, smiling. And Rey can’t help but smile back.

When the fighting is over and all is well again, a Valentine’s Day victory kiss is in store.

The two of you will spend your weekend nights watching the sunset over the ocean of wherever you may be. Since Rey is from jakku, you elected to take her to a few planets with beautiful oceans.

Since the two of you are camping, dinners consist of rations and a single bottle of fine wine you brought along for the journey. It’s nothing fancy but that doesn’t bother either of you, she’s just glad you thought of her, and took on this trip. She believes that she is truly lucky to have you, and is already planning something for you for next Valentine’s Day.

[dalekofchaos]

Killing The New Republic and Luke’s New Jedi Order killed the Sequel Trilogy

Disney you’re a business, who’s all about money, but then you chose to destroy the New Jedi Order and New Republic, that is definitely killing your billions, even after refusing to put storytelling first and foremost, and then having the audacity to claim “we don’t have source material” never mind the countless series of video games, comics, novels, tv shows and films, merchandising etc. Not to mention all the fucking stuff you could’ve done with the NR in BATTLEFRONT! YOU COULD HAVE MADE WITH THE NEW REPUBLIC AND NEW JEDI ORDER!

But no. Instead you made Leia an incompetent general leading an even weaker  and an on the budget Rebel Alliance. Han’s character arc was dropped, Han and Leia’s iconic romance was broken up and they were both turned into absent parents and Luke’s Jedi Order failed and 30 years of peace was undone pointlessly. But instead you just wanted Rebels vs Empire 2.0, but only this time around it’s dumber. 

Do you know what we could’ve done with The New Republic? Leia as Chancellor. Han and Lando as her Ministers of Defense. Boba Fett, Din Djarin and Bo-Katan leading The Mandalorians together as allies to the New Republic. We could’ve had a House Of Cards/West Wing/Game Of Thrones styled writing for the overall politics of The New Republic. You could’ve made a goddamn fortune on New Republic troopers, armor, weapons, fighters and frigates. Hell, you could even have The New Republic wield their own Star Defenders as opposed to Star Destroyers.  I am well aware that canon demilitarized The New Republic and already made a post on why disarming the New Republic in new canon was stupid.

What should have happened is that the NR commanders the Imperial Fleet and starts protecting systems who join the NR, all while chasing down and fighting any of the Remnants (Moffs, Warlords, Crime Lords, etc) who have grabbed power in the resulting vacuum. We could have seen an evolution of ships from Old Republic to Empire to NR ones. They could have renamed Star Destroyers into Star Defenders. Hell, they could have had a Republic of independent systems, each with their own sizable military, so that power isn't centralized.

Here is what the Sequel Trilogy could’ve been with the New Republic in power.

This could have been an interesting question for the ST. What happens after you win a war? How do you not make the same mistakes or become the thing you fought. What happens in a power vacuum? The NR should have been the dominant emerging power, and the Remnant should have been a small, secretive, unknown order, striking strategically from the UR where they hid, and causing fear and panic to spread in the NR. But no, instead of telling an interesting story, we are force fed the recycled poorly written rehashed Rebels vs Empire and the Rebels are made to be weaker than The First Order. The First Order are a terrorist movement, they should not be reigning after Hosnian Prime’s destruction, ESPECIALLY AFTER LOSING STARKILLER BASE! Concentrating your government and defenses around only one system is really stupid(AND BAD FUCKING WRITING) The New Republic’s forces should have been spread far across the galaxy. So after Hosnian Prime, The New Republic  sees the bigger picture and mobilizes their fleet and unites their forces with The Resistance. Instead The New Republic is stupidly destroyed because Rian wanted the Rebels to be the Rebels again.(lol this movie is fucking dumb) God forbid we get The New Republic fighting the First Order and making the heroes looking strong in force instead of stupidly having all the Rebels fit inside the Falcon. For the love of fucking god I hate this fucking timeline.

As for The Imperial Remnant. Thrawn, and Rae Sloane would lead the fleets and  Darth Plagueis and the Knights Of Ren would would be in command of the dark side.

Do you have any idea how fucking frustrated it was to play The Battlefront games with The Resistance who are just discount Rebels? They look fucking pathetic.

JUST LOOK AT THE NEW REPUBLIC IN THE MANDALORIAN!!!!!!!! SO MUCH POTENTIAL!

Oh and just look at the NR Troopers from Legends and fan concepts

SO. MUCH. POTENTIAL!

As for the New Jedi Order.

Ya’ll were sitting on a GOLDMINE with the New Jedi Order. You murdered the goose which laid thegolden egg. Imagine proper video games, novels, animations, films in that era.  Think about all of the unique characters and designs we could’ve seen, all the unique toys they could have sold, plus they could’ve centered Galaxy’s Edge around becoming a Jedi, building your own lightsaber, and undergoing training at Luke’s academy. I know they have a lightsaber-building thing there currently, but it would’ve made a lot more sense if they could’ve tied it in to the new trilogy with the New Jedi Order. Plus, Mark Hamill was the only one of the major OT actors who was willing to continually reprise his role well into the future, and they reduced Luke’s role to a cameo in 2/3 sequel movies and ruined his character and killed him off in the other one. They could’ve kept Luke around for several more decades and thrown him in to as many TV series, video games, and movies as they wanted to, and people would’ve flocked to see or purchase whatever he’s in, because it’s freaking Luke Skywalker. Destroying the New Jedi Order offscreen and ruining and killing off Luke Skywalker were the two dumbest decisions made with the sequel trilogy. They could’ve made BILLIONS off of this stuff. The continued pre-trilogy and post-trilogy stories, the toys, the merchandising, the video games, the books and comics, everything. What makes matters worse is that as I said, Mark Hamill was the only one who wanted to continue with his role,( Also he is an accomplished voice actor so he would have done well in the animated stuff, which also gives him opportunities to do action scenes without being young) he honestly probably would’ve been willing to reprise Luke up until he was in his 80s or even into his 90s, hell, Billy Dee Williams was just over 80 when he reprised Lando in TROS, and Luke wouldn’t even need an action-heavy role as he got older, as the Grandmaster of the New Jedi Order, he’d be able to have a similar role to Yoda in the prequels and The Clone Wars, where he provides wisdom and guidance the majority of the time, but he every once in a while he steps into battle, while the new characters go on the vast majority of the adventures. They really shit the bed with these new movies, because using the New Jedi Order with Luke as Grandmaster would’ve made them BILLIONS. I truly don’t understand how such a money-hungry corporation could’ve missed out on this, because using the NJO would’ve been like printing money. It’s genuinely baffling.

We could’ve had it all

Source

Source

For story purposes. It could’ve been like this. 

Luke starts to rebuild the Jedi by training his sister Leia. Leia could not fully commit to the Jedi because she had to lead the Republic as Chancellor, but she is made an honorary member on his Jedi Council. Leia would agree to be trained as a Jedi Master. Leia has a Yellow Lightsaber she keeps hidden should the moment arises. Leia’s most powerful force ability is Battle Meditation. After training Leia, Luke eventually encountered The Emperor’s Hand Mara Jade. Their dynamic and romance would be the same as in Legends. Eventually after Ezra Bridger returns, Ahsoka Tano, Cal Kestis, and Ezra Bridger return and join Luke’s Jedi order. The Jedi council would be this. Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa, Mara Jade, Ahsoka Tano, Cal Kestis and Ezra Bridger. The new Jedi Order embrace both the Light and Dark Sides Of The Force instead of repeating the mistakes of the Jedi of old and so balance can be brought to the force. Balance would mean understanding both aspects of the force and you can indulge in your anger and more toxic emotions, but you can’t let them rule you and when you can come to peace with that, that’s when you have balance.

Also, Luke’s Jedi order would include multiple aliens species from Wookies, Twi'leks, Iridonians, Trandoshans, Mirialan and you get the picture. 

Finn would be a mix of Kyle Katarn and Finn Galfridian.

For those not familiar with either character. Kyle Katarn, a self taught force sensitive who was a former Imperial Stormtrooper that later became a Jedi Master, Battlemaster and a Jedi Council member. Finn Galfridian, a Jedi who is from Royal background and is part of the New Jedi Order who was being taught by Luke Skywalker Finn could still be a Stormtrooper that chose empathy and to walk away, this results in Finn becoming Force Sensitive and brought to be trained by Grogu. We would later find out that Finn is a lost prince of Royalty stolen by The Imperial Remnant. Perhaps, in this scenario. Finn could be the lost Prince of Naboo. Finn would of course continue fighting in the war, but with Artorias on the New Republic’s side, they will gave more funding and at least another ally. It would also provide Finn the ability to have a home for the Stormtroopers after Finn liberates the Stormtroopers from the Remnant. Finn could allow the Stormtroopers that still want to fight to serve in the Naboo military. The Naboo having weak defenses could greatly benefit from having trained soldiers serve them and if the Stormtroopers would prefer a peaceful life, Finn can offer them a civilian lifestyle away from the judgment the rest of the galaxy would give them for their past, even offering them reparations.

Also, Finn would find love with best damn pilot in The New Republic, Poe Dameron!

Luke and Mara would have a daughter. Kira Jade Skywalker(who of course would be Rey) she would grow up loved, with her family and with the Jedi. They would all truly be With her. 

Ben Solo, Breha Solo(Played by Billie Lourd) and Jaina Solo(played by Millie Bobby Brown) would be the Solo children. Ben, Breha, and Jaina would all grow up close and would thrive as Jedi while their parents would visit and shower them with the love they would naturally receive from Han and Leia as their parents and Han and Leia would stand strong together leading The New Republic

You could have Ben Solo being the most promising of Luke’s Jedi Knights. He can either stay as a Jedi or choose The Imperial Remnant and become Kylo Ren. The Jedi Order is split between the Jedi loyal to Luke and those loyal to Ben. I will say Ben’s fall would be similar to Jacen’s. Because he sensed something terrible coming. The Grysk. He feels that the Jedi and the NR would not be enough. So he gives in to Darth Plagueis and leads the Knights Of Ren. But when The Grysk attack, Ben shows us his true colors and returns to his family to fight The Grysk and unites both The New Republic and Remnant. 

If Ben doesn’t turn to the dark side, Ben would stay true to the Jedi and his family. Ben would lead the Jedi to face the Knights Of Ren and destroy Plagueis.

Together Kira, Ben, Breha, Jaina and Finn would rise together and destroy Darth Plagueis and end the Sith once and for all.

But that’s not the end, because The Grysk would invade the galaxy.

Towards the end of the Trilogy, The NR and FO will join forces to fend off The Grysk invasion. Sloane will call for a cease fire and signing a treaty with Leia, where The NR and FO align their forces and build The Galactic Federation. Building a better galaxy together. Leia's vision for a Republic and Sloane's virtues for the Empire.

We get the legacy characters getting treated with respect, we get the new generation built upon and being prepared for the coming war and are all treated as important heroes, we have a FO treated like strong villains and a stronger threat to unite both forces and we have peace in the end. This is how I think the ST should have been handled.

The theme should’ve been family. It’s about how the Skywalkers and Solos lead and protect the galaxy. How well Han, Luke and Leia became after the fall of the Empire and the upbringing of their children. It should end with all is well with the Skywalker and Solo families. Not end in misery.

As Carrie Fisher said

“It’s about family. And that’s what makes it so powerful.”

We could’ve had it all.