posted
OKay, I wathed yoour clips- droids adding fruit to a cake. Gotcha.
Bounty was indeed a fantastic episode- the character development on Ventress is just exceptional- she even hooked up Boba after such an embarassing defeat. I think that maybe...just maybe...Ventress will get a happy ending instead of a grisly death. Dengar was nicely portrayed- he looked very competant, and not at all the fucked up hobo he appears as in ESB. Latts Razzi, Highsinger and the ninja brother badass were all highlights from that episode- as was the sky elevator. I love how no one in SW ever says "Holy shit, I'm not getting on that thing!". Everyone is so nonplussed when confronted with exotic technology- even when the opnly thing seperating them from space is a thin sheath of energy, no one asks questions about safety or anything...
In the slaver episodes, we get to see Kenobi stand by as Wolf just straight up murders a bitch with a thrown trident through the chest. Epic.
quote:I've just finished the four-episode "Palpatine kidnapping" story, it felt like a thrust back to the worst parts of season 1. Dooku has no reason to kidnap his boss Palpatine, and if they truly wanted to, Palps could just walk out the door and onto a Dooku-hired ship, then claim "I'm kidnapped". The convoluted and unnecessary circus Dooku actually came up with was exactly why I stopped watching Clone Wars the first time around. Insulting the intelligence of the viewer.
I was also disapointed with these but mostly with the Jedi Council's disregard for Anakin...
But then, it's a dry run for events in Revenge Of The Sith- the whole thing looked to be setting Dooku's ass to get killed and Anakin to take over... And of course, Palpaltine drove that wedge into Anakin's loyalty at the end.
So, you've seen the episode Brothers- what do you think of the junker ship Oppress steals? I'm pretty impressed by it- it's thrusters are in AT AT like legs and the entire command pod is the ship's lifeboat. I'm guessing the lifeboat was unarmed or Obi wan would have just turned around and shot the rest of the ship to hell....we know he's not above such things.
As to Dooku and palpaltine's relationship...I dont know that Palpaltine knows that dooku knows he's the Chancellor. That's the only thing that makes sense to me- Darth Sideous always wears his hood and robes and such when with or addressing Dooku...and Dooku and Sideous laughing at how they have gamed the whole galactic war... Maybe Dooku found out Sideous' secret and has to play dumb when ordered to do senseless shit like kidnap his boss. Maybe he's terrified to bring it up to his boss...that would kinda jibe with his little chat with Obi Wan in ATOC, where Kenobi fails the most important intition roll of his life and dismisses Dooku out of hand.
I bet he had some hard days in the desert thinking on how badly he fucked up there.
HEY! Now you can FINALLY watch the Season Five Teaser! You can see Kenobi in mandalorian armor, energy bucklers and Sideous force choke TWO bitches to death at the same time -just because they were kinda almost in his way.
I'm sad to report that this past saturday's episode was terrible- worse than anything from season one... But what the hell, five amazing episodes in a row before that...hopefully more starting next saturday.
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Registered: Aug 2002
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DID YOU..I mean.....they....and then..... :shock:
Did you cats see today's episode? The CW series kinda went into crappy territory for three episodes of droid idiocy but last week's episode and now today's episode were two of the very best the series has made! Darth Maul and Deathwatch! An alliance between the Sith, Deathwatch, the Hutts, the Picts (spice dealers) and Black Sun!
A toppling of government, incredibly badassery by Mandalorians useing ALL the skills we could hope to see- including some masterful flying with their jetpacks!
And today....the best saber duel of the series to date! These episodes really show how the mandalorians of old could be a serious threat to the Jedi in combat- and pre vizla uses a TON of new weapons and gadgets, as well as all the old movie Boba Fett gear. I honestly was blown away by the episode...
It also leaves zero doubt taht "spice" means "drugs" and that it's all illegal- which makes han a much darker character in the first SW movie than if he were smuggling anything that was just banned by tarrif or treaty.
From a modeler's perspective, there's a LOT to love- The Deathwatch ships get a lot of closeup and screen time- I ahd not realized that their wing structure rotates around the centeral hull. They also have a great deployment bay under the craft for releasing mandalorians in jetpacks- it's a bit like a bomb bay.
Black sun uses Gozanti Cruisers with their Black Sun emblem covering the entire cockpit section. The picts use something i've not seen before but I did not get a great look at them (looking for screengrabs of it).
So...waht was your take on these episodes?
Registered: Aug 2002
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This last Maul arc was really quite good, and I say this as someone who is not interested in all the underworld side dealings. Maul vs. Pre was quite a duel. I presumed at first that Maul was going easy on him, but then we've seen Pre go against Jedi before and hold his own for a bit, and Pre was pulling out all the stops until he quit.
Maul's revenge against Obi-Wan was also quite well played and more than a little surprising. The disheveled hair and "master's bidding" lines were also suggestive of a lot more going on in the final hours than we might wish to ponder (I was reminded of BSG and the Six aboard the Pegasus).
The destruction of the Twilight was disappointing . . . the ship was just sort of forgotten, it seems, then shows up all of the sudden all a mess only to get whacked easily by wimpy back-rockets.
But for the arc to end with Sidious, too, made it quite the arc. And sadly it appears to be over for the moment, the show moving on to other things, so we won't know what happens for some time.
-------------------- . . . ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.
posted
I thought the episode was easily the series' best and most shocking to date- hard to believe they did not leave this for the season finale though- hard to top this to say the least. Satine's death was brutal and shocking- Obi Wan was the series' true hero throughout by not turning to the darkside there- and his explanation of how the Darkside is the easy way out was so dead on- how it's for the weak. Both Maul and Kenobi appeal to each other to switch sides...but it's just not going to happen.
Savage Oppress' death was perfect- as with any bully, he was really a kid inside looking for some validation, here from his brother, Maul shows some real complexity in these episodes- obvious concern for his brother, holding his hand as he expires, switching to pure rage and then, to pleading fear when he gets SO beat down by Sideous.
This episode only re-affirms what I've been saying for the past couple of years- the CW crew need to make their own version of ROTS. There's just so much more complexity and added story going on that it's warranted- nad their depiction of Sideous, Anakin, Kenobi...hell even Amidala, is so much better than what the movie acctors brought to the table!
As to Twilight's death, I was saddened and knd of...satisfied? I'd rather that great ship get blown to hell than just forgotten completely...though it would be nice to see an episode showing where all that un-repaired damage came from.
I think the backpack missiles- heck, ALL the Mandalorian weapons and gear- were done perfectly. Really showing off how they could have been a threat to the Jedi for so long. Satine's sister in particular is an ass kicker!
As to your suggestin that the Dutchess had been...abused..I had the same notion. The series is already suprisingly adult in content- much moreso than could pass on network TV for a live action series, I think- and they can only suggest so much.
Sideous himself was everything I wanted him to be- evil as hell and twice as powerful as anyone we've seen to date!
Registered: Aug 2002
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The series is excellent within its constraints of at least the pretense of being child-watchable.
The thing is, though, they have yet to really sow the seeds of Anakin's fall as much as they need to. I mean, sure, he went all mother-avenger in AotC, but the transformation was just poorly played in RotS.
I really think they've erred by having him be heroic and mostly-mature here, save for occasional eyebrow-raising moments ("What? He was gonna blow up the ship!" . . . some of the Mortis stuff . . . et cetera). I mean, it would've sucked to have him petulant the entire time, but his biggest sin, as it were, is being brash and confident.
Philosophically, there is just no explanation from caring worried husband and mentor to child-killer, not to mention that he needs to be, frankly, a little more stupid. You tell me my boss is secretly working for the other competition, and I'm sorry, but that guy's an ass. And the TCW Anakin would agree, I think. But then you watch RotS and it's just wrong.
So yes, long story short, I agree that Dave Filoni and the gang could probably weave a more plausible RotS. For all his talent, the novelist of RotS (forced to keep to the source material) just couldn't make it work despite his best efforts, but a re-do TCW-style would probably be superior.
As for the Jedi detachment, I can see where they are trying to come from with that sort of thing but it just doesn't work for me. Data is more human a character to me in that regard. Borrowing from Chakoteya.net:
quote:(Data picks up the disrupter and points it at Fajo) FAJO: You won't hurt me. Fundamental respect for all living beings. That is what you said. I'm a living being, therefore you can't harm me. DATA: You will surrender yourself to the authorities. FAJO: Or what? You'll fire? Empty threat and we both know it. Why don't you accept your fate? You will return to your chair and you will sit there. You will entertain me and you will entertain my guests. And if you do not, I will simply kill somebody else. Him, perhaps. It doesn't matter. Their blood will be on your hands too, just like poor Varria's. Your only alternative, Data, is to fire. Murder me. That's all you have to do. Go ahead. Fire. If only you could feel rage over Varria's death. If only you could feel the need for revenge, then maybe you could fire. But you're just an android. You can't feel anything, can you? It's just another interesting intellectual puzzle for you. Another of life's curiosities. DATA: I cannot permit this to continue. (He levels the disrupter at Fajo again)
You can't tell me Data was getting all Dark Side there, yellow eyes or no.
-------------------- . . . ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.
posted
Personally, I like the idea that the Darkside is like an infection...or possibly a fever. Once that infection gets going, it's pretty tough to turn around without some serious personal loss making you rethink your life- as with what Ventress went through or what Vader goes through when he learns Luke is his son (somewhere between ANH and ESB but never detailed).
By way of Ventress, I'd love to see her truly come full circle and smuggle some Jedi students out of harm's way when the Empire ascends- just as some Jedi had taken her in at a young age and trained her (bfore himself getting killed and the anger of it leading her to the dark side of the Force).
I think CW has the real chance of making Anakin's turn more plausable by having Ashoka get killed and having Anakin unable to process the grief- make him unable to even be near a kid or Padawan, then there Padme dropping the bomb on him about her being preganant and he's got all this shit, plus the war and the Jedi Council's frankly dickish attitude toward him- particularly Mace Windu's asshole attitude...
They would need to make it a kind of psychotic break for the bigger holes in ROTS' storyline to smooth over, but I always assumed that was the point of ashoka's character in the first place...though I've since grown to really like "snips" as she's matured. I wonder if she'll become a full fledged Jedi before the end?
Last season we saw some of that council dickishness towards him when they set him up to think Kenobi had been killed- that story arc ended with rael simmering resentment towards the council and a bit to Kenobi as well.
I'd also throw in him being physically run ragged by battle after battle wih no down time...and have Sideous applying the suggestive power of the force to him when they get together for their "mentoring" sessions, which I'd make a regular thing.
But yeah, trying to fix the horrible gaps in logic Lucas threw out in ROTS is a major hurdle- it might be best to jump contunity a bit and add in the appearance of a secret Obi Wan/Padme relationship- if they had done that in the movie it would have been great- adding a sorta Autherian twist and giving Anakin something to truly hate Kenobi over- he gets to Mustafaar wipes out the Seperatists, then Padme shows up and brings Kenobi with her...yeah, I've seen friends go at it over women before and it's always a bad scene.
It's the killing of the Jedi children that never works in ROTS...maybe a scene where Sideous demands Anakin kill ALL within the temple to save Padme...something like that might work better than the "and then he kills Windu and instantly is SOOOOO EVIL!"
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So, could we be entering Ahsoka's final chapters...? I've got a bad feeling about this...
But MAN- whoever does the choreography needs a giant raise- holy smokes, I have never seen any animated or even movie effects look so ncredibly gracefulas Ashoka did here... This was an amazing episode- and there's a great nod to the Tarkin/Leia exchange from ANH where tarkin toucjes Ashoka's cheek and she flinches away in disgust. Such a felling of dread and things geting out of hand is conveyed here- and the prison itself is a poster child for everything the Empire will be- if you look at the inside decor, the lights and blast doors are all right out of the Death Star! Little touches like that really set the CW series on a level nothing else can touch.
It's interesting that Commander Wolf was the prison's commander- I dont know if that's a promotion or what exactly- it's a non-combat role to be sure.
Ashoka was sure set up bigtime- and my roomate and I were yelling "dont pick up the lightsabers, dumba$$! when everything was so laid out for her... I think that Barris will not turn out to be involved, but will be set against Ashoka in the next episode- Barris was visibly pissed that her friend had been killed and to learn taht her other friend ashoka was responsible might push her to the anger side of the darkside...
But then...who could be responsible? it could be Sideous himself- he's present at the funeral service and would have seen the exhange between Tarkin and Ashoka, would have access to the prison's video system via Tarkin and we've seen a Sith telekinetically strangle someone with only a viewer connection to focus on....Vader does it in ESB. Funny how range seems not to be an issue on that...but a Hologram seems not to be enough of a "connection" to do it... Maybe a Force user needs to visualize the target completely to do such things?
Anyway, it also raises the question of exactly how much Tarkin knows- he drops a little line abuot how the Chancellor does nothing without a plan in place...and since Tarkin is Vader's boss in ANH, he's got to be tight with the Man.
On a technical note. the effect of Ashoka deflecting the stun blasts was fantastic- almsot like they were made of water and had to be wiped away from her instead of the usual deflecting of blaster fire.
Registered: Aug 2002
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Just got done watching the season finale. Not gonna give any spoilers just yet for those who haven't seen it yet, but I gotta get this off my chest:
As much as I enjoy Tim Curry, he was so not the guy to replace the late Ian Ambercrombie as the voice of Palpatine.
-------------------- "Kirito? I killed a thing and now it says I have XPs! Is that bad? Am I dying?"
-Asuna, Episode 2, Sword Art Online Abridged
Registered: Mar 1999
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Very interested as to who the new Sith will be, really hope it's nothing we've seen before. Obviously it's not Dooku. If anyone already knows who it is for some reason, please don't say.
Remember Ahsoka's small Jedi snubbie from "Sphere of Influence" which I mentioned in my thread starter? She used the same class of ship in the prison visit. No gun ports are visible on the bow or the dorsal area, but it does have that interesting black contraption on its belly, hope they ever use it.
Also, in one of the latest episodes, I noticed a new class of guard or acolyte in the republic government, does anyone have a clue what this guy does? And what might the small blade-looking belt attatchments do, unless being just ornamental? I don't remember the scene but I think this guard-type was assigned to the Jedi Temple, feel free to correct me.
Jason: very nice Mandalore mask, I hope people's appreciation for the KotOR-subfranchise keeps growing. The Mass Effect-trilogy was the continuation of the KotOR-franchise in all but name, it's obvious they got tired of being hamstrung by Lucasarts and built their own goddamn casino, as the saying goes. I still hold out for a proper sequel, ignoring the current MMO.
About my clip, the cake was not my point, the point was the over-the-top thriller score and how happy the rabbit droids got when realizing they'd made Padme happy. No droid in Star Wars has ever said "Yay!" before.
Registered: Aug 1999
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quote:Originally posted by Nim: Also, in one of the latest episodes, I noticed a new class of guard or acolyte in the republic government, does anyone have a clue what this guy does?
-------------------- "Never give up. And never, under any circumstances, no matter what - never face the facts." - Ruth Gordon
Registered: Mar 2000
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"Very interested as to who the new Sith will be, really hope it's nothing we've seen before."
Wait, what did I miss? New Sith? Wasn't Palpatine lethally insistent just a couple weeks ago that there can be only two? Since Dooku will still be around when we catch up to Episode III, where would a new Sith fit in?
Registered: Mar 1999
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