quote:Gotta say, NIM, I don't agree with you at all about Rebels being more "mature" than CW- everything I've seen really seems to be toned down- there's very little people wherever they go- even to an Imperial base, it all seems deserted.
That's not how I gauge maturity in a dramatic presentation. I meant that the horrible revelation of Luminara Unduli, and the body count of Stormtroopers and others may point to an ambition to go back to Original Trilogy levels of drama. At least that's what I hope.
Ah. I unfortunately have not seen that episode, so I'm judging off the four that I have seen- most recently the one where they waltz out of the Imperial Academy- which had under a dozen personell from the looks of it.
I'll try to find the Luminara ep online and post in about it.
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The show's setting up a few story arcs; notably Ezra's parents and the identity of Fulcrum.
I find it hard to care too much about Ezra's parents considering how Ezra is my least favorite character on the show. No, wait, scratch that. Second-least favorite. I still can't stand Chopper.
I am very curious about Fulcrum, though. The voice is highly distorted, and whoever is voicing him/her is going uncredited for now. I'm personally hoping Fulcrum winds up being Ahsoka Tano, if for no other reason than I still want to see a Vader/Tano lightsabre fight.
-------------------- "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
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Yes, Chopper isn't very nuanced or interesting, is he? Just a rolling slapstick-button. R2 were interesting right out of the gates, by saying stuff you only understood through conjecture of Threepio's responses. Chopper just shits on everything.
I watched the season-finale yesterday, was very disappointed that they held off on telling Ezra about his parents in the last seconds of the episode, giving you nothing to look forward to next season, no cliffhanger or twist realization. A wasted opportunity, replaced by Ezra moping. I hope it gets better.
I still feel the stakes are higher and the show narrative much more compelling than CW, because they are hunted now, and must be on their toes.
In comparison, Ahsoka was much too pampered and cared-for in her first four seasons, she always had the cosy Jedi Temple to bunk in, and the collected wisdom of three generations of Masters from which to receive counsel. Ezra has only his small crew. More interesting, to me.
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So I think this is the first instance we've seen an auxiliary, non-hyperspace capable vessel launch from its mothership during hyperspace travel, yes? Makes one wonder if a non-Force user would've been able to handle the re-entry to normal space.
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And now we have yet another unconventional lightsabre. And it seems Yoda has gotten quite powerful in the Force if he can project his essence from Dagobah to Lothal. Makes one wonder if he regularly keeps an eye on all the temples the Empire hasn't discovered yet?
-------------------- I haul cardboard and cardboard accessories
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The Season One finale aired last night. Between the revelation that Fulcrum is indeed Ahsoka Tano, and the fact that the Emperor has now sent in Vader (in a non-speaking cameo here) to deal with the rebels, I may just get that Tano/Vader fight after all.
-------------------- "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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Maybe we'll learn what became of Ventress...I know they plan to release a novel of Ventress and Quinlan Voss getting together, but I'll believe it when I see/read it.
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
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Got around to watching "The Siege of Lothal" yesterday. Not sure if this counts as the proper Season 2 premiere, but whatever.
Vader is freaking awesome in this. He mops the floor with Kanan and Ezra, and then proceeds to take on an entire Rebel fleet alone... and win.
Following the events of the episode, Vader is now aware that Ahsoka is alive and working with the rebels. Although Ahsoka denies knowing who the Sith Lord is, it's pretty obvious from her reactions that she likewise now knows Anakin Skywalker lives.
Another Inquisitor, huh? Did we ever get a name for the first one? This is gonna get confusing fast if none of them ever get names.
Unexpected Lando is unexpected.
All-in-all, a good episode. From what I understand, it's gonna be a while before any more new episodes, but I'm psyched. And that fight between Ahsoka Tano and Darth Vader that I keep wanting to see seems to be more and more inevitable.
-------------------- "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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I did not enjoy the Vader-Kanan-Ezra fight, it felt very dumb. Vader could have killed them like insects and still let the smuggler ship flee and continue his plan, but he had to grandstand to appease his vanity, the classic "Terminator grabs hero and harmlessly tosses him ten feet again and again (even though his mission is to kill), until hero can find a Deus Ex Machina in the form of a trapdoor button or tag-team distraction" trope. Deliberately letting Kanan and Ezra live didn't serve Vader's purposes at all, just the show's. The whole showdown could've been handled much better.
Also, Ezra never once thought to use his saber stun-function, which is a major tactical no-brainer.
I wonder what this says for the future. Vader can't die, so I worry that all the coming duels with Ahsoka will be drawn-out saber-lock conversations, until he finally kills her three seasons from now, or she "sacrifices" herself to allow Ezra to escape, and will then talk to him via Force-phone the remainder of the series.
Sorry if I sound cynical, I'm just so tired of paint-by-the-numbers adventure series at this point.
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I hear ya, Nim- I missed the entirety of season one but just bought it on Blu Ray this week and caught up.
It's definitely a much lower budget show than Clone Wars was- a much shorter season, much less in terms of textures and details on everything and the whole series takes place (for the most part) on Lothar -which I'm hoping changes now! It's pretty weird that they made new models for the Rodians and Ithorians- both looked great in CW, but less so here. It's like the difference between Tom & Jerry cartoons when MGM made them to be shown before movies and when Filmation made cartoons for TV.
After watching Rebels, I was surprised at my lack of...that Star Wars awesome. I went back and popped in season one of Clone Wars and got back that sense of magic and adventure straight away and started thinking on what was missing.
Visually, I think the decision to switch from widescreen to fullscreen was a disaster- it really makes Rebels seem like a kids-only cartoon.
Despite everyone online seeming to loathe Chopper, I like him- he's a total jerk and that's refreshing on a ship SO full of do-gooders.
It was nice to see some ships from CW still in service- like the Imperial version of the Light Cruiser! I was happy to see they made the once-pointless tuning fork at the ship's bow into a docking clamp (though don't ask me how!) for the Assault Shuttle.
Some ships are badly proportioned, it seems- the Assault Shuttle in particular is much too small in several scenes- like when Vader exits in the season finale. The scale on the Gozanti Cruiser has changed as well- becoming much larger- but that I can choc up to it being a new (and larger) model.
The short wing TIE fighters are grating on my nerves- they all look like the old Kenner toys.
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I'm watching the episode of CW where Ashoka has her lightsaber stolen and goes on a merry chase with a Terelian Jango Jumper. Maaaan. The cinematic quality of that episode blows away anything we've seen in Rebels.
And that's odd- considering how SW is owned by Disney now, you'd think the budget would have gone up, not down. Particularly in a year with so much Star Wars hype!
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