Star Wars Megathread

[celedhring]

Greatly enjoyed this one. After all these years finally seeing live action Thrawn is a treat, and Mikkelsen - even if he seems to have eaten his own stormtroopers to survive    - just slays the role.

Again, this show has the most striking visuals of all live action Star Wars. Chimera's approach to the dathomiri tower is a breathtaking scene. Also, they manage to convey the mysteriousness of the planet with very little. Also, Stevenson is just great and his character is well written, once more with little but well delivered and precise dialogue. I'm hoping his character gets a decent closure, I'd hate it if they have to improvise it in the upcoming movie because of Stevenson's death. But I suspect they're setting up Shin as the one of the pair that will survive the show.

All the "red tape" in the stoormtroper's armor makes me think there's magick at play. Maybe they're all like that smoky inquisitor (who didn't have anything similar on his armor, though).

Lastly, the actor playing Ezra is immensely likeable. They're probably setting up some fallout with Sabine when he learns what she's done to rescue him.

Right now, my biggest fear of the show is that with two episodes remaining there's still many arcs and setups to get resolved, I fear this will finish with a cliffhanger and leave most of the stuff for the upcoming Filoni movie. I'd really prefer if this show could stand on its own.

[crazy canuck]

Your observation that this series is really just a set up for another movie explains a lot of why I find it so empty. The only compelling character in the show is Stevenson's character I'm not sure I would want to watch a movie that only has the other characters based on this.

[Syt]

Liked the episode. Kevin Kiner's soundtrack remains wonderful, adding a lot to the mood of the show. Chills, in some scenes.

Seems some of the Stormtroopers are into Kintsugi in how they mend their armor. Like the flair of the red bindings, though I assume it's not just ornamental.

I love that planet Scotland comes with the three witches from Macbeth. Though according to the credits they're called Lakesis, Kolothow, and Aktropaw, and Wookieepedia points out that they names match the names of the Fates from Greek mythology (Clotho, Lachesis, Atropos). And of course they keep talking about threads.

Side note: the Fates in  Greek mythology are called Moirai ... with the little owl like convor (embodiment(??) of the Daughter of the Mortis force users) that follows Ahsoka a lot having the name Morai.

Speaking of not so subtle character names ... It's been pointed out that Baylan Skoll and Shin Hati share the names of wolves (because Filoni) who chase the sun and moon in Norse mythology (Sköll and Hati, sp?). And their (now slain) comrade Marrok shares a name with an Arthurian knight who was turned into a wereWOLF by his wife who learned the craft from Morgan Elspeth le Fay.

Liked the look of the bandits, reminded me of some of the Sith armor in SWTOR. Loved the reunion scene and good casting.

Mikkelsen as Thrawn is unsurprisingly quite excellent.

I didn't notice two quite well known actors till the credits rolled, though:
- Wes Chatham as Enoch (with the lovely roman style face plate on his stormtrooper armor)
- Claudia Black as one of the Witch Mothers ... surprised they didn't name her character anything closer to "Morrigan"

[viper37]

Chimera's approach to the dathomiri tower is a breathtaking scene.

The scene in the prison reminded me of the Volkswagen commercial 

[viper37]

Right now, my biggest fear of the show is that with two episodes remaining there's still many arcs and setups to get resolved, I fear this will finish with a cliffhanger and leave most of the stuff for the upcoming Filoni movie. I'd really prefer if this show could stand on its own.

They have neither confirmed nor denied that they will stop at only one season.  I'm still hoping for a second season.  The fan reaction is certainly there.

[Syt]

Chimera's approach to the dathomiri tower is a breathtaking scene. Also, they manage to convey the mysteriousness of the planet with very little.

That scene was indeed something. I kept thinking, "That's some serious precision piloting there. "

I'd be lying if the planet's landscape didn't give me more Dark Souls (or maybe Elden Ring) vibes, which is more a reflection of the desolation, dark fantasy mood, and sense of ancient long forgotten history.

I liked Baylan a lot in this episode - and that he has a "new" motivation. Hints of Kreia from KotOR2 in that, but we'll see how he wants to achieve his goal.

Also: CRAB PEOPLE! (Though them showing off the cute little village in much detail has me worried for their safety in the next two episodes - feels like trying to build an emotional connection to make something bad happening later more impactful )

And Sabine's doggie is adorable, and I fawned way too much over it. 

I share your concern about the final two episodes. Mando 3, overall, wasn't bad IMO, but they really, really rushed to resolve sevearl plot points VERY fast, and though the ending was cool, it felt still anticlimactic and sudden.

I'm guessing: Sabine/Ezra meet Baylan/Shin for a big ass confrontation, Ahsoka joins the fray, allegiances will be redrawn, and there's a "final fight" with the two squads of stormtroopers that Thrawn felt he could spare. I'm guessing that Sabine and Ahsoka settle their argument, Baylan dies (at Shin Hati's hands, who stops him from doing something really really bad?), and Shin becomes Ahsoka's new padawan?

Meanwhile Thrawn returns with Elspeth and despite having only a broke ass old ISD still knocks out easily the three Rebel ships we saw previously (establishing him as a major threat for viewers not familiar with him yet).

EDIT: I rolled my eyes a bit at Huyang's story starting "A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away ..."

[Syt]

Also, what's the "cargo" they brought up fromt he "catacombs" in human sized crates ... 

I assume the Nightsisters are looking to make a comeback after Dooku's genocidal attack?

[viper37]

Also, what's the "cargo" they brought up fromt he "catacombs" in human sized crates ... 

I assume the Nightsisters are looking to make a comeback after Dooku's genocidal attack?

Something like that, I suppose.

[celedhring]

I hope not, but it's obvious this is where they are going. We already had one reversed genocide in Mandalorian. I wish that tragedy had a bit more permanency in Star Wars, next step will be rebuilding Alderaan.

[Oexmelin]

ALDERAAN STRIKES BACK / SOMEHOW ALDERAAN RETURNED.

Star Wars has long been skirting with the comics illness of having to raise the stakes without really raising them. It was always inspired by serials, but the worse traits were kept in check by only having three movies for the longest time. And then, Lucas being more or less protective of certain eras or characters also succeeded in keeping those in check.

Now that there are dozens of simultaneous products, it's falling prey to all the most ridiculous comic book tropes - dead-but-not-really heroes and vilains, interpersonal drama taking over heroics, etc. Which is silly, because there is an entire galaxy's worth of different stories you could be telling using the variety of tropes that composed Staw Wars - Western, Samurai, Space Nazis, Flying Aces in their Wondrous Machines, etc.

I do like the visuals of this one, but since the story feels flat, I find myself reflecting back to the visuals of Andor much more - for there, they really tied intimately with the story - the asteroid fantasia, the immaculate prison, the mining town, bureaucratic Coruscant, etc. I

Spoiler: I do appreciate that Big Baddy seems to be a variation of Kreia, perhaps one of the most interesting Star Wars characters.
 

[celedhring]

One thing Filoni has going for him that most modern Star Wars authors don't is that he steps his stories in mythology and symbology, like the old films were. Here in Ahsoka you have the three weavers of fate, water as an agent of death and rebirth, Thrawn as a man reigning in hell...  - it doesn't completely make up for its weak storytelling, but it gives the show the mythic quality that that i.e. the new movies lacked.

And then there's all the movie references to Japanese swordplay cinema, etc...

Sometimes he's a bit too obvious about it, but then again "Darth Vader" wasn't the most subtle name either

[Syt]

There's of course also the stories of the "lost legion," i.e. the IX Legion that "disappeared" in Britain and has been the subject of various works of fiction (often associated with Scotland) which also probably inspired the setting for Thrawn's exile.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legio_IX_Hispana

[Solmyr]

Someone on Reddit said that Thrawn looks like blue Elon Musk and now I can't unsee it.

[Grey Fox]

That was my 1st reaction too. It's Evil Blue Musk. 

[garbon]

I'll admit that Thrawn's look was not my fave.