Star Wars Megathread

[Habbaku]

That was pretty rough. Yet another example of what happens when not-very-smart people write super-geniuses without assistance.

How did Thrawn "win"? Because he flung bodies at the problem. So smart!

How did the good guys manage to almost "win"? Bravery!

All the pulp with none of the wit.

[Syt]

I'm ok with that. In hindsight, the last two episodes could have been merged into one. Thrawn throwing people at the problem - well, what's his option? He needs time. I don't think he does it for no good reason. I would have preferred if it had been Baylan who threw a spanner into his machinations, though (the variable he couldn't control).

I also would have preferred what was frequent speculation in recent weeks - that they return to the planet with the star map and with his beat up ISD takes out the three modern New Republic ships to show his acumen, but alas.

But I'm mostly annoyed by the serious plot blue balls Baylan leaves me with, not helped by Ray Stevenson's untimely death.

I thought the show was fine - I saw it mostly as a continuation of Clone Wars/Rebels in live action, and I think it delivered on that. I will admit it was hugely helped by being familiar with most of the moving parts (Thrawn, Sabine, Ahsoka, the Witches of Dathomir, Ezra, Hera, Jacen, Huyang, Purgill etc.), and they added new fun stuff (Peridia, Night Troopers, etc.). On personal level it focused very much on the relationship between Ahsoka and Sabine which was a bit weird, considering their "history" happened completely off screen. 

Bit surprised that Ezra hasn't changed much in 10 years among the crab people?

At any rate, my personal ranking of live action Star Wars shows in this moment:

Andor
Mando S1
Ahsoka
Mando S2
Mando S3
Book of Boba Fett & Obi-Wan Kenobi

I generally enjoyed BoBF and OWK, but thought they were quite messy (e.g. BoBF told out of order with unnecessary flashbacks, taking a detour to Mando S2.5 and not giving enough room to the main character; OWK seemingly unsure what kind of story to tell, rushed and not making very good use of the Volume). They had compelling components, assembled very awkwardly.

My main concern with the end of this season is that it sets up again high stakes (Baylan's mysterious quest! Shin as chief of the raiders! Sabine and Ahsoka ... ? Thrawn and the Witches!) that will then suddenly be resolved within an episode or two, like in Mando S3.

Random thoughts:

- Baylan standing on that statue at the end ... 1. Foundation had a very similar scene this season 2. More LotR homages - https://lotr.fandom.com/wiki/Argonath ). Also, basically Mt. Doom in the distance. (Also, the statue was The Father from the Mortis arc, with the Son next to him)

- The good guys were not in much of a hurry to get to Thrawn at the start. Ok, you want to make sure the crab dudes are safe, but come on ...

- Not a huge fan of the Witches in general (since Clone Wars), but it was still fun seeing their stuff in action ... and just in time for Halloween month I guess I'm not a fan of having literal witches in my stories about space wizards

- Ezra ... why didn't you take off your stormtrooper armor (at least the helmet!!) before exiting the shuttle? Do you like to get shot? Because this is how you get shot. Though it was a nice bookend to the Season start - people looking like Jedi coming on board a Republic ship turning out to be hostile, and now a Stormtrooper coming on board turning out to be friendly. "It's like poetry ... it rhymes." (George Lucas)

- Episode titles. I like me a good pun or reference episode title, but it feels weirdly out of place for Star Wars. Ep. 2 was "Toil and Trouble," taken from Macbeth's three witches:

"Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn and caldron bubble.
Fillet of a fenny snake,
In the caldron boil and bake;
Eye of newt and toe of frog,
Wool of bat and tongue of dog,
Adder's fork and blind-worm's sting,
Lizard's leg and howlet's wing,
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.

Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn and caldron bubble.
Cool it with a baboon's blood,
Then the charm is firm and good."

Though Ep. 8 takes it a bit too far IMO: "The Jedi, The Witch, and The Warlord" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lion,_the_Witch_and_the_Wardrobe) .... really, Filoni? Really? We know you like your very unsubtle references, but come on. 

[celedhring]

Yeah, the episode title was a bit "eh what? Really"?

Regarding Thrawn, the show did need some actual proof of him being a military genius. Just not being incompetent and using his forces to fight delaying actions doesn't cut it. You need to establish why he's such a huge threat.

And yeah, was surprised they didn't advance the Shin/Baylan storyline. But, if this sets up a new show with Sabine/AT/Shin/Baylan with weird force gods in another galaxy, heh, I'll watch that. Problem is Ray Stevenson though   - I guess they'll recast him?

Overal, I enjoyed the show, but I don't think it offers much to those who have not bought in already. I found myself basking more at the technical artistry of it (the visuals, the lightsaber coreography, the acting from several members of the cast, the soundtrack) than being drawn by its storytelling.

[celedhring]

Dumb question. How did Huyang know Kanan Jarrus? That was an assumed name to hide from the Empire. He was Caleb Dume when he trained as a Jedi. I guess we don't know what Huyang has been doing all these years though.

[Syt]

He did refer to him as Caleb while Ezra called him Kanan ... I guess Ahsoka/Sabine might have talked to him about it at some point?

[celedhring]

He wasn't aware that he was Ezra's master though, weird to forget that bit if they discussed Jarrus with him.

The passable explanation is that Yuhang was involved in that Jedi underground railroad at some point, and he learnt that Caleb was now using the Kanan identity.

[Grey Fox]

I don't expect there will be a season 2, so your fear are unwarranted Syt.

We'll get many movies.

[Syt]

Well, we have Acolyte coming, but that's set at the end of the High Republic Era and IIRC ca., 100 years before Phantom Menace? There's also Skeleton Crew, a show about kids on a starship (Jacen?). Lando has been switched from show to movie. Bad Batch S3 is still out. There's the show set at "the dawn of the Jedi order" 25,000 or so years ago, and the Ahsoka "event movie", but not sure if they throw in another season first? Of course the writers strike will have thrown off all kinds of planning, I'd assume.

[celedhring]

Well, we have Acolyte coming, but that's set at the end of the High Republic Era and IIRC ca., 100 years before Phantom Menace? There's also Skeleton Crew, a show about kids on a starship (Jacen?). Lando has been switched from show to movie. Bad Batch S3 is still out. There's the show set at "the dawn of the Jedi order" 25,000 or so years ago, and the Ahsoka "event movie", but not sure if they throw in another season first? Of course the writers strike will have thrown off all kinds of planning, I'd assume.

There's also the SAG strike still running. I don't expect meaningful announcements until that is resolved.

[crazy canuck]

That was pretty rough. Yet another example of what happens when not-very-smart people write super-geniuses without assistance.

How did Thrawn "win"? Because he flung bodies at the problem. So smart!

How did the good guys manage to almost "win"? Bravery!

All the pulp with none of the wit.

Thrawn also seemed to forget about his best option, recall his mercenaries to lead the delaying action.

A show built around Ashoka had a lot of promise. They made a poor live action postscript for rebels instead.

Andor proved they can make a good show. But I guess only when they don't get bogged down trying to do fan servicing.

[Oexmelin]

I seemed to remember reading that Andor was basically made despite Disney, they had attempted to find other show runners, but the sheer amount of content pour out had thinned pool of available acceptable (i.e., writers dedicated to the brand) writers.

[celedhring]

I seemed to remember reading that Andor was basically made despite Disney, they had attempted to find other show runners, but the sheer amount of content pour out had thinned pool of available acceptable (i.e., writers dedicated to the brand) writers.

That's not really true. Disney was happy to fire the showrunner they already had in place when Gilroy showed interest. Gilroy has (had?) lot of clout at Disney, Rogue One made a ton of money for them and Gilroy is always credited for "saving" that film with his rewrites/reshoots.

[Sophie Scholl]

I'm on a bit of a Star Wars kick after wearing my old Rebel Alliance Pilot outfit for Halloween. As such, I'm trying to read some of the early Rebellion things like the (so far really fun) Leia book, the Rogue One prequel novel Rebel Rising, the Leia comic, and the Battlefront book Twilight Company.

Now comes my question for all of you who kept/keep up with things:

I have been wanting to watch Andor since it came out but, due to mental health issues, haven't yet. Is there anything I should *really* read or watch prior? I've seen all of the theatrically released movies, most of The Clone Wars series, and none of the other things book, comic, tv show, or game related. Oh! Except Dr. Aphra. Plus the now "Legends" stuff like older books, the Ewoks movies/cartoons/comics, High Republic era material, and the KotOR games.

(For entertainment, here's a selfie I took while on my way to a Halloween party in my costume)
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[celedhring]

I have never read any new canon Star Wars comic or book and I enjoyed Andor thoroughly. Honestly, I think it's a show that even a non-Star Wars fan can understand and enjoy. Precious little callbacks to anything outside of the show's universe. Not even Rogue One is required viewing, imho (it's a prequel afterall).

[Threviel]

So.. I started watching Obi-Wan. The kidnappers hunting Leia in the forest was cringeworthy and more like a small kids show. My kid, age 10, happened to watch with me and I asked him how far he would have got if I chased him, "not far" he said. Would have been ok in a film targeted to the 5-7 demographic, not in a tv show that adults are supposed to watch...

But it made me realize that kid has never watched star wars proper, so we started watching episode IV instead. The burned corpses of uncle and aunt hits different in light of what happened in Israel. Lots of weird changes since I last watched it, small ratlike rodents going around, skeletons in the background and so on, apparently the guy Han murdered shoots back and so on.

But he liked it and want to watch the next one.