Star Wars Megathread

[celedhring]

One thing I just realized, is that Andor features close to no aliens. Certainly there isn't a single alien main/supporting or even tertiary character, and all the worlds we've visited to far feature mainly human populations. I suppose that - besides bringing down the budget - it makes the world feel closer? It's an interesting choice certainly 

[HVC]

No shiney swords, no aliens, no space magic (?). Is this even Star Wars?

[Habbaku]

Droids, blasters, speeders, space-ships, and Imperials as far as the eye can see. Even a few Stormtroopers. So...yes.

The Force is overused in Star Wars as it is.

[HVC]

Plenty of sci fi has hover cars and pew pew sound effects

[celedhring]

Another good Andor episode. Hobbesian sci-fi jails always work in my book, and Andy Serkis as Kapo is a welcome presence. Is he the first actor to play two different characters in the universe? (excluding voice actors in animated stuff).

Also, Saw Gerrera finally shows up. Didn't like the character in the beginning, but I've grown fond of Whitaker's take on him. Liked the detail about him didn't want to work with the dude Luthen wants him to, because he's a Separatist.

Can't wait for the inevitable prison break episode (which I suppose will happen in episode 9, following their 3-episode arc formula. The Mandalorian prison break episode was already one of my favorite episodes in that show, like heists it's one of those tried-and-true concepts that nearly always works  :p

[Syt]

Another good Andor episode. Hobbesian sci-fi jails always work in my book, and Andy Serkis as Kapo is a welcome presence. Is he the first actor to play two different characters in the universe? (excluding voice actors in animated stuff).

Actually no. There may have been someone on ANH who played two aliens or troopers, but I know for sure that Empire had one. Jeremy Bulloch played both Boba Fett (not the voice, though, IIRC) and the officer who restrains Leia when she shouts at Luke "It's a trap!" He also had a cameo as the pilot of Bail Organa's ship in Revenge of the Sith when they return to Coruscant (if we only want to count separate movies). Warwick Davis was Wicket in ROTJ and had a cameo in Phantom Menace. Anthony Daniel and Ahmed Best had non-mask cameos in Attack of the Clones, and Daniels was also in Solo, I think?

However, if we're talking full non-cameo speaking parts I'm not entirely sure, though. I mean Kenny Baker played R2 and one of the "main" Ewoks? But Silas Carson is the only one who really comes to mind in that regard (Ki-Adi Mundi and Nute Gunray, and the pilot of the Republic ship at the start of Phantom Menace (I recall Star Wars Magazine had an article about him at the time).

The episode was quite intense IMHO. And some of those scene transitions were *chef's kiss*. The prison has shades of THX-1138, and Metropolis (workers going to/from shifts). It's beautifully dystopian, with the daily "competition," Andy Serkis is amazing, and I'm guessing they're building frames for KX droids - creating more tools of oppression and, essentially, serving machines.

I wasn't a big fan of Saw Gerrera during Clone Wars, but I liked him better in Rebels (after Forest Whitaker put his stamp on him). Seeing him and Skarsgard together was awesome, and Whitaker's intensity gave me chills.

I loved the juxtaposition of Dedra and Syril, a bit of a wannabe meeting "the real deal."

[Syt]

Oh, and loved the Belsavis shout out at the beginning of the episode.

https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Belsavis/Legends

[Syt]

Also, the amount of world building this show puts in will keep Star Wars writers in employ for many years to come.

[celedhring]

I also love that Nasty Leia (Luthen's ruthless assistant that looks a lot like young Carrie Fisher) is called... Kleya 

[Syt]

The names are getting a tad confusing. Leia and Kleya, Biggs and Bix ...

It's been a while since I watched Rogue One, but SW Explained pointed out that Melshi in the prison is one of Andor's companions in Rogue One.

And the old guy in prison looked familiar. He was the cloning scientist in Fifth Element.



And speaking of actors, Forest Whitaker has now played Saw Gerrera in movies (Rogue One), live action TV (Andor), animation (Rebels) and video games (Jedi: Fallen Order). Might be the only actor to reprise his role across so many different versions without having a voice actor in his stead (at least not the "adult" version, as opposed to the Clone Wars/Bad Batch young one). I guess either he likes the money or likes the franchise (or both).

[celedhring]

As I said, never cared much for Saw Gerrera in Clone Wars, but Whitaker manages to make him compelling. And his take on the whole rebelling thing works better in the kind of discourse of a show like Andor than in the animated shows.

[Syt]

the animated shows.

Funny you should mention it - Tales of the Jedi is out on Disney+.

It's ... ok? A bit of a mixed bag, really. Mostly filling in some gaps for Dooku's and Ahsoka's stories.

It started off with my least favorite episode, but I've never been much for overly romanticized "living in spiritual harmony with nature" tropes. I liked the Dooku episodes, though the first two were kinda the same story twice. The Ahsoka flashback was pure nostalgia (and a nice - voiceless - cameo) and it was a bit awkward to see her and Anakin's season 1 personas and bickering again. Final episode was all right (reiterating a bit on a theme from Kenobi , but it had an absolutely awesome soundtrack during its climax. Episodes are between 13 and 19 minutes, so it's a quick watch at least.

It was bittersweet to see Yoda in some scenes, and I was worried they'd give him dialogue - thankfully they didn't. It would be really weird without Tom Kane's excellent performance.

[celedhring]

Watched them over lunch. They're... okay I guess? They don't really say or show anything groundbreaking of those characters - the fact they are so short doesn't help. The ones chronicling the fall of Dooku feel a bit by the numbers (as you say, the first two are essentially the same story), and the last episode is indeed a Kenobi retread. The one that I enjoyed the most is Ashoka's training - Filoni has always been great at bringing out the humanity inside Anakin's harshness - something the prequels always failed at - and the ending ties it up very well.

[celedhring]

Also, why doesn't that other Jedi from Yoda's species not talk with scrambled syntax? Does Yoda have a learning impediment?   

[Syt]

Also, why doesn't that other Jedi from Yoda's species not talk with scrambled syntax? Does Yoda have a learning impediment?   

Yes, it just seems to be his quirk. Yaddle talking normally was already shown in comics and books, I think (she and Yoda show up in High Republic media). I seem to recall, maybe from the ESB novelization I read, that he used his syntax to put more emphasis on words. It would definitely fit his Diogenes of Sinope vibes in that movie.

What happened to Yaddle was long time of speculation, since she was shown on the council in Phantom Menace, but not at the end of the movie or in future material. I think it may have been mentioned before that Dooku killed her, but there were also theories/jokes that she left after having an affair with Yoda which led to Grogu being born.