Tag: star wars

Definite Article: Rebels Season 3 Premier (Spoiler Discussion)

Rebel or rebel not – not the question, that is. Check out my thoughts on the extended season premier of Rebels!

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Image credits: Disney X D

Jumping right in, isn’t it great how Thrawn just shows up as if he’s been around the whole time? I love it when TV shows do something like this and don’t acknowledge how important something is (in a humorous way, which I think is what they were going for in a subtle way) This show gets a lot of things right, sometimes gets them wrong, but as a lifelong Star Wars fan I can wholeheartedly say I like this show. Maybe I don’t love it, but it has its place in the universe, and that place isn’t perfect, but I believe it to be necessary.

Being primarily a show for children, Rebels tends to not get overcomplicated, and that’s a good thing honestly. Much like one of the movies, most episodes end with hints toward the larger story but wrapped up nicely enough to complete a thought. The show isn’t without its annoying cliffhangers, but that’s par for the course when capturing the short attention spans of children is in play. (Personally, I enjoy having the blu-ray playing when you can watch without constant interruptions and ads – it feels much less choppy when binge-watching)

Season three opens with Ezra having learned some dark side techniques, jumping straight into the fray as he slices up stormtroopers with his new lightsaber and mind tricks an AT-DP pilot into fighting for his squadmates. He’s dangerously powerful, and the fact that we weren’t explicitly shown everything he learned from the holocron (before Kanan takes it from him) leaves many questions to be answered about his place in the Force. Can he sit on the fence and begin to learn balancing his personal conflicts, something even Kanan still struggles with? Or will he fall, and how hard?

Here’s a bit of a fan theory for you. Something I noticed but never put much thought into was how much Ezra talks to himself, almost but not quite straight to the audience. At times his narration can be grating, but thinking about it while I brainstormed for this piece got me thinking. Ezra talks to himself because he’s been alone for his life much longer than he’s been with any kind of family, friends, or the Ghost Crew/Pheonix Squadron. His nervous narration likely comes from a childhood habit of talking to himself; unless he was trying to con the locals out of some food or steal from the Imperials, he’s never had anyone to talk to. It opens up to some meta-humor if the show continues to mature the way it has, and the way Clone Wars did before it. I’d love to see Sabine point out how often he talks to himself, out loud, and Ezra shyly realizing someone is really getting to know him on a more personal level (I suggest Sabine because it’s been a point of speculation since season one whether the two would be a couple, and I do think they’d make a cute couple somewhere down the line)

Watching the crew bust everyone’s favorite pirate Hondo out of prison and using his intel to steal Y-Wing bombers was a lot of fun. Ezra jumps the gun. He’s smart and powerful, but doesn’t always weigh the consequences. When they face setbacks, everyone has a different opinion; Sabine thinks logically, realizing the ships need fuel before they can steal them, and Rex mentions that it won’t be their last setback on the mission. Hearing different reactions to the situation helps make the characters feel less flat, and the show is doing a good job of getting characters more and more fleshed out, even if it is sometimes interrupted or shortened due to the 22-minute run time. I’d love to see some more Clone Wars-style arcs, a good three or four episodes spent in one place on one specific thing, where a lot of growth takes place over the arc rather than a quick lesson learned after a short while. However, I think Rebels is a great show for entry-level Star Wars fans, so having bite-sized chunks of story isn’t always a bad thing. These episodes move and don’t get bogged down. (See my previous point about Thrawn just showing up)

Thrawn was perfect, and I hope this show doesn’t see the end of him. I love these characters but in my opinion, they do not get to kill Thrawn – it isn’t how the story would go in my head. Thrawn is introduced and all of his EU/Legends traits are present. He is cold, calm, and sees a bigger picture whereas his Imperial underlings are much more shortsighted. The voice, provided by Lars Mikkelsen, is spot on. To be a fly on the wall while Disney held auditions for that voice (if they did) would have been quite an experience.The premier does not overuse Thrawn, and ultimately Thrawn lets the rebels escape. I hope this doesn’t become habit, but I suspect in the next couple episodes he will deal at least one crippling blow to Pheonix Squadron.

The Gray Jedi come closer to canonicity with the introduction of a new Force wielder, the Bendu, who helps Kanan see beyond his physical blindness. Kanan is among the best characters in the new canon, and seeing him struggle so much through his life really hits you in the feels when you know his whole story. He’s effectively a war orphan after Order 66, he kills his former clone trooper friends, and struggles for the rest of his life to hide, but not abandon, his Jedi ways. The Bendu, also voiced perfectly by one Tom Baker, was a fun addition to the show, and I hope he pops up again to teach more lessons about the Force.

I was discussing the show with my fiance before the premier, and we agree on a lot of points about this show.Sometimes it feels rushed, like more could be going on, but at the same time it is a show that will get a new generation hooked on Star Wars. I want the show to do well, and I want more spinoff novels about the other characters similar to A New Dawn (Disney, if you’re reading this, mind writing a book about Sabine’s days in the Imperial Academy on Mandalore?) As I said, binge-watching on blu-ray helps this the rewatchability of this show. And with the Ahsoka novel coming out next month, I have high hopes for any spinoff comics or novels we get in the future. To the people who don’t like this show or complain about it a lot, I know it has its flaws, but take it for what it is, not for what it is not. Not unlike Grand Admiral Thrawn, I see a larger picture. Does the show not do much for you? Maybe wait for a book, or get lost reading on Wookieepedia to get the stories in a different format. But give this show a chance, because it is getting better. This premier got. . .I hate to use this word, but darker. It is a well-rounded darkness, a more somber tone. It isn’t annoyingly grim-dark, and although I suspect tragedy will strike our rebel cell this season, I know that the heart of the show will remain in overcoming the odds and the darkness. Will they all make it out? Only time will tell. Trust in the Force, and trust in more entertaining episodes Saturdays this Fall.

Obligatory Review Score: A solid 7.5 out of 10, 1 being Sithspit and 10 being more powerful than you can possibly imagine.

-David

Like this rant? Hate it? Let me know in the comments! You can contact me on the contact page or in the comments. And if you have an idea for something you’d like to see, let me know and I might make a post about it! Thanks for reading this far!

Definite Article: Arsenals of Empires

It may not be canon, but it’s definitely an article. . .check out my non-canon theory on how The First Order made it’s budget equivalent of an Old Republic superweapon!

Star Wars weapons put real-life weapons to shame. A near-weightless beam of energy, the lightsaber outclasses a sword in damage and durability. Blasters and energy weapons tear through armor – both personal body armor and the metal hulls of starships. Even our nuclear weapons are relatively minor compared to the super weapons of a galaxy far, far away that can end planets and civilizations on a whim.

Imagine a weapon that can leach energy from a nearby star and use it to strike fear into the galaxy at large. Energy and mass are transferred from the burning stars to power the evil machinations of dark lords. And it almost always ends in the total annihilation of entire planets. If this sounds like Starkiller Base from Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, it should. But it also sounds a lot like something else.

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I had some time to catch up on reading over the long weekend, and wouldn’t you know it, something very similar to Starkiller Base existed during The Old Republic era. In the comics, volume 3: The Lost Suns, there is another sun-eating superweapon. In my personal head-canon, I’d like to believe that Kylo Ren got some ideas from the history of this time. We know it’s where he obtained the design for his lightsaber, and who knows if he had any input on Starkiller?

The ancient weapon is known as the Sun Razer, a sun-siphoning superweapon designed by Sith Lord Darth Mekhis. Her space stations were designed to be positioned around especially powerful stars, and drain them of their matter and energy in order to power other superweapon construction projects, most notably star destroyers such as the Ascendant Spear, Gauntlet, Silencer, Emperor’s Shadow, and Undying. (It is a requirement that all Sith weapons have awesome names FYI)

Just like Starkiller Base, the Sun Razer consumes solar energy with devastating effect. We know Starkiller eventually does its namesake and totally removes the star from space, but this has yet to be a confirmed side effect of the Sun Razer’s continued use. In my mind, the Sun Razer is actually much more terrifying than Starkiller. Sure, Starkiller is effectively a giant shotgun combined with a giant sniper rifle and a Death Star, able to destroy a cluster of planets across the galaxy almost instantaneously. But the Sun Razer not only drains the life of the sun, but also powers factories that churn out even more superweapons like faster star destroyers, destroyers with ‘fleet killing’ superlasers, and advanced cloaking technology. This weapon would not only devastate the star system by weakening or outright destroying its sun, but it would also help create more weapons to conquer other star systems.

Maybe the First Order is strapped for resources and had to settle for one ultimate weapon in its shotgun/sniper rifle/Death Star, but their evil hearts were in the right place when they looked to the Sun Razer for inspiration. Obviously this is all just head-canon to me, but since nothing in canon directly contradicts it, I’ll go with it. It’s fun to think of Kylo and Snoke looking to Mekhis’s ultimate weapons for ideas, and having to settle for one weapon versus a fleet of specialized super destroyers. The First Order simply doesn’t have the budget to do it the old way – no slaves, fewer controlled territories and planets to strip for resources, and even less public backing than the Empire.

Now if they would only address the single design flaw of these weapons, which is the biggest similarity between the Sun Razer and Starkiller – get it some plot armor so it isn’t destroyed within five minutes of the good guys knowing it exists. Let it be out there and be an ever-present threat! Let it be terrifying! Both Death Stars, the Sun Razer, and Starkiller Base all effectively have space cardboard for plot armor and it’d be amazing to see one of these weapons really change the galaxy rather than just scare it for a few hours.

Interested in talking about Star Wars theories? Leave a comment below! I come up with head-canon reasons for things all the time and might do articles/rants like these from time to time.

Dumb Luck

It just so happens that when the Desert Skiff set came out a couple (few?) years ago, I lucked out when I bought a double and received a production error Boba Fett! As you can see in the first photo, the Boba on the left has the yellow tick marks on his helmet in the correct place – on the other one, they’re flipped and appear on the wrong side of the helmet!20130522_09530220130522_095332

 

A TIE for any occasion

My Lego TIE Fighter collection, featuring a custom Interceptor from a community member at reddit.com/r/lego. I love TIE fighters, and also think I’m clever sometimes.

The classic TIE. Largely considered to be expendable, it’s probably the most recognizable spaceship that isn’t an X-Wing.
The prototype advanced and Vader’s TIE advanced
TIE Interceptor made using only parts from the official 9492 TIE Fighter set. I found the instructions on Reddit courtesy of u/Im_clean
Side shot of the Interceptor
The Interceptor is probably my favorite.
The whole family (so far)

Things I Thought to Post First

These are just random photos I took waiting for the trailer to come this evening. This was a birthday gift from my fiance last year. Used record stores sometimes have good finds if you don’t mind them being unboxed.
Amazing what you can find in book shops sometimes. A well loved-book full of concept art!
Another record store find. This was a gift to myself. Happens a lot with Star Wars, and especially Boba Fett things. I can see at least six different Slave Ones on my shelf.

Rogue One Official Trailer 2

So happy to finally see this! I can’t wait until this movie comes out, nor can I wait until it’s dissected by my favorite Star Wars podcast. Weird. . .waiting until Monday when a podcast will talk about something I’ve been waiting months to see, and I’ll wait months to see the actual thing later on. . .being a fan takes a lot of patience, doesn’t it?