Ahsoka on Disney +

[j9ac9k]

Liev Schreiber seems to be a popular choice for a recast. He visually looks a bit like Stevenson, although I don't think he can replicate Stevenson's accent.

I think he's a talented enough actor for that. And even if the accent isn't perfect, that won't matter if the story/script is good. Also, Boba Fett used to sound one way, then he didn't....

[ChrisIII]

One thing about the senate, I remember I think there was at least one part of early sequel trilogy lore that was discarded that Snoke had something to do with the Senate.

There's at least one Imperial/First Order sympathizer in Bloodlines, there's another one who collects Imperial memorabilia but actually on Leia's side, until he learns about who her father was (Turns out he's not a big fan of Vader on the other hand).

Well, I guess he "sort of" did in a way; Palpatine: "I am the senate!"

[Ascended]

Loved the finale. I have my minor gripes with it, but overall I am exceedingly satisfied.

Glad to hear that people who didn't watch Rebels or Clone Wars weren't confused and were able to follow the narrative. I think it definitely adds to the experience if you've seen them but it shouldn't be required. I thought the show did a fair job of standing on its own but since I've watched the cartoons I couldn't be sure.

So, let's see....stuff I wasn't thrilled with.

Spoilers to follow, of course.

Baylan and Shin get two seconds of screen time. Those of us familiar with the Mortis can now assume Baylan's goal is to take the offer the Father once made to Anakin, and become the embodiment of the Force's balance. Which is a hella cool goal for a villain and seems really fitting for Baylan. I didn't need him to be a major focus for the finale but I expected and wanted more than a quick, non-speaking cameo where he just looks intently at the horizon. And last we knew Shin was supposed to be heading back to Thrawn, her decision to stay with the bandits came out of left field and makes no sense given what we know of her and what Baylan said about her ambition and motivation.

Not sure what they do with Baylan from here. Recast? Write him out and have Shin take over that storyline?

Funny enough, when we were guessing what Baylan's goals could be the Mortis did cross my mind, but I ruled it out because I figured Mortis (the planet) was in the main galaxy, so why would Baylan be all the way out at Peridea? Stupid assumption I suppose, given that we learned the Witches came from Peridea themselves, but with the Mortis trapped on their planet in Clone Wars I figured it must be their homeworld.

I had hoped for a little more tactical brilliance from Thrawn. He wins in the end, and doesn't waste his resources doing it, which makes him a better commander than 95% of the Imperials we've ever seen, but still, I had hoped for some crazy scheme nobody could see coming that would slow Ahsoka down. Thrawn's tactics here are pretty basic. But he still won, achieved his goal, and got away without losing more than a few TIE's and a handful of troops. Not bad for an Imperial with few soldiers going up against three Jedi. The franchise is full of commanders with far more at their disposal who did far worse against a single Jedi, so even if we didn't get the "full" Thrawn experience I think we got enough to justify his use and show why he's so feared by the rebels.

Ezra, as soon as he gets a new saber, falls into standard Jedi fighting techniques. Almost no use of the Force push style he showed last episode. Not surprising but a little disappointing.

Also wasn't thrilled with the heroes traveling with the Noti. Sure, Ezra needed a weapon, but Ahsoka's ship appears to be full of lightsabers (we see them on her walls) and even if those are just for show, she could've let him borrow one of her own. With time against them, sticking with the slow moving Noti seems exceptionally foolish, and in the end that delay cost Ahsoka and Sabine their ride home.

Shame that Morgan died. Not bothered by it, but she was just getting interesting! Also still not thrilled with Force-sensitive Sabine, but at least her ability here felt halfway earned since she spent the whole season practicing and only reached a basic level of proficiency you'd expect from the most raw padawan.

I loved everything else. The owl showing up at the end, Anakin's Force ghost, the zombie stormtroopers (not much more effective, but did anyone expect that? Zombies aren't known for their fighting talent and neither are stormtroopers ), the fight scenes....and I love that Ezra manages to steal some stormtrooper armor, kid has always been a kleptomaniac when it comes to that. The guy playing him....I watched Rebels for Ahsoka's role in the story but never really warmed up to Ezra, but this show and the actor have totally sold me. Looking forward to seeing more, I'm an Ezra fan now because of this.

This is easily one of the best things Disney has done with Star Wars. I think I might binge the whole season again this weekend, if I can carve out the time.

[krazijoe]

Thrawn loses a couple Tie Fighters...He can make more now that he is back in the Main Galaxy. As for Troopers, just have the witches animate them. Though I think he may be underestimating the witches and him destroying their temple and being indifferent at losing Morgan may come back to haunt him. I have a feeling they are using him more than he is using them.
It would be nice to have a little insight to his true motivations. Most of us know him via Novels and know what he is like so we can sort of "assume" it's all for the Chiss but he needed something to point out who he is, besides a witch wanting to go get him.
FYI, I am not keen on Sabine. I realize she lost her family2x, her planet, her love(?) and became very emo, but she is so meh in the series.

I also wish they spent more time into exactly what Baylan is doing and how/why Peridea is key to it all. The statues at the end sort of give some clues since the Daughter statue is semi destroyed but...Who knows exactly.

[ChrisIII]

Kind of wonder about the zombie "Death troopers", who, judging by the face under the helmet, seem to have been dead longer than the Night Troopers, who seem to be 'fresh' zombies when revived.

It kind of borrows from the implication that the Death Troopers were already undead (Kind of borrowed from EU Legends which of course used that name for the zombie Stormtrooper book) or cyborgs, although Rebels and I think Thrawn novels portray them as not all that different from your regular troopers, just "elite".

[krazijoe]

Kind of wonder about the zombie "Death troopers", who, judging by the face under the helmet, seem to have been dead longer than the Night Troopers, who seem to be 'fresh' zombies when revived.

It kind of borrows from the implication that the Death Troopers were already undead (Kind of borrowed from EU Legends which of course used that name for the zombie Stormtrooper book) or cyborgs, although Rebels and I think Thrawn novels portray them as not all that different from your regular troopers, just "elite".

I think all the Cargo he brought back are all dead waiting to be used to replenish his forces.

[Ascended]

I think he may be underestimating the witches and him destroying their temple and being indifferent at losing Morgan may come back to haunt him. I have a feeling they are using him more than he is using them.

I think they're using each other, and all aware of the fact. It's just a matter of who uses who best, and who makes the first sudden-but-inevitable betrayal. Basically the same dynamic the Dathomiri had with Palpatine and Dooku. Allies of convenience, whose goals may align in the short term but not the long.

But the Witches definitely did not appreciate having their temple blown up. That's gonna come back to bite Thrawn in the ass at some point. Seems akin to the way he underestimated the Noghri in the original novels.

Morgan's death, I think the Nightmothers are unhappy about but willing to accept. Her death got them off-world, and seems the kind of sacrifice a Mother can understand making. "For Dathomir" and all that. And I do think Thrawn was genuinely sad to lose her. You can see it on his face when he hears the news.

It would be nice to have a little insight to his true motivations. Most of us know him via Novels and know what he is like so we can sort of "assume" it's all for the Chiss but he needed something to point out who he is

Do the original novels even mention the Chiss? I don't recall seeing the name in them at all. Regardless, for this version I think the only material that really counts is Rebels. And I don't remember how the show handled Thrawn's origins and motivations. The Chiss very well might play into it, but for now I think we can only truly judge off whatever Rebels said.

I think all the Cargo he brought back are all dead waiting to be used to replenish his forces.

I thought that too, but he's returning to the main galaxy where he'll have access to Imperial manpower and resources again, so why bother bringing a few hundred (maybe a thousand) zombies? The ones we saw didn't seem all that much more effective than your standard stormtrooper, certainly not impressive enough to delay leaving for days while Jedi are sniffing around trying to stop you from returning home.

Actually, it's quite possible the cargo was for the Nightmothers' use rather than Thrawn's. Maybe those are a bunch of dead Nightsisters, or...whatever they called Maul and Savage Opress. Nightbrothers? An undead army of Mauls does sound pretty terrifying.

[Robotech Master]

I don't think Rebels mentions much about the Chiss and Thrawn's motivations for being in the Empire. The more recent Zahn novels go into detail about how he 'infiltrated' the Empire on behalf of the Ascendancy. His line in episode 8 about how the Night Troopers aren't sacrificing themselves for him, but for the Empire and thus, the "Security of our Galaxy," may be a subtle reference to how Thrawn's support of the Empire is tied to his belief that the Empire can fight off an invasion from the Gryssk, while the Republic cannot.

[Robotech Master]

I know it was for dramatic effect, but maybe not the smartest move returning to the New Republic dressed like a Stormtrooper? Take the helmet off before disembarking from your stolen Empire ship, at least.

Yeah, the only payoff to that is Chopper somehow knowing it was him. The audience is pretty prepared for it to be Ezra as soon as you see Hera being there to meet whoever walks off the ship. I think sacrificing the cuteness of Chopper's precog would be well worth just having Ezra come down the ramp with his helmet off.

Anyway, I liked the show a lot. A little slow at first, but I didn't hate the earlier episodes. There were a lot of cool moments from episodes 4 - 8 and I was satisfied at leaving things with Thrawn's return while Ahsoka and Sabine are stuck in the other Galaxy. The Ezra actor was also really good and I look forward to seeing what they do with him in future projects in the main galaxy. Also glad Baylan and Shin's storyline will continue. Sad about having to recast, but what can you do?

And many now speculate if travel between the galaxies will be established in later shows and people like Jaycen, Ezra, and Grogu end up going there instead of having to kill them off to explain their absence in the sequel trilogy.

[Conn Seanery]

Yeah, the only payoff to that is Chopper somehow knowing it was him. The audience is pretty prepared for it to be Ezra as soon as you see Hera being there to meet whoever walks off the ship. I think sacrificing the cuteness of Chopper's precog would be well worth just having Ezra come down the ramp with his helmet off.

Feels like they might have edited things for time? I mean, the ship was escorted to the hanger, so we have to presume there was communication of some kind prior to them letting it in. So why no advance warning that Ezra was on the ship? Or maybe a little vague exposition before he disembarked about how they were being cautious in case this was a trap, etc... Everyone lowered their blasters as soon as Ezra removed the helmet, which would make sense if they'd been forewarned that this could be him. As it played out, everyone lowered their blasters because...everyone recognizes adult Ezra?

[Frontier]

I don't think Rebels mentions much about the Chiss and Thrawn's motivations for being in the Empire. The more recent Zahn novels go into detail about how he 'infiltrated' the Empire on behalf of the Ascendancy. His line in episode 8 about how the Night Troopers aren't sacrificing themselves for him, but for the Empire and thus, the "Security of our Galaxy," may be a subtle reference to how Thrawn's support of the Empire is tied to his belief that the Empire can fight off an invasion from the Gryssk, while the Republic cannot.

Well, when you look at the Republic as it stands right now...

[ChrisIII]

I don't think the original Thrawn trilogy mentioned the Chiss at all, but they become important I think in the Hand of Thrawn duology which closed the Bantam line and several of the Del Rey novels, and also of course in the Disney canon, although with some modifications.

[Ascended]

I don't think the original Thrawn trilogy mentioned the Chiss at all, but they become important I think in the Hand of Thrawn duology which closed the Bantam line and several of the Del Rey novels, and also of course in the Disney canon, although with some modifications.

There's other Thrawn novels beyond the original trilogy and origin trilogy?

Do you remember what Rebels said about the Chiss, specifically? Though I didn't know Disney had touched on the subject at all, anywhere.

[Frontier]

There's other Thrawn novels beyond the original trilogy and origin trilogy?

Do you remember what Rebels said about the Chiss, specifically? Though I didn't know Disney had touched on the subject at all, anywhere.

The cartoon didn't mention the Chiss, I don't think, but the Disney era Thrawn novels made them very relevant.

[ChrisIII]

Thrawn loses a couple Tie Fighters...He can make more now that he is back in the Main Galaxy. As for Troopers, just have the witches animate them. Though I think he may be underestimating the witches and him destroying their temple and being indifferent at losing Morgan may come back to haunt him. I have a feeling they are using him more than he is using them.
It would be nice to have a little insight to his true motivations. Most of us know him via Novels and know what he is like so we can sort of "assume" it's all for the Chiss but he needed something to point out who he is, besides a witch wanting to go get him.
FYI, I am not keen on Sabine. I realize she lost her family2x, her planet, her love(?) and became very emo, but she is so meh in the series.

I also wish they spent more time into exactly what Baylan is doing and how/why Peridea is key to it all. The statues at the end sort of give some clues since the Daughter statue is semi destroyed but...Who knows exactly.

Could be that the Nightsisters will be involved in Thrawn's death in this continuity, as the Noghri angle is missing-sure, Rukh was in Rebels but Disney hasn't done really anything with the Noghri other than that. (Then again, the Legends continuity, after making a big deal of them in the Thrawn trilogy and saying that they were the Emperor and Vader's stealthy army, seemed to not utilize them a lot in OT-era works, just having them be Leia's bodyguards in post-ROTJ stuff for the most part).