#filoni said there would be a “surprise death”

[thecoffeelorian]

"Republic..."

"...Empire..."

"...What's the difference...?"

If Crosshair's just going to get shot down either way...not much!

#random status update #random devil's advocate post #the bad batch #tbb crosshair #tbb hunter #tbb tech #tbb wrecker #crosshair tbb #the bad batch crosshair #clone trooper crosshair #crosshair bad batch #star wars #tbb #filoni said there would be a “surprise death” #so if hunter shoots crosshair by midseason #it'll be more than obvious that the showrunners LIED #i'll see you your roman empire #and raise you my la pastorela

[illuminatedquill]

Sabine x Ezra/Anakin x Padme:

It's Like Poetry, It Rhymes

I'm already falling I couldn't help it, didn't think of the risk I got a problem, problem when I look in your eyes You're mine and you know it I'd still do it even if we were cursed Won't you be my problem? It's okay with me if it hurts - BANKS, Under the Table

George Lucas has a phrase that I always come back to regarding his work: "It's like poetry, it rhymes."

He said this in reference to Luke's battle with Vader in the Emperor's Throne Room aboard the second Death Star. During the climax of the duel, Luke faces the same choice his father did so many years ago.

And Luke chooses differently. Instead of killing Vader, he tosses aside his weapon and chooses to stop fighting. He wins the battle without violence and claims the mantle of Jedi Knight, which helps Anakin return to himself fully and turn on the Emperor.

For this post, I'm using this phrase to another interesting similarity within Star Wars: the relationship between Sabine Wren and Ezra Bridger having echoes of the doomed romance of Anakin Skywalker and Padme Amidala.

There's no way that Filoni is not aware how he's setting these two up.

Sabine, clearly, has resemblances to Ahsoka's former master; it doesn't surprise me that Ahsoka immediately cut Sabine's training short after the Purge of Mandalore.

Sabine is messy, angry, reckless, impulsive, and obviously depressed after experiencing so much trauma in her life. Despite her efforts to keep up appearances that everything's fine with her, we can tell in the Ahoska premiere that she still keenly feels the loss of Ezra and her family.

Anakin was the same way. We know his story; I won't re-hash it here.

Because of Sabine's inability to reflect on her problems - much like Anakin - they tend to influence her decisions. She can't focus on what needs to be done, versus what she wants to be done.

Love versus duty. The age old conundrum.

She should have destroyed the map to Thrawn. She didn't. She could not face returning to a galaxy without Ezra Bridger in it.

Anakin prevented Jedi Master Mace Windu from finishing Palpatine because he wanted the knowledge to save Padme from death.

Anakin's decision, I also want to remind, led to Padme's death being realized. In doing what he did to prevent it, he ended up causing it to come true.

Sabine's decision to save Ezra . . . well, we've yet to see how Filoni plays this out. But I think there might be a similar outcome here; some sort of consequence for Ezra due to Sabine's actions.

The galaxy - both times - shifted on its axis and began to spiral towards darkness. The Empire rose. Thrawn returned.

The seeds of darkness have already been planted in Sabine. Her decision to hand over the map to Baylon was a failure of temptation. And once you go down the path of the dark side, it's incredibly hard to turn away. Yoda told this to Luke and he failed to heed his advice until it was almost too late.

Lucas, with Luke and Vader, had them face the same dilemma in their respective journeys to show how different their choices would be and how their characters, despite being so much alike, were ultimately different.

So Filoni, with Sabine and Ezra, is - at least in my point of view - doing the same. He's going to have these two reckon with what Sabine did only for them to choose differently than what happened with Anakin and Padme.

We never really saw Anakin and Padme reconcile after his fall. That's the tragedy of their relationship.

But with Sabine and Ezra, there's still hope. They can choose better and not end up cursed like their predecessors.

For one, Ahsoka is literally right there. I'm uncertain as to how much she knows about the reason for Anakin's downfall but if she does know (or Anakin's Force ghost reveals it to her) then she's perfectly armed with the knowledge to make sure Sabine doesn't follow the same path.

Sabine and Ezra also have much more of a personal history with each other. Their foundation is built on stronger material than Anakin and Padme's. There's a lot of trust and respect and love already built into it.

But, admittedly, Sabine's actions threaten to unmake that relationship. I've talked about it before in a previous post; that she could end up losing Ezra due to her selfishness.

And that's not even mentioning the reactions from Hera. Hera, thinking of her son, Jacen, and her desire to raise him in a galaxy not at war. Now it's being threatened by Thrawn's return.

All because of Sabine's need to save Ezra.

I really don't know how, but I'm excited to see Sabine and Ezra work it out. Because we've never seen a proper redemption arc in Star Wars. Anakin was redeemed, yes, but he died shortly afterwards.

Sabine has to put in the work to make up for what she did. She's already started on the path by staying behind with Ahsoka instead of going home with Ezra, but being open to the Force now means that there's only more trials and temptations ahead.

I can't overstate how worried we should be for Sabine. She messed up so badly before being able to tap into the Force. And now she has it.

I know she's on the path to set things right but that temptation will never go away. It will only be amplified, going forward, and I'm sure that there will be more opportunities for abuse considering the inevitable conflict between Thrawn and the New Republic.

And then there's Ezra, of course. Her desire to keep him safe.

Because he wouldn't sit on the sidelines, even if he wanted to. Sabine's actions, like it or not, have involved him in ways that he cannot understand. He'll be at the center of this fight.

I expect Sabine is going to experience some troubling visions soon. I'm thinking similar to what Luke faced in the cave on Dagobah, or even what Anakin saw during his encounter with the Mortis gods.

There's nowhere to hide anymore now that she's stuck on Peridea.

The Force, I'm sure, is going to have a lot to show Sabine about herself that's been hidden away. I hope she's ready.

Much as I want to see these two together and living happily, it can't happen until Sabine and Ezra work through these issues together.

Because if they can't, well . . . we've seen how that story ends.

#ezra bridger #sabine wren #ezrabine #sabezra #ahsoka show #ahsoka #star wars #star wars rebels #eman esfandi #natasha liu bordizzo #anakin skywalker #padme amidala #sabine x ezra #anakin x padme

[just-prime]

8 : Oh so boring

The horrifying MCU-ification of the Star Wars universe is in horrific display as 8 episodes lead nowhere but setup.

Before I get to everything else, I do want to say, Ray Stevenson's passing is a true tragedy, and I appreciate the love and care he clearly put into his character. He was the only compelling one, and I shudder to think of how Disney will probably heartlessly recast.

Now, on to the episode

Well, all the leaks that said it was zombies were right, to the surprise of no one. This is the MCU now, we need something more than just a fuck ton of stormtroopers to blow through, we need an undead CGI army.

First off : The Jedi, The Witch, and The Warlord...FUCK OFF FILONI. YOU ARE NOT CUTE.

The show opens with the attempt to lull Legends fans back into a Sion reference for no reason. Also, Thrawn's super baggy pants seem unnecessary, especially since the design in Rebels always has him in perfectly tailored clothes. Nothing during his decade abroad that would have cause the pants to change that drastically, so it just feels like an unnecessary change that is not an attractive look :(

Morgan's power ups make no sense, and as soon as she got them she was going to die. Her eyes had me making a half dozen Supernatural jokes for obvious reasons. The whole "Blade of Talzin" thing is also very dumb given the fact that I assume Mother Talzin would have used every weapon in her arsenal to stop Grievous, and I would think a lightsaber proof sword is on that list.

The entire "Ezra makes himself a new lightsaber" scene filled me rage for a few reasons.

A) Ezra literally just turned down Sabine's offer of the lightsaber for the martial arts force powers which we never see him use again.

B) Huyang knowing about Caleb and Kanan being the same person feels kinda weird to me to be perfectly honest.

C) Ezra's new lightsaber is boring. Full stop. This is the kid who built a gun into his first one, it makes no sense that he'd make one that looks this mediocre.

D) All of Sabine's family dying horrible deaths on Mandalore has always struck me as a cop out. It's just lazy writing to isolate Sabine.

The Stakes

Spoiler alert : THERE ARE NONE

We knew this was going to end in a cliffhanger for a while now, which means none of the main cast was going to die. Morgan has always been a means to an end for Thrawn, not that her loyalty was ever explain...But none of our heroes were gonna bite it (regardless of how I hoped for Huyang to explode) so there were no stakes. Thrawn had to escape, despite the fact that he is weirdly shaken, so he does. Ezra had to get home, so he does. Sabine and Ahsoka are now trapped on some stupid Mortis world??? Okay, pause, I'm getting ahead of myself here...because before that...

Sabine has the Force now

My deepest condolences to anyone who is finding this out from me, but Sabine is offically confirmed and shown to be Force sensitive. Yes it is dumb. Yes it makes no sense. Yes this is something we all saw being foreshadowed from day one, unfortunately. Especially with the playing down of her Mandalorian-ness (she's constantly losing her helmet, her gun accuracy has utterly gone, she barely uses her gauntlets, etc etc) it was obvious that Filoni wanted to do with her, what he was too cowardly to do with Grogu.

Other miscellaneous shit

It turns out that Ahsoka's shuttle is Jedi era...which makes no fucking sense.

The nightsisters being totally on board with the Empire feels like their ability to tell what's going on in the main universe might be a bit sketchy do to the fact that they missed that the guy in charge of the Empire is the one who ordered Dathomir razzed.

100% of the problems that the gang run into would have been solved if Sabine had a fucking jetpack

They pull the "Thrawn knew Anakin" card out of nowhere in the dumbest possible way, which really just goes to show how much FIloni hates the new canon Thrawn books.

Chopper recognizes Ezra (which was rather cute) before Hera does, because he decides to show up on a New Republic cruiser in full Thrawn stormtrooper garb. Also we don't even get a hug between Hera and Ezra.

Shin (because she exists, remember?) who is also stranded now, goes and appears to be taking over the bandit camp we saw earlier. Have no idea where they are taking that...but honestly, good for Shin doing something for her, this seems like a selfcare move.

Now, the ending...Fucking Mortis

So, the final shot we get of Baylan, he is standing on a giant statue of The Father (there is a statue of The Son, and a destroyed statue of The Daughter) pointing out towards something on the horizon.

Back at the hermit crab people camp, Ahsoka and Sabine (and fucking Anakin's ghost, because that's right people, instead of hanging out with his son, Anakin has been just hovering over Ahsoka this whole time apparently) here this chirping, and it's a fucking creepy hyper realistic CGI Morai.

So yeah, that's clearly how all of the trapped characters are going to get off this planet...the World between Worlds. Now, this brings up a fuck ton more questions...Chief of all being how did Ezra not use this to escape years ago???

And I get that Mortis is not everybody's favorite Clone Wars arc. Which is fair. I don't hate it, but I never loved it, and Filoni dragging in the dumbest piece of Force lore that he created is infuriating. ESPECIALLY with this being so obviously aimed at those who've not watched Clone Wars or Rebels. I'm curious to see how much he immediately recons about it, given that it's been his go-to move since before even Mando s3...

I fear they're going to do something like "Bayan is The Father, Ahsoka is The Daughter, and Shin and Sabine have to fight over being The Son" or some stupid bullshit like that.

I'm glad this is the last Filoni property we're getting for a while, since I'm pretty sure he's not involved with Skeleton Crew at all writing-wise.

I am just so happy it's over!

In the meantime, if you are as annoyed at Filoni as I am, spite him by reading the new canon Thrawn books!!! They are really fantastic and give Thrawn a lot of facinating depth, along with having an incredible cast of side characters.

For those of you who are new or just finding me because of my Ahsoka rants, please stick around!!! I'm sure I will be having other annoyed Ahsoka thoughts in the weeks to come as I think back about the full series and about just everything that it's fucked up. Feel free to pop into my ask box if you're curious about my other Star Wars related opinions, I'm more than happy to answer, though know that for the majority of the recent shows, I do not look fondly.

But if you are looking for some vindication on not enjoying recent Star Wars things, then this is the blog for you!!!

#dave filoni critical #ahsoka critical #ahsoka series #ahsoka spoilers #rambles #thrawn #nightsisters #ezra bridger #sabine wren #star wars #where the fuck is everbody? #anti filoni

[twinsunstars]

Thoughts on Ahsoka Episode 5 - Shadow Warrior - A Discussion Post

Episode 5 of Ahsoka was truly an emotional rollercoaster. There were so many surprises and details that everyone just could not miss. Filoni truly fed us with content, and we love getting to see some touching moments. Buckle up and let's talk about it!

(all screencaps from Ahsoka are from cap-that.com! https://www.cap-that.com/starwars/ahsoka/105/index.php?page=4)

Let's start with the one and only Anakin Skywalker. With Hayden Christensen reprising his role, he comes to Ahsoka in the version she grew up seeing: her master. Anakin states that he wants to complete Ahsoka's training, and they engage in a lightsaber duel that gets intense with every step.

Whenever he said "Live... or die", my mind had flashbacks to when he had said in Rebels, "Then you will die." My head just kept going to it and I had chills.

Ahsoka falls from the World Between Worlds into a flashback of the Clone Wars, reliving the battle. Ariana Greenblatt, who played young Gamora in Avengers: Infinity War, the little sister in Stuck in the Middle, and was recently in the Barbie movie, plays young Ahsoka, which I find amazing. She really captured how young Ahsoka was during the war and her emotions towards everything around her.

Seeing the Clone Wars scenes made me feel like I was the young high school girl during the pandemic again who had just recently discovered Star Wars and had quickly watched all of Clone Wars to catch up to Season 7 and see every masterpiece of the show. This was such an exciting moment for all of us fans. Hayden nails the Clone Wars Anakin with his outfit and his movements.

Ahsoka sits beside an injured clone, putting her hand on his. The clone gently holds her hand, right before he falls to his death. Ahsoka's emotions take over her as she begins to cry, grieving. These scenes truly show how young she was; she was just a child forced into a war that has to be fought. Greenblatt's portrayal of Ahsoka nails the spot on these details.

We also got to see the Siege of Mandalore in live action, which has become one of the best Clone Wars arcs. Anakin steps into the scene, getting to see the Siege of Mandalore for the first time with his own eyes. I will never get over the way that the two are standing together, it's literally the same shot from Season 7 of Clone Wars.

One of the most brilliant surprises in the episode was getting to see Captain Rex. LIKE LOOK AT HIM!! The king only had a few lines and a few shots, but he slayed as usual. We could hear Temuera Morrison's voice under the helmet, which got my excitement up. I'm so glad he voiced Rex and we got to see him in live action. (Now where is Rex during the present in Ahsoka???)

Back to the present above the water. Hera had found Huyang, who stands near the cliff, holding Sabine's Mandalorian helmet. He wished that they stayed together, and is sad now that they are apart and who knows where.

Jacen was truly adorable this episode. He hung out with Chopper and Hera the whole episode, and when he was playing with Chopper, the sight was so cute. Jacen listens to the waves, eventually hearing the lightsabers clash between Ahsoka and Anakin. The Force truly thrives through this kid, and Kanan would be so proud. Also, the fact that Kanan was mentioned this episode shattered my heart. Huyang is forced to take Jacen aboard the ship for "a tour", the kid's interests peaked about the Jedi. He asks Huyang if he can be trained, which he straightforward says "No", which I found funny.

Returning to the flashbacks, Ahsoka kept on seeing Anakin turn into Vader between quick shots that flashed with each burst of light. The sight that scares us all. When Anakin turned into Vader during the Siege of Mandalore scene, the way his voice changed sent chills down my spine. If I looked at an image from that part, I could hear his voice.

As Ahsoka fights the Vader side of Anakin who eventually appeared back in the World Between Worlds, she manages to get ahold of his lightsaber. The red blade glows under her face, and her eyes slowly turned into those red-yellow Sith eyes, just like Anakin's. Anakin sees his padawan as a Sith briefly right before the blade extinguishes. Everything eventually turns back to the calm normal. Ahsoka bids farewell to her master before falling back into the water.

After Hera and the crew rescued Ahsoka from the water, we got a hug between Jacen and Ahsoka, which was adorable. Ahsoka has now begun wearing white, which I feel like is definitely symbolic of something. The white outfit reminds me of the one she wore in the Rebels finale, even if it's not exactly it.

With the New Republic after their tails, Hera talks to Mon Mothma about the situation, who unfortunately can't do anything about it. Senator Organa was also mentioned, which means our girl Leia was trying her best to hold on for Hera. Hera, the rebel she is, goes with her own plans anyway.

The purgills were the ones who took Ezra and Thrawn away into a whole other galaxy, so how do we try to find them? Follow the purgills! Ahsoka (with Huyang) follows the purgills (and actually goes inside one... yeah she's Anakin's padawan with that plan). Both are ready to go with the purgills to find Sabine, and hopefully find Ezra.

Jacen watches the purgills while sitting in the Ghost, talking to his mom about the stories regarding the purgills that took away Ezra and the "bad guys". I'm so glad Jacen knows about Ezra, even if it has to be through stories. The day the two meet will be such a joyous occassion. Even though Hera won't go with, she hopes that they return safely with Sabine and (praying) Ezra.

There's only three episodes left now, and I just know even more chaos is about to ensue. Ezra and Thrawn should definitely be making appearances very soon, which is going to be so fun. There was more focus on Ahsoka this episode rather than Sabine, and I loved the directions it went in. Filoni really gave us fans all the emotions and incredible shots, and he is still responsible for my therapy. I feel like next episode will definitely be much more of a rollercoaster, and here's to manifesting again that Ezra (and Thrawn) will show up soon.

#star wars #star wars rebels #ahsoka series #ahsoka show #anakin skywalker #hayden christensen #hera syndulla #jacen syndulla #chopper star wars #huyang #captain rex #clone wars #kanan jarrus #ezra bridger #sabine wren #dave filoni #siege of mandalore #ahsoka spoilers

[thecleverqueer]

I’m kind of glad that I decided to create a Star Wars Twitter lurker account because if I hadn’t, I would have completely missed this whole DinBo / Katee Sackhoff debacle.

Like… to preface, Katee says some crazy shit in interviews. She’s clearly joking around most of the time. I think it’s great, entertaining and funny. Katee is great. I mean, see the 2% comment among other crazy things that she has said in interviews. And during that particular interview (the 2% interview), she’d mentioned that “they’d” (not clarifying who, but my guess is her and Brendan Wayne) discussed a potential DinBo situation but that it wasn’t going to happen because of the whole Din-doesn’t-remove-his-helmet predicament.

So, I chuckle because 1.) Dave isn’t going to canonically pair his strong women with anyone “just because” his words, not mine and 2.) Narratively, DinBo just doesn’t make much sense as both Din and Bo are busy as shit doing their own things that are not going to be conducive to a romantic relationship… at least not now.

So… when I heard that Katee said that they’d cut out a kissing scene during that moment where Din pledged his loyalty to Bo on that ship on Mandalore, I was taken aback. Mainly because while I know there are A LOT of cishets that swear there were romantic subtexts in that scene, I just failed to see it. There could have been as there was ample opportunity. If Din had just touched Bo in that scene; a shoulder touch, a soft caress in the small of her back, I may have seen the touchdown, your het vision… but you horny hets are trying to throw a Hail Mary at a target that isn’t even there. He was, like, two feet from her the entire scene. And, we obviously could not see Din’s face or the look in his eyes as he said it. The body language, the looks, they weren’t screaming “BONE”.

But then, a day later, Katee had to clarify in a Tweet that it was all a joke. That Brendan Wayne helmet bumped her AS A JOKE and that it wasn’t planned or written anywhere that “the kiss” was supposed to happen… and Katee was completely surprised at how her words were so hopelessly twisted.

And, once again, this tells me two things that I already knew… 1.) Dave is NOT going to put his strong women in relationships canonically “just because”. The only way it will happen is if it is absolutely required to serve the story. A Din and Bo relationship would actually completely railroad the current direction of the narrative. 2.) Narratively, DinBo just doesn’t make much sense as both Din and Bo are busy as shit doing their own things that are not going to be conducive to a romantic relationship… at least not now. Bo-Katan is going to rule Mandalore. She’s going to have to stay on Mandalore primarily to do that. Her WHOLE ASS character arc has been about her calling to rule Mandalore after her sister’s death. This is the way. Din is going to train Grogu in the ways of the Mandalorians by bounty hunting for the New Republic. He didn’t even bother to set up his homestead on Mandalore for even periodic “I’m-in-the-neighborhood-so-let’s-nookie” time with Bo. He settled on Navarro with Grogu… just he and Grogu.

Side Note: I think it’s totally okay and fair for Katee to ship Din and Bo. She’s a cishet, and you guys do this. I think it should be taken with a grain of salt though. After all, Katee also said that Bo and Ahsoka would absolutely discuss that ass slap from the first time they met the next time that they got together, and I just can’t see that being a “narrative win” that Filoni would allow. Ultimately, Katee does not have any more clairvoyance into future stories than we do. I know this because when you work for a company that likes to keep secrets, they tell you absolutely nothing. She will know before we do, but she will also sign a NDA that will prohibit her from saying anything.

And, at the end of the day, you DinBo hets will probably forget all about DinBo if Din shows up in the Ahsoka series, and you’ll start shipping Din with Ahsoka then… which, also will not happen. But, I guess you can keep dreaming.

#star wars #din djarin #katee sackhoff #bo katan kryze #shippers gonna ship #anti dinbo #mandalore

[meandmyechoes]

about tales of jedi leak (ahsoka part)

interesting. certainly the version in my head was more interesting.

i think my feeling after reading it was, disappointing, but not unexpected.

I’m once again asking the same question for all moder star wars: What does it add? Why must it repeat story beats or fanservice?

EP 1: ign has a fuller recap than the leak, still 100% expectant

EP 2: pretty much went how we all thought. Anakin teaches her a move that saved her life in Order 66. She gets the second saber (but we didn’t see the exact harvest or construction of it, again) Not much of a reaction about this as in, aren’t we all used to never-enough Anakin and Ahsoka content by now. There might be more than what the informant could notice so I’m still looking forward to this part.

The leak surprised (negative) me by placing the Phase II Rex here... I don’t understand why they feel the need to remake/extend the Order 66 scene from ‘Shattered’ as if the first half of the episode isn’t on-the-nose enough. We saw as much just from the trailer, so, is that all you got? Besides, reworking a scene that could well be said as your masterpiece from just two years ago seems... self-contradicting? When you put out the finale, isn’t that supposed to be the best version of the story? So now you’re saying it’s ‘not good enough’, somehow?

It’s a missed opportunity to expand on a contained moment. Ahsoka and Rex’s conversation should happen after the crash or before their departure. Unless Filoni want to paint Ahsoka more perfect refutting the ‘hypocrisy’ of her releasing Maul or killing clones.

thin 90% expectancy (in veins with ‘you’re nothing below 90′ asian parent mindset)

EP 3: With trailer showing an in-episode time skip with the progression of Ahsoka’s costumes, I gave it a hopeful forecast of bookending the Ahsoka novel. I was more interested in the PTSD Ahsoka immediately after ‘Victory and Death’ and before the Ahsoka novel begins. There was an entire blank year to explore. The other bet hinges on only the final showdown and thus ‘purpose’ of the Ahsoka novel - explaining how she got the white sabers - will be adapted. Alas.

From the leak, it seems to be a retread of the novel. With the same outcome, but crammed into less than a single episode. I cannot vouch for Filoni’s retcon even if I’m not the biggest fan of the book. At least Kaeden and Miara wasn’t just throwaway props to Ahsoka’s story. 

Funny enough, the self/fanservice scene could’ve fit in the time frame I proposed. While it partially fits my prediction (about making her witness another (public) death that she can do nothing about), and honestly was one where the fanservice hits, it could’ve been handled better by simply using another similarly-opinionated character (tie-in to Andor!) and kept the novel’s encounters intact.

Then it circles back to the frustration ‘NO ONE is keeping Filoni in check’ and ‘they weren’t even trying to get things right’. Even though I can understand why Filoni would want to remake Ahsoka’s story on his own from a period when Clone Wars was thought to be thoroughly dead, I don’t understand what’s stopping him from aligning with canon or at least keeping the retconning to a minimum. Furthermore, I don’t understand why he would repeat (a better word for ‘copy’) a well-known lore when he opted not do so with the baby episode and Plo Koon’s discovery? Honestly I would’ve been more elated if he did made the ‘giant trees are wolf legs surround ahsoka help her escape clones’ daydream. Now I just don’t see the point of his story. 

expectancy went down to 60%

#yuki watches totj #sw negativity #(lightly) #myechoes

[anonymous-20-16]

Rebels Thrawn & canon books Thrawn aren't the same

Here's why:

Thrawn tries to give Nightswan (a thief, pirate) a CHANCE instead of just killing him like most Imperials would do, this was right after Nightswan attached the imperial head-on. (Thrawn #6)

Thrawn tries to give Grysks clients a CHANCE to take a different path. They're incredibly dangerous creatures, but he didn't just order the stormtroopers to kill them immediately even though no one would have blamed him, those creatures had attacked them and he would have been within reason for killing them but he didn't.

-this happened both in alliances and treason. (i can't find those pictures yet, but if you have read any Thrawn books you will know that this is a common pattern). Thrawn giving his enemies a chance happens many times over, it even happens during the prequel books.

He gives Admiral Savit a CHANCE after he committed treason, of stealing death star's parts (delaying the process) and attracting their enemies the Grysks. Thrawn tried to reason with him, even Savit was surprised by that. below is a convo he has with ar'alani about giving savit a chance;

“So you’re convinced?” Ar’alani asked.   Thrawn nodded. “I am.”   “Yet you still intend to go through with it?”   “He must be given the opportunity,” Thrawn said. “If he could be persuaded to join us, there would be no doubt about the outcome of the coming battle.”   “And if he doesn’t?” Ar’alani persisted. “Do you really know him?”   “I believe I know him well enough,” Thrawn said."

These are just a few examples of the many, many instances where Thrawn chose to REASON with his enemies instead of just killing them, chose to work AROUND the problem instead of thinking that death solves everything. (books)

The point I'm trying to make is that Thrawn just firing on Lothal to prove a point to Ezra is so out of character for him, particularly when Ezra had already realized his mistake via Thrawn telling.

I felt like that moment was overkill, like 'hey, look, Thrawn is such a bad guy that he chooses to fire on hundreds of unarmed civilians' and was completely out of character for someone like Thrawn.

That scene where he tortures Hera and gloats.

since when- in what universe does Mith'raw'nuruodo gloats?! IN WHAT REALITY--

I know what your thinking, 'oh well timothy Zhan said that the show's portrayal of Thrawn was good and he enjoyed it' so that means they got him right.

But here's the thing with that:

Disney owns everything. Including Thrawn.

so saying anything that is less is than enthusiasm would be getting them mad. They could easily just say 'Tim u can't write any more Thrawn novels, he's our property' and that would be the end of it. so he isn't going to get on their bad side. also, they wiped Thrawn of canon without a single thought before so...

Dave filoni said that Timothy had no creative input and that they owned the character and could do whatever they wanted.

However, that doesn't mean you can't like Rebels Thrawn. I loved him, the voice acting was on point. I got introduced to Thrawn via the Rebels series.

Also, this show canonized Thrawn, and thanks to it, we have new book series.

In conclusion, the Rebels version of Thrawn is different from the books. That's all. You can like/love both. They're different because they're written by different writers. That's all.

#Thrawn #star wars rebels #star wars #brierly ronan #thrawn/ar'alani #thrawn: treason #thrawn ascendancy chaos rising

[cross-d-a]

Morai appeared in the Clone Wars season finale and I’ve realized that she symbolizes Anakin’s connection to Ahsoka

As we’re all reeling from the Clone Wars finale, I’m struck by the lingering image of a convor circling above Vader as he holds Ahsoka’s lightsaber. Since the convor is so strongly linked with Ahsoka I can only guess that it’s actually Morai and that this is where she begins to guide Ahsoka personally.

I’m sure we’ve all read meta about Morai’s symbolism as the Light Side of the Force, more specifically the Daughter from the Mortis Arc (especially since they share the same colour scheme). After Anakin helps the Daughter transfer her lifeforce to Ahsoka, the convorees begin to appear whenever Ahsoka is being tested. Filoni has even said:

"In some ways, I could say that it's a messenger, it's an observer. It is definitely something. And... I would rather have fans debate—but I would suggest... that whatever that thing is an avatar of has actually appeared in the animated Star Wars universe before. So decrypt from there."

This symbolism continues throughout Rebels where Ahsoka calls Morai by name, actually acquainted with the bird. Morai even leads Kanan to the Bendu when he was in need of guidance.

Ahsoka is intrinsically tied to the convor and through it, the Light Side of the Force. This lingering scene at the end of Victory and Death is absolutely so important, helping tie in the episode, and Vader as we see him, to the rest of the Star Wars universe.

Vader finds the 501st ship at last. We don’t know how long it’s been, how can we? All we know is that snow has covered the ruins and the carefully dug graves. We don’t even know if the troopers with him are clones or normal men. Silent and alone, Vader steps into the ruins. Eventually he stops and observes the wreckage, only to notice a glint in the snow. He bends his knee and reaches down. Almost gently, he brushes the snow away and discovers:

Ahsoka’s lightsaber.

He cradles it in his hand, brushing the snow away again with the other. Then, inexplicably, he flicks it on and we see Vader wielding a blue lightsaber for the very last time onscreen. Who knows why he turned it on. Maybe he couldn’t quite believe it was Ahsoka’s and that she’d lost it once more. Maybe he was testing to see if it still worked or if the colour was still that brilliant blue he tweaked it into.

Maybe it was one last goodbye.

But his gaze follows the point of her ‘sabre and when he reaches the end he sees Morai, soaring high above. He watches her for a long moment and this is when we see his eyes. Darth Vader’s eyes.

Anakin’s.

It doesn’t matter whether they’re blue or a sick-sulfur gold. All that matters is that we see them. We’ve never seen Vader’s eyes through his mask. In this one little moment, in Ahsoka’s lingering presence, we see Anakin Skywalker again.

It’s a clear parallel to Twilight of the Apprentice when Ahsoka destroys the side of his mask with her ‘sabre and Anakin leaks through.

Vader leaves and takes the ‘sabre with him.

It’s so, so obviously clear that he still loves Ahsoka in this moment. That Ahsoka still brings out the good in him. That this is, awfully, their final goodbye as they knew each other.

We always read about how Ahsoka and the convor are linked and how it’s really Ahsoka and the Light Side of the Force that’s linked. But I don’t think we’ve ever really seen anything about how Anakin is linked to the convor and Ahsoka.

The thing is, I think the convor also represents the link between Anakin and Ahsoka.

During the Mortis Arc, Ahsoka essentially dies. The Son kills her, inadvertently mortally wounding his own sister in the process. As the Father grieves, Anakin rushes over to Ahsoka and pleads with the Father.

“You must help her!” Anakin says.

But the Father only replies: “I cannot undo what is done. There is no hope.”

Despite dealing with his own trauma and insecurity and then, of course, eventually Falling to the Dark Side, Anakin has always been a hopeful person. We see this from the very first time we see him: a bright and cheerful slave who only wants to help others.

So of course Anakin pleads again: “Yes, there is. There’s always hope!”

Through his hope and conviction, Anakin convinces the Father to help, and so Anakin becomes the conduit through which the Daughter’s lifeforce is transferred to Ahsoka. As this happens, the main Star Wars theme rises.

This is so incredibly essential to the Star Wars universe, which has always, always been about hope.

Obi-Wan and Bail sequestered the twins away because of hope. The Rebellion rose and thrived and eventually won because of hope.

Luke saved his father because of hope.

Every single goddamn movie is about hope and the perseverance it takes to continue on, one step at a time, no matter how hard it gets.

The Star Wars movies have also always been about Anakin Skywalker. He’s the overarching shadow and the brilliant light in every single one, whether he’s actually in it or not. It’s called the Skywalker Saga for a reason. The only reason Star Wars exists is because of him. He is both villain and hero. He leaves behind a legacy that we can’t shake.

Luke saved his father, but only because Anakin had that little bit of light left in him. That little bit of lingering hope.

And we see it in the finale, in those few moments where Anakin holds Ahsoka’s lightsaber and she points him towards the Light, towards Morai. And we see him for who he is, who he was, and who he will become.

Anakin Skywalker has always been about hope, and because of that Ahsoka survives Mortis. Because of him, she survives everything that killed all the prequel Jedi. She survives the entire original trilogy.

Right after the Mortis Arc, Ahsoka gets kidnapped. It’s the first time she’s ever really been alone and forced to fight to survive. But she manages it, despite the other Padawans on the island giving up or succumbing to their fate. Again, out of everyone, Ahsoka survives. This is also the first time we see the convorees.

During this arc, Anakin is left alone, as well. Fearful and lost, he worries for Ahsoka, but Plo, the Master who found Ahsoka in the first place, guides him.

“What is Ahsoka’s strength?” Plo asks him.

“She is fearless,” Anakin replies.

“That can also be a weakness. Is she a worthy apprentice?”

“No one has her kind of determination.”

“Except you.”

“I’ll find her.”

“This may not be within your power.”

“Whatever you’re trying to say Master Plo, just say it!”

“I am suggesting that perhaps if you have trained her well, she’ll take care of herself and find a way back to you.”

This, again, is so, so important. “Except you,” Plo says. No one has Ahsoka’s determination except for Anakin. No one has her hope except for him. Ahsoka was already a wonderful, resilient person, but Anakin brought it out in her. He taught her, guided her, and now those lessons must guide her as she faces the world alone. This is only reiterated when Anakin and Ahsoka reunite.

“Ahsoka, I am so sorry,” Anakin tells her, clearly very upset.

“For what?”

“For letting you go, for letting you get taken. It was my fault.”

“No, Master, it wasn’t your fault.”

“I should’ve paid more attention. I should’ve tried harder. I…”

“You already did everything you could, everything you had to do. When I was out there, alone, all I had was your training and the lessons you taught me. And because of you, I did survive. And not only that, I was able to lead others to survive as well.”

This is, of course, a recurring theme throughout the Clone Wars and Rebels. Ahsoka perseveres and survives. She saves and guides people in kind. Ahsoka will always be Anakin’s Padawan, his legacy. She embodies all his best qualities, including, of course, his ever-lingering hope.

And that is one of the reasons why Ahsoka is so important: Anakin’s goodness lives on within her. Of course she is her own person, I wouldn’t love her as much as I do if she wasn’t, but being Anakin Skywalker’s Padawan shaped her into the woman we know today.

“You never would have made it as Obi-Wan’s Padawan,” Anakin told her in that very first movie so many years ago. “But you might make it as mine.”

That has never been more true.

If Ahsoka had been Obi-Wan’s Padawan, she’d be dead along with the rest of the Order. If she’d been Obi-Wan’s Padawan, yes she’d be skilled, and yes she would have learned to persevere throughout hardship— But there’s a certain passion for life and hope in Anakin that Obi-Wan simply doesn’t possess.

Ahsoka inherited that from him.

So now we circle back to the convor.

In various cultures owls represent death and wisdom. Filoni has even confirmed that in the Star Wars universe, it is the same. This isn't surprising when Anakin and Ahsoka are constantly facing off death and rising above it, becoming wiser because of it. And, horribly, I'm reminded that this finale is the death of them. They cannot be who they once were, and they cannot be to each other who they once were.

But owls can also represent luck and good fortune.

“Master Kenobi always said there’s no such thing as luck.”

“Good thing I taught you otherwise.”

All throughout her life, Anakin’s lessons and influence guide her, and after the Mortis Arc in moments of great struggle: a convor appears.

What I’m trying to say, I suppose, is that the convor not only symbolizes the Light Side of the Force. It also symbolizes Anakin Skywalker.

And maybe that’s because Anakin Skywalker does embody the Light Side of the Force. Despite everything he goes through and everything he does, Anakin Skywalker clutches onto that bit of hope and comes back to the Light. He brings Balance to the Force.

The convor lingers above Anakin at the end of the Clone Wars after Ahsoka has survived despite the odds. It appears again after their duel in Twilight of the Apprentice. Morai watches Anakin limp out of the Temple, and then returns to Ahsoka after guiding her back from the World Between Worlds.

After guiding her back to Anakin.

“I am suggesting that perhaps if you have trained her well, she’ll take care of herself and find a way back to you,” Plo told Anakin that first time Ahsoka was lost. And he’s right. Ahsoka does find her way back. Again and again and again.

She loves him. He’s her brother and he taught her everything he knew, and she survives because of it. Ahsoka won’t ever let that bit of Anakin go. She won’t ever lose sight of the good in him, or in anyone else.

“I won’t leave you,” she promises him. “Not this time.”

It’s more a promise of hope than anything else. A declaration of loyalty and determination and love. She still believes in him, and she wants, no needs him to know that.

So yes, we talk a lot about how the Daughter and Ahsoka are connected through the convor, but we never talk about how Anakin was that conduit in the first place. The Light and life flowed through him into Ahsoka and so she survived.

As she continues to.

And maybe the ending of the Clone Wars was unbearably heartbreaking. And maybe it’s still making me cry as I write this, but we know how this story ends, and we’re reminded when Anakin, not Vader, looks up into the sky, Ahsoka’s lightsaber in hand and watches Morai circle above.

Star Wars is about hope. It always has been. Despite everything they’ve gone through, there is hope for Anakin Skywalker. And there is hope for Ahsoka Tano, too.

#victory and death #tcw spoilers #tcw finale spoilers #the clone wars #swtcw #swtcws7 #anakin skywalker #ahsoka tano #sw meta #meta #my meta #my post #rebels #sw:r #parallels #morai #the force #clone wars season 7 #the Daughter #siege of mandalore #star wars #long post

[gffa]

ALL RIGHT THIS IS GOING TO BE LONG, BUT BEAR WITH ME.  I rewatched all of The Clone Wars recently and it was a great way to look at both the details of each episode and get a sense for the bigger arc, because I was watching them all at once, both The Wrong Jedi arc and the Protocol 66 arc, the latter of which I think is super important to the context of the former, especially because they are right next to each other in the course of the series. Here’s the thing that surprised me the most about this arc:  Ahsoka immediately didn’t trust anyone when she was framed.  She instantly went on the run instead, she never tried to contact any of the other Jedi, not the Council, not even her own Master.  She immediately ran and never put her trust in anyone else.  I don’t know that this was the narrative intention, I would almost put money on that it’s probably not, but sometimes in writing characters when you’re true to them and how they would react, unintentional themes will rear their heads and be just as important. Now, she’s not necessarily wrong to have done this, because we’ll see Fives does trust in the system and he’s murdered for it anyway.  Would Ahsoka have turned out the same?  Possibly, she’s definitely not wrong about the system being stacked against her.  But ultimately its not her own efforts that save her, but Anakin’s investigating as her Master.  Possibly not, she doesn’t have a chip in her head that leads straight to Order 66 and Darth Sidious himself making sure she absolutely has to die.  Oh, he wouldn’t have minded, but it wasn’t his direct goal. Ahsoka has a right to feel wary, because Anakin didn’t go visit her while she was in jail.  Anakin’s right, they absolutely would have used it against her, it would have made her look even more guilty, and he was trying to give her the absolute best shot possible.  This is almost assuredly the same exact reason the Jedi don’t go visit her after she’s expelled, because they do protest the entire way and a huge point is made about how she needs to get a fair trial, that the Senate is forcing them to expel her so that the Jedi won’t be accused of not taking this seriously, because they’re in a war and sedition/treason is an incredibly huge deal. And that’s also the thing--it’s easy to say that they should have stuck by Ahsoka (and I don’t disagree, they don’t disagree, they directly apologize to her for all of this!) but it’s still true that the Jedi were absolutely railroaded here.  They worked to keep this a Jedi matter, but Tarkin and the Senate said that it involved the deaths of clones and Republic citizens, so she had to face a Republic trial.  This is brought up like four separate times over the course of the arc, that the Jedi do not really have jurisdiction here.  (And, yes, they did try to keep her there--that’s the whole point of showing Tarkin forcibly strong-arming them and saying what they believe doesn’t matter.  That’s the whole point of Mace saying, “Let’s hope we can keep her here.”) This is also why the Protocol 66 arc is so important--Shaak Ti practically breaks her back trying to get Tup and Fives to the Jedi and she is roadblocked at almost every single turn or else plotted against behind her back to literally kidnap them away from her.  She argues that they have jurisdiction here as Generals in the war, but the Kaminoans argue right back that the clones belong to them, and then the Chancellor’s office gets involved and there’s even less chance to get them to the Jedi, because the Senate’s involved now and what they say goes more than anything. Further, these two arcs are important as bookends to each other in two really important ways: 1.  Each of them has a moment where the fugitive is finally caught.  Ahsoka dives down into the lower levels of Coruscant to evade capture.  Fives makes his case to Shaak Ti, who says she’ll take this seriously. They both ask a Jedi to trust them, but one turns himself over and one goes on the run.  Again, who’s to say if Ahsoka made the better choice, because she is the one who lives, but Fives was basically dead the moment he started looking into this, no matter what.  The point isn’t the outcome, but more that the Jedi don’t just throw him to the wolves, they fight to take this seriously and fight to find out the truth.

2.  The cases against Fives and Ahsoka have some really fascinating parallels in that they’re both accused of a murder they didn’t commit (against Letta, against the Supreme Chancellor) and there’s footage of them running/seemingly attacking others along the way. This is important because, if you strip away the context of what we, the audience knows, Ahsoka looks incredibly guilty. There’s footage of her apparently choking Letta to death.

She runs away from the Jedi from the moment she’s set-up, even not trusting her own Master.  She refuses to turn herself in or even contact them to tell them her side of things. There are dead clones in the path she takes out of the detention center, which appear to have been killed by a Force-wielder. She’s seen working and escaping with a known Separatist terrorist--because they have no way of knowing that Ventress has broken with the Separatists.  Ahsoka herself says, in this arc, that she never saw her and Ventress working together, showing that it’s pretty hard to believe even when you’re in the middle of it, much less from the outside!

Eventually, she’s found and captured, while in possession of the very nano-droids that were used to blow up Jackar Bowmani in the Jedi Temple. If you take out the context of us seeing Ahsoka’s reactions and how she put these pieces together (which no one else in universe would know), it isn’t just the frame job that makes her look guilty, but that her own actions contribute to the way this looks from a distance.  The evidence that piles up is really damning, that it’s not just one or two coincidental things, but an entire case against her! But they know Ahsoka, they have to know she couldn’t have gone to the dark side like that! And that’s why the beginning of this arc has a line that’s so easy to miss but it’s so important:

“There are many political idealists among us.”  “But a traitor?”  “I’m afraid one can eventually become the other.  Remember Count Dooku and General Krell.  That’s how they started too.” This has already happened before, that someone they thought they could trust turned out to be capable of terrible things.  This entire arc cannot exist without the context of knowing that there is a Jedi in the Temple right now who is betraying them, that if Barriss had been in Ahsoka’s position for all of this, it would be entirely possible that she would have acted the same way from an outsider point of view.  And how easy is it for us, even knowing that she absolutely is guilty, before we watched the end of this arc, to go, “But Barriss would never do that!  I cannot believe she would have fallen so far!” It also cannot exist without the context of another important thing--and this was a deliberate detail put into the episode, as Dave Filoni comments on in one of the featurettes for this arc, how they deliberately had Anakin chasing her, because it was a moment of foreshadowing for Darth Vader to be chasing a Jedi down. Darth Vader looms over this arc in a way that deepens the context.  Darth Vader, who is right there and the Jedi are trusting him, too.  Trusting him to be impartial when looking into whether a Jedi was behind the bombing.  Trusting him to be impartial when chasing after Ahsoka: Mace:  “I think it would be best if Skywalker stayed here. Having you involved may actually make things worse.” Anakin:  “Master Windu, with all due respect, she is my Padawan.” Mace:  “The reason for you not to go.” Obi-Wan:  “I think we're being foolish if we take Anakin off this mission. Who knows her better?” Mace:  “He's emotionally tied to her. Probably too emotional to do what needs to be done.” Anakin:  “I'd rather capture Ahsoka and find out the truth then let her run because of a lie.” Yoda:  “You must prove to us that you will stay focused. Can you?” Anakin:  “I've already alerted security on the lower levels to be on the lookout for Ahsoka.” Yoda:  “Go swiftly then, Skywalker, and bring back this lost child before it is too late.” The point is that it’s incredibly hard to know who to trust, it’s easy to say with an omniscient point of view of the entire story and 20/20 hindsight, but they have concrete examples of people who have betrayed their trust before, so it’s entirely reasonable for them to recognize that someone else may betray them, too.  That talking to them and showing that you’re willing to extend trust, that you’re willing to do this with a clear focus, is what gains their trust.  And, yeah, for all that the context of Darth Vader is hanging over this arc, it’s also true that they’re right to trust Anakin in this moment.  It’s his actions that save Ahsoka and bring the truth to light. As a fun bonus, this is all while the Force is so clouded with the dark side that Mace already said way back in Attack of the Clones, at the start of the war, that their ability to use the Force is diminished.  The psychic stress that must put on them (as people who can feel the entire weight of a planet on their minds), that the normal non-psychic stress of being in a war that there are too few of them and they’re dying in it is already pushing them to their limits, including that the dark side is hampering their ability to cut through the fog, it’s reasonable not to blindly trust people.  Baby Darth Vader being right there is a giant neon flashing light pointing to this. They want to treat Ahsoka fairly, but she isn’t giving them anything to work with, because she doesn’t trust them, either.  Which is why I keep coming back to that line she says when she leaves Anakin and the Jedi, her reason for doing it: “Why are you doing this?” “The Council didn't trust me, so how can I trust myself?”

Earlier, she says, “I don’t know who to trust!”  Then she begs Anakin to trust her.  And ultimately she doesn’t know if even she can do that.  Because trust is at the heart of this entire storyline. The opening quotes reflect this very nicely, too: 5.19 – Sometimes even the smallest doubt can shake the greatest belief. 5.18 – Courage begins by trusting oneself. 5.19 – Never become desperate enough to trust the untrustworthy. 5.20 – Never give up hope, no matter how dark things seem. An interesting note from one of the featurettes as well is that, originally, Ahsoka was going to rejoin the Jedi Order and that was going to be that.  They changed their minds because the opportunity to do something else with Ahsoka was more tempting.  Which says to me that this wasn’t an arc about exposing a fundamental eventuality, but instead about a far more complicated situation. Again, Ahsoka’s not entirely wrong or right in the way she goes about this.  We can’t say for certain what would have happened if she’d trusted other people, all we can say is that she didn’t trust any one when she ran, that ultimately that she doesn’t feel she can trust herself by the end of it and Anakin was the one who finally cleared her name, not her own efforts.  That she shows incredible fortitude for not giving in to the dark side, even when she was isolated. By the same token, the Jedi aren’t entirely right or wrong in the way they go about this.  I do think they should have visited her, even though Tarkin would almost assuredly have used it against Ahsoka to make her look guilty, but to say that they just abandoned her and never tried to help her, that they totally betrayed her when she was clearly so innocent, that they never even said sorry--that’s incorrect, too. Both sides were right and wrong.  It’s easy for us to feel for Ahsoka because we love her and her goodbye is incredibly heartbreaking, it’s so easy to trust her when we’re shown all the scenes of how this connects together and we see her reactions, that the story trusts us to let us in on her side of the events that happen.  It’s so easy because she feels very vulnerable and she was a victim of a really shitty situation.  It’s so easy because this is an incredibly harrowing experience for her and she stayed true to the light through it, through her own resilience. But stepping back from those feelings, hard as it was for me to do, let me see that Ahsoka failed in some important ways as well as that the Council failed in some important ways and that's why she herself decides that she needs to go figure herself out on her own, away from the Council and even away from Anakin, who was the one that always believed she was innocent and trusted her.  Because it wasn’t just about other people, it was about her and her own actions. I had all of this put together just from watching these two arcs, but then I started watching the story reels, including, “In Search of the Crystal” where Obi-Wan and Anakin have a conversation about Ahsoka leaving and Obi-Wan says, “I will grant you mistakes we made but she chose to leave.  Part of the Jedi way is not letting emotion cloud your better judgement.  And that's precisely what Ahsoka did. Even in her most critical moment.”

Not too long ago I was watching the featurette for “The Lawless” where Dave talked about Obi-Wan (more in the context of how he cannot embrace the dark side) and how the events were written to show that he’s a true Jedi, that he sticks to the bigger themes of Star Wars, which that’s how Dave sees Obi-Wan. I was reminded of that, in that Obi-Wan is, for all that we give him shit about the “from a certain point of view” line, actually a really reliable narrator when it comes to emotion and how it can cloud a Force-sensitive person’s mind. Obi-Wan’s right, especially because it’s pretty easy to make the inference that he’s one of the Council who voted in favor of Ahsoka, that he believed in her, even as he recognizes that her emotions clouded her judgement.  Even in her most critical moment. And when I went back to do my rewatch of The Clone Wars and these arcs, that became a lot clearer when I stepped back from my own emotional reactions to how much I love her and think she’s an incredible, good-hearted, kind, and compassionate person.  Because even the best of people can be both wrong and right at the same time.

#obi wan kenobi #anakin skywalker #ahsoka tano #mace windu #jedi order #meta #long post #really long post

[communistkenobi-archive]

Din wanted to take the armor from Cobb because it belongs to Mandos but didn't want the spear because he didn't earn it fairly 🤔

right like that’s weird as hell lmao? because really, who gives a shit what’s fair? there are (ex?)-Imperials holding brutal occupation over the city, literally cooking people to death in the town square, wielding a weapon stolen from a people who were “purged” by the Empire only a few years ago. the idea that Din would want to adhere to norms of fairness when dealing with these people is an extremely liberal one and makes him look laughably naive, especially because the Magistrate is ostensibly no longer even alive.

the show is basically arguing that there is no honour in breaking your word regardless of context, and sub-textually also arguing that Din taking the spear afterwards (without Ahsoka first explaining to him why it’s okay) would be dishonourable. you cannot both have a protagonist who is part of a persecuted minority religion that has faced very recent imperial brutalisation and also say that an attempt at reclaiming what was lost from said imperialism is okay but only if it’s done the “correct” way. it’s a contradiction of the first three episodes of the show - the conflict between “do I give up this kid or do I reject my one chance at reclaiming a significant cultural artifact of my people that was stolen from us by the very men I’m dealing with” was so interesting precisely because Din is a Mandalorian. If the The Client had simply offered him money, that would have been far less compelling.

filoni has a chronic issue with writing morally confused and contradictory star wars content so I’m not necessarily surprised. I know I’m bitching a lot about this episode, and I think there are a lot of legitimate complaints to be made, but I still enjoyed it despite those things. I just wish the show had a more morally consistent through-line.

#mando.txt #questions in spaaace #the mandalorian spoilers #sw meta #mando meta

[smhalltheurlsaretaken]

Hey, here’s an interesting topic I’ve hardly ever seen raised in metas and Star Wars discussions:

Jedi pregnancies.

They’re bound to be a thing, right? The Order existed for thousands of years and it had plenty of female members. Since Lucas said that Jedi weren’t celibate, it’d only be natural that at least a couple of Jedi got pregnant over the course of history. That raises many interesting questions within canon. 

(I’m disregarding Legends and its possible interpretations of the issue - I’m only really interested in Lucas’ - and Filoni’s - worldbuilding.)

Jedi dudes fathering a kiddo Anakin-style and either leaving to raise the child or staying out of the kid’s life is fairly easy to picture (though what if the kid is Force-sensitive and the non-Jedi mom wants to give it up to the Temple? so many things to consider), but what about Jedi moms? Would they be cast out? Forced to give up their child? Maybe leave the child with the Order and leave? But what about extraordinary circumstances like rapes? Teen pregnancies? What if two Knights were stranded for months with little hope of rescue and had a baby together, and then were found? 

Buckle up, people, it’s “canon-based-headcanons” time.

(#Jedi Culture Respected)

1) Lucas’ canon always portrayed the Order as rather chill with blood relatives. Lucas actually gave Depa Billaba a sister, Sar Labooda, he gave Adi Gallia a cousin, Stass Allie, and Filoni created the twin sisters Tiplar and Tiplee. All six of these women are Masters, not Knights, with Depa, Adi and Stass having all served on the Council - indicating that Jedi do not discriminate or disapprove of people with blood connections within the Order.  Obviously having a child might be seen as different, but the Jedi also often compare Masters to parents withinh canon (see link above) so I think it’s fairly safe to assume the Order wouldn’t freak out over a Jedi getting pregnant.

2) I’m pretty sure the Jedi would be “pro-life” to the extent of the mother’s health not being threatened. We know that midichlorians are in the blood, and that the Force itself doesn’t operate under the normal laws of time. I’d assume the second any organism has its own blood, it has its own presence in the Force - from another point of view, anything thing that will ever exist in the Force has always existed (as evidenced by the voices from the ST Ezra hears in the World between Worlds). So I’d assume the connection between mother and child would be established very, very quickly. We also know that family members can share very powerful empathic links (see Leia and Luke or Vader and Luke), so again I wouldn’t be surprised if a mother could sense/connect with her child extremely early on. Also, the Jedi are staunch believers in personal responsibility, so I don’t see them approving of abortions in case of non-traumatic, consensual sex.  That all leads me to believe that terminating the pregnancy wouldn’t be a common choice.

Okay, but what does all of this actually mean for the future of the mother and the child? What would happen to them? Well...

3) The Jedi are extremely community-oriented: in TCW alone, we see Ahsoka being taught by seven Masters - Yoda, Jocasta Nu, Tera Sinube, Aayla Secura, Luminara Unduli, Obi-Wan and Anakin. The younglings are raised in clans, Lucas’ original script for RotS had Anakin referring to the Jedi as his family, and narration guy reiterates this in TCW. They are very protective of Force-sensitive children (see the holocron arc in TCW), and they do try to look out for every member of the Order - they don’t throw people out lightly.

(Yes, they do expel Ahsoka - but they don’t throw people out over internal affairs lightly. The deaths of civilians and Clones made things a Republic matter and the Senate got involved and pressured them. When Obi-Wan told Anakin he might be expelled because of Padmé, it was because in that moment, specifically, Anakin was ready to stop pursuing Doou (a man who had just slaughtered 200 Jedi and was about to start an intergalactic war) to rescue Padmé, who wasn’t even in any real danger. The problem was forsaking his duty, not having an emotional connection to her. Qui-Gon was presented as a maverick with considerable disregard for the Code (”if you’d just follow the Code,” implying that he doesn’t), and the most he gets for that is not being given a position on the Council, and some exasperated looks. Also, again, sex is not forbidden. So, no exiling slightly careless Knights.)

Here an excerpt from @gffa​‘s excellent post on what Lucas said about the difference between love/compassion and attachment, and why Anakin being raised by his mom before coming to the Jedi caused him problems. 

But the way George Lucas talks about [attachment], it’s always in the context of selfish, possessive feelings, of greed for that person, of the inability to let go when it’s time.

“If [Anakin] have been taken in his first year and started to study to be a Jedi, he wouldn’t have this particular connection as strong as it is and he’d have been trained to love people but not to become attached to them.”  –George Lucas, Attack of the Clones commentary “But he has become attached to his mother and he will become attached to Padme and these things are, for a Jedi, who needs to have a clear mind and not be influenced by threats to their attachments, a dangerous situation.“   –George Lucas, Attack of the Clones commentary “Because he was unwilling to let go of his mother, because he was so attached to her, he committed this terrible revenge on the Tusken Raiders.“ –George Lucas, Attack of the Clones commentary “Jedi Knights aren’t celibate - the thing that is forbidden is attachments - and possessive relationships.”  –George Lucas, BBC News 2002 interview

Based on all this, I don’t think they’d cast out someone for having a child, but it’s also clear they wouldn’t let the mother (/parents if the father was another Jedi) raise the kid all by herself within the Order.

If the child happened to be Force-sensitive, the Order would most probably place him/her in the Creche like a regular youngling, as they don’t refuse kids that already have relatives in the Order (as shown earlier with all the cousins and sisters). 

So here are the possible scenarios: 

The child is not Force-sensitive but the mother doesn’t want to give him/her up => she has to leave the Order and raise him on her own, as her sworn duty as a Knight would be incompatible with the child’s interests

The child is not Force-sensitive but the mother does accept to give him/her up => the pregnancy is terminated (as I said, probably unlikely) or the child is adopted/placed in a home outside of the Order

The child is Force-sensitive but the mother doesn’t want to have him/her trained as a Jedi (it’s a dangerous, demanding life, after all) => she either leaves to raise her kid herself or gives him/her up for adoption

The child is Force sensitive and the mother does want to have him/her trained as a Jedi => the child is put in a clan, raised like any other kid, and is told of his parentage growing up (Tiplar and Tiplee know they’re sisters, work together and even wear matching outfits), but the mother is probably forbidden to train him/her as her Padawan so they don’t foster an attachment as opposed to a loving but detached relationship

Feel free to add your own thoughts. I really wish this had been explored at some point or another or touched upon by Lucas. 

#jedi order #jedi culture #meta #my meta #worldbuilding #jedi positivity #sw talk #long post

[notallthosewho-wanderarelost]

Warning: Vague Mandalorian 2x08 spoilers

A few vague thoughts on the season finale. Mostly prompted by some reactions I’ve seen on tumblr that made me go “WHAT????????”

Mostly Bo-Katan related but not going into too much detail on Clone Wars stuff so it stays accessible to people who haven’t seen it. Also something on the ending + predictions on the future of the show. Just posting this to get my thoughts out of my head and down somewhere, not looking to start an argument.

Edited because I missed the credits scene lol.

The Bo-Katan salt is STRONG on tumblr today. Can you all please think for more than a minute before declaring her evil? I’m begging you.

Is she being set up as an antagonist? Most likely. Does that make her evil? No, not necessarily. Bo-Katan has always been a “do whatever must be done” type of person in all her appearances, but that doesn’t make her end goal here wrong. She wants to reclaim Mandalore, she wants Mandalorians to have a home again- their home, the one the Empire took from them. She wants the Darksaber because it will give her the authority she needs to unite Mandalorians behind her to retake Mandalore. She’s not just after power for power’s sake. Plus, she’s been trying to do this for more than THIRTY YEARS. It’s basically her life’s goal. “Bo-Katan didn’t immediately do what Din wanted and has her own goals” doesn’t make her evil, it just makes her a dimensional character. If her goals bring her into conflict with Din, that will make her an antagonist, but it won’t necessarily mean she’s evil.

This is her second appearance and also the second time I’m seeing people slamming her for not doing exactly what’s convenient for Din. PLEASE. Her being a three-dimensional character is good. It’d be boring if everyone did exactly what’s convenient for Din. That’s having 1 main character and making everyone else cardboard cutouts, and it would be terrible writing. I like Din too, but I don’t want him to be the only three-dimensional character in the show.

Was Bo-Katan a terrorist? Yes. Once. And then she stopped being a terrorist because things were spiraling out of control and she didn’t think it was right. The ends no longer justified those particular means for her. Yes, Bo-Katan was part of Death Watch which wanted to attack and overthrow her sister Satine’s pacifist government and restore the old way of Mandalore, but she never wanted to KILL Satine. She shows that she cared about her sister. They may have been polar opposites ideologically and it led them down very different paths, but it doesn’t mean they hated each other.

How are we getting “Bo-Katan is prejudiced against foundlings/believes being a Mandalorian is only genetic” from her crack about Jango being Boba’s donor? That wasn’t a “genetics trumps all” line, that was a “you’re a clone, you don’t have a father” dig. I sure don’t agree with the sentiment, and on top of that I think the anti-clone implications were bad of her, but I don’t think she was trying to say that all foundlings aren’t Mandalorian. She was saying Boba isn’t Mandalorian. Plus, he didn’t exactly refute her. He never claimed to be Mandalorian, only said that his father was and the armor was his father’s.

(On the anti-clone implications of that line: as of right now, I don’t think she meant them. That doesn’t make it okay for her to have said it, but as far as we know Bo-Katan has only ever had good interactions with clones in the Siege of Mandalore. She probably respected them as soldiers. I mean, who knows, maybe the Empire carried out the Purge with former clone troopers just to be spiteful and that means Bo-Katan hates clones now, but that’s the only way I could see her actually meaning that line in that way. I think she was just making a dig at Boba.)

You can’t criticize Bo-Katan for attacking Satine/the New Mandalorian government and then immediately also criticize her for supposedly being hung up on genetics making a Mandalorian and therefore not following the Creed by discounting foundlings. Those two things cancel each other out. By definition of the Creed, the pacifist New Mandalorians weren’t Mandalorian. Genetically, they apparently were. (Yes, I know that at least some of them were descendants of colonists from Kalevala, but Bo-Katan herself is one of them! And she basically tells Din in 2x03 that she is Mandalorian by descent/family tradition.) Bo-Katan’s entire reason for joining Death Watch was to restore the old Creed, aka the warrior way of Mandalore. Criticize her either for attacking the New Mandalorians or not respecting the Creed, fine, I get it, but criticizing her for both doesn’t make any sense. Bo-Katan has spent her life trying to uphold the exact Creed that you’re valuing so much when it’s coming from Din.

Was there some sort of press release that I missed, why is everyone flipping out about the show supposedly no longer being about Din and Grogu, or about Din at all next season? The bond between the two of them is the whole crux of the show. They’ll be back together sooner or later. Boba Fett might be around again, but that’s because he’s the original Mandalorian and it would frankly be wrong to have a Star Wars show called “The Mandalorian” without him. That doesn’t mean he’s going to suddenly become the main character. The cast expanding to include characters like Boba Fett and Bo-Katan Kryze isn’t a bad thing! In fact, it’s good, because the show needs a bigger plot and this season has been laying down the building blocks for it. Din trying to find a Jedi to teach Grogu was obviously only ever going to be a temporary plotline, because a show called “The Mandalorian” is probably going to wind up being about Mandalorians. For goodness’ sake, please have some faith in Favreau and Filoni and the rest of the Mandalorian team. They haven’t led us wrong yet.

Edit: I’m a dummy and didn’t realize there was a post-credits scene! Alright, so we’re getting the Book of Boba Fett next year! Awesome! I still don’t think this is the end of Din’s story, or Grogu’s. Either the Book of Boba Fett is a spin-off, or it is The Mandalorian season 3 like people are speculating and we follow Boba for a season before going back to Din. It’d be kind of like how Clone Wars would go off and follow different characters for several episodes at a time (though TCW at that point always had story arcs that were 3-4 episodes long) while still advancing the main plot. Clone Wars was basically an anthology show once it really got going. In my opinion, that was a great thing- we really got to see a lot of the GFFA and see different types of characters and perspectives.

I started thinking as soon as Bo-Katan showed up that the endgame of this show is probably going to involve Din somehow joining with other Mandalorians to reclaim Mandalore. With the addition of Din now having a beskar spear very much like old imagery of Mandalore the Ultimate, and Katee Sackhoff discussing in interviews how leadership doesn’t come easily to Bo-Katan, I wouldn’t be surprised if Bo winds up stepping aside eventually in favor of Din becoming Mand’alor. Plus, thematically this season has been explicitly having Din try to start defining for himself what it means to be Mandalorian. He’s been meeting different people to whom being Mandalorian means different things, and fitting all of those views together and adding his own principles to that. Story-wise, doesn’t that sound exactly like something the eventual ruler of Mandalore should be contemplating?

#the mandalorian spoilers #mandalorian spoilers #mando spoilers #the mandalorian 2x08 #i tried to fill up the tags so this doesn't show up in tags. who knows if it'll work #the mandalorian #bo katan kryze #din djarin #mando #sw #meta #mine #my stuff #my meta #a rare text post appears

[storytellerofuntoldlegends]

a hill that’s quietly crumbling

A/N: so I know I usually write sanders sides but I watched the latest episode of the Mandalorian today and listen WHERE was my "din has a mental breakdown after failing to protect grogu" moment @ dave filoni and jon favreau??? So here's a little drabble/ficlet of what I think happened between Din and Cara after it cut to Moff Gideon's ship. (also the title is from the song Kids In The Dark by All Time Low)

Summary: Din goes to Cara for help after the Dark Troopers take Grogu. He gets her help- but comes to terms with what some things that he's been denying for far too long. (alternative title: mando stops repressing and actually gets some catharsis damnit)

Warnings: emotional constipation, emotional hurt/comfort, teasing/banter, talk of death/killing

-

“They have the kid.”

It took all of Din’s willpower not to immediately break down while uttering those words. It was hard enough to keep it together as he helplessly watched the kid- Grogu, he reminded himself- get taken away. He knew he was going to have to separate from Grogu eventually (and wasn’t that thought painful enough), but it was going to be on his terms, not the Empire’s. And now that he was back on Nevarro, hell bent on breaking Mayfield out whether or not Cara was going to help him or not- his carefully maintained mask of tough indifference was beginning to crack… and Cara could see right through it. The tilt of her head, the shock that melted into a muddled concoction of concern and anger- he didn’t know how, but she knew. She knew how much this was hurting him, how knowing that Grogu was in the hands of the Empire was tearing him apart inside- and he had a feeling that Cara felt the same way. Here they were, two people who wore masks, in a way- stubbornly shoving aside their pasts and striving forward without a care for anyone or anything… but then Grogu happened. He wormed his way into their lives with dark, wide eyes and grubby little claws outstretched.

“I’ll help you,” Cara said firmly. Din tried not to let his relief physically show, but he must have failed because Cara regarded him with a soft, sympathetic expression.

“Thank you,” he said gruffly, standing still as a stone as to not give any emotion away. Cara let out a small sigh, shaking her head in an almost fond manner as she stood up, walking over to Din.

“Of course, Mando. We’ll get your kid back, I promise,” she replied with an amused glint in her eyes. He tilted his head in confusion at her expression for a moment or two, until he fully registered what she had said.

“He’s not-” he began to protest, before pausing with a sigh at Cara’s smug expression.

“Uh huh. Then you’re just about ready to tear the whole galaxy apart for… what reason, exactly?” she teased.

“I was supposed to protect him!” Din roared. All traces of Cara’s teasing expression were gone in an instant, pure concern and sympathy replacing it.

“Din-” she started softly, but he cut her off with a wave of his hand.

“Sorry. I- I told him that I would protect him. And I was- I was supposed to bring him back to the jedi. But there’s barely any of them left and I don’t even know if he managed to reach any and now the Empire has him and-” Din rambled, stopping only when Cara put a tentative hand on his arm.

“Din, it wasn’t your fault. We’ll get him back,” Cara said in a voice gentle but no less determined, squeezing his arm comfortingly before dropping her hand. Din didn’t reply for a moment or two, hand idly drifting to the pocket where the little ball that Grogu was so enraptured by sat.

“I know his name now,” Din said, his voice dangerously fragile.

“What?” Cara said, blinking in confusion.

“The kid, I know his name now. When I took him to a jedi who said she couldn’t train him but instead guided me to Tython, she was able to speak to him through his mind,” Din explained.

“And?” Cara replied expectantly, raising an eyebrow.

“Grogu. His name is Grogu,” Din answered, throat tightening as he remembered how excited the kid got whenever he called him by his name. Cara smiled.

“Grogu… I like it,” she hummed thoughtfully.

“That wasn’t all he had told the jedi,” Din added, not sure if he was going to regret what he was about to tell Cara or not.

“Oh?” Cara asked.

“Apparently… Grogu sees me as a father,” Din all but choked out, surprising himself with how overcome with emotion he suddenly was. Grogu had trusted him, depended on him to keep him safe- and how did Din repay him? By not being fast enough to keep him from being taken. Din was shaken from his wallowing in self-pity by a startled laugh from Cara. He snapped his head up to look at her incredulously, and she did at least have the decency to look a bit apologetic.

“I’m sorry, I just- I don’t need to read minds or whatever to know that Grogu sees you as a father,” she said a little incredulously.

“Cara…” Din said, trailing off with a sigh.

“Mando, he makes these adorable little grabby hands whenever you’re not holding him, and remember when he thought I was trying to hurt you and he did his weird little magic thing-”

“Force,” Din interrupted with an irritated huff.

“Well whatever you wanna call it, he was determined to keep you safe- even if that meant killing someone. And I know you would do the same for him,” Cara said firmly. And well? Din couldn’t exactly argue with that. He was determined to keep Grogu safe, and now he was determined to get him back by any means necessary. No matter what he had to do, or what he had to sacrifice- it would all be worth it if it meant that Grogu would be safe.

#the mandalorian #din dijarin #cara dune #baby grogu #the mandalorian fanfiction #the mandalorian fanfic #star wars #star wars fanfiction #star wars fanfic #sage writes

[padawanlost]

What was your take on Dave Filoni's speech on the Duel of Fates & Qui-Got Jinn?

I’m surprised people were shocked by that. I mean, he didn’t say anything new. 

His take is the same take that has been explored since TPM came out. I don’t know if people shocked by it are new fans who weren’t around when the movies came out or didn’t have access to the interviews/EU or of if they are in deep denial about the characters portrayed on screen.

“What’s at stake is really how Anakin’s going to turn out, because Qui-Gon is different than the rest of the Jedi.”

FACT since 1999. We know Qui-Gon was a ‘rebel’ since TPM came out. He’s even known as a ‘maverick jedi’ for that very reason, with multiple novels and comics exploring that side of him. Hell, he was Dooku’s apprentice, a guy known for being one of the Council’s biggest critics even when he was still a Jedi Master.

“Obi-wan:  Do not defy the council, Master, not again. Qui-Gon: I shall do what I must, Obi-Wan. Obi-wan:  If you would just follow the code, you would be on the council.” The Phantom Menace, 1999.

You get that in the movie, and Qui-Gon is fighting because he knows that he’s the father that Anakin needs, because Qui-Gon hasn’t given up on the fact that Jedi are supposed to care and love and that that’s not a bad thing. 

FACT since 1999. 

He was angry that the Jedi Master would dismiss him so abruptly in favor of the boy, but he realized, too, the depth of Qui-Gon’s passion when he believed in something. Training this boy to be a Jedi was a cause Qui-Gon championed as he had championed no other in Obi-Wan’s memory. He did not do so to slight his protégé. He did so because he believed in the boy’s destiny. Obi-Wan understood. Who could say? Perhaps this time Qui-Gon was right. Perhaps Anakin Skywalker’s training was a cause worth fighting for. [Terry Brooks. The Phantom Menace – published in 2000]

That Filoni himself reinforces in 2013 during an interview about TCW’s season 5: “I’ve always felt that one of Anakin’s downfalls, like it’s never that Anakin was innately going to be evil, but the people around him, the Jedi, in their lack of compassion, in being so selfless that they almost forgot to care.” Dave Filoni

The rest of the Jedi are so detached and they’ve become so political that they’ve really lost their way and Yoda starts to see that in the second film. But, Qui-Gon is ahead of them all and that’s why he’s not part of the council, so he’s fighting for Anakin. 

FACT since 1999. 

“With Episode I, I didn’t want to tell a limited story. I had to go into the politics and the bigger issues of the Republic and that sort of thing. I had to go into bigger issues.” George Lucas

In The Phantom Menace one of the Jedi Council already knows the balance of The Force is starting to slip, and will slip further. It is obvious to this person that The Sith are going to destroy this balance. On the other hand a prediction which is referred to states someone will replace the balance in the future. At the right time a balance may again be created, but presently it is being eroded by dark forces. All of this shall be explained in Episode 2, so I can’t say any more!- CUT interview 09/07/99?

“The first film starts with the last age of the Republic; which is it’s getting tired, old, it’s getting corrupt. There’s the rise of the Sith, who are now becoming a force, and in the backdrop of this you have Anakin Skywalker: a young boy who’s destined to be a very significant player in bringing balance back to the Force and the Republic. George Lucas - from the American ANH VHS tape in the making of Episode II in the 2000 release.

[The Jedi] sort of persuade people into doing the right thing but their job really isn’t to go around fighting people yet there are now used as generals and they are fighting a war and they are doing something they really weren’t meant to do.They are being corrupted by this war, by being forced to be generals instead of peacemakers. – George Lucas for E! Behind the Scenes - Star Wars Episode III Revenge of the Sith

That’s one of the few times in history when the bad guys were very clearly delineated for us. There really was a fight for survival going on between pretty clearly good guys and bad guys. The story being told in Star Wars is a classic one. Every few hundred years, the story is retold because we have a tendency to do the same things over and over again. Power corrupts, and when you’re in charge, you start doing things that you think are right, but they’re actually not. . – George Lucas

That’s why it’s the duel of the fates, it’s the fate of this child and depending on how this fight goes, Anakin, his life is going to be dramatically different. 

If good and evil are mixed things become blurred - there is nothing between good and evil, everything is grey. In each of us we have balanced these emotions, and in the Star Wars saga the most important point is balance, balance between everything. It is dangerous to lose this. – George Lucas

"So, Qui-Gon loses, of course, so the father figure, he knew what it meant to take this kid away from his mother when he had an attachment and he’s left with Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan trains Anakin at first out of a promise he made to Qui-Gon, not because he cares about him. Obi-Wan trains Anakin at first out of a promise he makes to Qui-Gon, not because he cares about him.

FACT since 1999. We literally see this in the movie.

He stopped his pacing and stared momentarily at nothing, thinking of Qui-Gon Jinn, his Master, his teacher, his friend. He had failed Qui-Gon in life. But he would carry on his work now, honoring him in death by fulfilling his promise to train the boy, no matter what. [Terry Brooks. The Phantom Menace]

When they find Anakin on Tatooine, he says, “I feel like we’ve found another useless lifeform.” He’s comparing Anakin to Jar Jar. And he’s saying, “This is a waste of time. Why are we doing this? Why do you see importance in these creature like Jar Jar Binks and this 10 year old boy? This is useless.”

FACT since 1999.

So he’s a brother to Anakin, eventually, but he’s not a father figure.  

“He is like my brother. I cannot do it.” Obi-wan Kenobi in Revenge of the Sith.

This, then, is Obi-Wan and Anakin: They are closer than friends. Closer than brothers. Though Obi-Wan is sixteen standard years Anakin’s elder, they have become men together. Neither can imagine life without the other. The war has forged their two lives into one.  [Matthew Stover. Revenge of the Sith]

[With Ahsoka] I wanted to develop a character who would help Anakin settle down. He's a wild child after [Attack of the Clones]. He and Obi Wan don't get along. So we wanted to look at how Anakin and Ahsoka become friends, partners, a team. When you become a parent or you become a teacher you have to become more respnsible. I wanted to force Anakin into that role of responsibility, into that juxtaposition. I have a couple of daughters so I have experience with that situation. I said instead of a guy let's make her a girl. Teenage girls are just as hard to deal with as teenage boys are. - George Lucas

That’s a failing for Anakin, he doesn’t have the family that he needs. He loses his mother in the next film. He fails on this promise that he made to his mother that 'I will come back and save you.' So he’s left completely vulnerable and Star Wars is ultimately about family.

FACT since 2002.

“Love people. That’s basically all Star Wars is.” — George Lucas

So, that moment in that movie, which a lot of people diminish as a cool lightsaber fight, but it’s everything that the entire three films in the prequels hangs on, is that one particular fight and Maul serves his purpose and at that point died before George brought him back.But he died, showing you how the Emperor is completely self-serving. He doesn’t care, he’s using people and now he’s gonna use this child.

FACT since 1999.

Each Sith has an apprentice, but the problem was, each Sith Lord got to be powerful. And the Sith Lords would try to kill each other because they all wanted to be the most powerful. So in the end they killed each other off, and there wasn’t anything left. So the idea is that when you have a Sith Lord, and he has an apprentice, the apprentice is always trying to recruit somebody to join him — because he’s not strong enough, usually — so that he can kill his master. That’s why I call it a Rule of Two — there’s only two Sith Lords. There can’t be any more because they kill each other. They’re not smart enough to realize that if they do that, they’re going to wipe themselves out. Which is exactly what they did.” George Lucas

Everything that Filoni said has been part of the lore and movies for 20 years now, so I really don’t get why people are so shocked by it. Also, context people! People have been using Disney canon to ‘prove’ Filoni wrong but these movies and the clone wars were written with long before Disney came into play. Filoni, like so many of us, grew up with Star Wars belonging to George and that colors how he look at the franchise and the characters. And don’t get me started on the ‘the EU doesn’t matter’ argument because it absolutely does. 

“And then George Lucas tells me one day, ‘We’re gonna put the Mandalorians in the Clone Wars.'  And I go 'Oh boy. That’s interesting. Cuz, lemme show you this.'  And I move this big pile of material over and I said 'This is everything. This is everything that the Mandalorians are right now.’ And so George and I do what we always do when we come across something that I know exists well in the EU, we go over it all.“ Now, all the history of Mandalore you prior to The Clone Wars it does exists. It absolutely exists.” — Dave Filoni

There’s actual behind the scenes footage of Filoni and George Lucas working on The Clone Wars and checking the EU to keep everything as cohesive as possible. The guy literately had thousands of conversations with George Lucas – the guy who actually created Star Wars – about these characters but somehow people are now trashing him because he said they should’ve know already?

Look, anyone who knows me know I’m not a Filoni stan but I believe in respecting people’s work and giving credit where credit is due even when I don’t agree with them 100%. If they don’t like his take, fine, that’s their right but please tone down the outrage fest because it’s entirely unjustified (and, to be completely honest, a little desperate for validation). He’s an actual person, not a fictional character there for you to hate or stan.

There’s a lot I don’t agree with it in this life but I don’t go around attacking real people and their jobs. But maybe we shouldn’t be so surprised, considering the people going after Filoni are the same people who have not problem whatsoever with star wars authors receiving death and rape threats.

#ask #anon #dave filoni #sw meta #anakin skywalker #meta: fandom #meta: anakin #txt

[nativehueofresolution]

thoughts on obi-wan and ahsoka's relationship?

ahsoka and obi-wan are one of my favorite pairs, thank u for asking!! i think of one the most telling things about obi-wan and ahsoka's relationship is that at the beginning of tcw movie, obi-wan is the one who has put in a request for a padawan and is eager to have a new student; however, once it becomes clear yoda's placed ahsoka with anakin, obi-wan doesn't bother requesting a padawan again. it's fairly obvious to me that obi-wan's automatic response to anakin getting a padawan is 'well obviously i'm going to be her REAL master'.

that's maybe a biiit of an exaggeration - he certainly never tries to overstep and challenge anakin's choices with ahsoka. i'm hesitant to assign labels in the obi-wan/anakin/ahsoka family dynamic, mostly because the characters themselves seem to have conflicting opinions about their relationships (anakin: "obi-wan is basically my dad"; obi-wan: "anakin is my like my brother"; me: "is it any wonder these two can't successfully get through a conversation?")... but that said i personally read obi-wan and ahsoka as very indulgent grandpa/favorite grandchild. he half loves ahsoka running into danger because how does it feel now anakin? and half frets because he thinks he's the only responsible one in this family. he calls her 'our padawan' when speaking to anakin, and he's clearly just as invested in her growth as a person as anakin is.

but i think the distance of obi-wan not feeling like it was his specific job to scold ahsoka in a lot of ways helped ahsoka to have a more positive relationship with obi-wan than anakin did. anakin and obi-wan constantly bicker, and while most of it is done with love, there's some real resentment from anakin underneath it all about obi-wan constantly criticizing him. ahsoka never felt that way, and there's never an instance that i know of where obi-wan's teasing touched a nerve. she has the closeness of obi-wan being family without the resentment of him being her only parental figure, and i think they share a similar sense of humor that helps endear them to one another. half the time, the two of them are ganging up on anakin.

which brings me to another interesting point about their relationship... obi-wan in some ways thinks of ahsoka as being more emotionally mature than anakin, despite her age and rank. now, i don't think there can be any doubt obi-wan had complete and utter faith in anakin as a jedi.... but he also never quite learned how to handle anakin's outbursts, and despite good intentions, his worries often came across as condescension. he rarely ever takes that attitude with ahsoka; in fact during arcs like the zygerrians he basically confides in ahsoka his worries about anakin and tells her to look after him. he's rarely that open with adult anakin, you know 15 year old anakin would never have gotten into that circle of trust. ahsoka grows up so terribly fast because of the war that i'm not sure she even recognizes at the time how much trust obi-wan had in her, but i think adult ahsoka would often think back to those moments.

i also feel a lot of their relationship dynamic comes down to the two of them having a shared cultural background that anakin can't 100% relate to. they both know what it is to grow up with no familial bonds, and ahsoka seems to be perfectly at peace with the idea of being raised by her community rather than a specific person--again alleviating some of the expectations obi-wan struggled with as a master to anakin. she's far more deferential to jedi masters than anakin, which both helps her relationship with obi-wan (she is not upset at all with him for faking his death because she understands it was a mission from the council, while anakin feels utterly betrayed) and creates a formal distance between them that never quite goes completely away, for all their warmth and affection.

ahsoka occasionally slips and calls anakin by his name, especially when emotional. the only time ahsoka uses obi-wan's given name is during their meet up just before mandalore, and her use of his name is quite pointed and almost a bit of an insult--she's making it clear that she no longer answers to him as a jedi master. notably, when ahsoka's softened a bit later on she refers to him with her usual 'master kenobi'. her version of an olive branch to obi-wan is a gesture of respect, whereas with anakin it would be an inside joke or knowing smile.

similarly, while obi-wan thinks the world of ahsoka he does NOT go to bat for her in the same way anakin does when she's on trial. i've always found this quote from dave filoni regarding obi-wan's actions during 'the wrong jedi' arc to be incredibly insightful. "In Obi-Wan we really see the Jedi because he is compromised. Obi-Wan doesn’t believe Ahsoka is guilty of these crimes, but he has a very hard time arguing politically that the Jedi Council shouldn’t do what they do to her. He trusts in the Force, which is what they love to say when they don’t know what they’re doing, and they expel her. He can’t argue the logic. He doesn’t like Tarkin’s logic [but he can’t argue] that they can’t try her within the Jedi because the public, which we show in this episode arc, who are losing faith in the Jedi, would cry foul ball.” obi-wan disagrees with what is being done, but he's careful to not obviously take her side and throw politics to the wind. he will stop himself from looking too attached. one small moment that breaks my heart is when ahsoka says she's leaving the jedi order, anakin runs after her and obi-wan immediately goes to follow, but plo holds him back and he stays. and isn't that just the story of obi-wan kenobi? he felt something, and then he let himself be held back.

i was pleasantly surprised that despite the quick pace of s7, ahsoka gets several moments where she expresses some resentment of obi-wan. really, these are more moments where she feels resentment for the jedi order, because that's what obi-wan represents to her in a way anakin doesn't. but despite that, she also wants to make sure she has his approval before he leaves, and it means something to her when he gives it.

in the same way that ahsoka still wants to honor many aspects of the way she was raised despite no longer being a jedi, ahsoka loves and respects obi-wan, even if she realizes they have some fundamental disagreements. the adult ahsoka we see later on echoes obi-wan almost as often as she does anakin. part of the reasons she is one of the (maybe the most?) well balanced force wielders is because she had multiple masters that she drew from and yet she didn't become an imitation of any of them. and her relationship with obi-wan is an important part of that.

#ta my dear! 💙 #roguestorm #star wars #long posts for ts #i could talk about this family all day #obi wan kenobi #ahsoka tano

[let-fans-be-fans]

STAR WARS Episode 8 - The Last Jedi

Only read after watching The Mandalorian s2 e8

Imagine a Lucasfilm Story Group that has actually worked as a group since 2015.  Chuck Wendig’s draft of the first Aftermath novel has been roundly mocked and pulped before ever being committed to print.  This isn’t about that, though.  This is the germination of the story seed that is planted in The Mandalorian, so join me as we explore one of the possibilities that could have happened within the Star Wars universe: What If Grogu (the Child/Baby Yoda) first appeared in TLJ?

Ahch-To, the steps.  Luke Skywalker regards his guest Rey with a quizzical expression, telling her simply but firmly “I can’t take that, but there is a place for it somewhere...” and the two move inside Luke’s little hut.  Passing by a large levitating pod, Rey (and the audience) experiences mental flashes of meeting Finn.  Smash-cut to Finn himself waking up in the recovery suit in the med-bay.  Finn/Rose/whatever sub-plot (this post isn’t about fixing THAT car-crash, let it marinate) ensues, does what it does.  This timeline’s Rian Johnson, however, is co-existing with LFL’s Story Group and especially Dave Filoni.  They’ve cooked up one hell of an A-plot, and it continues thusly:

Rey never sees what is in the pod, and begins to wonder if Luke is messing with her or starting to go a little peculiar from isolation, on account of how he talks to it.  In fact, something is starting to make her feel slightly more at ease.  Maybe even a little guilty when Luke’s mood turns sombre and he says, “I know.  About Han, and Ben...”  We maybe even get a little nostalgia-boost by Luke opting to use the training remote and blast-shield helmet to start training Rey.  It’s like poetry, it rhymes.

All through this time, Luke has not withdrawn himself from the Force out of shame.  He has always kept himself open to it, learning from the spirits of his teachers.  The night that Rey decides to leave and try to aid the Resistance (or to confront Kylo Ren for her own reasons) is the night that Luke receives a visitation from two very unexpected spirits.

That’s right, y’all.  The first Force ghost appearance of a non-Force-sensitive character in the Saga.  Padmé and Anakin show up to give Luke the news that some strange, dark figure has attempted to kill Leia by shooting at her private chamber on the Resistance flagship, only for Luke to not understand why they don’t know the attacker’s name.   “You don’t need to hide it, to protect him.  You know, as well as I do, that it was Ben!”  Anakin shares a concerned look with the spirit of his wife, and the next thing he says would absolutely blow the cinema audience out of every single seat in the house.  “Luke?  Son, listen to me.  Who is this Ben?”

That’s right.  Anakin Skywalker, the former Sith Lord Darth Vader, has absolutely no idea that our sequel trilogy’s Vader-like antagonist (his own grandson) even exists.  Even as the Force ghosts watching over Luke and Leia and their families for all this time, both Padmé and Anakin explain that from their perspective, something is bending the Force itself around Ben Solo, pulling him away from not only the Light side, but also from its Dark side.  “The boy, Ben Solo, is living his entire life surrounded by a wound in the Force.  This wound, it’s very subtly, slowly eating him!”

Luke is still in shock from hearing the ghosts of his parents telling him what is happening to Kylo Ren.  Rey is trying to keep him out but the villain is urged by his twisted Master, the Supreme Leader of the First Order.  Their telepathic communication is picked up on by Luke, who all at once sees what has truly become of his nephew.  Ben Solo appears to his uncle, surrounded by tendrils that look like animated cracks in a pane of window glass.  This is the wound in the Force, and its presence is felt most strongly by the eldest living Force-sensitive on the island of Ahch-To.  A short cry splits the cracked and bleeding image of Kylo Ren and Rey wakes with a sudden start.  Luke is frowning as he looks toward the floating cradle, then he makes his decision.  We (and Rey) are about to meet the 100 % physical in-camera puppet.  Cast and crew are made to sign an infinite supply of Non-Disclosure Agreements, Rian Johnson is talked into only letting Mark Hamill, Daisy Ridley and the puppeteers onto the sets while everybody else is shooting their things.

The cradle pod swings back its protective lid slowly, and there he is making his debut before an audience that paid full movie theater (remember those?) ticket prices.  Exuding full fucking “Gizmo in the box on the coffee table” energy, the Child glances sleepily between Rey and Luke.  This is why the legendary Jedi Master left the civilized New Republic, he tells Rey.  The massacre of his first generation of Jedi students, the betrayal by his nephew, all of it would have been for nothing if he couldn’t save one very important life.  Rey is sworn to protect the Child, who is old enough now to speak his own name.   “Grogu?  Is that what he said?”  “One of his protectors told me it’s his name, right before telling me how I looked just like my father.  We had a pretty good laugh about that...”

Leia/Poe/Holdo subplot, and [THE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPH WILL ONLY INCITE SHOUTY BEARDO YOUTUBERS TO SCISSOR THE HEADS OFF ACTION FIGURES THEY BUY WITH THEIR OWN MONEY, THEREFORE IT IS CENSORED TO SHIELD THE AUTHOR FROM PROSECUTION]

Before the Holdo manoeuvre, the Hyperspace Karen or whatever you want to call it, Rey acts out the plan that she and Luke have concocted in secret so that Chewbacca in the Millennium Falcon can safely evacuate both Luke and Grogu.  Rey hasn’t been told about the wound in the Force that swirls around Kylo Ren, but for some reason she can now see the same churning mass of tiny cracks in reality, and they spread out behind the Supreme Leader Snoke in much the same manner that Palpatine’s throne sat before the spiderweb-looking window of his tower on the Death Star.   This is it, we think.  Snoke is the wound in the Force drawing Ben away from his true self.  Even as the lightsabre that Rey brought with her ignites and strikes Snoke dead, the audience is thinking along with Rey that the wound is going to close up.

IT GETS BIGGER.  AND IT FUCKING CONSUMES SNOKE’S BISECTED CORPSE LIKE A SHADOW VERSION OF THE THING FROM THE 1982 MOVIE

So no.  Rey sees it happen, but Kylo remains completely oblivious as he takes up leadership of the First Order.  Something about the way he accuses Rey of the murder makes us think he really believes it too.  As Rey narrowly escapes, haunted by the sight of the living animalistic wrongness that ate Supreme Leader Snoke, General Hux is rather confused.  “Forgive me, ah, Supreme Leader.  But you are the first Supreme Leader of the First Order.  There was never a previous holder of that position, my Lord.”  I know!  Right!?

The Resistance’s last ships have limped along the supply line to the long-abandoned old Rebel holdout on the silicate world of Crait.  The wreckage of Snoke’s flagship the Supremacy, hangs in space, permanently suspended in the wake of the Holdo manoeuvre.  From the epicentre, a single pinprick of darkness begins to expand hungrily to devour the light from the hyperspace explosion.  The great wound left in the Force crawls across the destroyed vessel, the thinnest tendril of its immense darker-than-space form now separated from Kylo Ren.  Or, so it would seem, anyway...  Reunited with Rey, Luke gives her an understanding nod when she informs him of how the lightsabre of his father was literally ripped in half by the destruction of Snoke’s flagship.  Some of the elder members of the Resistance don’t have the slightest clue what Rey’s mysterious words mean.  As far as they know, Kylo Ren has been the brutal enforcer of the First Order, only recently declaring himself the first Supreme Leader of the faction.  Finn and Rose both speak up in defense of Rey, both of them surprised to hear that Leia also knew of Snoke’s death and the destruction of the flagship by her erstwhile friend, Amilyn Holdo.

Nobody can agree what happened, because a large subset of Resistance personnel share vague, half-formed memories of things as Luke, Rey or Leia tells them.  No droids, or Chewbacca, share their recollections, and uneasy looks pass between members of the post-war generation and the Skywalker twins.   It’s a quirk of the Force!  Every sentient born after the death of Emperor Palpatine, the unfortunately waylaid Maz Kanata informs them via hologram, possesses a significantly higher potential for Force abilities than the generation who grew up on the fringes of the rise of the Empire, the clamp-down on Jedi and suspected Jedi.

It would seem that this Force baby boom did not extend to First Order space (being mostly disaffected ex-Imperials, their families would be more careful to weed out any aberrations in the bloodline and try not to be of interest to the Emperor) as only Kylo Ren, their rightful Supreme Leader and master of the Knights of Ren demonstrates any ability to touch the Force.  That voice that only he can hear in the presence of Darth Vader’s ruined helmet tells him, its tone and pitch and cadence shifting (starting as the booming bass rumble of Vader’s synthesized voice before being joined by the harsh rasp of Snoke.  The low, menacing tone of Maul and the cackling, wheezing Palpatine.)  Power is the only thing worth holding onto.  Let the past die, kill it if you have to.   Cut out the weakness that keeps you bound to things like family...

“This is not going to go the way you think.”

Driven on by the maddening chorus of voices, Supreme Leader Kylo Ren has now managed to track his hated Resistance opposition to the deserted world of Crait.  Ships entering the vicinity of the mysterious hyperspace blackout are slowly consumed, vanishing into the great wound and becoming officially non-existent.  Alone against his crazed nephew, the Jedi Master Luke Skywalker steps out onto the crystalline plain before the bulkhead doors of the former Rebel base.  He cannot be hit by the guns of the lumbering walkers that his errant nephew orders to fire on him.  Kylo’s attempts to telekinetically barrage Luke with the salted earth of Crait simply do not phase the man.  As he calmly reminds Kylo: “The Rebellion is reborn today. The war is just beginning. And I will not be the last Jedi.” Kylo Ren’s dangerously unstable lightsabre blade harmlessly passes over Luke as he ducks out of its reach.  Finally, the angry young man seizes his moment and lashes out at Luke’s midsection.  Nothing?

The Jedi Master nods his head slowly, the camera pulling back to reveal him sat in a meditative posture atop a flat-headed rock just off the shore of his home island on Ahch-To.  Focusing his will through the Force, Luke appears not only in front of Kylo Ren, but also between Leia and Rey inside the base.  The two of them in turn are surrounded by a loose semi-circle of the younger, more Force-sensitive recruits of the Resistance including Finn and Rose Tico.  All of them, opening their conscious selves to the Force, are helping to shoulder the burden that Luke has taken on.  Proudly, Luke slowly rises from his seat and sends a mocking salute to Kylo.  “See ya ‘round, kid...”

The last supplies are loaded onto what few Resistance carriers and short-range fighters they have left, as well as the famous Millennium Falcon. Rey and Grogu both agree that their first priority is to properly re-establish contact with Luke Skywalker.  Furious, Kylo retreats to his ship-board meditation chamber, pounding his gloved fists into the ashes surrounding the remnants of Vader’s helmet.  Cursing the scavenger girl seems to spark some interest in the bizarre otherworldly whispers, the flash-image of Rey in the dark young man’s thoughts prompting the inner voice to remark, “We shall be re-united soon enough.  Yes, you will see what new powers I possess in time, sister...”

SMASH TO END CREDITS!

#megapost #Star Wars #Baby Yoda #The Last Jedi #Luke Skywalker #basic story structure