#with a cameo appearance by saw gerrera

[incognitajones]

W(NL)IP Wednesday

As promised earlier, a finished story!

Practical Exam

2500 words, rated T 

“The new human, Clem. What have you got against him?” Saw asked.

Jyn shrugged. “I just don’t like him.”

[For @luciechat​, as thanks for pinch-hitting in the 2022 RCSS exchange.] 

#rogue one fic #jyn erso #cassian andor #with a cameo appearance by saw gerrera #jyn x cassian #rebelcaptain #(sort of) #partisan au #my fic

[anoray]

My Bad Batch Musings

Sooo...after that scintillating Episode 9 with the resurrection of one of my fave SW antiheros, Ventress, we're heading into the final 6 episodes. Now my brain is busy processing all that's happened and pondering what will come before the curtain falls. No doubt the Lucasfilm team will be feasting on our fan tears with at least a few painful losses.

One thing that definitely comes to mind is that particular "filler" episode that featured the Batch dealing with the almost unstoppable Zillo beast. Said beast is almost assuredly somewhere in Hemlock's lair and methinks it will somehow get loose when the Batch and their allies come to break their clone brothers out:

Such chaos that would ensue ups the odds that at least some of our heroes will escape. Maybe even Omega will be able to talk to it a bit via the Force to keep it from digesting her and her brothers in the process.

Some other things that could possibly happen by finale 's end are:

Tech is alive in Hemlock's lair, maybe the Batch finds him in one of the experimental labs. Tech also has the potential to be the CX shadow warrior, but I'm rather suspecting that's Cody instead. I'm pretty sure the CX is one or the other, but I believe the writers said that had something special lined up for Cody, so having him be brainwashed into a CX would certainly hurt Rex to the core.

I'm 99% sure that Hunter is going to die by sacrificing himself to save the rest of the Batch and Omega. After all, he's the leader, the main mentor to Omega, and oh how does Star Wars love to kill off the lead mentor character so the "mentee can grow."

There are not enough episodes left to be killing off other Batch members and give the audience enough time to process it. In Rebels, they killed off Kanan but no one else from the Ghost crew. We lost Gregor as well, but he was already a shell of himself at that point. Perhaps what happens in this last part of the series will set the stage for Gregor to start losing his mental stability.

There is no way they will kill off Omega (or her sharkpuppy, Batcher). Omega could go into hiding with Ventress and be part of the Path to help other Force-sensitive refugees and/or assist Rex with helping cast off clone soldiers in need. Because Omega is not mentioned in any existing canon yet as far as having much impact as a Force wielder (plus she's so devoted to the clones), it seems most likely she'll continue to support the clones however she can in all the aftermath.

I do think Hemlock will die or at least be set back very far in his research in the attack . After all, when we see Palpatine in the Sequel Trilogy, he doesn't look like he's in a younger cloned body, he looks like he's still his original, broken, body and it's being held together with machinery and probably blood/plasma pumped into him that has the M's he needs to stay on the brink of life. In this regard, everything the Batch has sacrificed to stall the genetics research and rescue their brothers from the prison will be evident.

I know we're getting more of Cad Bane and I won't be surprised if Fennec makes another appearance. Who know what other cameos might be in store, but I believe they will only appear if it makes logical sense for them to do so. For example, I would like to see Cid the traitor reappear in the picture and redeem herself somehow. We've also had reappearances of the Devaronians earlier this season so they could come into play in some fashion as the Batch and Rex call upon whomever they can in the planned attack on Tantiss. Maybe Saw Gerrera returns for this assault as well?

In the end, I am feeling confident there will be a major victory for Omega and her team, but it will come at a high price. For now, looking forward to chewing my fingernails during Identity Crisis this Wednesday!!

#the bad batch #the bad batch season 3 #the bad batch spoilers #spoilers #my thoughts aka predictions aka how off am i #we shall see #don't kill crosshair #bring back tech #my two simple requests #star wars loves to break our hearts #i hate it here

[kanansdume]

I am honestly just so happy that Cassian appears to be remaining the lead character of Andor. After the absolute clusterfuck that was Book of Boba Fett, with what happened to Temuera Morrison and Ming-na Wen being sidelined on their own show for a more popular character and 50 million cameos, I didn't have high hopes for Andor and Cassian. I was worried when they insisted this show was going to be an ensemble show even if it was named Andor, that Cassian and Mon Mothma were going on parallel journeys and it wasn't just Cassian's story.

And in some ways, that remains true. Obviously Cassian's story and Mon Mothma's story aren't overlapping all that much aside from both being connected to Luthen Rael. The same is true for Dedra, that her story doesn't overlap much with Cassian's except for through that one piece of technology Cassian stole.

But the guiding light here, the one thing that seems to connect everybody in the show, is still Cassian.

Mon Mothma's connected through Luthen to CASSIAN. Dedra is connected to Cassian's stolen item. And literally everyone else is directly connected to him somehow.

There are sub stories and parallel stories in this show, but it still comes back to CASSIAN. Cassian's story and Cassian's growth and development and choices and emotions drive every aspect of this show in some ways.

Mon Mothma's in there because she parallels Cassian. Saw Gerrera will be in here because he parallels Cassian or helps to allow Cassian to grow. Luthen is Cassian's catalyst. Dedra and Syril are antagonists. The Aldhani characters are his first introduction to what a Rebellion looks like. The Ferrix characters help tell us who he is in this time of his life, what his origin is.

And even just in terms of screentime so far, Cassian still seems to far outweigh anyone else. The focus and the most interesting and dynamic pieces of story right now are given to Cassian. Mon Mothma's scenes are just about showing her family dynamic. Dedra will get like a scene or two about chasing her lead on the rebels. Syril is moping. But Cassian is on a heist, he's actually DOING things and we get to SEE HIM DO THEM. With Mon Mothma, we actually skipped right over her big event and just saw the aftermath of the dinner party that was discussed last episode.

Which just comes back to how they refused to use the Volume because they felt like it wouldn't help tell the story they wanted to tell. The characters they chose are all in here because they help tell the story they want to tell. And that story is Cassian's. It's about the little people in Star Wars, still. The ones with seemingly the least power rising up and showing how much they actually do have. The marginalized, the forgotten. That was part of the big draw of Rogue One was that none of these characters would be remembered in history. The final few scenes in the film are all about Darth Vader and Leia, the people who do get remembered. But what lets those scenes really sing, what makes them WORK SO WELL is not really Darth Vader OR Leia in my opinion, but the fact that we just spent two hours watching a bunch of people work their asses off and then die for those plans. To thwart Vader, to allow Leia to do what she does. Vader and Leia wouldn't be doing anything without those characters and no one will ever remember their importance to the story.

And that's kind-of the point of Cassian to me in some ways. He isn't going to be remembered, that's not the point. What he does still matters, whether he's remembered or not. His choices matter, his motivations matter, his love and rage matter.

And this show gives that to us, so well. And I do hope it keeps it up. It has time to disappoint me still, I suppose, but for now I don't think it will.

#andor #andor show #andor series #cassian andor #andor spoilers #mon mothma

[dougielombax]

Okay here’s my ideas for future Star Wars TV shows.

1. An anthology show with each episode focusing on different characters all throughout galactic history at different points. Let’s say one episode is about a Jedi, the next one about a protocol droid with self-esteem issues, and the next is about a group of Tuskens. That kind of stuff. Any pre-existing characters will only show up for brief cameos.

2. A series set during and then shortly after Revenge of the Sith around the same time as and after The Bad Batch. Ideally involving a rogue Jedi or two and a band of pirates and smugglers. With regular focus on the empire’s early fuckery. Closest comparisons are the Dark Times and Purge comics, opportunity for Saw Gerrera’s early partisans and other rebels to appear. More appearances by separatist remnants, etc.

That’s all I’ve got admittedly.

#personal stuff #dougie rambles #Star Wars #pitches #ideas

[aion-rsa]

Star Wars: The Bad Batch Episode 1 Easter Eggs Explained

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

This Star Wars: The Bad Batch article contains spoilers.

While the Star Wars Original Trilogy has been explored thoroughly for more than 40 years, the period between the Prequels and the Originals is less well-trodden. Following in The Clone Wars and Rebels‘ footsteps, The Bad Batch takes a deep dive into the rise of the Empire. This means we get to see familiar characters, planets, ships, and technology in a moment of transition, as a Republic becomes something more twisted and sinister in the hands of the Sith.

Unsurprisingly, “Aftermath,” which is directed by Steward Lee, Saul Ruiz, and Nathaniel Villanova, and written by Jennifer Corbett and Dave Filoni, is full of connections and nods to other parts of the Star Wars universe.

Here are all of the Star Wars easter eggs and references we spotted in this episode:

Caleb Dume/Kanan Jarrus

– Jedi Kanan Jarrus was introduced and starred in the animated series Star Wars Rebels, where he was a maverick Force-user fighting for the good guys while rediscovering what it means to be a Jedi in a time when they’re persecuted. His previous name, before he changed it to hide from the Empire, was Caleb Dume.

Stream your Star Wars favorites right here!

– The character’s origin story was first explored in the 12-issue Marvel comic book series Kanan by Greg Weisman and Pepe Larraz. While “Aftermath” only gives us the very early part of this story, the comic series goes into way more detail about how Caleb eventually became Rebel hero Kanan Jarrus.

Interestingly enough, The Bad Batch‘s version of events is slightly different to the opening of Kanan. However, the broad strokes are the same, including the presence of his Jedi Master Depa Billaba. In the comic, Caleb, Depa, and their clone troopers are resting around a fire when the Order 66 call comes in, not fully engaged in battle as they are in The Bad Batch. In both, master and Padawan become separated such that Caleb doesn’t know what became of Depa, which enables an early plot point for Rebels.

– Kanan is once again voiced by well-loved Star Wars voice actor Freddy Prinze Jr.

Omega

– Since she was first introduced in the trailers, mysterious new clone character Omega has been the subject of much speculation. Is she a new kind of clone? Does her name signify that she’s the final clone? No to the latter, since we see Tarkin examining a lab growing more clones in the episode.

But what we do know is that she’s the last of the enhanced clones. Like Hunter, Tech, Wrecker, and Crosshair, she was born a bit different, and we see that she’s ostracized by the other clones for it. The episode also suggests that Omega’s “genetic mutation” might be something the Kaminoans are trying to keep a secret. On the surface, she is simply Lama Su’s “medical assistant.” The locket on her head contains something of importance, but we don’t yet know what is.

– Omega is voiced by New Zealand actor Michelle Ang, whom you’ve previously seen on Fear the Walking Dead, The Twilight Zone, and Xena: Warrior Princess.

Order 66 and Revenge of the Sith

– “Aftermath” overlaps with events first established in Revenge of the Sith. The episode mentions Obi-Wan Kenobi’s final fight with General Grievous on Utapau, and even recreates part of the scene where Palpatine creates the Galactic Empire. Based on this timeline, we know the first episode of The Bad Batch also takes place around the same time as the series finale of The Clone Wars.

– The episode also directly addresses Order 66 and its aftermath. Order 66, which saw the Clone Army turn on and exterminate their Jedi commanders, is one of the most tragic events of the Star Wars saga. We wrote way more about Order 66 and how it worked here.

– The inhibitor chips that force the clones to execute Order 66 and become more aggressive in the aftermath don’t affect Hunter, Tech, Echo, Wrecker, or Omega. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for team sniper Crosshair, who quickly turns into the villain of the episode, as he tries to first kill Caleb and later betrays his friends at Tarkin’s behest. These control chips were explored in season six of The Clone Wars. Clone trooper Fives discovered their true nature but was killed before he could foil Palpatine’s plan. Captain Rex and Ahsoka Tano also discovered the chips and removed Rex’s in the final arc of season seven.

Shaak Ti’s Lightsaber?

One of the darkest scenes in the episode happens when the Bad Batch arrive back on Kamino. As they’re walking through the halls of their base, a group of clones pass by carrying a stretcher, a dead Jedi’s body covered by a sheet. Out of the stretcher falls a lightsaber, which some fans have speculated belongs to Jedi Master Shaak Ti, who died on Coruscant during Order 66.

The lightsaber doesn’t really look like Shaak Ti’s, but we don’t know who else might be in that stretcher. Let us know what you think in the comments!

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Kamino and the Clones

– The Bad Batch are also known as Clone Force 99, named after 99, a clone with “genetic mutations” who eventually gave his life in the war.

– Kaminoan Prime Minister Lama Su and administrative aide Taun We both appeared in Attack of the Clones as representative of the cloning industry, while Scientist/doctor Nala Se debuted on The Clone Wars. Their primary motive in their conflict with Tarkin in The Bad Batch is financial, but it does seem like Nala Se might also be trying to protect Omega.

– They’re still making young clones, as evidenced by the kids visible in the background. It’s unknown whether Omega ages at a normal rate or has the accelerated growth that brings most of the clones up to fighting form unnaturally fast.

– We see many different ranks and roles among the clones in this episode, including the green-armored sergeants and red-armored captains.

– In one scene, we see clones working on an E-Web heavy repeating blaster, which appears throughout the franchise, and was recently called out by name in The Mandalorian.

J-19 and Other Locations

– The Bad Batch come up with a plan to meet an old friend in Sector J-19. That sector is also known as the Suolriep sector, which is largely populated by desolate planets. Unsurprisingly, it is located in the Outer Rim of the galaxy. The sector first appeared in Revenge of the Sith and The Clone Wars.

– While Kamino is front and center here, the episode also visits the lush (and dangerous) jungle world of Onderon, Kaller, and briefly mentions Felucia, a beautiful planet that first appeared in Revenge of the Sith during the grim Order 66 montage.

Other Cameos

– Wilhuff Tarkin, later Grand Moff, has appeared in animated form before. He showed up in The Clone Wars and Rebels. Whether his CGI iteration in Rogue One counts as animation may be up for debate, but he’s certainly there.

The villain first appeared in A New Hope, where famous horror actor Peter Cushing played the man who “held Vader’s leash.”

– Saw Gerrera, who also appeared in Rogue One, The Clone Wars, and Rebels, is a radical freedom fighter who will go on to have a tenuous but helpful relationship with the mainstream Rebel Alliance. He previously helped his home planet of Onderon shake off Separatist rule with Republic help.

– Darth Sidious appears briefly in a hologram, as he declares the formation of “the first Galactic Empire, for a safer and secure society.”

– Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, and General Grievous all appear in flashbacks in the episode.

– Grey is the clone commander who executes Order 66 at the start of the episode, killing Depa Billaba and attempting to do the same with Caleb. He first appeared in the Kanan comic series.

– Comic relief medical droid AZI-345211896246498721347 first appeared in The Clone Wars.

Ships and Technology

– The Imperial probe droid that stalks Clone Force 99 in the episode is derived from the Republic ones also seen in The Clone Wars. They’re already more outwardly ominous by the time of The Bad Batch, with more oddly-placed eyes and insectoid limbs instead of the rounder Republic version.

– The Batch’s ship is a modified Omicron-class attack shuttle named the Havoc Marauder.

Creatures

– Wrecker’s stuffed animal is a tooka, the cat-like species of which the Loth-cat that features often in Star Wars Rebels is one variety. They first appeared in The Clone Wars (also several cat-like species mentioned in various corners of the Expanded Universe preceded them) and were named after Star Wars animation executive producer Dave Filoni’s late cat.

– At one point, you can also see a Pikobi, a half-reptilian and half-bird species native to Onderon, Naboo, and Dagobah. The Pikobi first appeared in The Phantom Menace.

The post Star Wars: The Bad Batch Episode 1 Easter Eggs Explained appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/2PNB6rj

#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

[arkham-prisoner]

I love how Star Wars isn’t afraid to acknowledge details of New Canon regardless of where the characters, locations and other things originated from:

Saw Gerrera was made for The Clone Wars but was brought into Rogue One, then in Rebels and will be in Jedi: Fallen Order.

Rae Sloan was introduced as a secondary villain In A New Dawn, then made a leading character in The Aftermath Trilogy, mentioned in Battlefront II and is occasionally mentioned in other books/other media

Characters created for Phasma are the main characters for the Black Spire book and are present at the Galaxy’s Edge theme parks

Black Spire (theme park location) plays a large role in Thrawn: Alliance and is mentioned in Solo and other media

The Ghost was made for Rebels and appears in Rogue One, fights at Scariff, Hera is mentioned by name and Chopper is seen at Yavin Base

Thrawn: Alliances’ prologue and epilogue rely on you watching Rebels Season 4

Alphabet Squadron and the TIE Fighter Comic are linked and share characters

And everywhere you look somehow Hondo Ohnaka can and will be there, in animation, books, comics, video games, and theme parks. All he’s missing is Live Action (Fingers Crossed for Rise of Skywalker cameo)

I bet I’ve missed more but I’ve only completely read 7 canon books

#star wars #battlefront 2 #the clone wars #star wars rebels #thrawn #galaxys’s edge #black spire #hondo ohnaka #the rise of skywalker #phasma #jedi fallen order

[dukereviewsmovies]

Duke Reviews: Black Panther

Hello, I'm Andrew Leduc And Welcome To Duke Reviews, Where Today We Are Continuing Our Look At The Marvel Cinematic Universe...

Where Today We Look At The Only Marvel Movie To Ever Be Nominated For An Oscar, Black Panther...

This Film Sees T'Challa Returning To Wakanda To Serve As His Country's New Leader. However, He Is Soon Challenged For The Throne By Factions Within His Own Country When 2 Foes Conspire To Destroy Wakanda...

Will Black Panther Be Able To Stop This New Threat?

Let's Find Out As We Watch Black Panther...

The Story Starts With A Father Telling His Son A Story

(Start At 0:09,End At 1:37)

We Cut To 1992, As King T'Chaka Visits His Brother, Prince N'Jobu (Played By Randall From This Is Us), Who Is Working Undercover In Oakland, California And It Is There That T'Chaka Accuses N'Jobu Of Assisting Black Market Arms Dealer Ulysses Klaw (Played By Gollum) In Stealing Vibranium From Wakanda...

N'Jobu Denies The Accusations But T'Chaka Reveals A Second Wakandan Undercover Agent In The Form Of N'Jobu's Partner Who Reveals Himself As Zuri To The King Confirms His Suspicions Of N'Jobu Being A Traitor To The Crown. So, As Punishment T'Chaka Tells N'Jobu That He Must Return To The Wakandan Council To Admit His Crimes...

However Before We See Anything Else, We Cut To Outside As An Invisible Plane Flies Off...

Fast Forwarding To The Present Day, Following The Death Of T'Chaka By The Hand Of Baron Zero...

(Yes, I'm Still Calling Him That For Those That Don't Know Or Remember Why, Read My Civil War Review)

As His Son, Prince T'Challa (Played By Chadwick Bozeman) Returns To Wakanda To Assume The Throne After Working With Okoye, The Leader Of The Dora Milaje (Played By Michonne) To Extract His Ex, Nakia (Played By Lupita Nyong'o) From An Undercover Assignment In Nigeria's Sambisa Forest...

(End At 4:27)

Returning To Wakanda Afterwards, T'Challa Reunites With His Mother, Queen Ramonda (Played By Angela Bassett) And His Sister, Princess Shuri (Played By Letitia Wright) Who Will Be Our Q For This Movie...

Meanwhile In London, Klaw And His Associate, Erik Stevens (Played By Adonis Creed) Steal A Vibranium Artifact From The Museum Of Great Britain. But Back In Wakanda The Ceremony Of T'Challa Begins

But First Before I Talk About It I Must Say That The Make Ups In This Scene Are Fantastic. I Mean, I've Seen Stuff Like This In Ripley's Believe It Or Not But Seeing It On The Screen Is Insane!...

Anyway, Giving T'Challa A Liquid That Removes His Enhanced Strength, T'Challa Formally Invites Anyone To Challenge His Claim As King In Ritual Combat. So, With That Said, M'Baku, The Leader Of The Mountain Dwelling Jabari Tribe (Played By Winston Duke) Steps Forward And Claims That He Is Not Worthy Of Being King...

Drinking A Fluid Derived From The Heart Shaped Herb, T'Challa Goes Into A Deep Sleep Where He Visits The Ancestral Plane Where He Reunites With A Vision Of His Father Who Tells Him That He Is A Good Man However He Warns Him That Hard Times Lie Ahead And That He Should Surround Himself With People He Trusts...

After Hearing This Bit Of Knowledge, T'Challa Wakes Up...

Spending Time With His Best Friend And Okoye's Husband, W'Kabi (Played By The Guy From Get Out) Afterward, They Learn From Okoye Through Their Communicators About The British Museum Attack By Klaw. After Losing His Parents At Klaw's Hands Years Ago, W'Kabi Urges The King To Find Klaw And Bring Him To Justice...

Before Travelling To Busan To Deal With Klaw With Okoye And Nakia, T'Challa Visits Shuri Who Gives Him Newly Upgraded Communicators, Remote Access Kimoyo Beads, And A Newly Upgrade Suit With Nanites That Absorb Any Damage That Fits Inside Of A Necklace...

And The Flash Thought Having A Suit In A Ring Was Cool?

Traveling To An Underground Casino In Busan Where Klaw Intends To Sell The Artifact To An Unknown Buyer, However When T'Challa Discovers That The Buyer Is CIA Agent Everett Ross (Played By Bilbo Baggins) Who Was Last Seen In Civil War, They're Forced To Sabatoge The Operation...

Oh, And We Get Our Stan Lee Cameo In This Scene...

Stan Lee Cameo!

Inciting A Shootout, Klaw Tries To Escape But T'Challa, Ross, Okoye, And Nakia Try To Intercept Him In A Car Chase...

(End At 4:36)

Forced To Hand Klaw Into The Custody Of The CIA, Klaw Is Interogated By Ross Who I'm Surprised Doesn't Play A Game Of Riddles With Him While Interrogating Him....

But Aside From That Hobbit Reference That I Put In, Klaw Is Rescued By Stevens, But During The Escape, Ross Gets Injured While Protect Nakia So Instead Of Going After Them, They Have No Choice But To Return To Wakanda To Use Their Technology To Save Ross...

While Shuri Heals Ross, He Tells W'Kabi About Losing Klaw, Feeling Betrayed By His Former Friend, W'Kabi Walks Away...

Meanwhile At An Airstrip, Stevens Kills Klaw, As T'Challa Talks With A Now Grown Up Zuri (Played By Saw Gerrera) About What Happened Years Ago With N'Jobu As Stevens Had A Ring That Matched His...

Zuri Explains To T'Challa That N'Jobu Planned To Share Wakanda's Technology With People Of African Descent Around The World To Help Them Conquer Their Oppressors. But Not Accepting This T'Chaka Arrested N'Jobu But When He Did N'Jobu Attacked Zuri And Forced T'Chaka To Kill Him...

Ordering Zuri To Lie About What Happened And To Say That N'Jobu Disappeared, They Left Behind N'Jobu's American Son, Erik In Order To Maintain The Lie...

Arriving With Klaw's Body In Wakanda, Stevens Demands To Speak To T'Challa And His Wakandan Council...

Talking To A Now Healed Ross About Stevens, He Tells T'Challa That He's A Former Black Ops Solider Who Joined A JSOC Ghost Unit And Has Adopted The Name Killmonger. Being Brought In To Talk With T'Challa And The Council, He Reveals His Identity As N'Jadaka, The Son Of Prince N'Jobu Before The Tribal Elders...

Challenging T'Challa For The Throne In Ritual Combat, They Decide That Killmonger Has A Legitimate Claim And The Ritual Combat Begins Once Again...

Asking Killmonger To Kill Him Instead Of T'Challa As He Caused His Father's Death, Zuri Is Killed By Killmonger, But Killnonger Doesn't Spare T'Challa Instead He Goes...

And Throws Him Over The Waterfall...

With T'Challa Presumed Dead, Killmonger Is Made King And Ingests The Heart Shaped Herb To Gain The Powers Of The Black Panther, After Having A Vision Of N'Jobu, Killmonger Awakens And Orders The Heart Shaped Herb To Be Incinerated But Luckily Nakia Gets Of Hold Of One Before He Does...

Supported By W'Kabi And His Army, Killmonger Enacts His Father's Plan To Have Wakandan Weapons Distributed To Wakandan Operatives Around The World...

Seeking The Aid Of The Jabari Tribe, Ramonda, Shuri, Ross And Nakia Learn That They Have Been Caring For A Comatose T'Challa Who They Rescued In Repayment For Sparing Their Leader M'Baku's Life...

Feeding It To T'Challa, He Returns To The Ancestral Plane, Where He Reunites With The Spirit Of His Father Who Tells His Son It's Time To Let Go And Join Him And The Ancestors....

Asking His Father Why Erik Was Left As An Orphan In The US When He Should Have Been With His People In Wakanda, T'Chaka Claims He Did What He Did For His People And Wakanda To Allow Them To Remain In Isolation. Rejecting This, T'Challa Tells Them That They Cannot Hide From The World Forever...

Telling His Father's Spirit That He Will Return To Stop The Monster His People Created From Sitting On The Throne, T'Challa Wakes Up And Returns To Wakanda To Stop Killmonger's Plan...

Returning To Mount Bashenga To Challenge Killmonger Who Dons A Black Panther Suit Of His Own, Shuri And Nakia Join The Dora Milaje And The Jabari In Battling W'Kabi And The Wakandan Army. Piloting A Remote Jet, Ross Shoots Down The Planes Carrying The Weapons Before They Can Leave The Country...

Confronted By Okoye, W'Kabi And His Army Stand Down As Killmonger Overpowers The Dora Milaje And Nearly Kills Shuri But T'Challa Saves His Sister And Tackles Killmonger Into The Great Mound, For One Last Battle...

(End At 2:39)

Showing Mercy, T'Challa Fullfills Killmonger's Childhood Wish Of Witnessing A Wakandan Sunset, Offering To Heal Him, Killmonger Prefers Choosing To Die A Free Man Than To Be Incarcerated So Removing The Dagger, He Dies...

Rejecting The Isolation Of Wakanda Like Past Kings Did, T'Challa Establishes An Embassy At The Apartment Complex Where N'Jobu Was Murdered And Appoints Shuri And Nakia To Run It Which Is Where Our Movie Ends...

We Get A Mid Credits Scene Where T'Challa Appears Before The United Nations In The Rebuilt Vienna International Centre To Reveal Wakanda's Resources To The World And To Come Out Of Isolation...

We Also Get A End Credits Scene That Sees Bucky Barnes Waking Up In Wakanda (In Time For The Next Movie) To Be Met By Shuri Who Begins To Help Him With His Recuperation From His Mental Programming

And That's Black Panther And It's A Good Movie...

While Not My Favorite Movie In The MCU It Wasn't Bad, I Liked The Story, The Characters Were Decently Written Chadwick Bozeman Is Better In This Movie Than Civil War Though He Still Goes In And Out Of That Mako Voice He Does That I Complained About In Civil War. The Bad Guy Wasn't That Bad I Absolutely Enjoyed The Movie And I Definitely See It..

Well, We're Finally Here As Next Week We Look At The First Part Of The End Of The Infinity Saga, Avengers: Infinity War! But Until Then This Is Duke, Signing Off...

#Black Panther #chadwick boseman #martin freeman #michael b jordan #andy serkis #Winston Duke #lupita nyong'o #marvel #marvel cinematic universe

[marcussour]

Random spoilery Bad Batch musings after the break

First thing’s first, the whitewashing is as notorious as everyone has stated in far more detail and extension. There are a couple of shots of Echo where’s he’s like, a mime, it’s that white (I know there’s a story reason for that, but we all know it doesn’t make sense); it’s notorious with other clones of Clone Force 99, and of course, with Omega. Now, apparently Lucasfilm stated that it was supposedly a mistake with the lightning or something and that they were gonna fix it in the next episodes (which sounds more like an excuse than anything else, but well, hopefully they really do fix it -though of course it never had to come down to this in the first place-).

Kanan/Caleb’s thing also was weird. In regards of the whitewashing, I’m gonna be super honest and say that I never considered him to be a poc, I always saw him as, like, a tanned white dude; but the whole thing was so ambiguous (and his skin was darker in the comics than in the show for example), so I can totally see and understand why so many people thought that he wasn’t white. But here he was super white, and it was odd, to say the least. There’s also the issue of the changes to his backstory: I still prefer the comic’s version, is way more emotional, but I understand that these changes happen (they did it with Cobb Vanth, with the details of The Siege of Mandalore that appeared in the Ahsoka books, and some other things like that stupid retcon about Poe being a spice runner before joining the New Republic). I get that, in the end, the basic structure and the core of the events remain the same, and that the whole thing it’s not supposed to be like, a historic chronicle or whatever, but it was weird.

The animation quality keeps getting better and better with time.

In terms of the story and the episode overall, I think it was the strongest first episode of any Star Wars animated shows. I’m game with the story and characters, but I’m still not 100% convinced for how long can the premise of the show work, but hopefully they’ll prove me wrong.

Same thing with Crosshair betrayal, like, I get why they did it and it can be interesting, but I’m not entirely sure how long the show can sustain that dynamic

There were a lot of cameos and appearances by other well known characters (Caleb and Depa Billaba, Tarkin, Saw Gerrera, the kaminoans, they even re-animated scenes from Revenge of the Sith in the “news-reel” opening, so we had the rescue of Palpatine and Grievous escape in the style of the show). We already know that Rex, Fennec Shand and other characters will appear throughout the season, so I wouldn’t rule out like, seeing the return of Maul, or Dryden Vos (no way they made an entire model of him for just a couple of seconds in an episode of Clone Wars), maybe even Boba and having them explain like, the origin of his relationship with Fennec before The Mandalorian, so I’m guessing they are going to bridge even more Clone Wars with the rest of that “rise of the empire” era (especially since I guess whatever plans they had for a possible Solo sequel are not going to happen).

My guess is that Omega is going to be either precog or force sensitive -maybe both-.

[ironclawallosaur]

Went to see Solo. After the disaster that was TLJ I went in expecting something awful. I was pleasantly surprised, however.

Impressions:

* The three thieves in the beginning are AU Mal, Zoe, and Wash WHAT.

* Some twists I saw coming a mile away, others I didn’t see at all, but they did not feel like asspulls in the latter case or like the characters were idiots in the former

* Lots of little bits there for lore miners like myself, including Aurra Sing being dead, which is very good news.

* I didn’t understand why they’d cast Alden Ehrenrich as Han when I was looking at still shots, because he does not have a similar face. He did a great job on the mannerisms, though, so I have a much better appreciation for the choice now.

* Activist droid was... not great but not the disaster I’d been fearing either. She was kind of ambiguously a joke / intentionally annoying character. As to whether her quest is futile, stupid, or just odd, my take on the lore has generally been that droids start out nonsentient but can spontaneously develop sentience (which is generally kept at bay with regular memory-wipes) to most simply explain the double-standard of whether droids are intelligent or not. Her crusade is thus mostly misaimed—robotic cockfighting, for instance, is probably done by droids with intelligence level between “dog” and “toaster”—and more similar to PETA than Civil Rights.

* Qi’ra was not a disaster either. Given Han’s attitude in the Original Trilogy, she’s kind of doomed either turn out evil or die but there’s enough ambiguity as to which to keep it from being a march off a cliff.

* The team took some inspiration from WWI and some (ugly) Art Deco stuff, which is new but not precisely unwelcome. The Star Wars world is huge, there’s room for a lot of stuff, and seeing the Empire’s aesthetic, rooted in [no particular analogue in this world] pass through WWI before becoming WWII is probably a good way of keeping it fresh without making it unrecognizable.

* Lots of cameos and little references, most pretty well done. They also did some poking fun at a couple of things that would ordinarily annoy me, but works out well because it’s a fast-moving con artist movie and because of how they chose to do it.

* I’d like to hear some more about Enfys Nest, though I didn’t go in for most of her . She’s got a fair bit of appearance in common with live-action Saw Gerrera, associates with one of the Two-Tubes, and engages in piracy, so I’m pegging her as a probable Partisan or associate.

* On my list: reading through the Old EU Han Solo stuff to see who did what better and how the two could be reconciled, if possible, either as one narrative or as alternate universes of each other.

* DID NOT SEE CRIMSON DAWN BOSS COMING. SHOULD HAVE SEEN HIM COMING.

#Allo watches things #Star Wars #Solo #a good Godfather naming scene old KOTOR comic take notes

[rebelsofshield]

From Spark to Flame: Predicting the End of Star Wars Rebels

In just a day the fourth and final season of Star Wars Rebels will be upon us. What began as a spark of rebellion has grown into an odyssey following the journeys of a diverse ensemble of heroes and villains spanning years, battles, generations, and a galaxy. It’s hard to believe that in less than a year’s time this series will conclude and close the book on a unique chapter of the franchise’s history and likely pave the way for the next iteration of this universe on the small screen. What should we expect in the series’ final season? In many ways, this final installment is a mystery, but because I love speculating and critiquing I’m diving in any ways. The following is my long, and I stress long, breakdown of my thoughts, opinions, and predictions going in. Who lives? Who dies? Who shacks up? Who cameos? How gratuitous will the wolves be? All here. Well kinda.

(There are potential spoilers below. Nothing not readily available to the public, but if you want to go in entirely clean, maybe stay out.)

Part I: What We Know

Something that Rebels shares with its parent series, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, is that it in many ways functions as a prequel to a large chunk of the franchise. While there are certainly climactic events and character arcs that are unique to the series, Rebels takes place in a period of the Star Wars timeline that is bookended by existing media. This has become even more apparent with the release of Rogue One in 2016. As a result, going into season four there are a few concrete facts that can help shape our expectations of how Rebels’ final season may play out.

Hera and Chopper Live

We know that the Ghost crew’s pilot, captain, and resident maternal figure, Hera Syndulla and her cantankerous droid, Chopper, are the only two members of The Ghost crew that are confirmed to survive the events of the series. Hera receives a literal shoutout line in Rogue One and Chopper has a now famous cameo in the background of the Yavin Base. This is not to say that the other members of The Ghost crew may perish, more on that later, but as of The Battle of Scarif, only two members are known for sure to be active members of the rebel alliance. We also can safely assume that at the very least Ezra Bridger and Kanan Jarrus are no longer active Force-users in the Alliance. The dialogue between Mon Mothma and Bail Organa regarding Obi-Wan strongly indicates that there are no Jedi present in the rebellion at the time of the film. Now, there are many ways that Dave Filoni and crew could cheat this, but I would bet against having Ezra and Kanan swinging lightsabers by Hera’s side by the time this season ends.

The Battle of Lothal will most likely be a loss for the Alliance

Rogue One also reaffirms a statement in the opening crawl of the original 1977 Star Wars by stressing that the Battle of Scarif and the theft of the Death Star plans is the first major military victory for the Rebel Alliance in their war against the Galactic Empire. By this logic, it is unlikely that by the time the series closes its narrative Lothal remains under the sway of the Empire. Now, it seems unlikely that the series will end in a complete downer with our heroes failing in their mission, it is possible that Lothal proves a more symbolic victory, but more on that later.

Thrawn’s TIE Defender Plan is a Failure

One of the plot threads we see shown in the final trailer for the fourth season is the internal conflict between the development of Grand Admriral Thrawn’s TIE Defender fighters and Director Orson Krennic’s Death Star. Tarkin begins to suspect that Thrawn’s pet project may not be in the Empire’s best interest moving forward given its expensive cost and lack of proven success. What is presented to us is a scenario where the TIE Defender likely has a short lived life-span with a premature death. While Star Wars has retroactively inserted vehicles, technology, and lore into the Original Trilogy period since the Prequel Trilogy, it seems confirmed here that Tharwn’s attempt to update the Imperial fighter squadron machine is fruitless.

Part II: What We’ve Been Told/Shown

In the months following the end of Star Wars Rebels season three, we have gained quite a few kernels of information from both the cast and crew of the series. Before I jump into full on speculation, I wanted to take a moment to show and extrapolate on other information we’ve gained for the series.

The season will be shorter and more serialized

One of the major complaints leveled at the second and third season of Star Wars Rebels is the focus on anthologized storytelling at times lead to episodes that seemingly did not tie back into the overarching plot or felt like diversions. Season four, intentionally or not, will somewhat address this issue. It runs shorter than the second and third season, clocking in at 16 22 minute segments, several of which form two part 44 minute episodes. Also, according to Dave, the first several episodes wrap up disparate plot threads before converging on one long story that feed into a narrative that covers the thrust of the last chunk of the season. Conventional wisdom seems to hint that we will spend much of this season on Lothal as the liberation of the planet becomes a priority for the rebellion and our cast.

Mandalore is in Civil War

Ever since Ursa Wren slayed Imperial Viceroy Gar Saxon to protect her daughter, Mandalore has broken apart with the various houses and clans vying for control of the planet with the Empire backing the remnants of Saxon’s house. This conflict takes center stage in the season premiere “Heroes of Mandalore,” which was partially screened at Celebration Orlando and then in its entirety at FanExpo. (I saw the first half myself and it’s pretty great. No spoilers, but it left me with a pretty huge cliffhanger that I’ve been anticipating the conclusion to since April.)

Rebels seems to be pulling out all the stops in putting this conflict to screen. Not only do we get a wide variety of Mandalorian characters and factions, numerous characters from this series’ past as well as The Clone Wars are due for an appearance. After teasing her return to Star Wars animation last year, Katee Sackhoff of Battlestar Galactica fame is due for a reprise of her character Bo-Katan and appears to be wielding the legendary Darksaber (perhaps Sabine hands it over to the rightful ruler of the planet?). In addition to the return of Sabine’s mother and brother, the Rebels Season Three Blu-Ray also reveals that Sabine’s father will be making his debut in the premiere. Having seen part of the episode I can confirm that he plays into Sabine’s character in a fun fashion, it’s very apparent about how his and Ursa’s personalities mixed to create their daughter. Shots of Mandalorian soldiers being turned to dust also seem to hint that the terrible weapon developed by Sabine will be deployed by the Empire.

That being said it seems unlikely that the Mandalorian conflict will spill over into the greater galactic conflict with the Empire. While Sabine and some of her close allies may take part in the battle on Lothal (Sabine can be glimpsed in the final shots of the second trailer with the rest of the Ghost Crew), the lack of Mandalorian presence in Rogue One seems to make this an unlikely possibility.

The Clones Are Back

After sitting out season three, Dave Filoni and Pablo Hidalgo confirmed that clones Wolffe and Gregor would be seen on screen once again before the end of the series at Celebration Orlando earlier this year. Similarly, Dave cryptically dropped concept of Captain Rex wearing camouflage armor seemingly hinting at the popular fan theory that an older extra in Return of the Jedi may be the famous clone veteran.

Saw Gerrera and the Partisans

We also have been informed that Forest Whitaker will be reprising his role as Saw Gerrera in the early portions of the season. In addition to confirmation that his alien partner, Edrio Two Tubes (or maybe it’s Benthic. I honestly didn’t even know there were two of them. Did you know that?), will be joining him. The final trailer and Filoni have both hinted that this season widens the gap between Gerrera and the rest of the Alliance and may explain why he is no longer a part of the larger rebellion by the time Rogue One rolls around. He also seems set to butt heads with some key characters in the ensemble. Ezra in particular seems drawn in by Saw’s no nonsense results oriented strategy. Ezra has often been marked equally by both his compassion and his desire to see the Empire and Sith defeated. It seems likely that he will be used as a vantage point for the viewer allowing them to see both the allure and danger of a more dangerous and fanatical battle against The Empire.

Space Married

One of the most widely popular and to many the most consistently playfully frustrating aspects of the Rebels ensemble has been the frequently hinted at but never explicitly shown relationship between Hera Syndulla and Kanan Jarrus. According to clips shown at Fan Expo and the first and second trailer for this season, fans may finally get their wish and see the symbolic mother and father of The Ghost crew commit to some form of romantic relationship. Whether this has a happy ending is a whole other thing, but for a few happy moments we are more than likely to see this couple finally, maybe, kiss…or something. At least an emotional forehead touch.

Rukh

Thrawn’s Noghri bodyguard from Timothy Zahn’s classic trilogy of novels is set to make his first canon appearance this season voiced by the legendary Warwick Davis. While his role appears to have been reshuffled to be more of a special agent/assassin in Thrawn’s employ rather than the almost enslaved bodyguard in his Legends appearance, it is unclear just how much Rukh borrows from his original role. Most importantly, is he the one to place once again place the killing blow on The Empire’s blue skinned Admiral? I’m inclined to think not.

Space Wolves

Dave Filoni loves wolves. Like, he really really likes wolves. What would the final season be without a whole lot of giant magical space wolves? The Loth-Wolves so far have remained a mystery, but their importance and almost mystical presence have been stressed throughout season four’s marketing campaign. While we can rest easy knowing that Ahsoka isn’t pulling a Sirius Black and transforming into a wolf like some fan’s speculated, Filoni has stressed that the large white predators are a Bendu-like creature that border the light and the dark. What connection do they really have to the planet of Lothal and the series as a whole? Who knows, but it will be nice to finally get a sense of how they fit into the planet’s culture.

Ahsoka Lives !(?!)

Oh yeah, Ahsoka is back. How? Why? Where? Who knows, but Dave Filoni has confirmed that we will see Ashley Eckstein’s fan favorite former-Jedi at least one more time before the series ends.

Part III: Rampant Speculation

So what does this all mean? Where are we going? Who is that? Where am I? Before I start jumping into the general end game for the series, let’s get a few more pieces of speculation out of the way. Let’s talk characters. Let’s talk deaths. Let’s talk why Nick keeps using repetition to spice up this segment of his article.

Kallus and the Rebellion

While Alexsandr Kallus (yes, that’s officially his first name now) has been a rebel operative for about a full season now, this season marks the first time that the former Imperial operative is an active participant in the Alliance. Sporting a snazzy new outfit and set to make a change in the galaxy, Kallus is sure to be one of the more intriguing aspects of this season going into its start. I highly doubt that Kallus’s assimilation into the rebellion will make for a clean transition. In particular, Kallus seems primed to be a key source of antagonism with Saw Gerrera. As we learned in “The Honorable Ones,” Saw’s partisans were responsible for the deaths of Kallus’s men on Onderon. Similarly, Saw’s own fanaticism makes it seem likely that he won’t be keen on having a former Imperial Intelligence officer enter the Alliance. The two seem primed for a confrontation and Dave Filoni and the creative team would be smart to capitalize off this. The idea of having David Oyelowo and Forest Whitaker face off is too great an opportunity to pass up.  

Thrawn will survive

Grand Admiral Thrawn’s survival is one of the most hotly debated aspects of the series. The iconic Legends turned canon Chiss admiral has been a fan favorite on and off screen. While he more or less came out on top at the conclusion of season three, Thrawn’s fate is a bit more ambiguous this season. Like many iconic Rebels characters, he does not play a role in the original trilogy and for a character of his stature and in-universe importance, it seems unlikely that he is still an active participant in the Imperial war machine at the time the series concludes. We may have actually been given our first clue to the fate of Thrawn at New York Comic Con last weekend. Timothy Zahn, the original creator of the blue skinned villain, announced that he would be writing a sequel to his canon novel, Thrawn, tentatively titled Alliances, which would feature the character teaming up with Darth Vader himself. While this inherently may not seem like a dead giveaway that Thrawn makes it out of the series alive, the original Thrawn novel concluded just before the character’s introduction in the season three premiere episode “Steps into Shadow.” While it is possible that the sequel novel may function as a pseudo-prequel or even a mid-quel, this seems to indicate that Thrawn’s narrative continues past what is seen on screen. Similarly, the final novel in Chuck Wendig’s Aftermath trilogy appears to hint that Thrawn spent much of his later career stationed in the Unknown Regions, although the language is vague and inconclusive.

Expect Lots of Cameos

With the Ghost Crew now firmly a part of the larger rebellion, it seems inevitable that we will be seeing at the very least cameo appearances from numerous famous characters. Bail Organa, Jan Dodonna, and Mon Mothma all seem like givens for speaking roles, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see various others as well. With the continued attempts to establish creative synergy between Rebels and Rogue One, I think it is highly likely that characters such as Admiral Raddus will appear, especially given that Stephen Stanton is already a regularly employed member of the Rebels voice cast. I also wouldn’t be surprised if we got a few more notable cameos such as Cassian Andor or K-2SO. Having two Fulcrum agents such as Cassian and Kallus interact seems like another relationship that would be key to exploit. I also would be very surprised if we finished the series out without seeing Leia or Darth Vader again. Both characters made a splash in their first appearances in the series’ second season and it seems like both characters still have something to contribute to the narrative, Leia in particular.

Only one Ghost Crew member will die

While Hera and Chopper are proved to make it out of the series, Rebels will not pull a Rogue One and end with the death of the majority of its cast. We may not know what fates may befall Ezra, Sabine, Kanan, and Zeb but a massacre seems off the table. For a simple and almost logistical reason, Rebels is a series that is at its heart tonally optimistic and targeted at a mature but younger audience. It isn’t afraid to kill characters, good or evil, this is true, but Rebels is a series that is most concerned with exploring family and the importance of standing up for a larger cause in difficult times. I do not see Dave Filoni, Lucasfilm, and especially Disney XD, sanctioning an ending for the series that reinforces such a bleak understanding of sacrifice and familial bonds. It may be a good ending, but it’s hardly the best and certainly not the route that Rebels will take. That being said, it seems just as unlikely if the entirety of the Rebels cast is to survive. Heroic sacrifice and the cost of war are a theme of Star Wars and Dave Filoni at times has been all too aware of this. I am willing to go on the record and say only one member of the Ghost Crew will perish and there are two likely candidates.

Sabine seems least likely out of the four non-confirmed survivors of the series to perish. Her fate at this point is almost more connected to the Mandalorian struggle than to the rebellion itself. While it may be a poignant end for her story to have her sacrifice her life to bring liberty to her people and reunite her family, it feels out of place and, again, overly bleak for the series to take this route for her character. Besides, with the media blitz that Sabine has received since her involvement in the Forces of Destiny toyline and animated shorts, I doubt we’ve seen the last of our graffiti inspired Mandalorian warrior.

Ezra is this series’ biggest question mark. Rebels is at the end of the day about him and his journey from street rat to Jedi apprentice to freedom fighter. Does the story end in his death? I’m inclined to think not. Why? Well, again, on a practical level, I cannot recall a single television series aimed at a preteen to teen age demographic that ended with the death of its child protagonist, even if, yes, Ezra is pushing the age boundaries for that term at this point. Rebels has to keep in mind both its adult and child viewers and killing off the hero in the hero’s journey may not be the move that best placates both audiences. That being said, in terms of canon, Ezra does create a problem. He is simply too prominent and powerful a figure to be left around in the universe by the time we reach the events of Rogue One and A New Hope. Well, where is Ezra then? I’m getting to that, I promise.

That leaves our two likely death candidates being Garazeb Orrelios and Kanan Jarrus. Zeb is the character I’ve spoken the least about in this write up and frankly there is a reason for this. While he began the series as one of the show’s more compelling and entertaining characters, season three proved just how stagnant a character the Ghost Crew’s Lasat had become. In two strong episodes in Rebels’ second season, Zeb’s character arcs had effectively resolved themselves. Zeb had not only found out that he was not the last surviving member of the Lasats, in fact there is a whole planet of them, but had also reconciled with his longtime nemesis, Agent Kallus. With Kallus now a willing member of the rebellion, this relationship also seems to have reached its natural conclusion. While there is certainly opportunity to develop this dynamic further, it almost feels as if Zeb’s purpose is to function as an extension of Kallus’s character rather than his own. Unfortunately, this makes Zeb the most dispensable and cleanest death for the Rebels team to pull off. Zeb has been with the viewer long enough for his passing to have an emotional impact both in and out of the series, while at the same time avoiding any long term damage to the series dynamics if he were to be taken off the table. Perhaps he sacrifices himself to save the Ghost Crew or Kallus? Or maybe him and Kallus go out together in a blaze of glory? It could go either way.

And then there’s Kanan. This is the hard one, because Freddie Prinze Jr.’s blind Jedi Knight and resident Ghost father figure has been not only one of the strongest characters in Rebels’ ensemble but also one of its most beloved. There is a genuine affection for Kanan. I’m sure a very large portion of the fanbase would love to see him and Hera happily settle down together and raise some Twi-Lek/Human hybrid babies (I mean we know that can happen thanks to The Clone Wars), but, man, things just don’t look good for him. Like Ezra, Kanan’s continued participation in the Alliance creates a massive problem for the larger lore of Star Wars. A practicing Jedi Knight being a participant in the Alliance would surely be noticed and would have come up in conversation, especially considering the addition of Luke Skywalker to their ranks following the Battle of Yavin. Kanan has to be removed from the playing field somehow. While it is possible he could join Ezra on my big series end theory, it is just as likely if not plausible that he becomes one with the Force. This would undoubtedly be the most emotional route the crew could take and it is a very likely possibility.

Part IV: The Ending

So how does Rebels end? How does this saga conclude in a manner that resolves its various plot points but also moves us towards an emotionally satisfying conclusion that capitalizes off the series’ themes? In all honesty, I’m taking a stab in the dark, but it’s one that I am confident in.

Lothal is the key. Not only is it central to the conflict at the series’ conclusion and is it the home at which Rebels began, but there is something about the planet that is special. Hinted at way back in “The Siege of Lothal” by Minister Tua, there is a secret reason for The Empire’s interest in Lothal as a planet. While this has become lost in the dozens of climactic events that have occurred in the seasons since, the secret for the Empire’s presence on the grassy planet has never been answered.

We know for a fact that this cannot be related to the strip mining of Lothal’s resources as Tua confirms that this isn’t the case. Similarly, Thrawn’s use of the planet as a staging ground for the development of the TIE Defender didn’t come to fruition until after he had been relocated to the planet at the start of the third season. Whatever secret lies buried beneath Lothal has been there for quite sometime and has barely if ever been touched upon.

So what is it? We do know that Lothal is a planet filled with hidden Force secrets. From the lost Jedi Temple seen in the first season to the Lothwolfs, Lothal has a rich secret Force culture. We know from the novels and comics that Emperor Palpatine has been stockpiling Force and Sith artifacts to use in outlook stations to observe some strange threat in the Unknown Regions, which is maybe probably Snoke or something . My theory is that there is some secret Force artifact, temple, or object/place of similar significance that The Empire is actively in search of located on Lothal. Dave Filoni has stressed repeatedly that this season will be delving into a great deal of stranger imagery that is not unlike some work they’ve done in The Clone Wars in the past. While he keeps it vague, it is not hard to call to mind images of the Mortis Trilogy or Yoda’s strange walkabout to learn the secrets of the afterlife.

I believe that while much of the Battle for Lothal will remain a military campaign, Ezra and likely Kanan’s story will take a swerve into the search and discovery of what this Force secret may be, and the Lothwolves are likely the first step to finding this. While we do not know enough regarding this secret to truly learn much about it as of yet, my guess is that this artifact sends Ezra to or leads him into the unknown regions and he is forced to abandon the rest of rebellion to follow his quest. Ezra leaves the rebellion war effort to focus on a task that is possibly even more important and even dangerous.

While I believe that this will occur towards the end of the series, my thinking is that perhaps the Force grants Ezra a brief glimpse into the future. He is able to see key events in the rebellion and will learn that the future, while always in motion, will lead to freedom. I suspect that this is where Rebels will show the fates of most of our cast in how they tie into the original trilogy, such as showing Captain Rex fighting on the moon of Endor. It will be vague and likely not mean much out of context to Ezra, but fans will be able to discern where and what is occurring.

With Ezra out of the picture, we end the series with him a new environment and seemingly unknown. We know for a fact that only a scant few voice actors and production supervisors have worked on the final scene of the series and that it has been top secret. I believe we end the series with a conversation between Ahsoka and Ezra. Dave has hinted for a while that we will see Ahsoka Tano again, but the nature of her reappearance has always been vague. We do know that Ahsoka disappeared into the depths of Malachor following her duel with Darth Vader. The promotional TOPS cards (shown above) released in 2016 seem to hint at this as well, even showing Lothwolves. It seems her fate lead her onto the same path that Ezra now finds himself. It ends with both eras of Star Wars animation joining forces to find a common future.

Well, that’s how I see it anyways. I may be completely wrong, but I feel confident that the end will be something at least slightly similar to this.

We will know soon enough. What are your opinions? Where and how do you think Star Wars Rebels will conclude? I would love to hear your thoughts and critiques and predictions.

#Star Wars #Star Wars Rebels #review #reviews #swr #Hera Syndulla #ezra bridger #Kanan Jarrus #Zeb #Garazeb Orrelios #Chopper #Thrawn #Grand Admiral Thrawn #Sabine Wren #Sabine #Mandalore #Timothy Zahn #Dave Filoni #Ahsoka Tano #Saw Gerrera #Alexsandr Kallus #Kallus #Agent Kallus #spoilers #potential spoilers #commentary #star wars rebels theories #Lothal #star wars rebels season 4

[animatedminds]

I know Resistance is a bit divisive among Star Wars fans, who need little reason to be divisive these days, but the second season was consistently pretty well done. Much like Rebels, it weaved a bit more gravitas and maturity into its story until a more critical ending - though just as Rebels remained a bit more lighthearted than The Clone Wars, Resistance remained a bit more lighthearted than Rebels.

But I’m not here because. One of the things that I’ve wanted Star Wars to embrace most is the fullness of its universe. The Old EU maintained strict levels of canon such that “lesser” canon was never acknowledged by “higher canon” (see also: the Marvel movies vs its TV shows). The New EU supposedly doesn’t do this - everything is equally canon supposedly - but the insistence that no released canon step on the toes of anything else currently running ensured that different works barely ever acknowledged each other anyway. But having characters from animation show up in the films, characters from video games affect plots that later become important in television, maybe even (something iirc they haven’t done yet) characters from comics and books make wider ranged appearances (I still think it’s a shame Rae Sloane never appeared in any visual medium), that sort of thing makes the universe feel more full and vibrant - especially since at times the main line ST films made the universe feel smaller if anything. I’ve already given my review on TROS - and on rewatch I like it a bit less than I did on reaction - but I love that it did this. I loved it when Rogue One had the Ghost appear in the Battle of Scarif. Hell, I loved it when Saw Gerrera was a major character in Rogue One’s story. That made those lore-loving neurons fire something fierce: the story just felt stronger for it. And these designs are cool enough that I wish we’d seen them more. Torra’s ship, in particular, was one of my favorite designs on the show (beyond the Colossus itself, which is also visible in the final battle) and seeing it rendered like that is just wonderful. Yeager’s personal shuttle and the Fireball are a bit more traditionally designed, but still cool. Either we had Torra, Kazuda and Yaeger canoically in the Battle of Exogol, or Tam potentially borrowed one of the ships and it was Torra, Kaz and Tam. Hopefully if the Star Wars comics start covering the post TROS era, we’ll see more of them. Either way, good to see characters not being forgotten. Next step is to do more than just cameos.

#star wars #star wars resistance #kazuda xiono #torra doza #jarek yeager #tam ryvora #the rise of skywalker #star wars the rise of skywalker #the battle of exogol #canon

[shadowmaat]

Star Wars Rebels managed to cram in that Obi Wan cameo and derail both Ezra and Maul's character development, but whenever I suggest that Boba Fett should get a part in season four, it's called "useless fanservice." WTF.

Pfft! “Useless fanservice” covers pretty much every major character appearance in the show’s entire run. Rex, Ahsoka, Vader, Thrawn, even Lando (although he has some fandom issues, too). Saw Gerrera and Mon Mothma could be considered fan servicey. And Leia, FFS. Shoving Boba into the “useless fanservice” drawer is just more transparent BS from the haters who never want to see him again in any context. Unless he’s dead, of course. Then they can cheer. *sigh*

Mind you, I’m not sure I want to see him show up again, either, but that’s because I like the character too much to want to see him ruined by bad writing. ...Which is a direction they’re definitely heading if that snippet from From a Certain Point of View is any indication. Bleh.

#Anonymous

[dalekofchaos]

Difference between the new Star Wars Movies and the Marvel Cinematic Universe

Star Wars:Rogue One has acknowledged it's shows The Clone Wars and Rebels by having Saw Gerrera be a central character, give a cameo to Chooper, The Ghost appears and "General Syndulla". The new movies are acknowledging the cartoons and embraces them!

MCU:The MCU movies absolutely makes no attempt to connect Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D., or The Defenders shows and Kevin Feige makes no attempt whatsoever to try to acknowledge them at all, despite being apart of the same universe.

#Star Wars #Anti MCU #Star Wars Rogue One #Star Wars The Clone Wars #Star Wars Rebels #Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. #Netflix's Daredevil #Netflix's Luke Cage #AKA Jessica Jones #The Defenders

[aion-rsa]

Star Wars The Bad Batch: What You Need to Watch Before Starting the Show

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The Bad Batch is the newest animated chapter in the Star Wars saga. Set immediately after Revenge of the Sith, the show explores the rise of the Empire from the perspective of a group of “genetically mutated” clones who never fit in with their own kind and fit in even less after Order 66. Unlike the rest of the Clone Army, the members of Clone Force 99 (the official designation of the group nicknamed “The Bad Batch”) are unaffected by the secret inhibitor chips implanted in their brains, which quickly puts a target on their back, especially after they refuse to execute Jedi on the battlefield.

Clone Force 99 find themselves in the middle of a sea change they don’t fully understand, as Palpatine declares himself Emperor and the Clone Army turns evil. To make matters worse, Admiral Tarkin (the future Grand Moff of A New Hope) sees the clone forces as obsolete and wants to replace them with a new Imperial army. On the run and without purpose, the Bad Batch will have to carve out a new future for themselves in a much more hostile galaxy.

In many ways, The Bad Batch is really a sequel to The Clone Wars, which spent much more time chronicling the lives of the soldiers than the Prequel Trilogy ever did. But that doesn’t mean you’ll have to watch all of The Clone Wars to understand what’s going on in The Bad Batch. In fact, all you need to know about Clone Force 99 is pretty much covered in the series premiere, “Aftermath.” That said, if you’re one of those fans who likes to be really thorough, here are a few other movies and TV episodes you should watch to get the full backstory of what’s going on in The Bad Batch:

Revenge of the Sith

To be completely honest, Revenge of the Sith is the only thing you’ll really need to have watched to understand what’s going on in the first episode of The Bad Batch. In fact, the first half of “Aftermath” takes place around the same time as the third act of the Prequel Trilogy closer, with the Bad Batch witnessing the atrocities of Order 66 with their own eyes.

Revenge of the Sith shows us Order 66 from the point of view of newly-anointed Sith apprentice Anakin Skywalker as well as the many Jedi who are about to get executed across the galaxy. We watch as Anakin, now known as Darth Vader, massacres his former brethren inside the Jedi Temple on Coruscant (even younglings), while masters like Aayla Secura, Ki-Adi-Mundi, and Plo Koon are slaughtered by their own clone forces.

The Bad Batch are confused as they watch the other clones turn on their Jedi general, and refuse to partake in the extermination. It’s the scene that truly sets up Clone Force 99 as the heroes of this story.

Later in the episode, fans also get to see another key moment from Revenge of the Sith from the clone perspective. This time, the Bad Batch gather with the rest of the Clone Army on Kamino to watch a hologram of Palpatine declare the formation of the first Galactic Empire. It’s almost a complete word-for-word recreation of the scene in the movie, complete with the voice of Ian McDiarmid.

If you want a better sense of the gravity of Order 66, and how Palpatine’s machinations led to the fall of the Republic and the Jedi, you’ll want to watch this movie.

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The Clone Wars Season 7 Episodes 1-4

While I’d even count “The Bad Batch” arc of The Clone Wars as optional, it is technically the first Star Wars adventure starring Clone Force 99. In this season 7 arc, Hunter, Wrecker, Tech, and Crosshair team up with Clone Commander Rex and Anakin to rescue Echo, a clone soldier who was once thought dead but has actually become an involuntary pawn in the Separatist war machine.

These episodes flesh out how the genetic mutations of each member of the Bad Batch makes them unique, and how these abilities sometimes cause friction with the “normal” clones. Hunter and his team are more individualistic, more prone to breaking the rules, which doesn’t earn them many friends within a society that expects them to follow all orders without question.

The second half of this arc also acts as an origin story for how Echo became the fifth member of the Bad Batch. It’s a pretty gruesome tale, but there’s also plenty of action if you want to see just how efficient Clone Force 99 are when it comes to blowing up droids.

The Clone Wars Season 7 Episodes 9-12

The final four-episode arc of The Clone Wars, titled “Siege of Mandalore,” is also the best of the entire series. While it doesn’t feature the Bad Batch at all, it does give us yet one other perspective on the events of Order 66. This time, we see the massacre from the point of view of the heroic Ahsoka Tano, Commander Rex, and the scheming Maul, who’s declared himself ruler of the Mandalorian home world.

The arc begins as a straightforward mission led by Ahsoka and Rex to capture Maul once and for all, but plans quickly change when Darth Sidious sets Order 66 in motion. While we all know the twist is coming, “Siege of Mandalore” still provides a shocking and exciting conclusion to Ahsoka’s story on The Clone Wars, while also showing the true cost of war.

The events of “Siege of Mandalore” happen somewhat at the same time as the first episode of The Bad Batch so watching this arc should give you a fuller picture of everything going on at the end of the war. We also know that Rex will appear on The Bad Batch, so these episodes are a good primer on who he is, too.

Other Clone Stories

When it comes to a franchise as expansive as Star Wars, I truly believe you should just watch the stuff you enjoy as opposed to sitting through every single episode or movie just to check off boxes. (For example, in my opinion, you can skip most of The Clone Wars in general and just watch these episodes.) But if you’re hellbent on being a completionist, you can also add Attack of the Clones as well as the first four episodes of The Clone Wars season 6 to your watchlist.

Attack of the Clones covers the start of the Clone Wars as well as the conspiracy behind the creation of the Clone Army. For a chunk of the movie’s runtime, we follow Obi-Wan Kenobi as he tracks a Separatist plot to assassinate Senate Padme Amidala. Once he learns the name of the bounty hunter trying to kill Padme, this leads him to Kamino, a distant planet where scientists are hard at work creating a massive army for a war to come. It’s in this movie that we learn that Jango Fett provided the genetic template for the entire Clone Army, which is why all the soldiers look just like him.

Interestingly enough, The Bad Batch indirectly addresses how that template has been stretched thin in the eyars since the opening salvo of the Clone Wars. It explains why new clones like the mysterious Omega are so different to the original template as well as why the Bad Batch developed genetic mutations.

Recurring Kaminoan characters on the animated series like Lama Su and Taun also made their first appearances in Attack of the Clones. Kaminoan scientist Nala Se recurred on The Clone Wars.

Meanwhile, The Clone Wars season 6 episodes 1-4 focus on a clone named Fives. After a clone trooper slays a Jedi on the battlefield, Fives is thrust into a conspiracy involving a plan to mind control the Clone Army with an inhibitor chip, the same one that will eventually force the clones to execute Order 66. Fives plans to uncover the truth behind the chips and reveal it to the galaxy before it’s too late. You can pretty much guess how that went…

Fennec Shand and Saw Gerrera

These next ones are also optional.

The trailers for The Bad Batch have already revealed that assassin Fennec Shand will appear on the show. This fan-favorite live-action character played by Ming-Na Wen was first introduced in The Mandalorian. Without spoiling anything, Fennec goes through her own kind of transformation on the live-action series that will likely be further explored on The Book of Boba Fett, where she’ll share top billing with Temuera Morrison’s beloved bounty hunter.

In The Bad Batch, we’ll get to see Fennec decades prior to her adventures on The Mandalorian. What was she up to years before she crossed paths with Din Djarin? We’re excited to find out!

And finally, there’s Saw Gerrera, another character we know will cameo on the show. He was first introduced in The Clone Wars season 5 episodes 2-5 and later appeared in Rogue One, played by Forest Whitaker. When we first meet Saw, he’s leading a rebellion against Separatist invaders on the planet Onderon. But, as Saw will learn on The Bad Batch, the fight for freedom just leads to another system of tyranny when the Empire comes into power. It’s a painful truth all of the heroes of the new animated series will be forced to discover.

Read more about The Bad Batch here.

The post Star Wars The Bad Batch: What You Need to Watch Before Starting the Show appeared first on Den of Geek.

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#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

[misssingingintherain]

The Solution to the “Ahsoka Problem” (or rather, Disney and Filoni’s problem with letting her exist):

Now, there’s a bit of divide as to what Disney, Filoni, and Star Wars in general should do with Ahsoka now that she’s no longer on Rebels. A lot of her fans found the Season 2 finale rather unfulfilling in regards to the character, but Disney has been trying to keep the Star Wars shows and movies relatively separate, keeping references limited to cameos and Easter Eggs, Saw Gerrera’s presence in Rogue One being the exception. However, there’s also the difficulties of translating a character from animation to live action. Many fans pointed out how Forrest Whitaker looked little like the rebel from The Clone Wars, and he was only in a few episodes. Ahsoka is a fan favorite character beloved by many and having someone other than Ashley Eckstein play her would mean the character looses some of that charm. So, how can we get a slightly more fulfilling end to her story, if she’s no longer on Rebels and cannot realistically appear in any live action movies?

My solution: An animated Ahsoka movie similar to “Star Wars: the Clone Wars.”

It may sound like a bad idea, as the first animated Star Wars movie was an infamous flop with everyone over the age of 12. But that was when the series was just starting out, which is why the humor was childish, the animation incomplete, and the format a little bumpy, as it was originally set to be the first four episodes of the series, but was turned into a movie on a shoestring budget at the last minute due to Lucas’ insistence (which explains a lot).

It’s been nine years since then and a lot has changed yet stayed the same. A lot of the creative team from Clone Wars has carried over to Rebels, meaning it wouldn’t be hard to get the people needed to pull it off, only this time nine years wiser and with the full might of Disney on their side. Ashley Eckstein could reprise her role, as well as many of the other voice actors. It could cover the Rise of the Empire era, like the Ahsoka novel, and help cover the 19 year gap.

Or better yet

It could start with showing us the end of the duel with Darth Vader on Malachor, before flashing back to cover the unfinished final arc of The Clone Wars, dealing with the Ahsoka helping Bo-Katan retake Mandalore, commanding the 501st,  seeing Anakin and Obi-Wan for the last time, and fighting Maul.

It wouldn’t even have to be a theatrical release like The Clone Wars. It could be a made for TV special for all I care. But Ahsoka is too important of a character to so many to loose.

#Star Wars #Ahsoka Tano #Fulcrum #Star Wars the Clone Wars #Star Wars Rebels #SWTCW #SWR #Dave Filoni #Disney #Rogue One #ahsoka novel #Obi-Wan Kenobi #Anakin Skywalker #Darth Vader #Bo-Katan Kryze #Darth Maul #Saw Gerrera #Ashley Eckstein #Rebels #The Clone Wars

[thebastardofgloucester]

More Thoughts on Rogue One

So I saw Rogue One again:

I don’t have any real revelations to expound upon - the first half is still a bit messy (though beyond the Krennic scene on Mustafar which we’re rather fond of I’m not really sure you can just cut out some of the planetary back and forth). The second half/last third really pulls the film together in some of the best action sequences I’ve seen in any war movie, Star Wars or no, but it also fails to resolve a lot of character arcs, which is...unsatisfying from a narrative nerd perspective but not really crippling to the film as a whole? In my opinion, anyway. 

- Jyn’s a flat character. I’m not sure if it’s that Felicity Jones is a bad fit for the part - they needed someone who did a lot of non-verbal acting and that ain’t her - but her character is choppily written at best, and wavers back and forth between passive and active in a way that just feels awkward when it abruptly switches. You have a bunch of character-establishing moments - trying to flee her rescuers, saving the little girl in Jedha, beating and gunning down stormtroopers, resenting Saw for abandoning her - and they just don’t fit together. At points, it seems like she’s a deer in the headlights, which makes some sense - she’s not a soldier, she’s not used to battle, to death striking suddenly and brutally - but it again swings back and forth and there’s no key determining factor beyond the immediate needs of the plot. And yet she knows her way around a blaster, she goes after that child (which is just wildly out of place and used as an excuse for Cassian to shoot one of Saw’s men, precipitating the group’s capture), she’s quite brave under fire. She’s established as initially cynical and apathetic about the Rebellion - for understandable reasons, though Cassian also rightly calls her out for wallowing in self-pity, which she clearly takes to heart.

Her transformation from reluctant accomplice to Rebel leader just doesn’t really follow.  A scene where she spoke with, say, Chirrut and Baze (maybe with Bodhi popping in) about their reasons for fighting the Empire, and she explicitly confronted her desperate need to redeem her father’s legacy and exonerate him from horrible crimes would have been a tremendous help, would have given Baze and Chirrut more depth (digging into their past service as guardians, their grief and Baze’s rage at the destruction of their home), and would have given some reason for the ‘little sister’ comment, which just feels so out of place because they don’t have that kind of relationship. I’m probably going to write this scene, honestly. At that point, speaking up about the need to strike Scarif makes more sense. Maybe another actress better conveys Jyn’s desperation and makes her sound less inexplicably confident. She’s not idealistic enough for that, change of heart or not. Fewer motivational speeches from her would have been a good idea. The one in the shuttle is the best fit - it’s full of desperation and anxious resolve. She’s addressing her men, not the leaders of the Rebellion. Basically, somebody else needs to back her case in front of the council. Hell, maybe Chirrut could have backed her up. That would have been another moment to establish their relationship. Jyn’s the primary protagonist, but she’s also not a conventional hero, and the film did not commit to that as it did with, say, Cassian. 

- Honestly, that’s the movie’s biggest flaw. It drags a bit, but I’m not sure what I would really cut. The trading port scene is vital to establish Cassian. The jailbreak was apparently largely a product of the reshoots, and that was absolutely a good call. The Jedha stuff needs to happen to launch the plot. The Eadu stuff needs to happen to raise the stakes, stage the Cassian/Jyn conflict, and kill off Galen. I *guess* the first Yavin 4 scene wasn’t entirely necessary, but it would be hard to do without it, and it does a lot of worldbuilding for the ANH-era Rebellion. 

- The movie isn’t terribly interested in preserving the scale of the GFFA - unless Eadu, Scarif, and Yavin 4 are within the same star cluster or something, the Rebel forces have at most a few hours travel time and that does’t make much sense. It’s not that Star Wars has ever cared about those kinds of logistics (save a few novels), but somehow the planet jumping makes it more obvious.

- The space battle is still astounding, and the Pacific Front-inspired beach scenes aren’t far behind. Just the perfect use of CGI, practical effects, and storytelling to create truly spectacular scenes. Also nice to see Rebel women pilots, though they pretty much all die.

- Bodhi has the most complete and coherent character arc, and given the time constraints, it’s actually a pretty good one. His sacrifice is poignant, even if his death is surprisingly pedestrian (which is by no means a bad thing - it adds a layer of realism to the combat that people just die). K2-SO has something resembling an arc. Cassian is the deepest character, even if a few more exchanges with Jyn or Bodhi or Chirrut could have helped make his inner conflicts more explicit. His relationship with Jyn actually worked better for me the second time around, but it has the overall vibe of ‘almost’ or ‘what if’ as it really should. 

- The movie does a lot of work in terms of world-building, and there’s loads of material for future films or EU media to take advantage of. I’m excited about the new in-between-the-OT Rebellion era. It might be a bit ponderous in the film, but it’s valuable yeoman’s work in the young new canon. 

- Krennic isn’t the most effective antagonist. That’s partially by design - he’s simply outclassed by the likes of Tarkin and Darth Vader. But in a moment where we might be able to explore his complexity with the reveal that his adversary is the daughter of his long-time friend and betrayer Galen he just...doesn’t really react beyond ‘generic Imperial villain’. That was a missed opportunity. More could have been done with him than having Cassian appear and shoot him while Jyn does her deer in the headlights thing again. There’s poetic justice in his being killed by his own life’s work, but it needs to be dwelt upon a bit.  

EDIT: my little brother suggests Jyn pointing out the Death Star rising above the horizon, as Krennic realizes that not only is Tarkin willing to sacrifice the entire base, but that he is expendable. Unlike Jyn, he is not ready for that brutal truth.

- In hindsight, the whole Vader in the corridor thing is a bit less fraught than I thought - the damn data tape is at the partially open exit the whole time, the dude with it just wants to escape. A better scene would be him desperately forcing the door open as his comrades try to slow Vader down, succeeding at the last minute before he’s cut down. All that would have been required is a few shots of the dude trying to force open the door, nothing really complicated. 

- It’s a bit weird that the Tantive IV, with Leia aboard, is waiting for ages inside the disabled Rebel flagship - presumably the data tapes take a while to transfer, but it seems like quite a risk. Plus there’s the ‘transmissions’ line in ANH which is now seemingly in error. Maybe the corvette is waiting on the fringes of the system, giving Leia plausible deniability? But that probably sacrifices the Vader scene, and I’m not sure any of us want that. It’s a hard problem to solve without retconning. 

- The Dr. Evazan/Ponda Baba cameo on Jedha is just not necessary. R2D2 and C3PO are acceptable - they’ve been in every damn movie and they have a reason to be there.  

- It’s a really good heist-cum-war movie, honestly. It’s got weaknesses in terms of characterization, because that’s not Gareth Edward’s real strength. It might not feel like ~Star Wars~ in terms of being magical space opera based on hero’s journey cliches and stronger characterization than plot, and might be missing the ‘magic’ or something, but it’s not supposed to be anything like The Force Awakens. I feel like a lot of the movie’s critics were just expecting ~something else~ and find the genre differences off-putting. I don’t. 

- Saw Gerrera deserved a bit more time - specifically, I think cutting his ‘what will you become’ speech was a mistake, though I’m not sure where it was supposed to fit? He’s a really really great character, honestly, and he’s vital in establishing that the Rebellion is a messy loose coalition of splinter groups who are at this stage very divided in terms of strategy, conviction, and morality. 

- Chirrut is definitely low-level Force sensitive. To an extent, fine, his sharpened sense of hearing explains his physical combat skills. But sensing Jyn’s kyber crystal, reading Bohdi and Jyn, dodging laser blasts, hitting stormtroopers on the beach - he’s not a Jedi, but he doesn’t really have to be. There’s another point of possible connection with Jyn - his faith in the Force would resonate with her memories of her mother. Again, just a handful of lines. Not a huge change. 

- I still think Chirrut and Baze’s relationship is easily interpreted as romantic, whether that was the result of the actors, Edwards, or Kathleen Kennedy, I don’t know. But it’s appreciated and extremely important. 

- Revised rating: 7.5/10. Could have been an 8.5, even a 9 with a more talented character writer and a more compelling primary protagonist. But it’s intensely watchable, really thrilling at points, fits seamlessly into the Star Wars universe, adds emotional impetus to A New Hope and the circuitous journey of the Death Star plans to Yavin 4, and Luke and Han’s subsequent heroism, and has a ton of interesting ideas percolating in the background. 

#rogue one #rogue one spoilers #martinus watches rogue one #save the rebellion. save the dream.