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ana-cantskywalker · 4 months

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I think the reason longform animated shows made for kids but clearly created with an older audience in mind work so well is because the aren't taken seriously by the general public. Hear me out,

The comedic aspects work so well because they don't have to be serious, with either no humor, or overtly sexual and try-hard humor that just ends up cringey. (ie; thor love and thunder) I feel like most mainstream shows fall into either 'this is a serious piece of media, therefore any comedy has to be subtle or nonexistent, we aren't allowed to have fun' OR 'look at how funny this is, the plot is lacking and the jokes are stupid but you should watch it because we joke about death and sex'. The writers can throw in quips while still maintaining their dignity, and since it's 'made for kids' they can be a little silly now and then without taking away from the purpose of the story.

They usually don't follow the trend of short seasons that we are seeing more in more in mainstream shows, so the writers have time too flesh out characters and tell a whole cohesive story in the way stories should be told, because they aren't pressured to make something short and easily consumable by the masses so they might can get a second season. (which is the biggest problem in the Ahsoka finale in my opinion) It's made for kids, so as long as it appeals to that target audience they can pretty much do whatever they like and probably get another season.

Animation is an incredible medium for story telling, there is no sets, no stunt doubles, no cgi, so the creators can show some incredible world building and character design without stretching the budget in the way that the same world building would if it was attempted in live action. Not to say that animation isn't a costly and time consuming art, but for example, it's easier to animate a dragon in an animated show, than it is to cgi one with green screens and actors and the dragon having to be hyperrealistic. (The Dragon Prince would not be able to have the same whimsy as it does if it were live action, and Across the Spiderverse is literally impossible without the variety of different animation styles and techniques)

Because they are made for a younger audience, they usually carry the thematic elements of love and friendship, and family that isn't taken seriously by adult media, but are stories that are beautifully rich and enjoyable. That's why you typically see a lot of found family in these types of shows. (Which is why I adore Star Wars Rebels)

Their saving grace is that they aren't pushed by executives and marketing teams to make something that says and shows the right things to be easily consumed by the public and make a lot of money. So writers can tell stories that are genuine, which is why the work so well.

As much as I wish animation was taken more seriously, part of the reason shows like The Clone Wars, work so well are because they aren't taken seriously by anyone other than their fandom.

#long post #animation #animated tv series #star wars rebels #star wars the clone wars #the dragon prince #astv

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tessaliagrey · 1 year

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So, I finally managed to catch up watching The Mandalorian. 😊

A lot of things I read over the last weeks is that people used to love the first two seasons and now hate the third.

Anybody who’s ever been on my blog or read my fics over on AO3 knows I love Bo-Katan to bits - but still, I do have my issues with this season, too. And while some people on here are sitting in the proverbial desert yelling “Feloniiiii” in a Maul-esque way, I don’t think it’s Dave’s fault (alone).

First, we have the cameos (I’m not talking famous people in little roles). We had Ahsoka, Boba, Fennec, Luke, Cad Bane,... The comment I’ve often read, that Din is like a guy who is in Star Wars but doesn’t know anything about Star Wars and just happends to stumble into all of the bigger plot lines of the franchise is kind of true, really. And in a way, it’s also fun. But it’s not really a plot.

Second, there is this feeling that Din sidelined Boba in BOBF (true), and that in turn, he now gets sidelind by Bo-Katan in his own show (also, kind of true). But honestly, I’m not that surprised, and I don’t think this tracks back to Feloni. This tracks back to Favreau. It’s something we have seen in the MCU since it entered its phase 2. The Mandalorian has always been more of Favreau’s than Feloni’s baby, and I’m afraid it shows. Though I guess Bo-Katan’s general involvement is on Feloni; she is his OC after all. (If not even his favorite OC.) And we know that he would like to tell her story.

“All I want is to watch Din travel the galaxy with Grogu, going from place to place.” - I bet you do, honey, but that, too, isn’t a plot, that’s a travel guide to the gffa.

So, we arrived at yet another problem. The plot. To be fair, I don’t think we are seeing the original plot for season three. At least not in its entirety. They plotted the season while Gina Carano was still a cast memeber, and Cara Dune still part of the overall narrative. For a production of that size, Carano was ousted comparatively late; her character most likely already written in at least half the episodes. Since it obviously was decided to not simply fill the gap with another actress, a lot of what was planned now had to be re-written rather quickly in comparison. I think that’s why some things feel so rushed (like Bo-Katan’s arc), while the rest of the story doesn’t really seem to go anywhere.

But, honestly, my biggest “problem” with this season is the absence of a good villain. “It’s time to take back Mandalore.” Yes, my dearest Armorer, but from whom, might I ask? Bo and Din were just there. Nobody stopped them. Who’s going to stop you? Sure, we know that Gideon never made it to his trial and was probably extracted by someone loyal to him - and I guess we can be sure that Elia Kane is involved - but the Covert doesn’t know that. I mean, yeah, we all know that a Mandalore’s greatest problem is Mandalorians, but ... You guys know what I’m getting at. WHO AND WHERE IS OUR VILLAIN???

So, anyway, that was my two cents to the hole debate 😁

Guess one thing still remains true: animated Star Wars is the best Star Wars.

#the mandalorian #the mandalorian season 3 #din djarin #Bo-Katan Kryze #bo katan kryze #star wars #dave filoni #jon favreau #plot? what plot?#who needs a plot?#WHERE IS MY VILLAIN #mandalorians #And when is someone finally going to mention Satine?

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anoray · 10 months

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Ahsoka vs Thrawn pisses me off, because that conflict wasn't built up well at all and rather than get a Rebels season 5 devoted entirely to the characters, we have their arcs revolve around Ahsoka like Ezra, Hera, Sabine deserve better than this shitshow.

Sabine calling Ahsoka "master" lmao what a joke.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts! I think the biggest story development problem I have with Ahsoka spearheading the hunt for Thrawn and Ezra is that she was gone after the end of Season 2. Thrawn entered the picture in Season 3.

Ahsoka never had any involvement in all the trials and tribulations the Rebels went through with Thrawn. Ever. And Thrawn is really the main nemesis for Hera because he invaded her home on Ryloth, he took her Kalikori, and he used it against Hera when she was being tortured by Pryce by goading her about the loss of her brother. To add salt to the wound, Thrawn basically expressed that Hera should feel lucky her family's treasured heirloom would become part of his art collection rather than be tossed away upon her execution . That is all on top of the Rebels who were under Hera's wing on Atollon who got wiped out by Thrawn. So, if anyone has a major bone to pick with Thrawn, it is Hera Syndulla, not Ahsoka.

As for Sabine and Ahsoka, I am curious to see what kind of backstory the show provides regarding their relationship plus how it moves it forward because these two had absolutely zero onscreen time together in Rebels. Because they never had any direct connection to begin with, it was hard to feel excited about them teaming up for the grand search for Ezra at the end of the Season 4 epilogue. Frankly, it will be a real slap in the face to Kanan and Ezra if they make Sabine Force-sensitive with Ahsoka her master. That said, I don't think they'd tease such a huge development in the trailer if that's what's really going on, but I guess we shall see what we shall see.

I intend to view Ahsoka with an open mind and wait until all the episodes air before forming any final opinions. For now, I'm crossing my fingers that this "Season 5 of SWR" per Filoni keeps the Ghost characters front and center as they so deserve if this is indeed the continuation of their story.

#star wars rebels #ahsoka show #things that make you go hmmm #please don't let this show suck #it already doesn't have kanan so there's that #thanks for the message anon!

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ravelights · 7 months

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How I feel about star wars show that I've watched so far (not counting movies).

Ahsoka: Absolutely loved it, had some flaws that held it back a bit, but was overall a great story. Was worried on what they were doing with Sabines character but by the end I was rooting for her, and squealed when she used the force. Feels like it's the first time in star wars that I've seen someone tackle the idea of "the force is in all living" things since rogue one. I wasn't expecting the finally to end on a bitter sweet note, since I thought it was a limited series I was quite confused by it, but knowing that it going to be more then one season I think it's fitting. 7-8/10 just because I think it could do with some improvements in the pacing and some of the dialogue/ needed to be a bit more punched up all around. looking forward to the next season.

Kenobi: The story was great but it clearly was meant to be a movie and the camera work/set up was really bad some times. I loved we got more on the hidden path. Little Leia was great, and the fight with Vader and Obi-wan was heart wrenching. I loved Reva character and her story but I do think it belonged in another show, which is a shame since her story would have been great anywhere else. Sort of hoping it get's another season since I think it would pay off to having another one. 6-7/10

Book of Boba Fett: Mixed feelings about this one, loved the story with the tusken raider and Boba sort of redemption, fennc was amazing I loved there characters. That being said The story felt quite bloated overall and there were some parts that I felt where completely unessary. Biggest hate about this was the fact they shoved the Mandalorian in to it, they had no reason to do that especially with Grogu coming back in that story rather then the Mandalorian. I think it should have been it's own thing and instead have told the story of how Boba got his armour/ flash back to when he was a bounty hunter cause that would have been cool. 4/10

The Mandalorian: Season 1&2 where good, it's fun seeing someone who doesn't have the force have the spotlight for once, and Grogu is a great character love to see more of Yoda species. Din's a fun character I like that he's a bit awkward and just wants to stay out of everything but keeps getting dragged into it anyway. My only gripe with season 3 is what they did with the BOBF cause that caused everything to go out of whack and effect their storylines. That being said everything else was top notch, a bit controversial but the whole bit with the darksaber made sense. Din didn't want the responsibility but was going to honour it and Bo-katan didn't want to fight Din since it goes against everything she's standing (Mandalorian fighting other Mandalorian) and Din's openly her ally and has tried to give the darksaber to her freely without the fight, even if they did end up fighting for it, the fight would have been hollow, for show rather then a real fight in combat to earn the title. So the way they when about doing it fit's both there character, Din's Know Bo-katan is more worthy of the darksaber since he saw her use it in action, so when he saw the chance to give it to her in a way the somewhat satisfied the condition he jumped at the chance. (It's just my little rant but it made complete sense to me on my first watch and I'm a little salty people dunk on that) but yeah, overall season three get's more hate then it deserves. 7/10

Andor: Amazing show, can see why it's so popular. Only problem I find with it is just how...Un-star wars it is. It feels more like a show inspired by star wars then a show set in star wars if you get what I mean. it's probably the first show that is really for an adult audience, well everything else if for a more general audience. Amazing show with some real jaw dropping moments though can't wait for the next season. 9/10

The bad batch: Love it, super cool to see the world building of the first year of the empire and how they took over I feel we don't get enough of the early rise of the empire so this has been a nice take. All the character are great, I do find Omega a little annoying sometimes in the first season, but she mellowed out in the second season. 9/10

Tales of the Jedi: Loved every second of this honestly can't find anything to complain about it Dooku fall and early Ahsoka life was really good and I loved how they told these stories. Probably my only 10/10 from start to finish.

The clone wars: Really depends on the season, I find the earlier season to be a bit on the nose with somethings, and a little silly, but it's still enjoyable. Season four onwards though is a masterpiece and is a solid 10/10 but overall I give it a 8-9/10 just because of the earlier season.

Star wars Rebels: I watched this when it was first coming out I watched the first two season and then a bit of season three before dropping it. Season three wasn't really holding my attention at the time as the story had a very big tonal shift that I wasn't the biggest fan of at the time (also I lowkey hated Ezra new look). However I've re-watched rebels again with my mum and I grew to have a greater appreciation for it and I fell in love with the story and the characters it was great. Yeah it can be a bit goofy at times and some characters arc where a bit rushed/pushed to the side, but it's one of the best animated series of star wars solid 9/10.

#disney's got some issues that I Hope might get fixed at some point #but my main rule of thumb is if it's enjoyable i'm ok with it #I'm not the biggest fan of live action stuff just because I can't get over the fact that those are very real people play those characters #unlike animation or books where I know everything is staged and I find a lot more work goes into it.#Raves adventures in star wars #Star wars

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justalitlecreacher · 3 years

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Ok as much as I hate the events of the Rako Hardeen arc in Clone Wars and deeply wish that the council/Obi-Wan had at the very least told Anakin and Ahsoka what they were planning, I feel like the arc represents a very important turning point in Anakin’s fall and actually shows an important bit of character growth from Attack of the Clones.

Tl;Dr: The Rako Hardeen arc is my favorite and least favorite arc in all of Clone Wars because while it puts Anakin through unnecessary pain it also gives a lot of insight into why he may have fallen in Revenge of the Sith and shows some important character growth

Ok; the most important part of this post/analysis (I think) is to remember how close Anakin and Obi-Wan are. Anakin was placed in Obi-Wan’s care at the age of 9 and from then on Obi-Wan practically raised him. In Attack of the Clones we see Anakin refer to Obi-Wan as the closest thing he has to a father not once, but twice, and one of those two times was directly to Obi-Wan.”OBI-WAN: Why do I think you are going to be the death of me?! ANAKIN: Don't say that Master... You're the closest thing I have to a father... I love you. I don't want to cause you pain.”(Attack of the Clones) and later to Padmé “...He's [Obi-Wan] like my father,...”. This is especially important because when Anakin leaves his mother to become a Jedi in The Phantom Menace, Obi-Wan is literally the only friendly/familiar face in the Temple. Plus in the comics (disclaimer: I have not read all the comics just bits and pieces) we get a glimpse of Anakin training with the other padawans and it’s made clear that at least some of them don’t like Anakin at all. One padawan even refers to him as “just a slave” when shit talking him during training.(which like super fucked up; they def should’ve gotten in trouble cause that don’t seem very Jedi of them ¯\_(ツ)_/¯)

Anyway; we’ve established Anakin and Obi-Wan’s bond. So let’s turn our attention towards someone who deserved so much better; Shmi Skywalker. Her death in Attack of the Clones was the first major turning point in Anakin’s fall to the Dark Side. There is really no excuse for Anakin’s actions after Shmi’s death; he goes to a very dark place, and likely taps into the dark side of the force during the massacre of the Tusken Raiders. But that’s not what we’re talking about rn so back on track.

I bring Shmi’s death up to say that while Anakin was tracking down Obi-Wan’s “murderer” I didn’t fully realize that Obi-Wan had disguised himself as Hardeen and I was genuinely worried that Anakin was about to unalive an innocent man. I really believe that the only thing that stopped Anakin from trying (and maybe succeeding) to kill Obi/Rako was like he said: he knew that Obi-Wan wouldn’t have wanted him to. This is important because the last time Anakin lost a family member he brutally murdered an entire village of Tusken Raiders, children included, and I think it’s safe to say that Shmi “the biggest problem in the universe is nobody helps each other” Skywalker would not have wanted that. I’ve finally arrived at one of my main points; this arc shows a crucial bit of character growth by showing an Anakin that is capable of thinking his actions through and not just reacting out of anger even after the loss of one of the most important people in his life; something he was previously shown incapable of when his anger and grief blind him. This turns this arc into an sort of midway point on Anakin’s fall; he’s clearly tempted to give into his anger and pain again, but he is able to resist this time. A younger Anakin may have killed “Hardeen” then and there.

This scene really contrasts with Anakin’s actions in Revenge of the Sith in a way im not sure how i feel about yet. On one hand it has potential to make Anakin’s actions in Revenge of the Sith feel too out of character. We just saw Anakin able to see past his own emotions in the wake of the death of a loved one so what makes this different? On the other hand this arc can be used to show just how desperate Anakin is to not have to feel that way ever again. It’s also good for showing how much influence Palpatine has had on Anakin in the space between this arc and Revenge of the Sith. As for why Anakin may be unable to think past his own feelings in Revenge of the Sith when he appeared perfectly capable in the arc, a likely reason is that there really wasn't anything Anakin thought he could do for Obi-Wan anymore because he believed him to be dead, but with Padmé, Anakin knew she could be saved if he could just get her the proper care. But his fear of being exiled from the Jedi Order, and his increasing lack of faith in the council led him to believe that he had no choice other than to trust in Palpatine. And no hate to Yoda but im sure when Anakin did try to reach out (even as vaguely as he did) Yoda’s response of “Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose.” didn't appear to be very helpful (especially considering that he is well aware that listening to Ahsoka’s visions and responding appropriately saved Padmé’s life (not sure if Anakin knows about that though)). These three episodes show pretty well how/why Anakin may have felt that he had nowhere to turn but Palpatine.

These groups of episodes actually show negative character growth (is that the right term?) in Anakin. He goes from commiting mass murder rated E for everyone to understanding that his loved ones would not want him to seek revenge in this way, but then he backslides into this lightsaber is rated E for everyone by Revenge of the Sith. Logically he should know that Padmé would never have wanted him to do what he did; he has to know what he’s doing is wrong, but he’s incapable of seeing another way out because he cannot handle even the thought of losing Padmé. He’s too desperate to not lose her, and so sure that there’s no other option that he manages to convince himself that he needs to do this for her. I find this entire arc really interesting but unless i want to be here all day the most i can do here is point out that it exists and that it peaks in the Rako Hardeen arc. Surprisingly i do have a life outside of writing long posts, and i lack the time and energy to analyze all of Clone Wars and write about every event that led to Darth Vader (there are so many). On top of that i actually haven’t seen all of Clone Wars; just the episodes most important to understanding Anakin’s fall.

Onto my next point, we just talked about the growth Anakin showed in this episode; now onto why i believe that this arc was instrumental in Anakin’s fall. (Disclaimer: I do not think that removing this arc alone could have saved Anakin, but i do believe it would have helped a good bit). I’ve already touched on Anakin and Obi-Wan’s bond so im not gonna do that again.

Ive said it before and i will say it again; it was super fucked up of Obi-Wan and everyone else on the Council to use Anakin’s (and Ahsoka’s) reactions Obi-Wan’s “death” for their own gain. It was super manipulative and they absolutely knew what they were doing. Obi-Wan even explicitly says, “Keeping Anakin on the outside was critical. Everyone knows how close we are. It was his reaction that sold the sniper. I'm sure of it.”(Deception season 2 episode 15). He knows just how devastated Anakin would be by his death, and he uses like Anakin and his mental and emotional well-being mean nothing to him (I know this isn’t true but its probably not hard to believe that someone doesn't care about your feelings when they’ve just tricked you into thinking they’ve died for their own gain). The Council really proves time and time again that they do not care about Anakin’s (or maybe anyone’s; Anakin was far from the only one close to Obi-Wan left unaware of his deception) mental or emotional wellbeing, but tbh i think this is the worst example of how callous the Council can be. And on top of all of that it was Obi-Wan who decided to keep Anakin in the dark Obi-Wan who should have known better; if we assume that Anakin is at least 20 in Clone Wars; Obi-Wan has known Anakin for at least 10 years, and has practically raised him from the age of 9, and yet somehow, somehow he had this idea and didn't see a single thing wrong with it. (And they really picked the worst possible person for this; like yea let’s trick the most unstable Jedi we have into thinking his closest friend/ father figure was murdered)

This arc’s main purpose (IMO) is to really show the beginnings of Anakin losing faith in the Jedi and putting more and more faith in Palpatine. Anakin trusted Obi-Wan, and Obi-Wan betrayed that trust. Beyond that Palpatine is able to make Anakin begin to doubt how much the Council is telling him if they didnt tell him something as crucial as this. We even see Anakin parroting Palpatine’s “concerns” of the council not telling Anakin the full truth the Obi-Wan and the end of the arc. This arc is instrumental is establishing Anakin’s loss of faith in the council and shows how much he trusts Palpatine and sees him as a real friend.

Anyway I’m sure I had more I wanted to touch onand if I remember I will definitely edit this post but for the now I just wanna say. A) I love Obi-Wan a lot; this arc just really was not it. I do not understand how he thought this was in any way acceptable but I do still really like him. B) i fully understand that Anakin’s actions are his own and he does take a share of the blame for his own fall.

#what am i doing?#anakin skywalker #obi wan kenobi #rako hardeen #star wars #clone wars #deception arc #clone wars deception #long post #ramble #im so sorry except im not #i hesitate to use the word hyperfixation but not a day has gone by that i havent thougt of Anakin Skywalker at least once #in so long #i have a problem

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marcussour · 3 years

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BTW, since it’s been already a week and since I guess it’s no longer a spoiler, I think it’s finally time to talk about Ahsoka and why her appearance in The Mandalorian was so disappointing.

First, a visual thing. This is how Ahsoka looks like in Star Wars Rebels (a show set 10 years before the events of The Mandalorian), where we last saw her:

And this is how she looks in The Mandalorian:

Even when taking into account the stylization that animation provides, the whole thing with her montrals (the togruta’s “horns”) is there to show the age and growth of the character. Ahsoka’s 41 y/o during The Mandalorian, which is older than what Shaak Ti was during Episode 3, and Shaak Ti looked like this:

Now, I understand that there’s a whole practicality reason behind the “shortening” of the montrals (apparently it had to do with confort and it’s appearance during action scenes), so you can kinda overlook it, but it still feels weird that Ahsoka in her early 40′s looked younger than when she was in her 30′s in Rebels.

Besides, if Disney has the money to digitally erase the “jeans dude” that they overlooked in the background of a scene 2 episodes ago, I’m pretty sure they could have fixed Ahsoka’s montrals during post-production so they looked better.

But beyond the whole appearance (which, like I said, can somewhat be overlooked), my biggest issues where related to the casting and characterization.

Starting by the casting, I know that Rosario Dawson was always the dreamed fan casting. Heck, it was even an option that I liked a couple of years ago, but all that changed the moment the transphobia allegations appeared and that many people kinda overlooked.

With independence of the rumors before this season regarding her apperance and casting, I was shocked to the mere idea that one of my favourite characters was going to be played by someone who had that cloud over them with allegations of physical and psychological violence related to transphobia.

Now, the fact that the person who made the allegations withdrew 18 of the 20 charges (without settlement), including all of those that are related to transphobic violence, changes the panorama somewhat, but the shroud of doubts will always remain (especially when we’re talking about accusations directed to a celebrity who happens to be dating an US senator) and that was always going to affect my reaction towards the episode.

Especially knowing that the social media vocal fan casting was the main reason why Dawson’s was given the role according to Dave Filoni. Because I guess people always assumed that Ashley Eckstein couldn’t play the character in live action, which I think is silly because look at this:

That’s Ashley cosplaying as Ahsoka and doing a magnificent job about it. If she could achieve this with only (expensive I asume) cosplay, imagine what LucasFilm could’ve done with the budget they have for the show.

Especially because you not only prevent the issues regarding the casting, but also because Ashley’s already inside the mind of the character having played it for 12 years; and also because her voice for the character is really special.

Even if she was Anakin’s padawan, in a way she’s also like the daughter or little sister of Anakin, Obi-Wan and Padme. She’s learned and absorbed things from the 3 of them and her voice, especially in Rebels, reflects that. There’s a calm born from experience, and a special type of solemnity and gravitas, and there’s this hint of pride and arrogance (like Maul’s told her during their fight during the siege of Mandalore in Clone Wars).

And, with exception of the scenes where Ahsoka was testing Grogu Baby Yoda and helping Din connect with him, I never felt that in any other part of the episode. And that’s something that goes hand in hand with the characterization problems.

Sure, the show gives you the idea that she’s been for quite some time trying to liberate Corvus, and you can understand that they did things the way they did during their introduction to awe the audience (especially the one that never saw the animated shows), but it’s hard to reconcile her introduction with the Ahsoka we knew beforehand.

In fact, to me the “real” Ahsoka doesn’t appear until the scene where Magistrate Morgan Elsbeth threatens her with the amount of innocent people she’s going to kill in case Ahsoka kept opposing her. Because that’s Ahsoka to me, the one that puts the safety and well being of others above her own all the time. The Ahsoka that, even when she was in dire danger during order 66, never stopped caring and thinking about the wellbeing of the clones that, beyond being her subordinates, she saw them as her brothers. That’s her character’s essence, and while we saw some of it, it just wasn’t enough.

The other big problem I think with her characterization is her refusal to train Baby Yoda considering his attachment towards Mando and how that can end badly, because she saw it first hand with regards to Anakin (yes, it was one heck of a scene I’ll admit, but in the great context it feels weird).

Obviously there’s a practic reason why they won’t do it (of course the show is not going to get rid of Baby Yoda), but it feels weird when Ahsoka is supposedly in the middle of the search for Ezra and Thrawn (I know that there’s been some talk or rumors of a retcon where the Rebels epilogue, that happened before the events of the Mandalorian, is supposedly going to be placed further down the line, in order to have a new show where Ahsoka and Sabine are looking for Ezra, but that hasn’t been confirmed).

Yes, I know that it was part of Baby Yoda’s journey and whether he ends up on the light or dark side, but the whole talk about attachment feels like something the padawan Ahsoka from the first seasons of Clone Wars would say, not the Ahsoka that left the jedi order, that saw how the rest of the galaxy lived and thought of the jedi, and that knew that, despite Palpatine’s work, the jedi had a lot to blame regarding being architects of their own demise. There are plenty of similarities between Ahsoka’s and Luke’s thoughts in The Last Jedi, in regards of the jedi and the conceptual failures in their reasoning before order 66.

So to see Ahsoka in The Mandalorian being so “binary” in her way of thinking, so black and white, so “jedi”, felt like a regression of her character development. Of course, something could’ve happened to her after Ezra saved her through the World between Worlds, and then after the Rebels epilogue, but until we don’t know for sure, it felt like a step back for her growth, especially considering how many people where introduced to her through The Mandalorian, it’s kinda of a disservice to the character (here’s hoping that enough people check Clone Wars and Rebels to see the real character journey that she went through).

So, that’s it. I’ve been wanting to write this down for days. Because even though the episode was really good, there were enough reasons and things that made it impossible for me to enjoy it as much as I would’ve like in other circumstances. Yes, there were some things that I’ve been able to rationalize and understand after the episode aired, but I’m never getting my first impression back.

Ahsoka is one of my favourite characters of everything (I’m pretty sure that, if it weren’t for the childhood nostalgia regarding having seen the OT when I was a child -and being obsessed with SW ever since- she would probably be above Luke in my list of favourite characters), and Clone Wars was a really important show for me (after Empire Strikes Back, is my favourite Star Wars anything).

And I can’t just conform or be happy with her appearance in this episode. The whole “just being there” is not enough, especially when you see how characters like Bo-Katan, Cobb Vanth or Boba Fett were all given their due and well portrayed in a great light, but you can’t say the same about a character that’s more important, and who sadly had this whole cloud surrounding it since the first casting rumours appeared.

Ahsoka is a character that represents the best of Star Wars, so it’s sad to see that her appearance and portrayal not only was dissapointing, but it ended up hurting so many people in the LGBTQA+ community, and especially in the trans community, many of whom are Star Wars fans that have the same passion and love for Ahsoka. And like I said the other day, the trans community concerns must be front and center and must be listened by everyone.

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bedlamsbard · 5 years

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If you're tipsy, can you talk about the Rebels series finale?

I am no longer tipsy because that was almost twenty-four hours ago so even I have sobered up from my one bottle of cider by now. *g* But here are some thoughts, I guess.

I try not to talk about the finale because I hate it, which is not something I say lightly or want to sling around, and I know a lot of people really liked it. But I hate it, and it killed a lot of my faith in Star Wars in general and Dave Filoni specifically, and anytime anyone says that they liked it or that it worked well, I lose a little bit of trust in their taste, even though there are all kinds of reasons that a piece of media will work for one person and not for another.

But here are five thoughts, some of which I’ve said before and some of which I haven’t, and then the one big thing I can’t get over.

(Under a cut for negativity!)

The purgill ex machina really, really did not work for me – I know that the official explanation from Filoni/Lucasfilm is that Ezra needed to do something that Thrawn absolutely could not predict, because Thrawn doesn’t understand the power of the Force. The problem with the way they did it is that all through S3 Hera and Thrawn were set up against each other, so the way it comes out is that Hera was not smart enough or good enough to beat Thrawn through pure tactics. I’m sure they didn’t do it on purpose, but as it is it’s a bad look, especially once you put “grieving widow” and “pregnant” into the equation. Throughout the show they’ve had trouble balancing the Force and Imperial storylines; S1 did it best because they were the same story line, but S2 started to split them, S3 split them entirely, and S4 tried to cobble them back together but couldn’t pull it off. The purgill ex machina basically tried to duct tape them together, but at the cost of fucking over literally everyone.

So, I didn’t read the Thrawn trilogy until earlier this year, so I didn’t really have any conception of the park Rukh played in the Legends mythos until recently, but in that context holy shit does Rukh’s death look and feel really weird, especially since the entire thing is played for comedy.

“we’re trying to save the environment” *blows the Imperial Complex up over the previously unused sea* (or lake? I can’t remember whether it’s a sea or a lake, because while it’s been there since S1 it’s never used in any way)

the single character who got most screwed over by this narrative was Sabine. I’m not really comfortable with the way that S4 tried to put Sabine and Ezra on an equal footing as the main characters of the show – yes, Sabine is a main character, yes, she’s fantastic, but prior to S4 the entire narrative revolved around Ezra. I’m not actually very keen on the “Sabine should have been Mandalore” idea, but they rushed the Mandalore plot at the end of S3/beginning of S4, and then, without any kind of explanation beyond “you guys need me,” Sabine is back with the Ghosts. (A very good explanation would be “a lot of people think I should have been Mandalore and staying would have caused trouble with Bo-Katan, so I had to leave.”) They start to set up her story line; they immediately drop it. And then they subordinate it to Ezra’s by making her the ~guardian of Lothal, with the heavy implication that she stayed on Lothal after the battle and didn’t leave. (And this is not openly implied by the narrative, but because we know Hera (along with Zeb and Rex) was off doing stuff for the Rebellion, the implication to me has also been that Sabine stayed on Lothal and raised Jacen.)

so fun fact: I kind of hate Ahsoka now. I might have been okay with her just in the WBW, but the way her reappearance is played in the finale drives me up the wall and I absolutely despise it. I’m genuinely not certain if it’s something that can ever be salvaged for me, and the fact that a lot of people clearly see it as a good thing makes me even crazier.

Ultimately, my biggest problem with the finale is “oh, did you like this found family? well, FUCK YOU.” I’ve never seen a show do it so blatantly or in such a horrifying fashion. The idea that after Ezra rockets himself into Wild Space with Thrawn that no one looks for them for 5-7 years is absolutely insane to me, especially after the show has spent four seasons (or three and a half, rather) building up how important the Ghosts are to each other and how they’ll do anything to save or protect each other, no matter how dangerous, no matter if it threatens the cause, no matter what. The finale sends all of that out the window. It makes it look like it was a weird fluke or worse, that it was a flaw, following up on how Kanan’s death comes as a result of rescuing Hera. It makes it look like not only did Ezra take away from that that he had to die, or at the very least remove himself, but the lesson that the others took away was “rescuing your friends/family is not a good thing to do; it’s not worth the potential cost.” And then they say that the potential cost was not worth paying. It’s against everything else that they spent the previous three seasons building up; I have no idea what they think they were saying. (And honestly, my opinion of Lucasfilm is currently so low that I’d absolutely believe that they really were openly trying to say “you shouldn’t risk The Cause for an individual,” because honestly…the way they’ve been banging self-sacrifice into our heads for the past four years…Fire Across the Galaxy is starting to look more and more like a fluke.)

#bedlam watches rebels #kaweebo #bedlam answers

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