#i wonder if filoni did this on purpose

[haydanakin]

Can we please just fire Dave Filoni and Kathleen Kennedy now. I'm so tired of Padme and Naboo erasure. Both of them are important to Star Wars! And I hate the foreshadowing of the ST. The ST should've never happened at all. Screw JJ Abrams and Rian whatever his last name is.

ANYWAYS, the Jedi Order is reborn, and Luke is guiding the new Jedi. The New Republic has formed, and the galaxy is recovering from years of darkness from the Empire. What are sequels again? Idk. Sequels don't exist. I just see a new golden era in the galaxy.

If you're wondering, anon is responding to this post

Part I - Dave Filoni I will say Dave Filoni under the direction of George Lucas gave us amazing stuff-- Ahsoka Tano, Rex, Fives, Echo, Jesse, expansion of Order 66, the Clone Wars themselves. But him on his own? Not so great.

Ahsoka's walkabout in s7 was boring, the two sisters had potential but blundered in the execution. The BadBatch arc in s7 featured super amazing Anakin, and I did like the whole 'rescue Echo' plot line, but the Bad Batch as a TV show… I have some criticisms of it.

I like the ' what happens to the Clones after the Empire forms? They've served their purpose-- are they still relevant?' story line. It would be a great one to explore with normal clones. In fact, following Cody around, a clone who did participate in Order 66 and had his mind taken over, would've been a novel experience.

Instead we get genetically enhanced clones who don't have programing chips cause they're special snowflakes and don't partake in Order 66 bc they're special. Getting to see their side of Order 66 really brought nothing-- it's the same as the Jedi. Why are the clones turning against the Jedi? No one knows! It's rinse and repeat watered down version of ROTS, and i'd much prefer watching that movie over the first two episodes of TBB.

I will also give credit-- Dave Filoni and Favereau gave me The Mandalorian. A side character who doesn't know he's the main character just trying to make his way in the larger GFFA. He's a normal guy with a job. Then new dad has to deal with his adopted kid having Wizard powers. ME Likey. It's similar to Andor in down to earth, not life and death, Jedi/Sith fate of the Galaxy type of thing. It's what normal life would've been like in GFFA.

Third season and some of second season haven't felt like that though. Din keeps meeting all these famous people that are tied of in the 'Fate of the Galaxy' --Bo Katan, Ahsoka, Boba Fett, Cad Bane, Luke fucking Skywalker-- instead of more normal people. I do appreciate the smallness of season 1-- we had Peli, and Omera, and Karga. Characters not known to the larger galaxy, but still important in their own right.

Part II- Female Characters

Star Wars has never appreciated or loved it's female characters with the exception of Princess Leia. Original Trilogy follows Luke-- male character, who with the help of an older male character, goes and finds another male character pilot to help them infiltrate a small moon space ship full of male characters.

There are exactly TWO female speaking characters in A New Hope and one gets kriffed off to 'enhance male pain'.

Now, by nature of the story, Padme Amidala get shafted before she was even ever named or created -- Luke was raised by his aunt and uncle so something must have happened to his mother. She is 'unknown mother' defined only relationship with her son and then later to her husband.

It's not until the Phantom Menace when she gets her own storyline, that is little to non effected by her relationship to Anakin. She's a queen who has someone invade her planet, and with the help of two Jedi and the Gungan People, saves the day.

Anakin helps of course, by first winning them enough credits to get off tattooine, and second by blowing up the control ship, but both situations could be solved without Anakin. He becomes the unnecessary character-- his introducution is so low-key you don't realize the story is about him until Revenge of the Sith. He's a supporting side character in both Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones.

Both prequel movies that don't feature Anakin as protagonist or antagonist are hated by a large majority of SW fans, and usually because of the crime of not being perfect. Jar Jar Binks is just as annoying as C-3PO imo, but because the protagonist of TPM is Padme Amidala, the movie is hated, as opposed to ANH which features Luke.

Padme's fate was written before she even had a chance to exist, and therefore has no agency. I've seen others label her as weak, pointless, lame, because she dies of a broken heart, 'oh why didn't she live for her children' SHE DIDN'T HAVE A CHOICE OKAY. George had already killed her by then, she can't live for her children when the author has decided otherwise. The nature of a prequel is it must narratively co-exist with the story already told. Padme must die or be removed from the picture so that Luke can be raised by his Aunt and Uncle. Anakin must fall to the Dark-Side so that he can be Darth Vader and do a heel-face turn at the end of ROTJ. the end has already been written. The beginning must fall in line.

Getting back on topic. Fathers are mentioned in The Mandalorian- which makes sense since it's about a Father and his Son. oh wait that's seems that's what Star Wars is about. Prequels were Anakin picking which father-figure he wanted to follow. Luke saving his Father. Din Djarin adopting a son with magic powers.

But Bo-Katan mentions her father TWICE and her sister doesn't even get a mention. Even though Bo was there at Satine's death, and the reason Bo left death watch and stood up to Maul. When Satine died, Mandalore split and fractured and any attempt of restoring mandalore just resulted in more fracturing and shattering.

In Obi-Wan Kenobi not mentioning Padme was criminal. The whole reason Anakin fell was to save her. Her daughter and son were featured prominently and her name didn't come up once besides two vague mentions.

SW needs to treat it's female characters better. Right now Leia is still the only one that's almost universally loved by the fans. Even Bo Katan has issues. By not acknowledging her past and mistakes and death watch , instead of making her a stronger character, the writers have made her weak. Making mistakes and learning from them and growing from them are what causes her to be relatable. So far, Mando S3 has been rushing her redemption process. They're having her reunite Mandalore, but she hasn't atoned or made up for her failings in the past.

It was her involvement in Death Watch that lead to her sisters death, and the writers essentially ignoring that and trying to hide it is lazy and the antithesis to character growth.

Part III - Disney's Anti- Prequel campaign.

The sequel trilogy… is problematic. While trying to emulate and give us the 'star wars' feeling again, all the films did was undermine the finale of the original trilogy.

What was Darth Vader's return to the light for if we're just going to bring back Palpatine? What was the point of Luke's rejection of the darkside and declaring himself a Jedi in the face of evil itself, if we're just going to have him become a hermit on a planet because he gave up? What was the point of the Alliance to Restore the Republic if we're just going to blow it up because it's corrupt?

The problem with trying to avoid the prequel trilogy is the sequel trilogy just became the prequel trilogy. Hear me out.

We have a corrupt Republic that is destroyed by an Empire. A Jedi student falls to the Dark Side and serves the Empire. A desert dwelling person with magical powers is told that they are the key to saving the galaxy. Am i talking about the Prequel Trilogy or the Sequel Trilogy?

The difference is the prequel trilogy was planned. From start to finish, no half baked retconning or switching directions (both original and sequel trilogies suffered from this) George Lucas had the entire prequels laid out. Their largest crime I believe is in writing/dialogue-- not the plot. It's complicated-- how does a republic turn into an empire? How does a Jedi Knight become a sith? How does the Jedi Order become extinct? Through War and Careful Planning. So while the prequels are not perfect, their world building brought much needed light and explanation to the Original Trilogy. It answered questions, but the answers were not what everyone liked.

They wanted the Republic to be conquered by an outside Empire, not for it to be one and the same. Fans wanted Anakin to be strong and heroic, and not a man who is crippled by self-doubt and his greatest failure is his greatest strength- his breath and depth of love.

The sequel trilogy should've been the struggle of not repeating the same mistakes. Of avoiding the past not repeating it. Of Luke not giving up and not becoming Obi-Wan. Of Han not becoming Qui-Gon Jinn or Ben Skywalker not becoming Darth Vader. Or Rey being her own self and not being Luke 2.0 aka finding out that her grandfather is evil just like Luke found out that his father was evil.

Star Wars is was the first to suffer from Disney's new nostalgia machine where live action play by play of beloved animated movies are created without souls; and sequels that are just the same story retold with the next generation. 'Happily Ever After The End' no longer exists, the hope of a happy ending destroyed with the next sequel announcement. Where does it end Disney? When you've wrung the last love and enjoyment out of your original titles? When consumers no longer go to the movies to see your new Frankenstein movie? When catering Fan Service is no longer profitable?

Disney's addiction to sequels and reboots found it's first home in Star Wars Sequel Trilogy and continues in the rest of the Star Wars universe. What is Boba Fett if not a sequel to Mandalorian? What is Ahsoka if not a sequel to Rebels? What is Obi-Wan Kenobi if not a sequel to the Prequel Trilogy? What is Andor if not a prequel to Rogue one?

The Mandalorian didn't start out that way. Was it in the same universe? yes and so by nature it makes it a sequel. But there were new original characters and an original story. Now it's become a sequel and a prequel; the connecting link instead of a stand alone.

So yes anon, Padme and Satine deserve better. But you know what? We deserve better too.

#star wars #shale.txt #rant #anti-disney #padme amidala #satine kryze #bo katan kryze #the mandalorian #anti sequel trilogy #anonymous #asked and answered #anon #sw meta #dave filoni #anti dave finilo #but also pro??? #anti bad batch

[425599167]

In general, what're your thoughts on tales of the jedi?

It was pretty good. Filoni got a prequel series, and decided to pack it full of as much dramatic irony as he possibly could. Baby Ahsoka is very very cute. I'm surprised we didn't get to see Plo Koon arrive to take her. Jesse must feel terrible about shooting Ahsoka. We finally found out what happened to Yaddle. Dooku seems to find the Great Tree relaxing just like Barriss and I’m starting to wonder if that tree is evil. Though it’s unfortunate the Ahsoka novel seemingly doesn't exist anymore because who are these people?

This is really nitpicky, but the part that I'm most hung up on was Anakin's training method. I know the narrative purpose it serves and how it worked out, but I can't get over how stupid and inefficient it is. Buddy, she's not gonna do any better when you restart five seconds after she wakes up. Maybe wait until she stops wobbling. Put down a mat so she doesn't crack her skull on the floor after getting stunned in the middle of a spinny flip. Also, stun shots are wider and easier to block, the low-power training bolts are closer to real combat and don't knock people out for an hour. How long were you all standing around? Ahsoka woke up on the floor, did any of you check if she was injured?

#tales of the jedi spoilers

[spectre-six]

How to take the "i" out of "Jedi"

#star wars #star wars rebels #luke skywalker #kanan jarrus #cinematic parallels #sort of #a new hope #behind the scenes #set photo #star wars memes #star wars humor #lightsabers #i thought the master was supposed to be the smart one #lmao #i wonder if filoni did this on purpose #as an homage to this hilarious meme #love how both obi-wan and ezra are in the background #sharing the same glazed wtf looks on their faces #😂😂😂 #my edit

[sabugabr]

Why the Clone problem in Star Wars animated media is also a Mandalorian problem, and why we have to talk about it (PART 2)

Hi! I finally finished wrapping this up, so here’s part 2 of what has already become a mini article (you can find Part 1 here, if you like!)

And for this part, it won’t be as much as a critic as part 1 was, but instead I’d like to focus more on what I consider to be a wasted potential regarding the representation of the Clones in the Star Wars animated media, from the first season of The Clone Wars till now, and why I believe it to be an extension of the Mandalorian problem I discussed in part 1 —  the good old colonialism.

Sources used, as always, will be linked at the end of this post!

PART 2: THE CLONES

Cody will never know peace

So I’d like to state that I won’t focus as much on the blatantly whitewashing aspect, for I believe it to be very clear by now. If you aren’t familiar with it, I highly recommend you search around tumblr and the internet, there are a lot of interesting articles and posts about it that explain things very didactically and in detail. The only thing you need to know to get this started is that even at the first seasons of Clone Wars (when the troopers still had this somewhat darker skin complexion and all) they were still a whitewashed version of Temuera Morrison (Jango’s actor). And from then, as we all know, they only got whiter and whiter till we get where we are now, in rage.

Look at this very ambiguously non-white but still westernized men fiercely guarding their pin-up space poster

Now look at this still westernized but slightly (sarcasm) whiter men who for some reason now have different tanning levels among them (See how Rex now has a lighter skin tone? WHEN THE HELL DID THAT HAPPEN KKKKKKK) Anyway you got the idea. So without further ado...

2.1 THE FANTASY METAPHOR

As I mentioned before in Part 1, one thing that has to be very clear if you want to follow my train of thought is that it’s impossible to consume something without attributing cultural meanings to it, or without making cultural associations. This things will naturally happen and it often can improve our connection to certain narratives, especially fantastic ones. Even if a story takes place in a fantastic/sci fi universe, with all fictional species and people and worlds and cultures, they never come from nowhere, and almost always they have some or a lot of basing in real people and cultures. And when done properly, this can help making these stories resonate in a very beautifull, meaningfull way. I actually believe this intrisic cultural associations are the things that make these stories work at all. As the brilliant american speculative/science fiction author Ursula K. Le Guin says in the introduction (added in 1976) of her novel The Left Hand of Darkness, and that I was not able to chopp much because it’s absolutely genious and i’ll be leaving the link to the full text right here,

“The purpose of a thought-experiment, as the term was used by Schrodinger and other physicists, is not to predict the future — indeed Schrodinger's most famous thought-experiment goes to show that the ‘future,’ on the quantum level, cannot be predicted — but to describe reality, the present world.

Science fiction is not predictive; it is descriptive.”

[...] “Fiction writers, at least in their braver moments, do desire the truth: to know it, speak it, serve it. But they go about it in a peculiar and devious way, which consists in inventing persons, places, and events which never did and never will exist or occur, and telling about these fictions in detail and at length and with a great deal of emotion, and then when they are done writing down this pack of lies, they say, There! That's the truth!

They may use all kinds of facts to support their tissue of lies. They may describe the Marshalsea Prison, which was a real place, or the battle of Borodino, which really was fought, or the process of cloning, which really takes place in laboratories, or the deterioration of a personality, which is described in real textbooks of psychology; and so on. This weight of verifiable place-event-phenomenon-behavior makes the reader forget that he is reading a pure invention, a history that never took place anywhere but in that unlocalisable region, the author's mind. In fact, while we read a novel, we are insane —bonkers. We believe in the existence of people who aren't there, we hear their voices, we watch the battle of Borodino with  them, we may even become Napoleon. Sanity returns (in most cases) when the book is closed.”

[...] “ In reading a novel, any novel, we have to know perfectly well that the whole thing is nonsense, and then, while reading, believe every word of it. Finally, when we're done with it, we may find — if it's a good novel — that we're a bit different from what we were before we read it, that we have been changed a little, as if by having met a new face, crossed a street we never crossed before. But it's very hard to say just what we learned, how we were changed.

The artist deals with what cannot be said in words.

The artist whose medium is fiction does this within words. The novelist says in words what cannot be said in words. Words can be used thus paradoxically because they have, along with a semiotic usage, a symbolic or metaphoric usage. [...]  All fiction is metaphor. Science fiction is metaphor. What sets it apart from older forms of fiction seems to be its use of new metaphors, drawn from certain great dominants of our contemporary life — science, all the sciences, and technology, and the relativistic and the historical outlook, among them. Space travel is one of these metaphors; so is an alternative society, an alternative biology; the future is another. The future, in fiction, is a metaphor.

A metaphor for what?” [1]

A metaphor for what indeed. I won’t be going into what Star Wars as a whole is a metaphor for, because I am certain that it varies from person to person, and everyone can and has the total right to take whatever they want from this story, and understand it as they see fit. That’s why it’s called the modern myth. And therefore, all I’ll be saying here is playinly my take not only on what I understand the Clones to be, but what I believe they could have meant.

2.2 SO, BOBA IS A CLONE

I don’t want to get too repetitive, but I wanted to adress it because even though I by no means intend to put Boba and the Clones in the same bag, there is one aspect about them that I find very similar and interesting, that is the persue of individuality. While the Clones have this very intrinsically connected to their narratives, in Boba’s case this appears more in his concept design. As I mentioned in Part 1, one of the things the CW staff had in mind while designing the mandalorians is that they wanted to make Boba seem unique and distinguishable from them, and honestly even in the original trilogy he stands out a lot. He is unique and memorable and that’s one of the things that draws us to him.

And as we all know, both Boba and Jango and the Clones are played by Temuera Morrison — and occasionally by the wonderful Bodie Taylor and Daniel Logan. And Temuera Morrison comes from the Maori people. And differently from the mandalorian case, where we were talking about a whole planet, in this situation we’re talking about portraying one single person, so there’s nowhere to go around his appearance and phenotypes, right? I mean, you are literally representing an actual individual, so there’s no way you could alter their looks, right?

(hahahaha wrong)

And besides that, I think that is in situations like that (when we are talking about individuals) that the actor’s perspective could really have a place to shine (just the same as how Lea was mostly written by Carrie Fisher). In this very heart-warming interview for The New York Times (which you can read full signing up for their 5-free-articles-per-month policy), Temuera Morrison talks a little bit about how he incorporated his cultural background to Boba Fett in The Mandalorian:

“I come from the Maori nation of New Zealand, the Indigenous people — we’re the Down Under Polynesians — and I wanted to bring that kind of spirit and energy, which we call wairua. I’ve been trained in my cultural dance, which we call the haka. I’ve also been trained in some of our weapons, so that’s how I was able to manipulate some of the weapons in my fight scenes and work with the gaffi stick, which my character has.” [2]

The Gaffi stick (or Gaderffii), btw, is the weapon used by the Tusken Raiders on Tatooine, and according to oceanic art expert Bruno Claessens it’s design was inspired by wooden Fijian war clubs called totokia. [3]

And I think is very clear how this background can influence one’s performance and approach to a character, and majorly how much more alive this character will feel like. Beyond that, having an actor from your culture to play and add elements to a character will higly improve your sense of connection with them (besides all the impact of seeying yourself on screen, and seeying yourself portrayed with respect). It would only make sense if the cultural elements that the actor brought when giving life to a fictional individual would’ve been kept and even deepened while expanding this role. And if you’re familiar with Star Wars Legends you’ll probably rememeber that in Legends Jango would train and raise all Clone troopers in the Mandalorian culture, so that the Clones would sing traditional war chants before battles, be fluent in Mando’a (Mandalore’s language) and some would proudly take mandalorian names for themselves. So why didn’t Filoni Inc. take that into account when they went to delve into the clones in The Clone Wars?

2.3 THE WHITE MINORITY

First of all I’d like to state that all this is 100% me conjecturing, and by no means at all I’m saying that this is what really happened. But while I was re-watching CW before The Bad Batch premiere, something came to my mind regarding the whitewashing of the Clones, and I’d like to leave that on the table.

So, you know this kind of recent movies and series that depicted like, fairies in this fictional world where fairies were very opressed, but there would be a lot of fairies played by white actors? Just like Bright and Carnival Row. If you’ve watched some of these and have some racial conscience, you’ll probably know where I’m going here. And the issue with it is that often this medias will portray real situations of racism and opression and prejudice, but all applied to white people. Like in Carnival Row, when going to work as a maid in a rich human house, our girl Cara Delevingne had to fight not to have her braids (which held a lot of significance in her culture) cut by her intolerant human mistress, because the braids were not “appropriate”. Got it? hahahaha what a joy

Look at her ethnic braids!!!

One of the reasons this happens might be to relieve a white audience of the burden of watching these stories and feeling what I like to call “white guilt”. Because, as we all know, white people were never very oppressed.  Historically speaking, white people have always been in privileged social positions, and in an exploitative relationship between two ethnic groups, white people very usually would be the exploiters  —  the opressors. So while watching situations (that every minority would know to be very real) of opression in fiction, if these situations were lived by a white actor, there would be no real-life associations, because we have no historical parameter to associate this situation with anything in real life — if you are white. Thus, there is less chance that, when consuming one of these narratives, whoever is watching will question the "truthfulness" of these situations (because it's not "real racism", see, "they're just fairies"). It's easier for a person to watch without having to step out of their comfort zone, or confront the reality of real people who actually go through things like that. There's even a chance that this might diminish empathy for these people.

Once again, not saying this is specifically the case of the Clones, majorly because one of the main feelings you have when watching CW is exactly empathy for the troopers (at least for me, honestly, the galaxy could explode, I just wanted those poor men to be happy for God’s sake). But I’ll talk more about it later.

The thing is, the whole thing with the Clones, if you think about it, it’s not pretty. If you step on little tiny bit outside the bubble of “fictional fantasy”, the concept is very outrageous. They are kept in conditions analogous to slavery, to say the least. To say the more, they were literally made in an on-demand lab to serve a purpose they are personally not a part of, for which they will neither receive any reward nor share any part of the gains. On the contrary, as we saw in The Bad Batch, as soon as the war was over and the clones were no longer useful as cannonballs, they were discarded. In the (wonderful) episode 6 of the third season of (the almost flawless) Rebels, “The Last Battle”, we're even personally introduced to the analogy that there really wasn't much difference in value between clones and droids, something that was pretty clear in Clone Wars but hadn't been said explicitly yet.

In fact, technically the Separatists can be considered to be more human than the Republic. But that's just my opinion.

So, you had this whole army of pretty much slaves. I know this is a heavy term, but these were people who were originally stripped of any sense of humanity or individuality, made literally to go to war and die in it, doing so purely in exchange for food and lodging, under the false pretense that they belonged to a glorious purpose (yes, Loki me taught that term, that was the only thing I absorbed from this series). Doing all this under extremely precarious conditions from which they had no chance of getting out, actually, getting out was tantamount to the death penalty. They were slaves. In milder terms, an oppressed minority. And again, I don't know if that was the case, but I can understand why Filoni Inc would be apprehensive about representing phenotically indigenous people in this situation. Especially since we in theory should see Anakin and Obi-Wan as the good guys.

(and here I’d like to leave a little disclaimer that I believe the whole Anakin-was-a-slave-once plot was HUGELY misused (and honestly just badly done) both in the prequels and in the animeted series  — maybe for the best, since he was, you know, white and all that, and I don’t know how the writers would have handled it, but ANYWAY — I believe this could have been further explored, particularly regarding his relationship with the Clones, and how it could have influenced his revolt against the Jedi, and manipulated to add to his anger and all that. I mean, we already HAD the fact that Anakin shared a deeper conection with his troopers than usual)

Yes, Rex, you have common trauma experiences to share. But anyway, backing to my track

As I was saying, we are to see them as good guys, and maybe that could’ve been tricky if we saw them hooping up on slavery practices. Like, idk, a “nice” sugar plantation owner? (I don’t know the correct word for it in english, but in portuguese they were called senhores de engenho) Like this guy from 12 Years a Slave?

You know, the slave owner who was “nice”. IDK, anyway  

No one will ever watch Clone Wars and make this association (I believe not, at least), of course not. But if we were to see how CW deepened the clone arcs, and see them as phenotypically indigenous, subjected to certain situations that occur in CW (yes, like Umbara), maybe some kind of association would’ve been easier to make.

I mean, come onnnn I can’t be the only one seeing it

You see, maybe not the whole 12 Years a Slave association one, but I don’t think it’s hard to see there was something there. And maybe this could’ve been even more evident if they looked non-white. Because historically, both black peoples and indigenous peoples went through processes of slavery, from which we as a society are still impacted today. And to slave a people, the first thing you have to do is strip them from their humanity. So it might be easier to see this situation and apply it to real life. And maybe that could lead to a whole lot of other questions regarding the Clones, the Republic, the Jedi, and even how chill Obi-Wan was about all this. We might come out of it, as lady Ursula Le Guin stated in the fragment above, a bit different from what we were before we watch it.

Maybe even unconsciously, Filoni Inc thought we would be more confortable watching if they just looked white (and because of colonialism and all that, but I’m adding thoughts here).

And of course I don’t like the idea of, idk, looking at Obi-Wan and thinking about Benedict Cumberbatch in 12 Years a Slave or something like that. Of course that, if the Clones were to play the same role as they did in the prequels, to obediently serve the Jedi and quietly die for them, that would have been bad, and hurtfull, and pejorative if added to all that I said here. But the thing is that Clone Wars, consciously or not, already solved that. At least to my point of view, they already managed to approach this situation in an incredible competent way, that is giving them agency.

2.4 AGENCY AND INDIVIDUALITY

So, one of the things I love most in Clone Wars is how it really feels like it’s about the Clones. Like, we have the bigger scene of Palpatine taking over, Ahsoka’s growth arc, Anakin’s turn to The Dark Side, the dawn of the Jedi and rise of the Empire and all that, but it also has this idk, vibe, of there’s actually something going on that no one in scene is talking about? And this something is the Clones. We have these episodes spread throughout the seasons, even out of chronological order, which when watched together tell a parallel story to the war, to everything I mentioned. Which is a story about individuals. Clone Wars manages to, in a (at least to me) very touching way, make the Clones be the heros. 

Can you really look me in the eye and say that Five’s story didn’t CRASH you like a full-speed train???? He may not have the same amount of screen-time as the protagonists, but his story is just as important as theirs (and to me, it might be the most meaningful one). Because he is the first to break free from the opression cicle all the Clones were trapped into. 

His story can be divided into 6 phases.

1 - First, the construction of his individuality, in other words, the reclaiming of his humanity. 

2 - Then the assimilation of understanding yourself as an individual of value, and then extending this to all his brothers, not as a unit, but as a set of individuals collectively having this same newly discovered value.

3 - This makes him realize that in the situation they find themselves in, they are not being recognized as such. This makes him question the reality of their situation.

4 - Freed from the illusion of his state, he seeks the truth about it.

5 - This then leads him to seek liberation not just for himself, but for all the Clones (it's basically Plato's Cave, and I'm not exaggerating here).

6 - And finally, precisely because he has assimilated his individuality and sought freedom for himself and his brothers, he is punished for it.

His story is all about agency. Agency, according to the Wikipedia page that is the first to appear if you type “agency” on Google, is that agency is “the abstract principle that autonomous beings, agents, are capable of acting by themselves” [4], and this abstract principle can be dissected in 7 segments:

Law - a person acting on behalf of another person

Religious -  "the privilege of choice... introduced by God"

Moral -  capacity for making moral judgments

Philosophical -  the capacity of an autonomous agent to act, relating to action theory in philosophy

Psychological -  the ability to recognize or attribute agency in humans and non-human animals

Sociological -  the ability of social actors to make independent choices, relating to action theory in sociology

Structural - ability of an individual to organize future situations and resource distribution

All of them apply here. And this is just the story of one Clone. We know there are many others throughout the series. 

Agency is what can make the world of a difference when you are telling a story about an opressed minority. Because opressed minorities do exist, and opression exists, and if you are insecure about consuming a fictional media about opressed minorities, see if they have agency might be a good place to start. So that’s why I think that everything I said before in 2.3 falls short. Because the solution already existed, and was indeed done. Honestly, making the non-agency representation of the Clones (the one we see in the prequels) to be the one played by Temuera Morrison, and then giving them agency in the version where they appear to be white, just leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.

And honestly, if they were to make the Clones look like Temuera Morrison, and by that mean, take more inspiration in the Māori culture, maybe they wouldn’t even have to change much of their representation besides their facial features. As I said in part 1, I am not by any means an expert in polynesian cultures, but there was something that really got me while I was researching about it. And is the facial tattoos. More precisely, the tā moko. 

2.5  TĀ MOKO

Once again I’ll be using the Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand as source, and you can find the articles used linked at the end of this post. 

Etymologically speaking,

“The term moko traditionally applied to male facial tattooing, while kauae referred to moko on the chins of women. There were other specific terms for tattooing on other parts of the body. Eventually ‘moko’ came to be used for Māori tattooing in general.” [5]

So moko is the correct name for the characteristic tattoos we often see when we look for Māori culture. 

These ones ^. Please also look this book up, it’s beautiful. It’s written by  Ngahuia Te Awekotuku, a New Zealand academic specialising in Māori cultural issues and a lesbian activist. She’s wonderful. 

According to the Tourism NewZealand website, 

“In Māori culture, it [moko] reflects the individual's whakapapa (ancestry) and personal history. In earlier times it was an important signifier of social rank, knowledge, skill and eligibility to marry.”

“Traditionally men received moko on their faces, buttocks and thighs. Māori face tattoos are the ultimate expression of Māori identity. Māori believe the head is the most sacred part of the body, so facial tattoos have special significance.”

[...] “The main lines in a Māori tattoo are called manawa, which is the Māori word for heart.” [6]

Therefore, in the Māori culture, there’s this incredibly deep meaning attributed to the (specific of their culture) tattooing of the face. The act of tattooing the body, any part of the body, is incredibly powerful in many cultures around the globe. The adornment of the body can have different meanings for these different cultures, but all of which I've come into contact with do mean a lot. It’s one of the oldest and most beautiful human expressions of individuality and identity. 

And in the Star Wars universe, the Clones are the group that has the deeper connection to, and the best narrative regarding, tattoos. In fact, besides Hera’s father, Cham Syndulla, the Clones are the only individuals to have tattooed skin, at least that I can recall of. And they do share a deep connection to it. 

For the Clones, the tattoos (added to hairstyles) are the most meaningful way in which they can express themselves. Is what makes them distinguishable from each other to other people. Tattoos are one of the things that represent them as individuals.

And I’m not BY ANY MEANS sayin that the Clones facial tattoos = Moko. That’s not my point. But that’s one of the things I meant when I said earlier about the wasted potential of the representation of the Clones (in my point of view). Because maybe if it were their intention to base the culture of the clones after the polynesian culture, maybe if it were their intention to make the Clones actually look like Temuera Morrison, this could have meant a whole deal. More than it’d appear looking to it from outside this culture. Maybe if there were actual polynesian people in the team that designed the Clones and wrote them (or at least indigenous people, something), who knows what we could’ve had. 

Even in Hunter’s design, I noticed that if you take for example this frame of Temuera from the movie River Queen (2005), where we can have a closer look at the design of his tā moko

Speaking purely plastically (because I don’t want to get into the movie itself, just using it as example because then I can use Temuera himself as a comparison), see the lines around the contours of his mouth? Now look at Hunter’s. 

I find it interesting that they choose to design this lines coming from around his nose like that. But at this point I am stretching A LOT into plastic and semiotics, so this comparison is just a little thing that got my attention. I know that his tattoo is a skull and etc etc, I’m just poiting this out. And it even makes me a little frustrated, because they could have taken so many interesting paths in the Bad Batch designs. But instead they choose to pay homage to Rambo. And I mean, I like Rambo, I think he’s cool and all that.

Look at him doing Filipino martial arts

But then, as we say in Brasil, they had the knife and the cheese in their hands (all they had to do was cut the cheese, but they didn’t). Istead, it seems like in order to make Hunter look like Rambo, they made him even whiter??? 

2.6 SO...

Look, I love The Clone Wars. I’m crazy about it. I love the Clones, I love their stories and plots. They are great characters and one of the greatest addings ever made in the Star Wars universe. They even have, in my opinion, the best soundtrack piece to feature in a Star Wars media since John Williams’ wonderful score. It just feels to me as if their narrative core is full of bagage, and meanings, and associations that were just wiped under the carpet when they suddenly became white. It just feels to me as if, once again, they were trying to erase the person behing the trooper mask, and the people they were to represent, and the history they should evoke.

I don’t know why they were whitewashed. Maybe it was just the old due racism and colonialism. Maybe it was meant for us to not question the Jedi, or our good guys, or the real morality of this fictional universe where we were immersed. But then, was it meant for what?

The Clones were a metaphor for what? 

(spoiler: the answer still contains colonialism)

Thank you so much for reading !!!! (and congratulations for getting this far, you are a true hero)

SOURCES USED IN THIS:

[1] Ursulla K. Le Guin, 'The Left Hand of Darkness', 14th ACE print run of June, 1977

[2] Dave Itzkoff, 'Being Boba Fett: Temuera Morrison Discusses ‘The Mandalorian’', The New York Times, published Dec. 7, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/07/arts/television/the-mandalorian-boba-fett-temuera-morrison.html (accessed 15 September 2021)

[3] Bruno Claessens, 'George Lucas' "Star Wars" and Oceanic art' , Archived from the original on December 5, 2020, https://web.archive.org/web/20201205114353/http://brunoclaessens.com/2015/07/george-lucas-star-wars-and-oceanic-art/#.YEiJ-p37RhF (accessed 15 September 2021)

[4]  Wikipedia contributors, "Agency," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Agency&oldid=1037924611 (accessed September 17, 2021)

[5] Rawinia Higgins, 'Tā moko – Māori tattooing - Origins of tā moko', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/ta-moko-maori-tattooing/page-1 (accessed 17 September 2021)

[6] Tourism New Zealand, ‘The meaning of tā moko, traditional Māori tattoos’,  The Tourism New Zealand website, https://www.newzealand.com/us/feature/ta-moko-maori-tattoo/ (accessed 17 September 2021)

#THE CLONES DESERVED BETTER WE ALL KNOW IT #star wars #star wars animated series #the bad batch #clone troopers #tbb #mandalorian #colonialism #whitewashing #UnwhitewashTBB #semiotics #visual culture #cw #the clone wars #star wars the clone wars #rex #hunter #the bad batch hunter #dave filoni #temuera morrison #maori culture #moko #anakin skywalker #star wars rebels #obi wan #capitan rex #cody

[padawanlost]

Thankyou for the answer to my last question. You're amazing (did I say that already?) So I'm gonna bug you with another question. A lot of people say that Anakin was obsessed with fighting/really aggressive and had no time for the spiritual aspects of the Jedi, but is this actually supported in canon or "fanon". I recall reading (here or on Fandom Flailing) that Anakin found meditating hard because "he burned like a fire inside". This doesn't suggest spiritual apathy though.

awww thank you so much! That’s always nice to hear <3

Hey! I was wondering what you think Anakin’s, Obi-Wan’s, and Ahsoka’s fatal flaws are?

Not that long ago I made this post (I just reblogged it) comparing canon!Anakin to fanon!Anakin if you’re interested. It covers all the main aspects of his personality and how they were perceived by fans. The only part of canon that supports the idea of Anakin being macho/aggressive is The Clone Wars. Of course, Filoni himself went on record saying he changed the character from what he was in the movies *on purpose* to make more like a classic male action hero. And, in the  war of ‘canons’, the movies trump tv shows.

As for the mediation thing, yeah, he had a hard time meditating but, as you said, it had nothing to do with laziness or apathy. 

Mace took a shallow breath and closed his eyes. “Look inward, Anakin.” “I don’t want to,” Anakin said breathlessly, his voice jerking. “I don’t like what I see.” "Is it possible you see nothing more than the tensions of approaching adulthood?“ Mace asked. “No!” Anakin cried. “I see… too much, too much.” “Too much what?” “I burn like a sun inside!” The boy’s voice rang out in the chamber like a bell. [Greg Bear’s Rogue Planet]

Obi-Wan opened his eyes. His meditation had not gone very far, just to the point of isolating his thoughts from all language and social connections, to the edge of a simple unity with the Force, and he returned easily enough. Anakin seldom meditated, though he certainly knew how. [Greg Bear’s Rogue Planet]

Anakin wrinkled his nose. “I don’t meditate very often.” “I’ve noticed.” I get to a certain point and I just overload. It’s like I’m plugging into a supernova. Something goes blooey in me. I don’t like it.“ [Greg Bear’s Rogue Planet]

Obi-Wan was surprised and annoyed when he didn’t find Anakin in his quarters at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. He’s supposed to be practicing his meditation exercises, Obi-Wan thought. Where could he be? [Ryder Windham’s The Life and Legend of Obi-Wan Kenobi]

But, just to be clear, none of this means he NEVER mediated. As he grew older he did learn how to control himself better and was capable of meditating.

[Anakin] sat meditating in the cold night air, a backpack strapped to his shoulders, staring at the three moons without blinking so that they became a blur and quieted his mind. His breathing had slowed; his pulse rate had dropped dramatically. In that state—and he reached it rarely these days—things spoke to him, and he didn’t always want to hear them. There were layers in his awareness. […] In the depths, though, there was Tatooine. It wasn’t just memories. It was the accumulated misery, greed, and desperation of ages, generations of beings in poverty and servitude, and his small experience of that was barely visible in the mass. It was the voice that got to him. A wordless voice whispered, asking why he did as he was told and never asked the obvious questions, or demanded answers. Why didn’t you make them come back for her? Why didn’t you see she was throwing you to safety, sacrificing herself and sinking back into this terrible ocean so that you could have a chance at life? Why didn’t you come back sooner, change the course of events, and rescue her before it was too late? [KAREN TRAVISS. THE CLONE WARS]

#ask #anon #sw meta #meta: anakin #txt #anakin skywalker

[agoddamn]

Yes, I DID stop directly before Deception, yes I know how funny this is

Also still think it's very funny that Star Wars embraced the term 'younglings' so they could avoid having Obi-Wan say "he killed the children" in ROTS

I do wonder how they faked the falling part? He, uh, ragdolls pretty hard. Vest doesn't defend against that

TCW breakneck pacing in full swing here with how fast the funeral goes by

"Here's your face-breaking nanites. Painkiller? Why?"

So Yoda clearly has some reservations here, even at this late stage; this wasn't exactly a universally-loved plan. Obi-Wan's arguments that Anakin's reaction sells it sound more like he's trying to convince himself, to me.

Bald Obi-Wan is so fucking cursed

Anakin pronounces Rako with a short A, but the others (incl Narrator) have said it Ray-ko

>holding the shitty prison mug like a teacup

YOU WERE ALMOST CONVINCING FOR A SECOND

...stupid sexy Bane

Bane usually has these sorta neck-tubes and a thing going up the back of his head? I guess it's not a necessary life-supporting system if they took it off him. Thought it had to do with the mechanical tone his voice has, but apparently that's natural

Hardeen tenor with Obi-Wan accent sure is...something

So he's using the codename Ben this early, huh? It's my personal headcanon that it comes from a kid in the creche struggling to pronounce his name (Obi-Wan -> O-bwan -> O-ben)

That's the most jacked Rodian I've seen in my life

According to the subs this bleached kid is Boba Fett but that...can't be right...he's practically a redhead???

His voice sounds really weird, too

"Kill the guards," says the man still firing stun blasts

This is a cute riot and all but it's no Boiling Rock

So this prison is pretty corrupt if Eval is already nearly running it and Bane breaks out enough to have a routine

This system is...so fucking wasteful...

LEGENDARY TOAST CLONE

Little-known fact: if an interesting clone is onscreen for more than thirty seconds without being killed Dave Filoni suffers physical pain

>parkour Bane

Good god, this is four episodes?

Bane and Obi-Wan have distinct walk cycles, but I still get the vibe that characters tend to be the same height for rigging shortcut purposes. Tho, storyboarding often demands similar heights as well

>Obi-Wan clanks the pole on the floor so the guy will turn around and he can nail him in his un-helmeted face

lmao

>swirling a martini with a limp wrist

...you were so close

"You...BETRAY Bane? Oh, jail! Jail for Hardeen for one thousand years!"

I like how Ahsoka didn't question just how the Chancellor has freshest news on new fugitives?

>white girl wasted frog alien

Background shit is the best part of this show

Damn Ahsoka, this barkeep didn't even do anything. Just wanted a bribe. No complaints about the choking?

Alright, so as soon as Anakin goes off the rails and things get risky Yoda wants to read him in. He's not trying to preserve the secrecy over their lives. What the fuck do people complain about with this arc.

Anakin's already forgotten that dramatic "the man you killed would rather you rot in jail" proclamation lol

Action in this show tends to be kinda dull and formulaic but Obi-Wan's CQC takedowns were cool

So that's another tick in the "fandom overinflates bond powerlevel" column; if Obi-Wan COULD have silently identified himself there, he sure fucking would have. Could argue that Anakin is definitely not listening to the Force right now, but that's one more tick in the "not that powerful" column; if you have to actively TRY and read a bond--as opposed to passively getting little mental Skype pings--it's not nearly as strong as people seem to think

#boots watches tcw #I LIVE

[sl-walker]

If I may ask; what is your opinion of Rebel's Era (canon) Maul?

Whilst I didn't feel like he was written out of character per se and I understand that Rebels aired prior to TCW Season 7, I felt like it was somewhat disappointing after what happened during Order 66.

I understand that he has lost hope and is, very reasonably, afraid of Sheev, but there's a few things that confuse me like the fact that whilst running the biggest criminal empire he never looked for Kenobi prior to Rebels (he knew Ashoka survived, so why shouldn't Kenobi?) or how exactly he ended up on Malachor and nobody came to look for him their criminal boss. Now the Dathomir-part was actually interesting, but I do feel, yet again, like it could have used more exposition and explaination considering he was there like 3x times in his entire life and everyone's dead, so who even sustained the Ichor after Talzin's death? Maul wasn't on Dathomir for at least some time.

It just felt like they knew Maul would draw in viewers, not like they had a plan for his character and that was kind of a pity?!

Obviously Maul couldn't interfere with pre-existing canon but at some point I really wondered why he was still in the story considering that Ezra's literal use of the darkside, due to Mauls prior influence & the holocron, for what we can assume to be months never mattered again after a single episode for some reason.

I love seeing Maul but I wished they did more with his character? I mean, it hurts to read e.g. Son of Dathomir, but it's still good and builds his character.

The only major thing I found consistent was him missing Savage, which obviously just broke my heart.

Dying by Kenobi's hand was poetic, but of course really sad and I wished there had been more to this scene - either conveyed through animation/dialouge or by having them part ways differently.

Also I can't believe Maul - a criminal mastermind - didn't manage to figure out that Kenobi was on Tatooine after seeing Twin Suns for almost the majority of a season. You know. The guy who used to track and hunt down whomever Sidious required him too for years. The same zabrak that basically ran a prison into the ground in lockdown whilst not/barely even touching upon his force powers and finding the dealer who managed to stay undercover for probably decades. Also the planet they literally first met.

I know the creators and Sam Witwer have repeatedly liked Maul to Sisyphus, but I don't think this applies to Rebel's Maul. Rebel's Maul, besides his motivation/need to find a new brother apprentice, just seems so hopeless and borderline suicidal? He doesn't know if it's worth trying anymore, which makes the idea of running a criminal empire so odd, seeing as he knows his insignificance to Sidious, whose downfall is all he is really yearning/hoping for. I know that his desperation always rivals his intense need to survive, but I really didn't got the latter from Rebels.

Idk, maybe it's just me, but I'm very keen on your thoughts.

(2/2) I'm asking you in particular about Rebels Maul because I feel like maybe I might be missing something or am lacking a certain insight into his character which you might have.

I think Solo made about as much sense as tits on a boar. I even said that when it came out. Maul's whole purpose to building a criminal empire was to have enough power to get to Kenobi. He had no interest in being rich or anything else, and frankly, even in TCW, he left Almec to run things on Mandalore while he nursed his grudge. So this whole Crimson Dawn crap is just-- weak. It makes no sense. It was fanservice.

I'm sure I've written my opinions on Rebels before, but in brief:

1.) Maul's characterization wasn't terrible, but the writing was super fucking lazy. No kidding. Especially his ending. That was Filoni basically splooging all over himself about how dEeeEEeP he was being without realizing... man, nothing here even makes sense. He took a character he didn't create and didn't want to bring back in the first place and giggled to himself behind his stupid hat because he got to kill him off. Since Disney's shit, they're like, "Oh, sure."

2.) Maul already hurt Kenobi and took his revenge when he skewered Satine. Like you, I think the only reason he would have sought Kenobi out would have been because he wanted closure. Be it death or simply some ending. I explored what would have happened had Kenobi been a proper adult and apologized for his part in Maul's suffering when I wrote In defiance, because I absolutely believe they could have done some considerably more interesting with all of that.

3.) Honestly, like-- every time they've killed Maul off in canon, it's been a dumbass mistake. Because he's popular and once you close-end a character, it becomes a lot harder to do anything meaningful with them in canon. Because they offed him, he will never have a genuinely meaty storyline again and will forever be relegated to cheap cameos that capitalize on his popularity.

Dunno if that's what you're looking for Anon-buddy. Mostly, I just think the ending of Maul in Rebels came down to super lazy writing.

#salt mines

[gffa]

OKAY, IF I’M GONNA DO THIS, I’M GONNA DO IT PROPERLY.  WHICH MEANS YEAH IT’S GONNA GET REALLY LONG. A couple of things to say ahead of time:  Lucasfilm’s Story Group has always said CANON > WORD OF GOD when it comes to these matters, so when I quote canon examples from supplementary materials that contradict what he says, that’s LF’s official position, but that doesn’t mean that an influential person like Dave’s views couldn’t affect how things will be shaped in the future, like Deborah Chow listening to this may be influenced by it on the Obi-Wan show, despite that Master & Apprentice contradicts him.  It’s an incredibly murky area!  Mileages are going to vary.   Another thing to keep in mind is that Dave Filoni never worked on The Phantom Menace, that was long, long before his time at Lucasfilm (which I think he joined sometime around 2007? and TPM was released in 1999), that he has worked with George more than probably anyone else, but we cannot and should not treat him as infallible or the True Authority on things, because even Dave himself has said things like: “I mean, I know why I did that and what it means, but I don't like to explain too much. I love for the viewers to watch stuff and come up with their own theories -- and they frankly come up with better things that I intended.”  --Dave Filoni, Entertainment Tonight 2020 interview Or, in the same episode as the above Qui-Gon interpretation:

So, when I dig into this, I’m not doing this out of a sense of malice or even that I suddenly hate Dave or don’t appreciate all the incredible things he’s brought to SW, but in that I disagree with his take, Dave understands that he doesn’t always get it right, that he enjoys that fans come up with different things than he does and sometimes he likes those even more.  There’s room for both of us and, for all that Dave mentions George a lot (and, hey, fair enough, the guy worked with George and I’m just quoting what George Lucas has said) doesn’t mean that this is straight from George, especially because I have never seen George Lucas utter so much as a peep about how the Jedi were responsible for Anakin’s fall.  He has explicitly and frequently talked about how Anakin’s fall was his own choice, as well as I’ve never seen him say anything Jedi-critical beyond “they were kind of arrogant about themselves”.  I have read and watched every George Lucas interview I could get my hands on and maybe I’m still missing something, but that’s literally the extent of him criticizing the Jedi I have EVER seen. (It’s from the commentary on AOTC where he put in the scene with Jocasta to show they were full of themselves, but I also think it’s fair to point out that Obi-Wan immediately contradicts this by going to Dex for help, showing that it’s not necessarily a Jedi-wide thing.) Before I go further, I want to say:  this is not a post meant to tear down Qui-Gon, he is a character I actually really do love, but the focus is on showing why the above interpretation of him is wrong, which means focusing on Qui-Gon’s flaws. He has many wonderful qualities, he is someone who cared deeply and was a good person, I think things would have been better had he lived!  But Anakin’s choices did not hinge on him, because Anakin’s choices were Anakin’s, that has always been the consistent theme of how George talks about him, the way he talks about the story is always in terms of “Anakin did this” or “Anakin chose that”, and the Jedi are very consistently shown as caring, they believed very much in love and Dave’s own show (well, I say “his own show”, but honestly TCW was George’s baby primarily and he had a lot of direct, hands-on say in crafting it, through at least the first five seasons) is plenty of evidence of that. I’m not going to quote the full thing because this is already a monster post, I’m just going to focus on the Jedi stuff, because I like the other points a lot, but if you want the full text, it’s here.  The relevant part is: “In Phantom Menace, you’re watching these two Jedi in their prime fight this evil villain. Maul couldn’t be more obviously the villain. He’s designed to look evil, and he is evil, and he just expresses that from his face all the way out to the type of lightsaber he fights with. What’s at stake is really how Anakin is going to turn out. Because Qui-Gon is different than the rest of the Jedi and you get that in the movie; and Qui-Gon is fighting because he knows he’s the father that Anakin needs. Because Qui-Gon hasn’t given up on the fact that the Jedi are supposed to actually care and love and that’s not a bad thing. The rest of the Jedi are so detached and they become so political that they’ve really lost their way and Yoda starts to see that in the second film. But Qui-Gon is ahead of them all and that’s why he’s not part of the council. So he’s fighting for Anakin and that’s why it’s the ‘Duel of the Fates’ – it’s the fate of this child. And depending on how this fight goes, Anakin, his life is going to be dramatically different. “So Qui-Gon loses, of course. So the father figure, he knew what it meant to take this kid away from his mother when he had an attachment, and he’s left with Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan trains Anakin at first out of a promise he makes to Qui-Gon, not because he cares about him. When they get Anakin, they find him on Tatooine, he says “Why do I feel like we’ve found another useless lifeform?” He’s comparing Anakin to Jar Jar and he’s saying “this is a waste of our time, why are we doing this, why do you see importance in these creatures like Jar Jar Binks and this ten-year-old boy? This is useless.” “So, he’s a brother to Anakin eventually but he’s not a father figure. That’s a failing for Anakin. He doesn’t have the family that he needs. He loses his mother in the next film. He fails on this promise that he made, “mother, I’m going to come back and save you”. So he’s left completely vulnerable and Star Wars is ultimately about family. So that moment in that movie which a lot of people I think diminish, “oh there’s a cool lightsaber fight”, but it’s everything that the entire three films of the prequels hangs on, is that one particular fight. And Maul serves his purpose and at that point died before George made me bring him back, but he died.“  --Dave Filoni  I’m going to take this a piece at a time to show why I really disagree with the content of both the movies and The Clone Wars supporting what Dave says and, instead, contradicts it a lot. The rest of the Jedi are so detached and they become so political that they’ve really lost their way and Yoda starts to see that in the second film. He doesn’t explain what this means, but I’m pretty sure that he’s referring to this conversation: OBI-WAN: “I am concerned for my Padawan. He is not ready to be given this assignment on his own yet.” YODA: “The Council is confident in its decision, Obi-Wan.” MACE WINDU: “The boy has exceptional skills.” OBI-WAN: “But he still has much to learn, Master. His abilities have made him... well.... arrogant.” YODA: “Yes, yes. A flaw more and more common among Jedi. Hmm... too sure of themselves they are. Even the older, more experienced ones.” MACE WINDU: “Remember, Obi-Wan, if the prophecy is true, your apprentice is the only one who can bring the Force back into balance.” OBI-WAN: "If he follows the right path.” None of that has anything to do with being “detached” and, further, I think this is something that’s come up with Dave’s view of Luminara a lot, because he’s described her (re: the Geonosis arc):  “We were trying to illustrate the difference between the way Anakin is raising his Padawan, and how much he cares about her, and the way Luminara raises her Padawan. Not that Luminara is indifferent, but that Luminara is detached. It’s not that she doesn’t care, but she’s not attached to her emotionally.” Here, he says that the Jedi care, in the above, he says that the Jedi don’t care, which makes me think there’s a lot of characterization drift as time goes on, especially when fandom bombards everyone with the idea that the Jedi were cold, emotionless, and didn’t care.  However, look at Luminara’s face in that arc, when she’s talking with Anakin:

That is not the face of someone who doesn’t care.  She even smiles brightly in relief when Barriss is shown to be okay, that this really doesn’t convey “detached” in an unloving or uncaring way.  (We’ll get to attachment later, that’s definitely coming.) (I’m also mostly skipping the political thing, because I think that’s just a fundamental disagreement of whether Jedi should or should not lean into politics.  My view basically boils down to that I think ALL OF US should be leaning more into politics because we are citizens who live in the world and are responsible for it, and the Jedi are no different.  This is evidenced by:  - M&A’s storyline has Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan saving the day specifically because they play politics, that’s how they manage to free the slaves, through playing politics and being part of the Republic/having Senate backing. - The Clone Wars has shown that the Jedi believe “lasting change can only come from within” and “it’s every citizen’s duty to hold their leaders accountable” when Ahsoka teaches the cadets on Mandalore, as well as that politics are not inherently bad, given that Padme and Bail are working to make the system better or “create lasting change from within [the system]” - "Trying to serve the greater good does not always make you popular” says Padme Amidala in a very caring speech - Star Wars Propaganda makes the case that the Jedi might have won the war had they leaned more into politics. - Sometimes the Jedi get unfairly accused of playing politics when there’s just no good choice and they still have to choose one or the other.) But Qui-Gon is ahead of them [re: caring and loving] all and that’s why he’s not part of the council. This is flat-out wrong in regards to canon.  Mileages are going to vary, of course, on how much one takes a novel into consideration, but Dave Filoni is not a fan with the luxury of deciding what is or isn’t canon, he works on Star Wars where canon is canon.  Now, does that mean canon will never contradict itself, especially if Dave gets to write something for Qui-Gon?  Of course not, SW isn’t immune to continuity errors and they themselves have never said otherwise, even when fans want to hold them to that standard. However, this is still pretty much a big “that’s not what happened” instance.  In Master & Apprentice, the Jedi Council offer a seat to Qui-Gon on the Council, specifically BECAUSE he has different opinions from them and they welcome that.  (Excerpt here.)      “We hope it will also be our gain,” Mace replied. “Qui-Gon Jinn, we hereby offer you a seat on the Jedi Council.”      Had he misheard? No, he hadn’t. Qui-Gon slowly gazed around the circle, taking in the expressions of each Council member in turn. Some of them looked amused, others pleased. A few of them, Yoda included, appeared more rueful than not. But they were serious.      “I admit—you’ve surprised me,” Qui-Gon finally said.“I imagine so,” Mace said drily. “A few years ago, we would’ve been astonished to learn we would ever consider this. But in the time since, we’ve all changed. We’ve grown. Which means the possibilities have changed as well.”      Qui-Gon took a moment to collect himself. Without any warning, one of the turning points of his life had arrived. Everything he said and did in the next days would be of great consequence. “You’ve argued with my methods often as not, or perhaps you’d say I’ve argued with yours.”      “Truth, this is,” Yoda said.      Depa Billaba gave Yoda a look Qui-Gon couldn’t interpret. “It’s also true that the Jedi Council needs more perspectives.” Ultimately, Qui-Gon is the who turns them down and gives up a chance to shape the Jedi Council because he doesn’t like the shape they’re taking.  That he does become less political, but this is after he’s argued that the Jedi should be working to push the Senate harder, so when he has a chance to help with that, he turns it down.  It has nothing to do with caring and loving, it’s about Qui-Gon’s desire to not have to deal with the work himself, when he wants to be more of a hippie Jedi.  (I’ve written a lot about Qui-Gon in M&A, why I actually think it’s really spot-on to someone who can be both really kind and really kind of a dick, but it’s not the most flattering portrayal, even if narrative intention likely didn’t mean what came across to me.  I think this post and this post are probably the most salient ones, but if you want something of an index of the web that’s being woven with all the various media, this one is good, too.) So he’s fighting for Anakin and that’s why it’s the ‘Duel of the Fates’ – it’s the fate of this child. And depending on how this fight goes, Anakin, his life is going to be dramatically different. I have only ever seen George Lucas talk about Anakin’s fate in one instance and it’s this:  “It’s fear of losing somebody he loves, which is the flipside of greed. Greed, in terms of the Emperor, it’s the greed for power, absolute power, over everything. With Anakin, really it’s the power to save the one he loves, but it’s basically going against the Fates and what is natural.“ –George Lucas, Revenge of the Sith commentary I’ve made my case about why I think Anakin’s fate is about that moment in Palpatine’s office, and so I’m not fundamentally opposed that “Duel of the Fates” is about Anakin’s fate, but here’s what George has provably said about the “Duel of the Fates” part of the story: - In the commentary for The Phantom Menace during “Duel of the Fates” and none of Dave’s speculation is even hinted at, there’s more focus on the technical side of things and the most George talks about is that it’s Obi-Wan who parallels Luke in going over the edge during the fight, except that instead of a Sith cutting off a Jedi’s hand, it’s a Jedi cutting a Sith in half, drawing the parallels between them. - He does say of the funeral scene that this is where Obi-Wan commits to training Anakin and how everything is going to go (though, in canon we see that Obi-Wan still struggles with this a bit, but Yoda is there to support him and nudge him into committing even more to Anakin, because the Jedi are a supportive community to each other).  This is some solid evidence for that Obi-Wan is already caring about Anakin beyond just Qui-Gon. - Then here’s what he says about the “Duel of the Fates” fights and themes of them in "All Films Are Personal": George Lucas: “I wanted to come up with an apprentice for the Emperor who was striking and tough. We hadn’t seen a Sith Lord before, except for Vader, of course. I wanted to convey the idea that Jedi are all very powerful, but they’re also vulnerable — which is why I wanted to kill Qui-Gon. That is to say, “Hey, these guys aren’t Superman.” These guys are people who are vulnerable, just like every other person. “We needed to establish that, but at the same time, we wanted the ultimate sword fight, because they were all very good. It sort of predisposes the sword fight between Anakin and Obi-Wan later on. There’s real purpose to it. You have to establish the rules and then stick with them. The scene illustrates just how Jedi and Sith fight and use lightsabers.” “So Qui-Gon loses, of course. So the father figure, he knew what it meant to take this kid away from his mother when he had an attachment, and he’s left with Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan trains Anakin at first out of a promise he makes to Qui-Gon, not because he cares about him.  We’ll get to the “attachment to his mother” thing in a bit--but, for now, let’s just say, George Lucas’ words on this are not that attachment to her was a good thing. Fair enough that “not because he cares about him” is up to personal interpretation, but canon has also addressed the topic of Obi-Wan’s treatment of Anakin and Obi-Wan stepped up to the plate on this.  In addition to how we see Obi-Wan REPEATEDLY being there for Anakin and being concerned and caring about him, they specifically talk about Qui-Gon and overcome this hurdle.

No, Obi-Wan is not Anakin’s father figure, on that we definitely agree.  Anakin never really even treats Obi-Wan like a father--he says “you’re the closest thing I have to a father” in Attack of the Clones, as well as he says Obi-Wan practically raised him in The Clone Wars “Crystal Crisis” story reels, but Anakin has never actually acted like Obi-Wan is his father--”then why don’t you listen to me?” Obi-Wan points out in AOTC--as well as Obi-Wan glides past those remarks, which I’ve always taken that he doesn’t want to reject Anakin’s feelings, knowing that Anakin can be sensitive about them, but neither does he want to confirm them. This does not mean Obi-Wan was not supportive, caring, and loving.  He says, “I loved you!” to Anakin in Revenge of the Sith, he asks after him and if he’s sleeping well in Attack of the Clones, and even George Lucas himself said that the elevator scene was set up TO SHOW OBI-WAN AND ANAKIN CARE FOR EACH OTHER:

PUTTING THE REST UNDER A READ MORE FOR A BETTER LENGTH REBLOGGABLE VERSION, IF  YOU WANT.

This is further evidenced by how the Jedi do see themselves as family, they just don’t need to put it into strict nuclear family dynamics:     - “You were my brother, Anakin!  I loved you!”  [–Obi-Wan Kenobi, Revenge of the Sith]      - “We are brothers, Master Dibs.” [–Mace Windu, Jedi of the Republic - Mace Windu]      - “Did your parents bicker?” she asked. “The adoptive ones, I mean.”         A slow smile broke across Ashla’s face, curling first one side of her mouth and then the other. Whatever she was remembering, Kaeden could tell it was good.         "All the time,“ Ashla said, almost as if she were talking to herself. [–Kaeden Larte, Ahsoka Tano, Ahsoka]      -  Vos, brought to the Temple even younger than most, felt that he had hundreds of brothers and sisters, and it seemed that whenever he went into the dining hall he ran into at least half of them. [Dark Disciple]       - “It was not his birthplace, exactly, but the Jedi Temple was where Quinlan Vos had grown up. He’d raced through its corridors, hidden behind its massive pillars, found peace in its meditation hall, ended-and started-fights in rooms intended for striking blows and some that weren’t, and sneaked naps in its library. All Jedi came here, at some point in their lives; for Quinlan, it always felt like coming home when he ran lightly up the stairs and entered the massive building as he did now.” [Dark Disciple] Brothers, sisters, and other more non-traditional kinds of family are not lesser and Obi-Wan and Anakin absolutely were family, just as the Jedi are all family to each other, so, no, there was no “failing” Anakin, except in Anakin’s mind, perhaps.  (In that, I can agree.  But not on a narratively approved level, canon too thoroughly refutes that for me.) Rebels as well pretty thoroughly shows that non-traditional families are meaningful and just as important--we may joke that Hera is “space mom”, but she’s not actually Ezra or Sabine’s mother, Kanan is not actually their father, and even if they sometimes stray into aspects of those roles (as the Jedi do as well in the movies and TCW), that they don’t need that traditional nuclear family structure.  Mentor figures--and Kanan is Ezra’s mentor--are just as meaningful and needful as a “dad”.  And I’m kind of :/ at the implication that anyone without a dad/father figure or mom/mother figure is being “failed”. When they get Anakin, they find him on Tatooine, he says “Why do I feel like we’ve found another useless lifeform?” He’s comparing Anakin to Jar Jar and he’s saying “this is a waste of our time, why are we doing this, why do you see importance in these creatures like Jar Jar Binks and this ten-year-old boy? This is useless.” Whether or not Obi-Wan is being genuinely dismissive in this movie (I think you could make a case either way), the idea that Qui-Gon is better than Obi-Wan about this, as shown through Jar Jar isn’t exactly very supported given how Qui-Gon and Jar Jar first exchange words:

QUI-GON: “You almost got us killed. Are you brainless?”   JAR JAR:  “I spake.”   QUI-GON: “The ability to speak does not make you intelligent.” Qui-Gon is just as bad as everyone else to Jar Jar, he’s not somehow elevated above them. It’s also baffling because, Dave, I have watched your show.  The Jedi are specifically shown to be kind to people and creatures, not considering them “useless”.  Henry Gilroy (who was the co-writer for The Clone Wars and frequently appeared in featurettes on the same level as Dave Filoni) explicitly draws this to The Jedi Way, that “life is everything to the Jedi“, when he said this about the Ryloth episodes:

(Caps cribbed from Pan’s blog, because I cannot make another gif, save me, please.)      Henry Gilroy in an Aggressive Negotiations Interview:  "Obi-Wan truly is a Jedi in that he’s like, ‘Okay, I’m not going to murder these creatures [in the Ryloth arc of The Clone Wars].  They’re starving to death.  They’ve basically been unleashed against these people as a weapon, but it’s not their fault. They’re just doing what they do.  They’re just animals who wanna eat.’     "So the idea was–and I think there was an early talk about how, 'Oh, yeah, he’ll go running through them and slicing and dicing them and chop them all up or whatever, and save his guys.  And I’m like, 'Yeah, but that’s not really the Jedi way.  He’s not just gonna murder these creatures.’     "And I know the threat is [there], to save one life you have to take one, but the idea of him [is]: why can’t Obi-Wan just be more clever?  He basically draws them in and then traps them.     "It says something about who the Jedi are, they don’t just waste life arbitrarily.  And someone could have gone, 'Oh, yeah, but it would have been badass if he’d just ran in there with his lightsaber spinning and stabbed them all in the head!’  And 'Yeah, you’re right, I guess he could be that, but he’s trying to teach his clones a lesson right then, about the sanctity of life.’       "That is the underlying theme of that entire episode.  Which is:  A tactical droid is using the people as living shields.  Life means nothing to the Separatists.  The droids.  But life is everything to the Jedi.  And even though he doesn’t have to say that, it’s all through the episode thematically.“ It’s also Obi-Wan who teaches Anakin about kindness to mindless creatures in the Obi-Wan & Anakin comic:

"These beasts are nearly mindless, Anakin.  I can feel it.  They are merely following their nature, they should not die simply because they crossed our path. Use the Force to send them on their way.” Now, fair enough if you want to say Obi-Wan was taught by Qui-Gon, but also Qui-Gon is dead by that point and Obi-Wan growing into being more mature is his own accomplishment, not Qui-Gon’s, especially given that we see Qui-Gon himself being pretty dismissive to Jar Jar in TPM. This isn’t unique thing either, Padme is incredibly condescending to Jar Jar in “Bombad Jedi” and expresses clear annoyance with him to C-3PO when sighing over him.  Jar Jar is a character you kind of have to warm up to, pretty much the only one we’ve seen consistently being favorable to him is Yoda (and maybe Anakin, though, Anakin doesn’t really interact with him a ton) and Mace Windu warms up to him considerably in “The Disappeared” and even specifically is shown to be teaching him and helping him, which is a huge theme of the Jedi and how much they care.

So, ultimately, the point I’m winding my way towards is--the other Jedi do show kindness and consideration to Jar Jar Binks, including characters like Mace Windu, so if you’re judging the Jedi based on that, the conclusion of Qui-Gon somehow being more compassionate and loving is really pretty thoroughly disproved by The Phantom Menace and The Clone Wars themselves. So, he’s a brother to Anakin eventually but he’s not a father figure. That’s a failing for Anakin. He doesn’t have the family that he needs. He loses his mother in the next film. He fails on this promise that he made, “mother, I’m going to come back and save you”. So he’s left completely vulnerable and Star Wars is ultimately about family.  You could be charitable and say this is just from Anakin’s point of view that it’s a “failing”, but within the context of what Dave’s saying, it’s clearly meant as a more narratively approved take, not just Anakin’s point of view, and I really, really dislike the idea that Anakin--or anyone, really--needs a traditional nuclear family, ie a “mom” and/or a “dad”, or else it’s a “failing” for them. Setting aside that the idea that Qui-Gon would need to be Anakin’s dad to be kind to hi (which is ?????) is contradicted by The Clone Wars as well.  Yes, Qui-Gon is warm with Anakin in several scenes, which is what Dave is presumably drawing on to show that Qui-Gon believed the Jedi should be caring and loving, but you know who else is warm to younglings?  OTHER JEDI COUNCIL MEMBERS.

Those two scenes have the exact same kind of warmth to them.  Ie, THE JEDI ALL BELIEVED IN BEING LOVING AND KIND, NOT JUST QUI-GON.  The things evidenced to show Qui-Gon was loving and kind are evidenced just as much in other Council members, in Dave’s own show. As a bonus--have Mace Windu, known Jedi Council member, being super kind and loving towards a young Twi’lek girl he just met in a canon comic:

But I know that this is about the way the Council treated Anakin in The Phantom Menace testing scene, but here’s the thing--when I go back and I watch that scene and the Jedi aren’t ever mean to him, they’re neutral in an official testing situation, where they are trying to determine if he’s able to adapt to the Jedi ways.  They never once say he’s bad for holding onto his fear, only that he does--which Anakin digs his heels in and gets angry about, he can’t really even admit that he’s afraid and that’s a huge deal for the Jedi. I’ve made a longer post about it here (and here), but the basic gist is: - That scene has Yoda giving the famous “Fear leads to the dark side” speech which is almost word for word how George Lucas describes how the Force works, showing the Jedi are narratively correct - “Confronting fear is the destiny of a Jedi” may be from the sequels, but it is thoroughly supported by the movies and TCW and Rebels and even supplementary canon material, including that the Jedi literally design their tests around both Masters and Padawans for it (Ilum, the Jedi Temple on Lothal, etc. - Anakin cannot admit to his fears in that TPM scene - We have examples of Jedi younglings do admit to their fears and the point isn’t not to have them, but to face them--the younglings in “The Gathering” are the most blatant example of this, but it’s also pretty much the entire theme of Jedi: Fallen Order, especially when Cal goes to Ilum to face his fears and get another kyber crystal. The point isn’t that Anakin--who has very good reasons to be afraid! nothing in the story or the Jedi have said he didn’t!--is wrong or bad, but that he’s not a great fit for the Jedi life because he is “unwilling to accept [Jedi philosophy] emotionally”.  And they’re right about this, because this is how George Lucas describes Anakin in commentary: “The fact that everything must change and that things come and go through his life and that he can’t hold onto things, which is a basic Jedi philosophy that he isn’t willing to accept emotionally and the reason that is because he was raised by his mother rather than the Jedi. If he’d have been taken in his first year and started to study to be a Jedi, he wouldn’t have this particular connection as strong as it is and he’d have been trained to love people but not to become attached to them.”  --George Lucas, Attack of the Clones commentary And so this brings us to A T T A C H M E N T, which, yeah, we’ve been having this discussion forever, but I’m going to state it again:  Within Star Wars, ATTACHMENT IS NARRATIVELY A BAD THING.  It is consistently tied to possessive, obsessive relationships, to greed and an unwillingness to let things go when it’s time (letting go is a huge theme in Star Wars) and equating love with attachment is fundamentally wrong according to George Lucas’ Star Wars worldbuilding: “The Jedi are trained to let go. They’re trained from birth,” he continues, “They’re not supposed to form attachments. They can love people-- in fact, they should love everybody. They should love their enemies; they should love the Sith. But they can’t form attachments. So what all these movies are about is: greed. Greed is a source of pain and suffering for everybody. And the ultimate state of greed is the desire to cheat death.” --George Lucas, The Making of Revenge of the Sith If attachment and love were the same thing, then he would be saying, “They should love their enemies, they should love the Sith.  But they can’t love.”  The way George makes the distinction shows that, no, attachment and love aren’t the same thing at all, attachment is not caring.  Further, there’s another instance of him showing there’s an important distinction between relationships and attachment and the association of attachmets with possession:  "Jedi Knights aren’t celibate - the thing that is forbidden is attachments - and possessive relationships.” --George Lucas, BBC News interview So, yes, when Anakin is attached to people, it is directly tied to obsession, possession, and greed, all things of the dark side: “He turns into Darth Vader because he gets attached to things. He can’t let go of his mother; he can’t let go of his girlfriend. He can’t let go of things. It makes you greedy. And when you’re greedy, you are on the path to the dark side, because you fear you’re going to lose things, that you’re not going to have the power you need.”  --George Lucas, Time Magazine  “But he has become attached to his mother and he will become attached to Padme and these things are, for a Jedi, who needs to have a clear mind and not be influenced by threats to their attachments, a dangerous situation. And it feeds into fear of losing things, which feeds into greed, wanting to keep things, wanting to keep his possessions and things that he should be letting go of. His fear of losing her turns to anger at losing her, which ultimately turns to revenge in wiping out the village. The scene with the Tusken Raiders is the first scene that ultimately takes him on the road to the dark side. I mean he’s been prepping for this, but that’s the one where he’s sort of doing something that is completely inappropriate.“ --George Lucas, Attack of the Clones commentary ATTACHMENT IS BAD IN STAR WARS AS THEY DEFINE IT. Finally, I’m going to circle back to: Because Qui-Gon is different than the rest of the Jedi and you get that in the movie; and Qui-Gon is fighting because he knows he’s the father that Anakin needs. Because Qui-Gon hasn’t given up on the fact that the Jedi are supposed to actually care and love and that’s not a bad thing. Here’s the thing about this:  You know who else, by this logic, Qui-Gon should have been a father to?  OBI-WAN KENOBI. This isn’t said as “Anakin specifically needs a father” (which I think would be an interesting idea to bandy about and I’m not disagreeing, though, it’s complicated because of what Anakin refuses to accept emotionally), it’s said in a bigger context, that Qui-Gon is better than the other Jedi because he understands the need for fathers (and thus this ties into Return of the Jedi) and he’s ahead of the other Jedi, who apparently think loving and caring about people are bad things, but Qui-Gon does not treat Obi-Wan like his son.  Or, if he does, he’s not exactly a stellar dad about it. Within Master & Apprentice, there’s an incredibly consistent theme of how Qui-Gon thinks supportive things about Obi-Wan, but never says them aloud.  He thinks he should talk to Obi-Wan about the upcoming decision to be on the Council and then never does.  He could have explained why he kept Obi-Wan training the basics but he never does.  There are multiple instances showing that Qui-Gon is actually really, really bad at actually handling a young apprentice who needs him to talk to them about important things.  Qui-Gon continues this in From a Certain Point of View where he still never talked to Obi-Wan about everything that happened, even after he became a Force Ghost.     Damn, damn, damn. Qui-Gon closed his eyes for one moment. It blocked nothing; the wave of shock that went through Obi-Wan was so great it could be felt through the Force. Qui-Gon hadn’t thought Kirames Kaj would mention the Jedi Council invitation. It seemed possible the soon-retiring chancellor of the Republic might not even have taken much note of information about a new Council member. --Master & Apprentice     That comment finally pierced Qui-Gon’s damnable calm. There was an edge to his voice as he said, “I suspected you would be too upset to discuss this rationally. Apparently I was correct.”     “I thought you said my reaction was understandable,” Obi-Wan shot back. “So why does it disqualify me from hearing the truth?”    Qui-Gon put his hands on his broad belt, the way he did when he was beginning to withdraw into himself. “…we should discuss this at another time. Neither of us is his best self at the present.” --Master & Apprentice     Obi-Wan walked toward the door, obviously outdone. “At the beginning of my apprenticeship, I couldn’t understand you,” he said. “Unfortunately, that’s just as true here at the end.”     Only yesterday they had worked together as never before. How did Qui-Gon manage to get closer to Obi-Wan at the same time he was moving further away?     Just before Obi-Wan would leave the room, Qui-Gon said, “Once, you asked me about the basic lightsaber cadences. Why I’d kept you there, instead of training you in more advanced forms of combat.”     Obi-Wan turned reluctantly to face him again. “I suppose you thought I wasn’t ready for more. The same way I’m not ready to believe in all this mystical—”     “That’s not why.”     After a long pause, Obi-Wan calmed to the point where he would listen. “Then why, Qui-Gon?”     “Because many Padawans—and full Jedi Knights, for that matter—forget that the most basic technique is the most important technique. The purest. The most likely to protect you in battle, and the foundation of all knowledge that is to come,” Qui-Gon said. “Most apprentices want to rush ahead to styles of fighting that are flashier or more esoteric. Most Masters let them, because we must all find our preferred form eventually. But I wanted you to be grounded in your technique. I wanted you to understand the basic cadences so well that they would become instinct, so that you would be almost untouchable. Above all, I wanted to give you the training you needed to accomplish anything you set your mind to later on.”     Obi-Wan remained quiet for so long that Qui-Gon wondered if he were too angry to really hear any of what he’d said. But finally, his Padawan nodded. “Thank you, Qui-Gon. I appreciate that. But—”     “But what?”     “You could’ve said so,” Obi-Wan replied, and then he left. --Master & Apprentice     "I owe you that. After all, I’m the one who failed you.“     "Failed me?”     They have never spoken of this, not once in all Qui-Gon’s journeys into the mortal realm to commune with him. This is primarily because Qui-Gon thought his mistakes so wretched, so obvious, that Obi-Wan had wanted to spare him any discussion of it. Yet here, too, he has failed to do his Padawan justice. --From a Certain Point of View, “Master and Apprentice” (Further, in Master & Apprentice, Qui-Gon thinks that the Jedi give Rael Averross--who is HUGELY paralleled to Anakin--too many exceptions, were too soft on him because he came to the Jedi later than most and has trouble thinking of them as his family, and he thinks they should have been stricter with him.) It’s also readily apparent within The Phantom Menace itself:

You can take some charitable views of this scene, that Qui-Gon was pushed into a corner where he had few other options (and this is the view I generally take even!), but this is after the entire movie where he’s never once indicated that Obi-Wan was ready, has instead indicated that he still has much to learn (not just of the Living Force, but in general), as well as made it clear that he’s still teaching Obi-Wan, like on the Trade Federation ship. And I do think Obi-Wan got over this because he understood, because Obi-Wan actually is a very selfless person, he clearly cares (which is furthered by how we see him warm up to Anakin very quickly), but look at their faces. This was not a good moment, and they do somewhat make up, where Qui-Gon says that Obi-Wan has been a good apprentice, that he’s wiser than Qui-Gon and he’ll be a great Jedi--but if we’re counting that as Qui-Gon being this great Jedi, then you can’t say Obi-Wan failed Anakin, given that we show him doing the exact same thing, except better.  He tells Anakin, “You are strong and wise and will become a far greater Jedi than I could ever hope to be.”, echoing Qui-Gon’s words, but also he never threw Anakin aside for someone else. This is kind of a major undercurrent throughout The Clone Wars, where Obi-Wan never takes another apprentice, where he continues to teach Anakin, to support him, even to the point of occasionally co-Mastering Ahsoka with him.  “This has been quite a journey for our Padawan.” Qui-Gon’s treatment of Obi-Wan in this scene isn’t the worst, he’s kind about it later (though, he never actually specifically apologizes for this), but we can see that this is a moment where Qui-Gon hurts Obi-Wan and knows it. And you know what George Lucas has to say about Qui-Gon?  This: “So here we’re having Qui-Gon wanting to skip the early training and jump right to taking him on as his Padawan learner, which is controversial, and ultimately, the source of much of the problems that develop later on.”  –George Lucas, The Phantom Menace commentary There’s nothing about Qui-Gon being right or better than the other Jedi, but instead that Qui-Gon’s actions here are a source of much of the problems that develop later on. So, ultimately, I liked some points Dave made in that speech, it’s a beautiful and eloquent one, but I thoroughly disagree with his interpretation of George’s intentions for Qui-Gon and I thoroughly disagree that that’s what the movies, The Clone Wars (DAVE’S OWN SHOW), and the supplementary canon show about Qui-Gon and the other Jedi.  I still stand by my appreciation of Dave’s contributions to SW as a whole, I think he does a really good job at making Star Wars, but he doesn’t always get everything right and this is one thing where I think the canon and George’s commentary show otherwise, as much as I love his desire to defend the prequels’ importance in the story.  Because, my friend, I have felt that every single day of my SW life.

#anakin skywalker #qui gon jinn #jedi order #george lucas #dave filoni #meta #long post #really long post

[vod-ika]

Clones; A Sociologic Rant

I’m pretty sure I could base a whole sociologic thesis off of this show I have so many thoughts this is LONG.

So the fascinating thing about clones is that over and over it’s emphasised in show that they are considered property/cannon fodder/disposable, and at the same time it’s shown that they understand that claim, and still go so far out of their way to control some kind of their own independence.

I occasionally have a hard time separating show and fanfiction (fuck canon it’s my world now) but even in show, the allusions to modern militaries, the decorating of armor, the personalisations such as accents, names, and specific groups (Domino Squad) all point to an entirely unmitigated, completely developed culture inside the Republic. So this is basically a list of things I’ve seen, wondered about, or headcanoned in TCW.

- I would just LOVE to sit down with Filoni or Lucas and a sociologist and just Talk about how, if this army was real, what all would the Kaminoan’s have programmed in their heads (mental stability, coping mechanisms, stamina, self-preservation instinct, etc,) and how would it work in real-time, on and off the battlefield. What kind of programming went on in those eight to ten developmental years that ensured that loyalty was innate, the knowledge of property was omnipresent, and that they believed they weren’t allowed to own anything? What did they do to them to make sure that they would never want to form an uprising???

- “We are only as good as our weakest link” is repeated in team events endlessly, something that can extend to both skill and health. How deeply engrained are checkups, both mental and physical? I want you to look me in the eye and tell me that day in and day out clones, regardless of rank, are able to listen to and watch brothers die and Not have that affect them.

- Were they programmed with “protect the Jedi” in mind, or was it just, “bam. here is your CO, they outrank you so you have to respect/protect them?”,  and then one of them jumped off a building with no armor and their captain had a heart attack? With the whole “Jedi were peacekeepers now they’re generals” thing I feel like the Senate just took two pieces of a puzzle that don’t actually go together but fit anyways and shoved them together and now they’re just kinda staring at each other like “the fuk u doin here”

- HEALTH. IS SO. IMPORTANT. When you know that any injury severe enough or illness overlooked long enough could result in you being swiftly and carelessly replaced by someone who looks Exactly like you, how much more of an emphasis is put on health, bodily wellbeing, and injury prevention? Clones are human, and while they’re very highly trained, strong humans, they’re still human and skin is skin. (Applying real logic to a cartoon) Seeing clones in things like explosions that they potentially survive, but lose a limb or two always made me sad because, to The Republic/The GAR/ Kamino, what good is a crippled clone? To Kaminoans, their life’s purpose is over and you might as well treat them as a lame horse. Fuck Kamino.

- I just realised something. When most modern soldiers deploy, they deploy with the intent to eventually be replaced because they have served their time wherever they are, and are being replaced by a new wave of soldiers. Clones deploy with the intent to die and be replaced until the battle is won.

- When Marines or Infantrymen or Sailors ship out, they always have duffel bags or those gigantic green laundry bag stuffed with clothes and personal items. Now, we know that clones collect personal items, and assumedly have multiple pairs of blacks (or no sweat glands) but I have yet to see any kind of carrying devices other than crates and small backpacks like for small Hutt babies or explosives. Do they have to leave everything behind when they’re op-hopping to their next planet? Are there barracks left behind that hold the ghosts of personal blankets and magazine clippings? Or is there a mountain of green laundry bags just off-camera?

- Naming culture, good god. So, you’re fresh out of boot, and you’ve got your number still. You’re like, “dope. I’m CT-1234. I’m a GAR mortarman. Go time.” Then, some dickhead is like, nah you’re called Sparkles now lets go prank Gogo and Jazz. Naming is WILD, and I’m mostly drawing from fanfiction for this. Either you’re named for some major or heroic or kickass reason like Tracer or Wolffe or Fireball, or you’re named for the most mundane thing like your number ends with 22, so you’re Twos or there are checkers on your armor so now you’re Check. either way it is a personal choice that Specifically defies the number they were assigned at decanting. Even Dogma had one for fucks sake.

- Painting armor. You know that time had to be taken to sit quietly and detail on that eel, or those lines, or that decal. Did it do anything to better the Republic? Did it win any battles or save any precious Jedi? No, but it happened anyways. People like to discuss why we play video games; there’s no societal, familial, or interpersonal benefit, only benefit to the one playing. There’s no societal, familial, or interpersonal benefit to painting armor, only benefit to the one painting. Fuck Kamino. 

- Vocal inflections! The places they’re deployed affecting their speech patterns! I personally have a wild mashup of regional American accents because of the time I’ve spent traipsing, so how does being deployed planet after planet affect clone speech patterns??? Who rolls their r’s and who doesn’t? Are there transfers from other battalions whose accents are indiscernible because of where they were last deployed? Or ones who just have a whole additional vocabulary of local language? I’m three states away and the Louisiana accent blows my mind. Imagine that, but a whole fucking star system away???

- LINGO. Military lingo, planetary lingo (see above), sign language etc. give me different forms of communication outside Basic, used in both the formal and informal settings. (name calling in ASL/BSL during a briefing, talking about shinies in front of their faces in a language they don’t yet understand, talking about Jedi in front of their faces in a language they don’t understand.) Clones are told all that they are is property but damn if that property isn’t going to be able to talk shit about you to your face.

- To add on... Mando’a???? Is it innate? Is it learned? Did Jango Fett personally sit every clone ever down and teach them how to say Cat and Dog and Yes and No? Does every clone know it, or only those who sought it out? Literally it’s the most impersonal personal thing. “You, a thing who was made for combat, who looks exactly like millions of others, know one language of BILLIONS in the galaxy, purely because the man whose hair we based your genetic makeup off of knows it.” like WHAT

- HELMETS. BEING. SO. VERY. PERSONAL. Everything you see, speak, hear, smell is filtered through that bucket on your head. Are HUDs customisable? Is wearing or touching someone else’s bucket a no-no? Who’s watching telenovelas on guard duty?

- Speaking OF helmets: When your waking hours are constantly covered by your bucket, how do bodily “tells” betray what your face can’t? People acclimate. How common is it to be able to read your brother’s emotions like a fucking book based purely on how squared his hip is in parade rest, or which shoulder is higher than the other at attention?

- Or even just armor. Dude, that is literally the only thing between their skin and certain death by laser bolt. You ever talked to an athlete? And how picky they are about what cleats they wear or what goggles they use, or what percentage Gatorade their water is? We’re incorrigible. Imagine that, but the choice made results in how mobile you are, or how much laser to the shoulder you can stand.

- Time is so fucking short and they all must know that. I think I’ve used the line, “the average lifespan of a clone is measured in months, not years,” and boy does that fucking hit. How do you handle life when you were made to be snuffed out by it?

To conclude, I have many thoughts about the minute details of a working army that is comprised of identical people created, raised, and sent off to die for a war they didn’t start. Sounds a little ridiculous when you say it out loud, but between the show itself, fanart, and fucking fanfiction, it’s a little hard not to attribute human nuances to the show that exemplified my childhood. I’m an adult and it is my very highly specifically adult choice to psychoanalyse this show, and you can bet I’ll throw hands with Disney at any time.

“When my creator cares not how I face death, only that it is for them, how do I use the time death allows me? Cruel is my maker to have given me eyes to see and ears to hear the world, but denied me the chance to explore it. I can only hope that those who follow see what I could not, and that eventually a painting of all the world will be born through the eyes of the many.”

#clones #clone wars #star wars #star wars the clone wars #sw:cw #sw:tcw #clone troopers #clone headcanons #I am YELLING #There is so much I could dissect #captain rex #commander cody #ikawrites

[or-te-ka-ra]

Some thoughts I have about the first episode of the bad batch:

If you haven't watched it yet, please don't read, ****SPOILER ZONE*****

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I had a few problems with the episode in regards to crosshair and caleb, but overall it was good. I'll try and keep this short and hopefully make it make sense, but no promises.

The two problems I had:

The Canon for Kanan (Caleb Dume)

For anyone that has read the Kanan comic, we know of how he escaped order 66. The bad batch were not in the comic, nor were they even mentioned at the time. They had nothing to do with the Kaller battle before and after order 66 in the comic. This made me a bit confused since the comic is Canon and it was published during the time rebels was around. So if lucasfilm changed a part of kanan's backstory for the bad batch, does this mean we should disregard the comic's existence? Or at least try to fit the events in The bad batch with the comic's Canon?

The comic went in-depth to show how Kanan came to be with his master, the relationship he had with his clone troopers (such as styles and grey, who are very key characters in the comic) as well as how he survived and adapted during the time of the early empire when he was still a kid.

I honestly hope that the comic isn’t removed from canon, since I think it does a great job at telling kanan’s backstory. To just get rid of characters like grey, styles, and Kasmir is a waste.

I just wish lucasfilm would’ve taken this into consideration before thrusting Caleb and Depa into this. Out of everywhere in the galaxy, why Kaller? Don’t get me wrong, it’s cool to see kid Kanan animated, but seeing how the clone battalion isn’t in their usual red, but green, it just seems weird, as well as the situation and how Kanan just knew that he could call the bad batch for help knowing that Five clones would get the job done as opposed to a battalion.

(Little sidenote: I found caleb a bit weird looking. He just...didn't look like caleb. I liked depa's design though, but Caleb's looked wonky, not to mention him looking whitewashed. I love that they got Freddie to voice him again, but they shouldve just stuck with a kid. I get puberty and all but his voice just seemed way too deep. I'm probably nit-picking but this is just me)

Crosshair being turned into the bad guy

I was hoping for the whole “Cody hunts the bad batch theory” instead of crosshair. I never expected crosshair to obey order 66 and not question any order Tarkin issued as opposed to the rest of his crew. To just turn him into the bad guy and not give him time to at least show that he actually has a bit of free will from the chip and can question orders just like the other members of the bad batch irks me. I mean look at captain rex, in the finale he literally hesitated to shoot Ahsoka. He tried to fight the chip and he’s not an enhanced clone.

I honestly hope that crosshair will get some sort of redemption. I do feel he might get redeemed in some sort of “life or death” battle near the finale where he sacrifices himself for the bad batch to escape some situation, but I hope there’s some other way to redeem him that won’t cause his death (even tho i 60% believe that the bad batch may die in the end. Not sure about omega because I doubt filoni would kill a child on screen).

Some extra thoughts I have (about omega)

FINALLY, I now know that omega is a female clone. Ive been wondering this for the longest time.

But I just wanna know, why? Why did the kaminoans make a female clone? I love omega with all my heart but I just need to know. Was there some mishap when the Kaminoans were making the baby clones? Or did they purposely make omega female?

Also I want to point out how omega was literally copying hunter’s mannerisms at certain points in the show. Could that be her enhanced clone ability? She copies the actions of anyone she sees/admires? She was mainly copying Hunter from what I’ve observed, and she’s already started to connect with him and trusts him....so could it be???

Not to mention when they were standing off against crosshair and his squad, omega fired a PERFECT shot towards him and later says she's never even used a blaster before.......

Listen i know clones are engineered to have the ability to adapt and learn more quickly than regular humans bUT STILL-

The kid has never touched a blaster. She's seen them firing it, yes, but she's never done it herself..... She.mimics.what.she.sees.

I am 75% convinced.

So yes, those were my thoughts. I can't wait for the next episode and I hope some questions I have are answered later on as the show progresses. If you made it this far, congrats, here is some cake🎂

#star wars #the bad batch #omega #hunter #wrecker #crosshair #tech #echo #clonetroopers #just some thoughts I had #starwarsthabadbatchreview #review #kanan jarrus #Caleb dume #depa billaba #jedi

[sirikenobi12]

I truly am sorry to say this in front of anyone who is enjoying The Bad Batch, but...

Dave Filoni/Lucasfilm Animation I have a question for you:

How can you take arguably the most interesting period in Star Wars history and make it boring??? 

You have the freaking Galactic Empire rising/changing the galaxy at large, you have Jedi on the run, you have regular clones figuring out their place in this new Empire/possibly dealing with guilt over what they did to the Jedi, You have political upheaval and a rebellion building....yet you’ve decided to not focus on any of that, but instead focus on a squad of “superior” clones who are hitchhiking across the galaxy, purposely not interacting with anyone (except a few character cameos to keep us placated).

Oh, but don’t forget there is Omega - the (obviously) Force sensitive child who is the glue that holds everything together! I’m sorry guys, but the reluctant father figure saving the lost child trope has been done before (by YOU I might add) and frankly has been done WAAAAY better. 

How are we supposed to be sympathetic to these guys when they do nothing but antagonize the clones you set us up to love over the years for no real reason, and are so far 100% apathetic to everything happening around them?

I’m only watching at this point for the world building happening around them, but sadly we haven’t been getting much of that in the last several episodes so I’m beginning to wonder why am I even still watching? 

Look, I love Star Wars, seriously I tend to find something good in almost all things associated with this franchise - I defended the prequels when nobody else would (yes, I’m THAT old) and I’ve defended the sequels but my god I’m really struggling with this one. It’s not that this show is bad per say but I just feel like it’s the definition of “meh” and that sucks because this is a time in the galaxy we’ve been waiting to see (and you’re not showing it to us)!! 

So, to sum up my feelings on the Bad Batch:

#star wars #star wars tbb #the bad batch #dave filoni #meh #sorry for the negativity

[legobiwan]

The Mandalorian, “The Tragedy” (S2, E6/14)

Shortest episode of the season and by far the best one.

First of all, Dave Filoni, you had better be taking notes on this episode. That is how you direct an action scene. I adored the Boba Fett sequence - he was a badass, fought with a personal style, and managed to destroy the Stormtroopers without it looking too easy and too stylized.

Good gods, I love her. Ming-Na Wen is an icon. 

Also, the (not-quite) bisection? The orange-red-black color scheme?

Reminds me a little bit of this guy:

Anyway, interesting bit here. Do you think Grogu actually wants to go with a Jedi? My bet is on “no.” Which would be attachment. But the Order is dead and buried, Luke saved the galaxy because of his attachment, Kanan wasn’t exactly unattached, and Ahsoka is a wildcard in that department. Port-Order 66 Jedi aren’t exactly a shining beacon of the “old rules” (which isn’t a bad thing, per se), so I have my doubts that Grogu will turn out to be Yoda 2.0.

This is some top-notch Mortis bullshit right here:

Which, I don’t know how I feel about yet. The “world between worlds” was (in my mind) a gigantic cop-out. Mortis itself was fine although upon closer inspection, flawed. We’ll see how this goes. 

But Din’s question at the beginning here is hilarious

Random rocks with mysterious powers in the chaparral? Yup, that’s Jedi for you.

Holy crap, I was not expecting to enjoy Boba Fett’s storyline as much as I did. I mean, they already resurrected Maul (and Ahsoka, although that’s another story). But Boba Fett? I was initially content to leave him to the sarlacc, but this was well-done. He doesn’t overpower the storyline and his presence fits in well with the exploration of Mandalorian culture. Plus, you know, the fight sequences. 

Speaking of which,  I think this fight sequence had the first original music on the second season that I can remember. Everything else to date has been (I think) a retread of Season One’s soundtrack. Now, the Season One soundtrack is spectacular and I was really looking forward to new sounds. Up until now, I had been disappointed in the unoriginality of it all, but this episode cranked it up. (Which also makes me wonder how much last-minute filler they were coming up with for the previous episodes. Because this one is leaps and bounds above the others, perhaps excepting the Frog Mother episode and most of Cobb Vanth.)

WHO ARE YOU, CODY-RESEMBLING STORMTOOPER???

Speaking of Stormtroopers, this exchange had me rolling on the floor. Very reminiscent of the TCW battledroid humor of yore:

Hooooly crap, Baby Yoda taking apart those Stormstroopers. HOLY CRAP Moff Gideon going full-evil.

Here’s my thing. I could have done without the majority of the previous episodes (or perhaps have combined them). We’re six episodes in and only now do I feel the plot is moving forward at all. (Yes, we needed Cobb Vanth to get to Tatooine and we needed Frog Lady for some needed character development.) But Bo-Katan? Ahsoka? I’m not sure what their purpose is/was. (I mean, Bo-Katan I can undersatnd in terms of Mandalorian culture. I really don’t know what the Ahsoka episode was supposed to be about, however, aside from, “hey, here’s Ahsoka fighting some random evil lady we’ll never see again but the stakes are high, believe us.”) But Moff Gideon, Fennec Shand, Cara Dune, Cobb Vanth, even Boba Fett? This is interesting to me. These characters live and breathe and aren’t bogged down with volumes of canon behind them. The Mandalorian was fun because it was new, because the characters were new, because we were watching interactions without the shadow of the Jedi. 

And Grogu is great, I love him, but in a way, he’s almost felt incidental to the plot this season up until now. I’m hoping they go in a very different direction with the Jedi/Force stuff (like, what does a not-even-half-trained do without the Order? I suppose Ezra Bridger would know. Which is a name that has been floated as a mysterious interloper at the end of this season which again...I’d have to see how they executed it but my hopes aren’t high.)

Anyway, by far the best episode of the season, great action, plot points, character development in 38 whole minutes. My only quibble is that Madno’s Beskar is starting to look like a “Get Out of Jail Free” card when it comes to blaster fire. 9/10

#hello there #the mandalorian #the mandalorian spoilers #i guess???? #late to the party i know #legobiwan watches a television show #it's amazing just how much better this episode was #which really makes me wonder about what was going on the beginning of the season

[alizrak]

Finished watching Season 4 with my niece! (or how I had an existential crisis and came out the other side... kinda)

I finished watching Rebels Season 4 with my niece. Just like with season 1, 2 and 3, I made a compilation of her comments. I refreshed her mind a little about where we last we saw of the crew, at the battle in Atollon, and how Sabine's family helped the Rebels escape. "Oh, yeah! They escaped and then you told me Kallus became popular because of his hair, right?" YES. Yes, my child, you are right.

As it has been quite obvious, she's a big Kanera fan since the pilot itself. She was hooked from the start with the Space Family concept. Also, she's likes Sabezra but has told me is ok if they don't. Ahsoka is still her big fave in all Star Wars.

We finished the first half on December so I actually didn't know what to expect of the later half. My comments to her are inside parenthesis. Obviously, you will find SPOILERS AHEAD.

Hero's of Mandalore Part 1:

"Sabine looks like that part in Wonder Woman when she climbs out and is all like 'YEAH!'"

"I love the Darksaber. It looks so cool. Sabine has almost become an expert using it"

"Oh, Ezra is so funny! :D"

"Who's that?", [Bo-Katan explanation], "Oh, Sabine should give the Darksaber to her... [she refuses]... aw! Just take it! Sabine doesn't want it. Why won't anyone take it!?"

"[sighs] How is Kanan supposed to know where Hera's hologram is? He can't see. She's not really there so he can't sense her either"

"Kanan is getting flirty! Hehehe!"

[They attack the convoy] "WOOOOO! AWESOME! Sabine is going to kick your butts!"

"Hahahaha 'I'm with her', hahahah Oh, Ezra, you better give a good impression if you want him as your father-in-law"

"Kanan is so cool"

"They need to jump now! How is Ezra going to-... WOAH. WOW! Look at him! He has really really improved with the Force!"

"Oooh, Sabine's dad is an Artist too. That's why she is like that"

[Sabine warns her mother to run] "Oh no. Run. Do as she says! Don't stare! OH NO... OH NO."

"Oh no... Sabine's mother... and her brother... No. This is horrible...! D':" [covers her face and starts sobbing] ((Shitshitshit))

Heroes of Mandalore Part 2:

[Still sniffing covering her face] "Poor Sabine! :'("

"Wait...! [*gasp*] THEY ARE ALIVE!? THEY MADE ME SHED TEARS ON PURPOSE!!! HOW DARE THEY!?"

"Protect the parents!"

"Everyone is really angry with Sabine. I get it but it's not her fault"

"Wait... wait. What? They won't leave their armor? Can't they just, like, put it away during certain battles? Then put it back on? Or just not use it for this war? Is not like they are going to destroy their old armors forever! Just to win this one.... They won't? Really?? That's dumb"

"Oh my god, we have been over this! It's not her fault! You know, I wouldn't be surprised if someone actually just shoots her in the head thinking they will prevent another weapon from been made"

"HOW IS KANAN WATCHING SABINE'S PLAN ON THE SCREEN? HE HAS NO EYES! ARGHH!"

[when approaching the Star Destroyer] "Just make sure to come back to your wife!" ((You know Kanan and Hera aren't married)) "Eh, they might as well be, they have been together all these years and have almost adopted Ezra, that's enough for me"

"If Kanan and Hera had children, What would they look like? Like humans? Like Twi'lek? A combination of the two? Would it be "mestizaje*" (race-mixing in Spanish)?" ((Well, I told you before there was a female Twi'lek in Clone Wars who had children with a human, and the kids looked mostly like her. I guess it could be something like that... maybe they would take after Hera)).

[Sabine and Bo-Katan get struck by The Dutchess] "NO! NO! DONT KILL HER!"

[Sabine is ordered to improve the weapon] "No Sabine! Don't do it! *GASP* SHE BETRAYED THEM?.... AH! OH! HAHAHAHAH TAKE THAT! NOW IS YOUR TURN TO SUFFER!"

"Poor Ezra, his head almost got zapped. The Force told him to get the helmet off in time, but it seems like it still hurt"

"Sabine should kill him. But... ok, it's better if she doesn't fall into the Darkside"

"FINALLY! Bo-Katan is going to keep the Darksaber! GOOD! Sabine is free!"

In the Name of the Rebellion Part 1

"Are Zeb and the others over there in the new base?"

"This is sooo coooool! Just like the movies! [GASP] I think I saw like an R2D2!!"

"Where is Hera?? Kanan needs to say hello to his wifey!"

"Yep, she's got this!"

"ooh Kallus! You look nice! And he is GOOD now! I'm so happy for him!"

"Wait... Ezra is right, What about Lothal??"

[After Mon Mothma's talk with Ezra] "This is too complicated..."

[Kanan goes to speak with Hera "I don't have to see you to know you are not right"] "I still can't believe the voice of Kanan send me a message" ((NOTE: FPJ replied to a tweet I made about my niece still not being entirely over the fact that Kanan lost his eyes, he told me to let her know he could see better now than he ever could before. She was obviously sto learn he replied. ))

"NICE! Sabine and Ezra have excellent teamwork. That's good if they end up together"

"Hera needs to go back for the kids fast"

"Saw is taking them, heh, mom doesn't like that one bit"

In the Name of the Rebellion Part 2

* "They are looking for some clues... Clues about what again?"

"Oh... they found prisoners... wait! ARE THEY GOING TO RELEASE THEM JUST LIKE THAT? How can they know if they are good? What if they are actually got arrested doing something bad!? Criminals? Assassins? They shouldn't just go around releasing everyone."

"Woah, Ezra has improved a lot! He's learned well from Kanan! [*SQUEE*]"

"What's that singing?"

"Aw... Chopper feels so good to be praised. How cute!"

"[SCREAM] THE BLACK TROOPERS! KILL THEM!! FAST!"

"YEAH! Sneak around in the shadows! WOAH! EZRA IS AMAZING!"

"What's that?..." (( A kyber crystal, like the one Ezra uses on his lightsaber, but gigantic)) "Oh, this is not good. This could be a terrible weapon" (( Like... the deathstar?)) "Ah! You are right!! OOPS!"

"I just can't believe how great has Ezra become. Look at him using the Force like that"

"SAW! HE BETRAYED THEM!" [RAGE]

"Wait, he's... he is leaving them!! HE ACTUALLY LEFT THEM TRAPPED!"

"Yes Chopper! Call for mom to pick you all up!"

"Ezra should have killed the Death Trooper, it could be trouble later on"

"Oh come on, come on, you can make it!... *phew*... they might be stranded but alive... oh, here comes Hera! YAY! They are safe and sound"

The Occupation

"I feel sorry for Ezra, he only wants to help"

"He's there to stay. YES! I like how secure and confident he's now. He's more mature. I'm proud of him."

"Everything is so bad now..."

"uuuuh, they are going to a dark alley, hehehe, HEY YOU WHAT ARE YOU DOING OVER THERE!? HAHAHAHA"

[I wish I could see you] "Oh yeah, what does it matter if he can see everything so well with the Force and stuff... EXCEPT HIS BEAUTIFUL LOVING WIFE. Ugh, I don't know if they-... OH GOD THEY ARE GOING TO KISS YES YESSSS-NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!! ZEEEEEEEEEEEEEEB! NOOOOOOOOOOO!" [writhes] "FRUIT!!!", ((Fruit?)), "You know, like Fruit"... (( -_- that language...)) Note: Mission accomplished, Filoni. You even made my niece 'fake swear' in frustration. xD****

"Going to a bar is not a good idea..."

"Oh, look he's helping them! Is that... wait... I KNOW HIM, what was his name?" (( Jai Kell)) "YES!" ((From the Academy)) "YEAH! AMAZING! Oh they are all grown up"

"Hahahahaha, did Ezra grow up in the sewers?? Hahahaha, oh Zeb that's a good one... but I can't forgive you that you interrupted them!"

"WOAH Kanan gets more impressive as time goes, same as Ezra. I love it!"

"Ezra and Kanan can defend them... mostly. Just stay together or... NO, GO ABOVE, GO GO GO GO"

FLIGHT OF THE DEFENDER

"I love those cats, so cute!"

"Gotta make a distraction with kitties! Wait-... they are not going to shoot at them, right?"

"THRAWN. NO. NO. GET OUT OF THERE NOW!"

"A bigger distraction with a wolf! That's a good idea! Wait-... is there something wrong with that wolf?

"What was that wolf? He's gone now. Was it an illusion? An hallucination? Is Ezra going crazy? Like that time with Maul in the desert? Is Ezra falling to the darkside again??"

"Hahahaha, Ezra is always so clumsy and funny"

"Shoot at Thrawn! You can end this!.... aww they missed..."

"they weren't using seat belts! Are they ok??"

"Can't Ezra use the Force to float the machine where they need to go?"

"Uh, another lothcat! Cats really love Ezra!"

"What a smart loth cat"

"He can control the wolf so he doesn't bite-.... What the- What? What did he do to Sabine? Oh god he killed her with his bad breath???"

"He's a friend? I don't-...I don't get it. Ok, he can help I guess"

"Dume? Is that a person?" (Don't you remember? Caleb Dume? That's was Kanan's original name) "Wait... so why would it go for Ezra if he wants Kanan? Why is he hiding himself from Kanan? From Sabine and the others? Is he planning something bad? Does he want the others to think Ezra is crazy? Is he an illusion? A Ghost? I don't understand"

KINDRED

"They came to Lothal to find Ezra. That's their destiny. They should already start a family and adopt him too so he can be a big brother. They need a normal life"

"An assassin... he looks dangerous"

"Don't shoot me! Shoot him! Hahahaha, yeah, they should blast him"

"He's too good! Ezra use the Force to squish him with those rocks!!"

"Yeah, Hera should take a break. She's been fighting non-stop and... oh-. Uh! UH! THEY ARE KISSING-! NOOOOOO!! WHY DO THEY KEEP DOING THIS TO US!??"

"YES! YEEESS YEEEEEEEEEEESSSS!!! MOM AND DAD FINALLY KISSED"

"The wolves are back... oh no, they are going to think Ezra is losing his mind in the worst possible time...wait, they can see them? Why...? Are they real? But... like... what? Ok, ok! Just follow them!"

"They are good right? They are not going to attack them"

"There is no way out... They ARE going to eat them"

"They want Kanan. Yeah, he knows they are looking at him. But why him?? Can't the wolf talk more and explain?"

"This makes no sense. WHAT IS HAPPENING? How can they do that? Is that magic? The Force? Explain it to me, please!" ((They just can)) "I don't care about spoilers, just explain" ((I'm sorry, but we just don't know)) "But you know all this stuff! You already watch it!" ((Yeah, but how the wolves do what they do is still kind of a mystery... they just do it with the Force))

"This is all too confusing. Cool but confusing"

"They ended up all the way on the other side of the planet!?? Whaaaaaaaaa!?"

"Those paintings! Yes! Those are Jedi! What does the rest mean? Is it about Kanan too? Please tell me!" ((I can only assume it is. I can tell you they won't say anything else about them...)) "What?? Why not??"

"I don't understand!"

CRAWLER COMMANDEERS

"They are burning everything... they are contaminating. How horrible"

"Mon Mothma and the others are going to say no. How dare they. Hera has done all that stuff for them. How ungrateful"

"Is that what I sound like?, hahahahaha"

"This is creepy. Like a horror movie. Are there zombies in Star Wars?"

"Oh! It's that guy! Yeaaah, they totaaaally came to rescue you, suuuure"

"Kanan will show him! He can't beat a Jedi!... NOOO! DONT HURT HIM! NOT KANAN!!"

"Fight Zeb! You are the muscle!"

"Ventilation shaft. This is a job for Ezra~!"

"Hahaha, he thinks he's so grown up and he doesn't have to do it anymore"

"That... that was dark. Disturbing. Oh no. Ezra... is coming back to the darkside! If Kanan realizes he's going to be on big trouble!" ((Eh... no...)) "but he let him die in that horrible way" ((He was a slaver, remember)) "Yeah, but it would have been better if he just cut off his head... quicker, less pain"

REBEL ASSAULT

"Well, Thrawn warned him. It's his fault"

"Wait... they actually shot them down. Is she ok? She can't die, right?"

"Kanan! YOU NEED TO GO SAVE YOUR WIFE... WHY IS EVERYONE LEAVING?"

"She's wounded! She needs to get out of there"

"This is bad. This is all wrong."

[Kanan stops and turns around] "YES! It was about time you stopped and went for her! Ezra you need to go with him! DONT LET HIM GO ALONE!"

"No. Oh no. No. No. Poor Chopper. He had to leave her behind..."

"What's wrong with these wolves!! THEY DONT MAKE ANY SENSE! UGH!"

"He is not going to abandon her right?"

Ok, so that was the first half. I wrote it as soon as we finished that half of the season. During the weeks leading up to the second half I think I had made clear here on reddit about what I thought what would happen in the show. My main prediction was that Ezra and Kanan would somehow end up stranded in the UR (with or without Thrawn) and would be regarded as MIA/KIA by the Rebellion which would explain their absence in the OT. Even though the family was going to get separated, I thought it would be ok because Ezra and Kanan would have each other. The Ghost crew wouldn't be able to go look for them until the end of the war, some time after Endor, until they were free to seek them out. I even assumed Hera would have Kanan's child and they would happily reunite at the end. ...You can tell I got it right in the most painful way imaginable, at least for me.

After finishing the show by myself, I wasn't sure I would be even be able to show her Jedi Night... the very first episode coming back. Like... what the hell. It destroyed me. How was she going to handle Kanan's death? She didn't know or care about the Hero's Journey. In fact, back in Season 3 she had made it clear she didn't care what Yoda said about Luke being the last Jedi because she just wanted Kanan and Ezra to be ok and alive because they had suffered enough. Hell, the whole reason I decided I would show her Rebels was because it was so wholesome and she was going through a rough patch because the man she pretty much regarded as her father, abandoned her and her mom. She immediately latched onto the whole space adoptive family aspect in Rebels, specially to the father figure in Kanan.

When the finale was over I went over the first half of the s4 comments again and realized the focus she had on Kanan and his relationship with Ezra and Hera... and I just felt like I was spiraling down into a pit of regret. I kept telling myself "what have you done".

I waited a week or two after the finale to let myself grieve and try to be emotionally ready for her, but then... every time I tried to start showing her Jedi Night, something horrible happened: the father of a friend of hers died after a hospital complication and she was the only one who was able to go to the funeral to comfort her friend, and then the following week the Grandfather of her cousin also died from a heart-attack. Jedi Night was completely out of the question for a month. Then she went on vacation, then her mother was very sick so she had to stay at home for weeks, etc. I kept emotionally bracing myself for the day we had picked and having to cancel in the last minute for the worst painful reasons. I grew depressed. I almost gave up. But she kept reminding me we hadn't watch it and I just tried to smile and assure her we would.

So, we finally did. I recorded the audio so I could do the most exact translation/transcription I could.

JEDI NIGHT

[Kanan gives Ezra the lead] "Uhm... I'm not sure this is right. You are the adult, he's the kid" (Is because he would be in emotionally compromised) "Uh... yeah, he could lose control. Like Anakin did"

[Pryce tortures Hera] "THAT WITCH"

"THE KALIKORI!... so much for it... you will need to learn to let it go, Hera. Let go."

[Pryce continues to torture Hera] "THIS IS REALLY DISTURBING!"

"What is Kanan doing?" (Preparing) "Preparing for what?" (Because what he is going to do is pretty important) "Oh, yeah, he cuts his hair... we saw it on the trailer. Why is it important that he *cuts his hair*??" (It's a... symbol of change) "...aaand what kind of change? Is he not going to love Hera anymore?" (Wha-, No)

"PFFFT, [sarcastic] *I toootaaally like your change! Definitely cool! YEP!* xP", (Hey, he looks younger. He's actually younger than me), "How old is he?", (He should be... 32) "WHAT!!?"

"TIME TO FLY! There they go!"

"...but that change of hairstyle is not going to mean he is going to lose his cool to save Hera, right?"

[Thrawn and Tarkin talk] (Stardust is the Death Star project, from Krennic the bad guy in Rogue One, you remember?) "Oh! That's right!"

"... Kanan can still fall like what happened with Anakin with Padme..." (No, Anakin was very different to Kanan... Kanan knows how to let go) "Yeah... maybe"

"Wait... I know. He doesn't want Hera to like him anymore, that's why he did it, because Jedi can't marry" (keep watching)

"I still wonder how did he cut his hair with just the knife"

[Ezra, Sabine, May the Force be with you] "[big smile] He's so nice and cool. He trusts they will get the job done. He's like a proud dad"

"[GASP] THE KALIKORI IS THERE!"

"WHAT IS SHE DOING TO HERA!?" [drugging her to make her to tell truth] "HORRIBLE! GO TO HELL"

"HERA! NO! SHUT UP! She's going to see him! oh... ok.... Hehehehe"

"She's going to tell him she hates his hair... YEAH!!"

[Rukh starts chasing them] "I hate that guy"

"C'mon Kanan! SHOW HIM WHAT A JEDI CAN DO! [chants] *Kanan! Kanan! Kanan! Kanan!*.... NOO!!!! THROW HIM! THROW HIM! YESSSS!"

"Are they leaving without Sabine and Ezra?" (They are moving to meet in another place) "Oh that's right, they got the other ship"

[they start climbing the fuel depot] "That's dangerous..."

[Sabine shakes off the storm troopers] "This is very disturbing. Do you know how horrible must it be to fall from that height?" Note: Niece actually fell from the third floor of an apartment building and survived because she fell on a shrub a couple of years ago.

[They kiss] "YES! BUT HE IS A JEDI SO HE CANT! I MEAN YES! BUT NO! Ok, yes yes! BUT THEY SHOULDN'T! Ok, YES!" (What makes a Jedi is protecting others first... and to love and be able to let go)

"Oops they found them"

sigh.... here we go...

[fuel depot is shot] "[GASP] Get on, KANAN! GET ON! RETREAT! RETREAT!"

"KANAN, GET ON!! DON'T BE FOOLISH!"

[She gets up and attempts to leave the room] (SIT, you need to sit.) "I DONT WANT TO WATCH THIS"

[Kanan's eyes heal] "WHAT THE-!??" (The Force returned his sight.) "WHAT??"

[Kanan pushes the the ship away, gets engulfed in flames] "...."

[Rebels logo appears, credits roll] [she stares silence] "Is he really dead?" ([I nod])

"...I'm like... I can't... I can't think." (He saw Hera. Remember? 'We will see each other again, I promise.') "YEAH SHUT-" [storms off]

[falls to the ground]

[gives a long wail full of pain and rage]

[stays in the floor bawling]

[I lie down with her and hold her]

"HE DIED!" [sobs] "HE DIED! ...KANAN!" (He had to do what he had to do. Come... let's keep watching.) "No. I don't want to. I don't want to keep watching." (You need to see what's next.) "No. I don't." (Come on.) "No. I don't want anything else..." (My BF: Give her a moment)

[weeps in the floor for a couple of minutes more and then stays there lying face down in silence]

(Come, sweetie, get up) "...Is he truly dead??" (Yeah. He died... but remember, the Force... you become part of it... and technically his story is not truly over) "It's over! He's dead!" (Remember, everyone is connected to the Force... you need to see what happens) "[she slowly comes to sit and keep watching] I'm regretting watching this" (ok... just let me-) "I mean- DID YOU SEE EZRA'S FACE? HE-... [tears up again] He didn't-... he couldn't do anything about it! He was so confused and shocked... Sabine too! They were crying! Ezra was desperate! [sobs] KANAN COULD HAVE JUST GOTTEN INTO THE SHIP AND BLOCK IT FROM THERE! Why didn't he?? Just get on the ship and that's it... push themselves away to safety*... *why?"

(Ok, let's keep watching) "...ok..."

DUME

(See... all the fuel they had for the TIE defender factory was destroyed) "Can't they, like, bring more? Like a gas station?" (I don't know)

"Zeb is so happy. He doesn't know. He's going to see them crying..."

"He's gone..." [tears up]

"TURN IT OFF YES"

["You didn't prepared me for this"] [covers her face and sobs]

"Why are they so mean!? Leave him alone! It's not his fault! He just lost his DAD! I thought the wolves were his friends! They make no sense!"

"...and we were just talking about this at school..." (what?) "...about the character deaths in shows and movies that made us cry..." (Oh) "...did you cry? Did you cry when Kanan died?" (I teared up... I was sad too)

[Thrawn chews Pryce] "KARMA! YOU GONNA GET WHATS COMING TO YOU!"

[at the cave, while Hera grieves] "... oh, Kanan left his things there..."

[Ezra: "AAAH! WHAT HAPPENED!"] "Hehehehehe, oh Ezra..." [dries her tears]

["AH! That thing looked right at me!"] "Hehehehe...uh-oh it seems he's tracking them again"

["We take something from them"] "Nonononono, that's the darkside, don't go there. Kanan wouldn't have wanted that. That's wrong!"

[Dume wakes Ezra] "...could it be that Kanan became the wolf?" [I pause and quickly grab the Kanan Disney Infinity figurine where it shows his shoulder pad] (Check this out... look at the wolf's forehead) "[GASP!] It's him!"

* ["DUME"] "...ahm... that's... not exactly Kanan"

[Rukh becomes invisible] "How can't they see him?? He's still pretty obvious"

["He was wise, brave and he cared"] "Kanan loved him"

"What's that? Are they going to fight with... Rock-Paper-Scissors?? What???"

"Heh! He's all painted! Get him! Yeah! In the face!... ok, that's enough, enough, ENOUGH! Just don't let him go! Capture him!"

["Knowledge, Destruction"] "Yeah that's right... Ahsoka and that temple... that was bad"

"Why are the wolves so angry with Ezra? Can't they give him a break? Was that really Kanan? He didn't act like him at all! He wouldn't have done that to Ezra. He would have been kinder" (Well, is just a small part of Kanan. He needed to send that message... so a lil bit of Kanan was reaching through the force with his will...) "...UH?... what?...I don't understand"

(She made Kanan part of her family) "Like her husband?" (yep, you could say that. He's the triangle in the Kalikori) "How nice. That's good. They were like that already. I'm sure they even had to go undercover like that. Say they were married for some mission..."

"Chopper is her emotional support"

"Is like they forgot about Ezra until that last moment... how irresponsible"

[pouts] "I regret watching this episode because they didn't bring Kanan back. The people that make the shows can bring back characters. They can. That's what they do." (Sometimes...)

WOLVES AND A DOOR

* "hahaha, Chopper... what about me? CHOMP"

[dances with the sound of drums while the wolves run]

[wolves disappear] "Woah"

"That's the past. Voices of the past. All of that already happened, right?... is... is Kanan's voice ever going to show up again with new lines?" (He was the giant wolf's voice) "whaaa...? Really?"

"Now Ezra is the new leader" (Yep. That's why Kanan gave him the responsibility of the other mission too. He knew what would happen) "What?? How did he know? How do YOU know??" (All those voices in the beginning when he was meditating, remember? Those were visions of what would happen. He did that to save them) "... but the future is NOT written! He could have changed it! It is not set in stone!"

"Who's that guy?"

"You don't need our codes... hehehe... How does Ezra know it worked? That he's not lying and that he actually got affected by the trick?" (I don't know)

"The Emperor... this is bad. Really bad. I don't think Ezra is strong enough to defeat him"

[Hera feels Kanan's presence] "... oh Kanan... why..."

(That bird was always near Ahsoka) "Oh yeah... I kinda remember it. When she was walking down the tunnel I think I saw it too"

"How can they know all this? How are they getting to those conclusions? They are geniuses! I could have never guessed that..."

[Ezra lits up the mural] "Woah... that's going to attract attention"

"Get in! GET IN!"

WORLD BETWEEN WORLDS

"Is Ezra in *space*?" ((Not exactly))

[a pathway between all time and space, he controls the temple, controls the universe] "...uh... WHO? Ezra? He's not that powerful" ((Whoever opens that portal)) "Oh... so Ezra can do whatever he wants?? He should bring Kanan back" (( [pokerface] ))

"What are those voices??" ((They come from the different movies, different times, even from Rogue One... Kylo, Rey... Leia))

"Those are other portals! OOH!"

"THE BIRD! AHSOKA'S BIRD!"

"Is Ahsoka in that portal? Has Ahsoka come through these portals?"

[the portal shows Vader and Ahsoka] "AHSOKA!! WHAT IS SHE DOING HERE!?"

"oh my god, that's right... THIS IS-! OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD, PLEASE DONT LET HER GET KILLED BY VADER, TELL ME THAT DIDN'T HAPPEN BECAUSE ILL KILL ANAKIN"

"HWAAAAAAAAAARH! [unintelligebly screams] SAVE HER!!"

[Ezra pulls hers] "WAH!!?? WHAT? WHAT HAPPENED THERE? DID HE JUST-"

[niece jumps off her seat] [SCREAMS] "HE JUST BROKE THROUGH TIME AND SPACE!"

[the minister gets Sabine beaten] "UUURGHH! I'LL KILL HIM!"

"She's fine! SHE'S AWAKE! OH MY GOD AHSOKA [hollering]"

"*'Ezra, what happened to your hair!?'* HAHAHAHAHA, oh this is going to be a shock for her"

"Ok, I'm very good about time travel... but has this been repeating over and over again in that portal until Ezra came by?" ((Is hard to tell exactly...)) "because if she was gone for all that time, it should be because of this, right?" ((Well, the only thing we actually knew about her is that... she was walking down a tunnel at the end of the Season 2, remember?)) "Yeah, that's where the Ahsoka Lives comes from"

"Coincidence?... I DONT THINK SO!"

"Kanan IS the wolf"

"Oh my god! LOOK! THAT'S HIM! Kanan is in the constellations here!"

[Ezra: "I can save Kanan just like I saved you!"] "NOOO! THIS IS NOT RIGHT! YOU CAN'T MESS WITH SPACE TIME!"

"[sobs]"

((That portal... the symbols are Sith)) "Oh, no, this is wrong..."

["I'm asking you to let go"] "Again... [sobs]"

"[sniffles] Ezra has suffered so much... why can't he be happy just once? At least he still has Hera and the others..." (( [sweating intensifies]))

"Why can't she come back with him-? What-?" ((It wasn't really Kanan in that portal... just an illusion so Ezra would reach out and bring in the Emperor, it had been a trap)) "[GLARES] I hate him"

"The Son closes the Portal... ok"

"EZRA HELP HER WITH THE FORCE DONT STAND THERE!"

"Where did she go!? Where is she?" ((Back from where she was taken from)) "That's why we saw her going down there!"

"RUN EZRA!"

"I love Zeb"

"CHOOOPPPPEEEEER! *CHOPPER! CHOPPER!*"

"He knows exactly what to do now... woah, MOTHER OF-... why are the paintings leaving??"

"What's happening? Ezra ended up all messed up. He used all his Ki." (([SNORTS]))

"Wait... was that.. WAS THAT KANAN? REPEAT IT! I NEED TO HEAR HIM! HIS SWEET VOICE!" [The Force will be with you, always] "Oh Kanan... [covers face and sobs]"

"W-why... what happened? HOW?"

"So nobody will be able to be a Jedi now... the temple is gone" ((Eh... I'm not sure. There's still Luke)) "Is not the same. The Temple was the test. The school"

"Goodbye Kanan"

FOOLS HOPE

"ohohoho, Kallus, you look good!"

"It's like a family reunion! Everyone's here! How nice!"

"Aaaww...Hondo is actually Ezra's only friend" ((Are you sure?)) "Yeah, the others are his family. Hera is his mom, Sabine his sister, Zeb and the others are uncles... But Hondo is his FRIEND. A real friend"

"Ezra is listening... just like Kanan taught him to"

"He's having visions!!"

"Oh wow, he didn't kill her??" ((You mean Thrawn and Pryce)) "YEAH" ((No, he said he would handle her when he came back)) "Good... she deserves what's coming to her"

"[GASP] AZADI, THAT TRAITOR, HOW DARE HE!"

"Uh-oh, what's happening... THEY ARE COMING! RUN! LEAVE! HIDE! NO DONT KILL THEM TOO, NO!" ((SIT DOWN))

"Hopefully they'll execute her!!"

"AND THAT UGLY GUY!"

"EZRA, SLICE THAT GUY LIKE SUSHI! GO GO GO, OH YEAH!"

[I've done this many times] "Hahahha he kept counting!"

"WOOOHOO! THAT'S MY SABINE! MY GIRL! YEAH! VICTORY!"

"... ok ALMOST VICTORY"

"Who lives? Who dies!? *YOU DECIDE!*"

"Sabine, what happened with your 'miracles'?"

"Traitor... go to hell. They were going to win!"

[It was part of our plan] "Wait... really? OH!"

"Can't Ezra make a Force field to shield himself?" ((No, he's not that strong with the Force))

"The Clones! They actually have good aim!"

[Where is your army now, Jedi?] [Ezra activates the lightsaber] "WOOOOOOOOOOOOO! DROP MIC, WALK OUT AND KILL EVERYONE"

[manical laugh] "YEAAAAAAAAAAH!"

"Is it Kanan and his friends? Or just his friends?" ((Oh, the wolves? Just the normal ones)) "The friends... ok"

"What are they going to do with her?"

FAMILY REUNION AND FAREWELL

"Oh... his parents... well, at least he still has his new family"

"What are they doing then with Pryce?"

"What's Zeb doing? Is that part of the plan?"

"What is the pig going to do?"

"A distraction? Are they that stupid? I can't believe they fell for that! They make them too dumb"

[This is highly irregular] "Oh finally, someone smarter..."

"Well, he was not that dumb... Azadi did well"

"A special mission? Uh..."

"GO WOLF! EAT HIM!"

[Leave Lothal and we might let your troops out] "[\snort**] What are you saying, Ezra? He's got you... of course, you'll need to surrender"

"Oh no...Just surrender! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING!!"

"He needs to go directly to Thrawn. Straight to him."

"Hera, don't-... I know you are worried but he needs to do this"

[Ezra signals Chopper] "wait... what's... what is he-..."

[Sabine notices and distracts the others] "... he knew exactly what was going to happen! HE LISTENED JUST LIKE HIS MASTER! HE LISTENED! I LOVE YOU EZRA! I LOVE YOU! YOU LISTENED FOR ONCE!"

"Think of what would Kanan want, Hera"

[Ezra gets taken to Thrawn] "Don't give him the pleasure to get angry. Just stay calm"

[Who deserves what is irrelevant. What matters is who has power] "...well, he's not wrong. That's how real life works" (( I... ಠ_ಠ ... *sigh* ))

"What are they going to do to Ezra? The Emperor is not really there?... wait- is he using labial????" ((...whaat??))

"How nice, the wolves are following them!"

"The pig reminds me of Oolong from Dragon Ball"

"What's wrong with you Hera? You usually take the lead when Kanan wasn't around... Sabine is doing everything now... why?"

[Palpatine offers what could be] "What... No don't go, this is a trap! Think like Kanan! THINK!"

"NO YOU ARE FALLING"

"THINK LIKE KANAN!"

[Kallus and Gregor arrive at the generators] "The Empire should really *really* recruit people with better aim. I mean... look at that. They can't hit anything" (([LAUGH])) "Having all that power and resources, can't they get better people? Train them better?" (([LAUGHS HARDER]))

[Open the door] "No! Think it through Ezra! ...This moment... this place is where you really want to live in!"

[Melch gets hit] "Oh no they are starting to kill everyone"

"Zeb flew! He's crazy! WOAH!"

[Gregor gets hit] "Wh-what? NO! NO WAY! NO WAY! That trooper was down already! That's not fair! It shouldn't count!"

"Since when bad guys are good? No, Ezra, he's tricking you, you know this"

[Go on, you deserve this] "Oooh, I feel weird about that...but... n-no! No Ezra! Think like Kanan! Think like Kanan!"

[Ezra destroys the temple] "[claps] TAKE THAT! And your good looks are gone too! UH HUH! You are not some saint in white!"

"[laughs] Samurai? Samurai!"

[Ezra gets... tassed?] "Ok, that doesn't make me laugh anymore"

"You can do it EZRA! SQUISH THEM"

"I love Zeb's legs. They can make him jump so far and can grab on to almost anything" ((...ok))

"I hate how they are killing everyone" ((But is just Gregor, Melch survived)) "That doesn't mean they aren't trying!!"

[Purrgils appear] "WOOOOOOAAAH! [starts dancing]"

"Seems like they are enjoying this a lot... destroying all the ships"

[Whatever happens now] "Yep! Both of you!"

[tentacles break into the Chimaera's bridge]"I love him! You can do it Ezra! You are the best! Kanan would be proud!"

"Oh no... he's not going to leave"

[I have to see this through to the end] "THEY ARE KILLING EVERYONE!!!"******

[Ezra jumps to hyperspace] "... [stares in shock]..."

"... my vocabulary doesn't allow me the kinds of words I want to say..."

"Uhm, was that the plan? HAHAHA, oh yeah..."

"Oh so Pryce will stay... ok, goodbyeeeee"

"Be careful with Ezra's lightsaber! That's all we got left of him!" (( Yeah, in fact, is the only one they have left. We don't know where Kanan's ended up. Last time we saw it, Pryce had it and showed it to Thrawn)) "Maybe she still had it. Or is in her office. Or in Thrawn's museum... gallery" ((That's on Thrawn's ship... I don't think it got there))

"Cheers and so long! Everything went well! Well, most of it anyway because they kept killing everyone... the end shouldn't mean *'QUICK, KILL EVERYBODY!'\*, no no no no..."

[If you are watching this recording-] "*-Then I'm already dead*"

So there you have it. SHE GOT INTENSE. As always she was really vocal when she did or didn't like something. Kanan's death was very difficult to get through and I can't imagine doing it if we had watched the show live. Had DUME kept playing in TV we would have missed more than half the episode because she would simply don't stand up from the ground and she would have understood less. I had to explain her most of the stuff with the wolves, DUME/Kanan, the portals... and I knew it because I followed Rebels Recon and every interview I could find from Filoni but how many children did actually get it on their own? In any case, the second bggest shock was Jacen. That was a bomb and I'm actually surprised she took such issue with the "

[I can't wait to come home] "He's alive, but what does that matter if THIS IS THE LAST EPISODE! THERE'S NOTHING LEFT! SO WHAT. There's nothing more! They are going to leave us hanging!!"

[Epilogue starts] ((Time passed)) "[frowns]... how much? How long?" ((years)) "[glares, eye twitches]" ((... like 5 to 6 years. The movies already happened. The ones with Luke, Leia and Han...)) "...WHERE IS EZRA!?"

"OOOH SABINE LOOKS AMAZING"

[Zeb took Kallus to Lira San] "That's nice"

"WHO IS HE???" [Jacen Syndulla] "....WHO DID YOU HAVE THAT BABY WITH, HERA!?" ((with Kanan! That's Kanan's son!!)) "[stares in disbelief]" ((Don't you believe me?)) "Ok, hold on... [stands up, goes to a corner and screams/laughs in confusion clawing at the wall]" ((what the-)) "IT JUST** *CAN'T* BE! HOW?? WHEN? They had just said I LOVE YOU and then he got killed! If Hera and Kanan hadn't said 'I love you' until just before he got killed, then how could they have done *it*!!?? IT DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE" ((Well, they were together before that!)) "[slightly disturbed] But without saying 'I love you'? how-....UGH, that would be weird... but... WHEN? AT WHAT TIME? We were watching them all the time! They never seemed to spent the night together!" ((They are not going to show that in a kids show! We assume she had gotten pregnant just before she left)) "THEN WHY DID KANAN DECIDE TO DIE IF HE WAS GOING TO BE A DAD! Why choose that path!? HIS SON NEEDS HIM! Hera needed him!" ((I'm not sure sure he knew)) "He knew! He could see the future! If he saw all that was going to happen then he knew!" ((She was likely going to get killed there. It was either her or him. He choose her to live. We- we haven't finished yet, we need to keep watching)) "I REFUSE! WHERE IS EZRA!? Where is he? WHE*RE IS* HE!?"**********

"Sabine! Where is he?"

[Ahsoka is waiting] "HELLO THERE" (( *SNORTS*))

[is time to bring him home] "So I guess they are going to make a movie of that, right?" ((A movie, a comic or a book.. maybe. Hopefully.)) "What... no. A movie! Not all kids read books or comics. We want to watch it!"

[credits rolls] "[smiles] Alright then... [stars laughing manically, rocking back and forth] IT'S IMPOSSIBLE! They couldn't have had a kid!"

((Remember that hashtag they used? #AhsokaLives? Well, now it is #WheresEzra)) "[desperate screaming]"

Bonus: I offhandedly mentioned her the Steve Blum's comment about Zeb going to Lira San to start a family with Kallus and she stared at me in disbelief and whispered "... oh my god...I never thought about it... they are perfect". xD

So there you have it. SHE GOT INTENSE. As always she was really vocal when she did or didn't like something. Kanan's death was very difficult to get through and I can't imagine doing it if we had watched the show live. Had DUME kept playing in TV we would have missed more than half the episode because she would simply don't stand up from the ground and she would have understood less. I had to explain her most of the stuff with the wolves, DUME/Kanan, the portals... and I knew it because I followed Rebels Recon and every interview I could find from Filoni but how many children did actually get it on their own? In any case, the second biggest shock was Jacen. That was a bomb and I'm actually surprised she took such issue with the "I Love You" problem. The implications actually unsettled her quite a lot. In any case, she is really angry about not knowing what happened to Ezra and when I told her about Resistance she didn't care because she wanted at least the story with Ahsoka and Sabine.

Well, it's over now. I'm still not completely over what happened and just trying to stay afloat waiting for any sign of the blueberries lost in space. I want to thank everyone for their kind comments. I hope this relatively small peek at what the target audience was thinking about the series has been a great experience for you guys too. Rewatching each season with my niece really put a lot of things in perspective. Right now she's coping by playing with me the Sims 3 with the whole cast I had done the other day. She wants me to stay put for any news on Sabine and Ahsoka sooo... night gathers and my watch begins. \SALUTES**

Submitted May 05, 2018 at 09:17PM via reddit https://ift.tt/2FQa0VG

#star wars rebels #ezra bridger #kanan jarrus #caleb dume #hera syndulla #garazeb orrelios #zeb orrelios #sabine wren #sabine #ezra #thrawn #kalluzeb #kane roberts #jacen syndulla #star wars

[grim-on-the-darkside]

Star Wars Quotes regarding the Expanded Universe and it’s place in things under Lucas. -------------------------------------

I’ve shared quotes on this subject in the past, I don’t believe I have shared these ones, some I have only found recently, and other’s I had but I’m not the most organized person, so I found them again. I apologize if some of these are repeats, I tried to avoid that as much as possible. All of these quotes are verified, but you should never take anyone’s word for that on the internet. Feel free to verify them yourselves.

Anyone who would like to use these quotes and include in some of their works, by all means. It isn’t always easy to get to the truth of things, there is a great deal of misinformation on the Internet. It is only my wish to see George Lucas’ legacy remembered for what it was in truth. He gave us such a wonderful gift, that has touched the lives of so many, in so many ways. Wherever our interests may lie, I feel we own him something in return. - This is a decisive subject, and its been so for many years. This is in no way intended to speak to the artistic value found in the EU, that is a totally subjective consideration. There are no right or wrong opinions. Just opinions and everyone is entitled to their own.

I just want his Star Wars to be remembered as it truly was and his words and vision as they truly were. In the end, we all share our love for his creation with each other.

Star Wars is Forever.

"The importance of The Clone Wars that cannot be understated is that it was the last huge expansion of the Star Wars universe that came directly from George Lucas." ~ Pablo Hidalgo

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"I always think of the research you speak of as what I knew about the EU before I took this job. As I stated above, working directly with George changes the way you see the EU and everything in it."

~ Dave Filoni 2008

----------------

DAVE FILONI: The First Time George Lucas Talked About Ahsoka https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAjnLseHQwA

--------------

"I get all my information on the Clone Wars from him. [George Lucas]"

"I can pitch him ideas and say 'lets do certain things', but at the end of the say he will say 'yes' or he will say 'no', and than that is the way it's gonna go." ~ Dave Filoni, 2019

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"From Issue 77 Of Star Wars Insider, Using Dark Empire & The Thrawn Trilogy As Examples. "So so episodes beyond Return of the Jedi exist? Nothing beyond possinle story points and ideas, certainly not fleshed out story treatments or scripts. Fans often wonder if Dark Empire or the Thrawn Trilogy were based off those notes or are meant to be Episodes VII, VIII, IX. - That's not the case. Those works are the creation of their respective authors with the guidance of editors at Lucas Licensing. They are not, nor ever were, meant to be George Lucas' definitive vision of what happens next" ~ Pablo Hidalgo, 2004 https://ibb.co/K9PMgH3

[This is a screenshot of the Original Text that I found]

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“Everything that I’ve worked on at Lucasfilm has been considered canon.” ~ Dave Filoni

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“Working on ‘Clone Wars,’ it was always canon.” ~ Dave Filoni

---------------------------------------

One of the main characters in the feature film, a 90 minute introduction to the series that hits theaters August 15, is Anakin's teenage Padawan, Ahsoka. Lucas said:

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

~ George Lucas 2008

https://io9.gizmodo.com/george-lucas-spills-all-about-clone-wars-at-skywalker-r-5033398

-----------------------

"Understand, that the Holocron's primary purpose is to keep track of Star Wars continuity for Lucas Licensing and to some degree Lucas Online. To my knowledge, it is only rarely used for production purposes."

~ Leland Chee 2005/6

[Lucas was in Production]

-----------

"Star Wars continuity, even EU continuity, does not rest on my shoulders. Our licensees submit product directly to either our editors or our product development managers. The Holocron serves as a tool for them to check any issues regarding continuity, and after that, if the editors or developers have any questions, they pass it along to me to check for continuity. At the same time, I am constantly on the lookout to make sure that any new continuity being created gets entered in the Holocron. With regard to the the films and The Clone Wars, I am not involved in continuity approvals though I have often been asked to provide reference material."

~ Leland Chee

-------------------

"The question selected from The Furry Conflict poll was: How much does the Expanded Universe influence the movies?

As I asked him, Lucas leaned back a moment and said to me “Very little.” When he first had agreed to let people write Expanded Universe books, he had said “I’m not gonna read ‘em” and it was a “different universe” and that he wanted to keep away from the time period of his saga. He jokingly complained, however, that now when he writes a script he has to look through an encyclopedia to make sure that a name he comes up with doesn’t come too close to something in the EU.

He later commented that the future of Star Wars may lie in other venues outside of feature film."

- "Marc Xavier", November 2003, "The Furry Conflict and the Great ‘Beard‘ of the Galaxy"  (report based on a Q&A session with George Lucas which occurred at USC on 11-19-03)

--------------

"Q: in that vein, is it possible we'll see more Star Wars TV product?

A: Because I"m retiring from this part of my creative life, I'm open to more TV Product. but not more feature films, the story is complete. [and any other story wouldn't be my philosophy and views,] the books are not the same philosophy as the movies."

George Lucas 2003

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Q: Can you quote any good story other than the movies?

A: No, I don't think so. (laughs)." ~ George Lucas

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"George's view of the universe is his view," Chee says with a slightly grudging tone. "He's not beholden to what's gone before."

~ Leland Chee 2008

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"And then there's the very top level of canon, the inviolable, infallible level of Truth, marked GWL—George Walton Lucas. It's the divine word of the Creator who stands outside his universe and is not subject to the rules that govern it."

~ Leland Chee 2008

Meet Leland Chee, the Star Wars Franschise Continuity cop.

[Actually, it was more like that Chee was standing outside of his.]

---------------

"Understand, that the Holocron's primary purpose is to keep track of Star Wars continuity for Lucas Licensing, and to some degree Lucas Online. To my knowledge, it is only rarely used for production purposes."

~ Leland Chee [I'm not sure about the exact date on this, but I think its from around 2004 or 2005]

[Lucas worked in production]]

------------

"I've been against a multiverse even before Disney"

~ Leland Chee 2018

[No, really? =p ]

--------------

"Is the "C" class part of the overall continuity alongside "G" class?"

As far as LucasBooks and Lucas Licensing are concerned, of course it is. LucasBooks and Lucas Licensing hold sway over the content and storylines of the Expanded Universe, and thus have every right to declare a canon of those materials. Whether this internal declaration is subscribed to by parent company LFL or Lucas himself is another matter, one which, though interesting, is outside the scope of this Holocron-oriented thread.

Leeland Chee 2004

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"So with the Story Group overseeing all of the content in film and television and elsewhere, we don’t have to retroactively make those changes. We can anticipate those changes. We can seed things in one medium [and see them grow] in another. So we might be seeding things in books or TV that you might not realize is substantial until years down the road. And if people knew what the road map looked like, they would just be floored.”

Leland Chee, 2017 - SYFY WIRE

[Chee is much happier working for Disney. He finally got what he wanted. A one Universe Star Wars.- Which would be great besides for that whole Disney part! =p]

----------------

“In these early drafts, the planet was called Had Abbadon. The name Coruscant came from author Timothy Zahn for his 1991 novel, Heir to the Empire. It's actually a real word that means ”glittering” or ”giving forth flashes of light.” When it came time to name the city-planet for Episode I, after considering several other names, Lucas decided to go with the already established Coruscant."

- Steve Sansweet, LFL/Fan Relations, June 2003

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“As far as I know he hasn’t read any of my novels. From what I’ve heard Lucas is a visual man, he likes the comic books for the visual aspect. Frankly I don’t think that he has time to read so I am not offended.”

-Timothy Zahn, Author for the EU, The book report interview November, 1997

-----------------------

That means Zahn’s books won’t be directly adapted, but the author says that was always the case: “The books were always just the books.”

“It could be an entirely new storyline, but if he picks and chooses bits and pieces from the expanded universe, we’d all be thrilled to death.”

~ Timothy Zahn

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"Q: Did George Lucas intend for Boba Fett to die in the sarlacc, despite what others may say or print?

A: Yes, in George's view -- as far as the films go -- the baddest bounty hunter in the Galaxy met his match in the Great Pit of Carkoon where --unfortunately for Mr. Fett -- the ghastly sarlacc made its home.

However, Lucas also approved Fett's comeback in the expanded universe. And of course, by going back in time with the prequels, the Star Wars creator has brought Boba Fett back to life himself, albeit at a much younger age."

- Steve Sansweet, LFL/Fan Relations, December 2002

-----------------

As far as I know, George Lucas himself is not involved. He has a liaison group that deals with the book people, the game people, etc. They do the day-to-day work. Occasionally, he will be asked a question and will give an answer."

"I did meet Lucas once for a few minutes."

~ Timothy Zahn

[They spoke about 1930′s cinema and Samurai movies. They never even talked about Star Wars! How nuts is that!]

Timothy Zahn’s Trilogy was outstanding. Gotta give him his due.

---------------

In 2014, Disney declared the Expanded Universe was no longer canon. It became ‘Legends’. What do you think of this, seeing all of your work suddenly become non-canon?

"Those of us writing the EU were always told, all along, from the very beginning (have I stressed that strongly enough?), “Only the Movies are Canon.” Sure, it was disappointing."

~ Kathy Tyers, EU author [Truce at Bakura] Interview: April 2018

https://starwarsinterviews.com/various/authors/kathy-tyers-author/

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EU Disclaimers [Stating these were not George Lucas' Sequels and not what he would use.] - [I did not take all of these personally, but they do match those that I did.]

https://ibb.co/GfwK0CB https://ibb.co/Tr3dj06 https://ibb.co/19B66B1 https://ibb.co/p1mCFcm https://ibb.co/rtSVh7d https://ibb.co/Tcm7dFy https://ibb.co/ygQXjCN https://ibb.co/GRvmV7V - Jonathan W. Rinzler is/was an author and editor for Lucas Licensing's book division. In 2005, he was hired to write three Star Wars guide books,respectively Star Wars: Visionaries (although he only wrote the introduction of this one), The Art of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and The Making of Star Wars Revenge of the Sith. He later went to write The Art of Revenge of the Sith that same year. In 2007, he wrote and published The Making of Star Wars: The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film amongst many other such works for Star Wars.

This is more than a disclaimer, it's a quote, this is a question directly to him as he worked in Lucas Licensing asking him if the Expanded Universe wasn't considered canon ever why did Lucas allow it to exist. Answer - Money. He was also a personal acquaintance of Lucas' for many years. He also is quoted as telling the story as to why Lucas hated Mara Jade so much. -

Rinzler, George Lucas “Couldn’t Stand” The Character Of Mara Jade - http://starwarshub.net/2019/02/01/according-to-author-j-w-rinzler-george-lucas-couldnt-stand-the-character-of-mara-jade/

[Lucas said [paraphrasing], ‘Jedi don’t marry. They take vows.’

[This site also contains a good amount of information on the only legitimate sequel trilogy to Return of the Jedi, the one Lucas came up with himself and completed Treatments for Episodes, 7, 8, and 9 in 2011.]

For a more in-depth look at Lucas’ Sequel trilogy treatment in so far as we know it, these are excellent sites and we know a lot more about his Sequel trilogy and his vision for how the Saga was truly meant to end. There’s some beautiful concept art to be found as well.

George Lucas’ Episode VII - https://medium.com/@Oozer3993/george-lucas-episode-vii-c272563cc3ba

George Lucas' Ideas for His Own Star Wars Sequel Trilogy-https://io9.gizmodo.com/george-lucas-ideas-for-his-own-star-wars-sequel-trilogy-1826798496

STAR WARS: The Original Plans for the Sequel Trilogy - YouTube -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1dM9qFe4p0

https://ibb.co/jvph85c

[chrispetescia]

My 2016 in review ... Part 1 of 2

Even after seven years of this (read: 2015 part 1 & part 2, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009), it’s actually a bit daunting to do one for 2016. I definitely procrastinated this year, partly because I am not sure how to articulate some of what I feel. I think the state of the world outside of what I can control ... from newly elected leadership at home to global humanitarian plights and environmental concerns ... has me feeling burdened by a mood of something looming and impending, dark but just in my peripheral vision for now. But, since I can’t quite speak to that yet, and let’s hope I never have to, this is a look back at some of my favorite things in the life bubble where my focus is 99% of the time anyway.

A few thoughts.

This year felt like a lot shifted in my lifestyle. I was fairly healthy, physically speaking (especially compared to events in previous years you can read about in older posts), largely thanks to my trainer who I see 3-days a week. But, I traveled more for work than ever before, saw my family less than ever before, and things were vastly differently than prior years. Looking back through a year of posts, photos, etc ... and, there are a lot, although to be honest, most photos are for myself and family to enjoy, so sorry / not sorry ... I just enjoy documenting it, because I appreciate it all. For me it is about living the life I want to live, that fulfills my drive, and it has always been. I do what I love because I love it, and because it enables the things I want in life across the board. 

I want Carrot to be the best place, where anyone talented can continue to develop and grow those talents, and in turn teach their fellow Carrots. I want to make sure everyone there feels inspired, respected, safe, and loves the specialness of what we have built. I want to adventure with my brother in arms and life, Mike Germano, for the sake of the journey and not any particular destination. I want to dress up as Star Wars characters (screen accuracy matters ;) and own ridiculous pieces of that Galaxy that inspires wonder in me, still. I want to be an Annual Passholder at Disney. I want to be a hero to my little girl, and exceed my wife’s expectations of me. And so these are the sorts of things I do, because they’re the purpose of it all - for me. I work to obtain and maintain against it... Career and life are not really separate. There is no “off,” and never has been. They’re all part of the “why” I do anything. Self-awareness is important, and I am grateful for my own because I suspect it’s not a universal trait. Life doesn’t compartmentalize in anyone’s reality, and so I don’t pretend mine does.

None of this is an accident, or even remotely easy. The “how” is the stuff that is hard to capture and share in an instagram photo: the many hours of work and meetings and meetings and work, the gold travel status by sheer volume of miles on two separate airlines, and all the many, many moments I miss by being away... this is what the majority of my time, energy and heart go to. My family gets maybe 20-25% of my attention and mental focus, broadly speaking, and hardly ever during the week. And so, I tend to celebrate the great things I am there for and can capture in a photo. It’s what I scroll through when I am away and need a quick smile and reminder. I want to be more present for them - mentally as well as physically - and if there is a daunting resolution for 2017, it’s that. It won’t be easy because I am wired for the broader consideration of Carrot and the 170-or-so people who have chosen to spend their valuable time, energy and creativity there. That love and responsibility existed first and so the two compete inside me. The one I see the most tends to win-out. Life is fleeting, so I want to work on my internal discipline and be present... when I am with my family, I need to be with them give them the most of me I can.

Below is a highlights reel of notes (photo and video linked) about 2016, beginning with Carrot and ending with life outside it (don’t worry- plenty of Olivia). The company is way, way too big and busy to even remotely cover adequately and without insulting any of our talented people whose efforts I don’t note specifically. So, this is just some of my favorite memories from the year and barely a small fraction of it all. Our 2016 work reel nods to more than I can in this post, and not even enough then - but, I am incredibly proud of all of it, particularly because so many others had everything to do with it, often entirely independent of me.

2016 Professional

The year started off with a marathon 5-days at CES in Las Vegas for tech immersion and meetings. It was great to spend some time with Robin Trani, who was also out there! Demoing Tilt Brush and other VR games from Steam/ HTC Vive with her and Bruno was particularly memorable. The very occasional sleep (alright, unconsciousness) was in a nice room with a view, but by the time I left and landed at my hotel in LA, I NEEDED a drink ... which was a bit alarming. I think three days in Vegas is a healthy limit, for general reference. My first time in Venice Beach, I finally got out to see our newly-opened LA office. It was the first of many visits in 2016 (and the start of my avocado toast obsession), and fondly reminded me of our earlier days of Carrot: the excitement, energy, and possibility of everyone working hard in line-of-sight (but with the upside of financial backing and nice amenities ;). We spent a Sunday afternoon at Disneyland - my first time there! - as a Carrot family, full of thrills and fun. We also met with and befriended the amazingly talented Blur Studios, and I was invited to dress fancy and attend co-founder and Deadpool Director Tim Miller’s premiere of the film! Len from Carrot LA and my good friend Ashley joined. In the spirit of premieres, Ashley generously invited me and the whole Carrot LA staff to the premiere with Q&A of Studio Ghibli’s Only Yesterday, newly dubbed in English and including the voice talent of Daisy Ridley and, of course, Ashley herself!

Continuing the momentum of cool things, I was back out West for one of the most special experiences of my life. Carrot is our vessel for dreams, and I sailed through a few checkboxes in one trip. It began with our client ANA’s new BB-8 plane, landing at LAX from its inaugural flight. Jasmine was kind enough to insist I sub-in for a Carrot rep out there, and I GOT TO MEET BB-8 (flown in from the London set of Episode 8)! The next day I was in San Francisco to visit Lucasfilm. Ahead of meetings, I got to join Ashley’s family on a special tour through halls of props, production and a lot I wasn’t allowed to photograph. At the end of the day, we were even treated to a special, early screening of Star Wars Rebels’ Season 2 finale with Director Dave Filoni and crew! The next day I drove across the bridge to Marin, and Skywalker Ranch. This is on every true fan’s dream checklist, and meetings with the George Lucas Education Foundation regarding their 25th anniversary earned me a coveted invite. After the meeting, I headed over to the insanely private guest houses to meet up with Ashley and her wonderful family again, who had been invited to stay, coincidentally. The ranch is truly one of the most beautiful and profoundly peaceful places I have ever been, and guests are essentially Star Wars royalty or celebrities recording at Skywalker Sound (on premises) or VIPs doing business with George. After walking the grounds (and seeing some Endor re-shoot spots), buying some keycard access-only swag at the Ranch Store (this stuff will be buried with me - you can’t even find any of it on ebay, as that would be insulting to George), we enjoyed a nice dinner in the common area building. We prepared the food alongside Jodie Foster and her partner (who I didn’t initially recognize) and two chefs who they brought up from SF, in a giant kitchen. You can request food from the ranch gardens and farm, all of which is picked fresh daily. I wasn’t allowed to take photos, but while walking around the property my finger did slip a few times (and we know iPhones have a mind of their own). All three days of this insane experience are surmised in photos here.

Speaking of Ashley Eckstein, who I am so honored to count as a close friend ... I am beyond proud and impressed with her as an entrepreneur and business woman, talented actress and performer. After 6.5 years of hard work, her company, Her Universe, sold to Hot Topic this fall and they just recently began the next phase of their growth and adventure. Congrats to Ashley, David and the team who are already working to expand and conquer a space they created: fashionable, empowering apparel for female fangirls. HU and HT have a history of successful collaboration. It’s exciting to look forward to more now, especially with licenses ranging from Star Wars, Star Trek, Marvel and Disney Parks (and plenty more). The apparel is fantastically designed, and it makes the male fanbase envious (myself included ... although I do have some apparel I wear anyway). Their fashion show at SDCC this year was unprecedented and they even had a digital docu-series produced for it (Carrot worked on some screen graphics)!  Additionally, I have high hopes for continued success and the growth of Her Universe press :)

Another incredible experience this year was my time working with Disney Parks. There is surely more ahead for us in 2017, but it began extremely uniquely. After meeting with a VP-level scouting team from their creative group, Yellow Shoes, in the Spring of 2016, Duncan Wardle (A brilliant, 29-year veteran) asked me to breakfast in NYC. By the end of our chat, I learned that we had excited them so much with our passion for the Disney brand and our knowledge of the digital and social content and tech space, that we were being invited to participate in their proprietary creative process for 2017 planning. Myself and an appropriate second party (we selected Asif Khan, who headed our Strategy team) would be part of a braintrust to do several weeks of deep strategy and creative work in Orlando. I cannot disclose more than that, but I am sure they won’t mind me speaking about my awe. A Disney fanboy, I was essentially being asked to live, eat, and breathe Walt Disney World for several weeks. Work and Think Disney all day in sessions, experience the magic of WDW after hours. Aside from obvious reasons, this was incredibly fulfilling because I got to think for Disney ... one challenge, intensely ... rather than a myriad of dozens of things at once. The focus of it was completely refreshing and something I didn’t realize I desperately needed, a healthy departure from (and light neglect of) the many, many things I usually touch and shift between mentally on any given day. We did some fantastic work with great collaboration between complimentary expertise, and developed some incredible relationships. We truly felt like partners in the process. A special thank you is beyond necessary to Chris Chapman for everything during those sessions, and since. I can’t talk about the work, but I can talk about everything beyond. The first two weeks we stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge and enjoyed a Savannah view. There is a special sort of magic in taking conference calls and working from your room’s deck while a grazing giraffe watches you. If you got sick of that, there was always the stunning lobby to catch up on email before dinner at the Parks. Week three was at Disney’s Grand Floridian, which is stunningly beautiful and I am probably not fancy enough for it - I did get the best sleep I have had in years there though, and ended up buying one of the pillows they use in the rooms, for home. Week four was at Disney’s Boardwalk, whose vibe was just really cool. Modeled after turn-of-the-century Atlantic City, it was beautiful and incredibly placed in walking distance between Hollywood Studios and Epcot. Chris Mercaldo was generous enough to guide us through the Parks, after hours, on several occasions, with seemingly infinite knowledge and factoids, and enabled many firsts for me (Tower of Terror and Everest among them). I returned for a new project in October (with a fresh Carrot crew), for a shorter session and stay, and once again enjoyed the Grand Floridian. We also had plenty of meetings out west in the Burbank offices for Digital and Creative. All said and done, and including a vacation in October and a remote-work/vacation the week before Christmas, I spent something like 7-8 weeks living at WDW. From food to technology, it is truly a place of wonder, and the “Frontline Cast” (guest-facing staff) is incredibly proud of their work and eager to assist, and ensure you have a magical day. Carrot <3 Disney.

Some other great memories this year include continued work with The Yankees and seeing thousands of our ticket designs in the hands of fans throughout the season. We enjoyed our company season tickets and a special suite for their Star Wars Day! Speaking of Star Wars Day, May the 4th at Carrot is a special day and this year’s festivities included fantastic decor and arrangements by Brittany and her office team. We even made a special BB-8 cocktail, tweaked and approved by expert and friend BT Parsons. BT was also kind enough to do an Amaro tasting this fall at Carrot, in honor of his new book. 2016 also saw Carrot’s 11th Founder’s Day and 11th Birthday. We were at RIT’s New Media Industry day, recruiting for our 8th year straight, and I was asked to be on both an Alumni Board and Applied Critical Thinking board - incredible honors - which will begin duties early in 2017. Carrot Halloween was a blast as usual and probably the best annual party at Carrot, IMO, while Carrotsgiving is always just a warm and happy event: everyone comes together, brings something to share, and we celebrate an appreciation for what we have and have built together. This years was our last in the office at 45 Main st so it felt a little extra special. We also named Kurt as our Carrot cup winner, as voted by previous winners, and it was entirely deserved! 

A big one, literally:  we signed a lease for a brand new office in the spring, and broke ground this fall. Lots of hard work from all, with daily management by Kyle and planning by Brittany and Carlos will have us in there shortly. This is the space we dreamed of for our office - literally this exact space - when we first came to Brooklyn. It’s beautiful and exciting and represents the company we now are. It’s also extremely exciting because we will be sharing it with VICE’s content agency, Virtue, and working to fully capitalize on our collaboration. The potential of Carrot + VICE has been only lightly tapped since the acquisition, so I am genuinely anticipating what working side by side with them will enable us both to do :) We are entering the next phase of the company, an evolution that we tend to go through every year or so, and this one is profoundly at a new level of potential. 2017 is going to be a fun year - with high expectations - for Carrot :)

In terms of external investments, there are a few I will talk more about in a 2017 recap (hopefully) ... but we have some great stuff in the works for Fornino and it’s still as delicious as ever. We also invested in a new company: Cora. Their mission and leadership and product are fantastic. Our friends at Robin are still killing it and we couldn’t be prouder.

Continued in Part 2 of 2 ...

#2016 #year in review

[marvel-starwarsfangirl]

Bad Batch episodes 4,5, and 6 review (some spoilers):

Ok, I’m sorry I missed my reviews for the 4th and 5th episodes. Anyways, hear we go.

Overall, I am enjoying the episodes. I think they do a great job with the characters and showing how things are changing due to the Empire. However, I do miss Crosshair. I know the main focus of the show is the Bad Batch, but as a member, Crosshair should get more screen time. It makes me wonder what Filoni’s planning if he’s only been in two episodes so far. We still have 10 episodes left, maybe Filoni will surprise us.

Cid is a really cool character and I like her. She does help the Bad Batch out so she’s cool. I also like how Omega is growing as a character. She’s still a kid but she’s learning. I really enjoy her. I love seeing the squad warming up to her.

I also think it’s pretty interesting how Tech has trouble figuring things out due to not being in a military situation. Despite being super smart, it was for military purposes. I also love Dad!Echo and I’m living for it.

For today’s episode (Decommissioned), we see 2 familiar faces. At least they weren’t as annoying as last time. Again, the ending teases a mysterious character after the Bad Batch. But based on the clothing, it’s definitely not the Kaminoans. I wonder: Empire, bounty hunter/criminal, or maybe Rex???

And Wrecker!!! I’m legit scared now. Plz help him before it’s too late.

In conclusion, love seeing the Bad Batch go around the galaxy, trying to survive, but I miss Crosshair. I hope we see him next week. Idk where Filoni is going with the story, but I hope it’s more than some fun adventures. Bc The Mandalorian kinda already did that. See y’all next week! 😊

#star wars #the bad batch #bad batch hunter #bad batch wrecker #bad batch tech #bad batch crosshair #arc trooper echo #omega #bad batch spoilers