General Star Wars Animated Series

I get the feeling that even after all this time, if Luminara managed to get a hold of Bariss to try and get her help, Bariss' response will be "Get bent."

I doubt it would get that dark that quickly. We've already been told that Rebels is going to be lighter than The Clone Wars.

I actually doupt Luminara is really alive at all. It's obvious from the previews, that she's part of a trap set by the Inquisitor for Kanan and Ezra, so what if that podcast that features her is a fake? The possibility to save a Jedi master is quite a tempting bait so there's a high chance they'd bite, and if that Master is already dead, there's 0% chance for the would-be-rescuers to succeed.

She died on Kashyyk, if I'm remembering correctly. She was in one of those rolling tanks when the Order came down, and the tank next to hers blew it up.

Except that's not canon anymore.

Unless it's contradicted on TV or in the movies, yes it is.

Did you miss the memo?

The only things that are canon as of about June are the six movies, and The Clone Wars.

This seems familiar.

Everything going forward will be canon, but the old Expanded Universe is basically now an alternate one.

edited 22nd Aug '14 7:11:00 PM by BadWolf21

Time for Zeb's short.

Is it just me, or are the Stormtroopers getting a bit too much of the petty pushover treatment? For all their memetic loser status, it's one thing to miss a barn at point blank range, and another to not even fire at an opponent's back. At the very least, it deflates all sense of threat. Pushed further though, like with Sabine's gloating and Kanan's "embarrassing the Imperials again" quip, and it just makes the heroes look like they're picking on the mentally challenged.

I reckon they'll eventually ramp up the nastiness - the Visual Guide hints at a "Simon looking for River" situation at the local Imperial Academy... so yeah, maybe it is her in that box after all. It's just that, with villains that wimpy, hammering on how evil they are doesn't feel believable. Compared to Disney's other rebellion series, this one really seems to be aiming for the low-hanging fruit. Tacking on the Cairo market chase music was just the cherry on top.

edited 25th Aug '14 10:10:58 AM by indiana404

That clip is continuing something that annoyed me in the preview clip of the twi'lek girl in the spaceship... the characters exhibiting this exaggeratedly casual "Sure, whatever, ain't no thang!" attitude towards fighting the Empire, like they know they are in a Space Opera, and that they won't be taken down by a bunch of Mooks. I recall a scene in the original film where Luke and Han pretty much panicked at the sight at one TIE fighter. Here, blowing up a TIE fighter or three is just The Usual Business, equivalent to a morning exercise.

Luke was a farmboy who wanted to join the Academy, and Han was used to running at the first sign of trouble. They're not exactly seasoned warriors.

Considering what we know about TIE fighters, I'm more inclined to say that it's another example of Episode IV not having everything nailed down yet, and is a vast overreaction as a result.

Both the Stormtrooper inaccuracy on the Death Star, and the TIE fighter ineffectiveness against the Falcon, are pretty explicitly a result of direct intent - they did let them go. Even when ROTJ had the Stormtroopers lose to the teddybear tribe, the TIE's in the space battle didn't seem too weak. I'd say once the video games started using them as disposable cannon fodder, the other portrayals followed suit, adding their own elite mooks to provide some actual threat. Possibly the same could happen here, if the Inquisitor's prototype TIE Advanced is any indication.

At the very least, I agree that the Empire's forces shouldn't be reacted to as though they're so weak - it doesn't make for much of a "dark time" if the oppressors are acknowledged as utter pushovers. In terms of portrayal, it's like if James Bond started openly acting like Austin Powers, casually advising enemy soldiers to just drop dead and save him the trouble - not a bad thing per se, but likely not what people geared up to see in general.

edited 25th Aug '14 12:56:23 PM by indiana404

It wasn't the TIE Fighter, it was the fact that it was wear Alderaan was supposed to be, and it's base had to be nearby. Which it was. Every other time in that movie even, the TI Es are as useless as the Storm Troopers.

I disagree. The run of the mill cannon fodder that they're going to be fighting shouldn't be tough and scary on its own, because it sucks the fun right out. If they're terrified for their lives all the time, you lose both the spirit of adventure that a show like this needs, and the genuine tension that comes with a real threat like the Inquisitor.

Look at TCW. On their own, the battle droids can almost be ignored and they'll kill each other for you. They exist as an impetus to action scenes, and not much else. The second a commando droid shows up though, and you know shit's about to get real.

I'm not saying they should be in a constant state of fear and never crack a smile. The movies had a lot of jokes and humorous situations that added to the spirit of adventure. But the movies never treated the actual prospect of rebelling against a galactic empire itself like a joke — the characters are generally alarmed when the Imperials show up, if only for fear that they'll call more to be upon them. I just don't feel the movies set precedent for an atmosphere where you could be snarking about how "our fearless leader should be able to handle one TIE fighter by himself" in the middle of a space battle, or where you can just casually take a detour from your mission to single-handedly beat up a whole squadron of stormtroopers with no repercussions.

Here's the problem: You're conflating the Rebel Alliance, which is a military organization (albeit a guerrilla one) dedicated to toppling an Empire, with the crew of the Ghost, which is a ragtag group of five people that are mostly just looking to cause as much trouble for the Empire as they can.

Besides the mission to rescue Luminara Unduli, which is implied to be a Big Deal (tm) the most we've actually seen of their actions so far is Ezra stealing some of their stuff, Sabine making anti-Imperial graffiti, and Kanan existing.

It's comparable to how the Onderon rebels started. They're not really making any significant blows to the Empire yet and are only hurting them as much as they can.

To be fair, even the Emperor's best troops in ROTJ tried to pull a hands up routine while holding stun-capable weapons. Thus, I have to admit their incompetence here is a Denser and Wackier version of what's already been established onscreen. Still, I reckon some stronger baddies will come along soon, adding to the Inquisitor and the agent as more regular threats.

Speaking of which, the agent's Chiss concept art might hint at him being a Thrawn homage, same as with Kanan and Kyle Katarn. Anyone here hopeful of seeing other expies or outright immigration of popular EU characters?

edited 26th Aug '14 3:49:44 AM by indiana404

Of course. They've already been doing that.

If they want to win old EU fans over, have Mara Jade make a cameo in a Wham Episode. If they don't change her backstory, she'd be a teenager around this time wouldn't she?

Oh! Here's a question: How would you react if they introduced a character that was obviously Mara Jade but not named Mara Jade and, like, had brown hair instead of red or some other minor difference?

I'd much rather not see her at all, whether she's called Mara or Mira.

Why not? She's a popular EU character for a reason. Plus, she's the only EU character who currently has a Hasbro action figure.

I'm one of those who thinks she's been increasingly degraded into a horrid and shallow Mary Sue with every appearence she made post-Thrawn-trilogy (where I found her tolerable at best). 'Tho since they rebooted everything, there's a chance they'd actually get her right this time...however what I would consider right, would almost definitely not be right for the fans of her EU-version. So basically, I don't want to see her, because if she's an exact replica of the Legends version, I'm going to hate her, if she's not, I won't be able to enjoy seeing her, because everyone will complain about They Changed It, Now It Sucks!.

edited 26th Aug '14 9:17:25 AM by Werebazs