Star Wars: Ahsoka

[MeatHookGekko]

The red ribbons are cute.

Do you think they have them in their hair as a well?

IMHO a huge opportunity was missed here from a "cool factor" and a merchandising factor. You have Stormtroopers who were cut off from any practical logistical support/large scale resupply for over a decade. While the Star Destroyer is modeled a bit as a futuristic nuclear aircraft carrier, it seems like a practical narrative path to have these guys adapt to their situation. If the glossy pristine white Stormtrooper armor isn't possible, then camo up and make yourself into less of a target. Wear packs ( now your squads are part time scavengers too). Have the blaster rifles be modified or retooled to fit the new environment ( more long range targets on open ground)

Like you said, would a Stormtrooper with red ribbons and "wear" really sell? But how about a "Ranger" version of a Stormtrooper. Pack, long rifle, traditional blaster, machete, canvas rolled up shelter, binoculars, additional cloth based webgear, thermal landmines, etc, etc. All with custom paint jobs like the above. You can make natural paint out of natural resources.

When I was a kid, everyone wanted an A-Wing and Speeder Bike after Jedi came out. It just looked cool. Sometimes I think Star Wars misses out on many of the "It Just Looks Cool And If They Make A Toy, People Will Want It" factor.

Just some thoughts.

(Wouldn't red on white just make it easier to shoot you? I miss some of the practical gritty stuff from the Holy Trilogy, things that looked somewhat functional)

 

[The Buffinator]

I'm looking forward to seeing how they attach the Chimera to the Eye of Sion. I'm assuming it will work similarly to how the old Jedi Starfighters attached to the hyperspace rings.View attachment 665161View attachment 665162

Probably more like this:

 

[MeatHookGekko]

 

[davejames]

It appears that you have the same opinion of Thrawn as did Morgan Elsbeth. Afterwards she definitely had that “This is the evil genius that I used to work for?” look on her face lol. But I do think if he’d have done nothing at all that Ahsoka would have found her friends and turned her attention to his scheme more quickly, so as time is the resource he’s using to evaluate the encounter’s success I’m willing to believe (for now) that he ran the numbers on the various available options. His primary objective is getting back to their galaxy with his secret stash and he's doing what he can to maximize the probability of that occurring.

Getting back to Elsbeth, I did find it curious that after Thrawn told her to "destroy with impunity any space whale that approaches the planet" (paraphrasing) at the end of last week's episode that they were only met by a mine field, but then later the Ring of Sion displayed significantly more firepower when firing on Ahsoka in the debris field. Seems like the Ring would have been the better choice for the whales but then again maybe Thrawn didn't want to risk potential damage to his ride home.

Well if Thrawn were really as brilliant as he's made out to be, he'd realize the Imperials always end up getting their ass kicked in the end by the Jedi and friends, so there's really no point in them going through all the trouble. Lol

Which is kind of the issue I had with the character in Rebels as well. At least with Vader, Maul, Gideon and the others you can buy that their judgement is clouded by the dark side and their desire for power. But a coldly logical tactician should be able to see their defeat coming a mile away.

 

[chrisstbh]

 

[Mondragon]

I'm looking forward to seeing how they attach the Chimera to the Eye of Sion. I'm assuming it will work similarly to how the old Jedi Starfighters attached to the hyperspace rings.View attachment 665161View attachment 665162

I thought obviously that, ....or they secretly hitch a ride in a space-whales blowhole.

 

[The Entity]

I can't say what it is, but every week I like Sabine less...

 

[ajp4mgs]

It appears that you have the same opinion of Thrawn as did Morgan Elsbeth. Afterwards she definitely had that “This is the evil genius that I used to work for?” look on her face lol. But I do think if he’d have done nothing at all that Ahsoka would have found her friends and turned her attention to his scheme more quickly, so as time is the resource he’s using to evaluate the encounter’s success I’m willing to believe (for now) that he ran the numbers on the various available options. His primary objective is getting back to their galaxy with his secret stash and he's doing what he can to maximize the probability of that occurring.

Getting back to Elsbeth, I did find it curious that after Thrawn told her to "destroy with impunity any space whale that approaches the planet" (paraphrasing) at the end of last week's episode that they were only met by a mine field, but then later the Ring of Sion displayed significantly more firepower when firing on Ahsoka in the debris field. Seems like the Ring would have been the better choice for the whales but then again maybe Thrawn didn't want to risk potential damage to his ride home.

I'm okay with the minefield since the whales travel in pods and their numbers could arguably exceed what the ring's cannons can handle. And even though it didn't destroy the whales, it accomplished the next best thing by making them flee for their lives. Had Ahsoka listened to her droid and kept her ship in the whale, she'd be jettisoned to who-knows-where and taken out of the equation. I don't mind any of that.

But so much of what happened thereafter was absurd, IMO. Thrawn rationalized his decisions regarding Ahsoka by referencing her unpredictability, and then flushed her out because she would, predictably, go straight for Sabine. So he expedited Ahsoka's approach to her before his team on the ground had secured the kill. All that did was sabotage Shin. There was no advantage gained by rushing Ahsoka out of the debris field; in fact, quite the opposite.

Thrawn started with Ezra as a lone threat, fully aware from the past of what he was capable of if he would be given someone/something to fight for. He was then handed Sabine in handcuffs and with her weapons taken away from her. He then eventually had Ahsoka's location in the debris field pinpointed to the exact coordinates. Yet he allowed all three Jedi to unify rather than dealing with each one individually. His only obstacle/threat is these three adversaries and making sure they don't undo his escape (which in modern SW can now include something like Jedi Force-pulling space vessels to the ground).

In the bigger picture, Thrawn has a 10-year benefit of knowing the lay of the land, the benefit of magical witches who can remotely divine Jedi whereabouts, the benefit of multiple armed aerial vessels, and a huge numbers advantage overall. His battle plans get thwarted and then he takes solace in the fact that at least he bought time to load secret cargo - but even just cursory scrutiny reveals that he would've had that time anyway without incurring losses or unifying three Jedi to oppose him later.

The gap between the way Thrawn is depicted in the novels and his depiction in live action is widening exponentially with every new scene. Thrawn's cleverness as a character is limited by Filoni's cleverness as a writer, so at the very least he has to be willing to break some of his toys to build up Thrawn to something close to what he's supposed to represent going forward. I guess we'll see how willing next week.

 

[The Buffinator]

Well if Thrawn were really as brilliant as he's made out to be, he'd realize the Imperials always end up getting their ass kicked in the end by the Jedi and friends, so there's really no point in them going through all the trouble. Lol

Which is kind of the issue I had with the character in Rebels as well. At least with Vader, Maul, Gideon and the others you can buy that their judgement is clouded by the dark side and their desire for power. But a coldly logical tactician should be able to see their defeat coming a mile away.

Well in Rebels no one could have anticipated that giant space whales would listen to a fledgling Jedi and hijack a Star Destroyer and whisk it away to another, distant galaxy. Until Ezra communed with them it wasn't even a possibility to be considered. So as far as Rebels go that's not (IMO) a reason to take issue with Thrawn's characterization.

 

[MeatHookGekko]

I can't say what it is, but every week I like Sabine less...

Show takes a little bit of a dip whenever Ray Stevenson/Baylan is not on screen.

Ivanna Sakhno and Liu Bordizzo might have been better off exchanging roles.

 

[The Buffinator]

I'm okay with the minefield since the whales travel in pods and their numbers could arguably exceed what the ring's cannons can handle. And even though it didn't destroy the whales, it accomplished the next best thing by making them flee for their lives. Had Ahsoka listened to her droid and kept her ship in the whale, she'd be jettisoned to who-knows-where and taken out of the equation. I don't mind any of that.

But so much of what happened thereafter was absurd, IMO. Thrawn rationalized his decisions regarding Ahsoka by referencing her unpredictability, and then flushed her out because she would, predictably, go straight for Sabine. So he expedited Ahsoka's approach to her before his team on the ground had secured the kill. All that did was sabotage Shin. There was no advantage gained by rushing Ahsoka out of the debris field; in fact, quite the opposite.

Thrawn started with Ezra as a lone threat, fully aware from the past of what he was capable of if he would be given someone/something to fight for. He was then handed Sabine in handcuffs and with her weapons taken away from her. He then eventually had Ahsoka's location in the debris field pinpointed to the exact coordinates. Yet he allowed all three Jedi to unify rather than dealing with each one individually. His only obstacle/threat is these three adversaries and making sure they don't undo his escape (which in modern SW can now include something like Jedi Force-pulling space vessels to the ground).

In the bigger picture, Thrawn has a 10-year benefit of knowing the lay of the land, the benefit of magical witches who can remotely divine Jedi whereabouts, the benefit of multiple armed aerial vessels, and a huge numbers advantage overall. His battle plans get thwarted and then he takes solace in the fact that at least he bought time to load secret cargo - but even just cursory scrutiny reveals that he would've had that time anyway without incurring losses or unifying three Jedi to oppose him later.

The gap between the way Thrawn is depicted in the novels and his depiction in live action is widening exponentially with every new scene. Thrawn's cleverness as a character is limited by Filoni's cleverness as a writer, so at the very least he has to be willing to break some of his toys to build up Thrawn to something close to what he's supposed to represent going forward. I guess we'll see how willing next week.

An interesting take on the minefield - I hadn't considered the possibility of the purrgil jumping to hyperspace while Ahsoka's ship was still inside. Even so it still wasn't quite the lethal welcome I expected given Thrawn's instructions to Morgan in Episode 6.

I have to agree that Filoni's writing has yet to provide us with the tactical genius I was expecting. If I'm not mistaken he even had Thrawn contradicting himself within the same chunk of dialogue. After he spoke of Ahsoka's unpredictability and knowing she'd go first to Sabine no matter what (which makes her predictable as you said lol) he said something like "We'll put her on a path of our own choosing so that no matter which direction she takes, we’ll always be one step ahead of her.” Say what??? So are you putting her on a path or letting her pick - make up your mind!!

 

[Harlockfan]

Yeah, the Ahsoka references to Gandalf are intentional. Personally, I think it is a rather lame attempt to throw more Easter eggs at fans.

 

[jye4ever]

Here is Thrawn being outsmarted by those turtles…

 

[Deeznutz6]

What’s in the cargo hold? Army of the dead and more $$$ for hot toys?

 

[Harlockfan]

Yeah, the Ahsoka references to Gandalf are intentional. Personally, I think it is a rather lame attempt to throw more Easter eggs at fans.

 

[ironwez20]

Here is Thrawn being outsmarted by those turtles…

View attachment 665189

Haven’t seen the episode yet but immediately thought you were referring to the ninja turtles and I was about to flip out but then I realized you were talking about the jiminy cricket tribe.

 

[Khev]

I can't say what it is, but every week I like Sabine less...

Agreed. Her flippant attitude toward Thrawn last week in the midst of the unfolding debacle she helped create was annoying and her refusal to give Ezra any valuable Intel on what's going on despite them having nothing but time to discuss it was equally annoying this week.

So I'm finding myself less and less interested in Sabine and am starting to hope that Shin just puts her down once and for all, lol.

As for the rest of the episode I absolutely loved it and thankfully as Sabine gets less and less appealing Ahsoka herself grows ever more charming.

EDIT: Actually by "the rest of the episode" I mean everything after the title sequence. The bit with Hera in Corurscant was stupid and pointless. Why does that "subplot" even exist? All Filoni had to do was just say that her rank allowed her the authority to mobilize fighters and embark on excursions like the one she made to try and help Ahsoka a few episodes back. None of this "trial" nonsense needed to be a part the story at all.

And having 3PO appear with a guard obscuring him like we'd be all giddy and straining in our seats to see around the guard was just silly. 3PO has appeared like 50 times since Disney took over, it's no longer a big event, lol.

 

[Khev]

Also for the people making Ahsoka/Gandalf comparisons the scene where Baylan told her she couldn't win while the Jedi ship swooped down into frame behind him totally reminded me of the moment in FOTR when Saruman stood over Gandalf on top of the tower and then the eagle silently enters the frame from a similar angle.

 

[The Buffinator]

What’s in the cargo hold? Army of the dead and more $$$ for hot toys?

Snoke clones.

 

[ajp4mgs]

[...]The bit with Hera in Corurscant was stupid and pointless. Why does that "subplot" even exist? All Filoni had to do was just say that her rank allowed her the authority to mobilize fighters and embark on excursions like the one she made to try and help Ahsoka a few episodes back. None of this "trial" nonsense needed to be a part the story at all.[...]

I think it's because Filoni has to establish in-universe credibility for the idea that Thrawn can restore the Empire in short order and overthrow the New Republic. If he's supposed to present a threat worthy of a crossover movie event, that sort of galactic consequence needs to have a foundation set up first. Can't do that without planting seeds that there are people at the highest levels of the NR who are corrupt and working to undermine anyone who would potentially help keep Thrawn from taking over.

Trying to court martial Hera would be in an effort to not only take her (a capable and proven combat veteran) off the board, but would send a message to others letting them know not to go digging into this Thrawn "nonsense." Of course, this is pretty much undermined completely by having the idea of court martial undone so easily, but I think that's the ultimate narrative purpose of this subplot.

And since we know that Thrawn will eventually be defeated anyway, this also establishes why a Resistance was needed and how a First Order would be capable of stepping into the void left by Thrawn's attempted coup. I know ST detractors want no part of that, but I think it's an eventual certainty where all roads lead.