Star Wars - General Discussion Thread

[andersonh1]

I don't think it's the same ship. I think he was on a Jedi ship during the Clone Wars, and then whatever ship Ahsoka had during her series. I'd be interested in knowing how Huyang escaped being captured or destroyed by the Empire.

The Bad Batch season 3 - Five episodes in, and it's feeling much more focused than the past two seasons. There have been some very strong episodes, and they look like they're going to pull off something I had written off some time ago and give Crosshairs a redemption storyline. I still think Tech is alive, but we will see. None of these characters have turned up in series set after this, so there's no guarantee any of them will get out alive, though surely the writers would not be so cruel as to kill off the cast. I certainly hope not. I hate that this is the final season, meaning we'll have only gotten three seasons with 16 episodes each, I think. I could follow a series with this cast of characters for quite a bit longer.

[andersonh1]

The Bad Batch finale was available yesterday, and it finished pretty strong. I think this series in general has been a good follow up to The Clone Wars, showing some of what happened to the clones after the rise of the Empire and the early days of Palpatine's attempts to create a force-sensitive clone body, as seen in the sequel films. The early seasons had some filler episodes as they apparently tried to find a direction, but the show got progressively more focused and much darker and grimmer as it went along, down to children being kidnapped, imprisoned and tested by the Empire as part of the Emperor's project. Five of our six main character survived the series (and I'm still not convinced the sixth is dead, even though all the other characters believe he is. We never saw a body.) and had a fairly happy ending, retiring to a remote planet untouched by the Empire. I'd love to see more of these characters, but at the same time there's something to be said for telling a story and then ending it, rather than dragging things out.

The Star Wars animation department has really mined the Clone Wars and prequel era for some great storytelling, and I hope there's more to come in future.

[andersonh1]

I just finished "Maul - Shadow Lord" and it was very, very good. The animation for these Star Wars shows continues to get better and better, and the show not only keeps Maul the terrible person that he is, but they also manage to add some layers and motivations and to give him some limited areas where we can find sympathy for him. Yes, it's terrible that Palpatine used and discarded him, but Maul does the same thing to others, seemingly without recognizing the parallels. The original characters created for the show to tell its story are well drawn and well acted and keep things moving so that Maul isn't carrying all the action, though the events of the plot are entirely due to his presence and choices. Once the Empire arrives, they prove to be very effective and dangerous, and before the show is over a good many characters are dead. We know certain characters have to survive because we've seen them in series set later in the timeline, so it takes some of the drama out of the various fights when none of the participants can be seriously injured or die, but the action is still good regardless. Great series, and I'm glad there's a season 2 on the way.

Oh, and FINALLY...

Spoiler

Maul versus Vader!! I've wanted to see this for years. Though we could really see a rematch when Maul isn't worn down by days of running and fighting and damage to his cybernetic leg. As it is, Vader is easily the stronger of the two, though Maul holds his own

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