I...am...speechless...after seeing that first episode. If this is a sign of what is to come...we might all be happy Star Wars Fans all the way through Season 2.

Vader is a proper figure of dread, once more... In canon, no less.

Awww, man - they didn't get Tim Curry back to play Palpatine.

Otherwise - **** fine episode. I was wondering how they would keep our heroes alive without making Vader look weak. But the writers managed to put Vader over, make him look strong and still kept the Plot Armor intact. Now they'll just wheel him offstage until the season climax, avoiding the Too Much Of A Good Thing syndrome.

Well done guys.

Just seen it. The episode gave me the one fundamental requirement I had to have: They didn't nerf Vader.

He is nasty .

I really enjoyed this episode. It sure felt like it was longer than a normal episode to me.

I have a question based on the trailers - does Home Base not get a single shot off against Vader? Not saying it should take him out, but it doesn't appear to even fire back.

I have a question based on the trailers - does Home Base not get a single shot off against Vader? Not saying it should take him out, but it doesn't appear to even fire back.

That bothered me too. I don't think any of the cruisers were firing at all. I suppose they didn't want to risk shooting at their own men since Phoenix squadron was in pursuit.

Right. I'll have to suggest that to my opponent next time we play Armada...

It was an exceptionally good episode, I couldn't fault it. They managed to make Vader scary again, which they've done well with.

I really enjoyed this episode. It sure felt like it was longer than a normal episode to me.

It was longer - twice as long, in fact.

I really enjoyed this episode. It sure felt like it was longer than a normal episode to me.

Well, it was an hour long (approx 45 minutes sans commercials) as opposed to the usual half-hour that most of the regular season episodes are.

Just seen it. The episode gave me the one fundamental requirement I had to have: They didn't nerf Vader.

He is nasty .

I think GM Phil of Order 66 podcast said it best...

Vader was just being an absolute troll to the Rebels, for no other reason than he could. Pretty much taking out the command ship by himself simply because he could was the cherry on the FU sundae he served up.

I have a question based on the trailers - does Home Base not get a single shot off against Vader? Not saying it should take him out, but it doesn't appear to even fire back.

What I want to know is what happened to the shields of the rebel capital ships? The Falcon's could take a few hits from Star Destroyer Grade weapons but fighter grade weapons were punching through the shields of larger craft with ease in this battle.

I really enjoyed this episode. It sure felt like it was longer than a normal episode to me.

Well, it was an hour long (approx 45 minutes sans commercials) as opposed to the usual half-hour that most of the regular season episodes are.

Interesting how we've come to accept shorter episodes as just normal.

Awww, man - they didn't get Tim Curry back to play Palpatine.

No...they got Sam Witwer and he was AWESOME!

Interesting how we've come to accept shorter episodes as just normal.

Well, it is a cartoon aimed primarily towards drawing in kids. It's pretty rare that any of them are in the hour range.

Interesting how we've come to accept shorter episodes as just normal.

Well, it is a cartoon aimed primarily towards drawing in kids. It's pretty rare that any of them are in the hour range.

That wasn't my point. Hour long shows used to be closer to 53 minutes of show per hour (with half-hour shows being around 26-27 minutes of show). Now an hour show usually is around 40-42 minutes and a half-hour show is barely 20 minutes.

That wasn't my point. Hour long shows used to be closer to 53 minutes of show per hour (with half-hour shows being around 26-27 minutes of show). Now an hour show usually is around 40-42 minutes and a half-hour show is barely 20 minutes.

Rising cost to produce shows (and earning profits in general) means companies strive for longer commercial times, which also, in turn, means there's less of the show needed to produce. It sucks, but it's unlikely to change for most shows that show up on broadcast TV and cable.

Just curiosity, what do you believe that Kanan and Ahsoka are trying to do to Vader with the Force, some kind of distracion?

i have to admit i actually was a bit disappointed.

vader "toying" with his enemies seems out of place. hunting down force users (and killing them) is a huge part of his duties. i like the scene where he almost kills ezra, cause that's how i'd imagine such a confrontation. as a merciless killing. the rebels using imaginative tactics, only to be foiled by vader's immense force power was great, but the fight was drawn out too long. he would have had numerous chances to kill kanan (like, every with strike?), but didn't. kanan isn't that strong in the force, so i doubt it was because he felt challenged and honored his opponent (or anything like that). at that time he had no reason to be especially interested in this group of rebels, as ahsoka hadn't entered the picture yet. more on that later.

also, the solo attack was weird. yeah, he's the best pilot ever... yadda yadda. a single ship of that size vs. a small fleet? nope, sorry, not even in a cartoon.

why was ahsoka on the ghost with the rest of the crew? lazy writing, that's why. there actually is no reason at all for her to join the crew. the plot needs her to be there (well, actually it doesn't. they could have simply written her discovery of who vader is differently. kanan "helping" (doing what?) was weird as well.), so she joins the crew.

the rest of the episode was great as always. i liked the scenes where the crew struggled or discussed joining the rebels, but vader was the focus of this episode and most stuff concerning him wasn't done to the high standards i have come to expect from the show. i expected it to be hard to pit vader against the ghost crew, and as feared they didn't manage to pull it off.

as for the ending, i am happy that it seems to be another inquisitor as a main villain for the series instead of vader. that's a much better match.

Vader is still the arrogant ass that Anakin always was. There's nothing in that character that wouldn't toy with outclassed enemies.

The fight with Kanan was more a feeling-out than an all-out assault. The entire episode was an investigation on the part of Vader (and, to a lesser extent, the Emperor). He was trying to figure out how/why this band of rebels were giving the Empire such trouble. When he found two Force-users, he wanted to get the feel of them and, don't forget, he -wanted- them to escape so that the tracking device could lead them to the main force.

Further, one of the aspects of the Dark side is that it breeds arrogance (that's how all Sith Lords are eventually defeated). Anakin started with a higher than average level of arrogance and embracing the Dark side caused it to grow.

I have a question based on the trailers - does Home Base not get a single shot off against Vader? Not saying it should take him out, but it doesn't appear to even fire back.

What I want to know is what happened to the shields of the rebel capital ships? The Falcon's could take a few hits from Star Destroyer Grade weapons but fighter grade weapons were punching through the shields of larger craft with ease in this battle.

Actually... not really. Shields in Star Wars don't hold until depleted, they just make it harder for the hits to do damage. In Empire the Falcon got lucky, in ANH the TIEs were able to get several shots to penetrate.

If anything this is pretty cool in that it shows the game system to be somewhat accurate...

I did like the whole Skywalker's apprentice is still alive speech by Vader indicating Obi Wan wasn't really lying as Vader doesn't see himself as Annakin Skywalker.

If you recall the Rebel Alliance was hoping to get military grade shield generators off the ambush at the begining of the episode indicating the Rebel Fleet doesn't have enough of them for thier ships. I believe the Falcon has Military grade Shields, Armor and Hyperdrive.

The fight with Kanan was more a feeling-out than an all-out assault. The entire episode was an investigation on the part of Vader (and, to a lesser extent, the Emperor). He was trying to figure out how/why this band of rebels were giving the Empire such trouble. When he found two Force-users, he wanted to get the feel of them and, don't forget, he -wanted- them to escape so that the tracking device could lead them to the main force.

Further, one of the aspects of the Dark side is that it breeds arrogance (that's how all Sith Lords are eventually defeated). Anakin started with a higher than average level of arrogance and embracing the Dark side caused it to grow.

seems reasonable.

i still think he would have killed ezra if kanan had not interrupted him, and that indicates it was more than just "getting the feel" for them. he could have easily killed the jedi and let the rest escape, which would have achieved 2 goals at once. i still think pitting vader against the ghost crew was a bad choice. he is simply too powerful.