Wait. Did you just say "Star Trek" and "Consistency"?

BWAH-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH

*gasp*

HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH. . . .

This from the B5 fan who believes there was a definitive ending in there somewhere?

You know I could easily cut and paste your asinine laugh track myself...

It's a cartoon.

"Zap Zap, Vramp, Bzaap, Vroooooom, blip blip blip."

That's explanation enough for most of the things in Rebels.

That's pretty much explanation enough for Star Wars media in general. Hell, Pablo Hidalgo all but confirms this in the latest Rebels Recon when he says that Star Wars science doesn't operate on the same principles as real-world science.

It's pretty much been running "what would look/sound cool?" since Day One.

Also, new preview:

Pretty cool, Numa made it through the Clone Wars...

NUMA IS CONFIRMED I AM SCREAMING FOR REAL

Nerra! Nerra!

It's a cartoon.

"Zap Zap, Vramp, Bzaap, Vroooooom, blip blip blip."

That's explanation enough for most of the things in Rebels.

That's pretty much explanation enough for Star Wars media in general. Hell, Pablo Hidalgo all but confirms this in the latest Rebels Recon when he says that Star Wars science doesn't operate on the same principles as real-world science.

It's pretty much been running "what would look/sound cool?" since Day One.

I'm not bothered so much by that, as long as that "other science" is consistent and coherent.

Also, new preview:

BTW, it's pretty clear Kanan and Hera really are a couple. I mean, it's been "hovering" in the background since the first episode, but Kanan acting like a teenage boy meeting "the father" for the first time...priceless

Wait. Did you just say "Star Trek" and "Consistency"?

BWAH-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH

*gasp*

HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH. . . .

This from the B5 fan who believes there was a definitive ending in there somewhere?

You know I could easily cut and paste your asinine laugh track myself...

Maybe it's the Trek fan in me... But I absolutely agree with Killjoy's rants on consistency.

The thing that I really appreciated about TNG was that they did — usually — strive for consistency in their explanations. Once they explained something one way, they stuck with it.

When the nitpickers were pointing out that the doors and the cabins were apparently moving around the ship, they got Rick Sternbach to start keeping track of where everything was and what the explanations were for everything, and he kept a database. That database included the “address” of every door that had ever been seen on the ship, among other things.

So, when a story came along and some pseudo-scientific explanation was given for something, or some door was shown on the screen, one of the first questions the team would ask is “Has this been Sternbached?” In other words, has Rick Sternbach confirmed that this new thing is consistent with what has been done or shown or said in the past.

Okay, so some stuff slipped past Rick. And there were times when they decided to go with the story instead. But they actively tried to keep things consistent.

In the end, I think that’s one of the things that ended up leading to the need for a reboot, because they had painted themselves into too many corners on too many things over time.

But they did actively try for consistency.

That is also what I appreciate about Pablo Hidalgo and Leland Chee, and the rest of the “Keepers of the Holocron” team at Lucasfilm/Disney. IMO, in some ways they’re not as strict as Rick Sternbach, but then I think they’ve got a bigger Universe to deal with, and there’s a hell of a lot more pressure on them.

This is also what I particularly appreciate about Dave Filoni, because he actively tries to keep the story and plot very much in the Lucas style and with the Lucas flair, but he also pays attention to trying to keep things consistent within the Universe. He’s also good at respecting long-term fans and providing fan service, but in a way that doesn’t interfere too much with telling a good story.

Frankly, I might be inclined to give Dave Filoni more credit for keeping the entire Star Wars Universe together and on-track over time, than any other single person — More than George himself, more than the Holocron team, more than anyone else.

Dave was there at the helm and actively producing content at a critical time in the history of the Star Wars Universe, and while he collaborated with George and got plenty of good ideas from him, he also managed to avoid the worst of the craziness that George brought along with him.

George was great for coming up with story ideas of truly epic proportions, but he tended to go off into the weeds and on undesirable tangents if he didn’t have a set of strong constraints (like budget) and good team of people helping him to stay on track.

Pablo and Leland (and the rest of the Holocron team) can only do so much, with whatever is brought to the table by the others. If the stories and plots that are better and more consistent with the Lucas style and Lucas flair aren’t brought to the table, then there’s not much that the Holocron team can do to fix that.

The only person who has been involved in this project for a long time and whose role I don’t really fully understand is Kathleen Kennedy. How much has she been doing behind the scenes and off the screen?

Going by the Rebels Recon associated with this episode, part of the intent was to demonstrate that the Force wasn't exclusively a Jedi/Sith thing, and that different cultures had different manifestations of the mystical energy field that the Jedi and Sith call the Force. And we've already had the Nightsister clan in TCW doing outright "magic" as part of the new canon, so having another culture display a different flavor of "space wizardry" or "space shamanism" isn't entirely unexpected, especially as we've had Maz in TFA who is a Force user with quite a bit of knowledge on the subject, but by her own admission is not a Jedi.

Is it explicitly mentioned at any point that any of those characters (Maz and the Lasat) were Force-users?

Well it's certain implied Chava, the elderly Lasat mystic, was Force sensitive. Kanan even says the Force has many guises among different cultures. Chava even refers to the Ashla as the energy of the universe. Ashla was Lucas' original name for the Light Side (Bogan was the Dark Side). A nice little throw away reference.

Agreed that there's an implication of Chava being at the very least Force-sensitive, even if her understanding of the Force doesn't match up with what Kanan has been teaching Ezra. Just because she doesn't do anything overtly flashy that older viewers would associate with Force usage that doesn't mean she's not a Force user. And Zeb's bo-rifle (itself something of an ancient relic it would seem) only became a plot device after interacting with the stone on Chava's staff, so again it could be something that she did to empower the staff to allow Zeb to fulfill his role in the prophecy.

As with Maz, she all but states it in the film, in that while she's no Jedi, she knows the Force, with there even being a deleted scene of her using the Force to collapse part of her castle on top of a bunch of First Order stormtroopers. The scene is still alluded to as the rubble that Han, Chewie, and Finn scramble out of before joining the fight.

But I do agree with the earlier sentiment that this easily could have been a two-part episode. But seeing Hondo at work was still a treat, even if it may not have worked out quite so well for him at the end, as I can't imagine Agent Kallus simply letting a known pirate with established ties to this particularly bothersome group of Rebels go free.

The Staff is probably some fancy damned Holocron that interacted with Zeb's Bo-Rifle to transfer data across. The Bo-Rifle simply copying the Data and transferring it to the Navi-comp. Just think of the Bo-rifle as a usb-microusb adaptor with a power source and weapons attached.

Has anyone done stats for a Bo-Rifle yet?

We need lightsabers with Breach X!

I wonder what are starships made of so that the characters were freezing cold inside it but totally fine surfing outside it!

BalazarLightson,

I took a stab at the bo-rifle and the Lasat a while back on my blog.

http://jedimorningfire.blogspot.com/2015/06/karabast.html

This was before we got the spear blaster in Strongholds of Resistance as a true example of a weapon that could be either a blaster or a melee weapon, so I might revise it. Then again, it doesn't seem that swapping the bo rifle between modes is instantaneous either, so having it still require a maneuver feels right.

BalazarLightson,

I took a stab at the bo-rifle and the Lasat a while back on my blog.

http://jedimorningfire.blogspot.com/2015/06/karabast.html

This was before we got the spear blaster in Strongholds of Resistance as a true example of a weapon that could be either a blaster or a melee weapon, so I might revise it. Then again, it doesn't seem that swapping the bo rifle between modes is instantaneous either, so having it still require a maneuver feels right.

I'd let them do if fast if they have Quick-Draw. It's a good build.

Stick in an integral Astrogation Computer on one hard point and you're go.

Has anyone done stats for a Bo-Rifle yet?

The lightsaber cutting the TIE was a bit over the top and didn't fit with what we knew about lightsabers vs. durasteel. It should have taken Kanan a lot longer to cut through the TIE then what was shown.

What popped in my head was short Ezra plus lightsaber wouldn't have the reach to cut off the solar panel as the TIE flew over head. Even if the TIE landed on the spaaaace whale, I don't think a grown man would have the reach to chop off the solar panel, let alone a boy (sorry couldn't find a smaller pic):

I did find this though that suggests the TIE's in Rebels are undersized compared to some representations:

Yeah, was about to say that the TIES in Rebels are smaller and thinner than what we've seen in the films.

Plus, the TIE in question was modified, so the wing strut may have been even flimsier, since the Mining Guild TIEs probably weren't intended for proper starfighter combat but rather as a deterrent for the Pergill and any potential claim-jumpers. Too bad for them that the Ghost is much more heavily armed than your typical freighter.

Of course, we've also seen Kanan and even Ezra deflecting planetary-scale weapon attacks away from the vessel their on (the Ghost in this most recent episode, but also the Clones' old walker in the early part of the season), but that might just be narrative description of Kanan and Ezra providing a boost die to the vehicle's defense rating, and the GM describing the missed attacks of the fighters as the two Jedi swatting the blaster fire away rather than actually using the Reflect talent.

The other question.. why was the TIE fighter getting so close to the Space whale that it's solar panels would be on either side of it, so Ezra could cut the dang thing? Cause it was cool to have Ezra riding a space whale into battle with his Laser sword against a Fighter. And obviously it was a form of Checkovs gun that since the ONLY thing Ezra had that could damage the Fighter was is Laser sword, so that had to be used and Ezra give the opportunity to use it. I mean.. you expect Ezra to jump off the space whale and do a flying charge attack against the TIE fighter? BAH no one would believe that unless we added 5 more seconds of him getting back onto the Ghost, or whale.

Also, the whole "survive in space in space with a Helmet" bit can be explained with the lack of budget for the show. As said before the Character models include the clothing, and it is just easier to put a hat on them, then try to design a space suit around the model.

How many times have we seen the generic Imperial Lieutenant with his cap low over his eyes? almost as bad as the Tactical droids in Clone wars as a Disposable villain

How many times have we seen the generic Imperial Lieutenant with his cap low over his eyes? almost as bad as the Tactical droids in Clone wars as a Disposable villain

According to one of the trivia galleries, the reason all the Imp officers and ship crew look like that is so they can save time and money on models, since they can't use the "they're clones" excuse to have the entire bridge crewed by the same person a dozen times.

How many times have we seen the generic Imperial Lieutenant with his cap low over his eyes?

Funny, I just thought he was just being the baddest gunman around like this guy:

(subtitle, Jigen Daisuke , fastest draw in all of anime and uses the brim of his hat to sight the gun)

The new Sabine Hasbro Toy!

And who's that with the red tattooed arm next to Sabine on the upper picture? I wonder ...

Not sure, but I am wondering if it could be Maul? Maybe with new legs or Pre TPM?

May be unlikely, but what if Maul became one of the first inquisitors? Didn´t Palpatine said that he had plans with him, when they fought on mandalore?

May be unlikely, but what if Maul became one of the first inquisitors? Didn´t Palpatine said that he had plans with him, when they fought on mandalore?

That's been my guess ever since I saw the Rebels trailer with "Old Master" and re-watched the dual between Palpatine and Maul. The trailer left a lot to interpretation (with just the shadowed face inside the hood); that toy feels almost spoilery with red/black body tattoos, metal legs, and a dual bladed lightsaber...

May be unlikely, but what if Maul became one of the first inquisitors? Didn´t Palpatine said that he had plans with him, when they fought on mandalore?

After that duel though Maul did manage to get away. There was a comic book (Son of Dathomir), based on an unreleased TCW arc. Maul's current whereabouts are unknown.