Then again, considering the Death Stars are probably the highlight of "terrible ideas" in terms of practicality...

True. OSHA would have a field day with some of that.

"Sir, if we reduce all the handrails in size to 2.5 feet tall station wide and eliminate them all together in key areas, we can shave 3 billion credits off the project budget and the reduced mass will increase hyperdrive efficiency by 18 percent."

"Fantastic! Do it."

My friend is a city planner...this kind of thing drives him nuts

I wonder what your friend would think of my collection of Sim Cities. Judgment Day, New Judgment Day, Neo Judgment Day, and Novus Judgment Day. Where all zones are flanked by 2 to 8 nuclear reactors, and the mayor's house is as far away from the rest of the city as it can get with its own water supply and the only non-nuclear reactor allowed in the city.

Okay, back to the topic at hand. . . .

Man, I really love the art design in this show. That city with the massive towers in the center of the ring looked great and the apartment complexes looked pretty sweet too. And Ithorian babies are SOOOO cute. And I'm comfortable enough in my manlyness to say that.

I was going to talk smack about Ezra and his blabbermouth, but I totally forgot about the probe droid outside too. Ah well.

Next week - should be a doozie.

Then again, considering the Death Stars are probably the highlight of "terrible ideas" in terms of practicality...

True. OSHA would have a field day with some of that.

"Sir, if we reduce all the handrails in size to 2.5 feet tall station wide and eliminate them all together in key areas, we can shave 3 billion credits off the project budget and the reduced mass will increase hyperdrive efficiency by 18 percent."

"Fantastic! Do it."

There is no OSHA in the Empire. If employees die... well they are like Doritos... they'll make more....

Okay, back to the topic at hand. . . .

Man, I really love the art design in this show. That city with the massive towers in the center of the ring looked great and the apartment complexes looked pretty sweet too. And Ithorian babies are SOOOO cute. And I'm comfortable enough in my manlyness to say that.

I was going to talk smack about Ezra and his blabbermouth, but I totally forgot about the probe droid outside too. Ah well.

Next week - should be a doozie.

You hit the only thing I really disliked about this week's episode. I give it a pass cause its a kid's show and it is a plot device change from a homing device.

Kanan not staying behind to fight alongside Ahsoka annoyed me a bit, but him commenting about going back for her at least showed awareness of it.

I wonder how many other people felt like Ahsoka was just toying with the Inquisitors?

That is what I thought and that it was great that she just played for time during the fight.

How does everyone now feel about the Inquisitor's Lightsabers? Seeing as that the spinning action is something that looks to be the standard design for them.

Then again, considering the Death Stars are probably the highlight of "terrible ideas" in terms of practicality...

True. OSHA would have a field day with some of that.

"Sir, if we reduce all the handrails in size to 2.5 feet tall station wide and eliminate them all together in key areas, we can shave 3 billion credits off the project budget and the reduced mass will increase hyperdrive efficiency by 18 percent."

"Fantastic! Do it."

There is no OSHA in the Empire. If employees die... well they are like Doritos... they'll make more....

Imperials are...delicious?

How does everyone now feel about the Inquisitor's Lightsabers? Seeing as that the spinning action is something that looks to be the standard design for them.

I dislike them, though with the caveat I'm okay with it in an "in-universe" way. I guess by that I mean that if the show illustrated that they were ultimately a bad idea, it would work for me.

But then I'm not even fond of the way that since the prequels anyone and everyone has been using dual-lightsabres (no pun intended). I liked it when people fenced with them. I like it as a valid style that we see sometimes, don't get me wrong. I just dislike that it's the go-to whenever a film / episode wants to show us that the combatant has suddenly gotten serious when they acquire / draw another one. It doesn't work for me as a way of suddenly ramping up the tension.

While I came around on the goofiness of the Broadsword saber, I'm still not down with the spinning saber. I don't like it, but it doesn't bug me enough to complain or stop watching. I can let it wash over me. . . .

I don't like the spinning saber. Personally I hope the Jedi in the series show in no uncertain terms that although having a spinning wall of death might sound like a good idea, and certainly is intimidating, it is worse than using a "proper" lightsaber against an experienced combatant.

While I came around on the goofiness of the Broadsword saber, I'm still not down with the spinning saber. I don't like it, but it doesn't bug me enough to complain or stop watching. I can let it wash over me. . . .

I agree with you on that. The fact that all three Inquisitors have it is interesting, but to me it seems more like a weakness on their end.

We also got a great explanation for Kylo Ren's weapon. (for those who have not heard it) It was based on an older design and is not stable.

I don't like the spinning saber. Personally I hope the Jedi in the series show in no uncertain terms that although having a spinning wall of death might sound like a good idea, and certainly is intimidating, it is worse than using a "proper" lightsaber against an experienced combatant.

I think we got a good glimpse of that when Kanan beat the Grand Inquisitor.

It is a gimmick. and like all gimmicks in combat they tend to not be very useful against skilled opponents. And if you don't let it intimidate you they can be beaten easily.

It is a gimmick. and like all gimmicks in combat they tend to not be very useful against skilled opponents. And if you don't let it intimidate you they can be beaten easily.

Now we wait for the one genre savvy inquisitor who understands that and just uses it as a means of separating weak targets from strong ones. Basically the opposite of what normal inquisitors do.

While I came around on the goofiness of the Broadsword saber, I'm still not down with the spinning saber. I don't like it, but it doesn't bug me enough to complain or stop watching. I can let it wash over me. . . .

I agree with you on that. The fact that all three Inquisitors have it is interesting, but to me it seems more like a weakness on their end.

We also got a great explanation for Kylo Ren's weapon. (for those who have not heard it) It was based on an older design and is not stable.

I don't like the spinning saber. Personally I hope the Jedi in the series show in no uncertain terms that although having a spinning wall of death might sound like a good idea, and certainly is intimidating, it is worse than using a "proper" lightsaber against an experienced combatant.

I think we got a good glimpse of that when Kanan beat the Grand Inquisitor.

I wouldn't really attribute Kanan beating the Inquisitor being due to the design of the saber he was wielding. The Inquisitor was over confident and did not have an advantageous position in that fight when it ended. Also ...... the Inquisitor just kinda stood there and let him hack his sabre in two. Less about the design and more about poor battle tactics and over confidence.

It is a gimmick. and like all gimmicks in combat they tend to not be very useful against skilled opponents. And if you don't let it intimidate you they can be beaten easily.

In the latest episode, Ahsoka trounced 2 of the inquisitors pretty soundly. Seems they can fight evenly or better with Kanan, but they aren't on Ahsoka's level. Probably means we'll be seeing Vader again.

Okay, back to the topic at hand. . . .

Man, I really love the art design in this show. That city with the massive towers in the center of the ring looked great and the apartment complexes looked pretty sweet too. And Ithorian babies are SOOOO cute. And I'm comfortable enough in my manlyness to say that.

I was going to talk smack about Ezra and his blabbermouth, but I totally forgot about the probe droid outside too. Ah well.

Next week - should be a doozie.

You hit the only thing I really disliked about this week's episode. I give it a pass cause its a kid's show and it is a plot device change from a homing device.

Kanan not staying behind to fight alongside Ahsoka annoyed me a bit, but him commenting about going back for her at least showed awareness of it.

I wonder how many other people felt like Ahsoka was just toying with the Inquisitors?

That is what I thought and that it was great that she just played for time during the fight.

How does everyone now feel about the Inquisitor's Lightsabers? Seeing as that the spinning action is something that looks to be the standard design for them.

Yeah, it was fairly obvious that she was leagues beyond them and it nicely expresses the difference between a Jedi Hero of that era and poorly trained force sensitive/force sensitive trained after that era. Actually shows how much Kanan has to learn, really. I've noticed that he always loses when he fights defensively, so perhaps that off hand sufferance about forms was quite a clever little nod. Heheh

I like them actually since it actually makes a statement about the inquisitors; everything about them is manufactured to terrify, from their multiple purpose identical weapons, their appearance and arguably even their personalities are manufactured by the empire to order for maximum efficiency while keeping the chain tightly bound around their throats. I can totally see something happening where they actually find out that these kids could have once been Jedi had Sidious had almost exclusive access to the galaxies force users.

It is a gimmick. and like all gimmicks in combat they tend to not be very useful against skilled opponents. And if you don't let it intimidate you they can be beaten easily.

I think Ahsoka showed that pretty clearly in the most recent episode. According to what Dave Filoni said in the associated Rebels Recon episode, Ahsoka was never in any real danger during that entire battle, even going so far at one point to simply shut down the Seventh Sister's gimmick-saber before literally blasting her into a stone column. Only the high number of Imperial reinforcements showing up caused Ahsoka to spare that Inquisitor's life.

Not sure where precisely I read or heard it, but the Inquisitor spin-sabers really are an intimidation gimmick, meant to let the Inquisitors (who are not as well-trained as they'd like their opponents to think) gain an in-fight advantage against unskilled opponents, especially those who aren't expecting the twin spinning blades.

Kanan's fight against the Grand Inquisitor wasn't so much that Kanan was outright better, but that he'd squared off against the man enough times to be able to anticipate his moves, as well as using an unorthodox method of attack courtesy of Ezra's blaster-hilt 'saber to turn the tables and put the Grand Inquisitor off his game.

I thought it was interesting that in the episode's beginning, Ahsoka said that Kanan was more of a Jedi than she was, which fits given that she'd left the Order prior to the events of RotS. And yet, in a way she's more of a Jedi than he is, since she's got plenty of front-line combat experience from her time in the Clone Wars, where Kanan didn't hit the field until not long before Order 66.

But for next week's episode, it seems that Ezra's going to try his luck going against the two Inquisitors. I'm expecting him to get beaten down, but there's an outside chance that it won't be as much of a curb-stomp as his first fight against them was, since he's now got a decent idea of what to expect from them in terms of lightsaber tricks.

Seems that Inquisitors aren't a real match against a well trained Jedi. The biggest of them had problems (even lost) against an old talented Jedi padawan like Kanan. Those new ones are clearly no match against an almost-Knight as Ashoka (where the "h" goes?! XD)

So, from my point of view, those lightsaber are a way to compensate they "lack of skill" against their oponents.

Curious from an RPG view would you say they don't have access to a Lightsaber Career?

Maybe Vader doesn't train them himself but employs a turned minor Jedi thereby limiting their level of skill?

Perhaps the Season 1 Inquisitor was that former Jedi except his skills was more research than practical maybe this was intentional and a survival trait for him since he wouldn't pose a threat to Vader and made sure to keep himself at the top by weakening his pupils?

Seems that Inquisitors aren't a real match against a well trained Jedi. The biggest of them had problems (even lost) against an old talented Jedi padawan like Kanan. Those new ones are clearly no match against an almost-Knight as Ashoka (where the "h" goes?! XD)

So, from my point of view, those lightsaber are a way to compensate they "lack of skill" against their oponents.

Curious from an RPG view would you say they don't have access to a Lightsaber Career?

Maybe Vader doesn't train them himself but employs a turned minor Jedi thereby limiting their level of skill?

Perhaps the Season 1 Inquisitor was that former Jedi except his skills was more research than practical maybe this was intentional and a survival trait for him since he wouldn't pose a threat to Vader and made sure to keep himself at the top by weakening his pupils?

Both seem eminently plausible to me. After all, we well know that there are only ever two - a master and an apprentice. Oh, occasionally the rule gets broken like when Palpatine finds out Maul is still alive - but it gets rectified pretty quickly as soon as it's uncovered! Whatever the Inquisitors are, they're not Sith! I really like Josep's idea that they're given the lightmills because they require less training, not because they're better.

The Grand Inquisitor seemed to have some knowledge of lightsabre techniques. He comments on Kanan's style when they first spar. Perhaps he was indeed a Jedi that turned. But he ended up with this debased lightsabre either out of choice or out of not wishing Vader to think he was trying to be a rival under the Emperor by sticking too closely to Jedi ways. Who knows, perhaps the other Inquisitors were taught to use that weapon by him, but only he got any really effective use out of it with his Jedi background.

He still got beaten by a padawan who had given up training for years. When he first encounters Kanan, he's able to push Kanan around quite confidently. But then Kanan is long out of practice and deeply lacking in confidence at that point. In the re-match, Kanan has been practicing, and teaching which must have brought back many of his old lessons and even deepened his understanding of them. So it was more like going up against an actual Jedi.

I think the Inquisitors are fashioned to be effective hunters, and to scare the bejeebus out of ordinary folk. But it's plain to me that against an actual Jedi Knight of old, they're outclassed. The Grand Inquisitor is decent but doesn't make the grade, whilst the others are just not able to cut it. Ahsoka pretty much walked all over them.

I imagine most Inquisitors walk around thinking they're the Great I Am all day long. I think only the Grand Inquisitor has displayed a real grasp of where he actually sits in the hierarchy. Getting their bottoms handed to them by Ahsoka must have been quite a shock to those two. I can almost hear them thinking: "But, but we're Inquisitors..."

Though they were probably telling themselves they drove Ahsoka off by the time they were on their way home.

EDIT: I found someone has already put the fight on YouTube. Don't know if Disney will ask for it to be taken down or if just this scene is okay, but here it is:

Look at the way Ahsoka takes Fifth Brother out of the action so easily and then sits down into a battle meditation right in the middle of the fight. Those Inquisitors have egos that would choke a Sarlacc!

You learn one
You do one
You teach one

I learned a long time ago teaching someone else something does quite a bit for solidifying what you know and improving your understanding. So teaching Ezra lightsaber fighting is going to do a lot for Kanann's own ability and confidence.

If the inquisitors use some of the legacy back ground. they are Explorer corp and agri corp and medi corp. Which means they are Jedi that basically washed out. Palps turns them to the darkside and give them a little training and a gimmicky lightsaber and sends them after force users most of whom have no training at all.

I love the feminine Duel of the Fates sting. Very much a throwback to the Big Maul Reveal from E1.

If the inquisitors use some of the legacy back ground. they are Explorer corp and agri corp and medi corp. Which means they are Jedi that basically washed out. Palps turns them to the darkside and give them a little training and a gimmicky lightsaber and sends them after force users most of whom have no training at all.

I don't know this Legends stuff or these corps you talk about, but I could well see that fitting what we've seen of them. I imagine it goes something like this:

Jedi: "Hey little kid, you're special and gifted. Would you like to leave your family and find your true destiny with us cool and amazing warrior-monks?" (They get them before puberty and whilst girls are still icky / boys are still stoopid; so the kid wont worry about the monk part).

Kid: "Wow! Cool! Bye mum who always made me tidy up my room and fed me vegetables! I'm better than other people!"

*A little later*

Jedi: "Sorry kid, you're not really good enough for us. Go out and be nice to people or something. Oh, and we'll be watching you to make sure you don't get too comfortable with your powers."

Kid: "WTF?"

*A little later still*

Palpatine: "Hey there! Those arrogant Jedi never really appreciated you, did they? They were probably jealous of the way you wouldn't break to their rules and resisted their indoctrination. You know, I think you're special... you're the best - no, I really mean it! I bet nobody could stop you...

I know I said this already, but it's hilarious how ineffective the inquisitors are against a real Jedi (which I consider Ahsoka to easily be the equal of). Watch the battle again and notice how the male inquisitor just throws his weapon at her which she just leaps up and it passes harmlessly underneath her feet. She lands calmly and he's now unarmed. Idiot! And when she turns off her sabres and kneels down with her eyes closed just waiting? If an NPC my group were fighting did that, then they'd be running as fast as they could in the other direction. When your opponent closes their eyes and calmly smiles, it NEVER ends well for you.

Curious from an RPG view would you say they don't have access to a Lightsaber Career?

Maybe Vader doesn't train them himself but employs a turned minor Jedi thereby limiting their level of skill?

Perhaps the Season 1 Inquisitor was that former Jedi except his skills was more research than practical maybe this was intentional and a survival trait for him since he wouldn't pose a threat to Vader and made sure to keep himself at the top by weakening his pupils?

I would give them access to lightsabre career. I don't think the Inquisitors lack in lightsabre skill. The Grand Inquisitor was extremely knowledgeable on sabre form and combat. I also think his lightsabre was more than just a gimmick as the man actually had some skill with it. These new ones it may be more gimmicky for them but being as how there are two of them they also need to be less powerful story wise so that the hero's survival seems plausible. If these two were just as good at fighting with that lightsabre as the GI was then there is no logical story reason why Ezra should even survive one encounter against both.

What I think the lack is just a well rounded Force education. They are likely trained in what they need to know to hunt other Force users (since most Jedi were killed by Vader and clones). So they'd have talents from lightsabre combat trees and maybe some basic in powers like Move Object and maybe some Misdirection and nothing else.

Remember the Rule of Two states no more than two Sith. Sith is a philosophy and a way of life. You can train someone in the ways of the darkside of the Force and lightsabre combat and not violate the Rule of Two. You just train them in what you need them to be. In this case their training is that of a hunter.

I think the fault of the sabre design isn't so much what it does, but that it was reused. If it had just been the Grand Inquisitor I think it would have come off as less of a gimmick because he worked that combat style a lot better than the ones we're stuck with this season.

Curious from an RPG view would you say they don't have access to a Lightsaber Career?

Maybe Vader doesn't train them himself but employs a turned minor Jedi thereby limiting their level of skill?

Perhaps the Season 1 Inquisitor was that former Jedi except his skills was more research than practical maybe this was intentional and a survival trait for him since he wouldn't pose a threat to Vader and made sure to keep himself at the top by weakening his pupils?

I would give them access to lightsabre career. I don't think the Inquisitors lack in lightsabre skill. The Grand Inquisitor was extremely knowledgeable on sabre form and combat. I also think his lightsabre was more than just a gimmick as the man actually had some skill with it. These new ones it may be more gimmicky for them but being as how there are two of them they also need to be less powerful story wise so that the hero's survival seems plausible. If these two were just as good at fighting with that lightsabre as the GI was then there is no logical story reason why Ezra should even survive one encounter against both.

What I think the lack is just a well rounded Force education. They are likely trained in what they need to know to hunt other Force users (since most Jedi were killed by Vader and clones). So they'd have talents from lightsabre combat trees and maybe some basic in powers like Move Object and maybe some Misdirection and nothing else.

Remember the Rule of Two states no more than two Sith. Sith is a philosophy and a way of life. You can train someone in the ways of the darkside of the Force and lightsabre combat and not violate the Rule of Two. You just train them in what you need them to be. In this case their training is that of a hunter.

I think the fault of the sabre design isn't so much what it does, but that it was reused. If it had just been the Grand Inquisitor I think it would have come off as less of a gimmick because he worked that combat style a lot better than the ones we're stuck with this season.

Considering the Grand inquisitor was taken out fairly easily by a Jedi Padawan when that Padawan had some confidence in himself tells me that no he did not have much skill. He may have had some knowledge of the forms. But that doesn't mean much really.

Considering the Grand inquisitor was taken out fairly easily by a Jedi Padawan when that Padawan had some confidence in himself tells me that no he did not have much skill. He may have had some knowledge of the forms. But that doesn't mean much really.

He had skill but he's a villain soooooooo sooner or later he's going to be defeated for good. And the way he was defeated wasn't so much that Kanan became more skilled than him but Kanan took better advantage of his surroundings and didn't monologue so much. And much like most villains his skills remained static while Kanan was shown to consistently be growing in lightsabre skill.

It would be easier to judge his skill if he had faced off against Ashoka like the other two did, but considering what we saw he was pretty good in lightsabre combat. And if he had not been making poor positioning choices and being over confident I think he'd of likely beat Kanan in that fight too. He just stands there while Kanan places his blades between his lightsabre and does nothing. Kanan even waited a few seconds before striking (which I find terrible odd for a character to do). Even then the Inquisitor just drops to his death. He made the choice to just die as opposed to Force leaping over Kanan (in a fashion similar to Obi Wan when he was in a similar position). The fact that the way to defeating him focused more on making better use of the scenery as opposed to straight up skill indicates, to me at least, that Kanan didn't win due to being more skilled but to being better able to take advantage of his surroundings.

As the seasons big bad and as a way to open the story up to introduce Vader he had to die, eventually. His defeat was inevitable, and Kanan getting better than him was inevitable. But overall compared to what we've seen on the show, outside of actual trained Jedi he was pretty skilled.