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S ince the few threads that were up to discuss Rebels have been knocked out of the front or even third page(s), I'm taking charge of the topic by having a thread that is readily accessible at all times. It'll be linked in my signature, and I'll do what I can to keep it up. Since Rebels is our current newest media in Star Wars, it is an important topic to discuss, especially since it may indeed pertain to XWMG in several ways.

If you have not watched the most recent Episode of STAR WARS: REBELS then is is heavily discouraged that you read through this thread, as *SPOLIERS* are present in it.

REBELS RECON discussion is also encouraged, as it gives us a behind the scenes look at STAR WARS: REBELS , one we could definitely use.
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I must say that I'm really enjoying this series. It really shows that the guys in charge definitely want to get back to the roots of Star Wars, the stuff that makes it important. It pays respect to what The Force is, shows that The Rebellion has not officially started, and really shows just how strong a grip The Empire has on The Galaxy at large. If there were ever any doubt that The Empire are indeed the bad guys, this show definitely punts that question away.

Well, alrighty then. Most recent episode is Episode 8: Empire Day in which we learn a fair amount about the Imperial annual festival that commemorates the beginning of The Galactic Empire 15 years earlier. In this episode we also learn more about Ezra, a contact he has, and the action gets thicker. It's a solid episode. Alongside Empire Day , Breaking Ranks has to alsoo be a contender for my favorite episode. I like that this one is a two-parter. That's a first for this series, really gets across that this plot is important.

Hate everything about the show. The characters are as cliche as it gets, the story is predictable, the animation and character designs are horrible, the main character uses a slingshot(!?!?). No clever plot twists, no snappy dialoge, or intriguing moral dilemmas. If you want to watch a "kid's" show done correctly, see Legend of Avatar, Samurai Jack, original Clone Wars, Adventure Time, ect. I was hoping the show would be targeted towards a teen/young adult audience since it covers a very dark and violent time in the SW lore, instead we get a show for 10 year olds made only to sell action figures. As a lifelong SW fan, I wanted to enjoy this show...but I can't find anything about the show I actually enjoy. Don't mean to sound like an ass, but I'm a bit disappointed that we didn't get the mature Star Wars show I've been waiting for decades to see.

I suppose showing the oppression of the entire outer rim, how The Empire is happy to let a computer on someone's head take over their mind, hinting at the extermination of an entire race and showing the guy who did it go nuts at the chance to do it again, using a Jedi Master's corpse that's preserved to lure Jedi into traps to kill them, showing creatures that annihilated an entire outpost in an asteroid belt, and very clearly telling us what to expect of someone's fate who gets sent to kessel...

Just isn't dark enough.

How dark do you want it?

not a big fan for the reasons listed in stilgods post. I mean its basically a star-wars version of Alladdin.. loved the clone wars MUCH MUCH better!!! It wasn't designed to sell items...Actually liked clone wars better than some of the movies!!!!Just not into the doe eyed Disneyfied style of animation... Seriously wish they would do a version of rogue squadron.. Make it like the old "Black sheep" squadron show!!!!

*scratches his head*

But... But it doesn't look anything like the disney films. Like... anything. As for aladdin... Like, how many people who say that have watched Aladdin?

*scratches his head*

But... But it doesn't look anything like the disney films. Like... anything. As for aladdin... Like, how many people who say that have watched Aladdin?

just about anyone OLD enough to have had kids... and to have actually been OLD enough to have watched Black sheep squadron..lol

Well........

I'm enjoying it. I guess I have different expectations for it, or very few.. I just let it play and enjoy the situations and interactions of the characters.

Is it perfect, of course not, cound it be better... sure... but I guess I like it as it is. Sure it's probably more a kids show, but when the IS agent kicks the stormtrooper off their precarious perch under the walkway I didn't think that was very 'kid' friendly. Only one real serious moment, but still a serious moral issue there... pretty much murder of a subordinate.

People are gonna like it... or they won't. I'm gonna watch and let it entertain me..

I used to play a lot of the WEG d6 Star Wars Roleplaying game, and this show feels just like that. Is it perfect? No. But I'm enjoying it.

I'm enjoying it. It feels like the OT. It is just some adventuring fun. It is no more "dark and violent" then it was in the OT. I'm liking the crew and how they interact with each other. Very much a family.

As for comparing it to other shows, I would be very, very hesitant to compare this show's early episodes to some of the early episodes of Avatar or Clone Wars, if your goal is to denounce this show.

for me I guess I had hopes it would be like Clone wars.. but it became more like the over-hyped "Defiance" show that I so badly wanted it to be good because after BSG there hasn't been a good science fiction show on TV. But then Defiance went down hill so fast with EVERY cliche in the universe literally!! lol I mean they even made a video game for it that was released BEFORE the show aired!!!! Not including DR who!!!! forgot about that.lol thats STILL good!!!

I'm really enjoying the show. I'm still sad Clone Wars got cancelled, but I'm really enjoying being back in the OT timeline.

I wish I had a great Star Wars cartoon like this when I was a kid instead of the old Droids and Ewok shows. :-)

Aside from the slingshot I actually enjoy the show quite a bit. It's certainly better than the early clone wars stuff. The characters are pretty good, even Esra is growing on me. Chopper is basically my id.

I wish they'd get away from the combat being a little too cartoonishly easy. I mean, I'm in the stormtroopers are the worst shots in the galaxy camp, but the episode where Esra was on top of the troop transports trying to get some fruit was pretty bad.

Haven't seen this weeks episode yet, I've been stuck on a business trip

Really this week's episode was great. A contender for favorite so far, with Breaking Ranks, for me. Which was an outstanding episode.

Not a big fan of the art style, and it suffers from a fairly bad case of "cartoon villains", though that's writer-dependent enough that there are a few good episodes. Best quote:

"Weisman could stand to step it up a bit, Gilroy could stand to tone it down a bit, and Hopps could stand on edge of the Golden Gate Bridge and I would gladly push him."

I too enjoy this show, honestly the show doesn't need to be dark to be good. I can't understand this fascination with people wanting to see the dark version of someone or something thinking that it will make it good or better. Star Wars has always had that kid feel to it for the most part and this show captures that same feel. I too enjoyed clone wars a lot but you have to admit it didn't start going towards the darker stuff until halfwayway or 3/4 of the way thru the show. Somewhere around season 4 I believe maybe a little earlier is when darker stuff started emerging. Rebels has only shown its 5th or 6th episode maybe and already it's being dismissed? I dunno everyone has their opinion I know but ide say give it more time to ride before you write it off, if you don't find it enjoyable then that's fine but I do feel it's a good show. The one thing I didn't like was the wookiee animations those were terrible i must say. So far this season feels like a set up season and by that I mean they are getting you familiar with people's personalities and backgrounds and what's going on in the galaxy and who's the villain/villains. This is exactly what the first season should be, an introduction. Next season will be a bit more telling as far as the direction of rebels I think. Based off what I've seen so far tho they are doing things right.

They should have called it by it's real name:

Star Wars: Firefly

My wife and I have been enjoying it. Could it be a show more tailored to my specific preferences, sure, but I'm not the target audience, so I make my peace with it.

But I do like the artwork (Wookiees notwithstanding), the 'feel', the music, and the characters. It does feel like Star Wars.

I've watched each episode so far, hoping that it will get better. I enjoyed the proper debut of the inquisitor, but beyond that I don't really enjoy it too much. In the latest episode, they reused 2 identical scenes shortly after each other. The first was the weird shadow monster skidding to avoid the sun, then again near the end of the episode they reused a scene in which Hera and Sabine (I had to actually go and look those names up because I don't care enough to remember them) are fighting off monsters on top of the ship, in which they stand back to back, a monster gets up onto the roof and Hera kicks it off. They are the exact same scene used twice, I've not seen that kinda reuse since the 90's with the ol' Marvel cartoons.

I don't really like anything about the characters except maybe Kanan (again, had to look it up), because the rest of the time they are just fighting and bickering constantly. Also, I don't know who thought Chopper would be a good character, but I would rather have annoying and campy droids like 3P0 and R2 than a droid who is a complete and constant dickhead.

As I say, I've watched every episode so far, but I don't think I'll be watching it much longer as I'm growing tired of it.

I don't get the "characters are too cliche" argument. The original Star Wars film was nothing BUT cliches. Just done up in a space fantasy setting. Literally... everything was a cliche, except maybe the force.

I don't get the "characters are too cliche" argument. The original Star Wars film was nothing BUT cliches. Just done up in a space fantasy setting. Literally... everything was a cliche, except maybe the force.

The difference, I think, is that Rebels' characters are cliche for cliche's sake, like a lot of kid's shows, because they think they don't actually need to be more complicated. Plus, the film characters pull off much better performances than Rebels' animators and VAs have so far.

I prefer TCW, and the EU, but it is enjoyable. I really do hate the animation though. And the Tie fighter portrayals make me cringe. looking for to the next ep. though.

I don't get the "characters are too cliche" argument. The original Star Wars film was nothing BUT cliches. Just done up in a space fantasy setting. Literally... everything was a cliche, except maybe the force.

The difference, I think, is that Rebels' characters are cliche for cliche's sake, like a lot of kid's shows, because they think they don't actually need to be more complicated. Plus, the film characters pull off much better performances than Rebels' animators and VAs have so far.

That's an argument I can sympathize with. However, I actually find the characters to be interesting. The more episodes I watch the more I like them. I didn't like The Clone Wars characters except for Asoka (sp?), so this show is an improvement over Clone Wars for me in almost every area. I guess I was just pleasantly surprised. I was not expecting much from Rebels, and I feel it has done a very excellent job in recapturing the spirit of the original films. My wife and I really enjoy it.

I figured that Sabine would be one of my favorite characters. Nope, I really enjoy Hera.

It's a fun ride to me. At the very least it's clear that the people making it are really hardcore fans of the things that make star wars good. The designs are very 70's/80's, the characters play to basic but solid enough archetypes, and it is unambiguous good versus evil fun. It's dark at times (where it needs to be), but it does not need to bathe in misery, which is good as hope in the face of peril is a prominent theme in the franchise (as it should be).

I'm diggin' how they drive home that Kanan is BAD at being a jedi, he's not just another wise mentor and is every bit as lost in the universe as a rare survivor of a dead order should be.

Hera is bordering on waifu material.

I like it! I know it makes some.....er, deviations from some Star Wars norms/canon, but I really dig that the art direction seems to take a lot from the style of the original Ralph McQuarrie concepts.