That's fair. I just think it's thematically neat.

6 hours ago, Lobokai said:

Oh freaking my... what if Sabine steals an Assault gunboat?!

Really hoping that somehow this is just the Incom X-Wing swipe.

It’d be cool if they set it up as Incom and Cygnus both vying for the “hyperspace capable rapid response strike craft” contract... and then Incom decides to defect

It specifically states they steal an experimental TIE; the gunboat is no TIE. Neither is the X-Wing.

11 hours ago, Lobokai said:

Oh freaking my... what if Sabine steals an Assault gunboat?!

Really hoping that somehow this is just the Incom X-Wing swipe.

It’d be cool if they set it up as Incom and Cygnus both vying for the “hyperspace capable rapid response strike craft” contract... and then Incom decides to defect

Well... Keep in mind that the X-Wing was supposed to be an Imperial craft.

So this course of action is 100% possi-

5 hours ago, kris40k said:

It specifically states they steal an experimental TIE; the gunboat is no TIE. Neither is the X-Wing.

15 hours ago, Major Tom said:

Leaving aside the Role Playing thing, why shouldn’t X-Wing reflect the Star Wars canon? It’s not like it’s rare for Rebels to steal and use Imperial ships in the movies and other material. In the old EU the practice was just as prevelent.

Why didn't Luke and crew just steal the Death Star, if no Imperial craft is beyond the reach of any Rebel heroic character? The TIE/D is one of those sanctimonious fighters that was supposed to be the elite of the Empire, not one of a billion mass-produced starfighters that the Empire was just giving to anyone. Bad enough that the Rebels got the plans, it's worse if they fly away with a rare starfighter that's supposed to be guarded by elite forces. It damages the credibility of the Empire, hurts Thrawn's competency, and kind of makes Imperial equipment fans like me irritated that the Rebels can just take whatever they want.

Where's the struggle in this Galactic Civil War when the Rebels don't have to trade anything for this kind of gain? To defeat Vader, the Rebels had to trade Ashoka. To defeat the Grand Inquisitor, the Rebels basically had to trade away Lothal. To defeat the brother and sister, Kanan had to trade away his eyesight and nearly Ezra's integrity as a good character. What would the Rebels lose if they stand to gain the TIE Defender? To survive Thrawn, the Rebels traded away Chopper Base and the Bendu. I would have traded Chopper or the Ghost to defeat the TIE/D for good, but that isn't set to happen given the events of Rogue One.

It's annoying when it's too easy. The Rebels barely made it away from Skerris' Defender the last time. Now we're supposed to swallow Sabine just stealing one? Come on. It can't be that easy.

Leaving the Death Star hyperbole aside, the synopsis states that they need help from Thrawn. That doesn’t sound like it’s going to be in any way easy. Who is to say that the whole theft isn’t part of Thrawn’s plan to get the /d to the Chiss? If it is how does that damage him?

6 hours ago, kris40k said:

It specifically states they steal an experimental TIE; the gunboat is no TIE. Neither is the X-Wing.

Phantom. For sure. Something that Rebels stole before in their second Assault. You go Rookie One!

1 hour ago, Norsehound said:

Why didn't Luke and crew just steal the Death Star, if no Imperial craft is beyond the reach of any Rebel heroic character? The TIE/D is one of those sanctimonious fighters that was supposed to be the elite of the Empire, not one of a billion mass-produced starfighters that the Empire was just giving to anyone. Bad enough that the Rebels got the plans, it's worse if they fly away with a rare starfighter that's supposed to be guarded by elite forces. It damages the credibility of the Empire, hurts Thrawn's competency, and kind of makes Imperial equipment fans like me irritated that the Rebels can just take whatever they want.

Where's the struggle in this Galactic Civil War when the Rebels don't have to trade anything for this kind of gain? To defeat Vader, the Rebels had to trade Ashoka. To defeat the Grand Inquisitor, the Rebels basically had to trade away Lothal. To defeat the brother and sister, Kanan had to trade away his eyesight and nearly Ezra's integrity as a good character. What would the Rebels lose if they stand to gain the TIE Defender? To survive Thrawn, the Rebels traded away Chopper Base and the Bendu. I would have traded Chopper or the Ghost to defeat the TIE/D for good, but that isn't set to happen given the events of Rogue One.

It's annoying when it's too easy. The Rebels barely made it away from Skerris' Defender the last time. Now we're supposed to swallow Sabine just stealing one? Come on. It can't be that easy.

I think you assume too much about episodes which haven't aired yet.

2 hours ago, GrimmyV said:

Phantom. For sure. Something that Rebels stole before in their second Assault. You go Rookie One!

I was thinking the same thing for a moment too, this would be a nifty way to re-canonise the Phantom

Given the episode title, though, I expect it's the Defender they yoink. It'd be a cool bait-and switch though, and there's a nice throwback to Rebel Assault 2 if Ru Murleen Sabine and Rookie One Ezra end up stealing it.

Absolutely a pipe dream for me, though.

*Upgrade Card starts*

Captured TIE Phantom
Title, Rebel Only

Add a crew slot. Then another. Add as many as you want.

Throw some Teams slots in too. Add a library with a swimming pool.

Honestly, at this point any TIE Sabine paints becomes a TARDIS

*Upgrade Card ends*

1 hour ago, Ktan said:

I was thinking the same thing for a moment too, this would be a nifty way to re-canonise the Phantom

Given the episode title, though, I expect it's the Defender they yoink. It'd be a cool bait-and switch though, and there's a nice throwback to Rebel Assault 2 if Ru Murleen Sabine and Rookie One Ezra end up stealing it.

Absolutely a pipe dream for me, though.

*Upgrade Card starts*

Captured TIE Phantom
Title, Rebel Only

Add a crew slot. Then another. Add as many as you want.

Throw some Teams slots in too. Add a library with a swimming pool.

Honestly, at this point any TIE Sabine paints becomes a TARDIS

*Upgrade Card ends*

Dimensionally transcendental paint exclusively at Home Depot. Manufactured be Acme Inc.

8 hours ago, Norsehound said:

Why didn't Luke and crew just steal the Death Star, if no Imperial craft is beyond the reach of any Rebel heroic character? The TIE/D is one of those sanctimonious fighters that was supposed to be the elite of the Empire, not one of a billion mass-produced starfighters that the Empire was just giving to anyone. Bad enough that the Rebels got the plans, it's worse if they fly away with a rare starfighter that's supposed to be guarded by elite forces. It damages the credibility of the Empire, hurts Thrawn's competency, and kind of makes Imperial equipment fans like me irritated that the Rebels can just take whatever they want.

Also, if like some are speculating, and the X-Wing is actually created by reverse engineering the tech in the TIE Defender, than that means the X-Wing is supposed to be comparable to a TIE Defender.

Which means they're taking the most advanced, overpowered starfighter ever created, and dragging it down the same level as the workhorse of the Rebellion. A notion which causes me to spontaneously combust in fury.

1 hour ago, DarthEnderX said:

Also, if like some are speculating, and the X-Wing is actually created by reverse engineering the tech in the TIE Defender, than that means the X-Wing is supposed to be comparable to a TIE Defender.

Which means they're taking the most advanced, overpowered starfighter ever created, and dragging it down the same level as the workhorse of the Rebellion. A notion which causes me to spontaneously combust in fury.

There's no way TIE Defender tech would be rolled into the X-Wing. The X-Wing is already in use by other cells of the Rebellion and we see them in action in Season 4. If anything, whatever tech they're able to rip off from the TIE Defender (if that IS the ship they end up stealing), it would be rolled into the production model B-Wing.

5 minutes ago, Kehl_Aecea said:

There's no way TIE Defender tech would be rolled into the X-Wing. The X-Wing is already in use by other cells of the Rebellion and we see them in action in Season 4. If anything, whatever tech they're able to rip off from the TIE Defender (if that IS the ship they end up stealing), it would be rolled into the production model B-Wing.

Maybe the stolen Defender self destructs like the Phantom in Rebel Assault II: Even Moar Assaultier. I would hate to think the rebellion had any ability to capitalize on TIE designs because there is zero evidence in the canon that Rebel starfighters incorporated any tech from the Empire other than stealing old Imperial fighters and using them as is.

That I could see. I mean, we've already sorta seen that happen with Wedge and Hobbie's defection attempt (when the wings blew off their TIEs)

13 minutes ago, Kehl_Aecea said:

The X-Wing is already in use by other cells of the Rebellion

Is it though? Rebels is the earliest point in the GCW timeline that has appeared in the new canon, and the X-Wings haven't appeared yet in the show.

13 minutes ago, Kehl_Aecea said:

and we see them in action in Season 4.

Yes, which could potentially take place AFTER they steal the Defender. They could deliver it to their resident genius spaceship engineer Quarrie, and within a year, the Rebels could be rolling out their first batch of X-Wings he designed based on Defender tech.

4 minutes ago, DarthEnderX said:

AFTER they steal the Defender. They could deliver it to their resident genius spaceship engineer Quarrie, and within a year, the Rebels could be rolling out their first batch of X-Wings

That’s a huge downgrade. X-wings have huge flaws, and also don’t seem to have anything in common with any TIEs, much less the most advanced one seen in the Empire. Our fishy engineer deserves better than to be saddled with the creation of the X-wing.

1 hour ago, GrimmyV said:

That’s a huge downgrade. X-wings have huge flaws, and also don’t seem to have anything in common with any TIEs

That's exactly my problem though. That's only the case, IN THE OLD CANON. The new canon hasn't really defined how mediocre or advanced the X-Wing actually is in comparison to other starfighters. So my concern is that they're going to retcon it so that the X-Wing and the TIE Defender are on the same level.

I've just finished season 2 as I try to catch up. Going back to see how hated this show was is really odd, given just how much of it wound up cemented into the XWMG.

Season 1 was for kids, season 2 has been very good in places. Looking forward to Admiral Thrawn up next!

2 hours ago, DarthEnderX said:

Is it though? Rebels is the earliest point in the GCW timeline that has appeared in the new canon, and the X-Wings haven't appeared yet in the show.

Yes, which could potentially take place AFTER they steal the Defender. They could deliver it to their resident genius spaceship engineer Quarrie, and within a year, the Rebels could be rolling out their first batch of X-Wings he designed based on Defender tech.

Filoni stated that X-Wings and Y-Wings were in use by other cells in the Rebellion during a Q&A back when we first got introduced to Sato and his group when they were using A-Wings.

29 minutes ago, Stay On The Leader said:

I've just finished season 2 as I try to catch up. Going back to see how hated this show was is really odd, given just how much of it wound up cemented into the XWMG.

Season 1 was for kids, season 2 has been very good in places. Looking forward to Admiral Thrawn up next!

I think it's really the obscenely blatant plot armor and how much they make the Empire into inept stooges when utilizing that plot armor.

Let's look at Episodes IV-VI...

Want to help the princess Luke? Your Aunt and Uncle just got turned to charcoal skeletons (this in the first 30 minutes of any Star Wars is more of a personal loss than anything in Rebels).

Hey, lemme teach you about the Force Luke, oh wait I'm deadish too.

Hey Luke! It's me your best buddy! Oh man the Empire killed me too!

Woo Luke! Let's kill some walkers! Sure seems like we've become buddy buddy over time! Hey where ya going buddy? What's that shadow?

Your teacher I will be young Skywalker. But caught a fatal case of old I have.

Hey Luke, it's daddy! You succeeded, but I'm gonna die too.

And just to add it TFA... Hey buddy, wish you could give me some advice on father-son issues. Oh well, gotta try to go talk some sense into my emo child.

Star Wars for the most part had real sacrifice in order for the good guys to win. Even when they were nameless nobodies, you at least could see the pain or fear in their eyes as they knew that their end was at hand. It's what helped separate the Rebels from the faceless Empire.

The show Rebels has pretty well done away with all that. No loss is absolute (they couldn't even kill Ahsoka after they shoehorned her into the show) and even the Rebel pilots are now for the most part as faceless as their Imperial counterparts.

And the series manages to overtly or inadvertently drop a deuce over a significant amount of awesomeness that is in canon and Legends. I swear Thrawn was breaking the fourth wall just a little bit when he was commenting about how dumb it is to have to assault a planet holding a large number of Rebels rather than obliterating them. Same with the WTF look he had at the giant fiery bantha coursing through the sky.

When formerly great characters are brought down in order to make your characters look better, it shows that you're unable to make your characters function in the universe as is or that you want to make them shine so brightly that you aren't even paying attention to how much they're outshining the mainstays of the story. This doesn't make the Rebels crew Mary Sues, but that is certainly one of the bulwarks of the trope and the series (and the reputation of many bad guys and their ships) has suffered for it.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh.

Got a free trial for Now TV, finally started watching Rebels, and they took the series down on the 1st of the month.

I was enjoying it as well.

12 hours ago, eMeM said:

I think you assume too much about episodes which haven't aired yet.

I really hope so. But I also would bet on the Rebels getting thier hands on a TIE/D based on what we've seen, and how much success they have had in the show with such things. My hope/expectation is they try to steal the TIE/D but are unable to, and we start to see more failures in this season to ramp up the desperation of the Rebellion leading into R1.

2 hours ago, Kehl_Aecea said:

Filoni stated that X-Wings and Y-Wings were in use by other cells in the Rebellion during a Q&A back when we first got introduced to Sato and his group when they were using A-Wings.

That's good. I hope that turns out to be the case.

It would take a lot of doing to reverse engineer a fighter then use those concepts to create a brand new one even with plans. The creation of the Tu-4 by the Soviets took nearly 3 years, and that was just to develop all the parts to make a copy of the B-29. This occurred with a huge chunk of Soviet R&D assets behind it and hindered only by Soviet bureaucracy, certainly none of the constant threats faced by the Rebellion.

Has anyone seen this leaked footage of the first X-Wing scene? Terrible audio, but the visuals are there. If you want to be surprised in full quality I suggest waiting till the episode premieres. From the look it would appear to be somewhere in the first six episodes, probably the last two.

I just hope they don't make them super OP, X-Wings are versatile but not so much so.

3 hours ago, flyboymb said:

When formerly great characters are brought down in order to make your characters look better, it shows that you're unable to make your characters function in the universe as is or that you want to make them shine so brightly that you aren't even paying attention to how much they're outshining the mainstays of the story. This doesn't make the Rebels crew Mary Sues, but that is certainly one of the bulwarks of the trope and the series (and the reputation of many bad guys and their ships) has suffered for it.

Think of it as a historical docudrama aimed at school age kids and.... it doesn’t make it any better.

I’m just going to assume that about 1/2 of what we see the main Rebels doing in this show is made up, exaggerated, mistaken, or done by others but attributed to Space Aladdin and Super Mando Gurl