STAR WARS: REBELS Discussion Thread!

By KCDodger, in X-Wing

6 hours ago, GrimmyV said:

With all those tentacles I’m glad that’s the only thing being touched.

@Brunas

5 minutes ago, Forresto said:

The way Lothal would've worked better in a believable way is if Sabine had said this.

"The Empire never fully returned, especially after the rebel victories at Scarif and Yavin not long after, other places seemed more a priority I guess. They would send a small ship our way occasionally to collect an Imperial tax, some resources, and leave but otherwise life here was good. It wasn't until the Imps were routed at Endor that Lothal truly knew the freedom that Ezra always dreamed of when he stood up here, gazing at his home. The freedom Ezra fought and gave his life for, like so many others in the galaxy." A small tear runs down Sabine's cheek.

It fits the lore.

It gives Lothal a happy ending.

It leads into Sabine discussing the others.

Her acknowledging his death sets up her surprise when Ashoka informs her Ezra is still out there.

Five seconds of extra dialogue extra. Nothing technical, nothing ridiculous.

Little details, that keep us nerds from thinking about unimportant details so we can talk about the themes, the actual important bits.

But I don't feel inclined to talk just about themes when there's such glaring points as Lothal escaping Imperial justice.

So I don't think the Empire not coming back to Lothal is a massive issue however I think Lothal existing as a semi-autonomous state that's buying off the Empire with a sort of non-aggression pact is a good one.

Perhaps a LITTLE too politically complex for the show we're talking about, but I totally like it as an idea.

Edited by Ktan
1 minute ago, Ktan said:

Yoda doing that would be cheap, but it wouldn't be a DEM.

Just because it's a DEM doesn't automatically make it bad, and the reverse also applies.

The Sebulba example would be absurd because there's no feasible link between Sebulba and any of the events of TLJ. It would be a DEM because there's no established or reasonable link between Sebulba and Rey. There would be between Yoda and Rey. However, both are still contrived and don't do really link to Rey's arc. The purrgil do, and it's a victory Ezra took many steps to earn. He put himself in direct danger and it was clear this was a contingency plan.

Yoda zapping Ren would be unsatisfying but that's the point I'm making. I think it's fair to say the whale twist is unsatisfying. But I think there's a tendency to want to couch things we don't like in media as "It's this trope" even when it doesn't quite fit the trope.

Maybe this is just me, but when I watched the purrgil episode I have a feeling that wasn't the last we'd seen of them. Also, a whole episode dedicated to a single bit of fauna is not "hardly any screentime". But it's also been set up specifically because of the Bednu's cold arms line. Purrgil fit that bill perfectly, I can't think of anything else that does without involving something like carbonite =P

What about the Battle droids set up in a prior episode?

You know what would've been incredible?

A whole Separatist fleet dropping from hyperspace alongside the Whales.

1 minute ago, Forresto said:

What about the Battle droids set up in a prior episode?

You know what would've been incredible?

A whole Separatist fleet dropping from hyperspace alongside the Whales.

I can get behind that.

Actually, that would have been amazing.

We can have the majestic space whales AND have another scene where Kalani can go "By your command!" to Hera or Ezra. Maybe even, somehow, to Rex =P

Edited by Ktan

Bendu's line could be easliy a metaphor... if fact I doubt many people took it literally before the finale :P

Edited by eMeM

If there's one thing this season has taught me it's that Filoni doesn't like metaphor =P

2 minutes ago, Ktan said:

So I don't think the Empire not coming back to Lothal is a massive issue however I think Lothal existing as a semi-autnomous state that's buying off the Empire with a sort of non-agression pact is a good one.

Perhaps a LITTLE too politically complex for the show we're talking about, but I totally like it as an idea.

The only reason I think Lothal's fate is important is because the show made Lothal the focus of its story. Its also a sector capital, so its the lynchpin world for dozens of other Imperial worlds in the sector.

1 minute ago, Ktan said:

I can get behind that.

Actually, that would have been amazing.

The Battle Droid episode was a fan favorite episode.

They have the assets.

We know the Separatists had some massive ships.

It would explain the Imperials getting overwhelmed and why the Whales managed to latch onto the ships.

You also wouldn't have the stupid visual of an organic being cutting through an ISD's hull like butter and could replace it with battle droids kamikazing into them.

Not only would it have been the coolest visual in Star Wars and given a real ending to the Clone Wars, it would immediately erase my problems with the whales.

My problem with the Ewoks is that the Ewoks suffered two onscreen casualties and inflicted staggering losses on the elite Imperials with stone age weapons. If they were shown supporting the Rebel commandos who were doing the most damage on the Imperials, then the Ewoks wouldn't have been a problem to me.

Easy solutions. Easy, easy solutions to simple problems that they don't get for whatever reason. Not to be repetitive, but this my biggest pet peeve with Rebels.

I like the whales myself, but adding the Seps adds a nice thematic element to that as well. The Rebel's strength has been finding help from unexpected quarters and the Separatist Remnant fits that bill.

Needed more Wedge.

If I ever get to write anything canonically Star Wars, my first target is working in a way to have wiped out the Purgills.

Mark my words.

Even if its in twenty years from now and no longer pertinent, I'll still do it. :D :P

~

Porgs however brilliant. They'll infest every starport like rats, since the Millennium Falcon is last seen ferrying a colony from Ach-To.

57 minutes ago, Forresto said:

If there was a swarm of ship killing whales it would actually be a high priority for the Empire to return and eradicate them.

Because you don't know where they're going to show up again. They may not stay at Lothal. They may be a threat to the Death Star construction or another military installation.

Maybe I'm misremembering, but isn't the fact that the whales can travel through hyperspace a fact that only Ezra and Co. are aware of?

Wouldn't that mean that the Empire would assume that if there's a pack of dangerous space whales at Lothal, it would take them hundreds or thousands of years to travel to any other star system, and thus only a threat to ships around Lothal?

Edit: Double post

Edited by DarthEnderX
4 minutes ago, DarthEnderX said:

Maybe I'm misremembering, but isn't the fact that the whales can travel through hyperspace a fact that only Ezra and Co. are aware of?

Wouldn't that mean that the Empire would assume that if there's a pack of dangerous space whales at Lothal, it would take them hundreds or thousands of years to travel to any other star system, and thus only a threat to ships around Lothal?

Nope the whales are extremely famous in universe.

They're apparently the reason sentients learnt to travel through hyperspace. They then subsequently became a problem because ships would crash into pods of the whales in hyperspace, destroying the ship and whale. That's why they were hunted to near extinction because they were a massive problem in the galaxy for FTL travel.

The only thing our characters exclusively know about them is that they're sentient.

Let's assume the Empire doesn't know any of this, which would be odd at even a basic knowledge and awareness of the world given the whales importance and that sailors love fish stories, it wouldn't make sense that the Whales would be locked to Lothal.

Lothal is a sector capital and the system as such would've been scrutinized, especially since the Ghost started its hijinks. That many whales at that size would've been noticed way before. Not to mention the Mining Guild group that were slaughtering the whales in a far away system were in the Empire's pocket. They would've told the Imperials about the whale problem given it was effecting their bottom line.

So logically anyone could deduce the whales came from another system, and in the time frame they traveled from one point to another must be capable of traveling through hyperspace.

I seem to recall the whales hyperjumping at the end being a surprise to the crew, but I'd have to dig out the DVD to double check.

I think how they move around was unknown to most and it was revealed at the end that they hyperjump. But it may have just been the Ghost crew who were ignorant of that.

8 hours ago, DarthEnderX said:

You say that like those two things happen right after one another. Aren't they, like, a year apart?

Why would the Empire not counterattack Lothal during that year when they had nothing else critical going on to prevent them from doing so?

The thing is we don't know how much time passes between the liberation of Lothal and the battles of Scarif and Yavin. It could be a year or it could be just days. The Empire may not have had the time to organize the counterattack on Lothal before Scarif and Yavin happened.

There's every possibility that they were just waiting on the Death Star to go online so they didn't have to commit anything past a single hyperjump and a snarky quip from Tarkin.

You know, before some whiny backwater yokel threw a couple of spanners at 90 degrees into those particular works.

After that? Well, they've much bigger fish to fry.

(From playing Empire at War I can testify that as soon as the Death Star came online any planet that was more effort than it was worth to capture got turned into rubble)

I still like @Forresto 's idea of Lothal sort of "paying off" the Empire though.

Edited by Ktan
9 hours ago, Captain Pellaeon said:

Okay, I need help guys. I really want to like this show. Really. I want to like everything that's Star Wars. But after watching it, the following conclusions came to me:

In the end, the Rebels won their struggle, because:

I really tried to like 'A New Hope', but are you telling me in the end, the Rebels won their struggle because:

  • Some farm boy has a destiny based on his who is parents are that gives him special powers? C'mon!
  • A magic space wizard teaches him to use space magic, which he somehow learns to do, but gets killed, and even though dead can still talk to him! How are we supposed to believe this stuff?
  • The ultimate battle is settled by shooting a target too small to hit, but somehow nobody-farmboy uses space magic and blows up the entire thing! Ridiculous!!
8 hours ago, DarthEnderX said:

You say that like those two things happen right after one another. Aren't they, like, a year apart?

Why would the Empire not counterattack Lothal during that year when they had nothing else critical going on to prevent them from doing so?

No, the season started a year out from ANH, but ends roughly right up against Scarif/Yavin.

I mean, consider that Hera is basically done with the Rebellion at this point as a result of their not helping with Lothal's liberation (at least, based on dialog in the show, that's true - 'We liberated Lothal ourselves, we can defend it ourselves'). So she's just returning Rex and Kallus back to the Rebellion HQ on Yavin-4, likely immediately after the episode ends. And is thus there when the Death Star is revealed, the plans are found and need help being retrieved, etc. And that seems like the sort of threat that Hera would feel compelled to respond to and join back up, no?

How long is a Twi'lek pregnancy and how much time during which would she be out of action? It's possible she was early (or not even aware she was) pregnant during Scarif and then basically wasn't back in the Rebellion until RotJ because she was basically on maternity leave. (I mean, some women pretty much work until the last moment but I imagine being a pilot in a war is a pretty stressful thing that you'd not want to do too much while pregnant)

There's surely a reason she wasn't at the Battle of Yavin as well, but I think that explains her absence during some parts of the Galactic Civil War.

Wonder if Kallus and Zeb were babysitting while Rex and Hera were at Endor? xD

Edited by Ktan

Can we talk about how Kallus gets to go to paradise after the war crimes he committed?

Sure he didn't order the use of disrupters but he used them or commanded men to fight whilst using them.

Not to mention being ISB he's essentially gestapo. He would have done horrible things, especially to resistors.

Seems a little too rewarding of an awful human being.

He may have seen the light, it doesnt change what he did. I care less from a story point of view within the lore but more so just the message it sends.

Edited by Forresto
1 hour ago, Forresto said:

Can we talk about how Kallus gets to go to paradise after the war crimes he committed?

Sure he didn't order the use of disrupters but he used them or commanded men to fight whilst using them.

Not to mention being ISB he's essentially gestapo. He would have done horrible things, especially to resistors.

Seems a little too rewarding of an awful human being.

He may have seen the light, it doesnt change what he did. I care less from a story point of view within the lore but more so just the message it sends.

True but we don't know what Kallus did for the Alliance during the 4+ years between Lothal and Endor. What support, as one of the very few, if any other, ISB officers who defected to the Alliance, he provided could have warranted a pardon for past deeds.

Edited by T70 Driver

Geez, you people can suck the joy out of anything.

33 minutes ago, DailyRich said:

Geez, you people can suck the joy out of anything.

I love the Last Jedi to death (favorite Star Wars movie since Revenge) and I've dealt with three months of the Last Jedi haters cornering me on every website i've mentioned as much. It still happens. Viciously.

That's not even to mention being a Trekkie who loves Star Trek Discovery...

The negative response to Rebels, is not an iota close to the vitriol the film or that series has received.

I'm just severely disappointed with the finale, i'm disappointed because there's a lot I like about Rebels, there were some really superb scenes, characters, arcs that do a lot for the franchise. But its contrasted by the accentuation of some of the worst parts of the franchise in my opinion such as Imperial incompetence and stormtroopers being the worst soldiers of any universe, they might as well be static rocks for all they do.

I'm upset mostly because it screwed with a character, Thrawn, that I love and whose adventures bring me a lot of joy. However its also given me some of the best moments with Thrawn. So its hard to love the show as much as it to hate it.

I'm glad Rebels exists, I'm happy that it brings joy to other people. Don't let my dislike of it take your joy away, that's not right, but I am going to voice my opinion.

Edited by Forresto
2 hours ago, Forresto said:

Can we talk about how Kallus gets to go to paradise after the war crimes he committed?

Sure he didn't order the use of disrupters but he used them or commanded men to fight whilst using them.

Not to mention being ISB he's essentially gestapo. He would have done horrible things, especially to resistors.

Seems a little too rewarding of an awful human being.

He may have seen the light, it doesnt change what he did. I care less from a story point of view within the lore but more so just the message it sends.

Morality in the Star Wars universe is different from ours.

I mean, it's a setting where someone can slaughter an entire religion, including cutting down children in their temple, hunt down and exterminate the rest of them across the galaxy, help with the construction and defense of a superweapon, participate in the destruction of an entire planet just to prove a point...then throw one guy down a reactor shaft one time and suddenly he's redeemed and gets to go to 'the good (Jedi) place'.

1 hour ago, Forresto said:

I love the Last Jedi to death (favorite Star Wars movie since Revenge) and I've dealt with three months of the Last Jedi haters cornering me on every website i've mentioned as much. It still happens. Viciously.

That's not even to mention being a Trekkie who loves Star Trek Discovery...

I understand your pain.

Despite the finale's flaws, I am mostly satisfied with the ending. My biggest gripe is the Rebel use of Animal Cavalry (twice!)

1 hour ago, Forresto said:

I love the Last Jedi to death (favorite Star Wars movie since Revenge) and I've dealt with three months of the Last Jedi haters cornering me on every website i've mentioned as much. It still happens. Viciously.

That's not even to mention being a Trekkie who loves Star Trek Discovery...

Rebels is the Star Wars I was promised when people were saying how awesome The Last Jedi was. The film isn't as awful as most laymen make it out to be, but it is not the amazing film that critics were saying it was.

As for Star Trek Discovery: the continuity nerd in me is not terribly happy, and lens flare could be reined in, but otherwise, it is hard to not like what is going on in that show.

Edited by Yakostovian