I have a simple theory as to why Thrawn let the Ghost crew get away, twice. The Ghost crew is amongst the most visible elements of the Rebel Alliance: a Lassat (endangered species), a mandalorian which leaves graffiti everywhere, 2 Jedi (or trainee) wielding lightsabers, etc. They are also, in many cases, acting as the tip of the spear for the rest of the Alliance.

Thrawn is not interested in destroying the tip of the spear; he would rather be able to predict where the tip is intending to strike so he can destroy the spear itself.

That’s my 2 cents.

I'm not disagreeing that this is his plan .

My point is merely that not everyone in the Empire might see that, and if you have a chip on your shoulder (or are looking to get a promotion by 'backstabbing' a superior officer to get them out of the way), his actions could certainly have the appearance of being sympathetic to the Rebel cause. Enough to report them, anyway - and if the Emperor, his advisors, or the heck even the Moffs are hearing that often enough about him from enough different people...

There are no moments in TFA where you can say, "Without the help of *insert character*, she'd be a goner".

Starkiller Base on the brink of exploding when Chewie rescues her in the Falcon.

Without Chewie, only Hux (sent to rescue Kylo) was in a position to save her - and there were no ships around for her to save herself with.

So the new Rebels episode alright. Wasn't anything amazing about it, but it wasn't bad. We got some back story on Chopper of all characters

I'd like to think that inside the Y-Wing are two perfectly good R2-unit legs that match, along with the lower half of his body. Hera, at age 12, just forgot to go back and get them and then forgot they existed.

I think the show's writers have some kind of agenda against turrets. Capital ships hardly ever shoot, and smaller ships never use them.

Hell, when Wedge and Sabine were in that simulation last episode, the instructor even pointed out that the Y-Wings they were attacking had turrets. Not ONCE in that seen did any of those turrets fire.

I blame this game. The writers probably hate PWTs so much it bleeds over into the show.

Yeah, and during the Vader arc the CR90's never fired their turrets back at the Arquitens cruisers once, eveer. They just got shot up.

C'mon Rebels showrunners. You're better than this.

Maybe not, but I hope so.

I think the show's writers have some kind of agenda against turrets. Capital ships hardly ever shoot, and smaller ships never use them.

Hell, when Wedge and Sabine were in that simulation last episode, the instructor even pointed out that the Y-Wings they were attacking had turrets. Not ONCE in that seen did any of those turrets fire.

I blame this game. The writers probably hate PWTs so much it bleeds over into the show.

If I had been drinking I'd have spat it out just then. That right there is hilarious.

Also, remember how he said they were "Heavily shielded"? They died in one shot.

The Interceptors seemed to be able to punch through Corvette shields fast as well.

In this show a TIE Advanced punches through frigate shields without any problems

Can we safely say that shields in general are weaker than the EU led us to believe?

I thought it was a decent episode, but, WAS CHOPPER HAVING PTSD INDUCED FLASHBACKS TO THE CLONE WARS?!? Geez Rebels, way to go dark...

Rey never has an actual adversity in the movie. When they need a pilot, she's an expert, when they need a mechanic, she's an expert, when she's captured, she's suddenly a master of the force, and when she's chased down, she suddenly can defeat someone who's trained all his life with a lightsaber, and this is the first time she's used one in a fight.

I don't really see this being any different to Luke in ANH. He is farmboy who has never been off-planet and whose piloting experience comes from messing about in an air-speeder.

Yet when he gets onto the Deathstar, we find he is a better shot than crack Imperial infantry who have trained for years. When they need to shoot down incoming Tie fighters, he blows them away despite having never shot anything more tehcnologically advanced than a Wamp Rat. When it comes to the trench run, he succeeds where pilots with decades of experience miss and/or die. Why? Because of the Force.

Sure Luke is pretty decent at everyting he does in ANH, but all he does is piloting, shooting, and manning a turret. Rey on the other hand is not only an amazing pilot and sharpshooter, but also a meele expert, a linguist, a well trained force user, a skilled engineer, and a ninja acrobat.

But I think people would swallow the ridiculous explanations (earning a degree in engineering by collecting scrap, the concept of spare time while being an altruist slave struggling to survive in a wasteland, Y-wing simulator teaching you how to be an ace YT pilot etc.) much more easily if Rey wasn't completely self sufficient. Luke wasn't, he would be dead multiple times if his friends didn't help him, but Rey doesn't need no man, woman, or droid, she can do everything, get out of every trouble by herself.

I'm a fan of Rey, but as an Engineer, she isn't one. She's more like an experienced mechanic, who knows how to find and fix problems, even in a customized car, but they aren't going to design a whole new engine from the ground up.

Her very first scene showed that she would have had extensive practice/experience at climbing and crawling around in precarious places, and she almost certainly had to learn to fight to survive, so it's not like she just instantly learned those things.

As for being a "linguist" - that's just immersion. She's been on Jakku since she was a small child, so would have learned multiple languages just from being around them. No different than anyone in the real world who grows up speaking multiple languages.

Finally, where's the evidence she's a "sharpshooter"? Sure, she has typical "main character accuracy", but it's not like she's ever firing from a far distance. For that matter, she missed when firing more than she hit when the shooting started on Takodana, as I recall. That's why she had to run, after all.

So, those are plausible. That leaves the flying and the force user stuff. It's Star Wars, which means we've got the Force. The same thing that made Luke Skywalker, a pilot with absolutely no combat training or experience, be one of the best pilots in the Rebellion as soon as he hopped in an X-Wing. Literal magic. As long as I'm suspending my disbelief to include magic, it's not a stretch to think Rey's force abilities made her a great pilot, while also allowing her to figure out how to use the Force after her mind-link with Kylo Ren.

Rey never has an actual adversity in the movie. When they need a pilot, she's an expert, when they need a mechanic, she's an expert, when she's captured, she's suddenly a master of the force, and when she's chased down, she suddenly can defeat someone who's trained all his life with a lightsaber, and this is the first time she's used one in a fight.

I don't really see this being any different to Luke in ANH. He is farmboy who has never been off-planet and whose piloting experience comes from messing about in an air-speeder.

Yet when he gets onto the Deathstar, we find he is a better shot than crack Imperial infantry who have trained for years. When they need to shoot down incoming Tie fighters, he blows them away despite having never shot anything more tehcnologically advanced than a Wamp Rat. When it comes to the trench run, he succeeds where pilots with decades of experience miss and/or die. Why? Because of the Force.

It is not until ESB that we start to see Luke's flaws (and his adversity) more clearly as his anger and impatience goad him into facing Vader before he is ready (and very nearly paying the ultimate price for it). Also, despite fighting Vader and ultimately besting him in ROTJ, we never see Luke receiving any training in duelling from either Obi-wan or Yoda. At least we are shown in TFA that Rey is pretty good in hand-to-hand combat, even if she has never used a Lightsaber before.

To a certain extant I agree with you that Luke's character is definitely not that fleshed out until ESB, but he isn't super amazing at everything. Sure in Episode 4, he's pretty good at what he does, but lets face it, without his friends, he'd be dead several times over. And he's by no means a master. Without Obi-Wan, he'd be dead, without Han, he'd be dead, without Leia, he'd be dead, without Han again, he'd be dead, without Wedge and Biggs, he'd be dead, and without Han again he'd be dead. That's the difference between him in Rey. There are no moments in TFA where you can say, "Without the help of *insert character*, she'd be a goner". Lets not forget that in ESB, Luke fails at everything he does too. Again conflict makes an interesting character. Luke actually has conflict, Rey can do everything.

Luke had a pretty soft and safe life growing up compared to Rey, though. He had an Uncle and Aunt who cared for him and raised him. Rey was on her own from a very young age. Luke didn't even need to start learning how to fight until he ran off with Obi-Wan (and suddenly was able to take on hordes of Stormtroopers in the Death Star with only himself and Leia armed with blasters). Rey would have had to learn to fight just to survive on Jakku.

Also, comparing Luke's entire character arc over three movies to Rey in a single movie isn't comparing apples to apples. What did Luke fail at in ANH? He was able to shoot down TIE fighters in both the Falcon's turret and in an X-Wing, take on Stormtroopers, and destroy the Death Star, all without a lick of combat training! The closest we came to seeing him fail at something was when the training droid zapped him. A moment later, he was blocking multiple rapid shots while not being able to see, just from being told to "stretch out with your feelings".

I thought it was a decent episode, but, WAS CHOPPER HAVING PTSD INDUCED FLASHBACKS TO THE CLONE WARS?!? Geez Rebels, way to go dark...

Yes - yes he was. Kind of explains his "high-functioning sociopath" personality...

I thought it was a decent episode, but, WAS CHOPPER HAVING PTSD INDUCED FLASHBACKS TO THE CLONE WARS?!? Geez Rebels, way to go dark...

Wait for the next episode then, introducing Vietnam veteran Captain Rex

Can we safely say that shields in general are weaker than the EU led us to believe?

Have you ever actually watched the Battle of Yavin?

I think the show's writers have some kind of agenda against turrets. Capital ships hardly ever shoot, and smaller ships never use them.

Hell, when Wedge and Sabine were in that simulation last episode, the instructor even pointed out that the Y-Wings they were attacking had turrets. Not ONCE in that seen did any of those turrets fire.

I blame this game. The writers probably hate PWTs so much it bleeds over into the show.

If I had been drinking I'd have spat it out just then. That right there is hilarious.

Also, remember how he said they were "Heavily shielded"? They died in one shot.

The Interceptors seemed to be able to punch through Corvette shields fast as well.

In this show a TIE Advanced punches through frigate shields without any problems

Can we safely say that shields in general are weaker than the EU led us to believe?

I think we talked about this earlier; shields aren't armor, they're a much more dynamic defense. They need to be directed and their energy managed.

They deflect or dissipate incoming shots dependent on the angle of impact and the energy allocated to a specific side. Depending on the skill difference between you and your opponent, your shots may glide over or penetrate the shield.

You can crit through shields in X-wing too; it's just a little harder when the Force doesn't work on your dice. (Vader, proton bombs.)

(Edit.)

I thought it was a decent episode, but, WAS CHOPPER HAVING PTSD INDUCED FLASHBACKS TO THE CLONE WARS?!? Geez Rebels, way to go dark...

Wait for the next episode then, introducing Vietnam veteran Captain Rex

Strange that the droids would have a problem with the Rebellion, though. I mean, the Separatists were basically fighting the same fight as the Rebel Alliance (more or less).

We don't know what exactly happened and if the droid even knows about the galactic civil war, and I don't think he consinders a captured clone trooper and his Jedi companions trustworthy

The systems will rise again!

I think the show's writers have some kind of agenda against turrets. Capital ships hardly ever shoot, and smaller ships never use them.

Hell, when Wedge and Sabine were in that simulation last episode, the instructor even pointed out that the Y-Wings they were attacking had turrets. Not ONCE in that seen did any of those turrets fire.

I blame this game. The writers probably hate PWTs so much it bleeds over into the show.

If I had been drinking I'd have spat it out just then. That right there is hilarious.

Also, remember how he said they were "Heavily shielded"? They died in one shot.

The Interceptors seemed to be able to punch through Corvette shields fast as well.

In this show a TIE Advanced punches through frigate shields without any problems

Can we safely say that shields in general are weaker than the EU led us to believe?

I think we talked about this earlier; shields aren't armor, they're a much more dynamic defense. They need to be directed and their energy managed.

They deflect or dissipate incoming shots dependent on the angle of impact and the energy allocated to a specific side. Depending on the skill difference between you and your opponent, your shots may glide over or penetrate the shield.

You can crit through shields in X-wing too; it's just a little harder when the Force doesn't work on your dice. (Vader, proton bombs.)

(Edit.)

It's still freakin hilarious, you have to admit.

Regarding the whole TIE Advanced vs. shields debate.

The Lothal Rebels were lacking shield generators at the time, which is why they had a whole episode dedicated to getting more shield generators.

I think the show's writers have some kind of agenda against turrets. Capital ships hardly ever shoot, and smaller ships never use them.

Hell, when Wedge and Sabine were in that simulation last episode, the instructor even pointed out that the Y-Wings they were attacking had turrets. Not ONCE in that seen did any of those turrets fire.

I blame this game. The writers probably hate PWTs so much it bleeds over into the show.

If I had been drinking I'd have spat it out just then. That right there is hilarious.

Also, remember how he said they were "Heavily shielded"? They died in one shot.

The Interceptors seemed to be able to punch through Corvette shields fast as well.

In this show a TIE Advanced punches through frigate shields without any problems

Can we safely say that shields in general are weaker than the EU led us to believe?

I think we talked about this earlier; shields aren't armor, they're a much more dynamic defense. They need to be directed and their energy managed.

They deflect or dissipate incoming shots dependent on the angle of impact and the energy allocated to a specific side. Depending on the skill difference between you and your opponent, your shots may glide over or penetrate the shield.

You can crit through shields in X-wing too; it's just a little harder when the Force doesn't work on your dice. (Vader, proton bombs.)

(Edit.)

It's still freakin hilarious, you have to admit.

My keyboard was covered in the spray from my drink. I will admit nothing until it dries.

Yeah I suppose even if the Rebellion and the CIS are relatively idealogically alligned, this droid certainly wouldn't trust a clone trooper and a Jedi if he's under the impression that the war is still going on.

Curious if this will be a one-off story, of if it'll tie in to the rest of the season in some way.

The systems will rise again!

BEHOLD! The greatest achievement in the galaxy! THE SINGULARITY ENGINE FAR TWO!

The systems will rise again!

BEHOLD! The greatest achievement in the galaxy! THE SINGULARITY ENGINE FAR TWO!

Applebees?

Yeah I suppose even if the Rebellion and the CIS are relatively idealogically alligned, this droid certainly wouldn't trust a clone trooper and a Jedi if he's under the impression that the war is still going on.

Curious if this will be a one-off story, of if it'll tie in to the rest of the season in some way.

I imagine they are going to get a bunch supplies, weapons, and maybe ships. What if they get buzz droids? What if we get buzz droids in armada? Sorry I forgot this is an X-Wing thread.

The systems will rise again!

BEHOLD! The greatest achievement in the galaxy! THE SINGULARITY ENGINE FAR TWO!

Applebees?

You'll never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy....