Not to totally derail the conversations above (just kidding, far too much hating going on lol)

If the force flows through everyone and Sabine is an emotional wreck, does that mean she is more susceptible to getting influenced by the dark side? I kind of thought that was the direction Kanan was going.

Yeah, probably; but she doesn't have force powers so it might just not matter. It seems to me like the force only influences your personality if you use it directly . Lightning, telekinesis, that kind of thing.

Also bombs? I'm guessing she made bombs. They'll probably explain the Sabine-Destroyer-of-Worlds bit later, but it made for a great episode. Character development, fights, character development during fights - that's how it's served best.

It'll probably be something like she invented Thermal Detonators or something and the Empire used them to carpet bomb Mandalore.

Maybe. Not thermal detonators specifically, they've had those since TCW. I am kinda curious what she could have possibly gotten up to that could help the empire more than laser whips or jetpacks. I don't think they'd make her out to be a secret biochemical warfare specialist, especially with all the stops they pull to keep continuity. It'll definitely be interesting!

Anyone else pissed that they're taking another month long hiatus only a few weeks after their Christmas break?

Yis.

I mean, I did a long stint of animation in collage and it is a time-consuming and tough business so I get it. Guess I'll just re-watch The Expanse 48 more times till it's February.

Anyone else pissed that they're taking another month long hiatus only a few weeks after their Christmas break?

WAIT WHAT!!!!

Another break? Are they just not getting the resources to make the show?

Another break? Are they just not getting the resources to make the show?

It could be a timing thing - maybe they're coinciding an important episode to land on/near the May the Fourth be With You. I hope not, because that means a LOT of delays, but they also might be rebroadcasting older episodes which are relevant to events in the newest ones. Not all viewers are expected to have watched and rewatched episodes obsessively...

Also, anyone else notice the new mural atop Sabine's room? Adorable!

In case anyone else was wondering when Rebels is back in the U.K. I did some digging and we get Warhead on the 4th February, followed as far as I can figure by the rest of the series without any further breaks.

I'm fairly certain that Germans under the third Reich could still read and write, and as that's who the empire is modeled after I'd imagine humans (the master race to the empire) would by and large be well trained. Others, maybe not so much.

Yes, taught to read only what needed to be read, and to write what only needed to be written...

Just on a sidenote here...

As a German, I had to chew through WW2 multiple times during school (was never boring tho)

And every German could write and read during that time. The school system was fully operational, since the Nazis actually favoured intelligent Soldiers and Officers, so many of the Officers of the SS actually had titles, an Abitur at least (like a Highschool graduation, but a tad more Elite, especially at that time)

Indoctrinated? Yes. Dumb? Hell no. Which makes WW2 just more horrible.

So saying that, I guess the Empire employs school, but probably with Human (or extremly qualified aliens) teachers, which would in return favour the human students.

Now my thoughts on the Episode itself:

And the month long break totally sucks, but will probably help me to not get distracted from learning

My favorite episode of the season so far. Managed to develop the character of nearly everyone on screen.

Seriously, if anyone wants to complain about Sabine anymore they are just being ridiculous. This episode made her much more human.

My favorite episode of the season so far. Managed to develop the character of nearly everyone on screen.

Seriously, if anyone wants to complain about Sabine anymore they are just being ridiculous. This episode made her much more human.

She's not as one dimensional as she was before, but the fact that she has to train to use the lightsaber and has family issues doesn't cahnge her biography, before she turned 16 she was top of the class in the imperial academy, learned all about imperial procedures and some imperial prototype weapons, like the Interdictor, built some terrible weapons for the Empire, so good that the Galactic Empire with an insane defence budget and top notch R&D decided to use them, ran anway, became a bounty hunter, left bounty hunting and became a rebel.

My favorite episode of the season so far. Managed to develop the character of nearly everyone on screen.

Seriously, if anyone wants to complain about Sabine anymore they are just being ridiculous. This episode made her much more human.

She's not as one dimensional as she was before, but the fact that she has to train to use the lightsaber and has family issues doesn't cahnge her biography, before she turned 16 she was top of the class in the imperial academy, learned all about imperial procedures and some imperial prototype weapons, like the Interdictor, built some terrible weapons for the Empire, so good that the Galactic Empire with an insane defence budget and top notch R&D decided to use them, ran anway, became a bounty hunter, left bounty hunting and became a rebel.

To be honest, I've heared less believable stories in real life

My favorite episode of the season so far. Managed to develop the character of nearly everyone on screen.

Seriously, if anyone wants to complain about Sabine anymore they are just being ridiculous. This episode made her much more human.

She's not as one dimensional as she was before, but the fact that she has to train to use the lightsaber and has family issues doesn't cahnge her biography, before she turned 16 she was top of the class in the imperial academy, learned all about imperial procedures and some imperial prototype weapons, like the Interdictor, built some terrible weapons for the Empire, so good that the Galactic Empire with an insane defence budget and top notch R&D decided to use them, ran anway, became a bounty hunter, left bounty hunting and became a rebel.

To be honest, I've heared less believable stories in real life

Audie Murphy comes to mind - dropped out of school in the fifth grade to support his family by picking cotton, hunting, and repairing radios; tried to join up in 1941 but was turned down for being underage and underweight until he handed in forged documents; became one of the most decorated United States soldiers in World War II with over 30 medals (Purple Heart with two clusters ain't bad at all); then went on to play himself in movies about World War II and had an acting career that spanned two decades.

Or Otto Skorzeny - on the side of deliberate, self-chosen evil that is. Man may have been doing it for the thrill of murder and mayhem, but how many people can say they've worked for both the Nazis and Israelis?

For the UK watchers, does anyone use Disney XD to watch the show? If so, is there a regular time it's on? It's really awkward to find when the next episode is going to be aired, so much so that I haven't seen either of the last 2 episodes

Thanks

For the UK watchers, does anyone use Disney XD to watch the show? If so, is there a regular time it's on? It's really awkward to find when the next episode is going to be aired, so much so that I haven't seen either of the last 2 episodes

Thanks

Can you use Sling in the UK? It's a live and streaming TV service. Not only does it have access to Disney XD live, it has all the previous episodes available for streaming.

For the UK watchers, does anyone use Disney XD to watch the show? If so, is there a regular time it's on? It's really awkward to find when the next episode is going to be aired, so much so that I haven't seen either of the last 2 episodes

Thanks

Can you use Sling in the UK? It's a live and streaming TV service. Not only does it have access to Disney XD live, it has all the previous episodes available for streaming.

Sadly no, just checked. It's got a big thing saying "only available in the US" on the frontpage, assuming since I have a UK-based IP address.

Dude. That was a great episode. For a lot of reasons! But you know what I love?

Midichlorians got told to sod off completely. The force is not for just a few. It's for everyone. Perhaps in their own particular ways and some more than others. But at this point we have no reason to believe that there's somebody in the galaxy who can't learn to use the force, so long as they're open to it and themselves.

Dude. That was a great episode. For a lot of reasons! But you know what I love?

Midichlorians got told to sod off completely. The force is not for just a few. It's for everyone. Perhaps in their own particular ways and some more than others. But at this point we have no reason to believe that there's somebody in the galaxy who can't learn to use the force, so long as they're open to it and themselves.

HEAR HEAR!!!!!

I am typically very hard on Rebels. It's a combination of things that I won't get into.

I have to admit that this was a fantastic episode. This was quality television. What a glorious episode.

Dude. That was a great episode. For a lot of reasons! But you know what I love?

Midichlorians got told to sod off completely. The force is not for just a few. It's for everyone. Perhaps in their own particular ways and some more than others. But at this point we have no reason to believe that there's somebody in the galaxy who can't learn to use the force, so long as they're open to it and themselves.

That's what Midichlorians were supposed to do, life is impossible without them, thus every single living thing has at least some connection to the force. That's what Lucas himself said, but the phrasing in the movies didn't make it out to be as it was intended.

So yeah, anyone can use the force, but not just anyone can be a Jedi. It's like anyone can be physically fit if they workout regularly, but unless you have the right genes and work towards it from childhood it's unlikely that just anyone can decide to become an Olympian.

Midichlorians got told to sod off completely.

How do you figure this? There was no mention of force-attuned micro organisms anywhere in the episode. Nothing to support or discredit midichlorians. I don't understand the midichlorian hate some fans have. One of the major themes developed into Star Wars is the multi-faceted nature of The Force.

Sabine hater posts in 5...4...3...

They can **** off. Everything in this episode felt earned.

But yeah, there we go, it's even better than I expected, meet 13 years old Doctor of Technology (Specialisation: Terrible Weapons) Sabine Wren!

I'm guessing that what she invented for the Empire was bombs. Something she's been doing for the entire series already.

- (Ignites Darksaber) Oh, It's heavier than I thought.

- Energy constantly flows through the crystal. You are not fighting with a simple blade as much you are directing a current of power. Your thoughts, your actions, they become energy. They flow to the crystal as well and become part of the blade ..... (Ignites Lightsaber) The blades will be drawn to each other....

Everything about that scene was amazing. I have a friend that's both a sword fighting instructor and a Star Wars fan that I'm sure is going to love the hell out of that scene.

The fact that Light Sabers are, like, magnetized to each other is also super interesting. Actually kinda makes the sword fighting less impressive when you know the weapons have a innate tendency to parry themselves.

As a former fencer, I think the opposite - if your sword is attracted to your opponent's weapon and sticks to it, then disengaging from the parry suddenly becomes difficult. Doing things like sliding your blade along your opponent's to force their blade away from your body while going in for a hit on their body become _much_ more difficult. An attempt to quickly swat the opposing blade out of the way to go in for an attack becomes impossible, as the other blade will now stick to yours. Also, evading the other blade for various attacks becomes harder.

So, if you manage to get your blade close and in the right orientation to prevent yourself from getting hit despite the two blades touching, yes, it makes a parry easier. At the expense of making just about everything else harder...

As an aside, it fits with what we've seen in movies when the blades seemingly scrape against each other as they're pulled away!

Midichlorians got told to sod off completely.

How do you figure this? There was no mention of force-attuned micro organisms anywhere in the episode. Nothing to support or discredit midichlorians. I don't understand the midichlorian hate some fans have. One of the major themes developed into Star Wars is the multi-faceted nature of The Force.

It's because it turns the force into something scientific and knowable as opposed to the far more mystical, mysteriousness of it in the OT.

Was Fenn Rau flying an A-Wing? Please let him be another A-Wing pilot with his ability!

Just to standardize the terminology as long as we're going to be talking about melee combat, I'm going to put what means what below for terms that are often interchanged because there seems to be no real Oxford-type ruling on what is what.

This doesn't mean that I think what <insertpersonhere> has been using is wrong, I'm just, y'know, trying to facilitate understanding in the interest of getting everyone on the same track.

Anyhoo.

Block - An interaction between two weapons wherein one intersects and absorbs completely the forward momentum of another. "I blocked his swing with my shield."

Lunge - To step suddenly toward your opponent, typically to extend the length of a thrust.

Parry - An interaction between two weapons wherein one is used to deflect/redirect, but not stop, the the movement of another; the idea being that the recovery from a swing takes longer if the opponent has to stop it themselves. "I parried under his swing and it passed over my head."

Riposte - An attack that takes place after a parry and sometimes a block, taking advantage of the fact that the opponent's weapon is at the end of an attack. "He swung high right, I parried high right and riposted high left at his off-arm."

Guard - The section of the hilt that protects the hand and/ or a fighting stance. I'd type descriptions but when this fellow has such nice pictures of the various guards why bother? http://www.chivalrynow.net/sword/guards.htm

Hanging Guard Right

On (your) Guard - To assume any given guard in preparation for a fight. Can be issued as a challenge to the effect of "get ready!".

This is the first episode that didn't make me want Sabine to get run over by a space truck.

It's a start.

I actually thought the ep was kinda neat.

Just to standardize the terminology as long as we're going to be talking about melee combat, I'm going to put what means what below for terms that are often interchanged because there seems to be no real Oxford-type ruling on what is what.

This doesn't mean that I think what <insertpersonhere> has been using is wrong, I'm just, y'know, trying to facilitate understanding in the interest of getting everyone on the same track.

Anyhoo.

Block - An interaction between two weapons wherein one intersects and absorbs completely the forward momentum of another. "I blocked his swing with my shield."

Lunge - To step suddenly toward your opponent, typically to extend the length of a thrust.

Parry - An interaction between two weapons wherein one is used to deflect/redirect, but not stop, the the movement of another; the idea being that the recovery from a swing takes longer if the opponent has to stop it themselves. "I parried under his swing and it passed over my head."

Riposte - An attack that takes place after a parry and sometimes a block, taking advantage of the fact that the opponent's weapon is at the end of an attack. "He swung high right, I parried high right and riposted high left at his off-arm."

Guard - The section of the hilt that protects the hand and/ or a fighting stance. I'd type descriptions but when this fellow has such nice pictures of the various guards why bother? http://www.chivalrynow.net/sword/guards.htm

Hanging Guard Right

On (your) Guard - To assume any given guard in preparation for a fight. Can be issued as a challenge to the effect of "get ready!".

So the interaction between blades tends to turn Parries into Blocks, whether intended or otherwise.