4 hours ago, iamfanboy said:

Does that mean the Death Star draws from the Force itself to energize its superlaser? Seems possible.

This supposition does not hold up when compared to Catalyst, which describes Galen Erso's expreiments with Kyber Crystals. He manipulated the crystals with technology alone. Also, there are Vader's own words to consider, "Don't be so proud of this technological terror you've constructed."

53 minutes ago, jmswood said:

This supposition does not hold up when compared to Catalyst, which describes Galen Erso's expreiments with Kyber Crystals. He manipulated the crystals with technology alone. Also, there are Vader's own words to consider, "Don't be so proud of this technological terror you've constructed."

Fair enough. Need to read that, then.

On 2/23/2017 at 3:34 PM, Blue Five said:

And no indication someone didn't.

I wonder? Does Disney own Energizer batteries?

On 2/23/2017 at 5:39 PM, jmswood said:

This is incredibly vague. If you're trying to infer some camparison based on the scientific merits of Star Trek then try again. Star Trek is as much a fantasy as Star Wars.

No not really, your confusing the meaning. Star Trek is science fiction meaning that its obviously still fiction and fantastical but attempts to apply itself to actual science OR expand upon scientific theories and concepts. If you set Star Trek in a medieval setting it would fall apart.

Star Wars could be set in any time period and be fine because the technology isnt important the mysticism and story is.

Thats the difference science fiction deals with technology and usualy futurism grounded in some sort of reality. A fantasy is not held by any such rules.

Just watched the latest episode on DisneyXD.com. Dude.... I'm really impressed with just how well they've done Thrawn. It's a fantastic episode like always, but Thrawn's design is brilliant. There's no way he dies this season. He's just TOO good. Honestly he is the best thing to happen to the Empire.

I agree. Just when I thought that they were falling into the old trap of having adversaries be stupid because the plot requires it they pull that final scene. That is how you create a memorable adversary who's defeat, when it comes, is both meaningful and impressive.

2 hours ago, Forresto said:

No not really, your confusing the meaning.

As I said, your post was vague. I had to read between the lines.

2 hours ago, Forresto said:

No not really, your confusing the meaning. Star Trek is science fiction meaning that its obviously still fiction and fantastical but attempts to apply itself to actual science OR expand upon scientific theories and concepts. If you set Star Trek in a medieval setting it would fall apart.

Star Wars could be set in any time period and be fine because the technology isnt important the mysticism and story is.

Thats the difference science fiction deals with technology and usualy futurism grounded in some sort of reality. A fantasy is not held by any such rules.

Your argument on behalf Star Trek is invalidated by a single character: Q. A recurring character that ignores the rules, has no foundation in reality and doesn't need a futuristic setting to ruin an episode.

Fulcrum Trap was incredible. As Thrawn said in episode 1: "They will be the architects of their own destruction."

Very true.

Also, is anyone in any doubt that Thrawn is now perfectly aware of the location of the hidden Rebel base?

What an incredible episode, probably my favorite episode of an Star Wars show. If Thrawn is killed off at the end of the season it will be a massive mistake. He alone has made a huge difference when it comes to the threat the Rebels are facing. Honestly we need more episodes like this from the Imperial perspective!

1 hour ago, jmswood said:

As I said, your post was vague. I had to read between the lines.

Your argument on behalf Star Trek is invalidated by a single character: Q. A recurring character that ignores the rules, has no foundation in reality and doesn't need a futuristic setting to ruin an episode.

Q is a highly evolved alien entity millions if not billions of years more advanced then us. Far more plausible in reality then the force. The entire point of the show is exploring the unknown and encountering things humanity never has before before and trying to understand it using science and knowledge. This isnt the thread for it but you are objectively wrong that Star Trek is fantasy.

This was a great episode, really liked seeing Kallus being clever, I felt like after the first season he rarely did anything smart. Also appreciate how they used Sabine's art to give Thrawn a connection, rather than him just being omnipotent, which is how I felt when he first discovered there was traitor, he just kind of figured it out with little to no evidence. Also really liked seeing Yularen, was hoping Rex's helmet would fall of so Yularen could see it was a clone, which might lead him to investigate. Also was nice to see those other imperial offcier characters, and I really enjoyed Lieutenant List.

One thing I really wish happened, was when Ezra was posing as List, have the trooper be like"Your not lieutenant List! he was just here less than an hour ago!" but maybe he didn't because Ezra mind tricked him.

You know why this one was so good?

Tension.
Just like in the Season 2 finale, we have a character without a plot armour doing very dangerous stuff.

We need more episodes with focus on people that can actually face concequences of their actions.

Oh, something else cool springs to mind, the Governor recognising that Kanan was about to use a Jedi mind trick and just getting the stormtroopers to blast him.

13 minutes ago, Forresto said:

This isnt the thread for it but you are objectively wrong that Star Trek is fantasy.

I'll agree this discussion is way off topic, so I'll make my closing argument.

Objectivity is relative. I like a lot of Star Trek, but I skip every Q episode. Q tops my personal list of worst characters ever conceived in fiction. I also hate time travel. Science Fiction or Fantasy: time travel begs for plot holes. (So naturally I skip all the time travel in Star Trek too.) You can call me wrong, but along with everything I've said: it's all just our opinions.

I won't mention Star Trek in this thread again if you won't. Truce?

8 minutes ago, Major Tom said:

Oh, something else cool springs to mind, the Governor recognising that Kanan was about to use a Jedi mind trick and just getting the stormtroopers to blast him.

Plot Armor: Blaster set for stun.

Ok, sure, the plot armour kicked in. It's still another example of the bad guys not being dumb. That's two in one episode, and from two different characters. These are the little things that make it all the more meaningful when the heroes win. They are after all only as good as the enemies they face.

21 minutes ago, jmswood said:

I'll agree this discussion is way off topic, so I'll make my closing argument.

Objectivity is relative. I like a lot of Star Trek, but I skip every Q episode. Q tops my personal list of worst characters ever conceived in fiction. I also hate time travel. Science Fiction or Fantasy: time travel begs for plot holes. (So naturally I skip all the time travel in Star Trek too.) You can call me wrong, but along with everything I've said: it's all just our opinions.

I won't mention Star Trek in this thread again if you won't. Truce?

Oh no its cool and I hope I didnt come off as agressive, im not annoyed or upset at all and I dont mean to convey that in my tone. If your not into those aspects totally I respect that opinion. Im not saying your opinions are wrong. All im trying to say is the genre, the framework of Star Trek is objectively sci fi and not fantasy.

However all of fiction no matter how realistic is a varying degree of fantasy by the lone fact that its fiction. So I think we agree more then either of us may think.

To me the genres however help to create a framework of what to expect. I dont expect fantasy to ever get into the science of things beyond a superficial level like in Star Wars where gravity wells effect hyperspace routes. In straight fantasy simply saying something is magic is enough and everyone moves on. Sci Fi often does the same thing but does so by trying to use scientific reasoning. Science and technology play a huge role even if a lot of that science is made up. Good sci fi has to be cohesive and explain things well because its usually trying to ground itself in reality far moreso then fantasy.

Thrawn is awesome

After watching the episode, am I the only one that wishes Kallus had actually betrayed the Rebels? Or at least had his plan to frame the lieutenant work? I'm a little annoyed that Thrawn figured it out. Although it kinda makes sense as written that he would. Maybe if they had slightly rewritten the end Kallus's framing would have worked and be 100% believable. I just like him as an Imperial or at least a Rebel spy in Imperial clothes.

I understand that point of view, but do you not think that if Thrawn hadn't figured it out it would have traduced him as an adversary? Characters we (well, many of the people reading I suspect) care about are now in real peril. For me that makes it more exciting. Having Thrawn be good enough to see through the deception also means that when the Ghost crew does truly get the better of Thrawn it means more as he has been shown to be smart and competent rather than just being another super-mook like the Grand Inquisitor. Just like Vader last season his presence and eventual exit have weight and meaning.

22 hours ago, iamfanboy said:

I think the episode before that revealed some of how lightsabers (and the Death Star superlaser) work in new canon. Stripping away Kanan's flowery speech, the kaiber crystal draws through the wielder's Force connection to maintain a blade - perhaps a power source is required for creating the initial blade, perhaps not - and thus anyone with a Force presence can spark up a blade.

The impression I got from that episode wasn't that a force connection maintains the blade but that someone's force presence can tune it: the more you use it the less it resists you.

9 minutes ago, Blue Five said:

The impression I got from that episode wasn't that a force connection maintains the blade but that someone's force presence can tune it: the more you use it the less it resists you.

This is supported by things we learned about lightsabers from Ashoka (the novel) and other new canon sources. Jedi and other light side users bond with their Kyber crystals. Dark Side users subjugate their Kybers in a manner described as "bleeding" the crystals.

Great episode. I like how they have been fleshing out the Star Wars universe and have loved the Scum & Villainy flavor that's run through the show since season one, but I really think the show is at it's best, at it's most pointed, when it's about Rebels vs. Imps. This was a well paced episode that had what felt like actual stakes, didn't feel like it was pandering to any particular fan base and had good character development.

I really look forward to this show and even though some episodes are ok, they leave me a little unsatisfied. This was not one of those episodes.

43 minutes ago, Bojanglez said:

I really think the show is at it's best, at it's most pointed, when it's about Rebels vs. Imps. This was a well paced episode that had what felt like actual stakes, didn't feel like it was pandering to any particular fan base and had good character development.

I agree 100%. That is why I really wish Kallus's ruse had been bought by the higher ups. Because now it's not if, the Empire finds him out, but when they do something about it. It takes some of the suspension out. At some point we know Kallus is done for. Womp womp womp.

Couple of nods to the EU in this episode. The code word that Thrawn used to deactivate his Assassin Droids, Rukh, is the name of his Noghri bodyguard from the books. Rukh was also the one who killed Thrawn, much like the Droids tried to do after the code word was deactivated.