Still on board? One last chance...

It seems the conjecture about Fulcrum's identity has been confirmed - it's Ahsoka Tano. How do we know? The CV of a French voice over dub actress. Full story here:

http://jedinews.co.uk/news/news.aspx?newsID=20592

Good news for Ahsoka fans!

Still on board? One last chance...

It seems the conjecture about Fulcrum's identity has been confirmed - it's Ahsoka Tano. How do we know? The CV of a French voice over dub actress. Full story here:

http://jedinews.co.uk/news/news.aspx?newsID=20592

Good news for Ahsoka fans!

That doesn't prove the identity of Fulcrum. That just says who they've hired for work. It used to be pretty normal for one person to voice several characters. Also, if they're hiring the FRENCH actress for the English, then it really makes it less likely since they had an english voice actor (http://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/Ashley-Eckstein/) for Ahsoka.

can I unlike a thread?

That doesn't prove the identity of Fulcrum. That just says who they've hired for work. It used to be pretty normal for one person to voice several characters. Also, if they're hiring the FRENCH actress for the English, then it really makes it less likely since they had an english voice actor

They wouldn’t hire a French actress to do the English voice. What they would do is hire the French actress to do the French translation of the show, and sometimes that can trip things up as that exposes things that weren’t advertised for the English version of the show.

That doesn't prove the identity of Fulcrum. That just says who they've hired for work. It used to be pretty normal for one person to voice several characters. Also, if they're hiring the FRENCH actress for the English, then it really makes it less likely since they had an english voice actor

They wouldn’t hire a French actress to do the English voice. What they would do is hire the French actress to do the French translation of the show, and sometimes that can trip things up as that exposes things that weren’t advertised for the English version of the show.

Pre-cisely. She's doing the French dub (possibly for Canadian broadcast?) and the cv reads "Ahsoka Tano disguised as Fulcrum".

So either Ahsoka is pretending to be Fulcrum, or she is Fulcrum. Either way, it's Ahsoka in Rebels.

Interestingly she did the French dub for a character on "Witches of East End" played originally by Tiya Sircar.

I think Ahsoka is not only Fulcrum but, after what happened in the last episode Call To Arms, she will be making an appearance in the last episode of the first season. I see Hera calling in a favor to help rescue Kanan from Tarkin. It should be interesting if/when Tano and Tarkin meet since Ahsoka was part of a Jedi team that rescued Tarkin during the Clone Wars.

I think Ahsoka is not only Fulcrum but, after what happened in the last episode Call To Arms, she will be making an appearance in the last episode of the first season. I see Hera calling in a favor to help rescue Kanan from Tarkin. It should be interesting if/when Tano and Tarkin meet since Ahsoka was part of a Jedi team that rescued Tarkin during the Clone Wars.

That makes for an interesting point. Seeing as how Tarkin makes it clear that he has Known Jedi and what people claim and considers a Jedi are often two different things.

I think Ahsoka is not only Fulcrum but, after what happened in the last episode Call To Arms, she will be making an appearance in the last episode of the first season. I see Hera calling in a favor to help rescue Kanan from Tarkin. It should be interesting if/when Tano and Tarkin meet since Ahsoka was part of a Jedi team that rescued Tarkin during the Clone Wars.

That makes for an interesting point. Seeing as how Tarkin makes it clear that he has Known Jedi and what people claim and considers a Jedi are often two different things.

Come to find out they have a history after the rescue as well. I did a little reading about Tarkin and found he was the main reason Ahsoka left the Jedi Order. He was the prosecutor in the trial of Ahsoka in the bombing of the Jedi Temple at the end of season 5 of The Clone Wars.

From Tarkin's Wookieepedia entry:

Admiral Tarkin attended the funeral for the victims of the Bombing of the Jedi Temple Hangar. Afterwards, he informed Ahsoka Tano and Anakin Skywalker that the accused perpatrator of the bombing, Letta Turmond, was being transfered from the Jedi Temple to military custody. Tano protested this method of handling the situation, but Tarkin explained that because Turmond was not a Jedi and clones had been killed in the bombing, the Republic military had jurisdiction. Skywalker scolded Tano for becoming angry, and after Tano had left, he lamented to Tarkin that his Padawan still had much to learn.

Later, Tarkin informed Tano that Turmond wished to speak with her and Tano consented. While Tano was with Turmond in her cell, Turmond was strangled with the Force, and Tano was arrested because it was assumed that she was Turmond's killer. Tarkin visited Tano in her cell and showed her the recording of the incident, which, without sound, made it seem as though Tano was reaching toward the floating Turmond to choke her, rather than help her. Tarkin ordered that no one be able to visit Tano, much to Skywalker's dismay, but Tano was soon able to escape from the military base where she was being held.

Ahsoka Tano was soon recaptured, and Tarkin came before the Jedi Council on behalf of the Senate to request that Tano be expelled from the Jedi Order so that she could be tried by a military tribunal. It was feared that a trial by the Jedi would seem biased. The Jedi Council obliged, and Tano was tried before a jury of senators, with Tarkin heading the prosecution and Padmé Amidala heading the defense. Tarkin declared that he would prove Tano guilty of both the Temple bombing and the murder of her cohorts, and asked that the death penalty be used as punishment. Amidala argued that Tano was being framed, because if Tano was truly guily, she would not have made the evidence against herself so obvious. Tarkin cast doubt on Tano's claims by mentioning that Tano had been seen with the Separatist war criminal Asajj Ventress.

Eventually, the arguments concluded, and the jury reached a decision. As Supreme Chancellor Palpatine started to read the verdict, Anakin Skywalker and members of the Jedi Temple Guard arrived in the courtroom with the Jedi Barriss Offee. Offee confessed to having committed the crimes of which Tano was accused, and the charges against Tano were dropped, though as a result of feeling betrayed and disillusioned, Tano refused to return to the Jedi.

So, it's really going to be interesting if/when Ahsoka and Tarkin meet.

I always thought the Ahsoka Trial Arc would have been better if A: Anakin had figured out who did it but too late to save Ahsoka from execution. I also thought that they desperately needed to give an explanation for exactly what caused Barris to fall I never liked the Barris fall idea but the least hey should have done is explain what happened to cause her to fall. Anakin's fall in ROTS may have been stupid but at least they covered his goal and the events leading to it.

Well, in the unfinished episodes on starwars.com Anakin complains to Obi-Wan about how Ahsoka was treated and now gone. If the show had gone on we would have gotten more about Ahsoka and Barris but alas it is not going to happen.

They wouldn’t hire a French actress to do the English voice. What they would do is hire the French actress to do the French translation of the show, and sometimes that can trip things up as that exposes things that weren’t advertised for the English version of the show.

This is true. The French voice-over and dubbing industry has the habit of consistently pairing up non-French actors with the same Francophone VAs whenever possible, a practice known as le doublage. By doing this, the viewing public's association of actor and voice is kept consistent, and the presence of overdubbing is less intrusive. Whenever you see Daniel Radcliffe open his mouth, in anything Daniel Radcliffe is in, the same voice (Kelyan Blanc's) comes out of it. Here is an article about it.

Why would the French go through all this trouble? Short answer: because they're French.

Longer answer has to do with french law and culture. In particular, the Toubon Law requires that all broadcast audiovisual media (like for example the Star Wars: Rebels cartoon) are required to use the French language. Movies are exempt, but subtitled films don't do well at the box office in any country. And if the studio ever wanted to sell the broadcast rights for syndication later down the line, they'd have to make a dub track anyway.

The French government is very serious about preserving the cultural heritage of their language, and this policy seems to carry through to the citizenry. The French are really invested in their Frenchness. In addition, France is the birthplace of cinema, and while most media comes out of America these days, I think there's an attitude that going above and beyond for the sake of maintaining the integrity of artistic expression is well in line with French cultural values.

The French government is very serious about preserving the cultural heritage of their language, and this policy seems to carry through to the citizenry. The French are really invested in their Frenchness. In addition, France is the birthplace of cinema, and while most media comes out of America these days, I think there's an attitude that going above and beyond for the sake of maintaining the integrity of artistic expression is well in line with French cultural values.

I lived in Belgium for almost eight years, and part of that time I volunteered at the english-language theater group in Brussels. It was a joint venture between the American, English, and Irish theater groups, but we had some francophones who also volunteered — in part because they wanted to practice their English.

I worked with a guy who did the lighting design for the American Theater Company Brussels production of “****** Monologues”, and he was also involved in doing work like that for the official touring French-language version of “Lion King”. He was just helping us out when he could, while also practicing his english.

One interesting thing that he told me about the French language in theatrical and movie performances is that each locality would have their own way of speaking French on the street and amongst themselves, so if you were from Paris and you went to Louisiana, you were likely to have a very hard time understanding the locals even if you were supposedly speaking the same language.

However, on the stage and in the movies, apparently virtually all francophones prefer to hear French spoken the same way — Parisian style.

Personally, I came to hate, loathe, and despise L’Académie Française. But that’s a different story.

I always thought the Ahsoka Trial Arc would have been better if A: Anakin had figured out who did it but too late to save Ahsoka from execution. I also thought that they desperately needed to give an explanation for exactly what caused Barris to fall I never liked the Barris fall idea but the least hey should have done is explain what happened to cause her to fall. Anakin's fall in ROTS may have been stupid but at least they covered his goal and the events leading to it.

I know it's not 100% intentional, but that final arc of Season 5 really does make a good summary of what the TCW creators were trying to say. I don't think there's one specific thing that 'broke' Barriss, but rather the totality of the war, with all of the violence and tragedy and meaningless loss. The proverbial death by a thousand cuts.

As far as Asokha goes, I don't know what good killing her off does. Anakin has plenty of reasons to fall without her dying, and I'm pretty over the 'kill a woman to motivate the hero' trope on top of that.

I always thought the Ahsoka Trial Arc would have been better if A: Anakin had figured out who did it but too late to save Ahsoka from execution. I also thought that they desperately needed to give an explanation for exactly what caused Barris to fall I never liked the Barris fall idea but the least hey should have done is explain what happened to cause her to fall. Anakin's fall in ROTS may have been stupid but at least they covered his goal and the events leading to it.

I know it's not 100% intentional, but that final arc of Season 5 really does make a good summary of what the TCW creators were trying to say. I don't think there's one specific thing that 'broke' Barriss, but rather the totality of the war, with all of the violence and tragedy and meaningless loss. The proverbial death by a thousand cuts.

As far as Asokha goes, I don't know what good killing her off does. Anakin has plenty of reasons to fall without her dying, and I'm pretty over the 'kill a woman to motivate the hero' trope on top of that.

Then don't watch or read most things by Whedon as that is his favorite Trope to change his characters (Willow/Tara, Kitty Pride/Colossus, Dr. Horrible/Penny, etc...).

I always thought the Ahsoka Trial Arc would have been better if A: Anakin had figured out who did it but too late to save Ahsoka from execution. I also thought that they desperately needed to give an explanation for exactly what caused Barris to fall I never liked the Barris fall idea but the least hey should have done is explain what happened to cause her to fall. Anakin's fall in ROTS may have been stupid but at least they covered his goal and the events leading to it.

I know it's not 100% intentional, but that final arc of Season 5 really does make a good summary of what the TCW creators were trying to say. I don't think there's one specific thing that 'broke' Barriss, but rather the totality of the war, with all of the violence and tragedy and meaningless loss. The proverbial death by a thousand cuts.

As far as Asokha goes, I don't know what good killing her off does. Anakin has plenty of reasons to fall without her dying, and I'm pretty over the 'kill a woman to motivate the hero' trope on top of that.

Then don't watch or read most things by Whedon as that is his favorite Trope to change his characters (Willow/Tara, Kitty Pride/Colossus, Dr. Horrible/Penny, etc...).

Well, yeah, that's a known issue with him by now.

As far as Asokha goes, I don't know what good killing her off does. Anakin has plenty of reasons to fall without her dying, and I'm pretty over the 'kill a woman to motivate the hero' trope on top of that.

The only good that can come of it would be an explanation as to where she was during the OT. No one ever referenced Darth Vader's long lost Padawan. Why? Killing her off would easily answer this question and plot hole. (Real life answer is she wasn't created yet.)

As far as Asokha goes, I don't know what good killing her off does. Anakin has plenty of reasons to fall without her dying, and I'm pretty over the 'kill a woman to motivate the hero' trope on top of that.

The only good that can come of it would be an explanation as to where she was during the OT. No one ever referenced Darth Vader's long lost Padawan. Why? Killing her off would easily answer this question and plot hole. (Real life answer is she wasn't created yet.)

Is that an explanation we need? It's a big galaxy. And, per the spoiler in this thread, I'm sure we're about to find out more about where she has been/will be.

There's been a spoiler image of Hera talking with a holographic hooded figure (not unlike how many people interacted with Darth Sidious during the Clone Wars) that most folks figure to be Fulcrum.

If the spoiler in the OP's post is true, then something definitely happened to Ahsoka because said hooded figure's head does not account for the pretty sizable head-horns that she had even as a teenager in the final episodes of TCW's 5th season.

You know, I'm wondering if Filoni and crew are largely trolling us with all the "hints" of it being Ahsoka. Could just be that they hired Ashley Eckelstein to perform the voice for Fulcrum, who otherwise has zero connection to Ahsoka.

As long as we're talking about "where were they in the OT", might as well mention something else that's been on my mind. Am I the only one that think that Ezra and Kanan will have to die (or be otherwise disposed of) at the end of the series? I mean, they're building the Rebel Alliance here. In OT, Luke's arrival on the scene was, thematically, "kind of a big deal" because 'hey, we got a Jedi now!'. Seems like somebody in the Alliance would have mentioned it if they already had two.

Am I the only one that think that Ezra and Kanan will have to die (or be otherwise disposed of) at the end of the series?

Nope. But I don't agree. Things have changed since the OT.

Other than Leia's line about Luke having powers that she doesn't understand, I don't recall the Alliance making a big deal over his abilities.

Other than Leia's line about Luke having powers that she doesn't understand, I don't recall the Alliance making a big deal over his abilities.

OK, maybe that was poorly stated. I sort of mean from the audience's perspective.

I'll just be curious to see if, near the end of the run, Rebels offers any explanation as to where Ezra and Kanan were during the events of the OT.

Ah. I See what you mean now.

Kanan may have to go anyway. If they want to keep Yoda's words about Luke being the last of the Jedi being true (since Yoda actually knows of Kanan's existence. Unless his presence within the Lothal temple was just an imprint). But I wonder if Kanan even sees himself as a Jedi anymore. At least a Jedi as he once knew them.

OK, maybe that was poorly stated. I sort of mean from the audience's perspective.

I'll just be curious to see if, near the end of the run, Rebels offers any explanation as to where Ezra and Kanan were during the events of the OT.

That seems more likely to me.

Kanan may have to go anyway. If they want to keep Yoda's words about Luke being the last of the Jedi being true (since Yoda actually knows of Kanan's existence. Unless his presence within the Lothal temple was just an imprint). But I wonder if Kanan even sees himself as a Jedi anymore. At least a Jedi as he once knew them.

That's what retconning is for. Before now we had no Kanan, now we do. It's easy enough to have him go back into hiding only to show up in some form later. Ezra is not a an actual Jedi, much like characters like Havet Storm. He could show up later in some form too, depending on what the future holds. At this point the entire "New Jedi Order" is completely in the wind.

I have a theory:

At some point, now or later, Kanan will die and cause Ezra to abandon his training. Ezra then becomes Max Von Sydow's character in the force awakens.