Full Series Official Star Wars Rebels Discussion Thread (Spoilers Allowed)

I interpreted "normal" as in "a fairly common occurrence," not a good or even acceptable thing. Certainly I don't argue in favor of the use of pets.

"I draw the line at being willing to sacrifice the story for the sake of the character."

Yeah, this.

 

Starkiller?

 

I still think Rex was the best OC in TCW unless you want to count Ventress as a TCW OC. Yeah, maybe I just say that because I loved that clone. But he really had the 2nd best character arc next to Ventress. Both the Deserter, Umbara, and Eve Slaves of the Republic and the finale do a good job of keeping his fate up to the viewers interpretation. I almost wouldn't mind Rex not appearing in Rebels to keep that way but dammit I want to see him again even if its as heart breaking as Waxer in phase II armor which in a way makes it a relief he's dead.

He could live his words about fighting to defeat an evil he cannot possibly imagine by fighting for or against the empire after defeating Krell and the Slaver Arguss who I think also fit that. I can easily interpret killing Arguss as Rex thinking himself the righteous hero. Personally out of the big TCW OCs I think he'd be a more interesting mentor character than Ahsoka (that's how I fear Ahsoka will be used in Rebels). Or its foreshadowing of whats to come with the empire. No Jedi. I also can see where Rex would have remained loyal to the empire although I don't know how much room there would be for him within ROTS or post. Do to his independents he could even go through Order 66 then wake up and fall on his own sword.

 

I'll admit I thought Rex was fairly dull at first, and after the CW movie I was sort of miffed the show's OC's were going to be an annoying Padawan, a purple Hutt, and a clone who was indifferent to everything. But after a couple of seasons, and especially after Umbara, I definitely retract my original opinion. I think he was one of the best characters the show had going for it -- I think it was because, unlike Ahsoka, if Rex made a mistake it would affect a LOT of people (his troops), and you could see that onscreen. With Ahsoka, aside from that one major snafu she had in space in Season One, if she made an error in judgement it usually affected only her. Usually she didn't make mistakes so much as correct those of others (like the Padawan Lost arc). So the tension behind Rex's story plots was much stronger.

 

I agree.

Also, I had a similar experience, as it was after Umbara that I really became invested in Rex (and Fives, too, for that matter) and actively looked forward to seeing him again. Whatever one's opinion on the merits of the Umbara arc (I loved it), it's hard to argue that the producers didn't succeed in making a lot of people care about the fate of the clones even more than they may have previously.

 

Good post and I definitely agree with this. I always thought that the chance to witness the initial transition from Republic Clone Trooper to Imperial Stormtrooper was one of the big points in favor of setting the show closer to ROTS.

Still, even if we now won't have the opportunity to see that early changeover, when it comes to certain clones who we've come to embrace through TCW, I think it would prove very interesting, nonetheless. As I mentioned previously, I'm a bit conflicted with Rex, because, though I'd like to see him as he was on Onderon (without armor, taking up a just cause and fighting alongside irregulars), or mirroring Lawquane's lifestyle, I cannot deny the potential deliciousness of seeing Rex staying loyal to "Anakin" and the 501st.

What if we got to see both? What if maybe Rex sticks with his brothers at first, only to later open his eyes to the plight of citizens of the Empire being "forced to live under an evil [he couldn't] well imagine," and then making the life-altering decision to defect? Could Rex really be convinced of the treachery of the Jedi on a large enough scale for him to willingly participate in the slaughter at the Jedi Temple? TCW episodes like The Deserter depict Rex as a man capable of thinking for himself, but events during both the Umbara campaign and the fugitive arc suggest that Rex has seen enough of the "other" side of the Jedi Order to give him pause, as well. Will he even have a choice in the matter, or is every clone a kind of "Manchurian Candidate" at his core, waiting to be unleashed upon the Jedi? With any luck, the Order 66 arc of the TCW bonus material will shed some light on the matter (and hopefully answer a few more questions than it raises).

 

http://forum.rebelscum.com/t1095722-46
Fake but STill cool

 

I had mentioned at one point that it would make sense for Palpatine to let the galaxy know that Anakin Skywalker is Darth Vader so as a means to build him up as a propaganda figure, as the one Jedi Knight that remained loyal to Palpatine and sacrificed much of his body to help suppress the Jedi rebellion, etc.

As others have pointed out, this would create continuity problems and so it is more likely that nobody other than a select few knows that Anakin is Darth Vader.

In that case, two things:

1. I hope that it is addressed as to why Palpatine has a Sith answering to him now and why this is OK after what Maul and Dooku had done.

2. In TCW, Filoni refused to really show Palpatine in an overtly bad light. And though he did end up doing so on a couple occasions, he had originally insisted that he wanted to preserve the surprise that Palpatine ends up being revealed to be a bad guy in ROTS. I'm wondering if Rebels will try to do something similar with Vader. If Filoni will ever address the matter of Vader being Anakin Skywalker (even if in a scene where Tarkin and/or Palpatine are in private with Vader), or if he'll try to mislead audiences both in and out of universe by having the Empire have an intentionally misleading history surrounding Vader.

 

About 1: I think Vader will be shown by Palpatine as the man behind the death of 100s of traitorous Jedi.

About 2: If we go back to ANH, the only time Tarkin talked about Vader's past was when they were alone so.... maybe... nobody will really be sure what Vader was, but only what he did.

 

That might work when presenting him to the Imperial military, but when there's a DARTH running around, I would think that it would be counter productive to recruitment (when apparently it's going to be retconned that all stormtroopers are patriotic volunteers) and in trying to keep the senate happy (implied to be important to Palpatine maintaining control).

But I'm not merely talking about how Palpatine presents Vader, but how Vader presents himself or sees himself. In ROTJ he tells Luke that the name Anakin Skywalker no longer has any meaning to him. He can change his name, but he can't change his past. He can't change what he did or the fact that (as far as he's concerned) he killed his wife and that he was destined to destroy the Sith but betrayed them instead.

If Vader keeps walking around moping with regret and guilt of killing Padme, that's a pretty big spark of good left in him. If he can suppress it and believe that he is Darth Vader and erase his own past and convince himself of an all new one, then he can be as ruthless as Palpatine until Luke comes along as a reminder of the good man that he was.

IMO Filoni needs to go deeper than Palpatine saying "this is Vader, obey him without question or die" as an excuse for how Vader can show up out of the blue as a Sith with a familiar title. He is not the unquestionable ruler of the galaxy that can do whatever he wants until he builds the Death Star, and that is very short lived. It seems his greatest stability is maintained the less tight he actually keeps his grip, to use Leia's analogy. And if people are flocking to the military as patriots, I somehow doubt Darth Vader's story is a blank page hidden behind the threat of violence.

I'm not saying Vader needs to sit down and have a cup of tea with his subordinates and discuss who he is and what he's all about, but even just a few small details, enough to justify where he came from and why he's Palpatine's right hand man.

Vader has incentive to try and forget about his life as Anakin Skywalker and forget as much as he can about any life he had prior to waking up on the operating table in ROTS.

Meanwhile I think Palpatine has an incentive (or need, IMO) to justify just who the hell this guy is or why after what Darth Maul had done, why Darth Vader is any better. If Palpatine can't reveal that Vader is Anakin for continuity reasons, then rather fabricate a false history for Vader, one that Vader can try to convince himself of.

 

Thanks, man. Yeah, that's pretty great, huh?

By the way, the artist who worked that up (-Engelhast-) posts here, too, and shared a good number of pictures with us awhile back. My favorites included the graying Obi-Wan, Rex and especially the Boba Fett, but most all of them were pretty good takes on the TCW templates.

 

IIRC, the EU says that when a dare first appeared, most thought he was some sort of droid. I'd like to see this idea explored in Rebels, Vader mercilessly force choking any dummy officer who talks down to him (like Ozzel did) to set an example.

 

According to the EU, the man with the dubious honor of being the first Imperial officer to be choked by Vader, received his punishment at a gathering of imperial brass being addressed by Palpatine, with Vader also present at his side. His specific transgression was that he dared to suggest that not all of the Jedi had been traitors, further stating that all the Jedi he had ever known had been honourable individuals.

For this heresy, Palps signalled to Vader, who promptly levitated the man 30 or 40 feet into the air while choking him, and then slammed him headfirst into the ground. He died.

 

That would be interesting to see on screen although I doubt we'd see it on Disney XD.

 

If Rebels doesn't have it's dark moments, regardless of network, then it will be a failure in my opinion. The series is set during "The Dark Times" after all and trying to sugarcoat the happenings will have a detrimental effect on not only the show, but the franchise. Having been a fan of TCW, I have faith Filoni and Co. will deliver a product worthy of the name. One thing that could soften the tone however, would be it being set so closely to ANH. One can assume a majority of the severe brutality (many Jedi deaths, Vader at the peak of his rage, the Empire's initial use of force to inflict fear) would have already taken place by this time.

 

I'm not a fan of Rex coming back.

I mean, this is "Star Wars: Rebels" not the "Cast Reunion of TCW". Ahsoka, okay, but anyone else....No.

 

I'd imagine that his VA is still onboard for the project, so why the heck not?

 

(psst -- Valky -- have you ever read Rogue Planet? Tarkin beats out Jace. Although Jace may be first once the Empire was officially established.)

 

Of all the characters from TCW who could potentially appear in Rebels, Rex would make the MOST sense. He's demonstrated the propensity to "rebel" against authoritarian rule (Umbara arc) and has shown a sympathetic vein for peoples being oppressed. Plus he's one of Filoni's creations. I don't doubt Ahsoka will appear, but I really hope we see Rex join the fledgling rebellion.

 

Yeah, but Rex's face is a dead giveaway.

 

But Filoni doesn't love Rex like he does Ahsoka so maybe he's on a bus after TCW. I think Rex makes since as alteast a one off appearance whether he be a heart breaker in storm trooper armor, a deserter trying to eek out a living, or trying to make soldiers out of another bunch of dumbasses like Saw and Steela. Maybe he'd be some weird grimdarked hero running in and leaving his jaig eye marks wherever he strikes.

And please god... don't let him make Ahsoka into some kinda Master Splinter mentor character.

 

It's Dave Filoni, though.