Full Series Durge in TCW

Originally supposed to show up instead of Cad Bane. Durge was going to be reimagined as a human in really heavy armor instead of the nigh-immortal Gen'Dai. Wow, I am so happy they just decided to make a new character all together. Filoni and Gilroy are just bad idea factories, this proves it.

Let's just take this unique idea of a sentient cluster of nerves, a truly alien being, and retcon him into being a regular old man with some armor, a typical Bounty Hunter. Although, I suppose that it would've just been easier to do this instead of having such a complex design, but...good lord that's bad.

But I'm reasonable, would anyone have actually liked this change?

 

While I agree with you that it was a bad idea to make Durge a generic human bounty hunter, and thankfully they didn't take this route, I am also relieved that they chose not to use Durge as a character in TCW, and instead went with Cad Bane, for a number of reasons.

Firstly, even though I love the concept of the Gen'Dai species, a sentient cluster of nerve bundles with no truly humanoid form (unless wearing armor), their nigh-invulnerability would take a great deal of suspense out of the story. Durge is nearly indestructible and would make for a decent Monster of the Week type, and I felt he was portrayed adequately in the micro-series, where there was a much greater focus on action scenes and less on dialogue and characterization. However, put him in TCW, and you may have some problems, especially if he ends up being a recurring villain. One major issue is his general lack of personality outside of "HURRRR DURRR I really hate clone troopers because they were bred as clones of the Mandalorians that tortured me into near-insanity and forced him to recover for decades underground!" Let's face it, the guy is mental, and personality-wise he simply cannot compete with a bounty hunter as compelling as Cad Bane, IMO. Plus unlike Durge, Bane has more physical vulnerabilities. Like any humanoid, he could be killed if shot in the right place, but Durge, OTOH, will only keep regenerating unless his whole body is disintegrated and incinerated (incidentally, that's how he died for good). So him showing up again and again could have the potential to wear out its welcome fast, especially given his lack of personality.

And then there's the issue that putting him in TCW could result in some continuity conflicts. Not saying that it would have been the case even had they decided to retain his Gen'Dai identity, but I felt his story was adequately told in the Republic comics. There were plenty of other Separatist villains the show chose to focus on, and frankly, considering what the show did to them, I doubt they would have portrayed Durge as competent at all, or done him any justice. If they somehow managed to do that, that would probably only serve to make General Grievous look worse as is.

So, bottom line is that I think Filoni and the writers made the right call in replacing Durge's character with a different bounty hunter, one more compelling and interesting as a character, in Cad Bane. In any case, Durge still exists in canon, and his story has already been told, so no need to complicate it further by introducing him to the series.

 

In the very early days of show TCW, perhaps even before the show aired, I recall an interview with Filoni where he mentioned heavily nerding out with one of the writers about what they will and will not be able to work into the show from the EU, and that they were geeking out over things like Sora Bulq, and how to work in Dooku's disciples and all that.

I can't be certain if I am remembering correctly, but I think there was a later interview in which it was said that Lucas really started taking the reigns and dictating story ideas about halfway through season 1. And Lucas didn't seem to let those reigns go at all. So it really depends on how much the experience has changed Filoni - who now appears to be operating free of Lucas' input.

Because had Lucas not been involved in TCW mid-S1, then it's possible that we would have gotten a show that would have included characters like Sora Bulq and elements that borrow more heavily - if not mesh completely - with the rest of the EU. Maybe working with Lucas has changed Filoni's view to not caring about the EU. Or maybe we'll see even more EU references.

Filoni had said that he would bring elements from the EU to Lucas' attention and that it was really hit and miss as to whether or not he would accept. E.G. He accepted Maul's design for his legs in S4, but rejected the idea that Vizsla could use a vibroblade and stand up to a lightsaber.

With Filoni now being the one to approve these things in Rebels (and he was the one bringing them up to Lucas in the first place), it's possible that we will get a show that meshes better with the EU -- probably not flawlessly (my guess), but better than TCW.

That makes me think that human-Durge might have been a Filoni-Lucas compromise before going with Bane.

 

I'm glad that we can agree that Lucas is truly the root of all evil.

 

^ Wait a minute... You just said that "Filoni and Gilroy are just bad idea factories..."

Now it's Lucas' foul?

WAT UP WIDDAT???

 

I blame everyone honestly, but knowing that Lucas is just an awful person means it makes more sense to connect him to a lot of these.

 

Going to lock this at this point. Seems like the original topic has been discussed to everyone's satisfaction, and it doesn't need to keep going if it's just personal attacks at this point.