Full Series Rebels 1.08 - Empire Day - Discussion Thread (Spoilers Allowed)

Nothing ragtag about those three.

 

They weren't "ragtag" in the the common sense of the word, but it was still a primarily focused group throughout the series regardless; which is the point I was trying to make.

 

TCW had a lot of focus on the Clones, more than any other character if you add up their screen time I suspect. It was a true ensemble. We got episodes focussed on those mentioned yes, but also Rex & Cody, Padme, Kit FIsto, Mace Windu, Asajj Ventress, Dooku, R2-D2 even Jar Jar.

Just pick up the Episode guide and check it out. There are easily more than two dozen episodes that hardly even have the three Jedi in them, if at all. Padme likely got at least a dozen episodes as the lead character by herself.

 

You know you want to give it a 10.

 

The OT crew was much more interesting than this Rebels crew. That's a HUGE difference.

 

Debatable. I find them interesting. And even if I didn't, I still tend not to judge things so early. And the simple fact is that that wasn't the argument being made. The argument was that this wasn't like TCW, and my point was that it was never meant to be.

 

I absolutely loved the screentime the Empire got in this one---from the civilian leadership in Maketh Tua to the regular armed forces to the ISB, everyone was in fine form. Commandant Aresko and TM Grint are actually starting to grow on me as characters rather than the obligatory thin/fat brains/brawn duo that they initially came across as...I just love Aresko's smugly superior attitude. It suits the guy perfectly. anakinfansince1983 if you're talking about him, he's actually been showing up for a while, he seems to be the commander of the Lothal garrison (I'm assuming his LRC-01 callsign stands for Lothal Regional/Regimental Command).

And of course Agent Kallus was awesome as always. I loved how he dealt with Maketh Tua during her little hissy fit (while the Inquisitor couldn't even be bothered to deal with her), and it's always nice to see a quiet professional (Lasat gloating aside) like him in action versus the smug Aresko and the thuggish Grint. It's just a shame that he wasn't able to get his weapon into rifle mode fast enough to light up Zeb.

Oh, and then there was that TIE pilot. I think Jello's appellation of Baron Fail for him says all that needs to be.

 

For that matter, Rebels needs to get the memo about female stormtroopers.

 

I think one of my favorite parts of this episode was the awkward way Kallus tells the Rodian he mistook for Tseebo to "enjoy the festivities". Like he doesn't really know how to talk in a non formal fashion.

 

It's not like they need new models. Look at pictures of women cosplaying stormtroopers. They just look like stormtroopers.

 

"Hey Vanessa, do you want to voice a stormtrooper?"
"Yes"
It should basically be that easy.

 

I prefer the Empire to be how it is in the films. I don't want to see females doing anything important in the Empire. The Inquisitor looks out-of-place enough as it is.

 

I thought they said the villains of this show weren't going to be ineffectual. The amount of damage these five random schmucks can do to what is supposed to be the ultimate evil empire without suffering so much as a single causality in return is getting absurd. They should have to wear disguises every time they show their faces in a backwoods podunk town. Waltzing into the capital during a military parade is just out of the question if they at all hope to survive.

Or, at least, that's how it should be/ People are not that hard to track down in modern times, much less so in the space age future. Particularly not if you have no regard for concepts like "rights" or "privacy". There's a reason dictators in real life are so often successful in slaughtering their opposition and ruling supreme until their deaths.

 

While I definitely agree that this was an easy 10/10, I thought that Rise of Old Masters was pretty damn solid as well.

My only complaint here was that their transport was able to just blow through a barricade of two walkers and the other transport. I understand that Sabine is probably supposed to be a good driver, but this is just making the walkers look ineffectual

 

Yeah, right....

 

Well, you know, there's that too.

But I mean 501st-level stormtrooper cosplay.

 

Should've quoted me, I almost didn't see this.

Anyways, I wasn't arguing that it wasn't like TCW at all. I was simply stating I miss TCW compared to Rebels because I liked it better.

 

Starwars.com calls this "a common practice of tyrants using state-run media." I love that so much thought was put into it.

 

Agree with that! I was watching, saying "no way they make it through that blockade without some serious injuries suffered by the good guys." And then our heroes cut right through the Imperials like they were just too cool to be stopped.

Anyway, my only other issue with the episode is a familiar quibble: Watching those parade scenes? Ugh! Enough with the same three or four background civilians being replicated over, and over, and over (and over) again!

How many times did we really need to see the same white-bearded fellow standing two meters from... the very same white-bearded fellow (who happens to be standing two meters from -- you guessed it -- the very same white-bearded fellow)?

I understand that there are issues with budget and I sympathize, but it's honestly quite distracting. I mean, when I'm not actively looking at the backgrounders, when my attention is focused on the main characters, and I still get taken out of the moment, then it's become an issue.

There has got to be a better solution than this. With Rebels being Disney's first big SW rollout since the purchase of the franchise, you'd think they'd want a product that didn't come across quite so 'on the cheap.'

But again, I understand that these are issues of budget and production, rather than story or characters, so I haven't allowed it to negatively affect my ultimate rating of the episode.

Still a 10/10.

ps. Oh, and yeah, "Rise of the Old Masters" was wonderful. Prior to "Empire Day," it ranked as my favorite episode of Rebels.

 

Best episode so far!

 

Second favorite episode not counting next weeks. Cause the next episode is my favorite so far.