Full Series Rebels 2.07 - Wings of the Master - Discussion Thread (Spoilers Allowed)

Spoiler

The co-irritating conversation and Zeb freaking out about the crashed ship and right after the landing.

 

Couldn't they go from hyperspace a bit earlier and fly to other side of the planet where there is no blockade? Like WTF? There were 3 ships blocking entire planet and they had to go straight to them...

 

That was pretty dumb.
Did like those SD designs though.

 

Probably either dead or captured somewhere.

 

Its star wars.




Blockades in star wars are weird.

 

Capital ships in Star Wars follow the Space is an Ocean trope, while the fighters engage in WWI era style dogfighting.*shrugs*

 

I'm so glad I wasn't the only one. I was waiting for her to turn around and ask the Star Wars equivalent to "Hey Ridley, you got any Beemans?"

BTW for those that aren't aware who Charles 'Chuck' Yeager is, he was a WWII P-51 ace earning it in one mission and also scored one of the first kills downing a German ME 262, and was also the pilot that broke the sound barrier in the Bell X-1. He also had a particularly harrowing experience falling roughly 50,000 feet in mere seconds in the Bell X-1A where many credit his calm and skills as a pilot which saved him. A similar circumstance would later claim the life of a test pilot in the Bell X-2, Milburn Apt.

Highly accomplished and respected, Yeager was not recruited into the Mercury program.

Yeager who is 92 years old, is the stuff of legend, a true aviation pioneer, and exemplified that quality that came to be referred to as "The Right Stuff."

 

I liked the episode but,

1) Zeb as physical comedy. I find the show's use of Zeb frustrating at times. He has funny lines "Oh great, Agent Callus" and "Is that your imagination?" and when used subtly his size does create humorous situations, but I find the show goes too far at times and it becomes a distraction. Like Zeb getting stuck in the air duct a few episodes ago and tonight when he picks up and threatens Quarrie, an old guy over..... a broken hyperdrive?

2) The directing/editing of the flight scene. They introduce an iconic starfighter, create a cool environment (cloudy obstacle course) and then proceed to cut between alternating footage of b-wing-hera-b-wing-hera-quarrie-bwing-hera-quarrie... Stick to the tracking shots of the b-wing, Hera and Quarrie are on a comm system so there is no need to show them on-screen talking.

I really dug the visuals on the Phantom breaking through the cloud layer on Shantipole and Quarrie's shop/hangout were pretty cool...



Rebels recon was good too tonight introducing the concept that different rebel factions have different starfighters (awing+ bwings vs. x-wings and y-wings) kinda suggesting that ROTJ is when rebels becomes the rebel alliance not ANH. That could mean that the endpoint of this show isn't ANH or Rogue One but ESB or ROTJ.

 

Zeb and Sabine freaking out about the ship possibly not flying when Hera is about to launch it was one of the more important freak outs imo.
I like Zeb but I wish they did things differently with him.

 

Bolded part. Im pretty sure that if they wouldnt have any Hyperdrive they cant get back and help the other rebels which would most likely result in the death of all the rebels. About the different factions. Thats really interesting.

 

I'm in two minds about this one. This season seems to be full of coincidental plot devices. "Oh it just so happens that I, Captain Rex, have the exact answer to this Imperial blockade problem!" Or like last episode. "It just so happens Ezra that I, Hondo Ohnaka, have the exact items you're searching for on this ship I hijacked and I just happen to be just above the planet you're currently stopping over on!" Even Captain Rex in the first episode was an incredible coincidence that Ashoka just so happens to know an ex-military commander who is exactly the kind of person the Rebel Alliance is searching for. I don't particularly buy all these incredibly convenient strokes of luck the Rebels are getting. I would have preferred it if these leads had been found through more thorough research instead of coincidence, it would have made it more believable IMO, but I understand that it wouldn't be as engaging and would take up more episode time. They need to establish the episode's objective pretty quickly so they can crack on with obtaining said objective.

Back to this episode, I didn't really like the opening sequence either. The objective of that space skirmish was to establish that the Rebels need to find a new solution to this Imperial blockade, but a) the Rebels just seemed to attempt a suicide run straight at the blockade, whilst quite badly outmatched, in the hopes that the Empire wouldn't be able to kill them all quick enough (not to mention the fact that the supplies were only on 1 ship - protect it better or split the cargo between multiple ships at least) and b) they made Hera take the blame for it by portraying her as a completely reckless and tactically inept commander. I was not convinced by her lack of strategy and I don't think she's dumb enough to think such a brain-dead plan would work. Okay, it looked as though they weren't expected to meet a blockade head-on but you need to be able to think on your toes in that situation. They just seemed to continue the supply run as if the Imperial ships weren't there (I know they fought off the fighters but the Corvette should not have been told to follow the Ghost through). Frankly, they should have seen that they were outmatched and aborted there and then instead of walking right into the line of fire. And they still pretty much used the same plan the second time around despite seeing first hand how badly their first attempt went. Still charging straight at the Imperial ships, still packing all the supplies on one ship. No doubt they would have failed without Hera in the MacGuffin-Wing - in fact, that seemed to be exactly how they set that scene up.

I get that those people on Ibaar are suffering (because they won the raffle for "next planet for the Empire to arbitrarily subjugate because MUH EVILZ" presumably - I couldn't see any other evident reason) but I don't see why making multiple suicide runs like that is smart or particularly helpful, it just feeds the Empire more propaganda to fuel their subjugation of the people.

I don't think it's worth addressing the "blockade" as I can see that's already been discussed and to be honest I'm fairly certain it happened in Phantom Menace too. I can only assume that's where the most common hyperspace lane comes out if you're visiting Ibaar (god knows why you'd want to anyway). EDIT: what CIS Droid said.

The Hera character development was alright but to be honest the beginning put a bitter taste in my mouth.

 

I believe at first she was going to be his niece and and not daughter.

 

Finally got a chance to watch it today, excellent episode. Really loved the development of Hera, and the ending was just great.


Also, for those wondering about the tactics of breaking the blockade, you have emember certain things about the Star Wars galaxy and things at large. Obviously there's the whole hyperspace matter, where they jumped from, what direction and what interstellar obstacles that they may face. But there's also missing one big point.

Say you do jump to the other side of the planet. If they do that and break the atmosphere, they're now opposite side of the plant where they'll now have to travel over the surface of the planet which may be rife with Imperial activity. Anti-Air batteries, land based fighters, etc. It's much faster for them to go at the blockade dead one as opposed to coming in on the opposite side travelling the surface of the planet for untold hours.

 

You actually don't know the name of the ship? its the Blade Wing or later the B-Wing. I find your lack of knowledge disturbing.

 

Your'e not familiar with the b-wing?!?

 

Maybe she didn't get the B-Wing expansion pack?

 

The Imps do not even appear to have any ground troops present, so even if or when the Rebs make the air drop, they would overrun and the place turn it into Tarkintown II. Kallus' big plan begins and ends with the "blockade". Do the writers actually think once the supplies are delivered on the ground the Empire just become fed up and would just bounce, which apparently this is what the Rebs think as they go home all happy with themselves meanwhile the Imperials ships are still there(and they can always call in more), only one was destroyed. So apparently no retaliation was sought on that planet or either Wolffe and Gregor and their new AT-AT that moves pretty slow and is on open barren world. its like once the episode ends, thats the end and they move on to the next story, its very lazy storytelling.

 

Lol, they literally lost 1/3rd of their meager fleet to deliver four crates.

 

Theo333

yea, thats pretty pathetic storyline no matter how you look at it. I could see if they saved the city by breaking the blockade by destroying all the Imp ships and evacuating the populace or something to this effect. The Empire could land troops, or turn its guns onto the city and orbital bombard it, or call in reinforcements or all the above ect. How do the writers think Corvettes are gonna fair against SD's or Cruisers in the first place, or how the Rebs are gonna get away with it even if they drop off their 4 crates. You'd also think Tano would be flying an A-Wing like she did her old Jedi Starfighter, but she's conspicuously absent, during the TCW she was even a field commander but on Rebels Season II premiere she just stood around as Sato's ship and forces were getting hammered to death by one Tie , instead of taking the initiative her only thought it is to jump on board the Ghost just as their home base was up in smoke- its like the writers do not even read back or watch their own product. many times , they just put it out there.

 

Vorax

I think the main problem with Rebels is that it is plot driven instead of character driven story. This is why certain characters hang back and do nothing or conveniently step in when necessary. A certain outcome has to be achieved and the settings own internal rules and character personalities must be chucked aside in order to accomplish it.

Take the battle with Vader in his TIE against the rebel fleet. He had to be shown as a one man army so the competency and capability of the Rebel fleet was almost nonexistent. They had 3 corvettes and a modified pelta class none of which used their guns against him. The fact of the matter is even Vader would probably lose against such a force since a single corvette has far superior shields and blasters to a TIE. But he needed to win so all the ships didn't use their weapons or shields.

 

well, a t least on Naboo it looks like Trade Federation covered entire planet...ehhh