A/V STAR WARS REBELS (show's over, spoilers allowed)

In some episodes as well.

 

Kanan will likely not survive the show. It's both thematically appropriate and canonically appropriate that he dies at some point. This show has killed characters before, so there is no reason it can't kill one of the heroes. It would literally just be the Obi-wan trope.

Ezra is not a full fledged Jedi, so him surviving is a little more ambiguous. Again to flip that around, the old EU had countless survivors, though many were not of traditional Jedi status anymore.

My biggest hopes for this show...

1. End the Maul Story arc.
2. Show the final formation of the major Rebel fleet.
3. Show said rebel fleet becoming a credible threat, not just a scattered nuisance, leading into what we see in Ep IV/Rogue One. (I.E. Give us at least one big fleet battle, even if the Rebels don't outright win because of the opening IV crawl's comment of "first major victory")
4. Just try not to mess with the film characters too badly while doing this.

As much as the recent filler has annoyed me, it does seem like that's what we'll be getting by the end of season 3 or 4. Once we hit that, the gap is more or less closed. The first half of this season was much like season 3 of Clone Wars, a bunch of iffy filler-ish episodes mixed in with a few very good ones.

With luck, season 3 part 2 will have the ambition that TCW had around this time. This episode was at least a step in the right direction.

 

You make a good point, especially with the latter bit. I could see that.

 

I really don't get how you're using the word 'filler'. Because literally every episode is contributing to the overall arc and themes of the season. With a series like thus they cannot afford to make filler episodes, nor do they need to.

Also:

Spoiler

There is about 5 to 6 years between now and Yoda telling Luke he's the last potential Jedi, and about 2 years until Kenobi even begins talking to Luke about the Jedi. In story time, TONS can happen. And again - the people who make Star Wars have seen Star Wars.

 

Spoiler

In my dream reality, we get a Crisis on Infinite Tatooines book folding the EU into the Nu-canon. Tatooine is revealed to be the center of the Star Wars multiverse. The climax of the book features EU Luke and Episode VII Luke pointing out their successes and failures, then teaming up to fight White Eyes/Abeloth/Troy Denning.

 

So did George Lucas. He messed up time and again on details. Appealing to authority can't hold that much weight in this franchise.

 

Great episode.

Spoiler

The opening of this episode was very creepy and thematic, incredibly effective. There's an episode of Teen Titans that explores much the same idea. Anytime a show like this is willing to mess with a character's perception of reality, seeing a hallucinatory enemy, it opens up some great doors and I'm glad this episode payed it off so well. Maul is a very effective foil for Ezra, playing off his insecurities and need for knowledge and forcing him to work together even if Ezra knows that it's a bad idea. He feels like he doesn't have any other choices.

A lot of great call-backs to TCW in this episode as well, it fit right in as a sort of thematic coda to much of the Nightsister stuff in the latter part of that show. Maul's room of crazy was great as well, especially the disfigured portrait of Satine and him still having the Darksaber, and the idea that while the Nightsisters did use the Force, it was a more primal, primitive one centered on Dathomir itself, so much so that their spirits are still bound to certain places. The possession was a cool effect, and I like how even with Sabine being possessed, she was still not much of a match for Ezra in a fight since the spirit had no idea how to fight and she could not touch the Force.

The elephant in the room is, of course, that now Maul and Ezra (and Kanan and Sabine) know that Obi-Wan Kenobi is alive. Maul knows where he is ("It ends where it began!") but the others don't. There are a lot of planets with twin suns out there, and that's all they know. I can see Maul landing on Tatooine and then searching for him for quite a while, though, it's not like Old Ben is in a civilized place. I think we're looking at the double-header of the season finale somewhere down the line. Hera and the others are being lured to Lothal by Thrawn, while Maul, Kanan and Ezra wind up on Tatooine in a race to find Obi-Wan.

Of course, it's a shaggy dog story in the end because we know that Obi-Wan won't leave Tatooine. Maul's going to die if he goes up against him, for sure. The question is whether Kanan will bite it as well, because I can see that being what draws Obi-Wan out of hiding instead of them actually finding him. There's a fight, or maybe Maul ambushes them when they finally reach Tatooine, Kanan dies, and then Obi-Wan shows up to kill Maul. And then Ezra is left bitter and angry because Kanan's dead, Maul's dead, he doesn't have a teacher and Obi-Wan refuses to leave the planet for reasons that he won't explain. Meanwhile, Ezra's friends are all up a creek on Lothal.

I'm rubbing my hands together in antici...


...pation.

 

There are people like me who doesn't consider getting some equipment and hiring people/droids who will only pops up now and then to be "contributing to the overall arc and themes of the season". We just have to agree to disagree on this matter.

 

They literally aquired their base, that they'd been seeking all season, due to the events in the 'pick up a droid' episode.

 

Sure a base is a big thing but there is a bigger thing in this case which is Ahsoka vs. Vader. It's just impossible to expect people to get excited over the Rebels getting some base when the storytellers were actively hyping up Ahsoka vs. Vader. And now S3 is heading in the same direction.

 

The crew pointed out in Recon they viewed Season 2 as having a dual finale - the finale with the whole crew together on Atollon, securing the base, ending the Rebellion Establishment arc of the season, and the final 2 episodes, concluding the Jedi arc.

The Ahsoka story was not by far the only, or even most prominent story thread going through the season. My recent re-watch made it even clearer.

Season 3 IS very similarly structured. I think it's a very smart approach.

I get that some stories may not interest you as others. But to call them filler really does misunderstand the way the show's narrative is carefully structured. It'seems not a matter of agreeing or disagreeing - it is what it is. We can certainly have different opinions on how well the stories may have resonated or succeeded, and they may be filler in regards to YOUR interests, but they are not filler in the technical generally used sense in regards to contributing substantially to the show's actual complete narrative progression.

 

Here's a thought brought up from the RR for tonight's episode: Sabine is now in possession of what is, essentially, the badge of office for Mandalore, last held by their last two military leaders before the Empire took over. It essentially serves the purpose of Mandalore's Mask from the TotJ days. It's of much less value to her as a weapon than it is as a symbol. She might wind up leaving the team and going back to her home to try and lead the rebellion against the Empire there once she realizes just what she has. Her people will listen to her much more closely if she has it, I think, especially those of the old guard who were around when the Death Watch still held power.

 

I'm actually hoping her mother is outright evil because that's a tradition in Star Wars.

 

I would love to see a full-on Luke/Vader sort of thing with Sabine and her mother.

 

My gut reaction was "oh man, Sabine is gonna unite the clans and become Mandalore" but honestly, is that the best use of her during the OT? And would it jive with the way she comes up in Aftermath and Propaganda?

 

I think Sabine's role is that she doesn't believe in the traditions. I'm hoping the leader will be someone who wants to restore the Clone Wars Mandalorians.

 

I don't remember this, how did she come up in Aftermath?

On an unrelated note:

Spoiler

I'm excited about the possibility of a Maul vs Obi-wan final showdown, but I'll honestly be pretty sad if we never see a Darth Maul vs Darth Vader battle...

 

While it would be awesome, I think in this reality it's pretty clear Vader would mop the floor with Maul.

Also, there's plenty of room for a comic encounter between the two as long as Maul escapes.

 

Well since Maul out of his prime due to his old age, Vader should win. But it will not be easy, Maul would at least give him an Ahsoka treatment if not hurting him even better.

 

Eh, I'm not so sure about that. Anakin is way more powerful than Obi-Wan Kenobi even if Obi-Wan is a master swordsman with an immensely strong connection to the Force. However, Obi-Wan could hold his own in their battles together due to the fact he KNEW Anakin. Ahsoka is also the same, even though I get the impression she was a powerful potential force-wielder herself (I get the impression Kanan isn't in her weight class by a couple of divisions, let alone Vader's).

Don't get me wrong, Maul is still a Sith Lord but I think a hypothetical battle would be Maul throwing everything he has at the apprentice only to get smashed around.

This version of Maul is a shadow of his former self, not just because of age but due to being broken and discarded by Sidious. It's interesting to note I still think he can stand up against Obi-Wan Kenobi, though because Obi-Wan has gotten stronger while Maul has gotten weaker to the point they're roughly even now.

 

Why would Obi-Wan get stronger ? He is an old hermit, just like Maul. He would be even worse than Maul, considering he isn't dueling with anyone in Tatooine.

And, Maul was stated to be more powerful than Ahsoka by starwars.com

http://www.starwars.com/tv-shows/star-wars-rebels/twilight-of-the-apprentice-episode-gallery-2

 

"the weakest of the Jedi"= Ezra. Nowhere does it say that Maul is more powerful than Ahsoka.

 

Uh, Obi-Wan is studying with Qui Gon's spirit the entire time.

Also, he became a Form III master since he fought last Maul as well as a Jedi Councilman.

 

That doesn't make him more powerful, he is studying for being a Force ghost, not for becoming more powerful. It's the same thing with Maul's nightsister magick rituel, these are for knowledge and wisdom, not for power.

He was already a master of Form III in AotC, they fought after AotC a couple of times.

 

Aren't those the same?