Full Series The 501st in Rebels

Will they appear at some point? Are they still clones?

 

I hope to hear them audibly referred to on screen as Vader's Fist.

 

Oh, I really, really, really hope to see Vader and his five-oh-first (and yep, Valkryus has it right, we need to hear that "Vader's Fist" shout-out) in the series. I've always been intrigued by the Stormtroopers who surround Vader, and after TCW, I don't see how anybody could just say "eh, forget about 'em. Stormies are Stormies. What's the difference?"

And I don't know how likely he is to even appear, but if Rex is still alive (and he hasn't deserted), I also expect him to be leading his troops in the field. How cool would that be? And if he did head out on his own, what if we see Rex tasked with facing the 501st in combat? Sign me up.


But even minus Rex, whoever is ultimately in the role, I absolutely, 100% want to see the Commander of the 501st have a part to play in Rebels. I think a case could be made that, even still five years out from ANH, it could be Daine Jir.

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Daine_Jir

Wookieepedia describes Jir as an Imperial Commander, affiliated with the 501st.

Jir not to your liking? How about Nahdonnis Praji?

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Nahdonnis_Praji

We don't even have to rely on the wook' to know that this guy is an Imperial Commnder; he is addressed as such by Lord Vader, himself, in ANH. That, and he is clearly with the 501st during the capture of the Tantive IV. Maybe Praji is the Commander we are looking for?

Nah, but they'd probably just make some new character to put in the role. Now, that's a move I generally find myself in favor of (new characters, new storylines), but not when the opportunity exists to take advantage of a character from the films, one who is already in place and just crying out for a more in-depth look.


Well, anyway. The tl;dr is "Yay! More 501st, please!"

 

We probably will see them.

 

Do want!

Hope we see them.

 

Surely we can't see the 501st without Vader? And from what Filoni has said, that's not very likely any time soon.

 

Sure, it may be a while before we see a Vader lightsaber duel, but we could always get a "near miss" between our heroes and Vader in space. Something like when he's flying his TIE at the end of ANH, or chasing the Falcon ... something where his decisions and our crew's decisions are directly related, but there's no personal interaction. The 501st could be involved there.

It would be great if the first sign of Vader was our crew running into a couple of stormtroopers who are way harder to take down than any they've ever fought. Ezra and Sabine are teasing each other over having to fight so much harder than usual; Kanan goes to check the dead guys' IDs. One look and, "Hera, get the engines warmed up! Everybody back on board!" Kind of a "Vader is on that ship" moment.

 

Maybe the 501st don't all serve with Vader - but consist of elite squads assigned to a lot of ships, rather than all in one ship?

 

I feel like they are going to do their best to make the Stromtroopers nameless and faceless for Rebels. Closer to the way it was in the OT. Humanizing the Stormtroopers in any way is much more the PT's and EU's (Legends) style.

So my thinking is no mention of the name 501st. Vader, if and when he appears, will just have a bunch of Stormtroopers with him.

 

Encountering Imperial Stormtroopers who are just clearly a cut above the rest, and whose reputation (and the identity of their leader) precedes them?

I like it. I think that making use of a resource like the 501st as a way of signaling Vader's presence somewhere in the vicinity for the first time is a fine idea (and, after TCW, a very natural one, too).

Incidentally, as much as I love the theme, it would be a lot cooler than slamming us over the head with the "Imperial March" (yet again) prior to introducing him.

 

I see Rebels as a natural successor to TCW. Which may mean - they will look at what made TCW popular, and at least try and do the same.

 

I feel as though you both could be right.

I know that not everyone agrees, but I'd argue that humanizing the clones in TCW was the right direction to go with the troops. It added some welcome depth of character and the payoff was the essence of what, to me, turned out to be some of the better episodes and arcs the series ever produced.

That said, we've all heard the mentions by its creators that Rebels will be striving to move us closer to an OT feel. With that in mind, yes, a horde of nameless, faceless drones in Stormtrooper armor does help to accomplish this.

I'll just offer that if the latter option is the route which the show's producers have chosen to take, I'll understand it, but almost certainly, I won't be able to deny a feeling of having missed out on a grand opportunity. The chance for Lucasfilm to give us a real look under the helmet of the Imperial Stormtrooper is something that I've always hoped for (and is, I think, a big part of the appeal of such terrific fan-made productions like I.M.P.S.).

 

I agree with the "Vader needs to be near for the 501st to be present" comments. Like Filoni said, the show should build up to something like that. But it seems like they're going for the OT take on it where the troopers are faceless. What a shame.

 

If they do show up I hope they're pure clones, Vader still sticking with the men he fought during the Clone Wars. The only portion of the Imperial army that is still original.

 

Maybe they will start by making the Stormtroopers faceless and nameless, but I have a hard time seeing Filoni completely ignoring the work he did in TCW. He spent too much time developing the Clones to just pretend that they are a mindless horde.

The best, and most likely, way they will do it is to humanize the Stormtroopers as they move along in the story. By the later seasons, when I assume the crew of the Ghost will be important enough to be on radar of Vader, they will bring back some of the Clones that we got to know. In a kids show you need to start things off pretty simple before building up the level of moral complexity. Showing Stormtroopers with back stories and understandable motivations is a great way to do that.

 

You do realize that Stormtroopers wear identical shiny white armor for a reason right? The uniformity, the conformity, that is one of the hallmarks of the Empire. And we are now dealing with a time period that is during the Empire. I really don't see any humanizing of Stormtroopers.

Perhaps some of the Naval officers though. But not the grunts.

 

Nope, I'm actually completely blind so I have never noticed what Stormtroopers wear. I also can't comprehend how Filoni might possibly have distance between his own view of the Stormtroopers and the Emperor's view of them. Kathleen Kennedy sure did pick the right person to ignore the entire PT era and present subjects in Star Wars exactly the same way the were presented in 1977.

 

When we talk about the humanizing of stormtroopers, what do we mean?

I don't want Filoni and Co. to go all-out into some sappy effort to make us feel sorry for stormtroopers and treat them as victims, or otherwise try to muscle us into thinking of them as morally superior to the Rebellion. I don't want to see an episode devoted to the good deeds of some kindly, virtuous man before the big reveal that he becomes, or is, a stormtrooper. I don't want cut-aways to the anxious family of some trooper wondering if he'll come home.

But if you watch the Death Star sequences of ANH, there are several bits of dialogue that suggest being in the Imperial military isn't all that different in some ways from a regular guy having a regular job. When they do the fake comm malfunction, the officer's response is pretty much like what could happen in a regular job when there's a tech breakdown. Or the conversation of the guards as Obi-Wan sneaks by: "I think it's another drill" and so on. Some of them are more fired-up, like the "You rebel scum" guy in ROTJ or the supervisor who calls to get an explanation of Han's "weapons malfunction." But overall, they don't seem like they're some kind of mindless super-zealots in WH40K "For the Emperor!" mode all the time. This kind of humanization, I would welcome.

I don't think every time a stormtrooper is seen, it needs to be a sort of robotic, "SZ-666, TAKE YOUR FACELESS LEGIONS AND BURN THESE REBELS FOR THE GLORY OF THE EMPIRE!" "SIR, I OBEY WITH PLEASURE, SIR!" I think it's fine to have them presented with the sort of regular-guy vibe we got from them in the OT. Just no CGI doe-eyes under those helmets, please.

 

rdhight Humanization can be done without being sappy about things. To some degree I expect them to continue the 'brotherhood' theme they developed during TCW. Some of the older clones, if they are still fighting, are mainly fighting for each other and ostensibly for order in the galaxy. It means that their deaths and struggles mean something more than a removal of an obstacle to the rebellion.

 

Must be those sweet glasses in your AV. Lol.

 

Thanks, taking them off really helped a lot. Everything looks red now though.

 

That's what I hope for, I really do, but I'm afraid we won't get it. I have this horrible feeling that we'll get no nuances at all: Just stupidity paired with maniacal, evil laughter on the Empire side and rainbow-farting unicorns and Care Bears on the Rebellion side.
And boy, do I hope I'm wrong.

 

I thought that was one of the best bits of Austin Powers - but it might be a bit problematic in Star Wars.

 

Isn't that really what they are though? Our introduction to Stormtroopers in the OT is them murdering almost everyone aboard a Consular ship, slaughtering Jawas, and burning Owen and Beru Lars to a literal crisp.

 

It's interesting to see the Star Wars Poster Monthly version of them, way back in 1978:

STAR WARS: OFFICIAL POSTER MONTHLY #4
Published January 1978 by Galaxy Publications. Text writers Jon Trux, John May, Anthony Fredrickson.

http://www.theforce.net/image_popup/image_popup_global.asp?Image=timetales/misc/arcana/post4-03.jpg

(paragraphs on far right-hand side).