Full Series Grade the Episodes 2.01-2.02: "The Siege of Lothal" (Spoilers Allowed)

No more so than Han and Luke on the Death Star.

 

And Obi-Wan with the Death Watch guy and several other such instances

 

Out of everything that has happened in Star Wars that needs explaining we are discussing how these dudes fit their clothes in Stormtrooper outfits?

 

10/10

I can't think of a single thing I'd change...except maybe letting Tua live, but that's such a minor thing.

 

The music was intense, Vader was used perfectly, Ahsoka too, given that she has to be involved. The fact she tagged along was a bit of a giveaway that the flagship was doomed, but that was kind of entertaining. I had one or two little issues with the sound - one of the imperial officers sounds like he existed in a completely different space to everyone else. Different mic or mic setup maybe, it sounded like the guy was a good few inches closer to the mic than everyone else... Maybe a hurried late addition?

Regarding the costume change being too cartoony, I can forgive any cartoon being cartoony.

Lothal still looks sparsely populated but maybe a bit more diverse?

10/10 because it's as near to perfection as it gets.

 

10/10, The biggest thing that I liked was seeing Darth Vader was the bad ass that he is. So far this new EU is really doing justice to his character. Now, when I look at TCW and see Anakin, and the new canon stuff with Vader it all makes sense. The balance. Anakin became legendary as a jedi during TCW and as Vader he also became legendary as a figure of evil. Seeing him lift those two At-St at the same time just made me willy with happiness. In Tarkin and Dark Lord of the Sith I read about how good Vader was, in the Marvel comics I've seen still images of Vader is top form, but seeing it in animation with moving picture, sound and lighting, now that is a sight to behold.

This is a damn great start for season 2.

I also forgot to mention that what makes TCW series and this iconic is that both have actors from the OT in it. Billy Dee Williams, James Earl Jones, Anthony Daniel, Mark Hamill, and Peter Mayhew. Just seeing and knowing that these actors were in the movies and also appear in the series really gives it even more points. Even TCW had Samuel Jackson and Christopher Lee in TCW movie and Matthew Wood to name a few. All of this makes this new direction in animation more than just a story telling venture, but a piece of a bigger puzzle that is now being built by its new owners. Like I said 10/10.

 

9/10. What a fantastic episode, it blew the first series out of the water.

Can't wait for more.

 

That's a pretty bold statement; considering Rebels is still in its relative infancy. And trust me, there were plenty of parts during that first season that were childish. Not to mention the fact that these shows premier on Disney XD, and you've gotta sit through some absurdly infantile cartoon promotions during the commercials. These cartoons wouldn't have even made the cut on Nickelodeon when I was growing up during the 80s.

 

Yeah I don't think that Rebels has surpassed TCW it definitely has the potential to do so though. If they push things up like the first ep of season 2

 

I'm willing to be open minded about the new series. I thoroughly enjoyed TCW, to the point where I really couldn't wait for the next episode to come on at a weekly basis. The first season of Rebels was relatively slow, IMO. I take it was more of a character build than anything else. But the episode that just premiered over the weekend for Season 2 shows much promise for the future. Ahsoka may be a background character at this point, but the fact that we now know that Vader and Sidious are aware of her existence is very intriguing, to say the least. And one thing I might add, it's interesting to note that he didn't even think twice about reporting to Sidious about her. He didn't have to.

 

Since we are talking about Tua, and not every Imperial official, I think a case for her guilt can be made. She was the local lead of an oppressive regime, either directly ordering the many crimes and injustices we know happened on Lothal or at least going along with these orders. She did not take action against the Empire until she feared for her life.
Maybe she had resented the Empire before that and just needed the push, but I think there is not much evidence for that. On the other hand, she was very enthusiastic about Empire Day and please remember her evil grin when mentioning the Lasat Genocide. She probably would not have been a good Rebel anyway...

 

I am currently rewatching the first couple seasons of TCW now and in all honesty storytelling wise Rebels has a much tighter story being told and the writing and character development is much much better than it was in the first couple seasons of TCW. Part of that problem was the fact that TCW had twenty two episode seasons and had to include a lot of filler. I think TCW could have run a much tighter ship if it were a shorter series (like it looks Rebels will be) or if they only had twelve to sixteen episode seasons instead of five seasons of twenty plus episodes.

I also think not having Lucas onboard having all these demands about the storyline helps.

 

There wasn't just one storyline to tell during TCW; that was the point. It couldn't be tighter. If it was only about Anakin and Obi-Wan's camaraderie throughout that point in the PT, the series might have only gotten through a single season; maybe two. Sure, it'd cater to those fans who wanted more of that story anyhow, but it wouldn't fill the void that was set forth at the end of AOTC when we see the clone troops being sent off throughout the galaxy. TCW was about the war. It wasn't supposed to be about a few of the mainstays in the SW saga. To this point, there has yet to be a single episode of Rebels that doesn't feature anyone of the Ghost crew; and I doubt there will ever be. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, I'm just suggesting that the series is CENTERED around them, not necessarily the entire Rebellion.

 

Who is the bigger fool, the fool or the fool who follows the fool?! Kanan wore his armor under the trooper armor and one second he has the armor the next split second he does not. That is worse than Han or Luke. *Kenobi on Mandalore was never seen in Lawless out've his stolen armor and back in his robes, so there is no evidence he was still wearing them underneath, he wore the Death Watch armor until the episode ended.

As Kassius Konstantine already said, we're not taking about every Imperial, we're talking about Tua who obviously had her hands dirty and was a party member.

You do understand their flags don't you?!

 

Yes but at the same time having Godzilla episodes, episodes about Jar Jar, droids, and Ahsoka being put in Lord of the Flies situations had no reason to be in there. Putting in stuff like that (which we got for each and every season) was just silly filler that brought down the show.Rebels does a much better job of pushing the story forward.

 

You're only referring to a select few episodes. There were entire arcs that featured no Anakin, Ahsoka, Obi-Wan, Jar-Jar, or any Jedi for that matter - just the Clones. It wasn't about filler. It was about advancement of the story. The one significant factor that most people who appreciated the TCW series was that it put a face to the clones. They had their own stories. Again, I'm not criticizing Rebels at this point for not following that frame of mind; it's kind of hard to do considering the Rebellion at this point is a skeleton of what the "good guys" had at the peak of the clone wars.

 

Also Unduli in the Coffin that was pretty up there.

 

Although I loved the Clone Wars, especially giving personalities to Clone troopers, I do agree that there was a lot of filler. The first half of season three is all very forgettable, except for the first two episodes about Domino squad.

 

I gave this a 9 on principle as if I gave a 10 I'd feel somehow strange.

But this was amazing. I loved it.

 

I am surprised no one has started speculating on If she survived or not.

 

7/10 Some wonky plotting/logic problems mar an otherwise outstanding episode.

 

I'm going 10/10. My last one may have been Bounty.

 

It's going to be a while before we know... but I would like to see them being forced off Lothal ACTUALLY make things harder for them rather than have them talk about how much harder it is now... whilst carrying on exactly like before. Struggle to find supplies/information etc., lack of support network, that kind of thing. Struggle to keep ahead of the Inquisitors now they don't have informers and a network to keep them in the loop. Otherwise this one episode would kind of end up devalued if it doesn't actually change anything...

 

10/10

After a long time, this episode demonstrated the high caliber that I hoped Rebels would achieve. Darth Vader was perfectly handled in this episode as the imposing and powerful villain that he is. Ahsoka's revelation was a major highlight. It seems like they wanted to pay tribute to ESB: "Anakin's apprentice lives".

Before this premiere, I thought the show paled in comparison to TCW. It came across as a little too childish, as though the targeted audience was certainly a younger one.

Unfortunately, it ended on a bittersweet note. Instead of continuing to display Darth Vader's power while it was at its peak, they decide to dispatch another Inquistor.