Full Series Rebels 2.20 - The Mystery of Chopper Base - Discussion Thread (Spoilers Allowed)

One of the biggest complaints I had of the episode (besides the obviously expendable female cadet who was taken by the same spiders that Rex was) was that they gave Rex what amounted to stormtrooper-like aim. Sabine had told him to AIM FOR THE EYES, and you're telling me he couldn't hit the spider's eyes at point blank range? That was a little absurd.

 

Exactly! That was my other gripe about it. That spider was right in front of his face and stuck in the doorway. Stuck in place. And yet, somehow, Rex can't seem to hit it in the eyes. Even though it's right there, with it's huge, hideous eyes. This entire episode was a bit of a joke.

 

Well, we did see Kanan impale one of them.

As for Dicer (yes, that's actually how it's spelled according to the guide, though closed-captions spelled it "Deiser" which I think sounds closer to being a name), most likely scenario is that the Krykna already ate her by the time Sabine and Rex found her helmet. For all we know, the Krykna that was caging Rex may have been trying to eat him when the crew caught up to him. While Hera has shown concern for the loss of Phoenix Squadron members before, Dicer still being alive in the clutches of carnivorous wild animals after maybe a few hours is a very unlikely scenario (don't see any other webbed up creatures around their nest), whereas it seemed like only after a few minutes since Rex was kidnapped that they started looking for him.

That hug between Kanan and Hera.... are they trying to make us think that we'll have a repeat of another scenario where two other people hugged like that and one them asked the other to come back in the future in the past?

On another note, nice to learn about the mechanics of the rotating sabers. It's exactly as I imagined.

 

Did anyone else hear anything weird in Ahsoka's voice, like Ashley Eckstein was using a bad mic or something? I thought that was strange, maybe she didn't make it to the recording session?

Anyway, decent episode. The only things I had a real problem with were Rex's nuking (I mean seriously, that guy is a CLONE TROOPER and can't even shoot a half-foot-diameter eye point-blank?) and the complete waste of Deiser. I appreciate how they actually named another Phoenix pilot, but it felt like such a copout how they just forgot about her after they found the helmet. I mean seriously, these Rebels who apparently are tired sick of losing pilots don't even TRY to find one of their own who might well be alive?

Oh well. Visuals were great. Joel Aron and the fx squad especially did a great job.

 

I’m seriously starting to wonder if the Rebels team actually lacks the ability to animate a kiss.

 

They did use their lightsabers though... and they stabbed them, so no dismemberment necessary.

 

I do wonder if they are afraid of turning off tweens if Hera and Kanan kiss.

Liked the episode, mainly due to all the foreshadowing for next episode. Also loved Zeb kicking back with Ezra.

BTW, Ezra as Snoke seems to be a growing in popularity but doesn't seem possible to me given eye color, features and little things like height and being human. I think I'd believe Snoke's an alt.U Luke come to visit more likely than Ezra.

I guess maybe next week might help clue us in.

 

I would have thought tweens would have been more than okay with seeing kissing on TV. Aren't most girls' shows full of that stuff anyway? (I jest)

 

It's more the logic that showing people shoot and blow stuff up is ok but kissing is a big no no and it's not just the Rebels show either. I remember watching the Nostalgia critic review of Total Recall and they blank out a woman's breast scene because of taste issues but then have no problem showing Arnie kill someone with a drill or ripping another guys arms off

 

That's what's wrong with western (particularly US) culture demonising sex but being totally cool with gore and gratuitous violence. It's such a warped mindset.

 

I wouldn't say Western Culture since you go to France or the UK and Sex is definitely not demonised, it is more a US thing and I think it goes back to old times when the Puritans settled in the US . To them sex was a sin of the devil and but at the same time, they were fighting Indians, but that was killing the Ungodly so violence was acceptable. It was a contradiction that's just developed/morphed over time.

 

The only thing that really bothered me about the episode was the team's failure to look for Deiser, as noted in my recap. Cold.

I didn't think Hera and Kanan were going to kiss either, it would have felt quite forced at that point. Maybe if Kanan comes back ...

 

Why is a kiss even necessary? It's already blatant that they have feelings for each other. Is it not validated or something until we see a kiss? Why are scenes such as the one in this episode not enough for us to say they're a couple? Maybe that's just not how they choose to show affection for each other.

I keep thinking back to the Legend of Korra finale which had no kissing between Korra and Asami, yet everyone was over the moon that they were the 'canon' couple. That was just subtle hints until the very last scene. Kanan and Hera aren't visibly getting affectionate with anyone else in the show so that seems to further reduce the need for a kiss to confirm their relationship.

 

Why is it nesscary ? We'll because nethier know they are main characters in a Disney cartoon and as far as they are concerned this could be the very last time they see each other again. If a kiss goodbye is not justified in this instance I don't know when it is.

 

Maybe they just don't do kisses. I don't know the details of their relationship. I maintain that for the viewers it's not necessary; people just want to see so it can be confirmed for them instead of connecting the dots themselves.

I'm not saying, by the way, that I don't want want to see them kiss.

 

Well this was pretty much unneeded filler-episode. It was ok but they really didn't need another filler episode with alien animals this season like they had that space whale one already... I'm ok with two or three pure fillers each season but now they have too many.

About Kanan and Hera not kissing- I guess it's Disney-thing not to show kisses since TCW had them, bit stupid but not a big issue to me really...

+ Nice designs of the animals- I think spiders are based on old concept art
+ Setting up a base for the rebels is a nice idea for episode and using those sensors to keep beasts away sounds like KOTOR-thing which is nice sort of internal logic there that some animals and aliens hear frequencies that humans don't.
- Those spiders were more effective than platoon of stormtroopers...
- Rex was surprisingly bad against spiders... where is that marksman who shot rishi eel dead with one shot. Well maybe he is getting old...

 

Are those spiders kinrath?

 

Yeah, they're based on old McQuarrie designs that were intended for Dagobah.

Spoiler

I thought this episode was good, I didn't like how Dicer was pretty much forgotten but besides a few small things people already mentioned I thought this episode was tense and foreboding. Definitely think something bad is going to happen in the finale, heck I'd be surprised and actually kind of disappointed if all of this foreshadowing amounted to nothing.

Something interesting mentioned in the trivia gallery on starwars.com is how Zeb calls the little shelled creatures (called dokma) bogans, and Bogan was originally a word meant to be used to mean the dark side. The force to the Lasat is of course the Ashla, which was originally meant to mean the light side. I just find it interesting how they took Ashla's original opposite and made it into a word in Zeb's vocabulary, making the two sort-of connected in the canon.

 

I think they actually are connected. Once I remembered where the word Bogan came from, it hit me that Zeb was essentially using it as a way of calling the little dokma "devils" or something to that effect.

 

Perhaps they only decided at the last minute that they'd squeeze a part for Ahsoka in for that episode, and Ashley was only caught by surprise.

 

So...the prologue. Probably the best word for this episode. We all know what comes next.

Some minor points first:

Liked Sabine wishing for a jetpack. Typical Mandalorian.
Good to know the heart of rock n' roll is still beatin' in a galaxy far far away.
I'm thrilled by all the female pilots we've seen in Phoenix Squadron this season...I just kinda wish one of them had lived to the end of the season.

Moving on. I suppose some might be tempted to call it another filler episode, but really, they needed something to do while the crew sorted our their feelings and their relationships. Typical adventure as far as that's concerned. Establishing a new base and having to deal with the local wildlife. But that was more of a subplot.

This episode was about saying goodbye. Pure and simple. Something big is coming, and I think if there's one thing the episode did perfectly, it was set the mood for what is to come.

Hera and Kanan, I think, are who I'm dwelling on. I can't be the only one that noticed she hasn't called him 'love' or 'dear' all season, at least not outside the season premiere...after they had their disagreements on working with the rebellion. I like to think Hera was giving him space, and time to adjust to what was going on, and to get used to the idea that working with the rebellion was a good idea. It can't have been an easy journey. For Kanan, at first, back in AND, it was just about getting to cruise around the galaxy with a hot Twi'lek, as her crew. Not a revolutionary. Crew. These days I don't think he's even a shadow of what he used to be. He's grown and matured. Having Ezra around to train helped him alot, I think. He's a noble Jedi once again...and now, at last, a Jedi Knight. She's never really given voice to it, but I think Hera is immensely proud of what he's become...and maybe she thought they could face this evil as a united front...together. Maybe once upon a time Kanan might have even agreed with her. The parting shot of their warm embrace reminded us all that their affection and even love for one another is still there, and still strong. I'm hopeful that it's a love that will survive what's about to happen.

Ezra and Zeb had their fairwell moment too, though it was earlier in the episode. Just sitting and watching the sunset. I've done that myself a few times. It's peaceful, and relaxing. It's a great way to just let the worries of the day slip away, and also a good way for friends to spend time together. Their relationship got off to a rocky start at first, but they've come to an understanding, and developed what I think is a strong friendship that I can only hope will survive what must surely be around the corner.

Then there was the last scene...and the eerie combination of the sad violin that played when Vader died...and then the more sinister rendition to finish off the episode. This isn't like the build up to last season's finale. The overall mood is that things are going to change for a lot of people. Very possibly for the worse. How they change exactly won't be known for sure until next week. I don't know how I'm going to feel seven days from now. But I have a feeling it's going be a very, very long summer...

 

The episode had an ESB feel to it, and i fear the finale will as well, in that we may see the loss of one of our heroes, or at least leaving them broken and defeated as the season wraps.

 

The whole spider thing stank of filler to me, I'd have preferred it if the episode was just 20 minutes of meaningful and well written goodbyes and no action whatsoever. Having said that though, it was still one of the better episodes Rebels has brought out

 

Perhaps there's a chance the next episode will start off with the crew saying all their goodbyes, because last episode ended with Ahsoka returning. Unless they're going to leave it off-screen, they haven't actually said goodbye yet.