Saturday Spoiler Alert

Nice to see C3PO being granted the rank of an Elder Statesman.

I didn't like that Leia had to lie and cheat to get her way. That should have been Xiono's method of operation.

I'd like to think that Senator Xiono is a well-meaning fool, and not an outright villain. Fits with the depiction of his son Kaz in Star Wars: Resistance. (This is not a plug for Resistance: it was... nonessential.)

I'm pretty disappointed that Ezra hasn't built himself a new lightsaber. I was hoping for something as creative as his stunner/saber. He knows how to build a saber, and he could have stolen a kaiburr crystal from the Imperials, who use them in their technology, or from the Nightsisters.

I'm also a bit disappointed that he's been on the Nightsisters' homeworld for a decade, and hasn't learned any of their force magic.

They're playing Ezra a little too goofy for my tastes, as well. Though, the chemistry with Sabine is there.

Also, what's up with Baylan Skoll? He's got some kind of plan. I'm wondering if he's figured out that whoever controls the Eye of Sion is the one who's really in charge.

Is Thrawn still on his flagship, or has he transferred his command to the Eye of Sion? It seems like the former, but he of all people should realize its importance.

EDIT: It appears that Thrawn is still on Peridea supervising the loading of the cargo. Captain Enoch appears to be on the Eye of Sion, however. So Thrawn has addressed that issue.

Quote from: trechriron on September 29, 2023, 04:28:07 PM

I liked E7. I really enjoyed the action stuff, especially when lightsabers come out. I also like the bad guys in this series. They are cool-headed, thoughtful, and calculating. I like how Thrawn refuses to be bothered by setbacks.

I love the aesthetic of the disrepair of the Thrawn forces. And the "special" uniform of the captain (like, why is he not wearing an imperial uniform?). Also, were there ANY other officers around?

I think the disrepair of their armor was supposed to be part of the theme of Peridea as a whole: everything there is ancient and kinda grimy. It's basically a tomb.

I'm kind of glad they weren't an army of the dead, otherwise we'd have zombie armies in every show that followed.

Quote from: trechriron on September 29, 2023, 04:28:07 PM
Note: I have not seen any of the cartoons. Although I will likely remedy that at some point. :-)

I would definitely recommend Star Wars Rebels. The Clone Wars has some good stuff in it, and does a lot to rehabilitate the prequel era, but it is wildly uneven, and drags in places.

I'm trying to remember: did anyone tell Thrawn the Empire lost?

EDIT: We can assume he was filled in on current events, but it didn't happen on-screen.

Last episode of the season tonight. Will it be a cliffhanger, or will we somehow get closure?

Initial impressions of the finale?

I thought Thrawn would be a more imposing figure. He's got "Imperial Officer" down pretty pat, but I was expecting more Darth Vader.

It just about has to be a cliffhanger. Can't piss away Thrawn in two episodes.

Definitely a mixed bag. Some really good stuff, and some complete nonsense.

You should watch it and form your own opinions.

We'll weigh in on Saturday.

I'll get 'er done. Ought to get Ep 7 done tomorrow and get started on the finale tomorrow.

Got to get it done relatively quickly, as I have cancelled my subscription. I have zero fucks to give about Marvel shit, and now that Ahsoka is done...hey, save myself the price increase.

Quote from: Ratman_tf on September 23, 2023, 06:18:47 PM
Liked this episode. I'm not a big fan of Thrawn. I only know of him second hand. I never liked EU stuff, and so mostly avoid it. But from what I've read, he sounds like a tryhard "Look at my villian, isn't he so cool?" type.

I trad through the first book as happened to have it and found Thrawn just way too "I can outmaneuver anyone!" for my liking.

Which I guess is why some of the fans just short of wack off to him if all the worship he gets from fans is any indicator.

Quote from: Thornhammer on October 03, 2023, 08:55:26 PM
Initial impressions of the finale?

I thought Thrawn would be a more imposing figure. He's got "Imperial Officer" down pretty pat, but I was expecting more Darth Vader.

It just about has to be a cliffhanger. Can't piss away Thrawn in two episodes.

In the books he is drawn from for the TV shows he was more a chessmaster and had all sorts of counters in place to deal with Jedi, Sith, and outmaneuvering people.

Quote from: Thornhammer on October 03, 2023, 11:05:15 PM
I'll get 'er done. Ought to get Ep 7 done tomorrow and get started on the finale tomorrow.

Got to get it done relatively quickly, as I have cancelled my subscription. I have zero fucks to give about Marvel shit, and now that Ahsoka is done...hey, save myself the price increase.

Yeah, I'll be dropping Disney+ as well. And at this point, I'm not sure what they have coming up to bring me back.

Quote from: Thornhammer on October 03, 2023, 08:55:26 PM
Initial impressions of the finale?

I thought Thrawn would be a more imposing figure. He's got "Imperial Officer" down pretty pat, but I was expecting more Darth Vader.

It just about has to be a cliffhanger. Can't piss away Thrawn in two episodes.

Thrawn is the competent bad guy who wins by staying focused on his goals. He can be outsmarted at his own game, though, or the heroes can pull out a Draw 4 Uno card in a game of Go Fish like Ezra did with the Purgills.

Thrawn is on the side of evil, but he himself is only a villain due to an excess of ruthlessness in dealing with his enemies.

Was okay. On balance, more positive than negative.

Without spoiling anything, Asohka to me just further proves that Disney Star Wars is creatively bankrupt and cannot actually create, just ape and maladapt the previous works with their own stupid agendas tacked on.

Quote from: Chris24601 on October 05, 2023, 02:40:08 PM
Without spoiling anything, Asohka to me just further proves that Disney Star Wars is creatively bankrupt and cannot actually create, just ape and maladapt the previous works with their own stupid agendas tacked on.

And the "fans" gush over it.

Final Spoiler Alert: There will be spoilers for the season finale and the show as a whole from here on out.
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Ahsoka Season 1 Episode 8
THE JEDI, THE WITCH, AND THE WARLORD

Cute title.

Why do they bring the Eye of Sion down out of orbit, instead of flying Thrawn's Star Destroyer, the Chimaera, up to meet it? Is the Chimaera not fully spaceworthy? Its main engines have not been lit this whole season. It would have been nice to state this explicitly.

Really, the answer is "because then our heroes couldn't make a ground assault," but where's the fun in that?

Morgan Elsbeth receives the Gift of Shadows, which comes with the flaming Blade of Talzin.

Well, Ezra is finally getting a new lightsaber.  I liked the interplay between Ezra and Huyang, particularly when Huyang was telling him about Kanaan.

Tie fighters attack, Sabine crashes the ship into them, ship goes down and our heroes head out after Thrawn riding howlers.

Sabine finally puts her helmet on again.

Ahsoka, Ezra and Sabine charge through artillery lasers, force open the fortress gate, and dispatch a squad of Night Troopers.

The Nightsisters raise the fallen troopers, only for the Jedi to drop them again. The effects are similar to what we saw when Marrok was killed.

FWIW, Marrok no longer appears in the IMDB cast list for Ahsoka.

The undead troopers aren't as good at fighting as the live ones were, but they can take a lot more damage before getting dropped again.

Thrawn sends Morgan Elsbeth to hold the Jedi while the Chimaera and the Eye of Sion link up and lift off. There are also two Dark Troopers present.

"For the Empire," he says.

"For Dathomir," she replies once she is alone.

Pursued by undead Night Troopers, our trio races forward, only to encounter Morgan Elsbeth barring the way.

Ahsoka duels Morgan Elsbeth, while Sabine and Ezra go forward and run into the Dark Troopers.

I liked the duel between Elsbeth and Ahsoka, Elsbeth seemed to have a speed advantage with her blade, which Ahsoka had to counter with both lightsabers.

The Dark Troopers are winning the fight against Sabine and Ezra, until Sabine, inevitably, uses the Force to grab her saber.

Ezra and Sabine use a force-push aided superjump to get Ezra onto the Chimaera, but Sabine goes back to save Ahsoka instead of following.

Morgan Elsbeth and her Night Troopers are on the verge of defeating Ahsoka when Sabine arrives to even the odds.

Ahsoka manages a slick disarm of Morgan, and immediately deals a killing blow with both blades.

The Nightsisters report that Morgan is dead, and Thrawn replies that she has done what was required.

On the Chimaera, Ezra realises that his friends aren't coming, bluffs the troopers using a comlink, and drags off a fallen trooper.

Ahsoka and Sabine board the Jedi Transport, which has more lives than a cat, while Thrawn begins bombarding the fortress.

Our heroes pursue Thrawn, who hangs around just long enough for a taunting "Long live the Empire" before escaping into hyperspace.

Sabine, Ahsoka and Huyang return to the Noti. Ahsoka's owl, which is basically her spirit animal, puts in an appearance.

Shin Hati returns to the bandits, and Baylan Skoll sneaks onto the set of Lord of the Rings.

Thrawn arrives at Dathomir, which was apparently the destination of the Mothers. They have a large number of what appear to be coffins on hand.

An imperial shuttle is escorted to Home One, and a Night Trooper exits the shuttle, and Chopper rolls up to greet him. It's Ezra, of course. "Hi, Hera, I'm home," he says.

Back on Peridea, Ahsoka and Sabine talk, while in the distance Anakin's ghost looks on approvingly.