Star wars Rebels Review/Recap thread (MASSIVE SPOILERS)

Jdawg

Commodore
I figured I would go ahead and start the thread, the new episode comes on tonight 9:00 eastern standard time on disney xd, I have charter and it is channel 70.

My overall thoughts on the show is it is wonderful. The first couple of episodes were too "disneyfied" for me and the animation was a little off, but it really found its footing around the halfway point of season 1 and overall I give season 1 an 8.5. Season 2 kicked off with a bang, and so far there was only one weak episode to me in season 2, and that was the Sabine centered episode. A lot of fans had a problem with the mid season finale, bc they said it didnt contain enough action, but I really like where they are taking ezra's character and I like somber episodes. So what do yall guys think so far of the show. The new episode coming on tonight is all about leia
 
Here's the mid-season trailer, if anyone has missed it.


My absolute favorite thing about Rebels is the look of the vehicles, which aren't so much Star Wars ships as the vintage Kenner versions of Star Wars ships. And the same for the selection of characters. It's really like someone made a show of the way kids played with their Star Wars toys in the 80s :)
 
Here's the mid-season trailer, if anyone has missed it.


My absolute favorite thing about Rebels is the look of the vehicles, which aren't so much Star Wars ships as the vintage Kenner versions of Star Wars ships. And the same for the selection of characters. It's really like someone made a show of the way kids played with their Star Wars toys in the 80s :)
I like the atmosphere, I love the sandstorm episode of season two where they find wrex and they have a "hunt for red october" episode in the sandstorm. season 2 has really developed good set pieces
 
ok episode, not one of my favorites but not bad, leia sounded too old and storm troopers really cant hit anything. ezra seems to continue his path down the dark side
 
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I really enjoyed this one! WARNING: there’s a Force Awakens spoiler below… I assume you’ve seen TFA if you’re watching Rebels, but if for some reason you haven’t, do not read.

I’m genuinely rather skeptical of these ‘stunt casting’ episodes (that bring back old characters) for two reasons. One, they build towards a problematic ‘small universe.’ That’s less of a concern in Star Wars, where these characters are all living through these mythic strokes and likely should be greatly connected… but it’s still a little frustrating thinking that Kanan and crew happen to independently meet every other Star Wars character for unconnected reasons.

But far more important is two: they’re usually pretty good episodes… which means they’re almost exclusively reminders that Star Wars characters you like better are off doing more interesting things. Lando is having high stakes gambling adventures! Leia is secretly forming a rebellion! Hondo is stealing spaceships! And you just end up asking yourself: why aren’t we watching THEIR show?

As for this episode, though, it passed my biggest test: Ezra did not get captured. Whenever they can write a Rebels episode where Ezra isn’t taken prisoner, I’m usually sold. It’s like Wing Commander Academy episodes where they don’t come up with an excuse to have Blair ejecting so he’s stuck on an alien planet. It’s a crutch the writers room needs taken from them. :)

I liked confident teenage Leia quite a bit, and was very glad they didn’t go with the typical ‘she needs a boost to decide what’s right and then she’ll become the character we know!’… she came in confident, with guns blazing and that’s great. Loved the slight ticks the voice actress gave her to remind us of her formal princess speech (there’s one pronunciation that was just perfect… I need to watch it again to pick it out.) I know Kathleen Kennedy has been going on about how Star Wars needs more strong female characters, but she’s absolutely wrong: Leia has been the smartest person in the room kicking ass since 1977, and nothing of her character in this episode is ‘modernized.’

Oh and teenage Leia’s slight, innocent flirting with Ezra at the very end was my favorite.! There’s this one shot of the two of them together that really hit me about the value of a massive shared continuity like this… it’s not just something that’s fun to organize, it’s genuinely interesting that Leia can simultaneously be this innocent teenage princess and a grieving widow/military commander and everything in between, all at once. Positively Tralfamadorian!

And going back to my ‘playing with Kenner toys’ view of the series, the climax was absolutely that. In a world where you can render ten billion TIE Fighters with no skin off your back, the fact that the impossible odds they had to face was that there were TWO walkers was very nice. Can’t you just imagine it? Tommy brought over his Star Wars toys for a battle and he has TWO AT-ATs!

Finally, I like that we’re getting arc-y-er about Ezra, from the characters consoling him about his parents to his clear descent into confusion (which of course leads to hate, anger and the Dark Side.)


(Also -- this was FUN! We should have more threads like this. Is anyone reading the Star Wars comics? We could do a thread like this for them, too...)
 
I really enjoyed this one! WARNING: there’s a Force Awakens spoiler below… I assume you’ve seen TFA if you’re watching Rebels, but if for some reason you haven’t, do not read.

I’m genuinely rather skeptical of these ‘stunt casting’ episodes (that bring back old characters) for two reasons. One, they build towards a problematic ‘small universe.’ That’s less of a concern in Star Wars, where these characters are all living through these mythic strokes and likely should be greatly connected… but it’s still a little frustrating thinking that Kanan and crew happen to independently meet every other Star Wars character for unconnected reasons.

But far more important is two: they’re usually pretty good episodes… which means they’re almost exclusively reminders that Star Wars characters you like better are off doing more interesting things. Lando is having high stakes gambling adventures! Leia is secretly forming a rebellion! Hondo is stealing spaceships! And you just end up asking yourself: why aren’t we watching THEIR show?

As for this episode, though, it passed my biggest test: Ezra did not get captured. Whenever they can write a Rebels episode where Ezra isn’t taken prisoner, I’m usually sold. It’s like Wing Commander Academy episodes where they don’t come up with an excuse to have Blair ejecting so he’s stuck on an alien planet. It’s a crutch the writers room needs taken from them. :)

I liked confident teenage Leia quite a bit, and was very glad they didn’t go with the typical ‘she needs a boost to decide what’s right and then she’ll become the character we know!’… she came in confident, with guns blazing and that’s great. Loved the slight ticks the voice actress gave her to remind us of her formal princess speech (there’s one pronunciation that was just perfect… I need to watch it again to pick it out.) I know Kathleen Kennedy has been going on about how Star Wars needs more strong female characters, but she’s absolutely wrong: Leia has been the smartest person in the room kicking ass since 1977, and nothing of her character in this episode is ‘modernized.’

Oh and teenage Leia’s slight, innocent flirting with Ezra at the very end was my favorite.! There’s this one shot of the two of them together that really hit me about the value of a massive shared continuity like this… it’s not just something that’s fun to organize, it’s genuinely interesting that Leia can simultaneously be this innocent teenage princess and a grieving widow/military commander and everything in between, all at once. Positively Tralfamadorian!

And going back to my ‘playing with Kenner toys’ view of the series, the climax was absolutely that. In a world where you can render ten billion TIE Fighters with no skin off your back, the fact that the impossible odds they had to face was that there were TWO walkers was very nice. Can’t you just imagine it? Tommy brought over his Star Wars toys for a battle and he has TWO AT-ATs!

Finally, I like that we’re getting arc-y-er about Ezra, from the characters consoling him about his parents to his clear descent into confusion (which of course leads to hate, anger and the Dark Side.)


(Also -- this was FUN! We should have more threads like this. Is anyone reading the Star Wars comics? We could do a thread like this for them, too...)
great break down like I said not my favorite episode but not terrible either. one of my biggest gripes is they are taking the joke that storm troopers cant hit anything too far, and two this one was a disneyfied episode with some of the overly kiddie humor. I do agree with the way Leia talked was pitch perfect, just that the voice seemed to belong in someone older and who had a two pack a day habit lol. I love Kanan, and hera. Also Ezra is really finally coming into his own and seems to have already outgrown the teachings of Kanan (bring on darth maul ha ha ha ha). I usually feel the opposite when it comes to the old OT characters appearing in rebels (besides darth vader). I thought c-3po and r2d2 were especially shoehorned in when it came to their episode cameo.
 
I thought this was a good episode. Just finished it. The princess didn't seemed too forced in as I felt they did with Lando earlier on. I think they represented her well and the relationship between her and Ezra is pretty cool. I also love the little things that are here that remind me of the original trilogy that the prequels got wrong. I love that the numbers are small. 2 ATATs, 3 transports, 4 tie fighters intercepting the supply ships, and only a hand full of troopers at each site. I'm really brings back the importance of these ships and people that got lost in the blur of ships and troopers of the prequels. I'm beginning to remember why i had all these models as a kid of ATATs, bwings, xwings, star destyers and whatnot. I can't name one ship type from the prequels and that's just cuz they weren't memorable. I'm pretty sure I could name every ship and vehicle in the original trilogy lol.
 
last nights episode was called "The Protector of Concord Dawn." I really liked this episode a lot, we got to see some pretty cool space battles, and disney actually showed two rebel pilots getting roasted in their cockpit. I liked the overall story of this one, with the rebels trying to find a shortcut through Mandalorian space, and trying to make allies with the Mandalorians. I also liked that this is the first time that Hera was not invincible behind the stick. Of course I knew she wouldnt die but it was nice to see, my only real gripe is small but it bothers me; there is no way her ship should have made it through hyperspace. Anyways I really loved this episode what do yall think
 
Apologies for the late commentary!

I had absolutely no problems with this episode. It wasn't outstanding, but it held my interest well enough. Which is high praise for me because a) I haven't fallen in love with Sabine and b) I usually can't stand Mandalorians!

To the latter: a few years back, there was no stronger evidence that there's-not-really-a-Star-Wars-canon than the existence and development of Mandalorians. They're fan service from the start (what if we could sell MORE Boba Fett helmets?!) and then the fact that they're taken in like six distinct ways was so frustrating... and then their final development in Clone Wars was that they're just sorta ordinary people who happen to be kind of jerks sometimes. Zzzzzzzz.

Similarly, I cringe a little inside when I see Sabine usually... because I just KNOW there was a meeting of executives where they wanted to both take advantage of Boba Fett's cool look AND introduce a powerful female character. I'm not against either of those things, but she always seemed a bit too forced into one, 100% positive Mary Sue-y character instead of being someone they could develop.

THAT SAID: an additional massive amount of credit for the fact that the episode aired the same night the Kanan comic that introduced the Mandalorian pilot and their previous encounter.
 
Similarly, I cringe a little inside when I see Sabine usually... because I just KNOW there was a meeting of executives where they wanted to both take advantage of Boba Fett's cool look AND introduce a powerful female character. I'm not against either of those things, but she always seemed a bit too forced into one, 100% positive Mary Sue-y character instead of being someone they could develop.

I don't mind her design or concept too much, you can do worse than an artsy klingon, but yeah, she needs character development badly. So does Steve Blum for that matter. Really though, I don't think any character is particularly Mary Sueish, Ezra is probably the closest, but most of the time his strengths and weaknesses even out. Sabine does kind of feel like she's mostly in there to sell mandalorian hats, but it's nothing a couple of episodes focused on her couldn't fix.

On the series in general I'm super impressed with them actually making Tarkin and Vader seem competent and intimidating, I hope they don't go and undermine that later somehow, but the series has been largely well-written so far, so I have faith.
 
I had absolutely no problems with this episode. It wasn't outstanding, but it held my interest well enough. Which is high praise for me because a) I haven't fallen in love with Sabine and b) I usually can't stand Mandalorians!
I, too, am not the biggest fan of Sabine, but I am a huge fan of the Mandalorians. This dates back to pre-Episode II though, so the whole Clone Wars descriptions are non-material in my love of the characters. I will say that I enjoy the portrayal of them in Karen Traviss' Republic Commando series though.

That said, my understanding of the Mandalorians came from the "older" EU (I know, big surprise, right?). This was the reintroduction of Boba Fett in the Dark Horse comic "Star Wars: Dark Empire", which then spoke of the "Mandalorian" technology used to capture and hold a Jedi (like Luke) which was a hint to their past. Then came the story line in another Dark Horse comic "Tales of the Jedi", specifically "The Sith War", which saw a lot of attention on the Mandalorians. This, coupled with the lore presented in the original Knights of the Old Republic game (which built on the Tales of the Jedi lore) really set my perception of Mandalorians.

On a somewhat different note, I'm looking forward to the possibility of reintroducing Thrawn. Not holding my breath, but I will keep various digits crossed.
 
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Apologies for the late commentary!

I had absolutely no problems with this episode. It wasn't outstanding, but it held my interest well enough. Which is high praise for me because a) I haven't fallen in love with Sabine and b) I usually can't stand Mandalorians!

To the latter: a few years back, there was no stronger evidence that there's-not-really-a-Star-Wars-canon than the existence and development of Mandalorians. They're fan service from the start (what if we could sell MORE Boba Fett helmets?!) and then the fact that they're taken in like six distinct ways was so frustrating... and then their final development in Clone Wars was that they're just sorta ordinary people who happen to be kind of jerks sometimes. Zzzzzzzz.

Similarly, I cringe a little inside when I see Sabine usually... because I just KNOW there was a meeting of executives where they wanted to both take advantage of Boba Fett's cool look AND introduce a powerful female character. I'm not against either of those things, but she always seemed a bit too forced into one, 100% positive Mary Sue-y character instead of being someone they could develop.

THAT SAID: an additional massive amount of credit for the fact that the episode aired the same night the Kanan comic that introduced the Mandalorian pilot and their previous encounter.
I also loved the comic tie in with rebels just like I loved the tie-in between the book aftermath and the force awakens movie, the character of Temmin Wexlyey which we meet as a 15 yr old boy in aftermath is played as an adult by this guy in the movie
latest


Just some trivia for you guys
 
The new ep was totally filler lol. Funny thing is, even though the whole time I knew it was a filler it was still good and entertaining. Cheesy but still cool. I highly doubt we will see any Thrawn. I read the same rumors but it just doesn't seem likely unless but would be cool if he were portrayed like he was in the Tie Fighter Pc game.
 
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. :) It was fine, but I won't remember this one in a year.

I do believe Disney is going to bring back Thrawn... there were some significant hints in Aftermath, and I've heard a different rumor about where he's going to appear (which if accurate would spoil something outside Rebels, so I can't mention it here!)

(I do wonder if resurrecting Thrawn is a bit of a didn't-stop-to-wonder-whether-you-should moment. Is Thrawn that great outside the context of Heir to the Empire? Or is he just a weird blue Admiral? :))
 
The Marg Sabl is within canon, why not bring in the guy that actually used it? Thrawn was a brilliant tactician, with a total lack of ego. (If you can name what I just quoted, good on you) I think Thrawn is great outside of his original trilogy. His character was also fleshed out in Outbound Flight. Can't really say that his portrayal in the Hand of Thrawn saga was that great, but anyone that's read that duology knows why.
 
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