Julius Posted April 17, 2023 Author Posted April 17, 2023 28 minutes ago, Ronnie said: *me waiting for @Julius's Celebration/Bad Batch write up* Celebration write-up will probably happen first, might start on that today! Post-con depression hit hard but I'm finally starting to get over it (is what I'll keep telling myself, honestly it started hitting me on the Saturday of Celebration ) Bad Batch S2 I'll refer back to my notes later this week and probably talk about that separately, because there's a lot to say! For now though, I watched Tales of the Jedi in one sitting on Wednesday last week, trying to keep my Star Wars hype alive. Loved it for what it was, which is basically Clone Wars shorts with the appearance of Bad Batch, really enjoyed getting to see younger Dooku and Qui-Gon, as well as seeing more of Ahsoka (and that tie-in to the final ep of Clone Wars!!!). Really excited to see what they plan on tackling in S2, would love for them to jump around the timeline some more! 1
Happenstance Posted April 17, 2023 Posted April 17, 2023 I do regret not heading down to the con myself. I was in London the week before with @Goafer for WASD so didn't fancy paying for 2 trips this month. Shame though as it looked like a good time and a lot more focused than the usual cons I go to where you mostly just wander around and occasionally fall into a talk, usually because you feet hurt and you wanted somewhere to sit 😆
Ronnie Posted April 17, 2023 Posted April 17, 2023 A couple of panels definitely came in handy as a place to rest your feet, looking at you Funko. Turns out, people dodging in the huge crowds was knackering. 19 minutes ago, Julius said: Celebration write-up will probably happen first, might start on that today! Post-con depression hit hard but I'm finally starting to get over it (is what I'll keep telling myself, honestly it started hitting me on the Saturday of Celebration ) Bad Batch S2 I'll refer back to my notes later this week and probably talk about that separately, because there's a lot to say! For now though, I watched Tales of the Jedi in one sitting on Wednesday last week, trying to keep my Star Wars hype alive. Loved it for what it was, which is basically Clone Wars shorts with the appearance of Bad Batch, really enjoyed getting to see younger Dooku and Qui-Gon, as well as seeing more of Ahsoka (and that tie-in to the final ep of Clone Wars!!!). Really excited to see what they plan on tackling in S2, would love for them to jump around the timeline some more! Take your time was only joking around. Post con depression remedies: Jedi Survivor in like 11 days and Zelda TOTK in 3 and a half weeks. Glad you liked Tales of the Jedi, I've not watched it yet. Really hope S2 isn't the same Clone Wars era and like you say they jump around a bit. How about Luke's temple before TFA, or the first Mando Jedi who's name escapes me now.
Julius Posted April 17, 2023 Author Posted April 17, 2023 (edited) 34 minutes ago, Ronnie said: Take your time was only joking around. 34 minutes ago, Ronnie said: Post con depression remedies: Jedi Survivor in like 11 days and Zelda TOTK in 3 and a half weeks. Yep, can't be down for too long! Plus I'm way more hyped for Ahsoka than I thought I would be, so that countdown has already started, and we're going to see ROTJ in cinemas next Saturday for the 40th too, so plenty to be excited about!! 34 minutes ago, Ronnie said: Really hope S2 isn't the same Clone Wars era and like you say they jump around a bit. How about Luke's temple before TFA, or the first Mando Jedi who's name escapes me now. Yeah, for sure I want to see them jump around. I totally get why they started with prequels era stuff first (using very similar assets to Bad Batch, which is a facelifted TCW, and loads of reused models and planets as a result just made shinier), so I'm curious to see how they would handle jumping around: would everything be in the lens of TCW/Bad Batch, or would they go with different art styles for different periods? Funnily enough my mind went straight to Luke too, and I always thought a post-ROTJ Luke-centric show would be animated and have a different art style, but at this point, who knows? Hadn't thought about seeing Tarre in these but would love that. Honestly, given that The Bad Batch, TCW S7, and Tales of the Jedi have all shown different perspectives of incidents we've seen before (either from the films or animated series), I'd love three episodes dedicated to fleshing out the backstory of the Darksaber a little more, and essentially trimming the fat and summarising pretty neatly it's lineage and wielders (including throughout TCW and Rebels), just so people watching Mando that haven't watched the other shows have that little bit more context behind it in a more digestible way than the Disney XD YouTube compilations. It's funny, now that I think about it, that the Darksaber has essentially taken on the role the Skywalker legacy lightsaber was originally planned to in TFA! You bringing up Tarre reminds me, for my own sanity I'm going to need to rewatch Mando S3 E7 and post thoughts just so I've got them all in one place Edited April 17, 2023 by Julius 1
Ronnie Posted April 17, 2023 Posted April 17, 2023 (edited) 14 minutes ago, Julius said: Plus I'm way more hyped for Ahsoka than I thought I would be Take it you didn't see the extended trailer from the Ahsoka panel? There was an action shot on Lothal... so yeah, series looks great. As for Tales season 2, tbh I'd be surprised if Filoni doesn't just do more Clone Wars, which whilst not for me, would certainly make a huge chunk of the fanbase happy so who could blame him. Getting some darksaber context would be good although you'd imagine that might have been better timed to be in S1 to tie into Mando S3, but who knows, could still work.... 14 minutes ago, Julius said: PS: please, never stop posting contextual Star Wars gifs. Edited April 17, 2023 by Ronnie 1
Julius Posted April 17, 2023 Author Posted April 17, 2023 1 minute ago, Ronnie said: Take it you didn't see the extended trailer from the Ahsoka panel? There was an action shot on Lothal... so yeah, series looks great. We did, we made it into Galaxy Stage! But that's a whole other story haha, that'll be fun to get into, or to say it with a GIF... (& yes that action shot was beautiful!) I guess it didn't really hit me until Celebration, that even though it was clear the sort of direction it was heading (Rebels sequel/Thrawn stuff), just how much it was heading in that direction. Maybe it's because it's not animated and we've only seen Ahsoka sporadically since Rebels ended, but it hit me hard in the Lucasfilm (and then the Ahsoka) panel that, yeah, I've been waiting 5+ years for this since Rebels ended. It doesn't feel that long, but I remember when and where I was in my life when I watched that final episode, and I refuse to believe it's been 5+ years already. It's scary. Genuinely, think is the most hyped I've been for a Disney+ Star Wars project besides Kenobi 12 minutes ago, Ronnie said: As for Tales season 2, tbh I'd be surprised if Filoni doesn't just do more Clone Wars, which whilst not for me, would certainly make a huge chunk of the fanbase happy so who could blame him. Getting some darksaber context would be good although you'd imagine that might have been better timed to be in S1, but who knows how much more that thing will be in the plot of Mando. If not the Darksaber itself, I wonder if we get to see some of Obi-Wan and Satine pre-TPM get animated? Something tying into Mandalore just feels like the smart move, but who knows I'll gladly just take ten episodes just following Gunji around! Do wish we'd see some Galactic Civil War era stuff, the Rebels look getting the boosted budget and animation bump that Bad Batch and TCW S7 had over TCW would be lovely! 14 minutes ago, Ronnie said: PS: please, never stop posting contextual Star Wars gifs. 1
Ronnie Posted April 18, 2023 Posted April 18, 2023 (edited) On 17/04/2023 at 3:54 PM, Julius said: We did, we made it into Galaxy Stage! But that's a whole other story haha, that'll be fun to get into, or to say it with a GIF... nice, glad to hear it! On 17/04/2023 at 3:54 PM, Julius said: I guess it didn't really hit me until Celebration, that even though it was clear the sort of direction it was heading (Rebels sequel/Thrawn stuff), just how much it was heading in that direction. Maybe it's because it's not animated and we've only seen Ahsoka sporadically since Rebels ended, but it hit me hard in the Lucasfilm (and then the Ahsoka) panel that, yeah, I've been waiting 5+ years for this since Rebels ended. It doesn't feel that long, but I remember when and where I was in my life when I watched that final episode, and I refuse to believe it's been 5+ years already. It's scary. I read a rumour/report from BespinBulletin I think it was a couple of years ago, that said Favreau/Filoni realised they could tell the Rebels sequel series better in live action, so that got cancelled. It'll be interesting what sort of line the show walks between the search for Ezra and Ahsoka's own personal storyline. I 100% trust Filoni to maintain the Rebels spirit and do all those characters justice. My issue with him and Favreau is as ever, the dialogue, but we'll see how it goes there. I suppose I better... Spoiler Edited April 18, 2023 by Ronnie 1
Julius Posted April 18, 2023 Author Posted April 18, 2023 (edited) Just realised that I never said anything about S3 E6 of The Mandalorian – Chapter 22: Guns for Hire. So here I am, just a guy, standing in front what's probably the worst episode of the entire series so far for me; I'm not going to crazy with it, but yeah, I'll pop what little I remember in a spoiler tag: Spoiler Weakest Bryce Dallas Howard episode to date, and I don't think it's her fault at all. From a directing POV I thought it was fine, but there were so few spaces to insert any directorial flare or, well, anything, because I think she was unfairly given a right dud of an episode. Not every episode needs to massively progress plot, but in what is - to date, with only tomorrow's season finale left - the third longest episode of the season, I felt like I was watching someone's fever dream rather than an episode of Mando. A friend accidentally spoiled that Lizzo was on this episode for me (?!), but then I don't know how he heard about that but not Jack Black playing himself (??!!), and then also he didn't hear about Christopher Lloyd (?!?!?!). AND TOM HOLLAND'S BROTHER VOICES THE MON CALA?! What was with the rampant cameos this episode? Incredibly weird. Character cameos are one thing, but celebrity cameos...urgh, sorry, just not really my thing. Don't even get me started on the quarren kiss, I don't know why tentacle tonguing is the new hot thing in anything Pedro is in now, but please stop it Hollywood. Please. Was great seeing battle droids again in more detail with modern CG, Din kicking all the B2s until one inevitably got pissed gave me a chuckle, the droid cantina was cool, there were some neat ideas but, again, I just don't think there was enough here for Bryce to deliver a great episode with. Because good lord, the most substantial piece of development in this was HUGE for the series and this particular season, with Bo challenging Axel to take wrestle back control of the Mandalorian fleet...in broad daylight? Whose smart idea was that? It can work in animation because the colours still pop, but the entire scene is just so blown out, it looks fan-filmish. Again, another thing that probably isn't BDH's fault, and she did with it what she could, but yeah, I don't know what you're even meant to do with that. And then Din just decides to speak up for the first time about giving the Darksaber to Bo on a technicality, because she saved him from the cyborg spider dude? Which, you know, might have saved us a whole lot of time? I'm not one to scream "plot hole!", and this won't be one of those times, but nothing really changed this episode for Din's perspective on giving up the Darksaber to Bo to change, so...I don't know, is the guy just slow? Again, it's just a really odd decision, and a super underwhelming one at that. Oh well, at least that's out of the way and we can move onto E7. Such a strange episode. But anyways, time to move on from that and talk about last week's episode (which was AMAZING to see with a 4000-strong crowd at Celebration!)... Spoiler • yeah, that first eight minutes we got to see during the Lucasfilm panel too - in hindsight, considering they invited everyone back for the full episode, bit of an odd decision - is still brilliant. Very Blade Runner-esque rain and smog on the ground level of Coruscant with Kane, no surprise she's still serving Gideon. • LOVE LOVE LOVE the designs of what I'm guessing are Gideon's take on Imperial Supercommandos (your guess on what his take is being just as good as mine), like proto-Sith Trooper helmets from IX but with rounder eyelets which evoke Phase II clones, and the grey and maroon detailing just gives me Bacara/marine vibes from Mygeeto in III, not to mention the red of the Senate Guard. Beautiful armour and I loooooooooove it, immediately my favourite variant of trooper armour we've seen since III. • immediately recognised Pellaeon, what perfect casting to have Xander Berkeley play him. Looks exactly like the art I would look up so much of him and Thrawn growing up as I read through Wookieepedia article after Wookieepedia article on the EU (now Legends). And that we got him in the Shadow Council, with Brendol Hux from the books (played by Domhnall's brother Brian, no less!), casually dropping Thrawn's return on us?! Hnnnnnnnng. The decision to show this before the Ahsoka trailer in the Lucasfilm Showcase made so much sense if only for that, the reaction in the room for "Grand Admiral Thrawn's return"...all the yes. For the first time since announcing the culmination event - that we know now will be Dave's film - it really felt like they were lying the groundwork heavily to get us there. • Project Necromancer is interesting, you'd assume relating to the Empire trying to revive Palpatine (which doesn't work considering how he does come back in the end through other means). Kane mindflaying Pershing make more sense now, with Gideon seemingly trying to sabotage that project to further his own ambitions. • I find it interesting that from the Shadow Council meeting, Gideon suggesting new leadership implies that Thrawn is their de facto leader, considering that Brendol is supposedly off with Grand Admiral Sloane at this time. Then again, maybe she's just decided to zip her mouth up and focus on the First Order and Necromancer, which I'm going to guess that Thrawn has very little interest in. • Gideon requesting three Praetorian Guards was awesome, interesting that they make it so far back in the timeline, curious to see if we'll see some retconning in the future about who exactly is guarding Palpatine. • love the massive Mythosaur skull emblazoned across the hull of the Imperial lightcruiser. • loooooooooove the silver Mando helmet with a gold visor plate that we see one of the Covert with, it's a beaut. • Grogu climbing into IG-12...I mean, yeah, they wanted him to fight at some point and this is certainly one way to do it. Won't be surprised if by the show's end we see that IG unit end up with a Mando helmet, armour, cape, and the Darksaber at some point, with Grogu operating him as the titular Mandalorian. • NO. NO. YES. NO. YES. You'd think it'd get old, but it didn't, at least not for me in this episode - just about stayed it's welcome. Some much-needed light humour and, even musically, a bit of a return to the lighter feel of S1 in what has been a substantially heavier season with S3. Countering what's to come, of course... • the wide shot of the Mando fleet above Mandalore, just above the clouds... hnnnnnnnng, great shot. • sure, Mandos on a pirate ship skimming across the crystallised surface of the planet, why not • that Bo surrendered is interesting, makes Gideon that much more unlikeable at least. Kind of want to see Gideon in the white of the ISB now, Giancarlo would definitely pull it off! • "Your song is not yet written; I will serve you until it is" has to be one of the best written lines we've had in the entirety of Mando. Beautiful sentiment put very succinctly. • Paz and Axel, the two brutes, finally coming to blows over a game of space chess is hilarious. Paz just grabbing his dagger lmao. And Grogu breaking up the fight and jamming NO was wonderful too. "You taught your apprentice well"; "He didn't learn that from me" • that shot of The Gauntlet returning to the fleet...again, hnnnnnnnng • love the firefight between the Mandos and Imps in their beautiful armour, especially some of the melee stuff. • love the shots of the Interceptors and Bombers in their hangers. • that shot of Mando sweeping with his flamethrower while tied by two Imps is another beaut. • Gideon's helmet, another beaut. Even if you can't really see the red tint of his visit so well • Gideon's obsession with seemingly becoming Vader 2.0 continues I guess, and it's interesting that he's aggregating Jedi, cloning and Mandos into one super unit. • Paz saying "This is the Way" before they start blasting at the blast doors, just, yes. • Paz taking out a good unit or two of Imps, overheating his heavy blaster cannon, smacking some guys in the face with it, then going hand-to-hand with others, smacking one to the floor and beating him down, then knocking those other two off the ledge...yep, I'm here for it, especially their scream as they fell. Commander Thorn death 2.0, we all knew what was coming next – didn't expect it to be the Praetorian Guards coming in though, much less seemingly standing in the corner the entire time (ahahaha). Gave Paz, my favourite character in the show (no surprise given he's voiced by Jon and a Vizsla, considering Pre in TCW was also one of my favourite characters), the warrior's sendoff he deserved, while showing how badass the Praetorian Guard are (also, did Gideon really take the time to give them custom Mando-inspired helmets?) • [insert Post-Vizsla joke here] • this goes so stupidly hard with how epic their intro is. Joseph Shirley has killed it in Ludwig Görannson's absence this season, love how he's fleshed out existing themes while introducing plenty of his own, and the Praetorian Guard intro theme goes SO DAMN HARD. Which leaves the wait for tomorrow's (well, today's now!) finale. Got one thing I want to see and one tiny bit of speculation... Spoiler If Gideon loses, please end with him crawling to the Shadow Council chamber and begging for help just to have Thrawn turn up and give him a verbal beat down. As for speculation, I really hope Gideon turns out to be part Mandalorian (and I say part because he weirdly gives me the vibe of someone struggling with their heritage, I don't know how to explain it, but it's funny to me to bomb the crap out of a planet and yet be obsessed with its history and lore) rather than just going the Krennic "I'm obsessed with my accomplishments and seeing them through" route, it seems waaaaaaaaaay too personal for him. Not been the best season of Mando for me, a bit of a mixed bag, but fingers crossed it ends on a high with its finale. 4 hours ago, Ronnie said: I read a rumour/report from BespinBulletin I think it was a couple of years ago, that said Favreau/Filoni realised they could tell the Rebels sequel series better in live action, so that got cancelled. It'll be interesting what sort of line the show walks between the search for Ezra and Ahsoka's own personal storyline. I 100% trust Filoni to maintain the Rebels spirit and do all those characters justice. My issue with him and Favreau is as ever, the dialogue, but we'll see how it goes there. Definitely a lot of layers to why it ended up going live-action rather than animated: Disney+'s and Mando's success, the live-action audience generally being much larger than animation audience problem (at least here in the west), gearing Dave up to transition - as was always the plan - from animation to live-action (and this is a huuuuuuuuuge test for him and much-needed prep for his film), and so on. There's zero doubt in my mind though that Dave has had plans for this series in some form or another for some time now, since before Rebels ended and I'm fairly confident in saying that they almost certainly started some concept work for a Rebels sequel series before they formally knew what they were doing, just because of the timelines when it comes to these animated projects. Heck, if I'm remembering right, one or two members of the voice cast teased they were going to be involved in something big, but ultimately never panned out – which was almost certainly a Rebels sequel series being animated. I don't so much buy the "they believed they could tell it better in live-action than animation", because while that's Jon's medium, it's not so much Dave's - yet - and if he wanted it to be animated, he could have played it safe and gone with trying to drive it down that route. Dave is better positioned than just about anyone to observe the limitations of live-action, and the timelessness of animation, if nothing else, makes it an interesting proposition which could have gone either way...before the success of Mando and Disney+. Again, think there's multiple factors at play here – if Ahsoka is tying into Mando and leading up to the culmination event film? Well we now know it is - but was that always the plan, I wonder? I'd guess not with the directions Mando has taken since its first season, and S3 E7 felt like a hard left turn into making aggressive ties to the sequels and setting up their future plans - which to be clear, I loved, but it's just interesting. With Dave's background in mind but also him wanting to transition into a central live-action role at Lucasfilm so he can put his fingers in even more pies - so to speak - I think ultimately it's a balance between him wanting to make the jump to live-action, being the only one positioned well enough to tell this story, but also for all the corporate bigwig reasoning you can think of, like how their live-action shows are bigger than their animated ones and so there is a need for this to be told in live-action rather than in animation, and so on. I wouldn't think words were exchanged too much about the medium it would end up in AFTER the success of Mando and Disney+, but were almost inevitable just Look, honestly, I'll take the story however it comes and have been onboard with Filoni since hearing him back in 2008 or 2009 for the first time when I watched The Clone Wars movie on DVD with the audio commentary, but I will say, if Ahsoka, for whatever reason, falls flat, I think it does place question marks over a lot of their current plans, because there's a LOT riding on Dave right now given how integral he is alongside Jon in setting up this post-ROTJ GFFA, especially with Dave set to direct the film that this is all going to be leading up to. And, excited as I am for Ahsoka, I do think there's a solid argument to be made for choosing live-action over animation to be a questionable decision for a series which is a sequel - in its plot - to an animated series which is criminally underrated and never had the viewership it deserved, which in turn is a sequel series to an animated series which was George's last solid and direct contribution to the franchise in everything that was TCW. There's then the voice cast not getting to continue what they started (or continued) in Rebels, and so on, and so while I'm here for whatever they decide to do, if not with Dave's progression in mind, I do think it would be a super weird decision to make in isolation. I'm also very, very, very curious to see how they handle filling people in on a titular character where, if you've only seen her in live-action through the Disney+ shows, you don't really have a great idea about who she is besides some winks and nods (for example: "I'm an old friend of the family") to her past. It's much easier said than done convincing people that animated series are worth checking out in the first place, at least in the west (and I'm speaking from a place of a whole lot of experience there!), but considering how someone as integral to individual backstories as Satine wasn't name-dropped in Kenobi or Mando (to this point), I really do wonder how that stuff gets treated. As for how the show itself turns out, and balancing Ahsoka's storyline and the search for Ezra and Thrawn, I'm honestly not too sure. Given we've seen marketing material (both footage and on t-shirts) that shows Sabine with long hair and shorter hair, got to imagine there's a time skip in there somewhere (before and to/after the end of Rebels), so perhaps the first half will be focused more on Ahsoka and the latter half more on finding Ezra and Thrawn? It's an interesting one with Ahsoka, because I don't know about you, but for me - and I say this as someone who has always liked the character, before people needed to be convinced about her with her growth in TCW - in the timeline it doesn't really feel like she's had much growth since The Clone Wars. Maybe that's more to do with the extent of her role being somewhat limited in Rebels and the Disney+ live-action shows, but it makes naming the show after her an even more interesting decision for me (then again, I generally hate the fact that we're just naming shows after characters, so ), so maybe some flashbacks or conversations with certain blue wispy folk could be a good opportunity for that. Dialogue I agree being a bit of a concern based on what we've had in the live-action shows so far, but with Dave being the showrunner, writer, creator, and having all the other important titles too, I do genuinely think it'll be a step up from what we've seen in Mando and Book of Boba Fett, simply because we're returning to characters he's either written for years or that he's had a hand in creating for the show. While Jon is no doubt going to be involved with Ahsoka - I mean, he's an EP, and he's a very atypically hands-on one if Mando and Boba are anything to go by! - I think it's clear that this is mostly going to be Dave's baby, and rightly so. I'm excited for Ahsoka, just generally cautious, because while I trust Dave and what he does, they do seem to be steering incredibly close to setting up their own take on Heir to the Empire (so much so that I'd be kind of shocked if Dave's film isn't called that) with everything they're setting up in the shows. That comes with its own load of baggage that I'm sure we'll get into some other time, though! Edited April 19, 2023 by Julius 1
Happenstance Posted April 19, 2023 Posted April 19, 2023 Anyone got any of the Black Series helmets? I'm in the mood for a new project so I'm thinking about getting some to weather a bit and display. At the moment I'm probably going with Mando's and Bo-Katan's but the reason I ask if anyone has them is to check the heights so I know they'll fit on my shelves. I get conflicting info when I Google or use Amazon etc.
Julius Posted April 19, 2023 Author Posted April 19, 2023 (edited) Thoughts on the Mando S3 finale: Spoiler no episode title listed in Disney+, does this mean something?! > THE RETURN?! THRAWN?! > Oh never mind no Thrawn was a really fun arc to go on emotionally around the title of this episode lmao another fun arc to go on: Woves is totally about to betray them > oh never mind he's actually sticking around > ????? > oh okay he's sacrificing himself and going to kamikaze the lightcruiser into the Imp base, got it > oh wow okay never mind he actually jumped ship the fighting in this episode was badass, whether it be Mando's solo attempt at an escape, his and Bo's (and Grogu's) fight with Gideon, the fight against the Supercommandos in the hallway (my personal favourite), or Grogu and Mando vs the Praetorian Guards (also lmao the fact that just Force pulling their weapons away from them kept working killed me ). Can I just say though, Mando goes into the hallway scene without a weapon, despite the fact he could have picked one up when he and Grogu/IG-12 took out the Imps that were dragging him through the corridors? some really badass shots, especially pretty much anything flying towards/away from the Imp base. The Mandalorians charging with Bo wielding the Darksaber and The Armourer's drop before then, clanging at Imps with hammers, was absolutely badass haha okay so Gideon wasn't just talking about his own Vader-esque armour when saying "the thing missing from the suit is ME" last episode, he literally meant he was cloning himself with Force powers and was going to have his own fleet of...himself...to command. That's some next level narcissism for a Star Wars character not named Sheev! Don't know how I feel about the room being left by Gideon despite being the centrepiece of his masterplan, and Din just pressing a button and wiping it all out - maybe we see Gideon return (as a clone or otherwise) next season, but meh, I'm kind of over him as a villain at this point, especially with Thrawn and the teases of what's in store for Mando and Grogu at the end of this episode (which I'll jump into in a bit) my reaction to Gideon being incinerated (space fuel doesn't melt Beskar, anyone? ) and realising he won't be crawling back to the chambers to speak to the Shadow Council and get a verbal beatdown from Thrawn: probably for budget reasons, but based on the concept art, we missed an entire space battle in the skies above Mandalore. Urgh. I know, I know, the episode had enough badass moments, but even though I get trying to stick to a budget, it's always a pain to hear as an excuse for a Disney-backed Lucasfilm to need to clearly leave big action setpieces on the floor. R5 and the mouse droids were hilarious, really thought that mouse droid went to go get some Supercommandos, so I was chuckling to myself when it came back with three more mouse droids and they just started headbutting R5 the one falling to its unfortunate demise killed me too! once again, just the right amount of YES and NO from Grogu and IG-12 for me this episode RIP the Darksaber, you were fun Grogu not passing out after using the Force to protect them is a little bit of nice character growth since S1. Do always hate when we get wider shots of these moemnts face-on though, because the CG is just too distractingly obvious - the side shot and the shot from behind Grogu were wonderful though! I know we've already seen it a few times now, but Sundari Ragnar finally getting to have his ceremony was good to see, especially after Paz's passing. Do feel ike there was a missed character moment here where he could have been off by himself with his helmet off looking at his dad's helmet or something before putting his on and then stepping out to the ceremony, but whatever; just a bit awkward when Paz's demise and the Darksaber's are very quickly brushed under the table for...reasons? aww, Din adopting Grogu was perfect - yes, THIS IS the Way! Also lmao all of us calling him Din when apparently that was his surname all along, placed before his forename? What we going to call him now, for shorthand, Djar? Din Grogu has a nice ring to it, though, much more so than Grogu Djarin. oh yeah, Grogu is 1000% coming back for that Mythosaur at some point! crazy to finally see Mandalore reclaimed by the Mandalorians, I was a bit worried going into this episode that it'd be left over again until S4, but nope, it took us where it needed to and got the job done. speaking of which, damn, from this ending I definitely get the sense that S3 got heavily altered based on other shows stepping into the limelight (namely Ahsoka) and others being cancelled (Rangers of the New Republic), because Din's and Grogu's new role as working for the New Republic and helping track down Imperial Remnants (amongst other busywork) sounds exactly like what Rangers was going to be, which I'm very excited for, because some parts of S2 and most of S3 definitely saw the story steer far away from Mando and Grogu, which is what I missed most from S1 and early S2. Also positions him rather well to turn up in Ahsoka if needed, because it seems like he'll be hunting down the other members of the Shadow Council? they really went hard in rounding off Mando's story and tying up a whole lot of loose threads at the end there, at least relating to Mando specifically (I mean, IG-12 is rebuilt as IG-11 in the space of a few minutes). Obviously there's still more to come, but him and Grogu chilling on Navarro definitely felt like the end of his major arc becoming a father, helping to reclaim Mandalore, etc. Only one thing missing from that final shot: WHERE THE HELL WAS OUR BOY R5 in that final shot?! Also that poor frog haha. Was not expecting the Looney Tunes-style cutout zoom at the end there, but probably a nod to old John Ford/Wayne films (I hop? And not a Looney Tunes thing?) I never try to go into Star Wars expecting post-credits scenes with them being so rare, but with no Boba at all this season and with Episode 7 namedropping Thrawn to tease Ahsoka, I'm surprised that there was nothing at the end here. Guess they felt the bow they tied on everything and essentially telling us what S4 would be handling was enough, so fair enough! A great two-part finale, but for me, just taking the final episode individually, I think it's the weakest final episode to a season of Mando so far - but I think that's more a product of it leaning so heavily on the preceding episode as a foundation, and the final episodes for S1 and S2 being so damn strong. Overall, I think Mando S3 has been the biggest mixed bag we've had in a season of Mando so far (look no further than Episode 6: Guns for Hire and how it contrasts so starkly with my favourites this season, Episode 3: The Convert and Episode 7: The Spies), and like I touch on in the spoiler tag but won't expand on too much here: I think it was clearly impacted by the plans for other Disney+ Star Wars offerings, and so was always going to be trying to deliver on the tough ask of rounding off this trilogy of seasons while also serving as a launchpad for other things to come. Joseph Shirley stepping up to bat and then some in Ludwig Gorannson's absence to compose this season's music is the biggest takeaway of the season for me, because I think he absolutely killed it. Adapted and evolved Ludwig's themes, and implemented plenty of his own, excited to hopefully hear more from him in Mando S4. Time to begin the countdown to Ahsoka I guess! Oh, man, it's going to be a loooooooong four months Edited April 19, 2023 by Julius
Ronnie Posted April 20, 2023 Posted April 20, 2023 (edited) Chapter 24... Man, that was a fantastic season finale. In fact I actually thought it retroactively brought the rest of the season up a level. Incredible action, satisfying resolutions and in true Mando video game fashion, another *Main Quest Complete* to round off the season, with a tease of what's in store in S4. Truth be told, I was relieved when the Armorer told Din he had to go off with his new apprentice on adventures. The Mandalore storyline has been fun, but I'm ready for some non-Mando-centric, Outer Rim adventures now.I'd read far too many bullshit internet rumours about a falling out between Pedro Pascal and Lucasfilm and how they were supposedly killing him off this episode stupid me for paying any attention to stuff like that, but I did go into the episode a bit worried, especially with Brendan Wayne talking about how this one is going to hurt. Sounds like he was just messing with the fanbase a bit cause it was as happy an ending as can be really. Spoiler 10 hours ago, Julius said: no episode title listed in Disney+, does this mean something?! Seasons 1 and 2 only put episode titles on Disney+ a few days after release. It was only the start of S3 where they'd put them from the beginning for some reason? I much prefer waiting till the title card to find out what it's called. 10 hours ago, Julius said: another fun arc to go on: Woves is totally about to betray them > oh never mind he's actually sticking around > ????? > oh okay he's sacrificing himself and going to kamikaze the lightcruiser into the Imp base, got it > oh wow okay never mind he actually jumped ship Relieved he jumped ship otherwise that would have been a real Picard facepalm moment. I like the character a lot actually, from what little we've seen, glad he's sticking around. 10 hours ago, Julius said: some really badass shots, especially pretty much anything flying towards/away from the Imp base. The Mandalorians charging with Bo wielding the Darksaber and The Armourer's drop before then, clanging at Imps with hammers, was absolutely badass The action all episode (season?) was top notch, but I was really impressed by the mid-air battle at the base, something that crazy could have been really hard to follow along with but they did a great job keeping it all visible. 10 hours ago, Julius said: crazy to finally see Mandalore reclaimed by the Mandalorians, I was a bit worried going into this episode that it'd be left over again until S4, but nope, it took us where it needed to and got the job done. Yeah I was really glad this resolved this season too. The show doesn't tend to string things along too much I feel, gets to where it needs to go relatively quickly, (with the occasional side-quest or two). 10 hours ago, Julius said: speaking of which, damn, from this ending I definitely get the sense that S3 got heavily altered based on other shows stepping into the limelight (namely Ahsoka) and others being cancelled (Rangers of the New Republic), because Din's and Grogu's new role as working for the New Republic and helping track down Imperial Remnants (amongst other busywork) sounds exactly like what Rangers was going to be, which I'm very excited for, because some parts of S2 and most of S3 definitely saw the story steer far away from Mando and Grogu, which is what I missed most from S1 and early S2. Also positions him rather well to turn up in Ahsoka if needed, because it seems like he'll be hunting down the other members of the Shadow Council? It's been a strange season. The focus on Bo Katan really made me wonder if they were pivoting the whole show to her, especially with Rick Famuyiwa's comments at Celebration about who the titular Mandalorian really is. That, combined with the rumours of Din being killed off, made me wonder if he was foreshadowing or preparing fans for it. Glad S4 seems to be back to Din and Grogu though, albeit with a Rangers of the New Republic flavour to it like you say. Fine by me, get as many X-wings and Y-wings in the show as you can Jon! 10 hours ago, Julius said: R5 and the mouse droids were hilarious, really thought that mouse droid went to go get some Supercommandos, so I was chuckling to myself when it came back with three more mouse droids and they just started headbutting R5 the one falling to its unfortunate demise killed me too! This whole bit was HILARIOUS. What a legend R5 has become. 10 hours ago, Julius said: I never try to go into Star Wars expecting post-credits scenes with them being so rare, but with no Boba at all this season and with Episode 7 namedropping Thrawn to tease Ahsoka, I'm surprised that there was nothing at the end here. Guess they felt the bow they tied on everything and essentially telling us what S4 would be handling was enough, so fair enough! Kind of glad it's not become a Marvel thing where you expect it every time. The Mando S2 one was to announce a new series and the Andor one was cool but a little un-necessary. Anyway, a 10/10 for me. Had a great time. Overall, bit of an up and down season. Some fantastic highs for me: The Mines of Mandalore, The Pirate and The Return, and a couple of lows: The Foundling and Guns for Hire. Then you had great little moments like Din in the Anzellan workshop in the first episode, the Purrgill scene, the awesome creature design of the Pirate King and that incredible ship dogfight on Bo's planet, the creepy spider monster thing on Mandalore, and of course, my boy, Zeb in live action . Overall negatives? Clunky dialogue quite often, and a few too many big monsters. The scope has definitely increased and this season was always going to be a bit of an adjustment because of that. 13 hours ago, Happenstance said: Anyone got any of the Black Series helmets? I'm in the mood for a new project so I'm thinking about getting some to weather a bit and display. At the moment I'm probably going with Mando's and Bo-Katan's but the reason I ask if anyone has them is to check the heights so I know they'll fit on my shelves. I get conflicting info when I Google or use Amazon etc. Haven't got any but this display case might give you an idea, it has the dimensions of the case included so might help a bit narrow things down. On 19/04/2023 at 12:58 AM, Julius said: I don't so much buy the "they believed they could tell it better in live-action than animation", because while that's Jon's medium, it's not so much Dave's - yet - and if he wanted it to be animated, he could have played it safe and gone with trying to drive it down that route. Dave is better positioned than just about anyone to observe the limitations of live-action, and the timelessness of animation, if nothing else, makes it an interesting proposition which could have gone either way...before the success of Mando and Disney+. Yeah that strikes me as more of a Jon quote than anything Dave might say. Tbh it was never officially quoted, was just an insider report, so who knows really. On 19/04/2023 at 12:58 AM, Julius said: Again, think there's multiple factors at play here – if Ahsoka is tying into Mando and leading up to the culmination event film? Well we now know it is - but was that always the plan, I wonder? I'd guess not with the directions Mando has taken since its first season, and S3 E7 felt like a hard left turn into making aggressive ties to the sequels and setting up their future plans - which to be clear, I loved, but it's just interesting. That exact question was asked in interview with the pair of them on IGN the other day, was it always the plan to tell a crossover story. They basically said that it was always the plan to expand the scope and start telling more galaxy-wide stories. I think Bad Batch is probably tying into the sequel trilogy (well, TROS in particular) more than Mando tbh, especially with the revelations of what Gideon wanted to do with cloning. Then again, he wasn't the only warlord interested in it, so I'm sure there'll be much more there in future seasons. S3 E7 only seemed to hint at it, for now. On 19/04/2023 at 12:58 AM, Julius said: I'm excited for Ahsoka, just generally cautious, because while I trust Dave and what he does, they do seem to be steering incredibly close to setting up their own take on Heir to the Empire (so much so that I'd be kind of shocked if Dave's film isn't called that) with everything they're setting up in the shows. That comes with its own load of baggage that I'm sure we'll get into some other time, though! His film is definitely being called that! I don't think it'll be a direct adaptation though, I've not read the Thrawn trilogy but from what I hear there's some weird stuff in it like clone Luuke. On 19/04/2023 at 12:58 AM, Julius said: It's an interesting one with Ahsoka, because I don't know about you, but for me - and I say this as someone who has always liked the character, before people needed to be convinced about her with her growth in TCW - in the timeline it doesn't really feel like she's had much growth since The Clone Wars. Maybe that's more to do with the extent of her role being somewhat limited in Rebels and the Disney+ live-action shows, but it makes naming the show after her an even more interesting decision for me (then again, I generally hate the fact that we're just naming shows after characters, so ), so maybe some flashbacks or conversations with certain blue wispy folk could be a good opportunity for that. This is her moment for growth and development, like you say she didn't have a big role in Rebels and definitely not the Mandoverse shows, so if not now then when. Always interesting to hear the rest of your thoughts btw, even if I don't reply to everything. Only four months to go... only four Ditto your thoughts on the previous two eps of Mando. Briefly for me... Guns for Hire: - really disliked the opening scene. Did they pick some random dude off the street to voice the Mon Cala? Really cringeworthy scene. Very soap-opera and weird. - really disliked the closing scene. Like you say, weird plot progression with just handing over the Darksaber on a technicality. - hated the celebrity guests. The casting has always been weird on this show, be it comedians, or MMA fighters or Favreau's mates. - I actually really enjoyed the middle, detective part of the episode but it didn't get enough time for it to feel satisfying and the resolution was an example of Star Wars talking to itself. The reveal that Christopher Lloyd was a separatist will have flown way over the heads of casual Star Wars fans. A mate of mine still has no clue where the whole droids going rogue storyline went in the end for example. 5/10 for me. Tough gig for Bryce to be given! The Spies: - I think I was in a really bad mood when I watched this episode because I didn't enjoy it as much as I probably should. I could tell it was a good one but the awful dialogue was getting on my nerves. I was rolling my eyes so hard by the time the 13th Mandalorian said "I will go". - Cool pirate ship, or at least it was until another monster came in out of nowhere. - RIP Paz, you will be missed. 7/10 Spoiler The Apostate: 8/10The Mines of Mandalore: 8/10The Convert: 7/10The Foundling: 6.5/10The Pirate: 9/10Guns for Hire: 5/10The Spies: 7/10The Return: 10/10 Edited April 20, 2023 by Ronnie
Julius Posted April 21, 2023 Author Posted April 21, 2023 Vol. 2 of Mando S3's score, covering Chapters 21 - 24, is going to be made available within the next 24 hours...but is already up on Spotify so maybe go listen to it there? Quick scan through and I haven't come across the epic theme from Chapter 23 that I'm looking for, but surely it's in there...right? In other news the Adelphi Jukebox music from Episode 5/Chapter 21 made it in 22 hours ago, Ronnie said: I think Bad Batch is probably tying into the sequel trilogy (well, TROS in particular) more than Mando tbh, especially with the revelations of what Gideon wanted to do with cloning. Then again, he wasn't the only warlord interested in it, so I'm sure there'll be much more there in future seasons. S3 E7 only seemed to hint at it, for now. Bad Batch is in a very interesting position considering its place in the timeline, all things considered, but if we're talking cloning, well... Spoiler ...if we're talking about the cloning in Bad Batch specifically tying into the sequels, well, I think it's tying into what we're seeing in Mando (the general research being done) and both of which will tie into the sequels in some shape or another. The important thing to remember is that - as things stand, I mean it could change seeing as canon isn't as sacred as it was when Disney first bought Lucasfilm and shifted things around - when it comes to Palpatine himself, Necromancer (Hux seemed the only other really interested party in cloning, at least considering what Gideon said, and Necromancer is his project) and any other cloning plans relating to his return seemingly fail – seeing as it's the Sith Eternal and their dark magic which are ultimately responsible for his return, as it's their clone that they've prepared, not the Empire's, which ends up hosting his essence. The cylinders filled with Snokes definitely implies that they're also ultimately responsible for him, too – which makes sense considering how Snoke is (currently) interpreted to have come out of nowhere and pulled the Imperial Remnants together under one roof. I would be *shocked* if whatever is going on in The Bad Batch on Mount Tantiss isn't somehow related to their long-term plans for Thrawn in canon, seeing as that is a location plucked straight out of Zahn's original Thrawn trilogy (Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising and The Last Command). The fact that they seem more and more interested in digging into clones (a particular variant of which which Mount Tantiss stored in the Thrawn trilogy) rather than seemingly experimenting on Jedi, etc., at least from what we've seen in TBB, makes me wonder if Mount Tantiss is going to end up part of the plan to replenish the Imperial Fleet in the New Republic era – Episode 7 of Mando S3 shone a light on just how thinly spread the Empire seems to be outside of Thrawn's plans for his return and Hux's hand in helping build the First Order. The thing is, if Bad Batch and Mando are just working on cloning which will eventually tie into the sequels, it doesn't really go anywhere too interesting in terms of developing what we already know. Is it really that interesting if at the end of Bad Batch, or at some point in Mando, we end up seeing a Snoke clone? Or someone whispers about trying to clone Palpatine? Maybe they end up responsible for the "failed" clone of Palpatine that is his son, but otherwise, I don't think either is a solid storytelling decision. Maybe I'm giving them too much credit, but I think we're getting a bunch of red herrings in both Bad Batch and Mando for how the cloning in both shows ultimately relates to anything in the sequels, and I don't think they're even necessarily red herrings – but just smart writing decisions by omission (again, potentially me giving them too much credit here because maybe they just rewrite things a little and tweak what they can about Palpatine's return). We know the initial thought Palpatine had about preparing for his own death and wanting to achieve immortality in some form or another, and we know the end result is that he ultimately ends up returning in a clone body and has a failed clone "son", but the smart decision in saying nothing means that every time cloning is shown or hinted at, our first guess is that it's related to Snoke, or Palpatine, or his son, and so on. That's the part I think - and hope - is a misdirect, and I think the fact that Gideon used the cloning research to clone himself and introduce the idea of hybrid clones (such as a clone of a non-Force sensitive someone with Force sensitivity) is a hint of what could be to come - that someone else could use this tech better without the crazed love Moff Gideon had for himself. It's like Chekhov's Gun except imagine there's a, what, 30+ year gap between it being fired in ROTJ with his demise and his return by the time of TROS? Again, we already seem to be heading towards some form of retelling for Heir to the Empire, which I never thought they'd consider tackling, and the fact that they've brought back certain locations and characters from the original Zahn trilogy makes me think that maybe they are going to do something a bit more interesting with the cloning. I mean, like I said, I could be wrong and just giving them too much credit, but I think there's just too little payoff for this extensive focus on cloning if it just ends up going in a direction we already expect anyways (how it plays into the sequels). We'll just have to wait and see I guess! Could be a good while yet before we get a clear picture on how this is all going to pay off though! 23 hours ago, Ronnie said: His film is definitely being called that! I don't think it'll be a direct adaptation though, I've not read the Thrawn trilogy but from what I hear there's some weird stuff in it like clone Luuke. I'm getting chills just thinking about the film starting, the opening crawl kicking in and HEIR TO THE EMPIRE It has been over five years since the REBELLION destroyed the second DEATH STAR. In the wake of its destruction and the death of the Emperor, the fledgling guerrilla group laid down their arms and founded the NEW REPUBLIC. Despite the death of their Emperor, Warlords of IMPERIAL REMNANTS have amassed riches and fleets which continue to challenge the NEW REPUBLIC's grip on the fringes of the known galaxy. However, far beyond the reach of both the NEW REPUBLIC and the IMPERIALS REMNANTS, deep in the dark corners of [Wild Space/the Unknown Regions/idk maybe they call it something new], GRAND ADMIRAL THRAWN has been preparing for his return to the known galaxy as HEIR TO THE EMPIRE... Yeah okay so it'd be three paragraphs, too many things in all caps, and whatever, but I'm just excited Totally agree it wouldn't be a direct adaptation, like I said, I think it'll be their take on the story (within the confines of canon, new characters, and everything else). The thing that concerns me about that a little is that, from a storytelling and production perspective, I wouldn't be surprised if certain roles are adapted to new characters from wider canon (for example, if Ahsoka took the role of Luke, or maybe more likely, a returning Ezra and the potential to do a Luke/Mara-styled romance adapted to Ezra/Sabine), which I could see getting a lot of backlash, especially seeing as it's very likely that Dave's original characters from his animated series are likely to be at the centre of this story rather than Luke – because I struggle to see them wanting to have him be a main character when, so long as it's a live-action project, there are so many obstacles in the way of him being a main character because of the prohibitive cost and time it would take to deepfake him into a key role, much less to actually have him grow into a central role again, seeing as he's very much on the fringes (at best) so far. Then again, imagine they did put the legwork in and once the dust settles, the film ends with him, Leia and Han meeting with Snoke...hmm, just so many possibilities! I've read the Thrawn trilogy a handful of times growing up, but it has admittedly been a good while now since I last visited them - don't think I've read them since before Rogue One came out in 2016, so might need to revisit them (and dive into the Outbound Flight novels again, before returning to the current canon Zahn-written Thrawn stuff!), but yeah, things like Luuke I wouldn't worry about them carrying over. We all know they're just going to rename Luke's clone to be Lukealike instead
Ronnie Posted April 21, 2023 Posted April 21, 2023 7 hours ago, Julius said: Yeah okay so it'd be three paragraphs, too many things in all caps, and whatever, but I'm just excited You also missed a fourth dot at the end.... I wouldn't be so sure of Mount Tantiss figuring into the Thrawn storyline much, even if it played a big part in the books. The Bad Batch S3 needs a bit climactic victory, and a clone uprising destroying Tantiss in the series finale seems like a safe bet. It could come at a heavy cost so it's not a fully happy ending, but there definitely needs to be a win and sabotaging Palpatine's plans there I think would fit. Similar to how the Rebels last episode centred a victory on Lothal. Re: adapting new characters into the book versions, I imagine if this will all be building for another few years that's plenty of time to introduce a Mara Jade type into the story. But yeah, Ahsoka seems likely to take the Luke role, even though I'd be amazed if we don't see a deepfake Luke in the various series/film at some point. Not a huge role but he'll definitely play a part. Woke up in a great mood yesterday because I loved Mando S03E08 from the night before so much. It put a much better perspective on the whole season for me, a season that really seemed to sideline Din and Grogu, until then. I'm not sure Favreau is ever going to win any awards for his writing, but it was a lot of fun regardless.
Julius Posted April 21, 2023 Author Posted April 21, 2023 (edited) 55 minutes ago, Ronnie said: You also missed a fourth dot at the end.... What's funny about that is that the fourth dot was there in the draft the entire time up until just before I submitted my reply, and then I removed it purely because it just didn't look right in the font on here also probably because I just couldn't be bothered to centre the title, maybe that made it look a bit off too 55 minutes ago, Ronnie said: I wouldn't be so sure of Mount Tantiss figuring into the Thrawn storyline much, even if it played a big part in the books. The Bad Batch S3 needs a bit climactic victory, and a clone uprising destroying Tantiss in the series finale seems like a safe bet. It could come at a heavy cost so it's not a fully happy ending, but there definitely needs to be a win and sabotaging Palpatine's plans there I think would fit. Similar to how the Rebels last episode centred a victory on Lothal. To be clear I don't think it needs to tie in the exact same way, but bringing it back and not having it tie in in any way would be the stranger move. The research living on into that era is more than enough of a tie-in if the facility itself isn't still around. Again, I'm all for whatever they decide to do, but I don't think that Tantiss and the cloning in Mando S3 need to necessarily lead up to being sequel tie-ins, because like I said above, it's a bit of a nothingburger in terms of a potential reveal. I mean, just thinking back to Mando S3 E7... Spoiler ...Praetorian Guards came out of nowhere, implied to have some sort of history with the Empire, when there was no reason to believe they were around in this period serving the Empire beforehand. It was still awesome, but while a nod and thread to tie into other Praetorian Guards turning up in the sequels, the danger they pose as warriors is what makes them interesting in their scenes in Mando, not the fact that they tie into the sequels. I just think having all cloning roads leading either directly to the Emperor and the sequels or being destroyed is the most boring way to use that storytelling opportunity, because it is safe and significantly lowers the stakes if we know where everything is heading, but we'll need to wait and see. The Batch can still have their victory while the research lives on, whether that be on Tantiss or elsewhere. Considering what/who the Batch are going after and the battle they'd be tied up in (for their brothers in a potential uprising), victory isn't contingent - yet - on the destruction of Tantiss, and they can still achieve some sort of victory without needing a Rebels-like victory. Because... Spoiler ...I can't see Bad Batch ending on the highest of notes for our heroes, just considering the characters in play and what is at stake. Regardless of whether or not Tantiss survives, I feel like the true sense of victory is going to be coming from saving Omega, and everything else is secondary to that. The clone uprising could result in Tantiss being destroyed, and to be clear I'd love that because I love the clones more than I do Tantiss, but even if they win, the uprising is probably going to get crushed. I've mentioned it before, but Rex still has hope and a reason to fight in the show as of S2 - and when we find him in Rebels, he's lost all sense of that hope and fight. Watching his brothers rebel in one final uprising - and leading the charge - before it ultimately goes awry is the natural fit to set up his character in Rebels. This is perhaps the bleakest period in the galaxy, even beyond the Clone Wars, when the Empire is flexing their strength and still growing into the corners of their glass jar as an entity, still securing the grounds that their new Empire will stand on, not Rebels where they're already some all-consuming entity and a loss on Lothal, while vital and important for the Rebels, isn't some major setback in the same way that whatever is cooking on Tantiss potentially would be for the Emperor. They can save Omega, lose the clone uprising, and whether or not Tantiss is destroyed, it can still feel like a victory. Oh, and to be clear, this is obviously all just me spitballing and speculating, not so much predicting what's going to happen if you ever see a late night post written by me know that the point is there but the wording - and how absolute it is - might be a little off thanks to tiredness creeping in (but I've got to get to sleep somehow and aimless spitballing about stories is basically my daydreaming) I just think narratively that there are a few too many threads seemingly directly linking to certain things that, purely from the perspective of telling a story, aren't all that interesting to find out. I think things going the more predictable route would still be interesting simply to see the reaction of a certain Senate. For me, it's almost like having a post-credits scene at the end of a Marvel film having already seen the following films: it can be exciting for a fleeting moment, but for the most part, those post-credits scenes and how they link in are vapid. 55 minutes ago, Ronnie said: Re: adapting new characters into the book versions, I imagine if this will all be building for another few years that's plenty of time to introduce a Mara Jade type into the story. But yeah, Ahsoka seems likely to take the Luke role, even though I'd be amazed if we don't see a deepfake Luke in the various series/film at some point. Not a huge role but he'll definitely play a part. Oh yeah, agreed, I think we see him again, like I said I think it's just clear that, however they play this, he's not going to be one of the main characters in the same way that he was in the original Heir to the Empire. As for a Mara Jade type character being introduced, I'm not too sure, it almost adds too many questions around where Luke is at the time of the New Republic and where he is when we find him in the sequels. I also don't really see them giving him a romantic interest in live-action because of the time constraints already in place around Luke basically being limited in his appearances by the tech (cost and time), I just don't think there would be time to flesh that idea out fully with a deepfaked face, because he's just turning up randomly in other people's shows so far than a show of his own, which would be the more natural place to introduce such a character and begin to flesh out such a relationship. I don't think that there needs to be romance in every story, but, I will say that, if there is one, there is a bit of a natural route to follow it through with the Ezra and Sabine, and a history there that means it wouldn't need to be entirely introduced and then fleshed out in live-action – Rebels and how it ended, and the Ahsoka trailers, are set up in a way so that it could just as easily end up romantic as much as it could stay platonic. It's not necessarily something that I'm hoping for or predicting, but from a storytelling perspective, if there is to be a romance in this entire thing, I do think that would be the easiest place to write it in Edited April 21, 2023 by Julius
Julius Posted April 21, 2023 Author Posted April 21, 2023 Some great artwork for the last two episodes of Mando S3: Spoiler
Happenstance Posted April 23, 2023 Posted April 23, 2023 With the High Republic omnibus having been announced I figured I should finally give this era a try before I have to (and I do have to 😆) get it to go with all my other omnibus' so I just bought the first High Republic book, Light of the Jedi to read.
Happenstance Posted April 24, 2023 Posted April 24, 2023 On 19/04/2023 at 1:35 PM, Happenstance said: Anyone got any of the Black Series helmets? I'm in the mood for a new project so I'm thinking about getting some to weather a bit and display. At the moment I'm probably going with Mando's and Bo-Katan's but the reason I ask if anyone has them is to check the heights so I know they'll fit on my shelves. I get conflicting info when I Google or use Amazon etc. Well I got the Bo-Katan one. Doesn't quite fit on the shelf with the range finder up so I'll have to figure out somewhere else to display it if I want that up (which I do). Good news is though that the Mandalorian helmet is shorter so that one will definitely fit and that's the one I want to work on weathering and adding some extra detail to. Might order that in a week once I've been paid. Looks great though
Ronnie Posted April 26, 2023 Posted April 26, 2023 On 21/04/2023 at 11:11 AM, Julius said: What's funny about that is that the fourth dot was there in the draft the entire time up until just before I submitted my reply, and then I removed it purely because it just didn't look right in the font on here Ok phew, I was wondering if I might have needed to revoke your Star Wars nerd card for that mistake.... On 21/04/2023 at 11:11 AM, Julius said: I just think having all cloning roads leading either directly to the Emperor and the sequels or being destroyed is the most boring way to use that storytelling opportunity, because it is safe and significantly lowers the stakes if we know where everything is heading, but we'll need to wait and see. Isn't "we know where everything is heading" a pretty staple story-telling method for a lot of Star Wars? The prequels, The Clone Wars etc... Obviously you know that, I'm just saying there's a balance to be struck between telling an interesting story in the here and now whilst also setting up ties to later eras. All the cloning storylines in Bad Batch and Mando definitely have their own unique payoffs, but they can still leave a trail of breadcrumbs to the sequels, like you've said. Tough to speculate on an endgame for The Bad Batch. Like you say I don't think it can end on the happiest of terms, hence the need for some kind of far-reaching victory that goes beyond just "rescue Omega/Crosshair". I don't think that would be enough. Possibly crippling the Empire's/Emperor's cloning plans and setting it back a couple of decades (until the time of Mando) would be enough, and by that point Tantiss is operational again. If anything that's probably an even bigger victory than what Rebels did with its finale, but both felt fitting and realistic to the story that those shows told. On 21/04/2023 at 11:11 AM, Julius said: I don't think that there needs to be romance in every story, but, I will say that, if there is one, there is a bit of a natural route to follow it through with the Ezra and Sabine, and a history there that means it wouldn't need to be entirely introduced and then fleshed out in live-action – Rebels and how it ended, and the Ahsoka trailers, are set up in a way so that it could just as easily end up romantic as much as it could stay platonic. Interesting, I hadn't really considered that. I'm open to it if it's done well, we'll see. Just the four months to wait though.
Julius Posted April 27, 2023 Author Posted April 27, 2023 (edited) 20 hours ago, Ronnie said: Isn't "we know where everything is heading" a pretty staple story-telling method for a lot of Star Wars? The prequels, The Clone Wars etc... Obviously you know that, I'm just saying there's a balance to be struck between telling an interesting story in the here and now whilst also setting up ties to later eras. All the cloning storylines in Bad Batch and Mando definitely have their own unique payoffs, but they can still leave a trail of breadcrumbs to the sequels, like you've said. Sure, but like I said, purely from a storytelling POV: it's also incredibly limiting and boring as hell to know how everything ends. We can debate all day and night on whether or not the prequels should have been made from a storytelling POV, but The Clone Wars covers only 3 years in the timeline and yet does so much to flesh out the clones, the Republic of that era, Anakin's eventual fall from grace, and so on, that from a storytelling POV I think it was an absolute necessity to tell those stories. There are 30 years (10x the amount of time TCW takes place over!) between the end of the OT and the start of the ST for them to fill out, as things stand. While I think a nod here and there to what is to come is fine, to flesh out the different factions of the Imperial Remnants and inform us about the New Republic, I'm sorry, but I'm going to be disappointed if all they do for that 30 year window is just wink and nod at Snoke, Palpatine's return, etc. This isn't me at all saying I'm right about Tantiss and it potentially tying into Thrawn, or anything else for that matter, but PURELY from a storytelling POV, that would be a huge waste of some seriously massive real estate in the Star Wars timeline as things stand. There's practically no space built into the sequel trilogy to flesh things out there, so by all means, set up the building blocks elsewhere - it's not like what they've done so far in talking about the Imperial Remnants and hinting at the creation of the First Order is anything particularly new for the New Republic era, as some of the novels have done plenty in that regard. For me, it's one thing to know where everything is heading, and something else entirely to have everything be leading to that place, if that makes sense. Heck, The Bad Batch made it clear as day that there were other things the Emperor was intent on cloning - a certain kaiju-style critter comes to mind - so I really don't think it's that far a leap to think there are other pet projects he has lined up for his cloning facility (whether or not they come to pass, like we've said, is a whole other thing). For me, I think the difference between the current New Republic era works (Mando, Book of Boba Fett, and Ahsoka) is that while they do take place earlier in the timeline and hint at what's to come, they are not being sold as prequels to the sequels, and nor should they be; similarly, they're not being sold as sequels to the originals, either. This is very different to the prequels and The Clone Wars, which were both sold as being prequels to particular storylines. It's clear that they have their own function within this New Republic era, and to be honest, Ahsoka is turning out to look like it'll be the direct Rebels sequel series we've been waiting for (and is being sold as such), and heck at this point even Mando - especially in S3 - has felt like it's been doing it's fiduciary duty by rounding off threads lingering back to TCW and Rebels. Again, you can tell Dave has been involved in this because of how many threads he's getting to tie up that he couldn't before. I don't know, for me, there are very few stories which serve as prequels - as in, actually serving as backstory in setting up a particular thread or beat in the original work - and amongst them I'd count things like Red Dead Redemption 2, Andor, and a few others which are escaping me, but the point I want to make is: a good story aiming to be a prequel is rare; very, very rare. Having two shows separately set up cloning for the villain returning some nearly 50/25 years after the fact would make The Bad Batch and Mando pretty important prequels in the grand scheme of things to the sequels in a way I personally wouldn't be a huge fan of. For me, what distinguishes stories like RDR2 and Andor is that they are character driven first and foremost, whereas I look at everything in the New Republic era of Star Wars and, by contrast, it is decidedly driven by plot. I have no issue with that - I loooooooooove a good plot and tie-ins as much as the next Star Wars fan - but everything being driven by plot to inevitably lead up to one point in another plot is, for me, and from a storytelling POV, incredibly boring and unambitious. Again, purely from a storytelling POV - not suggesting I'm right at all, nor am I really arguing for that but more the philosophy behind the story of it all - would it not be more interesting if we've basically been sleepwalking into these shows thinking that all of the cloning nods and hints were relating to the Emperor's return in the opening crawl of IX/his Fortnite-exclusive return message, only to find out it was actually hunting at something else entirely? I don't know, maybe it's just because I'm a huge fan of the old EU Vong theory stuff, where the Emperor didn't just create the Death Stars to keep planets in line, but also in fear of forces from outside the known galaxy swooping in and wrecking shop. I love that stuff and would love if we've been all been misdirected just by assuming we know exactly where this is going, just because we know where it leads to. But like I said before: just as likely they're not doing that, and that would be okay. I just really don't want the largest gap between trilogies be wasted, you know? 20 hours ago, Ronnie said: Tough to speculate on an endgame for The Bad Batch. Like you say I don't think it can end on the happiest of terms, hence the need for some kind of far-reaching victory that goes beyond just "rescue Omega/Crosshair". I don't think that would be enough. Possibly crippling the Empire's/Emperor's cloning plans and setting it back a couple of decades (until the time of Mando) would be enough, and by that point Tantiss is operational again. If anything that's probably an even bigger victory than what Rebels did with its finale, but both felt fitting and realistic to the story that those shows told. Yeah, I agree, that's definitely one way it could end (with the destruction of Tantiss) and it could certainly be functional again by the NR era, but the only issue really I'd have with it is that Sheev is one hell of a vindictive douchebag (ahem, as one of his appearances as Sidious in TCW clearly shows) and I can't see any way he'd let any clone who had a hand in destroying his facility live. And that would extend to anyone who survived to Rebels, for me. I'm not sure I totally agree about the far-reaching victory part. It could be where it ends up - honestly, if I were a betting man, I'd bet that they do end up destroying Tantiss or some of those facilities - but I don't think anything beyond saving Omega and/or Crosshair is needed to be a win to our protagonists in The Bad Batch. Now, the clones at large? Sure, maybe they need or want a bigger win, but even in the old EU with the Kamino Uprising, that's not something they got. Like I said, Rex ends up pretty lost and defeated by the time we find him in Rebels, and him leading all of his brothers in one final charge against the Empire and getting crushed - and him feeling responsible for that - seems like a very easy way to put him into position for Rebels. Then again, they could just as easily make it so that a bunch of them sacrifice themselves while the Batch and Rex get off-world, which gives them both a victory against the Empire (in an incredibly pyrrhic sense of the word) and still gets Rex into position for Rebels. Also, like I said before, which is important to remember if we're talking strictly about Palpy's return, is that unless they tweak things, the Imperial Remnants/First Order ultimately aren't responsible for his return or Snoke's creation: the Sith Eternal were (not something I'm a fan of, but it was what it was). Again, they could tweak it, or make it so that they got a leg up with their dark magic through what they learned from the cloning projects, but for now... Ultimately, I'm sure I'll find things to enjoy in whatever we end up with – my points are more about storytelling potential and what I feel they could do to make it a bit more interesting (let's call it the sleepwalking subversion cliff), but yeah, I'm just here to enjoy the ride at least it seems like this time they've been allowed time for it all to be talked out and have a vision for where this is going! Edited April 27, 2023 by Julius 1
Julius Posted April 28, 2023 Author Posted April 28, 2023 (edited) It's been nearly three weeks since Celebration ended (), so what better time to post than now? Well, I've got to do something while I wait for Survivor to install... Day 1 - Friday 7th The first day of Celebration we didn't arrive until around 10:00, which was okay - we had won passes through the lottery to the Celebration Stage for probably the premier showing: the Lucasfilm Showcase (I'll also take this opportunity to say that we managed to pick up Celebration Stage passes for all of the other lottery events except for Ahsoka). I was honestly just getting hyped seeing so many Star Wars fans at the train station, and the conductor announcing as we arrived at the ExCel that "I know most of you are here for Celebration - stay safe, have a good weekend, and may the Force be with you!" was met with applause and laughter in equal measure. The Showcase was magical, so, so, so many reveals, so many guests (!), so many awesome moments which really just made me feel I was walking on clouds from the very start of Celebration. The highlight for me was probably seeing Daisy come out and get some love (I have issues with the sequels and zero of them can be put on the actors) as well as the timeline and the announcement of Filoni getting a film! Nah who am I kidding, it was the namedrop in the 8 minute preview we got of Mando S3 E7 - I still get chills when I watch that moment back Following this, we went straight from the Celebration Stage to the queues at the same stage for the Making of Andor panel, but not before I made a quick trip to the toilets and ran into the first of a few familiar faces over the weekend, Star Wars Sith, who was probably the only YouTuber to cover every SWC-related announcement in-depth (and is definitely a recommendation if you plan on going to SWC in the future), and so I thanked him for all his help in getting me ready for Celebration and wished him a good weekend; over the weekend we also ran into Eric Whiteley from Blind Wave (a few times, actually - the first time I was like "huh, swear that guy looks familiar..." ) and I recognised Father Roderick (yes, the priest who reacts to Star Wars trailers) on one of the other days we were walking the floor. The Making of Andor panel was brilliant, even if a little less energetic than the Showcase (which was much-needed in all honesty!), and I love just how much love the show got there and in the Showcase when showing off the next season and bringing out the cast. We got invited back to the premiere of Mando S3 E7 which started at 18:00, which meant quickly darting through from the Celebration Stage to the other side of the ExCel to pick up our Mando S3 posters, but not before I came across a not-so-tall guy posing for photos with one or two people...my first thought was maybe a smaller YouTuber, but nope, it was the legend himself, Doug Chiang! Almost didn't recognise him with the moustache he's been a hero of mine since I first started diving into the behind-the-scenes of Star Wars with the Making of Revenge of the Sith book I got from a carboot sale as a little kid, but I kind of blew it a little by taking too long to hype myself up enough for a photo - I was next to take a photo with him when he was whisked off by security as a small crowd had started to form. I didn't mind though (I'm really not one for being in photos, hence needing to hype myself up beforehand) - I got to see one of my heroes in the flesh, which was awesomeeeeeeee also made use of my Store reservation (all the tote bags were sold out immediately, and I really needed one because my bags were pretty full just on the journey into London; also spent a while trying to find the commemorative pins, and when it turned out they were at the tills, had a funny exchange with the cashier as I collected a small pile as she scanned my other items..."anything else?" "uh no I'm going to need to cut myself off there I think because I won't stop otherwise" ) Anyways, we ended up back at the Celebration Stage at the end of the day to watch S3 E7 of Mando, and it was magical to watch it with a 4000+ strong crowd. Honestly, it was depressing to go back to watching the finale by myself, but at least I got to see what turned out to be one of my favourite episodes of the season with a crowd! Met a lovely guy on the way back that evening who we spoke to until we got on the train, spoke to some strangers about their awesome art pick-ups and what happened at the Showcase (all the news for which they'd missed because the signal inside the centre was awful), and got given a Brit Batch badge by one of the girls we met in the lift back at our hotel. A lovely first day, set the stage for talking to more folks in the days that followed! Day 2 - Saturday 8th So, as stated above, Ahsoka was the one panel we didn't manage to get Celebration Stage tickets - or any tickets, in the end - to...which naturally meant getting up at 05:00 and queueing from 06:30 -- yeah, so much for the warning that we'd be removed if we queued before 08:00 talked to a bunch of folks in the hours we spent queueing for this (especially as we slowly trudged into , and eventually, even though we were in the first "lane" to enter the hall after making it through security, we decided to dart over to the Galaxy Stage (a streamed-to stage) rather than the Celebration Stage (to be in the room with everyone and the guests) because it seemed the safer option. We ended up queued up outside the Galaxy Stage for over an hour, no idea if we'd be getting in through standby lines, and made good friends with the German folks behind us - we formed a pact to not pick up our bags (which we'd put down, because, well, 4.5 hours of queueing!) until we knew what was going on; eventually, as they started to call lanes in one at a time, it got to a point that I refused to look in the direction of the stage. We did, however, make it through in the end - and there was PLENTY of space! Anyways, the panel was amazing, the extended trailer was AWESOME, and it was such a good time - well worth the wait! After that, we beelined it over to the Celebration Stage queues for the 40 Years of Return of the Jedi panel, and made more friends while doing so. The panel itself, while exciting to see Doug Chiang and some other ILM folk as well as Ian McDiarmid and other big names, was a bit of a mess? Ming Na-Wen was hosting a panel for the first time and it showed, and it got really awkward when Billie Dee came out and would answer questions minutes after the fact or seemingly not answer questions at all - it was clear his age was getting to him (struggled to read notes from a piece of paper) and it was honestly kind of heartbreaking to watch we got a cool poster for the 40th anniversary and the announcement of the film returning to cinemas at the end of the month (which I'll be going to watch tomorrow!) so not all hope was lost. Following this, we took a quick break and then went to start queueing at the Galaxy Stage for the Clone Wars - 15 Year Anniversary Panel at 15:30 (two hours ahead of it starting!) but were turned away and told to go to the smaller (and streamed-to) Twin Suns stage because they were at capacity with the Young Jedi Adventures panel and had no plans to clear the room. Told my friend that we'd go to Twin Suns, but guaranteed that there would be space there when people start to trickle out because that space was probably mostly taken up by families; it sucked, but on the off-chance I was wrong, Twin Suns seemed the safest option. Well, that turned out to be its own sort of chaos - we were a few lanes in and then they shuffled people in for the Hasbro panel, saying they wouldn't clear the panel, which left us in the first 20 in the first lane as the standby queue. Some people trickled out of the queue not thinking they'd get in, others because clearly they wanted to go to the preceding Hasbro panel and couldn't because people had now gone in to guarantee spaces for TCW panel, and they stopped allowing people to join the queue, so as the time came closer, we just saw more and more people get turned away, which was its own weird kind of heartbreaking (this included the guy we met at the end of the first day!) it was a mess, and what made it worse was that through the Discord myself and a girl in our front of the line cohort learned that there WAS space at the Galaxy Stage and that we would have made it in if we weren't turned away, but alas! Eventually we got in and I sat next to her - there was a LOAD of space, mind you, but anyways, it was worth the wait. There was a quick music quiz (I told my friend all the answers after not volunteering and crushed it haha) before we dived into the panel, which was honestly, in terms of panel chemistry, my absolute favourite of the weekend - Amy Ratcliffe is an incredible host (my favourite at SWCs past and she crushed it once again this weekend!), Dave Filoni is, well, Dave Filoni, and the voice cast obviously have great chemistry, just randomly breaking into lines from the show. It was an absolute treat. And that was it for Day 2! Day 3 - Sunday 9th On Day 3, we made it to the Villains of the Sequel Trilogy panel with Ian McDiarmid, Andy Serkis (who got so much love after Andor - and rightly so! Even joked about his Kino Loy being Snoke ) and Gwendoline Christie. This panel, hosted again by Amy who did another awesome job, was probably the surprise of the weekend for me - some funny digs at the sequels and politicians by Ian, and some great stories shared, as well as a couple Christopher Lee shoutouts! Was a bit unnerved by them not mentioning Adam Driver at all until the 53RD MINUTE of a 60 minute panel, but alas - there was also a fleeting moment where the room questioned for a split second if he was about to make an appearance, but it wasn't to be (geniunely think he'd get the greatest applause I would have heard all weekend) After this we queued up for the Look Back at Obi-Wan, which was really fun, best seats we got at the Celebration Stage all weekend - it was awesome to see Ewan and Hayden in the flesh - Ewan walked out on-stage with the Obi-Wan cosplays shortly before the panel started - and the applause lasted so long when they walked in that for a moment I thought we'd spend the entire panel standing! We did end up seated, watched a few of their favourite moments from the show back, but honestly, Vivien Lyra Blair stole the show - she had such great chemistry with everyone and awesome answers to Amy's questions! Still no official confirmation of the second season, strangely, even though it was clear everyone on-stage definitely were up for it. Had thought about attending the Animation Game Night but think my empty stomach and burning candles at both end finally caught up with me after the hype of the panel, so we went to get some food before finally getting to walk the floor. Not as big as I thought it would be, but still, lovely to see everything and everyone and talk to some folks! Day 4 - Monday 10th The final day started with the panel for The Bad Batch, which was awesome with the announcement of a third season and a trailer that I think no-one in the room thought would be dropping. It was a great panel and I loved the energy in the room! Highlight was taking a seat before it was clear a bunch of Press and other folks hadn't turned up, so following orders, we swamped ther middle section and ended up in Press seats After that, it was a case of getting some food down before sneaking into the Marvel Comics panel ahead of Doug Chiang: Designing Obi-Wan Kenobi and The Mandalorian, which was a real treat. Can see how the Inquisitor ended up looking the way he did in Kenobi (retrofitting his design to be based off a live-action character rather than realising they'd had a pau'an in live-action before, but alas!) even if I wasn't a fan, but overall, amazing panel - as expected. Beautiful art, Doug is always a joy to watch and listen to Lastly we decided to ditch the Galaxy Stage in favour of trying to see if we could find Alice Zhang and get our badges signed (she did the awesome art for the passes this year!) after ordering her full postcard set before the Doug panel (which had sold out on the Saturday I believe?), and she was lovely. We had hoped to catch some of the closing ceremony from the LIVE Stage (which we didn't get to all weekend before this!), but I just watched the stream while queueing (somehow had signal haha) and they announced Japan 2025! Which is exactly what I'd been expecting I explained my logic to my friend and sister before Celebration (already announced that up next was 2025, D23 being positioned for off-years, Star Wars is huge in Japan, if they go biannual then 2027 has to be Anaheim for the 50th anniversary so there's no way they'd do Europe again in 2025 and America then seems a bit more unlikely if it's there in 2027 - it's also ROTS's 20th anniversary and TFA's 10th, and I remember the former being especially massive in Japan), so obviously I was well chuffed at the announcement - was already planning to be in Asia in 2025 so that worked out well for me Final Thoughts And that was a wrap on Celebration. Oh boy did it hurt to walk away from it and see it slowly shrink and close that last day, I actually started getting post-con depression at the end of the Saturday (Day 2) because I realised we were already halfway through it so safe to say I missed it immediately, but enjoyed it a lot! So many highlights, from running into Doug Chiang in the hall to DJ Elliott and Atomic Blonde killing it on the Celebration Stage with their panel warm-ups, but honestly - and genuinely - my highlight was talking to other Star Wars fans, whether it be in queues, the DLR back to the hotel, or just randomly walking around the convention. So yes, this two-year wait for japan is going to be painful, but worth it I'm sure! Haul Yes, I stole the Reserved Seating - Press sign from the Bad Batch panel because it just seemed like a keepsake no-one else would have also learned on the first day through the Discord that the timeline t-shirt was made available on Day 1 but was very hush-hush, every time I went to the store no-one had a clue what I was talking about, but a fellow Discord user picked up a black version and so I paid a bit over the RRP for their white one - worth it for me, nice to have a timeline t-shirt! oh I also managed to keep all my wristbands intact too, so another nice keepsake for me! I just had them fit super loose because I have *questionable at best* blood flow sometimes Oh, and not pictured: the £100+ postcard set by Alice (the poster in the bottom right features her badge art, she also did Andor to complete the fifth row!), probably going to put together a frame at some point with her art, the commemorative pins, badge/sticker and wristbands at some point. Also forgot to include the exclusive POP figures, but those aren't for me, they're for my sister's bf, soooooooooo A smattering of pics (in the spoiler tag) And lastly, I took a bunch of pics (uh presented in no particular order because I forgot to arrange them before uploading to Imgur, but some favourites are at the top!); check a look! Quite fond of some of these Spoiler Edited April 28, 2023 by Julius 1
Ronnie Posted April 29, 2023 Posted April 29, 2023 Those are some awesome photos @Julius, great stuff, especially that first one. Glad you had a great time, shame we didn't manage to meet up at some point. Hopefully in Japan?? I was 100% certain it was going to Florida but that was only based on the pattern up to this point. Bit of a shame that 2025 is only going to be three days though! The panel schedule will be packed. You've got Ahsoka (1 or 2 seasons of it?!), Skeleton Crew, The Acolyte, S4 of Mando by then, Visions v2 (and 3?), who knows what else, oh and a film potentially coming out 8 months later. Crazy. The two year gap will be tough but ultimately make it even more special I think. It was weird going from one Celebration to another in 10 or so months. Excited for Japan though. I hope TFA doesn't get lost in all the ROTS stuff. Also, bit of a compromise in terms of streaming the big panels? They didn't stream the Showcase and Ahsoka, but the Sequel Villains, Kenobi and Bad Batch ones they did. So that was a big step in the right direction to be fair. 21 hours ago, Julius said: The Showcase was magical, so, so, so many reveals, so many guests (!), so many awesome moments which really just made me feel I was walking on clouds from the very start of Celebration. The highlight for me was probably seeing Daisy come out and get some love (I have issues with the sequels and zero of them can be put on the actors) as well as the timeline and the announcement of Filoni getting a film! Nah who am I kidding, it was the namedrop in the 8 minute preview we got of Mando S3 E7 - I still get chills when I watch that moment back Daisy getting a standing ovation when she came out was the highlight for me. Wonderful. Complete surprise too, even though she did tease it on Instagram a while back haha. I thought the Showcase was incredible. 10/10. We were properly spoiled. 2+ hours long too! I had a good time at the equivalent last year (tough to argue with John Williams and Harrison Ford on stage), but content wise, 2023 was MILES better. Makes sense obv, projects more far along but yeah, amazing. I thought Acolyte and Skeleton Crew looked great. Perfectly produced show, great to have Kathleen Kennedy on stage the whole time too, bit of a message that. 21 hours ago, Julius said: but not before I came across a not-so-tall guy posing for photos with one or two people...my first thought was maybe a smaller YouTuber, but nope, it was the legend himself, Doug Chiang! Almost didn't recognise him with the moustache he's been a hero of mine since I first started diving into the behind-the-scenes of Star Wars with the Making of Revenge of the Sith book I got from a carboot sale as a little kid, but I kind of blew it a little by taking too long to hype myself up enough for a photo - I was next to take a photo with him when he was whisked off by security as a small crowd had started to form. I didn't mind though (I'm really not one for being in photos, hence needing to hype myself up beforehand) - I got to see one of my heroes in the flesh, which was awesomeeeeeeee also made use of my Store reservation (all the tote bags were sold out immediately, and I really needed one because my bags were pretty full just on the journey into London; also spent a while trying to find the commemorative pins, and when it turned out they were at the tills, had a funny exchange with the cashier as I collected a small pile as she scanned my other items..."anything else?" "uh no I'm going to need to cut myself off there I think because I won't stop otherwise" ) Glad you got to see Doug Chiang and as for a photo, that's your mission for 2025 I guess! He seems a great guy, he was wandering around the day before Celebration meeting fans too. I might try and get some of his artwork signed next time. Maybe that awesome Phantom Menace pod-racing shot. I had a reservation for the Store that first day too, got a couple of little bits. I really like the Union Jack X-wing stuff so got a mug and a patch to go with my Anaheim patch. Plus that badge art poster of course. 21 hours ago, Julius said: After that, we beelined it over to the Celebration Stage queues for the 40 Years of Return of the Jedi panel, and made more friends while doing so. The panel itself, while exciting to see Doug Chiang and some other ILM folk as well as Ian McDiarmid and other big names, was a bit of a mess? Ming Na-Wen was hosting a panel for the first time and it showed, and it got really awkward when Billie Dee came out and would answer questions minutes after the fact or seemingly not answer questions at all - it was clear his age was getting to him (struggled to read notes from a piece of paper) and it was honestly kind of heartbreaking to watch we got a cool poster for the 40th anniversary and the announcement of the film returning to cinemas at the end of the month (which I'll be going to watch tomorrow!) so not all hope was lost. I'm going through the livestream content at the moment and watched the ROTJ panel for the first time the other day, and yeah, bit of a mess. I love Ming Na Wen but, yeah. Did you catch Billy Dee's interview on the Live Stage shortly after that panel? He was 10x better thankfully, he was really great. Awesome ROTJ poster, I managed to blag one even though I didn't make it to the panel haha. Nice to see a modern film poster that isn't just a bunch of floating heads (much as the TLJ poster is one of my favourites ever) 21 hours ago, Julius said: On Day 3, we made it to the Villains of the Sequel Trilogy panel with Ian McDiarmid, Andy Serkis (who got so much love after Andor - and rightly so! Even joked about his Kino Loy being Snoke ) and Gwendoline Christie. This panel, hosted again by Amy who did another awesome job, was probably the surprise of the weekend for me - some funny digs at the sequels and politicians by Ian, and some great stories shared, as well as a couple Christopher Lee shoutouts! Was a bit unnerved by them not mentioning Adam Driver at all until the 53RD MINUTE of a 60 minute panel, but alas - there was also a fleeting moment where the room questioned for a split second if he was about to make an appearance, but it wasn't to be (geniunely think he'd get the greatest applause I would have heard all weekend) LOEVD this when I watched it on the livestream, I can still hear Gwendoline Christie's laugh when i close my eyes though. I wish I'd made more of an effort to try and get in but to be fair instead it meant I got to meet a Lucasfilm Art Director and got into the Visual Effects panel of Andor, a few rows from the front too, which was fantastic. Great energy from the crowd. 21 hours ago, Julius said: Still no official confirmation of the second season, strangely, even though it was clear everyone on-stage definitely were up for it. Ewan seemed to suggest it and the crowd went nuts, then they realised oh he wasn't teasing an announcement lol. Kathleen Kennedy was doing lots of interviews around Celebration and fair play she was really open and honest. Big takeaways are that they'd like to do a Kenobi S2 but it's not in active development atm, also that Rogue Squadron is something they definitely still talk about, and that it might be pivoted to a series? PLEASE, just give us pilot fans something. It's a huge part of Star Wars that's been really lacking, at least on Disney+. The trench run and the Battle of Endor is pretty much what made me a Star Wars fan. 21 hours ago, Julius said: The final day started with the panel for The Bad Batch, which was awesome with the announcement of a third season and a trailer that I think no-one in the room thought would be dropping. It was a great panel and I loved the energy in the room! Highlight was taking a seat before it was clear a bunch of Press and other folks hadn't turned up, so following orders, we swamped ther middle section and ended up in Press seats Haha I did the same, and I also stole a Press reservation weird that they allocated that much space for the press. It was really weird being shown a teaser for S3 a week after S2 finished, but given how much S2 was delayed, I imagine it's been finished for a while. Hell, S3 might be finished and they're just waiting to release it. This last season of the Bad Batch has pretty much put it as top tier Star Wars for me, something I never thought would happen when it was first announced. The writing is immaculate. Jen Corbett and Brad Rau deserve a ton of praise so it was great to see them shown so much love in that panel. 21 hours ago, Julius said: After that, it was a case of getting some food down before sneaking into the Marvel Comics panel ahead of Doug Chiang: Designing Obi-Wan Kenobi and The Mandalorian, which was a real treat. Can see how the Inquisitor ended up looking the way he did in Kenobi (retrofitting his design to be based off a live-action character rather than realising they'd had a pau'an in live-action before, but alas!) even if I wasn't a fan, but overall, amazing panel - as expected. Beautiful art, Doug is always a joy to watch and listen to They usually do a question and answer session with Doug after his panel, but I think they were running short of time and had to get ready for the closing ceremony. Shame cause it's usually really interesting hearing his off the cuff insight. 21 hours ago, Julius said: Haul Wow great job getting that timeline t-shirt, I didn't see that at all, gutted! I didn't go quite as crazy this year with merch, got 7 or 8 little bits but nothing massive, apart from well, this. I ordered a Wrecker and a Tech online after seeing them on the show floor A few photos I took... (will get to replying to the Mandoverse/Bad Batch storytelling post another time ) 1
EEVILMURRAY Posted April 30, 2023 Posted April 30, 2023 On 19/04/2023 at 12:58 AM, Julius said: Spoilers for The Mandalorian S3 E6 – Chapter 22: Guns for Hire (Hide contents) And then Din just decides to speak up for the first time about giving the Darksaber to Bo on a technicality, because she saved him from the cyborg spider dude? Which, you know, might have saved us a whole lot of time? I'm not one to scream "plot hole!", and this won't be one of those times, but nothing really changed this episode for Din's perspective on giving up the Darksaber to Bo to change, so...I don't know, is the guy just slow? Again, it's just a really odd decision, and a super underwhelming one at that. The creed is all full of this bullshit. Question anything you get a "that is the way" and they walk off.
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