Of all the things to come out of the prequel trilogy, “complex, compelling antagonist Darth Maul” was definitely not what I expected before Clone Wars and Rebels. Both shows have really knocked it out of the park, and I can’t wait for season 3 of Rebels to start up again.
Heck yeah they are. I saw the Ghost at B&N a little while back and was blown away. I haven’t seen mass-market miniatures this good since the Micro Machines Action Fleet toys that came out in the 90s. I just wish I had disposable income to blow on them (or that I was 11 again and could reliably expect to get them for Christmas).
They introduced the Interdictor cruiser, a ship outfitted with gravity wells, last season – that’s a ship & concept created for the old West End Games RPG. Couldn’t believe it when it appeared
That’s right! When I saw that I was like - OMG we had those in the game. I kinda thought maybe it was mentioned in the SW novel or something, or one of the early novels like Han Solo at Star’s End.
I still have all my old West End books. Fun system. I re-did combat though. Made mopping up troopers easier.
The really odd thing about the Star Wars Rebels cartoons, is they were all more smartly written than the Jar Jar Abrams movie, it’s like WTF?, Cartoons are better written than a full featured supposed ‘A’ class movie.
I hated the ysalamiri. Same with the Yuuzhan Vong. It’s an anathema to the Force, the supernatural field that flows between all creatures an objects that comes from life itself, and is completely unexplainable nor does it require an explaination.
I don’t mind the Ysalamiri. It’s just a small nullification field. Just like the tree on Dagobah was a sort of bank of Dark Side force, having another creature that puts out an anti-force field makes sense in the whole hocus-pocus magic that the Force is. The Vong I never got into, but reading the synopsis I just hated the concept. It sounded like a rip off of something else done before, and it is less Star Wars-y.
IMHO, there is too much emphasis on the Jedi in a lot of the stories, especially post Clone Wars. While I am enjoying Ezra, I would have been 100% OK with out any force users in the new show. One of the things I liked about the Role Playing game was that the Jedi were supposed to be basically dead and super rare.
I personally hated the designs of the Jedi in the Prequels. It made no sense they they all dressed like Obi Wan did on Tatooine. 1) Why would a Jedi in hiding dress like a Jedi? and 2) he dressed that way as he was on a desert planet to shield from the sun. I mean, having SOME Jedis in robes is ok, but ALL of them? I LOVED Luke’s look in RotJ. I assumed as a kid that is how Jedi should looked.
The other thing that they have expanded on some in the Clone Wars and looks like is coming in Rebels, is having force users other than Jedi/Sith. It seems to me if the Force is everywhere, using the Force must be everywhere as well. Not to the level of the Sith or the Jedi, perhaps. But maybe monks who focus on hand to hand combat only, or healing arts, or meditators who search for knowledge ala some time of Astral Projection type thing. I think there should be more of this. It is a crazy, wild, varied galaxy.
100% agreed. The new RPG (Edge of the Empire) actively discourages Jedi; it emphasizes the fact that Jedi are super rare, extinct, and basically a myth. The Star Wars galaxy has so much cool stuff going on that Space Wizards tend to just overwhelm any scene they’re in by just raising a hand to blow everyone away.
I’ve always liked the idea that the Force is all over the place and being used by people who are in no way Jedis. Han Solo is an incredibly skilled pilot and marksman; when he sees Luke blocking drone shots blind, he says “I call it luck”. That’s his way of thinking about using the Force naturally – he calls it luck. In the upcoming Rogue One movie, Donnie Yen’s character is a blind martial artist who doesn’t believe in the Force or Jedis but he naturally uses the Force to guide his movements. The force is everywhere. It’s just that Jedis and Sith can channel it to do crazy stuff.
Right. In the game mechanics, and other games like Star Wars minis, Solo and other had some Force abilities, even if they didn’t call it the Force. Which makes sense that some people would be naturally attuned and it enhances their skills in other areas.
I do find it kind of funny that the Jedi were “myths” to the Rebellion era. I mean, it was one generation ago. Even if the Empire cracked down on sharing media about the Jedi, there is no way it could be all contained/destroyed. Like there haven’t been Samurai for hundreds of years, but I know what they are.
I know what you mean, but the way I see it is just a matter of scale. Since the Star Wars stories take place across galaxies, and there were only a handful of Jedi, for most people they were always just a crazy religion. Maybe their uncle saw one once, or their neighbor’s friend swears he saw a Jedi with a lightsaber when he was a kid. But most people are like Han Solo. Jedi are an ancient religion that’s probably film flammery – guys in robes with laser swords making rocks fly around.
Yeah, but there is BOUND to be fiction and documentaries about them. I mean, there was a galactic war. They would be on SpaceCNN every night for years. Even if they didn’t believe in their Force abilities, they should know about them. Like Ninjas were real, even though they didn’t use magic or dress in all black.
Honestly, it’s not really a post-Clone Wars thing. Lucasfilm/Arts has been retconning people into being Jedi and telling basically nothing but Jedi Family stories for years. Even badass bounty hunter Kyle Katarn from Dark Forces couldn’t escape that trap. I mean, he was an awesome character in the first game without having to swing a lightsaber around. Why did he suddenly have to be a member of a lost Jedi line in the sequel?
I was fine with the Jedi focus in Clone Wars because it made sense. For as much as I absolutely adore Rebels, I must admit I was disappointed when it turned out to be Yet Another Jedi Origin Story in a universe where they’re supposed to be vanishingly rare. The absence of Space Wizards is really THE reason I was pumped about Rogue One when it was first announced - the fact that it looks amazing has only fueled my hype.
