Author Topic: Star Wars Rebels - Disney's first Star Wars TV show  (Read 8852 times)

Offline max_cady

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Star Wars Rebels - Disney's first Star Wars TV show
« on: October 21, 2014, 09:40:19 am »


So... now that Clone Wars is over, Disney is pushing this new TV show that takes place in The Dark Times between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. Follows a small crew around who wants to help people while sticking it to the Empire and foiling their plans whenever possible. Hera, a Twilek pilot, Kannan, former Padawan, Sabine, explosions expert, Zeb, the muscle and the newcomer Ezra, a street urchin who appears to have a very unusual affinity with the Force.

Impressions so far?
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Here are mine:
-Despite having a lot of eye candy, it's clear from the get-go that this show has a considerably smaller budget and scope when compared to the CW;
-It took me less time to warm up to Ezra than I did with Ahsoka Tano;
-I'm a bit iffy on the tone, on one hand this takes place in The Dark Times, yet everything seems to be a bit more funny and light-hearted;
-Inquisitor looks interesting;

Offline Barry the Nomad

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Re: Star Wars Rebels - Disney's first Star Wars TV show
« Reply #1 on: October 21, 2014, 10:14:02 am »
Just caught "Rise of the Old Masters", great episode! Definitely on par with The Clone Wars.

And yeah, the budget is smaller, but just wait until they have a library of assets. Season 2 will feel much bigger thanks to all the characters and environments built up over season 1 - TCW had the same sort of thing happen.

Also, make sure to read the novel A New Dawn, it provides backstory of Kanan and shows how he and Hera met. I'm still waiting for Hera's backstory, however, which should prove interesting given she shares the last name of a TCW character:


Offline MadeManG74

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Re: Star Wars Rebels - Disney's first Star Wars TV show
« Reply #2 on: October 21, 2014, 12:21:20 pm »
I thought the series would look like the picture in the OP, which looks great!

I looked up the trailer and it's terrible looking CGI, it looks like shit!

Offline Barry the Nomad

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Re: Star Wars Rebels - Disney's first Star Wars TV show
« Reply #3 on: October 21, 2014, 01:45:17 pm »
:( I think Rebels and The Clone Wars has some fantastic animation, especially for television.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dT6gZdTUKQo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBEHMoFZOms

Offline MadeManG74

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Re: Star Wars Rebels - Disney's first Star Wars TV show
« Reply #4 on: October 21, 2014, 01:48:51 pm »
I just personally think the CGI looks very ugly. It might animated nicely. I also have a hipster boner for 2D animation maybe.

Either way, I don't really like Star Wars, so maybe I should just shut my gob.

Offline Barry the Nomad

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Re: Star Wars Rebels - Disney's first Star Wars TV show
« Reply #5 on: October 21, 2014, 02:15:16 pm »

Offline Dr. SEGA Monkey

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Re: Star Wars Rebels - Disney's first Star Wars TV show
« Reply #6 on: October 21, 2014, 05:23:25 pm »
The main thing that bothers me about Rebels is how non-threatening the Empire is portrayed. A pack of storm troopers could be standing 3 feet away from the characters shooting at them and every single shot will miss. They'll even have conversations while they're being shot at. Ezra's slingshot can apparently cause considerable damage to armored troopers, but their aim isn't even good enough to hit him while he's 3 feet away. Apparently it's very easy to steal TIE Fighters, etc. etc. There's no sense of danger really. It kind of takes me out of the story.


Then there's little things that bother me like how Ezra was able to learn how to use the force very easily. (Even by accident.) The Inquisitor seems like a strange addition. (I thought it was Vader's job to hunt down Jedi....)


I do have confidence that it will get better though.





Offline Dr. SEGA Monkey

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Re: Star Wars Rebels - Disney's first Star Wars TV show
« Reply #7 on: October 21, 2014, 07:55:33 pm »
So after writing that post, I watched "Rise of the Old Masters" and I have to agree with Barry. That episode is definitely on par with The Clone Wars. (A brilliant series IMO) Definitely a lot better than the previous 3 episodes. I really loved the way the characters interacted with each other and it was interesting to see Ezra actually struggle with his Jedi training (as opposed to him just randomly using the force and making big jumps by accident). The story was pretty good too.


Hopefully future episodes will be as good as "Rise of the Old Masters".

Offline Barry the Nomad

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Re: Star Wars Rebels - Disney's first Star Wars TV show
« Reply #8 on: October 21, 2014, 07:56:26 pm »
I can sort of forgive the incompetence as Lothal is not an important asset to the Imperials in the grand scheme of things so I can see the new, inexperienced, recruits being posted there.

Ezra being strong with the force makes sense, given using it is not something that needs to be taught. Luke used the force before meeting Obi-Wan when he mentioned sharp shooting wamp rats and racing through Begger's Canyon (which was expanded in the radio dramas). TCW showed babies demonstrating the ability to hover small objects. Ezra was orphaned quite young, which meant he had to survive on his own, unlike Luke who had a pretty boring, easy life.

I can see the shit hitting the fan pretty soon, however, as the Inquisitor posed a real threat in the latest episode. Imperial agents like the Inquisitor are not new to the SW universe, so I can accept him. Vader spent a good 14 years hunting Jedi before Rebels, and now he has a small number of people tasked with patrolling various parts of the galaxy while he does the Emporer's bidding.

And who knows, maybe Vader is secretly looking to recruit one of his agents to overthrow his master.
« Last Edit: October 21, 2014, 08:00:22 pm by Barry the Nomad »

Offline Barry the Nomad

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Re: Star Wars Rebels - Disney's first Star Wars TV show
« Reply #9 on: October 21, 2014, 07:59:04 pm »
Ha! and after posting mine, you posted yours. Yeah, I've read that Rise of the Old Masters is a turning point for the season and things are said to get darker. Also, Henry Gilroy returned to write for Rebels, and he wrote some of my favorite season 1 episodes. So I have high hopes for later episodes.

Offline Barry the Nomad

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Re: Star Wars Rebels - Disney's first Star Wars TV show
« Reply #10 on: February 02, 2015, 09:43:01 am »
Bump~!

Season one is heating up, haven't seen a weak episode yet! The addition of Lando as a secondary character, who has been confirmed to be recurring, is really cool. We also may see the reveal of Fulcrum, which may or may not end up being Ahsoka Tano.

Season 2 has been confirmed to have twice the amount of episodes, so a proper full 22 episode season. They've also revealed that fan favorite The Clone Wars character Hando Ohnaka is making an appearance, which kind of backs up Ahsoka being Fulcrum given late in TCW she collaborated with Hando on some things and he has an appreciation for her.


Oh snap! And Tarkin returned (same VA, Stephen Stanton) which is another OT/TCW character in the show:


« Last Edit: February 02, 2015, 09:44:42 am by Barry the Nomad »

Offline max_cady

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Re: Star Wars Rebels - Disney's first Star Wars TV show
« Reply #11 on: February 02, 2015, 05:02:09 pm »
Lando's episode was a little strange IMO. The last two episodes (Gathering Forces and Path of the Jedi) were by far the best in the entire season. Maybe it was a little odd to see a transition between two heavy episodes into a more comedy filled one.


I don't think Ahsoka is Fulcrum, I think the producers want to keep the focus on our five characters and just adding Ahsoka there would very much make all those characters fade into the background. I felt a bit of that on Idiot's Array with Billy Dee Williams.

But besides Fulcrum there are so many ongoing mysteries out in this series alone:

- Who and what exactly is the Inquisitor and how does he falls into the Rule of Two?
- As much as I like Hera, I have to admit, I know next to nothing about her. That novel A New Dawn is also kinda vague in her origin;
- What exatly is Hera / Kannan / the Ghost's crew's Endgame?
- Why is Lothal such an important part of this story?
- Ezra was the born on Empire Day, what does that mean, exactly?
- What actually happened to Ezra's parents?

Offline Barry the Nomad

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Re: Star Wars Rebels - Disney's first Star Wars TV show
« Reply #12 on: February 02, 2015, 05:33:36 pm »
Lando's episode was a little strange IMO. The last two episodes (Gathering Forces and Path of the Jedi) were by far the best in the entire season. Maybe it was a little odd to see a transition between two heavy episodes into a more comedy filled one.


I don't think Ahsoka is Fulcrum, I think the producers want to keep the focus on our five characters and just adding Ahsoka there would very much make all those characters fade into the background. I felt a bit of that on Idiot's Array with Billy Dee Williams.

But besides Fulcrum there are so many ongoing mysteries out in this series alone:

- Who and what exactly is the Inquisitor and how does he falls into the Rule of Two?
- As much as I like Hera, I have to admit, I know next to nothing about her. That novel A New Dawn is also kinda vague in her origin;
- What exatly is Hera / Kannan / the Ghost's crew's Endgame?
- Why is Lothal such an important part of this story?
- Ezra was the born on Empire Day, what does that mean, exactly?
- What actually happened to Ezra's parents?

I don't know... the crates that Fulcrum had left had markings similar to Ahsoka's forehead designs, and the voice run through distortion sounds a lot like her, or atleast a female. Fulcrum could be Bo-Katan, which would also be cool.

As for your questions:

- Who and what exactly is the Inquisitor and how does he falls into the Rule of Two?

I don't think he falls under the rule of two. Had he been born during the era of the Republic, he could have been a Jedi (and perhaps he was one??), but as is he is a dark servant of the Emperor and Vader, not unlike Savage and Asajj. They were not sith, but they were also not Jedi, they were just force users who served the villains and tapped into the dark side.

- As much as I like Hera, I have to admit, I know next to nothing about her. That novel A New Dawn is also kinda vague in her origin;

Agreed, but perhaps season 2 will get into that? I know she was inspired by her uncle, Cham Syndulla of TCW. Perhaps we will see him in a future episode? I'd love to return to Ryloth.

- What exatly is Hera / Kannan / the Ghost's crew's Endgame?

I think they serve an important part in forming the rebellion or stealing the Death Star plans.

- Why is Lothal such an important part of this story?

I believe this was revealed in that Ezra's parents episode, they plan to make it a major producer of TIEs, also they said they have a five year plan for the planet, so it could be crucial to the building of the Death Star.

- Ezra was the born on Empire Day, what does that mean, exactly?

He was born the same day as Luke and Leia, the day the Empire began. It could mean that Ezra is "the other" Yoda spoke of, perhaps a bit of retconning is to come?

- What actually happened to Ezra's parents?

So far, all we know is that they spoke out against the Empire early on via holonet pirate broadcasts. They may or may not be alive.

Offline Regis

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Re: Star Wars Rebels - Disney's first Star Wars TV show
« Reply #13 on: February 03, 2015, 05:20:36 pm »
Watch the episode where the Lambo appears, but i think his dubbing was kinda weird...

Offline Barry the Nomad

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Re: Star Wars Rebels - Disney's first Star Wars TV show
« Reply #14 on: February 03, 2015, 08:40:50 pm »
Well, Billy Dee Williams is 77 playing a mid-30s version of himself. He still can bring the suave sexiness to Lando, so it was cool with me.

Latest episode was insane. Imagine if Scratch and Grounder were brutally murdered.