Star Wars Rebels - Season 3 on September 24 : Will Grand Admiral Thrawn destroy them all??

[Mulder]

Just now, Porthos said:

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Never actually saw Thrawn die, you know.  I wouldn't quite count him out yet.

 

Spoiler

Even if he's still alive that was the silliest and goofiest way to write him out of the show. Could he have not just been punished by Palpatine for his failure on Lothal? Not to mention his supporting cast is either dead ((Rukh)) or separated from him ((Pelleon)). Would've rather they just had Rukh do his thing. 

 

[Mulder]

Spoiler

Not to mention the Empire just giving up on Lothal is absolutely ridiculous. Even with the temple gone, they're just going to allow blatant insurrection on this mass scale?

 

[Kvikk Lunsj]

So who died and how?

[Porthos]

1 minute ago, Mulder said:

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Even if he's still alive that was the silliest and goofiest way to write him out of the show. Could he have not just been punished by Palpatine for his failure on Lothal? Not to mention his supporting cast is either dead ((Rukh)) or separated from him ((Pelleon)). Would've rather they just had Rukh do his thing. 

 

Spoiler

Where is Thrawn/Ezra/Kanan in the OT has been a central thing hanging over the series since Day One (or Season Three, if one prefers in regards to Thrawn).

 

I've long thought that they would be sent into the Unexplored Regions, so this isn't entirely unexpected for me.  In fact, just the opposite.
 

Mind, I didn't see it happening thanks to Space Whales, but that's besides the point.

 

No, I think this was the one of the few ways to have a 'Happy Ending'

 

Ezra and Thrawn aren't around in the OT, so no worries there.  They can show up post RotJ and cause havoc.

The Rebellion didn't do much if anything for Lothal, so no contradictions there.

Lothal earned it's Happy Ending, so the series has a sense of closure and purpose for those invested in it.

 

All the boxes were ticked off and fairly well done.

 

Also, Thrawn had little to no way to know about the Purgills, so he wasn't outmaneuvered there.

 

No, when I said this was one of the few ways this could end, broadly speaking I meant it.  Sure, there might have been other avenues.  But getting Thrawn and Ezra off the stage for the OT was pretty critical, especially since Thrawn was so critical in the story here.

 

Believe it or not, my one real gripe is actually a little more proszaic:

 

Spoiler

Lookin' Good Emperor doesn't quite sit right with me, given Ezra's earlier encounters.  I get the emotion and the stakes.  But I'll have to see just how careful they were about that.  Doesn't QUITE work, but only enough to possibly dock off a percentage of a point.  Might even decide to ignore it for the most part.

 

That's one of the things I have to decompress about.

 

[Porthos]

8 minutes ago, Mulder said:

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Not to mention the Empire just giving up on Lothal is absolutely ridiculous. Even with the temple gone, they're just going to allow blatant insurrection on this mass scale?

 

Spoiler

Depending on how soon the Battle of Scariff is, they might be more concerned with other matters. They might have been in the middle of planing on squashing this insurrection (Death Star second target, maybe???) when they suddenly had many more fires to put out.

 

Then it just becomes a matter of priorities, and one which never rose to the top.

 

[Mulder]

4 minutes ago, Porthos said:

  Reveal hidden contents

Where is Thrawn/Ezra/Kanan in the OT has been a central thing hanging over the series since Day One (or Season Three, if one prefers in regards to Thrawn).

 

I've long thought that they would be sent into the Unexplored Regions, so this isn't entirely unexpected for me.  In fact, just the opposite.
 

Mind, I didn't see it happening thanks to Space Whales, but that's besides the point.

 

No, I think this was the one of the few ways to have a 'Happy Ending'

 

Ezra and Thrawn aren't around in the OT, so no worries there.  They can show up post RotJ and cause havoc.

The Rebellion didn't do much if anything for Lothal, so no contradictions there.

Lothal earned it's Happy Ending, so the series has a sense of closure and purpose for those invested in it.

 

All the boxes were ticked off and fairly well done.

 

Also, Thrawn had little to no way to know about the Purgills, so he wasn't outmaneuvered there.

 

No, when I said this was one of the few ways this could end, broadly speaking I meant it.  Sure, there might have been other avenues.  But getting Thrawn and Ezra off the stage for the OT was pretty critical, especially since Thrawn was so critical in the story here.

 

Believe it or not, my one real gripe is actually a little more proszaic:

 

  Reveal hidden contents

Lookin' Good Emperor doesn't quite sit right with me, given Ezra's earlier encounters.  I get the emotion and the stakes.  But I'll have to see just how careful they were about that.  Doesn't QUITE work, but only enough to possibly dock off a percentage of a point.  Might even decide to ignore it for the most part.

 

That's one of the things I have to decompress about.

 

Spoiler

Yes Thrawn had to go but there was better, smarter, and less ridiculously wanky ways to do it. Thrawn should've just been punished by the Empire and sent off into the Unknown Regions as punishment. Hell I would've rather they developed the stuff with Rukh and had him kill Thrawn instead of be killed by Zeb of all people. 

 

[Mulder]

3 minutes ago, Porthos said:

  Reveal hidden contents

Depending on how soon the Battle of Scariff is, they might be more concerned with other matters. They might have been in the middle of planing on squashing this insurrection (Death Star second target, maybe???) when they suddenly had many more fires to put out.

 

Then it just becomes a matter of priorities, and one which never rose to the top.

 

Spoiler

You're telling me they couldn't just Base Delta Zero the entire planet? Not to mention according to Filoni it's not that close to Rogue One.

 

[Porthos]

2 minutes ago, Mulder said:

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 Not to mention according to Filoni it's not that close to Rogue One.

 

Spoiler

I'll wait for others to chime in on that point, as I hadn't heard that.

 

[Porthos]

Haven't listened to it yet, but there was a Q&A following the fan screening of the finale over the weekend:

 

 

Starts at the 20 minute mark on the supplied link. 

 

edit

 

video of the same Q&A.  Better audio quality as well.

 

 

Edited March 6, 2018 by Porthos

[Porthos]

It's early days, but reddit seems to be happy at least. We'll see how it turns out as the finale really starts to sink in.

[Porthos]

41 minutes ago, Dexter of Suburbia said:

So who died and how?

Spoiler

Gov Price died when the imperial base of Lothal was blown up.

Rukh was fried when a massive shield generator was getting powered up.

Ezra and Thrawn were sent to Places Unknown, Fate Unknown.  Set up for a sequel series.

Gregor (one of the clones) died to a blaster bolt.

 

That's pretty much it that I can remember.  Listening to the Q&A, having a low death count on Named Characters was an Intentional Thing.

 

Edited March 6, 2018 by Porthos
Wrong character (TWICE now. GRRRR)

[Porthos]

For folks who don't want to wade through that Q&A audio (which is a pretty good panel, IMO), here is a link to some highlights as compiled by EW:

 

 

[Mulder]

7 minutes ago, Porthos said:

For folks who don't want to wade through that Q&A audio (which is a pretty good panel, IMO), here is a link to some highlights as compiled by EW:

 

 

Spoiler

His explanation for Lothal does not line up with the Empire vindictive enough to form Inferno Squad just to punish the Partisans for their role in the Death Star's destruction. 

 

[Porthos]

3 minutes ago, Mulder said:

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His explanation for Lothal does not line up with the Empire vindictive enough to form Inferno Squad just to punish the Partisans for their role in the Death Star's destruction. 

 

Spoiler

Hence priorities. Has to punish the people responsible for the Death Star debacle AND is now worried about Luke AND worried about Open Rebellion.  His focus is on other things now.  

 

Don't get me wrong, I suspect Lothal might have been destination #1 or #2 or #3 of Death Star Mk II.  But he has other fish to fry and ultimately Lothal isn't near the top of the list.

 

[Porthos]

Also when it comes right down to it.

 

Spoiler

Lothal IS in the Outer Rim.  That space isn't fully pacified yet (to say the least). If it comes down to smacking an upstart world in the Outer Rim or dealing with other fires, the upstart planet can be dealt with later.

 

Just turned out things snowballed on poor Palps. 

 

Frankly it's at least a little logical for an Outer Rim world to escape punishment for a short time only to fall down the priority list later on.

 

Edited March 6, 2018 by Porthos

[Porthos]

Had time to collect my thoughts (hey I never promised I wouldn't spam this thread POST finale ), and I can give a mostly non-spoiler review.

 

Series finales are tough, inherently.  Doubly tough for a highly serialized show. Triply tough when part of a 40 year saga that has no end in sight.  Quad...

 

Well, one gets the idea.

 

Beyond that, the reason they're tough is that they have to be first and foremost a good story.  Then they have to tie up threads/arcs in a satisfying manner.  In the case of this show, it also has to connect to a wider mythology.  And if they're ambitious, set seeds for future tales.

 

It's a tough ask, and by the very nature of being an Ending, it's perhaps not surprising that it doesn't quite reach the heights of a Twilight of the Apprentice or A World Between Worlds which were cliffhangers and mindbenders respectively.

 

So does the episode work as an actual episode?  Yes.

 

Does it work as a series finale?  Yes.

 

The more I think about my 'prosaic complaint' I mentioned in a previous post, the more I'm still a little annoyed.  I don't want to call it a cheat, per se, but it's pretty damn close to a cheat.  I know why it was done, story wise and emotionally.  But I almost think Filoni is trying to have his cake and eat it too in this situation.

 

It doesn't bug me enough for me to dislike the episode.  But enough to knock off a tiny bit of the grade.  

 

The rest of the knock off probably is down to the tale that was told itself.  It's a good tale, nay a great tale.  But it isn't quite an epic tale and there was a little something off that makes me lower the overall grade a tad.  I can't quite put my finger on it, but there was just a little pizzaz missing from making this a historic episode.

 

The one other thing I want say is that this is a VERY Dave Filoni episode. And that is a compliment.  

 

But if one wants to know the difference between George Lucas and Dave Filoni when it comes to Star Wars, just show someone this episode (presuming they're already familiar with Lucas).  Everything from

Spoiler

the eagles purrgils saving the day (which, incidentally was set up MUCH MUCH MUUUUUUCH better than it was in LotR) to Ahsoka the White showing up with a friggin' staff in the coda/epilogue.

 

I mean, pure uncut Filoni right there.

 

So call it 9.25 to 9.5 out of 10.  And all in all it was a very satisfying way to end the series, and one of the few ways it could end, given the tale that was told as part of a larger saga.  

 

Looking forward to what's next from Team Filoni.  Thinking I won't have to wait too long to find out.

[aabattery]

Neat.

[4815162342]

So I was right
 

Spoiler

 

Ahsoka was only going to turn up in the end as a blatant sequel hook.

 

With no onscreen reunion between her and Rex no less.

 

So yeah, it was just a way for Filoni to keep her alive

 

 

Didn't like that.

 

[DAR]

Thought the finale was pretty good.   And I was glad Filoni got to finish his story.   As for the series overall.   I don't think it hit the highs of Clone Wars at its best.  But this didn't hit its lows either.

[4815162342]

@Porthos

 

https://io9.gizmodo.com/star-wars-rebels-producer-dave-filoni-is-totally-fine-w-1823593680/amp