The Mandalorian S2E8 The Rescue

 

Who saved who?

Did Luke save Grogu or vice versa, The title of this episode has multiple meanings just like Return of the Jedi! 

My most heartfelt thanks goes to John Favreau and Dave Filoni, this show has single handedly rescued the franchise and proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that Rian Johnson and JJ Abrams were not the right choices for Disney's ST.

The fact that there were so many fans guessing who was going to show up and it turned out to be Luke, it's a miracle that the secret wasn't spoiled! To be honest it was always gonna be Luke. It makes the most sense. Sure seeing Ezra would've been cool, and he is out there somewhere in this point in time but having Luke show up just felt right. 

And seeing him dispatching the Dark Troopers without breaking a sweat was what we were expecting to see in TLJ and never got. What I saw yesterday was not God Tier, Expanded Universe Luke, it was a logical progression of the Luke Skywalker we saw in Return of the Jedi. 

The scene when Din is holding Grogu and he removes his helmet was absolutely poetic and rhymed so well with the scene in Return of the Jedi when Anakin tells Luke to help him remove his mask so he could look at him with his own eyes. 

And with Grogu leaving with Luke to be trained the circle is now complete! Luke was trained by Jedi Master Yoda and now Jedi Master Luke Skywalker will train Grogu. Poetry. 

That was the highlight of the episode for me, but I also really enjoyed the scenes when Din recruits Bo Katan and the confrontation between Boba, Koska and Bo Katan Kryze. Calling Jango his donor was a low blow!

Now to the issue of the Dark Sabre and Din and Bo...

So Din Djarin defeats Moff Gideon in a rather impressive duel and thus unknowingly claims the Dark Sabre, which was Bo's sole reason for helping Din rescue the child. Gideon knows the story and gleefully explains it to Din in front of Bo. Clearly Din has no interest in the Dark Sabre buuuutttt.....

This will be a major point of contention when The Mandalorian Season 3 returns December 2021 or is that the Book of Boba Fett??? I doubt D+ will have 2 shows running simultaneously about two Mandalorians, more likely than not The Book of Boba Fett will be a miniseries that will lead into season 3 of The Mandalorian.  

The Mandalorian S2E7 The Believer

 

You have something that belongs to me......

This week Mando recruits his old friend Migs Mayfeld to infiltrate an Imperial facility on Morag Morak to locate Moff Gideon. 

Mayfeld and Mando infiltrate the facility, Fennec and Cara offer sniper support and Boba is the wheelman....what could possibly go wrong?

Well we will be driving a hijacked truck full of highly explosive Rhydonium and lest not forget the angry pirates/natives! The chase scene in this episode felt alot like a typical side scrolling action game from the 16 bit era with the multiple waves of bad guys, yet it was still was more thrilling than The Last Jedi's chase thru Space!  

Spoiler: they make it to the refinery! It was very interesting when the two TIE's flew in to assist Mayfeld and Din I felt like cheering, and as the two were being cheered on by the troopers and refinery workers it felt like the scene in A New Hope when Luke returns to Yavin IV after destroying the Death Star. The Juxtaposition was subtle and well executed to substantiate Mayfield's point of view when he is discussing the similarities and differences of The Empire and the New Republic with Din. The Dynamic Duo now face off against the boss of the level Valin Hess! Migs gets cold feet when he spots Hess so Din takes the data stick to the terminal and actually removes the helmet to allow for a facial scan....Din get's the coordinates for Gideon's cruiser but Hess approaches Din and asks for his designation. Mig's interjects Hess's inquiry to remind Din that they need to file they're TPS reports! LMAO!!

To celebrate the safe return of Hess's Truck he invites Mayfeld and Din to a drink. And this was, for me, the highlight of the episode when Mayfield suggests a toast to Operation Cinder and he defiantly questions Hess's belief of the validity and cost of Operation Cinder, but Hess apparently doesn't see Mayfeld's utter anger and disgust thru his hubris. I loved seeing Din's expression as he realized Mayfeld's stance on the topic and where the conversation was leading. The breaking point was when Hess explains to the boys that people think they want freedom, but what they really want is order, which reiterates the state of the galaxy. 

Mayfeld snaps and Hess takes a bolt to the chest, seeing the Trooper standing there holding his tray speechless and that brief moment of WTF just happened, was great, JJ could learn a thing or two from actually taking a moment between the action for dramatic effect....

Din and Mayfeld make a daring escape from the mess hall out a window to the roof as Cara and Fennec offer sniper support and Boba heads in for the pick up. As the two leap onto Slave 1 Mayfeld asks Din for a riffle and makes an impressive shot to the Rhydonium in the truck they came in on setting off a crippling explosion at the  facility. Two Ties pursue Slave 1 and Boba gives them a parting gift, a seismic charge! One of the coolest weapons introduced in Attack of the Clones. 

All in all The Believer was an enjoyable episode with a theme that beliefs change over time, this was illustrated with many characters in this episode Mayfeld and the Empire, Din Djarin and the way of the Mandalore, Cara Dune and her opinion of Migs based on his former allegiance to The Empire.

The message Din makes for Gideon was great, I love when heroes uses villain's own words against them. 

Next Friday is sadly the season finale and we will have to wait a whole fricken year for season 3!

 

The Mandalorian Episode 8: Redemption

The final episode of The Mandalorian absolutely stuck the landing! I was a bit nervous with the way the episode began with the two storm troopers, that felt very fan filmy in my opinion.
Redemption picks up immediately where the previous episode concluded, the crew are pinned down in the Clients building by Moff Gideon and dozens of Storm Troopers and Death Troopers with a E pod repeating gun pod aimed at them.
IG-11 races to them with baby Yoda in tow, in the chaos the Mando takes a grievous head wound and tells the others to escape via the sewage system tunnels. They refuse to leave the Mando to die but he refuses to remove his helmet and break the rule. But finally concedes to allow IG-11 (the one team member he's had the biggest issue with) to remove his helmet since IG-11 isn't "alive".
The group fumble thru the sewers to where the Mandolorian hideout is only to discover they Mando's are either dead or escaped. The Mando recieves guidance from the Armorer on what to do with the Child...the Foundling is now tasked with his own foundling....the circle is now complete.
The armorer fashions the Mando his signet and gives him his jet pack.
The group make their escape via an underground lava river but a company of troopers are waiting to ambush them at the mouth of the river. As the group slowly drifts closer to the end of the tunnel they scramble to fight the ambush. IG-11 offers to save them by activating self destruct protocols which the Mando refuses to accept as a solution, not because the Mando needs him help fight the Storm Troopers but because he's finally over come his prejudice for the droid.
Thanks to IG-11's sacrifice the group escape but find themselves pinned down by Moff Gideon in his TIE fighter. In one of the coolest action sequences of the season The Mando shoots a grapple line at the TIE as it flys overhead and gets wisked off behind Gideon, the Mand plants some charges and releases from the TIE as the wing get blown off and Gideon crashes off in the distance. The Season concludes with Greef Karga and Kara Dune staying behind as the Mando flys off with the child.
Then we get the best surprise cliff hanger since Episode IV, The camera scrolls to where Gideons TIE wreckage sits and suddenly something begins to cut thru the fuselage and Gideon emerges holding the Darksabre!
 



I hope we see what fate befell Bo Katan, since it appears Moff Gideon knows alot about the night of a thousand tears on Mandalore.

The Mandalorian Episode 7: The Reckoning

The Mando receives a transmission from Greef Karga offering a proposition to return to Navarro to kill the Client in exchange for clearing his name with the bounty hunter's guild. The Mando returns to Sorgen to recruit Cara Dune to help with Karga's plan. The duo then travel to Kuiil's planet to recruit him only to discover he found and rebuilt IG-11 as well as re purposed him to help Kuiil around the farm. After a lengthy exposition the Razorcrest takes off with the Mando and his party of a Rebel "dropper", an Ugnaught mechanic, a re purposed IG assassin droid, the Child and 3 Blurgs.
We get a glimpse at the dynamic of this rag tag group and unlike the ST these characters don't mesh together as well as Rey, Fin and Poe, they're pride and prejudice create a believable dynamic.
We also are treated to a scene that caught me completely by surprise when Cara and the Mando are arm wrestling.
This is a fantastic scene because it shows how the force has slipped away into mysticism that few even know about.
fast forward to Navarro, the party meet up with Greef Karga and his 3 guild members.
Now this is where something fascinating hppens that was hinted about in episode 2, the group gets attacked by a group of Mynocks and Greef suffers a nasty wound that is poisonous. It's here we see the Child use Force Healing to save Karga's life. This is something that we might have witnessed in the PT in AotC and RotS when Sidious places his hand on Crispy Anakin! Now this technique seems contradictory to the advice Yoda gave Anakin in episode III about learning to let go of the things we love....because I bet if they taught him that technique he might've saved Shmii and his destiny would've been completly altered!
There was one other great moment in this episode when Mando, Cara and Greef are sitting with the Client, we get a great bit of dialog that further develops the state of the galaxy when The Client asks the Mando if he thinks things are better since the revolution,....it's clearly not. And questions why Mandalore refused the aide of the Empire. He also mentions the great Purge which explains all the moments throughout the season where people seemed shocked to meet a Mandalorian. It seems as if the Empire executed a scorched Earth operation on Mandalore towards the end of the Empire's rule.
Episode 7 leaves off with a cliff hanger that had my whole family yelling at the TV.
Excellent Excellent episode! I cannot wait for next fridays season finale!

The Mandalorian Episode 6: The Prisoner

The Mando visits an old acquaintance, Ran, who requests help on a job. Ran explains it's a 5 man job and they need the Razorcrest.
This episode felt very different than any of the previous episodes, it reminded me of the Suicide Squad in a galaxy far far away. Xi'an especially came across as a Harley Quinn wanna be, I was glad to see a Twi'lek as more than just a sexualized manner and it was nice to see a male Twi'lek in live action. The mission was to breach a New Republic prison ship and break Qin, Xi'an's brother, out.
There's an atmosphere of un ease from the moment the Mando arrives on Ran's space station, and the episode does a great job of keeping the suspense through till the very end!
There's a good deal of action in this episode, Mando takes down about eight New Republic Security Droids that are definitely not to be taken lightly, they're no rodger rodger's! And later we see Mando get into a very tough one on one against the Devaronian. Burg, who takes a flame thrower to the face and keeps on coming! This fight does show how to avert our expectations correctly when Mando seeming end the fight with a similar tactic we saw in the first episode.
I enjoyed Bill Bur's character, Mayfield, an ex Imperial sharpshooter, there's a funny interaction when we're first introduced to him where the Mando throws shade at him and Mayfield retorts "I wasn't a Storm Trooper wise ass!". I also thought it was hilarious when Mayfield was egging the Mando on while they were heading to the mark saying maybe the Mando was a Gungan and talked like Jar Jar!
There wasn't much of Baby Yoda in this episode but what we got was enough, seeing him hiding from Q9-0 on the Razorcrest had my wife and son on edge, I can't wait to see the new meme's of Baby Yoda trying to use the force and then looking at his hand wondering how he blew away the droid only to see it was the Mando.
My favorite scene in the episode was when Mayfield was alone in the corridor of the prison ship with the red emergency light and flashing lights, very reminiscent of Aliens and every other flash you saw the Mando sneaking up behind Mayfield. That was great cinematography!
Congrats to Dave Filoni for becoming an X Wing pilot!
And now my theory about who that was at the end of episode 5 is wrong....I don't think it's Moff Gideon, so I'm gonna jump on the Boba band wagon. It was Tatooine, and perhaps she was meeting Boba at Mos Espa...

 

The Mandalorian Episode 5 The Gunslinger

The Mandalorian has every bounty Hunter in the galaxy looking for him except a young wanna be named Toro Calican. Young Toro is tracking Fennec Shand, a notorious merc whose worked for many crime families.
This episode starts with a dog fight between the Razor Crest and a sleek quad engine star fighter.
Things are looking dire for Mando and baby Yoda as the bounty hunter has disabled one of the Razor Crests engines but a quick maneuver with the trust reversers and full flaps extension the hunter becomes the hunted.
I'm not sure extending flaps in space would help slow the Razor crest down as there is 0 atmosphere.....anywho.
This episode is fan service overload as we hear Mos Eisley tower reach out to the Razorcrest with landing coordinates. We arrive at docking bay 35 and are greeted by Peli Motto and her pit droids, I enjoyed how she portrayed a mechanic, true to form finding all sorts of problems that need to be fixed. and once the Mando leaves she's sitting around playing Sabacc with her droids!

The Mando heads out to look for work to cover the costs of the repairs and we end up in the Mos Eisley Catina! Of course we head there, and this is where we meet wanna be Han Solo, Toro Calican.
The Mando teams up with Calican to go after Fennec Shand the merc I mentioned earlier.
We get a lesson on the natives, Mando get's shot in the ass but the Beskar protects him, and we catch Fennec. Mando leaves Toro with Fennec and the young n hungry wanna be gets a brilliant idea but it costs him his life.
For me the episode seemed a bit underwhelming but if you take a step back and think about it there are some questions it brings up. Where was Fennec running to beyond the Dune sea? How does the Mando know so much about Tuskens? Who's the new owner of the Mos Eisley? Allowing droids to work the bar? The place has really gone to the Dugs!
Everyone's wondering who the mystery person was at the end of the episode, I think it's most likely Bill Bur's Bounty Hunter character. I don't think we'll see Moff Gideon till we return to Navarro.

The Mandalorian Episode 4: Sanctuary

The Mando seeks a planet to lay low for awhile with baby Yoda and ends up on Sorgen, a backwater skughole, that's sparsely populated by blue krill farmers.
Mando meets a former Rebel Shocktrooper Cara Dune. The two hit it off right away >.- but she asks Mando to find another planet to hide on as she arrived on Sorgen first and wishes to remain under the radar.
As the Mando is prepping to depart 2 farmers approach him and ask for his help against raiders.
The Mando accepts under the condition the farmers provide shelter for him, baby Yoda and Cara.
Cara and the Mando train the farmers to defend themselves. Cara and the Mando discover the raiders have a tank....no an AT-ST!
OK so I'm rewatching The Clone Wars series on D+ also and just happened to watch S2E17 Bounty right after this episode of The Mandalorian...so we have bounty hunters defending farmers from pirates/raiders by teaching them how to fight and the Pirates/raider bring a tank/AT-ST to suppress the coalition.....hmmmm.
Aside from introducing Cara Dune in this episode it was a very basic story that I've seen time and again in shows like The A team and Knight Rider.

The Mandalorian Episode 3 The Sin

Another strong episode this week, the Mando delivers baby Yoda to the Client and Dr Pershing, and collects a large cache of Beskar Steel which he brings to the mystery Mandalorian Blacksmith to forge him new armor because his "armor has lost it's integrity" and "he may have to "start over" Interesting choice of words! absolute intentional double entendre . This scene was the most intriguing to me as we got a few more nuggets of info regarding the Mandalorian culture...."This is the way"!
And a further glimpse into the Mando's troubled childhood,
Jyn's hiding spot was much better than his was.
We know he survives but I'm curious who saves him....we know he's a foundling so I'm guessing a Mando. With 5 episodes left I doubt we will delve too deep into Mandalorian clan structure this season but I have a feeling we will be treated to a revelation in the season finale. Clan Wren, House Vizsla anyone?
When the Mando meets up with Greeve we get a nice little comment to reiterating the state of the galaxy. The Mando asks Greeve what they plan to do with the Mark and Greeve tells him if he has a greivance to take it up with the New Republic, the Mando's reply "That's a joke" is very telling....
7 years have past since the events of RotJ and the galaxy doesn't seem that much better off, in some cases it might be worse!
This insight is sorely lacking in TFA!

Now to the question of Dr Pershing's comments to the Mando, He protected him, if it weren't for Dr Pershing "he'd be dead already." So there's more to this bounty than meets the eye! Someone wants baby Yoda dead but who??? Is Dr Pershing Imperial? Right now Greef Karga is the furthest from the trust tree in my opinion. I think he'll betray anyone if the price is right, and yes I believe the Mando purposely shot him where he did.
Now to the shoot out, seeing the Mando's come to the aid of one of their own was great! It brought back fond memories of TCW episode The Lawless when Bo Katan helps Obi Wan escape from Mandalore. The one part that felt off to me was when the Razor claw was leaving and that one Mando flies up along side and salutes him....seemed kinda cheesy to me.
So where are we headed in episode 4? The Ocean Dunes of Karnak? He still has the puck....

The Mandalorian Episode 2 The Child

Picking up where the first episode leaves off we see the Mando making his way back to his ship the vintage Razorcrest with baby

Yoda

, but as the expression goes "some days you're the dog, some days you're the hydrant". The Mando gets ambushed by a trio of Trandoshan bounty hunters. but manages to fight them off and protect baby

Yoda

. When he arrives at his ship he finds that Jawas have stripped it clean and left it on proverbial cinder blocks! The Mando chases them down as they try to flee on their Sandcrawler. This was a treat for OT fans and lesson #2 in proper Star Wars humor.
We are treated to some ultra kawaii moments between the Mando and the asset. Those of us with kids can appreciate when the Mando has to return the lil fella back to his stroller.
With no means of return back to the Client the Mando returns to Kuiil's farm. Kuiil offers to help the Mando get his parts back. Kuiil arbatrates an agreement between the Jawas and the Mando, the parts for the Razorcrest for an egg. This scene is a crucial point in the story because it reveals that this species is perhaps the most in tune with the force and it again illustrates that even Mandalorians aren't omnipotent.

. It also shows the connection the two beings have and raises one very important question, why are all these other bounty hunters trying to kill the asset while Dr Pershing was so adamant on bringing it back alive.
The episode concludes with an A-team style montage of Kuiil and the Mando repairing the Razorclaw and the asset waking up from naptime after over exerting himself.
I understand that the asset is a McGuffin but unlike a holo map, wayf-finders or a Sith dagger, this McGuffin feels less like a pointless object and more plausable within the galaxy.

The Mandalorian Episode 1

I've been eagerly waiting for this show since uncle Bob revealed it back in 2017! And today was the day I would find out if my hopes would be dashed or realized. I am here to say The Mandalorian has in 1 episode eclipsed anything the ST has shown thus far. The Mandalorian harkens back to a simpler time when a young farm boy met a crazy old hermit and dreamt of joining the academy to fight the Empire....a small story brimming with potential to expand. A story that sparked the imagination of a generation....my generation! The Mandalorian is just a simple man trying to make his way in the universe during a lawless, post Empire time in the Star Wars Universe. The look and feel of the very first locale hit the mark for me, it's a planet we've never seen before but it feels very familiar. It's clearly evident that The Mandalorian is using Spaghetti Westerns as the the genre to mold the story around, which is perfect considering the state the galaxy is in after the fall of the Empire. The scene where the Mando learns how to ride a Blurgg and the scene where the Mando scouts out the encampment where the mark is being held screams Spaghetti Western!  

Faverau and Filoni show they're respect for the source material by sprinkling in bits of fan service such as the Mando's rifle, Mythrol's mention of Life Day and Kuiil's mention of the Mythasaur. 

We also get hints of the state of the people of Mandalore thru a few lines by the Client and the scene where the MAndo brings the Beskar Steel to the Mandalorian Armory. This reiterates to me that Both Favreau and Filoni understand Star Wars but have a clear idea of how their story will fit into the Makers Universe and expand upon it, much like how Rogue One did.

The scene in the second half of the episode introduces IG-11 and serves to not only drive home the lawless state the galaxy is in but to also show these hacks Rian Johnson and JJ Abrams what Star Wars humor is and ISN'T. 

The shoot out at the encampment gives fans of IG droids and Mando's a glimpse of they're bad-ass-ness which is a treat but the episode also shows the Mando is not unstoppable...he has weaknesses and flaws. He is relate-able....a simple man trying to make his way in the universe.

In the interest of not spoiling the surprise at the end of the episode, the mark the Mando was hired to find is the cutest damn thing I've seen since baby Groot!

I cannot wait for the next episode on Friday! 

Star Trek Picard Teaser Trailer

 While Uncle Paulie's away I'll post this for him, cause I know he's as much of a fan of Star Trek as I am of Star Wars....makes for some enjoyable conversations.
Of all the different series in the franchise TNG was my favorite. I tried to get into DS9 but it just wasn't able to grab my interest and hold on to it and Janeway.....well that show was lost before she was for me. I kinda liked Enterprise for a bit but again I lost interest....
I really hope Picard reignites my interest with fascinating stories and quality character development not hollow fan service and SJW agenda's!!!

Street Fighter The World Warrior TV series lives

The World Warrior project seems to be"resurrected".... My friend Mike sent me a link to an article on deadline.com  that Joey Ansah's World Warrior project has been picked up by E1.
I loved Street Fighter Assassins Fist, but that GO90 series.....oh dear God that was, as Bison put's it....a worthless pile of excrement.
The only names dropped in the article so far were Joey Ansah, Jacqueline Quella and Mark Wooding all from Assassins Fist.
The story will focus on Ryu, Ken, Guile and Chun Li and how they're paths will converge with the World Warrior Tournament which is secretly funded by Shadaloo the Organization controlled by M. Bison. 
I do hope Christian Howard returns as Ken and Mike Moh as Ryu!

As far as casting for Chun Li I trust Joey will pick the best qualified Asian Actress!

And Scott Adkins as Guile

Always in motion the future is....What's next for Dave Filoni after Star Wars Rebels?

I'm gonna put this out there, Dave Filoni and his team at LFL deserves to be writing the ST! (too late now).
My son and I watched the series finale last night and he was so excited and had so many questions!
I am a fan of Star Wars but I have to admit TFA and TLJ has shaken my faith in the franchise, but after last nights conclusion of Rebels I know the heart of Lucas's creation is in the capable hands of Filoni, Hidalgo and the LFL story group.
I will miss the crew of the Ghost and watching how the show masterfully segway'd  from the Clone Wars era to the time just prior to Rogue One. This is twice Filoni has introduced us to brand new characters that initially were not well received (Asohka and Ezra) but over the course of the series grew on us and clearly demonstrates Filoni is a master of character development....which I suspect stems from watching Super Dimensional Fortress Macross when he was younger.
Last night I finally saw Ezra Bridger as a strong, mature young adult Jedi. And when he left Sabine and his family it had the same bittersweet feel I got so many years ago when Hikaru Ichajo chose to leave Lynn Minmay and travel to the stars with Misa Hayase.
I can almost see a comparison between Kanan to Roy Folker, Ezra to Hikaru, Hera to Misa and Sabine to Minmay!
I've told so many friends of mine to watch this show but alas my words fell on deaf ears, my wife refused to watch it even though she watches the movies. I hope this show makes it's way to Netflix and Disney doesn't lock it in the vault til their streaming service goes live.
Unfortunately too many people prematurely judged the show at the beginning based on the art style and the fact it was on Disney XD.
Rebels had some amazing episodes, these my favorites!

1. S2 Ep 1/2 Seige of Lothol  
2. S2 Ep 25 Future of the Force
3. S2 Ep 33 Shroud of Darkness
4. S2 Ep 36/37 Twilight of the Apprentice
5. S2 Ep 38/39 Steps into Shadow
6. S3 Ep 52 Trails of the Dark Sabre
7. S3 Ep 54 Through Imperial Eyes
8. S3 Ep 57 Twin Suns
9. S4 Ep 69 Jedi Night
10. S4 Ep 71 Wolves and a door
11. S4 Ep 72 World Between Worlds
12. S4 Ep 73 A Fools Hope
13. S4 Ep 74/75 Family Reunion/ Farewell

So Sabine, and Ashoka are searching the unknown regions for Ezra after the Battle of Endor. 
And speaking of Endor, Rex is now officially the rebel on Endor that’s part of the team that destroys the shield generator...I’m cool with that.
Kanan and Hera have a son! Jacen Syndula! Force sensitive ???
Zen and Callus also live happily ever after.



 Sorry Master Yoda I am looking to the future, I am excited for the trailer for the next Star Wars animated series.

Star Wars Rebels mid season 4 trailer

With the state of the Galaxy in turmoil with Episode VIII dividing the fans down the middle and utterly failing in China and no sign of the trailer for Han Solo (4 months away) I'm happy to finally get this trailer for the second half of the final season of SWR!
I'm curious about what Sheev means when he say's "Ezra Bridger....mine at last"













And who is Ezra talking to in this scene???

Star Wars Rebels S4 E3 & E4 In the Name of the Rebellion

As Kanan tells Ezra in this episode "all paths are coming together" which is clearly evident when the Ghost arrives on Yavin IV and Zeb and Callus greet them. Shortly afterwards Hera "crashes" the reunion.
I really enjoyed these two episodes, not so much for the story that took place in it,which was good, but rather for how these two episode add to the connective threads between the PT, R1 and the OT!
I'm not clear where R1 falls in the BBY timeline, but if I were to guess 1 or 0 BBY so these episodes in season 4 are probably 2/3 BBY so as we get nearer to December my attention is becoming more and more intense to see if any of these characters in SWR cause ripples that will affect events in the ST (most notably Thrawn).
I also really appreciate the way the politics are being handled in recent years compared to george's heavy handed approach in the PT. A great example is the scene between Saw and Mon Mothma at the beginning of this episode there is a clear divide in this fledgling rebellion of how to fight the Empire. And there are arguments for and against both Gerrera's and Mothma's stances. And seeing young Ezra torn between both is a great representation of young adults in RL that find themselves "undecided" on real world politics and politicians!
The second episode was very enjoyable also because it felt a little like a noir mystery. We all know what the Empire's "super weapon" is, the fun is seeing how Saw is the ONLY one in the Rebellion who is on the right track to uncovering the truth. Unfortunately his methods have alienated him as extremist and thus the Rebellion doesn't learn about project Stardust until there's only the most minuscule bit of Hope left.

Rebels S4 Trailer 2

The 2nd trailer for the fourth and final season of Star Wars Rebels just came out and based on the timeline the series should bleed nicely into Rogue One and provide a smooth transition for Director Krennic, and perhaps some easter eggs for the December release of The Last Jedi. I'm very curious about the fate of Grand Admiral Thrawn!
I'm also very excited to see the return of Bo Katan....seems like the dark Sabre keeps coming around to her.

Star Wars Rebels Season 4 Trailer Star Wars Celebration 2017

Star Wars Rebels returns this fall with the the ongoing struggles of the crew of the Ghost and the fledgling Rebellion....a moment of silence for Commander Sato.....
My son and I watch every Saturday morning (thanks FiOs On Demand) and he's really enjoying learning about all the characters that we don't see in the Saga films....he's taken his first steps into a larger world....
So I've watched the trailer for Season 4 a few times and I'm gonna rub it in my son's face right now....
NAH NAH NAH NANA I TOLD YOU LITTLE MAN THAT BO KATAN WAS GONNA BECOME THE MANDALORE AND WIELD THE DARK SABRE!!!!

I'm really looking forward to next season as the Rebels timeline inches ever closer to the Rogue One time line and the connection is made!

Is Bo Katan on Tatooine?!

Agent Callus aka Fulcrum on Yavin 4

Amaterasu in Rebels???

Love ya Sabine, but this is where you lose the Darksabre!

A U wing...Could we see Cassian Andoe in Rebels S4?

Welcome to Yavin 4 

 

Star Wars Rebels Season 3 mid season trailer!

The mid season trailer for the third season of Rebels has just dropped!
Much like the season 2 mid season trailer the hype this trailer brings is crazy, I just hope we don't get a bunch of filler episodes till the season finale like S2.
I don't think we will because of ALL the core stories going on this season....Ezra and Kanaan....is Ezra going to the Dark Side? Kannan and Bendu, Ezra and Maul, Maul and his quest to find "him" (which apparently he does), Thrawn, when will observations conclude and we see him implement his master strategy!?
Sabine now has the Dark Sabre! When will we meet her mother and is it Bo Katan? Did Bo visit Ben while he was on Tatooine??? Inquiring minds want to know!
Will Orsen Krennic show up this season? next?
Seeing Rex and Saw reunite was great! Did I see Death Troopers?
I'm betting we see the different Rebel Cells unite in the finale against Thrawn as Maul reunites with an old "friend". And I'm betting Zeb isn't making it to S4 and Kallus is actually a double agent! I can't wait for SWR to return this Saturday and am soo fascinated how rebels will connect to Rogue One!

TWD S7E6 Swear Thoughts and Impressions

7 seasons of TWD and I'm still watching every Sunday! The S7 premire was HARSH and since that intial shock and awe I've enjoyed each episode as it has in some way moved the story forward.....last nights episode......eeehhhhh not so much.
So Tara the Lesbian and the Heath have missed out on all the fun after killing some of the Saviors at the com tower. Tara need to cross a literal and metaphorical bridge but Tara (the Lesbian) washes up near a secret camp of all women....who eat nothing but fish!
OK that's far enough!
I'm renaming this episode
"Tara and the Secret Garden"

Star Wars Rebels: S2E21 Twilight of the Apprentice

What a phenomenal episode! The eriness of Malachor was portrayed so well with the Sith temple hidden beneath a layer of ice in a enormous crater. Rebels does an excellent job of designing planets that pay homage to Ralph McQuarie and his art work! The area surrounding the Sith Temple was frightening with all the charred bodies, it totally reminded me of that famous playground scene in Terminator 2. As predicted Ezra was separated from Kanaan and Ahsoka and thats when he meets the Old Master!

I loved how Ezra's initial meeting with Maul complimented Luke's initial meeting with Yoda on Dagobah! Which is interesting because I was quite unhappy how the TFA was so littered with homages to the OT. Maul played the feeble old hermit (cane and all) stuck on Malachor to young Ezra but when the inquisitors arrived he shed his feeble facade and demonstrated he was more than just a shadow... clearly a nod to the 2001 novel by Michael Reaves, Darth Maul Shadow Hunter.
I LOVE this character and I know I'm not alone and I know LFL now realize the mistake they made by "killing" him off in TPM.


As Ezra and Maul traverse the temple to retrieve the Sith Holocron, Maul ever so non nonchalantly shares little gems of knowledge to the naive boy from Lothol, which in actuality is the Sith's code. As I predicted Maul is planting the seeds of doubt in Ezra's mind, and it's apparent Ezra is much too impatient and is already on the same path Anakin was at the same age.
The dialog between Ahsoka,  Kanan and Maul was hilarious as the're scaling the Sith Temple, like on the elevator platform... Maul to Kanan..."ohhh sorry only 2, no more no less"...
Kanan pulls Maul off the platform and goes on with his padawan, "Ahsoka you're with gramps"
Then later while Ahsoka is fighting Maul and she tries to run to Ezra, "Running away.....again Lady Tano?"
And this brings us to the crescendo of the Season Finale Darth Vader arrives on Malachor!
Now I'm fully aware this confrontation has many similarities to Luke Vs Vader in RotJ and I may come across as a hypocrite with my frustrations with TFA but this scene was absolutely incredible and I got the feels when you hear the Anakin/Vader voice overlay calling to Ahsoka. OMG!

Now I understand my level of enjoyment for this scene is due in some part to watching The Clone Wars Series and seeing Anakin and his Padawan grow together.
I mentioned before the similarities with RotJ this scene had, also just as Return of the Jedi has multiple meanings, Twilight of the Apprentice does as well! Are we talking about Ahsoka? Ezra? or even Maul? or all of them!




Just like watching The Talking Dead after TWD I love watching Rebels Recon right after SWR and I cannot wait to hear what Dave Filoni was hinting at regarding a major announcement at Celebration 2016 in London in 103 days!
I hope it's what myself and many others think....a certain Grand Admiral who happens to be a connoisseur of fine art!