Ahsoka (Spoilers within)

[Moe_Syzlak]

Okay, that show obviously wasn’t meant for me. It was meant for those that were already invested in these characters. But that said, that wasn’t a series finale. I mean what really happened this whole season!? Honestly the characters I cared the most about were Baylan and his apprentice (though I admit there isn’t a very high bar in terms of characters to care about). And they seemed to amount to the equivalent of an unfired Chekhov’s Gun. Clearly this was all set up for the movie they are wanting to make. But with the unfortunate passing of the Baylan actor and the seeming inability of the writers to garner interest in the animated characters for the uninitiated, will they really press ahead with a tentpole film for a few million Rebels fans!?

 

[hothstation]

Finished with the "season finale" and GOOD LORD am I relieved it's over!

 

[tremault]

Okay, that show obviously wasn’t meant for me. It was meant for those that were already invested in these characters.

I was invested in the characters and this show was insulting.
I decided to write a little list of notes while watching and things got progressively worse. I don't understand what the hell they were playing at.
I'll put my list in a quote box for convenience:-

• Where did Ezra get a kyber crystal? They are not common things you can find just lying around.
• Why is 'Ahsoka' saying Anakin always stood by her? In Rebels he tried to frickin' kill her and she is well aware of that!!
• How are they holding up a big ship like that with the force? Many occasions, we've seen Jedi struggle to lift a single person up.
• How on gods green earth does it make sense to ram those Ties with your wings?? how are the wings still in tact and why are those pilots incapable of turning at that moment?
• Why is Thrawn now preparing for a ground assault, an episode or two ago, he was saying to forget about them and leave as soon as possible.
• Where did they get tame wolves with saddles from? That seems a tad overlooked.
• It now strikes me as odd that the first rock crab people they met were just lying face down on the ground, but now they are a nomadic people with technology... something isn't fitting together here.
• Yes Sabine, help Ezra open a massive gate from a distance using force telekinesis that you've shown zero aptitude for and zero evidence of any ability to even nudge a cup a millimetre and after Huyang said you were a no-hope, but somehow, under a volley of lazer fire.....
• oh look at Thrawn, the amazing Strategist famed for being cool and calculating, is now getting a bit angry, great way to respect your characters.
• Doors that operate when you destroy the switches. ok.
• So, mr genius Grand Admiral Thrawn.... you need more time, why the hell didn't you close all those blast door before the Jedi started making their way up the stairs???????? OR.. and I know this is a crazy idea, maybe you could move your bloody star destroyer away from the ground access??
• hmm, So Thrawn told Morgan to give them time, to stop the Jedi, so whil Sabine and Ezra jog around her, she does literally nothing. That was effective.
• How long does it take a Force sensitive Jedi to get telekinesis? How long was Luke training on Dagobah? Sabine just learns to do it to pull that lightsaber really effectively in the middle of a panic moment just because she needs to. This is what the force is now, you can use it if it's convenient?
• Oh it's okay, she's a fully fledged Jedi now. She can even use force push to throw Ezra across that big gap. clearly training is not needed now. You get a Jedi ability, you get a Jedi ability, EVERYBODY gets a Jedi ability.
• I honestly thought maybe I was being picky when I first started making this list but now I'm angry. I can't even watch this properly.
• Oh the ship's repaired.. so none of that was even necessary, and considering Sabine was THEIR BEST ENGINEER, it would surely have been fixed a lot quicker if at least she had stayed there and worked on it.

 

[Moe_Syzlak]

I’ll say that it does seem like many of the voices I’ve heard consistently praise this show were underwhelmed at best by the finale. But I do think a lot of SW fans just want different things from the franchise than I do. I’ve already said I want less Force, less Jedi. But also—though I fully acknowledge that SW is more fantasy than sci-fi—it was its own brand of fantasy. I don’t like it leaning into other fantasy elements. I don’t want witches and zombies and overt Tolkienisms. I want good stories told well in this universe with a vague and indescribable Force as a backdrop rather than a centerpiece. Bring on s2 of Andor!

 

[Gibichung]

You know what I’m thinking partner?

Aim for the bushes…

I swear this happened a few times in the season finale.

(Lol I did enjoy the show, I’m just sayin’)

 

[DigModiFicaTion]

Finale = zombie trooper hack and slash, a baddie defeated again, but for real this time, a switcheroo of marooned characters and ambiguity to the max. 7+ hours of filler to a story that ultimately won't matter because Ezra, Thrawn, Ashoka, Sabine, and the likes won't survive whatever ridiculous conflict they try to cram between the story and TFA. I didn't care for heir to the empire, but it was better than this.

 

[tremault]

7+ hours of filler to a story that ultimately won't matter because Ezra, Thrawn, Ashoka, Sabine, and the likes won't survive whatever ridiculous conflict they try to cram between the story and TFA.

same as Obi-wan. We expected a character study focusing on the titular character, developing them further, but instead got a load of fan-service and key-jangling.

 

[Moe_Syzlak]

The entire series seems like it should have been a crawl before whatever is next. Only by giving us the series they have effectively diminished the interest of many fans in whatever that is.

 

[henzINNIT]

The entire series seems like it should have been a crawl before whatever is next. Only by giving us the series they have effectively diminished the interest of many fans in whatever that is.

Clearest example of this is Ray Stevenson's character, who seemed pretty popular with fans but ended up doing very little except set up season 2. A whole season basically wasted, which turned out to be the only season they'd get with him.

 

[Gaith]

7+ hours of filler to a story that ultimately won't matter because Ezra, Thrawn, Ashoka, Sabine, and the likes won't survive whatever ridiculous conflict they try to cram between the story and TFA. I didn't care for heir to the empire, but it was better than this.

Sure, Thrawn will bite it. But do you really think the Disney execs would let Grogu not be in the upcoming Rey movie? And, if Grogu and Rey become pals, do you think it's so implausible that an older Ahsoka would show up in a mentorship role, also? As for Ezra and Sabine... well, maybe they all went on a big ol' quest to the other galaxy to save the purgills, or something. Maybe they'll all be back.

 

[Masirimso17]

Jumping in the middle of the conversation a bit but, I enjoyed the show just enough. I think it was better than Boba Fett, Kenobi and Mando S3, but not by a huge margin. It's not the best written show in the world, obviously (maybe Filoni's kind of dialogue just works better in kids shows). But I was mostly pleased with it and would be down to give it a rewatch in movie form (because yeah the pacing in this show was beyond terrible). I'd like to take another look at Ahsoka's arc with the benefit of hindsight. And I do agree with @tremault that this rendition of Ahsoka just does not feel like Ahsoka--although she gets a bit closer after the fifth episode--but from what I've seen of Rosario Dawson and how perky she is, I think this is largely a directing (or lack thereof) issue.

 

[tremault]

But do you really think the Disney execs would let Grogu not be in the upcoming Rey movie?

Unfortunately I think you're 100% correct and that is the reason why future projects with Grogu will suck, because they will be exec driven rather than story driven.

 

[Possessed]

Just finished the finale. It was pretty good. Not perfect.

Some of Rosario's lightsaber combat looked awkward, something I didn't notice in previous episodes. Maybe they just had more clever editing and camera angles.

I wont argue that and as a finale it was underwhelming. But overall I think the series was pretty good. Not the greatest thing ever, but pretty good and worth watching. As usual when a new star wars thing comes out it's been cynically nitpicked to death by people who wouldn't have liked it no matter how it had turned out, but that's been the case with star wars for quite a while now.

Overall I would say it was pretty good. Maybe not great, but good and certainly didn't turn me off of anything or offend me. I enjoyed it, that's about it.

 

[spence]

The finale really sank this one for me. Less for what happened and more just because of how poorly put together it was.

You want to do zombie stormtroopers, an admittedly silly yet very cool idea, but they're in a flat and brightly lit environment with absolutely zero atmosphere? Why would you not put that scene in a dark and creepy lit area and make it a little scary?

Why are there multiple scenes of characters just standing there twirling their lightsabers like fools without any camera movement or exciting editing? Why is everything so stoic?

Why would you not let Hera hug Ezra, completing her story arc for the season with a moment of catharsis?

I feel like this whole last episode was a terrible reshoot. It's the only way to explain how badly shot, edited, lit, paced, etc. it is. Just a complete failure top to bottom. I'm also becoming very suspect of Rick Famuyiwa's abilities as a director of large scale, effects heavy projects.

It's a shame because I was otherwise enjoying the series. It's not perfect, but it was a lot more fun and "Star Wars-y" than their last few projects.

I guess Andor really is the odd man out as far as feeling like a total, well produced package.

 

[fredyk10]

Although visually the show looks good, it has good special effects, the soundtrack is good.
argumentatively it is very bad. It abuses silent scenes that contribute nothing and the story goes nowhere.

 

[hothstation]

Although visually the show looks good, it has good special effects, the soundtrack is good.
argumentatively it is very bad. It abuses silent scenes that contribute nothing and the story goes nowhere.

I think this show successfully diminished Disney Star Wars to the point of apathy, which is the worst for an IP.

 

[Masirimso17]

I think this show successfully diminished Disney Star Wars to the point of apathy, which is the worst for an IP.

Well to be fair if you’re talking about apathy in the fandom, one look at Prequel/CW and Rebels fans’ reactions indicate otherwise

 

[Gaith]

Viewing clips, I'm finding I don't like Thrawn's voice. It's too mild, with too much delicate enunciation, and too much musicality. I always imagined his voice as being more like Ian McKellen's Magneto - graceful and proper, yes, but with an unmistakable edge of command and coldness. This Thrawn's tone sounds like he could be describing floral arrangements or fine foods as much as military tactics. (Lars Mikkelsen's lack of angular facial features or an athletic figure don't much help the character's image, either.)

 

[Moe_Syzlak]

Well to be fair if you’re talking about apathy in the fandom, one look at Prequel/CW and Rebels fans’ reactions indicate otherwise

I’d love to see some sort of poll. Something like:

- I consider myself a fan of the prequels
- I don’t consider myself a fan of the prequels

- I enjoyed Ahsoka
- I didn’t enjoy Ahsoka

- I enjoyed Andor
- I didn’t enjoy Andor

I suspect those that like the prequels lately enjoy Ahsoka and dislike Andor and vice versa. Which is fine and I’m glad there’s content for both. But the question is can a divided fan base provide enough financial justification for continuing to create these very expensive shows? And do casual audiences even care?

 

[Masirimso17]

I’d love to see some sort of poll. Something like:

- I consider myself a fan of the prequels
- I don’t consider myself a fan of the prequels

- I enjoyed Ahsoka
- I didn’t enjoy Ahsoka

- I enjoyed Andor
- I didn’t enjoy Andor

I suspect those that like the prequels lately enjoy Ahsoka and dislike Andor and vice versa. Which is fine and I’m glad there’s content for both. But the question is can a divided fan base provide enough financial justification for continuing to create these very expensive shows? And do casual audiences even care?

Was Andor disliked by the Prequel crowd? I found it to be generally the opposite, that it was almost universally loved, surprisingly so after a bit of a rut in the series.