Star Wars Rebels seems to be hitting its stride at last

Star Wars Rebels is about seven episodes in now, and I have to say it's growing on me. At first, the series seemed like all it wanted to be was a family-friendly show. For example, the first couple of episodes didn't have the feel of any kind of "dark" villainy which is an essential component to Star Wars. After all, things are either black or white in the Star Wars universe; there is no gray. Oh and the second rule of Star Wars is that things are big as in VERY big. But I digress.

So yeah, it's growing up a bit as we're getting plot lines where characters are actively pursuing undercover roles in an Imperial academy to get good intel that the alliance can use to fight the Empire. That and Star Wars Rebels is investigating the Force more (and I like that too). Finally, it's also tying itself to The Clone Wars, which as far as cartoons goes, rates as one of the finest ever made. For example, we got a plot line that led to a prison world to free captured Jedi Master Luminara Undulee only to find out that she'd been killed, and that the Imperials under the Inquisitor were just using her bones to lure Force users out of hiding.

Now as for the Inquisitor himself, I love his appearance and voice, but his lightsaber is kind of ridiculous. You see, it has the ability to spin like a fan, and this seems kind of pointless if not an all out desperate to appeal to the "under thirteen" crowd who will no doubt think "it's cool" without considering if the weapon is even practical (which it isn't). However, if one thing is cool about this series, it's the artistic license that they're taking with respect to Ralph McQuarrie's old illustrations. The lightsabers are thinner and more pointy and the animated hair even moves in the wind.

I am wondering if (at some point) Ahsoka Tano might put in an appearance. By the end of The Clone Wars season five, she decided to leave the Jedi order but she was incredibly powerful. I think it would be interesting if she decided to help the galaxy that is now under the foot of her former master, i.e. Darth Vader, who I'm sure "Rebels" is waiting to introduce in a season finale or something similar just to drive up ratings.

If you've been watching Star Wars Rebels, what do you think? Yay? Nay? It's definitely got my appetite primed for the movies that start arriving as early as next year.

Star Wars Rebels borrows what worked for Firefly and puts it squarely in the post-Empire universe

I watched the whole pilot for Star Wars Rebels this weekend with my special out-of-town guest, Grumpy Bulldog who is quick to say that his favorite movie of all time is probably The Empire Strikes Back. So I guess between his reverence for Star Wars, and my ability to spot things, I was able to put together a decent opinion about this series.

It is one I'm going to continue to watch. The action comes at you fast and swift, just like all Star Wars movies and television has thus far. In some ways, Star Wars follows a formula: 1) things are always gigantic, 2) there is always a lightsaber, 3) there is always a force user despite the fact that someone/anyone will tell you that Jedi are all dead or that "the Force" is an ancient religion with no modern practitioners, and 5) whenever you deal with anyone associated with the Empire (unless they are a named character) they are utterly incompetent.

Things that Rebels has going for it include: 1) humor, 2) a Firefly-esque crew out to do good but essentially a team of morally ambiguous privateers just trying to eek out a living in the wake of "Order 66 and the fall of the Jedi." 3) a clear homage to Ralph McQuarrie's artwork. One of the aliens is even an early concept drawing of a "wookie" done by Ralph McQuarrie and there's kind of an inside joke when Stormtroopers don't recognize the creature as a wookie.

If you're used to the animation style of The Clone Wars, this will take a little getting used to as it's a little more "cartoony" even though the animation is quite fluid. Ezra (the kid), for example, looks more or less like a cross between the detailed faces we saw in The Clone Wars and a muppet from Jim Hensen's studio. I think I say that because of the shape of his nose. That and his hair is shiny as if he puts a lot of product in it, which he probably doesn't. It's just a "texture" choice that's made by the animators.

In the pilot we got a Jedi Holocron with Obi-Wan Kenobi's message warning all Jedi to stay away from the Temple and to trust in the Force (I assume this thing is loaded with Jedi training from some master at least as good as Yoda since holocrons are ancient and powerful relics of the Order), a droid that smacks of R2, a rogue Jedi and  a kid (wonder where this is going), a grumpy Mandalorian that's a demolitions expert and has rainbow-colored hair, and that "Wookie-esque" alien I mentioned above. He serves the role of muscle and comes from the whole "tough love" crowd with regard to the kid; he's also the butt of some  hygiene jokes.

This is the new "Big Bad." I didn't actually see this lightsaber in the pilot, but
I know they are going with this design. I'm not sure if I like it or not, but the
entire Old Republic did die so that we could get this design.

All in all, Star Wars Rebels did what it set out to do. I felt entertained and the mysteries were enough to keep me questioning. It had the feel of something filmed in the Star Wars universe, and I'm curious as to where it intends to go. Oh and we got a glimpse of this series' "Big Bad" that may be a placebo for Darth Vader, even though we could technically see Vader in this series as much as they want to show him. One reason for not showing him might have to do with "diminishing" his competence, because we all know that Vader meant business in all three of the original Star Wars films.

What about you guys? Any of you out there catch the pilot? If so, what did you think of it? 

In Star Wars does the Rule of Two make it difficult to come up with original stories?

In the Star Wars universe, does the Rule of Two make it difficult to come up with original stories? So that you can consider this question with the proper nerd cred, the "Rule of Two" denotes that there can only be one Sith Master and their apprentice. In the Clone Wars cartoon series, Count Dooku was Sidious' apprentice. But there was a need for another "Sith-type" so that they could harass the heroes in plots outside the six Lucasfilm movies. This "Sith-type" needed to be able to withstand the powers of the Jedi, not be easily vanquished (unlike droids), and able to be killed off if necessary (and not affect the movies). Oh yeah, and they can't be full-fledged "Sith" because the Rule of Two constrains that.

The series couldn't use Count Dooku too much, because we all see him die in Revenge of the Sith. So it became necessary for writers to create an apprentice who would go around and do all of his dirty work while he spent time keeping the droid armies and the trade federation in line. So that's when they created Asajj Ventress who became his acolyte and assassin. But the writers skirted the whole "Rule of Two" by saying Dooku would only impart Dark Side training to her, but not actual Sith Teachings. Essentially, what got created are two different things (not to mention an "out" for future writers which can seem a bit cheesy).

So is the "Rule of Two" a smart idea? In the end, Star Wars is a franchise that exists to make money. To restrict the existence of other Sith yet allow as many Jedi to exist as possible seems counterproductive to me. Villains drive the Star Wars storyline; without them there is no story. One could argue that the Rule of Two governs and endorses self interest while tightly controlling overreaching ambition. The Order of the Jedi supports this premise because it decayed from the inside as each started to formulate conflicting ideologies. Think of Qui-Gon Jinn for example.

However, it can also be argued that Ventress and anyone like her that uses the force to do evil yet does not bear the title of "Sith" becomes a massive narrative "cop-out." It's easy to say that when Ventress was created/introduced, the Rule of Two got ignored because now you can have two Sith and an infinite number of things that are "almost Sith" but fundamentally, the viewer is never going to be able to tell you what the difference is. They all wield red lightsabers, look menacing, and dress in black.

Star Wars Rebels just released a glimpse of their very first villain and the picture is included below. Yeah, the new villain dresses in black. Yeah, the new villain has a pair of red lightsabers and looks really badass. According to the New York Comic-Con panel where the character was introduced, the Inquisitor's job is to track down the remaining Jedi Knights left alive after Order 66. However, the Inquisitor is not a Sith. He's an "almost Sith" just like Ventress. Is that just another "cop-out?"

I guess in the end, I won't care and still watch the series on Disney. In fact I'm excited by it. I do hope that Ahsoka Tano comes back. She won't be a "Jedi" technically so I guess that makes her exist outside the whole "all Jedi are dead" thing too.

It just makes me ask, what's in a name anyway? In a universe of "almost Jedi" and "almost Sith" was there ever really a crisis of not finding a teacher or preserving the mystical history of the Force? I know, important questions all, right? ;P  Have a great Tuesday.

I'm kind of excited about Star Wars Rebels. Okay I'm REALLY excited mostly because this new concept art totally channels Ralph McQuarrie

So I saw on io9 last night that Star Wars Celebration Europe had a big reveal: concept art for the follow-up series to the Clone Wars. If you weren't reading my blog in the spring, I did my whole A to Z challenge on the Clone Wars despite the fact that Cartoon Network had canceled it. I (like many Star Wars fans) have been in the dark up until now.

So here's some fantastic concept art that was shown and if you're a fan of Ralph McQuarrie, you should be able to see the artistic nod. In short: it looks awesome!

Cool logo

This picture looks like it could have been a module written by West End Games.

I wonder what planet this is. The action in just these stills looks promising though.

Scheduled to appear in fall of 2014, it is supposed to take place between episodes III and IV. Basically, it is after the Emperor has taken over and Yoda has fled Coruscant. So if this series features any Jedi at all, my guess is it will be Obi Wan or Yoda. Maybe they'll have the ghost of Qui-gon teaching Obi-Wan the ability to live beyond death. That would be really cool.

So are you excited for Star Wars Rebels?