Star Wars Discussion Thread (Spoilers Inside)

[striker42]

Cad Bane not being dead would be a disservice to basic writing. Otherwise what would be the point of the line "I always knew you were a killer".

The episode was hardly classic star wars. Classic star wars has much more depth. Much clearer writing etc. I'll get my thoughts more clearly out when I'm back from visiting my family.

I don't know about much more depth. The people that raised Luke were reduced to burned skeletons and the only emotion he showed was a few seconds of looking away. Han and Leia's romance saw very little on screen attention paid to it. Anakin doesn't like sand. Luke decided to kill a child with almost no time spent on justifying why. Somehow Palpatine returned.

Star Wars is kind of like Harry Potter. It's not as much the plot or the dialogue that drives the stories, it's the world. Even The Mandalorian, as good as it is, is a classic story of lone wolf and cub. It's not breaking new storytelling ground. But it is taking that familiar story and exploring it in a rich world which gives it a whole new dynamic.

Book of Boba Fett is another classic tale. Bad guy goes through a traumatic experience, survives, meets good people who teach him morality, reevaluates his life choices, and makes good. It's basically the same story Favreau told in Iron Man. It's nothing new story wise. But it does explore it in the world of Star Wars which was enjoyable.

I liked Book of Boba Fett. It was classic Star Wars. Was it the best Star Wars content ever? No, it had its flaws. Boba Fett's motivations were poorly explained (though could be inferred), his goals were also somewhat muddy, and some of the acting left something to be desired. But it was a classic story told in a rich world with plenty of super enjoyable moments.


As for Cad Bane, if he's dead it would be a major strike against Book of Boba Fett. He's a really great character and honestly his acting was the best in the whole series. To give him such a small arc and then kill him would be such a waste of the character. If they'd brought him in for the first episode and had his story running opposite Boba Fett's the whole time, then I think it makes the showdown at the end better and would make Bane's death fitting. As is, his death is a throw away.

Practically, they had that shot of him lying "dead" in the street but it had a light beeping on his equipment. His droid Todo is well established but not something we saw. So having his droid come and save him makes sense. It does rob some of the weight from "I always knew you were a killer" but I'd sacrifice that for more Cad Bane going forward.

[zitothebrave]

There is lots of depth in the films. You're not wrong that the movies can fall into a tropish nature. But we've seen so much heavier depth from the TV shows.

So tell me what was Boba Fett's motivation? Why did he decide to go to Jabba's Palace and just merc Bib Fortuna then take over his operation? What motivation is there for that? If his primary motivation is to be a crime lord where did that come from? If his prime mode is to make Tatooine a better place because of his experience with the Tusken Raiders why not just take out the crime lords and go from there. Could go on with anything else.

There was no character growth and depth. It seemed like it's purpose was largely to explain why Boba Fett wasn't a bounty hunter any mroe which was explained away in one line. Instead we got a fake kill of Cobb Vanth who now seemingly will be in service of Boba Fett (my guess is for a Cobb Vanth spinoff show)

But did Boba Fett make good? He seemed to get people he seemingly cared for killed, drew in his friends and got people they cared for killed, threatened the lives of everyone else. The only people you could argue are better than when the story started are the power ranger biker gang. Seems to me like everyone Boba Fett came to trust's life got much worse. All which could have been avoided if he just kept that status quo.

They will be a waste for Bane. There's no logical reason for him not to be dead. It would cheapen literally the entire Star Wars story if death isn't a real threat. So far we've seen Palpatine cheat death, Maul cheat death, Rey cheat death, Boba Fett cheat death, Fennec Shand cheat death, Ahsoka cheat death, Cobb Vanth Cheat death. Eventually no one will take any character death seriously if most of the major characters deaths aren't a threat. I mean it would be the ultimate cheating of the series, especialyl when the driving point of the prequels was literally Anakin not being able to save/bring his mother back to life and save/return life to Padme.

But to go back to my point as to why it isn't classic star wars. Classic Star Wars is based on Japanese and classic movies. This shot much more like a 80s or 90s action films, not like spaghetti westerns. There's a clear set up of Acts. In A New Hope the setting is set, the conflict is clear, beyond just Rebels vs. Empire, it's also Luke Skywalker vs. the Death Star or if you would, the up and coming symbol of the power of the rebellion vs. the symbol of the power of the Empire. This is clarified even more by the mentor to Luke being killed by the Empire on the death star. Resolution is the death star is destroyed adn the heroes are praised as such.

Where is that 3 act structure in this story? Much less this episode. There's no real setting set up. They're pretty heavily relying you on knowledge of Star Wars and Tatooine. Conflict is disconjointed but assume the major turning point number 1 is Tusken deaths. There is no major turning point number 2. One could argue the other turning point is the bar blowing up. But except for the focus on Jennifer Beals's Twilek, there's no draw or real connection to that bar. It's hollower than Alderaan's death to the audience.

[striker42]

Boba Fett's motivation is pretty clear. He's seen first hand the suffering of people at the hands of evil crime lords. Both the Tuskans and the foot soldiers like himself and Shand. He believes if he takes over he can run the gang through respect and not through fear and intimidation. That he could run things in a way that benefits all and doesn't just throw away lives and exist on the backs of oppressed people.

Boba Fett made good. Yeah there were people in his circle that got killed but he also was able to free Tatooine from the Pyke's spice trade and destroyed the cabal that was conspiring to exploit the planet (other crime families, the mayor, and the Pyke leader).

I'll agree that there were rough edges to the show that you don't see in The Mandalorian but it was a classic story told in the Star Wars universe.

I guess we have different opinions of what classic Star Wars is. To me it's storytelling within the rich Star Wars universe. To you it seems to be more about the films themselves. That's fine. We each enjoy it different ways.

I'll agree Book of Boba Fett wasn't like a classic Japanese film or a spaghetti western. It ran more like a super hero story to me.

[zitothebrave]

I don't want to dunk on Book of Boba Fett. It's not a bad piece of media. Unlike say Rise of Skywalker which is just ****.

My frustrations largely come from the heavy budget that went into this that could have been spent on new and original content. It's estimated that hte show cost was about 100M. that's close to 100 episodes of Clone Wars. Even with improved costs we could have gotten 25-30 episodes of an animated series instead.

We desperately need a Clone Wars for Resistance Era Star Wars. Sadly they didn't leave a ton of wiggle room as Episode 9 happened way too soon as the Events of Last Jedi set a clear need for a break as both the Resistance and First Order were shattered. Kylo needed time to consolidate power and continue invading planets etc.

[zitothebrave]

[striker42]

Ahsoka in season 1 of the Clone Wars was just terrible. I still can't stand her in season 1. But her character really developed.

[zitothebrave]

It's not even season 1, it's like the first dozen episodes. Really the show as a whole changed for the better with the Ryloth arc. Which is why most people prefer season 2 and on is because it's much more like that arc.

[striker42]

It's not even season 1, it's like the first dozen episodes. Really the show as a whole changed for the better with the Ryloth arc. Which is why most people prefer season 2 and on is because it's much more like that arc.

She was originally intended to a be a character kids would relate to and wasn't even done well for that. Calling R2 Artooey was just painful.

[striker42]

Question: Has The Mandalorian set the bar too high for Star Wars live action series?

I'm just wondering in the wake of Book of Boba Fett if some of the complaints weren't about the series, but more that the series didn't live up to its predecessor. I think if you go into anything expecting The Mandalorian, you're going to be very disappointed.

[The Chosen One]

Question: Has The Mandalorian set the bar too high for Star Wars live action series?

I'm just wondering in the wake of Book of Boba Fett if some of the complaints weren't about the series, but more that the series didn't live up to its predecessor. I think if you go into anything expecting The Mandalorian, you're going to be very disappointed.

Kenobi will raise the bar again I think.

[Krgrecw]

Question: Has The Mandalorian set the bar too high for Star Wars live action series?

I'm just wondering in the wake of Book of Boba Fett if some of the complaints weren't about the series, but more that the series didn't live up to its predecessor. I think if you go into anything expecting The Mandalorian, you're going to be very disappointed.

I agree. They also need to slow down and not burn people out on so much Star Wars content. As an old wrestling fan, I believe Star Wars needs to do a show on a Thrawn to get him over. You have to introduce the heels and build them up so when the baby faces eventually win, it’s that much bigger.

[zitothebrave]

I agree. They also need to slow down and not burn people out on so much Star Wars content. As an old wrestling fan, I believe Star Wars needs to do a show on a Thrawn to get him over. You have to introduce the heels and build them up so when the baby faces eventually win, it’s that much bigger.

Grogu doesn't deserve to off Thrawn. Sabine, Ezra or Ahsoka have a much more satisfying kill. Only way Grogu would be justified in battling Thrawn is if Thrawn is beasting Mando.

[zitothebrave]

Question: Has The Mandalorian set the bar too high for Star Wars live action series?

I'm just wondering in the wake of Book of Boba Fett if some of the complaints weren't about the series, but more that the series didn't live up to its predecessor. I think if you go into anything expecting The Mandalorian, you're going to be very disappointed.

No they didn't. The issue I think with BoBF was that it trying too hard to be like the Mandalorian. But it wasn't the same quality show, crew and cast. It's rehashing stuff that no one wanted to see. But there's still plenty of star wars that can be told in better fashion than the Mandalorian. Mandalorian is a fantastic show, but it's hardly perfect. There's still plenty of room for improvement.

[The Chosen One]

I hate that Disney is cheapening out with their tech on these star wars series.

A show like Kenobi deserves to get a bigger production budget closer to what something like Game of Thrones would get with how big of a name Kenobi and McGregor are.

[zitothebrave]

I hate that Disney is cheapening out with their tech on these star wars series.

A show like Kenobi deserves to get a bigger production budget closer to what something like Game of Thrones would get with how big of a name Kenobi and McGregor are.

I don't think that's the case at all. Disney broke ground on the Mandalorian. It's one of the most expensive shows per episode of all time. I'm guessing Kenobi will be in the 15-20M per episode range also making it among the most expensive shows ever per episode (GoT was around 15)

[striker42]

Grogu doesn't deserve to off Thrawn. Sabine, Ezra or Ahsoka have a much more satisfying kill. Only way Grogu would be justified in battling Thrawn is if Thrawn is beasting Mando.

I'm gonna be so annoyed if Thrawn is killed at the end of season 1 of Ahsoka. He's such a good villain. Way better than Snoke, Kylo, or the resurrected Palpatine. He not unreasonably evil. Evil for the sake of evil. You can get away with that with Sith lord as they can be consumed by the dark side. So having a villain who is lawful neutral is really interesting.

I'm hoping Thrawn ends up being the Thanos of the Star Wars live action. The villain that spans multiple shows.

[zitothebrave]

I'm gonna be so annoyed if Thrawn is killed at the end of season 1 of Ahsoka. He's such a good villain. Way better than Snoke, Kylo, or the resurrected Palpatine. He not unreasonably evil. Evil for the sake of evil. You can get away with that with Sith lord as they can be consumed by the dark side. So having a villain who is lawful neutral is really interesting.

I'm hoping Thrawn ends up being the Thanos of the Star Wars live action. The villain that spans multiple shows.

I don't think they'll off Thrawn. i'm not sure the direction of Ahsoka, but I actually wouldn't be shocked if Thrawn didn't show up til near the end of Ahsoka kind of like Moff Gideon in Mandalorian Season 1. Like they could have been a bait and switch and have a different Chiss pretending to be Thrawn get defeated then they receive a message from thrawn about meeting him out in the Ascendency.

[striker42]

I don't think they'll off Thrawn. i'm not sure the direction of Ahsoka, but I actually wouldn't be shocked if Thrawn didn't show up til near the end of Ahsoka kind of like Moff Gideon in Mandalorian Season 1. Like they could have been a bait and switch and have a different Chiss pretending to be Thrawn get defeated then they receive a message from thrawn about meeting him out in the Ascendency.

Thrawn the ally would be a super interesting. I'd love to see them play around in the Unknown Regions as well.

[zitothebrave]

Thrawn the ally would be a super interesting. I'd love to see them play around in the Unknown Regions as well.

I mean it's the logical place to go. The more they go deeper into the parts of Star Wars that's unexplored, the better. It's a literal whole universe with lots of underrepresented areas and races. Like Mirialans, Rodians, etc. are just out there underrepresented.

[Krgrecw]

Thrawn the ally would be a super interesting. I'd love to see them play around in the Unknown Regions as well.

Thrawn is the big villain in the universe. All the characters (mando, fett,Ashoka, baby yoda) will come together and battle Thrawn in the finale