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ALL ENCOMPASSING STAR WARS THREAD


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23 hours ago, A_K said:

He's a rough & ready, roguish space cowboy. Dude likes to gamble, smuggle and shoot guns. Who doesn't. Doesn't make him morally bankrupt though ? Eventually he gets a little more mature, realises the greater stakes at play and that sometimes you've got to face the music & be counted.

When I say morally bankrupt, I don't mean it in an utterly bad way.  Malcolm from Firefly is a lot like Han is.  They both have a strong personal code, but that doesn't keep them from making a living through questionable means and they both do so without complaint.  As a matter of fact, they both kinda like being criminals.  It is their way of thumbing their noses at the establishment.

It is the Robin Hood trope of the rogue speaking truth to power by being an outlaw

Granted, the malevolent societies at large aka the Commonwealth in Firefly and the Galactic Empire in Star Wars have sorta forced "good" men like Mal and Han to resort to doing bad things to make ends meet because "good" men would not support such institutions with their labor and compliance.  You could apologize and say that Han and Mal did not really choose their paths in life, but they kinda did.  The comic book Nazis that run the Galactic Empire may be Lawful Evil, but the invisible rank and file law abiding citizens are still earning their livelihoods without resorting to smuggling or murder and most likely they are decent human beings.

Han is not an entirely bad person, but he's not supposed to be admirable either.  That honor belongs to Luke.  Han is a fucking merc that sells his services to the highest bidder.  His loyalty can be bought... maybe..

And yeah.  Part of the reason why nearly all of Star Wars works is because at heart, it's really a Western.   Tatooine is what Arizona would be if it were an entire planet.

23 hours ago, (BP) said:

The film Solo is about how he became callous and self-serving as a way to keep himself from being hurt.

Precisely and that works perfectly fine from the Greedo Shot First perspective, but it is ass backwards from the Han Shot First perspective as Han would already be primarily concerned with his own welfare.  I suppose that Han comes full circle from Solo to New Hope and that makes a little bit of sense, but I hate the stuff that supports the retcon.

Edited by J.T.
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I’m really enjoying Andor, as others have said it doesn’t feel like Star Wars at all.  Even Mon Mothma showing up wasn’t too big a leap.  

I like when we see the Imperial Security HQ, had me wondering if like the emperor or Vader ever just show up for meetings.

Also, those soldiers at the base are really lazy, that stairwell definitely should be painted if they have a visiting dignitary!
 

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8 minutes ago, Ultimo Necro said:

Also, those soldiers at the base are really lazy, that stairwell definitely should be painted if they have a visiting dignitary!

I find this funny because I work for the DoD and spot inspections or visits from top brass are a cause for alarm.  No one sanitizes a location quite like the US Army does.  We had a One-Star General visit our organization today so we spent the last seven days cleaning up the building.  Everything smelled like Pine-Sol and floor wax by the time he arrived.   

The latrines in our building are normally spotless but today, they have never been cleaner.

Edited by J.T.
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Dug episode 5 mostly for seeing how Andor and the group got closer together as they clearly were sizing each other up. Don't really mind the smaller subplots building as its clear this is a show they want to be on for a while. Does feel like with how slow it moves it would have been better either releasing multiple episodes each week or maybe a going a good 8-12 minutes longer each episode.

Not sure about the whole it doesn't feel like Sar Wars tclaim i see people make. It doesn't feel like what we are overly used to seeing from the previous trilogies, but it absolutely still feels like the Star Wars universe to me. 

2 hours ago, J.T. said:

Precisely and that works perfectly fine from the Greedo Shot First perspective, but it is ass backwards from the Han Shot First perspective as Han would already be primarily concerned with his own welfare.  I suppose that Han comes full circle from Solo to New Hope and that makes a little bit of sense, but I hate the stuff that supports the retcon.

How does work with that scenario more than the other? Solo kind of ends with him shooting his criminal mentor first.

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One thing I kinda gleemed from episode 5 that I really liked, is that it subtly shows how little funding and attention the Imperial stations on the out-of-the-way systems get. Like, the uniforms aren't as nice, the bases are disgusting, and the visits from higher ups are for trivial bullshit. Hell, in some cases, the Empire is hiring third party crowd control.

We see stuff like that in the novels, but it's nice to see it in live action.

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13 hours ago, Eivion said:

Not sure about the whole it doesn't feel like Sar Wars tclaim i see people make. It doesn't feel like what we are overly used to seeing from the previous trilogies, but it absolutely still feels like the Star Wars universe to me.

I agree that it totally feels like the Star Wars universe. It's just some smaller, unexplored corners of it.

It just has a very different feel than most Star Wars properties (other than Rogue One, of course). To me, it's mostly that there's no connection whatsoever to any Skywalkers. It's more "on the ground" action.

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19 hours ago, Eivion said:

How does work with that scenario more than the other?

Han starts off moon-eyed and becomes gradually more jaded as time goes by in Solo.  If he starts off as a Day One Dirtbag like he should, he's already jaded.

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1 hour ago, J.T. said:

Han starts off moon-eyed and becomes gradually more jaded as time goes by in Solo.  If he starts off as a Day One Dirtbag like he should, he's already jaded.

Yeah, but Solo if anything feeds even more into why Han shot first.

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Loved the heist. Was interesting seeing how much went right and wrong, and the aftermath was neat. One unsurprising thing is this is definitely a show where we probably shouldn't get attached to anyone we don't know is alive years later during the heavier aspects of the war.

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Spoiler

The heist this week was good. I'm glad they stayed only on Aldhani until the heist sequence was over. And we only checked in with the other parties to see them realizing that the Rebels struck a blow on the Empire. The way they built up the tension to the start of the raid was really good. 

On some level, I kind of understand Skeen's logic, even though he was a scoundrel. However, manipulating the group to go to the doctor was all just a ploy so he could make a play for the money. Andor was smart to just get rid of him right there. And yet he let Syril live. Idiocy. But Skeen was arguably not much different from Andor. Just wanting to survive and get his cut. The difference is Andor was willing to just take what he was promised and give the rest to Vel. 

Problems with this week's episode:

* The deaths of Lt. Gorn and Taramyn weren't impactful enough. They didn't even spare another shot looking back at Gorn who gave his life to help them and turn against the Empire. Think about this. This was an Imperial Officer who grew to hate what he had become. He could no longer stomach working for these people. This character had a ton of potential. I'm not saying he shouldn't have died, but his death was just abrupt and lacked impact.

* I feel at least Taramyn's death had slightly more impact this week. They at least showed them looking back at his body after he got blasted. But even his death wasn't very dramatic enough considering this show has been heavily building the drama.

* Only Nemik really had an impactful death this week. My problem with Nemik is they were putting up death flags for him all the last three episodes, so it badly telegraphed that he was going to die. That said, at least his death was impactful, and I have a feeling that Nemik's manifesto will be part of the trigger that brings Andor fully over to their cause.

* I'm assuming Cinta had some sort of exit plan, but she doesn't seem safe considering she was left on her own, with an officer's disguise or not.

 

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On 10/12/2022 at 4:15 PM, TheVileOne said:
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The heist this week was good. I'm glad they stayed only on Aldhani until the heist sequence was over. And we only checked in with the other parties to see them realizing that the Rebels struck a blow on the Empire. The way they built up the tension to the start of the raid was really good. 

On some level, I kind of understand Skeen's logic, even though he was a scoundrel. However, manipulating the group to go to the doctor was all just a ploy so he could make a play for the money. Andor was smart to just get rid of him right there. And yet he let Syril live. Idiocy. But Skeen was arguably not much different from Andor. Just wanting to survive and get his cut. The difference is Andor was willing to just take what he was promised and give the rest to Vel. 

Problems with this week's episode:

* The deaths of Lt. Gorn and Taramyn weren't impactful enough. They didn't even spare another shot looking back at Gorn who gave his life to help them and turn against the Empire. Think about this. This was an Imperial Officer who grew to hate what he had become. He could no longer stomach working for these people. This character had a ton of potential. I'm not saying he shouldn't have died, but his death was just abrupt and lacked impact.

* I feel at least Taramyn's death had slightly more impact this week. They at least showed them looking back at his body after he got blasted. But even his death wasn't very dramatic enough considering this show has been heavily building the drama.

* Only Nemik really had an impactful death this week. My problem with Nemik is they were putting up death flags for him all the last three episodes, so it badly telegraphed that he was going to die. That said, at least his death was impactful, and I have a feeling that Nemik's manifesto will be part of the trigger that brings Andor fully over to their cause.

* I'm assuming Cinta had some sort of exit plan, but she doesn't seem safe considering she was left on her own, with an officer's disguise or not.

 

Agree with all points.  I feel like I would like Andor a lot more if it wasn't starring Andor.  I find his character boring and don't like his acting.  I find most of the other characters more compelling.  Bring back Bix, Nurchi and Brasso and leave Andor off to the side.  

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So it seems like they do these three-episode mini-movie arcs. Two episodes of setup, and then in the third episode they rip off the band-aid.

Spoiler

I can't stand the scenes with Syril. He's annoying. His Woody Allen theatre mother is annoying. Acts like a petulant child who got tattled on in school. His scenes bring down the whole show. We're going to be stuck waiting 12 episodes for Andor to finally put this schmuck out of his misery or something.

Seeing Ben Miles show up in a Star Wars series is fun. This episode was like a lot of important, intricate details that happen offscreen in the movies. While the movies themselves are the broadstrokes.

Hey all the whiney fanboys, you got a legacy character this week, Yularen from A New Hope and The Clone Wars made a cameo appearance, portrayed by Stephen Sinclair, the dude James Bond wasted in the Casino Royale prologue.

Something about the Star Wars version of the Santa Monica pier high jinks with Andor was amusing. I dunno why. That scene felt a bit trippy and weird. Something was also off about Diego Luna's performance in that scene. Like I dunno, he seemed out of it, like he just did some death sticks or something.

We finally got a few more aliens this week, even though they were all in the background. I did like seeing all the expanded looks around Coruscant, making it feel more like a real place. 

I will be curious if Andor's imprison is how they bring in Saw Gerrera. 

 

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Syril doesn't ruin the show for me, but I kind of agree about his character being annoying as fuck. Honestly, I kind of like his mother kind of because she calls him out on his complete bullshit. I just wish they didn't dedicate so much time to him. Not big on Dedra either. Feels like they are trying too hard with how clever she is. Could have my dates wrong, but I thought the Rebellion doesn't come into full form with the cells finally uniting for at least another year or two.

Thought the scene at the docks was amusing and annoying (in a good way). Cassian was out of it, but it was clear he was still dealing with the conversation he had with his mother. He also is clearly still scared shitless watching over his back. It all felt right to me.

The 3 episode arc format is not bad though I don't love it as things can feel a little too slow sometimes. Despite that I didn't have an issue with it here. I like seeing how things are forming behind the scenes for the Rebellion.

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2 hours ago, Eivion said:

Could have my dates wrong, but I thought the Rebellion doesn't come into full form with the cells finally uniting for at least another year or two.

 

Yeah, we're still in multiple unorgainzed cells for about another 3 years before Mothma calls for the Alliance, although I think we're still another year before Organa starts up the Fulcrums.

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I'll catch Andor whenever now as the wife has completely lost interest after last week. She will watch just about anything but needs at least one likable character and she doesn't like Andor, doesn't like Syril, and Mon Mothma's family situation is a huge negative for her, as is the deal with Syril's mother. A lot of toxic stuff she doesn't necessarily want to watch in her escapist fiction. If it was just a 6 episode show, we'd power through, but it's 12 so I'm not going to force her through it. I'll get to it at some point. She basically told me to let her know if there's anything important continuity wise she'd need to know for future things or if Ahsoka shows up.

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I think Syril is an interesting look at what kind of person goes all-in on the Empire. But I can also see a path where he becomes disenfranchised with them and ends up in the Rebellion. I think he's interesting. I'm a "small" story guy. I love seeing these characters who aren't Jedi or Sith or whatever go about their daily lives.

Other random things I love about this series...

First, this show is just chock full of interesting-looking British character actors. The original trilogy had this, too. That's such a big part of the look/feel of "real" Star Wars for me.

The other staple of OGSW that they have brought back is cool jackets. So many cool jackets in this series.

Edited by Log
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