A Long Time Ago In a Galaxy Far, Far Away.... - Star Wars General Discussion

[Cybersnark]

My take on The Twins is that this is an in-universe retelling of Luke & Leia's story, set down hundreds or even thousands of years later, by which time everything's been mythologized (a pair of twins, people "created" by the Dark Side, an R2-unit and a protocol droid, one of the twins has an X-wing, planet-destroying superlaser, kaibur crystal, the male twin comes from Tatooine, etc).

It's as historically accurate as Arthur Pendragon being raised by the wizard Merlin and receiving a magic sword from the Lady of the Lake.

Spoiler: Timeline speculation

Timeline-wise, The Ninth Jedi seems to happen during the First Jedi Purge from 3954 BBY to 3951; note the reference to lost knowledge (a result of the destruction on Ossus and Dantooine), and the numerous Sith assassins (probably working for the Triumvirate). I like the unspoken implication that it was the post-purge Jedi who started crafting their own lightsabers (rather than risk the specialized knowledge becoming lost again).

The Elder is clearly only a century or so before TPM (so yeah, the High Republic era); Master Crosser noted that the Sith have been gone for "centuries" (it was a thousand years by Qui-Gonn's time).

 

[Ultra Magnus13]

The Duel- Maybe not the best to start off with...because I think it is generally the best of entire lot. Paying respects to the Kurosawa films that inspired it, while keeping true to franchise conventions, this one married all that with an amazing visual style. Nods to a great twist on the assumed conventions of the franchise. Seriously, this is gorgeous short it just feels a step above where the other ones ended up landing.

One the best, and wish it had been saved for last. Honestly I think inverting the order probably would have been best.

Tatooine Rhapsody- A musical romp that is so enjoyable BECAUSE it presents a new angle of the universe without standing apart from it. Nice music, sharp animation, nice short.

Ended up liking this one far more than I expected at first. May be my second fav.

The Twins- Trigger's first offering is...maybe the worst of the lot. Plot is nonsensical, no clear focus of narrative. No meaningful character arcs, and while fluid, animation is lacking in detail and the action sequences fall a bit flat. The worst part though...is that it doesn't "feel" like a part of the Star Wars universe. Sure there are trappings like Star Destroyers, "Stormtroopers" and lightsabers...but it is "outlandish" in a garish way. Fights in the vacuum of space with no gear, random changes to the nature of weapons... It stands out amongst all the other shorts because it disregards the nature of the world of Star Wars in favor of pointless flash. Even in light of the embellishment the medium provides...this short stands out in the WRONG ways.

Started off not caring for this one, but it got so outlandish I came around and started appreciating it.

The Village Bride- Retreading The Duel in some ways. this is just a nice little character piece of Jedi on the run after Order 66. Nicely animated, great music. Nothing outstanding, but a solid entry.

Ok, but nothing overly special.

The Ninth Jedi- Part of a Jedi origin story, this does some nice juggling with design conventions. Great action sequences, a good story, IG delivered a solid entry.

Nope, you know what, this one was my favorite. Had everything it needed. I hope we get a follow up to this.

T0-B1- Astro Boy in the Star Wars universe. Like Tatooine Rhapsody, it presents a fascinating story and unique visuals while still staying true to the Star Wars mythos. By avoiding any major visual "landmarks", there's a timelessness to the story that gives it a lot of charm.

Wasnt feeling this one at first either, but came around to loving it by the end.

The Elder- Trigger's "prestige" offering. It's a solid entry, but the story is just "there" and without context of "The Elder", it basically just ends up being...there. The move to a more grounded aesthetic is also a bit odd as I feel that removes a LOT of Trigger's "identity" from the animation.

Solid, but doesn't do anything to wow.

Lop & Ocho- A fascinating little story that retreads some of the environmentalism previously seen with Village Bride. Probably strongest overall story being offered and the animation was there to back it up.

Easily the worst for me. Dull, and un inspiring.

Akakiri- You remember all the "forbidden love" angles from the prequels and Clone Wars series? This another take on that. Not bad...but like with Elder, there isn't much context to the characters or story so it just ends up being...there.

Meh, decent concept, but execution lacked the punch it should have had.

 

[LiamA]

My take on The Twins is that this is an in-universe retelling of Luke & Leia's story, set down hundreds or even thousands of years later, by which time everything's been mythologized (a pair of twins, people "created" by the Dark Side, an R2-unit and a protocol droid, one of the twins has an X-wing, planet-destroying superlaser, kaibur crystal, the male twin comes from Tatooine, etc).

It's as historically accurate as Arthur Pendragon being raised by the wizard Merlin and receiving a magic sword from the Lady of the Lake.

Spoiler: Timeline speculation

Timeline-wise, The Ninth Jedi seems to happen during the First Jedi Purge from 3954 BBY to 3951; note the reference to lost knowledge (a result of the destruction on Ossus and Dantooine), and the numerous Sith assassins (probably working for the Triumvirate). I like the unspoken implication that it was the post-purge Jedi who started crafting their own lightsabers (rather than risk the specialized knowledge becoming lost again).

The Elder is clearly only a century or so before TPM (so yeah, the High Republic era); Master Crosser noted that the Sith have been gone for "centuries" (it was a thousand years by Qui-Gonn's time).

Nah. I wouldn't go that far. I would say thirty years later.

 

[Noideaforaname]

Been reading the Jedi Prince books

It turns out the EU is a terrible palate cleanser for the ST.

I mean not really, but between Solo Sons gone Evil for reasons, somehow Palpatine returned, and also he had kids (and also Snoke exists apparently), I think I need to step away and wait for things to make sense again.

 

[Ultra Magnus13]

It turns out the EU is terrible

Fixed?

I loved reading the EU as a kid, and there are some fun, and good stories, but there are huge heaps of garbage as well.

 

[ZacWilliam1]

I read everything EU for the first few years at least. Eventually I stopped largely because I slowly realized that on top of it being fairly repetitive none of it actually felt like Star Wars to me, like at all.

Star Wars had fast paced action, fairy tale-fantasy structures and themes, mythic overtones, pulp and western and samurai adventure, fun characters, heroism and comedy.

95% of the EU was generic dry repetitive middling-quality sci-fi with Star Wars names pasted in.

ZacWilliam, the first Knights of the Old Republic video game is really the only expanded media from that era that felt really Star Wars to me.

 

[Noideaforaname]

Fixed?

Heh, not quite, but I'm starting to understand why a lot of folks were happy for Disney to toss it all out. Though it's utterly astounding they kept the worst ideas, and failed to improve on them.


For the record, I only got into the EU during that TLJ/Solo/Resistance slog, and it really helped reignite my interest in Star Wars.

 

[The Predaking]

So is visions any good?

 

[Daith]

Anime Fan Answer: Hell Yes!

Star Wars Fan Answer: How picky are you about doing things different? Did you like other like Projects like the Animatrix, Batman: Gotham Knight, or Halo Legends? Do you need it to connect to the movies or any previous cannon?

And really there are shorts that you'll like and shorts that you won't and each persons taste is subjective. Consensus seems to be that most people like the Duel and the Ninth Jedi and everything else tends to run to peoples tastes over all.

I tend to like The Twins but that's more about the bonkers animation than anything else. The Elder is probably the closest short that could fit into cannon set before the Prequels during the High Republic era presumably.

People tend to hate the Tatooine Rhapsody for the English track and the general style and type of short it is. Truthfully the music is slightly better in Japanese. And it is the only one to feature actual movie characters in some minor roles. It's still considered one of the weakest shorts but I do like some of the characters.

My biggest criticism is that everything is involved with the Jedi, Sith, and Lightsabers and not much deviates from it. No cool Starfighter battles, just a hint of the criminal element, and art styles run from realisim to mynock-podo level insanity. I feel like it's at least good to watch each one once at least in English or if you prefer Japanese with Subtitles.

 

[Daith]

Or here try this!

 

[The Predaking]

I will try to give it a watch this weekend with the family.

 

[LiamA]

From the people who brought us an oral history of Star Trek brings us "Secrets of the Force" an oral history of Star Wars.

 

[The Predaking]

I will try to give it a watch this weekend with the family.

Sadly, we didn't get a chance to watch it, but we will try again.

 

[electricidad]

Good news, everyone! We're getting a Boba Fett sans armor, a Cobb Vanth and a Mayfeld. They look freaking great: http://thefwoosh.com/2021/10/hasbro-pulsecon-21-star-wars-black-series-promo-images-and-info/

Looks like we'll be seeing in 2022 a new Endor Leia, Catina band members and the New Republic droids guarding the prison ship in The Mandalorian as well.

 

[Powered Convoy]

Hayden Christensen Returning to ‘Star Wars’ With ‘Ahsoka’ Series (Exclusive)

Rosario Dawson is starring as fan-favorite character Ahsoka Tano.

www.hollywoodreporter.com

 

[The Predaking]

Awesome! Dude always gets a bad rap for the prequels.

 

[Dake]

Hayden Christensen Returning to ‘Star Wars’ With ‘Ahsoka’ Series (Exclusive)

Rosario Dawson is starring as fan-favorite character Ahsoka Tano.

www.hollywoodreporter.com

Awesome! Dude always gets a bad rap for the prequels.

I'm certainly happy to give him the opportunity to redeem himself under the guidance of a better director. I hope he's watched the Clone Wars so he can see how Anakin could have been and allows that to inform his performance of Vader going forward (or of Anakin in flashbacks if that's what they intend).

 

[Rust]

So here's a fun game to play online.

Whenever a conversation about Star Wars inevitably turns to unbelievable situations/solutions that the heroes of anything not of the OT takes place, point out that Luke no scoped a two meter hole going Mach Nonsense in a combat situation and watch logic get really twisted into pretzels, like the justification that recreational shooting of Wamp Rats in a T-60 was somehow a comparable event or that Luke succeeded because everyone else had already died and turning off the targeting computer was the best chance they had because Luke was Force sensitive.

You know, instead of the possibility that this guy from a backwater planet experienced major traumatic events and was potentially hallucinating hearing voices.

 

[Dake]

 

[Ultra Magnus13]

So here's a fun game to play online.

Whenever a conversation about Star Wars inevitably turns to unbelievable situations/solutions that the heroes of anything not of the OT takes place, point out that Luke no scoped a two meter hole going Mach Nonsense in a combat situation and watch logic get really twisted into pretzels, like the justification that recreational shooting of Wamp Rats in a T-60 was somehow a comparable event or that Luke succeeded because everyone else had already died and turning off the targeting computer was the best chance they had because Luke was Force sensitive.

You know, instead of the possibility that this guy from a backwater planet experienced major traumatic events and was potentially hallucinating hearing voices.

So here's a fun game to play online.

Whenever a conversation about Star Wars inevitably turns to unbelievable situations/solutions that the heroes of anything not of the OT takes place, point out that Luke no scoped a two meter hole going Mach Nonsense in a combat situation and watch logic get really twisted into pretzels, like the justification that recreational shooting of Wamp Rats in a T-60 was somehow a comparable event or that Luke succeeded because everyone else had already died and turning off the targeting computer was the best chance they had because Luke was Force sensitive.

You know, instead of the possibility that this guy from a backwater planet experienced major traumatic events and was potentially hallucinating hearing voices.

I'm not really sure what this is suppose to get across? I'm not sure what "unbelievable situations" you are referring to, but Luke's shot on the Deathstar is well set up all around.

Prior to the attack, it's established that Luke is not only a good pilot, but he became a good pilot by recreationally flying through a canyon shooting targets (in a T16 by the way) not much bigger than 2 meters.

What does he have to do in the attack? Fly down a canyon and shoot a target not much bigger than 2 meters.

Earlier in the movie we see Obi Wan training him and offering the advice "feel, don't think, trust you instincts" Luke struggles, but is eventually able to do this, allowing him to be more successful against the remote, blind, than when he could see.

When Obi Wan first starts talking to him during the trench run Luke resists turning the computer off at least once, I think several times, before doing so.

Both his skill to make the shot, his connection to the force, and his reasons for trusting both Ben and the force are established before this scene.

Finally it's capped of with "great shot kid, that was one in a million" implying that perhaps on top of skill, and the force, luck also played a roll.