My hunch with Sabine's training is to go back towards George's original idea that being a Jedi was more about understanding your connection to the world around you (a religious principle) than manifesting cool powers.

The old Jedi had lost their way in essentially closing off their religion to anyone below a certain Midichlorian count (there's apparently something out there that give the Midi counts of various Star Wars characters with many known for their luck having much higher counts than others (though still below the threshold the old Jedi used). The droid is basically the voice of the old Jedi Order while Asohka wants to try something new.

For example, I believe Han Solo had a count of 5000-6000 whereas most people had under 2500 and a potential Jedi recruit needed at least 8000 to be considered (Anakin's was over 20,000). My hunch is Sabine probably falls around the range of Han Solo (and probably quite a few other non-Jedi SW protagonists do as well) and so while she'll never likely be able to move a cup (or if does eventually get there it would take a LOT more effort), she could certainly become more in tune with her surroundings (how much is an open question, but I predict it will be enough to take out Tay-Lor Swift in a rematch).

Essentially, Force sensitivity isn't a binary, its a range, and a lot of people could gain some benefit from learning to focus the sensitivity they do have.

ETA: another interesting theory is that Filoni is try to make Sabine into an "anti-Rey" as part of his ongoing feud with KK. So instead of everything coming easy and never failing without training, Sabine is going to need all the training she can get and is going to struggle for every victory (making them feel well-earned), thus proving that the reason Rey failed was she was a shit character in a shittier storh, not because she was a woman.

Quote from: Lurkndog on September 02, 2023, 09:45:43 AM
We switch to a holoconference between Hera and 5 New Republic senators. The theme of the New Republic sucking is reinforced. I hate that meme. It just seems lazy. Why does the New Republic suck? Are the wrong people in charge? Are they just useless pacifists? What happened to the people that won the Rebellion?

Yep. I wasn't fond of the idea in Mandalorian. It creates some drama in that the heroes have to take matters into their own hands, but it makes the Rebellion seem like a failure, in that their New Republic is a boondoggle and hardly worth the trouble of having fought the Empire.

Quote from: Ratman_tf on September 02, 2023, 03:26:34 PM

Quote from: Lurkndog on September 02, 2023, 09:45:43 AM
We switch to a holoconference between Hera and 5 New Republic senators. The theme of the New Republic sucking is reinforced. I hate that meme. It just seems lazy. Why does the New Republic suck? Are the wrong people in charge? Are they just useless pacifists? What happened to the people that won the Rebellion?

Yep. I wasn't fond of the idea in Mandalorian. It creates some drama in that the heroes have to take matters into their own hands, but it makes the Rebellion seem like a failure, in that their New Republic is a boondoggle and hardly worth the trouble of having fought the Empire.

Honestly, the most interesting way to go from a setting standpoint would be to just follow the Empire with a Dark Ages-like fracturing into a bunch of regional powers. The biggest issue Stars Wars has struggled with as it aged in the EU is the perpetual need for new galactic scale conflicts that undermined the victory of over the Empire.

An Imperial collapse into a bunch of minor states means that at any given time you could mean that 998 of a thousand realms are peaceful at any given time while still having conflicts worthy of being called wars raging across dozens of worlds (of millions).

That would have made the rebellion worthwhile by devolving power at least one step closer to the people.

Of course; all of that tries to pretend the whole concept of interstellar civilizations makes a lick of sense. We can't even achieve a global government (nor would we WANT one), based on population growth rates our population level will probably reach equilibrium by mid-Century on its own (if the globalist idiocracy doesn't get a bunch of people killed first) and the resources of our star system could support said population indefinitely.

Odds are that anyone looking to leave for another planet isn't looking to bring a bloated government along for the ride and is, instead looking for freedom from the governments of their homeworld.

Once you've got the ease of Star Wars hyperdrives literally the only reason for any sort of multi-system government is moral busybodies thinking they know better how everyone should live and sociopaths exploiting the result for their own benefit.

I like the idea that the New Republic is kind of a victim of the Rebellion's success.

The time period we are seeing in Mando/Boba/Ahsoka should be a prolonged postwar economic boom (think the 1990s). The Empire is gone, and all the capital they were siphoning off to build Star Destroyers and Death Stars is now freed up to invest in new directions and business opportunities.

It's basically raining capital.

But for the New Republic, that means that everyone from the Rebellion that has an iota of enlightened self-interest is going home and going into business. (I like to think of Lando and Han going into business together, running a shipping company and getting rich.) So they are left with the ones who are not that smart, or lack ambition.

There's also the possibility that the New Republic is taking on one or more megaprojects that are tying up tons of people and resources. I like the idea that Leia is spearheading a project to rebuild the planet Alderaan. Because as a starfaring civilization, they can, and also because it rubs it into the Empire's face that anything they can destroy, the New Republic can rebuild.

Given the lack of gravity, can someone explain to me How The Fuck did Ahsoka do the gymnastics on top of her spaceship?

Also: Space Whales? Seriously?

Being star wars the answer is either

a: Theres gravity inducers on the hull.
or
b: Ahsoka was using the Force.
or
c: The writers didnt care.

Quote from: GeekyBugle on September 03, 2023, 03:21:47 PM
Given the lack of gravity, can someone explain to me How The Fuck did Ahsoka do the gymnastics on top of her spaceship?

Also: Space Whales? Seriously?

Almost as silly as giant space slugs living in asteroids. Or sound in space. Or space fighters that fly like airplanes.

Star Wars lives in the same space as Flash Gordon. Star Wars hides it better, but real world physics takes a back seat to cool imagery.

There's probably a good middle ground, but different writers and directors are gonna have different ideas about where that is.

The bad guys need to change the batteries in their fighters, those lasers were about as effective as shining a flashlight.

Quote from: Thornhammer on September 03, 2023, 09:29:44 PM
The bad guys need to change the batteries in their fighters, those lasers were about as effective as shining a flashlight.

Someone also needs to explain them that a dogfight isn't melee combat, no need to get in range of your enemie's ONLY weapon (lightsabers), just blast them from a distance.

Also don't attack from the same point FFS.

Quote from: Omega on September 03, 2023, 04:38:22 PM
Being star wars the answer is either

a: Theres gravity inducers on the hull.
or
b: Ahsoka was using the Force.
or
c: The writers didnt care.

4. Tech in her spacesuit boots. Magnets, tractor beams, whatever.

It was silly, and the bad guys should have just stuck to what was working and shot her ship out from under her.

Episode 4 dropped tonight, and I really enjoyed it. Not what I expected.

If you are confused by the ending, you may want to watch Star Wars Rebels S04 E13. Though you should watch tonight's episode of Ahsoka first.

Full spoilers Saturday.

Quote from: Lurkndog on September 05, 2023, 09:51:21 PM
Episode 4 dropped tonight, and I really enjoyed it. Not what I expected.

Kick ass. Didn't feature it tonight on Stationary Bike Thee-ater, but will tomorrow.

WE ARE GO FOR SPOILERS ON AHSOKA EPISODE FOUR.
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Ahsoka S1 E4: Fallen Jedi

Sabine and Huyang are repairing Ahsoka's ship. It's not going well, they have no power or comms.

I'm not sure what good comms would do them, since the whole system was being jammed. On the other hand, with their ship grounded, getting the word out may be the only productive thing they can do.

I'm guessing that the baddies turned off the jamming when they sent the HKs out to search for Ahsoka and company, so that the guard droids would be able to coordinate their search and report in.

While we see the bad guys using the ancient planetarium with the key, Sabine had been able to get the map to work on her workbench back on Lothal. Is there a reason for the heroes to even know about the existence of the ancient planetarium?

It's odd that Huyang doesn't have a droid name. He is ancient, though, it's possible he predates the naming convention.

Do the low numbers on droid names indicate they are a recent thing, or do droids have serial numbers in the billions in addition to their given names? (I know George Lucas encountered a dialog track from American Graffiti labeled Reel 2 Dialog Track 2 being referred to as R2D2, and simply thought it would make a good name.)

Ahsoka and Sabine discuss the possibility that the map may need to be destroyed in order to prevent the baddies from getting it. Sabine is reluctant to commit to this plan.

I love the New Republic smock guy telling Hera she can't go off on her own. A stricter general might call that insubordination.

Pretty frickin awesome seeing the Ghost in live action again, as well as seeing Carson Teva, and hearing Hera referred to as Phoenix Squadron leader.

The countdown on the map is an effective way of ratcheting up the tension.

I like that Ahsoka seems to switch to single saber forms for fighting more skilled opponents. Two sabers are for mook-stomping.

Marrok tries the Inquisitor spinning double saber trick, but it's a cheap trick that will get you killed. It appears that Ahsoka simply timed it right, and sliced straight through his guard when the saber wasn't there. He blows up in a cloud of green gas. Not sure if that was the atmosphere escaping from his suit, or some kind of Nightsister magic, but regardless, he's dead. Clearly, he was neither Ezra nor the clone Luuke.

Diana Lee Inosanto has a lovely evil smirk as Morgan Elsbeth.

Ahsoka makes mistakes, the greatest of which is not listening to Huyang and splitting up the party. She also fails to heed her own advice and destroy the map at the first opportunity, grabbing it out of the energy beam in an attempt to take it intact, and in doing so, burning her left hand. As a result, she is unable to fight Baylan Skoll on an even footing, allowing him to overpower her and send her off the cliff.

It's also arguably a mistake to interrupt the map sequence, as she would have needed to complete the sequence herself in order to rescue Ezra. She would have been better off stealing a ride and trying to disable the Eye of Sion instead.

Does Baylan Skoll win by, ironically, being a better Jedi than Ahsoka? He wins the exchange of words with Ahsoka, he gets in her head, he seems to know his enemies better than they know him, his apprentice can actually use the Force, his dueling strategy is sound, and he maneuvers Ahsoka into fighting him where he is strongest. And he gets a solid win.

Lastly, Ahsoka wakes up in the World Between Worlds (see Star Wars Rebels Season 4 Episode 13), and Anakin Skywalker is there. Did Anakin bring her there? And which Anakin are we dealing with? Hayden Christensen does an admirable deadpan expression.

In terms of droids there are some with as many as six characters in canon; with 36 characters (26 letters, 10 digits) that gives something like only 2.17 billion combinations. My guess is droid names are mostly shortened serial numbers (or a model/variant code minus the serial number... so R2-series, variant D2, serial number xxxxxxxxxx; or R2-D2 for short).

Basically there's a lot of R2-D2's out there... just like there are a lot of people named John Smith's out there.

As to Anakin, dedicated fans have noted that Anakin is wearing the black trimmed saber he used as Vader, so my guess would be this is Anakin's Force Ghost.

There's been years of speculation that Filoni would use the World Between Worlds to undo the Sequel Trilogy (starting with the very logo itself when announced resembling the appearance of structures in that realm). But I think instead (probably because the Mouse won't let him) he's going to write around it by moving most of the characters he cares about who didn't appear in the ST over to this new galaxy where he can just ignore the ST.