Ahsoka - from a writing POV

[EmilyMiller]

Having caught up on Only Murders in the Building, Ahsoka it was last night.

Self-confessed SW fan-girl, but have never watched any of the animated series. So don’t always know who the hell Filoni is talking about.

I think Dawson is excellent in the role. It must be hard acting with prosthetic head tentacles on (I wonder how long make-up takes). And Liu Bordizzo is literally a doll. Anyone else want to see her and Sakhno fighting nude, or is that just a me thing ?

But I wasn’t convinced about the pace. A slow burn worked for the - light saber free - Andor. But that was more of a political work. Here I’m not sure what the lingering shots and dialog lacunae are achieving.

I’m still hurting inside from seaosn three of The Mandalorian, so unwilling to give Disney the benefit of the doubt.

What do others think?

Em

 

[MelissaBaby]

I didn't have a problem with the writing, but the directing seemed sluggish and the editing sloppy.

 

[MelissaBaby]

Full disclosure: Most of my female protagonists will be played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead when my stories are made into movies. So, there is some bias on my part.

 

[EmilyMiller]

I didn't have a problem with the writing, but the directing seemed sluggish and the editing sloppy.

Filoni directed the first episode as well.

Em

 

[Djmac1031]

Maybe it's just that I've been a Fanboy since ever since that Star Destroyer first flew into frame in theaters back in 1977 and changed a ten year old boy's imagination forever.

But I really enjoyed Ahsoka.

 

[yibala]

Having caught up on Only Murders in the Building, Ahsoka it was last night.

Self-confessed SW fan-girl, but have never watched any of the animated series. So don’t always know who the hell Filoni is talking about.

I think Dawson is excellent in the role. It must be hard acting with prosthetic head tentacles on (I wonder how long make-up takes). And Liu Bordizzo is literally a doll. Anyone else want to see her and Sakhno fighting nude, or is that just a me thing ?

But I wasn’t convinced about the pace. A slow burn worked for the - light saber free - Andor. But that was more of a political work. Here I’m not sure what the lingering shots and dialog lacunae are achieving.

I’m still hurting inside from seaosn three of The Mandalorian, so unwilling to give Disney the benefit of the doubt.

What do others think?

Em

Not sure what I think of the storyline thus far. But I find the characters from the animated series far more engaging than those from the live action films. Part of that is their diversity. (I think Ahsoka is the first SW live-action anything after 45 years to pass the Bechdel test for force-sensitive women.) But it's also because after several seasons of Rebels and TCW, the characters actually have time to develop and show depth in ways that most of the SW universe characters, with the exception of a few from Mandalorian, ever do. I recommend trying both animated series; they both get better as they mature. Like everyone else, I agree that Andor was fantastic, but it was a very different sort of series.

Beyond the fun of it, I don't try to make much sense of SW. The timeline is constantly confusing to me, and apparently somewhat unclear to everyone else. And Sabine as Ahsoka's apprentice, instead of just a kick-ass Mandalorian without force-sensitivity, doesn't follow from anything that happened in Rebels. But so far the characters are intriguing and it looks like good fun.

-Yib

 

[SimonDoom]

Full disclosure: Most of my female protagonists will be played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead when my stories are made into movies. So, there is some bias on my part.

This definitely works for me. I'll tune in.

 

[MelissaBaby]

This definitely works for me. I'll tune in.

Now you have to read all 36 chapters of Mary and Alvin.

 

[SimonDoom]

Now you have to read all 36 chapters of Mary and Alvin.

You should be in sales!

Seriously, I read the first three chapters and liked them but the story is a bit long for my taste and not quite kinky enough. You write stories with sex, mostly, and I write sex stories.

 

[Britva415]

This is the first SW series where I feel like not having watched The Clone Wars is a real handicap.

That's a writing note. Directing/acting/editing note is that yeah, the pace has been very sluggish.

 

[yibala]

This is the first SW series where I feel like not having watched The Clone Wars is a real handicap.

The Ahsoka plot, about locating Ezra and Admiral Thrawn, is a direct continuation of Star Wars: Rebels. There isn't much connection to TCW, except of course that Ahsoka grew to young adulthood during that series as the padawan of Anakin Skywalker. So you aren't missing much from TCW (though it is worth watching) but a synopsis of Rebels would probably help.

-Yib

 

[Britva415]

The Ahsoka plot, about locating Ezra and Admiral Thrawn, is a direct continuation of Star Wars: Rebels. There isn't much connection to TCW, except of course that Ahsoka grew to young adulthood during that series as the padawan of Anakin Skywalker. So you aren't missing much from TCW (though it is worth watching) but a synopsis of Rebels would probably help.

-Yib

I guess that's what I meant to say

beats me what the past stuff is even from

 

[SeraphNocturne]

I've just caught up... I'd say it has renewed my interest in investing in cosplay at the very least for the upcoming Momocon that comes through my city, though I'm not crazy for the body paint. I pretty much binge watched all of Clone Wars in preparation for this series and so far, I'm inclined to agree, the slow burn starter is giving mystery that I feel they could've put into a thirty minute window rather than stretched over the entire first two episodes. More night witch less... Sith people standing around looking out into the horizon?

I hear you don't need Rebels to have a solid idea of where they're starting but I think I'm going to go ahead and jump on it for good measure. And here's hoping we'll get more of a Season 1 of the Mandalorian feel moving forward and less 'Solo' feel out of this series. If I can say one good thing, the lightsaber duels were on point, as were the cryptic solving puzzles in an ancient temple vibes--probably my favorite thing about any Star Wars game out there.

 

[MajorRewrite]

The “map to Thrawn” concept seems dumb. How long has it been since that map was made? Why would it still lead to him? Is this Thrawn guy incapable of zipping around the galaxy like everyone else in Star Wars? Why would someone make a cryptic map to his location anyway? Why wouldn’t the mapmaker just text his location to the pertinent people?

Asoka gets to wherever and finds a note: “I got tired of waiting, so I left to build a Death Star. Tough nuggets for you. — Thrawn”

 

[Djmac1031]

The “map to Thrawn” concept seems dumb. How long has it been since that map was made? Why would it still lead to him? Is this Thrawn guy incapable of zipping around the galaxy like everyone else in Star Wars? Why would someone make a cryptic map to his location anyway? Why wouldn’t the mapmaker just text his location to the pertinent people?

Asoka gets to wherever and finds a note: “I got tired of waiting, so I left to build a Death Star. Tough nuggets for you. — Thrawn”

SPOILERS MAY APPLY.

To clarify: The show reveals that Thrawn wasn't just on the other side of the galaxy or something.

Because trust me, that point confused me as well. Because they live in a galaxy where people fly through Hyperspace from planet to planet in no time, right?

No. He's actually been transported to an entirely different galaxy. So no, he can't just zip on back.

That's why they're building some type of super hyperdrive. To open up a way for him to return.

 

[SeraphNocturne]

SPOILERS MAY APPLY.

To clarify: The show reveals that Thrawn wasn't just on the other side of the galaxy or something.

Because trust me, that point confused me as well. Because they live in a galaxy where people fly through Hyperspace from planet to planet in no time, right?

No. He's actually been transported to and entirely different galaxy. So no, he can't just zip on back.

That's why they're building some type of super hyoerdrive. To open up a way for him to return.

Possible Spoiler theories from a super geek below:
I'm running with this, as well as the theory that the map itself can find nearly anyone, not only Thrawn which is the appeal to Ahsoka and company since they want to find Ezra. They don't have the technology to do the things they're doing so I think the witches of Dathomir might have a hand in all of the cryptic shit going on--if you've played Fallen Order and follow their stories, those are some scary bitches in their own right and I'd say probably some of the most powerful force users in this galaxy so for them to hide that thing probably means it's a lot more than what it seems.

 

[MajorRewrite]

SPOILERS MAY APPLY.

To clarify: The show reveals that Thrawn wasn't just on the other side of the galaxy or something.

Because trust me, that point confused me as well. Because they live in a galaxy where people fly through Hyperspace from planet to planet in no time, right?

No. He's actually been transported to and entirely different galaxy. So no, he can't just zip on back.

That's why they're building some type of super hyoerdrive. To open up a way for him to return.

I haven’t watched episode 2 but the dumbness of the map still applies. This Thrawn bozo is just sitting in one place in his new galaxy? Why is he important anyway? Unless he has truly godlike powers, he ain’t nothing special in the Star Wars galaxy. And if he has godlike powers, why does he need someone to come rescue his butt?

I think I’ll pass on any more of this series. It’s time to drop the disappointing Disney subscription and explore another streaming service for a while.

 

[Rustyoznail]

"Oh look, it's a piece of Eden" (Assassins Creed reference)
"Oh look, they pinched that from The Fifth Element" (Magical triangular thingy the Eden-like ball was in)

Bec's watched all the cartoons, I haven't. Ahsoka makes sense to her. I'm reserving judgment.

 

[MajorRewrite]

The one other dumb thing from episode 1 (then I’ll move on, I promise):

Ahsoka: “I need your help figuring out this map thing.”
Sabine: “I’ll take it to my house so the bad guys can easily steal it.”
Ahsoka: “No. Don’t remove the map from my ship.”
2 minutes later …
Ahsoka: “Where is Sabine?”
Robot: “She left with the super valuable map thing so the bad guys can easily steal it.”
Ahsoka: “I told her not to! That was the dumbest thing she could do!”
Robot: “Agreed. Out of 65,839 possible options, Sabine chose the dumbest option.”
Sabine on the radio: “Help! The bad guys are easily stealing the super valuable map!!”
Robot: “Are we going to save her?”
Ahsoka: “Fuck no. Dumb bitch. I hope she gets stabbed.”

The End.

 

[EmilyMiller]

The one other dumb thing from episode 1 (then I’ll move on, I promise):

Ahsoka: “I need your help figuring out this map thing.”
Sabine: “I’ll take it to my house so the bad guys can easily steal it.”
Ahsoka: “No. Don’t remove the map from my ship.”
2 minutes later …
Ahsoka: “Where is Sabine?”
Robot: “She left with the super valuable map thing so the bad guys can easily steal it.”
Ahsoka: “I told her not to! That was the dumbest thing she could do!”
Robot: “Agreed. Out of 65,839 possible options, Sabine chose the dumbest option.”
Sabine on the radio: “Help! The bad guys are easily stealing the super valuable map!!”
Robot: “Are we going to save her?”
Ahsoka: “Fuck no. Dumb bitch. I hope she gets stabbed.”

The End.

That was a bit jarring wasn’t it?

Does Sabine have super healing powers BTW? Seemed to me that most people impaled by a light saber are - literally - toast. That and they generally then fall into some convenient bottomless void of course.

Em

 

[Rob_Royale]

Thrilled to have a new show, love the cast, but I was also very confused. If Thrawn has been gone for only a short while, how the f__k is there a map to him in an ancient temple? And as Major pointed out, Sabine is a moron. A super cute one though. Super sad about Ray passing. I've been a fan since I saw him in King Arthur.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Sabine is a moron. A super cute one though.

I can forgive her many things .

Em

 

[SeraphNocturne]

Thrilled to have a new show, love the cast, but I was also very confused. If Thrawn has been gone for only a short while, how the f__k is there a map to him in an ancient temple? And as Major pointed out, Sabine is a moron. A super cute one though. Super sad about Ray passing. I've been a fan since I saw him in King Arthur.

I'm with you on it... and like I said in aforementioned spoiler, I don't think it's just a map for him exclusively but an otherworldly homing beacon that can find anybody.

Sabine is super young, impulsive and foolish... borderline idiotic if not for her ability to decipher old weird witch GPS trackers... but she's definitely super cute so she'll get a pass for doing super dumb stuff for a bit. I was actually pretty impressed she held her own against Shin for as long as she did though since she's barely got any training with a lightsaber, and probably the only reason she ain't dead is because lightsabers cauterize wounds they make.

 

[EmilyMiller]

and probably the only reason she ain't dead is because lightsabers cauterize wounds they make.

Like they did with Han you mean?

Em

 

[SeraphNocturne]

Like they did with Han you mean?

Em

Precisely that. And you know, future space magic bacta spray heals most anything and Ahsoka was right there after she dropped from the stab.