Discuss and review here!
This show is going to benefit a lot from binge re-watching. Episode 5 was the most fun so far, and really dials up the stakes for most of the characters, but ultimately it’s a long action set piece with a predictable reveal in the middle of it. Nothing much happens.
And while the reveal was predictable, it was also fine. If those motherfuckers had denied me DARTH BORTLES(!!!) I would have set the building on fire. Best acting and best character in the show so far, and really getting to chew the scenery with Sith philosophy that would be absolutely fanboy-friendly catnip if it were being delivered by a white male with a name they recognized.
I don’t love everything about this show, not by a long shot, but beyond our villain, Sol is likeable, Jecki and Yord grew on me just enough I was mildly sad they killed them, and also surprised. There has also now been lightsaber combat that’s better than anything in TV Star Wars. I actually want to find out what really happened and what the exact nature of the stain on the 4 Jedi souls is, so I guess that makes a show like this a success.
I do wish they’d offered a bit more of a lore dump to remind me about Cortosis, though. I really thought Jason Mendoza was permanently breaking lightsabers and was very confused when they started working again.
Yes, absolutely agree on the Cortosis thing. I did not know about that and kept thinking were lightsabers really that unreliable in history? It was just heavily overused for something that had no introduction at all.
Episode 5
Calling it, Sol is a Sith. He was Qimirs master, then Qimir somehow left (yes: somehow, Qimir left!) and Sol has been trying to convert another Padawan to his cause ever since. Osha didn’t work out, so now its Jecki. Well, it was.
That’s why Sol is familiar with Qimirs presence. It’s also why he asks Qimir “why risk discovery” because he is a Sith in hiding. It is also why he tried to attack Qimir when he had his back turned on him.
It is the secret he wanted to talk to Osha about.
I know, bit farfetched. But something’s fishy with Master Sol.
Calling it, Sol is a Sith. He was Qimirs master, then Qimir somehow left (yes: somehow, Qimir left!) and Sol has been trying to convert another Padawan to his cause ever since.
Now that would be a hell of a twist! Qimir is clearly not the master. He still feels a lot weaker than what I expect a full on Sith Master to be like. Also, he says that he wants a pupil instead of an apprentice. I expect the actual Sith Master to be revealed at the end. It would be really cool if it was Sol himself.
Also, see how Qimir killed all Jedi that saw his face but didn’t really run behind Sol much? I dunno…
I need to rewatch the episode, but I also felt like his recognition of him went deeper than “oh yeah, you’re that guy we saw in the street before with Mae”. Same thing with Yord. I could be way off here, but I felt like both of them had some kind of actual history with him. And maybe they didn’t realize it until he was up close and personal, because he was much older / different.
I’m really enjoying this one so far. There’s a few goofy things here and there but overall it’s one of the better Star Wars series. If you haven’t watched it yet, leave all baggage at the door, ignore the online angst, and just watch it for what it is: a space opera serial in the same lineage as Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers. It’s just brought up to a more modern style with a more diverse cast. Not a big deal. Watch it like your ten-year-old self would, and you’ll have a good time.
Interesting that that opening fight had both knives and blood - I think there was a time (before Andor) where both those things weren’t really allowed in Star Wars. It felt like nothing that came after really lived up to that. Episode 2 had two writers, joined by the word ‘and’ rather than an ampersand, meaning that they worked on it separately, which doesn’t bode well (the last time I saw that for a TV show was Secret Invasion, and that was rubbish).
It’s okay, good enough to keep watching. It looks like it’s getting review-bombed though, so there must be something about it that’s upset people.
Also, as soon as my stupid brain heard that a character was called Osha, it didn’t stop thinking about Star Wars Health and Safety violations:
It may be a bit early to make this call, but I’m ready to retcon this entire show out of canon. It makes too many bold new assertions about the Star Wars IP without grasping the basics of the lore. It then compounds these missteps with lackluster choreography, cheesy writing, a horribly misguided plot, and several lapses in logic that not even Dave Filoni could explain away if you gave him a 7 season animated series. And it’s only been 3 episodes.
Lee Jung-jae’s back must really hurt after carrying this entire show alone. I wouldn’t blame him if he never worked with western media ever again.
Man the Star Wars fanbase is shit. SO INCREDIBLY TOXIC JEEEEZ. The people here on Lemmy seem to be waaay more chill tho. I absolutely LOVED episode 3. The music (which many found cringe for some reason) is what I loved the most honestly. The ascension scene was ART imo. I genuinely don’t get the hate for this show.
A note about the ascension scene: When the leader witch says, “we were at the brink of extinction”, one of the witches does that crazy maniacal witch laughter. I was weirded out a little in the beginning as to why she would do that. But when you think about it a little, this is exactly what the witches are. They’re different and weird, which is why they were ostracized by society and hunted down (as per the show). I see them as that cringe group of students that are present in every classroom. The others find them cringe, but they are actually very chill people. Unfortunately, because of their so called “cringeness”, they are bullied a lot.
As for the ending, OF COURSE the twin didn’t burn the fortress down on her own. That is LITERALLY what the first two episodes were about lmao. Why would the 10 year long meditation Jedi guy commit suicide then? Why would the other dark twin (forgot if it was May or Osha) go on a hunting spree against these particular Jedi?
Are people hating this show just because it is “woke” or something? Like… the witches aren’t even actual lesbians. Like… you can’t have homosexuality if heterosexuality doesn’t exist, right? It would just be… sexuality sexuality I suppose. I genuinely can’t see how this thing was “woke”. Or was it because the leader witch was black or something? Would people get upset about that NOW? Come on…
I also loved the leader witch… I think the actress portrayed her role very well! She definitely gave off those comforting motherly vibes…
If something is supposed to be cringe, it’s up to the creators to find a way to indicate that to the audience, otherwise it’s taken at face value. Syrill Karn’s speech to Mosk’s troops in Andor is a good example of how to do that.
As for any ‘anti-woke’ sentiment - I’m sure there’s some, but most of the criticism seems to come from people who just straight-forwardly aren’t enjoying the show as much as you. I hope you continue to enjoy it.
All the silly kung fu fights and forced samurai references seem to be ruining what could have been a great story…
Don’t get me wrong, I love old kung fu movies, and I LOVE samurai movies and TV shows, but this is too much. I realize the Jedi are somewhat based on samurai characters, but it feels almost like this is just a remake of an old martial arts film with Jedi thrown in so they could name it a Star Wars property
The actual detective/mystery story itself seems pretty interesting but it keeps getting lost under all the other fluff
Did you also dislike the Mandalorian’s spaghetti western-ness too? This is how these things go. Just embrace the fact that this series is going to be an ode to kung fu movies.
The spaghetti westerness of Mandalorian was done with enough subtlety that it only served to enhance the story without completely overshadowing it. I’ve been enjoying the story in Acolyte but it feels completely overshadowed by all the Kung Fu antics. It feels like less of an ode to kung fu movies and more like someone made a fully realized kung fu series and then just slapped on a bunch of Star Wars stuff to try and make it more profitable.
I thought the Mandalorian was anything but subtle about it’s western roots, not that I minded. It had pretty much every western trope you could think of. Showdowns, savior of the town, making peace with the natives, town needs a sheriff, cowboy father figure…the list goes on.
After 4 episodes, I am now convinced we’ve seen the best this show has to offer and it’s only going to get worse.
After 4 episodes, I am now convinced we’ve seen the best this show has to offer and it’s only going to get worse.
I dunno about you, but I thought episode 5 was awesome. Also I’m really excited to see the other side of the story we saw in episode 3. I suspect this show will be better as a binge rather than weekly, because we’ve been burned enough times that we’re quick to assume plot holes are mistakes rather than purposeful setup.
This isn’t the best Star Wars show, but I’m liking it.
Episode 5 was really bad. There were lots of action scenes, but they relied heavily on characters just teleporting. The lightsaber thing was really weird, and doesn’t really make sense. The show could have just ended at 5, but there’s more episodes so the bad guy just survives anyway.
If by “the lightsaber thing” you mean them shorting out, that was awesome. The helmet and wrist guards were made of Cortosis, and I’m happy to see them bring stuff in from the EU.
If the series ended at 5, I’d be mad, because we need to see alternate viewpoints of 3.
It probably should have stayed in the EU at this point. The empire would have given that to inquisitors when hunting jedi. The separatists would have gotten enough for at least grevious to have some. Bringing in magic anti jedi armor in a prequel gets really problematic.
It’s extremely rare, not particularly well known, difficult to work with, and not very durable. You saw how Darth Bortles’s helmet sustained lightsaber hits but broke from a punch. It has limited usefulness, but Sith armor is one use.
Nothing is so extremely rare that the empire wouldn’t have it. Arguing Palpatine wouldn’t have heard of it seems like a dead end. You can maybe argue palps wouldn’t give the separatists something that useful, but his dedicated jedi hunters would have had it.
WHAT AN EPISODE!!!
Episode 4 was absolutely amazing! The acting has improved (the conversations between Osha and the padawan girl felt incredibly natural). And do I need to talk about the ending?
SPOLIERS AHEAD
How was the Sith? guy at the end so fkin powerful lol. One flick and he can send everything flying away? Jeeez… Also, is this guy Mae’s friend? Uk, the one accompanying her everywhere. Would explain how he got there so fast. Also, what is his motivation to set Mae up? Does he just want to kill a few Jedi? Does he want to turn Osha to the dark side or something (uk, after seeing how he eyed her and didn’t kill her)? Isn’t Osha actually weaker in the force when compared to Mae? I’ve so many questions lol. Also, props to the designers of this character! His mask is SO CREEPY.
Really can’t wait for the coming episodes.
After the first 3 episodes felt like a 00’s Disney teen sitcom I considered giving up on this show, but this week felt more coherent to me. The forests of Khofar is the best locale so far, the conversational writing has improved and so the acting feels more natural (mostly). I’m still not thrilled that the Jedi Order is being portrayed as mostly antagonistic, and I’m a bit concerned that the best episode so far is one in which very little happens, but the last scene actually has me excited for next week. Here’s hoping that the second half overshadows the rocky start.
I agree with some of your points, but I have to disagree on the Jedi Order’s portrayal–I love it. It feels so in line with what we got in the prequels, that this is the organization that became the failed order that couldn’t stop Palpatine, that was corrupted by the Jedi not following their own code, and this is one example of how they got there (which I feel Ki Adi Mundi’s inclusion further cements.
But this is 200 years before the fall. We’re supposed to see how the Jedi lost their way. This is just a bunch of incompetent assholes with authority. The witches call them kidnappers and they barely deny it while nearly embodying it. Where’s the honor? Where’s the mysticism? Why must we continually suffer this bag of dicks while being told ‘this is what they were always supposed to be.’
But this is 200 years before the fall.
To be pedantic, it’s 132 BBY. So 115 years before the fall.
Look at the Roman Empire. Did it fall overnight? We have tons of stories about the great things they did. Wasn’t there also shitty stuff happening?
So many of the recent stories have made the universe more real. I like that. Sorry if you don’t.
That one prisoner that Osha saved:
The premise of an evil doppelgänger framing the main character for murders seems trite to me, like an idea that was out of an ‘80s B-film. The One-Punch Man clad Jedi also seem to be making the worst plans for the sake of dragging out the plot, ex. sending in Osha alone to talk to the apothecary guy (whom they at the time didn’t know was unaware that Osha was alive), or somehow taking a long route and slow walk to the meditating Jedi even though they knew exactly where he was, or not sealing off the open roof above the meditating Jedi after he was attacked, or not using the stun gun on Mae during the attempted arrest. There were a few other nitpicks that I had.
The meditating Jedi was cool, though it feels like we needed more background on him. Sol is interesting, and I wonder why he claimed that he saw Mae die. I’d like further depth on Osha’s character, like her showing what makes her tick and what her aims are, rather than just pulling her through situations; her looking back to save the prisoner is a good example of what can help an audience understand a character’s personality, and her frustrated and crafty reaction to having to improvise surviving the landing is a good example of showing her skills and assets. I hope this series allows the characters to express their personalities more, rather than just be pushed from A to B by episodic plot. I’m not familiar with this era of the galaxy, so I look forward to further explanation within the show as to what sets the Jedi and High Republic government apart from how they are in the Prequel Trilogy.
When Osha took the shortcut to the guys room. 🤔
Like in Obi-Wan when Reva took the shortcut to the end of the tunnel
