The one-hour premier of Star Wars: Rebels came out over the weekend for Disney XD subscribers - so the biggest addition to the New Canon until Ep. VII has now started.

 

Just some random thoughts [spoilerS]:

 

The characters in general seem like a fairly standard mix of archetypes, and with only one two-part episode we haven't really seen that much characterization yet. So it is basically too early to tell whether they'll be interesting enough to carry the series. I'm sure each one will get their own "spotlight" episode within the first half of the season.

 

I will say that the lead - the Alladin-type character, Ezra - was a lot less annoying than he could have been. No obnoxious catch-phrases that I noticed, he wasn't unduly whiny, and his 'hijinks' generally advanced the plot and showed off some decent resourcefulness instead of slowing the story down. His "slingshot blaster" seems like a pointless gimmick, but since they don't focus too much attention on it it's not a big deal, and the visual effects for it actually do add some nice variety to the firefights beyond the normal blaster bolts. Overall, he's starting off better than Ahsoka did, that's for sure.

 

Personally, I'm curious about the Mandalorian Sabine, since she seems like she has the potential to be interesting or extremely annoying, depending on how they treat her 'graffiti artist' aspect and a possible romance angle with Ezra. So far, her pistol shooting and penchant for explosions have her seeming Mandalorian enough for me, at least at this stage, and I liked that she voted to leave Ezra behind when he was captured. (I wonder if there's any significance to her name being similar to 'Satine' - the leader of Mandalore in The Clone Wars.)

 

The Empire is a mix of decent and bad:

 

The main villain, ISB Agent Kallus, seems like he will be a decent 'starter villain'. I've heard the creators talk about wanting to be sure their antagonists don't fall into the old 'Saturday morning bad-guy' trap of losing to the heroes so often that they can't be taken seriously as a threat. In this episode he gets beaten two or three times by the heroes, but there's a moment where he finds out Ezra had access to their comms and immediately knows where they'll be going next - it did make him seem like a potentially dangerous foe. We'll see if that holds up, though.

 

But the Stormtroopers, good god... they seemed like every parody of them we've ever seen. They fall face-first into the 'incompetent cartoon goons' trope - as bad as the normal battledroids were in Season One of The Clone Wars. I could have lived with the speederbike trooper who caught and held on to a grenade, but the two troopers that Ezra 'outwits' to get out of his cell just took it too far.

 

The action was good. A lot of variety thrown in - the heist and speederbike chase, the space battle against the TIEs, the zero-G fight, and the pitched battle with some wookiees thrown in for good measure, all worked well. There were a couple moments, like Kanan slowly walking into a hail of blasterfire while assembling his lightsaber, that were definitely included for the dramatic effect regardless of how little sense it made, but overall everything flowed well and was entertaining.

 

They walked a better line than I expected with how 'dark' it was vs how 'kid-friendly'. We had plenty of on-screen deaths, although they were all masked stormtroopers. Given that they are making a show that's targeted at kids, I liked how they handled a bit at the end where Ezra is saving a wookiee cub - he shoots a Stormtrooper off of a bridge (with his 'slingshot blaster') that a minute later Kallus is knocked off of too, Kallus and the Stormtrooper both survive, clinging to the support rails, but then Kallus is so aggravated at being beaten that he kicks the Stormtrooper off. It was a way to take what could have been a limitation of the story - "Can't have Ezra killing people!" - and turned it into a fairly funny moment and an on-screen death.

 

Canon vs Legends:

-The Imperial Security Bureau has made it into the new Canon with ISB Agent Kallus.

-Kessel is now a Quesh-looking planet, rather than an asteroid near a black hole cluster.

-There is at least one Inquisitor, though it is unclear if he is part of a larger Inquisitorius as in Legends.

-Grand Moff Tarkin is still governor of the Outer Rim.

 

Overall, I wasn't blown away, but I certainly wasn't disappointed either. It was a solid premier for setting up the premise and introducing the setting and characters, and it shows a lot of potential, but by itself it was nothing exceptional and at times felt a little 'paint by numbers'.

 

What did others think?

Edited September 29, 2014 by DarthDymond

It did? I had no idea... I suppose I should find out some way to watch it. But to be quite honest I'm lacking in motivation.

It's on the third for me, so I'll watch it then.

I also enjoyed the first episode. It certainly has potential...Whether it becomes something greater or flops, remains to be seen.

It did? I had no idea... I suppose I should find out some way to watch it. But to be quite honest I'm lacking in motivation.

 

Same. I'm not expecting it to be good, so at least I won't be disappointed.

Well, I enjoyed it. I wasn't a big fan of the EU anyway apart from the games. People can whine and say "Starkiller lead the rebellion! That Jedi in the trailer is supposed to be dead!" Meh. We needed fresh faces. It felt like I was watching A New Hope for the first time again, and in a way it's a way of saying goodbye to the prequels and Clone Wars.

 

 

 

 

I'm looking forward to more episodes either way.

I'm wondering if there going to show what happened to Asoka after she

I can't seem to access it on DisneyXD at all. It starts to load, after signin, then the black loading screen goes away and I'm left just looking at the page's background imagery... anyone else have this problem?

So, have now seen the first and second episode and, well, I must admit I did it with a smile, but you could say a smile with different meaning. SW.Rebels clearly cater to a younger public, no argument there, but, one of Disney better trades are on the display as well; the ability to tell a story in different layers.

 

And what do I possibly mean by that!!?

If one for one moment sets aside the grumpy SW fan general attitude and skepticism that any one else then one self possess the 'true' vision of what SW should be, then you might notice the love for SW that are put in to this episodes.

The tie fighters in flight attack, the angle of the pictures in what way the story are told. The episode are literally pact with visual references to E 4.

The different layer thing then? Well there's the story and characters that only the youngest will find interesting and like young children do they will disregard the main story and just concentrate on the cuddly appearances of Wookies! For those in semi childhood for whom the action is the most important then it got loads of that too. For us lore biting viewers who want to see a deeper context of a story, well that in there too; as the OP says, what and what not of the EU will be disregarded or verified!?

 

The reconnection to E 6, the way the story moves us in, by the inspiring words of Obi - Wan Kenobi, into the aftermath of order 66 is brilliant. If you when you look at the episode for the first time choose to view this do so by not judging it before hand, restrict your self from the, which it seems now a days, obligatory SW anti rant, then you will notice that the love put into this comes from someone that know their SW and doing their best to show it, despite the obvious restrictions from Disney;

 

 

 

 

If this is the alibi for us getting a mature and grown up, Jar-Jar free, or any kind of non child friendly Episode 7, then I say, good, and I continue to look at this TV series and smile.

Edited October 3, 2014 by t-darko

I waited for this show for a long time, but you know what, I'll wait a bit longer until they release Blu-ray (Director's cut) version, and then I'll sit in my Star wars room and enjoy it properly!... Edited October 3, 2014 by sandisrd

 

 

 

I absolutely loved both of those scenes as well!

It also made me wonder if one of them may be related to Obi Wan. Or maybe it was just nostalgia for better days and finding the kid that made Kanan sit down and watch that holo again. (No doubt he's watched that thing a lot of times over the years)

It was better than I thought it would be. Looking forward to more of this.

 

On a sidenote, Ezra is such an Aladdin in space. The hair and face. They called him a street rat. He's a acrobatic thief with a good heart.

It was better than I thought it would be. Looking forward to more of this.

 

On a sidenote, Ezra is such an Aladdin in space. The hair and face. They called him a street rat. He's a acrobatic thief with a good heart.

 

Does he have a pet monkey?

It was better than I thought it would be. Looking forward to more of this.

 

On a sidenote, Ezra is such an Aladdin in space. The hair and face. They called him a street rat. He's a acrobatic thief with a good heart.

 

LOL! That was my very first thought as well when I watched a preview some posted, and I actually mentioned it on another thread too.

Now we just need Jasmine. Though I'm thinking she may have been replaced by Sabine.

Edited October 4, 2014 by Callaron

Does he have a pet monkey?

 

Someone get that boy a Kowakian monkey lizard!

Now we just need Jasmine. Though I'm thinking she may have been replaced by Sabine.

 

Her name is so close to 'Satine' that part of me wonders if they are going to make her a Mandalorian "princess" in hiding actually.

I just watched it and I must say that I was pleasantly surprised by the show. It certainly has the nostalgia factor going for it.

 

However, it has the same problems that I found with TCW. The villains are constantly outmaneuvered in the long run and the villain grunts are completely moronic. It's as if they are completely intent on making Stormtroopers the new Battle Droids. The Imperials, in my opinion, were nothing more than schoolyard bullies.

 

The dialogue was also a bit clunky.

 

But as far as this premiere goes, I think it's a fair start. Certainly much better than the Clone Wars movie, that's for sure.

Her name is so close to 'Satine' that part of me wonders if they are going to make her a Mandalorian "princess" in hiding actually.

 

Hmm, she's probably of the right age to be her daughter if they wanted to play that angle.

I just watched it and I must say that I was pleasantly surprised by the show. It certainly has the nostalgia factor going for it.

 

However, it has the same problems that I found with TCW. The villains are constantly outmaneuvered in the long run and the villain grunts are completely moronic. It's as if they are completely intent on making Stormtroopers the new Battle Droids. The Imperials, in my opinion, were nothing more than schoolyard bullies.

 

The dialogue was also a bit clunky.

 

But as far as this premiere goes, I think it's a fair start. Certainly much better than the Clone Wars movie, that's for sure.

 

Yep, they definitely acted like thugs. The grunts at least.

The Imperial Intelligence guy was a lot better, and I suspect the Inquisitors will be as well.

You're probably not far off in them being the new Battle Droids. Roger, roger.

Edited October 4, 2014 by Callaron

Yep, they definitely acted like thugs. The grunts at least.

The Imperial Intelligence guy was a lot better, and I suspect the Inquisitors will be as well.

You're probably not far off in them being the new Battle Droids. Roger, roger.

 

Hopefully the Inquisitor will be an actually decent villain. I like Agent Kallus, I think he has potential, but he has failed me for the last time.

 

Already.

Anyone seen the 3rd episode yet? Supposedly you can watch it on watchdisneyxd.com if you a certain cable provider. Course, figures that they don't provide it to Direct TV customers. Edited October 6, 2014 by Nickious

The only thing I disliked is that some of the animations and graphics were just ugly.

Can we all agree on the fact that the toon SW:Rebels in main is a childrens show and thereby treat it as such? The slapstick stormtroopers are there for a reason; namely for the target audience(children) to easily recognize the bad guys. the wookies look silly and cuddly for the same reason; to render income in the sale of toys that unquestionable will come with this show.

 

See past all this and concentrate on how they(the producers) reshapes the world of Star Wars in general; what and what isn't verified and used from EU, what changes to EU are they implementing and now redone as canon?! I think the discussion of the origin of the Stormtroopers is great, but the "I gonna flunk the whole story because the Storm trooper trip on their own feet and and can't hit a barn door with a tractor" kind of attitude is just childish and in that prospect the show might just be what you need! And yes, Ezra has a cunning resemblance of Aladdin (what the hell were they thinking there?) but I must admit that I smiled amused when the topic was brought up.

 

And as the comparison to family guy, well, bigger fan of Star Wars then Seth MacFarlane I imagine is hard to find, and their tribute to the origin movies are one of the most brilliant out there, not including the fact that each and any other of their episodes seem to have a Star Wars reference in them.

 

What I really would like to discuss with you all is;

 

 

And so much more, but in relation to Star Wars, Canon and Lore wise as well as characters and events in the episodes to come ...

 

Now, this isn't the droids we're looking for . . . hmm, well! The Star Wars we we're wishing for, no, but that one that comes next december is, and I'll say it again, if SW:Rebels is the alibi Disney need to make us the Star Wars movie we want, then let them have at it, and know that I've been Star Wars starving as much as the rest of us, but stop the silly ranting 'cos in all honesty, the rants says more about the rantee then of the show itself.

I liked it. Guess people talked so much how bad it was supposed to be that I expected utter crap. Edited October 7, 2014 by jankiel

So Episode 3 is out; and they still got a amazing music score . . . The spark grows by the help of . . . hmmm . . .

 

And

 

 

 

We get some insight of the post order 66 Galaxie . . .