1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,560 This is MJ, I'm an author, I'm an artist, I'm an analyzer. You can find all my work at MJMunoz.com. 2 00:00:04,560 --> 00:00:07,600 Welcome to my fully operational Star Wars analysis. 3 00:00:08,560 --> 00:00:17,120 This is my brief discussion of Ahsoka Episode 8. I... well anyway, it was written, it's entitled 4 00:00:18,080 --> 00:00:24,160 The Jedi... it sounds like the line from the original. The Jedi, the Witch, and the Warlord. 5 00:00:24,160 --> 00:00:30,160 And the reason it's called that is because that's what it contains and I guess 6 00:00:30,160 --> 00:00:34,080 Filoni's trying to be literary with these titles. Anyway, which is kind of interesting. 7 00:00:35,760 --> 00:00:41,600 So yeah, that was the name of the episode, Rick Fumiaka? Fukuyama? It feels like it should be 8 00:00:41,600 --> 00:00:46,720 Fukuyama, but I think it's Fumiaki or Fumiaka. Anyway, doesn't matter. I mean it matters, 9 00:00:46,720 --> 00:00:50,800 but you know, I don't have to get everything 100% exactly right. But anyway, he is the director of 10 00:00:50,800 --> 00:00:56,080 the episode. This was a very action-packed episode. I can't remember if he directed episode... episode? 11 00:00:56,080 --> 00:01:03,680 Episode 8 of The Mandalorian? I feel like he definitely did. And you know, I could, you know, 12 00:01:03,680 --> 00:01:08,400 you could say they're similarly climactic. Was it episode 8 or episode 10? I don't remember. Anyway, 13 00:01:08,400 --> 00:01:15,520 you could say that they're similarly climactic and there are parallels. But anyway, that's, 14 00:01:15,520 --> 00:01:21,200 um, that's, you know, who did it and it came out on this last Tuesday, whatever that was, 15 00:01:22,000 --> 00:01:28,080 I guess the 3rd of October. So yeah, it was, it was interesting. We had the night troopers, 16 00:01:28,080 --> 00:01:31,840 you know, we had it fully understood or displayed why they were called the night troopers. Like the 17 00:01:31,840 --> 00:01:37,920 Nightsisters, they were able to be resurrected and have their reanimated corpses continue fighting. 18 00:01:37,920 --> 00:01:46,640 I found it odd that the night troopers were like growling and zombie-like and I'm unclear if the, 19 00:01:47,200 --> 00:01:52,960 like if they were forever trapped down below. And if the second wave of, you know, night trooper 20 00:01:52,960 --> 00:02:01,760 guys that were attacking, uh, as Ezra was getting onto the ship and, uh, you know, Ahsoka was fighting 21 00:02:01,760 --> 00:02:06,720 with Morgan Ellsworth. I don't know if those guys were, you know, reanimated corpses or if they were 22 00:02:06,720 --> 00:02:13,520 just some of Thrawn's other troops who he had left behind. Um, so yeah, it's, it's, you know, 23 00:02:13,520 --> 00:02:18,400 it was a decent ending. It's interesting. It's, you know, it's a victory for the bad guys. It's a, 24 00:02:18,400 --> 00:02:23,920 you know, mostly defeat for the good guys. Um, you know, none of them died. It was, uh, almost 25 00:02:23,920 --> 00:02:27,440 more like, yep, we lost for today and we're going to wrap things up, you know, as Ezra gets to go 26 00:02:27,440 --> 00:02:36,640 home. Um, I know his shtick, him and Kanan both did a lot of, uh, storm trooper impersonation, you 27 00:02:36,640 --> 00:02:40,720 know, knocking a guy out or killing him and then, you know, stealing his clothes, uh, his armor, 28 00:02:40,720 --> 00:02:44,800 and then, you know, commandeering ships or whatever. It felt a little odd to me in live action. I don't 29 00:02:44,800 --> 00:02:48,320 know, like in the show, I never questioned it. I was like, of course that's what they're going to do. 30 00:02:48,320 --> 00:02:55,200 But the, to think that he, you know, swapped into the armor of this night trooper and stole the ship. 31 00:02:55,200 --> 00:02:59,920 I mean, I guess he had to wait till he was, I guess he had to pretend he was a storm trooper 32 00:03:00,480 --> 00:03:07,440 until, or night trooper, until he got back into the galaxy, uh, the main Star Wars galaxy, 33 00:03:07,440 --> 00:03:11,280 so that he could steal the ship and break away. It just seems odd that he would be able to do that. 34 00:03:11,280 --> 00:03:17,040 However, it's probably all part of Grand Admiral Thrawn's plan and it will lead to the ultimate 35 00:03:17,040 --> 00:03:23,520 downfall of the Republic and the rise of the Empire. And, uh, I don't know, it's kind of a silly detail 36 00:03:23,520 --> 00:03:26,960 or silly thing to think about that. You know, Ezra got away, which is like, oh, it's cool. 37 00:03:26,960 --> 00:03:32,800 It's a victory. And then I could see Thrawn saying, yes, this is my plan all along. So, um, yeah, 38 00:03:32,800 --> 00:03:40,640 I didn't overall, like, I don't know, Thrawn's like the most positive, uh, the most, uh, like optimistic, 39 00:03:40,640 --> 00:03:45,520 um, you know, mid-level manager you can ever imagine. Uh, that's what it feels like to me 40 00:03:45,520 --> 00:03:52,720 in this show. Like, oh, okay, I'm just going to roll with it. You know, we're okay. Uh, we're going 41 00:03:52,720 --> 00:03:58,480 to discuss this with HR later, but, um, yeah, for now let's call this a win and let's just keep moving 42 00:03:58,480 --> 00:04:03,120 forward, guys. Don't worry. And, uh, you know, so and so, uh, they're going to have to part ways with 43 00:04:03,120 --> 00:04:07,200 us, but that's okay. You know, Morgan, she did a great job. We appreciate everything Morgan did. 44 00:04:07,200 --> 00:04:12,400 We wouldn't be here. We wouldn't be getting this success without everything that Morgan did. And, 45 00:04:12,400 --> 00:04:18,080 uh, let's all give her, you know, a big round of applause. Who wants some cake? I'm going to have 46 00:04:18,080 --> 00:04:22,480 some donuts brought in, guys, tomorrow to celebrate because we all did good work. Like, I don't know, 47 00:04:22,480 --> 00:04:28,800 I just, it just feels, I don't know, it just, it feels really weird. It feels like he takes losses 48 00:04:28,800 --> 00:04:33,760 and reframes them as victories and like that's his, like that's his greatest strength or his 49 00:04:33,760 --> 00:04:39,120 greatest power. And that just seems kind of odd to me. I liked the lightsaber fight between Ahsoka 50 00:04:39,760 --> 00:04:49,040 and, um, Lil Talzin. Um, and, uh, I thought it was really cool. I didn't like how the blade looked. 51 00:04:49,040 --> 00:04:54,960 Like I, I mean, it looked okay. Um, but I feel like when mother tells him he's using it, it was 52 00:04:54,960 --> 00:05:01,600 more ephemeral, more ghostly, more spectral. And I almost wonder if they like pulled back, you know, 53 00:05:01,600 --> 00:05:07,520 I know they brought the dark saber from, uh, it wasn't Clone Wars. Yeah. From Clone Wars and Rebels 54 00:05:07,520 --> 00:05:12,000 into live action, you know, Moff Gideon had it and such. Um, I watched season three of 55 00:05:12,960 --> 00:05:17,840 Mandalorian yet, so I couldn't speak of it in there, but it looked really cool. Um, and then, 56 00:05:17,840 --> 00:05:23,120 you know, bringing this one to life was interesting. Um, I don't know. I'm, I'm, 57 00:05:25,040 --> 00:05:30,320 it's a very interesting, I don't know. I don't know. It's not super interesting. Like I enjoyed 58 00:05:30,320 --> 00:05:33,200 watching it because I'm familiar with these characters and I want to see, you know, more 59 00:05:33,200 --> 00:05:38,320 adventures in their story moving forward. Um, I'm at the midpoint, so I need to start wrapping up 60 00:05:38,320 --> 00:05:41,600 now. Like, you know, Sabine was able to use the light. I don't know. Like once she was able to 61 00:05:41,600 --> 00:05:46,560 call the lightsaber herself to kill that last night trooper, um, that was in the special black 62 00:05:46,560 --> 00:05:54,320 and red armor. Um, she, I guess doesn't have any problem, uh, using it, um, using the force now, 63 00:05:55,040 --> 00:05:59,440 like it had to break open for her or something, I guess, because then she was able to push it as 64 00:05:59,440 --> 00:06:05,120 we're like, you know, ridiculously far. Um, that felt, I know that felt like an odd moment, like, 65 00:06:06,160 --> 00:06:09,760 and I can understand Ezra's hesitation, like, girl, you just barely learned to pull lightsaber 66 00:06:09,760 --> 00:06:13,920 to yourself. Now you're going to push me like, you know, 80 feet or whatever. Like it was crazy. 67 00:06:13,920 --> 00:06:17,920 Um, and that jump looked like it was like a, I don't know, like almost like a hundred, two and a 68 00:06:17,920 --> 00:06:22,720 foot, three foot jump. Um, and maybe it was just the framing of it, but like, I don't know, they're 69 00:06:22,720 --> 00:06:27,360 not supposed to be able to jump that far, right? Like I would, uh, I would support, you know, 70 00:06:27,360 --> 00:06:31,920 teleportation better or I don't know, like, yeah, I don't know. It was a little bit too far of a 71 00:06:31,920 --> 00:06:37,280 jump for me. Um, you know, I accepted or whatever, but I'm glad she wasn't able to make it because 72 00:06:37,280 --> 00:06:42,560 that really would not have made any sense. Um, so, and I thought the, the framing of that, the way 73 00:06:42,560 --> 00:06:46,640 that was cut to make it a surprise that Sabine was still there with the Soca and to help her out. 74 00:06:46,640 --> 00:06:52,080 That was cool. That was very well done. And, um, it was kind of sweet. Uh, you know, Soca had like 75 00:06:52,080 --> 00:06:56,880 abandoned her previously and Sabine had been a jerk, especially in the first episode, such a jerk, 76 00:06:56,880 --> 00:07:01,680 like, you know, cutting out on people for that ceremony or whatever. And we get to see like, 77 00:07:01,680 --> 00:07:06,160 you know, this, there's a definite arc in her. Um, although I didn't think she needed to be a 78 00:07:06,160 --> 00:07:10,400 jerk back then to make this one work, but anyway, regardless, that's, that's how it happened. It's 79 00:07:10,400 --> 00:07:14,880 what's going down. And I liked that. I liked the fact that they're stuck together to some extent 80 00:07:14,880 --> 00:07:19,120 and that a Soca says they're right where they need to be. She'd been very Zen, very Jedi. And you 81 00:07:19,120 --> 00:07:22,960 know, you, you could argue, well, you don't like Thrawn taking these losses and reframing them as 82 00:07:22,960 --> 00:07:26,960 victories. And that's exactly what a Soca has done. Yeah, but she's a Jedi. She's a deeper spiritual 83 00:07:26,960 --> 00:07:35,120 person who is supposed to, you know, that's what Jedi are supposed to do. That's not what warlords 84 00:07:35,120 --> 00:07:41,040 are supposed to do necessarily. So, um, I mean, they did have a material victory because they are 85 00:07:42,160 --> 00:07:46,960 back in the, you know, they're, they're on Dathomir now or they're orbiting Dathomir 86 00:07:46,960 --> 00:07:50,960 and he's got the great mothers with them and all those, you know, night sister corpses or 87 00:07:50,960 --> 00:07:56,080 whatever those are things, whatever the things are from the catacombs. Um, so, you know, that's, uh, 88 00:07:56,640 --> 00:08:03,120 there's the material victory there, but I, and while I had, you know, yes, there's a victory there. 89 00:08:03,120 --> 00:08:07,120 I mocked it a little bit, but on the other hand, I'm not going to mock that for the heroes, 90 00:08:07,120 --> 00:08:10,880 because the heroes are supposed to be about more than the material victory. They're supposed to be 91 00:08:10,880 --> 00:08:15,040 about the inner journey and the spiritual victory and all that stuff. And that's what they've gotten. 92 00:08:16,560 --> 00:08:23,760 Sabine and Soca are together. They, uh, not like that. Okay. Guys, calm down. They, you know, like 93 00:08:23,760 --> 00:08:28,160 each other, they respect each other. There's the, a good solid, you know, mother daughter relationship, 94 00:08:28,160 --> 00:08:33,040 sisterly relationship, whatever you want to call it because of them being master and Padawan. 95 00:08:33,040 --> 00:08:40,560 And they are figuring out how to do life, to make life, to make a life for themselves on this planet 96 00:08:40,560 --> 00:08:45,120 where Ezra had done the same thing. So like, you know, there is hope, there is life, there is 97 00:08:45,120 --> 00:08:50,480 positivity, and they just have to be open to accepting what happened to them and making it 98 00:08:50,480 --> 00:08:55,840 work and doing their best. Um, meanwhile, from like a meta perspective, uh, you know, Shin is there. 99 00:08:55,840 --> 00:09:02,320 She goes to be like the bandit queen or whatever. Um, and now I'm really getting little vibes from 100 00:09:02,320 --> 00:09:06,240 some of the stuff in the show. Um, she goes back to be like, you know, the queen of the marauders or 101 00:09:06,240 --> 00:09:11,680 whatnot and, uh, or maybe to hunt the Jedi. And that could be what season two is about or not. 102 00:09:11,680 --> 00:09:18,640 And then we get to see this, like, you know, glimpse of the pregnant possibilities of this world 103 00:09:19,200 --> 00:09:26,480 where, uh, we have a statue, Baelin is at a statue of the father from Mortis, the son from 104 00:09:26,480 --> 00:09:30,560 Mortis and the daughter from Mortis, but the daughter's head has been broken off. Now there's 105 00:09:30,560 --> 00:09:35,200 this whole thing that you'll see in videos about, you know, spoilers and Easter eggs and whatever, 106 00:09:35,200 --> 00:09:40,960 about how there's this connection between the daughter and the, um, and Ahsoka because of how 107 00:09:40,960 --> 00:09:43,760 she brought her back to life and whatever. And the Mortis trilogy and Clone Wars, which you should 108 00:09:43,760 --> 00:09:47,440 really go see that. Mortis trilogy. It was like three, three, four episodes, maybe. I think it was 109 00:09:47,440 --> 00:09:54,080 three. Anyway, very cool episodes. Season three of, uh, Clone Wars. Um, so I know that's interesting. 110 00:09:54,080 --> 00:10:02,800 Um, but, uh, yeah, like what does that mean? Um, you know, it's the father, the son and the daughter. 111 00:10:02,800 --> 00:10:06,720 And it always made me think, is there a mother? And we've got mother Telsen and it made me think, 112 00:10:06,720 --> 00:10:09,920 could she have been the mother somehow? You know, how would that have made sense? Made sense. You 113 00:10:09,920 --> 00:10:15,760 know, they would call these the great mothers and like, why is the mother, you know, bereft? Why is 114 00:10:15,760 --> 00:10:21,360 the mother alone? Why is the mother separate and distinct from her family? You know, what happened? 115 00:10:21,360 --> 00:10:26,320 You need a, um, it would almost make more sense if it was like the father, the mother and the child, 116 00:10:26,320 --> 00:10:32,080 you know, either way, you know, a boy or a girl. And yeah, that seems to make a lot more sense, 117 00:10:32,080 --> 00:10:39,520 but there's this like brokenness in the Mortis family. Um, and, uh, there's literally brokenness 118 00:10:39,520 --> 00:10:44,080 in the statue of the daughter of Mortis. So like, what does that mean? Does that mean that the 119 00:10:44,080 --> 00:10:49,840 daughter has, well, this would be creepy. The daughter, like a sentence and tries to become 120 00:10:49,840 --> 00:10:58,320 the mother herself. Um, huh, that's interesting. Anyway, I don't want to get into crazy speculation. 121 00:10:58,320 --> 00:11:04,880 I want to keep this episode, uh, short and tidy. So like, you know, it's Ray Stevens or Ray Stevens, 122 00:11:04,880 --> 00:11:11,280 and I can't remember his name anyway. So the guy who plays Bailin, unfortunately he died. Um, and 123 00:11:12,080 --> 00:11:17,120 he was not supposed to, I mean, whatever for the purpose of the show, you know, Bailin isn't 124 00:11:17,120 --> 00:11:21,920 supposed to die and they're gonna have to figure out what to do with his character because he has 125 00:11:21,920 --> 00:11:25,760 something that he's working towards. And I don't know, you know, the writers strike all that crap. 126 00:11:26,320 --> 00:11:31,200 Who knows what's going to happen with the circus season two, but I think they're gonna have to do 127 00:11:31,200 --> 00:11:36,080 some adjustments. I find it interesting that Shin stayed with him. I almost wonder if that was 128 00:11:36,080 --> 00:11:41,360 something recut after he died and they knew that he wasn't there anymore. Um, that like, maybe he 129 00:11:41,360 --> 00:11:46,560 can die pursuing whatever this destiny is, this dream is, this, you know, great ambition is. And 130 00:11:46,560 --> 00:11:52,320 maybe Shin will just have to take over because they have her actor available. I don't know. It's, uh, 131 00:11:52,320 --> 00:11:57,200 it's interesting. And, uh, I don't know, like I'm interested in what's going to happen in the future, 132 00:11:57,200 --> 00:12:01,040 but like, I mean, it wasn't the greatest story, but it was entertaining and it was enjoyable for 133 00:12:01,040 --> 00:12:04,720 the most part. There were lots of things I liked, but then again, these were characters. I, I, 134 00:12:04,720 --> 00:12:10,160 it's kind of funny cause like, um, like one more minute and then I'm going to cut out of here. Uh, 135 00:12:10,160 --> 00:12:16,400 uh, I, uh, have an ambition to be a professional writer, like, you know, make a livelihood off my 136 00:12:16,400 --> 00:12:26,560 writing. Um, and you know, $20 million a year. And, uh, anyway, I want to write series and I want to 137 00:12:26,560 --> 00:12:32,560 write stories where I have book series, where I have characters having long ongoing adventures 138 00:12:33,760 --> 00:12:37,520 and I want there to be character arcs. So I kind of want the best of both worlds where I can 139 00:12:37,520 --> 00:12:42,720 structure things so that my characters can have these long arcs, you know, multiple books, uh, 140 00:12:42,720 --> 00:12:46,480 worth of arcs and stories. And, you know, maybe they come back, maybe there's a generation, 141 00:12:46,480 --> 00:12:49,760 you know, second generation, maybe there's all these different things. So it's like this big 142 00:12:49,760 --> 00:12:55,520 sprawling universe of stuff. And I want to be able to just keep telling stories with them because 143 00:12:55,520 --> 00:12:58,640 that's the magic of fiction. You can just keep telling stories with characters. And if you like 144 00:12:58,640 --> 00:13:04,160 the characters, you'll come back for the stories. And, uh, you know, whether that's, uh, you know, 145 00:13:04,160 --> 00:13:09,920 James Bond to see him do, you know, heroic stuff and crazy gadgets and, uh, getting all sorts of, 146 00:13:09,920 --> 00:13:13,920 you know, weird adventures over and over again in different contexts. And it's, you know, 147 00:13:13,920 --> 00:13:19,520 exciting because it's fresh and new all the time, or whether it's, uh, you know, like the epic of, 148 00:13:19,520 --> 00:13:24,320 uh, you know, the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit or, uh, I, I don't know. I don't have another, 149 00:13:24,320 --> 00:13:28,480 I, I've never read like the Wheel of Time and the little bit I saw of it on Amazon, I was not 150 00:13:28,480 --> 00:13:32,320 interested. So, um, I can't think of any other long series, but like, yeah, I just want to keep 151 00:13:32,320 --> 00:13:37,040 having adventures with these characters, you know? Um, I watched over a hundred episodes of Clone 152 00:13:37,040 --> 00:13:43,120 Wars because while it's not focused primarily on, you know, Anakin Obi-Wan and, uh, Anakin Obi-Wan, 153 00:13:43,760 --> 00:13:52,480 Ahsoka and, you know, uh, Amidala, like to the exclusion of everybody else, they are, you know, 154 00:13:52,480 --> 00:13:56,880 recurring characters. And we do get to see their stories develop and grow and evolve. And like, 155 00:13:56,880 --> 00:14:00,960 I don't know, I just want to spend more time with characters I like. So, um, that's what I got out 156 00:14:00,960 --> 00:14:05,200 of the show and that's what I enjoy. And I don't want to criticize it, um, because like, you know, 157 00:14:05,200 --> 00:14:10,800 I appreciate the effort, but it wasn't what I was expecting at all. Um, but it does open us up to 158 00:14:10,800 --> 00:14:17,840 like, you could have a whole, you know, world of media just covering Ahsoka and Sabine living on 159 00:14:17,840 --> 00:14:23,920 this abandoned planet and this other galaxy for like years, years worth of writing you could do 160 00:14:23,920 --> 00:14:28,640 on that. And that's kind of interesting, but I just don't know what they're going to do and how 161 00:14:28,640 --> 00:14:33,360 they're going to do that, especially with, uh, you know, having to take Balen off the board or 162 00:14:33,360 --> 00:14:38,080 just recast them, which, you know, there's nothing wrong with recasting something. So anyway, uh, 163 00:14:38,080 --> 00:14:41,920 I liked it overall. Like I said, you know, I have my complaints, but I had my praises for it. It 164 00:14:41,920 --> 00:14:46,480 wasn't like amazing, but it's just like, Oh, okay. So that's it's, it's setting a board. It's clearing 165 00:14:46,480 --> 00:14:51,840 things. It's, it's putting things in position for another story to happen. And I'm okay with that. 166 00:14:51,840 --> 00:14:56,800 Um, I am okay with that. So, uh, with that, I'm going to go ahead and get out of here, but I'm 167 00:14:56,800 --> 00:15:01,520 going to ask first for you to share your thoughts on, uh, the episode, tell me which thought of the 168 00:15:01,520 --> 00:15:30,720 episode and the series as a whole. And, um, until next time folks take care. This is MJ signing out.