All posts by Sol Pacificus

I've never hated the Ewoks.

I've read the Clone Wars Omnibus volumes, but the problem with them is that they actually have chapters placed out of chronological order. You can confirm this by checking the Wookieepedia pages for the Omnibus volumes and the pages for the newer Epic Collections volumes, which list their tables of contents.

For example, Volume 1 includes a few Republic chapters set after the Battle of Jabiim, whereas Volume 2 starts with the Battle of Jabiim arc and then proceeds with the other Republic chapters absent the ones that were already inserted into Volume 1 out of order. I surmise maybe they were trying to fill a certain quota of issues into Volume 1 but couldn't jam the whole Battle of Jabiim arc into it nor did they wish to split it up, leading to a bunch of other issues scattered all over the place out of order. Personally, this made it confusing for me in "mastering" the CWMPP timeline. Epic Collections has far better organization and corrected the chronological order.

I actually don't think I'd trust a droid as my bodyguard. 🤔 At least not a battle or assassin droid. Otherwise, I probably would've voted a commando droid. When I was a kid, I wanted an HK unit though.

Maul is an actual word as well. I don't think I could ever forgive "Savage Oppress" though.

Darth Millennial!!! The name's not taken in Canon yet! And he looks and talks like a stereotypical millennial! (I would know because I may or may not be a millennial.)

I've always liked Ezra, but his live action appearance made him even more endearing.

@Aunnesty Your tier list is amazingly almost exactly like mine.

Yes, and I also wish it wasn't always just witches.

@Ctmeh

I can only answer that for myself, I don't necessarily take that much of an issue with new elements in Canon that conflict with old lore because it is an entirely different continuity anyways and not one that I truly follow. However, there are certain elements that I thought were ridiculously stupid in how much they trampled over previously established physics, such as Starkiller Base's superlaser attack being visible in real-time from across the galaxy and Rey and Kylo Ren being able to just apparate things like lightsabers between them. I did not take as much of an issue with the Holdo maneuver or to the "Force heal" in Rise of Skywalker, which is fundamentally and mechanically a different power from the Force healing in Legends but doesn't contradict anything in my opinion.

I am also not a fan of Qimir's mind wipe, but it is not because it would break the lore in any way, and I am not outraged about it. I just think it is narratively cheap—removing a harsher dilemma they would have had to grapple—especially with how quickly and easily he performed it (I always imagined Revan's amnesia required a longer "ritual" by multiple Jedi) and simultaneously with how insubstantial it seems since Mae is already gradually recovering her memories. Then again, perhaps this logically reflects what a sloppy job Qimir did with it.

As I mentioned far above, my greatest lore issue is with Mae bleeding Sol's lightsaber from merely wielding it in her hand because from every angle I can see, this is in fact a direct impingement on Episode III canon, so I cannot even justify this as being in a separate continuity. I have read a thread on Reddit debating this, but for the first time, I think the side defending it are the ones engaging in more retrospective mental gymnastics, for lack of a better term. So this would be my example of a flagrant contradiction or "major breach", which I'm not even confident the Holdo maneuver amounts to. Bear in mind, I could be a bit biased since I've always disapproved of the bleeding crystal idea in and of itself on its own merits for reasons I have already spelled out above.

Apart from all of this, it is perfectly reasonable for fans to care about lore integrity. Apart from cherishing a coherent universe, there is also the principle of respecting prior creators and contributors' work to the franchise instead of just overwriting them on a whim. Not every creator feels that is important but some of us fans do. I do think that something can be said about also being understanding and accepting of writers' desire for greater creative freedom though. Fans and writers should think about one another's perspective more and be more open to them.

@Brianspike42 I actually didn't like Asajj and Obi-Wan's relationship in the CWMPP that much either. While I appreciate Obi-Wan's compassion for her after learning more about her past, I felt that the plotline of Obsession was very rushed, I didn't like the ambiguous ending for Asajj with no closure whatsoever, and it's probably the only arc in Republic that I didn't like. I would even say I don't mind it being retconned.

I personally disagree that most of these are good examples of "archenemies". Darth Maul may have had a climactic fight with Ahsoka, but his archenemy was Obi-Wan for example. Asajj Ventress vs. Obi-Wan Kenobi is the most reasonable pair here, but I will always like to think of her as Anakin's archenemy (per the original Clone Wars media, and yes I know your poll is only referring to TCW).

I have a question guys. Is a vergence the same thing as a Force nexus? Because there are memes going around about the name, and it makes me wonder why they didn't just call it a nexus. (I just checked, and I see our article does currently treat them as the same but thought I'd ask for your thoughts about it here anyways.)

Tangential but you know there is this old comic about General Grievous where some random Jedi were pushing for a special operation to eliminate him. The Jedi Council they consulted who for some reason were composed of Jedi we have never seen before and would never see again scolded them fiercely for suggesting assassination, warning them that that is the sure path to the dark side. The protagonists mount their secret operation against Grievous anyways, and the story ends with them getting slaughtered, with the Aesop apparently being that they met a deserved fate because the council was right: assassination is the path to the dark side and no matter how terrible Grievous was, he must be dealt with honourably in battle.

It might be the only comic in the Clone Wars Multimedia Project that I dislike (and it wasn't part of the highly acclaimed Republic series). The logic of the whole story is so ridiculous because what was Obi-Wan Kenobi doing in Episode III if not going on a special operation to eliminate Grievous once and for all? I mean Obi-Wan's kill was pretty brutal. Sure he didn't air assassinate him, but neither were those random Jedi in that comic attempting that. The "assassination" condemned was a surprise military attack in and of itself.

To bring this back on-topic, I do think some Star Wars stories are a bit inconsistent and nonsensical about what violent situations are a moral event horizon into the dark side. Even if there is a metaphysical component where executing an enemy in hatred and anger instantly corrupts one's brain chemistry and that that is the real risk... I really don't see how slaying Sidious for the good of the galaxy is the greater evil. People can deal with the killer's dark side issues after the fact if it came down to it.

I don't believe Mace Windu was acting in anger and hatred more than out of a rational understanding of the stakes at hand even though his emotions were tense and Sidious was a threat to the Republic he loved. To be honest though, I also think it was really silly for Rahm Kota to tell Galen Marek not to strike down Sidious.

I really don't think it should be that controversial. It wasn't ideal, but it was also an active hostile situation against a supernaturally powerful being where the fate of the entire galaxy was at stake. It only appeared to be an attempted "execution" because Sidious presented it as such to Anakin.

Apart from the truth that Darth Sidious' trial would've been a sham in his favour, there was no way to take him into custody unless he pretended to surrender. Everyone always treats Windu's attack as an execution, but Sidious was not yet incapacitated or disarmed. He had the full power of the Force behind him. The situation was totally unlike Anakin's execution of Dooku, and the moment Anakin makes the wrong choice, Sidious proves this with his "unlimited power". The whole scene is meant to highlight Anakin's hypocritical self-deception. He disingenuously tried to invoke the "it's not the Jedi way" when Sidious was only feigning helplessness.

(inb4 "Sidious didn't throw the fight", I agree Windu legitly outdueled him, but the match wasn't over because of Sidious' Force powers. Anakin arrived just as Sidious was about to fall back on his powers, whereupon he then started his ruse.)

@AdmiralZod1 Vernestra literally framed Sol with murdering his Padawan and all his closest colleagues whom he had actually protected with his life. That is 100x worse than being blamed for instigating the Brendok incident out of poor judgement, neverminding that he was guilty of that to a large extent but totally innocent when it came to his team's deaths 16 years later. It changes his everlasting memory in the eyes of all his lifelong friends and family from "flawed Jedi who made grave mistakes" to "heartless serial killer who had no qualms about killing even his pupil who was still a child for his own ends". Justice is defined by truth.

In what world is an innocent person being framed this way okay in any way? Morality is subjective, but how is lying to the whole galaxy and slandering your "friend" that way for all posterity not immoral?

I am using the word corruption loosely to refer to unethical practices, period. Lying to everyone in your organization and to the public about a mass casualty event to the long term detriment of your community when your organization is being reviewed for integrity is unethical and corrupt.

@AdmiralZod1 It's heavily implied she physically abused her former pupil, Qimir, and drove him out of the order. She was actively trying to cover-up the assassinations of the Jedi and later the slaughter on Khofar the whole way. She posthumously called Sol a friend and privately knew he was not the real culprit, and yet she persisted in forever tarnishing his legacy by slandering him as a mass murderer who butchered his colleagues and his students alike. The motive she accuses him of? Trying to cover-up all the incidents she herself is the one who wishes to cover-up. Her desire to protect her own reputation by not revealing Qimir's role almost certainly factored into it. She sounded particularly cold, callous, and sadistic too when she whispered to Sol's corpse her insincere apology.

Even if she was trying to protect the Jedi Order's public image as well, that is no justification whatsoever for her unethical practices. Condemning a caring if flawed Jedi Master with the label serial killer is a heinous injustice. Do you not think that if a person got murdered then posthumously accused of killing their own friends and family that they tried to protect with their lives, that that is just the most messed up thing?

Notwithstanding this, her actions directly helped the Sith maintain their secrecy, contributing to the eventual destruction of the Jedi. It's a textbook example of why transparency and honesty are vital for the health of a community.

Now, I do think that the Jedi Order have a right to protest being audited by the Senate because, as much as the show's writers may have forgotten, they are legally a sovereign entity allied to but independent from the Galactic Republic. The senator's arguments are compelling and realistic. Vernestra's deeds basically gives truth to his concerns. But the Jedi are also not an organ of the Republic. Their longstanding relationship with the Republic is via treaty and so they also should not legally have to be checked by the Republic if they do not wish it.

@UndyingSoldier

I had the exact same reaction with Yoda's cameo. I literally said out loud "what is that even supposed to mean??" Yoda's my favourite Jedi, and I was eager for his cameo, but a one second shot of a corrupt Jedi walking up to him doesn't tell us anything.

Is she going to lie to him about Sol like she did with the Senate? Is she going to tell him and only him the truth instead? Is it supposed to imply that this is how Yoda gets a clue about the Rule of Two? Is Yoda actually the secret mastermind of the cover-up?

The cameo is so spurious that it might as well have been a still picture, and it would've been better not to even have it.

Darth Plagueis' cameo on the other hand did have more gravity to it. Seeing him on screen for the very first time was, as someone else described it, surreal, and it was decent because he was creepier than I had ever imagined and completely spooked my sister. She was so unsettled that when she saw the masked Qimir reappear later for a whole 10 seconds, she had Darth Plagueis in her head instead lol going "ew ew ew it's him it's him" until finally she was like "oh, it's just the Asian Sith".

One final critical issue I must note about this episode is Osha bleeding the lightsaber in her hand in real-time. While dramatic, it flagrantly contradicts film canon. Anakin Skywalker massacres hundreds of younglings, strangles his own wife, and duels his master and best friend to the death, falling so deep into the dark side his irises turn yellow, yet his blue lightsaber never turns red. When the concept of bleeding crystals was introduced, we were led to believe it was a manual practice, but now evidently it can occur just with the lightsaber ignited in one's hands. It can't even be explained as requiring a lightsaber more attuned with oneself because Anakin was using his while Osha merely picks up the one Sol was using. (Before someone brings up an example from Jedi Survivor I have heard in passing, I have not yet had the chance to play the game and have been spoiled enough about it already.)

I know I am alone in this opinion, but bleeding crystals has always been a terrible idea. Admittedly, my lifelong favourite colour is red, and as a kid, I wanted to be able to be a Jedi who can wield my favourite colour. I was relieved to discover in what was the canon then that that was possible; bleeding crystals would have crushed my childhood fantasy, and I'm sure it crushes some children's dreams today. But my personal bias aside, I can offer two more rational reasons why it is a poor concept.

The first is that it has now come to directly conflict with even film canon, and this development in hindsight was always the risk. (I am really dismayed to have to point this out because fans were previously bashing this show in bad faith over silly tidbits like Ki-Adi-Mundi's age which is neither a retcon nor lore breaking in any way.) The second is that colours are not intrinsically good or bad and bear different meanings for different cultures. In American culture, red is often associated with rage, evil, and the enemy. In Chinese culture, it is the colour of goodness, joy, and love.

It is natural that Star Wars as an American creation uses American symbolism, but the Force is conceptualized as a universal, spiritual phenomenon, and hard-locking colour symbolism to favour one culture's interpretation diminishes that sense of universalism.