It's tough to choose between Canon and Legends Thrawn.
For me, they both have enough ups and downs to where I consider them to be moreorless equal in how I view them - I have no preference. I voted Legends Thrawn because I like the original Thrawn Trilogy, and his appearances in Rebels are mostly based on his Legends personality anyways as opposed to his portrayal in the Canon novels.
The way he is portrayed in Canon is quite interesting in terms of him becoming a more "moral" character and his backstory is a page-turner in the new Thrawn Trilogy. I have no preference in universe for Thrawn, really.
Han's death would have been sadder if it was done properly. He is way more loved than Padmé, but her death was better executed in my opinion. Han Solo walks up to his known-to-be-murderous son, gets stabbed, and unceremoniously falls to oblivion. And after that, they don't even mourn him with dignity. Leia runs to console Rey, over Han's lifelong friend Chewie... The weight of his death is significantly dampened by movie quality as well. Revenge of the Sith wasn't perfect, but overall I found it to be highly enjoyable. I found The Force Awakens to be significantly less enjoyable, and thus his death was ruined by a lack of proper setup.
Also outside of execution Han Solo has a lot of content to be found in Legends unlike Padmé so it doesn't carry as much weight knowing there are still plenty of hijinks to be found with him post-Empire, simply in another universe.
I think it is justified based on their little knowledge of the situation at hand, which makes it more infuriating for the viewer.
Sure, we know that the galaxy is being threatened by more evil space fascists, BUT, the senators of the New Republic have far too many things to worry about. Canon is pretty clear that the modern New Republic is a failing state with little reach across the galaxy. The most important thing any senator could do is avoid causing a panic among the government. If they were going to say "the Empire is back!" it would cause a crisis and many sectors may secede or the government may be perceived as weak and opportunists that have their own interests above the Republic (cough cough Bothans) may swoop in to take power.
The senate does not know the gravity of the situation at hand and so they are avoiding what they believe is the worst case scenario - an internal crisis among an already weak government. Of course, we know the worst case scenario is Thrawn returning, but they don't. I would consider it justifiable via ignorance.
I voted for Phase 3 Dark Trooper... Then I remembered how easily Luke slashed them.
If I could change my vote I'd say Magnaguard.
I think Trilla is the only inquisitor that isn't ridiculously over-the-top. The fourth sister is insignificant aside from being a stone on which Offee can learn to forgive. The seventh sister and fifth brother take themselves far too seriously and both of them fall short in any intimidation or depth. The eleventh brother just exists and then dies. Akaris has a pretty intriguing plot but I don't read comics so I don't really know too much aside from the summaries. Trilla isn't over-the-top, has a degree of intimidation but isn't comically hyped up for no reason, and their story is actually pretty neat.
I think we found the next lord of the Sith.
Being a captain of the Imperial forces seems to be the only option where I'm not directly compromising my morals or living in exile or living a double life, so that'll have to be it.
To me, it was because Legends is not all its hyped up to be.
I love a lot of legends content, but I also love a lot of Canon content that has been my go-to up until the recent disasters that we've been calling television (Ashoka, BoBF, etc).
Legends can be straight up goofy or dumb. For example, Dark Empire is ludicrous, overthetop, and the Emperor is seemingly pulling all of these new super weapons out of his rear. Othertimes, it just doesn't feel like Star Wars. I will always detest the Vong for basically seeming like a straight copy-and-paste from Warhammer with their edginess. Abeloth causing a bunch of volcanic and seismic activity on the surface of Coruscant feels less like the grandiose epics of fighting evil space fascists and more like a failed work of Lovecraft. The sun crusher exists. The sarlacc pit is just an edgy torture pit for the giggles. Starkiller pulls a star destroyer out of the sky and onto the surface below, which is basically him pulling a small city from the sky. Imperial officers genociding whole planets to prove their loyalty (if you're gonna have someone do an evil thing, don't make it ridiculously cartoony!)
For me when I was still a pro-canon feller, these ridiculous parts of Legends were just big turn offs. It was easier to watch the shows in Canon and enjoy the good ones then buy a bunch of large books from Legends and the find out that there's a race of aliens that harvest your souls for energy and I wasted 20 bucks just to read about them.
Now that the past few TV shows, save for Andor, have been complete malarkey, I've expanded my mind to the good elements of legends and I find both timelines flawed and blessed in their own special ways.
I don't think one is necessarily better than the other. Canon has its great overlooked works, but what I find to be best about it is the clarity you get from a more organized timeline. I think the diverse range of legends stories works to its advantage and it gives me more to choose from. Just like what you like and don't what you don't.
It just irks me when people say Canon has the most ridiculous things or is so stale while also sweeping under the rug the countless crazy, ill-fitting, or dull parts of Legends as well. Let Star Wars be Star Wars and enjoy what you enjoy. Too many people dunk on one or the other when both have their ups and downs.
Ok, so, final thoughts on this series:
Criticisms:
At times the plot could feel a little disjointed between the jumping of planets. This mainly applies towards the beginning of the series.
The show kinda makes hyperspace travel feel like a joke. Characters hyperspace to planets in almost no time at all. The trip from Coruscant to Brendok takes maybe an hour tops? It doesn't make much sense.
Mae's memory being wiped is a bit of an "eh" decision. I am not a big fan of the memory rub trick, both in Canon and Legends. The ability to wipe someones memory is a pretty damn powerful. The only things I can see that would make this trick reasonably balanced in the universe would either be that nobody's actually bothering to learn it because the ability to wipe someones memory is probably not going to be a super useful trick a lot of the time, or it's just really hard to learn.
But, despite these criticisms, I genuinely do think the show is good. If you ask me, The Acolyte is a breath of fresh air.
In particular, some things I really enjoyed are:
The Jedi finally being explored as a possibly "villainous" faction. What they do to people like Sol is not right. Sol was very clearly a broken man. When you experience something traumatic. like what happened on Brendok and you're essentially forced to bottle up all your emotion, you tend to not be the best mentally. Additionally, the Jedi playing political games, such as blaming Sol for everything that happened, was a neat touch. The Jedi Order was corrupted long ago by politics, and it's about time we see that on the big screen!
It's about time we got a story outside the prequels or original trilogy era! The Acolyte is so refreshing because it's unexplored on the big screen. While the Imperial era is by far my favorite era, I am very pleased with the originality that this show has given us.
We get a really interesting look at what it is like in the Republic during this era. We see perspectives from the impoverished and mistreated outer rim, we get to see the political games of the rich core worlds, and we get to see how thousands of years of peace and politics have made the Jedi slowly corrupted. It's a neat take on such an expansive galaxy.
Overall, the show is actually really neat. It's an original story, and although it isn't perfect, I think the overall story was really good and decently executed. (Poor Sol, taking the blame for everything 🫡)
Final rating: 7/10
Did the episode where Jar Jar becomes a "Jedi" genuinely be outvoted by Dangerous Debt? People really don't like the Martez sisters.
Thanks! I forgot exactly how long it took since what starts off as just a small sentence or two inevitably spirals into a ton of yapping and I lose track of time, but it's never a SUPER absurd amount of time.
If you check my activity, you'll see that I yap. I yap a lot here. I just really like to write.
Edit: @Wolfscar45 Hm, that's pretty interesting! I'm not the most knowledgeable on the EU so I appreciate the reply. Also, sorry I had to respond in an edit. Your reply wasn't showing up until I clicked off and got the notification you responded to the post.
(My answer is based off of the Canon universe. The Empire in legends is probably way more despicable then in canon.)
Well, to us, the Empire may seem evil. We have watched Palpatine manipulate the senate, start the Clone Wars, and blow up Alderaan.
But to the average person in the galaxy, the Empire probably doesn't seem that bad. For starters, they were one of, if not the largest employer in the galaxy. Government departments like the Bureau of Standards hired millions of people to keep the Imperial bureaucracy running. Additionally, the Empire also set up lots of factories to fuel their military. These employed millions as well. Plus, even outside of government-owned factories, lots of companies were still producing new Imperial weaponry and ships in their factories due to the permanent war-time economy Palpatine set up, which likely prevented or diminished the effects of the mass-layoffs that come whenever a government ends a war and doesn't need tons of weapons.
On top of this, the Empire also brought lots of stability to different sectors. Imperials like Ray Sloane saw the Empire, for all its faults, as just because of the order it brought to the galaxy. Criminal gangs cleared out, the destructive Clone Wars brought to an end (remember no one knows that Palpatine orchestrated it) and a chance for systems to prosper.
To the regular citizen of the galaxy that doesn't know that Palpatine is an evil Sith Lord and orchestrated the worst conflict in modern galactic history, the Empire seems pretty good.
On top of that, it was stated that the new system of Sector Moffs and Planetary Governors would help to crush the exploitation from the Senate by concentrating the Governors and Moffs attention on their planet or sector instead of focussing on the enrichment of themselves and their political allies while they lounged around in penthouses in the core worlds.
Even though the Empire was also xenophobic and humanocentric, even aliens supported it! Vardos was an Imperial utopia with lots of alien species, and that mole rat looking dude from Kenobi is not even a near-human, and he still supports the Empire AND has befriended Imperial Stormtroopers - the politically fanatical, elite vanguard of the Empire. Xenophobia is bad, and I don't support the Empire condoning it, but it's also an interesting perspective to see aliens, the people that are supposedly getting subjugated, welcome the Empire's rule.
The Empire wasn't perfect, it was a dictatorship that suppressed dissidents, and admittedly, even though Alderaan was helping to fight the Empire to some extent, with Organa helping lead the Rebellion and lots of Alderaan's security soldiers joining the rebellion, blowing the planet up was a bit of an overreaction to put it mildly. But, it's important to note that a lot of Imperial atrocities weren't well known by the general public, and that to the average person, the Empire seems pretty nice. The majority of Imperial workers and troops were good people, fighting for what they believed was a good cause.
Of course, this is not to say everyone agreed with the Empire. Some planets and cultures are deeply against being ruled by an outside government, especially one that is a dictatorship. The Empire's subjugation of these people is something that is pretty evil too, but for the most-part, many people supported the Imperial government. And no, not everyone in the Empire was a pretty little angel who was a victim of the Imperial propaganda machine, Plenty of evil-doers and villainous people were apart of the Empire, as with any government. The Republic wasn't free of evil people, and neither was the Empire, or even the New Republic for that matter.
TL;DR: The Empire may seem evil to us, but that's only because we know the whole story from all the movies and books. To the average person, the Empire may seem like a just organization due to the employment opportunities, stability, the chance to prosper, and order it provided to many citizens. It's important to note how the average person in the Star Wars galaxy views things before we can brand anyone as evil.
Both Canon and Legends have fantastic stories and terrible stories. I like to ignore the stories that stink, regardless of universe, and then enjoy the ones that are good, regardless of universe. It makes no sense to just ignore stuff just because it's from a different universe then what you prefer.
Palpatine was kinda a goofball.
It didn't matter to Palpatine that it didn't make a lot of sense because at the end of the day, he was a Sith Lord. It was a huge waste of Imperial resources, BUTTTTTT, his Sith mentality didn't care. To him, this was to directly rule the galaxy through fear. It was pretty dumb in some aspects, sure, but Palpatine was corrupted by the Sith mentality. he saw it as the perfect to to spark fear into the galaxy. If he wasn't a Sith, odds are he'd probably have a more rational view on things.
Palpatine's Sith ideology of ruling through fear is also why he was close with Tarkin, who shared similar ideology.
Well, as with basically all my posts in Wookieepedia, I'm going to have to break it down.
Legends content is a mixed bag, to put it lightly. Things like the Thrawn trilogy are phenomenal! They are intriguing, entertaining, and overall a fine addition to the lore. Then there are things like the "sun crusher" or those city destroyer super weapons that I forgot the exact name of.
See, my main issue with the Legends universe is the inconsistency. Things like the Thrawn trilogy or the Republic Commando games are great! The issue is that they are clumped into the same universe where the sun crusher exists or the Yuzhan Vong (I know I probably butchered the spelling).
Canon tends to be more consistent in terms of lore, which I appreciate (this is with the exception of the sequel trilogy which most Canon fans don't even enjoy).
Honestly, I don't get why fans divide themselves into only enjoying Canon or only enjoying Legends. Star Wars, regardless of what universe, is full of rich, enjoyable stories that people need to learn to just enjoy. I am a bigger fan of Canon - and yet I find stories like the Thrawn trilogy to be a very enjoyable story in the Star Wars universe and one of the best series of Star Wars books out there.
Well, Ewoks were about to eat our protagonists in Return of the Jedi, soooo.
I may be a little biased considering I wrote an entire guide to hunting Ewok a few years back, though. (Which reminds me I still have to write my follow-up guide on how to properly cook them).
General Grievous was a good villain, but Count Dooku is more fleshed out then him, so I'll have to give the count my vote.
I don't know if I'd call the Empire a monarchy given that Palpatine didn't have any children as his heir. More of a regular old dictatorship, no monarchs involved.
Honestly, no system is perfect, and if you have seen any of my Wookieepedia posts, you know I love to yap. I'm going try and break down the pros and cons of each system.
Democracy - On paper, who wouldn't love democracy??? The Old Republic kinda sucked in some aspects and was pretty good in others. It brewed a lot of corruption and many systems outside the core worlds and inner mid-rim were exploited by government officials for profit. Additionally, the Republic was formed more like a federation of independent planets than as a strong federal government. Planets had their own militaries, government officials, and so on. This doomed many lesser planets, as they had no strong federal government to help them thrive and to protect them from threats. On the plus side, though, the republic's bustling economy allowed for many people to work their way up from nothing to everything, provided they were able to escape whatever backwater system they were currently in and move to a planet with a brighter future.
The Empire - The Empire was a mixed bag. The Empire was a totalitarian dictatorship on one hand, but on the other hand it gave many lesser worlds a chance to prosper due to the formation of a strong federal government. The Empire, for all of its faults, got rid of a lot of the financial-based corruption that the senate suffered from in the Republic by forming the hierarchy of Grand Moff --> Moff --> Planetary Governor and helped many systems to prosper by getting rid of criminal activity that plagued many systems, particularly outer rim ones, and creating lots of jobs such as factories for their war machine. The whole dictatorship thing is bad, but, lets not forget that for many, the Empire was their ticket off of whatever backwater system they were living on - or in some cases, the organization that turned a backwater system into a respectable community.
Meritocracy - Yeah it's a good idea I suppose.
Theocracy - Mixing religion and politics is usually not the best idea (especially considering the vast amounts of religions throughout the galaxy).
Oligarchy - It could be a good system of governance, but it is overshadowed by the whole dictatorship thing that the Empire had going for it. Its an improvement over having an absolute leader, but not exactly democratic.
Anarchy - Yeah, uh, no. I don't think I need to explain how having an every man for himself system of governance is disastrous.
A stormtrooper was meant to be a regular infantry unit first. Artillery Troopers don't really match that qualification. Luckily, there isn't any evidence of them serving in the military until the Imperial Remnant era, which makes sense considering the Imperial Army would likely have handled artillery related activities.
Also, one thing I don't like about special stormtrooper designs is paint. If you're going to have regular stormtrooper armor - don't paint it! This goes for Shock Troopers, Artillery Troopers, and even Incinerator Troopers (although they weren't mentioned in the poll). Stormtroopers are meant to be uniformed, identical killing machines. Having different colors just takes away from the intimidation factor that comes from that in my opinion.
Imperial Shocktroopers also feel a little bit unnecessary (also the paintjob they have in the photo you provided is horrid).
Sorry that I'm a little bit late to the discussion, but the thought of you guys getting a notification that this 3 year old thread has just had a new message was too good to pass up.
Cortosis seems to be a very impractical material to use in armor. It is very brittle, making it vulnerable to repeated attacks. Although it can short out lightsabers and dissipate blaster bolts, it is by no means indestructible. Shorting out lightsabers doesn't mean that lightsabers don't do damage to Cortosis. Repeated hits from lightsabers will cause serious damage or even destruction. Plus, Cortosis is usually woven into other metals, which only serves to weaken it even further. Cortosis being able to temporary disable a lightsaber doesn't make it superior.
Now, some people might be saying "but it dissipates blaster bolts!!!" There are a few issues with this, though. For starters, Cortosis needing to be woven into other materials would probably weaken the effect. Since Cortosis is very brittle, if woven into a weaker material, it might not stand up to lots of blaster fire, and could deteriorate overtime.
Also, I remember reading somewhere above this post that Cortosis was heavy, which makes it impractical to put high amounts of it in large parts of armor, which only makes Cortosis even more impractical to stop lightsabers or blaster bolts. Keep in mind this is off memory and I could be wrong.
Beskar on the other hand is resistant to both blasters and lightsabers. It is extremely durable as well, unlike Cortosis.
Cortosis is very situational, whereas Beskar is just a great piece of armor no matter what your up against.