#calodan

Inspo/redraw of Diana's BTS post :3

On May 4th the animated Series „Tales of the Empire“ realesed on Disney+ I was excited and curious to watch it, as „Morgan Elsbeth“, performed by Diana Lee Inosanto, caught my great interest with the appearances in „The Mandalorian 2“ and „Ahsoka“. Knowing her character was in a connection to Thrawn before he and Ezra were taken away by Purrgils from Lothal, I wanted to know more about this; who is she, what happened in her past and when, how, and why did Morgan and Thrawn come to the know of each other. The Episodes 1 – 3 gave us a first impression of Morgan Elsbeth' background-story and even no one might be interested in my own thoughts about it, I just wanna write them down. To me Morgan Elsbeth and the battle on Dathomir represents the current fates of many young people in our world. War and disturbances affects the life from people of all ages, so there are many children growing up in violence, see their world burning, losing their families & friends, watching their history & heritage being destroyed.

Furthermore Morgan saw her mother sacrifice herself, in the hope to save some members of their family. What a traumatizing experience.

As a survivor of the Seperatists' massacre lead by General Grievous and in believe she is the last of the Nightsisters from Dathomir, Morgan had to ponder her options how to ensure her own surviving in the best way.

A cooperation with the growing Empire seemed a good way to gain power to keep her heritage so it won't be forgotten. In spite of all personally losses in her life at this point in time, Morgan used her brilliant mind to invent a new modificated & enhanced variation of the imperial Tie-Fighters. As the Magistrate of Corvus on Calodan she wanted to enable all living beings there a better life by using the planets resources for the production of her Tie Defender-Invention for the Empire. But the plan failed. The human group of imperial superiors watching Morgans' presentation were greedy and short-sighted. Their only interest was in the planets resources, not in an investment of a genius idea with high potential to earn out at last. Frustrated and disappointed Morgan returned to Calodan, where she now was being abused and attacked of the population as a „liar“, making „false promises“ and being „incompetent“. Exactly when her anger raised again out of that situation, her life is about to change to an unexpected direction.

Not being aware her small talk with Pellaeon at the end of her Tie Defender-Presentation was a first step of a Test she already passed, she was about to have a second Test, proving her fighting-skills. After defeating a in his pride injured Rukh, Thrawns lifeguard at this point in time, Morgan Elsbeth and Admiral Thrawn met each other for the first time. Her intelligence and excellent fighting-skills caught his interest as well as his admiration for Morgan.

Knowing her answer „For the glory of the Empire“ to Pellaeons question about her motiviation why to work with the Imperial Fleet was a lie, Thrawn asked her again: „Why do you seek imperial favor.“ This time Morgan answered honestly to Thrawn: „Revenge. Years ago my people where all but destroyed. Our culture, our beliefs, are fading into memory. Yes, I seek power to ensure my future, to destroy my enemies. My anger gives me strength and it is that strength I offer the Empire.“

Thrawn replied: „Offer accepted.“

So we now know how the alliance of Thrawn and Morgan started. But, to me, there are still questions I would like to get answered as well as I would appreciate the most to see more of their time during their collaboration.

What caught my interest is we see Morgan fighting on Dathomir with her mother and sisters, her face covered with Face-Tattoos. Which disappear the moment she awakes while she is still on Dathomir, taken in custody by the „Mountain Clan“. What make her Face-Tattoos disappear that fast? Morgan is told: „With the power of the Nightsisters broken, their spells have faded.“ We see these Markings appear on her face again in „Ahsoka“ during the Ceremony when being honored by the „Great Mothers“ for her actions. Meanwhile on twitter an interesting thread with great ideas & theories has released, which I appreciate pretty much! Based on the given information and facts the conclusions out of the result of a thorough research sounds very plausible to me. In case of interest, this is the original source and account („RuthlessNightsister“): twitter.com/RuthlessNS_/status/1788374987013025980

What also caught my attention are the titles of the Episodes, „Path of Fear“, „Path of Anger“ and „Path of Hate“. It reminds me of Yoda saying: „Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to Hate. And hate leads to suffering.“ in „The Phantom Menace“-movie. I think the „suffering“-part can be interpreted for how Morgan must feel after all what happened to herself. As well as what we saw in „The Mandalorian 2“ and „Ahsoka“ happened to the population of Calodan on Corvus while Morgan Elsbeth is „The Magistrate“.

And there's more. We hear her say: „ … My anger gives me strength ...“ as a part of her answer to Thrawn.

What leads my minds to the Training-Session-scene in „Ahsoka“, where Sabine had to wear a helmet making her „blind“. Trying to defend herself she started to wield the training-saber wildly around and finally she fell down. Ahsoka said „... Anger and frustration help quick to gain power. But they also imbalance you. ...“ The difference I see here is the personality of Sabine and Morgan. Both have great fighting-skills and lost their families. But Morgans characteristic isn't that stubborn, overhasty and rebellish like Sabine. Morgan has a more constistent and controlled behaviour. So instead of „hate“ I think for Morgan it is more important to restore the Nightsisters on Dathomir. And the offered alliance with Thrawn seems to be a great chance for her to achieve this. Furthermore I think it's interesting how Thrawn describes the whole imperial entity in the relatively small chat with Morgan. He respects the empires' „magnificent construct“ and mentions also its weak points/blind spots. Which are nothing else then human behavior lead by emotions; greed, envy, hate, anger, fear, striving for glory and recognition. Thrawn predicts at this point in time, that the way of acting short-sighted will lead to decomposition at last. So to me it looks he used the time of the „unstoppable deconstruction“ by continue expanding his very own „inner circle“ with characters of his interest. Like the brilliant and combative Morgan Elsbeth. He uses her fate for offering her „a helping hand“ on her concerns, and as typically for his own characteristic, same time uses her for his own purposes. As already mentioned: I want to see more of that! In summary these 3 Episodes delivers to me a needful gain insight of Morgans background story and the start of her Alliance with Thrawn. My interest is definitely caught, as Thrawn is a character who is not in the need of anyone - but if he sees any advantage in a collaboration, he will make use of it. Just a few thoughts of me about the possibilities for furthermore tales: after Morgan came to the know of Captain Pellaeon and Rukh, she maybe would also have contact with Eli N. Vanto, as he is also a by Mr. Timothy Zahn created character being close to Thrawn. I would pretty much appreciate to see all these fantastic characters interacting with each other. Also I would love to see Morgan as a Pilot of a Tie-Defender.

A Tooka-Cat on the Streets of Calodan

Erik Tiemens, concept and end credits art for The Mandalorian, chapter 13, “The Jedi” (November 27, 2020).

A few impressions out of the "Tales of the Empire"-Trailer. 🙃

New Post has been published on https://videogaming.newonline.help/the-mandalorian-feels-more-like-a-pilot-episode-for-its-starring-jedi-in-the-jedi/

The Mandalorian Feels More Like a Pilot Episode for Its Starring Jedi in 'The Jedi'

This review contains spoilers for The Mandalorian season 2, episode 5, “Chapter 13: The Jedi.”

Here it is. The one we’ve all been waiting for. We’ve known that season 2 of The Mandalorian would feature more connections to the main Star Wars universe, but most fans were thrilled at the prospect of seeing an older Ahsoka Tano, let alone the first live-action rendition of the character, played by the always awesome Rosario Dawson. Because of this, “The Jedi” is a tale of two competing directions. If you’re excited to see what Ahsoka Tano has been up to since the events of Star Wars: Rebels, then you’ll be left extremely satisfied and with a giddy smile on your face. But this isn’t an episode of Star Wars: Rebels. This is an episode of The Mandalorian, and from that perspective, I can’t help but feel disappointed by “The Jedi.”

After being built up for more than half of the season, Mando (Pedro Pascal) has landed on Corvus where the Jedi he has been seeking is hiding out. Unfortunately, upon landing on Corvus and visiting the city of Calodan, he discovers that it’s essentially a police state under the control of the Magistrate (Diana Lee Inosanto of Star Trek: Enterprise). After meeting up with Ahsoka and delivering her the Child, under the assumed job of assassinating her, the two of them agree to take down the Magistrate and liberate the city under the condition that Ahsoka will train the Child upon completion of this job.

It’s been a while since we’ve last seen Ahsoka in-universe, and seeing her dramatic reappearance was truly a sight to behold. Under cover of fog and night, Ahsoka attacks the Calodan city guards. Ahsoka comes across as unstoppable, slaughtering them almost like she was a Predator. She stalks her enemies in the shadows not just in the kickass introduction, but during the final assault on Calodan with Mando. It’s frankly terrifying seeing just how ruthless she is in this episode — a far cry from her Clone Wars days.

Her presence also marks the first time we’ve seen a Jedi in The Mandalorian, and it really does show just the gulf between her and nearly every other character in the show thus far. The fight between Ahsoka and the Magistrate is a perfect example of this, with Ahsoka fighting her off effortlessly despite the Magistrate wielding a Beskar spear. In a series that prides itself on hand-to-hand combat, that fight was truly excellent, mostly due to the martial arts training of Inosanto.

I like the idea that Ahsoka doesn’t want to take on the Child as a Padawan. She was the Padawan of Anakin Skywalker and saw the dark path that he went down when emotions were able to get the better of him. It’s not dissimilar from the Luke we saw in The Last Jedi, a Luke who refused to take on a new Padawan after experiencing how someone he cared for transitioned to the Dark Side, unable to do anything to help or stop their descent into evil. “The Jedi” helps to reinforce some of the themes from that film that the Jedi themselves are a flawed group of people and how Ahsoka, like Luke, is resistant to wanting that lineage to continue. She instead pushes that responsibility onto another potential Jedi who may want to take the Child on as a Padawan (possibly Luke before he accepts Kylo Ren into his school?).

However, this isn’t a show about Ahsoka Tano. This is a show about Mando and his developing sense of morality and fatherhood. We’ve seen him grow and care for the Child, but that drama is put on pause for yet another one-off mission. We do learn more about the Child — such as his actual name being Grogu and that he was originally kept in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant before the events of Revenge of the Sith — and while that is good to know, it doesn’t really change anything. It serves as an explanation for why his powers are so wonky, (He was kidnapped after he was put into hiding, creating a great sense of fear.) but that doesn’t change the dynamic between Mando and Grogu. We just learn that Mando is better equipped to develop Grogu’s powers since he has established a strong bond with him over Ahsoka.

But all of the other elements that have been built up this season have received virtually no payoff so far, and the show isn’t fully committing to one direction over another. It’s as if everything matters, but at the same time nothing matters, since we’re flung from one potential plotline to another in each episode. Because of it the show is starting to feel aimless, almost like Jon Favreau wants to set up multiple storylines for the series to go whenever he’s interested in exploring them but doesn’t want to do anything with it now.

At the start of the season we had Mando tasked with the mission of finding a Jedi to train Grogu. From there, we had a possible Mandalorian revolution thanks to Bo-Katan (Katee Sackhoff), laying the seeds of the First Order, Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito) up to whatever his long-term plans are, trying to figure out what the deal with Temuera Morrison is, and now the events of this episode with Ahsoka looking for Grand Admiral Thrawn, who is apparently still alive. Now, I love Thrawn to death, but his inclusion doesn’t have any weight to it. It just comes across as a pointless bit of continuity maintenance for long-term fans.

The Mandalorian’s personal arc in the first season became one of its most compelling elements, but that’s seemingly put on the back burner this season as the narrative becomes more about making pit stops and seeing what happens. However, the hallmarks of The Mandalorian are still here and remain engaging. Ahsoka’s stealth kills, among other things, deliver some of the best action all season, the set design is fantastic, and there were several shots that had me pause the show just to admire them. I know I may be a weirdo who likes to see good shot composition, but seeing Mando approach the Magistrate’s compound was strangely compelling, despite not much happening.

There wasn’t anything that dips this episode into unsalvageable territory like in the second episode, but “The Jedi” tried to be an Ahsoka-focused episode in a season that has barely given us any Mando development. Half of it was exciting; the other half was boring.

If you were to tell me that “The Jedi” was meant to serve as a backdoor pilot for an Ahsoka Tano live-action spin-off, not only would I believe you, but I would be hounding you for more, because that’s something I genuinely want more of. The action, Ahsoka’s character development, and the insight into the larger Star Wars universe served as a shot of adrenaline for a season that has taken things at a more lackadaisical pace.

But as an episode of The Mandalorian, a lot of it felt fairly unsatisfying. I don’t care about Thrawn being teased because he doesn’t matter in the story about Mando and Grogu. I want to see how Mando’s story progresses, and “The Jedi,” as well as most of The Mandalorian’s second season, has felt more like a sightseer’s journey into Star Wars than the pathos we saw last season.