Hello, Welcome to another Star Wars themed episode of X ray Vision. We continue to explore a galaxy far far away. It's gonna be a shorter episode, expanding on some stuff that we talked about in the previous episode and some new topics.
Hey everyone, just a quick note.
We recorded a reaction to the first Acolyte trailer back when it dropped, but we were still on hiatus and didn't get to share it with anyone, So we're actually gonna play that conversation first, then follow up with our reaction to the new Acolyte trailer that came out on May fourth, so you'll get to both reactions back to back.
Hope you enjoy the Acolyte trailer. Acolyte coming out June fourth. This is a new timeline that we have never seen before action taking place in the kind of years before the Clone Wars timelines. We have very little idea about what who the bad guys is, who the good guys are, what the actual story is. But this is super exciting and it's the introduction of the character Vern from the High Republic books.
Your thoughts about that, Yeah, I thought this trailer was super cool and one of the things I really like about it is we kind of one of the topics I always talk about with Star Wars is this toxic
nature of the Jedi master relationship. And this looks like it's gonna explore that again because we get a new Jedi Master in the High Republic, and we get the young Padawan who looks like it will be a Mandala Stemberg's character, and it seems like when she starts to think of things that are not balanced and beauty and instead of fire, she's gonna get kind of exiled from the Jedi Order.
But I do think they're setting us up. It's a murder mystery.
It's by Leslie Hedlind, who made the incredible Russian Doll show, So it's gonna be twisty and there's a murder mystery and apparently the Jedi are gonna have to kind of solve it. So I think we might see the old
Master and Padawan Tea to solve it. I also think that while they want us to think this is about the Sith, I think it's actually going to be about the nature of democratizing the force, because there is a new family of witches in this who are not Jedi, but who do use the force, and there's this great line where it says it's not about good or evil,
it's about power and who gets to use it. So I think we could be seeing something really interesting here about the dangers of maybe a full because the High Republic is an era, as we've seen in the books that is essentially like an age of Enlightenment where the Jedi are in charge and there's nothing wrong and everything is good.
But as we know, that's never the truth.
Never been more influential, never been more powerful. I am interested to see, you know, we've talked a lot on this show about exactly what you mentioned, the issues, the problematic nature of Jedi culture, the relationship between student I'm eager to see if that culture makes more sense in the setting of the High Republic thousands of years ago, like, because certainly by the time we catch up to uh, you know, the Jedi during the Clone War years, et cetera,
and on, it seems as if they are living in the past, trying to grapple with the galaxies problems with a structure that no longer worked. They missed the rise of the Emperor. You could go on and on about the things that they missed and I'm eager to see if they're just more effective, if what they were, if the kind of structures, the power structures, the governing bodies that they have in the later galaxy made more sense
thousands of years ago during the New Republican. Yeah, and they just didn't progress.
That's a great point.
Also, the cost for this is so stacked, like Amandla Stembug May, who's this kind of mysterious, potentially deadly Potowan who's.
Left, Harry Anne Moss as a Jedi master.
Oh, Jodie Turner Smith who plays the head of the which kind of community that we see obviously, Juna Somato who's taken over kind of Wookie duties, and then Lee Jung Jay and Manny Jacinto. Like it's just non stop my fearite cast stars. So I'm very excited about this one. I think it's going to be really interesting and I'm sure like there was a great quote when the trailer came out where Leslie was basically just like, whatever you
think this show is, it's not that. And I love when somebody says that because I'm like, look, I have a lot of thoughts. So if it's not that, then you know, You're really going to have to do some stuff to surprise me, So I can't wait for that one.
It looks great, a Jedi was murdered, the Jedi.
Justify the galactic dominance in the name of Piece, but that piece Piece is a lie.
So we have a new trailer for the Acolyte, which kind of just builds on what we already know.
We see Master Soul, who's played by Leela Lee Jung Jay, asking to build. He wants to bring in his old padawam May played by Amandla Stemberg as she's suspected of being the murderer of the Jedi, which is what we thought, but we can assume from what we're seeing that's probably what's not what's going on. We see a fan favorite High Republic Jedi, Venestra saying this is just the beginning of a bigger conspiracy.
It looks really fun set.
We are now confirmed around one hundred years before the Phantom Menace. So the biggest takeaway here, I think, aside from how fantastic the action that's always taking, I mean, let's talk about that then, because it's like, the fight scenes look so good. Lots of hand time fighting, lots of non light saber fight.
Yes, I mean it seemed like a very conscious break from the style of certainly Jedi centric action that we've seen in the past, and you know, feels very matrix y, feels very Hong Kong action just in the snepas that we saw, and I'm incredibly excited by it. And it also like, depending on how how significant that new fighting style is, whether it becomes like new lore, I mean it kind of dovetails nicely with what Ezra's power set and style.
I was gonna say, yeah, that that kind of like the Jedi hand to hand fighting where you're using the force to fight. I think that's really cool. And oh, this is very interesting. Actually, are a super producer. Aaron just dropped this in the chat. But there's a quote from Manny Jacinto who says, I don't know if I'm allowed to say this, but I will just say it. So good for you, Manny. I like this. This is a good attitude. There's a lack of guns, which personally
is someone who loves fighting and stunts. I love because it gives you that body to body choreography.
That dance feeling.
It actually just looks like a real fight as opposed to I point I shoot, which is kind of an easy cop out.
And obviously we know that in Star Wars there's a.
Lot of bad shooting by Stormtroopers, so I'm interested to hear more about this kind of fighting style. This trailer includes a lot more lightsabers. We get to see those real high Republic like multiple lightsabers.
They're wearing the beige Jedi.
Cloths that look a lot more refined and uniform like. And then, of course at the end, the big moment here is we kind of get this chainsaw man esque mask who is a new Sith character. And what's really interesting here is this is probably set around a time when the Sith are just a rumor and we get to see Master Soul say, you know what are you?
So?
Is that because he doesn't know what the Scith are? Is it because he doesn't know who he is? Lots of timeline rumors going around here, I mean, potential for Darth.
Plagis the why there? You know it could could could it be him? I could see it also timeline wise, Darth tenen Brow, who was like Master correct his Master who.
Was decnonized and then recanonized recently, and the Star Wars stuff so very interesting.
I love the kind of reveal with.
This scary sort of silver mouth. I trust Leslie to do something really strange. If you haven't watched Russian Doll, which was Leslie Headson's big breakout show, it's spectacular. Just this totally weird, surreal take on the time loop.
And this is a fandom.
This was something our producer Joel pointed out to us. This is a fandom that Leslie had then said saved her life. She loves Star Wars. This is something that's really deep to her, and in a great interview with EW, she said, I really wanted to tell a story about the Sith, and that was my dream Star Wars idea, but it felt like the time period to do that would be something pre Phantom Menace. That seemed the most
interesting trajectory. How did the Sith go from the Rule of two and being quote unquote extinct to Palpatine coming into power without the Jedi knowing about it. That leans into one of our favorite talking points that we talked about before, which is how these stories get to fill in these gaps that really just happened because of the time that the stories were told in. But now we get these stories exploring them. So yeah, I'm very excited
about this. We talked about the great action obviously. We also see daph Nicky in here, who played X twenty three Laura Kinney in Logan, which I just love her. And she says, now this is a big one.
She says, they want to top the darth More fight.
Wow, okay, and she says she thinks that's the most iconic fight in the Star Wars cinematic universe. Such an amazing fight. And we were all so excited about the saber fights. There's so much skill and craft that feels so og Star Wars and feel so impressive when you see it as a viewer.
So that's I mean, that's a big hit. So I'll take that.
The Acolyte is coming June fourth two, episode premiere on Disney Plus, so we're excited about that.
Yeah. Coming up, we're jumping into the time capsule to talk about Ahsoka. Yeah next Ahsoka, which we missed because of a hiatus, and it was almost everything that I wanted to be. How did you, I mean, casting wise, I have like nitpicks, very very with fans. It happened, but otherwise it was just wonderful and everything that I wanted. The casting was perfect, the action was amazing, It looked so good, and as a continuation of Star Wars Rebels.
It was basically the next season Estar Wars Rebels.
Yeah, essentially, I loved it. Did you have any thoughts?
Yeah, I loved it.
I thought that they nailed the character moments, which for me is the big thing about Rebels, like getting to have Ezra comeback, and that reunion was so fantastic. It was amazing to see here on the big screen. Your wife. Obviously, I love Sabin. I thought Sabine Ran was everything you could ever want. I would see her in every other movie. I thought that Natasha was so fantastic. I loved seeing Thorn in live action. I know people were giving him
a bit, you know, they weren't. They weren't feeling the Daddy Thorne. They were feeling more like the Uncle Thorne.
And I know that people were upset, But I thought Lars Michelson was very scary.
I thought he was very very scary and brought a brought a really sinister and ominous energy to the to the live action role.
David Tennant as Hu Yang such a just joy to be back and just killing it. Also, I mean, really, let's talk about the best and saddest part of Ahsoka, which is Ray Stevenson as Balan Skull, because that was such an unbelievable addition to the law of Star Wars character lex mystery of like, who is this guy who's not a Sith, he's not a.
Jedi, the light size and then he had this connection it seemed like too you.
Know, the old ways of the Force, as it was hinted at the end, And I think it's heartbreaking that we won't get to see him kind of continue that role because he passed away. But I really loved him. I loved Evana Sucknow as Shin Hahti. I thought that was so good and I Shin and Sabine together that was just like everything.
I loved that ship. I was really happy people were feeling it. I just thought it was.
Such a joyous, enjoyable, fun expansion of Star Wars and what I really if there was one thing I had to pick, As you can tell, I loved a lot of stuff, but if the thing I had to pick, it would definitely be like I really loved the the delving into the Magic side of the Force.
Same love that from Clone Wars. Yeah, and I continue, you know, and I continue to be very interested in that other aspect of the Star Wars galaxy, like how, yeah, is there any interaction between magic in the Force and how do they balance each other and how do they how do they interest switches?
Like I want to know. Something else that I really.
Loved, and that was obviously a huge talking point was the return of Anakin and that kind of redemption.
Arc almost that he gets.
Obviously they've been very interested in redeeming Anakin in recent years. I feel like, but we really get to see that relationship with Ahsoka via the holograms that he left her and he was training her, so like how and then obviously some flashbacks, How did you feel about that stuff?
Did it land for you?
It lands for me? Because obviously that is a that is a monumental relationship in her life, and I think was probably the most positive relationship he had in those final years of the Republic during the Clone Wars. And it also makes me think it used to be the binary between dark and light. It was pretty much like you go to the dark side, you're done. Yeah, you're lost.
You're lost forever. And we're seeing more and more with the various redemption arts, with the ways people have dipped into Even Ezra dipped into the dark, was tempted by the dark, but then came back, and maybe we'll be tempted again and come back. That it's a lot more permeable that you can go from one side to the other, and just because you go to the dark side, it doesn't mean that you can never ever come back. And I think like that is a pretty obvious thing to notice.
But at the same time, I think it has like pretty huge implications for the future of Star Wars storytelling and the philosophy behind the Jedi in particular.
Yeah, and I also think that it is an organic growth that makes sense because even our understandings in real life of redemption and forgiveness and the restore of justice and those kind of things, like we're moving past the bad idea of like a criminal is bad, a person who's homeless is a drug addict, these kind of myopic ideas that are out there and that play into shame
and legalities and criminality. And I feel like it makes sense to have a Star Wars situation, like you said, with Ezra, who, by the way, we get to see Ezra in live action coming back, and I just think it makes sense and I loved I also loved to see him with his cool fighting style, and I think everyone should get a second chance in the Star Wars universe. And I like that these live action shows are kind
of expanding on that. And obviously that comes from Dave Filoni's animated stuff, where he really gave those those great nuances that we were often kind of missing in the binary of it all, you.
Know, perfect casting with Imanus Fondi, and his performance is one that someth like it was lifted directly from Rebels at times, like there was a there was a gentleness and a brightness behind everything that he was doing that I felt. I was just like, wow, I was it was honestly eerie at times. Yeah, watching him where I'm just like wow, I can't believe how well they guessed this exactly crazy.
And his chemistry with Sabine I think was a huge part of that too, like they just so playful. Also, even his introduction where he's just hanging out with all these cute creatures and he's just been living his life that way. I think it was really fantastic. I was so happy to see him come back.
I will give you now my small note, and it's not even it's really nothing but Rebels. Obviously, there's a lot of heartbreak and angst and emotion and sadness and unrequited feelings in Star Wars Rebels, but they had a lot of fun ye also, And I feel like the
one thing I was missing. And I understand that you know, s Been has complicated feelings about the Rebels, about Hera, about Ezra, and about Ahsoka, and they all are kind of treating each other at arm's length for a lot of the series because of all the things that have happened and all the things that they've been through in
the time they've been apart. At the same time, I feel like they spend so much time together laughing, having like joking, even when things were at their most dangerous during the Star Wars Rebels animated series, and I wanted some of that. I just wanted a little bit more of the friendship that I feel like I didn't get. But it made sense because they're older, they've been through crazy shit, really terrible, like truly terrible traumas. But I just wanted a little bit more.
No, I agree.
I think this is actually a press Beach TV problem because Avata, the Lost ebb End of the Netflix series.
Exactly the same proce exact note.
Where it's just like, guys, they have fun in that show.
That has kind of tremendous fun in that show.
It's more about how friendship and laughter can help people survive in the sake of war rather.
Than like, yes, religious war that yeah, just like dealing with war.
So I think it's kind of a prestige TV issue. But but I and I do agree with you.
I think that hopefully when we get that kind of movie that's going to wrap up this era of the Felony Verse, I'm hoping that there is a bit more of that, especially because the chemistry between them is so good in the live action. Anna, I'm just hoping we get to see everyone come back. I really want to see Shin come back in the movie. Like, is there anything you're really hoping to see when that Mandalorian and Grogu movie hits.
Yeah, I want to see how it. I want to see how it ties in with the main story. The we know how these how these characters and these huge events intersect with all the stuff that has happened in the larger universe that leads into the later movie trilogy. To me, that's always the question is like, where were they when this was happening?
Yeah, exactly, it's the plotholes that you love but you want to know and then that I think about all the time.
What about you?
Yeah, I think for me, it's like those character moments. I want to see an expansion on the magic aspect. I want to learn more about the ancient Force, which I think makes sense because they.
Set it up here.
I want to I would rather they didn't recast Balen and instead had Shin kind of continue his expansion and and maybe you know, rip he died.
Off screen or something, but something like that. I would like to just see her get to kind of explore. I would like to see her.
And so be and explore this kind of like enemies to lover's relationship but everyone.
You can kind of see them having.
But yeah, I just think it's I like the TV shows for filling in those holes in the law the same way that the books have done. And now that we've seen characters like Thorn come over from the expanded universe, now known as Legends. I think these TV shows act in the same space as those books, and I'm always interested to see how those things tie in with the High Republic existing in the books before the Acolyte. I
think it's going to be really interesting. Dave Felony's always been a student of Star Wars, so to see all of that come together, the TV, the film, the books, the comics, you know, every kind of bit of law. You never know what he's going to bring in, and that's kind of what makes me so excited.
Thanks for listening.
To see you next time, See you next time.
X ray Vision is hosted by Jesus Subsion and Rosie Knight and is a production of iHeart Podcasts. Our executive producers are Joel Smith and Aaron Kaufman. Our supervising producer is a Boo Zafar. Our producers are Carmen Laurent and Mia Taylor. Our theme song is by Brian Basquez.
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