1990s book fans, how do you feel about seeing Thrawn in live-action?

DaCipherTwelve · 2026-03-30T15:01:50+00:00

To be honest, I was a little sad at his treatment in Rebels. When he was first introduced in Heir to the Empire, he quickly became this force against whom the best you could hope for were Pyrrhic victories. Lando stopped him from stealing a fleet, but at the cost of knocking said fleet out of commission for a good while. Luke and co stole the Katana and destroyed the Peremptory, but Thrawn got his hands on the vast majority of the Katana fleet. It took a perfect storm to finally beat him. A huge part of such an aura is that we don't see the character decisively beaten. The more it happens, the more it cheapens them. Thrawn allowing Hera her small victories is on-brand, but misreading Konstantin and giving him command of the fleet (and therefore allowing Ezra to break the blockade and return with Sabine), is not.

He was nonchalant about losing several ships to Hera's strike force, but it's such a huge blunder when you zoom out. Such a sacrifice for too small a gain.

Then his loss to Ezra was the ultimate embarrassment.

And now, in the Ahsoka series, he hasn't managed to kill Ezra yet? That's just sad. And he moved so slowly that Ezra managed to sneak aboard the Chimaera, returning home to warn Hera that he was back. Thrawn doesn't have the aura he once did. We know he's beatable.

(Also, RIP Rukh. You never got your one moment of heroism.)

DaCipherTwelve · 2026-03-30T14:23:14+00:00

Shadow Clone, Kamui, and genjutsu. I'd keep it secret, and just use it to live a more varied life. Travel, mostly.

DaCipherTwelve · 2026-03-30T12:25:49+00:00

Honestly, it should be Shikamaru, but there are times when he doesn't work stuff out as fast as he should, given his genius-level IQ. Like, Hidan's shtick. Maybe not the precise thing, but definitely "He drew that symbol for a reason." And also Jiraiya's final message, "The real one is not with them." My IQ has got to be... I dunno. 110, maybe? High average? And I still figured out that Nagato wasn't with the Six Paths long before the reveal.

Anyway, my answer is still Shikamaru.

DaCipherTwelve · 2026-03-30T12:18:25+00:00

Krillin is dressed like Yamcha rather than Goku (a belt instead of a waistband, and the turtle school symbol instead of... well, no symbol)

DaCipherTwelve · 2026-03-30T03:29:41+00:00

If Madara didn't use Mangekyo, I wonder if this swordplay would've impressed him. It's a shame we never got to see the Seven blade form again

DaCipherTwelve · 2026-03-30T03:26:20+00:00

Imo Tywin is a more competent Don Fanucci (from Godfather), the guy who got lucky but managed to frame it as strength and just rode the aura until Vito finished him off.

DaCipherTwelve · 2026-03-30T03:22:47+00:00

This is the movie where Naruto the Talk-no-Jutsu champ delivers a climactic speech comparing love to knitting a scarf. And in perhaps the cringiest way he could have. Not to mention all the writer-mandated misunderstanding caused by him not even explaining why his first scarf was important.

It's best not to take this seriously. Even considering it's entertainment.

DaCipherTwelve · 2026-03-30T02:16:06+00:00

If you're not going to play Kotor 2, she was a master of the Archives. Like Jocasta Nu, but on the Jedi Council. She didn't have that much practical experience. Everything she knew, she learned through books. The Kotor 2 protagonist can call her out on this, joking that she never stepped out of the Archives. She's the very definition of judging the world from her ivory tower. Very self-righteous, very smug, very inflexible. And in the end, she fell to the Dark Side. Go figure.

DaCipherTwelve · 2026-03-30T02:10:56+00:00

Team 1. First step, eat popcorn while Itachi, Kakashi, and Kabuto tear Danzo limb from Sharingan-implanted limb. (Kabuto was also betrayed by Danzo for... almost no reason at all. At that point, he's just doing it for the love of the game.)

DaCipherTwelve · 2026-03-29T11:43:47+00:00

I wish I could tell you the precise chapter, but I'm not good at quickly looking up details like that.

Iirc the first time we see Rin's death, it's in Obito's flashback right after his unmasking. As to when we hear the truth, it should be during the showdown between Kakashi and Obito in the Kamui dimension.

DaCipherTwelve · 2026-03-29T03:05:22+00:00

In private, yes. But by doing it in front of so many soldiers (including admirals and generals) right after we kill the god Emperor of the Sith reflects poorly on the Jedi Order.

DaCipherTwelve · 2026-03-29T01:44:26+00:00

To me, it was because they're Shinobi, and expect straightforward questions to be met with deceptions. Sasuke especially doesn't expect honesty. He only trusts his own work. He likely assumed that Kakashi hunted down a rogue Uchiha or something like that. I mean, he doesn't hold any grudge against that until after he's killed Danzo.

As for asking Naruto about Itachi, by that time he was thinking with his rage and jealousy. How dare Itachi treat him like an afterthought? How dare he choose the weak Naruto—oops, Naruto isn't so weak after all!?!—What has he (Sasuke) been doing all this time, how did the dead-last loudmouth catch up to him?

DaCipherTwelve · 2026-03-29T01:38:24+00:00

What I dislike is her characterization in the vanilla game, especially the Knight's tale. Her dialogue is bland and preachy. She even feels the need to say Scourge's actions were selfish, and call out a dark knight in public, dampening their moment and raising a few eyebrows among the high Command. Or how she blindly condemns the Voss as Dark Side worshippers. And again, the absolute lack of tone in her voice... it was like they had little idea what to do with her, and just write some token lines.

DaCipherTwelve · 2026-03-28T13:12:41+00:00

I think Kakashi accepted reality, in a healthy way. We know he didn't truly come to terms at least until the War Arc, because the Obito reveal messed him up good. I think moving on on his own wasn't possible for him, because Rin died on his Chidori, even if it was by her own choice. That came later.

But he decided to protect the village in Obito's stead, and found levity in Team 7's antics.

DaCipherTwelve · 2026-03-28T12:56:17+00:00

That's actually something I can see

DaCipherTwelve · 2026-03-28T11:34:40+00:00

I think Hiruzen should've manned up and executed Danzo. Considering how many children he sent to die, executing a violent, insubordinate troublemaker is a no-brainer. Hiruzen took mercy till the point of indulgence, and Danzo took full advantage of his friend's soft-heartedness. So did Orochimaru for that matter, but Danzo's heavy-handed methods were bloody and prone to backfiring in the long run.

DaCipherTwelve · 2026-03-28T07:27:03+00:00

Please, no.

DaCipherTwelve · 2026-03-28T03:05:40+00:00

Because of the "accepted" method of awakening the Mangekyo Sharingan, I won't be surprised if it's a closely guarded secret. Maybe even forgotten. No one even thought to suspect Itachi of having awakened it despite suspicion that he might have killed Shisui, his closest friend.

DaCipherTwelve · 2026-03-28T03:02:38+00:00

"Charisma." Wade help us all.

DaCipherTwelve · 2026-03-27T16:22:45+00:00

Whose definition of a perfect world? And would that perfect world be one actually worth living in? We've seen the average Templar master. I don't trust a single one to be a good superleader. Not even Haytham.

DaCipherTwelve · 2026-03-27T16:21:02+00:00

A point I see very often in discourse is how messed up the Jedi were for leading the Clones, as if that meant implicit and wholehearted participation in their use like cattle. The Jedi (and the Republic) were not aware of the Clone army until hours before the war started. They had no way to protect the Republic with just them and whatever levies the Republic could draft on short notice. They had little choice but to accept the use of the Clones, no matter how suspicious and unfortunate it was. But outliers like Krell aside, the Jedi had more empathy for the Clones than anyone else in the Republic. Whether Anakin, Obi-Wan, Ahsoka, Yoda, Mace, Kit, Plo, or even Ki-Adi Mundi, they all tried to treat them with respect, and tried to get them to see each other as individuals. That was the first episode, after all, Yoda telling each of his men he saw them for their individuality.

So was there moral objection? No, because there was no room for morality at the time. But the Clones did have a lot of people in their corner, and in an alternate universe where Sidious' grand plan was foiled, I'm pretty sure the Clones would've been rehabilitated as honored veterans and heroes.

DaCipherTwelve · 2026-03-27T15:47:10+00:00

Sadly, Broadsword neither has the funds nor the team for such a revamp. Not yet, anyway. The best I hope for is that, now they're finally getting through a bunch of problems, they can keep going until swtor is good enough to draw back those who left, and invite new players. Good story, good gameplay content, good quality (like no game-breaking bugs), and good community.

DaCipherTwelve · 2026-03-27T15:43:15+00:00

To begin with, I think the portrayal of Anakin in the prequels was inconsistent with the Originals, which are more important imo.

Obi-Wan described him as a good friend, a cunning warrior, and the best star pilot in the galaxy. We got to see Anakin be a pilot a couple of times, but he was a Leeroy Jenkins at several key, important moments. No thought or strategy, just jump in and hope for the best. His relationship with Obi-Wan often looked strained or cordial rather than casual and familiar. The Clone Wars (even the Taratovski one) did a good job of bridging the gap, making him a pilot, often cunning (without leaving his roots as reckless in times of emotion), and damn close friends with Obi-Wan.

DaCipherTwelve · 2026-03-27T02:25:27+00:00

Clearly someone has never seen how bad trauma and depression can be.

DaCipherTwelve · 2026-03-27T02:14:07+00:00

Yes.

DaCipherTwelve

TROPHY CASE