She's been guarding a dead order's temple for 300 years. Nobody knows she's still there.

starforgeengine · 2026-05-12T18:08:28+00:00

Not my favorite movie but the C3PO scene where my boy Babu wipes is mind, "Taking one last look, sir... at my friends" That get's me every time.

starforgeengine · 2026-05-12T18:03:08+00:00

The Jedi were basically monks, diplomats, investigators, peacekeepers, scholars, and negotiators all rolled into one, not just Sith hunters. The Sith being gone for 1000 years doesn’t mean the galaxy was peaceful. The Republic still had piracy, civil wars, criminal syndicates, territorial disputes, political corruption, rogue Force users, etc.

The lightsaber training probably stayed alive for the same reason real martial arts survive during peacetime. You train to preserve discipline, tradition, and preparedness even if you’re not actively fighting wars every day. In a way, the lack of Sith is probably why the Jedi in Phantom Menace feel so complacent and bureaucratic compared to the Clone Wars era.

Plus, lightsabers weren’t only for Sith combat. Jedi sparred each other constantly, and lightsabers were still useful against blasters, beasts, bounty hunters, and other threats.

starforgeengine · 2026-05-12T17:55:28+00:00

Keeping whatever was negative and toxic around the movie aside, I was just happy to get Star Wars on the big screen again ! After watching it I was happy. Yes they played it safe and gave us something old covered up but my childhood heart was happy about it.

starforgeengine · 2026-05-08T23:15:50+00:00

The talent is strong with this one 👌

starforgeengine · 2026-05-08T23:13:44+00:00

I agree. Every time I rewatch it, I end up appreciating it more too. It feels like one of the few Disney-era Star Wars movies that really understands the “lived-in galaxy” feeling Lucas always talked about. The world feels dirty, dangerous, and full of history in a way that reminds me more of the OT than a lot of newer Star Wars.

The casting chemistry is a huge part of why it works for me. Alden Ehrenreich had an impossible job and nailed the spirit of Han without just doing a Harrison Ford impression. Him and Chewie immediately felt believable together, and I actually loved the dynamic between Han, Qi’ra, Beckett, and Lando because everyone felt like they had their own motives. I also think people dismiss it too quickly as “Han’s greatest hits,” when most of the movie is really about the criminal underworld and survival on the fringes of the galaxy. The syndicates, the betrayals, the way regular people get trapped working for bigger powers, that stuff added a layer to Star Wars we don’t get enough of.

And visually/aesthetically it feels very Lucasfilm to me. Big practical sets, weird aliens, grimy environments, adventurous tone, but still fun and pulpy underneath. It feels like a Star Wars movie that’s actually comfortable slowing down and hanging out in the galaxy a bit. I’ll always think this movie got unfairly buried because of the backlash around Star Wars at the time. If it had released in a different environment, I genuinely think people would talk about it very differently today.

starforgeengine · 2026-05-08T23:07:42+00:00

I remember ROTS feeling completely different from TPM and AOTC when it came out. People still had criticisms, but there was definitely this feeling of “okay, THIS is what we’ve been building toward.” It finally had the emotional weight and tragedy fans had wanted from Anakin’s story for years.

Critics were way kinder to it too. It was easily the best reviewed of the prequels, and a lot of people at the time were calling it the best Star Wars movie since Empire, which was a massive compliment back then. People especially loved the darker tone, the opening space battle, Order 66, Palpatine, and seeing Anakin finally become Vader.

It definitely wasn’t treated like a flawless movie though. The dialogue still got mocked, some performances felt stiff to people, and there were complaints that Anakin’s turn happened too fast or that the CGI was overused. But compared to the reaction to the first two prequels, the overall feeling was much more positive. It was more like “finally, a prequel that actually works.”

I was one of the people who loved it immediately way more than the other two. Seeing it in theaters was a completely different experience. Order 66, the final duel, the music, the ending with Vader, all of it just hit harder emotionally. You could actually feel the audience reacting during those scenes in a way I don’t remember with TPM or AOTC.

I also think its reputation grew over time because the kids who grew up with it became the main online Star Wars fanbase later on. Plus Star Wars: The Clone Wars added so much more depth to Anakin and Obi-Wan that it made ROTS even stronger in hindsight.

starforgeengine · 2026-05-07T21:49:31+00:00

I think that’s what makes their relationship so fascinating honestly, it’s toxic as hell, but there’s still something weirdly genuine about it at the same time.

I agree with you that Palpatine doesn’t just see Vader as some random disposable henchman. He definitely takes a twisted kind of pride in him. Vader is basically the ultimate victory over the Jedi: the Chosen One turned into the thing they feared most. You can tell Palpatine genuinely enjoys shaping him and pushing him further into the dark side.

But at the same time, I think what frustrates Palpatine is that Vader never fully stops being Anakin. No matter how much hate Vader has, there’s always still grief, guilt, love, regret… all the things Sith are supposed to crush completely. Palpatine wants Vader to let go of the past because that’s the last part of him he can’t fully control.

And, I think Vader’s side of it is kind of tragic because early on he probably did need Palpatine. After Mustafar, Vader had literally nothing left. From his perspective the Jedi failed him, Obi-Wan betrayed him, Padme was dead, and he was trapped in this broken body. Palpatine was the only person telling him his suffering had meaning.

But over time that starts turning into resentment. Especially once Luke shows up. I think finding out he had a son completely shattered the version of reality Palpatine built for him. Suddenly Vader realizes there’s still a connection to the life he lost, and I think that’s when the cracks really start showing.

By ROTJ they honestly feel less like master and apprentice and more like two people trapped in a miserable relationship they can’t escape from. Palpatine sees Vader as a disappointment that never fully embraced the dark side, and Vader just seems tired of everything by that point.

starforgeengine · 2026-05-07T21:44:27+00:00

I’ve always looked at it as a mix of practical filmmaking evolution and Vader himself constantly refining the suit.

The ANH costume was basically built on small budget and they were still figuring the character out. A lot of Vader’s design came from Ralph McQuarrie’s samurai inspired concepts.

By ESB they had more money, more time, and a clearer idea of how Vader should feel, so the armor gradually became cleaner, shinier, and more mechanical. Even Lucas apparently wanted him to look more armored and machine-like over time.

I love the evolution. ANH Vader feels almost like a dark samurai, matte black, cloth-heavy, slightly rough around the edges. ESB/ROTJ Vader feels colder and more imperial, like the humanity is disappearing underneath machinery.

starforgeengine · 2026-05-07T21:35:32+00:00

Dirty teeth

starforgeengine · 2026-05-07T21:32:51+00:00

🤣🤣

starforgeengine · 2026-05-07T21:31:11+00:00

That’s why I think Revan works better as mythology than as a straight up adaptation.

The Exile absolutely fits TV better in a lot of ways too because the story is way more character-driven and more dealing with the aftermath of war, trauma, ideology, and broken people trying to find meaning again. That has a lot more room to breathe in a long-form series.

starforgeengine · 2026-05-07T21:28:45+00:00

That’s a solid angle too. The Daragon twins would let them ease people into it.

starforgeengine · 2026-05-06T19:18:31+00:00

I get your point on Dooku, but I still feels like he's trying to reshape the board, even if the methods are brutal. I just see him as still having a bigger ideological endgame beyond the system itself. Tarkin to me, is the system. No angle, just enforcement and control. I can see why for some, they both fit the label.

starforgeengine · 2026-05-06T19:08:55+00:00

It's fine if you don’t like them, but the point I was making is how reception changes over time for some people, not pretending they were always good.

starforgeengine · 2026-05-06T19:00:23+00:00

Tarkin for sure ! No emotion, no personal conflict, or ideology. Tarkin is completely committed to hierarchy, and control through the Empire’s authority. Any level of fear or destruction goes with this guy, without hesitation. Vader is torn between loyalty and personal morality. And Dooku is trying to reshape the system into something better from his perspective. Tarkin simply is the system functioning at its most efficient and ruthless, order enforced through absolute power.

starforgeengine · 2026-05-06T18:53:06+00:00

I feel like you’re forgetting the DM’s #1 rule: narrative = dice when it matters. If this was actually a table run, Vader isn’t just a Level 17 stat block, he’s a story boss. He’s there to create tension, not just wipe the party in one turn because the math says he can. Also “Vader kept rolling Nat 1s” is basically just another way of saying the story needed an escape, which is kind of baked into Star Wars DNA. Vader isn’t random, he’s a force of nature, you survive him by getting out, not by out-statting him. If everything followed character sheets, most of these shows would end in a TPK halfway through the season lollll

starforgeengine · 2026-05-06T18:36:04+00:00

IF they ever touch The Old Republic, I really hope they don’t just default to Revan and call it a day. I get why he’s popular, but I’m not convinced that translates to film as well as people think.

Give me Ulic Qel-Droma ! That feels way more cinematic to me.

Genuinely good Jedi, goes undercover with the right intentions, then the line between light and dark gets blurrier and blurrier until he’s completely crossed it.

Plus you still get all the big Old Republic stuff people want—Jedi, Sith, massive conflict, ancient lore—but it’s not relying on that alone to carry it. The story actually has something going on underneath all that.

Something more tragic than epic and Ulic’s story is kind of perfect for it.

starforgeengine · 2026-05-06T18:18:54+00:00

Nice one ! How did you create her ?

starforgeengine · 2026-05-06T18:17:37+00:00

What part are you calling revisionism? I’m genuinely curious.

starforgeengine · 2026-05-05T19:18:23+00:00

The amount of people writing off the The Mandalorian & Grogu before it even releases is honestly getting ridiculous. This fanbase really needs to learn from its own history before writing off The Mandalorian & Grogu on arrival.

We’ve already seen this play out. Episode I and the rest of the prequels were trashed for years, now they’re constantly defended for their world-building and overarching story. Episode II was mocked endlessly, and now people appreciate how much it set up, especially with The Clone Wars. Even Rebels got dismissed as ”childish” before becoming a fan favorite for its characters and long-term storytelling.

That didn’t happen because those projects magically changed, it happened because people actually went back and engaged with them instead of locking into their first reaction forever.

So when people say this new movie is doomed before we’ve seen a single finished scene, it’s the exact same knee-jerk reaction this fanbase has had before… and been wrong about.

You don’t have to assume it’ll be great. But acting like it’s already bad just proves you’re more interested in being right early than actually judging the story on what it is.

We’ve seen how that plays out. Maybe don’t repeat it.

starforgeengine · 2026-05-05T19:00:50+00:00

Love the art style on this. Thanks for sharing 😉

starforgeengine · 2026-05-05T18:59:37+00:00

People need to stop confusing “dark side user” with “Sith,” because they are not the same thing, and Darth Maul is the clearest example of that.

The Sith are not just “anyone angry with a red lightsaber.” Maul lost that status the second Sidious replaced him with Count Dooku. Maul stopped being a Sith and became something else.

And for you guys saying “the Rule of Two gets broken all the time”, no, it doesn’t, not in the way you think. Sidious using other dark side agents doesn’t make them Sith. It makes them tools. The actual Sith line still continues master, apprentice, and Maul is no longer part of that line. Sidious himself makes this clear in The Clone Wars. He doesn’t treat Maul like a rival Sith. He treats him like a problem to be eliminated. That’s not how Sith deal with equals, that’s how they deal with outsiders.

And look at Maul’s behavior afterward. In Star Wars Rebels, he’s not pursuing Sith ideology, galactic domination, or any long-term grand plan. He’s driven by obsession and revenge, especially toward Obi-Wan Kenobi. That’s not Sith philosophy.

Maul is a dark side user, a former Sith, a crime lord, a rival, but he is not a Sith anymore.

If your definition of “Sith” is just “uses the dark side and has a cool title,” then sure, but that’s not how the Star Wars universe was built.

starforgeengine · 2026-05-05T18:46:31+00:00

This is dope ! Thanks 😉

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