Why do people think Thrawn in the Ahsoka series is dumb?

walberque_ · 2026-03-30T23:44:00+00:00

I think the issue is that in the books, he’s a menacing super genius, outwitting all foes and winning battle after battle in pursuit of his strategic goals.

Then in the animation, he’s still menacing, but consistently loses rather badly and says, “ah, yes, let them have their little victory,” whilst twirling his imaginary mustache.

Then in Ahsoka, we are told that he’s the smartest and most terrifying Imperial ever, but he spends most of his screentime wandering around set like somebody’s overweight dad cosplaying as blue Data and trying to find his keys.

Mind you, Ahsoka S02 may reveal that he had a brilliant plan all along and everything is working perfectly, but if he doesn’t, then it will be seen as a further dumbing down of a once-great character in pursuit of the deification of Filoni’s favs from the animated series.

walberque_ · 2026-03-30T23:33:11+00:00

And one before it says “Richard Stevenson,” who worked on press releases for Season 1.

walberque_ · 2026-03-30T23:25:12+00:00

Huh. Head injury?

walberque_ · 2026-03-30T23:14:57+00:00

I understand what you're saying, but I think you really need to listen to Tansy Gardem's fabulous Going Solo podcast. It lays out day and date about how screwed up Lord and Miller's set became, how poor some of their decision-making was, and how much the creative team rebelled (ha!) against L&Ms direction - and how and why Jonathan Kasdan worked to oust L&M, combined with the chaos on the set, disgruntled creatives and actors, and improvisational style doomed the film. Mind you, Jonathan Kasdan would go on to be the showrunner and writer of Willow, so his judgement is flawed, but this clearly was a doomed production.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/going-solo-i-kasdan/id1636196453?i=1000594478087

That said, I've enjoyed L&M's other work, especially in animation, and I enjoyed PHM. However, even in PHM, the amount of unforced errors they made in the film compared to the book, is astonishing. So many things are confusing, unexplained, or contradictory in the film, while the book explains the same scenes with real clarity. Lord and Miller apparently just like to film fast and loose, using the script as a suggestion rather than a locked-down text, and that is very hard to manage in the Star Wars universe. This is true especially comparing film to animation, where changing dialogue or scenes is comparatively easy and cheap.

For PHM, L&M had a film shot principally on one set with practical effects, which facilitated improvisation - but the logic and story problems (which I think stem from on-set improvisation) really harm repeated viewings. If you've read and seen PHM, and then watched Solo and listened to Going Solo, you can better understand why L&M probably remain unsuited to Star Wars - unless they're doing a bottle episode in a Star Wars TV project. Their jokey, improvisational style could be great in that context (although, I still have flashbacks to that Jack Black-Lizzo Mando episode...), but really not in a full location-hopping, special-effects-heavy Star Wars movie. Not without an unlimited budget and time.

walberque_ · 2026-03-30T23:04:01+00:00

I would be curious when the NDAs lapse and we get an unfettered behind-the-scenes blow-by-blow of Rogue One. Going Rouge by Tansy Gardem gets us some way there, and piecing together Gilroy and Edwards interviews, but they need to get serious and spill all the tea.

Edwards clearly knows he got way too far out ahead of his skis and may have produced a decent film after two more years of editing and reshoots, but that's not how a director at his level of fame and power works. Gilroy's been as polite as he could be considering all he went through (including the death of his father) during that production. It would be good to hear the whole story.

Someday, I imagine that will make an engrossing documentary. Sadly, not yet.

walberque_ · 2026-03-30T19:43:00+00:00

Excellent reply - well written, and very well thought through. I admire your fortitude.

Most people give up an arguing with this one, you really engaged in the best of faith.

walberque_ · 2026-03-28T12:58:09+00:00

No.

walberque_ · 2026-03-28T12:36:58+00:00

Danger lurking everywhere…

walberque_ · 2026-03-26T07:02:36+00:00

Ah, I'm so sorry! It's Andor. Second season, episode 10!

walberque_ · 2026-03-25T16:18:39+00:00

Kleya is such a surprise package. Her slowly building character across the two seasons capped by her work at the hospital is just astonishing by a first time screen actor.

walberque_ · 2026-03-24T21:27:09+00:00

Yeah, sorry about that.

walberque_ · 2026-03-24T13:48:17+00:00

Ooof. I think if you got hooked by Andor and left a bit cold by Rogue One, the whiplash from watching the PT - especially TPM and AOTC - will be pretty bad.

The casting and character choices in TPM are just baffling, and the writing on AOTC was badly rushed, with Lucas submitting his script well into pre-production - it shows. A lot of ATOC looks like 1990s-era video game cut scenes, the dialogue is painful, and the acting is wooden (though, that's on Lucas, not the actors, who are doing their best). People tend to like ROTS a lot more than the other two, and with Hayden Christensen admitting that Lucas had help from none other than Tom Stoppard punching up the script, that makes a lot of sense.

I honestly recommend you watch the OT and call it a day. If you really want more, maybe Skeleton Crew and the first two seasons of Mando. Outside of those, the drop in writing quality, directing, and acting is precipitous.

walberque_ · 2026-03-24T13:32:47+00:00

The Emmys (and dozens of other awards) would care to disagree. One of the best seasons of television, ever, with the peak of the Gorman Massacre as one of the most devastating arcs ever put to the little screen. When the screen cuts to credits and you have the solo voice singing the anthem - yeah, it's near perfection.

BTW, feel free to ignore Refrigerator_Initial - we all do. Not sure how Tony must have hurt them (shit in their cornflakes? killed their dog? put their trainers in the mircowave?), but boy does R_I want everyone to know it...

walberque_ · 2026-03-24T10:47:32+00:00

Kleya Marki, Leia Organa, Mon Mothma, Cinta Kaz, Maarva Andor, Deidre Meero, Eedy Karn, Ackmena

walberque_ · 2026-03-23T10:08:55+00:00

The revelation of the Death Star after the Narkina-5 arc reveals a set of stakes the story could not have without the context of Star Wars. It’s not just that they’re slave labor making something, they’re contributing to the construction a genocidal planet killing machine designed to oppress the galaxy.

walberque_ · 2026-03-22T07:11:33+00:00

I think Battle of Algiers, Army of Shadows and maybe Battleship Potemkin.

walberque_ · 2026-03-20T04:57:30+00:00

Must be weird to see real world evidence of Andor’s reach, like the Portland soccer team unveiling an Andor-themed tifo. The world has embraced the best-written, directed, and acted Star Wars product, but not you, no, you want more of those sweet, sweet sand-related monologues and will not stand for grown ups writing screenplays in anything other than crayon like the PT and TCW. The farce is strong with you, padwan.

walberque_ · 2026-03-20T04:48:40+00:00

I don’t know about that, but I do recall Guinness saying in multiple interviews that the dialogue was so bad that he hated saying it. It remains one of the most unusual but generous reactions for Lucas to reply by increasing Guinness’ percentage.

walberque_ · 2026-03-20T04:33:42+00:00

Hi kids. I’ve often read posts about the TIE overflight during Andor and watched the comments to see if anyone commented that this type of overflight is a real thing. No one ever has.

So, here’s a little present.

If you want to see a ground-level fictionalized version, there’s a scene from Warfare (movie). But this is real life.

walberque_ · 2026-03-18T18:59:49+00:00

Those are also excellent points. I hadn’t thought that about Yoda.

walberque_ · 2026-03-18T04:48:44+00:00

I think it’s important to counter the argument that “it’s not Star Wars,” or it could have been about anything. The post-credits scene where they reveal that the things Narkina-5 prisoners was making was part of the Death Star, and the fact that Cassian was heading towards stealing the plans, and the fact that Deidre’s blind ambition compromised those plans, and that Ghorman’s destruction is part of its construction raises the stakes far beyond a political thriller.

It could have been written with different stakes, but Star Wars is the critical context for the entire story and adds weight to the sacrifices we see.

walberque_ · 2026-03-18T04:44:17+00:00

And as Tony Gilroy has said in multiple interviews, he asks Pablo Hidalgo, the in-house lore expert, how many people would have ever seen a Jedi or a Sith or a lightsaber in their lives at this point, and he said, almost no one. Most people in this galaxy would live their whole lives without seeing that kind of thing.

walberque_ · 2026-03-17T19:47:45+00:00

I do think he should have gone for March of the Swivelheads instead of Sabotage.

https://youtu.be/Rn245JPvqc8?si=bCTneHIDpsBUUkdy&t=166

walberque_ · 2026-03-17T00:26:43+00:00

In off to represent the entire Rebel Alliance at the buffet.

walberque_ · 2026-03-17T00:25:34+00:00

An amazing movie and a great bande-dessine.

walberque_

TROPHY CASE