the vynsane asylum

I’m seeing it on Christmas at 10 at night.
As I do not trust the internet, I’m going dark for the next week. See you guys on the 26th.

Sadly a miss for me. I can discuss more in detail when I know it's not going to ruin anything for anyone.

I thought it was pretty damned great. Though I expect to be asked one big question a few hundred times over the next few days, and only be able to say, "I have no idea, either."

I was mildly disappointed that Artoo restored Threepio's memories, but not all of them. It would've been perfect if he remembered everything back to TPM.

Also sad that it was stealth confirmed that Ahsoka is no longer among the living, though Ezra is ambiguous.

Back to the Mandalorian; was that the first live action appearance of a Kenner Troop Transport vehicle?? Sweeeet

The biker scouts, tie fighter landing & troops disembarking from the troop carrier were more than I could take. Complete nerdgasm.

Early trend: those who hated LJ are liking RoS better than those who did not hate LJ. Let's see if that continues....

Interested in hearing about how you are drawing those Rebels conclusions, Chux.I was sad they didn't flash to the cockpit of the Ghost for you.

I'm going to take a moment to get my initial thoughts out before they're clouded by the visual guide, novelization, other peoples' opinions or further viewings:

- I was in a really good frame of mind going in. Jodi has had some health concerns lately which were very recently given the "all clear". I've been home for not quite a week seeing the family & have over 2 weeks left, a luxurious break from my normal life of living apart from them. I went with 17 year old Tom whom I've seen all 3 with and was nervously excited for it to start, same as I was for 7 & 8. All that to say, i don't think this was a "me" thing - I was ready for some Star Wars, big time!

- I think they pushed Mando 7 out a bit early to introduce the concept of force healing. Makes sense in light of the movie.

- right from the crawl, my "wtf" reaction started. I didn't think Kylo would react in the manner described upon learning Palps is back. I would have expected him to seek him out, prostate himself before his idol & ask what he could do to progress the Sith resurgence. The visit with the Emperor basically leaves him on this path anyhow, so I'm ok with how this turned out - the opening battle sequences were all good, no issues with any of that

- the snipping between Poe & Finn was fine. They'd be under strain & it makes sense. No issues with that. I really loved seeing Carrie interact with Rey. All good. Then things seemed to get very rushed.

- off to Intergalactic Burning Man which looked cool, kinda reminiscent of the Podrace crowd or what have you. Before I knew it they're having a huge chase, finding the dagger, chewie's dead - wait not dead! - saved by Lando, confronted by Kylo & the Knights of Ren & holy shit Rey's really powerful....then off to the next planet. This part will require some unpacking through continued viewings but my head was spinning to say the least

- Off to meet Zori who looked absolutely magnificent in that body suit. I liked the character. Getting 3PO's mind wiped to free the data is fine. The rescue of Chewie & recovery of dagger from Kylo's ship seemed like too much, too fast again. No stealth used at any point, they just shoot their way through right from the minute the ship landed & were able to succeed? Ok, I guess we just keep going, by my eyes were pushed to maximum roll once again, mainly at how fast things were happening... wait, Hux is the spy? Funny - then dead right away. Moving on.

- Off to the wavy other moon of Endor where we meet Jannah. She was fine. Whole concept fine, but once again it's rushed. Get the info out so we barely understand & move on. The wavy lightsaber battle was likely the highlight of the movie for me. This was really beautiful. Kylo smashing the wayfinder made sense, no issues there. Rey's lineage is confirmed & I smirk in glee about being "right" (well, kinda - as soon as Ian McDiarmid appeared at Celebration I guessed she & Ani both were Palpy seeds that had been planted in different hosts & that he was both of their dads. Turns out he's grandpa. I still gave myself a little pat on the back even though this was likely the most obvious path they could have taken)

- the final confrontations were..... final. Lando whipped up a LOT of help, seemingly very quickly. Like a LOT a lot. Much like TPM, the space battle seemingly takes place just because it's a required element

- I kept feeling like the Jedi/force powers have gone absolutely crazy. Rey & Kylo keeping the transport in place with the Force felt like too much. Palp's lightning felt like way, way, way too much even though I get his battery has been overcharged by the diad in the force or whatever we're calling it. Handing off a lightsaber & fighting with each other through forcetime felt like too much. Force ghosts interacting with the real world - as started by Yoda in LJ - feels like too much, and is too convenient. We can help with burning this tree & catching this lightsaber, but not fighting the emperor even though we're already dead & thus there shouldn't be much jeopardy....

- Red 5, having been underwater for almost 10 years getting pulled out & used by Rey felt like too much (part of the wing was a rusty door in the last movie for crying out loud). Her wearing Luke's helmet was more reminiscent of Any podracing & flying above Naboo than anything else

There have been a select few times in my life where I didn't particularly like good movies upon first viewing. Avengers 1 & Raimi Spider-Man 1 are 2 examples. Watching them again helped a lot. I'm hoping that somehow this was a "me thing".

I hear you. You'll probably recall I wasn't particularly a fan of TFA or ROTS on my first viewing.

As for what you asked me, two of the voices of the dead Jedi that speak to Rey are Kanan and Ahsoka. Kanan we know died on Lothal. Ahsoka, well, we haven't been told when it happens, but she wouldn't be a dead Jedi if she were alive. (Though it is a fitting cap to her "I'm no Jedi" moment in Rebels.)

Ezra is arguably more powerful than either of them when the series ends. And he's one of the few Rey might've been told about by Leia. But his voice isn't there. This doesn't necessarily confirm he's alive, but it certainly doesn't confirm he's dead like Ahsoka.

Ah ok. Makes sense.

Something else I've continued dwelling on: when Chewie jumps out of the skimmer at Burning Man, he looks like a normal sized guy in a monkey suit or fucking bigfoot conspiracy video. The legs are NOT the right length & there was no effort made to even mimic the knock-kneed Chewie shuffle. Was that Jonaas whatshisname? I thought he had the same gait so as not to disrupt things....

Uhhh...so what was the thing that Finn was going to tell Rey that he couldn’t say in front of Poe?

Also, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. It’s not my favorite SW movie, but it’s my favorite of the new trilogy. It didn’t quite stick the landing. It has flaws. But it fun like a Star Wars movie should be.

Now I’m gonna go read all the “spoilers” and shit I’ve been avoiding for the last two weeks.

He was going to tell her that he is Force sensitive, according to JJ Abrams.

In case you're wondering how Luke's lightsaber made it back in time for the movie (you know, the one that was pulled in half & destroyed last time) - Rey apparently was able to use her force healing ability on the crystal.

I'm all for new & inventive ways of using the force but I'll tell you what - every time you push the envelope in new & weird ways, especially as far as they did all through ROS, you risk people no longer being able to suspend disbelief as it becomes silliness. The use of the force was silly in this movie.

EDITED: and in fairness, I think that started in LJ. Yoda as a force ghost being able to interact as much as he did with the living world opened up the door for too many possibilities, none of which they chose to use in ROS other than Luke catching the thrown saber. Force healing I have no issue with to be honest.

“she read it in the Jedi texts” is gonna be the new plot hole spackle going forward for ALL movies.

This movie also made TLJ even more irrelevant. But TLJ did most of the heavy lifting for that on its own when Rian focused on the Luke/Rey/Kylo stuff and gave everyone else in the movie unimportant side mission bullshit to pad out the film.
If there’s ever a Machete order 2.0, TLJ is gonna join TPM and Solo on the unnecessary pile.

Didn't one of the EU novels from the late 90s-early 2000s introduce force healing? I seem to remember a Jedi using the force to heal someone (Mon Mothma?) who was poisoned or contaminated by something.

It seems reasonable for a jedi to be able to use the force that way. Electrocuting an entire sky full of starships on the other hand.....

Switching to the other (better, sorry) Star Wars:

Holy fucking shit, the Darksaber!!!

I'm calling it now: Mando is looking for Yoda's people. This is inevitably going to get him tracking Force history.

Meanwhile, since Gideon has the Darksaber and is obsessed with finding The Child at this particular time, I'm guessing he's not a mere collector, but a Sith loyalist working for Palpatibe directly, like Ochi of Bestoon.

This could inevitably lead to background about Palpatine's resurrection, his master plan, and even his children. Now that the films are done, it seems likely that these questions will be handed to the two guys everyone trusts most, and who made the biggest fucking TV show of recent years.