Star Wars: Rebels

[Rogue 9]

Holy SHIT.
Spoiler

Tarkin just proceeded to lay down the fucking law. You had ONE JOB indeed. I seriously did not think they would behead anyone, much less recurring characters, on screen. Time to reassess how kiddy this is actually intended to be, I think.

Though it's kind of... off that the Commandant reported that the attack at the beginning had no casualties when one of the bike troopers got shot right in the chest.

[bilateralrope]

Looks like stormtrooper armor does offer some protection.

[Thanas]

Stormtroopers still are little different from the droids of the clone wars. Tarkin was semi-competent. I wonder how easy the results of his work are undone in the next episode.

[The Romulan Republic]

I'm not sure Tarkin should be competent. His main role in canon, aside from destroying Alderan, is bungling what should have been an easy victory.

[The Romulan Republic]

I have no familiarity with the source so I can't vouch for its accuracy, but this might interest people:

makingstarwars.net/2015/02/exclusive-three-classic-characters-star-wars-rebels-season-ii-premiere/

Warning: this could be considered a spoiler.

Edit: And of course the link doesn't work.

[Rogue 9]

Stormtroopers still are little different from the droids of the clone wars. Tarkin was semi-competent. I wonder how easy the results of his work are undone in the next episode.

We'll see. But unlike previous walk-on roles from OT characters, there's no indication that he's leaving.

[Alyrium Denryle]

I'm not sure Tarkin should be competent. His main role in canon, aside from destroying Alderan, is bungling what should have been an easy victory.

He was arrogant, not incompetent. He was seconds away from destroying the rebellion. What were the odds that out of 30 fighters, one of them would sink a torpedo into a 2 meter wide shaft 60-80 km without ANY deviation after a 90 degree high G turn into the main reactor through their own fighter swarm and surface guns?

Extremely Low.

[Batman]

So would have been the cost of him launching even a few squadrons of TIEs to deal with the Rebels, which would have reduced the odds from extremely low to none whatsoever. Yet he didn't do it.

[Galvatron]

Every time Tarkin appears in these cartoons, I weep for how criminally unused he was in the prequels.

[Rogue 9]

As for the end, it's interesting that the Imperial gunboats opted for rockets rather than energy weaponry to destroy the communications tower. Right tool for the job, I guess? It could suggest that the rockets are more powerful than the laser weaponry they carry.

Personally I think they missed a prime opportunity to show an orbital strike, but I guess you can't have everything. I really can't help but wonder why they never have their Star Destroyers actually shoot at anything so far, though.

[RogueIce]

As for the end, it's interesting that the Imperial gunboats opted for rockets rather than energy weaponry to destroy the communications tower. Right tool for the job, I guess? It could suggest that the rockets are more powerful than the laser weaponry they carry.

Interestingly, Vympel posted a screengrab on SB that showed the rockets firing from the cannon turrets. Could be an animation flub, but both ships did it. Someone else also posted a shot that showed some kind of a green flash before the conventional explosion.

[Patroklos]

Every time Tarkin appears in these cartoons, I weep for how criminally unused he was in the prequels.

They would have ruined him.

[Rogue 9]

Chopper is just a straight-up killbot.

[Irbis]

How we went from "the chances of survival are 725 to 1" to "multiple hits from Imperial warship cause innocent, cosmetic fire in background, not even scratch on hull"?

[Rogue 9]

How we went from "the chances of survival are 725 to 1" to "multiple hits from Imperial warship cause innocent, cosmetic fire in background, not even scratch on hull"?

Because that's clearly not a Star Destroyer, but rather an Arquitens class escort.

[The Romulan Republic]

How we went from "the chances of survival are 725 to 1" to "multiple hits from Imperial warship cause innocent, cosmetic fire in background, not even scratch on hull"?

First of all, I very much doubt that those are the heaviest guns an Imperial ship can employ. Secondly, they did cause some damage. And third, is it possible that the ship in question has unusually good shielding and/or armour for a freighter? It is being run by a rebel group after all. Plus there's what Rogue 9 said.

[Rogue 9]

I hasten to add that were it a Star Destroyer they'd likely have better odds, since the Star Destroyers in the show appear to have no guns at all.

[Irbis]

Because that's clearly not a Star Destroyer.

And? Even in case of Star Destroyer, they wouldn't be able to hit Falcon with heaviest guns. One hit from some sort of point defence battery and Han Solo chooses trying to flee through asteroid field (with 3,720 to 1 odds) instead of sticking around.

Here, the civilian freighter that seems nowhere near Falcon gets hit multiple times with heavy quad guns of a frigate (similar sized blaster bolts as in ESB scene) from point blank range and yet all we see is bad CGI acting of the pilot who doesn't even fall off the seat despite worst seat belt I have ever seen. Compare how violently Falcon shook from near misses - even TIEs were more threatening than that in TOT, IMHO.

The contrast is rather... stark, to say the least

[NecronLord]

Here, the civilian freighter

Tricked out rebel ship with combat parasite and a sensor scrambler.

that seems nowhere near Falcon

Except in how it's bigger (Falcon is 34.37*25.61*8.27 vs the Ghost's 43.9*34.2*14.5 meters) with a dedicated mechanic-droid on board, and is fully crewed, you mean?

gets hit multiple times with heavy quad guns of a frigate (similar sized blaster bolts as in ESB scene) from point blank range and yet all we see is bad CGI acting of the pilot who doesn't even fall off the seat despite worst seat belt I have ever seen. Compare how violently Falcon shook from near misses - even TIEs were more threatening than that in TOT, IMHO.

The contrast is rather... stark, to say the least

I... don't see Lando wearing a seat belt into battle at Endor. I can't recall Han wearing one ever, either.

Now, you want to say that Ghost is less cool, go right ahead, but I'd like to know what makes you think it is a weaker vessel.

[Rogue 9]

To the contrary, the Ghost is, at least, more heavily armed than the Falcon, with turrets fore and aft as well as dorsal, and probably also larger to accommodate the shuttle it carries. I wouldn't be surprised if it was also more heavily shielded; after all, the Millennium Falcon's claim to fame was speed, not combat ability.

[Batman]

Hello? Han was trying to run away from the word 'go' in ESB. He never had any intention of sticking around. He fled into the asteroid field because the damned hyperdrive was broken.
And not only is the 'Ghost' comparable in size if not larger than the 'Falcon', it's a Rebel ship used by a Rebel crew for the express purpose of Rebelling. Maybe they shelled out for better shields and armour than Han did, especially considering that Han was pretty much broke even ignoring the EU?

[Vympel]

I hasten to add that were it a Star Destroyer they'd likely have better odds, since the Star Destroyers in the show appear to have no guns at all.

So true. Its actually getting annoying how the Star Destroyers do fuck all in the show. They really need to stop having the Ghost go near them.

I'm pleased that the Arquitens-class light cruiser has made an appearance, just like the Coruscant police gunships.

[Rogue 9]

Here, the civilian freighter

Tricked out rebel ship with combat parasite and a sensor scrambler.

that seems nowhere near Falcon

Except in how it's bigger (Falcon is 34.37*25.61*8.27 vs the Ghost's 43.9*34.2*14.5 meters) with a dedicated mechanic-droid on board, and is fully crewed, you mean?

Slightly off topic, but that page from the Visual Guide mentions somewhere called Old Jho's Pit Stop as a place they park the Ghost, which to my recollection we have yet to see - they're always just out in a field somewhere.

[Alyrium Denryle]

Here, the civilian freighter

Tricked out rebel ship with combat parasite and a sensor scrambler.

that seems nowhere near Falcon

Except in how it's bigger (Falcon is 34.37*25.61*8.27 vs the Ghost's 43.9*34.2*14.5 meters) with a dedicated mechanic-droid on board, and is fully crewed, you mean?

Slightly off topic, but that page from the Visual Guide mentions somewhere called Old Jho's Pit Stop as a place they park the Ghost, which to my recollection we have yet to see - they're always just out in a field somewhere.

We also only see a tiny portion of their time, and that same page makes mention that they split time. That port might also not be on Lothal.

[NecronLord]

Having seen the episode now, wow, that's what the show should have been like all along. I love the competence Tarkin has here, the use of actual advantages (probe droids are a very logical tool).

It's also nice that having the bad guy act competently forces the writers to have the heroes to act smarter; Ezra using a wild animal to attack the probe droid was an awesome illustration of that. I like that they actually called out the ineptitude of the previous characters, I had thought it was intentional.

Might buy the Tarkin novel now.

Also, I think Ezra's sabre-blaster is a stun gun.