Star Wars: Rebels

[The Romulan Republic]

I actually like seeing some armour that's useful for a change.

[The Romulan Republic]

Also, it occurs to me that if Sabine knows she's fighting a Force user with a lightsaber, a smart thing to do would be to use blasters that, if their shots are deflected back at her, won't be powerful enough to kill her.

[Purple]

That's really the only explanation that makes sense. I mean, this is Darth Vader here. It's not an IF but a WHEN. There is absolutely no question that the bolts will be deflected back at her.

[Rogue 9]

That's really the only explanation that makes sense. I mean, this is Darth Vader here. It's not an IF but a WHEN. There is absolutely no question that the bolts will be deflected back at her.

Actually that's something he never did in the OT at all. He just casually absorbed Han's blaster fire with his hand; his lightsaber only came out to deal with Jedi.

[Batman]

That's right, the only blaster bolt deflections done in the OT was done by Luke in ROTJ. Force users being able to do this didn't become a no-brainer until the EU/prequels.

[Purple]

Which as it just so happens happened before the clip we saw. I think it is safe to say that in universe bolt deflection was the norm and absorption was something only done by Vader thanks to his unique armor.

[The Romulan Republic]

Or simply because he's that much stronger in the Force than the average Jedi. Its Vader, who was Anakin, the Chosen One. He should have a few tricks outside the norm, even if he's weaker than he would have been because of Mustafar.

[Purple]

Or simply because he's that much stronger in the Force than the average Jedi. Its Vader, who was Anakin, the Chosen One. He should have a few tricks outside the norm, even if he's weaker than he would have been because of Mustafar.

But ultimately when expecting to fight a lightsaber equipped force user you are going to expect that your blaster bolts will get deflected.

[Batman]

If you were around during the Clone Wars. In the OT the Jedi were essentially a myth.

[Purple]

I do not know enough about the cartoon to argue about that having not seen a single episode.

[Lord Revan]

It should be noted that Rex survived a shot from a blaster sniper rifle that went straight thru his body in the episode "the Deserter" (there's an exit wound on his back so it went thru and it also shows that it was a blaster as the wound is a burn) thanks to wearing his Clonetrooper armor, if Mandalorian Body armor is anything like that it's not impossible for Sabine to have survived the chest would, it's the head shot that is more problematic but even there it simple could be that shot missed her head inside the helmet or was simply too weak to penetrate.

[The Romulan Republic]

Having seen clips of the Ghost's crew fighting Vader, I have to say I'm glad that they're making Vader a really formidable, top-notch opponent, though really, would else could one expect?

And I really, really want to see Vader duel Ashoka.

[Rogue 9]

I'm both really looking forward to Vader and dreading them screwing up the character, but if what we've seen so far is any indication, they won't do that. Really, my only complaint with the show is how incompetent they make the Imperial line troops.

[Adam Reynolds]

Vader's absorption trick seems to me to be more of a parlor trick than a useful ability in combat. The reason that Jedi stick to light sabers is one of endurance. When heavily relying on Force powers, their endurance in fights is extremely limited and is unlikely to be effective in the long term. This is rather foolish when facing a larger number of enemies with blasters. But Vader in the OT relied on his armies of stormtroopers to do his fighting for him rather than directly engaging in combat himself.

And in the case of Vader on Bespin, he was intending to make the biggest psychological impact against Han and Leia and thus cause Luke to sense their suffering(which also explained why Han was tortured without being asked any questions). That requires the most impressive display. And nothing is quite as impressive as having your weapon blasts disappear when fired against your opponent's palm.

[RogueIce]

If you were around during the Clone Wars. In the OT the Jedi were essentially a myth.

Pretty sure Kanan has done it quite a few times when she's been around. The Jedi aren't a myth to Sabine, considering she works for one (former Padawan, but still). And she has been watching Kanan training Ezra in such things as, you guessed it, blaster bolt deflection.

Plus, she just met Ahsoka on top of that, though we don't know yet what, if anything, she's seen of Ahsoka's skillset as of the time of that clip.

[Lord Revan]

If you were around during the Clone Wars. In the OT the Jedi were essentially a myth.

Pretty sure Kanan has done it quite a few times when she's been around. The Jedi aren't a myth to Sabine, considering she works for one (former Padawan, but still). And she has been watching Kanan training Ezra in such things as, you guessed it, blaster bolt deflection.

Plus, she just met Ahsoka on top of that, though we don't know yet what, if anything, she's seen of Ahsoka's skillset as of the time of that clip.

Sabine has not just seen Ezra practice blaster bolt deflection, she actually assisted in it at least once.

[Galvatron]

And I really, really want to see Vader duel Ashoka.

I do too, but only if Ahsoka survives the encounter. I truly don't want to see her die by Vader's blade.

[Rogue 9]

Corellian Corvettes apparently have craptastic shields?

[The Romulan Republic]

And I really, really want to see Vader duel Ashoka.

I do too, but only if Ahsoka survives the encounter. I truly don't want to see her die by Vader's blade.

I somewhat agree in that I'd like it if Ashoka lived, but I wouldn't mind Vader killing her if they decided to have her die.

And Rogue 9, aren't Corillean Corvettes fairly small, possibly semi-civilian ships?

[Rogue 9]

Yes, but the series has shown TIE fighters failing to so much as scorch dry grass and has now turned around and shown a single one take out a corvette's shields and cause apparently major damage to the dorsal surface in four shots. I know dial-a-yield is the obvious answer, but it just looks bad.

[The Romulan Republic]

Well, maybe Vader's Tie has higher firepower? And maybe he can use the Force to sense a weak spot in the shield?

[DarthPooky]

I don't think that was a CR90 Corvette. I think it was the type of ship used as a medical ship in the clone wars series.

[Rogue 9]

Huh. You're right, the engine block is different. The front is a dead ringer for a CR90, though.

[Vance]

Still, how many hits have we seen the Millennium Falcon and Ghost withstand on the shields from TIE blaster fire? They can both take repeated strikes, and it takes a fair bit of pummeling until they are compromised.

Furthermore, I seem to recall the Tantive tanking a handful of shots on the shields from a Star Destroyer. It was the lighter guns to be fair, but still. The shielding on corvette sized vessels should be pretty much impervious to fighter scale blasters if these film-examples are anything to go by.

[Rogue 9]

There's a shot of the ship alongside some CR90s in this promo piece (the timestamp goes right to it) and it's apparently significantly larger than a Corvette. Which makes the trivial shield failure even more perplexing.