SJW Wars: The Force Awakens

[lilpixieofterror]

I'm wondering if there's an explanation for Ren's lightsaber looking so unique (not just the cross hilt; the "blade" itself looked different from any other lightsabers in the movies) or if they just did it because it looked cool.

I suspect it is more story telling than technical reasons (since it seems clear to me it represents his unstable personality).

[lilpixieofterror]

That's an interesting theory. In The Clone Wars animated series they show a primitive lightsaber called the "Darksaber".

Gosh, you're so making me want to go back and re-watch The Close wars series on Netflix.

[rogue06]

Awhile back I saw a website that explained what the various colors of the light sabers meant but nothing on one that essentially "sizzled." And the cross guard idea is IMHO moronic in that it only makes it more deadly for the wielder.

Getting back to the idea that the color of the light saber blade depends on the personality of the maker...

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And even a quiz that you can take.

I'm a Jedi with a blue blade.

And another test.

This time I have a yellow blade

[Adrift]

Gosh, you're so making me want to go back and re-watch The Close wars series on Netflix.

It's hard to get into at first, but the last few seasons are pretty amazing. I've mentally decided it's not canonical, because in my mind no media exists prior to Episode IV, but as fan fiction it's not half bad.

[lilpixieofterror]

It's hard to get into at first, but the last few seasons are pretty amazing. I've mentally decided it's not canonical, because in my mind no media exists prior to Episode IV, but as fan fiction it's not half bad.

Don't know if I'd go that far, but I've enjoyed the episodes I've seen so far. I do like how the series doesn't try to make secondary characters into incompetent morons that makes you wonder how they lived past childhood, let alone were able to become soldiers/Jedi/Sith and I also like how the Jedi don't treat their troops as just cannon fodder, to be disposed of at will. However; I do wish they would take the time to make The Axis of Evil err... I mean 'the separatist' into more than two dimensional cardboard cuts out, that are evil just for the sake of being evil.

[Adrift]

Don't know if I'd go that far, but I've enjoyed the episodes I've seen so far. I do like how the series doesn't try to make secondary characters into incompetent morons that makes you wonder how they lived past childhood, let alone were able to become soldiers/Jedi/Sith and I also like how the Jedi don't treat their troops as just cannon fodder, to be disposed of at will. However; I do wish they would take the time to make The Axis of Evil err... I mean 'the separatist' into more than two dimensional cardboard cuts out, that are evil just for the sake of being evil.

Oh, you'll start getting a lot more character building in some of the antagonist characters that will probably make you empathize for them a tiny bit. There are three different antagonist story arcs that are standouts in the show in my opinion, and you'll know when you get to them. Ventress in particular is a very interesting character that they do a lot with later on. I'll stop there so I don't spoil anything.

[themuzicman]

Next up:

Is BB8 really the love child of WALL-E and R2D2?

This was my biggest frustration. Every time I saw BB8, I head "WALL-E".

Well, that, and the new emperor is just a troll from the Hobbit.



I think the Empire is supposed to be a shell of itself with an inferiority complex (thus, the new super death star, but when a general fails, Ren just destroys a console), and still unable to find the droid they were looking for.

I think this movie does a good job setting up the remaining movies, introducing us to what's going on now, introducing us to a new hero(ine), an imperfect and savable villain, and getting Harrison Ford out of a movie series he didn't want to do in the first place.

[Adrift]

One of my gripes about the film was how the Empire could be crumpled in the first trilogy, and rise from the ashes so quickly as to produce a mega-deathstar planet in just 30-some years. Then I started thinking about it in terms of WWI and WWII with the 30 years in between being a sort of Weimar period. That makes sense of a lot of the imagery in the film as a rising Reich. Which brings into question...if Luke's promise was to bring balance to the force, did he do so in the first trilogy or will he do so in the second trilogy? Or both? Or neither?

[rogue06]

One of my gripes about the film was how the Empire could be crumpled in the first trilogy, and rise from the ashes so quickly as to produce a mega-deathstar planet in just 30-some years. Then I started thinking about it in terms of WWI and WWII with the 30 years in between being a sort of Weimar period. That makes sense of a lot of the imagery in the film as a rising Reich. Which brings into question...if Luke's promise was to bring balance to the force, did he do so in the first trilogy or will he do so in the second trilogy? Or both? Or neither?

It should of never crumbled in the first place. Take for example Rome. Several Roman emperors were assassinated but the Empire kept going.

[Spartacus]

It should of never crumbled in the first place. Take for example Rome. Several Roman emperors were assassinated but the Empire kept going.

That was later on, after the establishment of the imperial dynasty and such. Without a clear way to find a successor to Palpatine, who seems to have not planned on ever stepping down, it's doubtful that it could continue, at least as an "empire."

[rogue06]

That was later on, after the establishment of the imperial dynasty and such. Without a clear way to find a successor to Palpatine, who seems to have not planned on ever stepping down, it's doubtful that it could continue, at least as an "empire."

Historically speaking that leads to a civil war.

[Spartacus]

Historically speaking that leads to a civil war.

Which seems to be what they got, with the republic taking control of the core worlds while the "first order" or whatever the remnants of the empire called themselves consolidating themselves elsewhere.

[Carrikature]

I didn't care for the movie at all. Too many boxes getting checked, too little originality (or the wrong sort of it). Too many jarring things that don't make any sense. How are you siphoning a sun? That's not how it works. Leia and Han have kids, and one of them ends up a Dark Jedi, but it isn't Kylo Ren. They could have made it be some unknown player and had a much better story. The Force typically takes years of training, even for extremely gifted people. It makes sense that Rey can draw from it unknowingly, but she goes from not doing anything to mind control and object manipulation. The epiphany at the end could make sense in a way, but it's too 'Power of Names'.

There's a lot of good content in existing Star Wars media, including the games and books. There are lots of places to 'fill in' between existing stories and stick to a consistent canon. There's lots of places to create something altogether new and stick to a consistent canon. It didn't seem to me like they bothered to do that. They just made a new Star Wars movie to have a new Star Wars movie, and that's disappointing.

[Carrikature]

The other mystery is who Rae is, possibly the daughter of Luke Skywalker or his niece, ie, a daughter of Han Solo and General Organa (Princess Leia) who was hidden away like Luke and Leia were for their own protection. Also, I wonder if Kylo-Ren or the Knights of Ren killed off the other new Jedi in training as Anakin and the Clone Troopers did in Episode 3.

If anyone wants to develop the story with a more dramatic and intriguing, there should be a character who eventually restores not only a balance between the dark and light sides, but actually succeeds in integrating and uniting them. I don't think they will do this, but it has actually been suggested by a theologian of sorts.

In other media, Luke is one of the first to do this. He establishes a new Jedi Academy, and there are later recruits that are effectively grey. They realize that you can have emotion without allowing it to control you. The Sith typically foster that lack of control.

[Carrikature]

I'm wondering if there's an explanation for Ren's lightsaber looking so unique (not just the cross hilt; the "blade" itself looked different from any other lightsabers in the movies) or if they just did it because it looked cool.

Because it looked cool, of course.

Awhile back I saw a website that explained what the various colors of the light sabers meant but nothing on one that essentially "sizzled." And the cross guard idea is IMHO moronic in that it only makes it more deadly for the wielder.

I thought that as well until I saw how he used it against Finn. It's one of those specialized weapons that would be extremely powerful in a trained user. Which, I'm not sure Kylo counts as.

One fan theory is that, since Kylo never finished his Jedi training, he didn't know how to built a proper lightsaber. Another theory is that he didn't have the resources to build one, especially as crystals are not easy to come by.

Basically, the sizzling and "guard" on the sword is venting from an incomplete or unstable lightsaber.

According to secondary media (the cartoons, books, whatnot), Jedi blue and green swords are colored because of the natural crystals they find in caves. Sith red swords contains synthetic crystals.

Samuel Jackson's purple lightsaber was allowed simply because Jackson loves the color purple, and it was part of the deal for him to play Mace Windu. I thought that was a goofy decision, and that (along with the rest of the prequels) I've decided do not exist.

Meh, they had other colors before that. In some of the games you can get filters that change the color. It's theoretically feasible.

I've heard that theory.

I heard another one that argued that his lightsaber was of a more ancient design, which now that I think about it might (if true) have implications for Supreme Leader Snoke and just who he is....

That's the supposed official story.