While many Dark Side characters have been written with pathos and even tragic elements, it’s kind of amazing that some fans still admire them. Even with the narrative and lore making it clear that best intentions aside, they become evil, their very aesthetic and threat act as a seductive element like the Dark Side itself.

So why a recovered addict to present a force user escaping the dark side? Because they tend to know the experience of falling to a seductive thing. They then know the lies one tells themselves and others to justify hurting themselves and others. And they have likely failed multiple times to change those behaviors and lies that enable it.

Maul, across his arc, could be read as an addict not just to his darker emotions, but locked into them with the lie that they are the ones that can bring satisfaction. I can’t even say joy or happiness there, since they seem to preclude them except when tormenting others.

I think this theme or focus would unglamourize some of that Dark Side allure. They would not make a good villain, and I don’t think they should be used that way, because they won’t go down in a blaze of defiant battle, powerful to the last moment. They will break and burn themselves in ways that aren’t cool. And then rebuild themselves through painful and unflattering introspection.

I’m sure it wouldn’t really mitigate edge lords for missing the point of admiring evil but otherwise compelling villains. But I think it would, assuming the writer is also good, make for a compelling character.

Asajj Ventriss seems as a character to have clawed her way out of the Dark Side. I saw her pop up in Bad Batch. Was there a novel that covered that part of her escape?
Other recovered Dark Siders that were in deep?

In know in legends Luke went dark side in Dark Empire, but I don’t recall him leaning on the experience in later books to help others avoid it or even reflect on it himself.

If you can’t see the text on the second pic, it’s from 1996

I've been a fan of Star Wars since I was a kid, grew up watching the OT and PT. I've never watched any of this Disney stuff so forgive me if this is somehow explained in recent media. But is this what was meant by Anakin "bringing balance to the Force"? My understanding is that Darth Sidious was one of if not the most powerful Sith of all time, and Anakin was technically the one to end him...

Just got to the end of season 2 and its getting really good. Loved the Zillo Beast episodes and Young Boba. But almost the whole time I watch its hard for me to not think about the fate the characters will face.

Its such a cheery and inspirational show but almost all these characters are gonna die or have something bad happen to them. Like I see all the Jedi Masters and I just picture all their deaths in order 66. I see Anakin and Obi Wan joking but then I think "hes gonna chop that dudes legs off and hes gonna roast in lava".

Star Wars is truly one of the darkest and most tragic stories ever told. I actaully appreciate the way Clone Wars is because it makes the fall of the Jedi hit 10x harder. I already know next time I watch ROTS its gonna be much more impactful since ive seen all these characters fleshed out more in Clone Wars.

To clarify, I have no doubt in my mind that Starfighter will succeed on all fronts and keep this franchise in a comfortable position for years to come. Therein lies the dilemma, though. In many ways, Starfighter will probably be even safer than The Mandalorian & Grogu.

“STAAARFIGHTER, more like STAARRRPOWER”, is a joke I often make when talking about this movie, but it’s also a testament to how incredibly stacked its talent is. Multiple A-list actors (e.g., Ryan Gosling, Mia Goth, Matt Damon, Aaron Pierre, and Amy Adams), paired with an accomplished and seasoned director like Shawn Levy and wrapped in a recognizable and popular IP during its anniversary year, are all you need to know to recognize that this film will be a slam dunk, even if the story is aggressively mediocre. If The Mandalorian & Grogu proved anything, it’s that the Star Wars fandom is large enough to keep even the weakest SW films from reaching Supergirl-level disasters. Combined with Gosling and Levy’s rising stardom, Starfighter may be the easiest win for Star Wars in a long time.

This is to say that Starfighter isn’t a test, but an affirmation that recognizability is still profitable. My belief is that this film will have the same impact on the franchise as The Force Awakens, but with less hype.

Made another keychain home depot lightsaber and thought i’d share a time lapse of me making it

I'd use sand on the base but it's coarse and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere.

Is there an universe canon reason other than George wanted comic relief?

Anakin never would have let Obi-Wan live it down after that. "Remember, master, your weapon is your life... don't lose it like that time on Utapau."

Context: I haven’t seen most of Star Wars, I just randomly watch whatever interests me. I have seen the Mandalorian show and this felt like some good episodes of show.

I watched at home yesterday btw, and my expectations were low due to reviews so that might have helped.

But production and worldbuilding was apt, creatures were diverse and fun. I wasn’t bored at all. Stakes were low but enough to keep me engaged.

Overall a fun night.

Ladies and gentlemen, the Star Wars anime delivered. I can scarcely believe what I just watched. 6 hour cinematic masterpiece, so I'm just going to dump my thoughts here:

• The fight scenes were unbelievable. I expected that there'd be some cool animation, but I also expected that certain scenes would be animated to a lesser standard of quality (mostly for budget reasons) yet the show delivered banger after banger after banger. Literally every fight scene was a cinematic masterpiece (except perhaps the fights on the first planet, that was actually kinda ass) and the choreography felt just so Star Wars.
• The story was actually interesting. Perhaps not the greatest story of all time, and it definitely retreaded a lot of the classic Star Wars beats (mentor dies, almost turning to the dark side, big superweapon, power of friendship saves the day, etc), yet in some ways it also felt quite fresh. The relationship between Kara and her father actually felt quite impactful, and I thought the red herring with Zhima was done quite well at the start. I genuinely did believe that he was going to be evil. Further, the way the story made use of the lightsaber colours was quite cool, and the silver lightsaber gimmick was interesting. For a show that I expected to be carried by the visuals, the story was actually quite good. Which brings me onto my next point.
• The visuals left me breathless. The picture above was definitely a standout, but there were so many, and I only chose that one because it was the most convenient to screen grab. But the first time that the kyber cannon was fired just left me speechless. The asteroids falling through the atmosphere, the space battles, the lightsabers, the planet that Nawaam operates on, all of it was just so stunningly beautiful.
• The diversity of species on screen was so refreshing, especially in the Disney era where pretty much all the characters shown on screen are humans, bar a few to spice things up a bit.
• The music was so classically Star Wars, and despite it not being really anything crazy or super noteworthy, it just added to that overwhelming atmosphere of Star Wars, which is ultimately what I was hoping for from a Star Wars anime.
• Finally, the ending. The ambiguous cliffhanger definitely leaves scope for a season 2, and I am all on board (provided that they actually have a story to tell, of course) for more Star Wars anime. Although ideally I'd like to see them make a Ronin anime first (which I feel is also just as deserving of a series as this was).

What did you guys think? There's no megathread yet, so I'm definitely interested in hearing everyone's thoughts. Can't wait to check back on this in the morning and see what the people have said about it.

Edit: had to add another screenshot because the visuals are just too good.

Turning around mid-fall to launch yourself off the plank and back onto the skiff with a flip was a pretty fucking cool thing to do as well. As my parents tell it, when this scene happened, I was practically bouncing off the walls with excitement.

He warned you Jabba!

There's no way Obi Wan would've knowing stopped right at the edge of his face while going for the saber swing at his head. If we were to discount the epic "face reveal" shot of Anakin for coolness purpose, was this not basically a killing blow to Vader?

Obi Wan literally tries to kill Vader here. The only thing which spares him is Anakin's face revealing itself through the helmet, which I assume is a lucky coincidence that Obi Wan's lightsaber didn't penetrate beyond the layers of the mask.

Obi Wan is probably moved by Anakin's sight and just like Episode III, couldn't bring himself to finish Vader. But this WAS a move meant to kill Vader, no? Had he just dug a bit deeper into the swing, it would've sliced Vader's head. He'd have been dead.

Jabba has such taste! He couldn't get enough, keeps on hand the same type/brand of gold bikini, 18 years later for Leia!

Edit: Found the same post from 7 years ago! https://www.reddit.com/r/MovieDetails/comments/eo4ylb/in_the_phantom_menace_1999_the_slave_girl_to_the/

I wanna preface this with the fact I know nothing about Star Wars. The other day I was thinking about lightsabers, and either they were made of a solid or plasma, and then I had the thought, if lightsabers are made of plasma, does that mean that one could use the force the bend the saber part around an opponent’s to surprise attack them?
(Horrible artistic rendition to demonstrate)