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41
OOC Cantina / Re: The Acolyte (**Spoilers**)
« Last post by Syren on June 23, 2024, 12:23:38 PM »
Agree, Med. Something about the pacing and dialog is throwing me off.

When Mae abandons her quest and wants to turn herself in, that may have been a natural progression after realizing Osha is alive, but it did not feel earned. We've only known the character for three episodes in the present and one flashback so we haven't invested enough as an audience and she hasn't been fleshed out enough as a character for that turn to land. It's like GoT all over again and we got to spend seasons with Dani before the turn and that still didn't feel fleshed out enough - even if it was a foregone conclusion, audiences need to see/feel the progression for them to buy it.

For the whole 'it broke canon' thing with the Sith being present even though in Episode 1 the Jedi were like the Sith haven't been around in ages - that I buy. The Jedi have now been established as unreliable narrators. Look how quickly Vernestra was ready to cover up the current situation by not alerting the high council. So, they may have believed the Sith have been dormant but that is only because any Jedi who may have encountered them could have covered it up so they wouldn't know and eventually what led to their overarching hubris and downfall. I know people are like they are supposed to be the good guys and heroes and such, and that is not to say they aren't in their own little minds, but what I do love about the newer projects is that they add depth to that heroic narrative. It's not so black and white, despite their rigid code. They will go to just as great of lengths in the name of peace which secures their dominant presence but there is a flip side to that. The Sith are simply more forthcoming about what they want and the methods through which they will go to obtain it.

I've heard the name Smilo Ren being thrown around for the Sith which cracks me up.

If it is Qimir then why those four particular Jedi as targets? Unless he is only using Mae and her vendetta for some grander purpose? She has a reason to hate them if she knows what really went down - if they allegedly came in peace offering a choice then took Osha through orchestrated force and left Mae to die. I would be pissed too. I would be even more pissed if I discovered Osha was actually taken and didn't die as Mae had believed which would have driven that darkness and thirst for revenge. If the Sith is manipulating Mae, outside of wanting to generally undermine the Jedi, I wonder what the motive may be. Exposure? Creating doubt and eventual mistrust? Perhaps a more personal connection? I ultimately wonder if the Sith is the apprentice and the true Master is one of the mothers in the coven. We saw Aniseya's body but that doesn't mean she was dead. Sol pulled Osha away before she could reach her so who knows? Mother Korril seemed more aggressive toward the Jedi, knowing they created life using the force. Heard an interesting theory the Sith showed them how to do it and the Jedi getting that close would have revealed them to still be active which we know they were but in secret.

I will still see how it plays out but the pacing is still bothering me.

Funny story, one of the few people I follow on YouTube has a SW channel, Ek, who has a very distinctive Canadian voice. My husband was watching a hockey recap during the playoffs this year and I was like, "Is that Ek?" And he was like, "How do you know Ek?" And I was like, "How do you know Ek?". Turns out, Ek is both a massive Star Wars and hockey fan and we'd both been watching his separate channels for different things. It's the small things that bind a relationship, I tell ya. :P
42
OOC Cantina / Re: The Acolyte (**Spoilers**)
« Last post by SWSF Eidolon on June 21, 2024, 08:10:23 PM »
Does the Force count as a weapon?  If no maybe that is point to force her to grow powers?  To kill with her anger?

We are due another flashback episode to show the Fortress demise from another angle, what was the witches final act?  We don't really see exactly how they are all laid out in Destiny.  Just the Osha escpaing, seeing power core explode and the chaos, her and Mae confronting, walkway crumbles, Sol saves osha, Mae falls and the way.  If Mae survived, maybe not all witches died?  Osha is then on ventilator.  Lots of unexplained about Fortress/Witches demise yet?

Qimir is noted as having been a smuggler, worked for Hutts and trader of unique items.  Unique items sound Sith Artifacty!



The Master himself must already know that Mae was a twin and her sister was alive.. and dark side masters are never not using their apprentices.. always manipulation

The Acolyte is singular but there are twin sisters, what would point of separated twins be if not to bring them together? but then to separate them again with one as the acolyte and one either not or dead? hmm.

43
OOC Cantina / Re: The Acolyte (**Spoilers**)
« Last post by Medivh on June 21, 2024, 11:54:01 AM »
There's something about the pacing or the inconsistency in the acting that is irking me.

Mae seems all cool and mysterious in the first episode, when she kills a jedi, and then Osha sees some type of prophesy or vision that says Mae is alive, which at first, seemed like a message FROM Mae, but apparently wasn't, because Mae didn't know anything about it.

Osha hasn't had another vision since then, so ... it felt out of place
Jedi Wookiee?  We saw him walking around, but never saw him do anything else. He's dead. So insignificant
Mae is too wishy-washy as "the acolyte" and Osha is too wishy-washy as the jedi-dropout.  "She's my sister, but she's a murderer, but she's not my problem anymore" - 
It's not clear what Osha's motivation is, or Mae's, or the jedi.

And it doesn't feel like it's part of the cliffhanger/mystery (like what really happened during the fire).  It feels incomplete.

Also, the sith appearance - a bit too showy?  It feels like that horror movie, where Dracula suddenly comes down from the sky.  Is he trying to remain a secret, trying to kill the jedi, what?

A big outstanding question is what does it mean "kill a jedi without a weapon" - Apparently, that's very important to do. Because a weapon clearly includes any actual weapon, any form of violence, any tool or poison -including telling them they should drink poison to obtain forgiveness.

44
Star Wars: The Crimson Covenant / Re: CC: Corporate Greed
« Last post by Syren on June 19, 2024, 08:09:22 PM »
“Yeah, she’s a death wish
I don’t think we’re ever gonna fix this
Backtrack ‘til we’re dancing on the kill switch
What’s the point of praying for the wicked?
Don’t think that I wanna know.”

-Vampire Disco

Corporate Sector

Etti IV: Surface: Mondder

Gemma fades from view.

So. A spy in the mix, and a dead one at that.

He replays the message several times in his father’s office. She looks harder now, even as an ethereal hologram. Her words are sharper and in a tone he did not hear very often growing up – the crispness of Gemma at the end of her rope. She must really have seen some shit, Dane thinks as he absently grips the chair. She tells him to be careful, and to trust sparingly, but the subtext is there.

Watch your back.

Shendo and Taarek are the ones he knows littlest about with Demaris closer in social proximity and Roman a true bro. It was the quiet one that got them, Gemma said. Off to the side but always with a front-row seat. They aren’t an overly talkative bunch, but he hasn’t seen or heard anything that would rouse suspicion yet. Dane knows Gemma has legit problems with the Jedi that cut deeper than bone and cross into an existential whatever so he contemplates options. Could one of those assigned to protect them be a plant and killer? An agent of the prophecy, a term they had so ominously spoken aloud earlier? He shudders to think.

The simple chirp of his com jolts him back into reality. The meds are ready. Irulan says she will have them sent up but Dane declines.

He would pick them up himself.

In the lift, he chews the tip of his thumb. Something Demaris said stuck with him. The Force vaccine could have saved a lot of lives. If they had flooded the markets, perhaps the Jedi would not be down to such a small number. Hunted, slain, and scattered. Those that remain…if they remain. Normally this passing comment would not have cut as deep yet the sentiment lingers for an uncomfortably long time. Despite her inclinations now, Demaris is one of them. She came from this sociopathic corporate scene so she would know that if they did not flood the market there was generally a self-serving reason why.

This was merely a polite way of making him aware of it - and he does not appreciate it.

Xemena has gone home for the day but Irulan still toils away in her office. As always, she looks impossibly poised with features that signal concern as part of her primary programming. Impressive elements of the person she once was. She tosses him the bag of pills that he snatches from the air on the way to one of the statement chairs positioned as an audience in front of her massive desk. Being an executive was definitely her thing.

“Thanks for the meds.”

“You came down here to tell me that?”

“I needed a little walk. Also, Gemma was attacked. One of the Force-sensitive refugees turned out to be evil. She was injured but thankfully saved by Riley’s…aunt. Apparently, our family tree is pretty wild. It was, from what I gather, a whole thing. Given she sent a security contingent our way, she wanted us to be aware. Consider this something of a debrief.”

Irulan folds her hands in front of her, “I am pleased to hear she is okay although the circumstances are certainly troubling. Considering Alka’s recent brush with death, I’d say that puts the threat level higher than it has been.”

“It does feel like an escalation.”

“What do you plan to do about it?”

“Still deciding. I may be skeptical of the Jedi ways but I do not feel Demaris would intentionally put us in danger.”

“Unless she is unaware of the danger amongst you. The Jedi seem to have a habit of being blind to the things that are right in front of them. You may want to broach that with her to be sure.”

“Good call,” Dane muses with a shrug. “She’s fairly reasonable…for an Atrii.”

“The Atrii’s are flakes. Powerful flakes and some of the oldest money here but flakes none the less. Even I see the irony in Demaris shrugging off their family privilege to serve the Jedi but I do not need a mystical energy force to know that is not why you really came here.”

“No, it’s not.”

He holds up the pills, shaking them lightly for effect.

“The reason so many Force-sensitives were identified when it all went down in the Republic was due to a lack of options. Our vaccine, a potentially life-saving drug that would have allowed them to avoid detection and escape, was nowhere to be found. I dunno, I just feel like…we could have done more.”

“We could have,” Irulan replies coldly after a significant pause. “But we didn’t.”

Dane goes there, “Intentionally.”

“When you came to me with the diversification pitch, surely you realized that would require investment. By restricting certain supplies, the prices fetched for such a drug netted a substantial sum and drove up our value across the most strategic markets. It also created the liquid capital used to acquire Palace Arms outright and further diversify our holdings in companies like Dawning Enterprises among others. This is not a new practice and restrictions around the Force vaccine supply were authorized by me after the Jedi were expelled from Chandaar in anticipation of future diversification efforts to ensure we had ample capital to do so when the time came."

She rises and rounds the desk with menacing precision.

“Where do you think all those credits came from, Dane? I certainly did not conjure them out of thin air.”

“I get it but did we, uh, happen to enable genocide in the process?”

“Don’t be ridiculous! The Republic Speaker did that. We merely profited from it. Significantly, if I may say so. Someone would. They always do. Do you now have a problem with that, given all you have and stand to gain?”

“No. Well, not…entirely but-”

“But nothing. You may have known it before – peripherally, perhaps - but now I see that you understand. It is something you and Alka will need to get over. Everything has a price. On that point, Rutherford Gellar was perfectly clear. He may have lost Abra, Blair, and Valerie, but he had Celeste, Gemma, and you.”

“The great karmic wash.”

Irulan sighs, easing down into the chair beside him.

“You know that is not what it was. Rutherford and Celeste made terrible choices based on a promise manipulated by a duplicitous, megalomaniacal brute and they both suffered dearly for it. Your father may have known he would not be able to protect you from it entirely but he did set you up to be a true contender.

You swore you were proceeding with this contingency to avoid any further generations suffering the fates of The Four. It did not please me but I agreed and summoned Doctor Maumbile who is, at this very moment, cloning three of you far below the monolith we are sitting on top of having this conversation. We must do our part. Do not tell me you are having reservations now.”

“A bit late for that,” he mutters.

“Exactly. Do not get yourself lost in the details. Your father tasked me with that. The focus must remain on your appearance for the Direx Board and the public. Ethos goes a long way and your name carries a certain cache.  You may have been nominated to serve on that board but that does not mean there are not enemies in every other chair around that table. This may also be an elaborate trap, one that the likes of the Imperial liaison and others will look to capitalize on. You and Alka must stay alert.”

“Someone knows. About the lie.”

Irulan waves away the notion, “Knowing about the lie does not necessarily mean they know the truth. Without corroboration, everything is hearsay. Pure speculation. These are things that can be spun to our advantage.”

“It could be enough for them to reconsider, make us both targets. I can’t do that to Alka.”

She grows quiet for a moment, eyes drifting to the windows as nightfall deepens over the city.

“Not an option. That is an inevitable burden for any heirs born into this world. An heir is the promise of a future, a continuation, and an extension of power and wealth unto the generations unfolding before it. It is its own form of capital, untoward as that may sound, which is why the loss of one – Aguilar, Corinthos, Kincaid – inflicts a different kind of damage. Not just the loss of a child but the loss of that promise and the future it holds.”

She smiles, something almost wistful, but there is something more sinister beneath it. The reason she was Rutherford Gellar’s right hand.

“The fundamental truth here is that their losses are our gain. The fewer the heirs, the less likely they will be able to maintain their grip on power over time. Not all can stomach these brutal realities but we must. This is the price for profit, and our endeavor needs multiple revenue streams to function both publicly and privately while protecting us from the raiders always waiting just outside the corporate compound gates. I need to know you can do this, Dane.”

A bit harsh, if he is being honest but he gets the point.

The deal with the Empire, involving Kaytt after everything, virtually sacrificing Janessa and Kier, handing the Direx Board a familiar villain to exact retribution upon, "handling" their would-be blackmailer; everything in the name of the almighty bottom line. Shareholder value, etc. The thing is…he is not sure he is quite that far gone. But what does feeling bad about it get him? It doesn’t change anything and there is value in scarcity.

The Jedi are a rare commodity now. They have something many do not and can use that to topple the Voss-Ra or leverage their expertise to dispatch the person who knows about the lie and buy them enough time to pull off the contingency. Demaris may be right about needing to mitigate the damage from the prophecy any way they could which means there would be difficult choices. Ones they would have to make based on what best served the outcome they favor. Dying is still not his preferred option but there would be a smug satisfaction popping up after the fact and sticking it to Dahlia like, surprise, bitch! Gellar in the house! Spite alone may make it worth it even with the added Sith element attached to a Winton victory.

Not their problem. At least not yet.

Irulan does not relent, “Can you do this?”

Dane’s dark eyes go blank as he leans back and flashes an easy smile.

“Yes, I can.”









-TBC
45
OOC Cantina / Re: The Acolyte (**Spoilers**)
« Last post by SWSF Eidolon on June 19, 2024, 07:46:45 PM »
Im so happy we got a Tynnan!  Little smaller than I imagined compared to standard human but he was cool none the less.


I was thinking the guide guy was the master as well, it seems too obvious though as you say.. but also it seems pretty obvious...  They both identified the sith master as a he though.  "He collects people", "He's here".  Either the Khalranaac(sp?) was already dead and Mae showing up to kill him was itself a test, or the Sith Master responded very quickly and was shadowing over her and the guide, or is the guide.  Mae says "10minutes" thatta way more or less didn't she?



I liked the white/orange face jedi girls quote to Osha.  "We aren't defined by what we lose, we are defined by what we survive"



At this point with Mae having already 'seen the light' now in episode 4, its going quickly and whats next? could be anything.,.  I wanna guess maybe the idea is for the Sith Master have been using Mae as bait to actually get to Osha?

- Osha fell out of Order.  They clearly don't want her back, she was even let down when she didn't get the invite to rejoin order proper when Sol invited her on this next trip, maybe there were troubling signs in her?

- Mae has not herself demonstrated MUCH Force strength.  She's extremely well martially trained but uses any sense of power minimally.  Even when she throws the dust storm to escape, her master just threw a concussive storm that knocked back 5 or more jedi.  She's not very strongly trained yet but sent on these missions to kill Jedi Masters more so in a manipulative sort of way than with strength or power.

- Osha has been talking about some of her Force sensations returning.

- The Sithy is looking to capture Osha because she is the more potent of the 2 having already been trained as a jedi.  Mae recieved no such jedi training.  Osha turned dark can be a much more formidable apprentice?


There has been a twist per episode so far though..

Ep 1-2 Osha killing Jedi? No she has a twin who survived the incident.  Some underlying issue with Jedi incident shown
Ep 3 Flashback of how Osha and Mae as children became separated through jedi intrusion on their life and their family/community destryoed, Jedi misguided deeds?
Ep 4 Mae sees that she is being used and manipulated and decides to turn herself in now knowing Osha alive

  Sith guy revealed, is he guide/qimir? or if so how does the guide/qimir guy plug in to this because he gets a bit of screen time already to end up a write off?

  Wookieepedia article on Qimir and Actor Manny Jacinto talks about how showrunner wrote the character with him in mind specifically and if he didn't accept it she would have rewritten the character.  That seems like he is maybe somewhat enduring and important?

  He seems to know a lot and even offers Mae lessons and observations on the jedi she's tasked with killing.


46
OOC Cantina / Re: The Acolyte (**Spoilers**)
« Last post by Syren on June 19, 2024, 11:13:17 AM »
I was on the fence about this episode until those last few moments. Legit was one of the scariest SW moments for me as the Sith descended the forest behind Osha. The visuals, the music...chills. That costume is terrifying.

Clearly not Sol but it points to the Sith being her homeboy - but that's too obvious, right? If it was misdirection I was leaning toward Mother Korril now as a suspect. However, not sure I get the hierarchy. If this is the Master then where is the apprentice? An acolyte is a step below, right? Similar to a padawan before becoming a formal apprentice. It feels like we're missing a someone or the "Master" is the apprentice and there is an even bigger bad?

Either way, for what was mostly a character development episode - which I like but not really connecting with these characters, so preachy - I was impressed they closed it out with that setup.

Next week better be action-packed.

Eid, Hop - I'm there with you...favs are Andor and R1 of the new stuff. Solo was ok.


47
OOC Cantina / Re: The Acolyte (**Spoilers**)
« Last post by SWSF Hoppus on June 18, 2024, 11:40:21 AM »
Those are my three favorite in order: Andor, R1, Solo
48
OOC Cantina / Re: The Acolyte (**Spoilers**)
« Last post by SWSF Eidolon on June 17, 2024, 09:02:12 PM »
Quote from: Medivh on June 06, 2024, 09:04:45 AM
That's right. This forum is keeping Star Wars alive.

Agreed!

It was always the case.




Have enjoyed this series.  The Order and era here is entirely inspired by The High Republic Marvel title.


The. complete fire engulfment of the fortress had to of had more help (for the purpose of dispersing the heretics) than Maes actions alone especially given the words of some of the masters when facing her, most notably the one who killed himself.  He would not have done that if the Jedi did not actually cause the greater fire that destroyed the enclave.  Next flashback scenes prob gonna show us.

The witches and twins certainly seem the victims.  Their apparent spell based conception is pretty sweet but why no horns if carried by Zabrak? :(    had not even recalled the Anakin link there yous mention but that is very interesting and basically is a story extension of Shmi Skywalkers virgin birth Anakin.


The mistaken identity of assassin due to twin concept initially seemed kind of meh but having it quickly supplanted by the larger story now of how the jedi destroyed the witches enclave and a community to steal a child makes it interesting.



This reminds me of a personal situation I have with a coven of all female wiccans who moved in behind me and have poor groundskeeping practices.  Ironically, I know they are wiccan because I briefly got in to Wicca as a kid from a dude I met locally in Royal Oak MI who was in ROMK AOL SWSF Hapan sim.  They have a big ole (like 20 feet across at least) symbol of either Horned God or Moon Goddess cut deeper in lawn around the biggest maple tree on property and a pile of cut wood and gathered branches in the circle as part of the offering.


  Proving again AOL SWSF ties run deep and THE simulation itself is getting lazy and repetitive.




  Dave Filoni has credited the whole Legends era of novels and materials as shaping his fandom.  Give his age, it's possible to consider that he saw the AOL SWSF but would have been a bit older than most of us at the time. But as a fan himself talented and lucky enough to forge a career and gain the reins, he consumed all the same stuff we did.




That'd be cool ying yang if Sol is master and manipulated both as you mention Sy, but wouldn't Osha falling out of Order and away from the orbit kind of disrupt the flow of whatever his angle is?

I just rewatched Andor after watching Aco Ep III.  Have got in habit lately of watcing everything with Subtitles on, I catch so much more than otherwise.  But By far the best material since Disney acquired.


Solo , R1 (both are aging great for me, I rewatch Solo often) and Andor are my top picks.
49
Star Wars: The Crimson Covenant / Re: CC: Corellian Birthright
« Last post by Syren on June 17, 2024, 03:21:13 PM »
“Looking deep into my eyes
Could you face the truth?
I know I’ve tried
I’m burning from the inside
And that’s why.”

-San Cisco

Corellia

Surface: Coronet City

To hear that she believes Gemma is right for him and insists on being a part of their union fills him with a kind of happiness he thought he might never find. The Four are not destined for happy endings, and that very well may still be the case, so he will take these moments and feelings when he can.

Riley’s smile widens, “Of course, Aunt Mara. Of course, we will wait for you! I couldn’t imagine not sharing this with you.”

As if on cue, the High Commander appears in the corridor, flanked by Sixta and Cassidy. No sign of Inspector Thekla which is only slightly worrisome. Soldys surveys the scene and Riley catches the crease of suspicion at the corner of his eyes as they land on him. No doubt he is still sour over their contingency pitch. He saw firsthand what a sentient droid with a mission could do although Riley is quite certain that is not the avenue through which Dane’s considerable corporate resources meant to circumvent the prophecy. At least he’s mostly sure. Frowning slightly, Riley makes a mental note to verify that – to assuage his own curiosity but hopefully the High Commander's fears.

“Well then,” he says, acknowledging the others as they approach. “I know you both have some work to do.”

Soldys nods curtly, eyes shifting to Mara.

“If there is anything we can do here to support you, we are at your service."







-TBC
50
OOC Cantina / Re: The Acolyte (**Spoilers**)
« Last post by Syren on June 13, 2024, 11:34:52 AM »
Ep 3 added some interesting depth along with far more suspicion on the Jedi.

If I understood correctly, the two mothers manipulated the midi-chlorians to create life - the twins? Is this similar to Anakin, i.e. was his conception through such manipulation orchestrated by someone else or a result of midi-chlorian symbiosis? Qui Gon only says he may have been conceived by the midi-chlorian's but not sure they go into further detail elsewhere. I ask because it got me thinking that if there was a prophecy floating around about a chosen one - similar to Dune or even in our stories with the Voss-Ra - why wouldn't someone powerful enough influence the prophecy in their favor by creating the very thing it spoke of? If the twins were created in the same way, would the Jedi not be drawn to them given the amount of power and Force use required to do so?

Also, was that why the Jedi came to that world specifically? I know they already covered in the Clone Wars the Jedi's dubious claim on Force-sensitive children and here Indara presents it as a request that requires guardian permission. However, the situation could be manipulated in their favor and that choice is taken away. Mae started the fire but that fire did not lay out that coven. Torbin was clearly injured before they took Osha so either the Jedi took them out (fulfilling Mother Aniseya's words about who has the right to that power) or it was made to look that way.

Lots of ways this could go - anyone else have thoughts?
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