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Octopus Prime

Mysterious Contraption
(He/Him)
The thing that keeps distracting me is that Vader hates Obi-Wan so much in this, just complete laser focused rage in his direction…

and when he meets him again in A New Hope, he’s all “Ha, lookit this old goober”

Time heals all wounds, I guess
 

Phantoon

I cuss you bad
To be fair, after all the retcons about the Dark Side and who Vader is and what he lost this makes a lot more sense. This might get it out of his system a bit
 

SpoonyBard

Threat Rhyme
(He/Him)
While we're talking odds, I wonder what the odds are Liam Neeson has a surprise cameo at the end? Unless he's already been confirmed or denied and I didn't notice.
 
Liam Neeson has repeatedly denied he’d be in the show. Of course, Wil Wheaton and the rest of the TNG cast repeatedly denied they’d be in PIC as well so that could just be the NDA talking.
 

Sarcasmorator

Same as I ever was
(He/him)
Gotta say, Vader not even bothering to bring out his own lightsaber and just casually stopping Third Sister's movements was pretty cool.
 

Phantoon

I cuss you bad
Gotta say, Vader not even bothering to bring out his own lightsaber and just casually stopping Third Sister's movements was pretty cool.
Yeah, I like the fact that she's not even worth the lightsabre, and when she is allowed it it's just Vader playing with his dinner
 

Phantoon

I cuss you bad
Only bit I didn't like: Vader can force pull starships. That would've made The Empire Strikes Back a very short film...
 

Sarcasmorator

Same as I ever was
(He/him)
Well I think it's one of those things where he's Fueled By Rage (and they didn't think of the idea until years after ESB was made). But yeah there's a bit of power creep there. Not really more than his swordplay in Rogue One vs. the earlier movies, though.
 

YangusKhan

does the Underpants Dance
(He/Him/His)
My read on Vader in the OT is that he mellowed out a lot after killing Obi-Wan in ANH. Presumably he also had lots of success eliminating the rest of the Jedi up to that point, as well. So he and the Emperor both are feeling pretty complacent and arrogant, because they've truly solidified their power and don't have much of anything left to drive them (notably, hatred towards something). And then along comes the truth of Anakin's kids, which forces Anakin to confront himself in a whole lot of new ways beyond being a rage machine.
 

Octopus Prime

Mysterious Contraption
(He/Him)
He might be *more* mellow after killing Obi-Wan, but dude is… pretty casual about widespread death and destruction as a means to an end in ESB.
 
My read on Vader in the OT is that he mellowed out a lot after killing Obi-Wan in ANH.
He was already pretty chill tho while confronting Obiwan in ANH. And he still had plenty of bloodlust and desire to get into the thick of things piloting a Tie-Interceptor over Andor. IMO he doesn't really shift until we see him in ESB where I assume after encountering Luke and hearing about the legend of the rookie who took down the Deathstar with the Force, he refocuses on capturing/turning Luke Skywalker.
 

Daikaiju

Rated Ages 6+
(He, Him)
Only bit I didn't like: Vader can force pull starships. That would've made The Empire Strikes Back a very short film...
He killed a guy on another ship that was over Hoth, while he just entered the system in ESB without even making the gesture. He had the power even then.
 

Phantoon

I cuss you bad
Nah, it's a different order of magnitude to anything seen in Lucas's six films. Stopping something with that momentum and that much thrust? He sure as hell didn't grab the Falcon on Hoth, which he now has no reasonable reason not to have done.
 
Nah, it's a different order of magnitude to anything seen in Lucas's six films. Stopping something with that momentum and that much thrust? He sure as hell didn't grab the Falcon on Hoth, which he now has no reasonable reason not to have done.
If you're breaking down the mystic Force into a matter of simple physics, where you're measuring force applied over distance, then murdering someone millions of miles away with a thought is way more impressive.
 

Bongo

excused from moderation duty
(he/him)
Staff member
I think that consistency was simply not a high priority.
 

Phantoon

I cuss you bad
He killed a guy on another ship that was over Hoth, while he just entered the system in ESB without even making the gesture. He had the power even then.
I should point out that Admiral Ozzel was on the bridge of the Executor, so that wasn't another ship, it probably wasn't even that far away. Captain Needa was right in front of him.
 

Sarcasmorator

Same as I ever was
(He/him)
Really liked the finale, especially Obi-Wan and Vader's scenes. Where Kenobi truly sees what Anakin has become, and lets him go.

More items of note:

-Obi-Wan going for the respirator control box! Attack his weak point for massive damage!
-Vader's horrible gasping when his mask is broken open, and the dialogue between them that follows; top-shelf stuff. Great performances from both McGregor and Christensen here (plus some good lighting; a bit of blue on Vader's face as he absolves Obi-Wan of killing Anakin, then red as he vows to destroy him).
-Vader's projection of power and strength is remarkably fragile, which is important. Like so many strongmen he relies on never being caught in a moment of weakness.
-How Obi-Wan once again walks away from a defeated Vader, leaving him alone and smoldering. (Yes this leads to Vader killing more people, of course, but as a character beat it's spot-on.) Vader never defeats him, not even once; like Kylo Ren, he's forever left unsatisfied when his nemesis just sacrifices himself and vanishes.
-The way Obi-Wan freeing himself from the pit and lifting all those rocks to throw at Vader calls Rey moving rocks in TLJ to mind.
-Pretty much everything in the episode after the duel, too. The scenes with Reva, Leia, Owen and Luke, all great stuff.
-Reva's thought process on killing Luke as some form of justice is a bit muddied, but I'm glad she comes to her senses on her own.
-Owen and Beru getting their rifles and facing down a pissed ex-Inquisitor is great Western stuff.
-Funny how they had to have Luke escaping out a hatch or getting knocked out so he couldn't see the lightsaber ever (he doesn't know what one is in ANH, seeing his father's for the first time). Not quite at the level of keeping Anakin away from Grievous, but still funny.
-This is very solidly episode 3.5, IMO. A newly essential part of the prequels.
 
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Really liked the finale, especially Obi-Wan and Vader's scenes. Where Kenobi truly sees what Anakin has become, and lets him go.
I think I enjoyed this show, but I don't think it was all that great. It had great moments to be sure, and some fun ideas. I personally got pretty verklempt at the scene quoted above. But on the whole, I don't think it was the sum of its parts. Having Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen back was worth the cost of admission alone. But I think the biggest problem for me was simply the same problem I had with the prequels. That they're lesser entries to the franchise because they're held back by the weight of canon and having to fit into the precedent of the original trilogy. Things happen not because they're the natural outcome of events or the result of consistent character work, but because they must first and foremost conform to canon. That Ben lets Vader go a second time, despite all the horrors he's committed and will surely continue to commit is nonsensical to me. As is his general malaise of being a sad sack desert hermit. IMO the Obi-Wan Kenobi from the prequels would have never just given up, he'd have led the rebellion and overthrown the Empire himself.

Also, you can't fucking lie to me, Disney. I knew you were gonna have Qui-Gon make a cameo.

I would be willing to watch a sequel series. Something with Obi-Wan training what's her face, or going on rebel missions, or hanging out with Qui-Gon in the wilderness. Just so long as, the sequel show puts some distance between everything that happened here, and in the the original trilogy, and was just allowed to be its own thing.
 
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