Yep, it's the same backstory that began in the The Clone Wars animated series, which was why it was SO COOL when Moff Gideon was shown wielding it after Din Djarin blew up his Tie Fighter in the Season 1 finale.

While I will continue to enjoy Chapter 8 time and time again (I've already watched it 5 times so far), I am really stoked to see where the story takes us in Season 3 because one aspect of the finale that's been greatly overshadowed by Luke's amazing appearance is that as of right now, Din Djarin is in possession of the Darksaber, which by legend makes him the rightful heir to the throne of Mandalore.

Did anyone get "bad guy" vibes from Boba Fett?

He did his job. He has no loyalty to anyone.

I have a feeling his motives are going to be more self-serving going forward.

I definitely see Bo-Katan turning on him. She'll just say "this is the way." :D

I really liked I, Jedi and the character of Corran Horn. I haven't read the novel since around 2000 or so but I always that he had a cool backstory, being from Corellia and all, and he seemed like the kind of character in which a movie or series could be created around.

One of my favorite characters in the EU was Jorg Car'Das, who appeared in the original Thrawn Trilogy and the Thrawn duology. He was a seasoned veteran of the Star Wars galaxy that had been everything from a smuggler to a legit businessman. He had dealings with everyone from the Jedi to criminal organizations to a group of strange Force beings that helped save his life. Lando visited him for guidance and information a few times and I always thought it would be cool to see a series based on his adventures, or at least to see him on film.

I would think that if they're going the Thrawn route, they'd have to include Pellaeon, as he was Thrawn's right hand man. It would be awesome to see Mara Jade as well and I suppose that technically, she could be a part of the Star Wars galaxy without contradicting the shitty Sequel Trilogy but it would be difficult to explain the absence of their Jedi son, Ben Skywalker. But since they've retconned Thrawn's origin story, they could do the same with Mara Jade.

I didn't get "bad guy" vibes but I definitely got the "I have loyalty to no one but myself" vibe, which is absolutely perfect for the character.

I'm super stoked to see where the series takes him and Shand.

Mara Jade needs to be a thing.

Her backstory with the Emperor is very cool.

Plus Luke needs to get laid. Hours and hours of Star Wars and Luke Skywalker is a virgin.

I completely agree.

I think I've already mentioned this but it's quite possible that under Favreau and Filoni's guidance, the Star Wars galaxy, with all of these new TV series, is setting itself up with a major confrontation with the "Big Baddie", who in this case is none other than Grand Admiral Thrawn.

Marvel had 20 movies leading up to their confrontation with Thanos in Infinity Wars. The first of those movies were individual films, with Hulk, Iron Man, Captain America and Thor, which fed into the first Avengers film. Then, they began adding more characters in the Marvel universe and more individual movies until it all came to a head against Thanos.

Star Wars has 10 TV series, many of which appear to be set after Return of the Jedi, with Ahsoka, The Rangers of the New Republic, The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett and so on. We know that Thrawn is out there, somewhere, and we know that the New Republic knows that there's something going on in the Outer Rim, which parallels the original Thrawn trilogy.

It just seems to make sense to follow that model on TV, then have a few feature films, like Infinity Wars and Endgame, to close out that chapter of the Star Wars Galaxy. And much like The Infinity Series, Star Wars could take a decade to resolve everything, which I'm sure would provide some amazing storytelling.

Essentially, He stated he was an opportunist

I'm definitely rooting for Boba to be a dick in the next season, or his own series, whatever.

:D

She's 57 years old per Google search

I just read Gina and thought you were talking about her.

I’m hoping he’s a bad guy in the same way Scorsese mobsters are “bad guys.”

Assuming Din doesnt change his mind. Why cant Din throw the light saber to Moff, he powers it up, Bo shoots him in the face. She's the rightful heir now. Or they just all agree to just make up the story and say Bo defeated him?

I don't know. I find the part about "winning" the Darksaber to be odd, especially considering that Sabine Wren handed it to Bo-Katan in Star Wars Rebels.

As for Moff Gideon, he was supposedly tried and executed for War Crimes against the Republic and now, Cara Dune wants him tried in front of the New Republic.

But does anyone believe that he won't escape death again?

Hes not going to be the new Jabba the hut without doing some bad shit to people just because he makes more money.

But, thats who he is, he's not turned to the dark side or some story arc BS change for change sake. Every time hes shown up in the movies, until the Mando series was doing something bad to others and selfishly good for him.

Just like “God Wills It” in Kingdom of Heaven.

Yell some bad idea

GOD WILLS IT

CHEERING

ROFL

I forgot about Sabine giving her the dark saber. That will be interesting.

Espinito is signed on for several more appearances.

Soooo.... what is Moff Gideon doing with Grogu's blood?

The Empire is attempting to create a Force-Sensitive clone

Cloning experiments. Probably at some point palpatine.

Boom!

<div style="width: 80%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe src="https://streamable.com/e/g3us0u" frameborder="0" width="80%" height="80%" allowfullscreen style="width: 80%; height: 80%; position: absolute;"></iframe></div>

The dark saber heating the Beskar is an underrated highlight of this episode. That Mando/Gideon duel was awesome!

Bringing "Order for the future"

To be fair if it got that hot it would warp, like that’s literally how you bend metal. But I get it.

When he kicked it to whip it around and crack Gideon in the dome was ****ing awesome. That gets my vote for best part of that fight.

LMAO

It *seems* as if they're following the original EU in which Thrawn returns from the Unknown Regions to reorganize the Empire.

He had a cloned Jedi named Joruus C'baoth, who, due to the cloning process, was no longer a Jedi but a "Dark Jedi". He wasn't a Sith but he was evil and "guided" the Empire through The Force, just like Sidious.

It took Luke, Leia, Han, Lando and a cast of others over the course of three novels to finally defeat Thrawn and "new" Empire.

The series also introduced Mara Jade, among other notable EU characters.

that............was................AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!

First time I've yelled/cheered in a movie since Empire or ROTJ!!!!!!!!

Wow - Favreau and team "gets it".......they gave us everything we should have had in the last 6 films.

I'm going to bed happier than I have been in a long, long time!!!

So now that I've come down from the excitement, there is a pretty big plot hole that will need explaining that I'm surprised got past Filoni. Maybe they tried to keep things so secret that Favreau didn't even let Filoni see the finale script but...

Loved loved loved it! I'm so glad it was Hamil. I dgaf if he had to be deaged. It wouldn't have been the same with sebastian stan. Mark Hamill is Luke Skywalker. It was just jaw dropping.

So happy. I assume this is the only time we see Luke?

There's no way Filoni was not involved in the finale.

An interesting video came up on my Youtube feed about the visual effects that they use for the show. I don't know if it has been shared in this thread already but I'm going to embed it here:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Ufp8weYYDE8" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I hope they go this route. It's also possible, I think, that this is part of how Snoke clones started getting created. That would have to be carefully done to avoid being infected by the stench of the new trilogy.

Side note rant:

How much more imposing and scary is the First Order IF that trilogy of movies is built around a returned empire under the command of super genious Thrawn, with his cloned Dark Jedi sidekick who has managed to corrupt the Skywalker blood heir?

(Tries to control his rage at not having a cohesive plan before beginning a trilogy and letting directors have too much creative control over said trilogy, which led to it being a jumbled mess).

That said, I do see a possible path to introducing Thrawn, associating him with the rise of the First Order, and then tying off that story arc with him gone and the First Order still a threat that is moving forward with less-capable leaders.

It can be done well. I would trust Filoni and Favreau to have a good overall plan as long as Kathleen Kennedy isn't allowed to sprinkle her BS on it.

It's awesome that the creative team are taking the best elements of the EU like the " Lothal's "Jedi Temple temporal displacement" catacomb retcon could occur then it could further into metaphysical Force butterfly effect due to existing in the same time stream as your counterpart which automatically resets events like revealing that Din was the one who saved Grogu. You can redue Eps 1-3 leave the original alone and deviant from JJ and TJ's bullshit bu explaining how the Force left the Skywalker era alone and created a new sequence of events were caused due to the Force being dormant then quakes to alter the new trilogy.

I cannot find his role in "The Sandlot" on IMDB.
Did he change his name or something?

The dark troopers remind me of of the robots in Reel Steel.

1995, 1998, 2020. Phase 1, II & III of the Dark Trooper program.

https://www.banthaskull.com/images/T...phase_i_18.jpg

You manage to break the thread? :LOL:

https://streamable.com/g3us0u

I broke the thread quoting. I sent an PM to the Mods.

Imma gonna share another one, a mash-up:


<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xTUl00hn_zE" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I reported the post with a 'help' message. Hope that does it.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Lucasfilm confirms there are only 50 years between the end of The High Republic era and &#39;The Phantom Menace&#39; <br><br>(via Star Wars Weibo) <a href="https://t.co/QQ8bIodVjr">pic.twitter.com/QQ8bIodVjr</a></p>&mdash; Star Wars Facts &amp; News (@SWTweets) <a href="https://twitter.com/SWTweets/status/1340462979553247232?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 20, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

That's the end of the 'High Republic' though, right? So they could start the show anywhere along the life of the republic and go from there. It would be cool to have an anthology kind of show with some characters being very long lived and others not so much. It would open up a lot of fun possibilities if the people running the show are creative and talented. I am imagining a huge sci-fi saga crossing multiple generations.

High Republic needs to end with Darth Plagueis meeting young Palpatine.

That would seem to fit with Palpatine being in his mid 60s during the Phantom Menace...no?

I agree 100%.

It sounds as if they're marking the end of the High Republic on or as the day that Palpatine was born.

What would be really cool if they were to move forward with movies and TV series from the High Republic would be if on the final episode, we see Darth Plagueis creating Palpatine from the Midiclorians, then showing his birth.

They can go anywhere with this.

It's a good opportunity to explain Palpatine's origins and Anakin's.

There could be a nice "epilogue" with Palpatine killing Plagueis.

They also include the Whills the Arch Angels of the Force that Lucas was initially going to include if he had written the new trilogy

Now, what I really want to know, is how Palpatine was able to clone himself and retain his Force powers with zero loss.

I guess that’s what The Mandalorian is really about.

I feel like this is a huge troll post.

No, really. I think that ultimately, we’re going to see this cloning of Force powers in real time.

And how was he able to have a cloned “son” that was able to pass on Force powers to Rey while apparently having no connection to The Force?

Best answer is ignore JJs garbage.

Well, if they’re going down the Heir To The Empire road, we’ll see Dark Jedi Joruus C’boath.

Maybe his son wasn't cloned. Maybe we'll get to see footage of Sheev and a lady friend frolicking on a grassy hill a la Anakin and Padme.

Oh. Yay. I don't like sand.

love this font work

https://scontent.fmkc1-1.fna.fbcdn.n...11&oe=60056A07

LMAO

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It's officially Official!

From starwars.com

------------

https://www.starwars.com/news/the-book-of-boba-fett

THE BOOK OF BOBA FETT, A NEW SERIES, COMING DECEMBER 2021 ON DISNEY+. THE LEGEND WILL RETURN NEXT YEAR.

Boba Fett is back. And his story is just beginning.

As teased in a surprise end-credit sequence following the season finale of The Mandalorian, the legendary bounty hunter’s journey will continue in The Book of Boba Fett. Jon Favreau, executive producer of The Mandalorian, confirmed today on Good Morning America that the new series is currently in production and will arrive December 2021, only on Disney+.

The Book of Boba Fett will be set within the timeline of The Mandalorian and star Temuera Morrison as the titular bounty hunter, along with Ming-Na Wen as Fennec Shand. Robert Rodriguez — who directed Chapter 14 of The Mandalorian, a thrilling installment that reintroduced Boba Fett to the Star Wars galaxy — joins Favreau and Dave Filoni as executive producer.

Boba Fett made his big-screen debut in 1980’s Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, becoming an instant fan favorite thanks to his visually arresting armor and cool demeanor. Jeremy Bulloch, the original actor inside the armor, passed away last week — but his legacy, including all he brought to Boba Fett, goes on. The Book of Boba Fett will carry that legacy forward.

Season 3 of The Mandalorian will go into production next year.

how does Lucasfilm manage to **** this up?

<iframe width="1280" height="720" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wrHXA2cSpNU" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

LMAO

They could actually use that to tie it all together, say that The Children of the Watch (the group Din & the armorer are a part of) started as a result or her not following the old ways when she accepted the dark saber, and that splintered Mandalore & allowed the Empire to destroy them. Having learned from that experience she now knows the only way to unite Mandalore is to properly attain the Saber in combat.

It's almost as if Mandalorians are treating the Dark Saber like the sword of Arthurian legend.

I like the way this is going.

Din Djarin as King Arthur and Luke as Merlin.

Mandalore as Camelot.

The Darksaber as Excalibur.

Grogu as the Holy Grail.

^ Lol. As it should be.

Jesus. LMAO

You'd think Disney would just reach out to the Deepfake guys and hire them instead of being clowned.

What am I missing here?

I've watched this a couple of times on a new 27" LED monitor and the only difference I've been able to spot is some really mild color-correction.

There's a clear difference. When you look at the side-by-side comparison, the images on the left are blurry and while well done, obviously CGI. The images on the right look like Mark Hamill stepped out of a ****ing time machine from 1983. The eyes are particularly lifelike.

You can really see the difference here. Deepfake nose looks better too.

https://i.imgur.com/i44xWsg.jpg

Disney needs to start applying a simple deepfake pass to all their CGI creations. The Tarkin and Leia deepfakes look way better, too.

The depth of details on the face are much better on the new one. You can look closely at his mole or dimple to see that, but even his nose shape flattens a bit in the original. The color correction done likely by the final colorist to dampen highlights seems to have exacerbated it too.

The "improvement" has studio bright highlights and reflections in the eyes and that doesn't fit with the overall lighting of the scene so it stands out if you were watching more than a clip but it isn't horrible. It is made a bit worse because there is not enough lighting change when the head moves so the shadows don't have any temporal shift from frame to frame. The new version also broke the lip sync.

Overall, I'd say it is a wash, but the improved version definitely has a more appealing look with the brighter highlights even though that was not the intent of the scene. And there is no question the lack of depth of detail is the biggest problem with the original.

Have you seen the Solo Deepfake where they put young Harrison Ford's face over the new guy? Those were amazing as well.

To be fair this is all they (Deep Fake) do and they have gotten really, really good at it. I would think that the Mandalorian team kept Luke's appearance as hush hush as possible so it's reasonable that they wouldn't bring in outside talent.

Thank you! I definitely noticed the lip sync issue, as I'm ridiculously attuned to that kind of sync and saw some of the color correction. I also noticed, even on my "best" TV, that the details around the face were a bit "smeared" but I figured that was done on purpose because more detail would have probably made it look even more like VFX.

That said, I don't think these new HP monitors provide that level of detail in order to see some of the other things mentioned. But I will say that the TCL 5 series 50" OLED TV I purchased recently is 10x clearer than the 75" 4 series I purchased just last year.

In "The Jedi", there's a scene with Din Djarin and Ahsoka speaking by the campfire, in which I can clearly see fingerprints on the Mandalorian helmet!

That's a little too much detail, IMO, and must be a nightmare on set.

Thanks again!

Everyone has to sign an NDA to work on projects like these so it's really all about the budget and the time involved. Although, I will say that due to COVID, there have been very few leaks about, well, anything Disney and Marvel related and that's because no one with half a brain would email or text "Inside Info" and leaks.

Those are best left to face-to-face meetings so there's no electronic trail. That's the reason why I've had so little info this year because I haven't really been allowed to see anyone, outside of those in my household. I mean, I knew about the 10 new Star Wars TV series and a few other things but I was given very little detail.

Speaking of NDA's, I had to sign an NDA in August just to see who I'd potentially be working with and for! That's the level of secrecy these days in Hollywood. You'd think I was being passed national secrets!