Tarkin - Novel Review

Overall, I love the character of Tarkin. He's intelligent, strategic, and ruthless. Those are just some of the qualities that make a great Imperial villain. He's willing to do whatever it takes to get what he wants without really letting his emotions get the better of him. Needless to say, I was eagerly anticipiating the chance to finally read Tarkin. Having read it, I can honestly say that it is essential reading in learning about who this character was and his importance to the Empire as a whole given his relationship with Palpatine and, especially, Vader. I also believe that this book allows better understanding for those that had no idea of who he was in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story as I have seen some complaints about how he was not necessary to the film when he, in fact, was.

First off, I feel that it is important to note that the book takes place in a variety of timelines. This is due to the book mostly centering during a period of time when Tarkin is just a Moff and not a Grand Moff as in Episode IV. However, it flashes back to periods of his past that allow you to gauge the type of upbringing he had that led to who he now was. It is through these flashbacks that you end up feeling a variety of emotions towards what he is taught and how he essentially learns those lessons in order to incorporate it towards his own survival. These flashbacks are incredible, and I am incredibly overjoyed that Tarkin's past was expanded upon in this manner as they further define his character and development.

As for the plot of the book, it basically serves as a means to showcase Tarkin's ability to strategize on a whim while also showing his relationship working alongside Vader. This plot is simple, but it is extremely engaging and suspenseful as you read about how important the Carrion Spike, Tarkin's ship, is as well as how destructive it can be to the Empire. As such, the plot revolves around a group of freedom fighters that get access to Tarkin's ship and make their way around the galaxy as they try to elude Tarkin and Vader. 

I really enjoyed the interaction that Tarkin and Vader share as it helps explain as to why Vader would obey Tarkin's orders in Episode IV, and it helped clarify their respect for one another that stemmed from their partnership in the Clone Wars during various missions. I also found it quite interesting that there are a few sections from Palpatine's perspective that further cement his view as to the importance of Tarkin and Vader's relationship as it pertained to furthering the goal and strength of the Empire.

Overall, this book is incredibly well-written and exceptionally handled with its revolving characters and timelines. I see this book as essential reading to anyone who wants to learn more about the Star Wars universe as it provides a lot of great detail about the workings of the Imperial leadership, as well as some insight about the Empire's super weapon, the Death Star. I also found it fascinating as the book was able to provide more insight into what the Tarkin Doctrine truly was. In my opinion, it is an incredible addition to the Star Wars canon, and I would go as far as to say that it is one of the best so far. In the end, I would have to say that it is an A-.

Star Wars Rebels S3: "Through Imperial Eyes"

I must say, I think that Lucasfilm should just stop making 22 episode seasons and just shorten them to 15 episodes. If this is the content we could have had from the beginning, no one would be complaining about Season 3. This episode truly makes up for all the filler and nonsense of the first-half of Season 3. I was at the edge of my seat throughout this episode to the point where I honestly thought that Kallus was going to die at the end. I never actually cared about his character, but there were points in this episode where I feared for his life and really hoped that he wasn't going to be made out as Fulcrum. However, we're FINALLY shown the Thrawn we've been craving throughout an entire episode, and he showed why his character has the reputation that he does. Now that he knows that Kallus is Fulcrum, it sounds like Thrawn might use that to his advantage in order to give false information to the rebels so that it makes it easier to attack their base on Atollan.

       I do wish though that the entire episode was shown in first-person as I think it would have made the experience all the more personal as the episode progressed. However, what we were ultimately given was good enough for me. I thoroughly enjoyed how this episode payed out whereby Kallus ended up having Commander Lyste framed as Fulcrum, even though some of Kallus's decisions weren't as sound for an ISB agent, such as only erasing one planet from Thrawn's computer. Nonetheless, I liked watching him think two steps ahead of Ezra throughout the episode in keeping his identity secret from the rest of the Empire as it showed how hard it truly was in order to maintain his identity as a spy. However, we were still shown how Thrawn was just one extra step ahead of Kallus in the end. Overall, this was an incredible episode where it might go down as possibly the most suspenseful of all the Rebels  episodes from start to finish.

Star Wars Rebels S3: "Legacy of Mandalore"

Finally returning from that random break, we finally have Sabine going home to the Krownest whereby she will try to recruit the Mandalorians to the rebels' side. From the beginning, this episode was incredibly done. I feel like this may have been the one of the best produced episode of Rebels so far. From the animation to the score, everything seemed to be perfectly executed. There were some odd plot elements that were not as sound, but it was still a really well-done episode.

Sabine has always been the character that I wish Rebels would have gravitated towards since the beginning as I would rather have a show about the Rebel Alliance where it would actually show the various members that constituted the Alliance instead of the usual Jedi. However, it makes sense how Lucasfilm would gravitate towards having a show that follows one specific rebel cell with two Jedi. Anyway, we finally get to see how Sabine is viewed by her family given how she did, in a sense, betray them, and then suddenly decides to come back after all these years. With that, I enjoyed watching her struggle with being surrounded by her biological family and all the tribulations that come with coming home after a troubled past. We are able to see the vent up pain she showed from the previous episode as she deals with having her own family now betray her in return when Ursa Wren ends up notifying Gar Saxon of the Ghost crew's location.

Regarding Ursa Wren, I loved how conflicted of a character she was. We were shown her own personal struggle of being a mother to Sabine while still recognizing her Mandalorian culture. Given how she now needs to protect all of Clan Wren from the Empire, it made sense when you look at all the decisions she ended up making throughout the episode. She has to continue to be the leader of this shunned Mandalorian clan, while having to deal with the return of a daughter whom she has not seen in years, knowing full well the history of Sabine and her impact on the Mandalorians as a whole, and still having to be mindful of the fact that the Empire has her husband imprisoned. Ursa is such a complex character that I just wish we had a bit more time with her in order to learn about how was still able to keep her clan alive under the Empire and Saxon.

       Speaking of Saxon, I was surprised to learn that he is/was in fact an Emperor's Hand. What that means in this new canon still remains to be seen, but what we do know is that it meant that he was a pretty significant member of the Empire. Now that he's dead, it makes you wonder how the Empire is going to handle the news of his death as he was meant to be the ruler of the Mandalorians in the name of the Empire. However, when he was alive, i thought he was a great villain for the Wrens. I really liked seeing the small glimpses of fear and submission Ursa had under Saxon as it only made you wonder what he did in order to gain that from the Mandalorian clans. I liked how he was the type of villain who ultimately had to be killed in the end because his survival would only continue the dominance and possible enslavement of the Mandalorians under the Empire.

Finally, the best part of the episode had to be the last act. We're finally given the Sabine vs. Saxon fight shown in the midseason trailer. I must say, it did not disapoint. Along the way, we were handed some incredible music by Kevin Kiner, but this episode actually ramped it up even more. It added to the climax between the two characters during their showdown where it was almost reminiscent of Kanan's fight with the Grand Inquisitor in Season 1. Both characters went all out with their respective fighting styles using whatever tool in their arsenal they needed in order to gain the upper hand. And once Sabine finally got possession of both lightsabers and almost cut off Saxon's head, I knew without a doubt that Sabine now deserves her own Mandalorian show, comic book series, or novel. I found this part of the episode incredibly interesting as she showed her determination to stray from the old Mandalorian ways of going down that dark path and incorporate some of her Jedi lessons in this moment. It is almost reminiscent of this new notion of a "Gray" instead of being a Jedi or Sith. I feel that Sabine is going to be important in establishing this new idea of what a Mandalorian should be going forward in the the Star Wars mythos.

I truly loved how this episode set Sabine up to explore her growth as a Mandalorian as well as a human living under the Empire's rule while having to deal with the struggle of trying to convert her own family to fight alongside her. I feel like it even opens the possibility that Bo Katan might be the leader Sabine might be looking for, in which Bo Katan could end up grooming Sabine to actually take the mantle of Mand'alor. Either way, I loved the world-building this episode did regarding the Mandalorians, and I really hope we get to see Sabine return to the Ghost crew at some point during the finale.

Star Wars Rebels S3: "Trials of the Darksaber"

THIS is the kind of content I wish was explored on Rebels. I'm not talking about just Mandalorian or Sabine arcs, but content that acutally fleshes out characters and the Star Wars universe as a whole. I hate that we're constantly given one-off, goofy episodes that don't really have a big impact on the universe as a whole. "Trials of the Dark Saber" thankfully did the opposite of that. I loved how it touched on the lore of the first Mandalorian Jedi, the Jedi-Mandalorian War, Sabine's relationship to her Mandalorian family, and Sabine's relationship with those who will follow her in the future. This episode even transcended the cliches of other shows and movies whereby the female protagonist is looked down upon during their training because they're female. We learn that Kanan's reservation over Sabine's training isn't because she happens to be female, but it is truly due to Sabine's unwillingness to want to lead the people who betrayed her in the first place. I found this to be refreshing because the show could have gone down that path, but it was above that sexist junk. It was because of Sabine's reluctantness that it truly added to who she was as a character. With Sabine, we're always given this persona of a courageous and confident Mandalorian who is willing to jump into battle whenever she can, but this episode really broke her down to a human character. We were shown her faults, and by the end of the episode, we stood up with her ready to see her fight to regain her Mandalorian family.

As for the rest of our characters in this episode, Kanan's stubbornness and impatience as a teacher showed itself once again as we see how he basically has a difficult time training students in general. I find this to be natural and needed as it creates an interesting dynamic when having him grow into that role of being a mentor. This is especially true now that he has force-sensitive and non-force-sensitive students. Even if training Sabine was just for this episode, I think it allows him to grow more as he continues to mentor Ezra. For Ezra, I think that it was important to have him take a backseat for once. He's constantly being shown taking the lead on missions or he's in the main brunt of things, but we haven't really had him be the supporting character with other characters this season. I enjoyed having him practice with Sabine and not think that she couldn't handle the responsibility that came with the Dark Saber. We're given a sense as to how much he's learned under Kanan, yet we see that he hasn't mastered everything, which is important to have in a show where he's basically the main character we're going to follow until the end.

The one character I was disappointed in was Fenn Rau. I was hoping that he would have more insight into Sabine's training given that he is a more experienced Mandalorian. I would have liked to see Sabine use some of Fenn Rau's teachings and combine it with the training she got with Kanan, but I understand that they used the Mandalorian armbands for that specific reason, especially when you consider that they only have 20 minutes for each episode. On a side note, I wasn't disappointed with him as much as I was confused by his appearance, but what was the point of having the Bendu appear of Sabine kicked him? She never mentions having talked to him, so I'm just confused as to what we were supposed to interpret from that scene.

Overall, this episode was incredibly done. From the writing to the animation, this episode will go down as one of the best Rebels epsisodes we have ever had. My only wish is that the rest of the season does not disappoint and gives us more filler like how almost all of Season 3 has felt. For those who've loved this episode as much as I have, but haven't seen any of the Clone Wars animated series, I would recommend watching all the Mandalorian episodes as you get a taste as to who House Vizlsa was and what they stood for. Even if you have seen The Clone Wars, I still think it would serve as a nice refresher for the rest of the season along with the Son of Dathomir Darth Maul comic.

Star Wars Rebels S3: "Warhead"

       First off, I feel that it is important to express my opinions on whether this episode is filler or not. To me, this episode was a bit of both whereby we have Zeb, Chopper, and AP-5 making a mess of things as they try to take out the Imperial Probe droid, while in the last few minutes of the episode we learn that it was actually an important episode in the grand scheme of Season 3. This episode was able to give us those little teasers of how Thrawn works when trying to complete his ultimate goal of finding a major Rebel base, while also subtly telling the viewer that we're basically done with Zeb.

       Overall, I thought that it was an OK episode. Really, you could have just skipped this episode and it wouldn't really affect your knowledge of "Rebels". Honestly, you could just read the summary of the episode and you're good going forward. However, what I feel this episode was really intended for was to highlight Zeb in more of a leading role. Given my previous statement, I think that it's finally safe to assume that Zeb doesn't really have much time left on the show given how the creators had to basically make a whole episode just to include him. Everyone mostly cares about Kanan, Sabine, and Ezra more than they do for the poor leftover Lassat. That's why I think that Zeb's time is done now that the story seems to be focused more on Sabine, Ezra, and even Maul when also given the fact that the Lassats have been found to not be extinct thanks to Zeb. Even though this appears to be true, I am saddened about it because he's been a fun character to explore and learn about as he's basically, in my opinion, a grumpier version of Chewbacca. I loved how the episode explored this as his tactical skills weren't up to par to handle a menace like the Imperial Droid, which only made him grumpier and funnier. Even his interaction with AP-5 was hilarious as we really haven't seen AP-5 interact with the rest of the Rebels besides Chopper.

       Speaking of AP-5, he stole the show for me. I love how he's basically a Star Wars version of Marvin from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. His attitude towards how the Rebels operate and organize was fun to watch as his background to completely different methods was on display as he would constantly complain about the Rebels and their own methods of doing things. I especially loved his interaction with Zeb as he would constantly question his intelligence even though he is capable of destroying AP-5 if he wanted to. Either way, this episode really stood out to me with how much of a presence AP-5 has when on screen, and that only makes me hope that he continues to be a part of the show.