Book of Boba Fett [Spoilers]

General Discussion
#121

Interesting idea, a cumbersome tied to willpower could be cool, but I think this is more a roleplaying moment; your training in brawling and melee helps you nothing, you need to learn how to wield a lightsaber… your failed checks are basically the “heaviness” of the lightsaber and your lack of training and “attunement” with wielding such weapons.

His self-injury during the fight at the meat packing facility made me think about my old idea that lightsabers used without the force or without proficiency automatically upgrades the check, and/or you wound yourself (some amount) or cause a critical injury on yourself (no more than easy difficulty to treat) on 3 threats or a Despair… or something.

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#122

When discussing that moment with my son, I said to him, “And that is why I have the house rule that someone using a lightsaber who isn’t Force-sensitive has their Lightsaber roll upgraded once.”

It’s a house rule that I’ve had for a while in most of my campaigns.

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#123

The only reason I didn’t have a problem with the use of Mando is that the two series are rather closely intertwined. If this was, say, the Ahsoka series, I’d be much less likely to agree. But since there’s the Peli Motto connection and Boba Fett/Fennec Shand already have a preexisting relationship with him, I wasn’t really bothered.

But I totally get the complaint.

As for the gangsters, Mando wasn’t upset with them. He had a very painful leg wound that needed treating, and he was anxious to go track down the other Mandalorians, so he didn’t want to chit-chat. I took it as urgency/general irritation, not any sort of anger towards them specifically.

Yeah, I upgrade all untrained (in the literal sense, not “Untrained” skill) checks with a lightsaber. I have not encountered such a situation yet, but on a Despair I’d inflict a critical injury, and on 3 Threat or more I might choose to inflict Wounds=Threat.

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#124

This. That’s how I thought about doing it, but it never came up.

My current idea comes from Sabine’s training in Rebels and the Armorer’s info dump in this episode, and I have come to the conclusion that I think 1 skill rank in lighsaber is force sensitive “enough” to wield a lightsaber without the autoupgrade, I may still apply the despair/threat for damage…

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#125

I finally got to watch Episode 5 of BoB and while I like the new starfighter, not sure how much good that will do Mando since he needs to bring back bounty marks. Maybe he’ll get a transport, too, that will be big enough to house the starfighter when he’s not using it.

#126

I see two ways this goes: He only takes local/kill bounties (no flying transport required), or he pursues his own quests and either takes no bounties, or only whatever bounties he needs to stay fed and equipped.

I doubt he’ll get a transport large enough to hold his starfighter, as not only would it be very expensive, but he’d have to leave it unmanned in order to use his starfighter.

#127

They gutted the astromech socket, so I assume Grogu is going to be sitting in there when they travel. Not a good plan though, since you can’t reach back there in flight.

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#128

I also figured we’re going to see Grogu in the droid socket. It has a nice viewing window so we can seem him in there looking around easily. That second seat could also hold a bounty if properly restrained. No room for a carbonite frozen slab though. And no room for both Gorgu and a bounty, if that happens.

It was noted on-screen that this N1 didn’t need a hyperspace ring. But, the standard N1 has a hyperdrive already so why mention that?

I wish they would have gone with an ARC-170 instead. It has 3 seats and they could have replaced the droid socket in the same fashion or with a spot for a bounty? I had some bounty hunter PCs in an old campaign that found an inoperable ARC-170 hidden away on Tatooine and slowly fixed it up (credits sink buying hyperdrive, shields, weapons) so this episode brought back memories.

#129

I think it wasn’t saying that normal N1s needed a hyperdrive ring, but rather emphasizing that N1 starfighters, unlike many starfighters, don’t need hyperdrive rings.

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#130

But on-screen it’s actually about even when it comes to hyperdrive vs non-hyperdrive fighters or fighter/bombers. I understand reinforcing it though. But how many non-uber Star Wars fans are even going to remember what a hyperspace ring is? It’s almost like the writer confused the N1 with the two Jedi starfighters. Those needed the ring, the N1 didn’t. Perhaps Motto should have said, “She’s small, but she still packs a good hyperdrive”. Perhaps the ring reference was for the fans like us and I’m making too much of it. It IS the smallest starfighter I can think of* with an internal hyperdrive.

*Just thought of the A-wing.

#131

I’d say it’s partly that most of what we’ve actually seen are military fighters designed to have hyperdrives (Rebellion, ARC-170), or else carrier fighters that aren’t usually needed to go through hyperspace (Vulture droid, V-19 Torrent, V-Wing [the latter two used rings]).

I imagine that most PDF fighters from the same era as the Aethersprite fighters would require hyperdrive rings, making the N1 an exception for its time. Worth noting that the Aethersprite line was originally for PDFs. The Jedi had their own special models made.

The important thing about fighters for a PDF is that they usually don’t need hyperdrives, because they don’t usually need to leave their home systems, making an internal hyperdrive unnecessary and wasteful. Having a hyperdrive ring option is less expensive (since you don’t need many) and more efficient.

#132

Episode 6
:exploding_head:

I need a change of underwear …

Luke (looking better in this episode than before, definitely upgraded tech and methods here) :heart: Loved seeing him again, his training of Grogu and building of the temple with those ant droids. Dropping some wisdom and lore about the past and showing some of what he’s learned since RotJ.

Ahsoka seemed strange to have in this episode, but I loved her line “I’m a friend of the family”. I guess this is just before going off to get Sabine and go looking for Ezra?

Getting Ahsoka and Luke to have a conversation about the past, Anakin, Sidious, Jedi of the Republic and it all, would be awesome, however such an information dump doesn’t feel warranted yet… perhaps never.

Grogu’s training was cool, he’s a lazy and traumatised little green one. The flashback to Order 66 was very cool, and we understand more about his traume. Luke offering Yoda’s lightsaber or chain mail as a choice, not too unlike his own choice to go save Han and Leia in ESB (but not exactly the same stakes, perhaps).

Cad Bane has a funny mask, a tad too light and round headed, and I am jumping to conclusions (give me a trampoline!) as we never got his name (and I didn’t check the credits), but I feel safe in assuming it’s him. Really cool to see him, still being the fastest draw… and him not killing Cob Vanth, but riddling the deputy with blaster holes… gah! Not a smart move, but a classic Star Wars gangster move? Cob Vanth may be the one who kills Cad Bane in the end…

That Krayt dragon skull on the sandcrawler :sweat_smile: Awesome!

I think they are weaving something big … bigger than Mando and Boba … and I love it. With Kenobi and Andor coming up, Mandalorian season 3 … and then Ahsoka … this is going big, huge.

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#133

Wow! What an episode :open_mouth:

I’m going to be gutted when the show ends…

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#134

Luckily we’re getting Andor and Kenobi, both unrelated to the “mandoverse” or whatever the kids are calling it these days, but then we’re getting Mandalorian season 3 in December. Right? :crossed_fingers:

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#135

The episode was very good, I just still can’t get past the live-action Ahsoka and the “rejuvenated” Luke just seemed off somehow, but maybe it was more psychological since I know it isn’t Luke. The longer exposure/more voice lines gave more room for an entrance into the uncanny valley.

The only other thing I didn’t like was their portrayal of lightsabers. If I remember correctly, they are now using practical effects. However, now they just look like glowsticks. They really do. The lightsabers in the prequel trilogy looked much, much better. The thing about CGI versus practical is that practical is limited by what and how the camera sees. With CGI, you can fine tune and adjust to get it perfect.

But methodology issues aside, this was a very good episode. Cad Bane’s appearance was unsurprising, and I deduced who it was the moment I saw the trench coat-ish thing flapping in the wind. I’m not surprised the deputy got shot up, or that no one seemed particularly concerned for him. What does surprise me is why the Marshal would let such an idiot (who obviously idolizes him) become a deputy.

Grogu should just choose the armor Mithril. Nothing good will come of being a Jedi. Was it previously confirmed that he was from the temple? I remember talking about it before, but can’t remember if it was just general fan shenanigans or if it was confirmed by Ahsoka.

Other than that, I don’t really have anything to say about the episode that @GMLovlie didn’t say.

As for Mando season three, I’m thinking we should just call this Mando season three and that Mando season four. For it to have been pushed back a full year, they must have completely changed the story, and they obviously intend for it to follow this series.

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#136

It is Luke, it isn’t Mark Hamill :sweat_smile: but I agree it’s still there, and he looked or felt different in different shots… different stock photos used as basis I guess… the uncanny valley should be there though, we don’t want it not to be. We want it to feel unreal, at least I do. This is Luke, fictional character Luke.

I tend to agree. I like the new look, but they feel less “forcey” and “unreal” now. More like, as you say, glowsticks…

You use what you’ve got … beggar’s can’t be choosers … and, I think this is why Cad didn’t kill Cob. Cad shot him as a warning, and because he saw that the deputy distracted him and all that it wasn’t a real or proper duel… Cad’s timing was odd though… walking out of the desert, just minutes after Din left … I wonder what spies let them know.

I think it was confirmed by Ahsoka, but I don’t know for certain.

#137

I do not understand your point in the slightest.
Definition of uncanny valley:

A psychological concept that describes the feelings of unease or revulsion that people tend to have toward artificial representations of human beings, as robots or computer animations, that closely imitate many but not all the features and behaviors of actual human beings.

That isn’t a good thing for a live-action show.

Well, just citing that one scene, Cobb would have been better off without the “deputy.” First qualification if you’re very limited in quality selections is “can take instructions.” This deputy clearly can’t.

I don’t think Cad Bane really cares about “real” or “proper” duels. I think he just didn’t think it was worth it, for a variety of reasons. I think he killed the deputy just because he was ticked off at the “insolent whelp.”

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#138

That’s fine.

If you think of the larger context of technology and representation of real people digitally, I think it is a good thing, it makes it clear it is a story and not something real thing (being live-action makes it in some ways even more important). I know, ethics, ideology, principles. It matters though. Even Favreau mentioned this issue in the Disney Gallery about the return of Luke in Mando season 2.

I agree, that’s probably more precise. :slight_smile:

#139

Oh, you were talking in a broader societal sense. Yes, that I understand. I was narrowly focused on the actual media in question. I am certainly apprehensive of the sort of “deep fake” technology, although we shouldn’t get into the particulars because that is beyond the purview of this forum.

As for what should be done in fictional movies, it’s a tough question. I rather like the old days when everything had to be done the old-fashioned way, and everyone accepted that as the way things had to be done. You kids are spoiled by all this fool technology!

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#140

I’m more than willing to chalk that up to the passage of time. Chronologically, it’s been about 25 years since last we saw him, and he wasn’t really a spring chicken during the Clone Wars. He’s got to be pushing his 70s by this point.

I believe they’re using a mix: practical on set, but finishing with traditional effects as always. Current technology allows them to use those practical sabers so to cast the light from the blades across actors and other surfaces on the day, but the blades (at least using the ones we have here in the house and have photographed as a point of reference) don’t photograph as faithfully to the intended color. (I’ve got a purple UltraSaber, my son has a blue…when we’ve taken pictures with them, they both just look like they’re glowing white).