Episode Eight Pre-Release Thread

[Ithekro]

I see SKB as more something to allow the First Order to be an actual threat for the later films. Because without that shot, the New Republic Fleet should, realistically, be able to pounce on the First Order really easily given the New Republic having had three decades to rebuild the galaxy and their own navy with at least a sizable amount of the resources of the old Galactic Empire, or just the resources of the Old Republic and part of the old Separatist worlds, while the First Order is scraping around the Unknown Regions trying to built stuff to give them an edge over the large conventional warfleets of the Republic.

The Death Stars might have been very good at causing fear and blowing up planets, but Star Killer Base actually performed a functional military grade strike by knocking out a key world and presumably the majority of the Republic Navy with the several planets destroyed in that one shot. Potentially all those worlds were the major fleet bases and thus took out the major capital ships, since those wouldn't usually be out on patrol when the Republic is basically at peace.
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[Tuskin38]

Interview with Rian Johnson:
http://www.empireonline.com/movies/news/last-jedi-exclusive-rian-johnson-talks-snoke-kylo-ren/

"We got the whole story of Palpatine’s rise to power in the prequels, but in the original films he's exactly what he needs to be, which is just ‘The Emperor’" Johnson tells Empire in the new October issue. "He's a dark force: the scary thing behind the thing. That was entirely how I approached Snoke. I wasn't interested in explaining where he came from or telling his history, except where it serves this story.”

So little or no backstory to Snoke in the film.

Knowing Star Wars they'll probably do an entire novel dedicated to his story sometime in the future though.

 

[Reverend]

I see SKB as more something to allow the First Order to be an actual threat for the later films. Because without that shot, the New Republic Fleet should, realistically, be able to pounce on the First Order really easily given the New Republic having had three decades to rebuild the galaxy and their own navy with at least a sizable amount of the resources of the old Galactic Empire, or just the resources of the Old Republic and part of the old Separatist worlds, while the First Order is scraping around the Unknown Regions trying to built stuff to give them an edge over the large conventional warfleets of the Republic.

The Death Stars might have been very good at causing fear and blowing up planets, but Star Killer Base actually performed a functional military grade strike by knocking out a key world and presumably the majority of the Republic Navy with the several planets destroyed in that one shot. Potentially all those worlds were the major fleet bases and thus took out the major capital ships, since those wouldn't usually be out on patrol when the Republic is basically at peace.
.

Not sure I buy this as a justification for SKB for storytelling purposes. It would have been perfectly sufficient to establish that after the last remnant of the Empire surrendered, most of the galaxy disarmed and treaties were signed to severely limit the numbers and types of warships that can be built. After two very destructive galaxy-wide wars this is going to be very appealing to a lot of worlds.
It's by no means a direct allegory, but this general premise is not unlike how the post WWI European powers were caught off-guard and unprepared for what would become WWII, and for much the same reason.

Don't forget that this is a story. The Republic only has a formidable fleet if the person writing the script says so. It's an invented story-point, designed specifically to justify SKB, not the other way around.

 

[marillion]

Technically not Episode VIII related, but Colin Trevorrow is out as director of Episode IX

Variety article.

 

[Tuskin38]

https://twitter.com/pablohidalgo/status/905147346069086208

"How does the First Order have enough resources to make their ships, vehicles and Star Killer Base?"

"3 decades of unrestricted access to hinterland resources + funding from Centrist worlds and sympathizers + [who knows what else?]"

 

[JD]

Technically not Episode VIII related, but Colin Trevorrow is out as director of Episode IX

Variety article.

Well, at least this time they figured out that things weren't working before they started production.
It's a shame he's out, I really enjoyed Jurassic World, and I was looking forward to what he was going to do in EPIX.

 

[Turtletrekker]

Maybe Ron Howard can just jump from Han Solo to Episode 9.

 

[JD]

Joss Whedon would be one of my top choices if he wasn't already busy over in the DCEU.

I'm curious if Phasma is going to have bigger role in TLJ than she did in The Force Awakens. They seem to be doing a lot to develop her character in the book and comic, so I'm hoping they are doing that for a reason.

 

[Venardhi]

Not sure I buy this as a justification for SKB for storytelling purposes. It would have been perfectly sufficient to establish that after the last remnant of the Empire surrendered, most of the galaxy disarmed and treaties were signed to severely limit the numbers and types of warships that can be built. After two very destructive galaxy-wide wars this is going to be very appealing to a lot of worlds.
It's by no means a direct allegory, but this general premise is not unlike how the post WWI European powers were caught off-guard and unprepared for what would become WWII, and for much the same reason.

Don't forget that this is a story. The Republic only has a formidable fleet if the person writing the script says so. It's an invented story-point, designed specifically to justify SKB, not the other way around.

One idea I had at one point watching the movie was that SKB would be a decoy. A ploy to get the Resistance to attack them directly which would leave the Republic worlds vulnerable to some other, more smaller and insidious weapon. 1. It shows us that Snoke isn't just a bigger badder version of Palpatine and 2. Gives our heroes a win at the cost of a greater loss which is more interesting from a storytelling perspective. Of course that went out the window pretty quick when it destroyed a planetary system.

 

[Reverend]

^As decoys go, that would have been a bit extreme. I mean they would still have had to scoop out a chink of a planet and build *massive* structures, even if it was all non-functional.

 

[Tuskin38]

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[fireproof78]

^As decoys go, that would have been a bit extreme. I mean they would still have had to scoop out a chink of a planet and build *massive* structures, even if it was all non-functional.

My apologies but this is just my weird sense of humor showing up...

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[David cgc]

Given that it's their headquarters and capable of building ships, I'd think of it more of a mobile deep space battlestation than a warship. Think a *much* smaller Death Star sans superlaser.

In terms of size, shape, and function, it reminds me a lot of the Mothership from the Homeworld video games, just sideways instead of vertical. And it does make sense for a guerrilla force with aspirations of empire-hood.

 

[Enterprise1701]

It seems to me that in the films, the bulk of Resistance personnel seem to be individuals born and/or who spent their childhoods in the era of the New Republic, with a smaller but prominent number of Rebel Alliance veterans (e.g. General Leia Organa) and even a few veterans of the Old Republic (e.g. Admiral Ackbar). We have yet to see that clearly onscreen with the First Order. While Snoke himself is probably at least an Empire veteran, all the prominent First Order personnel in The Force Awakens seem too young to be Empire veterans. Could The Last Jedi change that? After all, the First Order is specifically an evolution of Empire remnants.

And yes, I know about Battlefront II's Iden Versio, but she's not a film character.

 

[Reverend]

It seems to me that in the films, the bulk of Resistance personnel seem to be individuals born and/or who spent their childhoods in the era of the New Republic, with a smaller but prominent number of Rebel Alliance veterans (e.g. General Leia Organa) and even a few veterans of the Old Republic (e.g. Admiral Ackbar). We have yet to see that clearly onscreen with the First Order. While Snoke himself is probably at least an Empire veteran, all the prominent First Order personnel in The Force Awakens seem too young to be Empire veterans. Could The Last Jedi change that? After all, the First Order is specifically an evolution of Empire remnants.

And yes, I know about Battlefront II's Iden Versio, but she's not a film character.

It was pretty much the same in the OT. You had a distinct mix of old Clone Wars veterans like Tarkin and Dodonna in the leadership roles while the bulk of the rebel pilots being late teens or early 20's, again with a few veterans in leadership roles.

As for the First Order's old guard from the Imperial days: I think the idea here is that they're all too old or too dead at this point to be commanding Star Destroyers so their children have supplanted them. Hux being the prime example.

 

[Venardhi]

My read on that was The First Order doesn't want squabbling politicians and admirals playing power games the way they did in Imperial times. They want true believers through and through who wouldn't know what to do with power other than to serve the First Order with it. That is the point of raising them from birth and going through all the behavior modification and constant vigilance against any deviation, rather than just taking applications from desperate yokels and throwing them in some plastic armor like the Empire did. There are a few older officers still in place who helped shepherd this new generation into place, but Hux clearly leapfrogged them because he has Snoke's trust as one of his child soldiers while he can never be as sure about those who were part of the old guard.

 

[Tuskin38]

So the Resistance Bomber is called 'B/SF-17'

its literally a space B-17

 

[fireproof78]

So the Resistance Bomber is called 'B/SF-17'

its literally a space B-17

Everything is better in space.

 

[JD]

A new piece of TLJ mashup art has been making the rounds today.
My Neighbor Poporgo.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

According to A.V. Club, Joseph Gordon-Levitt will have a small cameo as an alien.