Part of me wants Luke to be the new Palpy in the movies, but the other part of me wants him to stay the farmboy.

The style would be part of it in that it has to actively not turn me off. But overall, I was also rarely impressed that much with TCW beyond just my issues with the character design. The few times I watched it (which are by no means conclusive) it tended to have some major moments that were a lot more tell than show. I don’t know if that’s par for the course with a kids show or not, but it was deeply annoying to me. I didn’t have that problem with ATLA, but I guess ATLA is a rare bird… And not taking place in a universe where I was already well-versed in the basics. So I hope Rebels can be a bit more subtle in that aspect.

I don’t really know what will make it for me – characters I can care about? That’s tough for me and Star Wars these days (mostly me,) but anything’s possible, I guess. And I hope they can balance standalone stories with multi-parters… Did TCW even DO any standalone stories that last season?

Rebels is almost certainly going to be a wait-and-see. But I think the chances that I’ll watch more than a dozen episodes over multiple seasons are pretty good. I’ll probably give it more of a chance, assuming it doesn’t put me to sleep during the debut hour. ;)

What’ll make or break this series for you? The animated style?

I hope that the new show will pursue some of the stories that TCW left incomplete. As Jason mentionned, the mandalorian certainly wouldn’t accept the Empire. It would be interesting to see how its arrival impacts their own internal conflicts.

It would be really great to have Sidious using Maul to track down Jedis. It would make perfect sens, it would be his ”other use” for Maul.

How Ahsoka reacts to the arrival of the Empire and how she acts against it would be great to see. I’m pretty sure show would start her own rebellion cell. I really want her to be with Ventress, and maybe a bit like Ventress. Leaving the order and the rise of the Empire certainly had an impact on her, and I would love to see her as a more grey, conflicted character, dealing with some dark side issues while fighting the Empire. But if there is one thing that I’m sure about, it’s that I don’t want to see Lux. And certainly not with Ahsoka. Their relationship was resolved, and I don’t think it should be reopened. Just because the Order isn’t here anymore doesn’t mean she all of a sudden can fall in love. Attachements lead to the dark side. I know, I mentionned Dark Sideissues, but I don’t think those should involve romance. And if they really have to, may they not involve Lux. He was really annoying.

Darth Vader having some emotionnal issues of his own would be cool. And I really would like to see Captain rex and Fives. Are they stormtroopers now? Did they quit the army? Those would be interesting questions, but I suspect that we will have answers in the bonus content, with the order 66 stuff. Who knows, maybe they will leave in the bonus content, and we will see them in the new show.

I have great hope for this series, but I personnally think that Lucasfilm could’ve brought it to us without such a brutal cancellation. There were three seasons left written. They could’ve removed from those all non-essential arcs until they had 1 and a half to two seasons left, that they would’ve aired and then have a transition to episode 3 in TCW, and then continue with the new show. It would’ve avoided them some fan rage, given them a chance to make more money out of the prequels while still changing era before Episode 7, and having a more direct transition between eras would’ve probably dragged even more viewers from TCW to this new show; for Clone Wars fans, it would be almost as if it still was the same show, just in the OT, so there would be fewer losses than with ending TCW brutally. That combined with an increase in the OT fanbase watching would’ve secured more ratings. Keeping the Clone Wars a bit longer would’ve also given them the chance to exploit Star Wars TV potential while Rebels isn’t on the air yet, and the new show could have surfed on TCW’s popularity, which it won’t do as well a year after the Clone Wars’ cancellation.

I still have hopes that one day, in a few years, they will make some unaired episodes. In it’s last seasons TCW had been dealing a lot with the Republic and Anakin’s transformation, and by the looks of the bonus content it was just the beginning. The bonus content being just 2-3 arcs, I can’t help but be saddened by the thought of all these other arcs dealing with those important themes that will never air. Those are themes that Rebels will never be able to deal with as directly as TCW, no matter how interesting the new show looks. And so I keep hoping about TCW returning in a few years, when all this transition will be behind us…