Solo4114
Master Member
I think CW managed to find a balance between being very kid friendly but still telling some darker stories, I would expect him to be able to shepard Rebels the same way. I also think the creative team will continue to err on the side of kid friendly content. I always contend this is a kids show and will continue to service that demographic.
Let's hope! I want this show to succeed for multiple reasons.
I was a sensitive kid, saw Empire in the theater at age 5 in 1980, felt let down by ROTJ in 1983 when I was in 3rd grade. Empire was, when I was a kid, my favorite, darker tone and all. Most of my Star Wars toys were from Empire -- especially the Hoth stuff. I had Empire sheets, and coveted (but could never find) the Boba Fett Underoos. Kids can handle darker. What matters most is how it's presented. Kids like good stories, whatever is being conveyed. If it's well-told, most parents (and kids) should be fine with season two of Rebels. Those that aren't are most likely the sorts of parents who object to Bridge to Terebithia (book or movie) and generally treat their children like mental defectives who must be insulated from the world, and not just small human beings.
The galaxy is well into its descent into Darkness. The Empire is well-established, they've been working the propeganda machine for a decade and a half, and they're stepping up their excesses in seeking to control everything and everyone. Enslavement, executions, genocide... and only a few years off from destroying whole planets to make a point. Vader (and the Emperor's other emissaries) are hunting down and killing Jedi. I have to give the production crew credit for starting with and keeping as light a tone as they did for so long when it's generally a frikkin' dark setting.
--Jonah
I don't disagree about what kids can handle, but you have to consider that their parents are the ones who decide what they'll get the opportunity to handle. If the show goes really dark/scary/violent/sad, my concern is that parents will say "This is too much!" and the show will see ratings slip and merchandising fall off. I'd hope that the show can find the right vibe, though. I haven't gotten very far in Clone Wars (still working through S1), so I haven't seen firsthand how they manage that in the other show. I certainly think it's possible to find that balance, I just hope they succeed at it.
In regards to midiclorines, GL said in two separate interviews before his departure that they were indicators if Force potential and the more skilled a person became in accessing the Force, the higher their count would become. So he left open the door that with training, many people could learn to use the Force.
Yeah, I guess, to me, the issue is more that you just don't...need midichlorians when you've already established the Force as this "sensing" thing. Like, "I sense he could become more powerful than any Jedi we've ever encountered." There. Now you don't need a blood test. It's just one of the extra things Lucas added that served no real purpose in the story other than to muddy already clear waters.
It'd be like spending 5 minutes explaining how the broken hyperdrive on Padme's ship was caused by the fact that hyperdrives are powered by the hopes and dreams of the crew, but if the dream-collector is damaged, the hyperdrive loses that ability, and then following it up by saying that hyperdrives were originally invented by a mysterious race that died out long before the current story but are rumored to watch from beyond the veils of known reality, waiting to determine whether any creature in the galaxy is worthy of the great Tome of Enlightenment....and then never mentioning any of this stuff again.
Just say "The hyperdrive's broken, and we need to go find a replacement part." There. Done. The rest of my hyperdrive nonsense adds nothing to the story whatsoever, and only confuses things.