Star Wars but not as we know it…

This third story is quite an odd entry into the series. It opens with two star destroyers linked together by some kind of huge cannon and it quickly becomes apparent that it’s a planet destroying weapon of the kind from The Force Awakens. However, in contrast to the film, this cannon is powered by two Force users who were bred for exactly this purpose and who are shepherded by a robot caretaker.

Animated by Trigger, one of two they’ve done for the series, this cuts across the Star Wars world in a self-contained story that cares little for how it fits into things, how its characters came to be or where it goes from the ending.

And I don’t know what to think.

In some respects it’s exactly Star Wars; there are all the key elements we encounter in the movies – warring families, last minute escapes, adventure, droids and views from the command deck of a star destroyer.

There are clear references to Yoda and Vader and even Leia’s view of the world and the wisdom they utter. It knows its source material but of the three so far, it jars the most.

I feel like it inhabits an uncanny valley where it’s almost Star Wars but only close enough that it feels weird.

Some of this is definitely because the story beats are pure animé. The character arcs are decided off screen, indeed prior to the start of the story, and we experience the consequences of those unseen decisions.

Or consider how the narrative realism is second to the drama of the relationships – another classic approach of the genre which is the reverse of what we see in the European medieval romance inflections of Lucasfilm’s defining works in the same universe. Here we see that there is no straight line to what the characters decide, there’s no motivating event or inciting incident, just characters who’ve decided. I love this different perspective even as I find it hard because I’m so used to stories in which those things have a primacy and integral part of the story.

Hence I’m not sure how I find this one subjectively.

Structurally, visually, it’s beautiful – there are some brilliant design choices and fantastic composition. The soundscape is a love letter to the Empire and the Rebellion. And yet. I struggle with the narrative construction – and that is almost entirely down to me being so preconditioned to regard certain ‘builds’ as normal and those which don’t fit into those boundaries to somehow be lesser stories.

If this was a jarring watch it is nothing less than a challenge to my assumptions about how stories should be built.

Verdict: This is essential viewing even if ‘enjoying’ it might not be the most important part of experiencing this particular episode.

Rating? 5 twins of 10

Stewart Hotston