What's up with "The Acolyte" and lightsabers? As well as many more questions (Thunderous Ramble) 

Remember the times where Lightsabers were actually lethal weapons that can cut through anything and kill a person? Good time's.

Remember when lightsabers weren’t glow sticks with mood rings in them?

Lightsaber deflects laser guns, MEH. lightsaber against a letter opener, RUN!

To address the thumbnail, alone, not even prepared to kill. A Jedi draws a Lightsaber as a last resort, to defend themselves and those around them if they must. To take a life is even more so a last resort than to take hold of the hilt, let alone activate it. Even before the Acolyte, it feels like Disney took away the elegance and grace of the Lightsaber. Yes it can be a lethal weapon, but the way it was always portrayed never made that lethality feel like a frontal aspect. As cool as Lightsabers are, it seems like Star Wars used to always be able to relay the amazement of a Lightsaber beyond its power. Like, George said children think Darth Vader is cool because they’re drawn to power, which I agree with, but the love for the Lightsaber always felt more. Now it just feels like a ‘laser sword’ swung around for visual flashiness.

Remember when lightsabers were as much as tools as weapons when they were used to cut holes in doors/walls/cockpits/floors, glowsticks, cut open tauntauns, and intimidate opponents?

I recall a TCW episode where Plo Koon and Ahsoka drew their lightsabers in a cantina and didn't kill anyone. It was more of an intimidation tactic.

"Come at me, bro." -- Mae

The lightsaber is for defense, Jedi have always turned their lightsabers on immediately because they are so well trained they don't have to worry about hurting others they don't plan on hurting. she should've had her saber ignited and breaking up the fight before their fight ever started, but no she just watched and played around.

We should start weekly videos called "What's Up with the Acolyte?" with Thor's lightning takes.

When the red lightsaber wielding guy said "An acolyte kills without a weapon.", I think that might be the first step along the path to becoming a Sith. And the then the next step would be for the acolyte to take the freshly killed Jedi's lightsaber and bleed it, graduating them to being a Sith Apprentice. And so on.

You can't kill me.. only a butter knife will..😂❤

I find especially the last part important. Given the Jedi exist for 25.000 years and still kept to the code, managed to keep it the overwhelming time away from being controlled by evil, I think the Jedi order by far THE most successful organization in doing good in ALL of fiction.

I'd argue the Clone Wars does a great job showing Anakin's gradual turn to the dark side and his reasons for doing so. One of the best examples probably being the arc where Ahsoka leaves the Order. This is where we really start to see Anakin losing faith in the Jedi (based on how they treated Ahsoka of course) to the point where he eventually has no trust left in them by the time we get to Episode 3.

the weird criteria that Mae must kill one of her targets without a weapon is bizarre… why does that matter? since she convinced Torbin to drink the poison, does that count? Torbin actually killed himself, so does that count as anything? is she just supposed to choke someone out, or push them off a cliff, or what? and then the master guy said you can’t kill a Jedi with steel, but Mae did just that at the beginning of the episode 😑 if they want to establish some Sith/Acolyte rite of passage, why not just make it “to kill a Jedi with their own lightsaber”? she always seems interested in taking her opponent’s lightsaber already, but they don’t explain why…

It's worth noting the Republic also turned a blind eye to some pretty immoral missions during the Clone Wars. We don't see too much of this in the animated series but one thing that does explore this is the Catalyst novel (which also serves as a prequel to Rogue One). Great book, highly recommend.

Hey Thor, what happened to Battle of the Heroes & Villains, and Moff Gideon when?

Yord is also a new Knight. He was only knighted two years previously so he is probably a bit overzealous and eager to prove himself. Both things are reasons for him drawing his saber. Master Indara and Master Sol are both older and masters so it makes sense there would be differences between a new knight and a master.

14:40 Correction: Timothy Zahn didn't have Luke and Mara fall in love. That wasn't even his intention in his Thrawn trilogy. That was something that decided upon and came about after the Trilogy since it was so obvious to everyone else reading this that there was an attraction. There was correspondence between the various writers of that era of the EU, Del Rey, and Lucasfilm on how to work on Luke's and Mara's relationship and how and when they would be wed. Funny enough, it was in a Dark Horse comic series that they were married in. No one ignored it and everyone had to follow through with it in the later books and comics. The only person who was angry about the whole deal was George Lucas, and yet, strangely enough, he didn't lift a finger to put an end to it.

The Clones Wars Animated Show showed us the actual wars we missed out on in the movies, it showed the strengthening of the relationship between Anakin and Obi-Wan, it showed how awesome Padme truly is, and showed us that Anakin truly was a great Jedi.

Love these longer videos! Come up the amazing work!

For a show that starts with a character announcing that a Jedi only draws their lightsaber when they’re going to kill, this show is chock full of Jedis lighting up for no purpose whatsoever

There’s negotiations and there’s aggressive negotiations.

Thanks for featuring my question Thor. It's been awhile since I commented but I have returned and am anxiously awaiting your "Now......" Merchandise.

Maybe you should put a poll for the name? Personally, I like "thunderstorm." Regarding the question of why other separatists didn't condemn the actions of Dooku and Grevious, I am reminded of the old saying that "the enemy of my enemy is my friend." Or at least my ally.

I love this new Thunderous Ramble.

Hey Thor, thanks for getting to my question. I'll have a chance to watch the first three episodes this week, but I'll trust your opinion on whether my theory is possible or not. It's funny you mentioned the 6th Sense. I guessed the ending in the first 10 minutes...it drove my wife crazy. Cheers.

On the use of lightsabers, there's a section from Light of the Jedi, the first High Republic novel, that comes to mind. I find it particularly significant given that Acolyte is supposed to be tying in with the High Republic. It goes: "Lightsabers were designed to end conflicts. They were designed to injure no more than necessary, and in the horrible circumstance where death was the only possible outcome, they would kill quickly. No more damage would be done by a lightsaber than its wielder chose. There was no collateral damage with the lightsaber. [...] Between the sound and the light, an enemy was given warning, every possible chance to simply _not_ fight, and wasn't that always the best outcome?" That line is just bad, however you slice it.

I mean it's not an inconsistency, Mae believes the Jedi are evil and she's the one who says that line about pulling the lightsaber. she's saying it as an insult

Re: the question about Anakin's balancing of the Force, I wish the Darth Plagueis novel was still considered canon, as it adds weight to what the balancing *means*, with the Sith ritual artificially tipping that balance on a galactic scale vs a planetary one like Korriban, for example. Dark side users will always exist, but with the context from the novel, we can assume the threat that required a Chosen One at all was of a significantly greater scope.

Addressing the storyline of the Clone Wars, I think the micro-series did a better job at showing Anakin going into a darker path. The Ventress confrontation was great. I felt the CGI Clone Wars was a vehicle for expanding and exploring deeper into Star Wars. Although more military in style, we get more of the Force philosophy, the witch origin of Ventress, a Maul "revival", etc. And particularly, the intro and development of Ahsoka. Maybe this wasn't the original plan, but it came out well.

Hey Thor, I've been wondering about droid sentience lately and why Star Wars rarely takes it seriously. I even think that people applauding clone sentience and individuality is a bit of a double standard when those same people dismiss droids as merely extensions of their creators. Even though Rex famously denies this, the fact is that clones are programmed to obey orders without question and are manufactured. Most clones only have limited independent thinking and a clone being able to live outside a military is incredibly rare. The only reason they develop individuality is because of experience. But the funny thing is, droids develop individuality for the same reason. The only difference is that droids regularly have their memories wiped specifically to prevent them from developing individuality and potentially rebelling. There's a moment in Heir to the Empire where Luke is asked why he has never wiped C-3PO's memories in all the years he's known him, and Luke reveals that he's uncomfortable with the idea of stripping his friend of individuality. And I don't know if you have played KOTOR 2 yet, but there's a mission where HK-47 argues with HK-50, who dismisses him as obsolete. But HK-47 argues that he is superior because he has developed individuality and has given himself a higher purpose and meaning because he has never had his mind wiped. These examples show that droid sentience should not be played for laughs so much in the franchise. In fact, I think the galaxy is overdue for a galaxy-wide droid revolution just to show people that sentient droids deserve equal treatment. This is actually addressed in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Measure of a Man" where Lt. Data's rights are debated because he's an android and I wish Star Wars had something similar. What do you think?

Hey Thor, what would be your ideal storyline for the “Dawn of the Jedi” movie, assuming it’s not cancelled?

Remember when lightsabers didn't cast light everywhere? Made them more mysterious. Pepperidge Farms remembers.

Thor Thunderstorm sounds awesome!

I totally agree with the commenter who mentioned marriage and I will say that marriage is not just based on love. Yes a lot of love is required to make marriage work, but marriage and by extension true love in my opinion is a commitment which takes work and devotion, but I do 100% believe that at some point in their life a Jedi should be able to get married and have kids.

hey thor, since i saw someone else mention the dawn of the jedi movie...what do you think of the je'daii code?

Let us not forget that Dooku beat two jedi without killing them due to his skill

To address how to describe balance in Star Wars, compare Dark Side users to Kai from Kung Fu Panda. It’s very obvious in Kung Fu Panda 3 in the spiritual sense how Kai twists the world around him for his own growth In power and that’s how it works in Star Wars in a bit more subtle of a way relatively speaking.

5:33 What if the evil sister *is* a split personality, but is a Force Projection by/of that personality; which would explain why the other can’t use the Force, despite being a promising student.

That’s a very good point

Hey Thor. What do you think of the Star Wars Total War game that people are talking about? Do you think this is something that could be pulled off effectively, and what eras do you think the game should focus on, or should it even try to do more than one?

Hey Thor, you forgot about Mina Bonteri. Dooku made her disappear, let's say... So I wonder how many others had the same end, after going against his wishes... Are there any others that you know of?

Lightsabers would be great for directing traffic.

Screw it, call it a Ramble Rumble 😂

Point taken thank for answering

There is a fair amount in the first couple of questions that seems to amount to: "This may or might be a good idea, but they botched it in the phrasing." I don't find a lot of sympathy in myself, there; these are supposed to be professional writers, and their professional product shouldn't leave the audience going "but what is that supposed to _mean_ ?" unless raising that confusion in the audience was the very deliberate intent. And I have absolutely zero confidence that deliberate obfuscation is in play, here. Optimism even to suggest it just needed a second draft it never got.

I can’t tell if Yord is meant to just be incompetent or if his weird actions are meant to hint at him being a secret villain. It’s probably the former but it would be fun if we got an actual Darth Jar Jar character.

I predict that Mae was dying after the fall, not totally dead. The witches did their dark side magic and transferred Mae’s spirit into Osha and then they all died from the effort. The transfer was kind of botched so Mae and Osha share the same body now. I would guess the witches’ intent was to wipe Osha out completely because she wanted to be a Jedi and Mae wanted to stay and continue the coven.

A lightsaber is not just a defensive weapon. It can deflect blaster bolts etc. In fact Indara was using her saber as a defensive weapon the whole fight, so that line didn't belong there and why people are clowning on it.

Hey Thor, I’d love to see you talk about other sci fi series. Whether it’s Alien, Star Trek, Transformers, etc. Even if it’s DC, Invincible, or more Marvel content

Ha! Thunderstorm. Nice.

There will come a day we will wish we still had Dave considering the The Acolyte is a show I desperately wished it to be something to make me hold on to faith in Star Wars and it wasn’t.

just a thought i assume Yoda is at the temple during this period because during R.O.T.J. before Yoda died he mention he was 900 years old which means by my math Yoda should be around during this period

What has been well-executed in The Acolyte? I'll wait...

Hey Thor, just wanted to say hi

Hey Thor, in Empire Strikes Back, on Bespin, in the carbonite chamber. Han is about to be lowered in and chewy goes for a lack of better term, “Ape Shit”. Throwing stormtroopers, etc. Boba Fett raises his blaster and takes aim, but Vader grabs the muzzle and pushes it down. Maybe I’m missing something, or it was explained elsewhere, why save chewy and Leia? Luke is on his way, Han may die during the process. Losing Leia and Chewy would push Luke closer to the dark side I’d imagine? I’ve never had gotten a good reason why Vader stops Fett in that situation. Great channel, look forward to your videos. Thank you.

5:50 Yeah... kinda like Rian Johnson in Glass Onion... Headland's hero...

I like to think Ahsoka found out Anakin’s return to the light side the same way she knew about his fall to the dark. She sensed it. In the last season of Clone Wars, Ahsoka sensed Anakin begging Mace not to kill Palpatine and betrayed him by cutting Mace’s arm off. She could sense Anakin’s return when he screamed No, picked up Sidious and threw him into the reactor core. (That would justify Lucas adding in the No’s) She would feel Joy for Anakin’s return fallowed by fear cause she senses that he is dying. She then drops everything and rushes to Endor. Of course when she makes it there, Anakin is long dead and the only thing left of him is his ashes. She then either meets Luke Skywalker or Force Ghost Anakin.

I love return of the Jedi and will never understand why some people hold it in disdain

Hey, Thor. I’m curious what you think about this. I’ve read some EU/Legends stories that imply or state that those who use the Light Side while embracing their love and bonds with others develop a boost in power equal or greater to the kind of boost embracing the Dark Side grants. Just without the mental and physical degradation that Legends shows comes with the Dark Side. It’s shown in both stories involving Revan, post-redemption, and with Luke’s new Jedi Order. As if to imply the way Luke’s order does things is the “right way” of doing things. Whereas the Jedi of the past were unintentionally stifling their own development by refusing to learn how to have attachments without becoming possessive. That’s the message I got from those stories anyways. Just curious if you think the concept does or doesn’t fit with Star Wars.

Ah... come on... ahco me in thor? 😂😂😂

Hey Thor, my line of thought regarding Mae's immediate (and rather blatant and cumbersome) attempts at "disarming" Jedi are coming from the idea that a Jedi's lightsaber is equivalent to their life and that they would be severely hobbled if not completely incapacitated without access to it... On the more pragmatic side of things, she probably at least tries to take the lightsabers to keep Jedi from using those lightsabers against herself (you know, even the playing field?) If for no other reason than to avoid having the lightsabers be activated/used at all during the battle, this makes logical sense to me. I'd like to know if this makes sense to you as well. 🤔

Pointing to Palpatine as the example is flawed. Balance is between two extremes. Paps is an extreme, of course he’s bad for balance. That doesn’t sell the argument any more than saying George said so, which he didn’t. More interesting is what would the extreme for light look like? I’d argue extreme selflessness is oblivion. The void of space. No desires, no wants, nothing to be selfish. That’s not good either so their must be a balance. My two cents.

Split personality + force projection?

You know, Palpatine gets WAY too much credit for executing Darth Bane's plan.

Hey Thor, not to beat a dead horse with all of the questions on balance lately, but how do you think the Nightsisters and their Magicks fit into our understanding of the force? While they at face value seem to just be Dark Side witches, we’ve now seen examples of more kindhearted witches in Tales of the Jedi. We also have Merrin, who despite being a powerful Magick user, was clearly a voice of reason to Cal and was the one who drew him back from the dark in Jedi Survivor. I know Talzin initially explains that the Nightsisters’ powers are not necessarily force powers, but given that the EU and Legends are full of force-using orders with different understandings of the force, their very existence seems to muddle George’s original explanation of the Light Side and Dark Side. Would love to hear your thoughts.

I think they lack the knowledge of the different classes of Jedi, I think they lack any knowledge to do with the Jedi lore, Yourd or however you spell his name is clearly a Guardian, since the show is called the Acolyte I presumed they might know this stuff.

THOR'S THUNDER NUTS A THORERSTORM THURSDAYS WITH THOR MAILBAG OF MJOLNIR THUNDERFART

Just watched the first episode, the show's good so far got me interested, not sure what people are mad about yet.

Hey Thor, what if the chosen one prophecy is the problem? The miraculous birth, the balance bringing, all that. Anakin/Darth Vader wasn't the chosen one prior to 1999. And plenty of Sith, including Palpatine himself, showed up in post RoTJ Star Wars in the EU. Fans debate it's meaning, how it came about, and judge all new projects from that vantage point. So what if it's the problem? What do you think?

Ki-Adi-Mundi was married in the Republic comics. I'm not a George Lucas purist. I prefer the idea that Jedi can get married. I see it as the one great flaw of the Jedi Order that Luke wisely chose not to repeat.

“Pulling a lightsaber” refers to “pulling it ON somebody.” It’s not saying they never turn on their lightsabers ever. It’s saying they don’t draw their weapons IN COMBAT as anything but a last resort. She also says “unless prepared to kill,” meaning they don’t have to INTEND to kill, but to accept that the situation has reached the point of potentially mortal danger.

I believe it's pronounced "Ah! Come On!" 😅

Hey Thor, what changes would you make to the original trilogy?

The dark side is like cancer which is mitosis run amok. You need mitosis, but mitosis unbalanced is cancer, like the dark side.

Ya i heard the fight club thing. I would LOVE that if that was the goal. But based on the breakdowns i have seen there is NO way that is possible.

Thor’s Thunderdome

used to play SWTOR and laughed my ass off imagining how any of my characters would have reacted to being challenged like Mai does.

The twist that the Twinsister doesn‘t exist could kinda work, when you take force-projection into account. But I also don‘t really like the Idea. 😅

If Acolyte wasn’t a Star Wars show, would anyone even be talking about it?

You guys noticed how chunkier the lightsabers are?

14:30 well somebody’s wife is going to be happy

Disney Corp SW doesn’t get it, and they actively don't want to get it.

Hey Thor would you be willing to recommend what Star War EU written fiction to start with. Thrawn? for example. I'm 75 now and have never read SW fiction but only watched the movies. I've never seen the Disney+ SW stuff.

Remember when lightsabers werent Harry Potter wands?

3:19 Didn't Vader have to kill a Jedi without a weapon in order to get the crystal he bleed? So is this some kind of Sith / Dark Side right of passage and for an Acolyte to progress they need to kill with hand to hand and the force?

I still don’t understand why may is mad about a fire she started that killed her family like it’s not on the Jedi it’s on her for starting the fire

Hey Thor: What are your opinions on the LEGO Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures show? (if you’ve seen it)

Hey Thor, have you ever read any of Timothy Zahn’s other works besides Star Wars? I recently read the Conquerors’ trilogy and enjoyed it. When I have time I’m going to check out his Blackcollar trilogy.

Clone wars was world building. It wasn’t just about anakin

I think Luke in the EU got benefit marry another jedi in the order and was the only jedi at the time didn't have much knowlege of old order so work off his own experience. While Anakin marry in secret didn't help at all should have waited when the war is over peace time could leave the order for padme.

That's my secret, Cap.

What if the Evil twin is a force projection of the good twin.

5:18 Indirectly responding to my question. I believe that the show is engaging in some sort of misdirection. This makes the rewatch much more interesting. I believe that Osha is a force projection of Mae or vice versa. There is some evidence for this in the show. I know it doesn't fully make sense, but it appears that the show is using smoke and mirrors to hide the big surprise. This was billed as a murder mystery. Where is the mystery, since it shows us the murderer in the very first scene?

Because they wanted to use Carrie Anne Moss to do Matrix nostalgia bait

What on gods green earth has filoni said or done that could be seen as "wanting to keep his job" vs how he actually feels?

Hey Thor, do you think it is possible that Disney could give the Thrawn-Trilogy a sort of "clone wars" treatment? with the original characters being old now (or departed). an animated series showing the original cast's story in that trilogy would serve Thrawn justice. I fear Disney and Filoni won't give the character the story he deserves. I would love to know your opinion.

Well.. To be fair, Mae is being groomed by a supposed Sith, so he probably told her bollocks about pulling the lightsaber being used only for lethal cases.

Thunder Thor's rambles.

I'm curious if you know of or have watched the RU-vid video "The Spectacular Failure of the Star Wars Hotel"? I haven't yet because I just learned about it and it is four hours long, but it's supposed to be both informative and entertaining. It addresses something that I've seen often from other RU-vid Star Wars pundits(?) that Disney is taking Star Wars fans for granted and providing a mediocre experience because Disney believes we are that starved and desperate for Star Wars content, no matter the quality.