Welcome to the final day of covering Star Wars: Visions! Some notes up front: we’re not going to be talking much about the studios that created these short films, both because of my general ignorance of the various producers involved, and also because I want to attempt to take these stories at as close to face value as possible. Today, we watch the final episode of the first season, so make sure your destiny is not set in stone and join us!
1. These are not the droids we’re looking for
It’s interesting to see how these various episodes are playing with expectation and form, in terms of Star Wars tropes. This episode features no droids to speak of, but there are two companions who, essentially, are human droids. They are obnoxious, have specialized skills that are necessary, and don’t have a ton beyond surface-level traits. Even if they’re annoying, I like this touch.
2. A lovely pace
Some of these episodes have felt like, despite their quite short running time, like the pace is all off. This episode wasted very little time on anything that wasn’t absolutely necessary to the plot, and never feels like it rushes itself along. The last 5 minutes or so are so jam packed that it requires near total concentration, because my phone rang during the episode, and in the 30 seconds it took me to say “Can I call you back?,” I feel like I missed a lot of information and had to rewind it.
And while some of my favorite anime is paced very deliberately, for this series and its sub-20 minute episodes, there needs to be a briskness to the proceedings. The scene where Tsubaki, the Jedi, says “I want to come with you” ends there; next thing we know, he’s joined their party. No arguing, no hemming and hawing. Get to the good stuff.
3. The scariest Sith yet
I had said that “Lop and Ochō” had the darkest ending of an episode thus far, and it turns out I should’ve shut my trap, because this week was an entirely different level of darkness. Tsubaki has been struggling with destiny and visions, an when he sees his vision become reality, he must forfeit his destiny in order to save Misa. The Sith who turns him is not all that scary in her powers or presentation, but in how she perfectly plays him against himself. She forces his hand, and gains an apprentice in the meantime.
This is the first time we’ve really seen the true allure of the Dark Side. Sure, Anakin wants to, hypothetically, save Padmé, but he isn’t given that option with her in front of him. Tsubaki sees, first hand, what the Dark Side can do, and opts to destroy his own future to save Misa’s. Now, one could argue that he can be turned back, or this is all part of his plan, but that all remains to be seen. All we know is that when this episode ends, the Sith gained a new apprentice, and a life was saved, but at what cost?
