Robin tales fighter

Hello, my name is Robin. I'm just some random guy on the internet who likes to write star wars stories and make stop motion races.

[robintalesfighter]

Briefly hopping back on to say that alongside Tumblr I'm also gonna take a break from fic writing for a while.

Ronin's Path is almost done, but I'm not happy with how chapter 26 turned out so far, and I have zero motivation to fix it right now. Also no motivation to finish the final two chapters. And I want to make the ending the best it can be, and right now I don't feel like I'm able to do that. And the same also goes for the sequel which comes afterwards.

I don't expect anything to be written for Diary of an Inquisitor either, but given how I write that story in the first place you never know lol.

I'm also planning to move to another country for the second half of this year, so preparing for that has also taken priority, and I also have quite a few stop motions to film before I leave as well. My expectation is that I'll get back to writing once I'm settled in over there, but I don't know for sure. It could also be sooner or later, depending on my motivation.

I will still keep reading and probably commenting on other people's fics, but other than that I won't be around much.

[robintalesfighter]

break time

I'm gonna take a break from Tumblr for a while. I'm trying to reduce my online activity because it's one of the reasons I almost fell back into a burnout recently, so I'm getting any app that constantly spews content at me through an algorithm. Unfortunately that includes Tumblr, because I scroll here way too much through things that don't actually interest me all that much.

(mostly the "because this person you follow liked this we put it in you "followed" feed which really annoys me. The art is cool but there's just too much that overwhelms me)

So yeah, don't expect me to post or comment or like anything during the next few weeks. I'll return eventually and will then read through all the new stuff from the people I follow. I'm still available through other messaging apps if anyone wants to share anything.

[robintalesfighter]

Plan for today: finish chapter 26 of Ronin's Path so I can upload it this week.

What actually happened: spent half the day watching crashfest races and the other half filming stop motion. Not a word written.

We'll get 'em next time ig.

[blackbirdswritings]

“You used to say that in your lectures,” Mei remarked as she entered the information into her datapad. He froze. “What fucking lectures?” She looked up at him, a hint of amusement in her eyes. “At the Academies. Don’t be afraid to use fear as a tool. I had your poster above my bed when I was a cadet.” He stared at her. A poster? Above her bed? For a split second, he almost laughed. But there was nothing funny about it. “Just fucking great… Thought you were from out here,” he said, confused. “They only peddled that propaganda crap in the Core Worlds…” “I had excellent grades,” Mei explained with a small smile. “I earned a scholarship to the Royal Imperial Academy on Coruscant.” ‘You’ve gotta be kidding me… Right. Coruscant. They dragged me there all the time… Not that I hated the perks back then.’ “Hope you didn’t actually buy that shit COMPNOR wrote about me,” he snorted. “Some of it was a bit exaggerated, yes,” Mei smiled. “But I liked your speeches. They were… inspiring.”

A young imperial cadet Mei Quinn settling down with a hot drink after a long day of studying, staring at a poster of the handsome and inspiring Twelfth Brother.

Oh how the times change.

(From @lucatielle's fic, A Sith Out of Time)

[robintalesfighter]

Gotta reblog this because I just noticed Ronin's Path sitting on that shelve lol.

[robintalesfighter]

Tagged: People you'd like to know better

Thanks for the tag @lucatielle.

Last song(s): Infra-red by Three Days Grace, Good Things Go by Linkin Park, Carnivore by Starset, Lifetime by Three Days Grace.

Currently watching: Nothing specific at the moment. I did recently rewatch some Marvel movies, and am thinking about doing a Mandalorian rewatch and Maybe another She Ra rewatch.

Current obsession: Writing, Star Wars, OCs, Hot Wheels Racing

Currently reading: Just a bunch of fanfics that I'm keeping up with, such as A Sith Out Of Time, Resurrection of Shattered Heart, A Tale of Masters, and Flash Flood.

Currently working on: I'm currently writing the final chapters of Ronin's Path: Journey Through Darkness. Other than that mostly working on video stuff because I've got 6 stop motions to finish in the next two months... so lots of editing and filming. Also painting some hot wheels.

Last Google search: The Malevolence. I needed to check what type of ship it was while writing yesterday's Tumblr post about my latest spaceship design.

No pressure tags: @hopefulsith @blackbirdswritings

[robintalesfighter]

Another little ship sketch: the Solar Flare

After the Nova-class Star Destroyer from last time, I came up with another ship design. This is the Solar Flare, a one-off design for a dreadnought featuring 6 massive Ion cannons. It's 14 kilometers long, falling in the range of Super Star Destroyer type ships.

This ship was designed during the clone wars, as a successor to the Subjugator-class heavy cruiser (aka the Malevolence). It was designed near the end of the clone wars, with the build started at a secret CIS shipyard located in the Outer Rim just before the battle of Coruscant. It was, in fact, so secretive that even most of the Separatist leadership didn't know about it. Dooku was aware of it, but never got to inform his Master before his death, meaning the ship was abandoned and forgotten at the end of the war. The shipyard was later taken over by a private corporation, which was also responsible for the building of the Nova Star Destroyers. The same group responsible for ordering these Star Destroyers also decided to commission the company to finish the Solar Flare to use as their flag ship.

As mentioned before, the ship has six ion batteries, the same type ast the Malevolence. It has learned from the mistakes of its predecessor, meaning that each Ion cannons runs on a completely separate power grid from the other cannons or the rest of the ship, meaning that destroying one cannon won't cripple the entire ship. Surprisingly, it has less heavy turbo lasers than the Malevolence, despite being three times larger. The original design had much more weaponry, but this was reduced after the clone wars due to limited funds. Therefore, this ship is expected to operate with a fleet of Nova Star Destroyers, which would bring the firepower to destroy enemy vessels after they are disabled.

The six Ion cannons are also what earns this ship its name, the Solar Flare, as Solar Flares can cause heavy damage to electronic systems. With the Malevolence already being able to take down entire fleets, imagine how much damage this ship could do...

(Side note: the reason Sidious never found out about this ship was because Dooku considered keeping it a secret in case he or his Master ever betrayed the each other.)

And yes, this ship will show up in Ronin's Path alongside the Nova-class Star Destroyers.

[robintalesfighter]

I'm currently writing chapter 26 and 27 at the same time, since they're directly connected, so the next chapter of Ronin's Path is gonna take a bit longer than usual.

So instead, here is a little preview of chapter 26, which will see the return of Tah Chee, with a little cameo of everyone's favorite unhinged Twi'lek. (Note that this is still wip and may be changed for the final version):

"So you're on your way to some random coordinates because you saw them in a dream?" the figure in the hologram asked.

Tah sighed. She already knew what was coming next. "Yes," she said.

The holographic figure folded her arms. "Well, you should have told me. I need to go with you."

"Well you were not present when I left. And my vision told me to leave right away."

"You still should have told me. You had me worried sick when I returned to base and you weren't there."

Tah smiled. "You know I can handle myself, right? You don't need to watch over me every time I go out."

"But what if you run into that Inquisitor again?" the figure protested. "Speedcat, you know how you handle the dark side. If anything happens to you-"

"I'll be fine," Tah interrupted her friend. "Besides, you trained me to be able to handle that, remember? So you already helped me."

"Miss Chee, we are about to exit hyperspace," VK-33 spoke up next to her.

"Alright," Tah said to the droid, before turning back to the hologram. "I'll call you again when I'm able too."

"Give me your coordinates. I'll leave right this moment to-"

Beep.

VK turned of the holocomm before Tah could respond.

"You really didn't have to, VK," Tah said.

"Disagreed," the droid countered. "You must focus on your mission. We cannot afford you to be compromised if Miss Thrad keeps distracting you."

Tah shook her head. "I don't even know what kind of mission it is," she said.

"Well, we're about to find out."

[robintalesfighter]

Mandalorian and Grogu review

No spoilers: First up, this movie was better than I expected. My expectations going into it were pretty low, because the marketing for it was pretty bad, and the whole idea behind the movie being very corporate. But I gotta say, the movie itself was fun, despite everything. You can tell the people making it did genuinely try their best to still make it good. It was full of little easter eggs and references, and pretty good worldbuilding. It was far from perfect, I wouldn't say it holds up against the previous star wars movies, but given that they essentially had to adapt a TV show into a movie, I'd say they did a fine enough job.

Now for the spoilers:

Gonna start by saying that I do have my issues with Grogu, since they basically wrote him out at the end of season 2, and then brought him back for marketing reasons (because "oh look, cute baby yoda". I also think they made a whole lot of other mistakes in previous seasons that I won't get into.) That said, I like the dynamic between Grogu and Din. It isn't just one-sided Din protecting Grogu while fighting bad guys. Grogu himself also protects Din, and does more than just the typical "Grogu being cute", so I really enjoyed that.

I also liked the side-cast. Rotta was a very positive surprise for me. I'd previously thought he would just be an opponent for Din to fight at some point in the fighting ring or something, but he actually had a pretty good role. A much bigger role than I expected. (Also, I heard people say his voice was weird, idk I thought it was fine.) I like how he doesn't want to live in his father's shadow and eventually decides to join the New Republic. (Can we see him in Ahsoka season 2? Or whatever other movies/series take place in this era?)

Zeb's inclusion was also nice. I personally would have preferred he'd shown up in the Ahsoka show, but his inclusion here was fine. It was fun to see him work with Mando. I do hope to see him join up with the rest of the Ghost crew again later on. It was also interesting to see his live-action design. In Rebels, he generally looked very smooth, so until last year, I actually wasn't aware he had fur. So for that part, his appearance was better than the Rebels. But I do think his appearance here had some issues. He looked smaller than in Rebels, not as bulky and more the size of a large human. I'm not quite sure how I feel about that. He looks fine for the most part, just wish he were a bit bigger.

The Hutts as a whole were very... interesting. I'm sure seeing all those sluggs rolled up in those caves is gonna haunt my nightmares. It was very fitting for them to have a large pit filled with deadly animals. The twins got what they deserved, getting eaten by their... dragon snake thing. (Also, fair play to Embo for leaving them there. That was a really funny moment of "I don't get paid enough for this shit" lol). I do think it's kinda weird that outside of the Hutts, we didn't see many aliens at the Hutt palace. It was mostly just droids and Hutts. You'd think for such a large criminal Empire, there'd be more bounty hunters, etc. Also, can we talk about the fact that the New Republic just created a huge vacuum in the underworld? The twins are dead, and with the destruction of their palace, most other Hutts are as well.

The droids were cool. It gives you an idea of what happened to all those decomissioned battle droids after the clone wars. And it was also a nice mix of B1s, B2s, Commando droids, Imperial security droids, and a bunch of others. Also a very convenient way to avoid our main protagonist killing a bunch of living people.

One small plot hole/inconsistency that bothered me was in the second half, when Mando and Grogu investigate the wreck of the smuggler ship, he suddenly has his own pistol again, when you'd have thought Embo had taken that away from him... That could have easily been fixed with him using the droid blaster he got before that instead, but it is what it is. Speaking of the smuggler ship, did anyone notice that that was the same type of ship Savage used to find Maul in the Clone Wars show? Ironic that we saw that here after the Maul show came out a couple of weeks ago, lol.

Also, the Dejarik arena fight was fun. I saw the slug creature and was immediately like, "Hey, that's the same type of slug you fight on Korriban in SWTOR." I did not realise the whole idea was that all these creatures were supposed to represent the creatures in a game of dejarik until somebody else pointed that out lol.

Another small issue with the movie is how conveniently Din gets all of his stuff back. He got his rifle and the Razor Crest back. Or rather, a Razor Crest that was conveniently in some Imperial's private collection and a rifle which was conveniently present on the smuggler ship... That felt a bit too much like fan service. (Though admittedly, the Razor Crest was useful in transporting Rotta.) One thing I do wish is that we got to see some sort of teaser for future projects, like maybe a Thrawn reference. Though we didn't stay to see if there was any post-credits scene, so maybe I just missed that.

Overall, the movie was pretty good for what it was, though I would definitely have preferred it if they released it as season 4 instead of a movie.

[robintalesfighter]

Another little Nolat scene because why not

This time, featuring @lucatielle's OC Theron/Twelfth Brother.

Someone was coming. Someone strong in the Force. Someone strong in the Dark Side.

"Tah, go!" Nolat hissed. "I'll keep them busy. You get those kids out."

Tah looked like she had frozen on the spot. Her eyes flashed towards where they both felt the dark sider approaching. Nolat shook the frightened Cathar. "Snap out of it, Tah!"

Finally, Tah moved. She shook her head. "Y-yes, I'll get going," she stammered as she got up.

Nolat sighed. "Remind me to start those dark side lessons after this mission. We can't keep having you freeze up like this."

Tah swallowed, then nodded. "Be careful, Nolat."

Nolat just grinned. "You know who you're talking to, Speedcat."

As soon as Tah was gone, Nolat jumped on the roof, and crouched down, waiting for whoever was coming.

There he was. An Inquisitor. A cyborg, by the looks of it. He had several red wires and implants in his head. He had a black, mechanical left arm. Nolat was immediately fascinated. What could have happened to him to look like this?

From his mouth hung a blue-coloured cigarette. When he walked past, Nolat caught a brief smell of Ryll spices.

"Jeez, couldn't have picked a better addiction?" she murmured as she turned her head away from the smell.

The Inquisitor passed by without noticing her. Nolat quietly slipped down from the building, and landed behind him. He was still oblivious to her presence.

"Hey Halfbot!" She suddenly called out. The Inquisitor immediately spun around, alarmed.

"What do you want?" He grunted.

Nolat put up an innocent smile. "Oh nothing. I was just wondering, are your lungs still natural or also mechanical?"

The Inquisitor stared at her. "...what?"

"Oh, you know," Nolat continued. "If they're mechanical, you got nothing to worry about. But if they're natural, then that thing," she pointed at the cigarette, "is going to kill you."

"Mind your own business," the Inquisitor grunted again, giving her an annoyed look. He started to turn around again, but Nolat was faster. In one smooth motion, she ignited her twinsabers, and swung it right in front of his face. Half of the cigarette fell to the ground.

Nolat smirked when she sensed the Inquisitor's shock. She made a mock bow. "You're welcome."

[robintalesfighter]

When dreams inspire stories

So here's something funny that happened... a bit over a week ago.

I had a dream, where I was an Inquisitor, teaming up with... I think other Inquisitors? (It sorta changed up throughout the dream, as happens with all dreams.) And involved something with being chased by someone while on an underground train, me and another person getting separated after crashing the train and getting out, and a bunch of other things. Somehow I ended up at a trainstation that actually exists but does not have an underground train or anything.

So when I woke up, I instantly knew this had to be a chapter for diary of an Inquisitor. Wrote it throughout the day, and it has now been sitting in obsidian waiting until it can release (because while the Diary doesn't have a planned plot, it does have some continuity to it, and this chapter would completely mess it up). I did make quite a few changes for it to actually make sense and fit in with that point of the story, but the basic idea behind it remains the same.

So yeah I just thought that was cool, to have a dream that actually inspires a story.

[robintalesfighter]

three

chapters

to go

and I keep getting distracted by other writing projects aaaaaaaaggggghhhhh

[robintalesfighter]

Nolat vs Grievous

Ronin's Path I: Journey Through Darkness has three chapters to go, which also means three chapters to go until Nolat gets her time to shine. (She's playing a major role in the sequal). And uhm... she's growing restless. I've recently written a whole bunch of scenes featuring her in a variety of situations across the Star Wars timeline (Also one of the reasons for that whole nickname list I did a while ago)

Most of these scenes could probably have whole fanfics written around them, but since I don't really have the time to write a dozen fanfics at this point, I'll just post them here occasionally.

To start things of, we got an AU where Nolat fights General Grievous:

Behind her, Nolat heard something coughing. She immediately spun around.

Someone stalked towards her. From the outside, it was impossible to see if they were a droid, a living being, or something else entirely. But Nolat sensed him in the Force. A cyborg.

General Grievous.

The Droid commander came to a halt a few steps away from her, and let out another cough. His head turned towards Nolat. "Jedi," he hissed.

Nolat took out one of her lightsabers. Both of its blades flickered on at the same time. "Guess again."

"No matter," Grievous declared. "Your lightsaber will make excellent additions to my collection."

Nolat smirked. "I think this one might be too much to wield, even for you, Skill-less droid."

"What did you just call me?" Grievous growled.

"Oh look, you can't even hear me," Nolat mocked him. "Someone should send you back to the factory to run a full diagnostic. Who knows what other critical failures you may have."

"Do not mock me, child. You will die," the cyborg threatened her. "I have been trained in your Jedi arts by-"

"Yeah, yeah, big deal," Nolat yawned. "Last I checked Jedi don't need spinning limbs to wield a lightsaber. You must be a truly terrible fighter if you need all these fancy gadgets to keep up."

Grievous let out a screeching howl, and charged her. Nolat swiftly rolled out of the way, igniting her second lightsaber as she did so. The cyborg turned around, and attacked again. She was ready for him.

He struck with all four blades. Nolat blocked all four. Grievous continued to charge, determined to kill her. Each of his strikes was met with one of her blades. Grievous may have had strength on his side, but Nolat was faster. She jumped and ducked between his blades, like some sort of acrobatic.

"Sloppy," she commented, as she batted away another attack. "If Count Corruption really taught you, he must be a truly terrible duelist. I could do this in my sleep."

This just angered the cyborg more, and his attacks became even more aggressive. It took Nolat more and more effort to continue dodging his attacks. She'd anticipated this, though. Even counted on it.

"Come to think of it," she continued. "I could probably do this with a single blade. You wouldn't mind me borrowing one, would you?"

If Grievous heard her, he gave no sign of it. His attacks continued, and soon, he did exactly what Nolat had hoped for. He overextended himself.

It was one of his arms, coming straight at her, unprotected. Nolat raised one of her twinsabers, cutting it off right before it struck her face. In one fell swoop, she extinguished her own lightsabers, and took the one from Grievous's hand.

"Jedi scum!" The cyborg hissed.

"Skill-less droid," Nolat shot back.

Grievous charged her again, even more recklessly than the previous times. Nolat saw an opening, and took it. A moment later, she fell to the ground, panting.

"Good fight," she puffed. "We should do it again some time."

The cyborg did not respond. His head was detached from his body, which now collapsed to the ground.

After taking a few minutes to catch her breath, Nolat stood up. She kicked the head away, and it went flying over the cliff edge. Then she turned the body around, pushing aside the chestplates, revealing an exposed heart which was no longer beating.

Nolat used the lightsaber she'd taken from him to burn through his now lifeless heart. "Pathetic," she mumbled, as she kicked against the rotating limbs. "Dirty cheater."

Using the Force, she called the other three lightsaber to her. She didn't know these hilts. They'd been owned by Jedi who Grievous killed. She sighed. "Guess I'll take these with me next time I visit their temple," she said to the headless corpse. After stashing away the lightsabers in her cloak, she lifted the body until she reached a nearby sewer exit. "You can go rest in piss now, Skill-less droid. Literally." She threw the body in the waste stream, and watched as it floated away.

[robintalesfighter]

Nolat nicknames everyone (Part 1)

One of my characters, Nolat, loves nicknaming people. She will nickname every single person who crosses her path. Literally everone. And once she gives someone a nickname, it will stick forever, even if the thing that got them their nickname is no longer relevant. Their nicknames generally reflect her first impression of these characters.

Below is a list of nicknames she would give to different Star Wars Characters, even if she may never meet any of these characters:

(Note that I also included some of other people's OCs at the end)

Darth Sidious/Emperor Palpatine: Wrinkleface

Darth Vader: Asthmabot (And if she knew he was Anakin, she would call him whatever nickname she gave Anakin)

Mara Jade: Dancegirl

Grand Inquisitor: Uglyteeth

Anakin Skywalker: Fatherless child

Padme Amidala: Childqueen

Yoda: Old Frog

Grievous: Skill-less droid

Obi-Wan Kenobi: Smoothtalker

Ventress: Baldie

Count Dooku: Count Corruption

Clones: Meatdroids

Maul: Hornhead

Savage Opress: Hornhead 2.0

Mother Talzin: Ugly Witch

Jar Jar Binks: Longtongue

C-3PO: Box of scraps

R2-D2: Bluebot

Darth Bane: Walking Parasite

Jabba the Hutt: Horny Slimebag

Mace Windu: Poophead

Luke Skywalker: Sandkid

Han Solo: Terrible-Pilot

Leia Organa: Homeless Child

Chewie: Premium Cleaning Cloth

Lando Calrissian: General Gambler

Rey: Fake Skywalker

Poe Dameron: Hopeless Pilot

BB8: Creepy Ball

Kylo Ren: Wannabe Asthmabot

General Hux: General Egohead

Snoke: Carcase

Darth Krayt: Sithhead

Darth Talon: Imposter

Zeb Orellios: Purple Cat

Kanan Jarus: Ponytail

Hera Syndula: Greentails

Ezra Bridger: Jedikid

Sabine Wren: Paintbomb

Ahsoka Tano: Orange Shadow

Chopper: Superdroid

Spybot: Flying Superdroid

Eeko-dio Daki: Longhead

Devon Izara: Pinky

Iskat Akaris: Redface

Stormtroopers: Target Practice

Deathtroopers/Purgetroopers: Advanced Target Practice

OCs:

Tah Chee: Speedcat

Akiris: Tentaclehead

Skotei Katasko: Traitor

Azai Katasko: Coolgirl

Darth Nox: Darth Zombie

Nalaki Kayan: Mindwarrior

16th Sister: Starface

21st Brother: Yellowstripes

Theron Veradun/12th Brother: Halfbot

Nix: Ancient Witch

Mei Quinn: Cute Redhead

Lara Mortis: Mindreader

Jax Mortis: Cute Purge Trooper

Hyuna Atax: Bonebreaker

Myrel Stormcaller: Fake Inquisitor

[thollandss-deactivated20231215]

reblog to send your mutuals a hug. maybe just the thought is enough to cheer them up 🥺

[lucatielle]

Just a normal day at the Inquisitorius…

Inspired by fanfic Diary of an Inquisitor by @robintalesfighter, where Theron/Twelfth had another little cameo, while 21st Brother was busy demolishing the room of the Fourth Sister.. I’m in love with this little OC Inquisitor multiverse. Basically, the remaining Inquisitors are just a bunch of idiots living together in a half-abandoned, decaying fortress on Nur.

[robintalesfighter]

You leave these Inquisitors alone for five minutes and it's instant chaos!

The fact that this particular chapter has led to multiple people creating art based on it is honestly just so cool.

[robintalesfighter]

"There was even a drawing of, and I kid you not, him standing next to the Emperor, and Vader beheaded on the floor. Like he had overthrown Vader to take his place."

In the most recent chapter of Diary of an Inquisitor, 21st brother describes finding a childish drawing made by the Grand Inquisitor of himself killing Vader and taking his place as the Emperor's new apprentice. So I decided to recreate this drawing.

The Grand Inquisitor spends way too much time pretending he's important so he doesn't have any drawing skills, so I'm sure the Emperor would probably kill him for how terrible he looks in the drawing.

[robintalesfighter]

Maul Shadow Lord review

I've had a few days to let the show sink in, so here are my final thoughts on the show. First, without spoilers:

This show is the best Star Wars show I've ever seen! Obviously it's only one season so far, and my final opinion on it will have to wait until all seasons are out (which will probably take a while), but going with season 1, it easily number 1 for me. Rebels used to be my favorite, but Maul beats it. And I'd argue it even gives Andor a good run for its money. (Obviously Andor is still a very different kind of show, so it's difficult to compare the two, but I enjoyed Maul way more personally)

The visuals are also amazing. Compare it to the old Clone Wars movie from 2008, and you can see how much the animation has improved over the past... almost 20 years. The story itself is also really good. This is one of the rare times where I went into a show with high expectations, and it actually lived up to those expectations. Solid 10/10 show.

Now to the spoilers section:

I've mentioned it before, but I got so many good things to say about this show that I could probably write a full book on it. I won't do that since that would delay my own writing projects a lot. So I'll just give an overview.

First up, I like how there is no redemption for Maul. This wasn't really something I personally worried about, but I saw other people concerned about it, and obviously it would kind of ruin his character. We know of course how he ends up in Rebels, but I do understand that people might expect a show that focuses on Maul to maybe redeem him a little bit. And to be fair, we do see him having some flashes of his potential as a good person. When he has those visions in the pipes, he swears to never let Sidious do to another person what he did to him. That is obviously a noble goal. But having a good goal is no redemption, which Maul also shows in the season finale when he betrays Daki. And he's kind of a hypcrite to say he won't let Sidious ruin another person, because he himself basically did the same. Would Devon turn to the dark side if Maul hadn't lured her there? I don't think so.

Speaking of Devon, she had a really great character arc throughout the show. Since Maul is obviously not going to change much, we needed someone to have a proper character arc, and I think she filled that role well. Throughout the show Devon shows herself to be a good person, wanting to do the right thing for the people who need them. I also found it interesting how she sometimes clashed with her master over this, but at the same time, their differences in opinion didn't fully divide them. When Devon returns to her Master after escaping Maul, the first thing she does is embrace him. I really liked that because it does show how strong of a bond they have. They also disagree on fighting Maul and helping Rylee, but Daki is willing to admit that Devon is right in those cases, and with that basically admit he might be wrong sometimes. And of course when they escape after rescuing Rylee, they are able to shake the Empire by working together. They didn't even need to discuss a plan, Devon just turned the speeder and Daki immediately took care of their pursuers like that. And during the final fight against Vader and the Inquisitors their teamwork is also really good. Daki of course isn't perfect, I do agree that he holds himself a bit too close to his Jedi ideals sometimes, but their padawan-master dynamic throughout the show is great. And it makes complete sense for Devon to react so strongly when her master dies. Absolutely awesome characters.

Also wanted to highlight Maul's clever manipulation at the end. Daki of course doesn't trust Maul, and knows he will betray them. But Maul proves him wrong several times, telling him to go first when they were at the acid lake, and on a few other occasions as well. All so that during the final battle against Vader, Daki does trust Maul, who uses this to betray him. (I do not think Daki would have charged Vader like that if he hadn't thought Maul would have his back). I also like how Daki shows himself a true Jedi by helping Maul after they briefly escape Vader the first time in the ruins. He can't help himself but to be there for others. I am 100% convinced Maul's betrayal of Daki will eventually be the reason Devon turns against him.

But how will Devon know Maul betrayed Daki? Brander Lawson, of course! I do not believe for a second that Lawson is dead. First up, we did not see his body. And in a show named after a character who survives being cut in half, that is definitely not enough to convince me. Second, it feels like there is still a whole unresolved arc with him and Rheena Sul. We did get some hints about their past together, and obviously there is a lot going on between the two of them that didn't get explored too much. And, most importantly, he is the only person who saw Maul betray Daki, which will definitely become relevant later on. How did he survive? Well, he either got imprisoned by the Empire, or was left for dead on the battlefield. In both cases, I could see Rheena be the one to rescue him. That doesn't take away from his sacrifice though. Even if he survives, I think it'll be a long time before he sees his son again, and that is still a harsh thing for him.

I'm also very curious to see where Rylee ends up. His dad tells Two-Boots to bring him to his mother, but after he thinks his dad died fighting the Imperials to save him, I think he'll struggle to get along with his mother who obviously supports the Empire. His mother will probably say "well, he shouldn't have crossed the Empire" or something like that, and I don't think that will sit well with Rylee, when he knows it wasn't his father's fault that the Jedi showed up at their house. And of course he himself saw the worst the Empire has to offer as well. I also think he will retain some sort of connection with Devon, which is how his father will end up telling Devon about Maul's betrayal of Daki. Also I'm sure I'm not the only one who could see the potential of Rylee and Devon together. They're roughly a similar age, and I can't blame Rylee for starting to care about someone who is his age, who also threw herself into danger multiple times to protect him without asking something in return. Devon does that because of her Jedi principles, but you can still see their connection slowly forming. Maybe they'll secretly stay in contact while Rylee is with his mom and she's training under Maul. I also love the parallels between these two. Both begin with a parent figure they have a strong bond with. Those relationships have some struggles, but in both cases there is no bad blood there. And by the end of it, both end up with a worse parental figure. Devon with Maul, and Rylee with his Imperial mother. I'm looking forward to see where all that leads.

Also shout out to the Inquisitors for actually being competent for once. Both Marrok and the 11th Brother/The Crow/Birdface (whatever you want to call him) felt like genuine threats. Unlike past Inquisitors, they didn't waste time with banter, with only Marrok threatening them twice that they would all fall. But that wasn't really banter. And they definitely could have killed Maul during that first fight against him. Heck, they would have killed him if it wasn't for Scorge. And I liked seeing Marrok use psychometry to track the Jedi and Maul, it really felt like an Inquisitor actually on the hunt rather than conveniently running into the protagonists. And we didn't see them die! Most Inquisitors end up dying after their time in the on-screen spotlight is over, but with these two we knew they would still be around later on (though there were some valid theories that they might already be undead by the their later appearances; 11th's head deflates when Ahsoka kills him and Marrok is a nightsister zombie in the Ahsoka show).

Finally, I want to shout out my two favorite characters from the show.

Spybot: This is the coolest, most awesome droid in Star Wars. He's like chopper, except he's actually able to do the things chopper wishes he could do. Partly also thanks to the fact that he works for Maul rather the Ghost crew. My favorite scenes are the ones where he first insults and imperial probe droid, and then later destroys one. I really wish Marrok hadn't killed him; he was awesome.

Rheena Sul: My other favorite character from the show so far. First up, she's a new species, a Padlom, which we have never seen before in Star Wars. She has some really cool looking skin colours, with the combination of blue and white. And her species carries some resemblance to Mikkians, which is one of my favourite Star Wars species. (And yes I have already decided to make one of my OCs a Padlom.) But not only does she look good, she is also just a great character in general. She is a former bounty hunter, and it really shows every time we see her take on the Imperials. First at her casino place, and then later when she escapes the Imperials. Which was really badass, by the way. There's not a lot of characters who would be able to escape a room with two Inquisitors, even if that room is a hangar bay. And her relationship with Lawson is also interesting. Clearly they have a past together, went through something that created such an unbreakable bond. Like I believe Lawson when he says Rheena would never betray him. She's had plenty of opportunities to betray him, bu didn't do so at all. They have a relationship with such trust that no money can ruin, and I really like those types of relationships. Like I said, I think she'll be the one to pull Lawson out of wherever he ended up at the end of season 1, and I can't wait to see more of her. (And I definitely want to see what happened with them on Catalor).

Anyway, that's my ramble on Maul Shadow Lord. Again, great show, and I can't wait for season 2!

What did you think of this season?