I've mentioned elsewhere in another thread I think the concern with the actors ages is overstated. It's one thing if you want Luke to remain as you last saw him. Ok. But if the concern is that they're too old fat whatever other hang up someone has, please. Alec Guinness was old. Out of shape. Now mark Hamill may not be Alec Guinness but he is Luke ******* skywalker.

Very, very cool. A boxed AT-AT is high on my list.

WOWSA. Very cool.

Just because I was looking at the finale again, the Jedi Temple Guard is a must have. Probably will never see the light of day. I'm hoping the rumored Maul in the upcoming Legends line is the CW 2.0 version of him, and we continue to see more CW figures.

I've been reading some of the reaction to the 'casting' of the big three in mainstream media and in some forums and I have to say I'm shocked at how agist some of it is. There's this idea that the three OT stars are too old to 1) carry the movie and/or 2) be any good. I think it's ignorant. I don't believe they will be the main focus of the ST but let's say they were - all three of them have proven in their own way over the last 30 years to be too talented to be treated this way. I doubt any of them will be running around with blasters like back in the day, but you know, SW over the last 15 years hasn't been so good that it's too good for these guys.

If your thing is you don't want to see them because for you they're frozen in time - you don't want them to come back and die, you don't want to spoil your memory of them - I get that. To me that's separate.

I do think there will be a younger generation of heroes. The more I think about it, the more I'm certain (and therefore will be wrong) that the protagonist will be a Solo. Whether he's a he or a she, they're going to be a rogue like dear old dad and will have rejected their legacy (think Cade Skywalker) because it's you know, filled with genocide. As one of Leia's children, they will probably inherit her POV on Vader, which is not as informed as Luke's. Vader stood there and watched as the Empire destroyed her planet. Luke may have saved him, but he may be beyond redemption for her - and as someone who grew up separated from her true legacy, Leia may be intentionally or unintentionally walling off her kids from their past. What conflict this would be with Luke - I'd pay to see it.

It will be the Solo kid's test and Luke's to realize their destiny and do the final accounting on all this Jedi/Sith business.

I for one am looking forward to it. As long as it fits the story, I think it will be great.

I definitely understand the desire for the line to maintain its standard as far as articulation. I also do understand Pawlus' sentiment about the Kenneresque figures and I share it. I'd be more interested in these than a lot of the Black Series (four inch) stuff we're getting. Articulation isn't the end all be all for me. A lot of my favorite figures are from the POTJ era, with minimal articulation compared to today. A lot of my favorite figures are tricked out. It just depends on what the individual figure requires. If the 5 POA line has great sculpts, they can hold their weapons and can sit in a vehicle, then awesome.

This was probably the best episode of the series. And it's really the bar that I think a lot of us hoped the PT would hit. I've watched the episode a couple times now and the biggest takeaway for me is Anakin. I don't think I have really appreciated - in every sense of the word - Anakin's portrayal in the PT until that last scene between him and Ahsoka.

Ultimately what drives Anakin is his fear. His fear over losing his mom, Padme, but truly fear about being lost. He hates the order's restrictions on his compassion/attachment to others, but he's too afraid to walk away from it. Anakin needs to belong. He needs order. Without it he's weak, prone to emotional swings and with one might even say gullible. Anakin is already a prisoner here; the suit only makes it physical. Ahsoka's bravery in rejecting the order exposes this in a way that was never successfully done before. Barris takes a principled stand against the failure's of her order, but murders and schemes in doing it; Anakin ultimately chooses Barris' path because 1) perhaps now he has an excuse and 2) it's the easy way. It requires the least courage.

If this is the end of the series, and it seems like it could be, then it's a fine end. I'm left really wanting to know what comes of Ahsoka. I don't think her fate leads her to some sort of stand against the Order where she becomes a Separatist. Maybe she goes Harley/Ivy with Ventress for a while. I love the idea of her being a conscientiousness objector, someone who adopts a more traditional Jedi path. For me there's little value in wedding her into Order 66 / some kind of confrontation with Anakin at this point. I would prefer Ahsoka survives the Purge, which means Ahsoka survives the PT, and maybe longer...

This is getting into Episode 7 speculation and is really just wishful thinking, but I would love to see Ahsoka make an appearance in the ST. Some of this is tied up in pure speculation about the approach to Luke's story, so it's based on little, but I think Lucas' approach to Ahsoka's fate is in line with Luke and the order. SW ultimately paints a very bleak picture of the Jedi Order. It's an organization felled by its own gravity - it becomes bureaucratic and political and in the end blind and paralyzed. Lucas seems to be saying the a spiritual/religious order like the Jedi diminishes when it becomes institutional.

I don't think we will see a restored Jedi Order in the ST. Luke restored balance and he is the last Jedi. In Episode 7, he still is, until of course a new generation comes into the Force. If the story is meant to complete the Skywalker story and cap the entire series, then it only makes sense that it will echo the themes and concerns of the first six movies and those are obvious. We will see a Skywalker in name or blood as the hero, who will confront the dark side in the guise of the Empire and/or the Sith, and they will ultimately wrestle with their very problematic heritage and the question of what it is truly to be a Jedi Knight.

Most of us expect Luke to serve as an Obi-Wan mentor and I love that. If his path follows Obi-Wan's, Luke may not be around for long; it would open the door for another mentor. Another Yoda. That's where Ahsoka comes in. What if Ahsoka has been leading a quiet, wandering life doing good works for forty or fifty years? The question of what it is to be a Jedi, and what the Jedi will become should be a central question of the ST. Ahsoka would be - if this is her story, this could all be for nothing if they have her duel Anakin to the death in some Order 66 retcon they already have written for Season 6 - a great model for a new Jedi. A Jedi who chose bravery and courage above fear and found the path to wisdom isn't denying yourself but honoring yourself.