By: David Gremillion
"Too slow."
"Too boring."
"Disappointing."
You didn't have to scour the internet to find criticisms of the Onderon arc. If Facebook had a "facepalm" button, I'm sure the button would have exploded every Saturday morning.
Note to Facebook: Install a "facepalm" button.
But what really dragged down the viewers? One of the most classic storytelling features was had gone missing for nearly eighty minutes of this arc. Our beloved "heroes" had no obstacles to overcome. They had it so easy that there was no eventual triumph at the end.
The rebels had to overcome a crushing Empire in the Original Trilogy. The underdog, the little guy, outnumbered at every turn. One Millennium Falcon against four TIE fighters. A few lone ships going against a moon-sized Death Star. An Imperial Fleet bearing down on Hoth with AT-AT's blowing away anything that moves. A second Death Star with an impenetrable shield picking apart the rebel fleet. These are all obstacles that make you cheer when they've been overcome. What's the real problem with Onderon?
There are no problems.
Until the droid gunships arrive, the rebels had zero problems. They picked off droids with ease. Tanks never stood a chance against this mighty guerilla force. Whole convoys of the Separatists finest were decimated with few (or no) casualties. And yet they did all of this with no real goal in mind. How were they supposed to take down King Rash? Would taking down a few droids lead to a general uprising? At least we knew what Princess Leia's plan was in "A New Hope". Get the plans to the rebellion to take down the Death Star. Other than knocking out power to an entire sector of the capital city, what was the rebellion trying to do to reclaim their planet from the tyrannical King Rash? How can you cheer for a set of characters that has no definable goal and no obstacles to overcome?
Which brings me to my other point. Onderon and Naboo have one thing in common. We were supposed to take for granted that the "tyrants" were actually bad rulers. In "The Phantom Menace", we are told that Naboo is being horribly oppressed. "The death toll" was supposed to catastrophic on this peace-loving world. We are also told that King Rash is a horrible person on Onderon. We are told the people of Onderon are facing savage cruelties that only the rebellion can save them from such horrors.
No such horrors were ever shown to us on either world. Denying us the opportunity to see such hardships denies us the opportunity to root for the rebels to overcome the Phantom Oppression.
A wise man once said: "No sacrifice, no victory." I heartily agree. There was no victory for Onderon.
Check out Dave's page at Facebook.com/DaveGremillion
This article is an opinion piece and represents the views of the writer, and not the entire Star Wars Underworld organization.
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