First, we had Wandavision…now we’ve got Star Wars visions.
urrrrgh.
Well I was originally gonna do ‘I’ve just watched star wars visions hot and fresh out the kitchen’ but R Kelly ruined that intro so that’s the best I got. Anyway, you’re here now and in this video, we’re gonna be breaking down every episode of Star Wars Visions that has just been released on Disney Plus.
The new animated series set in a galaxy far far away has a lot of callbacks to the original series, movies from across the decades, and several hidden easter eggs laced throughout
Now the first episode is easily my favourite in the entire series.
The Duel
Titled the Duel it pulls on several iconic samurai stories and films from over the years. When The Ahsoka Episode of The Mandalorian dropped, many people compared it to Yojimbo by Kurosawa. The entry featured several almost identical shots in it and the story was very similar too….except for all the space wizards and stuff.
The Duel definitely feels in the same vein as that and it also pulls a lot of iconography from Seven Samurai.
In it, we follow a character known as Ronin which in Japanese means a samurai without a master. Throughout the roughly 13 minute episode, we learn the truth about him and discover that he is in fact a sith lord that’s adept in the dark side of the force. As we know from the Star Wars saga, the Sith always come in twos with one being an apprentice whilst the other is a master.
However, the fact that he doesn’t have one and is straying from the typical path of a dark force wielder makes me believe that he killed his master and decided to go his own way in which he was somewhat of an anti-hero.
Now we pick up with him overlooking a village that is later attacked by bandit Stormtroopers that are the last remnants of the war. He’s joined by his droid RA-7 who is donning a Japanese samurai hat and I absolutely love this design. This set-up of an adult and the seemingly childlike figure is something that’s known as a lone wolf and cub motif and it was mirrored in The Mandalorian.
Upon arriving at the village he checks in with a Sullustan who you might recognise as being the same species as Nien Nunb. We can also catch a Bantha and several other droids and species including a Tuskan Raider…sorry sorry Sandperson, a Trandoshan which is the same species as Bossk, a Dug which is the same species as Sebulba and a droid that looks similar to the one in Jabba’s dungeon.
We meet a young child who has taken over the position of chief due to his father’s illness and he commands an attack on the bandits which brings forth their leader who is voiced by Lucy Liu. The theme from this moment is clearly paying homage to the Ghost In The Shell Soundtrack and even her rising up shares similar iconography to that first film.
She carries a lightsaber umbrella, which is playing on the bladed umbrella weapons that were used at the time not only as shields but also as a form of attack. She unleashes hell and I absolutely love how bar the energy items in the episode that everything is black and white. This makes the lightsabers and blasters really pop and it gives the entry such a great style.
RA-7 is damaged by an explosion and it’s plugged into a Gonk droid which are walking power batteries in the star wars universe.
It’s at this point that the Ronin rolls into town and takes on the Bandit Leader head to head. Revealing his red lightsaber blade he shows he’s not a Jedi and we get an awesome bride of Frankenstein-esque moment in which the leader reveals her hair.
During this the Tuskan Rai….sorry Sandperson does the infamous battle cry that was first spotted in A New Hope and the pair duel it out across the landscape. In the background, we can hear similar music to Duel Of The Fates and we learn that the chief has surrendered. However, now that RA-7 is fully charged it allows them to swoop in and take down the bandits, bringing the duel to a more level footing.
After travelling into a waterfall the Ronin places their lightsaber onto an ornamental statue to use it as bait and this allows him to get the killing blow on the Bandit leader.
The weapons that he carries are based on the Daisho which literally means little big. This set is made up of a long blade and a smaller one which we see on display with the Ronin. He hands over a Kaiber Crystal to the Chief and states that it wards off evil.
Tattooine Rhapsody
Next, we jump to Tattooine Rhapsody which I feel is one of the weaker episodes of the lot purely because of its out of place music number. The title may be based on Bohemian Rhapsody but it also means a poem. Destroyed battle droids and clone troopers lay on the floor and this very much signals the end of the clone wars.
We pick up with a character known as Jay who is fleeing death in the midst of order 66. During his escape, his lightsaber breaks but he’s saved by called Geezer The Hutt who enlists him in his ranks. It’s hilarious how he has an emo haircut and nose ring and yeah, just Disney man what are you doing?
Anyway, we learn that Geezer left the Crime Syndicate and Network that the Hutts control so he could be a musician that brings joy to the galaxy with his music.
Together with his group, they tour the universe playing their songs and this attracts all types of species including an Ithorian and Rodian who certainly aren’t easy to please. However, it also attracts the attention of Jabba the Hutt who sends Boba Fett and his palace guards after Geezer.
Now speaking of Geezers, I’m a bloody big one and if you’re enjoying this video then I’d massively appreciate the thumbs up and also don’t forget to subscribe to the channel for videos like this each and every day.
Now Geezer refuses to go and this leads to them trying to outrun Boba. The city they fly out of seems very similar to Tattooine mixed with Bespin and we learn that the bounty on Geezer’s head has meant that they have to flee every show they perform at.
Chased by Slave One Boba ends up capturing Geezer which is when Jay steps forward. He tries to spark up his lightsaber but due to the damage it doesn’t work and thus we get the idea laid here that he must bring his power through in other means.
Boba takes Geezer back to Tattooine and the imagery of him making him climb onto Slave-1 is very similar to when Fett escorted Han away in Carbonite.
Inspired by the sound of the first time they played together Jay sets out with the band to rescue Geezer from the clutches of Jabba. This takes them to Tatooine and we see the twin sunsets which are of course an iconic part of the skyline. From here we jump to an arena that just so happens to be the same location as the pod race track from The Phantom Menace. Jabba even watches over everything from his own private balcony as he snacks on the creatures that he did in that film.
Amongst Jabba’s forces, we can catch his Gamorrean guards as well as Bib Fortuna his right-hand man. Turns out the band made a deal with Jabba so that Geezer could play one last gig before the latter is executed. Interestingly Fett and Bib end up standing alongside Jabba and at the end of The Mandalorian season 2 we watched as the former killed the latter.
Now the song they play has lyrics in it like the speed of light, parsecs and it blasts across Tattooine. We even see it being watched by the Cantina Band in the Mos Eisley Cantina and don’t feel bad guys you are better. Some Jawas watch it and the song even reaches Obi-Wan’s house who is probably dead at this point so he doesn’t have to hear it.
They play in front of two torture towers and these appeared in the Genosis coliseum in Attack Of The Clones.
The power of music breaks through and wins the crowd round to the point Jabba even taps his tail. Even though it was supposed to only be one song, they’re granted an encore after Jay challenges Jabba to be their sponsor.
The Twins
Episode 3 is called The Twins and this idea of twins and doubles is laced throughout the entry. Firstly we open two Star Destroyers joined together and then cut to two corridors before meeting our two protagonists. These are Carray and Am two dark force-sensitive characters that end up going their separate ways.
Twins have of course appeared throughout the star wars saga including Luke and Leia and Leias children Jacen and Jaina. Both trained to be Jedi but Jaina ended up staying in the light whereas Jacen turned to the dark side. This is somewhat reflected in the pair that we meet in the episode and again it’s like poetry they rhyme.
I kinda view them as a What If Luke and Leia had’ve been created by the dark side and we learn that they were manufactured by the sith for a dark purpose. This involves creating planet destroying technology that is somewhat similar to the Death Star but it requires both to be able to harness it.
They are aboard the Gemini who are of course twins in both mythology and astrology. Gemini has also been used from time to time to describe two opposing sides that share some similarities which the twins in this episode both do.
Inside the Gemini we see stormtroopers laid out in an almost mirror and there are several shots in this episode that are completely symmetrical.
Now we learn that the Dark Armour they wear powers the hyper cannon but Carray steals the power core and we cut to his empty chair which looks exactly like the Emporers in Return Of The Jedi.
Upon trying to escape he’s confronted by his sister, Stormtroopers and AT-STs. Carray pulls off his helmet to reveal his Luke look and this point of the episode very much feels like the Anime equivalent of Darth Vader vs his son. Luke even has an X-wing and an astromech droid called R2-0 and Am of course looks very similar to Darth Vader in her armour.
They are of course relatives too and on the hull of the Gemini they end up going head to head. This is probably the most over the top battle that I’ve ever seen in a star wars property before but I did quite enjoy it and it ends with Carray combining all lightsaber colours to create a weapon powerful enough to cut through a star destroyer…just not his sister.
He tries to warn her with a vision of the future which warned him of the death that she would face upon powering up the Gemini. He wants the pair to flee however she refuses to join him and thus Carray cuts the ship with the hyperdrive pushing him forward in a moment that feels like it’s riffing on the lightspeed one from The Last Jedi.
Like I said the episode is very very over the top, I actually watched it twice and the first time I was a bit yeah this is too much, but second go I just went with it and enjoyed it a lot more.
Carray says there is no try only do and this was of course what Yoda said to Luke during the Empire strikes back. His sister puts up a fight but the force of the lightspeed lightsaber destroys the kaiber crystal inside her armour which means that the Gemini can’t be used. Well, that and the fact that Carray has just destroyed one side of it. This of course symbolises the split between the two and even though the plot in this episode is a bit wild, the iconography is really cool.
We end with Carray on Tattooine in his crashed X-wing and he looks over the twin sunsets further tying back to the title of the entry.
The Village Bride
From here we jump to the village bride which follows a Jedi on the run from the Empire after the events of Order 66. We also learn that the Separatists stripped the planets of its resources and in the end all that they left behind were battle droids. These were reprogrammed by a warlord and his raider allies and now control the entire area.
The Jedi who is listed as F in the credits is summoned to the village by an old Ally and she observes the mystical powers that the married couple possesses as well as the traditions of the villagers.
I kinda felt like a lot of this episode just felt like an Anime story with the Star Wars name slapped on it and though I wasn’t head over heels with it I did really really really enjoy the music that was in the piece.
We discover that the Warlord wished to take the chief but that his daughter who is due to be married volunteered to take his place.
United by the capture of her sister Sokku the villagers rise up in order to stop the warlord and his army of Battledroids.
He arrives in a ship that looks a lot like a cross between the Millenium Falcon and Dash Rendar’s Outrider which appeared in Shadows Of The Empire.
The warlord tries to execute Sokku but the blaster bolt is stopped mid-air by F in a move that’s very similar to Kylo doing the same thing in The Force Awakens.
On the hill we see the elder of the village sitting with what I believe is an Amban sniper and F sparks up a Yellow lightsaber which was of course the colour that Rey had too.
However, this is more of a classic looking sword and she uses it to kill the Warlord before leaving in her ship which is known as a Clone Z-95 Starfighter.
The Ninth Jedi
The next episode in the series is titled The Ninth Jedi and we open a long long time ahead in the future in a galaxy far far away. The Jedi have been near extinction for centuries and we join the daughter of a saber smith named Lah Zhima who has been mining for rare kaiber crystals that float around the planet. He wishes to restart the Jedi Order and provide them with the weapons to do so, however, a number of Sith lords disguised as Jedi are hunting for those that are force sensitive.
After receiving a message from the sabersmith that calls them to the Aerial temple that floats above the planet we then join the sabersmith’s daughter who ventures out to him.
First hand we see that he has created a lightsaber that has an adjustable blade and this actually pulls from Star Wars Legends.
According to Wookieepedia, in order to do this, one needs a high-output Diatium power cell that can change the focus of the lens on the weapon and transform it so that the power output and length can be manipulated.
However her father has gone a step beyond this and made it so that both the length and colour depend on the users connection to the force. His daughter Kara doesn’t have a strong connection yet and thus it appears unwieldy and colourless.
Now it’s at this point we get our first inkling that something is off as Jedi Hunters arrive at the location and thus Kara has to deliver the sabers to the temple herself. Now her speeder shares a lot of similarities to Darth Mauls and she’s chased by the Hunters.
They travel through a forest and though it’s covered in snow there are some clear nods to the one from Return Of The Jedi.
Upon arriving at the temple the truth is revealed and bar a few innocent Jedi that also answered the call, the Sith reveal their true intentions. It leads to an awesome battle and joined by Jedis named Ethan and Margrave Juro, Kara takes the Sith head-on.
Eventually, her lightsaber turns green and they fight to protect the Margrave which we learn is the main target that the Sith have been hunting.
After tossing one into a giant Kaiber Crystal this cracks and actually somewhat carries the symbolism of a lightsaber which signals to us that the weapons have returned to the galaxy. They even manage to bring back one of the Sith into the light and their Saber turns purple to reflect this.
It’s actually possible to make purple by combining the colours purple and red and it makes for a nice little nod to the conflict in him.
Together they head out to find Kara’s father who has been taken by the hunters and Kara is given the title The Ninth Jedi as they travel into the galaxy to restore the order.
TO-B1
Next, we cut to TO-B1 which is of course playing on the name Obi-Wan Kenobi. In it, we get somewhat of a Pinnochio story in which a droid dreams of becoming a real bo…sorry Jedi.
Now the episode is clearly riffing on Astro Boy and the character designs are very similar. We watch as he lives on his father’s moisture farm on a planet that has duel suns but that I don’t think is Tattooine due to the lack of a population.
They wish to somewhat terraform the planet and make it habitable.
Amongst the rooms are several inscriptions including A-Wings and Tie Fights, The Jedi Temple, X-wings, Luke, the battle of Hoth with AT-ATs and AT-STs. Y-Wings, Star Destroyers, Obi-Wan vs General Grevious and lastly a Wampa.
Due to his dreams of being a Jedi, his father tells him of a Kaiber crystal and he heads out in order to locate it. There are several similarities between his workshops and Lukes in a New Hope and he constructs a speeder bike and races across the planet. He can’t find the crystal but he’s told to find the force and as we know from Star Wars droids are unable to wield it.
However, he does find a T-16 Sky Hopper which you may know from also being used heavily on Tattooine. After sending out a message calling all Jedi, the Empire discover him and thus his father has to hide him away similar to how Gaelen Urso did with his daughter Jin in Rogue One.
The Imperials arrive in a Tie Reaper and you may recognise these as being ships in Star Wars Squadrons.
He also says the mantra that was made popular in that film aka ‘I am one with the force and the force is with me.’
Now similar to Luke TO-B1 finds his home destroyed but he rebuilds it and terraforms the planet in order to make it habitable. I love the time spans in this episode and watching the TO-B1 slowly rebuilding everything makes it a really gripping episode.
After bringing life to the planet TO-B1 manifests the force and builds his lightsaber. I know it’s not really in line with the rules of the universe but these stories are obviously inspired by it, however, I know some fans will be put off by these changes.
I just went with it and TO-B1 really comes into his own when a Jedi Hunter arrives. He is knighted by the spirit of his master and clashes head to head with the hunter in an almost black and white battle that calls back to the first episode.
This felt way more classic anime than the majority of the episodes and joined by his trusted droid sidekick he charges up before taking down the hunter in a final strike.
Toby heads out into the galaxy to continue his fathers legacy and next we jump to Episode 7 titled The Elder. Taking place during the time before the fall of the Jedi this is probably my second favourite out of the series.
We join a pacifist Jedi and his Padawan who are travelling to the outer rim in search of a rogue Sith who is living on an outskirt planet. I loved the character development in this especially how the young Padawan just wants action but upon getting it we can see the regret he faces.
It’s not too laced with Easter Eggs but it’s always good to see a master and apprentice on the kinds of missions that the Jedi would’ve faced in their heyday. We learn that the Sith is an Elder that’s extremely adept at combat and it very much plays on the Anime Trope of Badass Grandpa or Cool Old Guy as it’s sometimes called.
This is when an older man who is almost as cunning as he would’ve been in his prime and he puts up a hell of a fight for the Jedi.
In the end, it’s not the Jedi that defeats him but rather time and he very much represents the old dying to make way for the young.
We learn that he broke away from the Sith due to the constant betrayal that they carried out and this clearly takes place before the rise of Palpatine who somewhat brought them back from extinction which we learn at this point that they are.
Upon defeating the padawan the master comes forth and the Elder manifests sith lightning which we saw Palps dishing out in both Revenge Of The Sith, Return Of The Jedi and Rise Of Skywalker.
The Master is able to block it due to his lightsaber and with help from the padawan, he disables the blade and then shifts before reactivating it to deal the killing blow. I love how much this pulls from classic Samurai films and we watch as the Elder crumbles to black rock and dust. This is the opposite to the Jedi die that are absorbed by the force and they simply vanish upon death.
Lop And Ocho
Episode 8 is not the last Jedi and we go to Lop and Ocho which is another one from the series that I really enjoyed. This episode centres around the planet Tao which is similar to Ord Mantell in many ways. Not only does it contain a giant bridge on it like the one that we saw at the start of Solo a Star Wars Story, but it’s also heavily occupied by the Imperials.
There’s a shot that feels like it’s pulled right from the opening of Solo and we see as two characters ride across the bridge in their land speeder. Much like Han and Qi’Ra, they end up going their separate ways and it’s sort of like poetry they rhyme.
Due to the city structures, there are also similarities to Alita Battle Angel and the designs of the city are something to behold.
The episode opens with an incredible one-shot that takes us through the locale and we watch as the imperials have somewhat ravaged the natural resources that exist there in order to further their own gains.
We see a Star Destroyer hovering over the city and this was mirrored in Rogue One namely when we got to Jedhar and saw the Imps mining for Kaiber Crystals.
It’s not too long before we meet Lop, a peasant Orphan who escaped the Empire. She gets caught attempting to steal food and by Ocho and her father, the ruling family of the planet.
They invite Lop into their family and seven years pass. Seeing what the Empire do to the civilisations that they touch, the father decides to create his own rebellion on the planet and he launches an attack on the Imperials. However, his daughter sees an opportunity by making an alliance with the Galactic Empire. Whereas she sees the Imperials providing growth and prosperity, he sees the Imps as occupiers that are getting in the way of progress due to ravaging the planet for it’s resources.
In the end, the Empire very much win because they divide the people and it could be a comment on how governments often aim to create division amongst the people so that they can gain full control.
The true conflict from the entry comes from Lop who must decide whether to side with her adopted father or sister.
She ends up tumbling over the bridge and upon falling we can catch a Calimari as well as a group of Quarren. The Calamari is wearing the blue sweater that we saw one donning in The Mandalorian season 2 and you can actually buy these in H&M or something.
After learning of a treasured lightsaber brought to the planet by a Jedi he passes Lop the symbol of truth that it has become.
When he’s taken out Lop takes matters into her own hands and travels out to take on Ocho and the Imperials.
Here she finds Ocho in Imperial white garb but much like characters like Kylo, she turns against her dad in order to hold up the establishment.
Lops droid tries to show Ocho a photo that they took on the first day they met but Ocho refuses and the pair end up going head to head through the night and into the day.
Lop ends up defeating Ocho and though she flees with end up with Lop looking over the photo once more. The three figures reminded me very much of the three force ghosts at the end of Return Of The Jedi and that ends the penultimate episode.
The final one is called Akakiri and it begins with a crashing B-Wing landing on a mysterious planet. This is by far the most abstract of the episodes with a strong focus on music, rhythm and artwork. The lightsaber fights in it are almost like a dance and though I felt it was one of the weakest there were some good moments.
We follow a Jedi who returns to a planet to help destroy the sister of a King who has learned the ways of the Sith.
It’s heavily laced in Japanese storytelling and the idea of a fallen Empire being restored by a lone traveller who has returned to help. This way of storytelling has been adopted into several western properties such as Mad Max and the like but it’s very much a staple of Eastern tales.
Along with a princess the Jedi returns to the palace and here he’s tempted by the Darkside. We learn that it is his destiny to turn to the dark side and tricked by the Shogun he lashes out at Princess Misa and kills her.
The Shogun says that together they can bring her back to life and the Jedi joins with her in order to resurrect Misa. It’s very much a retelling of Anakin’s story and how he teamed up with Palps in order to save Padme. Though it has a slightly more upbeat ending in that Misa is saved, it shows that when a Jedi loves it can lead to loss and thus the dark side.
Together the Jedi and Shogun set off into the stars and that ends the series.
Review
So overall there were some ups, some downs but on the whole, I think this was a pretty nice project that had some great animation in it. There were a lot of standout episodes here but also quite a few duds that didn’t really go anywhere but there will be an episode that I think everyone really enjoys. For me, the Animatrix is still the height of what an anime tie-in should be and though I did enjoy this on the whole, some stopped it from being a complete recommend across the board.
That being said what I liked I really liked and I hope that Lucasfilm makes this an annual thing where they get lots of creators on board to tell their own unique stories.
I’m gonna give it a 6/10 overall and that’s purely because some episodes brought it down whilst I thought others were really really good.
Everyone is gonna have different opinions on this but I hope you enjoyed the video and make sure you leave them below.
We’re running a competition right now and giving away 3 copies of the Zack Snyder DC Trilogy on the 30th Of September. All you have to do to be in with a chance of winning is like the video, make sure you subscribe with notifications on and drop a comment below with your thoughts on the episode. We pick the comments at random at the end of the month and the winners of the last one are on screen right now so message me @heavySpoilers if that’s you.
If you want something else to watch then make sure you check out our breakdown of the perfect scene in Spider-Man Homecoming. We break down the entire thing so it’s definitely worth checking out if you wanna know more.
With that out the way thank you for sitting through the video, I’ve been Paul and I’ll see you next time. Take care, Peace
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