The finale of Ashoka season 1 aired this week and revealed some concerning issues regarding the writing, characters, and plot. Written by Dave Filoni, who directed most of The Clone Wars, Ashoka was supposed to be a dramatic change from the poor efforts of The Obi Wan Show but instead revealed deep issues when it comes to the writing in Star Wars.
Then Loki Season 2 Episode 1 dropped last night, and, to my horror, those issues have carried over into the Marvel shows. This sets up a disturbing trend within the Disney+ shows that will be the platforms downfall if they’re not quickly addressed.
Not one in a Disney+ Show Acts with any Urgency
Star Wars and Marvel have gotten so bad that the writers are now creating new and exciting storylines that we haven’t seen before in an attempt to get those brands back to their former glory. This is a great direction to go in, but unfortunately the same writers just don’t have the ability to write good characters, a good story, or make anything make sense.
The biggest issue is that these new stories all revolve around a ticking clock and none of the characters, both good and bad, act with any urgency to achieve their goals before time runs out. This creates absolutely no tension for the audience since if the characters aren’t concerned, then why should we be?
Everyone in Ashoka Goes at a Leisurely Pace
The final arc of Ashoka sees the heroes attempting to stop Grand Admiral Thrawn from escaping the galaxy he was exiled in whilst also trying to get home themselves. Thrawns ship is the only way to return home and so they must kill Thrawns army and then use the ship to escape.
However, at no point whilst they’re on the planet do they show any concern about anything. They find Ezra a few hours ride away from where Thrawn is and then their ship takes some damage, so they’re forced to move at a slower pace. Not only are they not concerned about getting to Thrawn in time, which would mean the end to their galaxy if he escaped, but they also don’t seem too worried about being stranded in another galaxy.
Ship’s damaged and can’t fly? Meh, we’ll walk.
Thrawn is escaping? Meh, we’ll somehow catch up to him.
How am I supposed to feel any tension when the characters constantly brush off serious setbacks like they’re just an inconvenience?
The real damage is done with Thrawn. Thrawn is supposed to be a master tactician, one of the scariest commanders in the Empire, but he also acts with no urgency. It’s established early on that his ship will be ready to leave once some cargo is loaded on and then it’s all loaded at the start of episode 8.
Despite the heroes being hours away, Thrawn decides to hang around for seemingly no reason and take pot shots at them instead of just leaving. Worst of all, he could have taken these shots WHILE his ship was moving into orbit, achieving 2 goals at once. This is supposed to be one of the smartest villains in Star Wars, but he acts like a complete fool.
Loki Season 2 Episode 1 Follows in Ashokas Footsteps
The lack of concern unfortunately carries over from Ashoka into Loki Season 2 Episode 1 which sees Loki suffering from Timeline Slipping. This is a state where he will randomly, and from the looks of it, quite painfully, be teleported between past to future. He desperately needs to find Morbius and warn him about the events that happened at the end of Loki season 1 before his circumstances teleport him away again.
With this in mind, after beginning to explain what happened at the end of time, Morbius starts mocking Loki, something which Loki plays along with for some reason. I can give Loki some credit for being in shock, but he seems to forget that he can be teleported away at any moment. He then suffers from another time slip and Morbius begins making remarks about it.
This is okay for Morbius because he is a laid back guy however Loki should be shutting this down immediately. He knows what’s coming, he knows how serious the situation is, and he has no idea if he’ll be able to get back to the present if he slips again. Loki should not be engaging in these meaningless comments. Morbius should also be on the same page after the first few times it happens but he’s happy to chat with Obi instead of solving the issue at hand.
How will this Effect Disney+ Shows Going Forwards?
The lack of concern is going to become a serious problem if it continues because why should we care about the stakes if the characters don’t?
For Star Wars, we’ve heard about the Thrawn movie featuring all of the tv characters, but I don’t think the characters would even be bothered to fight him. Thrawn presents a massive threat to the galaxy, especially now he’s in cahoots with the night sisters and their dark magic, but Ashoka, Sabine, and even Ezra don’t seem too concerned about this. They’re our lead characters, and the only ones that have the ability to actually stop him, so if they’re not concerned then this can’t be an issue?
Marvel characters show a bit more concern however they seem more interested in stopping to have a chat instead of working tirelessly until the job is done. The Infinity Saga handled the mix of banter and tension perfectly by having characters make remarks as they briefly passed each other during fights. This allowed the writers to insert some character humour whilst never disrupting the flow of the fight or releasing the tension.
However, the new trend of no concern threatens to ruin all of that. Now characters will happily stop what they’re doing in the middle of a crises to talk about random subjects which removes all the tension. You don’t have the time to stop, what are you doing?!
Overview
- None of the characters show any urgency or concern for their current situation
- Serious setbacks are now treated as slightly inconveniences
- If the characters don’t care, then why should an audience?