Star Wars: Visions Episodes 7-9 Review

Credit to: Disney and Lucasfilm

Wait, it’s already over?

Welcome back, y’all! This time around, we’re taking one last look at Star Wars: Visions, or at least its first season. We do know that we’re going to eventually get a second season, but we really don’t know when. Fans of the series have been clamoring around these brand new characters and have been showing a ton of support and love for them, so it could be likely that we’ll see them again in either the second season, or perhaps even in their own personal projects. Who knows? But for now, let’s have a good look at these last three episodes, and give them a rating as usual. Without any further ado, let’s just jump right into it.

Episode 7: The Elder

Okay, this episode? STRAIGHT. FIRE. Sorry about that. While I’m still a full on fanboy of the second episode, I think this one is my new second favorite, with episode one being my third favorite. Let’s get back on track, though. We start this episode seeing a Jedi Padawan named Dan G’vash speaking with his master, Master Tajin Crosser. The Jedi master reminds me so much of Kakashi from the Naruto series, as he’s a very calm, collected, and monotone individual, but like Kakashi, he’s a character who is quick to come to the rescue. They talk about exploring the galaxy, the patrol mission they’re on, and of course we see Master Crosser pass on a bit of the usual Jedi wisdom onto his apprentice. The Jedi master suddenly stops when he senses a sudden disturbance in the Force, but notes that he can’t sense it anymore. They wonder if it has anything to do with the Sith, but Crosser notes that the Sith have been gone for a very long time. They of course decide to investigate, and the investigation leads them to the planet of Habo, as it’s the only planet that was near them. They arrive on the planet and walk to the nearby village, which is inhabited by shy people and curious children. Crosser has a friendly chat with a few of the villagers while Dan makes funny faces for a few of the kids. Crosser returns to Dan and informs him that an elder from an unknown tribe arrived alone days ago and went into the mountains. Curious on whether or not this elder could be the disturbance that Crosser felt, they decide to split up. Dan takes the same village kids as guides up the mountains, while Crosser stays near the village to keep an eye on the elder’s ship in case he returns. When Dan finally reaches the top of the mountains, he notices a slain beast lying dead on the ground. He calls in with his master and notes that the beast’s throat is slashed with a clean cut. Crosser notes that the only thing that can cut through that species so well would be a lightsaber. When Crosser tells Dan to head back, Dan turns to find a short man with an all black cloak standing behind him, observing him. “A Jedi,” the man says as he sheds his cloak. When Dan asks if he is Sith, the elder notes that they are extinct due to them always trying to outwit each other. He doesn’t reveal much more, as he insists that they should speak with their blades. He whips out two katana-like lightsabers, both having a bright red blade color. The elder attacks Dan swiftly, testing out his defenses, and Dan is already tired. He notes that Dan must not be the strong Jedi he sensed before, so he figures if he kills Dan, his master will arrive. Only a few moments later, Dan receives a slash across the belly, and falls to the ground. Sensing this, Crosser runs towards the mountains. When he and the elder finally meet, the elder gets quite excited. The two square off, and begin testing each other in battle. Crosser eventually gets the upper hand when he slices one of the elder’s lightsaber in half, much to the elder’s dismay. The elder uses Force lightning, but it misses. Eventually, Crosser gets close enough to finish off the elder, putting an end to his threat. Before he can die, the elder reaches in his robe to pull out a detonator, which he presses to completely destroy his ship. A few scenes later, we see Dan who finally recovered from his wound, listening to Crosser as he gives him one last bit of Jedi wisdom before the episode ends.

This episode was fantastic, man. I love the art style, the animation, the characters, the mystery, all of it. Knowing that Master Crosser and Dan were unable to continue their investigation on the mysterious dark elder makes me want more of them, to find out what other ancient evil they might discover. I thoroughly enjoy the bond that they shared, and I loved the super creepy ex-Sith elder. This episode was an absolute masterpiece.

5 out of 5.

Episode 8: Lop & OchO

This episode was… fine. It wasn’t bad, I actually enjoyed the story very much, but the ending makes it feel so incomplete. Anyways, let me start this review. So we start off with the narration from a woman who explains the history and current dilemma of a planet called Tao. Tao is very rich in natural resources, but still struggles to modernize, so they welcomed the Empire, who in turn, have been stripping the planet of its natural resources while keeping the Tao people under Imperial occupation. We focus our attention to a young bunny-like alien girl named Lop, who hops from rooftop to rooftop, and runs through the streets with her little droid companion, TD, with a bag of food. She jumps onto another rooftop and stops to catch a quick bite while making sure nobody is following her. We as the audience are close enough to notice a crude collar around her neck, which was placed on her by the Empire. We later see her in a market area, where she tries to steal some food, but is stopped when a man grabs her hand. He stands there looking at her with his daughter Ocho, noting how she must be an Imperial laborer. When asked, Lop informs Ocho and her father, named Boss Yasaburo, that she doesn’t have parents, but the eager Ocho invites her to be part of their family, where she can eat as much as she wants. Boss and Ocho get into a humorous argument, which ends only when Ocho grabs Lop by the hand and runs with her all the way to a beach, where TD takes Lop’s collar off and takes a family photo of Lop, Ocho, and Boss. Jumping ahead a few years, we see an explosion in an industrial part of the planet, and it’s there where we see Boss and a grown up Ocho arguing about how the Empire is evil, but Ocho believes that the Empire brings prosperity. The argument cuts to an end when Imperial patrol troopers make their way to the area, forcing Boss and his people to flee the area. Later, Lop and Ocho talk about the argument as Lop drives down a highway. She comes to a stop when she notices an Imperial officer, backed by stormtroopers talking to Ocho like they know each other. When Lop puts two and two together, she begs Ocho to reconsider, but Ocho instead cuts off her long braided ponytail, and gives it to Lop as she officially joins the officer and the Empire. We see Lop run and run all the way back to the Yasaburo house, where she sees a long Boss sipping on a drink. She informs him of what Ocho did, but assures him that the family and the planet matter to her and she wants to protect it at all costs. Boss leads her to a room where they both sit in front of each other. He places a box in front of her while he gives a heartfelt speech about Lop being his daughter, and when he opens the box, it’s a beautiful lightsaber with gorgeous engraving and designs on it. He places his hands on the ground, and the room gets dark, but the floor begins to glow blue. The floor shows her the history of the lightsaber as he explains that the ritual has been passed down throughout the family, and he officially hands down the lightsaber to Lop, making her the official owner of the lightsaber. Later, Boss leaves Lop home as he tries to reach the Imperial stronghold where Ocho is, hoping she’ll finally listen. As time passes, Lop decides she can’t stay there alone, so she eventually makes her way to the stronghold with her new lightsaber. When she arrives, she sees Boss and Ocho battling as he pleads with her to return home. When Boss loses focus after noticing Lop, Ocho strikes him in his one good eye, rendering him completely blind. Boss tells Lop that she needs to try bringing back Ocho, but Ocho still won’t budge. Lop ignites her lightsaber, and the two go toe to toe, with Lop… suddenly using the Force… Um, alright? That’s really annoying, but whatever, plot. Anyway, Lop comes out on top, and we see Ocho stare her sister down one last time, before flying away on top of an Imperial cruiser. End of episode.

You know, this episode was pretty good. I like the characters and the story, but the episode felt suuuper rushed towards the end, especially when we see Lop being a perfect lightsaber wielder and using the Force. I really don’t think it was necessary for the Force to have popped up at all, let alone a lightsaber, but sure, whatever. I did have a good time, but I think they got a bit too carried away at the end on this episode.

3 out of 5.

Episode 9: Akakiri

I have absolutely no idea what happened in this episode. This was such a weird way to end this first season, like really. There’s so much that happens here with randomly mentioned characters they expect you to remember the moment they first mention them, but it’s also so slow and boring. Let me do a fairly brief breakdown of this episode since the episode itself is really short. We start off on a crash site on some random planet, while we see this random dude wearing a straw hat fight off some native warrior tribe with his blue katana lightsaber. I really enjoy the way they animated the lightsaber in this episode, it’s so unique. Anyways, he gets a sudden headache when he experiences a vision of him fighting some red figure. A native warrior hits him in the head with a club, knocking him down as he has his vision. He starts getting jumped, but is saved when a random flurry of arrows rains down on the warriors. They flee, and we see three figures standing in the distance as the Jedi becomes unconscious. He wakes up in a cave with three characters, a woman named Princess Misa, who informs us the Jedi’s name is Tsubaki, and her two aides named Kamahachi and Senshuu. Tsubaki tells Misa that he had to come to her when he heard about what happened to her father… which, like, I would’ve appreciated it if they bothered to tell us, but it’s whatever. Apparently, there was a Sith hidden in the royal family. I just… mm. Anyways, Tsubaki wonders why Misa is carrying a bow, but she deflects and asked why he came even though he already explained why. He explains that Masago is a Sith lord who can’t be defeated alone. Masago is someone I assume to be the hidden Sith in the so called “royal family”. Jumping ahead, the four characters ride weird bird horses back to Misa’s palace, which is dragged out for far too long. Along the way, they notice that Kamahachi is no longer with them on his ride. Tsubaki runs off and tells Misa and Senshuu that he’ll meet with them later. Only a few scenes later, we see Kamahachi and Tsubaki meet up with their friends, and Senshuu and Kamahachi hug. Tsubaki gets another headache or whatever. Later, we see Tsubaki and Misa reach the palace, but they’re suddenly confronted by Masago herself. She’s backed by a group of spear and sword wielding soldiers. Masago and Tsubaki engage in battle, but Tsubaki stops when he sees Kamahachi and Senshuu are captured. He of course gets another headache, and it provides an opportunity for the soldiers to capture the princess. Ugh, let’s wrap this up. Tsubaki gets over his headache after experiencing some sort of flashback, fights off the soldiers thrown at him by Masago, but he accidentally cuts down Misa, who’s been dressed like one of the soldiers just like he saw in his visions. Wanting to bring her back, he asks Masago to help, and she gives him the powers of the dark side needed to revive her. She’s alive, but now Tsubaki has to take Masago’s hand as he joins her, uh, bad guy group as a fallen Jedi. End of episode.

Okay, what? Seriously, what was this? I’m so confused. I’m so, so, SO confused. This was just a 13 minute waste of time. These characters were barely fleshed out, the story is ridiculously confusing, the fight scenes were so brief even though they were the best part of this episode, and the ending was so lackluster. I’m almost as disappointed in this season finale as I was with the entire sequel trilogy. Ugh, the fights were so cool when they actually happened, and the art is so good, but boy does this story suck.

1.5 out of 5.

Final Thoughts

Well that’s one way to end it. While I can’t stand the last episode, I did enjoy episodes seven and eight. This series as a whole has a bunch of potential, it really does, but it seems to me that it won’t be able to stand on its own if it continues this random path. It was a good way to introduce new stories, characters, and worlds, but I think the second and third season would do better if they were to properly flesh out these characters. I enjoyed almost every single episode, seven out of nine to be exact, which is pretty good. I definitely want more out of this series, and I really hope it delivers even more the next time around. I did have a good time for the most part, so I’m not too salty about the ending. But what did you all think? Let me know what you all think on my Instagram and Twitter, and make sure you’re following me there so you can stay in the loop on all things entertainment related. That’s all from me, this has been The Wolf Den!

7-9: 3 out of 5.

Season 1: 4 out of 5.