Kanan the Last Padawan: A Story of Order 66

[ozaline]

Happy May the Fourth... I thought it was time to take another look at the Rebels spin-off comic by Greg Weiseman. Weiseman served as story editor and EP on the first season of Star Wars Rebels but the left. He did write a comic series to flesh out Kanan's origins... let's take a look at that.



Issue 1 - Jedi Master Deppa Bilaba and her Padawan, Caleb Dume, have successfully defeated the Separatist forces on the world of Kaller. Bilaba decides to to impose herself on the beleaguered people and roughs it for the night along with her command squad.















Issue 2







Issue 5

Ever since Grey and Styles failed to finish Caleb Dume they've been hunting him across the galaxy... during that time Caleb learns one valuable lesson... that he has to lie, cheat, and steal if he's to survive.















So... what I'm saying is. I liked the Bad Batch pilot, but I kinda feel bad for Greg Weiseman.

Comments

[mazway_75]

Read an interview with the showrunners, they wanted to do a bit of the Batch with some Jedi and the idea of letting a Padwan get away to establish things.

It was Filoni who suggested it be Kanan which makes sense and while a shift, not the first time it's happened (see the Ahsoka novel being different on her during Order 66 than Clone Wars) and was fun hearing Freddie Prinze Jr voice the role again.

[ozaline]

I totally get that, and it isn't a huge deal... though I feel this arc suffers more of a shift and takes away from Grey and Styles more than the Ahsoka bit takes away from Ahsoka.

I am a huge fan of the Ahsoka book, But the siege of Mandalore was given very broad strokes since EK Johnston was told to do it that way... and the actual fight with Maul is treated as a dream.

Yeah there's issues with the Fulcrum handle, and so on, but most of the book is unaffected (though haters have really used TCW to discount Ahsoka, cause they seem to dislike it for whatever reason, and have given Johnston a hard time about it).

Here it feels a little more annoying. Ahsoka at the end of the day is Filoni's character more than anyone else. But Weisman really helped shape Kanan, and even was consulted for the big Kanan novel.

---

However, it's not like I don't get why it makes sense from a business perspective, and the idea that a sprawling canon like Star Wars can stay cohesive even 10 years after a massive reset... it's not going to happen.

But personally I could have done with less fanservice, and getting to see someone else. I also think having a clone help Kanan survive early on kinda hurts his arc with Rex. And yes Styles helps him here, but he doesn't see it... which works a lot better.

So I would have rather seen someone else. But what's done is done... I voice my opinion and move on, I'm not writing it after all.

But also I thought Prinze was hilariously miscast as young Caleb. He didn't sound like a kid at all... and that often doesn't bother me too much, but it just was way too much. It made me laugh watching Bilapa look down at this kid and hearing this surfer guy adult voice, just too funny.

[thehood]

I don't feel like it does since Caleb left thinking Hunter was trying to trick him. He doesn't see it as a Clone helping him.

[icon_uk]

I wasn't so sold on Freddie Prinze Jr vocing the barely adolescent Caleb, he just sounded way too old for the character as shown.

[mazway_75]

I figured doing it so fans who hadn't read comics would get Caleb becomes Kanan.

[ozaline]

They do use the name Caleb in Rebels a few times though... they even make a connection between him and the wolf Dume.

[tripodeca113]

Definitely a lot more effective than the version in The Bad Batch.

[zachbeacon]

Man, everyone in Star Wars is so dramatic. I think Obi-Wan/Ben is the only Jedi who assumes a new identity and doesn't loudly proclaim that his old name is dead.

Then again, he held on to "Kenobi" so how hard was he really trying?

[ozaline]

To be fair the guy he's talking to was the one who told him he couldn't use Caleb anymore it just took him till then to figure out a name... so he was just being called Kid

[zachbeacon]

Okay, fair enough. I'm just used to hearing the Sith with the dark helmets proclaiming that the people they used to be are dead.

[super_fly]

Nah Ben just proclaims that certain other people's names are dead

[zachbeacon]

Ben Solo keeps telling people he's dead. It isn't just a Vader thing.

[1wordreaction]

Nostrils!