I think there is finally enough to this series to talk about it. It begun with a very good pilot, but then went downhill for a while, with rather predictable, mediocre episodes. It felt like kids friendly version of Blake's 7 or Firefly in Star Wars costume. But then something begun to change, and finally the series hit jackpot with the last two episodes, bringing in Grand Moff Tarkin. Suddenly the stakes are high, the action is better, and there is gravitas to what's going on that has been missing since the pilot. But most of all, like the pilot did, the series once again captures pretty well the spirit of the original trilogy. There is adventure and humor, but there is also a sense of actuall menace from the villains and the overwhelming odds, and that intangible starwars-ish feel to it.

The series still has it's problems, not the least of which is the less than stellar animation, but if it continues the way it is now it may be a truly worthy inclusion to the Star Wars canon despite it, something that I definately wasn't expecting. Let's hope they don't mess it up.

I liked it from the beginning, but yeah, there were definitely quite a few "character building/world building" episodes before they finally started ramping things up.
Hopefully one of these days I can watch it in big chunks instead of tiny bites when I remember I have a television.

I haven't seen it yet but how is it compared to Clone wars?

It's not as good as the orignal Clone Wars by Tartakowsky, but a lot better than the shitty CGI series, although it's also CGI and looks much more like the latter. If it looked like Tartakowsky's Clone Wars it would be absolutely amazing. As it stands it still has better characters, story and feels more like Star Wars than the CGI Clone Wars.

What's wrong with the CGI Clone Wars? And how does that compare to the cartoon Clone Wars?

Ahsoka Even-More-Annoying-Than-Jar-Jar Tano for one thing. I can't stand that bratty little snot. Not to mention how Anakin having a padawan never made any goddamn sense for me. I just can't see that, and the whole series to be honest, somehow fitting in between the episodes of the original Clone Wars second season.

It had some good episodes, but most of them were rather boring, never got me invested, even with somesone like Obi-Wan whom I like so much, and I liked even in the prequel movies (mostly). Storywise it felt weak and uninspired, and visually it lacked style and simply looked poor and cheap compared to the original cartoon.

I greatly enjoyed the CGI series from 2008. Not all episodes were great but some of them were top notch. I'm going to wait for this one until at least one season is out. This reminds me I never watched the Tartakowsky's series.

You won't have to wait long, there is only one episode left this season (second season is already confirmed). You're missing out on the best thing to come out of the prequels. Okay, that does not mean much, but the show was really awesome. Especially the second season. It was so good it actually made me excited for Revenge of Sith.

Definitely better than the CGI Clone Wars. There is a story that builds-up nicely, character development and definitely a Star Wars feel in line with the original SW trilogy.

Gonna tune in for the second season.

P.S.: for some strange reason Ashoka grew on me in the later parts of the Clone Wars. I thought about Anankin to be the most annoying character in that show.

I was somewhat forgiving of Anakin, because I could not really blame him on that series, it did not create him, and he was still less terrible here than in the actuall movies.

As for Ahsoka... I honestly can't say how much she improved, if she did. I stopped watching the show regularly sometime by the end of the third season, and later only checked out the episodes that had interesting premise, or were particularly highly praised, but I remained unimpressed overall. Ahsoka maybe became a little less bratty, but Ezra (padawan from Rebels) still is a more sympathetic and relatable than she ever seemed to be, and already had more of a character arc in one season than she did in the three seasons I saw.

There is a "mystery" character in Rebels, who is giving information (and orders?) to the main characters, and is seemingly working on establishing a bigger rebel movement, that many viewers speculate will be revealed to actually be grown up Ahsoka. I can see that happening, though I'd prefer it be Leia or Mon Mothma. Not just because I don't like Ahsoka, but I'd like Rebels to tie more into the original trilogy than the prequels.

In the new Disney Star Wars Universe, Ashoka escaped the Jedi purge, so you might be on to something. And, yeah, i like Ezra more, too. Not because he's human, but maybe because his street urchin background. Plus, all the characters in Rebels are way more interesting than the ones in Clone Wars. From the mandalorian bounty hunter girl to the twilekk pilot, hell even the little robot reminds me of R2-D2 in his shining moments (and it was one moment with a certain imperial droid where i laughed hard).

So, season finale. Thoughts?! Gotta say: some things went as expected, while others....

Sure, Lando appearing in Rebels showed that the series will guest star at least some of the heroes of the original trilogy. But, i did not expect that ending:P

I still need to watch this series.. I'll start it once I'm done with Clone Wars.

I liked it. Not quite as much as the first episode of this season-ending arc that introduced Tarkin to the series, but still.

I really liked the final fight with the Inquisitor. It was well done, had some good ideas to make it fresh without going over the top, and had gravitas to it, a real end-of-the-line feeling. I think lightsaber duels became too common, too much of an every day occurance since the original trilogy in all the comics, video games and the new Clone Wars. For me lightsaber duels should be important, not just nice to look at, but also emotionally resonating, like they were in the orignal trilogy. The duel between Anakin and Ventress in the original Clone Wars captured that, and this fight did as well.

I also liked how there was just enough humor to make me smile, but not too much so it did not detract from the serious stuff and the high stakes of the episode. The only thing I did not like, is that despite all the fighting and close calls it still feels like it was a little too easy for our heroes to do that much damage. I hoped to see more of Tarkin giving them a really hard time, and at least one of the characters getting seriously injured, to keep the sense of menace Tarkin brought with him in his first episode.

As for the final reveals, one was I think expected by most, and I was not too happy with, for reasons already given. But the final big reveal cought me off guard, and was really cool. Though I'm not entirely sure how good it's going to play out. It might be a bit much, but I'm definately looking forward to season 2.

So, we've got a trailer for season 2. Looks pretty good actually. Very Star Wars-ish. But is it me, or did Vader lose some weight? He looks very slim...