Good fucking lord. Star Wars Visions season 1 started on fire, but I felt like it fizzled out pretty fast. Season 2, though, changed the feeling of the barometer.
There was a lot of changes from season 1 to season 2. For starters, the anthology took an approach where they let a lot more visual freedom take center stage. The different studios were not only allowed to add their own animation style, but more flare for their regions. The most visually stunning episode of the season started right away with “Sith.” If there was a way to make an oil painting come to life, El Guiri made one of, if not the most visually stunning additions to the anthology this season.
There’s a total of 9 episodes to go through, but at around 15-16 minutes per episode, it isn’t too crazy. There isn’t a “bad” episode this season per se, but there is definitely some episodes I just didn’t care about. The first episode that made me look for something else to do was “In the Stars,” by Punkrobot. There wasn’t much to like or dislike, because the trope that got us to the trope in question here was “little child got too big for their britches, got caught by the bad man, and has to get saved.”
That’s said, let’s go through some of the best of the season!
“Sith,” like I said before, was an absolute banger. The color palette, design choices, and juxtaposition between the former Sith apprentice and the Sith master that has come for her. After years of trying to get the dark smudges our of her force painted base, her former master comes calling, and with it, the darkness comes back in. The lighting effects during the fight, including when the former apprentice’s lightsaber shoots out a red beam from underneath the yellow blade she was using. There was so much going on, and I love it all.
“Screecher’s Reach,” however, had the absolute best story in the season. Where “Sith” had a very simple story to utilize, Cartoon Saloon’s “Screecher’s Reach” was more intricate. The story followed a group of kids who were supposed to find their way out of being indentured servants to a sweat shop. Daal’s necklace entices her to go to Screecher’s Reach to find the ghost that resides there. Ultimately, it’s a Sith who’s gone ravenous, and attacks the kids. Daal sends the friends out, and she ultimately defeats the Sith. The swerve at the end is what cinches it, where the necklace is actually a communicator with the Sith Mother, who recruits Daal to become her new apprentice.
Another great episode was Studio Mir’s “Journey to the Dark Head.” This was the story of a young monk who has tried since she was young to bring balance to the war, and bring the Sith to an end. Her elders told her she can’t, because they keep too much weight on the prophecies that show up on the rocks in their temple when it rains. Years later, and the war is still waging. Ara has grown up, and has enlisted the help of the Jedi to accompany her back home to destroy this statue. The Jedi send Toul, a padawan who almost got swayed to the Dark Side by Bichen. This maniacal Sith lord murdered Toul’s master.
This was a two fold story, because it was able to show that not only was Ara able to realize that balance is actually needed to keep the universe in check, but it also showed Toul’s journey to gain the resolve to conquer his fear, and continue his journey as a Jedi. while this is your normal Jedi vs Sith story, this was a cool story to show the balance of light vs. darkness outside of the normal dynamic.
Finally, one story I feel that needs to be touched on particularly, is “The Bandits of Golak” from Studio 88. The entire episode, from setting, to character designs, to setting, are so uniquely Indian. The main chase scene was on a very old looking train, with very obvious design choices. The soldiers on the horses looked very much Indian, including the turbans and flowing jackets and robes. Finally, the final battle between the older Jedi lady and the very sinister looking Sith is exactly what I would expect from an animated fight in the Star Wars universe if it came from an animated Bollywood film. This was the most visually unique episode of the season, hands down.
Go out of your way to watch Visions season 2. There is so much going on this season, with the visually different episodes. There’s literally episodes for everyone. There’s dramatic episodes, feel good episodes, ominous episodes, and even episodes that make you go “oh shit!” for so many different reasons. “Sith,” “Screecher’s Reach,” Journey to Dark Head” and “The Bandits of Golak” are by far the picks of the season. This shows that if Disney wanted to hand out Star Wars to outside studios, this proves that non-Disney studios can definitely handle the load and give that Star Wars magic unique glows.