yeah i agree @sturwurstrash
i don’t think seeming to (or actually) kill a character then bringing them back is INHERENTLY a bad thing, but it’s gotta be done right.
too often it either undermines a character’s sacrifice or it erases the effect it has on the OTHER characters and how they deal with it (or WOULD have). also goddammit IF I’M GOING TO CRY FOR A CHARACTER I WANT MY TEARS TO ACTUALLY MEAN SOMETHING. I WANT MY TEARS TO BE JUSTIFIED DAMMIT.
in this case i think the temporary sense of loss still hits hard, in that it’s difficult for me to see sabine that sad period. but it was a massively cheap attempt at making you sad without actually DOING anything. it doesn’t even serve the purpose of being a proper CLIFFHANGER because part 1 and 2 aired concurrently. you feel sad for like, a fucking commercial break or however long it takes for the credits to roll then it’s gone.
it teases at something tha 1) massively changes sabine’s life 2) could serve to further develop the bonds between her and her friends and remaining family 3) give concrete and REAL consequences for the mistakes she made that the VIEWER also feels. she references people she knows dying, and those unnamed clan wren warriors who died were probably like. cousins or people she grew up with so hard to deal with but does that emotionally affect me? only insofar as i don’t like seeing her suffer period and empathize with her a lot.
if we had to fake out a death, then one of tristan and ursa should have lived and one died. i don’t WANT either of them to die. BUT that would leave sabine with at least SOMETHING to salvage from the mess, while still having to deal with the fallout of losing her family to her own invention JUST after getting them back.
there’s a a pretty stark contrast between tristan and ursa’s Not Death and ezra and ahsoka’s supposed deaths.
for one thing, ezra surviving a short fall is actually BELIEVABLE. not to mention the viewer doesn’t REALLY think he’s gone because we Know Better. but the effect it has on kanan?? even for just the short duration of the fight is electric. simply establishing just how unthinkable losing (failing :c) ezra is for kanan and how his entire demeanor shifts dramatically is enough. it strengthened their relationship and sets a tone for the rest of the series of JUST HOW FAR kanan will go for ezra.
and ahsoka UUUUHHHH IM STILL TAKING ALL THAT IN LOL buuuuut the characters thought she was dead for 2+ years and it affected them extensively. and as a viewer, as SUSPICIOUSLY OPEN ENDED as twilight of the apprentice was, she honestly might as well have been dead for all it HURT. bringing her BACK served a concrete purpose to the plot and characters around her. and it wasn’t something done lightly AT ALL, whether you actually liked it or not. i don’t feel like i cried over her for no damn reason!!!
SO YEAH ALL THIS TO SAY I AGREE IT WAS BADLY DONE AND AN UNIMPRESSIVE WRITING CHOICE.
space 