Star Wars Forces of Destiny episode 8: Sabine Wren debuts in “Bounty of Trouble”
By Buckie Wells
Troopers get coated in paint, Sabine Wren appears and Princess Leia still happens to be the most competent gal around in the new Forces of Destiny episode.
Just yesterday, I was talking about how Forces of Destiny was meant to take place within the context of the films or existing properties. But today’s episode really plays fast and loose with what wiggle room they have by giving us a pre-A New Hope Princess Leia as she joins forces with Star Wars Rebels Sabine Wren. A new concept? Not at all. Nothing about this particular episode is new, which may end up making Forces of Destiny slightly annoying. With the exception of Sabine Wren’s lighter coloring—there’s no way I’m the only one that noticed the paler skin tone, right?—the animation of these shorts has been really stellar. It’s like a coloring book that’s come to life.
But there are still some things I take issue with. Especially as I watch these back to back. Episode 6 already pulled the bounty hunter card. So if they planned to do a Sabin Wren episode, why did they give Ahsoka and Padme such a similar premise in their team-up? There could be other reasons for them to meet and save the day. I mean, we’re essentially looking at a stripped down, slightly tweaked version of “A Princess on Lothal,” but it’s not nearly as amusing. The Rey-centric episodes didn’t take us anywhere new or reveal a game-changing secret about Rey or anything. Yet, they still felt more refreshing than our more recent Forces of Destiny episodes. Plus, is it just me or does half of each episode just feature a ton of running?
Check it out below:
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Honestly, I would rather see something totally out of the box, like an episode where Princess Leia sits in on a meeting but cracks jokes the entire time or something more lighthearted. Maybe they could’ve done a date episode between her and Han Solo. Having a female-centric series doesn’t really do us any good if it’s not fun, new, and buzzworthy.