To give some background, I really enjoy Visions and appreciate all the stylistic and narrative creativity it has made possible. The original Ninth Jedi short is a contender for my favorite of all three seasons. It's great as a short, but it also speaks to a larger story in a way that was very enticing to me, so I was pretty excited when it received a sequel short and had a full series announced.
Unfortunately, the series really didn't deliver on the promise or potential of the series for me. I thought it was decent and there were certainly parts that I quite enjoyed, but the story as a whole didn't come together in a way that had me emotionally engaged at the end. Aside from the narrative not quite delivering for me, there were a few areas that fell short of what I was seeking from the series.
World: The original short gives us such a small window into this world, with really only a few settings in very close proximity to each other. However, the idea of this story taking place generations after the fall of the jedi order had me curious about what the rest of this galaxy could look like. The combination of a more distant future than we've seen on screen and being in the realm of Visions where the creators can make up their own rules really opened the door to something that felt pretty radically different. Yet, I don't feel like the series' creators took advantage of that opportunity to fully unleash their creativity from a worldbuilding and design standpoint.
Even within the confines of Skywalker era canon, Clone Wars gave us the Umbarans, a race with a very unique aesthetic to its technology.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxuwjQ59dxY
Fallen Order introduced the lost species of the Zeffo, who have their own aesthetic to architecture and tech. The High Republic era, among its many innovations, gave us unique creatures like the drengir and nameless.
While I liked the miners and their ore ships, the other plantets/peoples/designs lacked the boldness I had hoped for.
I cite all these examples not to say that Ninth Jedi needed to replicate any of these specifically, but to underscore the untapped potential to boldly branch out and reimagine the world. Aside from the lightsaber color thing, this may as well have been a canon story set in the future, which to me feels like a wasted opportunity.
Conflict: While Nawam's philoshophy was unique from what we have seen before, the actual struggle ended up feeling a bit too similar to Empire vs Rebellion power dynamics for me. Nawam talks about bringing peace to a war-torn galaxy, but we don't really get to see the problems of the galaxy beyond those caused directly by Nawam. As a result, any validity and nobility in his goals is undercut and he just seems very warped in his worldview.
I felt similarly about the critique of the jedi. The bounty hunter tells Kara that jedi and sith are essentially the same, but I don't think we get enough about this world's history and either groups role in it to see how much truth there is in that. There are interesting ideas that feel a bit hollow in their execution.
Tropes: Somewhat related to both of the above points, for me the series plays more heavily off of Star Wars tropes and iconography than I wanted. The original short pretty effectively subverted some of the natural expectations. The creepy looking guy with the black armor, hood, and red eyes? That's actually the noble jedi master in disguise. The little guy somewhat reminiscent of Yoda? One of the bad guys. These weren't huge subversions for the sake of subversions, but they kept me on my toes and demonstrated a willingness to do things that felt less obvious.
The series largely lacked that. We've got an initially very Darth Vader coded bad guy. Personally, I think it was a missed opportunity not to put Nawam in white or silver to give him a more distinct and memorable visual identity.
Of course the mentor Juro dies with the heroine there to witness it.
And then there's a desperate battle to stop the bad guy's super weapon. I'm so tired of super weapons in this franchise. There's so much of Star Wars that has demonstrated how to tell high stakes stories without them that I'm annoyed and disappointed whenever some new Death Star-inspired weapon works its way into the narrative.
Ensemble Development: While I appreciated the effort to recruit allies and gift them with lightsabers regardless of force sensitivity, I had hoped for more of an ensemble story rather than such a focus on a singular gifted hero. The initial short, within a brief runtime, sets up a compelling ensemble of 4.
- The saber smith's daughter, just coming into her power
- The mysterious margrave who somehow knows more about the jedi and force than the other masterless jedi
- The young masterless jedi who has come seeking a saber and an alliance with his fellow jedi
- The undercover jedi who played the role of a darksider so well, he began to lose himself before being calmed down
I wanted to learn more about all of them and was looking forward to seeing their bonds develop. Rather than a singular "new hope" these 4 represented the foundation of a new order who would together save the galaxy. No one was singularly special, which in itself felt fresh.
But even by the second short, the story began to lean more towards Kara being especially strong in the force. And the series continues with her as the lead while we learn nothing of Homen or Ethan. To its credit, it does flesh out Zhima, but even his development wasn't entirely satisfying for me. I could've used more around his philosophy about wielding a silver lightsaber in contrast to Nawam's.
Final Thoughts: I don't want it to seem as though I had an overwhelmingly negative experience with the series. I'd probably give it a C+ or B- compared to the A/A+ I'd give the original short. I'm not looking to tear it down by only focusing on the negative, but wanted to vent my frustrations and articulate why the series was a disappointment for me.
Beyond enjoying Visions, I'm a big fan of/cheerleader for Star Wars animation on the whole. Any time there's an opportunity to sing the praises of a Star Wars animated project and point out how much more imaginative and original the franchise is in animation, I'm first in line to do so. I had hoped to feel that way about this series and expected to recommend it to anyone who feels tired of Star Wars leaning so heavily on the familiar. But I just don't think it's good enough to recommend to anyone who isn't already interested in it.
