"I am one with the Force, and the Force is with me"
Combining the saddest elements of Star Wars and Anime.
As a Moments subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.
General
- "Tatooine Rhapsody" and "Village Bride" involves Jedi Padawans who survived Order 66 and how they dealt with the fallout of that event.
Volume 1
The Ninth Jedi
- Light rises, and darkness to meet it. Even if Rey, Finn, F, Cal, Ezra, Ahsoka, Grogu, and/or any other surviving Jedi succeed in bringing the Jedi Order back from the brink, it's inevitable that someday, the Sith will return and destroy everything they worked for.
- While the fall of the Jedi may not have happened in the lifespan of the Skywalker Saga's heroes, they'll have lived and died knowing that it'll come eventually and there will be nothing that they can do about it once they've passed; it'll be up to their legacy to bring back the Jedi again.
- Kara's reaction to the Jedi turning out to be Sith, the mix of sadness and fear in her voice really hammers home, how her supposed saviours, turned out to be her worst enemies.
- While she doesn't have it as bad as some other characters in the anthology, Kara's whole situation is still pretty sad. She is an innocent child, who over the course of a single day, had the life she'd known cruelly ripped away from her and has a heavy burden that no child should bear, placed on her shoulders. It would Break the Cutie if she weren't such a Plucky Girl.
T0-B1
- Having realized what's coming, Mitaka reveals his force powers to his creation in order to create a hiding spot for him. T0-B1 clearly has questions, but Mitaka merely gives him a somber smile before closing up the hideout and going to his fate. When T0-B1 eventually digs himself out, he finds his home in ruins and looks around desperately for his father... only to find a burial mound, collapsing in tears.
Lop & Ochō
- When Lop first met Yasaburo and Ochō though the two argued they clearly had a very close relationship. Seven years later their differing views on how The Empire will impact their world have caused a rift between father and daughter so great that they must be restrained when arguing.
- Yasaburo is wounded in a duel against Ochō, losing his right eye. With both his eyes lost, he tells Lop that the worst part is that he can no longer see her or her sister's faces.
- The deterioration of Lop and Ochō's relationship. Once they were sisters and the best of friends, but now thanks to the Empire, they are now the worst of enemies.
The Elder
- The Elder's fate is rather pitiful. His best years are long behind him and he was likely seeking worthy opponents for the desire to go out in a grand final duel than to wither away and die of old age. Even Tajin somberly remarks that for all the Elder's power, he was ultimately done in by the inevitable decline of age and that all the power in the world is fleeting as one grows older. It's a harsh reality for those who were once full of energy and vitality to find it leaving them as they progress into the final stages of life.
Akakiri
- The Jedi Tsubaki falls into despair upon seeing that one of the mooks he had effortlessly sliced down was a brainwashed Misa, just as he had foreseen in the vision that tormented his mind. Desperate to bring her back to life, he accepts Masago's offer to join her in exchange for reviving Misa and falls to the dark side. The situation is essentially the tragic fall of Anakin Skywalker in Revenge of the Sith all over again.
- It's the season's only full-on Downer Ending, which is not helped by the fact that it's the final episode of the season as well.
- This also shows the tragedy inherent in The Dark Side Will Make You Forget; Masago and Tsubaki together actually succeed in bringing Misa back to life... but having already fallen, Tsubaki doesn't even spare an aside glance her way and marches past her to join his new master. It's a sad realization that even if Palpatine did help Anakin save Padme's life, it's possible that he would have abandoned her and their children to continue being Darth Vader.
Volume 2
Screecher's Reach
- While the Ghost is straight-up Nightmare Fuel most of the time, when Daal pulls a rock from the ceiling loose and we get a better view of her in the light, it becomes apparent that she's just an ordinary woman, who may not even be a Sith, and possibly went insane from being isolated in the cave.
- The Bittersweet Ending this time is much more bitter than sweet.
- Daal passes the test laid before her by killing the "Ghost", which results in her Mysterious Benefactor finally making an appearance. From her beautiful ship, the Sith Mother arrives and kindly congratulates Daal for passing the test, entrusting the Ghost's lightsaber to her... and makes it clear that her offering a chance to leave was only good for Daal herself, not any of her friends. Though judging by the dark looks on their faces, who's to say if they would have trusted her enough to come along if she had offered her a place?
- Early in the short, Daal asks Baython vaguely if he would leave their world if he could to seek a better life. He makes it clear he wouldn't, especially since someone has to look after Quinn and Keena, but acknowledges Daal has always wanted something more and encourages her to leave if she gets a chance to make it out. At the end of the short, Daal asks if he still feels that way, and Baython, although conflicted, acknowledges that this is her chance to leave and nods wordlessly. Daal then leaves with the Mother, while her friends look on in sadness.
- As the doors to the ship close, the last we see of Daal is a terrified crying child contemplating whether she made the right call in accepting the Sith Mother's offer. Sure, her old life in the workhouse was horrible, but will her new life as a Sith Apprentice really be any better?
The Pit
- The Empire takes an entire village of people — including children — and forces them to mine for khyber crystals without any machines or aid, torturing those who fall behind in their work. They are implied to be down there for months or years, long enough for them to put together a makeshift village in the titular massive Pit and for an entire city to be built on the backs of their labor. When the work is done and the crystals are mined, the miners realize that the Empire has also not left them any means of getting back up - instead, the Empire just packs up and leaves, dooming the entire population — again, including children — to suffer down there forever in anguish and despair.
- The story follows a young man who believes that if others knew what happened to his people they would rise up and help, despite everyone else in the Pit being cynical about others being willing to care. Despite this, he manages to painstakingly climb hundred of feet out and head to the city to plea for assistance. The story seems to be setting up for a tragic twist where the city people don't help him after all, but it turns out his plea works. He manages to get support and attention... and then the Empire catches him. He's hit with a stun shot, and wakes up to find himself dangling back over the pit about to be dropped to his death - and no one swoops in the save him at the last minute. He dies, and though his actions inspire the village to call for help and the city people to save them, all they can do for him is cover his body up so the children won't see.
