Star Wars: Visions: Season 2: Episode 8: The Pit
What is it ? : An Imperial survey team detect something in the desert, and they ship in some workers to begin digging for whatever they detected. As time passes the hole gets deeper, and the first results of the mining are found, a shard of Kyber Crystal. More time passes, and the sun spins over head as the days pass, as the pit gets deeper and a settlement grows into a city on the horizon.
After a long time, the pit is a deep tunnel straight down, with droids carrying the crystals out to the Imperials. When they reach the bedrock and there is no more Kyber to be found, so the Imperials leave. The workers are left however in the deep hole with no easy way out, left to starve and rot.
One of the workers, Crux, decides to scale the rock face, and as he climbs small creatures tunnelling through the rock leave him hand and foot holds allowing him to complete the climb. At the top he shouts back down that he is going to follow the light to the city for help, and he walks to the city. Inside he tries to speak to people, but they ignore him.
So he stands on a raised platform, and starts shouting that the riches the city is built on were provided by the workers now abandoned in the pit.
His disturbance attracts some Stormtroopers, who grab him and drag him back to the pit, hurling him down into it's depths.
The workers begin chanting, follow the light, and the noise carries to the city where they march to the pit. The Empire puts Stormtroopers to stop them, but they just push past, looking down at those trapped below. They get transport ships and rescue the workers, and as Crux's sister looks into the light once more from the ship, she opens her hand revealing a shard of Kyber.
High Points : The beginning of this episode is spectacular, the time lapse as the pit is dug, and the city springs up, as the sun and moon spin overhead, and vehicles flicker to the site and back again, is brilliant. It really communicates the start of the mining, right up until the mine is used and empty, the riches it provides leading to the city growing from a simple encampment to a gleaming city of brightly lit towers.
Low Points : But the end of the episode makes little sense. Across the miles, and above the noise of the city, the people hear the chanting of the people trapped into the deep mine shaft. They ignored Crux when he came to the city, but care enough to walk out to the mine to find out what's going on. And the Empire rather than opening fire, or bringing in some bombers to clear out the townspeople.
This story really feels like it should have had a tragic ending, it feels like the Empire should win, that this should be an outrage that lets us know why the Empire needs to be brought down and defeated. But instead, the people get rescued, and the Empire doesn't really try to stop them.
Even the city dwellers are redeemed, going from ignoring Crux's cries for help, to saving the workers.
We also saw the crystals getting lifted out of the pit as the workers dug, but we never saw any dirt getting removed. It was like the shovels the workers were using destroyed the dirt. We also never saw where the workers rested while they were digging, I suppose we're guessing they just lay on the ground. And we never saw food or water being delivered, so I'm not sure how they worked for so long.
So what do you really think ? : I wasn't impressed by this one, and there was some interesting stuff in here, but the story didn't hold together well, and was all wrapped up too neatly and too happily ever after (except for Crux who got tossed down the pit and died from the impact at the bottom).
Final Words : As the workers start digging, it shows other digging creatures, small armadillo like animals. Later when Crux is climbing out of the pit, they dig foot and hand holds for him, allowing him to complete his climb.
I wondered if there was going to be some link to them, some force sensitivity in Crux which made him the friend of animals, or something to explain this behaviour. But we got nothing, so I'm lost as to why they helped him.
Score : 7.5/10
Comments made about this Article!
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14/May/2023 01:29:10
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Posted by josejay00@gmail.com
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First off, I liked the quality of the animation in this episode. It's on par with The Elder, Lop & Ocho, The Ninth Jedi, Bandits of Golak, and Journey to the Dark Head.
I do agree with your criticisms. The episode was setting the stage for a sad ending, but while some tragic events happened, the ending wasn't sad. But it wasn't a clear-cut ending. The kyber crystal the girl was holding turned blue. Does this mean she's Force-sensitive? Does she have the potential to become a Jedi? We have the stage set for another animated show to answer these questions.
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15/May/2023 07:52:06
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Posted by Freddy
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Did love the animation, especially as I mentioned in the review, the Time Lapse section, really sold me on the set up and situation.
But the ending really came across as too sappy for me. While it's animation, Visions isn't supposed to be for kids, and that the kind of ending I'd expect in something for young children.
Really it should have ended in a slaughter, or ended quietly with the workers trapped with no sign of rescue, and the city dwellers having to live with abandoning those who brought them their wealth.
Now you mention about the kyber crystal, makes me wonder, did I miss something where it was the girl connecting with the Armadillos to help her brother climb out? I can't see anything which hints at that, but maybe that's supposed to be what's going on?
And re-watching to check that idea out, just brought more questions. If the Empire doesn't want the workers to escape from the pit after the work is done. Then why does the Stormtrooper commander release them all from their slave manacles when the work is done?
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