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Hey everyone!  Here it is - my reaction to season 4, episode 2 of REBELS!!!!  OMG you guys, I am so relieved that Sabine's family is ok, but the weapon is no joke!!!
This was what Sabine was carrying so much guilt and shame over....and Bo Katan takes no prisoners when it comes to asking her about it, yikes!!!!  I was happy to see them fight on the same side eventually though, because no one wants this resolved like Sabine does, and she's willing to take full responsibility.  And in the end, it's Bo Katan who convinces Sabine to spare lives and choose a better path, wow!!!  Considering where we started with her, that's a great way for things to come full circle!  Great ep and great arc, what a way to kick off season 4!  Enjoy!!!  ~ MH

Files

Rebels 4x02 full reaction.mp4

Comments

Cody

I’m very mixed on the beginning of the episode. I’m glad that Sabine’s family is ok, but it’s also disappointing they just immediately walked back on how the previous episode ended, especially cause they both aired the same day. We’ve had some dark stuff at least implied on Rebels before, so it feels like a bit of a cop out. I’m not the kind of person to usually go “but the DRAMA”, but it could’ve made for great drama if they stuck with it compared to us just hearing they died in the Purge in Ahsoka.

kamenriderhime

I see what you mean for sure! That's a tough one. I was super sad about the news in Ahsoka!!!!! It was sad to just have it happen off screen.

Brandon Dodge

To answer your question about what happens after this, the Night of A Thousand Tears happens, where the Empire decimated Mandalore and Moff Gideon taking the Darksaber from Bo Katan. She wanted to reclaim it from him, and probably wanted revenge, but Din has it now, after winning it in single combat. And for whatever reason, she let him keep it. Now the future of Mandalore is up in the air, but I do wonder if she and Din could find some common ground and forge a new future for Mandalorians in The Mandalorian Season 3.

Saltire

Always been in two minds story-wise about Tristan and Ursa surviving the attack from Sabine's 'Duchess'. On the one hand, killing them off would add drama to the power of this thing and give extra incentive for Sabine to bring down the Empire some day. On the other hand, a main theme of Rebels is family, and having one of our Spectre family, who we've been following, have some of her own maternal family be killed off due to her actions, goes against that theme; so I can see pro's and con's to the decision they took to keep them alive. Another thing I'm iffy with, is when the Empire comes back for them, Sabine goes into bloodlust mode, but she doesn't kill them, merely disables them. This is one time I wish Rebels was a tad more like Clone Wars, as they wouldn't have hesitated showing that; but with this airing on Disney XD at the time, that was maybe seen as a bit dark for that channel. Sabine is great, but her originally calling that horrific weapon, "The Duchess" is dreadful. Satine would have abhorred any weapon like that, and even her sister Bo is disgusted by it. Thrawn sees its 'artistry', but also regards it as a cowardly weapon. At least Sabine sees the hubris of her earlier self in designing and naming such a weapon, after a pacifist, like this. Even when Sabine reverses the effect of the weapon, to use on imperials, its a horrifying sight. Bo-Katan is right, if they themselves use it to fight the Empire, they are no better than them. In fact, the lightning effect the weapon uses as it destroys all in its sight, is very reminiscent of Sidious's own force lightning (particularly the scene in Rise Of Skywalker when he uses his lightning to bring down ships), which signifies this. Its a beautiful, but bittersweet, final scene where Sabine hands over the Darksabre to Bo-Katan, and the clans swear fielty. She herself mentions the Empire will bring everything they have got 'to crush Mandalore', and we now know thats what will happen. I'm glad you were able to enjoy the moment though Mel knowing how this will end up. With Rebels having only 13 episodes left for you now Mel, you can surmise that we are now done with the Mandalore stuff in this show, to focus on other things. And without spoiling things, that is true; this was the last time we saw anything about Mandalore until The Mandalorian aired. Hence you can now join the dots to the present timeline 5/6 years after Return Of The Jedi. Firstly you can now see how Bo-Katan wasn't keen to accept the Darksabre again from Din in Mando like this. I think she figures that she was unworthy because she lost it, and to reclaim it, she needs to win it in battle; hence I can see a showdown between her and Mando (I haven't seen the trailers or anything about season 3 yet to predict this however). The remaining clans would need to know she won it back in battle to have her reclaimed leadership verified. Secondly, I think Bo-Katan, the clans and others have now gotten up the Empire's nose so much here and for the past 18 years since the Empire was formed, that they will go full-nuclear. What I theorise, is that they brought in Moff Gideon to wipe them out, bomb Sundari and Mandalore to 'glass' as Boba Fett put it in Mando, then perform a near genocide on the remaining warriors like what we saw in Book Of Boba. How Gideon managed to get hold of the Darksabre from Bo though is something we've yet to see. He definitely couldn't have won it in combat without underhand tactics, as she is the best Mandalorian warrior of the lot for me. Side note : not fond of the subs. I know we were having a discussion about it last week, but more is lost than gained from it when we speak English and are watching a show made in English as its first language, and especially since the voice acting and sound editing is crystal clear. Dunno what Nick thinks since he was the one asking for it in later eps?

Tyler Stobbe

Start of reaction: spend seven minutes giving a big epitaph. Starts show: Oh, they’re fine! 😆 Them’s the breaks isn’t it? Something I noticed in both the last episode and this one - I might not remember exactly how the Darksaber works but Sabine never used it to directly strike anyone, she was always targeting something mechanical. It seems the Saxon brothers are gone - just as well. Tiber seemed to have gone almost nuts with power hungry ideals. Even his Lieutenant was like, “dude, you’re NOT okay…” You know, when they boarded the Star Destroyer do easily the famous words of the great Admiral Ackbar immediately came to mind… and I was right. I think the biggest point with the discussion between Sabine and Bo-Katan was about their methods. It’s be easy to just turn the device on full blast without a second thought. But in doing so, how does that make you any better than the thing you’re fighting? She said “it’s their way, not ours.” I’m surprised you didn’t pick up on the cue. “This is the way.” Still only in S2 of Clone Wars so can’t really comment on the character much. But anyway, Sabine was able to deal with all her demons and basically unite her people. Maybe the reason Bo-Katan is the right person for the leader is the same reason most good leaders turn out that way: they don’t actually want it, but they do it because they’re needed. PS: Also, I think working with the subtitles on is a good thing - especially if you’re trying to say something you’re noticing while trying to process something else the show is presenting.

Manny

Oh thank goodness never mind they survived 😮‍💨

kamenriderhime

Ohhhh okay! I was thinking that happened before this for some reason. I hope Bo Katan and Din can create a future for Mandalorians too!!!

kamenriderhime

Hahahahaha yeah pretty much :P That's a great point about Sabine never actually using it on someone. Yeah it couldn't have happened to a nicer set of brothers :/ Even his assistant guy was like "this is too much", that's so true haha. Ah the words of Admiral Ackbar, how often they sadly apply to these situations. Oh yeah that was totally a paraphrased "this is the way"!!! Good call on the difference in methods. You have some great stuff coming in Clone Wars!! Hmm, not a bad point about the mark of a good leader - not power hungry for the role, but check off all the other boxes. Oh good, glad you like the subtitles!!! I know some reactors use them a lot.

kamenriderhime

I see what you mean about the decision to spare Sabine's family! I think on something more the tone of Andor, it would have worked. But maybe not here due to the family theme like you said. I also see what you mean about limiting the consequences of the "bloodlust" mode; I suppose maybe that went a bit farther than they could really explore on Disney XD. Oof, I couldn't agree more about the Duchess!!!! It goes against everything Satine stood for. It's true though, that Sabine was really young and realized the error of her ways now. I can see how the lightning effect is like Palpatine's!!! It's true that becoming the very thing you're fighting against is not what anyone wants here. I loved the passing of the torch, or in this case the Darksaber!!! So, I wasn't entirely sure if the destruction we see in Mando took place after this, but someone clarified that yes it does. So, a nice moment for now for sure, but definitely some stuff coming in the future! It definitely helps things between her and Din make more sense. I wonder if we will get a showdown at some point. That all makes sense as to how it will go down, but I agree that Gideon couldn't have gotten the Darksaber fair and square! Oh, thanks for letting me know about the subs! Maybe Nick could weigh in on the particular episode that it's needed for? I wouldn't really consider that a spoiler, it's way too vague!!! All I'd know about that ep is that there's important dialogue, which could mean anything!

Nick

Hi Mel and Saltire. On the issue of subtitles I genuine don’t mind: the suggestion of having them on in later episodes was only if Mel wanted to be clear what a particular word meant/ was referring to; the pronunciation is obvious and clear but the meaning only stops being unambiguous when you see the spelling, hence the suggestion of subtitles. But as I said before, there is also an argument for not using the subtitles because it might be fun to be left guessing as to meaning. I originally watched the relevant episodes without the subtitles. Still, I suspect now I have clued Mel in to this, that when it occurs she will pick the right meaning anyway now :-)

Nick

Glad you enjoyed this arc, Mel: I think it’s a great one. Here’s an interesting question based upon some comments you made in the last episode: what HAS the nature of the relationship between Kanan and Hera been up to now? I’ve never been sure, but if asked to commit myself to an answer, I would guess they had not been in a romantic one. But I certainly could be wrong!

Nick

Saltire: ‘ Another thing I'm iffy with, is when the Empire comes back for them, Sabine goes into bloodlust mode, but she doesn't kill them, merely disables them.’ Nick: yes, this has always stood out as a little incongruous to me too, and I was very aware of it watching Mel’s video.

Saltire

I can see the pro's and con's of subs for later, but personally I'd go without it having seen them trialled here - even I was looking down at them not paying so much attention to the screen, and I know the scripts pretty much off by heart at this point! :D There might be one or two things Mel gets unsure on as we enter the second half of the season, but I always think part of the fun is working things out and hearing her thoughts and conclusions on them. Heck there is still a few things in the later episodes that I'm still unsure about! All part of the fun though and one of the reasons I keep returning to this show.

kamenriderhime

Nick, thanks for explaining, that does make a lot of sense and maybe I'd even be more aware of it now while watching that ep!! Hmm, how do we all feel about me skipping subtitles until later in the season at least? And then we can come back to it to see how we feel? It is a little hard not to want to pay attention to the words instead of the visuals, but other than that I'm pretty open to whatever! Just let me know!

kamenriderhime

Thanks!! It was really great! Hmmmm, I mean, I always kinda assumed they were together. Like in a committed relationship. But this made me question if they're still dancing around it? This ep makes me think maybe you're right!

Nick

I think dancing around it is maybe a good way of putting it: that’s closer to my impression so far. Originally, before the Rebels series, maybe good friends that grew closer together over time. We have seen how close they are in a variety of ways and in a variety of episodes: eg at the end of Season 1 - after Kanan was rescued from Tarkin’s torture and captivity, but I think that was close friends rather than anything else. Having said that, I don’t know what Dave Filoni was envisaging with their relationship up to this point. But does Hera feel the same way about Kanan as Kanan seems to now feel about Hera? One of the things that is apparent by these two episodes is the growth of another bond - the bond between Ezra and Sabine - - as you mentioned in one of these two episodes. I really like it. Ezra is naturally a little protective of her now (but not in an overbearing, possessive way that takes away from Sabine’s own agency) eg when Bo Katan went for Sabine (a powerful moment to watch) about the weapon Sabine built. It was interesting that Kanan held Ezra back and stopped Ezra interfering: which I think was the right thing to do.

Saltire

I've always assumed Hera and Kanan were in a loving relationship before we met them on the series. She calls him 'love' in the third episode for example. I think over the course of the series, as everyone is tested in different ways, and with all they have to deal with; they have put the cause ahead of their relationship. I always note in the Twin Suns episode though that Kanan isn't in his quarters at night when Ezra hears the holocrons, from which two things we may surmise. Either Hera and Kanan are outside the ship doing stuff around the base, or are getting 'snuggly' in her quarters! If its the latter, I hope Chopper is off charging someplace, he doesn't need to see all that!! :P I always thought if anything though, that its Hera who kind of keeps things on the downlow. She is all-in on the Rebellion, and now with her duties as a rebel leader, that keeps her plenty occupied. We've seen in Andor with Mon Mothma, that sometimes family issues have to be set aside for the cause. Kanan is interesting though, when we think about Obi-Wan and especially Anakin in the prequels and Clone Wars. We saw with them the issues they had when dealing with their own personal issues; Obi-Wan and Satine dealing with it by stepping back from one another for the Jedi and Mandalore respectively; Anakin, well I'll not go into him because I'll only anger myself and annoy you guys with my thoughts on him!! :D Kanan is a Jedi Knight, not far off Masterhood now with the balance he has found within himself, and the progress he has made with Ezra. Yet he is in this relationship with Hera and all that brings. These are different times, so perhaps he doesn't need to play so severely with the Jedi rules about non-attachment?

Nick

Yes I can see how it could be interpreted (reading between the lines) as Kanan and Hera being in a relationship as well. I’m just not convinced, but part of how I interpret their relationship now is also influenced by having seen the whole show (although that’s true as well for you, of course, and yet you still conclude differently to me). I am curious what Dave Filoni intended to be the case here, although I wonder if he himself sees this as something he doesn’t know himself. And it’s certainly intriguing to think about the possibility of Kanan being a Jedi but still having attachments like this (to Hera). Presumably such attachments don’t have to be dangerous but it’s the possibility that they can be dangerous? But then this brings us back to the question of how the existence of both force wielders and the emotional nature of people is best handled/ managed together: was the Jedi order managing this well or not?

Saltire

Being a force-wielder in Star Wars I reckon is both a gift and a curse. Us mere mortals have moments in our lives where we'll do kind things, and others when we are complete gits. Its human nature. As we venture through our brief life experience on this 'pale blue dot', we either learn from our mistakes and what we and our close ones have got right and wrong; or we don't and can become nasty to others. By looking at ourselves though, if we have gone down a dark path, there is always a chance to change or have redemption. As a force-wielder though, the darkside is a very real condition, one that is nearly impossible to step back from and come back to the light. A darksider will lose themselves entirely if they fall to it, unless like Palpatine it seems, was born evil even before Darth Plagueis took him on as his apprentice. A darksider not only corrupts the force when using it, they corrupt themselves entirely. Its always a very real danger for a force-wielder that there is this cliff waiting for them to plummet from, if they aren't careful. Take Ezra here when he was using that Sith holo for 6 months when Kanan wasn't there for him. It was changing his personality so that he was much more short-tempered, bossy and irritable when things didn't go his way, or he wasn't given the attention he thought he was due. Had he continued down that path with his latent power in the force, he would have become a real threat across the galaxy as he sought power to replace the family he lost with his parents and the Ghost crew as they'd separate from him. Overall, to answer your question about whether the Jedi manage it well, I would wholeheartedly say yes, they do. Of course this isn't shown at these times, when the Jedi were at their worst, as they were pulled left, right and centre by Palpatine's manipulations, and what the Sith have been doing to the force over the millennia, blinding the Jedi's foresight; but yes, the Jedi functioned superbly well for 25,000 years with this philosophy, and almost every single Jedi that ever lived, respected that. Those that didn't (ahem, Anakin) were either doomed to fall, or leave the order. There is no Jedi Order at this time though, and Caleb dropped everything from his life with the order when he changed his name to Kanan and met Hera. He lived as a smuggler, still fighting the good fight with her and Chop, but he abandoned his life as a Jedi, stopped using his lightsabre and the force out of fear, and became someone else. Now while he has been back practising the path of the Jedi again these last 5 years, especially as he took on the huge responsibility of training Ezra in the Jedi Arts; he has managed to find balance between his responsibility to the Jedi way of life, and to his family. His is a unique set of circumstances, that many other force users would struggle with; hence why in the long run, the non-attachment rule is justified imho.

Nick

Yes I tend to think the no attachment rule and bringing all force wielders into the Jedi fold is on balance a sound strategy, because otherwise you would end up with rogue force wielders running riot, having turned dark. But then this line of thinking leads me to questions like: 1. Why were the Jedi order not originally going to take in Anakin: were they going to just leave him to his own devices, which risked having a powerful force wielder run a mock in the galaxy? 2. What happened after order 66: did Palpatine and the inquisitors aim to sweep up all young force wielders? And what about in the last three movies eg the boy who picks up the broom with the force?

kamenriderhime

WOW!!!! You two bring up some really excellent points here! I'll throw in my two cents quickly because I might be in danger of writing a term paper on it if I go too far :P First off with Kanan and Hera, I think you're both right that there's clearly something there, but whether or not it's a traditional romantic relationship/commitment is a bit vague. I had always assumed they were together but we just didn't see much of their relationship because, well, like it was mentioned here, the cause comes first. As far as the attachment thing goes, this is something I gave a LOT of thought to over the course of Clone Wars. It does seem that the Jedi Order was trying to bring in everyone who could use the Force and then have them adhere to certain standards so that we didn't just have a bunch of random force wielders out there. On the one hand, with the Jedi Order being as large as it was, I can get that they were trying to keep things from going out of control. When it comes to attachment, we've seen firsthand just how bad things can get when one is, erm, overly attached and can also use the force lol. But even typical levels of attachment could pose a problem - like if it was my loved one I'd probably burn everything to the ground if I had to, to save, them, without really thinking first lol, which is a problem and I've often said I'd make a terrible Jedi because I'm 150% emotion :P So I get that it's a huge responsibility. On the other hand, now that there's basically only a handful of force wielders left, perhaps it's possible that on an individual basis, folks can learn to balance those feelings and still effectively use the force without become a Sith. I know this isn't canon anymore, but in the books I think even Luke was married at one point. Also Nick brings up some great points and I do wonder what they expected Anakin to do if he was that strong but just never trained??? Interesting!! Okay I have gone and written that term paper, I'll wrap it up for now :P

Nick

One of the great things about the Star Wars universe is that it is so large and ‘real’ these days that it gives plenty of room for thought and discussion, just like in our real world - essays, and term papers on different aspects of this universe even 😁. I don’t know if you have ever read the fantasy novel The Magician by Raymond Feist? In one of the two worlds of this novel, a small proportion of people are born with talent for magic. Like the Jedi, the Black Robes (their equivalent of the Jedi order, if you like) take all children spotted having this talent. They are all trained and tested and if they are found ‘flawed’, then they are killed. I only mention this because it is an approach the Jedi could have taken to those born with ability in the force. Of course, that doesn’t fit with the Jedi order we know but it’s possible to envisage the Jedi being different in this way. Another interesting aspect about the existence of the possibility of untrained force wielders running amock is that this risk shouldn’t just be of interest to the Jedi order but also to all ordinary folk, and hence the Galactic Senate. In a way it seems surprising to me that only the Jedi Order seems to care about this.

Nick

There is one other aspect to this subtitles thing other than word interpretation or being sure what you heard. It can be that you want to know who said something but I’m not gonna say any more than that 😉. Having said that, another approach is to not have subtitles on and enjoy the mystery and the puzzle. All I will say is that it won’t surprise you to hear that season 4 contains some truly top Star Wars storytelling and content, and I will be sad when it is all over. Even just writing that makes me tear up :-) Also, sorry for raising the issue of subtitles: I almost didn’t because I had the feeling this would lead to disagreement amongst people here and so cause you difficulty in terms of how you handle it. My view is that you should forget about ‘us’ and think what you would prefer to do for yourself: just think what you would prefer if it was just you watching it at home.

kamenriderhime

Oh, that's a good point! I actually do appreciate them in another show I watch for that reason! Oh, I'm so excited for more season 4!!!! I'm getting goosebumps just thinking about how epic it will be lol. Oh that's okay, I'm glad you mentioned it! I'd still like to try to have them on for the episode in question!! I appreciate that so much, that you want me to have the best experience possible! But for me, the "us" part is what makes it so special, so I'm happy to hear feedback and try new things out!! :)

kamenriderhime

Haha yes, well said!! :D I have not, but wow, that is an interesting contrast. Killing innocents certainly wouldn't fit with the Jedi's way of life! That's a great point, the force is so powerful that rogue force wielders should really be of interest to high-level officials everywhere I guess! Ironic that the one force wielder they needed to worry about the most was actually a high-level official himself though :/

Saltire

Good questions Nick, to your point about the order being reticent to train Anakin, they were quite right in their decision not to train him, and only give in to Obi-Wan due to pride, on his part and theirs. I think had Anakin remained untrained, then he wouldn't have been so much of a threat even with his latent power in the force, as he'd be unable to harness it properly. We'd never know if Sidious would have knew about him either, and he may have even lost his powers if he didn't stay open to the force itself. In the very opening here in Rebels, Vader speaks to the Grand Inquisitor about 'a new threat', meaning young force sensitives coming through, and the fear is that some of the remaining Jedi could train them up as is happening to Ezra here, who is becoming a threat to them, as Luke definitely will over the next few years. There aim is to snap up as many as they can, and yes submit them into becoming Inquisitors to serve the Emperor. If not, they have to be killed off. We saw in the episode in Rebels when Ahsoka kicks the Inquisitors asses, that they were hunting kids who were force-sensitive and had no contact with any Jedi, so they would have continued with this. Speaking of Inquisitors, this is for Mel, note we haven't seen any since Malachor, in fact we haven't heard from any again since then, suggesting perhaps the last of them were killed off there, or that there weren't many left to train up, hence the continuing hunt for force-sensitive kids. Yep we don't know the fates of other force-sensitives we've seen, like broom-boy in the sequels, or the kids that got rescued here in Rebels, who would have been in their 30's at that time had they survived through to the sequel timeline. There are other Jedi out there too who we don't know the fate of. Cal Kestis, Cere Junda or Quinlan Vos who was referenced in Kenobi.

Saltire

Yes Mel, wasn't Luke married to Mara Jade? I remember her from some old games, and some are wanting to see her make an appearance in canon someday, though I don't think that will happen, knowing what happens with Luke for the sequels. The term grey Jedi used to exist a lot in books, same with Dark Jedi. Some mistakenly call Qui-Gon or Ahsoka grey Jedi, but there can be no such thing according to Lucas. You respect the force and are hence a lightsider, or you corrupt it and are a darksider - there is no Bendu! He can get away with it in my head-canon though as he is a unique force of nature. Being a Jedi is like being a monk, you take a vow to help those who need it, to act selflessly and to follow the will of the force. You can have emotions too, you just can't let them define you. In the past, only Jedi padawans who had learned that, were able to take the Jedi Trials for Knighthood. This was all speeded up throughout the Clone Wars as Jedi were being killed off in the war. Anakin and Kanan (at the time he got Knighted) wouldn't have been made Knights traditionally until they had mastered themselves. Having a monk-like existence is alien to most of us though, hence why we sometimes have trouble with some of the Jedi tenets like the non-attachment stuff.

Saltire

I believe that force-sensitives who didn't for some reason become Jedi, were monitored in case they went rogue, but being untrained and unfocussed, most of them wouldn't then become threats down the line.

kamenriderhime

Saltire, that's an interesting point about Anakin possibly never developing his force abilities. It makes you wonder! And that's true about the Inquisitors, where did they all go?? I guess maybe that was the last of them! He was married to Mara Jade! I've heard of this "grey" theory and how it clashes with George Lucas' original vision. I agree that Bendu is sort of an exception though! Good point about this being similar to monkhood - unfortunately things did get sped up and messed up a lot during the Clone Wars. It is hard to get your head around the attachment stuff as a non-monk person lol. Interesting that possible force-sensitives were monitored, that makes sense.

Nate Perkins

Sabine calling it "The Duchess" makes perfect sense, she as a child likley saw what Satine was doing as destroying Mandalore, and so when she builds something designed to destroy Mandalorians her naming it after the duchess makes sense and I think is fun.

Saltire

I could be wrong on Anakin, its just an opinion, after all it made him for a reason. Perhaps he might still have realised his destiny by going on a different path outside of the Jedi or Sith, but I would say that's doubtful. On the Inquisitors, your guess is as good as mine; and to not see them again is a pretty big deal considering how much we have seen them in this show, Kenobi and Tales Of The Jedi. Perhaps, like the dissolution of the Senate shortly, and the Death Star not long from being finished, the Emperor feels more comfortable in his powerbase, and feels that any remaining Jedi left, cannot possibly have a say in being a concern to him; he wasn't concerned about the possibility of Obi-Wan being still alive for instance. Yoda himself says it in his arc in TCW : "open to us, a path remains, that unknown to the Sith is; through this path victory we may yet find... victory for all time". Even 18 years after Yoda says this, the Sith remain 'blinded by arrogance'. Hence he may feel Inquisitors aren't needed anymore.

Nick

That’s an interesting perspective!

kamenriderhime

I definitely see what you mean! It's interesting to think about. Hmm, that's an interesting theory that the Inquisitor situation goes back to the Emperor's arrogance. So true that Yoda's words hold a lot of weight so many years later!!! At the end of the day, power can be blinding. I think the Empire / Emperor were clever, manipulative, etc. but at the end of the day, got too comfortable and let too many things slide. Ultimately their downfall.