With season two of Star Wars: Visions coming in 2023, I wanted to look back at each short from season one and celebrate why they’re great. This is Visions Remembered.
Ah, The Twins. Probably the most polarizing of the Star Wars Visions shorts. From what I gather from various reactions, people either love this one or it’s their least favorite. There’s very little in between. The ones who adore it tend to be fans of Studio Trigger’s work, especially since Karre’s design is so similar to Lio, on of the main characters in Trigger’s film Promare. The people who don’t really dig this one usually come down to the aesthetics of The Twins and it’s simply not their taste which is totally fine.
Everything above is exactly why I love The Twins. It’s so out there that people do tend to have strong feelings one way or another about it.
I always find it fun to show this short to people back-to-back with a later entry being The Elder. That’s because both are Studio Trigger and they couldn’t be more different from each other. It truly shows the wide range of the company. The Elder is rooted firmly in a more traditional Star Wars story, focusing on the master and padawan relationship between Tajin Crosser and Dan G’Vash. I’ll say this again when I get to this short, but Dan and Tajin feel like they would fit right in into any pre-Order 66 eras of Star Wars. I’d love for them to cross over into the High Republic personally.
The Twins is the exact opposite. It’s hyper-stylized, not caring at all how in your face it’s being. It doesn’t care if it makes sense. In Dungeons and Dragons, there’s a concept called The Rule of Cool. According to TV Tropes, the Rule of Cool is “The limit of a group’s willing suspension of disbelief for any given element in a story is directly proportional to its awesomeness.” A lot of Dungeon Masters will wave off official rules to reward a player for their creativity and thinking outside the box.
That is exactly what The Twins is. It is the very embodiment of the Rule of Cool. It doesn’t have to make any sense. It’s going to be a ride to watch, rules and logistics be damned. Am and Karre fight in the vacuum of space? Awesome! Am shoots lightsaber bolts out of her freaking heels? Awesome! Karre cuts an entire star destroyer in half using just his lightsaber and the Holdo Maneuver? Does it make sense? NO! Who cares!? IT’S AWESOME! I am always here for letting cool stuff be cool. When we’re in a franchise with magical space wizards, it doesn’t have to always make sense.
I love the take on Am and Karre’s characters too. They’re like this strange alternate universe version of Dark Side Luke and Leia in the sequel trilogy. It’s familiar in so many ways with their droids and traditional locations like ending up on Tatooine. But it turns the entire concept of our heroic twin heroes on its head while still working within very Star Wars concepts. Karre wants to use his abilities to save what he loves which is his sister, Am. Despite all the bonkers wild battle scenes, The Twins is very much a Star Wars story.
Love it or hate it, The Twins is unforgettable, to say the least. There’s a reason it was so prominently featured in the Star Wars: Visions trailer. This hyper-stylized episode is hard to miss and has cemented its place in Star Wars lore.
Next time on Visions Revisited, we’ll talk about the only Visions short that was submitted to be an Oscar Nominated short out of the bunch. Be on the lookout for The Village Bride.
Star Wars: Visions is exclusively on Disney Plus. Season two will air in spring 2023.