Mafro wrote:It's absolutely not essential to have watched all that, I hate that gatekeeping crap. I didn't have time to watch 80billion episodes of two kids shows to know who Ahsoka was so I just read a wiki(already knew she was a character that already existed in other media, but I didn't know her full backstory). Already knew about Thrawn from the previous Expanded Universe stuff (Rogue Squadron and the books etc.) way before Clone Wars and Rebels was even a thing. I'm assuming in this continuity he's just the same character with the same motivations.
It's perfectly watchable without knowing the history of those characters beforehand.
I didn't mean to Gatekeep, I apologize for that. Mandalorian is definitely very watchable without having any prior knowledge of the cameo cast, but it is also true that those cameo characters will mean little to those who haven't taken in the media they were introduced in; Cobb Vanth means absolutely nothing to me, for example, but apparently he's a big character from the Aftermath books, who people with experience of them got all excited about.
Wikis have all the information you need, and if you're not willing or able to watch the shows (and I know time is a precious commodity), then they're a fine resource to dip into.
For me though, they're very dry - good for an overview of events and character histories, but incapable of conveying the performances of the actors (Ashley Eckstein is a
fantastic voice actor), or of giving you character development that you can only get by watching them over several seasons. You won't develop emotional attachments to characters, and you miss out on a lot of tense, touching and cool moments.
TL;DR Wiki catch-ups and watching the shows are radically different experiences, so to those with the time and inclination, I will always recommend the shows as essential viewing (for getting to know key characters and events) over and above the Wiki. I'm sure that there are lists of essential episodes to watch that you can find on Google, for those of you who have limited time but retain an inclination to watch at least some of the shows.
Also, the old expanded universe Thrawn stuff was retconned; he's essentially the same man still, but the new books and Rebels gave him a new story. It's honestly just really cool to see Thrawn on-screen instead of in my imagination. Lars Mikkelsen may be reprising the role for the Ahsoka show, which would be amazing.