Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Clone Wars -- "The Academy" (Ep. 3.6)

-- Those who enforce the law must obey the law.


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We remain on Mandalore as we pick up where the previous episode left off. Satine has requested that a Jedi be sent to their Academy to teach a class about the dangers of government corruption; they send Ahsoka. The Mandalorians require that she not be armed while on the planet, so she has to hand her lightsaber over to Anakin when he drops her off.

The logic around the whole setup for this episode is a little fuzzy to me, even considering that the request for a Jedi is a political feint. Even accounting for the true purpose, the false purpose doesn't quite make sense, and I can't accept that Anakin would leave Ahsoka without her lightsaber considering the ongoing importance placed on them: "Your lightsaber is your life." Of course, it's good to see every once in a while just how much a Jedi (even a Padawan) can do without a 'saber, but I couldn't buy into it.

It's not a horrible episode, but it's definitely not going to make any lists of my favorite episodes, even if it is on Mandalore and even if Satine is in it. The whole story was orchestrated to reveal who the high up corrupt official is, which would be fine except that it feels contrived. Not that all stories aren't contrived, but you don't want them to feel that way.

6 comments:

  1. I didn't catch the inconsistency with the lightsaber. You can't even chalk it up to trusting Mandalore given the recent troubles.

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  2. TAS: It was probably the reason the episode was so difficult for me to get into.

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  3. I don't know. I had like three comments on here but then they all seemed inane. I think I'm overtired. Plus everytime I read these recaps I feel like I'm letting down the team. You and Squid, you're the true believers man.

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  4. I thought it was going in a logical progression especially with the class.
    But as I enjoy Star Wars, I and mostly in it for the pretty and excitement I am not as smart with all the tie in to today.

    cheers, parsnip and thehamish

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    1. parsnip: The fuzzy comes from the idea that they would request a Jedi to teach a class about political corruption. It's somewhat equivalent to requesting a police cadet to teach a class about the ways the auto industry rips people off.

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