Black Panther (a movie review post)

 

MCU #18

It was a little bit difficult returning to Black Panther what with the death of Chadwick Boseman. It just made me sad. You can look back at my previous "review" here, which was less a review and more of a discussion of the cultural impact of the movie.

Four years later: What is the cultural impact? It's a little difficult to say. We've had the death of Boseman and a pandemic, which may or may not have affected the way people go to movies for all time. That's also difficult to say. We have had both Shang-chi and Eternals since the release of Panther. Would we have had those without the overwhelming success of Panther? Eternals, maybe; Shang-chi, certainly not. It's true that my prediction about the movie may have been lofty, but it's still too early to tell. And the death of Boseman and the pandemic have certainly changed things. I'll know more when the next Panther movie comes out at the end of the year.

I'm again not going to really review this movie, but I will talk about some things that stood out to me this time.

1. Why is Martin Freeman given such a prominent role? Don't get me wrong, I like Freeman, but I don't understand, exactly, how or why he ended up with the role he has in this movie. He gets to be the hero of the "space battle," and I'm not really sure why.
2. Speaking of the "space battle," I realized that Black Panther has the classic Star Wars finale:
-- Jedi Battle (in this case between Panther and Killmonger)
-- space battle (where Ross has a dogfight and shoots down the weapons supply ships)
-- ground battle (where the... you know, where everyone else fights)
I was a little bit surprised when I had this realization. I mean, this is such a Star Wars thing that one of the Star Wars CCGs adopted this as their playing format. Now I'm wondering if any other movies have used this format. Does it pre-date Star Wars? I've never really contemplated this before and am vaguely curious. Probably not curious enough to do any research about it, though.
3. Monarchy. For such an advanced society, why is Wakanda still stuck in a hereditary monarchy model? And, on top of that...
4. Leadership by combat? I mean, that is the absolute worst. I'm actually having a hard time, now, with the idea that T'Chaka was able to hold onto his kingship into his old age. Or maybe that trial-by-combat thing was only once, unless challenged by a blood heir, but still...
We saw how that worked out.

I'm kind of hoping that the next Panther movie will introduce some governmental reforms, but I'm kinda doubting it.

Don't get me wrong, I get that it made for a good movie. Lots of tension and action and all of that stuff but, as a working model of government, Wakanda needs some help.

All of that said, the movie still holds up. It was great fun to watch. I love Boseman. And am sad. I love Serkis' Klaue. He is possibly the most fun villain the MCU has had. The scene where he runs out of the club yelling, "That was awesome!" is kind of priceless. Forest Whitaker is in a second role with Disney in which he sacrifices himself. Well, the cast is stellar all around.

Of course, now I have to work it into the rankings which is a thing that keeps getting harder and harder to do. Not to mention needing to come up with a way to slam Norton. But here goes...

The rankings!

1. Captain America: Civil War

2. The Avengers
3. Captain America: The First Avenger

4. Spider-Man: Homecoming
5. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
6. Iron Man

7. Black Panther

8. Doctor Strange

9. Ant-Man

10. Thor: Ragnarok
11. Thor: The Dark World
12. Thor

13. Guardians of the Galaxy

14. Avengers: Age of Ultron

15. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
16. Iron Man 3
17. Iron Man 2
18. Incredible Hulk (Norton's ego is stronger even than vibranium.)

(You may notice that the #3 spot is no longer a tie. I feel that Captain America is slightly stronger as a movie despite my love for Spider-Man. That said, if I could put the Sony Spider-Man movies on here, Spider-Man would make the top three, for sure. Man, I need to watch that one again.)

Clone Wars -- "Together Again" (Ep. 7.08)

-- You can change who you are, but you cannot run from yourself.

May the 4th be with you...

This arc, what I'm going to call the Trace arc, comes to a close. It didn't redeem itself; it just transitioned into something else.

On the surface, this adventure with Trace and Rafa serves only to put Ahsoka in a place where she can run into Bo-Katan and get caught up in the Mandalorian mess dealing with Darth Maul. And that's fine.
Sort of.
The issue here is that if what they wanted to do was get Ahsoka involved with the far-reaching Maul story line, they could have done it more directly. Having Ahsoka crash onto Trace's landing platform (three episodes ago) is just as arbitrary as having her cross paths with Bo-Katan. They could have gone directly to the pivotal story rather than futz around for four episodes doing nothing.

Except...

Except it seems that they wanted Ahsoka to have an epiphany about her Jedi-ness, and they used the convoluted story with Trace and Rafa to get her there. Not that they couldn't have brought Ahsoka to the same place with any number of stories, but I do understand the appeal of using Trace and the whole idea of 1313 to bring Ahsoka to the mental space where Rafa could say to her, "You're the Jedi we always hoped Jedi would be," and Ahsoka would accept it and take back the Jedi mantle, just from outside of the Council.

Sure, I may be jumping the gun on that, but...
Ahsoka goes off with Bo-Katan to deal with a Sith issue, something that's not really her responsibility anymore. Unless it is.
And I know where she's headed, development-wise, since I've already watched Rebels.

I don't know. Maybe I would have enjoyed this arc more if Trace and Rafa weren't so stereotypical and the plot device of not-using-your-powers not so cliche. I do like when we get to see other bits of the SWU we don't usually see, and we got to see both Kessel and the Pyke home world during this arc. I just wish the story had been more engaging.

"You and I were always good, good until she showed up."

"We have to trust each other."

"You're going back to help her so you can one-up her?!"

Clone Wars -- "Gone with a Trace" (Ep. 7.05)

-- If there is no path before you, create your own.

All right, a new episode!

Meaning there will be no referring back to anything.

Ahsoka pretty much dropped off the map after she left the Jedi. I think that was at the end of season five, but I could be mis-remembering. At any rate, she was pretty much never mentioned again after she left, which was more than a little disappointing. She was the heart of the show in many ways, and definitely the lens through which we viewed Anakin. She's back in this episode and it seems that it picks up not long after her departure.

Let's talk about something else for a moment.

The last game project under development from LucasArts before Disney pulled the plug on them was something called 1313. There was a lot of excitement over this game because it was going to take Star Wars gaming in a whole new direction. 1313 referred to a level of Coruscant, or something like that, which was a bad place to be. We were going to get to see the underworld, or underbelly, of the capitol of the Galaxy, and it was going to be a big deal.

Was.
Because, and I still really don't understand this, Disney shut LucasArts down when they bought the franchise. Not just that game, the whole company. But whatever, I guess; it's not like I'm really a video gamer at this point in my life. I mean, I'm about to be the only person in my family not playing Animal Crossing.

So Ahsoka leaves the Jedi Order and where does she end up? Down on 1313, of course.

And, really, that's all there is to say about the episode. Ahsoka meets a friend and hi-jinks ensue. Her friend, as all of the residents of 1313, don't think much of the Jedi. Mostly because the Jedi don't think much about them, as in the Jedi don't think of them at all. 1313ers consider themselves forgotten. Needless to say, Ahsoka doesn't let on about her ties to the Jedi.

"I don't have much in the way of credits."

"Don't worry. Down here, no one does."

"I don't know where you're from but, down here, everything has a price."

"I can only take so many punches to my head and still be considered a pilot."

Rebels: "Ghosts of Geonosis: Part 1" (Ep. 3.12)

-- "There are times I hate being right, and I hope this isn't one of them."

I guess we're on a dead planet kick: Dathomir last episode, Geonosis this episode and next. Wow! The Clone Wars really left a lot of dead planets. Which makes me wonder about the "current" state of Mandalore. The original conception of Boba Fett was that he was the last of the Mandalorians, but so much of that got changed in the prequels and the subsequent Clone Wars episodes dealing with Mandalore that I'm sure what the current status actually is. I'm not even sure the Fetts were supposed to be Mandalorian at this point.

None of which has to do with this episode at all.

So getting back to Geonosis, a great place for a vacation home!
If, you know, you like absolute solitude. That is until the zombie bugs come for you.
None of which are in this episode.

But Saw Gerrera is in this episode! And he's looking more like how he looked in Rogue One than he did last time we saw him. Saw's an interesting character, one who could probably support his own series. [Hear that Disney? Give us a Saw Gerrera series!] He's gone missing on Geonosis investigating the disappearance of the entire population of the planet. And what do you do when your team investigating a disappearance also disappears? You send more people, of course!
And Jedi, if you have them.

Not that the rebels have actual Jedi, but they have the closest thing to it that's left in the galaxy.

I'm sure all of this is leading us toward the Death Star and Rogue One, but that's just a guess.

"They kind of look like battle droids to tell you the truth. Ugly battle droids that smell."

"Honestly, I was hoping I'd never have to come back to this dust bowl."

Rebels: "The Holocrons of Fate" (Ep. 3.03)

-- "Once a secret is known, it cannot be unknown."

Tom Baker is back! And so is Darth Maul!

And... Caleb gets spaced. Caleb, you ask. Well, it appears that Kanan has been keeping a secret and that it's that Kanan is an assumed name.

Actually, this episode is all about secrets, secrets of the holocrons and the secrets they hold.

And, man, things keep getting interestinger and interestinger. We get a reference to "twin suns" and Maul muttering, "He's still alive," and, and, and... all sorts of things.

I don't know at what point Lucasfilm or Disney or whomever decided to start really connecting the animated series... What's the plural of series? I mean, I know it's both the singular and plural, but it seems inadequate here. There are multiple animated series being referred to! Anyway, I don't know at what point they made that decision, but you can really see that process beginning to happen at this point in Rebels. Not to mention the overlap of Rebels with Rogue One. And the return of Maul in Solo. Not that I think that will result in a satisfying conclusion considering the clusterfuck Disney is having with that.

Actually, Disney is just having a big clusterfuck with the whole Star Wars franchise, right now, and they don't necessarily look to be pulling themselves out of it. The animated series seem to be the only thing they have a grip on (maybe), and I think that's because they didn't really take them seriously and left them in the hands of the team that had originally been working on them. We'll see how that goes as they transition back to Clone Wars now that Rebels has ended.

But I digress...

At any rate, this seems to be a significant episode. Maybe. It does, at least, lay some clues for things to come. Maybe. It's intriguing, to say the least. I think it's safe to say at this point that if you really want to know what's going on in the Star Wars universe, you need to be watching the animated shows. The movies are... well, they are clearly lacking the kind of scope they need to have.

"I thought you said it was safe."

"It is safe; that may be the problem."

"The airlock is down there if you want to show yourself out."

"A dull and dour chamber. This is the chamber of a Jedi."

"We asked for a chance to defeat the Sith, and we failed."

Rebels: "Twilight of the Apprentice -- Part Two" (Ep. 2.22)

-- So, the rumors are true; Darth Maul lives.

Star Wars has a long history of apprentices confronting their masters, going all the way back to A New Hope. I suppose this confrontation was inevitable.

And heart-wrenching.

And about time, I suppose.

This is one of those episodes where long-running story threads all come together, and things get serious. Really serious. Consequences happen.

And, then, there's Maul, the wildcard of this two-episode arc, who seems to have set his sights on a new apprentice.

Actually, there's not much to talk about here without being completely spoilery, and this episode is too good for that. It's almost necessary viewing, which could do without watching the whole series if you were willing to be a little vague on some things.

Let's just say this:

Confrontation with the inquisitors.

Maul's motivations revealed.

Confrontation between Ahsoka and her old Master.

Things... change.

I'm really looking forward to season three!

"You're such cowards that you would run from this chance to defeat your enemies."

"I need a lot more training."

Rebels: "Stealth Strike" (Ep. 2.09)

"Just so you know, when I escape, I won't hurt any of you."

Well... It's actually been a couple of weeks since I watched this and it's not exactly fresh in my mind. The Last Jedi is fresh in my mind, but I'm not going to talk about that until I've seen it again.

Here's the thing, Kanan and Rex don't exactly like each other. More to the point, Kanan doesn't like Rex. You kind of can't blame him considering that Kanan was a Padawan when Order 66 was enacted, and he watched his Master killed by clones and had them try to kill him, too. There's a lack of trust going on despite the fact that Rex has stated he removed his control chip prior to Order 66.

Kanan and Rex do have a thing in common, though: their affection for Ezra. So, of course, when Ezra is captured, Kanan and Rex go together to rescue him. I mean, neither of them can let the other guy get the credit for it.

Yes, this is another rescue mission... but it's not exactly the kind of rescue mission you'd expect.
And it's a lot of fun to have Rex and Kanan together.

"This armor doesn't protect you from anything!"

"So much for stealth."

"It's not like they don't know we're here!"

Rebels: "Brothers of the Broken Horn" (Ep. 2.06)

"We were enjoying a friendly game of sabaacc and, well, now, it's my ship."

With one episode, Rebels won my heart. Hondo Ohnaka was one of  my favorite side characters from Clone Wars, and it's a delight to have him show up here. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying he was my favorite side character, but he was definitely top three. I hope this is just the first of many episodes for him to show up in. [Evidently, he still has the best writers. So many great lines!]

"Oh, the stories I could tell, so many of them true."

Ezra's having a hard time dealing with all of his responsibilities. On top of learning to use the Force and all of the other things he has to do to be a part of the team, Rex is now working on teaching him how to be a soldier. It's more than a bit overwhelming, which is what leads to running into Hondo. Ezra takes a... day off. So to speak.

Nothing philosophical. Not really. Just a fun episode. A romp, if you will. Definitely worth a watch.


"Well, that's another version of the story; I suppose."

Rebels: "Relics of the Old Republic" (Ep. 2.04)

I'm a bit reminded of Howl's Moving Castle with this pair of episodes. The clones live in an old Republic tank, travelling slowly around the desolate planet they live on. There are things, like laundry, hanging off the outside of the tank. Being just a 20-minute show, they don't spend much time delving around the innards of their home, but there's just enough there to make me wish that they had. The fact that Gregor's kind of crazy just heightens that desire. I mean, who knows what kind of stuff he has stashed in odd corners inside that thing.

The only problem in all of this is that someone called the Empire. "Hello, we have a Jedi here..." As if Kanan didn't have enough against the clones already.

But it does give us a chance to see the clones scoff at and make fun of their first AT-ATs. That was a fun moment. Oh, come on, it's not anything people haven't said before, so it's good, I suppose, to see the creators making fun of their own thing. And what do AT-ATs care?

All of that, and a new Inquisitor is coming to town...

So far, season two is shaping up to be far superior to season one. The themes being introduced are much more mature and interesting than the rather juvenile season one. Which is not to say that I don't expect there to be more juvenile hi-jinks, because even Clone Wars had its more juvenile moments.

Rebels: "The Lost Commanders" (Ep. 2.03)

"There are questions, questions that need answering."

With those words Ahsoka is off to delve into the mystery of the Sith Lord she encountered last episode because, yeah, she doesn't know that Vader is Anakin. That conveniently takes her out of the picture for the moment, leaving our own little rebel band to go off on their own mission.

So... Ever wonder what happened to the clone troopers after the end of the Clone Wars? Did they end up on street corners holding bean cans while begging for handouts? I can't answer that question for you, not in a general sense, but we do get to find out what became of Captain Rex. Turns out he's on my least favorite planet in the galaxy. Oh! and hey! Gregor survived! Well, more or less. You remember him, right? The best part of my leasy favorite Clone Wars story arc ever.

The problem with all of this? Kanan was there when the clones turned on the Jedi. He watched his Master gunned down by clones she had served with for years, and he ran as they turned to do the same to him. They are both his betrayers and his reminder of his own guilt. Should be some interesting stuff if the clones stay around long enough, though there may be more betrayal in the offering.

Personally, I hope Rex stays around, and I hope we find out what happened to Cody, too, though I suspect nothing good if he's not with Rex.

Oh, and Zeb gets used as bait. Like worm bait.

Rebels: "The Siege of Lothal -- Part 1" (Ep. 2.01)

"I guess there is no going home."

It's Rebels week here at StrangePegs, which means two thing:

1. There will be an episode of Rebels reviewed each day!

2. No politics this week.

Except that it's Rebels, so there's a good chance there will be politics.

So... Kanan isn't happy. His and Hera's small rebel band of hooked up with the larger Rebel Alliance after the events that ended season one, and Kanan is feeling uncomfortable being a part of a larger organization. And taking orders. He really doesn't like having to take orders and be part of a chain of command.

Probably, he doesn't like having Ahsoka around, either, but that's just me saying that.  It doesn't come up in the episode.

Vader's not happy with the fact that our group has joined the larger organism, either, but that's because they're not on Lothal anymore, and Vader wants them back. Which means a plan...

Remember The Empire Strikes Back and that whole part where Han and Leia go to Bespin and... it's trap! This is kind of like that. Vader knows what's going to happen since, you know, he can see the future and all, which makes it a bit unfair. Evidently, Kanan never progressed in his training enough to be able to get glimpses of the future? I don't know. It's not a thing all Jedi can do, anyway, so maybe he just doesn't have that skill.

But, anyway, part of what happens is that Vader and Kallus order Minister Tua to make things... difficult... for the population of Lothal. This also echoes Empire; however, Tua doesn't have the stomach for it. Although she's a good little Nazi, um, Imperial agent, it seems that there are some things that go beyond even her ability to condone, very unlike our very own Republicans who seem just fine with rape as long as it's a good Republican boy doing the raping. [See, I told you. Politics.]

This episode is a good start to the season, and I didn't want to stop watching to write this.

Clone Wars -- "A Death on Utapau" (Ep. ?.1)

-- One crime has to be concealed by another.

A couple of notes before I get into the episode:

• All of the voice acting for season six had already been completed when they found out that the license for Clone Wars had not been renewed on Cartoon Network, which means the stories and scripts were complete.
• Only about half of the season, "The Lost Missions" episodes, had had the animation completed, and not even those episodes had all of the animation completed. But the guys in charge -- at Disney, I presume -- decided those 13 episodes were close enough for them to be completed for release on disc.
• These episodes, the "Unknown" episodes, have been presented on the Star Wars website with the voice acting set to the storyboards. The animated storyboards which are actually kind of cool.
• These unfinished episodes, despite not being finished, are still considered canon material.

"A Death on Utapau" finds Anakin and Obi-Wan on Utapau investigating a death, not surprising considering the title. heh But it's the death of a Jedi, Jedi Master Tu-Anh. Obi-Wan describes her as being unconventional, like Qui-Gon, and, as such, she frequently was off doing her own thing without the Council's knowledge. Such was the case on Utapau; no one even knew she was there until she was found dead... with no obvious signs as to the cause of that death.

This episode is a bit like a detective story, and they do a pretty good job with it for a 22-minute show. The banter between Obi-Wan and Anakin is at its best. I found myself chuckling more than once. If this arc plays out to be as good as this episode, it may be one of the most enjoyable arcs of the Clone Wars run, which is sad since it didn't get completed.

The added wrinkle is that it's Utapau where Obi-Wan has his confrontation with Grievous in Revenge of the Sith. The war has not reached Utapau in this episode, so it will be interesting to see if this arc is what brings Utapau into it. Much of season six felt like it was happening just before the events of Revenge, and this episode is no different.

"Whatever it is, don't touch it."

"Uh, too late. I touched it."

Clone Wars -- "Destiny" (Ep. 6.12)

-- Death is just the beginning.

[Remember, you can sign up to join the Clone Wars Project at any time by clicking this link.]

[Well, actually, considering that we're into season six, now, probably no one new is going to sign up, BUT! Hop over to The Armchair Squid for his take on the current episode.]

I have a question:
Why is Yoda's starfighter so much smaller than everyone else's? The lightsaber thing doesn't bother me, because lightsaber's need to fit the hand of the wielder, but the starfighter thing...? I mean, if starfighters can be smaller, they should be smaller. It makes them harder to hit. I guess the better question, then, is, "If they can make starfighters the size of Yoda's, why do the other Jedi have such large starfighters?" That seems to me to be a design flaw.

And, yes, that has nothing to do with the episode other than that Yoda's starfighter is in the episode, but it's a question that has bothered me for a while. Because the real reason is aesthetics, but I can't get behind that from a practical standpoint.

Anyway...

Yoda continues his journey, the quest he's been sent on by Qui-Gon Jinn. If you don't know what I'm talking about, you need to go back and watch the previous episode.

Significant things about this episode:
Yoda fights... well, let's just say it's a scene very reminiscent of that one with Gollum from LotR.
Yoda discovers some things about himself. (This is the good part.)
The priestesses are very Spirited Away.

The failing of this episode is that it's too short. Way too short. I think they could easily turn this one into an hour show and make it awesome and surreal.


"Disappoint us not, little green one."

Clone Wars -- "Voices" (Ep. 6.11)

-- Madness can sometimes be the path to truth.

[Remember, you can sign up to join the Clone Wars Project at any time by clicking this link.]

[Well, actually, considering that we're into season six, now, probably no one new is going to sign up, BUT! Hop over to The Armchair Squid for his take on the current episode.]

Sometimes the way we answer questions is to merely remove the question one step back. This is the problem with, say, crediting aliens for creating life on Earth, or, at least, human life. The question then gets pushed back to, "Well, who created the aliens?" It's a poor way to answer a question, basically, a cop out. I feel like that's what they're doing in this arc with the question, "How do Jedi talk from the dead?"

I also feel like this is a question that doesn't need to be answered, not in any concrete way. I mean, how do the Jedi do anything? The Force. It's a mystery to those of us (all of us) who aren't Jedi. Just leave the answer at that. It doesn't need an answer.

Having said that, I think this is a really great episode and an important arc. Top 10 for sure, probably top five.
Yes, I'm biased because it focuses on Yoda, a character who really, despite always being around, hasn't received enough attention throughout the series. Just casually thinking back, I can only think of one other arc that focused on Yoda as a character.

There is a thing I like very much about this episode: It highlights the way in which people, even Jedi, are unable to think outside of the boxes they've put themselves in. When Yoda is troubled and brings his question to the Jedi Council, most of the Jedi but Ki Adi Mundi in particular, dismiss what Yoda is saying as something that is impossible. They've already decided their answers on the subject because they're certain they already have all the answers. Ki Adi Mundi goes so far as to assert that Yoda must be under the influence of the Dark Side and, mostly, the other council members don't reject that notion.

Which, of course, means Yoda has to rely on Anakin for help, seemingly the only Jedi other than Yoda who doesn't get trapped in dogma. Which isn't really a great thing for Anakin in the end, but being trapped in dogma isn't a good thing for the Jedi, either, considering what's in store for them.

Anyway... This is another of those arcs that real Star Wars fans should watch. Which is not to imply that you are not a real fan if you don't watch it, but, if your interest in Star Wars goes beyond the movies, this is an arc you should see.

Oh, one last thing...
There is a question that everyone asks (I use "everyone" loosely.): Why Dagobah?
Why did Yoda choose, of all places, to exile himself on Dagobah? This episode gives some insight into that.

Clone Wars -- "The Lost One" (Ep. 6.10)

-- What is lost is often found.

[Remember, you can sign up to join the Clone Wars Project at any time by clicking this link.]

[Well, actually, considering that we're into season six, now, probably no one new is going to sign up, BUT! Hop over to The Armchair Squid for his take on the current episode.]

I don't like the opening quote. It's like, "Sure, but what is lost is also often not found," so what's the point in saying that. It takes me back to Dead Poets Society: "I might be going to Yale. But, um, I might not." That was teenage awkwardness, but whoever chose the quote for this episode doesn't have that excuse.

I'm slightly ambivalent about the episode itself, too. Not because it isn't good; it's a good episode. However, I'm unsure as to the point of it for the audience. It seems that its existence is so that they can state explicitly something we already knew. At least, it's something I already knew; I just assume everyone else already knew it, too. Maybe it is a necessary episode for people who hadn't put those pieces together?

It seems like its greater purpose is to allow the Jedi to know something the audience already knows, but that seems unnecessary to me. It's just driving home the point of how outplayed the Jedi have been, which is summed up when Yoda expresses that they are on the incorrect road but that it's the only road left open to them. They have no other options.

We do get to see Commander Wolffe and his unit again. He's a clone I would have liked to have seen more about.

Anyway... If you happen to be wondering about Sifo-Dyas and that whole thing with the Kaminoans and the clone troops, you should watch this episode.

Clone Wars -- "The Disappeared: Part 1" (Ep. 6.8)

-- Without darkness, there cannot be light.

[Remember, you can sign up to join the Clone Wars Project at any time by clicking this link.]

[Well, actually, considering that we're into season six, now, probably no one new is going to sign up, BUT! Hop over to The Armchair Squid for his take on the current episode.]

Today's episode: Jar Jar Jones and the Temple of Doom!

Honestly, I'm not sure how I feel about this episode. On the one hand, we find out that Jar Jar has a love interest...
Yeah, I'm going to stop right there.
There is humor in it, though, in that Jar Jar goes off with Queen Julia for the night and Mace Windu spends the time freaking out about where Jar Jar has gone and what he could possibly be doing. That the queen is Jar Jar's girlfriend never enters Windu's mind. Inconceivable!

Anyway...

The dagoyan people don't like the Jedi despite their affinity for the Light Side of the Force. They hold the belief that the Jedi are kidnappers because of their practice of taking Force sensitive children to train at the Jedi Temple. And, well, we don't know that the Jedi are not really kidnappers of a sort. All we know is that they take young children to the Temple to be trained as Jedi and that that is common practice in the Republic. We don't know anything at all about how this is carried out or whether it's with consent or how often it might not be with consent or anything. And all of this is something that's mentioned, basically, in passing, but it's the most interesting question the episode brings up.

Well, that and why anyone, even Jar Jar's girlfriend, would trust Jar Jar to solve a mystery. You'd think that someone that close to Binks, in fact, would be the last one to trust Jar Jar to handle an important task completely alone.

Clone Wars -- "Crisis at the Heart" (Ep. 6.7)

-- Deceit is the weapon of greed.

[Remember, you can sign up to join the Clone Wars Project at any time by clicking this link.]

[Well, actually, considering that we're into season six, now, probably no one new is going to sign up, BUT! Hop over to The Armchair Squid for his take on the current episode.]

When you make a deal with the devil... Well, you know how that goes.

Maybe we should change that from "devil" to "Sith." Or "Trump." Seriously. Ask the GOP how that's going.

I don't really know what I want to say about this episode. The closing chant of "Long live the banks!" is disturbing on many levels, but it's not substantial enough to talk about.

Overall, this arc is about Palpatine continuing to cement his power for his ever approaching takeover as Emperor. It's difficult for me to watch these things, sometimes, because I want to say, "Are you all blind? Can't you see what's going on?" Which makes me want to say, "People would never be that stupid," but, then, we have Trumtatine as president, so, obviously, that's not true. People are that stupid, and Palpatine plays them like a drum.

Even the Jedi go along. Which reminds me of the electoral college, because the electoral college was put in place specifically to keep someone like Trump from ever getting into office, and, yet, here we are. And the Jedi, who should have been the people to stand up and say "No! This is wrong," fail to do that at every turn. And it makes sense at each little step for them to go along because there was nothing at each little step to prompt them to protest.

Which is exactly what the GOP have done to us over the past few decades, slowly eroding our democracy to a point where Trump is in office and they can't figure out how to stand up to him because they're not willing to risk their own power.

And then there's Anakin and his insane jealousy, but that story is completely undermined by the fact that he's right about Clovis, so, in the end, he's not held accountable for his horrible actions. Not by the Jedi and not by Padme.

But that, also, is how things are.

It's not a very enjoyable arc, but it's probably a very good one.

"Your actions have brought war right where there cannot be war."

Clone Wars -- "Orders" (Ep. 6.4)

-- The popular belief isn't always the correct one.

[Remember, you can sign up to join the Clone Wars Project at any time by clicking this link.]

[Well, actually, considering that we're into season six, now, probably no one new is going to sign up, BUT! Hop over to The Armchair Squid for his take on the current episode.]

What's worse than looking for a needle in a haystack? Looking for a needle in a needlestack,
I mean, sure, the clones have adopted identifying markings and such, but being tasked with finding one specific clone among, at least, thousands... Well, that's a job I wouldn't want to have.

But it is the job of the security forces on Coruscant after Fives take flight after a frame up to make it look like he was trying to assassinate Chancellor Palpatine. And, of course, we know it's a set up, and that's part of what makes this episode so difficult to watch. We know who Palpatine is, and we know how those around him are playing into his hands, and we want to yell at Shaak Ti, "No! Don't do it! Don't leave Fives alone with him!" But she doesn't listen to us.

To say this episode ends tragically is an understatement, because we now know just how close the Jedi came to finding out about Order 66, how close one clone came to changing everything...

For me, that makes Revenge of the Sith even more sad.

Aside from all of that, it seems pretty clear to me as of this episode that Count Dooku had no idea that Darth Sidious and Palpatine were one and the same. Interesting...


"Have you seen this clone?"

Clone Wars -- "Conspiracy" (Ep. 6.2)

-- The wise benefit from a second opinion.

[Remember, you can sign up to join the Clone Wars Project at any time by clicking this link.]

[Well, actually, considering that we're into season six, now, probably no one new is going to sign up, BUT! Hop over to The Armchair Squid for his take on the current episode.]

The Jedi have sent Tup to Kamino to find out what caused him to assassinate Jedi Master Tiplar. This is somewhat like Brer Fox throwing Brer Rabbit into the briar patch. Not that it's exactly the Kaminoans fault. Apparently, they really just don't "get" the Jedi and don't understand that "Lord" Tyrranus is a Sith and not part of the Jedi Order. And it doesn't really seem to bother them that they are taking secret orders from one "Jedi" that they must not let any of the other Jedi know about.

Or maybe they just don't care because why question the money?

At any rate, it puts the Kaminoans at cross purposes with the Jedi and, specifically, Fives.

Fives, of course, doesn't much care for anyone else's agenda if it puts Tup, his best friend, in danger, and he's willing to do whatever it takes to save Tup's life, a life the Kaminoans plan to end to cover up the fact that clones have inhibitor chips in their heads put there at the behest of the Sith.

Again, this is a great arc and one of the most significant ones in the series. You should do yourself a favor and watch it.

Also, the droid character AZ-3 is a good addition for the episode. Its relationship with Fives is interesting to watch.

One other interesting note: There are empty seats on the Jedi Council. I'm not sure if they've shown that before, but there are at least two seats empty during a consultation in this episode.


"I always wanted to have human feelings. But I do not. Goodbye."

Clone Wars -- "The Unknown" (Ep. 6.1)

-- The truth about yourself is always the hardest to accept.

[Remember, you can sign up to join the Clone Wars Project at any time by clicking this link.]

[Well, actually, considering that we're into season five, now, probably no one new is going to sign up, BUT! Hop over to The Armchair Squid for his take on the current episode.]

Technically, we could be through with the whole Clone Wars thing since season six was never aired; however, they did release part of it on disc, so we, of course, own it. And season six has some important stuff in it; in fact, this first arc is easily in the top three arcs of importance in the series and arguments could be made for its being the most important.

So why didn't it air?

I may have mentioned this before, but let's touch on it again.

The Clone Wars was not "cancelled" in the way that TV shows generally get cancelled. This is why season six was so far along in production when the decision was made to end the series with season five. See, Clone Wars was a Cartoon Network show, licensed to them from Lucasfilm on a five year contract but, before the contract was up, Disney bought Lucasfilm. Not a big deal in a general sense except that Disney has its own TV station and didn't want to be licensing out their new Star Wars property to some other network so, when it came time to renegotiate the licensing agreement, Disney made the cost too high to make it worthwhile for CN to pay it and, thus, The Clone Wars abruptly ended at the end of season five with season six production in full swing.

Why didn't Disney just move Clone Wars over to the Disney Channel?
That was about branding.
And, so, Rebels was born as a Disney channel show and Clone Wars was allowed to drop away.
Fortunately, Disney allowed some of the episodes to be completed for a DVD release.

Which brings us to the first episode of season six, as I said, one of the most important arcs in the series as it has to do with Order 66. It also introduces us to the only set of Jedi siblings that I know of. Or, at least, can think of at this moment. Also, Tim Curry as Darth Sidious! And I'd say more, but you should just watch it.


"I am programmed to resist intimidation."