Clone Wars -- "Citadel Rescue" (Ep. 3.20)

-- Without honor, victory is hollow.

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I think fighting a Jedi is somewhat the equivalent of trench warfare during World War I. You just keep throwing more and more men at it until one gets through. Or gets an opening. Or a lucky shot. Or whatever. But sometimes they do fall.

There are two things of interest in this episode:
One is the continued discussion from the previous episode regarding the Jedi not really being suited for war. This is, of course, Tarkin's viewpoint. He believes that the Jedi Code folds them back from being able to achieve a true victory in many cases. Unsurprisingly, Anakin tends to agree with Tarkin. Obi-Wan's response is to question whether victory is worthwhile if you have to sacrifice your honor to attain it.

It's an interesting question, all of it, and it hearkens back to an earlier question about what good it does to maintain a stance of non-violence if it gets you dead. Which is the higher measure: keeping your honor or staying alive?

The second is a conflict over the information that Even Piell was tasked to bring back to the Jedi. In an effort to protect it, he shared the information between himself and Tarkin so that if one of them was captured, the information would be useless. You'd have to have both of them. The issue, then, is that once Tarkin has part of the information, he refuses to divulge it to anyone other than Palpatine. Did Piell have no inkling that this could be an issue? Tarkin never held back about his feelings about the Jedi, so sharing the info with Tarkin seems to be a poor choice for a Jedi Master to make.

Okay, sure, it's probably just a plot device that the writers didn't think through all the way, but it does raise some questions.

Mostly though, as I said in the review for the previous episode, this arc is an action arc, and the philosophy is kept to a minimum.

Clone Wars -- "Counter Attack" (Ep. 3.19)

-- Anything that can go wrong will.

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This is an all action episode as Anakin and Obi-Wan continue their efforts to rescue Jedi Master Even Piell and not-yet-Grand-Moff Tarkin from the Citadel. To say that it's rough going would be an understatement, as the opening quote reveals. They don't end up better than they started.

Thinking about this arc of episodes, I think they are to balance the previous arc, which was slower and more thoughtful. I guess you follow an arc like that with one that is mostly action but, again, I'm reminded, we're doing a prisoner rescue. Interestingly, Tarkin makes a comment about how well designed the prison is in regards to how difficult it's being for them to get out. A bit of foreshadowing for you.

There is one brief moment of philosophical exchange between Anakin and Tarkin about the effectiveness of the Jedi. It's enlightening, to say the least. And it's interesting to watch the seeds being planted for the relationship between the two men, especially considering Tarkin's view on the Jedi.

All of that said, there's nothing essential in the viewing of these episodes. They're just action fun after what was a pretty heavy on the metaphysics story.

I'm not going to pull the links, but there's also more of our misfit clone trooper squad. For good and ill.

Rebels: "Rise of the Old Masters" (Ep. 1.4)

"Does yours do that?"

The crew of The Ghost receives information that Luminara Unduli may have survived the Clone Wars as a prisoner of the Empire. Kanan and Hera decide that they must mount a rescue mission to get her out. Not knowing of any other surviving Jedi, Kanan feels a special urgency to rescue one of the last great Jedi Masters of the Jedi Council.

There's also the fact that he's begun teaching Ezra, and things... well, things aren't going all that well. He believes that Luminara will make a better teacher than he. Ezra, of course, thinks that Kanan wants to get rid of him and that that is, really, the only reason for rescuing Luminara. Zeb doesn't help the situation.

Luminara is being held in a fortress of a prison. Impenetrable. Except to a Jedi like Kanan. Or, maybe, if it's a trap. Yeah, one of those.

So we have the actual first appearance of the Inquisitor, and the whole show just stepped up a notch. The stakes are suddenly real, and it's become more than just a kids' show. At least, this episode is. I guess I can't actually judge that, yet, but I have hope that the series just became something more than the casual misadventures of a young not-Padawan.

Oh, and the Inquisitor's lightsaber is pretty darn cool, kind of a cross between Darth Maul's and General Grievous.

If things continue forward like this, I'm going to like this series.
But it's still not The Clone Wars.