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

-- Without darkness, there cannot be light.

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[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 -- "The Wrong Jedi" (Ep. 5.20)

-- Never give up hope, no matter how dark things seem.

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[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.]

And so we get to the end of the Alfred Hitchcock-inspired titles. "The Wrong Jedi," of course, comes from The Wrong Man and has roughly the same kind of plot. I say that as someone who doesn't really remember the movie very well since I probably saw it when I was 10, but the synopsis backs that up.

If you've been keeping up, you'll know that Ahsoka has been accused of a crime she didn't commit. And set up very solidly. And no one other than Anakin believes in her. It's the kind of thing that can really shake your faith, and her allegiance to the Jedi Order is a faith.

One of the underlying conflicts of this arc is jurisdiction. It was the Jedi Temple that was bombed, so they believe they should have jurisdiction over the case; but clones were killed, so Tarkin claims that the military has jurisdiction. The result of the conflict over that is interesting, to say the least, but to say more would be to spoil the episode for you, and, really, this is an arc that really needs to be seen. Probably more than any other single event in the series, this is the one where we can best see Anakin losing his grip on what it means to be a Jedi.

But, really, it's not about Anakin, as Ahsoka very pointedly tells him: "This isn't about you."

Really, this arc is pivotal to the whole Star Wars series. Not only does it reveal to us this critical moment for Anakin, but it really puts on display how it is that only a couple or few decades later that people have forgotten the Jedi. It's not so much that they don't remember but that they turned their backs on them.

Hmm... The people turned away from the Jedi in favor of the Emperor and the Dark Side... That's something that sounds rather familiar.

Rebels: "Path of the Jedi" (Ep. 1.9)

"Why must you be Jedi?"

Kanan is forced with a difficult decision after the events of "Gathering Forces." Has Ezra touched on the Dark Side? Has he stepped onto the path? Is Ezra still capable of becoming a Jedi? Kanan needs to know. He needs a Jedi Temple...

So he has Ezra find him one. Through communing with the Force.

And, then, Ezra has an experience very reminiscent of Luke's experience in The Tree on Dagobah.

On the one hand, it's all very cool. It's a good episode in that respect and brings up a lot of questions (like "What has Kanan been doing since the Purge?") that I hope we get to see answered. Ezra's experience in the Temple is well done and is very revealing about him as a character. It's a great step forward for the show and it definitely has my attention (and approval) at this point. Although still obviously geared for kids, it has stepped above being merely a "kids' show."

On the other hand, there are some things I find annoying in a more global sense. What we know about Star Wars in general is that Anakin was the most powerful Jedi ever, even more powerful than Yoda. That is, until Luke was born, and Luke is supposed to be even more powerful than Anakin (even though no one ever took his midi-chlorian count), but what we're seeing from Ezra is stuff that goes way beyond Anakin or Luke. Stuff that makes Kanan fearful of his ability to teach Ezra.

From a global story perspective, you are driven to do this kind of thing, because the natural inclination is to take things to the next level, not show things you've shown before, but I think you can do that without making each new character the most powerful ever. So I hope that's not what they're doing, but it does look like it's headed that direction.

Still, taken in the context of this one show, it's very good, and I am, now, looking forward to each new episode we have time to watch.

Clone Wars -- "Cargo of Doom" (Ep. 2.2)

-- Overconfidence is the most dangerous form of carelessness.

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Anakin and Ahsoka are hot on the heels of Cad Bane after his theft of a holocron from the Jedi Temple. Not hot enough, though, to keep him from capturing a Jedi with a special memory crystal and, then, torture him to death trying to get him to open the stolen holocron. This, of course, does not make the Jedi happy. And Bane still needs a Jedi to open the holocron.

This episode, again, highlights Bane's ability to use others to further his own ends, this time an entire Trade Federation fleet. It also shows us just how important it is to the Jedi to get the holocron back, as they send their own fleet to take Bane out. Basically, they've sent out a fleet to recover a book.

We get to see both Anakin and Bane displaying innovative ideas to solve problems, like Anakin deciding to use tanks (ground tanks) as ship-to-ship assault vehicles because his fleet was prepared for a ground assault. And Bane... well, that would be telling.

It's Anakin's issues with attachment that are most noteworthy, though, as he not only allows Bane to escape with the holocron but opens it for him as well. Possibly, a Jedi with a clearer mind and one more committed to the Jedi way would not have succumbed to Bane's demands. That's actually an interesting question, though: What is the worth of one life in comparison to the potential harm of many? Do you save the one or stop what is only a possibility of death for many?


"If by success you mean I won, then yes."

Clone Wars -- "Holocron Heist" (Ep. 2.1)

-- A lesson learned is a lesson earned.

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Evidently, one experience with disobeying orders and refusing to retreat during combat was not enough for Ahsoka to learn the lesson, despite how horrible she felt at the loss of her men in "Storm Over Ryloth." But, hey, that's people for you and, apparently, Jedi. This time, though, she gets punished for not listening.

It's really just a set up to get her into the Jedi Temple so that she'll be present for an infiltration by Cad Bane. Bane is working for Darth Sidious this time, which I think shows that Palpatine recognizes talent when he sees it (after Bane pulled one over on him in "Hostage Crisis"). At any rate, it's not a bad set up for what is a new plot thread in the series.

From the prequels, we see how Order 66 is carried out, and we know that the Sith destroy the Jedi Order and make them "all but extinct," but it still leaves questions. A lot of questions, actually. This episode introduces a plot thread that shows how Sidious plans to fully wipe out the Jedi. Bits of this idea pop in and out of the series all the way through season six.

We also see that the Jedi, just as everyone else, are susceptible to making assumptions that lead them to incorrect conclusions. When they know that there has been an infiltration, they assume that it has to do with accessing their communications and stealing codes to do with the war. It takes them in the wrong direction. It also allows Bane to exploit what he anticipated would be their assumption.

And we get to see just how ruthless Cad Bane is. He sacrifices both of his partners on this mission, but not just sacrifices them; he set them up at the beginning so that he would be able to escape. One of them to its death. Yes, it's only a droid, but you have to remember that droids in the Star Wars universe are sentient. When you compare his callousness to his droid against Anakin's devotion to R2-D2, you can see how devoid of attachments Bane is, something Anakin has issues with.

This is a really good season opener. It's an intact episode, but it opens a lot of possibilities for stories and raises some questions that will be dealt with as the season progresses. This is where we really start exploring some of the background stories and answer questions only hinted at in the movies. As I've said before, if you're a Star Wars fan, this is a series you should be watching.


"They're about to overrun you; you just can't see it."