Clone Wars -- "In Search of the Crystal" (Ep. ?.2)

-- The journey is often more important than the destination.

[No notes this time. Go back and look at last week's episode if you need to know what's going on.]

Remember when Ahsoka quit the Jedi Order? Remember how it didn't really come up again after that happened? Well, that was more because the season six stories went off in other directions, directions that didn't focus on Anakin, than because it was forgotten. But now we're back to Obi-Wan and Anakin, and they're dealing with the fallout of Ahsoka's decision to leave.

Well, you know, as much as they can in a 22-minute episode.

This episode sustains the great banter between Obi-Wan and Anakin that the previous episode had. It literally had me LOLing, as my son would say.

We find out what Tu-Ahn was investigating on Utapau, and it's not good. Well, not good for the Republic. I would say more, but I don't want to. I mean, I do want to, but I also don't want to, and the "don't" is winning. I will say this: I'm pretty sure the events in this arc are a pre-cursor to some of the events in Rogue One, which raises some interesting questions since, supposedly, the continuation of the movie franchise hadn't yet been confirmed when Disney bought Lucasfilm and, certainly, not any non-trilogy films. Though, again, this is all part of the run-up to Revenge of the Sith, and maybe that's all it is. Maybe.

Also, we finally get to see what happens when "someone" is looking into the tube of a lightsaber when he turns it on. Sort of.

Also, also, never trust a Sith -- oh, wait, NEVER trust a Sith! -- when your bargaining and he says he will "give you what you deserve."

"...as usual, you went rushing in." (and got our mounts killed)

"Ahh... So you're the only one who can think on his feet."

"Apparently."

"We're always in a ventilation duct, every ship we go in!"

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."