Clone Wars -- "Old Friends Not Forgotten" (Ep. 7.09)

"I am cautiously optimistic."

Enjoy your Revenge of the Fifth...

It seems that this arc is going to use slightly modified quotes from the movies as titles, though last episode wasn't really part of this arc, just the prelude to it. They're definitely gearing up to the end of the series. The opening of this episode was more like a movie opening than a Clone Wars episode, so much so that my son accused me of having played the wrong show when it started up. And I believed him(!) and backed out of the episode and started it again to make sure. It was the correct one. No opening quote, which was weird, so I pulled a line from the episode instead.

This episode opens with one of those epic Star Wars battle scenes, which we actually haven't had a lot of in Clone Wars, now that I think of it. They come along every so often, but they're not as frequent as you'd think. It's a good scene. Obi-Wan is on the ropes, his troops about to be overrun by battle droids. Until... Oh, but that would be telling. It's fun, though.

Two things are happening in this episode.
One, Ahsoka has returned to Anakin and Obi-Wan for help dealing with Darth Maul. On the one hand, this is clearly an effort to on the part of the writers to bring some closure to this plot line in the series. From an outside view, I'm not sure I like this. Considering what's coming in Rebels (and The Mandalorian, from what I've read), I think the better ending was just having Ahsoka leave and that being the end of it. It's more real. Like Obi-Wan's duel with Vader on the Death Star. From the inside, though, the emotional view, it's very satisfying to have these characters come back together again. So I like it, and I very much enjoy it, but I think it's the easy answer to Ahsoka's departure, not the one that deals with how things really are in life. Like Lucas deciding at the last minute to have Lando and the Falcon survive the assault on the Death Star II rather than having the Falcon consumed in the explosion as was originally planned.

Two, Clone Wars is definitively crossing into movie territory with this episode. [I've just realized I'll have more to say about this later, but I'll get to that in my season wrap up as it doesn't actually pertain to this episode.] Ahsoka has come for help but, at the same time, Coruscant has come under attack by General Grievous. As we know from the opening scene of Revenge of the Sith, Obi-Wan and Anakin are at Coruscant for that battle, so we know, to some extent, what's going to happen here. They are definitely not going with Ahsoka to help deal with Maul.

This is a good episode and, while it may not turn out to be "necessary" or essential viewing, it seems as if this arc is going to make a very nice accompanying story line to Revenge.

"Loyalty means everything to the clones.

"By the way, I killed Maul once; best to capture him. He doesn't seem to stay dead."

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."

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 -- "Sabotage" (Ep. 5.17)

-- Sometimes even the smallest doubt can shake the greatest belief.

[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.]

This episode, things get real.

No, I mean really real.

One thing we know, people (populations) don't like wars. It doesn't matter how "just" or "right" they are, over time, people want things to be back to normal and to not be involved in wars. Though Clone Wars has toyed a bit with how the common man has reacted to the war going on around them, "Sabotage" makes it real. It brings it home to Coruscant and how the citizens not actively engaged in the fighting are reacting to the war and the clones and the Jedi. It's not good.

There's a definite faction building that is actively protesting the war that's going on and the Jedi seem... Well, more than anything else, they seem baffled by it. They've spent so long never having their authority questioned that they don't really know how to react to the people who are turning against them.

So there's an incident, and the Council decides to call Anakin and Ahsoka back to Coruscant to deal with the investigation since they're obviously innocent of what happened. Because, see, the sentiment is that a Jedi may have done it, so none of the Jedi who were on Coruscant can be trusted.

Of course, then Mace Windu assigns a droid to work with them on the case and no one stops to think about whether the droid, the droid assigned by one of the Jedi who had been on planet when the incident happened, can be trusted. I found that kind of amusing.

At any rate, if I'm remembering correctly, this is a real turning point in the series, and you can tell that the tone of the show was really changing to something a little more dark and a little more serious and a little more great... just to have its plug pulled because Disney bought the Star Wars franchise and didn't want one of their shows on some other network. And, while I can understand that, still, screw you Disney!


"Fear makes even the most trusting individual... irrational."

"There are going to be Jedi who disappoint us..." -- Anakin Skywalker

Clone Wars -- "Darkness on Umbara" (Ep. 4.7)

-- The first step towards loyalty is trust.

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Finally! The show gets interesting again!
And I don't really know where I want to begin. Mostly, that's because I remember some of this arc, and I need to write this up without providing any spoilers.

Let's start with the planet.
Umbara is a planet shrouded in darkness. In fact, it is called the Shadow World and the Umbarans are known as the Shadow People. During an assault against one of the cities, the clones discover the planet itself (the fauna and flora) is as deadly as its inhabitants.
[This episode actually fits in perfectly with this month's theme of "creepy days" here on the blog. It is most definitely a creepy planet, shrouded in mists, and full of strange lights and glowing creatures.]

The major development of the episode, though, is the introduction General Pong Krell, a Jedi with a rather fearsome reputation. He relieves Anakin of command of his unit (against Anakin's wishes) because Anakin has been called back to Coruscant. It's almost immediately clear that Krell is an asshole. Um, I mean, a hardass. Despite the protest of Captain Rex, Krell discards Anakin's strategies for one that is, at best, highly reckless. It is also quite clear that Krell has no regard for the clones and refers to them each by their numbers rather than their chosen names. They are not men to Krell.

Krell is a very imposing figure, the same race as the diner owner from Attack of the Clones. With his four arms, he wields not one but two, two!, double-bladed lightsabers. And he doesn't hesitate about threatening his own troops with them. Because that's okay when you don't view your troops as quite sentient.

Now you see the setup...

Clone Wars -- "The Zillo Beast Strikes Back" (Ep. 2.19)

-- The most dangerous beast is the beast within.

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Remember last episode and the conflict I mentioned? It was about whether to keep the zillo beast alive or not. You know, a philosophical conflict between the Jedi and Palpatine. One of the reasons Palpatine wanted to get rid of the Jedi is that you can't just say "no" to them, so, when Mace Windu wanted to spare the beast and move it to some other world to live on, Palpatine couldn't say "no" even though he wanted to. So, of course, he turned the situation to his advantage.

By having the zillo beast taken to Coruscant instead of wherever it was supposed to go.

You can imagine the results.
Actually, you should just watch the episode so that you don't have to imagine them.

I do have to wonder, though, how much of what happened Palpatine foresaw, because... well, again, you should just watch the episode.

All the creature stuff aside, I think the most significant thing about this episode is what's revealed about the relationship between Anakin and Padme. Padme takes Anakin with her to support her in convincing Palpatine to not have the zillo beast killed, but, during the conversation, Anakin waffles and comes to Palpatine's defense at one point. Padme pulls him aside and asks him whose side he's on. Anakin, of course, says hers but that he can see both sides and Palpatine has some valid points. Basically, he becomes the only Jedi who doesn't 100% believe the zillo beast should be saved. That's the implication anyway.

Of course, that's not just about the relationship between Anakin and Padme but about Anakin and his relationship to the rest of the Jedi. Hints of the growing rift between Anakin's ideology and the ideology of the Jedi as a whole. It's these little things that happen within the overall arc of the show that make it interesting and bridges the gap between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith and reveal how it is that Anakin came to betray the Jedi Order.


"A lot of the general's plans involve falling."

Clone Wars -- "Voyage of Temptation" (Ep. 2.13)

-- Fear not for the future, weep not for the past.

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In this episode is politics. Sort of. At least, that's the backdrop to the story. Satine has to go to Coruscant to affirm that she is staying neutral in the war despite the actions of the Mandalorian terrorist group, Death Watch. Death Watch, of course, doesn't want her to go. In Star Wars, that means you send an assassin.

Or assassin droids, as in this case. Freaky looking spider assassin droids. That have baby spider assassin droids inside them. If you have arachnophobia, this is not the episode for you. I mean, I have no issue with spiders at all -- I'm the designated "take the spider outside" person in our home -- but this episode kind of made my skin crawl.

There are a couple of things we learn in this episode:

1. Obi-Wan and Satine have come down on opposite sides in regards to the Separatists. Obi-Wan is a general and fully invested in defeating the Separatists. Satine is a pacifist and the head of a group of systems that want to stay neutral. To say that they don't see eye to eye is an understatement.

2. Obi-Wan and Satine have a past. Which is all I'm going to say because you should just watch it yourselves. What I will say is that this situation provides an interesting contrast to Anakin's.

In conjunction with the previous episode, this story arc elevates in importance even more. The details we find out about Mandalore along with Obi-Wan's backstory make this one of the most essential arcs in the series. I would say that it's "must see" for any Star Wars fan.

"Senators, I presume you're acquainted with the collection of half truths and hyperbole known as Ob-Wan Kenobi."