Clone Wars -- "The Lawless" (Ep. 5.16)

-- Morality separates heroes from villains.

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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.]

Satine is in danger so, of course, Obi-Wan goes to rescue her. Alone. With no backup. Because the Jedi can't get involved because Mandalore is a neutral planet. And, of course, it's a trap, but Obi-Wan actually doesn't know that this time and is caught completely off guard. Probably why Jedi are supposed to control their emotions, I suppose.

In the scheme of things, this is a pivotal episode and one that really shouldn't be missed. At least, it shouldn't be missed if you follow any of the non-movie canon material. Big things happens. Plot threads are tied off. There are deaths. Maybe I should say "more deaths," since we've already seen quite a few in this arc.

One thing I will say -- and it's sort of a spoiler, but it's not a spoiler that's important to the story -- Anakin's ship, the Twilight, gets blown up. I always liked the Twilight (yeah, a part of me rebels (heh) just writing that, but I am talking about Anakin's ship (just to be clear)). It was funky. And cool. And, now, it's gone. Oh, yeah, Darth Maul was responsible for that bit of destruction but, then, if Obi-Wan hadn't taken it without permission... You know, I can't remember if they ever deal with the fact that Obi-Wan got Anakin's ship blown up.

Anyway... Must see episode and all of that, so just go do it.

"It takes strength to resist the Dark Side; only the weak embrace it." -- Obi-Wan Kenobi

#resist

Clone Wars -- Season Three

When the Clone Wars was conceived as a series, it wasn't meant to be a linear telling of the events of the Clone Wars. It was meant to be a collection of stories of events from the Clone Wars, meaning that the stories told could be from any time during the war since many things were all happening at once. If you've studied closely the Civil War or either of the World Wars, you will know that you can't really study those things linearly. It's more like studying a tapestry. And that's what Clone Wars was meant to be.

Season three is the only season that really makes the attempt to jump around in time; at least, if I'm remembering correctly, that's true. And from what I'm remembering at the time, people didn't respond well to the falling back to the past to tell other stories that weren't told initially. That's too bad, I think, because there is so much there. At any rate, I think season four goes back to a straight linear progression that's never deviated from again.

Unless I'm just not remembering, which is entirely possible. I'm not always all that linear.

This season has a lot of important stuff. When I say important, I mean it's important to the larger Star Wars Universe. Primarily, the Mortis story arc. As I said back in my review of the arc, this trilogy of stories provides more information about the fundamental nature of the Force than we get from any other source. If you're a Star Wars fan, this, being canon material, is a story you should see, whether or not like The Clone Wars itself as a show.

Savage Opress is also introduced in season three. He's the brother of Darth Maul, and his arc is interesting and exciting. And hints at some things that will be revealed later. This story line also deals with the fall from grace of Asajj Ventress and the fallout that happens because of it. Besides Savage, we are also introduced to the Nightsisters, a splinter group of Dark Side Force wielders. They will be back.

Duchess Satine returns for another series of appearances. I didn't like these as much as her appearances in season two, but it's good to see her again.

Tarkin is also introduced as a character in season three, and the groundwork is laid for the later relationship between him and Anakin.

Plus, there's some exploration into the lives of people who have sided with the Separatists. That's an interesting arc and deals with some heavy themes. It's well worth watching.

Overall, season three is a real winner, I think. The only off episode I can think of (without looking back at my reviews) is "Evil Plans." It's entertaining enough, I guess, but it has some real plot issues.

As far as single episodes go, I might have to go with "Clone Cadets" as my favorite, but it's outmatched when you look at some of the story arcs in the season.

Probably, you can still come into season three of Clone Wars without having seen the first two seasons and be just fine bit, seriously, just go watch it. It's a good show, and there are some things you shouldn't miss as a Star Wars fan. Of course, if you're not a Star Wars fan, it really doesn't matter that much.

Clone Wars -- "Duchess of Mandalore" (Ep. 2.14)

-- In war, truth is the first casualty.

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"Duchess of Mandalore" wraps up the Mandalorian trilogy of episodes. In some ways, it's a stand alone episode in that the plot is self-contained; however, you really need to have watched the previous two episodes to understand the action in this one.

This episode is interesting to me in that it clearly shows Darth Sidious trying to manipulate a political situation... and failing. It actually reveals where the true front of the war is, and that is not on the battlefield. The Jedi never come to realize this. Well, at least not until it is well past too late, which we see in Revenge of the Sith. Sure, sometimes Palpatine's plans are foiled, but it's never because anyone is trying to foil those actual plans; it's always because someone is standing strong in their belief in what they're doing and the plan just doesn't succeed. It might be a fine distinction, but it's an important one.

Unfortunately, this episode doesn't go any deeper into the relationship between Satine and Obi-Wan. Well, not more than that Obi-Wan is pretty much willing to do anything for her, but you should be able to get that from the previous episode. Fortunately, if I'm remembering correctly, Satine will be back and there will be more development of the Ob-Wan/Satine story.

Death Watch is still wrapped up in the plot of this one, and we get to see Obi-Wan go toe-to-toe with another Mandalorian much in the way he goes up against Jango Fett in Attack of the Clones. It let's us see how these suits of armor they wear were really designed for combat against the Jedi.

Death Watch will be back, too.

As I said, this is a really good series of episodes and one of the ones that I remember best from my previous viewing of the series. It's not a bad place to start if you just want to test the Clone Wars waters.