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Hello I'm Going To Watch All of Star Wars

Episode 117 - Blue Shadow Virus

Fear is a disease; hope is its only cure.

Battle droids on Naboo! As the Separatist rebellion rages through the galaxy, even peaceful planets are threatened. Following the discovery of Separatist droids wandering the grassy wasteland, Naboo is once again on
high alert.

Fearing their home is facing another invasion, Senator Amidala and Representative Binks race to Naboo to assess the situation. Meanwhile, near the Gungan swamplands, an even graver threat is about to be discovered... ​

As we get to the end of Season 1, the quality of Clone Wars episodes increases to the point where most episodes are "pretty good, actually". And this is what this is, it's "pretty good, actually".

It's nice to return to Naboo, and it's recreated well here. It also means that there's a good reason for Padmé to take an active interest in everything that's going on. It also means we get Jar Jar again, and it's Bad Jar Jar again... but he's not as terrible as he was in Defenders of Peace at least. But still pretty bad.

The best part of the episode is seeing Anakin totally loose his composure when he knows that Padmé is in danger, and Matt Lanter plays this really well. It could have come across as whiny and Hayden Christenseny, but he makes it work.

THIS IS THE EPISODE WITH PEPPI BOW and she's cool. She joins Captain Tarpals on the list of "cool Gungans". She even gets to save the day at the end!

The main thing I don't like about the episode is the villian. I like that he's totally crazy, even when he thinks he's about to die, but that German accent is just too much, man. Especially when he's talking about the "Blue Shadow Wirus". And what makes it worse is that he's played by Michael York! Actual Actor Michael York! Why did you get Michael York onto your show and then have him do a bad German accent that could have been done by basically anyone?

So yes. This episode is pretty good, actually. Ahsoka's in it, which is always a plus.


Episode 118 - Mystery of a Thousand Moons

A single chance is a galaxy of hope.

Hard-pressed Jedi and their valiant clone troopers have thwarted an insidious Separatist plot to plant bombs loaded with the deadly Blue Shadow Virus in key Republic systems.

Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker have captured the vile scientist behind the nefarious scheme: Doctor Nuvo Vindi. Now the Jedi plan to transport Vindi to the Republic capital for trial...​

I think this is the first time the show ends an episode with everything resolved and then goes right into a second part anyway. It certainly won't be the last! It's not too bad here, though, with the plot happening pretty naturally and not being forced.

The episode follows two main storylines - Anakin and Obi-Wan on Iego (did they realise it just looks like "Lego" when you write it on a sans serif font? Because it does), and Ahsoka, Padmé and the Clones trying to survive the virus on Naboo.

The Anakin/Obi-Wan plot is a pretty fun space romp, with them finding strange animals and fighting against plants. There's an kid character, Jaybo, who's pretty annoying but he does feel almost like an Ezra prototype (his customisation of the Battle Droids he reprogrammed is pretty Sabine, too). It seems a bit dumb that the people on Iego assume that the laser defense grid is actually an angry God, though. We even get to see an Angel! Remember, from what Anakin said in The Phantom Menace? Oh, you'd removed that line from your memory? Fair enough.

We also get some more "Anakin is super mad because Padmé is in danger" stuff, and Obi-Wan has to calm him down out of it. He seems to do that a lot, so you have to wonder - how much does Obi-Wan suspect that Padmé and Anakin are a thing at this point? Does he know for sure, or does he just assume that he's still crushing on her but that's it?

The other plot, which is very much a b-plot, is pretty much worth it only because it's the first real time we see Ahsoka and Padmé interact, and it's great! It's good that they seem to get along, whereas it could have been easy to have Ahsoka be jealous of Padmé or something. I look forward to seeing more of this relationship in the future.

The final scene actually has a really good interaction between Ahsoka and Anakin, where we really see how in just this one season they have become much closer. Ahsoka is used to Anakin's bullshitting, and Anakin has developed a real bond with her. That's pretty great!

WHERE DID PEPPI BOW GO, THOUGH? WHERE'S HER COMIC SERIES? CAN SHE COME BACK IN REBELS AS A BADASS? PLEASE LISTEN TO THIS DAVE FILONI IT'S IMPORTANT.
 
Episode 119 - Storm Over Ryloth

It is a rough road that leads to the heights of greatness.

Planet Ryloth invaded! Subjected to a brutal droid occupation, the people of Ryloth are starving under the blockade of a Separatist fleet. Evil Separatist leader Wat Tambor now rules with an iron fist.

Answering a plea from the Senate, the Grand Army of the Republic mounts a bold offensive to liberate the system. It is up to Anakin Skywalker and his Padawan Ahsoka to make way for Obi-Wan's ground assault.​

When I reviewed The Clone Wars film, I commented that at that early stage Ahsoka could be... kind of annoying, and that it would take a while for her to start to be the character that would become a fan favourite. Well, we're finally here and it feels great!

This is really the first episode that's actually been about Ahsoka. She's been featured prominently in lots of other episodes, but this is the first one that's actually about her and follows her arc. Here we see how Ahsoka deals with failure, with the responsibility of command, and how she learns to trust herself and take charge. It's really well played throughout the episode, both through the animation and Ashley Eckstein's performance, you really feel just how big of a knock it is for her to lose people under her command. This is a really good start at the development of this character.

As a big plus to this, because this episode is essentially about Ahsoka learning a lesson, there's a lot for Anakin to do. He both gets to be a teacher, and empathise with Ahsoka, as he was once very much like her. This is really one of the first episodes where it's obvious just how very different this version of Anakin is next to the one we saw in Attack of the Clones - and how much better it is. He's authoritative, cocky, a little bit smug, but also charming in a way I don't think Christensen could have ever pulled off. Matt Lanter is, to me, the definitive Anakin (apart from Sebastian Shaw OBVIOUSLY) and I'm actually kind of dreading going back to Hayden.

The best part is that along with all this really good character stuff, there's a lot of really good action. This is just a good episode all round.


Episode 120 - Innocents of Ryloth

The costs of war can never be truly accounted for.

Invasion! Separatist leader Wat Tambor has taken control of the planet Ryloth and subjugates its people through a brutal droid occupation.

In a daring surprise attack, Jedi Anakin Skywalker and his Padawan, Ahsoka Tano defeated the space blockade guarding the planet. Now, Jedi Generals Mace Windu and Obi-Wan Kenobi lead a massive invasion to liberate the starving people...​

Oh hey, it's another clone episode! Here we have an episode focusing on two new Clones: Waxer and Boil. And they make a good pair, with Waxer being the nicer of the two and Boil being an asshole and a racist (he called the Twi'Leks "Tail Heads"). But along the way they meet a Twi'Lek child, Numa, who shows both the Clones and the audience the effects the war is having on the innocents. It's a story that could have come off as a bit twee and schmaltzy, but instead is actually very sweet and heartwarming. This is mostly down to Dee Bradley Baker being a dude and holding up another episode all by himself again, but Cat Taber deserves some props for making Numa come across as more adorable than annoying. It would be interesting to revisit the character of Numa in, say, 17 years time and see how she has changed!

The main thing this episode shows is the difference between the Clones and the Droids. While the Clones in this episode essentially find some humanity and gain empathy for the people they're actually fighting for, we see the droids have a total lack of care for life, using the Twi'Lek prisoners to protect their artillery and using starved animals to attack the Clones. And of course, it's this caring and understanding of the people of the planet that ultimately leads Obi-Wan and the Clones to victory.

This episode could have been so much worse, but it actually comes together to be a very solid story.


Episode 121 - Liberty on Ryloth

Compromise is a virtue to be cultivated, not a weakness to be despised.

Republic victory is at hand! Clone troopers under the command of the Jedi have successfully invaded the Separatist-occupied world of Ryloth.

Anakin Skywalker battles the enemy in the skies, while Obi-Wan Kenobi frees villages from the grip of vile Separatist leader, Wat Tambor. Now, Jedi General Mace Windu leads the attack on the enemy lines in the final offensive to liberate the capital city of Lessu...
​
Mace Windu gets his very own special episode! This is basically the "Mace Windu is a badass" episode, mixed with a bit of political commentary. While he's not as crazy overpowered as he was in the Tartakovsky series, Mace does display an impressive set of skills during this episode, and he comes across as being as powerful as, say, Yoda, but also very unique in his style. It's good to get an episode to flesh that out a bit, even if it doesn't really ever touch on the character of Mace Windu.

The main thrust of this episode is with Mace's interactions with Cham Syndulla (he's back!). Cham's mainly worried that the Republic will keep troops on Ryloth even after the Separatists have withdrawn from there, and that this would just end up being another form of occupation. This obviously has some real-world parallels, but the episode doesn't really dwell on this, and instead goes for the "It's better when people work together" message. This is probably for the best, as this is still a kids show after all. Cham comes across as a really good leader and a man of the people. It would be interesting to revisit the character of Cham Syndulla in, say, 17 years time and see how he has changed!

Other than that, the episode's just the standing good-but-not-amazing Clone Wars action. Out of the three episodes, I'd say this one is the weakest. It's not bad by any means, but it doesn't quite have the depth of the other two episodes.

Continuity note: Technically, Hera should be around these episodes as a child. While we do we many Twi'Lek children, none of them are ones that could possibly be Hera. We do see Cham pick up and hold a young Twi'Lek but that's been clarified as him being just a man of the people rather than him holding his own child. Around this time would also be when Hera finds Chopper... so I guess one of the Clone pilots in Anakin's squad must have had him as an astromech?
​
 
Episode 201 - Holocron Heist

A lesson learned is a lesson earned.

Jedi trapped on Felucia! Clones are surrounded by droid forces. Their only hope is to escape on Republic gunships waiting to land on the embattled surface.

Jedi cruisers have managed to blow a hole in the droid defenses, and have sent gunships to the rescue.​

Hey it's Season 2! Here we open right in the middle of a battle, that the Jedi are clearly losing - and Ahsoka refusing orders to pull out. It's a great little action sequence, that also has some nice character stuff for our three main Jedi. I really like how it's Obi-Wan, not Anakin, who is yelling at Ahsoka to obey orders, with Anakin just keeping out of the way as he realises that this is pretty much due to his teachings. This whole opening sequence is just a way to give an excuse as to why our main characters are then on Corucant, and why Ahsoka has to hang around the Jedi Archives, but it's done well and manages to feel natural.

Of course the most important thing here is that it's the first time we see Cad Bane (although he was actually in "Hostage Crisis" at the end of Season 1, that doesn't fit chronologically until waaayy into Season 3). And yeah, he's cool. He's got that hat, he's a cool alien, with a cool voice, and rocket boots. I like Cad Bane. He also has his long-suffering sidekick Todo 360, as played by Seth Green doing an Anthony Daniels impression, who is also pretty good!

The actual heist itself is well done, and gives us a great look at some new parts of the Jedi temple, and what makes it even better is that the bad guys won! Bane gets his holocron (nice of them to bring them in from the expanded universe) and gets away in the end, and the episode ends on a cliffhanger when we learn the full extent of Sidious' plan.

A solid episode that's a solid start to Season 2.

Episode 202 - Cargo of Doom

Overconfidence is the most dangerous form of carelessness.

Stolen secrets! Villainous mercenary Cad Bane was hired by Darth Sidious to steal a holocron from the vaults of the Jedi Temple. After fleeing the scene of the crime, Bane hunted down and captured Master Bolla Ropal, who has a crystal which holds the secrets of the Jedi Order.

As a Separatist fleet arrives to help the bounty hunter, Anakin Skywalker races in to cut off their escape and stop Bane from delivering the stolen holocron.​

It's a bit strange how much stuff has happened between the end of the last episode and the start of this one - Bane has killed the Jedi he was after and escaped on a Separatist ship essentially all off screen. But if it means that it speeds the story along and lets us enjoy the action-packed stuff, then it's not too bad. And there's a lot of action packed stuff.

The action in this episode works well because of how varied it is. From the boarding of the Separatist ship by dropping AT-TEs on it (NOT AT-ATs LIKE REX SAYS IN THE EPISODE, YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO KNOW THIS SHIT REX), to the zero gravity fight on the ship, and the individual confrontations between the Jedi and Bane, there's so much different stuff doing on you never get bored of the action.

There's also a lot of good Anakin and Ahsoka stuff here too. Ahsoka runs off to chase Bane on her own, with Anakin yelling "We'll take him together" - a nice mirror of the scene at the end of Attack of the Clones. Ahsoka manages to hold her own against Bane (she's not impressed by him and it's great), but eventually loses, which means that we actually see Anakin's major weakness: his connections to the people he's closest to. Here he's opening the holocron as a way of saving Ahsoka's life, but this weakness of Anakin will obviously have a major effect down the line, so it's nice to have it shown here. We even get a nice moment where Ahsoka has to tell Anakin what to do, where Anakin is obessed with finding Bane, he almost doesn't make it off the Separatist ship before it explodes.

Bane gets killed (OR DOES HE????) and the holocron and crystal get destroyed (OR DO THEY?????), but Anakin has won (OR HAS HE?????????).

Continuity note: Last episode, the crystal that was in Bolla Ropal's possession was referred to as the "Kyber Crystal". Obviously this is a name that dates back to the early drafts of Star Wars, and eventually made it into the first Star Wars novel "Splinter of the Mind's Eye". Now it's apparently the name of a data crystal that contains the list of force potential children, but what makes it confusing is that "Kyber Crystals" would later also become the name of the crystals in lightsabers. I think that at some point between the last episode and this one someone realised that calling this crystal the "Kyber Crystal" was a bit of a waste, as throughout this episode it is only referred to as the "memory crystal".


Episode 203 - Children of the Force

The first step to correcting a mistake is patience.

A thief hunted! In a daring assault Anakin Skywalker and his Padawan Ahsoka boarded the warship of cunning bounty hunter Cad Bane to recover a stolen holocron containing a list of the galaxy's Force-sensitive children and future Jedi Knights.

After a desperate chase and duel with the villain, Anakin and his troops defeated Bane, but were forced to evacuate his doomed vessel without the holocron...​

Ah haha, it was Cade Bane in the Clone Trooper armour all along! Yes, Cad Bane has escaped yet again, and now the Jedi have to try and find which children he's planning to abduct. There's actually a few interesting things to note about this episode, so I'll just go through them.

One of the Jedi Children is on Naboo, and Cad Bane has disguised himself as a Jedi in order to abduct it. This interesting for a few reasons.

1) The establishing shot of the Gungan city is amazing and an example of how pretty this show can be sometimes.
5CmOfOl.jpg


2) The child itself is a Gungan, meaning that there would have at some point in the future been a female Gungan Jedi and... that's awesome?? Of course that child (named "Roo-Roo Page", fact fans) probably died after Order 66 - but maybe not! ROO-ROO PAGE IN REBELS, DAVE.

3) At this year's Celebration, Dave Filoni revealed that the idea of a bounty hunter disguising himself as a Jedi in order to capture a force sensitive child was something he had originally envisioned for Ahsoka's backstory. The idea was that, being force sensitive, young Ahsoka would have been the pride of her village, which would have attracted a bounty hunter to try and kidnap her while disguised as a Jedi. As most people in the galaxy have never actually seen a Jedi, it would be pretty easy to trick people into thinking you are one. Plo Koon would then arrive, but everyone would then arrive and everyone would think he is the bad guy because, well, he does kind of look like a monster. While this story never made it to screen, but it's interesting to see an element of it here.

4) When they save Roo-Roo Ahsoka makes the most adorable face and it's the best thing.
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The way the Jedi interrogate Cad Bane by essentially group mind tricking him is kind of fucked up. But that's intentional, as even Ahsoka starts to think it was a bad idea. The way the Jedi almost casually decide to invade someone's mind, with a quick "Well it may wipe his brain but OH WELL" is another good example of how maaaayyybeeee the Jedi aren't quite as moral and righteous as they think they are.

We get a nice scene between Anakin and Palptine, which I think is the first for the series. Not only does it reestablish that these two have a mentor/protégé relationship, it's interesting because of how Palpatine quickly dismisses Ahsoka, and Anakin is just kind of fine with it. He's a great way of showing both how Palpatine is trying to separate Anakin from the Jedi, and how much sway Palpatine actually has over him.

And finally, it's Mustafar! That's a cool place, I wonder if we'll see it again! Seriously though it was nice to have them go to a place like Mustafar and not have a "I SURE DO HOPE I NEVER COME BACK TO THIS PLACE AGAIN!" line.

I actually think this is the best episode of the three - which are all pretty damn good - just because it does have so much going on, but it never feels crowded.

Continuity note: So what was Palpatine planning with the Jedi children? Back when the episode aired I thought that his idea of force sensitive assassins was a nice set-up for what would eventually become Emperor's Hands. Now that they're no longer canon... I guess they could be Inquisitors? Yeah, sure, that works.
 
I remember those episodes being really good. I liked both Ahsoka's sassy "not impressed" line and her cute face at the baby Gungan. She has many facets!

I wish the new movies had cool alien characters like Cad Bane (to be fair there's only been one new movie so far.)
 
Episode 217 - Bounty Hunters

Courage makes heroes, but trust builds friendship.

The death toll rises! As the battles intensify, and threaten a growing number of Republic worlds, planets are left to survive on their own. While the Jedi struggle to fight a war on many fronts, a series of medical stations have been established as a lifeline for those in need, but the facilities are easy prey for Separatist attacks.

After losing contact with the medical station orbiting Felucia, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano are sent to investigate....​

Literally the first words on the screen for this episode, even before the title of the show, are "in memory of Akira Kurosawa". So guess what, this is the Seven Samurai episode. This is what we're doing: Seven Samurai. An abridged, very condensed version of Seven Samurai (seriously this episode is one eighth the length of Seven Samurai because Seven Samurai is a fucking long film).

So it's the same basic thing that's been done many times before: Bandits are going to raid a village of it's crops, the village finds a group of heroes to defend it, there's a big battle, people die. So what does Clone Wars add to the mix?

Luckily, quite a lot. Firstly the village is set on Felucia which is a really pretty planet. The villagers themselves are these cute little alien dudes and are way way way way way better than the FUCKING LEMUR PEOPLE that we saw last season.

But the most interesting thing is that three of the seven heroes - our Jedi main characters - land in the situation by accident and join up with four bounty hunters who have already been hired. It's a neat way to drop our heroes into the middle of the action without a lot of set up, and it's a clever way to get a group of seven. The bounty hunters themselves are cool, too, with the standouts being Seripas (little dude in a robot suit) and Embo (FUCKING GIANT HAT).

On the other side of things, another interesting twist is that the bandits are people we've already met before - it's Hondo! He's back and he's clearly a bad guy this time! He fights Anakin and everything!

One minor problem is that the episode does feel a bit too rushed, so some points get glossed over a bit. One of the bounty hunters dies and it doesn't really get any reaction other than someone shouting "oh no!" and then never mentioning it again. Likewise, Hondo seems to run away a bit too easily, almost as if he looked at his watch and realised the episode was almost at 25 minutes.

But otherwise it all holds together really well and is a really good take on a familiar story.
 
Episode 218 - The Zillo Beast

Choose what is right, not what is easy.

Desperate times call for desperate measures! In one of the longest and fiercest battles of the war, Separatist forces are on the verge of claiming the planet of Malastare. If the Republic loses this planet it will cost them vital fuel resources necessary for maintaining their armies. In a final effort to turn the tide of this battle, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine has authorized the use of the Republic's newest weapon: the ELECTRO-PROTON BOMB.

Now, at the Imperial palace of Doge Urus, the leader of the Dugs, the Jedi count down the minutes until the detonation of their doomsday device...
​
Last time it was Seven Samurai, now it's Godzilla! And yep, that's what this is, this is Godzilla.

Instead of the nuke, we get the "Electro-Proton Bomb", which is essentially a giant EMP bomb designed to knock out droids but nothing organic. It is essentially the opposite of the "Defoliator" gun from last season, except no one seems to have a problem with it now that it's not killing anything organic. But the episode presents it as pretty much exactly being a nuke, complete with hand written messages on the side and a mushroom cloud explosion.

It's good to see more Dugs, I like that this show takes the new alien races from the prequels and expands on them, and it's nice that the Dugs are also all assholes. The ethical dilemmna is that the Dugs want to kill the Zillo Beast, where as the Jedi (specifically Mace Windu) wants to relocate it to somewhere it won't harm anyone. Palpatine couldn't really give a shit, until he finds out that it has impenetrable armour then he's very much in favour of keeping it alive.

What's interesting is that the "moral" solution to this problem actually involves straight-up lying to the Dugs. The Dugs won't join the Republic unless the beast is killed, so the Jedi trick them into thinking it's dead while it's actually asleep. Also instead of taking it to a planet where it can live, it's now going back to Coruscant for study. That will end well!

The most notable thing about this episode, though, is that it looks beautiful. Like seriously,
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Hot damn! They really nail the atmosphere, and the Zillo Beast itself has a nice design that's obviously sort of like Godzilla but not too much like Godzilla that it stands out, or doesn't fit into the Star Wars universe. It also has a really good sense of scale, where we see shots of a tiny Anakin running up the side of this giant monster. Good stuff.


Episode 219 - The Zillo Beast Strikes Back

The most dangerous beast is the beast within.
A calculated risk! Following a costly victory on the planet Malastare, Chancellor Palpatine orders Jedi Knights Mace Windu and Anakin Skywalker to transport a fearsome Zillo Beast captured during the battle back to Coruscant.

After seeing that not even a lightsaber could harm the beast, Chancellor Palpatine hopes to unlock the secret of its invulnerability to create new armor for the Republic's clone troopers. Tensions run high as the most dangerous life form in the galaxy touches down on the Republic's most populous planet....​

DID I MENTION THIS WAS GODZILLA??

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To be fair, not only is this episode Godzilla but there's a fair dose of King Kong in there, too. And like most good King Kong and Godzilla films, the real monster is man! The Zillo Beast is taken from it's home and held captive in the big city (LIKE KING KONG), and of course he escapes. But what's quite nice is that they actually put a nice chunk of character stuff before it does.

The Jedi want Anakin to convince Palpatine to keep the beast alive, and Anakin is upset that the Jedi would use him just because he's friends with the Chancellor (this will happen again, of course). ALSO there's a great scene where Padmé tries to talk Palpatine into letting it live and gets mad at Anakin for sitting on the fence. He can't pick between his mentor and his wife.

But then the beast escapes, and the episode just becomes a fun romp. While the beast does the Godzilla/King Kong thing of being a wild beast in the middle of a city, it's made that much more interesting by the fact that the city is now even bigger than the giant monster. He's still tearing shit up, but it means he's climbing between giant buildings and walkways instead of stomping on the streets.

It's also nice to get a few other Jedi in on the action, like Yoda and Aayla Secura (it's always nice to see her even though she rarely does anything). So that's nice.

The fact that it's set in a giant city means that it doesn't go quite as expressionistic in terms of it's direction as the previous episode did, but it still looks pretty good on the whole.

And it's even all capped off with a B-Movie style stinger with the reveal that Palpatine wants to clone the beast. IS THIS THE END FOR THE ZILLO BEAST??

(Yes)
 
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I liked the Zillo beast! I liked that Clone Wars would do crazy fun stuff like this. I was sad we never got Revenge of the Zillo Beast in a later season.

I loved Palpatine's face on giant tv screens in Coruscant.
 
Episode 204 - Senate Spy

A true heart should never be doubted.

Treachery in the Senate! The Jedi Council suspects that Senator Rush Clovis is secretly taking part in a Separatist conspiracy. But to find out what the Senator from Scipio is up to, the Council will need a spy of its own. Meanwhile, Jedi Anakin Skywalker has been away from Coruscant on a lengthy tour of duty leading the clone army.

Now Anakin returns for a long-awaited reunion with his wife, Padmé Amidala...
​
Apart from a few scenes in the odd episode, this is the first time we've spent some real time with both Anakin and Padmé as a married couple. And it's nice to see them just chill out and be romantic with each other. The relationship we see here is certainly more mature than the "I've been dying a little bit each day since you came back into my life" stuff we saw in Attack of the Clones. It's nice because it makes them seem like actual people! Matt Lanter and Cat Taber work well with each other.

But at the same time, we see how Anakin is also an insecure jealous asshole at times - especially in this episode where he gets downright controlling of her (which Padmé doesn't let him do, because Padmé's great). It's another instance where Matt Lanter pulls off Anakin's character flaws in a way that doesn't make us totally hate him.

Unfortunately once the episode moves on from seeing Anakin and Padmé be a couple into the parts where Padmé is spying on Clovis the episode gets... kinda boring? I think it's mostly to do with the fact that Clovis isn't a very interesting character and doesn't actually have much of a personality other than "loves Padmé and is really creepy about it". It doesn't help that he comes from a planet called Scipio
- pronounced "Skippy-O" - and it just sounds dumb every time they say it.

This part of the episode mainly revolves around Clovis firting with Padmé and Anakin being mad about it. I guess we're supposed to be with Anakin and agree with his jealously with such overt flirting, but it doesn't quite work because only about 5 minutes previously we were against Anakin for being such a jealous and controlling asshole.

But Padmé does get a lot to do in this episode, which is always really good, and she also gets to wear a great dress, which is also really good!
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I was prepared to write this episode off as "boring, but OK" until the last moment of the episode, which had Padmé apologise to Anakin for "making him doubt her" and... uhhhh.... why is Padmé apologising?? She did literally nothing wrong! She, in fact, did everything right! It was Anakin who was at fault for being so jealous all the time (when it was really obvious that she didn't mean any of her flirting) but at no point does he say "Hey sorry for being an asshole" and she apologises to him instead. What. The. Hell. Why would you do this, episode? Why??
 
Episode 205 - Landing at Point Rain

Believe in yourself or no one else will.

Counterattack! With the clone army stretched in desperate attempt to engage General Grievous' Starfleet, Separatists planets that were once thought secure are now rising up against the Republic. On Geonosis, Separatist leader Poggle the Lesser, safe in his newly ray-shielded factories, creates thousands of terrible new weapons which march off the assembly line against the outnumbered clone army.

The Jedi, resolute in the effort to restore order to the Republic, mount a massive invasion to retake Geonosis and shut down Poggle's factories once and for all....​

YES. YES. THIS IS IT. This is the episode that makes you go "Wait THIS is what this show can be??". Landing at Point Rain, an episode which is essentially a 25 minute action scene, is the first episode of this show to get everything right - the writing, the direction, the acting, the music, the editing, everything is on top form.

With it being an extended battle sequence set on Geonosis, the closest point of comparison with this episode is the final sequence in Attack of the Clones. And while I like that sequence, what we have here is just better.

Part of what makes it work is that, unlike in Attack of the Clones, we have a lot more attachment to the people who are fighting. In the film we are introduced to the clones pretty much as soon as they start fighting. We have no idea who they are, what they're like, and why they're even fighting. Now we know several of the clones fighting: Rex, Cody, and even Waxer and Boil (the two clones from "Innocents of Ryloth") and we also know that each clone is essentially his own person, so there's a greater connection when we see them get shot or, more horrifically, taken away by the Geonosians.

There's also great stuff with the Jedi characters. Anakin and Ahsoka are now working well together as a team, and have bonded enough that they bicker and make jokes with each other during the battle. They even have a Legolas & Gimli style competition about how many kills they have. Similarly, this is the first appearance of Ki-Adi-Mundi in the show, and he instantly comes across as being this slightly more serious and restrained character that fits what we saw of him before, but also works as a contrast to both Anakin and Obi-Wan.

But what makes this episode work is the fact that the direction and editing are probably the best the show has had so far. The show if full of some beautiful and dynamic shots that both show the geography of what we're seeing, but manage to keep up the intensity of the action. Splitting the episode into three story lines also means that we never get too bored by what we're seeing, the episode changes it up between Anakin & Ahsoka assaulting the droid fortress, to Ki-Adi in the caves, to Obi-Wan trying to keep the droids at bay. But at the same time, when the action happens across all three stories, the editing is such that we never lose any of the intensity that the previous scene has built up, giving the episode a constant energy that doesn't stop.

This is the best episode the show has had so far. It's really, really good. I like it a lot.


Episode 206 - Weapons Factory

No gift is more precious than trust.

The final surge. Having learned of warlord Poggle the Lesser's plot to rebuild a Separatist droid foundry on Geonosis, Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker and his Padawan, Ahsoka Tano, prepare to assault this heavily- fortified installation. Their mission: destroy the factory at all costs. Anticipating stiff resistance, Republic commanders send Jedi Master Luminara Unduli and her Padawan, Barriss Offee, to reinforce the attack.

But time runs short for our intrepid heroes as the dreaded droid mill nears completion...​

So far we've never really seen what a typical Master/Padawan relationship is supposed to look like. We've only really seen Qui Gon and Obi-Wan, Obi-Wan and Anakin, and Anakin and Ahsoka. But Qui Gon was not said to be a typical Jedi and Anakin certainly wasn't a typical apprentice or master. So it's nice to see Luminara and Barriss essentially represent what that relationship "should" be - there's an obvious level of respect and trust between them, but Luminara is detached enough to let Barriss go if she feels it's her time.

By putting this into contrast with Anakin and Ahsoka's relationship we see how unorthodox they both actually are. Anakin clearly has a lot of issues when it comes to Ahsoka, both not trusting her with responsibility and being in no way ready to let her go. In this episode, that lack of detachment pays off, but it may come to be his undoing further down the road...

But the highlight of this episode is easily the friendship between Ahsoka and Barriss. Even though they only meet for the first time in this episode, the relationship between the two is so well portrayed that you feel it pretty much instantly. It would have been so easy to have the headstrong and sometimes reckless Ahoksa be at odds with the more by-the-book Barriss (and vice versa), but instead we see that they actually respect each others way of doing things, and by the end of the episode they work together easily and are obvious friends. The episode even gets to the point where they both decide that they would risk their lives to destroy the weapons factory, and there's not an argument about it or anything, they just both agree that it's what they need to do.

Setting up this relationship for Ahsoka with one of her peers is important, as it means that we do see a slightly different side of her than we do when she's with Anakin, the other Jedi or the clones. With Barriss she feels a bit more herself, as she's not having act like a superior around the clones, or trying to be respectful around the Jedi.

While this episode doesn't have the intensity of the previous one, it more than makes up for it with the character development, making it an excellent - if different - follow up.


Episode 207 - Legacy of Terror

Sometimes, accepting help is harder than offering it.

Victory on Geonosis! After a massive planetary siege, the Separatist forces on Geonosis have finally fallen. Key weapons factories have been destroyed, but at a heavy cost to Republic troops.

Now, as Jedi Master Luminara Unduli and Obi-Wan Kenobi begin a clean-up of the planet, they launch an intense campaign to find Separatist leader Poggle the Lesser and bring him to justice.​

Hey, you know what Star Wars really needed? Did you say "zombies"? Well you were wrong, but I guess this episode didn't agree. Because here we have some Geonosian zombies!

Okay so the start of the episode is actually pretty good. Luminara searching for Poggle trough a sandstorm looks great, and there's a nice spooky atmosphere as she enters a destroyed temple to look for him.

But I'm not totally sold on the idea of undead Geonosians. After the last two episodes, they're just kind of... lame? We already had two episodes establishing the Geonosians as a credible threat, so why add zombies into the mix now?

But at least we meet the Geonisian Queen, who I quite like even if she is just the Alien Queen but for kids.

But the main thing this episode highlights (albeit subtly) is something that's been kind of off-putting about all of these Geonosis episodes. Namely that this isn't an enemy base or droid ship that the Jedi are invading, this is the Geonosian's home planet. It's their home! And our good guys are the one invading it!

I mean, yes, the Geonosians are generally bad (although arguably no less bad than, say, the Kaminoans) but does that doesn't necessarily make the Republic's takeover of their whole planet a good thing. Especially when Obi-Wan is quite willing to take both their Queen and Poggle away to face "Republic law", essentially destroying an entire planet's government. Considering what would eventually happen to Geonosis, and what we see of the Queen later in the Darth Vader comics, I have a bit of sympathy for the Geonosians.

This episode is fine, really, if a little uninspired. It's biggest mistake is following two really, really good episodes.


Episode 208 - Brain Invaders

Attachment is not compassion.

Victory on Geonosis! After a massive assault, the Republic has finally recaptured the Separatist planet and shut down its droid factories of doom. An investigation by Luminara Unduli led to the discovery of Queen Karina the Great, whose hive-mind could reanimate dead Geonosian soldiers.

During the destruction of the queen's temple, the Jedi apprehended her advisor Poggle the Lesser, and now prepare to deliver the villain to Coruscant for trial...​

You can't start two episodes in a row with "Victory on Geonosis!"! That's not how this works!

This is another Ahsoka/Barriss episode and, yeah, it's pretty great if you like both Ahsoka Tano and Barriss Offee. Instead of zombies we have now moved on to more of a bodysnatcher thing, which is much more interesting because it means that the enemies are in fact people who used to be your friends. Seeing the Jedi fight the Clones is a nice bit of ironic foreshadowing, and we learn that Clones are actually pretty good at taking down Jedi! Good thing they're on the same side!

We get a nice bit of Ahsoka and Barriss character stuff early in the episode, a lot of which works to develop Ahsoka's character. She find it hard to sleep because it's so quiet, and she admits that she really doesn't know how she would work as a Jedi in peace time. This is important as it highlights the fact that not only does Ahsoka no nothing other than the life of a Jedi, but her only experience of being a Jedi in the field is during war time. Barriss being a slightly older padawan does have knowledge of what a Jedi is "supposed" to be like, but Ahsoka basically has no idea.

Once Barriss is taken over by the worms we of course don't have many scenes of them being friends, apart from Ahsoka's reluctance to hurt Barriss. Barriss, in a moment of lucidity, straight up tells Ahsoka to kill her and Ahsoka just can't bring herself to kill her friend.

At the same time, we see Anakin get his biggest Darth Vader moment yet - using the force to choke Poggle the Lessor in order to get more information about the brain worms. Once again we get another reminder that Anakin will do anything to avoid losing the people he's close to.

Ultimately this is an episode about attachments. Both Anakin and Ahsoka were unable to let the people they care about die. Ahsoka talks to Anakin about this at the end of the episode, and Anakin basically tells her that she did the right thing. While, yeah, she did, it shows that Anakin really doesn't see any problem in his own attachments.

These four episodes are the strongest arc the show has had so far. Each episode is different, focusing on different characters, but they all work together as whole. These episodes, especially the first two, show exactly what this show should be.
 
I remember I watched Landing At Point Rain again right after the first time because it was so good. Flamethrowers!

I don't remember the zombie episode at all.
 
OH, I forgot to ask, is there a particular reason these four episodes take place chronologically after Bounty Hunters and the Zillo Beast episodes?
 
Episode 209 - Grievous Intrigue

For everything you gain, you lose something else.

Diabolical defeat! Though Republic victories outnumber their losses, the Jedi have been unable to stop Separatist advances in the Outer Rim. The ever-elusive General Grievous stays one step ahead of his opponents.

With thousands of droid armies at his command, the Jedi can never predict where Grievous will strike next until now...
​
You know, I'm usually pretty good at remembering which episode is which. "Oh, that's the one with the Holocron.", "Oh that's the one with Aayla Secura". But I have no memory of this episode. At all. And watching it, I can see why!

The plot of this episode is simple: Grievous captures Eeth Koth and Anakin, Obi-Wan and Adi Gallia go to get him back. That's it! And the problem with it is that it's made up of a whole bunch of action scenes that, at this point, we've seen like three times before: Jedi fighting droids, Jedi fighting MagnaGuards, Obi-Wan fighting Grievous. And it's not like they're bad versions of those scenes - they're actually pretty good! - just it doesn't feel interesting or new any more. Compare this to just four episodes ago where we got an episode comprised of action scenes that felt like nothing we'd ever seen on the show before.

But there is some good stuff in this episode! I really liked the first scene where Grievous captures Eeth Koth (also Grievous saying "Eeth Koth" is great!). It's a nice mix between the ultimate badass Grievous we saw way back in the Tartakovsky series and the lovable "TIME TO ABANDON SHIP!" guy we would know later. You get the sense of why Grievous is a force to be reckoned with while still being true to his characterisation.

We also learn a lot more about Grievous! Namely that he doesn't really care about the Separatists. He just wants A) to kill all the Jedi, and B) to lead a huge army. That's actually quite interesting!

But yeah, apart from that...? It's cool seeing other Jedi hanging out with Anakin, and seeing how crazy he is, but Adi Gallia doesn't really get enough characterisation to make her memorable. Neither does Eeth Koth, really. Compare that again to Ki-Adi-Mundi in Landing at Point Rain where his character is very easily established.

This is not a bad episode. It's actually pretty good. But I think I've literally just forgotten it again.


Episode 210 - The Deserter

It is the quest for honor that makes one honorable.

Fugitive! Though the Republic has won many decisive battles against the Separatist army in the Outer Rim, the Jedi have failed to capture the elusive General Grievous. After specifically targeting members of the Jedi Council, a trap was set. But following a fierce confrontation, the droid general managed to escape to the surface of the planet Saleucami.

Now, the chase is on as General Kenobi leads a squadron of clone troopers and closes in on his desperate target....
​
Hey I remember this one! Yeah, it's the one with the Clone Deserter, and it's pretty good!

The main issue the story raises is: Do the Clones have free will? They were grown and programmed to want to fight, and sold to the Republic for that reason so... are they slaves? Do they even have free will?

It's actually a really tough question, especially when you consider the fact that the Jedi, our heroes, have essentially paid for living people and are making them fight their war. Sure, the Clones want to fight, but that's programmed into them. But as this episode shows, that's not true for all Clones. Some just want to live as a farmer with a hot Twi'Lek and her kids. So the question is - are the clones that are fighting doing so because that's what they actually want to do? Or is that still just programming? By showing a Clone with free will it does that they do at least have the capacity to break from their programming, but whether or not other Clones are actually doing so is left up in the air. Is Rex fighting because that's what he believes in, or is that just what he was told to think?

The question is more relevant now that we've seen that, actually, Rex becomes a Deserter himself. So obviously the events of this episode stuck with him for some time.

As for the rest of the episode... that's pretty good too! I like seeing Grievous get mad at the battle droids. While both Grievous and the Jedi are essentially using programmed slaves to fight their war, the Jedi actually care about the Clones (mostly) whereas Grievous fucking hates the battle droids. I guess that makes the Jedi nice slave masters? Which is still really fucked up????

The episode is shot really well, with the two big action scenes looking great and different from each other. The assault of the farming house by the Commando droids looked really good, with the low lights and shadows doing a lot of work.

SO YEAH. I LIKED THIS ONE.
 
Episode 211 - Lightsaber Lost

Easy isn't always simple.

War creates opportunity for the criminal underworld! Ruthless mercenaries conspire with the Separatists to disrupt and exploit the unstable situation within the Republic.​

Now, Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano descend into the treacherous gangster havens in an effort to find a corrupt and vile arms dealer who is buying weapons on the black market and selling them to the Republic's enemies...​

While she's been in a lot of episodes, it's actually quite rare (at the moment, at least) that we get an episode that's purely from Ahsoka's point of view. But this is what we get here, and it's great!

While the story itself is basically a simple "Ahsoka learns a lesson" plot, it's presented in such a way that it's a fun episode to watch, and has some great characters.

It's really interesting to see how Ahsoka deals with something that she's afraid of going to Anakin with, and it's great that she goes to Jocasta Nu, who she obviously knows from the start of the season.

The big new character is the old Jedi Tera Sinube and yeah, he's pretty great. It's really nice to see another old Jedi, and I like that he's actually very different from Yoda. In fact, he's pretty much just a standard "old man", complete with walking stick and driving slowly, but the character is still interesting beyond that. His stick is actually a lightsaber (a white one, which is interesting considering he's with Ahsoka)! He's driving slowly because he's teaching Ahsoka to stop acting so rashly and stop and look around. He's a nice character for this episode, and it would have been easy for him to be annoying but I think the writing and the acting make him pretty great instead. It's also nice to see that he's friends with Yoda and they probably hang out a lot and talk about "YOUNGLINGS THESE DAYS" and that would be great to see.

We also get two new cool aliens - two women criminals that stole Ahsoka's lightsaber and are TOTALLY a couple IT'S OBVIOUS (Pablo Hidalgo said so! It's canon!). They're pretty great even if I think "Terrelian Jango Jumper" is about one step too stupid for a Star Wars name.

TwVBpma.jpg


The episode also looks really good! The streets of Corucant have a really nice smokey atmosphere, and Ahsoka's chase through the city looks great, especially when she's hanging off that giant Palpatine screen.

So yeah! This is a fun and good one-off episode that has lots of good Ahsoka stuff in it and Ahsoka is great!
 
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