Clone Wars -- "Victory and Death" (Ep. 7.12) & Season 7 Wrap Up

"I have a plan. Don't worry; it's a good one."

I don't have much I want to say about this episode. In other words, I have a lot I want to say about this episode but only with people who have also seen the episode. They did an extraordinary job entwining the plot with the events of Revenge of the Sith, including the ramifications of Order 66, of which Ahsoka feels the full effects. So does Darth Maul.

I talked about some of this in the write up for the previous episode and, honestly, I don't remember what was in the specific episodes at this point. It was more like a movie that had been split into episodes for viewing. I'm sure that's how they meant it, to feel like another movie.
Let's just say the ending is poignant and highlights the differences between Ahsoka and Anakin. I hear there's are some new fan cuts, four hour fan cuts, of Revenge with this final arc of Clone Wars edited in. I may actually have to watch one because I think seeing the divergence of Ahsoka and Anakin, here at the end, would be interesting to watch as it's happening to each of them.

As it turns out, especially with what seems to be Ahsoka's new upcoming return to the live action side of things in the SWU, this is essential viewing. It's definitely top three of all Clone Wars stories.
Which brings me to my issue with season seven...
After the quote.

"I didn't much like being a commander anyway."


Yeah, only one. I was too busy watching to write them down.

If you go back and look at my earlier reviews of the unfinished episodes which were to make up season seven of Clone Wars, you'll see that there are eight episodes reviewed. Four of those were the episodes dealing with the Bad Batch and the search for Echo; the other four were fucking brilliant and, as I said in my reviews at the time, possibly my favorite story arc in all of Clone Wars.
And they cut it.

Not that I don't understand why they cut it: They basically re-did that story in Rebels -- because it's an important story and part of the lead up to Rogue One -- before they knew they were going to go back and finish season seven, so it makes sense they wouldn't want to re-present a story about finding a giant Kaiburr crystal. It doesn't matter that the Clone Wars one was actually first. People wouldn't see it that way.

But, fuck, the Clone Wars story was so much better. I'm probably going to have to see if StarWars.com still has it available, because I would now like to watch it again. And part of what they replaced it with was the lackluster story of Ahsoka and Trace, which was completely unnecessary. But, you know, they had to have four more episodes about... something, so now I know why those felt so throwaway. They were. That's what they came up with to fill the gap of the story they took out.

I guess it comes down to this: Rebels was fine. It was a completely enjoyable show, but it was really... usually, would say popcorn, but I think it was more like rice cakes. And it was specifically meant to appeal to kids. Clone Wars had substance. And I miss it. And I wish they would bring it back.
For good.

Clone Wars -- "Shattered" (Ep. 7.11)

"You actually captured him."

Oh, yes, I failed to mention in the previous Clone Wars post that Ahsok did, indeed, capture Maul.

There's a direct tie-in with Revenge of the Sith this episode via a reproduced scene from the movie. Things are getting real. This is all happening during Obi-Wan's battle with Grievous and just prior to Windu confronting Palpatine. And, man, Mace is cold to Ahsoka. Makes me think he almost deserves what he's about to get.

This is a pretty hard episode to watch, all things considered. As we continue with our parallel Revenge story, we see the execution of Order 66 as it affects Ahsoka. And Rex.
Oh, yeah, and Maul.
It's an interesting alternate view. Not essential but really, really good and highly recommended.

"I wish I was good at something. Other than war."

"...Go cause some chaos. It's what you're good at."

Rebels: "Stealth Strike" (Ep. 2.09)

"Just so you know, when I escape, I won't hurt any of you."

Well... It's actually been a couple of weeks since I watched this and it's not exactly fresh in my mind. The Last Jedi is fresh in my mind, but I'm not going to talk about that until I've seen it again.

Here's the thing, Kanan and Rex don't exactly like each other. More to the point, Kanan doesn't like Rex. You kind of can't blame him considering that Kanan was a Padawan when Order 66 was enacted, and he watched his Master killed by clones and had them try to kill him, too. There's a lack of trust going on despite the fact that Rex has stated he removed his control chip prior to Order 66.

Kanan and Rex do have a thing in common, though: their affection for Ezra. So, of course, when Ezra is captured, Kanan and Rex go together to rescue him. I mean, neither of them can let the other guy get the credit for it.

Yes, this is another rescue mission... but it's not exactly the kind of rescue mission you'd expect.
And it's a lot of fun to have Rex and Kanan together.

"This armor doesn't protect you from anything!"

"So much for stealth."

"It's not like they don't know we're here!"

Clone Wars -- "The Big Bang" (Ep. ?.4)

-- If at first you don't succeed, destroy it.

This may be my favorite Clone Wars story arc in terms of sheer enjoyment. Many of the arcs, even the good ones, will have an episode that's a little off, but not this one. Each episode contained topnotch dialogue, and I frequently found myself LOLing. Actually, dialogue is a big thing for me. Justified is my favorite TV show in large part because of the excellent dialogue throughout the entire series (and I think it must be difficult to sustain that kind of great dialogue through five seasons of a show since so few shows manage it). This arc is like that: excellent dialogue throughout, especially the banter between Obi-Wan and Anakin.

It doesn't hurt, too, that this arc teases things to come in the movies. Most of The Clone Wars is self-contained and, other than the characters, does not relate to the movies at all. It seems the thrust of season six was to change all of that. Between the opening arc with the ties to Order 66, the Yoda arc, and, now, this one; I get the impression that the creators were working to bring the series into closer synchronicity to the movies. I like it.

And, again, it makes me sad that they pulled the plug on the series because, if season six was a taste of what was to come, The Clone Wars was only getting better.

"Cavalier! You're cavalier all the time and no one says anything about it."

"I'm just better at it; that's all."

"It's amazing what you can accomplish when you don't get captured."

Clone Wars -- Season Six: The Lost Missions

So it is with no small amount of sadness that I've arrived once again at the end of The Clone Wars. I'm not going to go back through all of the stuff I've previously said about the abrupt ending of the series... even though I want to. But that's a rant I've already been on, probably more than once, and you can go back and find those posts if you want to.

The real question is whether you should take the time to watch "The Lost Missions," especially considering they didn't actually air on the Cartoon Network along with the rest of the series. Can they be that important?

In a word? Yes.

I think there are four "must see" arcs in The Clone Wars for any Star Wars fan who is interested in going beyond the movies. Two of those arcs are in season six, the first being the opening arc of the season dealing with Order 66 and the second being the two-part Yoda story that ended the season. Even if you don't watch any of the rest of Clone Wars, you can probably get enough out of these two stories to make them worth watching on their own. You won't regret it.
Probably.
Unless you make the mistake of watching the Jar Jar arc, then you might regret it.
Unless you appreciate that story for the Indiana Jones nods.
Or if you like Jar Jar, which I do.
But I still found that particular story trying. Except for the Indiana Jones stuff.

Overall, The Clone Wars is a really excellent series. There are some episodes and arcs that are... less good, but, on the whole, other than the stumble with season four, it's worth your time if you like Star Wars. Or, really, even if you don't. Despite being animated and despite airing on Cartoon Network, it's not some kids' cartoon. It deals with mature issues, and it's one of the best animated series I've ever watched. You should check it out.

There are a few more episodes that were never finished (due to cancellation!), but they're available on  the Star Wars website in their unfinished form, and I'm going to check those out. At some point, I'll have an update on those.
And I'm going to get back to Rebels. Not that I meant to get away from Rebels, but time has been limited. I'll pick back up on reviews for those soon.

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 -- "The Unknown" (Ep. 6.1)

-- The truth about yourself is always the hardest to accept.

[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.]

Technically, we could be through with the whole Clone Wars thing since season six was never aired; however, they did release part of it on disc, so we, of course, own it. And season six has some important stuff in it; in fact, this first arc is easily in the top three arcs of importance in the series and arguments could be made for its being the most important.

So why didn't it air?

I may have mentioned this before, but let's touch on it again.

The Clone Wars was not "cancelled" in the way that TV shows generally get cancelled. This is why season six was so far along in production when the decision was made to end the series with season five. See, Clone Wars was a Cartoon Network show, licensed to them from Lucasfilm on a five year contract but, before the contract was up, Disney bought Lucasfilm. Not a big deal in a general sense except that Disney has its own TV station and didn't want to be licensing out their new Star Wars property to some other network so, when it came time to renegotiate the licensing agreement, Disney made the cost too high to make it worthwhile for CN to pay it and, thus, The Clone Wars abruptly ended at the end of season five with season six production in full swing.

Why didn't Disney just move Clone Wars over to the Disney Channel?
That was about branding.
And, so, Rebels was born as a Disney channel show and Clone Wars was allowed to drop away.
Fortunately, Disney allowed some of the episodes to be completed for a DVD release.

Which brings us to the first episode of season six, as I said, one of the most important arcs in the series as it has to do with Order 66. It also introduces us to the only set of Jedi siblings that I know of. Or, at least, can think of at this moment. Also, Tim Curry as Darth Sidious! And I'd say more, but you should just watch it.


"I am programmed to resist intimidation."

Rebels: "Spark of Rebellion" -- Part 2 (Ep. 1.1b)

"You're about as bright as a binary droid."

The real question in this two-part opening to Rebels is, "Is Ezra a good guy?" Ezra doesn't seem to think so. He looks out for himself. Period. At least, that's his perception of himself. It's all rather Han Solo. Of course, as with Han, Ezra finds out he can't so easily turn his back on those in need.

Which gets him into trouble.
And allows him the opportunity to find out whether he can depend upon the crew of the Ghost.

Oh, and, also, Kanan, the captain of Ghost, or at least the leader of the little rebel group that operates on the Ghost, is a Jedi.

But... Wait! What about Order 66?
Yeah, I hear you out there.

Order 66 didn't quite get all of the Jedi, just almost all. There's that whole thing about Darth Vader hunting down and killing the remnants of the Order. Kanan was one of the survivors. So the question is simple:
Did he get lucky or is he that good?
That, I suppose, is something we'll have to wait and find out.

And, yeah, I want to find out.
I'm still not happy about losing Clone Wars, but I'll take Rebels as a reasonable substitute.
I'll note again, though, that Rebels is a show that is unambiguously targeting a younger demographic. You can even see it in the animation style. I don't know. Maybe that it clearly targets kids as its viewing audience allows adults to feel more at ease watching it. It's clearly defined, and adults seem to need stricter definitions than kids. So it's okay to watch a "kid show" if you know that's what you're doing, but it makes you ill-at-ease to watch a show that skews to both markets. Or something.

Clone Wars -- "Children of the Force" (Ep. 2.3)

-- The first step to correcting a mistake is patience.

[Remember, you can sign up to join the Clone Wars Project at any time by clicking this link.]

We all know that Palpatine used Order 66 to wipe out the Jedi, but that doesn't answer the question of how Force users became, basically, extinct (as far as we know) across the galaxy within a generation. Sure, you could say that without the Jedi and the Temple that Force-sensitive children simply grew up without ever harnessing their abilities, and, to some extent, I'm sure that's true. However, in this episode we see that Darth Sidious' plan is much more insidious.

Part of the plan is to wipe out those children before they ever have a chance to grow up and potentially become a threat. Palpatine doesn't, after all, mess around.

However, the true horror is not that he wants to wipe out the young Force-sensitives, it's that he wants to bend all of them to the Dark Side and use them as a network of spies and assassins.

This whole plot provides background for the long time fan favorite Expanded Universe character Mara Jade.

As far as a I know, Jade is not currently a canon character (you can see my discussion of Star Wars canon here), but there has been talk that she is going to be included somewhere in the new canon and, possibly, the new movies. At any rate, she was a Force-sensitive child who was molded by the Emperor to be his prime assassin, such that she was called the Emperor's Hand,

So there you go. A bit of Expanded Universe history to tie into The Clone Wars.


"What could possibly have happened since I last spoke with you?"

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

-- A lesson learned is a lesson earned.

[Remember, you can sign up to join the Clone Wars Project at any time by clicking this link.]

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."