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April 24, 2020April 24, 2020

“The Clone Wars”: Season 7, Episode 10 Review!

CLONE WARS SPOILERS AHEAD!

Aided by a magical combination of fabulous voice-acting, stunning animation and mind-blowing writing, the tenth episode of The Clone Wars‘ seventh and final season has not only managed to exceed my wildest expectations (which were already high!), but has also quickly emerged as one of my favorite episodes of the entire series: all seven seasons, every choice made along the way, has led us to this – and the payoff is just as rewarding as we all hoped it would be (and mind you, the real payoff is still ahead: this is just a warm-up exercise for what’s to come!).

Not a moment of screentime is wasted. This episode doesn’t even open with Tom Kane’s iconic voice-over recap, instead placing us directly into the action and drama, right where we left off last week – with Ahsoka Tano (voiced by Ashley Eckstein), alone and outnumbered, standing against the massive, hulking might of Darth Maul (voiced by Sam Witwer) and his small but deadly army of loyal Mandalorian terrorists. But the fighting takes a moment to get started, because Maul, characteristically, has something he needs to say – and Witwer brings his all to the role this week (not that he ever doesn’t, but he’s particularly good now), truly elevating the material and dialogue he’s working with – which is already so well written that it’s sparked some jokes on the internet, where Maul is currently trending on social media platforms, about where the former Sith apprentice had time to take a crash course in political sciences. But along with an expanded vocabulary, Maul arrives on the scene newly equipped with a fascinating humanity and philosophical, introspective attitude: something that might have been hard to imagine back when Maul was first introduced in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace as the mute, cool-looking apprentice of Darth Sidious – in fact, it might still have been hard to imagine even when Maul was resurrected in an earlier season of The Clone Wars as a monstrous creature tormented by a lust for vengeance. But over time, as showrunners and screenwriters have slowly recognized his potential, he has transformed into one of the series’ most compelling characters: a villain, but one slowly moving into the extreme middle of the divide between the Sith and the Jedi. He may still fight with his classic, doubled-bladed red lightsaber, but he is just as much a neutral third party as Ahsoka Tano herself. Is he turning to the light side of the Force? No. Is he becoming more fair and just in his old age? No. But as he himself quips during the episode: “Justice is merely the construct of the current power base”. Maul is now working on his own, outside the influences of either Chancellor Palpatine’s Republic or Darth Sidious’ Separatist Union, looking to establish a place for himself in the coming chaos. But in the episode’s biggest, most shocking twist he reveals that he can’t do it alone – so he reaches out to Ahsoka for her help.

And Ahsoka wavers. Maul touches on all her weaknesses, pointing out that she left the Jedi Order willingly, because she could not stand for their hypocrisy and corrupt politics. He reminds her that the balance of power in the galaxy is about to shift, and that the Jedi will collapse in a matter of days, maybe even hours, or minutes. He informs her that Darth Sidious has been playing both sides of the Clone Wars, toying with the agendas of both the Jedi and the Sith. Ahsoka, whose entire arc has led her straight into the same neutral zone as Maul, can’t help but see the truth and reason in his words. She doesn’t hesitate long: she agrees to join him. But then Maul ruins his own masterfully crafted plan when he tells Ahsoka that her Jedi master, Anakin Skywalker, is destined to become Darth Sidious’ greatest tool and weapon in the fight to topple the balance of the Force. And Ahsoka, unable to reconcile with the idea that Anakin could ever betray her, makes her move, rejecting Maul’s proposal and initiating…a light-saber duel.

What a duel! With original Darth Maul actor Ray Park returning to perform the motion-capture for his character, and Lauren Mary Kim doing the same for Ahsoka Tano, the fight feels fully realized and unique. The action sweeps through the great throne room of Mandalore (which turns out to be an amazing set-piece, something that became clear to me when the hall’s stained-glass windows all simultaneously shattered inwards, ensnaring the duelists in a breeze of flying, multi-colored shards), and then gets carried out into the fiery hellscape of the city itself, where Maul’s loyalists are fighting the Mandalorians led by Bo-Katan (Katee Sackhoff). Everything you want from a light-saber fight, you get in this episode – there’s acrobatics and a precarious balancing-act at one point, the opponents both have dazzling elegance, and there’s a lot of Force use involved.

But in the end, it’s Ahsoka, surprisingly, who gets the upper hand – catching Maul with her Force powers as he falls, pleading to die, and holding him there until her clone troopers can take him hostage. With Maul’s forces already surrendering on the ground, it looks like the Siege of Mandalore might already be over: but the season isn’t, which means something big is still coming.

It’s not too hard to take a guess as to what that might be. On the margins of the episode’s story, we hear little snippets of news about how the Clone Wars is going: Count Dooku is dead by Anakin Skywalker’s hand, and Obi-Wan Kenobi (James Arnold Taylor) is on his way to kill General Grievous on Utapau, meaning it shouldn’t take very long to get to the great purge, and the systematic extermination of the Jedi across the galaxy. In this episode, we already saw ARC trooper Jesse (Dee Bradley Baker) become a prisoner of Darth Maul and surrender his mind to the powerful Sith – it’s possible that something occurred offscreen during their encounter that will cause Jesse’s programming to malfunction, leading him to attack Ahsoka before Order 66 has even begun. That could give Ahsoka some warning so that she can try and save some of the other clones under her command – or she might be forced to kill them all to save herself, which would be heartbreaking and utterly brutal to watch. All I know is that somehow, someway, Darth Maul is going to escape from his bonds – and a chaotic melee between his captors would pose the perfect opportunity for him to do just that.

So what do you think? How are you enjoying this final season of The Clone Wars, and what do you think will happen next? Share your own thoughts, theories and opinions in the comments below!

Episode Rating: 9.5/10

April 17, 2020

“The Clone Wars”: Season 7, Episode 9 Review! SPOILERS!

SPOILERS FOR THE CLONE WARS, SEASON 7, EPISODE 9

Some things never change – but the status quo gets a major shake-up in the tenth episode of The Clone Wars‘ final season, which kicks off the series’ last story arc: the long-awaited Siege of Mandalore. Old friends and enemies reunite with epic consequences; ancient pacts are broken; and events are set into motion that cannot be undone. From the moment the episode opens with the blood-red title card that has always signified the influence of Darth Maul (voiced by Sam Witwer), the action, drama and excitement is nonstop, fast-paced and intense.

Just to give you a sense of how close we are to the end: this episode begins a few hours before the attack on Coruscant at the beginning of The Revenge Of The Sith, in which Chancellor Palpatine is kidnapped by Separatist forces – an attack which plays a pivotal part in this episode’s events, as it drives a wedge between Anakin Skywalker (Matt Lanter), Obi-Wan Kenobi (James Arnold Taylor), and Ahsoka Tano (Ashley Eckstein), preventing the trio from joining forces against Darth Maul. A brief montage in the opening recap also gives us a quick, but heartbreaking, look at some fan-favorite Jedi Knights departing on their final missions across the galaxy.

There’s been some sort of time-jump since last week’s episode, since Ahsoka is now firmly established as an ally of the rebel Mandalorian Bo-Katan (Katee Sackhoff), whose mission to win back her home planet of Mandalore from Darth Maul and his tyrannical regime depends on the assistance of the Jedi – who, historically, have always been opponents of the Mandalorian way. Naturally, Ahsoka turns to her old mentor and friend Anakin, who is eager to help her – until Obi-Wan gets involved, counseling patience and prudence: some things really never change (like the infuriating way Obi-Wan scratches his chin every single time he has to make a decision: it’s one of those character quirks that gets repeated so many times it actually becomes vaguely irritating). Even a harsh reminder of the suppressed romantic tension between Obi-Wan and the recently deceased Duchess of Mandalore isn’t enough to change his mind.

Ahsoka, channeling everything that Trace and Rafa Martez taught her, gives the Jedi a piece of her mind – telling them bluntly and honestly that, by even questioning whether to rescue Palpatine or save Mandalore, they’re playing politics and betraying the oath they took as Jedi. Obi-Wan mutters something about how Ahsoka’s not being fair: to which the former Jedi padawan replies: “I’m not trying to be.” How far she’s come! All grown up and challenging the policies of a corrupt and bureaucratic government.

In the end, Obi-Wan wins the argument, much to Anakin’s dismay and frustration – more excellent foreshadowing of what’s to come, when the friends’ relationship reaches a breaking point. But thankfully, Anakin doesn’t let Ahsoka go without three gifts: a squadron of clone troopers, with their armor decked out in the colors of Ahsoka’s Togruta facial markings; her twin lightsabers, which she had given to him to keep after she left the Jedi Order; and the strength of their bond renewed – which, in the long run, is going to mean nothing once Anakin becomes seduced by the Dark Side, but, hey, it’s a nice gesture for right now. The lightsabers in particular come in handy when Ahsoka and Bo-Katan lead their small invasion force into Mandalore – and much to my delight, the whirling blades have also restored much of Ahsoka’s confident, unique fighting style. The gravity-defying mid-air fight scene in this episode makes up for the multitude of weak, low-energy street brawls that Ahsoka struggled through in the past few weeks.

But while Ahsoka has an easy time slicing through Mandalorian fighter ships, she’s met her match in the Sith Lord Darth Maul, whom she encounters in the sewer system underneath Mandalore (because it’s Darth Maul, so of course he’s hiding in a sewer, waiting to ambush people). Maul, as it turns out, was expecting his arch-nemesis Obi-Wan Kenobi, and the episode ends with Maul and Ahsoka rather awkwardly staring each other down, not knowing exactly what to say to each other. Will Maul try to kill Ahsoka? Will he imprison her? Or will he just kind of…talk to her? I’m intrigued to see what goes down next week, and honestly looking forward to some more of the quiet, conversational Maul who has been such a joy in previous seasons of the series.

So we’ve started out on the last leg of our journey to the conclusion of the Clone Wars. The Siege of Mandalore is already underway. The end of an era is approaching. But the good news is, some things never change. After all, Ahsoka, Anakin and Obi-Wan still only have, what, one brain-cell between the three of them? Just like old times.

Episode Rating: 8.5/10

April 10, 2020

“The Clone Wars”: Season 7, Episode 8 Review!

Some will not be sorry to see the Martez Sisters story arc conclude this week on The Clone Wars, if it means we can move on to the long-awaited and highly-anticipated Siege of Mandalore. As for me, I have mixed feelings: am I undeniably excited to see if the entire story can wrap up in the next few episodes in an appropriately grandiose and epic fashion? Totally. But am I also very unhappy that the grounded, practical, no-nonsense Martez’s won’t be part of that finale? Absolutely.

When this week’s episode starts off, the dynamic trio of Ahsoka Tano (voiced by Ashley Eckstein), Trace Martez (Brigitte Kali) and Rafa Martez (Elizabeth Rodriguez) are all locked away once again in a Pyke Syndicate dungeon, awaiting execution – but once again, they make what would otherwise be a boring scenario extremely engaging and compelling: and I firmly believe Ahsoka couldn’t have done that alone, without help from these two sassy amateur con-women, who imbue every scene they’re in with a bit of their fun, conversational attitude. There’s more talking (by which I mean real talking, not exposition) in these last few episodes than I feel like there has been for a very long time in The Clone Wars. Trace and Rafa gave Ahsoka a place to settle down and blend in, and at the same time they gave both her and us, the audience, a welcome respite from warfare, military strategy, and the politics of the Jedi Order.

Has this arc been filler? Maybe. I really can’t say for sure until the season is done. But I hope that the lessons Ahsoka has learned from the Martez’s will help her in the near future, making her prolonged adventures with them essential to her character arc. Ahsoka was forced to confront some dark truths about herself and her way of life in these last few episodes: worst of which was the revelation that Jedi intervention has only caused pain, misery and suffering for the people they claim to protect – for Ahsoka, who has always positioned herself as a champion of justice and morality, that hit hard. She almost has an obligation to distance herself even further from the Jedi Order: leaving them wasn’t enough. Now, she may have to confront them.

If she’s going to be doing that, though, I really hope she gets a weapon upgrade. At this point, it feels like The Clone Wars‘ final season is sadistically teasing us with promises of epic Ahsoka fight scenes – and then snatching them away. I thought it couldn’t get worse than last week, but this…this topped it. Surrounded on all sides by Pyke guards, Ahsoka moves into one of her characteristically graceful fighting stances. There’s that tense pause. Then, she springs into action…and gets maybe three or four punches and kicks in before being taken out with a stun-gun. Meanwhile, Trace and Rafa, neither of whom is gifted with any Force abilities, take on an entire swarm of aliens on the lower docks and get into some sort of Indiana Jones-esque fight on a wildly-swinging crane. I appreciated giving the Martez sisters a cool action scene, don’t get me wrong: but why couldn’t Ahsoka get one too?

Now, let’s move into SPOILERS! Obviously you’d expect a few, what with the Martez Sisters arc ending and a new one beginning. And thankfully, The Clone Wars delivers.

Bo-Katan (Katee Sackhoff) is, as we all suspected, the link between the two storylines converging. Though for the majority of the episode she stands on the sidelines watching Ahsoka’s various escape attempts backfire, she pops in at the very end to whisk the former Jedi away on a mission to Mandalore – to take on their common enemy, Darth Maul (Sam Witwer). Yes, the Sith Lord has returned: here as a glowering hologram who nearly catches Ahsoka as she wanders through the Pyke citadel, in one of the episode’s more suspenseful scenes. But if a confrontation between Ahsoka and an intangible hologram seemed exciting, I can only imagine what the actual fight will be like: just, please, let Ahsoka actually fight. Darth Maul also throws in a shoutout to his criminal organization, Crimson Dawn, which was a crucial element of Solo: A Star Wars Story, and since then has never really proved to be of any importance. Maybe they’ll get something to do here.

The episode throws the core trio a bunch of curveballs, which they deflect or evade (or barrel into, head-on) as a group unit. Of course, there was no way the arc could end without Ahsoka revealing her secret identity to the Martez sisters – and though I wasn’t too keen on the way that reveal went over so abruptly, I admired how quick Trace and Rafa were to accept her, after everything she’s done for them. They even promised to have her bike waiting for her when she returns from Mandalore (will she be able to, though? If I’m not mistaken, we’re nearing the time when Palpatine will initiate Order 66, sparking the genocide of the Jedi: so Coruscant, at the heart of Palpatine’s Empire, may not be the safest place for Ahsoka to return home to after the war).

What did you think of this week’s episode? What do you want to see next on The Clone Wars? Share your thoughts, theories and opinions in the comments below!

Episode Rating: 7.5/10

April 3, 2020

“The Clone Wars”: Season 7, Episode 7 Review!

If this seventh and final season of The Clone Wars were the normal length of twenty-two episodes, I would probably be more willing to excuse the aimless, roundabout nature of this seventh episode, Dangerous Debt. But as it is, the long-running series only has six more episodes left: we simply don’t have time to bring the story to a standstill – especially not now, right after last week’s exciting, suspenseful installment in the voyages of Ahsoka Tano (voiced by Ashley Eckstein) and the Martez sisters.

As I guessed, today’s episode opens with the three characters trapped in a Pyke Syndicate prison chamber, while the Pykes take turns torturing them for information about the missing spice that Trace Martez (Brigitte Kali) dumped from her starship in an angry rage last week. Obviously, they make attempts to escape – and the results are…well, questionable. But without getting into spoilers yet, let’s discuss what makes this episode at least decent – in fact, right up until the end, it shows every sign of being a very good chapter in what is proving to be an excellent story.

As with last week’s episode, the unexpected core of this Clone Wars story arc is the dynamic between Ahsoka and the Martez sisters, both of whom have very different opinions on her (which lends itself to particularly snappy, back-and-forth arguments between all three of them). Trace, trying to emulate her dead mother’s compassion, gives the Jedi-turned-rogue a shoulder to lean on, while her more brusque and practical older sister Rafa (Elizabeth Rodriguez) is naturally suspicious of Ahsoka’s surprising talents and intelligence. When the Martez sisters entered the picture, I’ll admit I was worried: at first, they seemed one-dimensional and a little boring. But that’s not the case anymore – we keep finding out new details about them, their personalities and their complex worldviews, and each one is more interesting than the last. I’m hoping we don’t abandon them and their storylines before the end of the series.

As for Ahsoka, this is some of the best material she’s ever been given: despite being forced to hide her identity from everyone around her, the former Jedi is still put in dangerous situations where the only thing she can do is use her Force-training to protect herself and her friends – which results in a lot more suspicion from Rafa Martez, who seems more perceptive of these incidents than her younger sister. But Ahsoka gets extra incentive not to reveal the truth about her past in this week’s episode, which shows us that Rafa and Trace’s hatred of the Jedi Order is very, very personal.

One disappointing aspect of Ahsoka’s character in this final season is that, because she herself is no longer the showy, flashy warrior she used to be, her fighting style has evolved to reflect that: now, her action sequences are quick, punchy and, for the most part, grounded – which might not be so shocking if Ahsoka hadn’t been the character deemed most likely to use unnecessary acrobatic skills in combat in previous seasons. If this is an intentional decision made to underscore Ahsoka’s journey, I appreciate it – if not, I can’t see why they would change something that had been such an important fixture of the character’s persona.

Overall, however, this episode is nowhere near as good as last week’s – and that comes down to one glaring issue, which I will address in today’s SPOILER section! You’ve been warned.

Ahsoka, Trace and Rafa start the episode in prison. They also end the episode in prison – in fact, in the very same prison cell. The purpose for their short-lived escapade seems to have been so that the Mandalorian Bo-Katan (Katee Sackhoff) could spot them fleeing through the city. Will she be the one to break them out of the Pyke dungeons next week? Maybe, but why couldn’t she do that…today? It’s not like we still have more than half of the series left to finish the story of the Clone Wars, Ahsoka Tano, and the rest of this beloved ensemble cast: we only have a couple of episodes left, and we just wasted one on a story that took us full-circle.

The episode seems to have been intended as an introspective one, where Rafa and Trace could see Ahsoka in a new light, and vice versa. But the effort to achieve that effect falls flat too – not because Rafa’s reveal that Jedi killed their parents after deciding that taking a few lives was better than risking many more is a bad idea (in fact, it’s an awesome concept, because Ahsoka knows that it’s what the Jedi would, in fact, do), but because the excessively long and detailed speech in which she reveals this is composed of dry, emotionless exposition. After suffering through it, I was hoping that Rafa would throw in some witty one-liner to at least make the scene worthwhile: no such luck. Other than that, it’s a cool reveal, and it further convinces Ahsoka to hide her true identity – something that won’t be possible when she and the Martez sisters (hopefully) run into Bo-Katan, who knows Ahsoka was a Jedi, and, in fact, had memorable fights with her in previous seasons, when the two fought on opposing sides of the Clone Wars.

Oh yeah, and the Clone Wars themselves? Once again, relegated to the background. Once again, this wouldn’t be a problem if the series were longer and could devote more time to those wars, but it’s not, so every minute we spend away from the battlefront is time we’re losing – I’m not willing to make exceptions just because we’re spending time instead with Ahsoka, Trace and Rafa, regardless of how fun they are. Fingers crossed that Bo-Katan does rescue them next week, and gets them entangled in the tumultuous civil war currently raging on her home planet of Mandalore, bringing them (and us, the viewers) back to the forefront of the Clone Wars.

What did you think of this week’s episode? Share your thoughts, theories and opinions in the comments below!

Episode Rating: 4.9/10