The Clone Wars Season 5 - Spoilers!

[AndroAsc]

I'm rather pissed at how Ashoka managed to hold off Grevious for a while. I know she was losing, but Grevious have been shown to be extremely proficient at killing Jedi. Shouldn't a Padawan be wasted in a matter of minutes?

[Darksider]

Ashoka's clearly improved ever since she started using two lightsabers instead of one. Back in the beginning she was barely holding of Magnaguard goons.

[AMX]

So... comments on the current arc?

Maybe that droid arc, too, I suppose.

[RogueIce]

Maybe that droid arc, too, I suppose.

A one episode story stretched out into four episodes for no good reason. The first episode worked well enough for what it was. The second episode was pretty pointless. The third episode was good but only because of Gregor and his story could have easily (and probably better) been told with a different setup. The fourth episode was also okay but really by then I was tired of Gascon and WAC.

So... comments on the current arc?

Pretty good so far. A villian focused arc is pretty neat. It seems to be moving kinda fast, though. I've heard it's only three episodes instead of four, which is probably why. Ironically this arc could have used the four episode length far, far better than the Droid arc did.

[AMX]

Maybe that droid arc, too, I suppose.

A one episode story stretched out into four episodes for no good reason. The first episode worked well enough for what it was. The second episode was pretty pointless. The third episode was good but only because of Gregor and his story could have easily (and probably better) been told with a different setup. The fourth episode was also okay but really by then I was tired of Gascon and WAC.

You're harsher than me - I would have pegged it as a two-parter.

So... comments on the current arc?

Pretty good so far. A villian focused arc is pretty neat. It seems to be moving kinda fast, though. I've heard it's only three episodes instead of four, which is probably why. Ironically this arc could have used the four episode length far, far better than the Droid arc did.

That's worrying, because I agree completely.

[Raesene]

The droid arc ended in nothingness - would have bee nicne to see the effect of the decoding algorhythm in the last episode of the arc, and not some ram cruiser drama.
That was in my opinion one of the weakest storyarcs of clone wars.

The Mandalorian/Maul/Savage story is interesting, although it has some holes, too.

[RogueIce]

Two for one special today!

[Darksider]

I found Satine's death to be surprisingly gut-wrenching.

[RogueIce]

Yes indeed. Not one of the top emotional moments of the show, but very well done nonetheless. I also found some sadness in seeing that raging battle just before Obi-wan's escape. Darth Maul didn't just kill Satine, he also killed her vision of a peaceful Mandalore. And all just to get back at Kenobi.

Kenobi's parting with the female Mando chick (aka Satine's sister) was also touching.

And then there's Maul. We saw him grow from a snarling, broken half-man lusting only for revenge to a cold, calculating manipulator over the course of these episodes. And then Palpatine shows up, kills his brother and utterly breaks Maul in the span of about five minutes or so. Damn.

This episode had a lot in it.

[The Romulan Republic]

Sounds like a decent episode. Pity I missed it.

I'm sad to hear Satine's dead. I liked her because she was a pacifist who was treated with respect. All too often, those who oppose war are portrayed as being like Neville Chamberlain, or the main stream perception of him; as fools and cowards opposing what is necissary. Or they're portrayed as outright traitors.

And Savage too? Oh well, its always interesting getting to see Palpatine do more than sit and talk in the Senate.

[RogueIce]

You can watch it here whenever they put it up.

And it seems they're doing some sort of episode commentaries again, which I thought they'd stopped but appear to be back! This is great news, I always loved those little tidbits Filoni would share.

[AndroAsc]

Good to see Sidious kick Savage and Maul's ass. I was felt they portrayed the duo as being too strong. Contrast this to Dooku's battle with Savage and Ventress, where he actually broke a little sweat. Show them who's the boss Palpy!!!!

[AMX]

Ah, the old "we didn't tell you he was dead."
No, you only said he was a walking bomb.
And you're investigating a bomb explosion.

[The Original Nex]

^ Anakin said to the wife that "someone made [him] the bomb." She wouldn't have had the context clues to know they meant he was physically the bomb. They specifically reference this in the "trivia" notes for the episode.

[Lord Insanity]

Was anyone else impressed by the holographic bomb blast crime scene reconstruction that the Investigator Droid created? In hindsight it is a very logical extrapolation of Star Wars tech, but seeing it on screen was a "whoa cool" moment for me. Then again I am squarely in the camp that thinks this show is everything the prequels should have been in the first place.

[AMX]

^ Anakin said to the wife that "someone made [him] the bomb." She wouldn't have had the context clues to know they meant he was physically the bomb. They specifically reference this in the "trivia" notes for the episode.

Seriously?
What "context clues" was she missing?
They can't seriously expect us to believe she was somehow the one person on Coruscant who didn't know that there had been an explosion.
Her husband was missing since that explosion.
She met the Jedi in her kitchen, and they told her somebody made him into a bomb.

That's enough to puzzle out the gist of what happened - he ate something that caused him to blow up.

[Lord Insanity]

^ Anakin said to the wife that "someone made [him] the bomb." She wouldn't have had the context clues to know they meant he was physically the bomb. They specifically reference this in the "trivia" notes for the episode.

Seriously?
What "context clues" was she missing?
They can't seriously expect us to believe she was somehow the one person on Coruscant who didn't know that there had been an explosion.
Her husband was missing since that explosion.
She met the Jedi in her kitchen, and they told her somebody made him into a bomb.

That's enough to puzzle out the gist of what happened - he ate something that caused him to blow up.

"someone made him the bomb" as in someone made the bomb for him. Knowing he was the bomb isn't something she should have known.

[AMX]

"someone made him the bomb" as in someone made the bomb for him. Knowing he was the bomb isn't something she should have known.

I still don't buy it.
It's a cliché line, placed in a context where it works even worse than normal - and trying to justify it does not help.

[RogueIce]

But the real question is, is this detail really that important? Fuck it, say they sensed her guilt through the Force and tossed out that line to try and psych her out. Who cares?

Anyway this latest episode was the bomb-diggedy. I loved that prison, it gave off a good look that just said Imperial to me, setting up nicely the Republic's slow but sure descent into Empire. Also the Imperial March playing with Tarkin and the clones was downright chilling. Even before Order 66 it's clear the Jedi lost this war, they just don't know it yet.

That chase scene was fantastic, and fuck yeah for stun bolts. Also the tunnel scene between Anakin and Ahsoka. Obvious The Fugitive homage, and the dialogue and acting were just fantastic. I also loved the various renditions of Ahsoka's theme; as far as original music for this series goes it's my favorite and I enjoy it when they put it to good use.

Really everything having to do with Ahsoka and Anakin in this episode were great. You can really see how attached he is to his Padawan, and the switch between her joy at (what she believed to be) Anakin coming through with the keycard, and then the utter betrayal in her voice when she accused him of not trying hard enough to visit her, shows that it's become a two-way street. Very nice character moments for them both throughout.

I can't wait to see how it all plays out.

[Raesene]

That's a story arc that will likely deserve its number of episodes - contrary to that droid fourparter...

Could be a good explanation for Anakin's problems with the jedi council if he is seen as having failed with his padawan should things end badly.

[RogueIce]

So I just thought of something. If I remember my EU right, it was Captain Tarkin who squished protesters at the Ghorman Massacre, which is what got him promoted to Admiral. And that was after the creation of the Empire.

And here's a pre-Empire Admiral Tarkin for all to see.

Wonder what Wookieepedia's gonna do with this one.

EDIT: Though IIRC there's a pic of the guy who played Tarkin wearing a Moff badge from the end of RotS, so I guess the movie already rolled over that one.

[AndroAsc]

Nice episode, definitely makes me wonder who was behind it... the force user has to be strong, as Ashoka did not detect him/her. My first thought was Palaptine, but what would bombing the Jedi temple do? The only long-term game I can think of is to put a wedge between the Jedi and military...

[Darksider]

So apparently the guy who voices Palpatine/Sidious passed away last year, and they're getting Tim Curry to replace him.

So that's why he sounded different in next week's promo.

[RogueIce]

"I know."

That ending left me speechless, but in a good way. I can see why they cleared the studio for it.

I loved that finale. It wasn't perfect, but it was still excellent. While I don't think it was rushed, I would love to have had more parts. Mainly because I just didn't want it to end, period.

But end it did and damn, that was something. I will say I loved, loved, loved how they handled the end credits there. Brought to mind the ending of "Mother Simpson" and I think it worked very damn well. Kudos to them for going there, this episode deserved it.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go contain my fanboy squeeing.

[Riquende]

A very good end to season. Although it was obvious it was Barriss, I'm glad the reason they gave for her crimes wasn't a turn to the dark side (like that General leading those clones). I actually agree with her sentiments (though not her methods), I'm tired of Star Wars fiction going about how great and awesome the Jedi are whilst simultaneously showing them being easily manipulated into their destruction.