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Nov. 19th, 2017 09:28 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
skygiantsWe're done with season two of the Clone Wars! I am proud to state that this batch featured several episodes where NO clone buddies died. (...and several episodes where entire battalions of them did.)
11. Lightsaber Lost
Ahsoka is very embarrassed when her lightsaber gets stolen on a mission; a Sage and Slow-Moving Elderly Jedi helps her get it back while teaching her important Jedi lessons that Anakin will never teach her in a million years, like 'patience.' Most notable for the team-up of female thieves who eventually end up with the lightsaber, one of whom is helping the other murder her crimelord boyfriend so they can flee the planet together! I wanted Ahsoka to get her lightsaber back and everything, but in all honesty I was rooting for these two more. Alas, they were arrested at the end of the episode, but since the Wiki indicates that they never appear again, we can headcanon that they escaped and are still Thelma and Louising jauntily around the galaxy.
12. The Mandalore Plot
HI MANDALORE, HI OBI-WAN'S EX. It's exciting to meet Satine at last!
DEBI: Obi-Wan/Satine is interesting because it reflects what Padme and Anakin might have become if they were both adults. Or if they got the chance to become adults!
BECCA: Yes, except that Anakin will never actually become an adult.
Anyway, this sets up the initial major Mandalorian conflict in which Satine wishes to remain neutral and strictly pacifist, various dissidents wish for Mandalore to team up with the separatists and be warriors, and Obi-Wan and the Republic wish for Mandalore to officially come under the protection of the Republic. It also has the most innuendo-laden line in the series to date when Obi-Wan complains to Anakin that his mission has been EXHAUSTING him.
13. Voyage of Temptation
Satine and various Senators are traveling to Coruscant when it turns out assassin droids are hidden in the cargo. We spent a lot of this episode trying to figure out who the Senators were and why they were traveling with Satine when Satine is NOT in fact a Senator and we still find ourselves somewhat confused on this point.
After two episodes in which no clones died, it was a wrench to lose no less than NINE clone buddies to assassin droids in this episode. :( However, it does have the great scene in which Satine and Obi-Wan hilariously distract the bad guy with their sappy confessions of love in order to get the drop on him and hold him at gunpoint:
VILLAIN: Satine's a pacifist and Obi-Wan's in love with Satine, so WHO WILL STRIKE FIRST AND BRAND THEMSELVES A COLD-BLOODED KILLER -
ANAKIN: oh hey! :D
I'm not sure I buy that Obi-Wan would have actually hesitated in this situation given the dude was about to blow up the ship, but it's worth it for the hilarity of Anakin's murder shrug.
14. Duchess of Mandalore
I really like the overarching political arc of this episode, with the Republic is planning a pre-emptive invasion of Mandalore in the name of galactic safety, against the wishes of its current leaders and without considering the delicacy of the situation -- I mean, sound familiar? I'm not sure I find it plausible that one un-doctored recording would change the mind of the Senate, but it's nice to believe that's possible! It's also nice to see Satine and Padme team up for political shenanigans.
15. Senate Murders
More political shenanigans! This time, Padme and Bail team up to SOLVE THE MURDER of a senator buddy of theirs, much to the chagrin of the actual detective assigned to the case, who has clearly just wandered out of his own police procedural show where he is the quirky star and is not pleased to find himself suddenly playing the bumbling cop in an episode of the new kdrama SENATOR DETECTIVE.
Also features my new favorite antagonist, an extremely rude elderly Kaminoan senator who is on the side of Military Spending and Increased Clone Production aka More Money For Kamino. She is horrible and I love her.
16. Cat and Mouse
The only thing I really remember about this episode, in which Anakin does some kind of fancy flying to destroy an enemy admiral, is that Bail Organa calls in at one point and says "Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope." OK WE ALL SEE WHAT YOU DID THERE.
17. Bounty Hunters
The Seven Samurai episode! Anakin, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka team up with a bunch of bounty hunters to protect a farming village from pirates.
DEBI: But it doesn't have the getting-the-band together bit! That's the best part of The Magnificent Seven!
BECCA: Unfortunately there is only so much getting-the-band-together you can do in 20 minutes.
18. The Zillo Beast
The Godzilla episode, part one! In the process of fighting a battle, the Jedi cause the deaths of at least 5 clone buddies (I mean, presumably more, but that was how many we counted) and awaken an ancient beast from its slumber, the last of its kind!! The locals are like 'cool, we know how to murder that!' and Mace Windu is like 'NO WE CANNOT COMMIT GENOCIDE AGAINST THE LAST OF THIS SPECIES, WE SHOULD GIVE IT ITS OWN PLANET AS A NATURE PRESERVE.'
DEBI: I'm all for preserving endangered species but technically if there's only one left the genocide has already happened...
Anyway, Mace Windu makes his pitch; unsurprisingly, the military leadership are unsympathetic, until Palpatine and Anakin get the bright idea to use its IMPENETRABLE SCALES for military research. The episode ends with the beast knocked out and en route to Coruscant, the most populous planet in the galaxy, because nobody here has actually seen Godzilla or indeed any film in which bringing a nigh-indestructible giant monster to a major population center goes poorly.
19. The Zillo Beast Strikes Back
They bring a night-indestructible giant monster to a major population center. It goes poorly.
At the end, Palpatine gives orders to try and clone it, because also nobody has seen Jurassic Park.
(Only one clone buddy died in the making of this episode however, which is honestly impressive, given givens.)
20. Death Trap
I HAD A LOT OF FEELINGS ABOUT THIS EPISODE. Baby Boba Fett infiltrates a batch of teen clones who are taking a school tour of a military cruiser, with the intention of blowing it up, killing Mace Windu, and avenging his dad. Unfortunately, it turns out that this process will involve ... murdering a whole bunch of identical replicas of his dad. Five clone buddies died in the making of this episode, but Boba was very conflicted about it.
21. R2 Come Home
While attempting to track down Boba and rescue the hostages he took, Anakin and Mace Windu get trapped under some heavy machinery on a planet, leaving it up to R2 to save the day!
Interesting points about this episode: Mace Windu has another R unit, which gets destroyed relatively early on in the episode; Mace Windu never asks about the fate of this R unit; R2 spends the rest of the episode being NOTICEABLY RUDE AND UNNECESSARILY AGGRESSIVE to any other robots that he comes across.
BECCA: Why is R2 so mean to other droids??
DEBI: I think he's trying to subconsciously differentiate himself from them so that he doesn't get mad or sad when they get destroyed and/or get their memories erased. If he's better than them, he doesn't have to care!
We're getting very concerned and sad about R2's droid psychology.
22. Lethal Trackdown
But we can also be concerned and sad about Boba Fett's psychology! Boba and his bounty hunter adoptive mom hold some officers hostage; Anakin and another Jedi track them down, subsequent to which Boba's mom takes off and leaves him behind. :(
Eventually Boba ends up back on Coruscant in custody:
BOBA: I'll never forgive you for killing my father!
MACE WINDU: Get over it.
This does not seem to me to be the most helpful response but I guess Jedi are not known for their supportive attitude towards kids in crisis.
11. Lightsaber Lost
Ahsoka is very embarrassed when her lightsaber gets stolen on a mission; a Sage and Slow-Moving Elderly Jedi helps her get it back while teaching her important Jedi lessons that Anakin will never teach her in a million years, like 'patience.' Most notable for the team-up of female thieves who eventually end up with the lightsaber, one of whom is helping the other murder her crimelord boyfriend so they can flee the planet together! I wanted Ahsoka to get her lightsaber back and everything, but in all honesty I was rooting for these two more. Alas, they were arrested at the end of the episode, but since the Wiki indicates that they never appear again, we can headcanon that they escaped and are still Thelma and Louising jauntily around the galaxy.
12. The Mandalore Plot
HI MANDALORE, HI OBI-WAN'S EX. It's exciting to meet Satine at last!
DEBI: Obi-Wan/Satine is interesting because it reflects what Padme and Anakin might have become if they were both adults. Or if they got the chance to become adults!
BECCA: Yes, except that Anakin will never actually become an adult.
Anyway, this sets up the initial major Mandalorian conflict in which Satine wishes to remain neutral and strictly pacifist, various dissidents wish for Mandalore to team up with the separatists and be warriors, and Obi-Wan and the Republic wish for Mandalore to officially come under the protection of the Republic. It also has the most innuendo-laden line in the series to date when Obi-Wan complains to Anakin that his mission has been EXHAUSTING him.
13. Voyage of Temptation
Satine and various Senators are traveling to Coruscant when it turns out assassin droids are hidden in the cargo. We spent a lot of this episode trying to figure out who the Senators were and why they were traveling with Satine when Satine is NOT in fact a Senator and we still find ourselves somewhat confused on this point.
After two episodes in which no clones died, it was a wrench to lose no less than NINE clone buddies to assassin droids in this episode. :( However, it does have the great scene in which Satine and Obi-Wan hilariously distract the bad guy with their sappy confessions of love in order to get the drop on him and hold him at gunpoint:
VILLAIN: Satine's a pacifist and Obi-Wan's in love with Satine, so WHO WILL STRIKE FIRST AND BRAND THEMSELVES A COLD-BLOODED KILLER -
ANAKIN: oh hey! :D
I'm not sure I buy that Obi-Wan would have actually hesitated in this situation given the dude was about to blow up the ship, but it's worth it for the hilarity of Anakin's murder shrug.
14. Duchess of Mandalore
I really like the overarching political arc of this episode, with the Republic is planning a pre-emptive invasion of Mandalore in the name of galactic safety, against the wishes of its current leaders and without considering the delicacy of the situation -- I mean, sound familiar? I'm not sure I find it plausible that one un-doctored recording would change the mind of the Senate, but it's nice to believe that's possible! It's also nice to see Satine and Padme team up for political shenanigans.
15. Senate Murders
More political shenanigans! This time, Padme and Bail team up to SOLVE THE MURDER of a senator buddy of theirs, much to the chagrin of the actual detective assigned to the case, who has clearly just wandered out of his own police procedural show where he is the quirky star and is not pleased to find himself suddenly playing the bumbling cop in an episode of the new kdrama SENATOR DETECTIVE.
Also features my new favorite antagonist, an extremely rude elderly Kaminoan senator who is on the side of Military Spending and Increased Clone Production aka More Money For Kamino. She is horrible and I love her.
16. Cat and Mouse
The only thing I really remember about this episode, in which Anakin does some kind of fancy flying to destroy an enemy admiral, is that Bail Organa calls in at one point and says "Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope." OK WE ALL SEE WHAT YOU DID THERE.
17. Bounty Hunters
The Seven Samurai episode! Anakin, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka team up with a bunch of bounty hunters to protect a farming village from pirates.
DEBI: But it doesn't have the getting-the-band together bit! That's the best part of The Magnificent Seven!
BECCA: Unfortunately there is only so much getting-the-band-together you can do in 20 minutes.
18. The Zillo Beast
The Godzilla episode, part one! In the process of fighting a battle, the Jedi cause the deaths of at least 5 clone buddies (I mean, presumably more, but that was how many we counted) and awaken an ancient beast from its slumber, the last of its kind!! The locals are like 'cool, we know how to murder that!' and Mace Windu is like 'NO WE CANNOT COMMIT GENOCIDE AGAINST THE LAST OF THIS SPECIES, WE SHOULD GIVE IT ITS OWN PLANET AS A NATURE PRESERVE.'
DEBI: I'm all for preserving endangered species but technically if there's only one left the genocide has already happened...
Anyway, Mace Windu makes his pitch; unsurprisingly, the military leadership are unsympathetic, until Palpatine and Anakin get the bright idea to use its IMPENETRABLE SCALES for military research. The episode ends with the beast knocked out and en route to Coruscant, the most populous planet in the galaxy, because nobody here has actually seen Godzilla or indeed any film in which bringing a nigh-indestructible giant monster to a major population center goes poorly.
19. The Zillo Beast Strikes Back
They bring a night-indestructible giant monster to a major population center. It goes poorly.
At the end, Palpatine gives orders to try and clone it, because also nobody has seen Jurassic Park.
(Only one clone buddy died in the making of this episode however, which is honestly impressive, given givens.)
20. Death Trap
I HAD A LOT OF FEELINGS ABOUT THIS EPISODE. Baby Boba Fett infiltrates a batch of teen clones who are taking a school tour of a military cruiser, with the intention of blowing it up, killing Mace Windu, and avenging his dad. Unfortunately, it turns out that this process will involve ... murdering a whole bunch of identical replicas of his dad. Five clone buddies died in the making of this episode, but Boba was very conflicted about it.
21. R2 Come Home
While attempting to track down Boba and rescue the hostages he took, Anakin and Mace Windu get trapped under some heavy machinery on a planet, leaving it up to R2 to save the day!
Interesting points about this episode: Mace Windu has another R unit, which gets destroyed relatively early on in the episode; Mace Windu never asks about the fate of this R unit; R2 spends the rest of the episode being NOTICEABLY RUDE AND UNNECESSARILY AGGRESSIVE to any other robots that he comes across.
BECCA: Why is R2 so mean to other droids??
DEBI: I think he's trying to subconsciously differentiate himself from them so that he doesn't get mad or sad when they get destroyed and/or get their memories erased. If he's better than them, he doesn't have to care!
We're getting very concerned and sad about R2's droid psychology.
22. Lethal Trackdown
But we can also be concerned and sad about Boba Fett's psychology! Boba and his bounty hunter adoptive mom hold some officers hostage; Anakin and another Jedi track them down, subsequent to which Boba's mom takes off and leaves him behind. :(
Eventually Boba ends up back on Coruscant in custody:
BOBA: I'll never forgive you for killing my father!
MACE WINDU: Get over it.
This does not seem to me to be the most helpful response but I guess Jedi are not known for their supportive attitude towards kids in crisis.
