If nothing else, last night's new Clone Wars sure put me in the mood to watch Revenge of the Sith. Dave Filoni's wrap-up to the series continues to concentrate mainly on establishing where certain characters were at the time of the film's events. A deliberately slow sequence of opening scenes strikes a tone of dread even if the writing continues to be sub-par, leading to characters making really weird decisions for plot convenience.
After capturing Maul (Sam Witwer), Ahsoka (Ashley Eckstein) takes a transmission from the Jedi Council. Except we see the council's transmission before she or anyone enters the room and it ends up being a scene from Revenge of the Sith of the Jedi big-wigs discussing the Chancellor.
The kind of conference where you'd think the participants would want to avoid needless security risks like, say, broadcasting the meeting to an empty room across the galaxy. The scene does nicely require Aayla Secura to wear her clothes from Revenge of the Sith, a rare instance of a woman dressing sexy in a recent Disney production. Enjoy the cleavage and midriff while they last.
Ahsoka makes her report, again having little to contribute to the established story. Rex (Dee Bradley Baker) remarks Ahsoka didn't tell the council about Maul's warning regarding Anakin, in the process revealing that Ahsoka had told Rex about it. Not surprising considering how close the two are, confirmed in a scene where the two discuss the war and the existence of the clones. Ahsoka remarks on how she'd been taught Jedi were peacekeepers but she'd been essentially a soldier all her life. The animators do a good job but there's still a strange numbness about Ahsoka, as though the people working on the show are afraid of having her show as much emotion as she used to. It seems like they're trying to make her seem older despite the fact that she's only sixteen. At least her face hasn't elongated to the weird shape it has in Rebels yet.
Still, when the clones turn on her, she takes it stride really easily, her face already going to battle-scowl. Ki-Adi-Mundi looked shocked when it happened to him in the movie, most of the Jedi were caught completely off guard. But somehow Ahsoka was ready?
Having one precious clue from Rex, she decides to free Maul so he can create a distraction by murdering a bunch of her friends even though she has no idea at this point how permanent Order 66 is. Maybe she's just psycho? Anyway, just as he did in the Rebels finale, Filoni apes the Darth Vader corridor sequence from Rogue One, this time for Maul calmly slaughtering Clone Troopers with a metal door. At least we've got some real violence this time instead of Ezra and his Mononoke wolves.
Ahsoka then enlists the aid of a bunch of astromech droids, which is really cute. All of the astromechs are adorable and it's one of those moments that really feel like Ahsoka is a bona-fide Disney princess now, gathering the forest animals about her to aid her cause.
I always liked the idea that Order 66 triggers some kind of chemical response, reverting the clones personalities to something that was there all along. I guess the idea that it's a chip accomplishes the same thing. It's one of the things I loved about Clone Wars and the propaganda-style intro narrations. These good, clean-cut men fighting for clear justice are really founded on no real principles or philosophy, and therefore their zeal can be turned as easily on any target, even their friends. If the Empire is like Nazi Germany, the Clone era Republic is like the Soviet Union, though, thankfully for those of us who dislike allegory, neither comparison perfectly fits.
Twitter Sonnet #1350
The wrapping held a season sale for keeps.
Suspended time could tick beyond the day.
On ceiling rails the sun devoutly creeps.
A million tongues to teeth have things to say.
The deadly bread awaits in triple pairs.
Revolving gold could pay for spinning hats.
They say the shops are full of dusty wares.
And others tell of wealthy shopping bats.
Around the ear a Vulcan point was made.
A glowing shot enlivened plastic toys.
Through honey, metal spiders slowly wade.
Attractive dreams encourage sleepy ploys.
A healthy candy claimed the shop of sweets.
An extra song began with quicker beats.
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