Tag Archives: Darth Maul

May 4 2020

The Final Season Of Star Wars: The Clone Wars Concludes

Star Wars: The Clone Wars has had many homes from Cartoon Network to Netflix and now Disney+. Focusing on the adventures of the Jedi Anakin Skywalker (Matt Lanter), his apprentice Ahsoka Tano (Ashley Eckstein), Obi-Wan Kenobi (James Arnold Taylor) and assorted characters from the Republic Era, The Clone Wars was widely acclaimed for its enriching storylines that fleshed out the prequel films. They added much needed context to the films and in some ways improved them and fully realized George Lucas’ vision for the prequel era. The show was canceled shortly after Disney acquired the Star Wars property and apparently wanted everyone to forget the prequels and anything related to them existed. However, the love for Star Wars: The Clone Wars refused to go away and finally, a new season was produced and began streaming earlier this year on Disney+. The seventh and sadly final season of the animated classic series concluded on May the 4th. Yes, it probably was timed to stream on the unofficial Star Wars Day, and it was a grand way to celebrate the day.

Essentially, the season is broken up into three story arcs. The first one told the story of a platoon of clone troopers that are sort of misfits from the clone army in that they have distinctive characteristics. These troops nicknamed the Bad Batch prove themselves in battle as clone commander Rex (Dee Bradley Baker) searches behind enemy lines for his lost comrade Echo. The second arc follows Ahsoka after she left the Jedi order in season six and how she falls in with two sisters who run into trouble with the underworld of Coruscant. This allowed Ahsoka to see a different way of how the Jedi are seen by the downtrodden. This arc directly leads to the final one which was the best of the three.

While not a perfect season, it does wrap up many lingering plot threads from the previous seasons and leads up succintly with the final Star Wars prequel film, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. The standout episode of the final arc was the penultimate episode “Shattered”, which takes place at the same time with Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. In the episode and the finale, we get to see another side of the infamous Order 66 and how Ahsoka escaped from being killed when the order was given.

As thrilling as the final episodes were, they took on a distinctly ominous tone that differed from the rest of the show. Even the opening intro departed from the norm by eschewing the triumphant score of The Clone Wars, its opening opening pseudo quotes and bombastic opening narrator. Instead, the final four episodes flow seamlessly together as if they were an actual feature-length film. Throughout the final episodes there was a sense of disquieting unease and dread which paid off as Order 66 was executed and everything Ahsoka believed in fell apart. The final arc elevated the season and made it stand up there with the best of what the previous seasons offered.

As can be guessed, Ahsoka was the true main character in this season while Anakin and Obi-Wan were mostly guest characters. The only other characters who had important roles in this season were Rex and Maul (Sam Witwer), who displayed an impressive range as a villain. He demonstrated in the episodes that he is not only a complete powerhouse of a villain (and one of the best Star Wars foes) but a tortured and complex character as he too, was betrayed by his beliefs as Ahsoka was.

While the stories in these final episodes were fine, it is too bad, the showrunners did not finish the Utapau-based episodes that were never completed the original sixth season of The Clone Wars. Yes, we can see them on StarWars.com, but it is puzzling why they were not finished. On another note, the seventh season episodes were so well-made it boggles the mind why Disney did not commission more episodes to be produced. More of them would have fleshed out the season, which felt a bit abrupt.

It is a bit odd seeing this final season come to life. The original run of Star Wars: The Clone Wars opened with a story about Yoda and ended with the diminutive Jedi Master Yoda and ended with him in the classic episode “Sacrifice”. For the longest time, “Sacrifice” was the series finale and a fitting one, as Yoda realized that the Clone Wars were irrelevant as opposed to bringing balance to the Force and the hope for the galaxy was in the future. Now that has to be discarded with the more downbeat “Victory and Death” episode that focused on Ahsoka and her disillusionment with her former mentor and all that she stood for. In many ways, “Shattered” and “Victory and Death” served as complementary pieces to Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and its pessimistic outlook. However, unlike that film, which provided in its final moments a sliver of hope for the future and in “Sacrifice”, “Victory and Death” is missing these types of optimistic scraps. That would have to come later with Star Wars: Rebels.

All in all, it was great to watch these final stories of Star Wars: The Clone Wars; they will certainly please fans as they embellished and elevated the Star Wars prequels.

Mar 5 2017

Top 10 Star Wars: The Clone Wars Episodes & Arcs

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Star Wars: The Clone Wars was an epic TV series that vastly expanded the Star Wars canon and was a boon for Star Wars fans after the conclusion of the prequel trilogy in 2005. The animated show originally aired on the Cartoon Network from 2008 through 2013 and since then has been available to stream on Netflix. However, Netflix will stop streaming it very soon (March 7, 2017) and the only way to see this terrific series is through downloads or DVDs/Blu-rays. It has lots of devoted followers because it had so many different adventures and stories that spanned the galaxy and showed the reach of the huge conflict that engulfed the galaxy. Star Wars: The Clone Wars also took its heroes to so many different places, not just physically, but in terms of their lives and development as characters. Here are 10 of the best story arcs and episodes of the show.
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10. “Hostage Crisis” Season 1, Episode 22: The first season finale of Star Wars: The Clone Wars introduced the notorious bounty hunter Cad Bane and it was a memorable debut. He was someone who specialized in hunting Jedi, thus, he has armor at the sides of his neck to prevent Force chokes. The cruel executions of hostages in his invasion of the Senate building was both shocking for an animated series and also let the audience know that he was no pushover. His later appearances in the show further cemented his place in Star Wars: The Clone Wars as a great adversary for its heroes.
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9. “Obi-Wan Undercover” arc Season 4, Episodes 15-18 (“Deception”, “Friends and Enemies”, “The Box”, and “Crisis on Naboo”): A very interesting storyline that has Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi going undercover as a prisoner in a Republic detention facility, in order to gain information about a plot to kidnap Chancellor Palpatine. This arc has him attempting to survive life on the inside, then going on the run with bounty hunter Cad Bane with a vengeful, fellow Jedi Anakin Skywalker in pursuit, who believes Obi-Wan was killed by the person Obi-Wan is impersonating! This story is quite different from the usual Star Wars plot and shows the strength of the show in that it really expanded the idea of what Star Wars could be.
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8. “Padawans Hunted” arc Season 3, Episodes 21-22 (“Padawon Lost”, and “Wookiee Hunt”): Another familiar character in a new setting is fan favorite Chewbacca, who appears on the show when Jedi Padawan Ahsoka Tano is captured by Trandoshans and sent to a world to be hunted. She allies with other Jedi padawans to escape and meets Chewie, who was also captured by the Trandoshians. Together, they are able to turn the tables on their captives and escape. Having Chewbacca on the show is a nice link to the original trilogy and demonstrates Chewie’s heroism and resourcefulness, as well as a nice back story to an iconic Star Wars character.
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7. “Darth Maul Returns” Season 4, Episodes 21-22 (“Brothers” and “Revenge”) and Season 5, Episode 1 (“Revival”): Darth Maul’s return to Star Wars was a nice surprise for fans of the great Sith villain. The introduction of his brother Savage Opress was also an interesting revelation. Their back story as natives of the world of Dathomir and Opress finding his long lost brother in a state of insanity on a distant Outer Rim junk world with mechanical legs are definite highlights of the show. Maul (obsessed with getting revenge) and his confrontation with Obi-Wan Kenobi was thrilling and a treat for fans of the much maligned Phantom Menace.
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6. “Mortis” Season 3, Episodes 15-17 (“Overlords”, “Altar of Mortis”, and “Ghosts of Mortis”): Anakin Skywalker actually sees his future as Darth Vader in this set of episodes. He, along with Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ahsoka Tano are stranded on the mysterious world of Mortis that has only three beings on it, Father, Daughter and Son. They seem to embody the Force itself and the Son sees Anakin as the Chosen One and gives him a vision of his future as a Sith Lord. This causes Anakin intense grief and pushes him to ally with the Son against the other two. The Father eventually erases Anakin’s memory of his future, thus sparing him further pain, but at the cost of letting Anakin continue on his eventual path to evil. Again, this shows how Star Wars: The Clone Wars puts familiar characters in fascinating situations that were previously unknown to audiences.
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5. “Clone Conspiracy” season 6 episodes 1-4 (“The Unknown”, “Conspiracy”, “Fugitive”, and “Orders”): This group of episodes starts the final season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars on a very ominous note. Clone troopers Tup and Fives are embroiled in a conspiracy which takes them from the clone home world of Kamino to the heart of the Republic on Coruscant, as they try to uncover the reason behind Tup’s sudden violent attack on a Jedi Master. This results in them discovering the secret of Order 66 and Chancellor Palpatine’s plot to destroy the Jedi. Unfortunately, they are thwarted at every step as they try to unmask all of this treachery as Palpatine’s all-pervasive power in the Republic is shown, which will have very tragic consequences for the galaxy.
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4. “Landing At Point Rain” Season 2, Episode 5: This episode most embodies the name of the show. A clone war. This action-packed story shows the Jedi and their clone troopers assaulting Geonosis and a massive droid factory. The special effects are great and demonstrate the high quality of the work done for this series. The fighting is both intense and brutal, and demonstrates the horrific cost of Darth Sidious’ plans to embroil the galaxy in this seemingly never-ending conflict.
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3. “The Malevolence Trilogy” Season 1, Episodes 2-4 (“Rising Malevolence”, “Shadow of Malevolence”, and “Destroy Malevolence”): This story arc kicks off the show with a bang and has Jedi Knights Anakin Skywalker, his apprentice Ahsoka Tano and Master Plo Koon attempting to destroy a new Separatist warship called Malevolence. These episodes feature great space battles and visual effects and really showcase the huge struggle between the Galactic Republic and Separatist Alliance. They also introduce the iconic Y-Wing bombers to Star Wars canon and demonstrate their usefulness to the Republic and of course, later on to the Rebellion.
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2. “Ahsoka’s Trial” Season 5, Episodes 17-20 (“Sabotage”, “The Jedi Who Knew Too Much”, “To Catch A Jedi”, and “The Wrong Jedi”): Ahsoka Tano’s last appearance in Star Wars: The Clone Wars was both memorable and tragic. She is framed for a bombing at the Jedi Temple and forced to go on the run, chased not only by Republic forces, but also by her mentor Anakin Skywalker. The betrayal she feels at being abandoned by the Jedi Council and her subsequent decision to leave after she is exonerated is one of the most striking events in the whole series. Ahsoka’s last scene shows her sadly walking off into the sunset as her devastated mentor can only watch. This no doubt had a huge influence on Anakin and his feelings toward the Jedi as a whole.
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1. “Yoda’s Journey” Season 6 episodes 11-13 (“Voices”, “Destiny”, and “Sacrifice”): The last arc of Star Wars: The Clone Wars and the best one. Master Yoda hears the voice of Master Qui-Gon Jinn and journeys to the Sith home world to find the origin of the Force, all the while his Jedi Council members fear for his sanity. This last series of episodes goes right to the heart of Star Wars mythology and shows how Master Yoda was able to persevere in the dark times of the Empire; by using the lessons he learned from his departed friend and from the Force itself. His last words in the final episode of learning lessons that will help not only during the Clone War, but for all time, demonstrate the lasting power of his wisdom.
C.S. Link
Apr 3 2015

Star Wars Movie Retrospective: Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace

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“Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.”–Jedi Master Yoda

As we get ready for the continuation of the Star Wars saga with this December’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens, let’s look back at the previous six films of this iconic film series. Putting opinions aside, the first six Star Wars films will now forever be known as the ones that Star Wars creator George Lucas directly worked on. They bear the mark of what he intended for the overall story and for better or worse reflect his vision for the Star Wars saga. For the first retrospective of the entire star spanning saga, we begin not with the very first Star Wars film made but with the first chronological film in the saga: Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.

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The setting for Episode I as are the rest of the films is long ago in a distant galaxy. Large parts of it are ruled by the Galactic Republic. Consisting of thousands of worlds, the Republic’s relative peace for generations is at risk because of one of its members: the Trade Federation. In the film’s opening crawl, the Trade Federation is up in arms with the Republic over taxes on trade routes of the outer worlds. Their idea to resolve this issue is to place a blockade on the planet Naboo.

The Republic’s ruling chancellor dispatches two Jedi Knights, Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) and Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan MaGregor), to negotiate with Nute Gunray (Silas Carson), the Viceroy of the Federation. at his flagship orbiting Naboo. Not long after they arrive , the mystical warriors are attacked by the Federation’s droid soldiers who have orders to kill the Jedi. The relative ease to which the jar jar and jediJedi take out the mechanical troops is our first taste as to the true height of the Jedi’s powers. During the battle, the Jedi learn that the Federation are about to land troops on Naboo, so they hitch a ride on one of the invading ships and arrive on the planet to warn the inhabitants. Along the way, Qui-Gon saves a strange and goofy alien native, an amphibious Gungan called Jar Jar Binks (Ahmed Best). The floppy eared alien decides to tag along with the Jedi because of a life debt owed to them as they make their way to the Naboo capital.

Once the trio reach the capital, the Jedi manage to rescue the planet’s ruling queen, Padme Amdilla (Natalie Portman), and her royal entourage, who were being held hostage by the Trade Federation’s droid army. They were captured by Gunray because he wanted to force the queen to sign a treaty legalizing the occupation of Naboo. After easily dispatching the cannon-fodder droid army in the city, the Jedi and the others board a spaceship and break the orbital blockade.

The queen wants to go to Coruscant, the capital world of the Republic, to plea for intervention. But although the ship is able to jump into hyperspace during the escape it was damaged. This forces them to set down for repairs in a nearby world: Tatooine, a desert planet that is outside the Republic’s domain.

On the backwater world, Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, and Jar Jar leave for one of Tatooine’s towns Mos Espa to get spare parts for their ship. Joining them at the behest of the queen is one of her handmaidens, who is actually Padme herself pretending to be a commoner.

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They meet a coarse junk dealer called Watoo (voiced by Andy Secombe) who has the engine parts they need, but they’re unable to pay for them. During the visit to Watoo’s business, they meet his young human slave, Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd), who befriends them and offers shelter in his mother’s home from a coming sandstorm. Qui-Gon immediately senses that the Force is strong in Anakin and takes a fast interest in the boy.

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For those who have been living under a rock since 1977 the Force is a metaphysical power in the Star Wars universe that is wielded by the Jedi and their opponents the Sith. According to Star Wars lore it’s a form of energy that flows through all life forms and those who are adept at using it can perform superhuman acts like telekinesis, controlling weak minds and so on.

qui gon vs maulQui-Gon wants to recruit the young slave and train him as a Jedi, but first he has to win the boy’s freedom. To accomplish this, he convinces Watoo to enter Anakin in a dangerous pod race where racers speed through the desert climes of Tatooine in cobbled together engine parts and makeshift carriages. If Anakin wins he’s to be freed as part of the conditions of a bet the Qui-Gon and Watoo placed with each other. Additionally, if Anakin wins, Qui-Gon will be able to get the parts needed for the queen’s ship so they can leave for Coruscant.

Unbeknownst to the group is that the Jedi are being tracked by Darth Maul (Ray Park) a devilish Sith apprentice and his superior Darth Sidious (Ian McDiarmid). Throughout the film, Sidious has been manipulating and controlling the Trade Federation for his own mysterious reasons and is the mastermind behind the Naboo invasion. More importantly, Sidious wants to renew the ancient feud his order has against the Jedi.

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While the heroes busy themselves with leaving Tatooine, reaching Coruscant and finding a way to end the Federation occupation, sinister forces are aligning against the Jedi and the Republic. Soon, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan will confront the deadly Sith as they attempt to free Naboo, and it’s an encounter which will have lasting ramifications throughout the galaxy.

naboo battleStar Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace was probably the most eagerly awaited film in history. For sixteen years, fans had to endure a drought of Star Wars films after Return of the Jedi (ROTJ) came out in 1983 and there was doubt if there would ever be another Star Wars film. After ROTJ, George Lucas was burned out, plus the limitations of effects technology hampered his ability to bring forth his visions in additional films.

However, Lucas changed his mind after some time. He saw in the early ’90s that Star Wars was still popular thanks to the success of spinoff books and comic books. More importantly, he was impressed with the effects technology, specifically the emerging CG effect featured in films like Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Jurassic Park. At last, he felt that he could bring his true unhindered vision to film thanks to the new CG technology.

Lucas had been fascinated with the backstory to the Star Wars saga and Darth Vader’s origin, which he wrote as a fifteen-page outline back when he was developing the very first film in the ’70s. Hence, the reason why his followup to the original trilogy would be prequels.

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