This was a solid start to the season, but it wasn't really premiere material. However, I did enjoy this episode, although the fact it was underwater may have made the action a bit sluggish at times. The debuts of Ackbar & Tamson were really cool, and Tamson was a excellent villain addition. Nothing major happened in this episode, but it was still enjoyable. The underwater animation was top-notch, much better than Kamino last season. Rating: 8/10 Gungan Attack:
This was another solid, if not premiere quality standard. In a way, this episode is actually better than the last one, because when taking animation, plot etc into account, it actually beats Water War, even though I give them the same rating. The Gungans was a fairly obvious choice, and probably the only flaw in the plot. The Tamson VS Kit Fisto duel was epic, and the use of no lightsabers there was great. Rating: 8/10 Prisoners:
This was definitly the best of the Mon Calamari arc. It had plenty of drama, and was really cool, especially seeing Anakin tortured like a wimp, while Fisto was all cool about being tortured. The Jar Jar spit was so disgusting, and I hated that moment. Tamson's death was excellently done, though I would rather have not seen Tamson die at all. Rating: 9/10 Shadow Warrior:
This was where the season started to fall downhill momentarily. It was SUCH a rushed episode, and would have worked much better as a 2-part story, instead of cramming it into one episode. Padme's Naboo battle gear was designed and detailed well. The Tarpals sacrifice scene was excellent, but too rushed, plus made Grievous look like such a terrible fighter. Anakin VS Dooku was uneccessary, but I liked the action and music of that scene. The ending was controversial, and I wouldn't have even considered it had I been the writer. Rating: 6/10 Mercy Mission:
This was a horrible, horrible episode. Definitly the joint-worst in the series with Evil Plans. It had nothing. It kept getting gradually worse as the episode went on, until you had pretty much fallen asleep. The one bright point was the clones, especially Wolffe (my Clone). The detail on Wolffe was great, expressions, everything. This episode suffers from being more of a fairytale adventure, than a Star Wars thing. Tragic episode, and what a waste to put Wolffe in. The ending was just so awful and predictable. Rating: 0/10. Nomad Droids:
This episode picked up from the last one, but not by much at all. This was even more rushed than Shadow Warrior, and was another fairytale adventure which was horrible. Those species were terrible. A whole plot on Adi Gallia's capture and then rescue would have been so much better. The ending was decent enough, and at least this had action. Rating: 3/10 Darkness on Umbara:
This is where the season really kicked into high gear. Full out action, lots of character development, this whole arc was a joy to behold. Finally, Hardcase was given something to do on the show, and he was so awesome. The introduction of Pong Krell really gave the darker side to this arc, especially when he drew his lightsaber on Fives. Rex's speech was very inspirational for the clones. Rating: 10/10 The General:
I really liked this episode, but to me, it was too similar to the previous one in a way. The Umbaran thechnology was so cool, as was Hardcase. The end scene in those starfighters was so hilarious, and the funniest moment on the show. The character development was especially great in this episode. Rating: 10/10 Plan of Dissent:
Another solid Umbara episode. This one however, was more dialogue-focused, but the dialogue was really cool. The ending really hit Clone fans, first with Hardcase's great sacrifice to effectively win the battle as a whole, and then hearing Fives & Jesse are going to be court-martialed. Rating: 9/10 Carnage of Krell:
This is by far, the best written episode of the series. This was a top-notch episode. The character expressions were excellent. The Clones VS Clones really tore at the ultimate Clone fanboy that I am, as did Waxer's death. Krell's "It's treason then..." was a great touch to the episode. Seeing Krell in action finally was definitly a sight worth waiting for. I hated the execution of Krell, as it tore up so many writing potentials for the show. I found it interesting that it was the two newbie clones, Tup & Dogma, that effectively put paid to Krell. Rating: 10/10 Kidnapped:
This was never going to reach the standards of Umbara, but it was good for what it was. It was great to see Cody do something really in his phase II armour. The cameo's of Boil & Kix were cool. Darts D'Nar was a great villain addition, and his fight with Obi-Wan was both epic and brutal. The one real flaw of this episode was Anakin. Rating: 8/10 Slaves of the Republic
This episode wasn't as good as the first episode in the arc. The references to Star Wars movies and other things were nice touches, as they were actually good things to reference from. It was cool, but Anakin & Ahsoka's acting was truly horrible. Rating: 6/10
Already, I feel this has been the best season of the show. Umbara has really picked this season up, and hopefully the rest of the season will continue to be excellent...
To get this latest review going, I'll start off by talking about Anakin, Obi-Wan, Ahsoka & Rex's new disguises. I really like the detail they put into the helmets for Anakin, Obi-Wan and Rex. Instead of giving them all the same helmet, they molded and detailed them differently, which was nice to see. My favourite gear by far is Ahsoka's. It just looked really cool, and blue is a nice colour for it. Though as a slave gear, it was too "fancy" to put it one way, to be a slave gear. Still, better than the comic-trash any day. My one complaint about the gears? It gives Hasbro an excuse to release ANOTHER Anakin, Ahsoka, Obi-Wan & Rex action figures. I liked the landing scene at the start of this episode, the detail put in was great, especially in space, and the ship landing with the smoke underneath it was a neat touch.
I wasn't really that big a fan of this scene. Perhaps because either Anakin had another of his anger moments about slavery (I believe his mention of his mother is the first time he has mentioned her on the show), or the fact that our new Zygerrian villain, Atai Molec, didn't get to show us his shock whip moves on that weak slave. As far as Ahsoka goes, she's no good at being a slave, is she? By the way, I believe Molec's use of the word "skug" is the first time Star Wars slang has been used on this show. I find it stupid that they make up this character Bruno Denturri, but he doesn't appear, and is only mentioned. It would have worked better if Anakin was to mention someone we knew about, and might feel something if we knew that someone had died, so what use exactly was making up Bruno Denturri? I also found that droid thing that tells Molec to cease hostilities really annoying, and with a horrible voice. I suppose the one thing I really did enjoy in this scene was seeing some characters apprear as background characters here. Examples are Nix Card, Mar Tuuk & Tee Va. Gorga the Hutt also made a cameo later in this episode.
This is what I've been dreading ever since I found out we were getting a comic adapted into an arc, the debut of Queen Miraj Scintel. I hated the ----- in the comic, if possible, I hate her even more now. Not just thanks to her character, but Anakin's role with her to. Anakin's flirting with Miraj was so embarrassing for the show, and just wasn't proper flirting. It was actually very laughable, and not in a good way, the way that you laugh AT it. I really hate how the Twi'Lek slave girl with that dagger failed to kill Miraj. I hated even more the fact that the slave girl was so desperate to get away from slavery, that she took her own life. So desperate and annoying, and something too similar to a Mandalorian scene in season 2. I couldn't agree with Miraj more by the end of the episode, in saying that Anakin is a complicated person. Anakin is so frustrating in this episode for a fan to watch. One moment he's a good guy on the bad side, next he's a bad guy on the good side. So annoying. The writer of this episode really messed that up, he has to be either a good guy on the good side or a bad guy on the bad side, not poorly messing things up. When Ahsoka said "Unhand me, briggund!" to Anakin, I was making a "what the hell?" expression even before Anakin did. What was that all about? That scene where Miraj inspected Ahsoka was a horrible scene, and isn't how you treat a character that has become a "role model" to the young audience that watches this show.
Okay, can I please get to something I did like? Yes? YAHOO! Fine then, the parts of this episode I did enjoy were references to either Star Wars or other things I liked, not some wacky crap like Alice in Wonderland ("Mercy Mission"). First of all, the desert skiff that flew nearby the palace around the middle of the episode was interesting, because it flew in the same pattern the skiff's in ROTJ (Return of the Jedi) flew beside the sail barge. Another ROTJ reference (pictured above) is one of the few moments of that movie I truly enjoyed, and I'm glad it appears on the show too. A little hand signal, and R2-D2 tosses the lightsaber, or in this case lightsabers, stored inside him. Aside from those two enjoyable Star Wars references, there are also a couple of non-Star Wars ones I enjoyed, because I like what they are based on. First, when Miraj hands Anakin the shockship, there is music that sounds like it's from Call of Duty: World at War. Also, at the same moment, a yell from the Zygerrian's around the palace "URA!!!" sounds exactly like the Russian yell from the game. Another is the end of the episode, where Miraj & Anakin are flying on that creature, which makes me think a lot of How to Train your Dragon.
This was literally the only good action scene of this episode. It was a really good scene. My one complaint is Anakin's line to Obi-Wan "Looks like I have to rescue you again, old man" was so out of place, and the voice-over made it sound like Anakin hates Obi-Wan, which is so not the case. The action was execllent, and it was nice to see the shock whips in some real action, albeit brief. I also liked seeing the Zygerrian blasters, which have a nice design on them. It was cool to see a Clone "Rex" fighting in non-Clone armour, I liked that armour. It was good to see the bad guys win here, the Separatists have too few victories, and canon states that the Separatists win most of the battles in the Clone Wars, but the show doesn't show this. The way Ahsoka was defeated was pretty lame, something Ahsoka should have predicted. Rex & Obi-Wan went down too easily too, but even Anakin wasn't good enough to beat the Zygerrian's.
Now, this is why the writers keep failing with Anakin's portrayal. Anakin should be a darker person like in AOTC (Attack of the Clones) and ROTS (Revenge of the Sith), but he is not. At times he is too good, and then when turns dark, he goes over the top, and makes you wonder what the writer was thinking. I'm still awaiting the episode where Anakin is portrayed exactly right. This was a stupid scene, and so pointless. By the way, they need to get those annoying pink buggers (Kiros birds) off this show. It was bad enough to see them in the last episode, but we are not on Kiros anymore, we should not be seeing them. The part with the birds poking and licking Anakin was such an embarrasment in this pisode.
This scene was pretty funny, and I liked it being a Ahsoka-only scene, with no Anakin around. I loved it when Atai Molec slags Ahsoka off, and she calmly uses the force to send him forwards, leaving Molec to cling onto the edge for dear life. Ahsoka got her rewards for being a terrible slave, when Molec electrocuted her.
This is a scene I've been looking forward to from the season 4 trailer. So many different Togruta's in one place. The part where they drop the Togruta's through the hole right in front of Obi-Wan, Rex & Roshti was a dark moment. I hated that other new Zygerria, Arguss. So annoying, uneccessary and pointless. They leave this episode on a cliff-hangar, though not much of a cliff-hangar if you have read the comic. Now, we wait a month for another episode...
My verdict: While everyone, or most, people on the Underworld said this would be better than "Kidnapped", I suspected all along it wouldn't reach the standards that episode set for this arc, and I was proved correct. This one had it's enjoyable moments, but also it's not enjoyable moments, and those moments were truly horrible. Rating: 6.5/10.
With the high standards that the Umbara arc set, could the 3-part "Slavers" arc, adapted from a personal favourite comic series of mine, reach those same standards?
The opening scene was a great introduction, the music fitting in nicely for what was to come. Only problem with the music here, they used it twice inside these first few minutes, the show does use some music repeatedly over different episodes, but I think this is the first time they have used any music repeatedly in the same episode, but I can't be sure of that. This was a great scene, that introduced a new great villain, Darts D'Nar. It also showed the Droid army to it's full, something the show has failed to do until now. It was also interesting to see all these Togruta people in one place, especially the male Togruta's, of which I have only seen in the comic version and this episode version. By the way, did I mention we got yet another of those over-used tactical droids? Dooku was very dark in this scene, with his "Think of our presence as a peaceful occupation, for you're protection, as well as ours." When Dooku really was doing the opposite, as his droids procceed to take the Togruta off the planet, which was another scene that the same music was used in.
It feels so long since we've had a Obi-Wan, Anakin & Ahsoka episode with all three of them, but they are all back together here. This was the scene I was originally looking forward to most in this episode, because it had a biker fight with my favourite droids, Commando droids. However, I am unhappy that StarWars.com showed the whole scene in their preview clip, ruining the scene I was looking forward to most. They did add onto that scene though, with a cool shot of blowing up of two AAT's. Ahsoka was also cool in this shot, calmly taking out commando droids with both her lightsabers in the biker fight, before jumping onto the AAT, tossing in some detonators, before a awesome leap back onto her and Anakin's speeder. The animation in the explosion of the two AAT's was a sight to see. Rex also blew up an AAT here.
One thing I was not looking forward to was Anakin's personal issues about slavery that I have not being looking forward to for a while. This is because the writers have being portraying him woefully. After this episode, eh, it's improved slightly, but there is still a lot of room for more improvement. It did show a darker side to Anakin here though, something that he's supposed to have all series, not at random times. His smashing of the hologram Cody holds in the picture, and his quote "Zygerrian scum! I'll handle that slaver!" was executed fine, just not in a way I would have chose to do it, it also makes Anakin sounds like he is gasping his last breaths, which unfortunately, he is not. I liked the scene where Obi-Wan explains Anakin's past to Ahsoka, one scene I have been looking forward to, as I enjoy Obi-Wan/Ahsoka only scenes. I also liked the brief cameo's of Boil & Kix in this episode. A interesting note is the comic adaption has Waxer do Boil's role, and it would have been Waxer here, but Waxer died in the last episode, so that role was instead given to Boil.
As Obi-Wan Kenobi is my favourite Star Wars character of all time, it was awesome to see him get into a major fight with a epic villain. I'll be doing epic quotes for Darts D'Nar later in the review. This was a great fighting scene, and the show weren't afraid to get brutal here, with Obi-Wan especially getting hurt. A good part of this fight was when a battle droid contacted D'Nar, but when the droid tried to tell him about the Jedi defusing the bombs, Obi-Wan smashed D'Nar's head into the hologram. My complaint here would be the lame writing, D'Nar has practically killed Obi-Wan at one stage, yet when D'Nar's back is turned, Obi-Wan gets up as good as new, which is writer's talk for, we can't allow the hero to be beaten by the villain, so we must get him back up. Another complaint I have here is the over-used method of getting a cool bad guy to plant a bomb on his droid's back. Cad Bane did it to Todo 360 in season 2, now Darts D'Nar does it here to his tactical droid, Obi-Wan managing to save himself by force-pushing the droid out the window. Darts D'Nar seems to relish violence. Something that I just found stupid and odd, is D'Nar's association with that Kiros bird, ughh...
I've started to grow wary of Anakin/Ahsoka scenes, but I have to say, this one was handeled pretty well, and not something that just makes you roll you're eyes at them. The humour was also good here, and there were some good fighting scenes against Droid forces, while defusing the bombs. My one complaint with this scene had nothing to do with Anakin & Ahsoka, but the scene with those Sniper Droidekas. How obvious can it get that they were weak at the sides? Why did Anakin & Ahsoka have to go into cover before realizing this? It was so freakin' obvious by just staring at the droids, and it was such a pathetic standard of writing, especially after Umbara. Again, the heroes prosper at the last moment. Where's a villain victory when you need one? Oh, nowhere, this show doesn't allow bad guy victories...
The end scene was honestly, exactly the ending I expected from this show, and the writers proved me right. When D'Nar tries to make his escape, Anakin & Ahsoka board his ship in an attempt to stop him. That creature that D'Nar had aboard his ship, must be THE most disgusting thing on the show, and had I directed this episode, I probably would have fired the person who even considered this creature on the spot. When the creature grabbed Anakin & Ahsoka, I was cringing, not out of fear for the two heroes obviously, but at how disgusting it looked. And I thought a Sarlaac was disgusting. Once the creature was out of the ship, the scene got good, with Anakin threataning D'Nar in a way I've been hoping Anakin's darker side would produce, with Anakin holding his lightsaber hilt to D'Nar's neck, and had Anakin activated it, it would mean certain death for D'Nar immediately. The end scene at the Jedi Temple was a nice touch, especially the view of the two empty seats in the background, one for the character Oppo Rancissis, who has yet to appear on the show, and Anakin's seat, after he becames a council member in ROTS (Revenge of the Sith).
My verdict: This was never going to reach the standards of Umbara, and we all know that. However, this episode was really good and enjoyable for what it was. I can't wait for the remaining two episodes of this arc, before the Christmas break. Rating: 8/10
Darts D'Nar's epic quotes: "I'm going to make the Jedi pay for their arragonce. I have them right where I want them!" "You will surrender." "Here is my counter-offer!" "Now, bow down and surrender to me, you Jedi filth!" "Long before this war, you Jedi destroyed the great Zygerrian slave empire. I would kill you now, but Dooku would prefer you alive."
Good humour: "How did you know that would work?" "I trusted my instincts." "You mean you guessed?" "Ah, but it was an educated guess."
And so we reach the conclusion of the 4-part Umbara arc, which has been terrific in terms of action and animation. More of the same? Read on to find out!
This episode starts with Krell scrapping court-marshaling Fives & Jesse, instead demanding their imediate execution. I really like this scene that kicks off the episode, it is a really powerful scene, and makes you wonder if Fives and Jesse really are about to be executed. An interesting point in the episode is that Jesse loses his sense of humour at this moment, and his humour was limitless before. I love how all of the execution squad pretend to execute them, but deliberately miss. Rex tells Dogma they are doing the right thing, leaving Dogma furious. I also really like Fives's speech to the execution squad just before they prepare to execute him. Rex tells Dogma that if clones die for heroic actions, they would all die. Rex's dialogue between himself and Krell is priceless afterwards. "You are making a mistake crossing me, Clone." "It's captain, sir."
Another scene I really liked was when Tup introduced Dogma to a Vixus, the same creature that tried to eat Hardcase in the first of this arc. The Vixus later appears in this episode, in a very dramatic moment.
This episode had something that the previous three of the arc did not have, heaps of powerful emotion, and this scene brought me close to tears. Krell tricks Rex and his men into believing Umbarans have stolen Clone weapons and armour, and could well surprise attack them as clones. When the 501st is ambushed by 212th clones, the 501st fight back believing they are Umbarans. However, during the fight, Rex notices a dead body with the helmet half off. Rex pulls the helmet fully off, to discover to his horror it is a Clone face, not Umbaran, and that they have been killing their brothers. Rex races through the full-scale battle, and makes both the 501st and 212th realize what they are doing. This scene is really dramatic and powerful in emotion, because when you think about it, as clones, shooting each other is like killing themselves...
And if that previous scene almost had me in tears, this scene REALLY almost did. Another powerful emotional scene, in what is by far the most emotional episode of the series, and I can't see that being beaten. The leader of the 212th squad, who is dying, turns out to be none other than Waxer. A dying Waxer reveals to Rex that it was Krell who gave the order to attack the 501st, and Krell had told Waxer that the 501st were really Umbarans. Waxer's last words were so emotional "He sent us to these coordinates to stop the enemy. We thought they were wearing our armour. But, it was... you..." Waxer dies as a tear rolls down his cheek. R.I.P Waxer, you're banter with Boil will truly be missed. This was actually really uneccessary, as they could have just created any platoon leader instead of Waxer. But, the reason it was Waxer, was to add lots of emotion to the scene and they truly succeeded on that part. PS: Rumour has it that after watching the Umbara arc for himself, the voice-actor for the clones (Dee Bradley Baker) got all emotional about these episodes, so the writers and all must have done an excellent job.
Rex decides enough is enough and decides to arrest Krell for treason. I love the expression's on the clones at that part, especially on Tup. If looks could kill, Krell would probably be dead already. Now, this scene with the clones advancing upon the tower Krell is in has a massive effect on me, as it was so reminiscent of the last Harry Potter film, and the scene was executed very similarly, and I loved it. Dogma decides to drop out of the arrest, feeling it is against his protocol. My favourite moment of this episode? Has to go to when all of the clones surround Krell and order him to surrender. Krell says "It's treason then." This is the kind of reference in the series that I don't mind and is executed so well, because this is in itself a Star Wars reference, and not some refernce to something else. I like how Rex tells Krell he is outnumbered, before Krell simply pushes all the clones out of the way before taking out his lightsabers, saying "You dare to attack a Jedi?!" Now THIS is what I've been waiting all this arc for, Krell taking out his double-bladed lightsabers and dueling like the bad*** that he is. This scene reminds me so much of Grievous attacking clones in the mini-series in Palpatine's office, the marks left by Krell's lightsabers on the clones just one similarity. The one part of this episode I hated Krell in, and probably the only time of the arc, is when he says "I will not be undermined by creatures bred in some labratory!"
Dogma confronts Rex and the other clones after Krell escapes. Tup advises Dogma not to do it by shooting them, Dogma lowers his weapon before being brought to the brig. I was really creeped out when Krell's voice started echoing out as Rex and the clones searched for Krell. It was really creepy, especially as you didn't know where Krell was. Krell tells Rex he should have listened to Fives, and that Krell was using Rex. The scene where Tup puts himself in danger was interesting, and I was like "No, Tup! Don't sacrifice yourself!" but Tup lured Krell into a trap with the Vixus from earlier in this episode. Krell managed to get away from the Vixus, but Tup knocked Krell out by stunning him. Tup's excited line of "I stunned him, sir!" was pretty uneccessary, but whatever.
Now we come to one of the more darker moments of the series, and the end of a awesome villain. Krell is put in the brig, and Rex angrily asks Krell about what Krell did. Krell tells Rex that he fell for it and was inferior, Krell tells Rex a new power is rising, and the Jedi will lose this war from the inside, and he will rule the new order (Krell is right all but the last part). Krell tells Rex that he serves no one, just himself. Krell also tells Rex he will be an agent of Dooku. Dogma confronts Krell, asking Krell how could he do this, as he had Dogma's trust, and loyalty. Krell tells Dogma he was the biggest fool of all the clones. With an Umbaran attack imminent, Rex, Jesse, Fives and Tup decide Krell cannot be allowed to live. They head back to the brig, and Rex prepares to execute Krell. Krell is so unconcerned by Rex's orders of getting against the wall, and going on his knees, as he feels Rex doesn't have the guts to kill him. Krell mocks Rex, telling Rex he is in a position of power now, and asking Rex how it feels. In one of the more dramatic turn-arounds of the series, Rex is unable to shoot Krell, but Krell still gets shot in the back of the heart anyway, and Krell dies. It is revealed that Dogma is the one who shot Krell, which surprised me. But in the end, it makes sense, Dogma had been loyal to Krell, when that was scoffed by Krell, Dogma wanted revenge and got it. The episode ends with the Republic having taken Umbara. NOTE that no Umbarans actually appeared in this episode though. Hmmm... (not counting the two in prison).
My verdict: This was at the very least one of the best episodes of the series, if not the best! Krell's lightsaber fighting was great to see, and this was an episode packed with great emotion, action and animation, and may Waxer rest in peace. Rating: 10/10
PS: Hopefully that doesn't stop Waxer getting a phase II Hasbro figure!
Next-up: The "slavers arc! A colony vanishes. Anakin's personal issues come back to haunt him, as Slavery returns to the Republic, and Ahsoka & Anakin return!
And check out a preview for the next episode here!
Another episode full of clones, it just never gets old! This one was especially good in that department, with lots of Clone development throughout the episode. Even Dogma, the only one I so far haven't liked in this arc, was developed and was better than in the last two episodes. But as always, Hardcase beats the rest! More will be revealed on Hardcase later...
This was a really funny scene in the episode. Hardcase is preparing for the rogue mission by testing his piloting skills (lack of). Hardcase ends up making a mess of the piloting, and damages lots of equipment, before blowing the door of the hangar open with a missile. Hardcase and Fives then pretend to Krell that there was an Umbaran booby trap, and Hardcase saved the clones from something worse. I also found it funny when Fives caught a Clone trying to alert Krell to what was going on during Hardcase's piloting, but Fives caught the Clone and took over. I loved Jesse's sarcasm to Hardcase "I thought the plan was to destroy the enemy ship with the fighters, not blow up our own hangar!" Fives, Jesse & Hardcase played a critical role in this episode, seeing as they are the ones to go rogue with the danger of severe consequences on them.
Dogma was terrible the last two episodes, and what we heard of him being a "rule follower" just didn't match up in the last two episodes. However, in this one, Dogma was definitly portrayed better, though he still isn't among my liked clones. When Dogma realizes what Fives, Jesse & Hardcase are doing, he tries to do things by the rules, and tell Krell of those three disobeying orders, but Rex stops him. Leaving Dogma to leave, without doing his rule following. I liked that scene between Rex and Dogma, quite reminded me of "Brain Invaders" in season 2 for some reason...
I really liked the space battle in this episode. Okay, it was shorter than I hoped and it mainly focused on just Jesse, Fives & Hardcase rather than the space battle as a whole, but it was still pretty epic. The amount of ships in some of the shots was amazing. I liked the reference to TPM (The Phantom Menace) in the way Fives, Jesse & Hardcase entered the Separatist supply ship. Instead of blowing it up from the outside, they took the riskier option of blowing it up from inside. The entrance into the ship was quite funny, as one battle droid is giving orders when Fives's ship sends the droid flying. The tactical droid was pretty stupid and uneccessary, making a comment about the odds of clones being on their ship.
And here we come to the best scene of the episode, and the sacrifice of my favourite Clone. R.I.P Hardcase. When ray shields are put up, preventing the three clones from taking out the reactor. Hardcase does the noble thing Fives & Jesse would not do. Spotting an opening, Hardcase grabs a Umbaran missile, and drags it towards the reactor. As Fives & Jesse leave the ship, Hardcase thrusts the missile towards the reactor, and dies as it explodes, proving a honourable sacrifice and one that could lead to the winning off the Battle of Umbara. Hardcase was by far the best character in this episode, and had a lot of character development. Hardcase's sacrifice is among the best scenes in this show, and it suited the character entirely. His quotes during it made it an even more emotional death (I'll post the quotes after the review).
Having arrived back on Umbara. Fives & Jesse are forced to go to Krell. This is a dark moment in the series, as Krell is disgusted that any clones would disobey his orders. Krell tells Fives & Jesse that they will be court marshalled, found guilty, and be executed for their crime. Krell tells them "Make no mistake, for crossing me. You, will pay the price." Very un-Jedi like, but that's what I like so much about Krell. He isn't you're usual Jedi that is compassionte and all that nice stuff, Krell is going to push his clones to their best, and they could die, which could happen under any Jedi anyway. It's going to be epic to see Krell wield his double-bladed lightsabers next week for a "good" reason, not to take out some animals. Krell adds a really darker side to the whole plot of Umbara, and that is why the character is so awesome.
My verdict: This was another excellent episode! The whole development of the clones, especially Hardcase, was excellent to see! Hardcase's sacrifice was totally epic, and makes me love the character even more! Kudos to whoever wrote this episode! The space battle was a sight to see. My only problem would be the first half of the episode had pretty much no action, but it did have a lot of cool Clone scenes. Rating: 9.5/10
Hardcase's epic quotes: "HAHA! I'm just doing it for fun!" "This is for the 501st! Don't wait for me!" "Live to fight another day, boys. Live to fight another day!" *before being exploded*
As the second in a 4-part special event, it was bound to have more action (and clones, as it is Umbara) and it didn't disappoint! Lots of action and clones in this episode. There was a lot of great fighting scenes, and like the last episode, it had it's brutal moments. Such as when Hardcase blew up a damaged Umbaran tank with a rocket launcher, the Umbaran inside fell out, dead, but Rex shot him several times anyway to be certain. Soon after that, some wounded Umbaran creatures were flying around, when Kix gunned down two of them and Rex finished off the third. This episode was never going to be as action-packed as "Darkness on Umbara", which is arguably the best episode in the series. The amount of clones was great, it was great to have Rex get more action, and great to see Hardcase being hilarious again. "I don't know. Could be fun!" about a suicide mission. It was interesting to see Appo from ROTS (Revenge of the Sith) make an appearance, although, as a sergeant this time, not a commander like he was in Revenge of the Sith. Maybe we will see Appo get a important role later in the series, or in this arc.
The clone scenes were especially good in this episode, and I really liked this one. Rex has just informed his men of Krell's latest suicide mission for them, and almost all of them (except Dogma) are angry with Krell. Dogma maintains that they are running out of time. Rex tells Fives to ease their minds, telling Fives he hounours his code. Full debate: Kix: "The casualties are going to be high!" Tup: "Is Krell trying to get us killed?" Jesse: "You know, I wasn't sure that Krell was crazy before. But now, I'm positive!" Fives: "We had to retreat from the capital because the general forced a flawed strategy, now this!" Hardcase: "I don't know. Could be fun!" Dogma: "Well, I for one, agree with the general's plan. We're running out of time and this is the best option!" Jesse: "No recon? No air support? We don't know what we're up against! They have weapons we've never seen before!"
All in all, that was among my favourite Clones-only scenes from the series...
The explosions in this episode were epic, and it is obvious a lot of great effort was put into the explosions. Lots of different colours for explosions as well, including green, though it isn't in this picture. Dave Filoni said this season would have "lots of explosions" and he wasn't lying, the explosions here are the best in the show!
One cool thing in this episode was the new Umbaran technology in it. One those was the "Impeding Assault Tank" (pictured above) and it wasn't so much a tank as a robotic version of some reature (centipede?). The design and colours of this was awesome, until my clone Hardcasae blew them away with a rocket launcher. Another was the even more devestating "Umbaran Heavy Mobile Tank", to which rocket launchers had absolutely no effect. In the end, Hardcase and Fives had to use the Umbaran's vehicles against them, blowing up the devestating mobile tanks.
I really liked the climax to this episode. It certainly was very humourous, I couldn't stop laughing for a while. (take note Lucas, humour episodes do NOT involve C-3PO and R2-D2). Hardcase and Fives had snuck into the airbase, before stealing (attempting to) the Umbaran starfighters. Having eventually turned them around, Fives and Hardcase used them to blow up the mobile tanks. One of my favourite endings to an episode, where the awesome green explosion showed up. Even Krell was grudgingly impressed...
My verdict: This was never going to be awesome as last week's episode, which was out of this world. Take nothing away though, this was still another excellent episode in the Umbara arc, and I can't wait for "Plan of Dissent" and "Carnage of Krell", the remaining two in the Umbara arc. Rating: 9/10.
The start of only our second four-part Star Wars: The Clone Wars event left the fans with high anticapation going into the first episode. The Clone Wars has always had the potential to deliver greatness, but recent episodes have disappointed many among their fans.
It's always a good sign for a great episode when you're favourite character appears for the first time this season, albeit briefly. I really liked this little introduction to the episode, especially the usual witty remark passed between Obi-Wan and Anakin. "Does my battalion have to do everything?", "You always seem to volunteer!". Classic Obi-Wan and Anakin scene.
As an action-based person, you know that an episode will only truly win me over if it has quality action. Needless to say, this episode more than rose to that challenge, even taking me by surprise how good it was, considering it was the introduction to a 4-part event, which would have to be considered. But the action in this was epic, and I loved all the fighting scenes, even the brutal ones, such as when ARC Trooper Fives decked an Umbaran, smashed his helmet before shooting the Umbaran. There was a lot of excellent fighting shown.
Halfway through the episode, came the moment everyone was anticapating. The debut of Jedi General Pong Krell. Howeverm what people might not have anticapated is, how he would treat the Clones, as if they were nothing more than lambs for the slaughter. The Clones knew all about Krell, known for his victories, but also for the highest Clone-casualty rate among the Jedi. While most have grown to hate him because of how he treats the honourable Clones, I really like Krell, and he is certainly an interesting character for the show, and not your usual Jedi. I'll put it this way, you either love him for what he is, or you hate him because of how he treats Clones. Krell even goes as far to make a speech in anger, saying "Captain, do I need to remind you of this battalion's strategic mission, in conquering this planet? Look back! See those platoons? They're mission is to take this city and swiftly! Time and rest are luxuries, the Republic cannot afford. We are the key to this invasion. The other battalions are counting on our support, if we fail, everyone fails! Do you understand this?!?! Do ALL of you understand this???"
As this is a Clone-centric arc, we were bound to get lots of Clones and they didn't disappoint. So many named Clones, and I've found myself panicking when I've thought a named one was going to die. Experienced heads such as Jesse, Kix and Hardcase from "The Deserter" joined Rex and Fives, along with the new Clones Dogma & Tup for this 4-part event. Jesse, Tup and Dogma, left to right, played fairly small roles in this episode, Tup is younger, and more of a newbie and Dogma is a bit of a "rule follower". I was disappointed at how small a role Dogma had here, one scene, his introduction, and that was about it for him. Tup was a bit more important, and some of the more experienced ones like Rex and Jesse teased him a bit early on. Such as Jesse's line "That's why they're called the Shadow People, Tup!" referring to the Umbarans. Lots of awesome Clone action in this episode, and I hope for more of the same from the rest of this event.
The animation in this episode was epic, arguably the best of the show so far. This green explosion was just one of the well-detailed animated moments of the episode, and looked really class. The lighting of Umbara in general was also stunning, and I can't wait to see what the animation will be like for the rest of the season.
The climax of this episode was one of the best in the series in my opinion. Having retreated, Rex is confronted angrily by Krell, who tells Rex what he thinks of what he has done. Fives argues that Rex saved the platoon, but Krell draws his lightsaber on Fives, silencing him. Rex then makes a small speech to Krell, which for me was one of the most inspirational speeches I have ever heard, regardless of how short it was. "Sir. If I may adress you're accusation, I followed you're orders, even the poor plan, that wasn't my opinion nearly flawed! A plan that cost us men, not Clones, men! As sure as it is my duty, to remain loyal to your command, I also have another duty, to protect those men!" Krell informs Rex his opinion has been noted, while Fives says Krell then almost compliments Rex. The episode then ends with the Umbarans launching another attack, and the episode concludes with the Clones holding their ground.
Now, this episode showed personalities and development of several characters, such as Rex and Fives, but there was one other who stood out more so:
Some may remember him, some may not, as this Clone was little more than scenery in his only other appearance besides this 4-part event. His name is Hardcase. As I said, all the way back in season 2, his only other appearance, he could easily have been mistaken for part of the background, his role was that minimal, even some characters who appear for a few seconds are more recognizable than the nothing Hardcase did in season 2, and he had a full episode. No longer. Hardcase was explored with MUCH more depth this time, and has immediately shot to my second favourite Clone (no one beats the Wolffe!!!), but he was great to watch. He actually makes for a really interesting character, and he has some of the best quotes I have ever heard. I definitly look forward to seeing more of Hardcase, and I hope he survives this arc, he's too cool to toss away now. Here are a few of his best quotes: "Time to lock and load!" "You want a piece of this???" "HAHA! Where are you going???"
In season 2, his personality and character wasn't explored, it was explored here, and I now really enjoy this character...
My verdict: WOAH! I did expect brilliance from this episode, but just HOW brilliant took me completely by surprise. This has at least equaled the best if not bettered my previous best episode of the series. I would give it 1000/10, but I realize that's not possible, so 10/10 will have to do.
