Star Wars: The Clone Wars Season 4 Second Half Overall Opinion

Escape from Kadavo:

This was a great episode to start off the second half of the season. We had some good fighting scenes, character development for Rex (still hate him though), nice music and great scenes of Obi-Wan in prison. Anakin was again a hypocrite in this episode. It was great to see the Wolfpack (and especially Clone Commander Wolffe), get a cameo in this episode. Rating: 9/10.
A Friend In Need:

Another marvellous episode the crew gave us. I really enjoyed this episode, it was awesome. Especially as there was almost no Anakin at all, which really helped this episode. The "fake" Separatist's at the start and the weird scenes stopped this episode being perfect for me. The action and music was top-notch though, and the development of Lux & Ahsoka was amazing. Rating: 9/10
Deception:

This was a good episode, but not quite as good as the previous two. I liked the whole idea of this episode, but it could have been executed a little better. But the prison scenes were nice, especially the prison break and Boba vs Hardeen. Rating: 8/10
Friends and Enemies:

This is where the second half started to show it had really bad episodes. This episode was terrible. It achieved nothing, the whole episode was set around the same thing, ship's exploding. The action at the end was very forced, it did nothing, and the scenes that looked good from the preview's weren't good at all. Rating: 2/10
The Box:

Compared to the previous episode, this one was a heck of a lot better. This episode was amazing. My only real flaw with it were the bounty hunter's. For so-called best bounty hunter's in the galaxy, almost all of them were very lame, except Twazzi & Derrown. Embo was cool to see but did absolutely nothing. Cad Bane saving Obi-Wan's life was a great and unexpected twist in this episode, and I loved seeing Hardeen beat up Eval. Rating: 9/10
Crisis on Naboo:

This was another terrible episode. The last episode had hinted this arc might have had a purpose after all, perhaps freeing the Separatist prisoners, but this episode completely ruined that. It went nowhere, it ended right where this whole arc started, and you can't do that in a story. And the action it did have was poor. Rating: 1.5/10
Massacre:

This episode more than made up for the failure of the last one, and was both epic and brutal. The zombie's were nice, but didn't scare me at all, Riff Tamson's floating skull was much worse. The action was great though, and Asdajj Ventress became a much better character in my book, and Mother Talzin wasn't dull anymore. Plus, Grievous was finally portrayed perfectly. Rating: 10/10
Bounty:

This was another great episode, but not quite as good as the last one. The bounty hunter's were great though, and all got their chance to be a badass and throw down. It was great to finally see the debut of my favourite bounty hunter, Dengar, on the show, and he was amazing. The end twist was so funny. Rating: 9/10
Brothers:

This was the only bad episode from the season finale. Over half of it was pointless, the scenes with Anakin/Ahoka, Dooku/Grievous & Latts/Ventress were pointless. The saving part was Maul when he finally showed up, and Sam Witwer did an amazing job. Rating: 2.5/10
Revenge:

This episode was another amazing episode. Totally redeemed the previous one. Not quite a perfect episode, but it was still really good. Seeing Obi-Wan dueling with a red lightsaber was really funny, and the dialogue was top-notch. Rating: 9.5/10


Here's to hoping season 5 will be even better than this season, and hoping for that season 5 trailer already!

Star Wars: The Clone Wars "Revenge"

The conclusion to season 4 is here. After a disastrous episode last week, let's see if season 4 goes out with a bang!

This episode started off with a rather weird scene. Ok, maybe the scene itself wasn't weird (gotta love the Nightsister magic), but Maul's expressions were very wacky and weird. Watching him chasing that green mist/ball was like watching a kid chasing his favourite toy. No joke, that's what I was thinking when watching that scene. The scene where Maul got his new legs and lost the spider butt was a very good scene, and also had Maul regaining his memory. The animation was beyond stunning in this scene. 

The next couple of scenes were very interesting. There was a great scene of dialogue between Maul & Savage Opress that sent a chill down my spine (no joke). I'll put the quote further down in the review. That scene was great and really gave you a feeling of how Darth Maul had been feeling in the 10+ years since he was sliced in half on Naboo. I also loved how Darth Maul planned to kill innocent people just to get Obi-Wan Kenobi to come after him. It was a great and daring plan. And I also like how the shot in the picture above is very reminiscent of Anakin about to kill the Jedi younglings in Revenge of the Sith.
"My hatred kept my spirit intact even though my body was not. As I was lost and became a rabid animal, and such as how you found me, brother. Discarded, forgotten. I have missed so much. The force feels out of balance. 
"Yes, there is conflict. The clone wars."
"Oh, yes. So it began, without me."
"You can begin again, brother."

At the same time, I both liked this brief fighting scene and disliked it. Having slaughtered all the innocent people on the planet, Obi-Wan went out alone to confront both Maul & Savage. The scene where Obi-Wan & Maul meet again for the first time in many years was nice, with some great dialogue. Obi-Wan was made to look like a punk and a weak fighter in this scene, which he is not. I understand the concept that Obi-Wan needed to be captured, but there are so many ways they could have had Obi-Wan captured, in manners not as easily as he was here. He was taken out WAY too quickly and easily, even without Savage needing to use both blades in his lightsaber. 

This scene right here was epic, and among the best scenes in the series. Even when getting beaten up like heck, Obi-Wan still has his awesome sense of humour, with great quotes to Maul like, "You know, when I cut you in half, I should have aimed for the neck instead." And another great one, "I like your new legs, they make you look taller." Then when Asajj Ventress arrived, it got even better. The moment when Asajj gave Obi-Wan a red lightsaber was jaw-dropping for me personally, as I could never have imagined Obi-Wan with a red lightsaber before this episode. The moment when Obi-Wan said, "That's fine. Red's not my colour", was so full of win, and the fighting scenes that occurred were amazing. The moment where Maul started putting Obi-Wan down by talking about how he killed Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan's master, was quite moving and well written. It was great to see Obi-Wan feeling the effect of the dark side while fighting Maul, and it was obvious that Obi-Wan was full of anger as well. The remark's passing between Obi-Wan & Ventress were well done as usual.

And then we come to the concluding scene of not just this episode, but season 4 as a whole. And it was a well-written scene between Savage and Maul. Maul's expressions especially helped this scene, and Sam Witwer has done an amazing job at voicing Maul. And is it just me, or does anyone else think of Lord Voldemort from Harry Potter at some points about Maul? May just be me, but I see resemblances between this Maul and Voldemort.


My rating: This was another stunning episode, easily much, MUCH better than last week's disaster of an episode. The fighting scenes were especially great at the end, but there was too much dialogue in this episode for me. Rating: 9.5/10


PS: And after all the hype, no season 5 trailer aired afterwards. Let's hope for one at Wondercon later today.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars "Brothers"

Darth Maul is finally here! Prepare yourselves for a lot of drama, but in this review, and not in the episode.

I have to say it first before I go all-out berserker mode (kinda like Maul is), I LOVE Katie Lucas's writing! She is the best writer the show has, so what makes this episode even worse, she wrote this, and after all the great episodes she has given us in the series. She now gives us this junk? There's so much I dislike in just the first several minutes alone, I'll try and go through them. The Dooku/Grievous scene for a start, pointless. If they appeared again throughout the episode and did something, it would not have been so pointless, but no. Then THEY showed up. One reason I've loved this arc so far is the lack of the main trio, so you can imagine how sick I got when Ahsoka and George Lucas's child *Anakin* got out of the speeder. Were these brat's necessary in the episode? As it turned out, no. Were Jedi at all neccessary? No, not until Revenge. Then we got the owner of the diner having a tizzy fit about what Savage did in the bar, Anakin wanting some food *I hope he choked on it*. Then, we got the EXACT same scene (or close enough) as the Dooku/Grievous scene but with Anakin/Ahsoka. I was almost ready to go insane like Maul at this stage. Unfortunately, I did later on...

Surely now that Savage has actually reached the planet after several minutes of pointless crap, we'll now get somewhere good, right? Why must I be so WRONG? We get MORE crap. Ok, the episode was a little better here, but one high-pitched thing helped ruin it. His name: Morley. WHY? What was the point of this character. I have little time right now, so I'll say why I didn't like him very quickly. His voice was terrible, it sounded like a banshee at times. He had no role, unless acting stupid counts. He appeared too much, 5 seconds was bad enough. Did I mention Morley wrecked my head? Ok, I'll shut up on Morley just long enough to try and be a tiny bit positive. There was at least a little bit of action in it. Unfortunately, it wasn't good action. Why is that you ask? It was pointless. It's the kind of scene you get when the writer is struggling to fill up 22 minutes, and just throws a little action in there to keep people watching. I know I'm being very critical with what I don't like in this episode, but I'm making the points as exactly how they are. The one good thing to come out of the action scene truthfully, was that we got to see Savage Opress using his bada** double-bladed lightsabers again. But like I said, pointless action.

I'm sure you all hate me by this point, but I'll get to something I did like I wasn't expecting to like much (as much as others, shall I say). Darth Maul. His portrayal was stunning, I loved it so much, there just wasn't enough of him. And for all you fans out there who think he's WAY overdone or something. Well, I'd like to see you get chopped in half, fall down a shaft, somehow climb back out, somehow crawl to a ship, somehow fly the ship, get to Lotho Minor, and find a hideout, and stay very much sane after all that happened. Darth Maul was portrayed perfectly here, the only thing I don't like is how he looks like a spider. But his model in Revenge with two legs looks great. The guy's insane and mad in the head with good reason, and Sam Witwer does an amazing job voicing him. Screw everyone who thinks Maul doesn't sound episode 1, THIS voice is a million times better than his episode 1 voice. Sam Witwer for the win. I can't wait to see more of Maul in next week's episode, the last of season 4, and then the highly-anticipated season 5 trailer!


My rating: Overall, this was a very bad episode. I understand it's purpose in being a build-up to the next episode, but so many scenes were pointless, and it felt like the amazing Katie Lucas was trying to delay Maul appearing as long as possible. When he did appear, Maul was the best part of the episode. Rating: 3.5/10 (and even that in my opinion is generous).


But Revenge already looks so much better than this episode, with Maul facing off against his "killer":

What I would like to see in Star Wars: The Clone Wars season Five

Many fans of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series have already begun talking about what they want to see/or see more of in season five, as it's just under two weeks until we get the first season five trailer on March 16th.

Anyway, here's what I want:

-New Jedi: This one may seem a little stupid and unnecessary, but when you think about it, it's not. Over the course of season four, we've only had ONE new Jedi during the entire season, and that one doesn't actually count as he fought against the Clones, and that of course, is Pong Krell. So definitely new Jedi characters needed in season five, as they can be explored, Anakin and co. can not...

-New Clones: Again, you might start off thinking why, but this is a relevant thing. Ever since the Clones switched to their awesome phase II armour, we've only had two new named Clones. (technically three, but that one is Scuba, technically not phase II). Those two are Dogma and Tup from the Umbara arc. The rest of the named Clones this season have just been previously-shown new Clones but in phase II armour, so we totally need to see new Clone characters shown and explored, and thankfully Dave Filoni has promised us some awesome new troopers.

-CIS Council Leaders: Now this is such a relevant topic, it cannot be dismissed. We haven't had a Separatist council leader since Poggle the Lesser, all the way back in season two. And no, Seppie's like Riff Tamson, Osi Sobeck etc are COMMANDER'S, the CIS council leaders are people like Nute Gunray, Rune Haako, etc. And we were so close to getting one, Tikkes, in the Mon Calamari arc, but was cut out because it would screw canon. But not bringing Tikkes in, DID screw canon. That's because Tikkes is the Quarren senator during the Clone Wars, but in the show, that is Nossor Ri. Yet another screwing of canon by the crew. And it has to be said, we NEED these guys on the show. Sure, you can argue they may be boring characters (I personally don't think they are), but these guys are pretty much the reason this war exists. After all, Nute Gunray invented the Battle Droids, Destroyer Droids etc...

-212th Attack Battalion: Ok, I must say it, I am very surprised we have not seen more of this battalion in their phase II armour. We've only had these guys in a couple of episodes, around half of Carnage of Krell, and a few scenes in Kidnapped. And their commander, CC-2224 Cody, has only had a cameo in Darkness on Umbara and a good few scenes in Kidnapped. So we definitely need to see more of them next season, and see some new 212th named Clones, as Waxer tragically has passed away, leaving just Cody and Boil.

-More Dengar: I already liked Dengar a lot and found him a badass before Bounty, but that episode left me wanting to see a lot more of Dengar. He was such a great fighter in hand-to-hand combat, and I'd love to see some more of his crude side to him, especially when he blew up those two guys on the train. Never mind Bane and Embo, we need Dengar back! Let's have some more Dengar action. Must be said, Cad Bane & Dengar would make quite a sweet team.

-CC-3636 Wolffe: We definitely need to see a hell of a lot more of my favourite Clone. Wolffe was certainly given a personality in Mercy Mission (only good thing to come out of that episode), but I'd like to see this gruff personality developed more, and made more dramatic. A great way to show this would be for a Jedi to order Wolffe's men into a death trap, and Wolffe has to show gruff authority to this Jedi. That's just my opinion, but I'd love to see a story like that for Wolffe. It would work much better than what the show has done with Wolffe.

-Republic Commando's: We so need some epic Republic Commando's on the show! Sure, Delta Squad's cameo in season 3 was cool and all, but now we need Commando's that actually fight and do something badass. Filoni did say if they brought anymore Commando's in, then it wouldn't be Delta Squad, but I wouldn't mind that, because all Republic Commando's, for the win...

-Oppo Rancissis: We need Oppo Rancissis on this show, 'nuff said. He's the last member of the Jedi Council that is left to appear on the show, so season five would be about time we got him. And he's one of only two of the Jedi council that hasn't appeared in the Hasbro Clone Wars line, the other is Adi Gallia. It was actually reported a while ago by some "fake" website that Oppo would appear in the season 2 episode Cargo of Doom, but that turned out false...

-Commander Bacara/Commander Neyo: A couple of Clone Commander's from Revenge of the Sith we need to see on the show, for different reasons. Starting with Neyo, his legion actually already appeared this season in "Nomad Droids", minus Neyo. Considering Neyo has exactly the same markings as his generic troops (I think), there's really no excuse not to bring Neyo into the show. As for Bacara, I can only guess Commander Jet is part of a different company altogether to Bacara, unless they both appear in an upcoming episode, which Jet dies in, and Bacara gets promoted. I'd like to see a Clone-story like that.


-Han Solo: Ok... I know MANY people won't agree with me on this one, but this is my opinion. I'd love to see my favourite OT character of all time appear on this show. To my knowledge, he should be around 9-12 years old around the time of this show. If they did bring him in, I wouldn't care what they made him act like or how they portray him, I'd just like to see Han Solo appear on the show. But, I can understand why Lucas isn't interested in bringing him in.


-Bultar Swan: Just like Dengar and Quinlan Vos (plus more), this is another character who is mainly EU-focused and hasn't had much screen-time that I would like to see explored more on the show. Bultar Swan was pretty well-developed in the EU, even though she gets a lame death. Definitely a Jedi I'd be interested in seeing on the show at some point, and as an animated figure. 


-Less focus on the main trio: Sure, Ahsoka and Obi-Wan Kenobi are cool characters, but Anakin is not helping them get developed at all. But, the main trio are just so over-used by now, especially since the latter part of season 3. Anakin has actually appeared in every major battle in the series, (Ryloth, Geonosis, Umbara etc). The only one out of these three that can actually be developed is Ahsoka. But there are stories out there for the other Jedi, and I'm speaking for everyone when I say we would rather see the less shown Jedi on the show.


-Separatist vehicles: While this isn't a major issue, even at this stage in the series we're missing a lot of Separatist technology on the show. The Tri-Droids haven't appeared in ages (in chronological order, not since the movie), and vehicles such as the Spider Walker & Hailfire-Droid have still yet to appear on the show. The Republic themselves have a few missing vehicles as well, but the Separatist's still haven't seen several of their vehicles on the show.


-Important character death's: This has been an issue with the show so far, no one important to the story of the Clone Wars event has died yet really. The closest this season has been Hardcase, in the Umbara arc. If someone like Savage Opress died in the finale, then that would be a fairly important death I guess. But so far, no one relevantly important has actually died yet on the show to be honest...


-More Bly & Gree: It's been so long since these two Clone Commander's have appeared, it's easy to forget they exist anymore. Both of them have only been in two episodes in the series. Gree hasn't appeared since "Weapons Factory", and it was over a year after the episode that it was officially confirmed to be Gree in that episode, even though it was obvious. And Bly hasn't appeared since his debut on the show in the Maridun duology, all the way back in season 1. Now with the change to phase II armour, will we see Bly and Gree finally return, but with their Revenge of the Sith armour?


That's all for what I most want to see in season 5. I could probably write more and come up with more ideas, but to save myself time and energy, and you lot for reading more, I'll leave it at that. Hope you enjoy, and feel free to leave what you would like to see in the comments below!

Star Wars: The Clone Wars "Bounty"

And finally we come to the episode where I get to see my favourite bounty hunter, Dengar, make his debut on the show. Would he be portrayed correctly in this episode?

This episode really starts off on a strong note. We get to see nice Tatoinne scenery, and see cantinia again. Unlike the episode "Sphere of Influence" though, the cantina is now full of life. Ventress killing that guy who was annoying her at the bar was a nice touch, and very reminiscent of A New Hope. The talk scene between Ventress and Bossk was good as well, as was how Bossk pretty much made Ventress join their bounty hunting team.

 This scene is just so full of win. You get a brief cameo by Embo and his Anooba/dog, Marrok (PS: Filoni has stated Embo will return in season 5), and you get something downright awesome, classic Star Wars comedy:
"Hey Bossk, who's your girlfriend?"
"Shut up, Dengar!"
Dengar being witty, just how I always imagined him to be. I still don't agree with Boba Fett being the "boss" of this group of bounty hunter's. Here we have a kid, and at that, one who was a *censored* in the season 2 finale, and now all of a sudden, he's a hard-man like in the original trilogy? It feels very forced upon us fans, especially given how Boba was in season 2. And he's with a couple of the most elite bounty hunter's, even at the time of the Clone Wars, in Bossk & Dengar. Why couldn't either of those two lead it, at least they wouldn't be afraid to get rough in a fight. Bossk as leader of the group, that would have worked so much better. It's just that Lucas probably wanted to explore Boba's character, or try and force an all-new Boba upon us...

The train scenes were so full of win as well, and really showed fans that Dengar can throw down and be awesome. The problem with most of the bounty hunter's in "The Box", was that they were so lame and weren't explored, and didn't show them being effective at all. This episode though, really let the bounty hunter's throw down and show what they could do. I loved all the fighting that was going on. The voice-acting for Dengar was great. And best of all, Dengar's voice is British! So I can easily do a Dengar voice-over. I was really let down though by the order in which bounty hunter's were knocked off the train. We watched in horror as two of the most elite of all time, Bossk and Dengar, were the first two to go. I mean, come on! I'm not siding with Dengar here because he's my favourite bounty hunter, it's not like that. It's been stated before only the VERY best can get a job from Darth Vader himself (as Bossk and Dengar did), and yet it's two of those few that are the ones to go. And it seemed the crew wanted to make Bossk and Dengar go out in the cheesiest way possible. Dengar just stood like a statue while one of the enemies kicked him over the railing, and Bossk was blinded by something before kicked out of the door. Then Latts and Highsinger (who it would have made more sense to kick out first), got knocked out at exactly the same time. Finally was that whale-like guy, Major Rigosso, who I did not like at all, but his death was well-directed. "Over my dead body", and then he actually was killed.

This scene certainly added a very interesting twist to the episode. Boba Fett is busy fighting the leader of the enemy, when the box they are trying to deliver falls open, revealing a girl, much to Boba's shock. The girl is the sister of the leader, who led the attack to try and free her, but Boba and the hunter's were unaware of what was inside the box. Boba gets knocked unconscious as Ventress arrives. The fight between the leader and Ventress was very interesting to watch, especially when Ventress force-chokes the leader. And then the talk between Ventress and the girl when the girl and the leader were tied up was a good addition, as was the talk scene between Boba and Ventress. I loved it so much when Ventress started force-choking Boba as well, putting the brat that he was in this episode in his place. 

I have to say it right here. BEST-ENDING-EVER! The ending of this episode was far and away the best ending of any episode in the series, it is just so funny. Ventress brings the box to the person the hunter's were trying to bring it to her. After collecting her bounty, Ventress leaves. The guy opens the box, only to find the brat (in season 2, I nicknamed him "Baby Fett", now Boba Fett is "The Brat). Looking at Boba emerging inside the box was priceless, and I couldn't stop laughing until after the episode finished. What makes it even funnier? The guy who the box was delivered to kept going on about "bride", because he thought the person inside the box was the girl from before. Funny stuff. The end scene with all the bounty hunter's on the ship was good (especially as the brat was excluded). Though I ound Ventress's comment about having a future to be weird, because if she leaves the bounty hunter's as it seems she might, what future would she have? I guess we'll find out soon...


Rating: This was another strong episode in this arc, and an excellent episode. Lots of action, great dialogue, and the bounty hunters were amazing, especially Dengar, but it wasn't quite as good as "Massacre". Rating: 9.5/10


And here is a preview for next week's episode, as Darth Maul finally comes to the Clone Wars!