Star Wars: The Clone Wars – 6x01-6x04
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tori_reviewsStar Wars: The Clone Wars – 6x01-6x04 (arc 1)
While this was a step down from the last arc, I would still call it pretty good. I think this one benefits because we’re clearly in the endgame now and the writers can finally play the big cards they’ve held back until now. Getting Ahsoka away was one of them, and now the setup for Order 66 is another.
This episode even has a decent amount in common with the Ahsoka arc, but with one big flaw. That being that, outside of Rex, I don’t really have much attachment to the other clones. Fives maybe could be considered as second most prominent (but probably not) and he just seems pretty normal, a stand-in for the average clone. We have watched him over the seasons, I just never really invested in him. He didn’t really have a relationship to any of the other characters that set him apart the way Rex does (and Cody to a lesser extent).
The more Fives figured out, the more obvious it was that he wasn’t getting out of this with that knowledge. I entertained the possibility that he’d be recaptured and mind-wiped of the last few days and the tragedy would be how close he had come to saving everyone but been incapable of doing it, and he would go on to be part of the massacre he came so close to stopping. Instead he died for it, playing the Cassandra without anyone believing him. I think it’s debatable which version would have been more tragic.
That said, this is kind of hard to align with movie canon. What Anakin should or shouldn’t know isn’t a problem, since he switched sides by the time Order 66 happens, but the rest of the Jedi knowing about the chips (even if they think they’re necessary) does diminish something about how blindsided they are by what happens.
It…changes the view of how much they took the clones loyalty for granted, and I’m not sure it does so for the better. Look, even at movie level canon, I found the use of the clone army to be a poor decision; they didn’t really know how they ended up with this army at just the right time and they didn’t seem to do much more investigating into it. But sure, they got accustomed to the clone army, worked with them and trusted them, etc., only to be stabbed in the back by them because of something no one had any way of suspecting. But knowing about the chips, knowing they’ve always been there and no one besides the Kaminoens knew about them…that should raise questions. And yet, it seems that no one is going to ask them. That makes the Jedi a little more complicit in their own demise. Maybe have some concern for the soldiers under you with something unexplained in their heads.
That also said, this episode is written in a way that doesn’t make the characters idiots for not immediately believing Fives by the time he comes to them. And seeing as Palpatine’s doctors wouldn’t have found/reported whatever Fives had been infected with, doubting Fives is reasonable. He seemed pretty crazy by that point; he was clearly deteriorating, and it’s reasonable to think that it’s because he took out his chip (probably should have gone with that Palps, the parasitic infection story is an unnecessary step). I’m just not letting the Jedi off the hook for not looking further into the chips having been created in the first place. And I’m still blaming them for just taking the army they found under suspicious circumstances. Oh, and the slavery. Let’s not forget that, chipped or not, the clones are basically slaves; just more so when you know they have brain chips. Anakin should probably see the similarity.
Also…did Shak-ti know the plans for Fives that really screwed up the effort? There was something weird about the way she told him he was going back to the 501st; I kind of thought she had a different plan for him (since there were clearly two cases being loaded, I thought she might have a plan). This is actually kind of an important question.
I also thought there was going to be more that came from Fives finding out ‘the Jedi’ were involved. That seemed like his faith in the Jedi was being shaken. But nothing really came of it, even when combined with my above point.
Come to think of it, is there ever any follow up on Ventriss having stolen some of the base DNA for the clones? What was that about?
Direction-wise this episode is a little hit and miss with me. The Kamino sets are very…cold and oppressive, and we spend a lot of times there. I guess that’s still a writing thing for deciding to set so much of the story there, and the sets were already settled on so they couldn’t invent something wild and new. But the episodes look good, and the exteriors show that the higher quality I noted last time is apparently continuing. I’m not even sure I hate the animation on Yoda and Palpatine as much as usual.
However, Palpatine really needs to stop being so plainly evil, he hasn’t finished his plan yet. I mean sure, we know it’s going to work out, but he shouldn’t be so cocky. Especially since I can’t figure out what’s up with his red troopers (or the Imperial Guards, I think this is the first time we’ve seen them).
And, small note, but it’s always been oddly confused about whether Dooku even knew Sidious was Palpatine but this episode heavily leans toward him knowing. Which makes sense so far as it goes, but I feel like there are things that contradict it. And the fact that it stood out to me means it didn’t feel like something that was already clear.
Also, I like that this arc wasn’t as focused on action, but gave more time to the mystery. I started off the arc worried, since we started off in the middle of a big battle it looked like we were going to be focused on, so I was really glad that wasn’t what the story was turned out to be about.
(Though, as a small note…well a big one actually, the ring station makes very little sense. As so often happens I think that the writers forget how big something would have to be to go around a planet. Even the Death Star was only a small moon.)
Plus, this episode plot was taken down to focus on a single character more or less, which this show has kind of needed at times. And Fives being a familiar enough character it worked out fairly well.
So, that’s it for the Tragedy of CT-5555; see you on the other side Fives.
While this was a step down from the last arc, I would still call it pretty good. I think this one benefits because we’re clearly in the endgame now and the writers can finally play the big cards they’ve held back until now. Getting Ahsoka away was one of them, and now the setup for Order 66 is another.
This episode even has a decent amount in common with the Ahsoka arc, but with one big flaw. That being that, outside of Rex, I don’t really have much attachment to the other clones. Fives maybe could be considered as second most prominent (but probably not) and he just seems pretty normal, a stand-in for the average clone. We have watched him over the seasons, I just never really invested in him. He didn’t really have a relationship to any of the other characters that set him apart the way Rex does (and Cody to a lesser extent).
The more Fives figured out, the more obvious it was that he wasn’t getting out of this with that knowledge. I entertained the possibility that he’d be recaptured and mind-wiped of the last few days and the tragedy would be how close he had come to saving everyone but been incapable of doing it, and he would go on to be part of the massacre he came so close to stopping. Instead he died for it, playing the Cassandra without anyone believing him. I think it’s debatable which version would have been more tragic.
That said, this is kind of hard to align with movie canon. What Anakin should or shouldn’t know isn’t a problem, since he switched sides by the time Order 66 happens, but the rest of the Jedi knowing about the chips (even if they think they’re necessary) does diminish something about how blindsided they are by what happens.
It…changes the view of how much they took the clones loyalty for granted, and I’m not sure it does so for the better. Look, even at movie level canon, I found the use of the clone army to be a poor decision; they didn’t really know how they ended up with this army at just the right time and they didn’t seem to do much more investigating into it. But sure, they got accustomed to the clone army, worked with them and trusted them, etc., only to be stabbed in the back by them because of something no one had any way of suspecting. But knowing about the chips, knowing they’ve always been there and no one besides the Kaminoens knew about them…that should raise questions. And yet, it seems that no one is going to ask them. That makes the Jedi a little more complicit in their own demise. Maybe have some concern for the soldiers under you with something unexplained in their heads.
That also said, this episode is written in a way that doesn’t make the characters idiots for not immediately believing Fives by the time he comes to them. And seeing as Palpatine’s doctors wouldn’t have found/reported whatever Fives had been infected with, doubting Fives is reasonable. He seemed pretty crazy by that point; he was clearly deteriorating, and it’s reasonable to think that it’s because he took out his chip (probably should have gone with that Palps, the parasitic infection story is an unnecessary step). I’m just not letting the Jedi off the hook for not looking further into the chips having been created in the first place. And I’m still blaming them for just taking the army they found under suspicious circumstances. Oh, and the slavery. Let’s not forget that, chipped or not, the clones are basically slaves; just more so when you know they have brain chips. Anakin should probably see the similarity.
Also…did Shak-ti know the plans for Fives that really screwed up the effort? There was something weird about the way she told him he was going back to the 501st; I kind of thought she had a different plan for him (since there were clearly two cases being loaded, I thought she might have a plan). This is actually kind of an important question.
I also thought there was going to be more that came from Fives finding out ‘the Jedi’ were involved. That seemed like his faith in the Jedi was being shaken. But nothing really came of it, even when combined with my above point.
Come to think of it, is there ever any follow up on Ventriss having stolen some of the base DNA for the clones? What was that about?
Direction-wise this episode is a little hit and miss with me. The Kamino sets are very…cold and oppressive, and we spend a lot of times there. I guess that’s still a writing thing for deciding to set so much of the story there, and the sets were already settled on so they couldn’t invent something wild and new. But the episodes look good, and the exteriors show that the higher quality I noted last time is apparently continuing. I’m not even sure I hate the animation on Yoda and Palpatine as much as usual.
However, Palpatine really needs to stop being so plainly evil, he hasn’t finished his plan yet. I mean sure, we know it’s going to work out, but he shouldn’t be so cocky. Especially since I can’t figure out what’s up with his red troopers (or the Imperial Guards, I think this is the first time we’ve seen them).
And, small note, but it’s always been oddly confused about whether Dooku even knew Sidious was Palpatine but this episode heavily leans toward him knowing. Which makes sense so far as it goes, but I feel like there are things that contradict it. And the fact that it stood out to me means it didn’t feel like something that was already clear.
Also, I like that this arc wasn’t as focused on action, but gave more time to the mystery. I started off the arc worried, since we started off in the middle of a big battle it looked like we were going to be focused on, so I was really glad that wasn’t what the story was turned out to be about.
(Though, as a small note…well a big one actually, the ring station makes very little sense. As so often happens I think that the writers forget how big something would have to be to go around a planet. Even the Death Star was only a small moon.)
Plus, this episode plot was taken down to focus on a single character more or less, which this show has kind of needed at times. And Fives being a familiar enough character it worked out fairly well.
So, that’s it for the Tragedy of CT-5555; see you on the other side Fives.
