The Order 66 arc was great, and really made you care for the loss of the two clones, Fives especially. By deduction it was obvious that the Kaminoans would have to be involved in some shady dealings with the clone army and their programming, but I didn't know just how deep their involvement went with the Sith. The programming bit just makes the story of the clones even more tragic than it already was. We already knew they were programmed to be absolutely obedient, but even then it was cold how ruthlessly they turned on their Jedi comrades after serving together with them for so long, without even a shred of regret it seemed (barring some exceptions in the EU). Now we see that the programming extends beyond a simple need to follow orders into making them outright despise the Jedi. The horror on Five's face and in his words when he realizes what had been done to them and what will eventually happen was sold really well. I was surprised that Palpatine made such a bold move and so openly attacked Fives, even with him being discredited. That shows how close to having their plans unraveled they were for him to take such direct and desperate action. As mentioned, the production values were excellent. I loved the artificial planetary ring (although having "ring" in the name of the planet was a bit silly) they were fighting on, and the zero-g fight on the shuttle was impressive. The new flying battledroids are cool. The Kamino sequence was impressively rendered as well. It was great to get to see the medlab where Anakin will become Vader again. All in all, a very promising beginning for this final season. I look forward to seeing the rest.
The values remain just as strong (if not moreso) through the rest of the episodes. There are moments where I forget it's CGI. Really gorgeous to look at. The music, too, is brilliant. There's a moment during the Yoda arc (third episode in, I think), during an especially graphic and vivid moment, when we hear a subtle lamenting Battle of the Heroes cue. It's wrenching. And the stories are likewise as strong. I think the fate of Fives might be the single most emotional moment (from a tearjerker perspective) but there's plenty of emotional moments as well. Really fantastic storytelling all 'round.
Same here. I mean yeah...it should be obvious but it surprised me just how involved they were in screwing the Jedi over. Agreed about the animation looking movie-quality. There's a scene where you see Coruscant through Palpatine's window and I thought it was a movie clip.
Watching new Season 6 content reminds me of how much I already miss the series whether we're getting a brand new TV show not. Imagine what Filoni and the crew could have accomplished with an entire network season's full of story arcs to wrap up more recurring character subplots and loose ends from the last couple of years.
Indeed. There's still one huge hanging character arc left unresolved. And the way the series was giving increasing depth to the entire Star Wars mythos was just brilliant. Yoda's arc, in particular, has repercussions for the entire Saga. I am happy beyond words that we got these episodes ... but I want more, dammit!
Me too. Whether as exclusive streaming content or DVD/Blu Ray releases I'm all for the idea of a few more story arcs being produced to give greater closure to the series, but who knows if those will be options given the current Disney game plan and the launch of Rebels. We can certainly hope and I'd like to think they'd be open-minded enough to let a few more small projects get greenlit. It's not as if they'd interfere with the timeline of the new TV series (set a decade or even longer after the end of the wars) nor adversely affect the Sequel Trilogy.
My concern would be - even if Disney was onboard with finishing the major story arcs of Clone Wars - with Filoni's efforts being so focused on Rebels, could any potentially new content be given the same care and craft as the new episodes we just watched? I know I could make allowances for reduced production values, in favor of getting the stories on-screen. ButI'm sure there's a limit to even what I would find acceptable. To that end, I'm preparing myself for the fact that, as unfortunate as it may be, this is the last we'll see of these stories. It's a shame ... but they've accomplished so much that I cannot wait to get Season Six on BR and watch them all again from start to finish (though, I do wonder if I should attempt a chronological viewing of the episodes).
2X5 An Old Friend & 2X6 The Rise of Clovis These were better than I thought they would be. Probably the best Padme episodes in the series? I'm surprised this was held back from Season Four. I much rather would have seen this than the four parter with the random droids and the frog guy I found the whole Banking Clan financial stuff to be well done and interesting and a great parallel to the corruption going on in our own economy. The ski chase at the end of the first episode was particularly clever. And man, important stuff here. Anakin shows his true colors to Padme and she kicks him out! I'm VERY curious to see how he "redeems" himself in the last episode. Also? Obi-Wan knows that Anakin and Padme have something going on, but is keeping it under his hat! Fascinating! I think the most telling part of this episode was the shot of Anakin's bedroom which I don't think we've ever seen. He had a huge poster of the Boonta Eve Classic on his wall! So basically one constant reminder that he used to be a slave and of the event that sundered him from his mother? What a great and subtle way to speak to Anakin's inability to let go of things! How he's a child living in the past, trying to hold on to the things he glorified back as a kid (Padme, Mom, racing, playing hero...)
It didn't have to be the case; in other words, the EU scenario worked well enough. It was just constantly on the defensive due to fans complaining about the clones' amoral behavior. We were basically told everything we needed to know in AOTC. The clones were conditioned ( and genetically modified ) to be receptive to orders in general. In the EU version, if anything was "programmed" by the Kaminoans, it was loyalty to the Republic, including to the person of the Supreme Chancellor as leader of the Republic. As an "army for the Republic" the clones needed to be relied upon to follow orders emanating from the Republic chain of command. Once that loyalty is established, Order 66 can be slotted in later without any necessary complicity on the part of the Kaminoans, and it seems relevant that ROTS showed us that Palpatine had a secure comlink connection to the clone commanders. That said, I don't find TCW's version to be objectionable in itself.
I dig bounty hunter Embo and his takuhatsugasa hat. He's voiced by Dave Filoni which would be cool enough but according to wookieepedia his language is created by using a badly enunciated reading of French Smurf comic books which just makes me smile.
I thought I recognised the voice of Darth Bane, but it was still a nice surprise to see in the credits that it was none other than Mark Hamill! A nice bit of symmetry there. I also liked the design for Bane himself as he looks very Vader-like, giving some retroactive significance to the look of Vader's iconic armour and helmet. Personally I never cared for the EU design. Looked a little too ornate for my taste and the helmet looked like a lump of coral growing out of his head. Indeed, there's nothing about the Yoda arc I didn't like. They even gave some much needed context to the midichlorians.
Embo has always been an entertaining presence in the series. I'm glad they found a way to work him into the final episodes as he has a bit of a following in the fanbase even if it's not as vocal nor strong as, say, Cad Bane's.
By telling us that the midichlorians come from a specific planet? Was that "much needed"? Anything else they said about the midichlorians was already told to us in 1999.
Sorry mate, I just assumed this was a spoiler thread. It's why I avoided reading it until I'd watched all of them. Not so much their specific origins as their relationship with the living force and the cosmic force (the latter is a term I don't think I've ever encountered before.) And by much needed context, I mean more than what we had which was no context at all.
All the context and background information in that galaxy wouldn't make many fans accept nor like the concept of midichlorians, but that's a different thread topic altogether.
I didn't say I liked it, nor that I expected you specifically to accept it, just that given the circumstances, some context was preferable than none at all. Honestly I think it'd work as well if not better if they were simply cut out of the equation. But they're there whether we like them or not so they may as well be internally consistent.
The cosmic force seems to be synonymous with the unifying force, a term used in the previously published materials. However the midichlorians as ones connection to the Force was spelled out in TPM. It's seems more like your problems with TPM was more how it presented the information.