Clone Wars 2X5 "Landing at Point Rain"

[MeanJoePhaser]

"Anakin, Ahsoka and Ki-Adi-Mundi lead a landing party to destroy a droid factory on Geonosis."

Yeah, Cartoon Network did something odd. Debuting this on Wednesday Nov. 4 at 8:00 PM (Eastern). Next week it's back to fridays. Go figure. You can still catch this episode on Friday the 6th at the regular time, too.

It was good. Ki Adi Mundi appears, head shaped odder than before, probably my only gripe.

 

[DarthPipes]

Wow. What an intense half-hour of incredible action. The combat scene were amazing...I had read they wanted to Private Ryan them. That long shot at the end of Anakin storming the outpost was taken directly from The Longest Day. Definitely the most ambitious and fully realized episode to date.

You know it's intense when Ki-Adi-Mundi (who made a very welcome debut) tells his troops "Bring out the flamethrowers!"

 

[Mr Light]

While the entire thing was just mindless action, it was damned good mindless action. First appearance of Ki Adi Mundi! First appearance of Geonosis! Recreation of the ending of AOTC! Very pretty to look at.

 

[MeanJoePhaser]

The good guys actually killing lifeforms...those Geonosians were shot, slashed and burned.

They got their licks in, though, seeming much more competent than droids.

 

[Christopher]

That was a startlingly intense and violent episode, and if not for Lucas's clout, there's no way it would ever have gotten onto Cartoon Network. I suppose I can respect that in principle, but it was kind of disturbing to watch at times. The shots of those poor Geonosians burning to death were very disquieting.

And I'm not sure how coherent the story was. The plan didn't seem to make a lot of sense to me. Why not use the star destroyers (or whatever those triangular ships are called in this generation) to attack the main target instead of sending in ground forces that got creamed? Why would these three different divisions have to unite in one place and make themselves sitting ducks?

And what the hell is the deal with that shield? It didn't keep people out; it didn't keep vehicles out; so what in the world was the point of it? I'm guessing it blocks laser fire, but so what? Just fly a big ship through it and start shooting. And the Jedi ran right through it with their lightsabers deployed, so I'm not even convinced it would block energy weapons (although, okay, lightsabers are supposed to be magical superweapons or something).

There were a couple of interesting bits of foreshadowing with Anakin -- his angry, petulant reaction rather than concern when Obi-Wan is shot down, and his cavalier treatment of killing as a game, casualties as mere numbers. Both signs of the foothold the dark side has in him.

Speaking of the dark side, I assume it was Palpatine/Sidious who tipped off the Geonosians about the Republic strategy. That's something he'd have to be careful not to do too often for fear of raising suspicion, though.

Then again, Yularen seemed oddly unconcerned about the danger the ground forces were in. Maybe that's just his stoic manner, but his delivery here made me wonder if maybe he could be a traitor/spy. After all, we know he's going to end up on the Death Star as a member in good standing of the Imperial military, so his loyalties are questionable. But by the same token, if he is a traitor, then either nobody ever finds out or the Republic imprisons traitors rather than executing them.

 

[MeanJoePhaser]

I thought as the Geonosians died valiantly defending their planet..."who are the good guys again?" This isn't a droid army that invaded a loyalist world, after all.

Though, of course, they were making Seperatist war material. So...it was a legit target.

The bugs picking up Clone and dropping them.

"THIS IS AN UGLY PLANET. A BUG PLANET! A PLANET HOSTILE TO HUMAN LIFE!!"

Oh, and shields didn't keep people or vehicles out in The Phantom Menace, the Gungan's shield, anyway, just energy. (The Gungan's really wasted that advantage, btw)

Now, the second Death Star seemed to (otherwise lowering the shield wasn't all that imporant).

Assumably, anti-air batteries would repell any air based attacks. Ion cannons to counter space bombardment, if ion weapons exist in the prequels. I can't remember.

 

[DarthPipes]

As I recall, in TPM, the Gungans erect an enemy shield that the battle droids are able to walk through. It must absorb the blaster energy.

Those Geonosians were tough and they are the first sentients in full scale to be killed on the Seperatist side on this show. My guess if they had been human, we wouldn't have seen them getting killed. Well, we do see the clones killed on a regular basis. Probably wouldn't have seen them burned though.

 

[Caliburn24]

Decent action episode, but the attack plan made no sense.

I think there were several nods to the Empire's attack on Hoth which I did appreciate though.

 

[Mr Light]

It's the same reason the Empire landed AT-ATs on Hoth rather than just blasting it from orbit. The energy shield generated on the surface is too powerful to take out with bombardment, you have to fly/drive through the shield (which only holds back energy shot) and take out the generator. Remember in New Hope when the X-Wings flew through interference "we're passing through the magnetic shield"? Also in the Clone Wars film when the droids are advancing with the shield wall and Anakin and Ashoka have to sneak past them under a crate.

 

[Christopher]

It's the same reason the Empire landed AT-ATs on Hoth rather than just blasting it from orbit.

Which is hardly a sterling example of plausible military strategy, considering that the spindly-legged AT-ATs were specifically designed to be as easy as possible to knock out.

The energy shield generated on the surface is too powerful to take out with bombardment, you have to fly/drive through the shield (which only holds back energy shot) and take out the generator.

Exactly my point. Why not just fly a big ship down through the shield and start blasting the moment it got through? Or heck, keep most of the big ship outside the shield (which would protect it from fire coming from inside the shield) and use the forward batteries within the shield to take out the enemy installation.

Remember in New Hope when the X-Wings flew through interference "we're passing through the magnetic shield"? Also in the Clone Wars film when the droids are advancing with the shield wall and Anakin and Ashoka have to sneak past them under a crate.

And I found that strange as well. Just citing former SW precedents doesn't sell me on credibility, because SW is a fairy tale that's never attempted to be credible. Okay, maybe that means I shouldn't question it and just go with the flow, but some things just seem strange. And to those of us who haven't developed an encyclopedic knowledge of SW lore and precedents, seeing a story about a force field that doesn't seem to keep anything out is rather odd.

 

[nx1701g]

If I recall correctly shields are handled differently in the Star Wars universe than they are in the Star Trek universe. In Star Wars there are two primary types of shields used by the Empire/Rebellion, Republic/Separatists. They are:

Ray Shields - used to prevent energy bolts from getting through as well as radiation.

Particle Shields - used to prevent solid projectiles from getting through.

 

[I Grok Spock]

Remember in New Hope when the X-Wings flew through interference "we're passing through the magnetic shield"?

In the film, the term is "magnetic field." That doesn't change your point, merely me flying my nerd flag.

BTW, the term is also used when the Falcon is being tractored into the DS docking bay: "Clear bay 327. We are opening the magnetic field." Probably referring to the field that maintains atmosphere in the bay.

 

[Mr Light]

They should have brought in the 2019 angle from the start. That's what is really holding people's interest at this point: the knowledge of where this is all going. If they'd done that reveal sooner and gave it a more central focus, the ratings might have held together better.

This is just supposition on my part, but I assume that the shield generator is the most densely defended piece of real estate to prevent doing just that. If you tried to slowly hover your massive Star Destroyer down through the atmosphere to get just the tip in to fire, you'd be blasted to pieces.

 

[Johnny Rico]

That was a startlingly intense and violent episode, and if not for Lucas's clout, there's no way it would ever have gotten onto Cartoon Network. I suppose I can respect that in principle, but it was kind of disturbing to watch at times. The shots of those poor Geonosians burning to death were very disquieting.

And I'm not sure how coherent the story was. The plan didn't seem to make a lot of sense to me. Why not use the star destroyers (or whatever those triangular ships are called in this generation) to attack the main target instead of sending in ground forces that got creamed? Why would these three different divisions have to unite in one place and make themselves sitting ducks?

And what the hell is the deal with that shield? It didn't keep people out; it didn't keep vehicles out; so what in the world was the point of it? I'm guessing it blocks laser fire, but so what? Just fly a big ship through it and start shooting. And the Jedi ran right through it with their lightsabers deployed, so I'm not even convinced it would block energy weapons (although, okay, lightsabers are supposed to be magical superweapons or something).

There were a couple of interesting bits of foreshadowing with Anakin -- his angry, petulant reaction rather than concern when Obi-Wan is shot down, and his cavalier treatment of killing as a game, casualties as mere numbers. Both signs of the foothold the dark side has in him.

Speaking of the dark side, I assume it was Palpatine/Sidious who tipped off the Geonosians about the Republic strategy. That's something he'd have to be careful not to do too often for fear of raising suspicion, though.

Then again, Yularen seemed oddly unconcerned about the danger the ground forces were in. Maybe that's just his stoic manner, but his delivery here made me wonder if maybe he could be a traitor/spy. After all, we know he's going to end up on the Death Star as a member in good standing of the Imperial military, so his loyalties are questionable. But by the same token, if he is a traitor, then either nobody ever finds out or the Republic imprisons traitors rather than executing them.

You just broke the first rule in watching any episode of Clone Wars. "Trying to use logic to explain everything you see."

Dave Filoni himself said in the featurette for the episode "Trespass" that if people worry about what the snow creatures were burning for their igloo fire (which clearly looked like wood) on an ICE planet, then you probably shouldn't be watching the show.

 

[Johnny Rico]

re: shield discussion

Come on folks...was the PT so bad that you didn't even notice how the Gungan shield was handled in Ep. I? These shields are simply handled in the way that they repel energy blasts...not solid objects. In the epsiode "Defenders of Peace", Anakin and co. walk back and forth through the shield they erect around the Lemurians (sp?). And then eventually, once the droid army reaches it, they walk through as well. That's how they tale out the shield generators, which opens up the village for the defoiliation weapon.

 

[Christopher]

I think I've seen The Phantom Menace twice in all. It was a while ago. I'm a casual viewer where SW is concerned, so I'm not an expert in its conventions.

 

[TyberiusDeAngelo]

I missed this episode. I checked cartoonnetwork, hulu, and surfthechannel for it. Does anyone know of a legal website that would have it posted?

 

[Basill]

I missed this episode. I checked cartoonnetwork, hulu, and surfthechannel for it. Does anyone know of a legal website that would have it posted?

The official starwars.com should have it up in a few days unless they are hoarding this baby.

I totally missed the special Wednesday night presentation (no idea) and waited until the regular Friday night airing. That was friggin' awesome I have to say. Quite the eye popper. They just turned the volume up on this series. I hope they can keep it up.

I taped it but didn't watch it, and figured I could see it again this morning on their Saturday morning repeat. When it didn't come on I got annoyed but after I watched the tape... whoa! I can see why maybe they didn't put this one on in the morn time.

 

[Christopher]

I do appreciate their range -- to go from the unusually dramatic and action-light "Senate Spy" one episode to something this intense and frenetic the next -- but personally I'm hoping this one is more the exception than the rule.

 

[Hartzilla2007]

I missed this episode. I checked cartoonnetwork, hulu, and surfthechannel for it. Does anyone know of a legal website that would have it posted?

The official starwars.com should have it up in a few days unless they are hoarding this baby.

I totally missed the special Wednesday night presentation (no idea) and waited until the regular Friday night airing. That was friggin' awesome I have to say. Quite the eye popper. They just turned the volume up on this series. I hope they can keep it up.

I taped it but didn't watch it, and figured I could see it again this morning on their Saturday morning repeat. When it didn't come on I got annoyed but after I watched the tape... whoa! I can see why maybe they didn't put this one on in the morn time.

That's probably becuase it came on at 8:30 Am instead of the usual 10:30 AM.