Star Wars: The Clone Wars S4

[DarthPipes]

I think the accents are what GL wants. I've heard and read a lot about how he wants different species to have different planets. I seem to recall Filoni said that GL wanted the Twi'lek to have French accents for instance.

Agreed that Anakin's slave past doesn't get addressed enough and I hope he discusses it at some point with Ahsoka. Where they've dropped the ball is with the clones and how Anakin should be considering that they are virtually slaves of the Republic. Also, the fact that the Republic aligned themselves with the Hutts should have brought a lot more anger on his part.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

To make the connection between the clones and slavery more direct would be great. Then Anakin has all the motive he needs to see the Republic as being unworthy of him (let's face it, they're not going to stop using clones as cannon fodder) and to decide that he needs to stop the war in his own way because nobody else is capable of it.

 

[ReadyAndWilling]

The show becomes so much more interesting when the Jedi are dealing with opponents who are not disposable scrap metal.

i agree with this. it'd be great to see the jedi more intelligent droids. why don't we see the super battle droids talking more? we only ever hear the mindless chattering of the regular battle droids.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Are there more episodes this year or is this it till 2012?

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Oh and because I'm coming late to the party, I dug down to see if anyone had the same reaction I did to the Umbara episodes...uh, aren't the clones slaughtering people who are defending their home planet, which has made the decision to align with the Seppys? Don't they have every right to decide on their alliances? The Separatists don't have uniformly evil motives; some have been depicted as having legitimate grievances against the Republic. Are we supposed to regard Umbara as "evil" just because it's gloomy and dark?

It's okay if TCW wants to show war being ethically messy - the Republic has to attack Umbara because of those important supply lines or some such - but to focus on the clones exclusively gives us no sense that there's any larger issue at play here. You'd need the Jedi as the mouthpiece for that point of view. Maybe something else for Anakin to stew about.

So any opinions on the most recent episode?

I hated it. I really really hated it.

I'm beginning to wonder WHY should I cheer for the Clones and the Republic. Why should I cheer an INVADING army? We don't know WHY they are trying to take someone's home away, other than they sided with the other guy.

Did this planet attack someone? Build weapons? I don't know. All they said: they have sided with the Separatists. So? Other than they are being duped by Palpatine, we don't know what the Separatists are fighting FOR... other than to leave the Republic, which has been shown to be corrupt.

 

[Silvercrest]

I also loved Ahsoka's casual Force-wave. And it's true she didn't play the part of a slave very well. Actually, it reminded me of Leia posing as a slave -- badly -- in Splinter of the Mind's Eye.

And it appears this time it's Obi-Wan's turn to be a complete moron for no reason. Exactly why did he get rid of his lightsaber? Anakin had to because he was going undercover. But Obi-Wan wasn't doing any such thing. He was just skulking around in the shadows with Rex. Then, when he encounters just one of the missing prisoners, he immediately decides to bust the guy out with no plan at all. He breaks the prisoner out of jail in full view of everyone, kills a guard in the noisiest way possible, tries to ride out in broad daylight, and gets himself shot down. Wow, what a surprise. Dude, if you're planning to fight your way out, you should at least hang on to your weapon.

Anakin wasn't much better, but he has the excuse of being slave-revenge-happy (i.e., he has a good excuse to be stupid and reckless).

 

[O'Dib]

I hated it. I really really hated it.

I'm beginning to wonder WHY should I cheer for the Clones and the Republic. Why should I cheer an INVADING army? We don't know WHY they are trying to take someone's home away, other than they sided with the other guy.

Yeah! Also, why should I cheer for the clones when they're slaughtering Jedi?! Or Anakin while he's impaling younglings?! It's as if something sinister is going on with whoever's calling the shots.

 

[ALF]

I really enjoy seeing Anakin, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka fighting together as it happens so infrequently. I think they are separated over the series to make the times the are together more memorable.

 

[Set Harth]

There are only two actual storylines that require any further attention: "Why Anakin Went Squirrely"

Already covered in ROTS.

I see this series as a separate reality from the movies, since by this point there's no way to match up this storyline with ROTS.

The series is conceived to match up with ROTS, not replace it.

Anakin is a completely different character.

People always say that, but it's still the same character who appears in the opening of ROTS.

Add to that the knowledge he already has from Mortis that everything may continue to spiral out of control unless someone steps in to stop it who is outside both the light and dark sides, and able to control both.

Mortis was all about things we basically already knew. It reinforces that he is the Chosen One and informs the audience ( if not the characters ) that his real destiny is the same thing it always was. It doesn't say that he is "outside" the Force, any more than anyone else is.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

[broken record time]ROTS covered why a stupid, immature, easily-manipulated, puerile little punk named Anakin Skywalker would fall to the dark side. But what the situation is for this entirely different, smarter, more sympathetic, more heroic, character also named Anakin Skywalker is an open question.

Fortunately, the writers of TCW understand this, even if you never will, and are handling the situation nicely. I'm very interested to see what they're cooking up.

The Mortis arc established that Anakin is special among Force users, in that he could (in theory) be beyond both the dark and light sides, and able to control both. This was not previously established in the movies, which had surprisingly little to say about the metaphysics of Anakin's situation (one of the PT's biggest failings in a long, long laundry list of failings). What this actually means is another open question.[/broken record time]

I hated it. I really really hated it.

I'm beginning to wonder WHY should I cheer for the Clones and the Republic. Why should I cheer an INVADING army? We don't know WHY they are trying to take someone's home away, other than they sided with the other guy.

Yeah! Also, why should I cheer for the clones when they're slaughtering Jedi?! Or Anakin while he's impaling younglings?! It's as if something sinister is going on with whoever's calling the shots.

I'm with Professor Zoom on this one - the Umbarans might not have any idea that they're siding with a Sith. Certainly the common troops have no idea. And if they joined the Republic, they'd be just as wrong. Their only moral (and smart) move is to stay neutral, but how are they supposed to know that? The whole situation is tragic, which makes the lack of any recognition of this tragedy kinda icky.

Instead, we just get video-game bravado from the clones and the Umbarans portrayed as a faceless, disposable enemy. It's the tone, not the facts of the storyline, that's off - this is too morally gray a situation to be handled by a kid-show tone.

 

[ALF]

Anakin slaughtered a village of Tusken Raiders before he went batshit in ROTS. I think there's plenty of room for "dark side lurking" stories with Anakin to come. BTW, this ongoing discussion is interesting but when season 5 completes it will be good to discuss the series as a whole as we won't be wondering what else is coming/what are they going to leave out of this. With 3 or 4 episode story arcs, we're getting closer to the end of this series as we have about 6 to 8 standalone stories per season which will have a limited number of possibilities. My wishlist so far:

-Anything involving Obi-Wan/Anakin's position as a jedi. Did Obi Wan already get promoted to the jedi council? Also, did we or did we not see Anakin becoming a knight from being an apprentice? I have searched but can't seem to find that info.
-Palps and Anakin becoming closer over time, maybe we'll see Anakin tell him about the Tusken raider slaughter.
-Padme and Anakin doing something husband-and-wifey... we know that he knocks her up of course, but we also know that they don't see each other for months before ROTS. I hope S5 goes that far into it.
-Ventress' fate. I have no idea what the EU take on this is, but since SWTCW is canon, it will be awesome to see where that goes.
-Ahsoka's fate. I'm really starting to think she'll survive (but maybe not order 66?)
-The Clones - any adjustment to make them even more docile before ROTS? Because this series implies that they are very prone to not taking orders without question as advertised. Maybe the Republic will get a price break or a coupon or something.

It may seem like a lot of fanwank but I'm genuinely curious if any of these elements are important to the writers or not. Good stories always take precedence.

I think it's kind of a shame that we'll never see Anakin fighting Grevious hand to hand - ever!

 

[JD]

I watched the last two episodes earlier today, and I'm glad I did, I really enjoyed them. I'm glad to see them finally addressing Anakin's history and the use of slaves. For some reason it's always kinda bothered me that the Star Wars universe seemed to take such a casual attitude towards slavery.

 

[timothy]

they all so did this story in the comic books as well. I surprised know one has brought that up.

 

[O'Dib]

The word is also.

 

[Set Harth]

But what the situation is for this entirely different, smarter, more sympathetic, more heroic, character also named Anakin Skywalker is an open question.

This series is still intended to fit into the continuity of the films. You're taking your own need to see it as a separate continuity and dragging the writers into it. But there's no proof that their intentions are to rewrite or contradict ROTS.

Fortunately, the writers of TCW understand this, even if you never will, and are handling the situation nicely.

Don't mistake a lack of agreement with your theory for a lack of understanding.

The Mortis arc established that Anakin is special among Force users

We already knew that. It's usually drowned out by all the TPM-related noise.

which had surprisingly little to say about the metaphysics

Destroy Sith, balance Force. That about covers it.

in that he could (in theory) be beyond both the dark and light sides, and able to control both.

I don't think the words "beyond" or "outside" were even used. The idea of using both sides of the Force is really nothing new. Revan does it, and according to the portrayal of certain sources it's not such an unheard-of idea.

Anakin fulfills his destiny by throwing an old man in a hole. That's why he's special. Not that many people could throw an old man in a hole.

 

[timothy]

I think only fallen jedi <(those who used to be jedi) can use both sides of the force.
that's why Revan and several dark or fallen jedi in kotoR 2. those who came up raise as pure sith can only use sith powers. now there are force users out there who can use both sides because they were'nt train in either side of the force.

 

[Admiral_Young]

Filoni has stated in interviews that the closer the show gets towards Revenge of the Sith the more the stories in the series will reflect what was touched on in the film. I suspect that if Season Five turns out to be the final season then we will see more of what billcosby posted. Filoni also stated I believe that the slave issue would be addressed this season.

 

[Set Harth]

Filoni also stated I believe that the slave issue would be addressed this season.

Didn't they do that in a recent episode, or do you mean addressed more?

 

[ALF]

I'm surprised we aren't getting the conclusion tonight!
Indeed the current airing schedule seems to have episode #14 on Jan 12, but no air date listed for #13, the next one? Very unusual.
You know... to air two parts of a three partner and then

 

[Enterprise is Great]

That's just the new trend on tv. They have a cliffhanger midseason for the special Fall finale episode. I guess they trying to ape cable shows that split their seasons in half.