Full Series The Clone Wars - Episode 5.11 - A Sunny Day In The Void - discussion thread

Okay, this was an interesting one:

- Back at CVI they showed quite a bit of the comet shower scene, with John Williams' Asteroid Field music as a temp track and it was AMAZING, it perfectly clicked together, you felt the danger of the moment. Star Tours 1 meets TESB in an original TCW story. Yet on the episode we got a *really* bland, unexciting track by Kevin Kiner. WHY. Why couldn't they just have Kiner rescore that exact track with his own twist. I just don't get why TCW holds itself back from making use of the incredible score at their disposal. Even Filoni gushed about how awesome it feels to him having his show playing to JW's score. Then why not use it?! We had re-imagings of Yoda's theme, Leia's theme, the Imperial March, the Coruscant Chase, etc. So what's the argument to go for a "lesser" track?

- Okay, THE VOID. Next to Umbara and the Citadel planet, this is possibly one of the most visually memorable planets on the show yet. It was simply stunning! The fact it was such a barren land gave them the chance to create a scope I don't think we've ever seen on the show. It felt like something you'd see on Genndy Tartakovsky's shows.
I got near-vertigo at least twice as a result of the vastness of the location. Once during that tracking shot that starts on a downward angle on the Colonel running, then the camera gets on his eye level and you see that endless horizon appear.

- WAC and the Colonel's usual individual behaviors got annoying very fast, although I did find it hilarious that the Colonel gets stuck on a planet without any discernible terrain out of all places, making it impossible for him to create a map to go by.

- I loved that flock of snake-birds down to the fact their eyes are nearly completely closed as a result of them adapting to their dry environment. What a great scene!

- The dried-up dirt and corrosion on our characters and the wreckage were given the perfect attention to detail.

- That POV shot of the Colonel looking up at the reflection of himself in WAC's eye are exactly the kind of imaginative shots I'd love to see a lot more of on the show. In fact, the whole episode was full of brilliantly staged shots.

- At first I thought the wreckage dissolved under the non-existent sun really quickly, then I thought it was a time paradox planet, with the time running different speeds in individual zones (not logical perhaps, but it sounds neat)

- The Colonel crawling up the old wreckage to get a better view of the areas also stood out for me, because it actual made use of the characters frog-like sticky toes.

So yeah, while I think they went overboard on WAC's know-it-all moments and the Colonel's despair, this episode proved to be one of the visually most impressive episodes on the series yet. Definitely one the season's highlights to me.

 

So how was this episode supposed to be Mœbius

 

I am actually wondering that as well. Maybe the Trivia soon will explain it...

 

I can't believe they're wasting these episodes on droids. I wouldn't have minded it if they used Jedi in this storyline, instead. But to waste this mission it on friggin droids and some stupid alien? What's the point? I mean, again, they love showing the ineptitude of the Jedi, when they should be fully capable of pulling this off, themselves.

 

In the first episode I thought it showed the desperacy of the Jedi/Republic and how they're struggling, but in the second episode I realized it was just "we need filler episodes".

What was the white surface on the planet? At first I thought it was ice but obviously not, is it dry salt or something?

 

I think it's supposed to be salt flats; like in Utah.

 

Back at CVI they showed quite a bit of the comet shower scene, with John Williams' Asteroid Field music as a temp track and it was AMAZING, it perfectly clicked together, you felt the danger of the moment. Star Tours 1 meets TESB in an original TCW story. Yet on the episode we got a *really* bland, unexciting track by Kevin Kiner. WHY.


I totally agree... I think if the show used more of John Williams music, it would feel more like SW. Cause now with this 4th ruined preview clip from a Con, it is really sad to see them in the show in the end WITHOUT the awesome track.

The same happened with a Dooku vs Nightsisters clip from S3, the same happened to Ahsoka on Carlac clip from S4 and I am sure the same will happen with the Gregor clip we got a little while back. It will be KevinKinerized.

 

This was a pretty good episode; not great and not so bad either (and it's got one of the oddest titles on the show yet). I really liked the animation (the comet storm scene looked great and I like the design of Abafar), I thought WAC was better here than in the last episode since they toned down his cockiness and put-on toughness a bit and watching Gascon gradually losing it and ends up freaking out completely and dances around while laughing was pretty funny (as was WAC's suggestion that Gascon maybe was about to kill himself when standing on top of the old broken ship). The design of those bird-things was something else I liked, they looked pretty wierd but still Star Warsy & definitely made me think of Jurassic Park a bit; also, the lack of action didn't bother me at all.

Also, when I think of it, R2 and the other astromechs were kind of a-holes for leaving Gascon and WAC behind; what if the two of them never would have encountered the herd of bird-things and died respectively shut down? I know Gascon was boasting about his superiority and was then losing his mind and WAC tried to make himself the leader, but IMO, those are no reasons to just abandon them in the middle of nowhere. Overall, it was an okay episode with some good and entertaining parts.

 

R2 was a total jerk if you ask me. But after all, this awesome episode was not about R2. It was about Gascon and WAC.

And true, this episode has had some great visual moments with the comets and Abafar.

 

In the end, I simply found it boring.
That pit droid and the colonel jetpacked their way onto the top tier of my "Least Favorite SW Things" in the previous episode, in this one they made their permanent residence there.

I am all for SW getting serious from time to time and asking some "heavy" questions, but The Clone Wars usually does that very ineptly. You can't easily pack a decent deep question and consider it and (maybe) provide some thoughts on it in the mere 22 minutes of animation. It can be done, but not easily and not often.

Leaving this as a cliffhanger is probably the worst part of it. I got annoyed for 20 minutes by an alien whose almost every aspect is annoying to me and a droid who is equally unnecessary, waiting for something to happen, ANYTHING really...and then the image zoomed out and it was over.
Very, very disappointing.

Give us Maul, Savage, Ventress, Dooku, Yoda, Mace, CLONES! Mandalorians! Action! If we're gonna have a "deep" philosophical discussion, I'd rather have it expressed through Dooku's or Kenobi's character, for example. Not through some idiotic frog colonel and a pit droid.

 

OK, went ahead and watched it. You guys said it was trippy and artsy. To me it seemed more.. random.

-Empty egg-colored planet.

-Tiny Toad is bipolar.

-WAC is annoying. He should become Ahsoka's Padawan assistant by the end of the arc.

 

They should at least shake hands.

 

The odds of successfully navigating a space comet field are approximately 4970 to 1. Unless you have a character with an invincibility shield. Then nothing can stop you.
Better than last week, but I'm still mixed on this episode.
+ Great opening sequence with the comet storm. I really liked how the droids helped to rescue one another.
+ WAC-47 makes some very grim comments: "when you die, I should lead D-squad." "maybe he is going to jump and put himself out of his misery." This last comment seemed very much in contrast with WAC-47's typically upbeat, positive, wacky attitude and certainly caused me to ponder on the difference between droid "programming" and sentient-being "programming".
+ Gascon making a plea to be given a sign and then WAC-47 saying that he does not know who Gascon is talking to - perhaps whoever "programmed" Gascon. Interesting philosophical addition to this episode.
+ Gascon seeing a mirage and then going cuckoo when the mirage dissipated. Is this the way organic's "programming" short-circuits while the droids' programming simply continues unfazed on its prime directive?
+ Gascon falling into despair and wondering if he's died and entered limbo. Again, another interesting philosophical addition to the episode.
+ Love R2-D2 chirping boastfully at successfully leading the other astro-mechs and still having the encryption key.

= Ambivalent on the starkness of the void. Obviously not as detailed and vibrant as an episode such as in the Mortis arc, Padawan Lost, Umbara arc, Slavers arc, etc.
Certainly this episode is very experimental and not anything that could be continued beyond this. There's just so much anyone can take of pure desolation and "nothing-ness".
I imagine this will be the only episode (arc) experimenting with a "void" concept.

- Wackiness of WAC-47 - toned down from last episode, but still a bit much.
- "I do not see anything either, R2. He should have jumped." - comment by WAC-47 promoting suicide seemed too dark and very odd from WAC-47.

 

rumblewagon

I think that was the point. To express how there is NOTHING compared to other worlds we have seen. Especially after the look of Onderon.

 

I agree. A very interesting, thought-provoking concept. I'm not sure how anything could live or survive in a void or "nothing". I'm curious at how those bird things have managed to do it. Perhaps we'll get more answers on how one survives in a void when we meet Gregor.

 

The big twist is that we actually get the first Clone Wars appearance of Gregor... Clegane.

 

Never apologize!
Never surrender!

You're as cuckoo as Gascon in a void!

 

I was not saying that- I honestly liked the episode because it entertained me and in addition to that it had nothing wrong.....

Yeah- Potc 3 was filmed in Utah I think where there is such surrealistic salt desert.

 

"He should have jumped."

Christ, what an *******.

 

I think it was great decision not to use the jedi and Gascon is not stupid alien IMO- he is actually pretty interesting character. There is a lot of jedi-centered stuff in TCW anyway.

 

I forgot to mention, I got a laugh out of the two instances where WAC assumed Gascon might be considering to commit suicide.
For a wacky, naive droid character to possibly come to such a cynical conclusion was something I did not expect.

 

Guide is up... Maybe we will get some info out of it...

http://starwars.com/explore/the-clone-wars/ep511/

 

Wac really was very cynical in this episode- that adds a lot to his character though. When he first appeared I was like "Oh my goodness- is he Jar Jar in a droid form?" but now I know that he is very different.

 

Very, very interesting commentary from Brent Friedman on this episode:
http://www.starwars.com/explore/the-clone-wars/ep511/#!/media/commentary

I'm quite impressed on his willingness to take on the challenge of the "nothingness" concept.

 

Gascon has been drinking way too much in this episode