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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Full Series The Clone Wars - Episode 5.7 - A Test of Strength- discussion thread

Discussion in 'Star Wars TV- Completed Shows' started by Seerow, Nov 7, 2012.

  1. Deputy Rick Grimes

    Deputy Rick Grimes Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Sep 3, 2012
    No hes not
     
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  2. Barriss_Coffee

    Barriss_Coffee Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 29, 2003
    Perfect inquisitorius material, that brat boy.
     
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  3. LordMortis315

    LordMortis315 Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 2, 2012
    I really didn't have much to refer to for this, so forgive me if it's lacking coherence:

    Good episode. It was a slight change in feel from being so focused on the spiritual aspect of the Jedi to yet another adventure in the Clone Wars, though it did make sense, in a way: the last episode was about the lightsaber crystals being attuned to the Force, the spiritual side of the Jedi, while this episode introduced the younglings to the physical side of the Jedi, the lightsaber, and the crystals being attuned to that.

    We are introduced to Professor Huyang. It was interesting to have a droid teach the younglings about lightsaber construction instead of Yoda or another Jedi Master, though I guess it showed the progression of teaching methods as time goes on, not unlike now. I remembered teachers telling my class that, back in their day, they had to research from books in the library and hand-write their assignments, all the while lamenting over how easy we have it now, with the Internet and word processing technology. :p Huyang said that the lightsaber is a Jedi's only true ally, which struck me as odd; what about the Force? I wonder if this is because Huyang is a machine, and would thus be biased towards use of the lightsaber. I guess this could be shown as a consequence of the Jedi relying more on technology; they start to lose sight of the spiritual side of the Force. Now we know why they got wiped out by Palpatine and the Empire so early. :p

    Getting back to Huyang, I really liked the scenes where he started fighting. He was able to put up a fight, though he was easily dismantled. But he is a droid, so removing his head will only do so much to remove him. The visual of a headless Huyang talking back at the pirates while still having the headless body do the proper body gestures really cracked me up. As for his voice, while I'm not a Doctor Who fan at all and I absolutely abhor the idea of stunt casting celebrities to do voices when a real voice actor could do the role just as well, I thought David Tennant was good as Huyang.

    Last episode, Petro had the most to learn about, and while he learned to trust in his friends in the last episode, he still hasn't completely learned his lessons. He's still brash and arrogant, as shown by his confidence to challenge Obi-Wan to a duel and being the one to slay General Grievous. While some people may be pissed off at the fact that Petro hasn't completely learned his lessons, I don't mind it as much. He is still young, after all, and being unable to learn his lessons as quickly creates another interesting character flaw that needs resolving, and said resolution should be pretty satisfying.

    That being said, I do have mixed feelings about Petro holding on to his crystal instead of giving it to Huyang. Two lessons were being showcased here: to let go of attachments and trusting in allies. I thought that there would be some consequences to this action. Instead, things go rather smoothly; he used his faulty lightsaber to take down pirates and his crystal practically fell straight into his hands. I do hope all this comes back to bite him back in some way.

    Ah, Hondo Ohnaka. What a complex character in terms of personality. He constantly sways from being an enemy of the Jedi ("Dooku Captured", "The Gungan General", "Bounty Hunters") to an ally ("Lethal Trackdown", "Revival", "Tipping Points"). Here, we learn that this is dictated by his profit. This episode clearly shows his more ruthless and bloodthirsty side, due to the large amount of potential profit from selling off kaiburr crystals. He does show some sign of good when he says that he was willing to be civil had he known that his "old friend" Ahsoka was involved, but this was before this potential profit was lost, and he became incredibly cold towards the captured Ahsoka.

    The moral of this episode is "The young are often underestimated". The six younglings were able to hold their own against the pirates. Granted, Ahsoka was the one to guide them to their positions, but I think she's still considered a young one, so the moral still applies. My favorite part was using the training remotes to disable the pirates. Some of them do end up being surrounded by the pirates, so it's not like these kids are a bunch of Gary Stus and Mary Sues and are somehow implausibly able to take them down, and they do need Ahsoka to rescue them.

    I'll end my thoughts on one final note: After this episode, I still find it amusing that people still consider this arc being geared towards children. Let's see, we've got a point-blank explosion, smoke being used to incapacitate children, and people being sucked into the vacuum of space. Totally for children. :p
     
  4. Order66Survivor

    Order66Survivor Jedi Master star 1

    Registered:
    Nov 10, 2012
    you know what I meant, he's not a core character but he finds himself in way too many arc's. as someone said earlier, that doesnt seem entirely believable
     
  5. Seerow

    Seerow Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jun 7, 2011

    Hondo has only recently become an apparent major player. By the end of the arc he'll be just about caught up with Cad Bane for number appearances. Not unbelievable in my opinion. Its just a little bit of overload for such a short period of time. Hondo and Bane are characters that work best as reoccurring character in small doses. They are just cooler that way. On the other hand TCW seems to be shifting from the old snapshot style storytelling to more direct linear storytelling so Hondo may be needed across these arcs. That's cool as well.
     
  6. LordMortis315

    LordMortis315 Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 2, 2012
    Call me paranoid, but what if someone already recorded dialogue for Huyang before they brought Tennant in? I saw the credits for the episode and it showed Jason Spisak being cast as a generic pirate; you don't bring a voice actor into a studio to play a minor role. I have a feeling that Spisak recorded dialogue for Huyang prior to Tennant being brought in.
     
  7. SeparatistFan

    SeparatistFan Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Oct 19, 2012

    I think that the reason Hondo has been on a lot might be to make up for him not being on S3 and S4. I am happy that he has been on a lot this season, however I would like to see more separatist villains return in the future for big roles like Gunray and Loathsom.
     
  8. Dan_Grievous_Tikkes_Fan

    Dan_Grievous_Tikkes_Fan Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 3, 2012
    SeparatistFan

    I do too...

    MOARRRR GUNRAY!
     
  9. DarthTalgus

    DarthTalgus Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 3, 2012
    We don't need Gunray we need...
    [​IMG]
     
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  10. KenobiSkywalker

    KenobiSkywalker Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 3, 2012
    This message was approved by Dan_Grievous_Tikkes_Fan :D
     
  11. Dan_Grievous_Tikkes_Fan

    Dan_Grievous_Tikkes_Fan Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 3, 2012
    You guys really make me smile with such awesome posts. ;) :p

    It would have been interesting if instead of Hondo, we had Tikkes board the ship of the Younglings and want the crystals for himself. Tikkes has been known to board ships and smuggle goods.




    PS: What I would say to this is:

     
  12. Seanthings

    Seanthings Jedi Padawan

    Registered:
    Feb 8, 2012
  13. Order66Survivor

    Order66Survivor Jedi Master star 1

    Registered:
    Nov 10, 2012
    Seerow Darth Vader

    I understand Hondo's total appearances aren't up there with, say, Cad Bane, but still I feel like it's on the show's staff to not stuff him in so many places at once. i mean he's in the Maul episode, the final Onderon (saves the frikkin' day tho) and now he's smuggling these crystals. I think it could be more spread out.
    All in all, i enjoyed the episode but DarthTalgus said, i am very very very ready to return to some of the Separatist and Republic heroes and villains, and you know, The Clone Wars.

    also i got a good kick from the Dan_Grievous_Tikkes_Fan sequence above as I always do. I really enjoy his posts! (and i guess the one's about him now, too :) )
     
  14. Seerow

    Seerow Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jun 7, 2011
    The thing about that is, while I love the clones, clones vs. droids all the time would get boring. At this point it would seem the title 'The Clone Wars' refers more to events that happened during that time period rather than just the battles. Technically we has republic vs. CIS last arc and a good one it did not make even with the final episode. There is room for an arc that explores the mythos and the training of young Jedi during 'The Clone Wars'.
     
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  15. Seanthings

    Seanthings Jedi Padawan

    Registered:
    Feb 8, 2012
    Exactly. The "Clone Wars" is simply a name to describe a galactic wide event, based on the fact that Clones were heavily involved.
     
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  16. Dan_Grievous_Tikkes_Fan

    Dan_Grievous_Tikkes_Fan Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 3, 2012
    It is always awesome to see somebody who enjoys what you post. ;)

    If it in the end all the events of the show lead back to the war and there are a diverse cast of character then it would never be boring or stupid. MOAR other Clones, other Jedi and more recurring villains.
     
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  17. Order66Survivor

    Order66Survivor Jedi Master star 1

    Registered:
    Nov 10, 2012
    Absolutely true, you're right Seerow the show can't just be all battle. after all in the 6 movies are dominated (rightfully so) by story telling and not battles even though the iconic title is Star Wars.

    However, I don't like the force-feeding of Ashoka down our throats.

    Although if not on screen, they can't keep further degrading powerful core characters like Yoda with overloading backwards speech and embarrassing decision making.

    I guess im in the minority that prefers to see Anakin on screen as much as possible.

    and also Dan_Grievous_Tikkes_Fan i am mostly in TCW section of the Jedi forums and you're a frequent poster i dig your style and input.
     
  18. Deputy Rick Grimes

    Deputy Rick Grimes Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Sep 3, 2012
    Ur not alone :p,
     
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  19. Dan_Grievous_Tikkes_Fan

    Dan_Grievous_Tikkes_Fan Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 3, 2012
    Thank you for the nice words. May the Tikkes be with you! Let's party... [face_party]
     
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  20. Darth_Kiryan

    Darth_Kiryan Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 13, 2009
    Yes, the british VA's make awesome droids. Seriously, C3PO can take a back seat, because that droid was just awesome!
     
  21. Seerow

    Seerow Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jun 7, 2011
    Ahsoka isn't my favorite character but since she is one of the 3 big players it should be no surprise when she gets several appearances a season. Ahsoka did take kinda a back seat in s4. Its to bad Filoni kinda ruined the best of what Ahsoka brought to the table by saying she'll basically be fine until the finale. Most of us figured that anyways but now...
     
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  22. Seanthings

    Seanthings Jedi Padawan

    Registered:
    Feb 8, 2012
    I would LOVE to see 3PO and Huyang arguing. British droid rambling at it's finest.
     
  23. GeneralCIS

    GeneralCIS Jedi Master star 1

    Registered:
    Oct 23, 2012
    This had to be my favourite episode of the season so far and the best cliff hanger. I really like how there is an Ishi tib pirate. I was happy to see Gworm again as well.
     
  24. Seerow

    Seerow Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jun 7, 2011
    This episode is still funny on 3 rewatches. Hard to say if I like it more than Revival.
     
  25. Dan_Grievous_Tikkes_Fan

    Dan_Grievous_Tikkes_Fan Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 3, 2012
    I LOL hard when Hyuang says "HOW DARE YOU!"...