Full Series For Discussion of Old TCW episodes...

Just finished watching the Witches arc...
Nightsisters
Ventress is betrayed by Dooku who is ordered by his Master to get rid of her. Incensed she swears revenge. A nice little flashback sequence into Ventress' past, which tries to keep her original background intact, and I like how they tried to stay true to that as much as they could. I also like how they've tried to keep Ventress 'obsessed' with Obi-Wan whenever they meet in TCW. It's a nice link to events which probably no longer happen before TCW was made. Ventress takes two sisters to assassinate Dooku. And fails but its not for lack of trying. Mother Talzin is suitably creepy.

Monster
Dooku wants a new assassin and commissions Mother Talzin to help him, unaware that he is just a pawn in a game being played by Ventress and Talzin. An Olympic type event is held in which Savage Oppress surrenders his life to Ventress. Ventress takes him and after he is souped up with 'magik' he breaks his own brother's neck. Savage is far too powerful for the Clones and the Jedi he faces and destroys them all. Dooku is very impressed.

Witches of the Mist
Savage's attacks have gained the attention of the Jedi Order. Obi-Wan and Anakin are sent out to find him. First they visit Dathomir and then Toydaria. Anakin is popular with the ladies - apparently. Three way duel between Dooku-Ventress-Savage which still holds up on repeated viewings. Anakin and Obi-Wan are simply no match for Savage who runs back to Mother Talzin only to find he has a brother. A brother who conveniently was once a Sith Apprentice and was cut in half, only to somehow survive that.

Still one of my favourite arcs and is probably one of my most watched arcs.

Up next Mortis, which I intend to watch tonight.

 

My intention in watching the Mortis arc the other day failed to happen so just finished watching these 6 episodes to keep myself on schedule.

Overlords
Anakin, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka find themselves drawn to a mysterious place inhabited by three very strong Force wielders. Qui-Gon appears in ghost form and Ahsoka sees her future self who warns her to leave Anakin if she wants to see her future. Could this have been a possible hint to Ahsoka's eventual leaving the Order in S5? Probably not. Anakin proves that he is the Chosen One by keeping the balance in being able to save both his friends. The visuals in this episode are stunning.

Altar of Mortis
Ahsoka is kidnapped, turns to the dark side forcefully, fights Anakin and Obi-Wan, gets murdered and is brought back to life. Obi-Wan is led to a rather handy knife/sword that has the power to kill the Son for good. Presumably they are not allowed to retrieve the sword themselves, so how did the sword get to that cavern in the first place? I liked evil Ahsoka. Oh, and Anakin thinks he is right in rushing off after Ahsoka, when it would have been better to do what Obi-Wan told him to do.

Ghost of Mortis
Anakin turns to the dark side to stop himself from turning to the dark side and doing terrible things. You would have thought that Anakin seeing his future would have been a big hint to not join with the Son but no, he appears to be very gullible. Conveniently, he forgets everything, which makes the whole episode pointless. Ahsoka is relegated to mechanic... Why? Though she's seen fixing ships before with Anakin, I don't think she's been responsible to fix an entire one before. Seems silly for her to do that when Anakin is the better of the two.

The Citadel
Even Piell is captured. Anakin and Obi-Wan mount a rescue mission. Ahsoka disobeys and sneaks on board. Conveniently something goes wrong and her being there is very useful. Lots of traps set up around the place but that doesn't stop the Jedi and their clones from rescuing Piell and his officers. Oh, look its the guy who will one day hold Vader on a leash: Tarkin!

Counterattack
The groups split up. Wouldn't it have been better to stay together and follow the pipe exit? After dropping the group off, R2 could have gone to the landing pad with preloaded supplies and waited for them there without arousing suspicion. If they were suspicious about the landing pad on one side, why didn't Obi-Wan go and investigate the other side on his own, just in case, so that the whole group wouldn't be captured if something went wrong? Tarkin doesn't like Ahsoka. Some good action pieces however make this episode stand-out despite my criticisms which don't detract from the overall episode: they are just observations. Oh and Echo dies, a shame that. Sad music to accompany it too.

Citadel Rescue
A dash across the landscape to escape to the pick-up point. Piell is killed where Ahsoka admits to him that she never got permission to join the team but still receives the co-ordinates for the Nexas Route. Ahsoka saves Tarkin's life. He compliments? Anakin on training her, though the distaste is there. Good to see a few different Jedi join in with the rescue at the end, a shame that neither of them could have been involved in the wider mission. Anakin has made a new 'friend' according to Obi-Wan regarding Tarkin.

Overall, two very good arcs and they remain some of my favourite and enjoyable arcs to watch over and over again.

 

Padawan Lost
Ahsoka is captured by Trandoshans and hunted down for sport. Is found by three other Jedi younglings who have adult voices. By the way they look, they look older then Ahsoka and should be Padawans before her. Ahsoka gives them some spirit and Kalifa pays for it. At least she is released from the horror that she is in.

Wookie Hunt
Ahsoka and the two other younglings strike back, rescue a Wookie who just turns out to be the future co-pilot of the Millennium Falcon. It's a small world after all...
Ahsoka understands Wookie, the other two don't, they raid the crushed ship and Chewie constructs a device which signals the Wookies on his home world who come to rescue them just as the four huntees are trying to take over the Trandoshan base. Anakin and Ahsoka are reunited. Yoda looks on with interest, possibly even thinking that Ahsoka has done something positive for Anakin, IMO.

Up next... the Mon Cal arc.

 

I've watched all those episodes in the last few weeks as well. TCW is one of the greatest shows of all-time in general and especially on re-watches.

 

Water War
Prince Lee-Char's father is killed and civil war breaks out between the Mon Calamari and the Quarren. The Quarren are aided by the Separatists. By a shark commander. They could not come up with anything different? Padme and Anakin are soon joined by Ahsoka and Kit Fisto. It's good to see another Jedi involved in the war. Ackbar is a welcome addition to the story but lets add him to the list of OT characters that Ahsoka has met in the past three arcs (Tarkin, Chewie and now Ackbar). It just so happens that lightsabers can now work underwater. An explanation would have been nice.

Gungan Attack
The Gungans come to their aid after Jar Jar tells them they have to help. There thinking time is ridiculously short. Nossor-Ri is having doubts as he deals with Riff Tamson. Even with reinforcements the Republic still fail to win. Anakin, Padme, Fisto and Jar Jar are captured leaving Ahsoka to defend the prince.

Prisoners
Jar Jar has some use when Padme's helmet is attacked by Tamson. Convenient. I'm pretty sure that the Jedi would have been escape their electrified prisons. The prince is finally captured but his speech to Nossor-Ri pulls him into action and he aids in freeing the planet from Tamson. Tamson is blown up. Everything is well.

A very underwhelming arc.

After such a great run of episodes, this arc is disappointing.

 

Shadow Warrior
Apparently Gungans can do magic. Or was it the Force? This episode is another way to show Anakin and Padme working together. With Grievous captured, and Anakin held by Dooku, Padme has to make a decision. There should have been more of a struggle rather then blatantly being told to do it by the Gungan leader. Still, I suppose the Republic never really learned they had Grievous in custody.

Mercy Mission and Nomad Droids
What the hell did I just sit through? R2 and C-3PO episodes are just... I just can't really see it. In the grand scheme of things these episodes seem pointless. Also, what was up with Adi Gallia's voice?

 

She must have come down with a bad case of the Blue Shadow Virus flu.

 

hlc88 regarding the Gungan witch doctor in Shadow Warrior, I apply the same logic as I do the Nightsisters. Even if they don't call it the Force like the Jedi and Sith, they're tapping into the same thing.

 

I, for one, thought the S4 Droids duology was pretty great. It had a lot of wierd and odd qualities but was still so much fun and entertaining.

 

Same.
I would much rather watch them than the last arc of the show, for instance.

 

Thirded. Those two need more adventures together.

 

The S4 droids episodes are the only ones I like, good stuff.

 

The S4 droid episodes weren't that bad. How can you not enjoy R2 squashing the Big Hay-Zu?

 

Well, that part made me laugh

 

Ugh, that fairy.

 

My favorite part of Nomad Droids is the Conan-esque gladiator scene, great segue into the climax of the episode.

 

The Umbaran arc
Doing something a little different for this arc... I can't really comment on every episode as they are all brilliant. I like everything about it... It's a nice prelude to Order 66 with the clones turning on their Jedi General. Pong Krell deserved it though. He didn't treat the clones as living beings. It also gives Rex some great development and if the show hadn't been cancelled I can see this arc reflecting later on Rex's ultimate fate. It's a shame that some good Clones had to die in this arc. I almost feel sorry for Pong's loyal commander. Used and manipulated.

This was my only second viewing of this arc and my opinion has changed since I saw it. Didn't enjoy it the first time as much but this time it was better. It should be edited into a movie.

 

One thing I strongly dislike about the Umbara arc is that there's no mention of the fact that the clones are fighting against the will of Umbara's population.

 

Kidnapped
The planet Kiros' population has vanished, their world invaded by the Separatists. Anakin, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka go to investigate. Obi-Wan, in his first major role for a few arcs, spends the episode getting beaten up. Anakin and Ahsoka disarm bombs though why didn't they just use their Force senses? If there was no life why try to disarm the bombs? The episode does seem a bit pointless.

Slaves of the Republic
The trio and Rex go to Zigerria. Anakin flirts with the queen, Ahsoke poses as a slave but fails miserably, and Obi-Wan tries to find the governor of Kiros but ends up getting captured and is once again tortured, then to add to his misery he is presented in the slave auction. After a brief attempt to escape, all three of our heroes are captured. Ahsoka is put in a cage, Anakin becomes the personal slave of the queen and Obi-Wan is sent to a prison planet to be processed.

Escape from Kadavo
The queen is getting too bold and Dooku is ordered to deal with the queen. Obi-Wan continues to suffer. Anakin manages to escape, frees Ahsoka, battles Dooku and rescues the queen. Plo Koon arrives at Kadavo with Anakin and Ahsoka to rescue the slaves. Rex has the best line: "I'm no Jedi.". Ahsoka somehow gets the praise for her endeavors.

A Friend in Need
Ahsoka accompanies Padme to Mandalore where Lux Bonteri storms into negotiations. Ahsoka ends up saving him only to help him to escape and for him to stun her as he seeks to join with Death Watch to avenge his mother's death. R2 is the hero here: for without him Ahsoka wouldn't have been able to decapitate four Mandalorian warriors. Vizsla still hates the Jedi.

 

Something I always wondered about that whole arc: What was the Shilian gov't doing at the time? Is Kiros a territory of theirs or an independent colony that just happens to be populated by Togruta? Is Shili another of these little planets with barely any of their own forces (like Naboo) or is it a major player or multiplanet entity with significant space forces of its own? I mean, so far I think about the only thing we know about it is that it has a princess (Princess Vashee). That's it. Unless I'm missing some EUery that deals with it.

If it was a mutliplanet entity or even a majory wealthy single planet entity with some capital warships of its own, you'd think they'd be heading over to Zygerria and threatening them with a BDZ if the slaves weren't released. Of course if Kiros wasn't a territory of theirs they might see no need to. Species in SW is kinda analogous to race/ethnicity on Earth, and people of the same species as you getting screwed over wouldn't in and of itself be a reason to go all expeditionary force.

 

Just watched Sphere Of Influence. The best part of the episode was seeing George Lucas himself (aka Baron Papanoida) transform into a hardcore gunslinger.

Get 'em, George!

 

I wonder who got promoted after coming up with that idea..

 

Lucas himself should have voiced Papanoida in the episode (now that would have been pretty cool).