Full Series Grade the Episode: 109: Cloak of Darkness

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Now that you've watched this episode again, how would you rate it?

Remember, unlike our Season 3 polls, please feel free to discuss the episode as much as you'd like in this thread. Did the episode seem any different than the first time you saw it?

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Grade average (34 votes): 8.55

 

Greeee! Always fun to see the boys in green..

 

Just watched it, hehe.

Giving it a 9! (Rating unchanged)

Very good episode... SEPARATIST WIN!

The choreography in the three-way duel is really good... Ahsoka ducking out of the way when Luminara attacks... looks really fluent.

 

10; the Ahsoka randomly being with Luminara didn't bother me very much anymore

 

My first 10 of the series. Don't let your over-confidence give your opponents an advantage. An appearance by Darth Sidious is always good cause for high points. The style of the detention block has a definite Star Wars vibe. Luminara basically reading Gunray's mind is awesome. Then we get to see exactly what tactics Ahsoka has been learning from Anakin...and we get to hear what a more traditional Jedi thinks of such tactics (this scene is a high point of TCW for me). Any time I get to see legions of battle droids versus legions of clones is a good time. First-person view of Ventress slaying a clone really puts you there. The hallways basically looking like Death Star/Star Destroyer hallways is a definite plus. The droid from the Jawa Sandcrawler in Ep. IV is an excellent touch. Luminara ripping through battle droids and Ventress tossing a guard with the Force are intense moments. Gunray's "delicious irony." Ventress' somersault down the hallway looks great. The duel between Ventress and Luminara is also packed with excitement.

I think there is a possibility that this choice by Luminara could have been one of the things Yoda may have been thinking about when he said even the more experienced Jedi are getting arrogant in Ep. III. I'm glad she realizes almost immediately that she was wrong, although in my opinion she was still partially right because someone should have stayed behind to protect Gunray.

The duel with both Luminara and Ahsoka versus Ventress is my favorite lightsaber fight of TCW, Ventress' cackling is just too classic. The whole thing with Argyus (sp?) wasn't too unpredictable, but was made classic by Ventress' cold-blooded killing of him which I didn't predict (the way it looked plus the very fact that they really showed it), and was even further enhanced by Gunray's double "good feeling about you" lines. The shot the episode closes with of Luminara on the bridge is also classic in my book.

This episode is just about as perfect as I feel I can realistically expect this series to get. All the main characters look very accurate, there's NO battle droid antics/"humor," traditional Star Wars environments, tons of action plus a moral component, lightsaber duels plus clone/battle droid firefights, Force-usage plus Jedi philosophy.

EDIT: What was originally a very masculine WALL-OF-TEXT has been split up for your reading convenience.

 

Why, thank you Tarkas. Besides, I agree with every point you make. Fabulous episode that made Season 1 a whole lot better.

P.S. Whoever give all of these episodes a 1 needs to stop. The opinion thing is fine, but if the most likely scenario that this person isn't serious, it's getting annoying now, really.

 

10 my favorite of the first 10 episodes along with Rookies- ok in fact this is 9,5 because jedi have invulnerable feet in this episode- that bothered me a bit Luminara has heavy pipe falling down to her legs and Ahsoka has bomb blowing up to her feet and yet both are ok and able to walk after that ......

setting that aside- awesome stuff- love the Gunray, Asajj, Arguys, Gree - Luminara and Ahsoka is wonderful pairing- and this was the first time we actually saw Luminara speak- ok she does in old games but anyway- and she has a lovely voice .... with Shaak Ti she is definitely my fav female jedi- never liked Aayla much...

boarding and battles were good- supers are actually effective in battle against clones which is glad to see after Duel of the Droids etc. where all droids had pretty much 0-effectiveness-..... Ventress is cool in this- way she embarass Ahsoka by kicking her to the cell is one of the moments we can use to
reverse claim "Ahsoka is Mary Sue" how can Mary Sue be in such embarassing situation being literally kicked in the *ss by a bad guy that is against nature of Mary Sue who only kicks *ss and is never ever kicked in the *ss ......

Anyway Ventress is able to survive against one jedi master and padawan she is not totally loser after all- i didn't saw any previews for this so couldn't know Arguys is traitor- it was in fact a surprise to me and welcome- and it was nice to see baddies winning for once- Gunray doesn't rot in the cell with other seps....

 

Haven't re-watched it so I'm not voting but I remember enjoying this episode, despite the fact that they trashed Luminara to make Ahsoka look good (which I find infuriating), the extreme arrogance of Luminara was completely out of character.

Ventress was done quite well in this episode and it was the first time I realized she always has explosives planted somewhere.

 

OK I'm doing another commentary-as-I-go. So be prepared for a long read.

-OK first thing...what the hell is up with Gree's hair? I mean I know it was in the movie and a couple of other episodes too but, come on. Did someone just randomly attack him with a razor and cut a streak right through the middle?
-Do like the Senate Commandos in this.
-That shot of Dooku going "She is a gifted assassin blah blah blah" really looks like a painting. Actually, all shots of his face on that bridge look like a painting. Not that it's a problem or anything.
-I like how Sidious never forgets when someone fails.
-Uh, when Dooku stands up his cape vanishes. Explanation pl0x?
-Hehehe. Gunray is hilarious in this one. I also think his alien face copes better with wooden animation than humanlike faces like Gree/Luminara.
-Ah, sometimes my own beloved British accent comes back to haunt me. "If you are merely a porn..." Yes I do think this every time.
-Lol TTOM Ahsoka? Jeez that was an out-of-the-blue outburst. Scald her Master Luminara.
-I'm digging the design of the boarding ships.
-Do enjoy the clones running to the weapon rack. Little things like that help bring the ships to life.
-Uh what's with the random cash register *ding* sound every time a droid pops out? Other than that, this little skirmish is one of my favourites from S1.
-Was one of those clones dual-wielding? Sweet.
-ROCKET LAWNCHAIRS R 4 NOOBZ SRSLY WTF that's so cheap and unfair to the clones.
-Wow Gree walks like a protocol droid. That's so uncomfortable to watch. It's like he has a really bad wedgie underneath his ass-plate.
-Loved Gunray's sudden realisation that the droids might be there to shoot him.
-Ventress you missed the whole fight! Stop camping up there and help your teammates out!
-Ha, the scene in the engine room is classic. Poor 327-TE Also I didn't know clones could speak droid. I thought astromechs had a little Basic readout on one of the monitors on their face.
-Oh the sarcasm between Ahsoka and Gunray is delicious.
-"If it isn't the hairless harpie." Please stop this now. "If it isn't Skywalker's filthy, obnoxious little pet." Hehehe, ok we're good again. "How nice of you. Tell you what, I'll give you a merciful death." Ok seriously shut up Ahsoka.
-"Over here! Open this door and I'll buy you a planet!" LOVE. IT. So makes up for the arrogant Padawan boasting while she gets her ass stomped.
-Immediately followed by Ahsoka's major FAIL
-And then the next classic line from Gunray. "Ohohoho. Oh yes, YES. Such delicious irony. How do you like your room now, youngling?" I also liked how they showed him flinch when Ahsoka hit the door-shield thing. Reminding us that the Viceroy is still a massive coward.
-Ahsoka's time in prison was a tad short-lived.
-OMG did Ventress activate those bombs with the Force?
-Lol Ahsoka nearly got splatted by an elevator.
-Dear God, stop over-pronunciating those "S" sounds Luminara.
-Shut up Ahsoka with the nicknames.
-All aboard the gullible express! Choo choo!
-I do like Ventress slicing the pipe to get Luminara in the face. Just what a wannabe-Sith would do, almost as cheap as the ROCKET LAWNCHAIRZ from earlier.
-The Ventress/Luminara taunting dialogue is great.
-"All I know is, I never risk my own skin if I don't have to."
*Everyone gives Gunray this look
[image=http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z206/nexoriator/Awesome%20Face/suspiciousawesome-3.gif]
"What?" Hehehe, this guy is hilarious.
-Ah yes, the infamous "Indestructible leg" scene.
-Oh look who turns up just in time to save Luminara, who frankly deserved to die for her major in FAIL 10 seconds ago. How convenient.
-OMGWTFBBQ Argyus is a TRAITOR?!
-"Oh do shut up. Count Dooku is paying me a fortune to deliver your slimy carcass, so please, try to stay alive." Love this line.
-This is a particularly grating conversation Master Luminara and Padawan Tano are ha

 

Luminara hardly had any character before this- not in higher canon anyway- i remember she was extremely boring in The Approaching Storm like everything else in that novel - where she even appeared elsewhere?- her first appearance is novel also- but she had just a minor cameo in "Cloak of Deception" LOL she has some odd thing with cloaks

Comics focus mainly on Aayla and Quinlan Vos- old CW had just Luminara as one of the superjedi- is there any EU-material where she actually is "character" before this episode?

webcomic explains that- it was Anakin who sent Ahsoka there..... while newsreel said council dispatched them both... well....i guess monkeylizard did it!

Change padawans Anakin and Luminara- i like Luminara-Ahsoka team better - but Barriss is almost as old as Anakin......

 

Have you mentioned the microseries appearance? You know, the one on Ilum where she's going "The crystal is the heart of the blade..." etc.

 

read again i mentioned her being one of the superjedi in CW...... that speech was completely in line with this arrogance thing- after all she said Barriss is completely trained- and she was not in old 2002 The Clone Wars game Luminara is giving orders to Mace Windu on Geonosis- really Windu outranks her- she is not even in the council- she definitely is arrogant
Luminara: "Mace you need to...."
Mace: "Damn you ******** b**** don't give me ******** orders i ******** outrank you!"

 

I thought you meant all old CW material, ie. comics mostly.

 

Genndy's series is part of 'the old material' is it not?
Still she is fairly rare in comics it seems....

 

Luminara is a major character in The Approaching Storm, which I enjoyed. Yes, she's characterized, no she isn't arrogant. She's portrayed the same way in a smaller cameo in the MedStar novels, which feature Barriss as a major character.

Luminara as extremely arrogant to the point of stupidity is way out of character, she's portrayed as one of the more humble Jedi.

I don't remember her being overconfident in any of the novels, but I do remember her being very realistic about her chances when she was facing difficult odds. (she thought she was going to die)

It doesn't really matter because she was only dragged through the mud in TCW to make Ahsoka look good.

Furthermore, she doesn't seem arrogant at all in the Geonosis trilogy, I guess she learned her lesson or changed her personality quite quickly, something an arrogant person wouldn't do.

Same old story, the bratty and annoying - I mean snarky and fun - young girl character who's "cool" because she makes the adults look dumb.

 

First i thought Approaching Storm was extremely boring book..... secondly i think humble jedi-characters (not meaning our dear friend Humble ) are mainly boring as well..... besides Luminara speaks this classic jedi stuff here- don't see her that arrogant in this- she just underestimates Ventress.... Ahsoka is the arrogant one....

Well i see it another way around this ep made me to like Luminara and i thought this made Ahsoka to look pretty bad as well (her way to interrogate Gunray showed how unjedilike she is) and dumb- way she was kicked in that cell was hilarious-
and while she first promised "merciful death"to Asajj later she asks Arguys and others to shoot her- really makes her pretty coward "you shoot her since i cannot defeat her alone!" this made Ahsoka to look very reckless.....and Luminara saved her from unepic death being crushed by an elevator
Ahsoka made herself to look like total fool many times over.....

while she later rescued Luminara i still doesn't see this as great Ahsoka shines moment- maybe it was meant to be that way but well....when i saw this for the first time i was not fan of Ahsoka at all and still she didn't bother me in this since she mainly fooled around and disobeyed orders- Luminara was arrogant but somehow i like imperfect jedi more interesting than boring jedi who always keep to the code and are so damn humble....

this ep made Luminara to look good and interesting in my eyes and Ventress to look strong and cunning but Ahsoka was mostly irritating in this, overconfident etc.

 

9/10

Great episode. The lightsaber battle between the 3 in particular is a highlight, and even Gunray's final "good feeling about you" (to Argyus, and then Ventress) works extremely well as a closer. Some predictability as the plot unfolded (it was pretty obvious to me from the get-go that Argyus was going to be the traitor for example) but still a grand episode overall.

 

8/10

Paul Dini.

 

Gave it an 8. This episode had good things going for it. Ventress' infiltration of the ship, Gunray's flip-flopping on whether to cooperate or not, the dialogue at times was pretty good(especially the little go between with Luminara and Ventress where Luminara insults Ventress' fighting style), the betrayal by Argyus, and the betrayal of Argyus. I think they balanced out Ahsoka well in this episode too, she was not overpowered really but still shown to be a gifted Jedi.

 

I should have given this one a 10. I don't even know why I gave it only a 9.

Someone mark up your score one point to compensate for my vote.

Also, Luminara rocks. She's my favourite Jedi, despite (or maybe even because of) her flaws. She's just too awesome.

 

Yeah Luminara is awesome her arrogance just makes her better imo.....

Yeah in fact that made me to think that Dooku probably taught Luminara in lightsaber-arts- that's why Luminara knows so well his fighting style- besides "sloppy" was term Dooku used from Savage Opress- so i guess he used that from Ventress too - that's why Luminara's comment about Ventress style being sloppy hit so hard it reminded her of Dooku being disappointed to her - perhaps Dooku already used that term as jedi so Luminara knows he is very cruel teacher- calling student sloppy is not very encouraging....

in webcomic Keelyvine Reus says Dooku taught her in saber arts and was very demanding teacher- i could imagine Keelyvine is Luminara's generation (or close friend- since Keelyvine specifically mentions her when commenting Obi-Wan and Anakin's way to talk).... anyway there is certain depth in that scene intentional or not....

 

9/10.

Can someone please get Paul Dini to write more episodes? Such a great script, and this is maybe the best we've ever seen Gunray. He is just the best.

Points docked for Ahsoka being a little over-the-top, and I think they could have framed the falling pipe and exploding bomb a bit better. Finally, Ventress' cackling was terrible and the animation looked weird, really took me out of the moment.

But overall, the episode is of such high quality, and we actually get a Separatist victory, so 9/10.

Episodes like this and Rookiees illustrate that the show can flourish without having to focus on Anakin/Obi-Wan all the time.

 

I'm assuming that was fully intentional Garth?

 

agreed Nute is simply the best

disagreed- it was great

 

That laugh