Full Series Grade the Episode: S05E16: Lawless

I've decided this is my first 10 of the season. I seriously considered rating it a 9 because there was absolute zero explanation for Obi-Wan Kenobi going to Mandalore by himself after the Jedi Council said they couldn't intervene and I think that's a problem, but it's not a contradiction, and there are enough things it gets bonus points for to put it over the top. Authentic Ep. IV vibe from Obi-Wan flying the Twilight in falling-apart status and how he got his Death Watch uniform, when Darth Maul says out loud that he doesn't want to kill Obi-Wan because the point is to make him suffer it justifies not killing him in Revenge, Obi-Wan's face and silence when Satine gets killed, Kevin Kiner uses the Emperor's theme from Ep. VI, probably Ian Abercrombie's best (and most MacDiarmid-like) performance, the twist of Bo-Katan being Satine's sister plus Obi-Wan's Ep. III-nod in referring to it, Darth Sidious Force-choking two Mandalorian guards plus killing two more by lifting them really high into the air and slamming them into the wall with the Force, the choreography of the Sidious/Maul/Savage duel was some of the best of the series and really captured MacDiarmid's style in Ep. III (something they probably couldn't have pulled off before), the fact that that duel actually happened, Sidious' reasons for the duel, Sidious talking about his Sith philosophy, and my favorite TCW original character Savage Opress having the perfect death solidifying his place in Star Wars as an "evil" (or dark side) parallel to Luke Skywalker.

 

Point taken.

 

I actually thought the neutrality notion was used well and believably here, and not a plot contrivance. It's ironic that the neutrality that Satine fought so hard for in Season 2 was the reason more Jedi couldn't come to Sundari and save her and her people. In fact, I thought the talk of jurisdiction was very realistic and proved that the Republic, and the Jedi still have Galactic laws to adhere to.

 

Nothing really more to say that hasn't already been said here. I gave it a 9. It's definitely not perfect, but it's about as close as TCW has come or is capable of coming, IMO. I don't think I've given a 10, and I think my only other 9's would be Rookies and Carnage of Krell.

 

Wow, 33 10/10s, that's the most a poll for any episode has ever gotten.

 

8/10. Wasn't quite as good as the first two episodes in this arc but it was still worth the watch. Sidious was also amazing in this episode.

 

False.

http://boards.theforce.net/threads/grade-the-episode-315-overlords.31520535/

 

... Alright so 4 short.

 

Higher % though

 

I gave this episode an 8/10 and not a perfect 10 for a couple of reasons. First and foremost being the piteous way Darth Maul behaved at the end. Seriously?! Is this the Darth Maul we've been used to? Also, I really hated the way they drew the darksaber for this entire arc.

Otherwise, I thought the episode was great from the opening dedication - I had an opportunity to strike up an acquaintence with the late Ian Abercrombie. He was a talented, humorous and downright friskie man who, in my opinion, never received enough credit for his diverse body of work. - to the death of Satine and revelation as to her sister. I applaud the way Savage died as well and I loved his parting words. Sidious' fight with the brothers was terrific, I just disliked Maul's begging for mercy at the end. This fight was just what I expected as I knew that Sidious held strictly by the Rule of Two. Excellent episode.

 

Hi. I gave this episode a 6 out of 10. I gave the first two episodes of this Mandalorian/Maul Trio 10 out of 10's. I was disappointed at this episode however. The Bo Katan & good Mandalorians versus the evil Mandalorians was stale. As well as brining back the 'Academy' crowd. What disappointed me the most was what happened with Maul/Sidious/Savage. They over-powered Sidious. He won too easily. Also I am very disappointed that Savage died. He was one of my favorites and his story had so much more potential. I would have preferred they had maul die, then Savage get angry and be able to beat Sidious or manage to escape alive. That is what should have happened to Maul as well. This episode was very sad, and a bad ending to the Mandalorian/Maul Trio. I'm still so upset Savage died... I feel like his character was wasted. I'm happy for what we did get of him though.

So in short. My rating is a 6 out of 10.

 

Beat Sidious? Nothing should beat Sidious except a father's redeeming love.

 

By beating him I mean knocking him down and escaping.

Also a certain Jedi with a purple blade already defeated Sidious. So your theory there doesn't work.

 

It works if you believe Sidious was playing opossum.

 

This guy took out like half the Jedi council in two seconds. There is nothing overpowered about Sidious in this episode, he's just that much of a bad ass.

 

I actually thought Sidious didn't defeat Maul and Savage fast enough. He's supposed to be the most powerful darkside user in the Galaxy, as far as I'm aware.

 

It felt like he was toying with them.

 

I think this is the first time I gave a Ep a 10. Sidious was too awesome for anything less!

 

How on earth was the Bo-Katandalorians vs. Maudalorians thing stale? How often do we get to see Mandos vs. Mandos in the first place?

And considering what a limited conflict the Battle of Sundari was, can you imagine how awesome a full scale war between Mandos would be?

 

IDK... It was just boring. Once they lost Pre Vizsla the Mandalorians and Death Watch became pretty uninteresting to me. I mean with both Satine and Vizsla dead, what fun is there left? They set up this big rivalry all the way back from Season 2 and this is how it ends. With those two out of the game why should I care if random warriors are fighting.

 

Pre Visla was a moustache twirling Bad Guy in Season 4, and Satine's brand of pacism tended to be of the "Come eat me greater powers" variety. Ye gods. I think that with Bo-Katan and her particular brand of Mando patriotism lie the potential for much more interesting stories. (Plus, it'd be interesting if she and her people did end up fighting on the Seppie side, by necessity or just lack of better options.)

Also? Katee Sackhoff!

 

Bo Katan is so boring. Yeah she's hot but she does nothing else... I mean nothing. Vizsla had a lot more exciting patriotism. I don't get any of that from Bo personally.

 

I'm not really complaining about the battle, I'm just saying I can sympathize with CaptainRex115.

I found the Mando vs Mando battle near the end.....mostly uninteresting, as I've found most of everything involving the Mandos in TCW mostly uninteresting. I didn't really find the action all that entertaining, it was cluttered with Mandos I don't know or care about flying around shooting at other Mandos I don't know or care about, and sometimes shooting at Mandos I can't even see, with explosions thrown in, all in a battle I don't care about. Bo-Katan was the only thing I cared about on that front, I didn't even care to see Kenobi escape. For me, Kenobi might as well not even have been in this episode. I found that battle a bit extraneous, it wasn't bad, it just wasn't particularly interesting and I found myself wanting to get back to Sidious vs Maul and Savage. Fortunately, the Mando scenes were short, basically the minimum amount required to show us Kenobi leaving Bo-Katan to continue the fight.

They're a non-factor and I don't find their situation compelling.

 

This works for me.