Full Series The Clone Wars: Episode 218: The Zillo Beast Discussion Thread (Spoilers Allowed)

Wasn't Karina a pope?

 

In the EU the Naboo holy man from Ep II has the title pontifex, which in Latin is the source of the word pontiff, which is a name applied to the Pope of course.

 

I wonder if the Doctor is supposed to be an Ongree. Something about her design struck me as familiar. When I looked up pictures of Pablo-Jill for reference, the position of the eyes in relation to the mouth seem a bit different, though those could be gender differences (?) Otherwise, she looks like a lavender Ongree.

 

First nitpick - I thought Malastare was under the control of the Gran, and since the Gran were part of the Republic, so to was Malastare. Possible solution - between Emissaries to Malastare and this episode, the Gran freed Malastare from their rule. Malastare remained independent until now.

We have the CW debut of the ARC-170 fighters. I bet the Fleet and Starfighter junkies are loving that.

The Zillo beast proved like Godzilla did a decade or so ago - size does matter.

 

I very much enjoyed it. Nice homage to Godzilla.

-Liked seeing the WMDD (Weapon of Mass Droid Destruction) in action in what was a very cool sequence. Nice touch with Anakin's mechanical hand electrifying.

-Cool seeing the return of the Dugs and finally seeing Malastare. Kind of hoping Anakin would make some kind of Sebulba reference.

-Artoo in action!

-Very good example of Anakin being a cunning warrior with his winning strategy against the beast.

-The Zilo beast was pretty cool but I'm reminded of a scene in the original Godzilla where a character declares they shouldn't kill Godzilla but study him. My thought has always been "Where the hell are you going to put that thing, moron? In the Grand Canyon?" I stand by that thought. And of course Padme is going to be right in the middle of it next week.

Firstly I didn't like the voice of the Dug leader Doge Urus, he sounded bombastic and over-acted and I think I would have preferred if they'd had him speaking Huttese a la Sebulba or a new native Dug language rather than English.


Agreed. The Dug's voice was one of my few gripes with the episode.

All and all, another really fun episode of the Clone Wars.

 

Good episode, though felt kind of short. A welcome break from the Anakin and Obi-Wan team, and I have no problem with the design of the Zillo Beast. Very cool action with Anakin running and jumping up the Zillo, reminded me of the micro-series.

And I liked Mace, but his 'don't kill it, it's not the Jedi way' stance took me by surprise, and makes me wonder how he'll take Boba's revenge on him for killing his father later.

And some funny dialogue:

Anakin: Hey, it worked!

Mace: Are you sure?

Anakin: Of course I'm sure.. You first.

 

The last TV episode I saw that had characters named "Trapper" and "Hawkeye" also had Jamie Farr wearing a dress.

 

yeah where the hell was that in Shatterpoint? I know, I know, the jungle

 

As an avid fan of giant monster movies, particularly Godzilla himself (my all-time favorite kaiju!)... I gotta hand it to Filoni and the crew, they REALLY did the genre JUSTICE! It was a well-done giant monster romp, had a great moral thrown in there, and the Zillo Beast itself... wow.

Now that I've seen it in action, I REALLY love the thing. It's officially one of my all-time favorite giant monsters, and it's really a fitting homage to the Big G, while managing to be its own beast at the same time. Really love how they made it basically everything-save-stun-cannons-and-Malastare-fuel-proof, which gives the Zillo Beast that feeling of invulnerability the Big G also brings to the table. However, the Zillo Beast's more wiry frame allows it to be a little more agile than Godzilla himself- Goji'd have a hard time climbing that cliff like that, for example, whereas the Zillo unhesitatingly scales it with ease (that said, Godzilla's pulled of some pretty insane jumps in his time- in Godzilla x Megaguirus, he jumps nearly ten times his own height straight up ). The lack of a breath weapon or uber-fast regeneration also separates the Zillo from being an exact Godzilla clone, since Godzilla's Atomic Breath and his ability to rapidly regenerate from any wound that DOES penetrate his almost indestructible hide are hallmarks of the character.

Can I say this again? I LOVE the Zillo Beast's design, as a giant monster movie fan. It's completely unlike anything I've ever seen, with that wiry design, the segmented armor, and the extra arm jutting out of the small of its back. You don't see that kind of creativity in giant monster designs very frequently, and I LIKE it. Oh, and the roar is just VERY unique and memorable, even out of all the giant monster roars I've heard. And the performance... wow, I'll be remembering that thing for a while. It even MOVES differently from basically any giant monster I'm familiar with. I totally and completely LOVE the design!

Oh, and bring on The Zillo Beast Strikes Back! That preview looked AWESOME!

 

Pros:

Arc-170s!
Dugs!
Multi-colored dugs!
Good attention to detail with the bomb disabling the republic machines, too, and Anakin's mechanical hand.

The episode was much more King Kong than Cloverfield. I didn't get Cloverfield at all from it... and I liked that this was more homage than ripoff.

Zillo beast design was cool and it was good that it wasn't too easy to stop the beast (but still another episode where they come up with a plan to stop it and it works). I wish there was more complications or something that doesn't go according to plan and the good guys have to come up with a plan B.


I actually like that the Zillo beast was light on it's feet - it made it more sneaky and dangerous, IMO... like a snake. And there are plenty of examples in real world nature of creatures being able to carry much more weight than their legs should allow them to.


Cons:

Laggy second act.

Bad voice work - soooo monotone and poor guest voice acting. And does Anakin ever get excited or worried or anything.. it's hard to tell becauseLandter's voice has gotten flat. Someone should let him know it's okay to act into the microphone.


Good debate over killing vs. saving the beast. with Mace, Anakin and Palpy. Wish Anakin would have felt a little mroe trapped in the middle since it sort of ties into what happens in ROTS with the three of them, but there's always part 2...

I liked seeing Mace and Anakin together... they seem to have a little history in ROTS, and hopefully in the future as we get closer to ROTS we can see why Mace is so distrustful of Anakin. Perhaps if Anakin goes against the Jedi way and slays the beast in the next episode?

The war aspect is getting surprisingly more realistic in that we are seeing more death (clones and Dugs getting killed off left and right).

I hope next week the Jedi defy Palpy and save the beast and take it to be free, but I don't see how that is possible...

EDIT: Also, I don't know why, but seeing the ARC-170s gve me a feeling that maybe this series won't go on past 100 episodes... almost like showing them brought us one step closer to ROTS and the end of the show. As if before there was no way it could end in a hundred because there was still so much to get to, but now it feels like the glass is more half empty than half full. Anyone else get that feeling?

 

Hah, when I saw the Zillo Beast awaken I was like "omg, Shadow of the Colossus!" And then Anakin runs up its leg and starts climbing up its back.

And of course shipping the thing to Coruscant at the end is just screaming Jurassic Park.

 

I thought it was great and totally consistent that Anakin is like "WTF, just kill the beast and let's git 'er done".

We needed more of this in the PT - subtle, black-or-white thinking that just simply doesn't fit with the Jedi mentality.


And I don't see how Shatterpoint fans could be disappointed with Mace's portrayal in this episode - he spends most of the novel complaining about how the jungle/Kar Vastor/the Dark Side/the War are screwing with Jedi priniciples.

And he is very attached to the flora/fauna in Shatterpoint, so it didn't surprise me he was advocating for the Zillo Beast.

 

Agree that it's nice to see that here and consistent with Anakin's character, but I could have used more of Anakin feeling trapped between Mace and Palpy in this episode as far as what to do and who to support. Hopefully next week... maybe we will get a sense of why Mace doesn't trust Anakin in ROTS because he went against him with what to do about the Zillo beast.

But I disagree that we needed more of that mentality in the PT because the war hadn't started yet for most of it and Anakin was a good kid in TPM and was so young in AOTC that he didn't really have time to find his own voice yet. That's why this series is perfect to show that.

Besides, Qui-gon did a good job sort of simplifiying and disagreeing with the Jedi mentality. In fact, if Qui-gon had lived I really don't think Anakin would have fallen to the dark side. I think Qui-gon was much closer to Anakin's thinking than Obi-wan is. Obi-wan is more of a friend to Anakin.

 

I got the impression he wanted the beast to live, at least temporarily, so he could use it for his own purposes. As soon as he heard "impenetrable armor" it was like his **** got hard right there.

 

I think the episode got very Cloverfieldish right when the Zillo first appeared. There was all that dust that got kicked up and you only see it for a couple seconds before either the camera moves away or it disappears back into the dust. When Anakin was flying around it was when the similarities hit the hardest.

I'm looking forward to the time when we get a full battle, like AOTC Geonosis battle (not CW Geonosis) in a future episode. This episode showed just how much they can put on screen, but it seemed like they didn't do much with it. It's awesome to see the droids march in formation like that, but it only lasted a couple minutes and all we really saw was Lights going back and forth. I want to see something similar to LOTR, or even a scaled up version of what they did in the movie on a big open plain. We saw you can put it in, now let's see you push it as far as it can go.

 

At least the Zillo Beast wasn't as emasculated as the Godzilla from that 1998 movie.

 

Well, they're two for two in the shameless rip off department. First they completely basterized Kurasawa and now an atomic bomb awakens a gigantic (and invulnerable) lizard from the dawn of time called Zilla - ahem, I mean Zillo - which then goes on a rampage. Hell, even the rebublic artillery looked exactly like the maser weapons from Godzilla versus Gigan. Although to be fair, the designs were like that in the second movie too, so I can't really hold that against them.

So next week the writers steal the plot of Shaft in Africa, where Windu goes to the Tatooine outback to fight drug lords and a slavery ring while having sex with a woman every half an hour? Sheesh.

 

Oh wow, I've got so many issues with what you've just posted!

#1 - yes, I totally agree with you with respect to Anakin feeling trapped between the Jedi way and the Palpatine way.

#2 your saying we don't need more of that in the PT because of "XYZ" only really describes the plot of the PT and doesn't describe the problems or any possible solutions. You mention that this series is so perfect to show Anakin's personality, and it's true, but in my mind, it only shows how Lucas wasted 2/3 of the time in the PT.

#3 the whole Qui-Gon determination is really a moot point right now. I'm not sure what theorizing about Qui-Gon's continued existence is going to get you.

#4 in terms of Qui-Gon, he is basically the OT Obi-Wan Kenobi. Why not get rid of Qui-Gon and TPM Jedi and deal with Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan and be done wih i.

 

No one mentioned Anakin's garbage crash.
heh

 

I particularity enjoyed this one 8/10. I liked the use of those ARC-170s. Stands to reason that you would not just immediately switch out ships for a new one and various groups have Nimbus Fighters, V-19s, Y-Wings, Arc-170s depending on the availability and capabilities needed.

1 Does anybody have a screencap or a fix on the number of ships coming out of hyperspace in that one scene?
2 Does anybody have a name for the new alien species? I do not think it is a Rakata because it seems too small in stature.

 

Well I just think Anakin's character got screwed over by Lucas attempting to make him edgy because of the backlash of the "yipee" Nakain from TPM, while still sticking to his attempting to make a SW for chicks with a heavy Titanic-esque romance. And it didn't help that Hayden was all over the place with some seriously bad acting.

I just love theorizing about Qui-gon. But I agree it opens up a whole can of worms.

Not sure what you mean with number 4??

 

That reminds me: these ARC-170s sound just like X-Wings, unlike the ones from ROTS.

 

I didn't read everyone's comments so I'm sure I'll end up repeating some opinions...

First of all - WOW to the animation! The shot of Mace walking into the crater with the light shining down was breathtaking. Well done!
I loved the action sequence with Anakin and Artoo. Very cool and good for a chuckle.
Great effect when Anakin's "arm" is sparking. Wonder if he lost feeling? And loved his "what the ....?" expression while it was happening.
All in all, I liked the episode, though there's been something bothering me the last few times we've seen Anakin. I can't put my finger on what it is. He seems quieter or "off", I don't know.
I look forward to next week and a preview would have been nice Maybe we'll get one this morning with the re-airing.

 

In the event you cannot be swayed by or consider other people's opinions, here's how it sometimes works with stuff-that's-similar-to-other-stuff:
It's a trope/homage/tribute if you like it.
It's a cliche/ripoff/butchering if you don't.

In any case, I liked this episode. I'm surprised that just as much if not more comparisons were drawn to Cloverfield than Godzilla, though.
It DOES seem like the doctor is an Ongree, yes. At least until we get more info on her. Then again, how many other species have upside-down heads?

 

Sorry if mentioned elsewhere... but as I'm almost 40 and watched MASH every week as a kid... I loved Mace telling "Hawkeye" and "Trapper" to help him in the sinkhole.

Edit: Just saw it mentioned a few posts above. Heh.