Full Series The Clone Wars: Episode 302: ARC Troopers Discussion Thread

What a surprise.

 

I liked this episode up until I saw the preview for next week.

 

S3's premire was much better than previous seasons. ARC Troopers was purley awesome. The entire battle on Kamino was absolutely incredible. 99's death was both moving and meaningful to the series. And any scene with Ventress was very well done, especially because we know how she will be used in the rest of the season.

 

I tasted vomit.

 

I believe my exact response was, "Aw, crap..."

 

My response was running for the bathroom.

 

Agreed.

I fear the episode will be one part awesome with the Ryloth battle and one part bad with binks and Organa.

 

I don't see what the big deal is about the change to the ARC Troopers. I don't even see it as a change. Based on what we know about when the series takes place relative to the comics, it takes place after Dreadnaughts of Rendili and probably after Alpha returns to Kamino to train the next generation of commandos known generally as clone trooper commanders. Makes sense to me that he'd take a few ARCs with him to help train (the ones we see in the episode). Also makes sense to me that these new generation ARCs and clone commanders are one and the same.

 

Not that I could see. Remember, REGULAR troopers with potential were chosen to be in Alpha's ARC training program. I thought the training was what Alpha's training program was (or could be. They never describe it in the EU), to nurture creative clones and get them on the way to eventually becoming ARC trooper (remember, they weren't just given the ARC status just because they graduated). I could easily see Alpha putting Cody through that. This (to me at least with the knowledge I have) can easily fit into continuity (as long as they stay vauge about the timespan this is all in ).

 

I don't think 99 should've died. It just seemed like a waste to kill this new, different character so soon, for the sake of a moral we've seen so many times already ( anyone can be a hero, don't underestimate the little guy, etc.)

Grievous vs. Obi-Wan.. eh. And Asajj, her appearance seemed almost.. awkward? Like she was just forgotten in season 2, and suddenly she's showcased to make up the time. I'm not a fan of her seductress act either, but her rivalry with Grievous is kind of interesting.

And I wonder if any little kids saw Shaak Ti and thought "Wow! Look how Ahsoka's grown!"

 

I can see it know, the argument raging across playgrounds on monday.

 

She acquired a Spanish accent somewhere, too!



I think that was completely stupid of them to give her an accent.

 

Terminator 2 is an R-rated movie. Writer/director James Cameron said that he and his co-writer developed a firm rule before making the movie that he would never allow the child character (John Connor) to point a gun, let alone to point it at another character. (This is in spite of the fact that the kid is a weapons expert who'd grow up to be a war hero.)

TCW is a show for children, advertising children's products, on a children's network. The opening night featured a bunch of prepubescent boys pulling out assault rifles and killing unsuspecting opponents.

Classy.

And then there's the clones themselves. They're looking less and less like the dark-complexioned Maori actor from an indigenous culture who played Jango Fett and instead they're looking kinda....Nordic.

[image=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v703/DBrennan3333/ClonesFromDenmark.jpg]

(Maybe this is 'cause the clones were originally premised off of Nazis in AOTC?)

Then, there was the 10,000th and 10,001st lightsaber battle with Grievious and Asajj Ventress. (But they squeezed both the worn-out concepts into one thirty-minute episode - twice the cliche`!) Then, there was the fact that the Grievous/Obi-Wan duel was almost a complete copy of the ROTS scene (and will cheapen ROTS for the kids who watch TCW first). Then, there was the shameless deux ex machina with Ventress's escape.

Then, there was the fact that the humpbacked, Progerian-plagued clone ("99") looked and had traits suspiciously like a character in '300'.

Then, there was the battle scenes where there were these colossal, massive metal edifices behind the droid army which could have squashed all the clones instantly and ended the show right then....who instead sat back and fired puny little blaster bolts. This allowed for more idiotic Napoleonic-charge-type scenes which make absolutely no sense whatsoever with the tools scene in the actual show itself, not just in the greater SW universe.

In short....it still has the Star Wars brand name, so of course I loved it.

 

Good episode. In the end, I don't have much to add, as many people have touched on the good and bad aspects...so, three little things that stood out to me.

-Only Hevy's death was touched upon. What were the other team mates, chopped liver.

-Strange how Obi-Wan knew they were hiding supplies in the wreckage. I mean, there must be wreckage in every battle, what would be so suspicious now?
Also, the Republic really needs more subs on a water world. Honestly now.

-The battle kind of reminded me of a battle of Kamino in Battlefront, where you had to destroy Jango's genetic information.

 

They also seem to have made Shaak Ti's black eyes.. grey?

 

They looked sort of lavender to me.

 

I liked this episode a lot. The first thing that struck me this episode was that this was the largest scale space battle we've seen all series. Bit of a shame they didn't milk it more. Also looked like they upgraded the Venator models a bit, that's certainly welcome.

I figured 99's death was coming, but I was surprised in that I thought he'd have gone out in a blaze of glory rather than outright failing at what he was trying to do. For an episode called "ARC Troopers" there wasn't nearly enough ARC troopers kicking butt. Same goes for Shaak Ti. I did like how she dispatched the droid platoon that came into the command center though. I would have loved to see Shaak Ti vs Grievous, doubly so if she wiped the floor with him. Ventress back was great, the dueling was much improved, as was the fact she didn't lose to Anakin so much as being massively outnumbered by clones. Still not happy they cut that scene though, hopefully it'll be in the versions that go up on itunes/starwars.com, if not we have to wait over a year for the DVDs X_X.

 

Physics my good man! Even if a ship were blown to bits, the shrapnel would not fall into the planet because it is already falling in orbit. Unless the force that blew it off was directed at the planet, the wreckage would still float around in space. To see parts of ships falling into planets rather deliberately would seem very odd.

And about the Arc Trooper Promotion, remember that Alpha returned to Kamino to start training Clone Trooper Commanders like Cody with Arc training. So, if two veteran troopers prove capable, they might be sent through the regime as well. Its not so much a promotion as a new training regime.

 

Can't forget either that this won't be the last time we will see Fives and Echo this season.

It's a shame Commander Colt was marketed so much only to be stabbed right through the chest by Ventress.

 

Anyone else catch Obi-Wan igniting his lightsaber underwater?

 

So, you had no problem with this when Kit Fisto did it in Clone Wars?

 

Just rewatched ARC Troopers and I think I noticed something.

After 99 dies and Shaak Ti contacts Commander Cody there is a shot of Shaak Ti with clones fending off some droids. And in the top right of the background is Commander Colt at least from my foggy view of it. It's definitely an ARC Trooper that's all I know and it looks like he's got red markings.

Anyone else can verify this?

 

That was a different type of lightsaber, however.