Full Series The Clone Wars: Episode 313: Monster Discussion Thread

I agree that the idea of them literally being brothers is tenuous at best, and hopefully not the case at all. But if they leave it nebulous, that's fine with me too.

I wanted to like this ep more than I did. Wish the fortune cookie matched up better with this chapter, as it seems more appropriate for the preceding episode. SaVAGE (I actually saw that coming. Hey it rhymes with Asajj!) never really learned to be evil, but was transformed into an evil being.

Since his ultimate transformation was so heavily telegraphed in advertisements (up to and including a frikkin' theatrical release!), I also agree that the length of the trials did throw the pacing off. Maybe it will be as some have said and the arc's episodes will pay off more when viewed together. But I guess the big thing not working for me this time out is no character left to care about or root for. Asajj lost my sympathy from last time and Savage never regained it.

I just wish Maul had escaped in Phantom Menace and simply disappeared into the ether. We would never have had this heavily contrived effort going to replace Maul.

 

if out-of universe idea was to replace Maul (as it obviously was) this arc failed- Savage is not Maul and i think it's better that way- they had enough idea in Asajj's past revelations they went too far with this plot and time ran out- 3 episodes is not enough to tell story this complicated without several plotholes.....

 

Ok like 10 pages ago I asked a question and totally flubbed it mixing up Dathomir with Dantooine. I will ask again in the hopes I can not confuse people!

Anyway, why was there a big colony of Zabrak on Dathomir and is this where Darth Maul grew up?

-JR

 

it's said they crashlanded there but still why they wouldn't be there- since there is thousands of years of galactic history and plenty of time to find new worlds to live- for example humans are settled at many different planets of the galaxy so why not zabraks- perhaps these guys just wanted to settle at dathomir....

 

I suppose I can accept this but come on, it was a shipload of force-sensative Zabraks that crashed and set up a colony to be male "brothers" for the Witches of Dathomir? Seems a little far-fetched...and if the Darth Maul connection is true, that makes it that much more out there.

Why wouldn't the Witches draw from native Dathomiri males like they have been doing in the rest of EU...just seems like a shameless throwback to PM...I could accept that shameless throwback if it were explained properly, but it doesn't appear to be.

-JR

 

i dunno why they came up with this idea- but seems that there are not much normal human men on Dathomir anymore- if at all- forcesensitivity may not be shared by all zabraks- it could also be that zabraks are actually hybrids and forcesensitivity comes from their humanmothers and actually i think that dathomiri girls are halfzabraks as well now- for some reason it seems that females don't have horns if their mother is human or hybrid- still Ventress' mother was dathomiri but her father may have been rattataki still- she don't look like zabrak at all.....

 

I'm enjoying this arc quite a lot so far. Savage Opress is a much more compelling character than I thought that he would be and I'm intrigued as to what Mother Talzin's ultimate goal is (it seems reasonable to assume that she wouldn't go to all this trouble just to help Ventress get her revenge on Dooku). My only real criticism is that Monster, like Nightsisters, seemed a little too condensed. IMO the arc would have worked even better if Nightsisters had been split into a duology and placed earlier on in the season (replacing Corruption and The Academy perhaps) and the Savage Opress portion of the storyline run as a duology/trilogy after a space of 5 or 6 episodes.

 

I agree. While I think the earlier part of this season did a good job showing the political implications and back-room dealings of the war, I think we could have trimmed some of it and added in parts of Nightsisters and possibly Monster so more time could be spent in the stand-alone episodes to delve deeper.

-JR

 

EDIT: Grr. Wrong thread. Apologies.

 

Just rewatched this and have to say the thing I complained about most, the fight between Opress and the Jedi on Devaron, was a bit longer than I had come to think it was after complaining about it so much. It really wasn't that short.

I really love all the scenes with Ventress picking who to take back to the Nightsisters. The way she "picks" the group, and the trials. The second trial is so creepy! The atmosphere, camera angles, and cackling really put me there. The third trial with all those things popping out of the ground reminded me of some parts in the very first Dark Forces video game. Spending so much time on Opress' dedication to protecting Feral was a good decision in my opinion, it really built his character and makes his sudden turn to an enhanced drone strangling the very person he spent so much time protecting even more unexpected and downright disturbing.

I remember someone imitating dialogue that used Darth Maul's name excessively and remarking that they were really over-doing it...yet by my count there were two mentions of the name in the entire episode, one towards the very beginning and one at the very end. So unless I'm wrong about that, that seems a little over-the-top.

Doing away with the name Savage Opress and giving him a Darth name when Darth Tyranus made him his apprentice would have been cool, but it looks like he's maybe technically sticking to the Rule of Two since he also didn't give Ventress a Darth name.

And wasn't this the episode where the "Maul's real name is Maul which ruins everything" controversy came up? Yet all that is actually said is Mother Talzin asking Darth Tyranus if he's ever heard of the Sith Lord Darth Maul and telling him there are males of his bloodline on Dathomir. Not a word about Maul being Maul's real name. Not a word about a Maul clan or others named Maul. I'm seriously at a loss on that one people ...

 

Exactly i don't understand that discussion either no one says his birthname would've been 'Darth Maul'.... but since his brothers are Feral and Savage he may have been Maul or Maul Opress- perhaps Dathomiri just give these names to their males that they would be ferocious warriors.... many real names are really meaning something- so why not fictional ones?

 

I was looking at the new Clone Cards at the official site, and:

<img src="http://img600.imageshack.us/img600/4572/feralw.jpg">

Am I missing something?

 

But doesn't this contradict Revenge of the Sith? I might remember this wrong, but in the book, Dookus plan is to settle down after the war is over. When he and Sidious are waiting for Anakin and Obi-Wan's arrival, he seems to think that they will convert Anakin, he will do the dirty work, and Dooku and Sidious will hang back. I haven't got the book here so that I can double check, but I believe that was the case.

 

I really liked the two first episodes in this arc (haven't seen the third one yet). And I was very happy that they didn't rain all over EU continuity, like they usually do. However, I do seem to remember in a comic that the Jedi who found Ventress found her after she lost her parents, not after she lost another master (master of what?). Am I wrong?

And, doesn't this invalidate the Obession? At the end of that story, Dooku pretty much says the same thing that she's been nothing but a disappointment to him, and orders her execution, without any involvement form Sidious.

I haven't read the courtship book since 1994, does these two episode invalidate that book much? (I know a lot of people don't care for the book, but I still wonder)

I hope the season can stay at this quality as S3 has been a real let down, at least compared to the very good S2.

 

Well, it IS the Clone Wars.

FIRST!

...Wow, I'm just indulging in lower and lower forms of internet comedy, aren't I. Better find a nice Darth Maul pun to make somewhere.

 

That's Savage not Feral...these cards are so unreliable - it took many weeks before they changed Sy Snootles to be organic she had "Droid type: Pa'lowick" -text in her card a long time

Movie shows only Dooku challenging jedi and dying- Bookversion is unfortunately pretty impossible now already it is not fully logic with official canon anymore.... and Dooku may have changed his plans of course

 

I was watching this episode from the Sky Movies stream, and noticed that the soundtrack on this episode is simply: excellent. Specially the track where Ventress is selecting the males.

Can't wait for a OST from the series to be released.

 

Did they actually say they're going to do that or are you just hoping?

That reminds me, I never did get that Shadows of the Empire soundtrack they made...

 

Guys, quick question;

Does anybody know the name of that axe-on-a-chain weapon Ventress is using in 'Monster'?

 

I don't know the official name, but to me it is known as the "Creaking Blade on the Chain of Eerie Awsomeness?."

 

Surprisingly, I think I have what could pass for an answer for this.

Ventress seems to be using a heavily stylised combination of the Japanese kusarigama (chain-sickle) combined with a regular flail. The traditional version was a scythe with a chain-and-weight attached to the end. This one, on the other hand, is more like a scythe-blade stuck on a chain with double grips. With some spiky bits added on the whip for good measure.

The actual kusarigama doesn't encourage swinging the sickle blade at enemies (except in pop culture), but I thought there was a pretty strong resemblance.

If you're looking for an in-universe name, then I'm as clueless as you. Unnamed Nightsister Chain Weapon? Unnamed Nightsister Sickle Weapon? Nightsister Chain Sickle?

 

Thanks guys!

Think I'll go with 'chain sickle' then.

(Making icons )

 

When i watched Monster from TV today i noticed for a first time that there is wilhelm-scream effect heard when Savage is transformed to be the monster
Have you noticed that before?

 

Wilhelm-scream effect?

 

Wilhelm scream.

Hit the button.