Full Series The Clone Wars - Episode 5.4 - The Soft War - discussion thread

Characters are the problem, IMO. Umbara had some very compelling characters whose development made everything worth it in the end. Saw is likeable in a "dudebro" sort of way, but the Ahsoka/Lux/Steela trio are not particularly endearing with their drama being so absurdly stretched out. To be fair, Umbara had almost a decade of clone lore to provide implied depth to the story while Onderon is pretty much developed from the ground up.

Umbara was successful because of its touching on broader themes within the SW universe (clone doctrine, Jedi morality) and outside of it (military ethics in general). Onderon seems incapable of touching on comparable themes about the political issues behind secession, the ethics of unconventional/asymmetric warfare, targeting of civilian infrastructure, et cetera. There was good potential for a deep ideological clash between Lux and Saw over the attack on the power grid in the last episode, building on their dispute in the previous episode - calling to mind the conflict between Dogma and Fives' comrades - but this was left unexploited as all the rebels were content with it. It was all done "post-mortem" and as an afterthought. As has been said before, the lack of visible conflict between different groups of Onderonian citizens is bizarre.

This is where a webcomic would have come in handy.

Without politics you end up with cookie-cutter black-and-white moral dichotomies. I can think of many different, conflicting rational perspectives about the droid occupation of Onderon and the actions the rebels use against it. That conflict is political, ultimately.

This arc needs more politics. Much more. It should be Heroes On Both Sides with guns, not Dac on the ground.

The human diversity is quite good, in my view. However, my main hope is beyond Onderon, namely that this is a sign that the Naboo, Alderaanian and Coruscanti humans will no longer be portrayed so homogeneously. With Mandalorian, Christophsian and now Onderonian human character models available for use, there should now be no excuse for ridiculous homogeneity like in the plaza where Palpatine's shuttle lands in Crisis on Naboo.

 

In terms of Umbara I will never agree that it was successful.
The problem of both arcs is that they are really repetitive and not get into the amazing planet they are on.
To be fair what Umbara did could have been done for 3 episodes max but like Onderon they were stalling, especially with the horrible and boring Plan of Dissent that is the equal of "A War on Two Fronts" - TOOO much talking, nothing really gets across from that talking and in the end nothing happens in terms of events.

That is another problem of the show - it is biased and never wants to show a different POV that is contradicting that of the main heroes. Umbara was really flawed in terms of that. You have the Republic invade and yet we do not get even a 2 minute scene how this feels to the Umbarans.
The same is on Onderon, I am sure there are two groups of Onderonians - the ones who support Rash and the ones who oppose him. But cause the show kinda does not want to ever side with the "villain's" side, the other side of Onderon is basically silenced out of writer's laziness.

I am not the hugest fan of politics but like in Dac, a little explanation would be nice to fix the confusing political stance of the planet now and before the Jedi's arrival.

 

Defenders of Peace was full of win!

Sorry for the double post...

 

Dont mind the double post. You are under friends here. Feel like at home.

 

Yeah Defenders of Peace was awesome. Aayla Secura + George Takei = Awesomeness

I do have relative expectations for The Soft War, and hopefully this episode and Tipping Points elevates this arc. I just have a feeling these two episodes are going to be very rushed...

 

When will we see Maul brothers and Satine again?

 

probably around November / December

 

Perfect formula.

And I must say that you are doing the right thing. No expectations is better...

 

Removed video clip.

It seems the old king is against any kind of rebellion or terrorism on his territory. I think he is a good leader which wants unity for his people and no civil war. i think he will alarm calani and his troops to let saw getting arrested.

Maybe calani will threaten the rebells to execute their former leader saw gerrera (Che gueavara.LOL) and force them to show themselfs on the market place. Than there will be a showdown which many of the rebells will not survive. CIS will not lose Onderon to some rebells. Thats impossible without GAR Help. Jedi dont want to liberate Onderon, they just want to weaken CIS. onderonian people are of no interest for the jedi council. Mace and Anakin are two lying ..... They dont care for onderonian people and maybe still see them as enemies of the republic.

I think it will again end like carlacc for Lux. He will again run away from his fate (Death) and Ahsoka. The Boy knows that its a deadly thrill to be with this jail bait togruta. LOL

 

Oh, good with another preview; it's nice to not have the old king immediately be supportive of the rebels and seemingly being against them and their tactics, which makes it more believable (at least in my opinion).

 

It won't air this side of Xmas. It'll be January.

 

Hopefully this episode is more consistent than last week's. Also, I hope the good guy/bad guy situation isn't so black-and-white.

And hey, maybe we'll get some beast riders this week...

 

The S5 discussion thread (Spoilers!) will continue to be the main heavy spoiler thread, including discussion of the video clips for each week's episode. Plot spoilers will continue to be limited to this thread and must still be "spoiler tagged" or black highlighted. http://boards.theforce.net/threads/season-5-major-spoilers-video-clips.50003192/

Thank you

 

I think that this season is pretty good if you ask me. Heck, its better than the print stuff that has been coming out lately.

 

Season 1 was horrible for me, regardless of the worlds I could not stomach any of the episodes. In fact Ben 10 was way better than that frist season. I'll take less worlds and less experiments and more advanced animation and story any day. Now is when the clone wars is starting to show its real colors. Not that hippy dippy season 1 that got dark horse to cancel the clone wars cartoon comics due to poor sales and bringing down the rest of the line becuase the stories weren't mature and serious. Now we get more serious and you guys just complain.

 

Saw sort of reminds me of Jayne from Firefly. For better or worse.

 

Saw, the man they call Saw

He gave Lux some crap
For being just a boy
Stood up to the droids
And gave them what for
Our love for him now
Ain't hard to explain
The hero of Onderon
The man they call Saw

 

Cries because a girl is elected a leader of a small little band instead of him.

 

ohhh, is there break of new episodes between Christmas?

 

Saw is turning into an angsty dude. He was booding harder than Lance from Sym-ionic Titan.

 

I know I'm going to be humming this to myself during the next episode...

 

Lol that is nice tune.

 

I couldn't help myself. lol

 

Hopefully this episode picks up a bit, but with all this teen angst, that won't happen.

 

behaviour like a real man! yes we are so. girls cant take away our toys and belongings. THATS UNFAIR!!!!