Full Series The Clone Wars 7.09 - Old Friends Not Forgotten - Discussion Thread (Spoilers Allowed)

As if you didn't realize it already.

Clone Wars explains why Captain Rex isn't in Revenge of The Sith

 

I rewatched the 2018 trailer and noticed that instead of Yularen calling Anakin and Obi-Wan to see Ahsoka, it was Rex who called them. And they changed the design of the helmet of Bo-Katan for some reason.

 

Amazing episode!! Probably one of the best to date. It really felt like I was watching a movie... almost makes me wish the final episodes had been given a theatrical release. It certainly felt more cinematic than the actual TCW film.

All of the major characters were handled masterfully I thought and I loved how they were introduced one at a time. Obi-Wan, stoic and heroic as ever, Anakin with his brash opening move against the Seppies, Ahsoka's interesting stance on the Jedi. The last one makes the Trace and Rafa episodes feel earned. She wants to believe in the Jedi, but is still too frustrated with them to return - understandably so. I loved hearing Rex's joy when Ahsoka challenged him to a race, a call back to the film. Painting the 501st's helmets like Ahsoka makes a lot of sense for Rex's character. He values loyalty, but over the course of the war, he has redefined his sense of loyalty from the Republic and the Jedi to his friends. I do have one minor gripe, but I don't want to get into it now. I don't want to kill the mood!

I also thought this episode was wonderfully paced. This arc has a lot to get done, just like Episode IX did, but unlike the latter, this episode never felt like it was being rushed. It all flowed very smoothly and naturally. It was action packed, but there was still enough to time to slow down a bit. By the end of it, I was surprised by how much ground they covered. I had to double check the runtime because it felt longer than 30 minutes!

 

You do realize you can edit preexisting geometry for an asset and repaint the texture to mesh better with the visual style of a different show, right? That's still asset recycling, and Rebels did it LITERALLY ALL THE TIME.

 

Those aren't models! That's just concept art! It's drawn alterations on preexisting assets. It's a guide for the modelers.

 

It seems you might be right for Talzin (I mistook those profile shots for renders) but I'm pretty sure the bottom is a full asset turnaround for Maul's prison appearance.

 

Stop

 

Pure awesome is the only way to describe this episode having watched it twice. How cruel it feels like a movie but ends at a hell of a cliff hanger. I wish I had some popcorn at my house.

Until Obi-wan pops up the entire opening sequel looks like a movie, the Clones look real. Its incredible and just look at the sheer number of them on screen. Of course, all the character animation looks fantastic too, the facial animation is head and shoulders better than anything before. There really isn't enough I can say about the animation without going in circles talking about how great it is. Fortunately, TCW has always been more than great animation.

The opening sequence is a homage to the TCW movie. I absolutely loved this last bit of banter between Obi-wan and Anakin. Moreover, these last moments spent with the hero of the Clone Wars saving Obi-wan, the day, the city, and winning the battle. Anakin Skywalker is once more the great friend and hero Obi-wan described him as. Among the greatest of the Jedi as Rex described him. Obi-wan gets his heroic moment too and it's bittersweet when he saves Cody's life. The 501st hiding under the bridge is some serious foreshadowing. Also cool to see the 501st demonstrate some skills with the jet pack before they are expected the keep up with the Mandalorians.

This episode is a full thirty minutes run time but it goes by really fast. The pacing is wonderfully fast only slowing down for a few moments so Ahsoka can arrive, reunite, and have her differences. Coming to Anakin was apparently her idea. You have to feel sorry for Anakin who just wants nothing more than to have her back and spend some time with her. You can imagine Anakin excitingly rushing in and telling Rex and the 501st. Anakin even reasons her leaving was the will of the force, perhaps lingering pangs from Ventress accusing him of abandoning his dear apprentice.

But Ahsoka isn't there for that and hasn't got the time. Her time with the Jedi is over and that relationship is not going to be mended. You can feel her resentment for Obi-wan who sat on the fence during her trial. He never seemed to fall one way or the other but just did nothing while the rest of the council abandoned her. She halfheartedly rejects Anakin seeming sorry she has to because he's still like her brother. She has no idea damage beneath his skin. If it wasn't obvious why we needed the Underworld arc, it is now since that outside perspective of the Jedi and the story of what happened to the Sisters' parents the last time there was a plot to kidnap the Chancellor on Coruscant carries so much weight. More interesting Ahsoka's argument is now partially from that misguided perspective that the war is not as important. That the Jedi can do it all at once. Stop Grievous' invasion of Coruscant and help everyone at once. Yet, Ahsoka still knows where to go for help because Anakin enabled her. He actually thinks like she does and sets out to do both at once. He does this by giving her back her lightsabers, half his forces, and her very own Clone Commander making her a Jedi all but in name. Certainly, every onlooker in the episodes thinks she is.

And you know what else is brutal? Bo-Katan's line to Obi-wan about Satine, "I thought you cared about her..." rubbing her death in his face. Obi-wan has to sit proxy to the council and he tries to make the practical decisions. He represents the councils' in his one character. Fantastic character development all around.

It's interesting that Obi-wan's line about this being the most pivotal moment in the war should come after the 501st attempts to surprise Ahsoka with the new paint jobs on their helmets. You can get that sense from Ahsoka's expression that this is just wrong on so many levels. Fast forward to the death of the short-lived Captain Vaughn, RIP eyebrows Clone. That's a pretty emotional death for a guy I don't know. It's impossible for me to not think back to "The Deserter" when a similar line was said. Rex never said to Cut that one battle was pivotal but the whole war, this whole time in history was pivotal. It's such a bitter and sad thing to think about because the real war stands right in front of them, Anakin Skywalker. Commander Rex then ends up on what seems like a not quite sanctioned missioned to Mandalore. The face to face goodbye between Ahsoka and Anakin is an emotional short "Good luck."

For Rex, his friendship with Ahsoka seems to slide right back into where it was in Jedi Crash. Rex does a lot more smiling, smirking, and laughing than usual appearing to be having fun. The reason why Bad Batch was included already finds relevance here. His loyalties are to the friends he had left and that's why the helmet scene was important to his character. "-hopefully it's going to be just like old times..." ... "Somethings never change." Nice voicing suspicion they are playing into Maul's hands. My boy Jesse got a little cameo in the gunship and boy does he ever stick out with that big old republic patriotism stamped on his helmet.

Almec's armor design slaps. Too me, it reminds me of the uniform suit Reinhard von Lohengramm wears in the OG Legend of Galactic Heroes. I like the variety of the Mandalorian designs and maybe dying hair funky colors is just popular so it's not a big deal Rook does this. I also think Gar Saxon's model looks awesome. Also, Ahsoka wasn't just slicing up guns, she cut through Mandos when she was racing to land at the docks.

The cliff hanger at the end is well placed and when the episode ends I may have cursed out my screen. I actually don't mind the soundless except for a little lightsaber sound ending credits. Interesting that this was written entirely by Filoni. It does remind me of how the Rebel's episode "DUME" is. Honestly, at first I was a little turned off by the use of the classic Star Wars theme and changes to the opening but I've warmed up to them since this is really a movie masquerading as four TCW episodes. I don't even mind them not doing newsreels next three episodes or any opening credits at all. Just boom, action! And I'm OCD as hell.

I don't know if the big dual is going to happen straight away next episode. I'm hoping there is a little more to this. It seems there is a B and C plot a building too.

 

I thought they did the switcheroo for them because they felt Rex would have a more emotional impact. Yularan's important but kind of fell in the background in the later seasons so Rex had a greater emotional connection. Plus Rex was on the ground in the battle when Ahsoka called.

On the actual episode: It was amazing! Grievous looked awesome in his brief appearance, and I loved seeing all those Jedi in the war room. Kind of sad it's just in the opening reels, it feels like a waste to create all those new models for such a brief cameo but it does set up the film very well.

This does make me wonder once again how the fandom would have reacted had the series continued as expected. At what point would it have hit us that we are merging with ROTS? Granted things would have been pretty different in that timeline, but would the opening alone have given the secret away? Or would it wait until Obi-Wan states Coruscant has been invaded to make the reveal clear? Hopefully they wouldn't have given that away in trailers. Just an alternative history that would be very curious for me.

The opening alone had my jaw drop to the floor, this feels so much like a movie! Seeing the Jedi on the planets they were at when Order 66 happened had such an emotional impact! One thing I notice hasn't been discussed much is Almec's armor, it's a notable detail but I feel it makes the whole discussion about the importance of Beskar in Rebels a lot more significant. Almec was a politician, and to me this means EVERY Mandalorian does in fact have armor, even those who specialize is fields that are otherwise noncombative.
The return of characters such as Saxon, Kast, etc. were cool. I actually mistook Kast for Sabine for a second because they look so much alike.

And that ending.... wow cliffhanger. This is so much the perfect ending to the series I can't wait to see what happens next!

 

Oh, oh no... Rook Kast literally has Sabine's head. I kid you not. It's the same model or it's slightly altered

 

Apart from the different shaped head, different shaped hair, different shaped eyes, different shaped nose...

 

Uh, no:


Different eyes, eyebrows, chin, nose, hair, face sculpt, skin tone

 

I had a smile on my face the whole episode. Exactly what I wanted out of the first quarter of this arc. The plot seems to be progressing at a quick pace, there's a wonderful sense of scale, the animation has never looked better and it's all in a longer package. I remember sitting in a hotel room, hearing that Maul line at the end of the first trailer and getting so excited, and it's delivering so far. Hopefully the rest of the arc keeps it up, and I'm hoping they keep going for these longer episodes.

I'm also quite pleased with the little nods to and integration of the rest of the series. It really makes the arc feel more like a lynch pin in the franchise in a natural way, like with Ursa's presence.

 

I agree the mention of the Outer Rim Sieges (Which I don't see how they could avoid at least alluding to), would have stoked speculation. At the same time I don't think it would have really hit home that we are going concurrent to the movie until Obi-Wan brings up the invasion of Coruscant. Speculation may precede it, but I don't think it would have been confirmed until we reached that point.

 

It would have been very awkward if Obi-wan just declined to help Ahsoka and Bo on the spot and Anakin had to tell the clones they painted their helmets for nothing.

 

That was, like, really good.

And it benefits from having been preceded by a slow-burn of character development. A great choice by Filoni to build things up gradually, rather than go nuts from the start. Makes this final epic arc all the more impactful.

 

The sisters' parents die because the Jedi were protecting the people. It was an accident, and they died so many more could live.

 

I stayed up until midnight to see this episode and DAMN it was good.I loved the opening.Kinda wish there was a crawl but still loved it.I didn't get why the logo wasn't orange considering its been red before.I loved seeing Saxon and Kast I thought their armor looked great.They shove made the planet at the beginning Cato Nemoida but oh well.Liked seeing Grievous too bad we wont see Dooku since he's probably dead by next episode.Liked having Rex be a commander though I'm assuming in rebels he goes by captain since he was for most of the war.Overall this is one of my favorite clone wars episodes.

EDIT: I don't think Rex had the scar from removing the chip so I'm curious how that will play out.

 

Rex's promotion to Commander is going to be very shortlived. Anyways "Commander" seems to have transitioned to a term of endearment for Tano.

 

It was more of a formality anyway; considering otherwise Ahsoka wouldn't have been allowed to take the squad alone with her as she's technically no longer affiliated with the Republic.

 

This scene was too good. The way the music transitions from Battle over Coruscant to the Twilight of the Apprentice theme is *chefs kiss*

 

1:12 in above video - I don't know why Rey's theme keeps getting hinted. I assume it's coincidental but...

 

She talked to Rey in the TRoS, perhaps there is a connection that we don't know yet.