Full Series The Clone Wars 7.12 - Victory and Death (SERIES FINALE!) - Discussion Thread (Spoilers Allowed)

Well given I think the Rebels finale is bad of course I'm gonna be dismissive of it

 

You would've known. The original idea was to have Ahsoka ride away on a Giant Force Wolf. Thankfully that got dropped

 

So uh, did Hans Zimmer get like royalties for the last two episodes, because there was a lot of BR 2049 in that beautiful score.

 

10/10, nothing less. Brilliant.

For all those saying not as good as the previous three - watch them all together, back to back....I did that not knowing what happens in the last 20 minutes. This is the way its meant to be watched.....its a 4 act movie.....and you know what, its up there with the BEST SW movies! No question.

Ahsoka was ONE of my favorite characters in the entire SW universe before this final season. She ended as the clear number one, by a huge margin.

Haunting. Exhilarating. Tragic.

I'm going to bed. Will watch it multiple times over the next week or so.

 

I have mixed feelings. Overall I think it was too short as a finale. Too much action and not nearly enough resolution. It's not going to be a 10/10 like the previous episodes. I'm thinking 8/10.

 

This sounds disrespectful of Rebels and Filoni and team.

 

I do think that as an episode, it feels incomplete. As a part of the whole, it works really well, but as it's own episode, it is not the best.

While I really liked the arc as a whole, I will say I found it all oddly somber for this show. Yes, the show would get dark and yes it could be painful. But the finale felt so somber for the kind of show TCW was. I really liked it, but at the same time it didn't necessarily feel like TCW for me and the last few minutes almost felt unnecessarily hopeless. Especially when you consider how even RotS ends. Doesn't mean I didn't like it, because I did. I really did. But at the same time, it did feel odd for being the finale of TCW.

If I had to pick between TCW finale and Rebels, I'd probably take Rebels just because I do think it struck the right note, even with it's flaws. Thankfully I don't have to choose!

 

Ok, not going to bed after all. Firing up Rebels again!

 

THis finale seems incomplete, compared to the rebels finale.

 

It's May the 4th. Why even sleep!?

 

I really like it.
It's grim, honoring the reality of this chapter in the Star Wars saga.
The show is about this conflict and Ahsoka + the clone's roles in it. Just like the war itself ends abruptly and leaves the galaxy in a state of cold melancholy, so does the show.
This was The Clone Wars.

 

I hope at some point they put it up as the movie it clearly is. The lack of quotes for each episode still throws me off.

 

No, you were dismissive towards the two people who expressed an opinion. I don’t share their view either, but there was absolutely no need for you to belittle their opinion like that.

 

I feel like TCW is about a lot more then that though. There are entire arcs and stories that have little to nothing to do with Ahsoka or the clones. The structure of the show made it that.

 

R7 saved Ahsoka's life! That little droid took the blaster fire and saved her. I knew he wasn't going to make it through this episode but the fact that he went out like that broke me

 

The bird, only one saber, that someone buried the clone troopers...Vader would have to be an idiot to not realize Ahsoka survived. He knows.

I like to think he just doesn't tell the Emperor about any of it. Rebels' "The apprentice lives" could just now mean at that point in time, Vader's impressed and kindof pleased, so-to-speak, that Ahsoka is still out there since this moment.

 

This could always take place during Rebels, after he runs into her.

 

Well that was unintentional if so. Dismissive of Rebels, yes. Dismissive of other posters, no

 

Having been impressed by the previous three episodes of this final series, this episode was really good. Given that we have the rebels series to come in terms of timeline, I don't think there was much more that could of been done. Given the fact Ahsoka and Rex were being chased by the clones any kind of payoff wasn't going to have much reflective dialogue.
Its a shame that given how good these episodes were we won't get anymore. But it certainly shows that Filoni has grown as Botha. director and a writer and I sincerely hope Disney don't drop the man but use him.

 

Ahsoka is the Luke Skywalker we SHOULD have gotten. A real Jedi Knight (Luke was real dont get me wrong, Im speaking post RoTJ) I have a feeling her live action appearances are going to be pretty special.

 

I watched this three times, on the first watch I had mixed feeling about it. I think the problem is after last week, I had siked myself up for something more cerebral for the final episode, not an entire 22 minutes on just escaping. Another issue I had was I expected Rex to be more involved in helping Ahsoka escape. It was a team effort but she was leading the whole time. The two extra viewings softened me up and helped me see the layers beneath the action to enjoy the end of The Clone Wars journey.

Spoiler: long review

The action doesn't even begin to describe this episode. The escape is balls to the wall nonstop which really makes this high-quality animation shine. Ahsoka and Rex give an expert level demonstration of what that sword and shield maneuver he sort of taught Kanan and Ezra is supposed to look like. She blocked and he stunned the crap out of every trooper. The scene of Ahsoka and Rex fighting back to back before the former cuts a hole in the floor is particularly awesome and even heroic-looking in spite of what's happening being definitely not. The scene with Maul just obliterating Clone Troopers then physically ripping out the hyperdrive with the force is insane. This guy is a damn animal. You have to love him. He's actually wearing the gauntlet off the clone's arm he severed and using it to listen to what they are doing. I don't know if Ahsoka really expected Maul to do anything like that. Maul is the one who actually dooms the ship which is a big point in how things come together later. Then there is the awesome aerial chase with Rex trying to swoop in to save Ahsoka with the blue-painted Y-Wing. I wonder if this is the Y-Wing he would have piloted in the shelved Rex/ R2 arc which would also have explained where he got these skills.

Now that's not to say this episode doesn't get a little deep. Rex and Ahsoka own that part of the episode with their characters facing their hardest decisions yet though Rex refuses to face them. It really picks up on their convo just prior to order 66 in the last episode on Ahsoka having been a soldier since she was a Padawan and Rex having never known another way.

Rex is an experienced, brutal, efficient war dog. Rex is not alright kid. He hides behind the stoic facade his helmet gives him. Dee Bradley Baker's performance shines again since all of Rex's emotions are expressed entirely with his voice most of the episode. It's clear the damage Order 66 and then killing those first four brothers did. It's too late for the stun setting. Rex is unsurprisingly in a hard Heroic Blue Screen of Death for most of the episode and I'm not completely sure Ahsoka really was able to reboot him. Rex actually got the last spoken line in the show yelling, "Come on" to Ahsoka. It really seems like Rex exits TCW steered just clear of the Despair Event Horizon. It's one of the better and most impactful uses of the trope I've seen. Not to mention Rex is aware he's locked up and hiding it while still being badass. That's damn close to inverting the trope. His expression in his final shot after burying his fellow clones is haunting and difficult to read. When Rex has his emotional outburst and Ahsoka removes Rex's helmet and he's broken down, Jesus that's heartbreaking and moving. Every one of these clones is doomed because of the brain chip. Because all that matters with it activated is killing Jedi. They will go down with the ship to make sure Ahsoka is dead. And Rex did order the escape pods destroyed. Not really his fault but holy crap. Rex hadn't planned on being saved. He knows his brothers are doomed and he for a moment wants to die with them.

Ahsoka isn't just a soldier, she knows no other way than helping people. She's more idealistic. Ahsoka can't bring herself to kill the clones who are victims here and she can't let Rex destroy himself doing it either. She will save both of them because death is not the answer and get them off the ship. She has never been one to think that much farther ahead. With Rex in HBSOD who is the one who would usually be able to see farther ahead. Ahsoka had to rely on everything Anakin ever taught her about flying by the seat of her pants. And she remains perfectly in character by making it up as she goes and punching her way to where she and Rex need to go. Rex does get to make up for it by just being a badass and still using his brain to make smart observations. Ahsoka is at the top of her game after Seven Seasons. She is powerful. She still manages to leave the series as its champion. Her catching and trying to hold the shuttle that Maul stole reminded me of the new version of Star Tours where Vader can catch your shuttle and mess with it. Ahsoka's expression at the end is just as hard to read as Rex's is.

The droids were actually good characters. I was sad when they were executed.

Poor Jesse. Looking back at the Umbara arc or even "The Deserter" I never would have thought he'd be the last reoccurring clone to die. While Maul played a minor antagonistic role engineering his escape. Jesse became the main antagonist and a tragic one at that. In this episode driven to kill Ahsoka and Rex at all costs driving home the tragedy of Order 66 and the chip that's in his head for the titular clones while ROTS does this for the Jedi. Jesse embodied all of that. I think Jesse is where the episode title comes from. It did feel like for seconds at a time Rex got to him only for the brainwashing to maintain control. This was the guy who in "Bad Batch" almost started brawling with Crosshair when he insulted Rex. He had already suspected Rex was aiding her. It's really sick that his charred helmet seemingly with some blood smeared on the top corner of the visor is the last we see at the graves where these clones were buried before the Vader scene. With that combination of the 501sts blue and that big old Republic patriotism on it, it that sticks out. Quite possibly the guy who replaced Fives as an ARC Trooper when he was killed trying to deliver a message to stop all of this. That whole scene man, that scene. Ahsoka right to the end treated the clones as men though it helps Rex lead her to the truth. She and Rex and equals here. She and Rex honor their brothers.

The final scene with Vader finding the lightsaber is as cold as the scenery. He was beautifully animated too. The feels when he picks up her rusted lightsaber. I do think the shot of Vader looking up at the sky and seeing the owl thing does leave off on a hopeful note. The sky it flies in is full of clouds which often represent stability and goals. Snow can also symbolize individuality, transformations, and a fresh start. Then there is the very last shot of Vader walking away with his back turned, to a shattered Ahsoka tribute Clone helmet is a fitting final shot It gets Ahsoka, Vader, and a clone trooper all in the final shot. Both are out there. Ahsoka on to higher things. I do see joining the Rebellion as something of a redemption arc for Rex. I wonder how long it took for Vader to find this wreckage. I wonder if this could already be within the season 2 timeline of Rebels.

I would be lying if I didn't say I wanted more. That I didn't want more stuff before this bookends the series. If I wasn't wishing for a sequel. If that unapologetic Rex fangirl in me didn't feel left on a cliff hanger and begging for more. Revisiting the brief convo about if Rex could get his own thing in the "Shattered" thread. If ever there could be a novel, comic, Disney+ special, anything for him I can see the possibilities for it better now. Picking up between the end of TCW and Rebels would be interesting with him. The end of TCW leaves me the impression there is even more mileage on this character than I realize and its really just getting to the most interesting part of his story. One reason I've always loved Rex is he is the ideal character for speculation and fanon with just enough development to be complex and still open-ended. Maybe its better they just leave him alone and let me imagine.

It's depressing to be at the end again but at least it is the end this time. I truly love TCW. When season 7 started, it seemed like just yesterday I was up at 6am on my day off, having not quite made it to 3:30am that night. This one was up and midnight and it kept me awake thinking about what I just saw. I'm an insomniac anyways so I might be exaggerating. I couldn't believe it was here and I was about to watch a completed version of the "Bad Batch". I remember replaying the opening a few times just to hear it. I was getting the intro again, a fortune cookie, a newsreel, and to spend time with among my favorite character, Captain Rex, again in his proper The Clone Wars setting. Not that I didn't end up enjoying having him around in Rebels. Its been a ride through all seven seasons and I feel fully vindicated when I say The Clone Wars is one of the greatest animated series of all time. Thank you to everyone from Dave Filoni and the directors to the animations and editors who made it possible for me to go on this last journey with Rex in TCW to its conclusion. I look forward to whatever comes next and good times with some new characters to grow to love. Well besides Din (And its rare the protagonist is my favorite character) but that's not animation and I want Star Wars to carry that torch and put out another high-end animated series.

After putting some thought into what I'd rate this. It's just not as good as "Shattered" because that episode was more cerebral and gave me everything I wanted. It had all the payoff I was looking for. This episode had a few cheesy moments in an otherwise dark arc. Still "Victory and Death" provided nice closure to the show and the somewhat open ending fits TCW's anthology, snapshot style storytelling. It feels like there should be a window before The Clone Wars movie. It feels like there should be one after Seige of Mandalore. 9/10

 

Maul was really elevated in this episode in my book.

 

Maul is now considered the third most powerfull sith in the saga and maybe all of star wars.

 

Long have I waited. The final product was beautiful. A great final sendoff of George Lucas's Star Wars.

 

The ending to me felt like set up to a sequel series (not Rebels) I don't know just a feeling...

Also I fully expect that unnamed moon to be revealed on twitter to be Hoth. The ventator crashing just altered it's climate...somehow?