Full Series The Clone Wars: Episode 414: A Friend In Need Discussion Thread

They don't Apple's wonderful and magical iPad... xb

 

It doesn't need to be like that. There would be a vast diffrence between a blaster shot and a kick and diffrent armour would be required for each. A Commando Droid would likely have its armour be optimized to protect itself from blasterfire. However, the droid would have little need for armour that protects it from kinetic energy which means a kick could be more effective than a normal blaster bolt.

As for the holo tracker device, well I don't see it much diffrence from a device that allows someone to track a phone call. Therefore, it should be able to be rather easily confused if the proper precautions are met.

 

Yeah, I've kinda got to agree. In the real world one can track phone calls, radio frequencies and IP addresses - this isn't a huge stretch.

Now I too would assume that Dooku and crew would have technology to counteract such an attempt to violate their privacy, but the idea that such technology exists in the Star Wars galaxy is not crazy.

 

It could well be that Dooku and others make their holo-transmissions untraceable. Therefore it may be that Lux has managed to get hold of a tracker that could get round Dooku's blocks to a greater or lesser extent, a type that is not generally available. It could also be that such a tracer is not very accurate. If transmissions go through relays then maybe it can only narrow it down to the nearest relay point, not the precise location.

 

This, for me, was the best episode of the season. This is the stuff that will really propel the series into interesting territory instead of retreading the same old stories we've already seen. The Ahsoka storyline, her friendship with Lux, and the advent of Death Watch give the series a lot of promise in terms of serialized storytelling. I'm going to bet that by next year these three elements along with the other disparate Clone Wars plotlines will start to come together and send the show's story into interesting directions that we will not know the outcome of. After all, why would we want to continue to watch retreads of the same Clone Wars battles with the same Jedi and Separatist characters when we can see a whole new story unfold?

The visceral excitement of Filoni's directing style gave even some of the more mundane parts of the episode some real excitement, i.e. the sweeping shot into the Death Watch tent that sends the camera right over the bonfire. The third act of this episode for me was note-perfect as Ahsoka strikes back at Death Watch and provides some of the most thrilling action on the show. When she duels Pre Viszla, regardless of what the power of the combatants is "supposed" to be, this was just a really fun dynamic fight. Not to mention the getaway in the speeder.

So, I'm a little shocked the conversation focuses so much on the nitpicking of holotraces, and not many others are talking about the cinematic elements. Not just how "good it looks" as you would remark about a painting, but also the visceral quality of the scenes, the momentum of the editing, the angles chosen, the way the camera moves around the landscape.

 

Yeah but it would be nice to actually have Lux hack into the computer/transmitter, which would have required a 10 second scene, rather than him just waving something around.

It didn't ruin the episode for me, it just felt lazy, and as others have noted, why wouldn't they use this technology all the time?


Although I just thought of AOTC and Kenobi realizing he couldn't reach Anakin on Naboo....I guess it's possible.

 

But to me, these are all things that the show already does well. And while it's encouraging to see the plotlines advance, what made this episode in particular worthwhile? I believe that a good majority of this episode could've been covered in the opening narration, with more plot and character heavy development taking center stage.

At this point in the show, we can't keep awarding the show for something it does well all the time. It's better to focus on things they could do better, as that would elevate this show above and beyond what it is now.

 

Some of you must have really hated Star Trek because they were 1,000 times worse with convenient technology

 

I was recently reading 'Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter', in which Sidious and Maul are using some device to see if their holo-connection is being tracked/tapped. They only start transmitting when they're sure they're in the clear. So, yeah, I guess there's that.

 

just disperse the tri-lithium ionizer to a random pattern, which should demagnetize the cover on the shield generator and allow Kirk to get his shirt off in time

 

Don't ************* STAR ************* TREK111!!!!1!Q111111111111111111111111111111111111!qQ1! That ********* is just *********, ****-******* ************* **** ****.

 

The shirt always gets off on time.

 

I really thought this episode was stunning visually as well, from the new look of the Death Watch and Vizsla, to R2 and the zombie droids and the end battle. I really feel like this had some of the best visual stylings we've seen thus far in the series.

Thats of course is all seperate from the story telling. But then I don't love Desperado from Robert Rodriguez for its tight story either. Visuals can make or break something by themselves and in this case I think they did.

 

This was a decent episode, with good visuals as noted. But I think it was hurt somewhat by feeling a little too much like an episode of The Ahsoka Tano Show.

 

I see your point, but one of the big reasons I'm into Star Wars is the cinematic elements, and I think the show continues to grow by leaps and bounds. In my opinion, the fun/dynamic/cinematic elements of Star Wars are more important than the nitpicky trivial elements, i.e. convenient technology.

To your point though, I think it is good to push them to keep making the story better. I am putting a lot of stock in the idea that the Ahsoka, Lux, and Death Watch storylines will get more interesting, so the writers will need to step up their game for that. But, I see this episode as just a stepping stone in the story, and since this show will likely go to 6 or 7 seasons, that's all it needs to be. I prefer not to look at the episode by itself and ask "what was the point" since it will likely be part of a much larger story. If i'm right, we won't be able to judge the story until after we see the whole thing.

 

Which brings us to the following issue: The whole thing was a setup to:

A) Get Ahsoka in position to meet Lux
B) Get Lux to speak with Dooku

And the ONLY way the writers could think of was to make it about Peace talks that SHOULD be a pretty big deal but are instead a throw away? And I do mean that in every sense of the word. After they escape and Lux takes off, there's no mention anywhere of the peace talks. And of course next week there will be no mention of the peace talks. Just because we KNOW they fail doesn't mean the writers should be so callous with the subject.

A huge part of Padme's character in ROTS was her desire to let diplomacy resume and all those nice cut Delegation scenes. But here she has the chance to apparently have real talks and SHE allows them to be blown out of the water. Now, perhaps that's why she wants talks to resume so badly in ROTS - to fix her mistake. But, if we're ever suppose to believe Padme is even a semi-competant politician (HA! Look at her record so far!), the writers need to start making her at least try. It's pretty darn clear that Leia did NOT inherent her political skill from Padme at this point. Definitely looking more like Bail Organa was solely responsible there since he seems to actually get things done (or so we're led to believe I guess).

 

Padme certainly isn't much of a politician. Last time she was on Mandalore she was more like Chow Yun Fat.

On a side note, we need a Grade the Episode thread for this.

 

Was it just me or that the female Death Watch mandalore, her helmet looked a bit too big on her?

 

It's probably just me, but I was re-watching and it seemed to me in the opening scene, Satine seriously looked like she was either bored and/or desperately wanted to be somewhere else. Anyone else get that impression?

 

She looked a tad bit annoyed, I thought.

 

Maybe she thought this was a waste of time and wouldn't amount to anything and was thinking to herself why am I here??

 

^That's exactly what I thought.

So, where does everyone think Lux could turn up next? Who is out there for Lux to hook up with if he still wants a crack at Dooku or who he could just hand out with?

 

Ventress.

 

How would Lux be at all useful to Ventress? Unless we go by the old saying misery loves company.

 

As a diversion.

Kidding aside, she's the first character to come to mind who has a grudge with Dooku. But I acknowledge the farfetchedness of the suggestion. Lux wouldn't (knowingly) take up with a former Separatist and war criminal, especially after the Death Watch debacle. And looks like Ventress will be in the Maul arc this season---which probably means she's going to croak.