Clone Wars Season 5: We talk about it here!

[max_cady]

The Clone Wars have begun once again!



This Saturday, we saw the debut of the Season premiere episode: "Salvation."

Which continues the storyline of Maul and Savage Oppress as they continue their or rather Maul's quest to kill Obi-wan Kenobi. So what you guys think about it?

Personally, it was a good, very foreboding episode... Spoilers ahead...

[spoiler]Maul and Oppress decide to recruit a few members of Ondo Ohnaka's rag tag of pirates and when Ohnaka refuses, Maul and Savage attempt to take over his operation.

Kenobi and Adi Gallia land on the smuggler's planet only to be ambushed by both brothers. Gallia is killed by Savage and Obi-wan is forced to deal with both of 'em alone. It wasn't Maul's intention to kill Obi-wan right there and now, but the situation was presentated favorably for them. While Ondo's insurgents are ambushed and quickly change sides again, Kenobi notices that Savage is wounded in a place where Adi striked him and uses both lightsabers to sever Savage's arm. Savage and Maul flee as they see Ondo's gang ambushing them. Maul is also harmed and the their ship also gets hit hard with heavy artillery. They escape through an escape pod and while Ondo plunders what's left of their ship, Obi-wan returns to Corruscant and in a meeting with the Chancelor, the threat of Maul is deemed as irrelevant and that efforts should be directed to Count Dooku and his army. The episode ends with Palpatine alone in the office grinning at the news of Maul's return.[/spoiler]

Can't wait for the another episode next week.

[Barry the Nomad]

Oh hell yes! I'm a big Clone Wars fan. I'll write up my thoughts when I'm not on my iPhone. But I will say that this is sure to be a big season!

--

Okay, at a computer.

This was on of the best Clone Wars premieres yet! About time they come right out of the gate with a storyline viewers were anticipating. I have always been for Maul's return. I think he adds a great deal of tension to the series that it has lacked, largely because we know the outcome of the war. But now, we have yet to see the outcome of Maul and Obi-Wan's duel which started in Episode 1, and will conclude in this season or the next. Personally, I hope Obi-Wan finishes Maul, but if Obi-Wan doesn't, then it has to be Palpatine.

Oh, btw Max, it's Hondo Ohnaka, not Ondo  And yes, he was awesome in this episode. Hondo is, by far, one of the best original characters the Clone Wars has given us. He really is a mix of the seedy villians found in Jabba's Palace and Han Solo, thanks to his snarky one-liners.

Regarding the casualties in the episode:
[spoiler]Elsewhere on the internet, people are upset that Adi Gallia was given an unceremonious death. She just died and they moved on. But I LOVED that they did that. Remember in Episode III when dozens of Jedi died in a blink of an eye on camera? Remember how Palpatine killed notables like Kit Fisto? Adi Gallia's death was like that, and I preferred it to a drawn out moment of Obi-Wan looking at her body, and a funeral at the end. People need to remember that these are secondary characters, and often in battle people die in a split second and the battle moves on. It's not the Adi Gallia show, and her swift death just shows how no character is safe. Who is next? Rex? Ahsoka? Savage? Maul? Satine?

My money is on Satine, I think the Zebrak brothers plan on pulling a Green Goblin from Spider-Man 1 by attacking Obi-Wan's heart by killing Satine. They may not know of her yet, but I'm sure their meeting up with the Death Watch will lead them to this crucial piece of information, which they will act on to draw Obi-Wan to them.[/spoiler]

So overall, great premiere and I can't wait for the rest of the season. Next week: Anakin & Ahsoka unknowingly assists in sowing seeds that will lead to the Rebellion against the Empire?

[max_cady]

This first episode sure help set a few things in motion, namely the way it's starting to come ever closer to the zeigeist of Revenge of the Sith.

I like it.

[Barry the Nomad]

Here are a few of my predictions and hopes for the sixth season of the series (assuming it is also the final season):

• Boba Fett returns. We learn that Hondo repaired Slave 1 (he currently has the remains, and Dave Filoni hinted that Boba is not in THIS season, but will return), Fett attains new armor in his iconic color scheme.

• Anakin hires Fett to carry out a job, setting up their professional relationship that continues in Empire Strikes Back. He has to get over the fact that Fett almost killed he and Mace though.

• Ahsoka doesn't die, but rather leaves the Jedi order with the help of Anakin. My guess is that her and her love interest, Lux Bonteri, run away together and Anakin assists, knowing what it is like to have a secret love. Perhaps she fakes her death?

• Rex does not survive season 5, next season Appo get's a promotion (who appears in ROTS in the position Rex would have held). Appo has already been introduced in last season's Krell arc.

• The final episodes take place DURING events of Episode III rather than simply leading up to them. Remember, the Clone Wars didn't end until Episode III ended. So perhaps we'll see some side-stories of secondary characters?

[max_cady]

Just watched the most recent episode "A War on Two Fronts".

What happens here is [spoiler]The Jedi Council have a heated discussion over the ethics of helping an insurgent group take back Lux's planet. On one hand, helping an planet that's aligned with the Separatists is something that could convince many of the seperatists to turn on Dooku. But on the other, there are so many variables that can go wrong and both the Jedi and the Republic might look bad, so they compromise and decide to simply train the rebels.[/spoiler]

It's a pretty good episode overall, especially how it continues an ongoing issue namely [spoiler] how Lux and Ahsoka have bonded and how it's starting to affect her and her relantionship with Anakin. 'Cause the way Ahsoka was handling the whole issue with Lux and Stella was pretty awkward. Anakin picked up on it pretty quickly. Is she feeling something along the lines of jealousy, perhaps?[/spoiler]

Can't wait for part 2.

[Barry the Nomad]

The Onderon arc was great! [spoiler]Now that Lux is a senator, he'll be quote close to Ahsoka. Given that Anakin and Padme are married under these same circumstances, I'll bet we'll see a secret romance emerge.[/spoiler]

Also, exclusive secret sneak peek at a later Maul episode: http://www.starwars.com/watch/maul.html

[spoiler]Maul teams with Death Watch, takes on the Hutts and several bounty hunters! Great to see Jabba again, and quite surreal to see Jabba talking to Maul.[/spoiler]

[max_cady]

I was going to mention that [spoiler] I was actually schocked at the ending of Tipping Points. When I saw that Stella was nearly plunging to her death, I remember that Ahsoka and Anakin were once able to use the Force to push someone and levitate through thin air and thankfuly the writers did not forget that. And that's why the tragic finale was just so gut-wrenching. Because we are given a false sense of security. Ahsoka is close to saving Stella, but one of the Droids still manages to hit Ahsoka Tano.

For a brief second, I though that both Ahsoka and Stella had died, which would make for the most shocking episode ever. It's just that we've been sort'of used to some characters being around that we often think that they'll never be touched. But this episode has proven everyone wrong.
[/spoiler]

Bring on the next episode!

[Barry the Nomad]

Next arc looks to be lighter in tone, but definitely expands on the Jedi mythology, showing us exactly how Yoda goes about teaching the younglings and how they construct their first lightsaber.

Previews hint at a BIG guest star, my guess is [spoiler]Mark Hamill, I mean you can't get much bigger than that in terms of Star Wars guest stars[/spoiler]

[max_cady]

Well, the Younglings 4-episode story arc is finally over and as such, I'll going to make several remarks, some bad and some good:

The Bad:

-So far, key Star Wars characters have been missing, namely Anakin Skywalker;
-Assaj Ventress has been a no-show thus far;
-Three story arcs so far where Hondo is involved to some degree, feels like they are resuing a lot of the same assests;
-The Younglings story arc was fair dull in the beginning;

The weird:
-Hondo's neverending supply of space pirates;

The Good:

-Hondo's ever shifting moral compass;
-Ahsoka Tano cementing herself as a the most memorable Clone Wars character;
-The Youngling arc made up for it's tepid debut with two very strong episodes;
-Grevious and Ahsoka Tano lightsaber fight;
-Maul, Savage and Sidious;