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Clone Watch - Episode 29
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The Clone Watch crew is back to clean up the last batch of accidentally skipped episodes! Lauren continues her first-ever journey through the prequel era and Clone Wars as we discuss "Corruption," "The Academy," "Assassin," and "ARC Troopers." From Mandalorian politics and cadet adventures to bounty hunters and clone heroics, we compare Lauren's fresh perspective against our years of Star Wars fandom.
00:00 Introduction
03:57 Corruption
21:21 The Academy
58:14 Assassin
1:05:39 ARC Troopers
To follow along with your viewing, you can find the Clone Wars chronological viewing list at:
https://www.starwars.com/news/star-wars-the-clone-wars-chronological-episodeorder
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Transcript
Introduction to Pop Culture Podcast
00:00:11
Speaker
Casual Nerdity is a podcast celebrating and discussing the pop culture that we love. Movies, TVs, comics, books, games, you name it. Ari missed to talk about the good, what worked, and yeah, sometimes what didn't.
00:00:22
Speaker
All with an eye towards building up, not tearing down. Thanks for joining us.
Clone Watch: Star Wars Universe Exploration
00:00:29
Speaker
Welcome back to Casual Nerdity, everybody. Hope you are doing well. This is Daryl, and as always, I am joined by... Nick and Lauren.
00:00:41
Speaker
And well, I say as always, but as always for Clone Watch anyway. And we're back with another episode of Clone Watch, our ongoing experiment in what happens when you take someone who's only seen the original trilogy and slowly expose them to the wider galaxy of the prequels and Star Wars, the Clone Wars.
00:01:03
Speaker
cause Oh, yeah. see Lauren joined our Star Wars RPG heavy gaming group with only the original trilogy under her belt, which meant a lot of, wait, who's that energy?
Chronological Viewing of The Clone Wars
00:01:17
Speaker
So Nick being what can only be designed as helpful or deeply unwell, or is it too much to ask for both? but decided to fix that by guiding her through the prequels alongside Clone Wars episodes, because Lauren prefers animation anyway, which somehow makes sense.
00:01:38
Speaker
We both like enjoying animated series. Yep. And somehow that made this seem like a reasonable plan. Now, the twist, we're watching it all in chronological order, because Nick hates peace.
00:01:53
Speaker
Yeah! And that's actually going to be relevant in this episode. It hasn't been for a while. Right? So today we' are catching up on the second batch of episodes that we accidentally skipped.
Themes of Politics and Clone Stories
00:02:06
Speaker
Fortunately... I'm not entirely certain how we did that. Yeah, i don't know. we i I don't want to throw anyone under the bus, but... Someone named Nick was the one that was posting the watch schedule in our in our group chat at the time.
00:02:25
Speaker
Well, and that Nick fella is there so really... You'd be forgiven because they're they're probably a very nice fella.
00:02:36
Speaker
Probably. Yep, because he's the one that does math. Totally. Totally.
00:02:45
Speaker
But we're catching up on those. Fortunately, we only missed these these two batches of episodes. And so today we are looking at Corruption Season 3 Episode 5, The Academy Season 3 Episode 6, Assassin Season 3 Episode 7, and Arc Troopers Season 3 Episode 2.
00:03:04
Speaker
Now, we're looking at politics, training days, assassination attempts, and ARC Trooper chaos, a.k.a. everything that reminds us clones are not background scenery, they're the heartbreak.
Padme Amidala's Investigation on Mandalore
00:03:18
Speaker
And Lauren continues reacting in real time as lifelong fans sit nearby pretending we didn't emotionally recover from these episodes years ago.
00:03:29
Speaker
Of course. I mean, so no one cares about the clones in ah in a series called The Clone Wars. Nope, I sure don't. I sure don't. I only carry a i only care about um the the Sith. That's who I care about.
00:03:44
Speaker
I only care about the droids. Well, this is true. We know this. We've established this multiple times. This is evident. So let's get into it.
00:03:57
Speaker
Corruption Season 3, Episode 5.
Resource Scarcity and Smuggling on Mandalore
00:04:00
Speaker
Padme Amidala uncovers a plot beneath Mandalore's facade. Ooh. So Mandalore is officially neutral in the Clone Wars.
00:04:11
Speaker
And But because of that, the planet's supplies are running low, and it's consumed by greed. They're having to resort to going to the Black Market to get food and supplies. So Satine calls in Padme for help.
00:04:27
Speaker
As you do. Yes, yes. And Padme notes that she is not given a conventional Mandalorian welcome, with ah Satine herself coming to see Padme as she arrives on the planet.
00:04:42
Speaker
indicating that ah these two are quite close. Yes. ah did Did they have any dialogue when Satine was on Coruscant? I don't know. another didn So, okay.
00:04:59
Speaker
Just roll with it. Roll with it. And notably, too, she does get the expected Mandalorian welcome, which is like a ticker tape parade, which is totally not what you would expect.
00:05:13
Speaker
You've given later Mandalorian information in the lore. And probably even prior Mandalorian information in the lore. Right. mr so Somewhere Karen Travis saw that scene and threw a brick at her TV. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
00:05:30
Speaker
and and and why That's why he she did not not contribute to the the Star Wars a Galactic Guide to Warfare book. see She threw a brick at her TV and cursed in Mandoah.
00:05:46
Speaker
A language that they still speak. Nice. and In canon. Yeah, but yeah we've we've talked about our thoughts on Travis before.
00:05:58
Speaker
We don't want to go back down that rabbit hole. Yeah, let's keep moving. Yeah, let's keep moving. So a ship of Moogans who aren't, well, they are called that later in the episode, slips in unscheduled and there's a dock master who's bribed to let them unload.
00:06:15
Speaker
Yes, in particular, it seems that Padme's arrival on the planet removed some of the personnel who would normally be guarding the area.
00:06:26
Speaker
And the ah the the person who takes the bribe notes that they're lucky that he was the only one around, with the Mugans noting that it is not, in fact, luck.
00:06:38
Speaker
the Yep. I wonder why that
Political Tensions and Padme's Role
00:06:41
Speaker
could be. Now let's coincidentally go to the next scene in Satine's audience chamber where Prime Minister Almec, who we met in the previous Mandalorian arc, is stirring up some shit.
00:06:55
Speaker
So it's a day that ends in Y. Yes, apparently Mandalore is relying on illegal smuggling in order to get the resources that they need, as ah their neutrality in the war has caused conventional trade to be rather difficult. Meanwhile, ah oh yeah.
00:07:14
Speaker
No, I was just going to say, yep. yep Yep. Meanwhile, a little bit later, in a more private setting, Padme confides in Satine, saying that she is personally uncertain about the war.
00:07:29
Speaker
Although Palpatine is assessing the scenario as very successful, Padme isn't so sure about that. What? Palpatine thinks the that the war is being successful? Foreshadowing is a literary device.
00:07:48
Speaker
Incredible. Yeah. And so the Mugans are diluting tea with a substance that can be toxic if the dosage... And so the Mugans are importing this tea, right? This bottled tea. Yeah.
00:08:05
Speaker
And they're diluting it with a substance that can be toxic if the dosage isn't exactly right.
Mandalorian Culture and Tea Incident
00:08:12
Speaker
So it's an incredibly subtle metaphor for drugs, eh?
00:08:16
Speaker
oh yeah, yeah, totally. Or a metaphor for just cutting costs and trying to to deregulate things.
00:08:28
Speaker
I mean, maybe I am... and My perception of it is being colored a little bit by just a couple of weeks ago having watched the series finale of Euphoria, which you fentanyl and cutting other drugs with fentanyl and all of that was a heavy plot element.
00:08:51
Speaker
Oh no, if if a Mandalorian touched a even a single microbe of fentanyl, they would instantly explode. It's their one weakness. It would supercharge Mandalorians, and at least if they were Karen Travis Mandalorians. Oh, okay. They'd be incredibly... ah ah Don't forget to describe how he feels about the Mandalorians. So... No, we we can't. So...
00:09:20
Speaker
I think we've mentioned this before. You know, all of the Chuck Norris memes. Yeah. Out there in the world about, you know, how, how badass and tough and invincible Chuck Norris is.
00:09:32
Speaker
Yeah. Okay. Replace the words Chuck Norris with Mandalorian. And that's how Karen Travis wrote Mandalorians. I see. I see. Maybe add in a title. Ironically.
00:09:44
Speaker
Right. Right. Without the, without any irony. Totally. Unironically. ah But coincidentally, we then see that there's a bunch of school kids who are sick.
00:09:56
Speaker
it It's a total coincidence. Again, it's like poetry. It's sort of, they rhyme. And there are similar reports from schools across the planet. Oh no! no! Oh And, you know, it our last episode was The Mandalorian and Grogu, and it's really wild seeing this depiction of Mandalorian society as contrasted with what we saw on The Mandalorian.
Ahsoka Tano's Influence on Mandalore
00:10:23
Speaker
Lauren, I have to remind you, The Mandalorian is the big one, and the green one is Grogu. Oh, okay, okay. I thought the one with the hat was Grogu. Wait, the the man the Mandalorian is the big one? So the Mandalorian is the hut that was in the the arena?
00:10:42
Speaker
No, no, no. Even bigger. the the right The giant robot, the one on the left. Oh, okay. Gotcha. Yeah, yeah. The big one. In any case, we we have a scene where both Padme and Satine are trying to find this mysterious team.
00:11:00
Speaker
And one of the school directors, I think he was, ah ends up opening up the location where the tea would be. But being guilty of a number of things, he tries to escape on a speeder of some sort and results in the most tame Star Wars crash in the entire series.
00:11:23
Speaker
It's true. Like... they violence he was ah They weren't violently thrown across cross like half half a yard. They didn't explode. No no one else exploded. just Wait, so you so you're saying that the school director gave up information. You're saying that he spilled the tea.
00:11:42
Speaker
Oh, no! I'll see myself out. That was beautiful. Get out of here! to the The superintendent of the school is the one who had the tea smuggled in Satine's like, he he says that it was to cut costs. And Satine like, the schools are perfectly funded. You are not underfunded. Well, yeah, but if I got it cheaper than I could pocket some of the money.
00:12:13
Speaker
a So, I mean, we did mention greed at the top of the episode. Yep. That's a crime. As a result, Padme and Satine do some stealth as they look into the docks. It reminds me of ah Paper Peach stealth sections from the first two Paper Mario games, primarily. She's doing stealth.
00:12:39
Speaker
i i played one of those. Stealth. I think it was the first one. first one was for the N64. Well, technically it's Duchess and Senator stuff, but yes.
00:12:51
Speaker
Princess. It's whatever. So they're they're on their way to covertly check out a shipment coming in and Satine and Padme bond over being the types to take matters into their own own hands.
00:13:03
Speaker
Remember kids, Satine is allegedly a pacifist. Yeah. Now with some help from Padme... Mandalorian security stops the smugglers and Satine orders the warehouse burned to the ground. Okay.
00:13:22
Speaker
Yay! Fire! I love it! I love incinerating things. It's beautiful. you can You can put the pacifist into the Mandalorian, but you can't take the instincts and destroy everything in your side from the Mandalorian.
00:13:41
Speaker
finally in the audience Finally, a Mandalorian does something worthwhile on screen. But notably, during the ah during the battle, ah the Mandalorian guards were using like physical shields to block blaster bolts, and for some reason that feels off to me. Well, you see, Lauren, the shields were most likely made of a material called beskar, which is a highly blaster and energy resistant metal that is unique to Mandalore and their claim to fame.
00:14:22
Speaker
Actually, it's likely a band. It's a Beskar alloy as they weren't used using pure Beskar. time period Yeah, but still the the point stands.
00:14:35
Speaker
The point also stands that it still feels off. Yeah.
00:14:41
Speaker
and And Nick, if you're going to um-actually, you need to use the um-actually voice. um i' never get through Um-actually.
00:14:54
Speaker
Nick, that's your normal voice. Oh, he's just doing that voice all the time then. so So he um-actuallys us all the time? Yeah, I think so. I think that's what that means. Wait, it's too early to bully We're only were're barely in one episode.
00:15:09
Speaker
Ah, yes, you're right. What do you mean barely? We're almost at the end of of this episode. Yes. So Satine suggests that maybe they should send a Jedi undercover into the governmental academy to root out the corruption.
00:15:28
Speaker
Now, although they were, I do have kind of a behind the scenes question here. And I don't think any of us know this answer. Even even Mr. Um-Actually himself over there.
00:15:40
Speaker
But although they were made years apart, 11 years if you're counting, I wonder if this episode was written under the auspices of the same government program that got us the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode, Beer Bad.
00:15:58
Speaker
And I know that reference probably means absolutely nothing to you, Lauren. It does not. No. So i yeah let me explain. Let me explain. So... In Buffy's season four, there was a government program that if TV shows, especially ones that had young skewing audiences, produced episodes that ah depicted drugs and alcohol use, in a negative light, that they could qualify for government funding for that episode. you know Basically, they get a little government subsidy.
00:16:37
Speaker
So the producers of Buffy the Vampire Slayer instructed the writers' room to participate so that they could you get some extra cash into it.
00:16:49
Speaker
So they wrote an episode that is titled Beer Bad, in which the beer at this bar on campus because all of the characters had, it was their freshman year of college ah on the show.
00:17:06
Speaker
Now being freshmen, they were still drinking underage, but never you mind that. It still falls under the auspices of the program because it's underage drinking. We want to show that this is bad, right?
00:17:19
Speaker
So they wrote the episode. This beer is causing everyone who drinks it to, basically devolve into cavemen and devolve into Neanderthals and, you know violence is breaking out. And Buffy is one of the ones who drinks and, you because she has gotten a new boyfriend, she slept with the new boyfriend and he ghosted her immediately and, know, just horrible, horrible things. So, you know, she starts drinking to drown her sorrows and you, you turns into cave Buffy. Yeah.
00:17:55
Speaker
for the episode. And they submitted it for review to be compensated by this government program. And they came back and said, well, see, the negative effects of the alcohol were because there was a supernatural element to it, not because it was just alcohol.
00:18:18
Speaker
a So you don't get the money. Oh. So... They didn't get the money, but they're like, well, we already you spent the writing resources to write the script, so we're still filming it.
00:18:33
Speaker
And to this day, it is considered one of the absolute worst episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer because it is very ham-fisted and preachy. I see.
00:18:46
Speaker
yeah it is like... the The fists are made of ham in terms of ham-fisted. Normally, whenever it comes to this episode, it doesn't really feel like the chemical is a drug at all, really. light that that That's honestly my opinion. it's it doesn't feel It feels like it's just a byproduct of the fact that they're of a wartime condition of, like, just... but It's just a... It's it's like a byproduct.
00:19:20
Speaker
Because, like, this chemical, it isn't something that you take on its own. It's something that the tea producers put into the tea in order to dilute it so that they can make more tea without spending more materials on it. to ah To a society that requires the tea, but it's, like...
00:19:39
Speaker
They aren't trying like hook anyone on the T. in fact they yeah That's fair. they would further than there it's ah It's a product of... It's a representation of irresponsible thoughtt production nott and war and day wartime like gets in wartime scarcity rather than in maliciouss attempt to like hook people on the T. Again, the T is actively causing illness and potential death.
00:20:10
Speaker
Yeah, like the the T isn't ever displayed as addictive or inherently causing any sort of drunkenness or altered state of mind. it's The draw of the T is like, well, people...
00:20:26
Speaker
he It is fundamentally regular tea. It's basically like whenever people cut ah like to the standards for production. Whenever people lower the standards for production, and as a result, products become more deadly because they're not being checked on properly and such.
00:20:48
Speaker
And taking advantage of a public that is currently it experiencing shortage. Yeah. So I don't know if that's fair. Yeah. drugs Drugs don't really translate to this episode very well.
00:21:02
Speaker
Yeah. That that's, that's fair. That's fair. I, I was probably still too much in, in metaphor brain ah from, from earlier when that question popped into my head.
00:21:15
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, it is a metaphor just for something else. Yeah. It's different metaphor. Yeah. and That's the end of that episode. And that takes us into the Academy Season 3, Episode 6. Ahsoka Tano is assigned to teach a class on Mandalore.
00:21:31
Speaker
Oh, boy. it it so It's a girl. Mm-hmm. So Ahsoka's being sent to teach at the Royal Academy of Government on Mandalore.
00:21:45
Speaker
Yes, yes. It is a special mission from the Jedi Council to expose children to new ideas. Or at least ostensibly, that's why she's there. i mean, Satine... Propaganda! Yep. And Anakin brings her and immediately leaves because Satine and Almec...
00:22:07
Speaker
meet Anakin and Ahsoka and they're like, oh, you the two of you are here. That's great. And Anakin's like, yeah, I got a dip. I got a dip. I got real work to do.
00:22:19
Speaker
i got, I got, I got main character things. I got a brood. I got to commit a war crime or two. of course it's Anakin. He's always doing that. And, uh, so I got to disappoint Obi-Wan at least three times.
00:22:35
Speaker
And, um, then we we have a little bit of quippiness and Ahsoka being introduced to some of her her students.
00:22:48
Speaker
Cadet Corky, Amos, Lagos, these are some of the cadets that you will be instructing, Padawantano. Nice to meet all of you. That's a fine weapon. May I see it?
00:22:59
Speaker
I'm afraid not. Because of Master Kenobi's recent visit and the trouble that followed, no off-worlders may carry weapons on Mandalore. Master Obi-Wan caused trouble?
00:23:10
Speaker
That's a first. Just give me the lightsaber.
00:23:16
Speaker
Yeah, we we get that quippiness. ah we We get our introduction. You stood over the best quip. The You skipped over the best quip where as Anakin is leaving, he says something like, ah hey, if you do right, you'll have a chance to prove me wrong or something like that. I i i don't even remember hearing that one. so You know, it was like immediately after that quote ended. yeah it was kind It was kind of what I based my old, like, call out to you guys when we...
00:23:49
Speaker
leave my house like, if you do anything crazy, name it after to me. Yeah, like I keep telling you, Nick, when we commit any crime, we always leave your name behind. we We go to pin it on you.
00:24:01
Speaker
and But you know there's there's that quippiness. We we get introduced to Corky. who yeah we We discussed Corky at greater length after we skipped over this episode in the Mandalorian arc with Obi-Wan and Maul.
00:24:21
Speaker
To not discuss the fact that there is popular theory that is... theory confirmed ah that Betsy has strong feelings about the character. Yes, yes. i have I have a quote from her that I am to give on her behalf that we have later on down the line in the notes here.
00:24:42
Speaker
good good Good. Otherwise, we'll be punished. Yep. And then Back-to-back clips, though, after that little quippiness and kind of lighthearted, I'm just going to leave this next one right here.
00:24:59
Speaker
Corruption is what happens when someone in power puts their own personal gain before the interests of the people they represent. So it's a result of greed? Yes. A leader sacrifices moral integrity for the sake of money or power.
00:25:14
Speaker
Entire star systems have collapsed into chaos. A revolution because their greedy politicians got caught up in a cycle of bribery and blackmail while their people suffered. Does that mean most government officials are corrupt?
00:25:27
Speaker
Well, no. But the point is that temptation is always there, and citizens must be vigilant so corruption can't take root. The deadliest enemies of a society dwell within its borders, and from these internal threats, the people need to be protected.
00:25:44
Speaker
But if you don't trust your leaders, isn't that treason? It's every citizen's duty to challenge their leaders, to keep them honest, and hold them accountable if they're not.
Ahsoka's Impact and Fan Theories
00:25:54
Speaker
How do you do that?
00:25:55
Speaker
By exposing corrupt officials for what they are. Lasting change can only come from within.
00:26:04
Speaker
Foreshadowing literary advice. and for Foreshadowing, gave that, that, I just included that clip for absolutely no reason. There's absolutely no relevance to the real world, past or present. um There is... Star Wars has never, ever been political.
00:26:25
Speaker
There's no theme. There's nothing very, very obvious going on in the current day that we could draw any parallel to. Honestly, I can't i can i can draw. I'm drawing. my concept yeah we win We can go about our business. Move along. move along you You don't have to think about anything ever.
00:26:43
Speaker
No, I know. It's just... I... It's all just waiting for splashing lights. It's unlike that very overly political Star Trek. Good thing we're not talking about that.
00:26:55
Speaker
Oh, yeah, totally. I mean... We might be, someday. Yep, we might be. I would not be opposed. foreshadowing is a literary device.
00:27:06
Speaker
What, you're going to expose me to both Star Wars and Star Trek, and I'm going to end up doing a Trekkie, I guess, or something, maybe? I really do. i Okay, sidebar, as I think that we have kind of agreed from what you have been vibing with in Clone Wars and from just, you what, three, four sessions of playing the Star Trek RPG in our group, I think you would probably agree that Star Trek is a little more your vibe than Star Wars.
00:27:45
Speaker
Yeah, probably. is This seems highly likely. Now, completely unrelated to anything in that clip of Ahsoka that is purely irrelevant, and I just pulled it for zero reason.
00:28:04
Speaker
While I was watching it, I was sitting there looking at Corky in the scenes, And I was trying to figure out who Corky has always reminded me of. And then it finally suddenly hit me.
00:28:17
Speaker
Conan O'Brien. it it It's Conan O'Brien. Well, okay. Wait a second. do Do you need to pull up a picture of Conan O'Brien and look? Yeah. You're not right. yeah You're not wrong.
00:28:31
Speaker
you're You're never going to be able to unsee that now. You're welcome. So the students... Damn. It's fucking heck it there So the students that night, you know they're studying, they're working on their assignment that Ahsoka gave them and they go looking for food because they're hungry, but food is ah allegedly scarce. So they, they break into this warehouse and they spy on smugglers meeting with unmarked Mandalorian police and a mysterious cloaked figure.
00:29:09
Speaker
And there's plenty of food hidden in this in this port. By all appearances, there's no food shortage. Now, they get spotted.
00:29:20
Speaker
They manage to get away. And Corky suggests speaking to his, Antsatine? Whoa. Okay, so we we knew already, we knew this already, because we accidentally skipped these episodes and we saw Corky in the Maul and Death Watch arc.
00:29:40
Speaker
But still, I included that in there because, what? It was crazy, but also it doesn't answer the questions when we actually find out that and everything else about Satya, it still doesn't add up.
00:29:57
Speaker
Right. So they go to Satine, who tells them that she'll take care of it, but they feel like she kind of brushed them off because she wouldn't let them actively participate. Yes, we I won't let school children actively participate in a government investigation. So unreasonable. She's being so unreasonable. Who do you think you are? Spider-Man?
00:30:19
Speaker
Spider-Man or the Scooby Gang or whoever. Dainty Phantom? sure the Scooby Gang? It's impossible. Scooby King and Game Possible actually are just semi-respected individuals.
00:30:33
Speaker
Yeah, that's that's why I'm saying, who do you think you are, Kim Possible? hey So, since they feel like they got kind of brushed off, they call Almec, who he agrees to meet them. He's taking them seriously. And he tells them to bring their recording and all of the cadets who know about it, which is not suspicious at all. Not at all. No, no, its totally. That's normal. Nothing to see here. Move along. Move along.
00:31:00
Speaker
He's a trusted advisor to Satine. Obviously, he's a good guy. Now, before meeting with Almec, they're back in class, and they tell Ahsoka about it, too. So, here's this government cover-up, right?
00:31:14
Speaker
they They tell the Duchess, they tell the leader of Mandalore, who they fortunately have an in with, because she is one of their aunts. Ahem, ahem, ahem.
00:31:26
Speaker
And... And then they tell you know the Prime Minister, who he's known since childhood, because but that that's his aunt's advisor.
00:31:39
Speaker
And then they tell this random teenage Jedi that they met yesterday. and But she tells them to be careful, to take stock of everyone before jumping in.
00:31:53
Speaker
And Ahsoka, have you learned nothing from Anakin? You always leap before you look. Always. She sounded more like Obi-Wan in this case.
00:32:04
Speaker
Right? I mean, keep in mind, the last time Obi-Wan was here, he caused so many problems. So she's probably like, ah, in this context, acting like Obi-Wan is optimal. Well, she doesn't know this yet.
00:32:16
Speaker
Don't read ahead on the clips. Well, no, no, she heard about the fact that Obi-Wan caused trouble last time. Anakin told her.
00:32:27
Speaker
um The specter of Obi-Wan is hanging over this over this for a great deal. but that that we're trying to draw any attention to that. i I wonder why. Does Ewan McGregor look like much like... I don't think Ewan McGregor looks much like Conan O'Brien.
00:32:44
Speaker
Anyway, ah the kids head to their meeting where the police arrest them for treason. And it's the same guards from the night before. Ahsoka intervenes and saves them.
00:32:58
Speaker
say And lets them know that Almec set them up. Ahsoka says a cop. And I mean, is she wrong? No, she's got it. Although the Jedi are cops.
00:33:12
Speaker
Well, good thing she's not a Jedi anymore. Yeah, she is. Spoilers. Not not by the point that we've seen in the show. is this Right, but at this point in time in the show, yeah, she is.
00:33:25
Speaker
She's a Jedi. She figures it out eventually. So the kids show Ahsoka the hologram of the cloaked figure, and... She uses a device to de-shadow the face and identify Almec as the shadowy figure. This has never been done it in Wars.
00:33:48
Speaker
period. I totally forgot that they introduced holographic zoom and and enhance here and Nick, I'm going to use this at some point. This is zoom and ah remove remove your your concealing cloak.
00:34:05
Speaker
No, Nick, it's Zoom and Enhance. It's Blade Runner style Zoom and Enhance, where he zooms and enhances in a mirror and is able to see around a corner of the reflection in the mirror.
00:34:19
Speaker
i just like Now, Lauren, I know that you probably have not seen Blade Runner because live action. I know about Zoom and Enhance. But yeah, there's... I was going to say specifically that Zuman Enhance. yes I was going to say... It's a great movie.
00:34:36
Speaker
It's a wonderful movie. That's a ridiculous Zuman Enhance trope. It is the reason why it is like... The Zubin and Hans trope is named for it. Even though every other thing did come after that, it is even more ridiculous than the original version, but it's like it's that ridiculous that every other iteration it is even more ridiculous.
00:35:01
Speaker
So they head back to Satine, but her guards are dead and she's missing uh-oh and so they uh they continue to work with ahsoka but oh no ahsoka betrays them ahsoka turns the kids over to almec and they're hauled off to prison cells and as they're hauled off they are children She says that they implicated Sabine as their leader.
00:35:32
Speaker
And Almec is like, oh, she's already in custody. Don't worry about that. and You said Sabine, not Satine. Oh, Satine. Yes. Sorry. Sorry. i'm I'm jumping ahead to Rebels.
00:35:45
Speaker
um satine she implicated satine as their leader all makes like no no don't worry about it she's already in custody and once he's gone she goes in to question the kids and what do you know it's all a ruse and ahsoka mind tricks a guard to take her to where satine is but uh i i still don't have a clip pulled for this but uh it's a trap Yes, the guards actually resist the mind trick. They've been trained to do so.
00:36:20
Speaker
Le gasp! Without like making sense as mandalorians are are the have been trained and for years have known the tricks of the Jedi.
00:36:34
Speaker
Yep. And without her lightsaber, they do end up up restraining her, at which point they start to torture Satine with a shock collar to get her to confess to, you know, working against the the interests of Mandalore.
00:36:53
Speaker
After that doesn't work, they decide to start torturing the children! Lovely. But fortunately, Ahsoka starts kicking butt, ah freeze frees herself from her restraints, and invents a brand new force choke by putting the shock collar onto Almec instead.
00:37:14
Speaker
Yes. and he's what He's learned from Anakin so much on how to commit a war crime. and With the look that Satine gives Corky when Almec is about to put the shock collar on him,
00:37:28
Speaker
this is as good a time as any to deliver a message from Betsy since she couldn't be here. She said, and I quote, do me a favor and remind the good people who Corky's parents definitely are and fuck who, out whatever Filoni and Pablo have to say because like, come on.
00:37:45
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, there's, there's, it's, it's obvious who are the parents of Corky are. It's um obviously, uh, Prime Minister, Omic and Bo-Katan.
00:37:59
Speaker
No, her Corky's father is Conan O'Brien. Yes. He's space Conan O'Brien. Created through the for the manipulation of the mechlorians.
00:38:10
Speaker
Corky doesn't have a father, but he does have a second mother in Padme. ah now i I know that we discussed it in length in the later episode.
00:38:24
Speaker
we We're doing this in chest. We're saying this after the fact that that Betsy does not kick all of our butts. No, we discussed this at length in the later episode. And that later episode is actually what prompted me to realize that we had skipped some of these because ah when Corky showed up in those, was like, wait, they're not introducing Corky.
00:38:48
Speaker
I know that there was enough. Wait a second. I went back and looked at the episodes that we had covered and all of the episodes in the show. And was like, hey, we missed some.
00:39:00
Speaker
It all wraps back around. like poetry. It rhymes. Yeah, I think it's like poetry. So if they rhyme. And so then we we get the closing of the episode. Anakin comes to pick up Ahsoka and they they have a little talk.
00:39:18
Speaker
I hope this assignment wasn't too boring for you. It had its moments. Huh. Like the one where you convinced untrained children to help you overthrow a corrupt government?
00:39:30
Speaker
That was a highlight. It sounds pretty risky. You're lucky you didn't get hurt. Nothing you wouldn't have done.
00:39:39
Speaker
And she's she's not wrong. it It would have been even more chaotic had Anakin been there. Oh, undoubtedly. Oh, they replied with more death and destruction and... Almec would be dead.
00:39:53
Speaker
Anakin would have actually had his lightsaber because R2 would have been holding onto it the entire time. Oh, if Arty was there, then I don't know if there would be a Mandalore after that.
00:40:07
Speaker
any case. So yeah, I have some thoughts about this particular episode. I have some thoughts. so ah Take the floor. Yeah, so this episode really plays into some elements that I'm not a fan of.
00:40:20
Speaker
I've previously noted that a lot of episodes with Ahsoka in them don't actually focus on her, that she isn't the one who has a character arc. She's simply there to facilitate other characters' arcs.
00:40:32
Speaker
Back when I originally watched this episode, it was the first one that I really noticed this with. In particular, because it also plays into a narrative element that just generally irks me. The sidelining of non-human characters.
00:40:48
Speaker
It's rather common for series that have aliens, furries, robots, or otherwise non-human entities to then have a token human or two that proceed to take emphasis away from the more fantastical individuals that make the given franchise more unique.
00:41:05
Speaker
And I'm not gonna say that this is like always a bad thing, tropes are tools after all, But on the whole, when it happens, I'm more often than not dissatisfied and disappointed.
00:41:18
Speaker
When I first watched this episode, I was really excited to finally have a story dedicated to Ahsoka, excited to see what she'd learn and do on Mandalore. Then the focus shifted to some human kids, and I really felt the excitement just get knocked out of me.
00:41:34
Speaker
Ahsoka, of course, does play a role in the narrative, but it isn't really ah about her. it's It's about the kids. And I know this is really complaining more about what the episode isn't rather than what the episode is. is and that this is really a complaint that stems more from broader media trends rather than a Star Wars specific issue, but these elements really came together to sour my taste for the episode the first time around and ah rewatch didn't really help with that.
00:42:06
Speaker
Fortunately, and while I may have issues with the way Ahsoka tends to get used in general, the next episode is an exception to that trend and very much helps make up for my disappointment with this one.
00:42:21
Speaker
get and I will also agree with you. like There has been a lot of, in the fandom, that says like yes, there are some amazing, some of the strongest Star Wars stories in media. and One of them has been... a The two seasons of Andor. Some of the best critically acclaimed. Star Wars stories currently.
00:42:42
Speaker
in In the franchise. But they are. Human focused characters. When you. This is truly A a story. A franchise made of rap around. The fantastic. The the unique. and The unwillingness. To create a a main.
00:43:04
Speaker
Story. I mean, public story on any of the franchise, on the major sort of medias of of television, animation, and film, to be fully, like, from a perspective of one of ah the amazing creatures and aliens that populate the Star Wars universe, who are full functioning beings just as any human, is something that has been discussed multiple times. Like, it's it's unusual.
00:43:36
Speaker
And though it makes sense from a great many perspectives, that it's like, yes, you want to draw your audience in by what is knowledgeable and known. And it's far easier to do that with a human expression. And and even from the production value points, like it's easier to have just a person instead of having to build around like a either a CZI puppet or or a a fully makeup individual.
00:44:05
Speaker
But it does. There are many that share your same feelings. And honestly, that was one of the big big reasons why Ahsoka is... The Ahsoka series, when we eventually get to it, is such a big hit.
00:44:21
Speaker
It is entirely about a character who is an alien. But but even then, it's still also one that had to take years to get built up to be allowed that. Instead of like just letting a Star Wars alien be a character.
00:44:38
Speaker
And I will also note... I was to say, the Ahsoka series is about an alien. I mean, I guess Sabine as a Mandalorian is technically an alien. I guess Ezra from Lothal is technically an alien.
00:44:56
Speaker
I'm sorry, did I say that out loud? Mm-hmm. But yeah, another factor that I didn't technically mention in this rant, but there is also another element of the sidelining of Ahsoka that is ah a bit irksome in this episode, in that not only is Ahsoka an alien character who's getting less focused than some human characters, but she's also a female character,
00:45:20
Speaker
who is kind of being upstaged in and the episode by, you know, it it is a quartet of humans, and there are two males and two females, but like Corky's the main guy.
00:45:31
Speaker
it's they're they're they're They're upstaging their main female character with some other male character. So that that is also a factor that is less... The alien thing is very much a personal agitation, whereas the female thing is a much greater social problem. That's a great... i say like The alien thing has been like a discussion point in a great deal of... Going back even to the Legends, people were like, can we have Chewbacca novel? Give us a...
00:46:05
Speaker
give give us give us a effort the The most perspective we usually get from the Star Wars aliens are from and all of these stories. And, you know, to to be fair, when they have, on a few occasions, done Chewbacca comics, he's it's his name on the cover?
00:46:30
Speaker
in the title and he's generally a sidekick in those. Oh, of course. Even ones where it's like he's... Because they continue, understandably, because this is an aspect of the character.
00:46:46
Speaker
As he was created in 1977, his dialogue is not translated for the reader. Mm-hmm. So therefore, he is a he ends up being a secondary character in his own comics, one-shots, and miniseries, as there is another character, human or humanoid, that he bounces off of, who is the reader's point-of-view character.
00:47:17
Speaker
Yeah. i was about to say, like, was about to say, like, but what if, know, I realized, like, The only other time that Wookiees had the main focus of a story was the holiday special.
00:47:30
Speaker
Incredible. And they, there's a reason in the Legends continuity that when they started the New Jedi Order storyline the publisher was very adamant that they wanted to kill off one of the existing main characters in the first book and they went to lucas with a list of names and lucas picked the name and the name selected was chewbacca and the all of the various writers of new jedi order
00:48:11
Speaker
did kind of say it was kind of a relief because it's hard to write for him. e It's hard to write for him because you can't translate him.
00:48:21
Speaker
So you have to write that he growls and does something and then someone has to translate for him to another character. Or contextually understand what he means.
00:48:33
Speaker
Yeah. Or to basically not know what he means. it's like there's there's like That's the three ways to write it. And if if you want to talk about women as characters in a Star War being spotlighted and then having the bad faith portion of the audience descend upon them, ah we have you should watch The Acolyte at some point.
00:48:58
Speaker
Hmm. Yeah, you know, I'm kind of wondering if, because I know that Ahsoka was very much hated whenever she was introduced. Oh, she was. People came to like her more over time. I'm wondering if this is the reason why, because they just didn't focus on her very much. Because this jesus she's a supporting character. This is going back to see the season three. Before season three, I told you, was wouldn when Clone Wars got good. Mm-hmm.
00:49:28
Speaker
And it was specifically at the second half. The first half was like fixing up a lot of the plot holes and a lot of the misconceptions and like filling in stuff.
00:49:40
Speaker
But it was also... was when people were starting to see more Ahsoka and Ahsoka was getting more play and then afterwards we got into the best Ahsoka. The problem that I have with Ahsoka getting overshadowed by other characters even in what are presumably her own episodes this isn't a problem that is exclusive to a single season.
00:50:02
Speaker
It is a problem that has been consistent throughout the series up until like the the last episode, the end of season five that we've watched. it's you know She does have some of her own episodes legitimately, where she is legitimately the focus character, but a lot of the time she just isn't. she's or part of an um She's part of an ensemble, but she does definitely get the most...
00:50:27
Speaker
Post episodes like this, he gets a bunch more lion's hair of character development, even in the ensemble or larger cast episodes. Yeah. And it it didn't hurt that they stopped writing her like a precocious 10 year old.
00:50:45
Speaker
Which is where a lot of the... Everyone's first exposure to her was the movie. The Clone Wars movie. Which, I'll admit, was not a... For her character. Was not a great introduction.
00:51:00
Speaker
It wasn't a great introduction. People carried that over into the series. And they had to, as writers and producers and directors and voice actress Ashley Eckstein, they had to fight to win the audience over after that first impression.
00:51:19
Speaker
And also, and the fact that that the first two and a half seasons are a mess in terms of like trying to determine her story. Yeah.
00:51:30
Speaker
Because again, the continuity is all over the place. Like we're jumping back, forth, like where it... We're trying to find a throw line. The character seems all over the place because the story is all over the place.
00:51:44
Speaker
So, like, it it feels like y'all aren't really ah getting what I'm getting at, because y'all keep talking about how these things have changed and how the, you know, the the order is, you know, in effect, but it doesn't really seem that way to me. that The core complaint that I have about her being a supporting character in her own episodes isn't something that changes. It's not something that gets better. totally get that.
00:52:13
Speaker
I totally get where you're coming from and I i can agree with it. What I think Nick is trying to get at and I know what I'm trying to get at is it's not so much that she the writing for her was better and but it was still not ideal.
00:52:36
Speaker
Yeah. If that makes sense. I think it's us coming in from a perspective that we watched it as it happened have had perspective going back on it a and it's like we can justify a lot of the issues because it does work out but I think that we did feel the same way when we were watching it the same as you. But yeah, admittedly, I don't really agree on the point that she started out really bad because as we've noted in, you know, the the first episodes, I've been, you know, into Ahsoka from the very first, even from the movie, I liked her there.
00:53:18
Speaker
So it's not really a complaint that I personally resonate with. i Anytime that Ahsoka actually does get the spotlight, I have enjoyed it. It has been great. even Even in the moments where she is a supporting character, she is still a good supporting character.
00:53:34
Speaker
I just want to see more of her actual story, you know? And I would say that the reaction of... finding her to oversimplify annoying at first comes from a a widespread application, even among those of us who generally are a little more self-aware and media savvy than this.
00:54:02
Speaker
But we went into the Clone Wars movie expecting one thing and got another. Mm-hmm. We went into the Clone Wars movie expecting another Star Wars movie that just happens to be animated rather than...
00:54:23
Speaker
a Star Wars movie that was even more overtly than usual directed at a young audience. I see. we were We walked into it and we were unable, unwilling, or just plain didn't at the time meet that movie where it was.
00:54:45
Speaker
Especially coming off of the last film that was in theaters was Revenge of the Sith. Yeah, we... It wasn't met, by and large, it was not met where it was. It was met where people expected it to And Ahsoka, at the beginning of the series, was pretty emblematic of the target audience for Clone Wars.
00:55:12
Speaker
you And i've ah made the same ah I've made the same comparison when ah you haven't watched it ah yet And we may or may not ever get there. Who knows?
00:55:26
Speaker
But in between episodes eight and nine, they did Star Wars Resistance. And it got some similar, similar lackluster reaction.
00:55:38
Speaker
And but. i I didn't have that reaction to it because by that time I was able and willing to meet it where it was. And to this day, people online have it have who haven't watched it ask, hey, I haven't watched Resistance.
00:55:59
Speaker
Is it any good? Am I going to like it? And my response is Resistance is exactly what it was made to be, which is a Disney kids adventure show.
00:56:11
Speaker
in the mold of Disney kids adventure shows. And it just happens to be star Wars. And by that, I mean, it is about a bumbling, but good hearted young protagonist who is really only good at one thing, but they really excel when they get to do that one thing assisted by their quirky friends and their long suffering adult mentor.
00:56:40
Speaker
right it's not it was never meant to be It was never meant to be the next big Star Wars epic. And by and large, most of the people who didn't like it much today with that were ah were adults who went into a kids' adventure show expecting the next big Star Wars epic.
00:57:05
Speaker
And the same kind of thing can be said about early Clone Wars. Interesting. i think I think this is part of like a major conversation that we should probably have like closer to the end of Clone Wars.
00:57:18
Speaker
Ahsoka Tano is a character that deserves a long conversation about her
Ahsoka's Visions and Zero the Hutt's Role
00:57:25
Speaker
impact. her She is the Clone Wars, for lack of a better discussion. Her existence is him integral to it.
00:57:35
Speaker
Yeah, we will circle back and after after we finish Clone Wars, we can do an Ahsoka retrospective episode. Yeah, that makes sense. But even this is like a good starting point and the fact that you're even thinking about it this much and that we're thinking about it this much. Ahsoka is literally the heart of the Clone Wars.
00:57:59
Speaker
Without her, this series would has no right to exist, in my opinion. But we can discuss that. And as you said, we're getting into somema the good some some good quality Ahsoka content.
00:58:12
Speaker
Yep, because we've we've gone down a rabbit hole. So let's let's head into the next episode, Assassin, Season 3, Episode 7. Ahsoka Tano has visions of Padme Amidala being assassinated. All right.
00:58:28
Speaker
It's a dated N and Y for Padme. Yes. So once again, Ahsoka is left behind as Anakin is sent on a mission. And she has a vision of Aura Sing stalking her.
00:58:44
Speaker
Yes, yes. Interesting how ah both sets of episodes that we missed ended ended up dealing with Aura Sing. so That is weird. but We just completely skipped over her, I guess.
00:58:56
Speaker
yeah yeah That could be a metaphor for the fact that Orsing only appeared in one scene. One one split, blink and you miss it scene in Phantom Menace and now then returns in the canon completely different from her Legends portrayal. Mm-hmm.
00:59:18
Speaker
Yes, we then get several scenes of Yoda wisdom helping guide Ahsoka in her use of force and counseling her to not take visions the future. We actually should acknowledge the fact that the voice actor for Yoda in the Clone Wars has passed.
00:59:34
Speaker
Yes, very recently. Moment of silence for Tom Kane. You know, this was these these were some pretty neat scenes because we actually see somebody actually teaching Ahsoka for once.
00:59:47
Speaker
We don't really see Anakin really teaching her much. Anakin teaches her party. Let's commit war crimes. Yeah. z alert he learned She learned... I learned about you, Master.
01:00:03
Speaker
So Ahsoka talks to Padme about it and ends up going along with her to Alderaan for an important conference. And this is one of our first big looks at Alderaan.
01:00:15
Speaker
And... Ahsoka's visions become increasingly detailed and specific about Aura-Singh attempting to assassinate Padme. Yes, yes. At one point, she actually wakes up while on the ship and runs over to Padme's room and brings out her lightsaber in the middle of the night, thinking that Aura-Singh is on board the ship at the time.
01:00:37
Speaker
<unk> It's a pretty intense moment. Ooh. i I just had a story idea that would... probably work best in the Star Trek campaign.
01:00:50
Speaker
And I'm going to keep it to myself because you're both players in that. Yes. Well, for now, I'd also like to know that Alderaan looks beautiful with its mountains as Ahsoka and Padme talk. And Padme gives Ahsoka advice about ah dealing with ah her visions and how important her work is in ah providing aid to those affected by the war.
01:01:15
Speaker
Again, my personal feeling is like we should have seen more Alderaan in the prequels in order to build up that moment when it is is destroyed by the Death Star in Episode 4. Just so the fact we know what we lose.
01:01:29
Speaker
Yeah, they they have fleshed out Alderaan a bit here in some of the ancillary media since then. And it's just you do start to feel that loss a bit. there If you're ever interested, there's an entire YA novel, Leia, Princess of Alderaan. it's great. Yeah.
01:01:52
Speaker
Yeah, that you get a lot of information about Alderaan. And we you even see it a little bit more in the Obi Wan Kenobi series.
01:02:03
Speaker
me it's it's It's good. it's it's it's good it has some flaws, but it's really good. During Padme's speech of that she's making at this conference, Ahsoka yanks Aurra Sing's sniper rifle with the force, and the bolt just grazes Padme and Aurra Sing escapes.
01:02:23
Speaker
And Ahsoka so then comes up with an idea for Padme to be safe, but still give her next speech at the conference. So, ah question.
01:02:35
Speaker
We saw in Attack of the Clones that even as a senator, Padme still has some of her decoy bodyguards. yeah Where the KRIF are they during all of this?
01:02:47
Speaker
They don't have the funding. They gotta fund the war instead. Yeah, I guess. I mean, I guess that makes sense because the next time we do see her bodyguards is in the comics during the original trilogy.
01:03:04
Speaker
that's Yeah, but we are a we know we know from some of, granted, this information comes later. know from some of the novels, that from some of the YA novels, E.K. Johnston did a whole trilogy of of prequel era Padme books. and So we know that they were still around.
01:03:28
Speaker
But anyway, that was just a question that occurred to me as I was watching this. So we see a hooded and cloaked Padme being led into the chamber. And after Ahsoka recognizes that Aura isn't in the chamber, we see that it's a droid transmitting Padme's speech remotely. Yeah. Yeah.
01:03:50
Speaker
And Aura has figured this out, too. And so she's in the right spot. She gets head in on Ahsoka as Padme is rescued. And Padme stuns the bounty hunter.
01:04:06
Speaker
Padme gun! Yeah. She does it. She does the Padme gun. it's father yes so the it's ah It's her famous move. It's ah aggressive negotiations. for her She learned it by watching Anakin 2.
01:04:24
Speaker
In any case, they take in Aura Sing, and as they do so, Yoda and Anakin stand with her alongside Padme as they get her to actively look into a Force vision, where Ahsoka uses incredible concentration and gets some vague details on who the mastermind behind Aura's hiring was.
01:04:50
Speaker
Yes, and it was Zero the Hutt that hired her to kill Padme. Everyone's favorite Hutt. Yeah. Totally, she's purple.
01:05:02
Speaker
Or they're purple. they don' They don't have a gender, do they? they They're hermaphrodite. yeah But they can identify... I think Zero identified as male. Oh, okay. yeah He's purple.
01:05:15
Speaker
Yep. And is and vaguely based on Rumi Kamone. And that's the end of that episode, which sets up the later Zero the HUD arc, which is kind of where we picked up when we skipped this batch of episodes.
Defending Kamino and Clone Themes
01:05:30
Speaker
Which is which is when we get to v and reintroduce Sly's Noodles, your favorite character. Oh yeah, totally. The best character in Star Wars.
01:05:40
Speaker
And finally, that takes us into the last episode in this bunch. Arc Troopers Season 3, Episode 2, Jumping Back. Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi hurry to defend Kamino.
01:05:55
Speaker
So the the Separatists have found out where Kamino is and they're going to attack. Yep. And the clones are very protective of this place as it's where they're created. Yeah, they consider it home.
01:06:10
Speaker
And it's it ties back to previous episodes of this clone cadets and rookies. And meanwhile, on the villain's side, Ventress returns after a long time.
01:06:23
Speaker
She does. She hadn't been around for quite a while. Honestly, this made me realize, like, while Ventress isn't as as prominent and front-long as a character in the series, she does not appear in a lot of the early episodes.
01:06:41
Speaker
Yeah, no, she's ah she's kind of presented as though she's going to be sort of a counterpart to Ahsoka, but that doesn't really manifest very much. but It's weird because he was made as a counterpart Anakin, then in in the comics there during the Anissa run before the Clone Wars, she was presented as like an Obi-Wan foil, then brought back into being to be just a general foil to the two of them and then represented as Ahsoka's foil?
01:07:18
Speaker
And the whole flirty thing with Obi-Wan, and then we start a redemption arc. It's... it Her character is kind of all... We start redemption arc that we don't get to see completed on screen.
01:07:32
Speaker
If ever completed, we'll never know. Well, we... we We know that that particular arc was completed because it was published as a book. And I've read it.
01:07:43
Speaker
It's a good book. You know what, y'all? You know what, y'all? Ventress should fight Cad Bane and Hondo Wanaka.
01:07:54
Speaker
all all three fight job All three of them should fight over ah some you know bounty mission or something. where they're They're all trying to get the treasure or whatever. andri oh you can put Boba Fett in it. That'd be cool, too.
01:08:08
Speaker
Maybe, yes. And you could explain that's how he gets his dent. that That's how we work in the Boba Fett and Cad Bane gunfight. Yeah.
01:08:20
Speaker
but Yeah, ah yeah. Trademark copyright. It just so happens that Ventress and Hondo were also there at the time. As the Separatist fleet starts to take damage, the debris falls near Tipoca City, which Obi-Wan discovers are pieces of underwater assault craft being reassembled.
01:08:41
Speaker
And there's no cool bubble effect on the lightsaber. know. No. The wonders of tree animation. Squid mix.
01:08:53
Speaker
This is true. There are squid mix. There are. With trills. and They are part of the attack, which is heavy and brutal. One of the huge cloning chambers is destroyed.
01:09:08
Speaker
this actually it and this is actually the setting for the... ah The ah Clone Wars era map for Kamino in the Battlefront 2 2017 game.
01:09:21
Speaker
It's really cool. They they recreated it perfectly. And speaking of brutal, Ventress grabs a clone with the Force, pulls him onto her lightsaber blade to kill him, and gives him a kiss as he dies. Oh, of course.
01:09:36
Speaker
Remember, this is a kid's show. Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. Yes, then we we end up seeing a scene between Grievous and Ventress, where Grievous... It's incredibly awkward, in my opinion.
01:09:51
Speaker
Yes, yes, Grievous is in command officially, but then he starts trying to, like, flirt with Ventress, sort of, and she is just not having any of this.
01:10:02
Speaker
this is This is some workplace harassment right here, and not not even a dark side user deserves that. thats Honestly, I i just... I don't see Grievous having those types of feelings for anything. that just because Not because not because he's a he's more of a scene than living being, but before like it's just not his character.
01:10:24
Speaker
i think i think it has to do with that that sort of inferior inferiority complex that I mentioned way back when. That Grievous is envious of Force users. He wants to be like Force users.
01:10:41
Speaker
And so I think that this is honestly more of a play at power over Ventress, a demonstration of his you know command over her, ah triggered by his jealousy of her Force capabilities.
01:10:58
Speaker
That's an interesting take on that. That's a reasonable read, yeah. Rather than a legitimate interest. yeah like all right Honestly, I just never liked that moment. One, because it's it's creepy, but it's also like, it just never fit with him. But like in that context, I can kind of see, especially if he knows about about her doing similar flirtatious moments with Obi-Wan, his major rival. Yes, yes, perhaps so.
01:11:27
Speaker
So that he could see that as a way of trying to one up Obi-Wan. But even without that, your assumption is like, yes, he's trying to assert power as the general of the droid army. Well, Ventress is clearly like closer to Dooku than him.
01:11:44
Speaker
and As an actual force sensitive like like apprentice. And Ventress goes off to steal some of the source DNA for the clones. And while she's doing that, Anakin confronts her.
01:12:02
Speaker
Obi-Wan faces off against Grievous in another case of, nope, Anakin can't be in the same room with Grievous yet. Also, the clones are fighting a bunch of droids at the same time as well.
01:12:13
Speaker
it's yeah it's a triple It's a triple battle. Yeah, the clones are fighting droids. it the the title The episode is titled for clones. It is on the clones quote unquote home world.
01:12:27
Speaker
We have a few brief moments of the clones having some slight character interactions and development, but It kind of is the same thing that you were talking about with Ahsoka, Lauren.
01:12:43
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, i guess so. And that this is ostensibly their episode, but nothing that happens happens really involves them.
01:12:56
Speaker
Or very little that happens happens. There are incredibly strong moments. Like, we haven't mentioned Clone 99. Yeah, we have return 99. He's in this episode.
01:13:08
Speaker
But the main factor is like, if they wanted this, to one this sort of I felt this should have been like a two-parter in general.
Clone Force 99 and Bad Batch Connection
01:13:16
Speaker
this is a bit This is a major battle sequence that might have given more time for even distribution or more clone heavily distribution between the characters.
01:13:29
Speaker
But you're right. i'm not I'm not sure there's enough story to justify two episodes. ah you It would be it'd be a glorified to two-point battle sequence, but I just feel like to give more time to the clones to develop their characters, especially since some of them are going to be coming forward of us into the future episodes.
01:13:54
Speaker
Like the aforementioned 99, who sadly is killed in the fighting. And becomes a plot point character, like, reference point for the rest of the series.
01:14:09
Speaker
Now, Nick, I i was thinking, i had a question that came to mind while I was watching this, and Was the Bad Batch named Clone Force 99 after him? or was 99 already a designation for quote-unquote defective clones? 99 was defective clone unfit for battle who died heroically.
01:14:43
Speaker
the Bad Bats, was developed afterwards and took their name from their fallen Combrat. Okay, so this raises ah an even bigger question.
01:14:55
Speaker
Were they already being developed because they are adults? The Clone Wars only take three years. Were they already being developed?
01:15:07
Speaker
I think they were already being developed and they took their clone force designation from him. Okay, okay. They were already being being developed as specialized clone. They're basically science projects.
01:15:23
Speaker
So could we then potentially assume that 99 was an early subject in trying to genetically modify the clones that results in the Bad Batch...
01:15:36
Speaker
But he was a quote-unquote failure. Yes. Okay. So yeah it wasn't just that he was an accidental... even that's accidental they did They do describe it in this episode. that's saying they They are stretching thin the the DNA.
01:15:56
Speaker
And in the previous episode, rookies, that they're running thin on variations on the DNA of Jango Fett's sample. And they are trying to work with what they have.
01:16:11
Speaker
But they get unfortunate individuals like 99. The Clone Force 99 is a group that's had that they modified using that same batch.
01:16:27
Speaker
But they were not perfect clone troopers. They were... individually modified as sort of test subjects. okay So the idea is that 99 was a hero in the end and proved that even though he was for lack of better term, reject, they are also rejects because they aren't perfect clones. That's fair. mean, you know, and they may have killed 99, but that's fair i mean you know
01:16:58
Speaker
they and they may have killed ninety nine but I firmly believe that 99 will return in Avengers Doomsday.
01:17:14
Speaker
Or at least that one played by Dee Bradley Baker.
01:17:19
Speaker
I mean, that wouldn't be out of the question. As much voice work as he does. But Echo and Fives are selected then to become ARC Troopers as the episode ends.
01:17:30
Speaker
Which is the title of the episode, and we all know how Echo's story ends, as of right now, in our clone watch.
01:17:42
Speaker
Yep. So, we we know we got that that big reaction to Ahsoka on Mandalore, but overall, what about these four episodes as a whole, Lawrence?
01:17:58
Speaker
Well, let's see here. The the first episode was fine. no No particular reaction. We've thoroughly went over the second episode. The third episode i enjoyed quite a bit. Like I said, it's an actual episode that focuses on Ahsoka.
01:18:13
Speaker
enjoyed seeing her learn more about the Force and deal with Force visions and deal with an insecurity with understanding this new ability that she has and you know it was great that was awesome and then relationship also relationship with patame and yeah yeah and or and or sing is a it's like turns from like a pretty generic villain from the previous arc into like a kind of like a slasher villain in this one And then the final episode is mostly just an action episode. ah Which is, again, like i I would have been fine with more action if it was giving more character to the clones. I can agree with what you said. Obi-Wan and Anakin kind of stole the show. Away from when this would be like it should be a co clone episode or arc. When it's like, they're defending their home. And it's it
01:19:12
Speaker
Like when when we see like the the squid ships attacking the cloning facility, that's like hundreds of thousands of lives that just were destroyed. Yeah. Admittedly, I don't know if a more dedicated clone focus would have mattered much to me personally, because I'm just not really that into the clones.
01:19:33
Speaker
and that's That's fine. that that' I'll probably go more into the why of that ah later, probably at the end of the series or something. Yeah. but ah yeah you know it was It was neat. There was action.
01:19:45
Speaker
Grievous was there. That was cool. and oh Yeah, Ventress. Grievous got to do some stuff. yeah And i honestly, I do like how you recontextualize the scene that I always felt like always always rubbed me the wrong way.
01:20:01
Speaker
Your interpretation makes it seem like more in character for Grievous. And and honestly, I think I like your characterization Grievous more than even how I've ever characterized him.
01:20:13
Speaker
Yeah, I'm doing it. I'm interpreting the series. Yeah.
01:20:20
Speaker
I mean, it's like Grievous has been interpreted many ways. and so like Yours is definitely much more refreshing, much more interesting. And honestly, it took a scene that I thought like always whenever I watched it sort of gave me the ick or the cringe.
01:20:38
Speaker
It was like seeing it from that perspective, that that gives a bit more depth to his character, which is honestly kind of shallow.
Episode Reflections and Podcast Teasers
01:20:48
Speaker
Yeah.
01:20:50
Speaker
and yep And you know how much I love Grievance. he's He's my boy. yeah Yeah. And for me, for the most part, these episodes are just kind of there.
01:21:02
Speaker
am yeah they They aren't awful. They aren't great. a But in the grand scheme... That's part of the course for early-ish Clone Wars.
01:21:13
Speaker
And in the grand scheme, they are building blocks to, like, honestly, like, I feel like we could even have like entire like whole episodes after we finished Clone Wars. Just about like how we feel. out like I feel like early Clone Wars was setting up a lot of different blocks that would eventually become later Clone Wars. Maybe.
01:21:37
Speaker
it it's You can see where all the building blocks are coming together. there's like During those early things, it's like Yeah, it it it's a disjointed mess. And honestly, I feel like I hope that by the end of this, I can finally be justified in saying why we did it in chronological order. All right.
01:22:03
Speaker
Because you hate peace. Because you're a sadist. Because you're a bad, bad man. mean, I already know that. You don't have to tell me twice.
01:22:15
Speaker
So any any other closing thoughts from either of you on this? don't think so. I think those are my thoughts. I think, and I think after this, we' we'll get into the quote-unquote final season. The Lost episodes.
01:22:32
Speaker
Quote-unquote doing a lot of heavy lifting there. Yeah. It was for a while. It was for a while. Yeah. That's true. It's still doing a lot of heavy lifting now.
01:22:45
Speaker
and But after this, we we have at least two episodes coming up where we're taking a break from Clone Watch. Our next episode will be covering the new Supergirl movie.
01:22:59
Speaker
And then the episode after that, ah we are going to have some very special guest episodes oh who are friends of ours from the movie defenders podcast, join us to discuss evil dead burn.
01:23:18
Speaker
wolf And, uh, ah you, you can hold my hand just to be safe, Daryl. You, you, at least if I'm going to hold your hand, Nick, you at least got to buy me dinner first.
01:23:32
Speaker
And one of these days, I'm going to talk about Kirby for eight hours straight.
01:23:37
Speaker
But he can, it's actually kind of fascinating. But you you'll be surprised when he talks about Meditite. I still have not recovered from that. You have not. I know. so we just want to thank everyone for joining us for Casual Nerdity. If you're enjoying the show, there's a few ways that you can support us. You can leave a hopefully good review on your podcast platform of choice, which helps more listeners find us. And if you're watching on YouTube, don't forget to like and subscribe. Those algorithms do need their fuel.
01:24:12
Speaker
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01:24:28
Speaker
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01:24:54
Speaker
And we are CasualNerdity.com on Blue Sky. So until next time, may your lightsaber duels be dramatic and well animated.
01:25:04
Speaker
Thanks again for joining us. So long. Bye-bye.
01:25:10
Speaker
This has been Casual Nerdity. We hope you've enjoyed your time with us and look forward to having you back.