Transcript
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.
Speaker: All with an eye towards building up, not tearing down. Thanks for joining us.
Speaker: Welcome back to Casual Nerdity and another episode of our Clone Watch series. I'm Daryl.
Speaker: And I'm Lauren. and and And Clone Watch is a series where, so for those of you just joining us for the first time, while you're jumping in in season four of Clone Wars, maybe you skipped to the episodes that you liked.
Speaker: But thank you for joining us. But we're part of a role-playing game group. Yes. And our bread and butter game is the Star Wars role-playing game.
Speaker: We're currently doing a surf form game in the FFT edge system called Jewel V'Oven. And so Lauren joined our group.
Speaker: We haven't allowed you to leave. No, not yet. thought it was the other way around. and um But despite joining us to play Star Wars...
Speaker: You didn't have much familiarity with Star Wars beyond the original trilogy. Well, you see, the truth is I didn't join y'all to play Star Wars. I joined y'all to play My Little Pony, but y'all never continued that one, so I joined in with Star Wars anyway. You can complain to Nick about that one because I id never played the My Little Pony RPG.
Speaker: You are missing out. And also Robert managed to completely ah game break that. Yeah. That's why he's banned from playing that certain character in the future.
Speaker: so but But because you were having fun joining in on our Star Wars games, yes you decided to dive into Star Wars media.
Speaker: Yes. And so Nick has been helping you watch it, and after Attack of the Clones, you've started in on co Clone Wars. e Because i like animation, and it's the animated version.
Speaker: It's one of the animated versions. Yes. We will be coming up on, you as we continue this and have to change the name of Clone Watch because we're done with Clone Wars, we'll we'll be looking at other Star Wars media, some of which is animated as well.
Speaker: There's a great deal of them, and there's some that I think so that Lauren will really enjoy, especially when we get to Star Wars visions. Visions they'll really enjoy. Oh, boy. Yes.
Speaker: and And personally, i i am really partial to Rebels when we get to Rebels. Oh, Rebels is great. There is not an ounce of fat in the episode run of Rebels.
Speaker: Oh, I see. It's it's it's a very different from from Clone Wars, but let's... Let's lock in on the the wars of the clones.
Speaker: Yes, yes. And so, you've been hanging out with Nick every Thursday, watching Clone Wars, and but because Nick is a horrible, horrible person, how are we watching Clone Wars?
Speaker: Yes, how are we watching Clone Wars, Nick? We are watching it in chronological order, and at the included in our, in the description, we you can look into the official Star Wars site that shows as you don't watch along, but since you are now in season four, things are a lot more streamlined.
Speaker: in that Things are a lot more linear in the episode run. Yes, yes. Our particular watch order and of the release order are now almost exactly the same. Yeah, and... There'll be were maybe a couple more, or but they won't be as frequent as they were in the previous seasons.
Speaker: Nope, and they They won't give you whiplash because an episode later you fills in gaps that really didn't need to be filled.
Speaker: Anyway,
Speaker: um the episodes that we're looking at today, it's kind of appropriate to record this as we end summer. We just had Labor Day as we're recording this, and we're going to the ocean this time.
Speaker: All right. We've got the Mon Calamari trilogy this time around. There's Water War Season 4 Episode 1, Gungan Attack Season 4 Episode 2, and Prisoners Season 4 Episode 3.
Speaker: Warning, there is a dad joke ahead, and probably more ahead as we go along, but... Let's dive into season four of Clone Wars, shall we? Uh... You get away it. you are You are a father, Daryl. Yes, yes, this is true. It's legal for him to make dad jokes.
Speaker: It's legal. And I will make it legal. if not i will make it legal
Speaker: But first up is Water War, Season 4, Episode 1. The Republic Must Help a Young Heir Reclaim His Ocean World. Yes. Is that the not the most generic title ever?
Speaker: i mean I mean, they specifically they specify an ocean world, so that's a little less generic than average. True.
Speaker: But yes. Oh. Oh, no, i was just going to say, i think either of our notes here can go in either order. Yes. We get right into the action. The Mon Calamari King has been assassinated, and there's resistance to his son inheriting the office.
Speaker: Yes, civil war is imminent. Also, wait a minute. To those who've been watching Clone Wars, doesn't this will just sound familiar to when we talked about the... ah the
Speaker: 2004 Clone Wars animated series. A battle between Calamari and Corrin. ah Yep.
Speaker: And we'll we'll see a couple other common elements as we go along. Yeah, it's it's it's like poetry. It rhymes. Yes. Again, it's like poetry. It's sort of a rhyme. Thank you, George.
Speaker: Yes. Um... But we're we're introduced to Prince Lee Char of the Mon Calamari. Lee Char, Charlie the Tuna, I see what you did there.
Speaker: Beautiful. And we get a nice look at Padme in her aqua suit, which has a very new design for the characters, since after all, this is the start of the new season, so characters get new designs so to go along with it.
Speaker: Especially since, as I've sort of been into every season, like, the the animation gets way better every season. Like, it is incredible.
Speaker: Yes. And as the CG technology improved, they were able to do more and more of what they you wanted to do art-wise.
Speaker: And we're starting to see the fruits of that here as we get into the the back half, more or less, of Clone Wars. And it's know only got it's only going to like go up by more extreme measures as we get through the seasons.
Speaker: You're going to see a quantum leap from Season 6 to Season 7. Oh boy. Looking forward to that. Because of the gap in time between production... yeah And who' who's putting the bill.
Speaker: Yes. yeah cause Remember, up through season six, Clone Wars is just Lucasfilm money. This is before... Significant money. Significant, huge dumps for money.
Speaker: But season seven is when when Daddy Mickey it has has the Disney checkbook.
Speaker: And let's just say that's a...
Speaker: Oh, yeah. Nick, you have run away into a cave. That doesn't happen in these shows until later.
Speaker: But yeah, so ah Yoda shows up and he suspects that Dooku might have some involvement with this Civil War strife. What? Dooku might be involved?
Speaker: Yeah, it's true. the the Dickens, you say? oh yeah. And as we see the the underwater city, we see some cool architecture. They've got a lot of cool tubes and stuff. I really, like i really ah you know, I always appreciate the world designs in this series. I think that the fact this is an animated medium allows them to do a lot of really cool stuff with it.
Speaker: And, you know, I think they really they really take advantage of that fact. and i And I can't recall, lore-wise, if this is before or after this decision was made.
Speaker: But in the the larger Star Wars lore, the Mon Calamari starships like we see in Return of the Jedi in the Battle of the starest of the Death Star are the buildings that we're seeing.
Speaker: And they're spacefaring. And when they threw their lot in with the Rebel Alliance as opposed to the Empire, they just said... let's get out of here and took off.
Speaker: That's actually, uh, that is actually a new cannon idea because ah originally the Mon Cali, Mon Calamari ships were, uh, spacefaring like, uh, luxury cruisers
Speaker: and then turn into warships. But in the new cannon, ah And they are actually like the buildings that were eventually turned into two starships and then posthumously turned into warships, which is why it took so long for the Rebel fleet to actually become a, have actual capital ships.
Speaker: And then we're introduced to, ad i mean, Captain Akbar, who was assigned as Lee Char's personal bodyguard. So we we also have a little bit of ah of a lore change here.
Speaker: In the previous Legends material, previous EU material, had Akbar as slave of the Empire.
Speaker: i see. Specifically the Dark Empire, then. Yeah, and his military career didn't start until the Galactic Civil War.
Speaker: i see. they They've changed his lore around a bit here so that he does have a military background dating back to the Clone Wars.
Speaker: Which means when he does spot a trap, he ah recognizes a trap. Mm-hmm. You know, and i I resisted the urge to pull that sound bite for this episode.
Speaker: Well, that's fun. I showed restraint. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And I regret everything about it. Small clap. Small clap.
Speaker: Small clap. Yes, yes. I regret everything about showing that restraint because I could toss that clip in so many times as as we talk about these episodes.
Speaker: Oh, the amount of sub-diffuse and you could stress the word trap a couple times. You could.
Speaker: You could. But honestly, I feel like like, again, this is a... They had every chance to make reference to that as well, but they didn't. They showed restraint too, which is what inspired my restraint.
Speaker: So let's honor that. good But I'm glad that we all recognize that... God, I wish I pulled it. i do I am glad that you and i recognize that there were moments where it's like,
Speaker: They could have done that and we could have called it, but no. Well, it's... me it It's kind of like the same... Skipping franchises a little bit.
Speaker: In Avengers Infinity War... Writers Marcus and McFeely and directos the Russo brothers have gone on record as saying that, yeah, we really considered in any one of the number of scenes between Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark and Benedict Cumberbatch's Doctor Strange, since they've both played versions of the character, putting in a no-shit Sherlock joke.
Speaker: But we decided against it because we've decided it would be too on the nose, too meta, and too expected.
Speaker: And once we did the joke... It would pull the audience out of the movie as they would all be sitting there saying, ah, they did the thing.
Speaker: did the thing that we were all expecting them to do. They did the thing. And the way I characterize it, they would all become the DiCaprio pointing meme. Yes.
Speaker: Yes, of course. And so. Yeah, there were opportunities for them to have thrown in It's a trap. and yeah It's throughout the entire arc. It's like, honestly, considering how and it's not a criticism of Filoni and the Lucasfilm writers at this time, but they have been pretty pretty open with callbacks.
Speaker: So I was surprised when they actually did pull back for once. but and I have a feeling that they had a similar thought process as the Infinity War creatives did. that the like This particular one would be a bridge too far.
Speaker: And it would break immersion not not by the audience saying, oh, that would never happen, but with the audience saying, ah, they did the thing.
Speaker: And so i i can I can respect them for that, especially yeah when you're talking about a franchise that is so often accused of empty, hollow fan service that... Oh, the fact that that that that they have to have, like, a...
Speaker: I believe like there's maybe only one instance in a entire like sequence with it or series that they have not made the, made the ah I got a bad feeling about it joke or a variation on it.
Speaker: And so i I can respect them for not going there when it would have been so easy. Yes. And it would, it again, it would be the easy joke.
Speaker: a
Speaker: So yeah, back to the episode proper. ah Squid ships. There are ships that look like squids. they're yep They're pretty intimidating in that regard. ye They are really cool. The Friday class attack ships are really cool.
Speaker: yeah And I have the X-Wing miniatures game miniature for it, which isn't very miniature. Ooh, I see. it It's yeah a burnings not a little more. Ooh.
Speaker: Oh. Yeah, I know that it's in like the larger side side of the X-Wing miniature game, but it's pretty big.
Speaker: Yeah, it it it is. i have not unboxed it. um It's like cruiser size. it's like yeah its It's meant to transport like large amounts of troops of material.
Speaker: and then But it it does look cool. oh that's your is cool It's one of the cooler ships of the CIS. yeah
Speaker: Then we have a character saying, i do not believe the Quarren will attack. Then what happens? Then the Quarren attack. Yes. The Quarren attack the Mon Calamari and Lee Char is just out of his depth.
Speaker: Yeah, I went there. Yeah. more More dad jokes. You sure did go there. More water puns. Water puns are going to be natural because we are...
Speaker: we're all We're all in this. You might not be referencing the the trap moment, but you're sure going to make all the puns in the world. Yes, I am. You can't restrain yourself from that.
Speaker: Nope. Nope. ah Once I get my feet wet, that's it. i I dive into the deep end. We're rolling into deep here. Oh, no.
Speaker: ah and that Meanwhile, the Separatist Ambassador, a shark-like Kakaradon, is literally chewing his way through enemies. Because he is shark man.
Speaker: Yep. Yes. Do we have an actual name for him? we We do. His name is riff tamson i really want I looked a little bit.
Speaker: I couldn't find anything to confirm this. I do wonder if that's a reference to Back to the Future's villain, Biff Tannen. I think and that that's what I was thinking too.
Speaker: like Now, if it is... it also Because again, both Jaws and Back to the Future are part of the Spielberg series.
Speaker: stuff yep that's what that's where i get that's the connection and he's very much a jaws character yeah he doesn't he doesn't really feel like a biff character wise like obviously he's big and strong but he's like a political character and that's really not biff at all oh and in in the dark future of back to the future 2 he He kinda was. He
Speaker: kinda was because he he controlled Hill Valley and Zemeckis and Gale have gone on record over all of these years saying that they they modeled Dark Future Biff after new...
Speaker: yeah you know no A New York real estate mogul who was trying to make a big name for himself starting in the 80s. sorry we did so Just be careful.
Speaker: He does have drones. Yep. he He has drones and you know he bombs boats in international waters. and Anyway.
Speaker: We're not getting into all that. Nope. ah But if if he is, if Riff Tamsen is based on a reference to Biff Tannen, it's kind of a shame that he's not voiced by Thomas F. Wilson.
Speaker: Well, that would be cool. but i do think that, like, yeah, I think that's a greater reference to George Lucas' often friend and partner, Steven Spielberg.
Speaker: ah In Jaws, is like, He's always treated like that. I think there's even like a couple bars in there. Bars of of the cleaning man here. Perhaps coincidentally, Back to the Future Part 2 does feature a moment with a future Jaws sequel being advertised by a holographic CGI shark.
Speaker: Yes, I believe it was Jaws 7. Yes, something like that. Directed by Max Spielberg.
Speaker: Steven's son and and Marty quips that the shark still looks fake.
Speaker: Well, guess was say start the is fake, but I think it's to be on purpose. um So reinforcements arrive in the form of Kit Fisto, Ahsoka, and a bunch of clones.
Speaker: Yep, and they don't have bubbly lightsabers.
Speaker: yeah You can't have everything. Where would you put it? Around the lightsabers. they They would be bubbly. you would put ever You would put everything around the lightsabers?
Speaker: Yes, the bubbles, specifically, around the lightsabers. Oh, well, I mean, you can't have everything. ah Because there's no room to put it anywhere.
Speaker: In any case, Ahsoka rescues... Haven't we seen this before? Kit Fisto on Mon Calamari fighting... Kit Fisto on Mon Calamari kicking ass with a big smile on his face?
Speaker: No, I don't think I've ever seen anything like that before. so Something, something, something, maybe check out our first episode Love Lots. Yes. You know, I was a different person back then.
Speaker: In any case, we were all much younger. yeah ah are you ah Yeah. Are you a better person since then, or have we ruined you since then? Eh, it's it's a little bit of give and take.
Speaker: little column A, little column B. Mm-hmm. You know, it's really a lateral move. You're more a Star Wars fan than you were back then. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Speaker: Yes, Ahsoka rescues the prince from Sharkman. they They do an action scene, and then they go into the tubes. And it reminds me of ah Sonic Riders 2, the intro and outro scenes of that game.
Speaker: you know, Sonic Riders series is based on hovercraft, mainly hoverboards. and i I do know that that's one of the few of the video game references that you've made that I do know about. Mm-hmm.
Speaker: And so, yeah, basically the the intro and outro scenes of Sonic Riders 2 involves them flying a bunch of hover vehicles throughout a series of tubes in a futuristic city. And, uh, yeah.
Speaker: Yeah, it's got some very similar vibes to this scene here. But yeah, it's hard, did you say? I just want I always want to call tubes like this habit trails, but hamsters would not survive underwater like this.
Speaker: No, no, they wouldn't. But again, as you said earlier, this is a very unique world and city design. Yes. you Just seeing that in accident, how they traverse, like...
Speaker: Yeah, they have water around them, but high-speed travel is these, like, series of, like, oxygenated tubes. sort of, like, custom. Really cool. It is.
Speaker: And then we droids retreat and hide in coral. Coral. Oh, sorry. Sorry, we're not doing a Walking Dead show. No, we're not doing Walking Dead.
Speaker: Previously on the... Oh, sorry. Ha ha ha ha. And then we've got jellyfish attack. Yes, the... i meant to write down the phrase that Tamsin used for them, and I did not, to my regret.
Speaker: Like, ah cat half machine, half monster. and
Speaker: Something like that. They're like a weird cyborg thing. Interesting. Being very, very dramatic in in describing them.
Speaker: it's It was it's was very similar to how like ah we want to describe Vader. He's more a scene than man now. When it's like, oh, what is this? like It's just cyborg jellyfish that are more electric than normal.
Speaker: Yes. yeah which Which means they're electric, because jellyfish poisonous, but not electric. but they Actually, I think they're venomous, because they they manually inject the the poison into people. Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah. and And... No, no, that's, like, really, really proof that the Separatists are really, like, just turning things into bio-weapons, basically, with Siren X. And...
Speaker: Boy, that makes it really interesting to wonder you know if the Yuzhan Vong had invaded during the Clone Wars, how would they react to stuff like that?
Speaker: We know that they hate they they hate technology and mechanical things anyway, so they would have already hated the droid army. But then seeing the Separatists... you know Create cyborgs like...
Speaker: yeah Like, they'd be... Again, I would also be like, what was their opinion of ah General Grievous, a person who sacrificed all of his... like as much of his biology to become a better warrior?
Speaker: With themselves, they have a warrior culture. sir
Speaker: and And they have themselves modified...
Speaker: biologically. Yeah. He's like a dark reflection of them. This is interesting looking at that act. Nick, we've had a conversation between the two of us before. I think we need to revisit it.
Speaker: the I think we do. I will say no more. will say more. But as as everyone's fighting, the the people start cheering for the troops, and Lee Char notes that there they are cheering for the troops, not for him. And Akbar says to make it for him and pushes him to join the fight.
Speaker: Which is like, Akbar is like, ah the leader is like, yeah we're going to watch, me and Daryl are going see yeah Hamilton this weekend.
Speaker: okay. Okay. And he's very much... to To clarify, we're going to see the the pro shoot in a movie theater. We're not going to see it live.
Speaker: is Is that the one with Miku Binder Jefferson? Yes. good I understand the reference there. don't. But I want to say, like, the idea is like,
Speaker: This is basically a George Washington pushing in front of a more a political individual and not like... Ackbar could be the one to push himself ahead. like, I've led the successful military campaigns. like No, he's propping up his political leader.
Speaker: In a similar way that...
Speaker: Keep going. and Similar way that ah George Wasserman has his right-hand man, Alexander Hamilton. So what you're saying is that Akbar is is telling Lee Char to not throw away his shot?
Speaker: Yes. Gotcha. You know, I wish that you had actually... contributed to our notes document and put those parallels in here so that I could have pulled Hamilton clips to to reinforce but then I probably would have had to you like wave off all sorts of of copyright claims Disney would have put the hammer down on us Disney would have an annihilated us from the face of the earth
Speaker: Hey, they put ah on the YouTube version, you know, but little peek behind the curtain, kids. On the YouTube version of the show, we got a copyright claim for the music on the Fantastic Four episode.
Speaker: I put in the dispute as fair use because it was part of a review and it just went for the 30 days without a response and fell off. So, so the, the claim was released. Fantastic Four! Oh yeah.
Speaker: But and during the fight, Anakin loses his helmet and nearly drowns, but for Ahsoka happening to have a spare. So I guess she really knows her master well and knows, yeah, i got to take an extra helmet or this idiot's going to die.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: um Excellent powerpoint training. To quote a Betsy-ism for whenever there's an Anakin Ahsoka moment, it's like, I learned from watching you, master!
Speaker: I do want to give at this moment a tip of the hat to the amazing Kevin Kiner in his score, because as Ramson comes swimming by, there's a musical motif that is reminiscent of the Jaws theme.
Speaker: yeah And I did mention to that. It's like Kevin Kiner is going to be an amazing, an amazing artist. Like, he he In the earlier seasons, he did create a lot of like new ideas because he didn't want to be too much Star Wars classics.
Speaker: But as the seasons go on, he adapted Star Wars classics and still made his own unique spin on them. And he's still doing that to this day. Yes, he absolutely is.
Speaker: And so Leech R and our heroes retreat to hide in caves in the depths of the ocean.
Speaker: And they they run away. Run away! And so, yes. Then, i believe it's Ahsoka that tells the prince how to live to fight another day. Yep.
Speaker: And that takes us into part two, which is Gungan Attack Season 4 Episode 2, The Jedi and Mon Cala Prince Must Evade Capture.
Speaker: oh boy. i wonder what's going to happen in this episode. this The title is so esoteric and mysterious. Right? but so way Way to bury the lead there. Mm-hmm.
Speaker: As we open up the episode, reinforcements are ambiguous. They're not yeah sure if they're going to get them or not. Yeah, Count Dooku orders the Mon Calamari into labor internment camps.
Speaker: And not just the men, but the women and the children. oh no. and good Good thing Padme isn't here.
Speaker: ah Otherwise, he'd be all the time of above it. Oh, no. Yes. Yes, she would. Dooku would be a stealing Anakin's wife. Yep.
Speaker: Now, our heroes do need reinforcements, but it's going to take too long to outfit more clones for underwater action. So the Jedi Council decides to enlist the Gungans.
Speaker: Yes. And this is why we take a peek behind the scenes. Because currently, in the works, while this season is being is being released, there's going to be a release of Gungans.
Speaker: Star Wars Episode one The Phantom Menace in 3D.
Speaker: And so they want you to like the Gundigans. Yes, yes, they do. Elements of Episode I, but that that that has nothing to do with this. Or does it? Wink.
Speaker: And yeah that our our main characters don't know about any of this, though, because they're cut off. yeah They have no communications. They need to get back to the ship. Yep, they're trying to head back to the ship on the surface.
Speaker: And the Separatists destroy the Republic cruiser with the... um but And Remsen is like, spring the trap. And yeah again, come on, Akbar, say the line.
Speaker: And he did not, in fact, say the line. It's trap! But Lauren said the line. I said the line. Lauren the line. and One of us had to say the line.
Speaker: again I think... i think they run Thank you. But i do I do think you actually said that in our watch of it. It's been it's been a couple months, but it's like I think you said it actually. I did.
Speaker: it's like, I was proud of you. like that That's our Lauren. I know the memes. I am one with the memes. And now, at this point, we get our our first clip that we're playing.
Speaker: Ooh, boy. Which... which ah you is Ahsoka having a heart to heart with Lee Char. And we've we're stuck we've seen a pattern over the last season or two emerge as Ahsoka is the one to have these these inspiring moments with characters.
Speaker: Also, we'll get to that. There must be something more I can do. i know it's hard, but you have to be patient. But you saw my people. I failed them.
Speaker: No. Remember Captain Ackbar's words. You are the hope of your people. As long as you live, they will endure. need an army. We have to fight back.
Speaker: You don't have to carry a sword to be powerful. Some leader's strength is inspiring greatness in others.
Speaker: Beautiful. Honestly, like, as you were mentioning, Daryl, like, Ahsoka is... And again, something that you mentioned also, Lauren, Ahsoka, when you came in here, with this was what you were assuming was going to be our focus character.
Speaker: Yes. And as the seasons go on, she is becoming that, the the focus character. Yes. In that learning to be a Jedi in an unconventional Jedi time.
Speaker: She's becoming... She's a warrior, but trying to learn what to be a proper Jedi in a war era.
Speaker: So moments like this are very impactful for her character arc.
Speaker: Yep. And they... when the When the cruiser explodes, they they have a very... you know It's actually kind of an ingenious way, since they're under attack, to...
Speaker: get past the Separatist forces and get back to the caves. Yes. They, uh, they use the ship debris to help them sink further down.
Speaker: Yeah, yeah i it it's heavy, it's sinking, it's metal. Grab hold and let it pull you down. oh yeah. and yeah we And we won't, you know we will, as underwater science fiction is wont to do, unless it actually plays into the story, such as The Abyss...
Speaker: we're We're going to ignore the laws of pressurization and depressurization here. Yeah. I mean, we've got future technology, so, you know, it's it's whatever. Yeah. i and In the universe, it works for what's been established.
Speaker: Yes.
Speaker: So, yeah, at that point, I've got a couple notes here for some action events that occur. We've got Ahsoka protects the prince.
Speaker: yep we We've got to Yoda asks the Gungan for help, and notably, it's not the leader from episode one. Yeah, it's our boss Nass. Yep, it's a new
Speaker: Me's like a diesel. Yes. Yeah, I can't remember the new leader's name. Yeah, yeah, i don't remember either.
Speaker: He's not Boss Nass. I was like, where's Boss Nass? Not here. so Misa liken you. Sir not appearing in this animated series.
Speaker: assume they couldn't get him. He's too big.
Speaker: So yes, then Ahsoka conveys patience. I don't and don't remember what that was. As he was talking with the... Again, there was another Lee Char scene. Trying to keep him from activating his military. Because they were vastly out of them. We need the Gungans. Mm-hmm.
Speaker: we need we need the gogan e And then there's Anakin plans sabotage. I believe this is the part where he plans to ah destroy a particular building.
Speaker: that's i it was a it was a transmitter, I believe. It had all of the planetary sensors. Yes. Yes, they're all in the one place, which is a brilliant strategy.
Speaker: Of course. In a big dome. A big dome underwater. Yep. brilliant and then you have the quote you don't have to hold a sword to be powerful which i guess they say that twice in that regard they do yes i think that's supposed to be like the main like quote unquote theme yeah it's the it's the main message of the episode And then finally, I've got Anakin concentrates to bring the building down.
Speaker: Yep, Anakin uses the force to destroy that building with the planetary sensors so the Separatists won't see any reinforcements coming, which prompts Remsen to momentarily turn into a Scooby-Doo villain, saying that he wants to find the Meddling Prince and his Jedi friends.
Speaker: Yep. And after that, a conch horn gives help gives hope. And then yeah the Gungans arrive. Yep.
Speaker: Yep, the the Gungans show up and not gonna lie, it's kind of cool seeing all the Gungans diving from a venator into the ocean of Mon Calamari.
Speaker: This is the most badass name ever. A Gungan has ever looked. Yes. And we get we even get Squidnado.
Speaker: That we do. Unfortunately, ah Fisto loses offscreen. Well, of course he has to lose offscreen because he's so awesome that, you know otherwise it would be unrealistic looking at you, Episode 3.
Speaker: um And also, he's also in not being animated by Chandi Tarkovsky because... his version of this, like, it kicks me so, with a solo of this, in and the, in the, in the, in the, the clone, in the Star Wars, Clone Wars, not Star Wars, the Clone Wars, animated series.
Speaker: So, yes this reminds me, you know, after spending, three hours, in the last episode, talking comics, with Brev and, and Betsy, um the DC versus Marvel, miniseries.
Speaker: Mm-hmm. Because the top five fights were decided by reader votes. Right, yes.
Speaker: So it was Superman versus ah superman versus the Hulk, Batman versus Captain America, Wonder Woman versus Storm, Superboy versus Spider-Man, and Wolverine versus Lobo.
Speaker: If you look at their power sets as they're created, there's no way Lobo loses to Wolverine because each drop of Lobo's blood grows another Lobo. His healing factor is just way more intense.
Speaker: It's it's like like Wolverine will regenerate, but for every drop of blood that Wolverine, since he's got those Adamana claws, he will create a Lobo.
Speaker: He creates an army of Lobos to fight that then grow each grow another army of Lobos. a So eventually, Wolverine will lose.
Speaker: Yeah. On paper, there is no way for Wolverine to win. but This outcome was decided by the readers and Wolverine is the more popular character.
Speaker: Yes. So in the comic, when they start fighting, they're in a bar. they start They start fighting and end up throwing one another behind the bar.
Speaker: And then you just see sound effects coming from behind the bar and Wolverine rising up triumphant. Because the writers had no way to logically have Wolverine win.
Speaker: e So they cheated. yeah And they admit it. They admit it. but like That goes back to like a classic... f like There's a classic interview with... ah we've ah I don't know what the actual like setup was, but it was with Stan, Stan, man, Stan Lee. It was like, it was like who would win the fight? It's like, obviously whoever the writer chooses to win the fight wins.
Speaker: Yeah. I think that was the, I think they were asking him about the Hulk Thor matchup in that specific instance. Yeah. It's like, but yeah, but that that's the actual answer. Yeah. that's what you know That's what I think of when I see your note that says Kit Fisto loses off screen because they didn't have a good way to write him losing.
Speaker: e So it happens off screen. Especially considering he is one of the most powerful Jedi Knights. not Not a Jedi Master.
Speaker: He's a Jedi Knight. Yes. but you know, it is interesting because at the end of the episode, Ahsoka and the prince are the only ones left. And despite the fact that the episode was so focused on you know, being patient and waiting for your time to strike. And then they were patient and they did wait for their time to strike. And they did wait until they had the Gungans held.
Speaker: It didn't didn't matter in the end because they lost anyway. In the episode. Yes. Wait, wait. So we're now becoming, if this were an episode of Alien Earth, we'd be doing, that would be the end of the episode. It would be a needle drop with Linkin Park's The End because in the end, it doesn't really matter.
Speaker: Oh, no. Honestly, that'd be fucking dope. I love that you aren't watching Alien Earth, but I love their needle drops. Nice.
Speaker: that
Speaker: They're fucking great. Especially the people are like, why did they choose this version of the song with the magic pumpkins? It's like, it's, it's, it has so much more impact than the original version. It's like, they're doing what they're doing. It's really cool stuff.
Speaker: We, we might have to, you know, when the season is done, do an episode on alien earth. Oh boy. Um, so, That takes us to the wrap-up of this trilogy of episodes.
Speaker: Prisoners, Season 4, Episode 3. Prince Leechar attempts to unite the people of Mon Cala. Yes. and I do have to complain. like did These come from the Netflix descriptions, and they are so bland.
Speaker: they These are the ones that are on Disney+. plus But they did come i I did recognize because I did a rewatch on Netflix. It was like, they're so bland.
Speaker: So yeah. Yep. we We start out with the episode with the Jedi brought to underwater prison. And they are subjected to crab and eel torture.
Speaker: Yep, because, you know, well, there they're underwater people, so clearly they they must use biology, not technology, yes or for torture.
Speaker: yeah Also, this is a kid's show, remember? Of course, of course. the ah The torturer says that ah the Jedi resistance to pain is impressive.
Speaker: I wonder how their resistance to the mind probe is. Hmm... Is it also impressive? Perhaps.
Speaker: And more eels! Yes, of course, more eels. yes We have Senator Rhee, who is one of the Quarren, and he wants to rebuild. He's very focused on actually taking over and establishing a society down there.
Speaker: But Dooku no ah he we should probably We should probably mention, too, that Senator Rhee, and we haven't mentioned this all along... And this has been a recurring theme.
Speaker: He had been a friend of Leechar's father, the king. He had been a friend and ally. And when he was was ah you speaking out against Leechar, assuming the throne, he's like, I'm not doing this to be a jerk. I just don't think you're ready.
Speaker: You're not leadership material. You're not the leader that we need right now. i I am sorry. Your father meant a lot to me. But I'm trying to look at the bigger picture here.
Speaker: and so you my Here's my friend, friend Count Dracula. yeah Yes.
Speaker: He's like, he has some he has some really good ideas. And he he gave me a shark man.
Speaker: Oh no, that's a bad idea. Yep. yeah
Speaker: Oh no.
Speaker: i Yeah, that that's that usually is not going to end well. The man who has a really nice cape and Shark Man as his enforcer enforcers like Look, look, I just want to make things right.
Speaker: And I just felt he was cool. It's like, you agree with me, shark man, listening to the Dracula man. e
Speaker: But so yes, now the prince invades the prison himself. Now, I just want to say, i just want to make a comment about our our notes document here.
Speaker: As we've said several times, anyone who's been listening, especially the last few episodes, knows that you know we color code and that your color is purple. Yes. your Your note says Prince invades prison and it's in purple.
Speaker: Yes. And I'm picturing Prince Rogers Nelson. Hmm. Hmm. invading a prison, you know beating people up you know with his guitar and you know doing you know high kicks into the face yeah and you know things like this.
Speaker: And it is a beautiful, beautiful mental image. It's absurd and I love it. And I want to thank you for doing this completely and ah unintentionally because I know that wasn't what you meant, but it's the picture that popped into my head and I love it. Thank you that.
Speaker: This is so kind of the happiest I've heard you in a long time. going to be like doubly happy that that that this unintentional... I'm glad I can imprint such visions upon your mind. Well, I mean, think about it, Nick.
Speaker: If someone says... if someone invokes the color purple and says, Prince invades prison, what do you think?
Speaker: yeah I see it I see it
Speaker: So... and and i picked you know As he's making these kicks and hits, it's like the the scream from the beginning of... um I can't remember the song now.
Speaker: there's There's a Prince New Power Generation. Get Off. From the beginning of Get Off. I'm also hearing in the background a couple of riffs for the guitar.
Speaker: like
Speaker: So, yeah. I did a whole last routine there. And And i I now am coming up with a good guy musician NPC for the Rebel Yell campaign.
Speaker: Yes! hu
Speaker: Oh, your secret ally.
Speaker: He's gotta be... Make make him Quarren. That would be really cool. suspicious ah No, get given Prince's personality, he is a Zeltron through and through. Well, everyone's going to be horny for him then.
Speaker: What did I just say, Nick? It's Prince. I know. i I grew up on Animaniacs. You know the classic joke.
Speaker: So, you look for prints. I found prints. No, no, I meant fingerprints. Brow wiggles. Good night, everybody. yeah The classic.
Speaker: Ah, anyway. Getting back to the episode. Yes, let's get out of that rabbit hole. The Quarren have been betrayed by Dooku. Shock!
Speaker: Surprise! Whoa! I say, my my sir. Now, during all of this, while they are being held prisoner and all of this, Padme's helmet becomes cracked as their' as they're trying to to escape.
Speaker: We have Padme's here. yeah Yeah, this is the second time we've mentioned her in this entire episode. yeah The first time was at the very beginning where talked about her outfit. So...
Speaker: Anakin does a pretty cool force move, making an air bubble around it with the force. That's pretty cool. Yeah. And then, you know, he starts, they start trying to subdue him again, he loses concentration, so the bubble collapses.
Speaker: And then Jar Jar saves the day and seals the crack by ah hawk and a loogie at it. Mm-hmm. um yeah lokis Gungan loogies are a super adhesive waterproof thing.
Speaker: yeah yeah Don't be a round one whenever they have a cold. it's ah It must be an absolute mess. ah yeah like I love the scene in this. It's like, okay, Anakin's under fire. he has to as to control himself to to save his secret wife and then oh Jar Jar is here the problem is solved Jar Jar does something yeah when we get to Attack of the Clones Jar Jar will really do something oh man
Speaker: Then we have the shark takeover, as Dooku's direct lackey is the one who is now in charge. And his very goal is like, it's sharking time.
Speaker: And everyone's captured recaptured And they're brought to Lee Char's execution. Yep. And then we have a ah little bit of of dialogue as Anakin and Ahsoka are reunited.
Speaker: Good job protecting the prince. It's all part of the plan, master. i was hoping you were going to say that. Anything I can do? Unfortunately, this time it's out of our hands.
Speaker: I'm not sure I like this plan after all.
Speaker: Oh no, you know that a planet is vi rather dangerous whenever Anakin is judgmental of it. Now- When Ahsoka is saying, like, I'm not sure about the planet, and then Anakin is like, oh, oh, we're really in deep shit now.
Speaker: Now, is it just me, Nick? Is it just me, Lauren? Mm-hmm. Or did that kind of remind you of the dialogue in the Geonosis arena when Anakin, or when Obi-Wan is brought out and and with it, when, you know, like, you know, we decided to come rescue you. Oh, good plan. <unk>natic poetry sort if they rhyme Yep. always remember like, we rescue you, Master.
Speaker: It's like,
Speaker: Good job. And you want me to be, like, strung up on fucking... Nick, you've disappeared into the distance. Nick went to the Mon Calamari Caves again. Mm-hmm.
Speaker: And he came being proud, and I was like, we came here to rescue, master. It's like... As they're being strung up into the arena, it's like, good plan. Mm-hmm.
Speaker: So, realizing that they have been played... The Quarren turn on the Separatists and come to the aid of the Republic in the montcalamari and the and the Gungans.
Speaker: And then the Star Wars theme plays. Of course it does because it's a rousing action sequence. e And we get a big moment of the prince versus the shark.
Speaker: And I'm having the same thing with your notes. I'm seeing prince fighting a shark. Mm-hmm. And we get a Jaws homage.
Speaker: Now, with the couple of Jaws homages that they they've had in this, and they resisted Ackbar's It's a Trap, could they really not be bothered to include a I think we're going to need a bigger boat?
Speaker: Yeah, they should have.
Speaker: But The day is saved. are the Not quite yet. they're They're fighting. Rip Samusin explodes. and That's actually ra rather gruesome. Yeah, Remsen has these knives that have bombs in the hilts.
Speaker: And he's like throwing them and they're, they're, you know, they stick in their target and then they explode. And Lee Char gets hold of one of those knife bombs and stabs Ramson with it and blows him up.
Speaker: and As we said earlier, remember kids, as always, this is a kid's show. You gotta, you gotta finish off the Jaws homage by blowing up the shark.
Speaker: yeah its It still is a Jaws of Oz, but like, okay, uh, like, that man's... Shark Man's dead. Oh, yeah. He's been exploded.
Speaker: And he didn't... It's not like they showed the effects of the knife bombs... They showed Lee Char putting one on him, then cut to Lee Char's reaction as you hear the bomb go off off screen. Oh no!
Speaker: We still see like the like blackest blood as his body flies away. Sometimes I am amazed at what they got past Cartoon Network's standards and practices. Because again, that gets away of it.
Speaker: It does get away of it. Because like it's not red blood, but it's like... It's like... Yeah.
Speaker: It's the same with like other deaths in the whole arc. It's like, oh, they got ripped apart in the water. Black blood in the in the water. Yeah.
Speaker: And so, yeah, after that, all that's left is ah the crowning the prince as he officially becomes the ruler of this nation. And yeah nothing bad happened to Prince Lachar ever again.
Speaker: Well, so he he does survive to the Galactic Civil War time frame. And in the comics, we see that the Rebellion is called in to to try to help free him. And and he dies.
Speaker: he He dies ah rather horribly. yeah ah And his his death is what galvanizes the Mon Calamari to take their building ships and shoot the flipper finger at the Empire and join the rebellion.
Speaker: like this This happens in the Star Wars comics by Marvel. I see. him And again, these are... again like these are Even though these are pre-Disney buyout, these are canonical stories.
Speaker: and like No, the comics in question are from the post-Disney purchase. That's why the license went back to Marvel. That's what I'm saying.
Speaker: These stories will go into those. I see what you're saying. Gotcha. Sorry. so Sorry to throw a premature, well, actually. and here
Speaker: And that that brings these three episodes to a close. ah Now, personally, I have nothing against them. I have no particular love for They're pretty straightforward Star Wars episodes.
Speaker: Yep, they are about what I expected coming into this series, ultimately. Honestly, even though it's very small, the Ahsoka story stuff was probably the best part of it.
Speaker: Yeah, definitely. It's really cool seeing Ahsoka basically take the lead for these episodes. you know and see that And something like that is almost certainly why a character like Ahsoka was introduced and included in this series in the first place.
Speaker: Because all of the other main characters, their endpoints and their trajectories are already mapped out. Yes. Because episode three had already come out.
Speaker: Mm-hmm. And so we know where their story is going. Yes. I'll say again, like any I did show you the Jenny Tarkovsky Clone Wars series.
Speaker: So this is a retread of that same arc. But yeah, it's cool. Cool. Maybe less cool with more detail to it.
Speaker: This has more detail to it yeah it was one no this has more pathos to it yeah Now, um that that same sort of know not knowing where Ahsoka's arc is going and them having the freedom to actually develop an arc for her and develop a character and all of that, while we haven't gotten there yet, when we get to the Bad Batch, that is...
Speaker: what made Stephanie, my wife, more invested in the Bad Batch than the Clone Wars. yeah I see. Because the Bad Batch is all about completely original characters that their story could go anywhere.
Speaker: Yes. And there's some unique stuff. like ah I have some complicated feelings about the Bad Batch. about the bad bats and we have we are nowhere close to them but we'll get there yes i did um i i had occasion but i did know that when you when you when we started clone watch you said like ahsoka was like the character you were so interested in exploring and we're getting more and more of that and we're gonna get more and more of that excellent more ahsoka is always good
Speaker: Yes, that that that will come. It will come, absolutely. In fact, from what I've heard, from what little I've heard about it, even the Ahsoka show could have used more Ahsoka in it.
Speaker: Well, if if we're being real, and this will this comment will be lost on you until we get there and watch it, Ahsoka is Rebels Season 5.
Speaker: Mm-hmm.
Speaker: Well, okay, I guess we'll see what that means That will mean more to you when we get there. In, like, eight years? Mm-hmm.
Speaker: That won't take us that long. Even at the pace we're going, it won't take us that long. Well, we do. I'll understand. we did We did just finish. up But yes, ah in terms of this arc, of what did you feel about ah the Bon Calamari arc?
Speaker: You know, it's I ah basically already said this is this is really what I was expecting whenever coming into this series, ultimately. I'm glad that we got more Ahsoka. Seeing her interact with the the political leader, the prince, was ah pretty great.
Speaker: And overall, a unique setting. More Kit Fisto was good, even if he did end up defeated offscreen. And even the Gungans had a cool moment in there. So overall, this was a great time.
Speaker: yeah there it was It was fun. it was a lot of fun. it was Star Wars-y action. i i have absolutely zero problem with Star Wars-y action. It's one of those things that when I came back and re-watched it for this, was like, oh yeah, that was fun.
Speaker: But I i really don't remember much about it. Do have to say it? It is a... It's very Star Wars-y, like very unique baddies, bad guys who are bad guys, and unique setting, and just lot of fun.
Speaker: two To borrow a phrase that ages ago the developers of the Star Wars Galaxy's MMO were constantly mocked for by the player base, up it was Star Wars-y and iconic.
Speaker: Oh, well yeah. Yeah, that's about sums it up. that That's great. Honestly, like let's reclaim that. like Star Wars-y and iconic? that but That's what I like about that's that's the best Star Wars.
Speaker: Oh, yeah. i mean the The developers, so whenever they were talking about new stuff that was coming or what they were trying to to do with new content. They'd say, you we really want to give you guys something that's Star Wars-y and iconic.
Speaker: And... as the plant dwell that's what i want as the player base became disillusioned and disenfranchised with the game on the message boards they would constantly say well you know i would love to see such and such but i guess that's not star wars star warsy and iconic tm enough oh you know what i'm
Speaker: I'm going to reclaim that. This was an episode of the Star Wars-y and iconic. In the best ways. i mean so that we're going to have to change the name of Clone Watch when we're done with Clone Wars.
Speaker: I was thinking of just being simple and it being Star Watch, but we could call it Star Wars-y and iconic. Ha ha ha ha ha.
Speaker: but But which one of us is Star Wars-y and which one is ah is iconic?
Speaker: that's that That's a question for another time. I mean, is that like you when Donnie and Marie were a little bit country and a little bit rock and roll?
Speaker: That's what I'm thinking too! Neither of them were either. That's what I'm thinking too!
Speaker: Oh, okay. If Nick and I are thinking alike, we've been speaking and communicating together too long tonight, so it's probably time to go. Yes, probably. And that this is not the How We Roll Gaming podcast where we know it's time to go because we we start bullying Nick.
Speaker: Yeah. so I'm too nice to bully Nick, effectively. so so we You just need a couple more Neil Breen films in you.
Speaker: No, that's not bullying. That's ready to be homicidal. Yes. But we we want to thank everyone for listening to this Clone Watch episode of Casual Nerdity.
Speaker: We hope that you will join us again for the next episode, which, looking at the schedule, looks to be another Clone Watch episode following the next few episodes.
Speaker: And we thank you. We hope to see you again. And until then, be great to one another and have a great life out there. Bye.
Speaker: Bye. This has been casual nerdity. We hope you've enjoyed your time with us and look forward to having you back.
