Transcript
Speaker: Casual Nerdy is a podcast celebrating and discussing pop culture that we love. Movies, TVs, comics, books, games, you name it. Are you missed to talk about the good, what worked, and yeah, sometimes what didn't. All with an eye towards building up, not tearing down. Thanks for joining us.
Speaker: Welcome to another installment of Clone Watch. I'm Daryl. And I'm Lauren. And I'm Nick. And if this happens to be your first time listening, here's what our Clone Watch series is about. About a year ago, Lauren joined our RPG group and you might say that we're a little heavy on Star Wars. both We might be a bit of a fan. Yeah, in terms of the RPG campaigns that we run and just in general nerdy knowledge, but
Speaker: I may have a book or two. Yeah, I might have a book case or two um or three. But um ah you, on the other hand, weren't nearly as familiar with Star Wars as the rest of us were. Indeed. I'd only really watched the original trilogy. And even then, that was really just because I was making a let's play of one of the LEGO Star Wars games. And I was like, you know,
Speaker: I'm going to make a let's play this game. I should probably have actually watched the movies that it's based on. but Yeah, it's actually pretty important because they the cycle games do make some some deep cuts, some some great commentary and yeah a parodies of it.
Speaker: yes and and they're just playing fun they are in general in general it's general just great games i mean i mean until the jedi games i would say the lego games were like the best star wars games that had ever existed now it's a tie
Speaker: But I would say, like, even if you didn't understand that you'd get the gist of it, but if you... Well, yeah, that I played the games for years. I played the games for years. I watched it for the Let's Play because I make very informative sorts of Let's Plays. Yeah, but if you...
Speaker: In general, they're fun and great games. But ah when you know what they're parroting, what what the jokes are meant to be. It definitely improved my experiences with them. yeah Right. Because then it's it's a great game with a great parody on top of it. Yeah. And so, Nick, what did you do?
Speaker: ah
Speaker: I did the thing, I did the thing that i that you are very upset about, but while we're doing this. I was thinking just more in general, Nick. you you you You tied Lauren down and started forcing a rewatch or a watch in the first place. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, he consented.
Speaker: um But you two started doing a watch through of Star Wars stuff and then we got to Clone Wars and were like Hey, people might not hate listening to three people ramble about watching the Clone Wars. Indeed. And if they wanted to, I wanted to bring Lauren through a proper version of it, through a chronological rewatch. Yeah, you suck.
Speaker: um ah But if you want to join us for that, we will include a link below to the official Star Wars site that does portray the chronological watch through. And all of it is on Disney Plus, so you can watch along with us. Disclaimer, ah for better or for worse, we do not get any of that sweet, sweet Disney money.
Speaker: Nope, none of it. Oh goodness, we would like that. Sweet, sweet Disney money would be sweet, sweet. Indeed. But we're in it for the fun. We're in it for the stars and the wars. Yes, both of those things. Yes. And also we will be, we very conveniently tell you in the show posting and up up front here at the top of the show, which episodes we're talking about in a given episode. And this time around. And again, you can also check that link below because that's what we're using to go through as well. So there's multiple ways you won't get lost. And this time around, we're going to be talking about season one, episodes six through 10 Downfall of a Droid.
Speaker: the Duel of the Droids, Bombad, Jedi, Cloak of Darkness, and Lair of Grievous. Yes. If the two of you are ready, we can dive in. Oh, I am so ready. Misa ready. I i am ready -ish. Readiest as ready can be. Misa ready too. Oh, boy. First up, downfall of a droid. This is not time for Misa talk, though. Nope, nope, not not quite. That's later. That comes later.
Speaker: if it If it's about Astromex, it's time for us to swear every other word. Yes. but Who wants to take who wants to take the ah take the initial summary? I can do that. First up is Downfall of Droid, Season 1, Episode 6.
Speaker: The official logline from StarWars .com is R2 -D2 is lost during a fierce space battle and Anakin must find him before the Separatists discover the Jedi military secrets locked in his memory banks. Yes, and we start with Anakin spinning in space into oncoming fire like it's Star Fox. Well it's because spinning is a good trick. Yes, and because of course you have to do a barrel roll.
Speaker: Yes. Or it's it's actually called an aileron roll. Yes, yes, naturally. we've We've all seen the game theory episode. Yes. But so then it's ah that combos into Grievous getting backstabbed, which I don't actually remember what the details of that one were because I wrote this episode weeks ago. Well, it might be a bit too ahead of yourself, but he does get hit from the hit from the back by the the trap that Anakin set up with yes walkers on on the asteroids yes that's something that that was pretty sweet that was pretty cool yeah walkers those walkers are now officially literally all terrain because they can operate in the vacuum of space yeah and don't even need the terrain
Speaker: What were you about to say, Nick? I was saying that that was a rather clever tactic and that unique shows how Anakin is thinking outside the box and often He didn't even know that would work. It still worked. Does that qualify as another of Anakin's war crimes? We really need to start keeping a tally of Anakin's war crimes. I want to call this a war crime because I didn't think he even knew this was a possibility. He just sort of said, let's try this and it worked. Screw it, it might work. Yeah. What's the worst that could happen? We could all die. It's more. It's more.
Speaker: Anakin plot plot armor mm -hmm and What one of my my favorite moments in the episode though is you know, you know Grievous leaves the bridge of his ship that the the battle droid I'm always down for some stupid battle droid humor in the back. Well, I guess I'm in charge now. Oh, yeah, great That's one of the defining features that this so has done. Well battle droid humor way better than any of the prequel movies. this Every one of it hits. In the course of the battle, Anakin's fighter is damaged and has is left out in in space, and R2's out there too. Oh no! So naturally, Anakin is concerned. He's like, my buddy, my little buddy.
Speaker: and and Oh, you know, he's talking to Obi -Wan. My surrogate son. that that is And instead of like, oh yeah, and Fribio exists, but my real son is R2. And Obi -Wan says o over the comms, R2 units are a dime a dozen. And I just want to say, Obi -Wan needs to take that blasphemy out of his mouth. in That, you know,
Speaker: r two you are you gun are you go Are you going to Will Smith's like slap? You do not say that name. ah It's not going to be that bad. But Obi -Wan just needs to take that blasphemy out of his mouth. Otherwise, I'm going to will Darth Maul back to life. Oh, no. He's definitely dead right now.
Speaker: He's totally dead because he got cut in half. How could he not be dead? um man miss otery call as as And as we are fond of saying in our gaming sessions, foreshadowing is a literary concept. Foreshadowing is a literary device.
Speaker: sometimes oh um Now, i Lauren, i think I think you kind of had yeah thoughts about R3.
Speaker: Yeah, I mean, I think that R3 is adorable. He is so cute. I love R3's design. And i mean I just like the astromech droids in general. Astromechs are awesome. I want to build an astromech. I don't have the space to build one. Yeah. but every every time Every time an astromech droid comes on screen, I ask Nick, so is this one a character? And he'll usually say no. No, this one isn't a character. But whenever R3 showed up, I'm like, so is this one a character? he's like Yes, this one is a character. and I have seen you know from the various Astromech builder organizations that are out there, I have seen some that have built R3s. They've got the black body and the gold highlights and the gold dome. Yeah. Goldies great design. But I will say also that you can also build your own. Again, we are
Speaker: We aren't getting in at Disney Monday, but if you go to Galaxy's Edge, you can build a miniature R2 unit for Disney Breakout. So I could build a purple R2 unit. Yes, you could because, okay, slight digression. I have not had the wonderful opportunity to go to Galaxy's Edge yet. Hit Disney, start listening to this, send me to Galaxy's Edge.
Speaker: but um I have seen footage of the droid depot and it's literally this long conveyor belt that goes through the depot that has different colored parts of our two units also with the different you know, with domed heads and iconical heads and all that and BB units. And you know, it just the conveyor belt goes through and you can mix and match like, okay, I want this purple body. I want this white right leg and a red left leg and a clear dome. and So basically what you're saying is I could make
Speaker: in ace rights astromech droid you absolutely could beautiful you absolutely could and you just you just you you watch and wait for the the parts that you want to come back around and you're like and it's it's a glorious glorious thing and you that there there is a moment that that if we could ah align and create this is like outside of this experience. But if we could all go to Galaxians, I would love for us to make a lightsaber together. Oh, yes. that' would be pretty and And that experience I have heard is like bordering on life changing. Oh, okay. So I would like to I would love to like
Speaker: Even if that's just, that's the entirety of the trip. We all do is yeah they and we i don't want to show any of that. End of the digression is that the entire galaxy's edge experience is designed to be immersive so than that you're not. while you You're not at Disney park. Yeah. While you're there, you're not at a, at a,
Speaker: at a Star Wars themed amusement park, you're on a planet in Star Wars. I mean, right right the staff at like the stores and the restaurants even are, you know, they have various, the asport price it's called credit natural and they they have they have various ah scripted answers to like, if you ask them something that the answer would normally be out of universe. They have a way to correct you and get and make an in universe answer. Right out of it. And so it's it's designed to be completely immersive. And like the the droid depot even
Speaker: So the droids that you build, they're not just props, they're remote controlled. And and you know they they respond to different, I don't know if it's Bluetooth or Wi -Fi or whatever input, but you can get them in a little bag that's almost kind of like a backpack and have them sticking out. And throughout the galaxy's edge, part of the park signals are being shot to them that they can react to. Oh, nice. Final thing, since you are part of our role playing green group and we're going to have that later with this week. Again, I will show you as a gift from a good friend of mine that went there. They have individual, you know, like popular brands like Copicola, Sprite,
Speaker: Right. Right. Yeah. I have a Coca -Cola bottle that is canonically in Star Wars. Yes. I've seen it on ah that shelf up there. Yep. It's cool. It's shaped like a thermal detonator, but it's yeah entirely an orifice. Even like they went down to the fact that even the even the like sodas that you can get there is on is is made to be like, no, no, this is a Star Wars Coca -Cola. Yep. Coca -Cola is canon in Star Wars. Yep. It's the, but that also, you know, final, final final part of the digression yes oh as part of licensing.
Speaker: um Lucasfilm reviews all of the artwork and everything that goes into RPG books, comics, everything, you name it. yeah One of the things that they do is they review all the artwork to make sure that you know none of the characters in the artwork have shoelaces because shoelaces don't exist in the Star Wars universe. um But if Galaxy's Edge is quote unquote canon,
Speaker: oh Most of the visitors are wearing shoes with laces, so shoelaces are now canon, and this is a hill that I will die on. it' like It's just a weird cultural thing on that one particular planet, though. I actually have a reason for that, because since it's so far in the Outer Rim, that these are and the people coming there are having coming from worlds that do have shoelaces still.
Speaker: You see, here's here's the thing. yeah man Every world is a planet of hats. The shoelaces is this planet's hat. Well, see, the thing is, though, at least for a brief time,
Speaker: Batuu, Galaxy's Edge, was a stop on a high -end Starliner's cruise route. And also home to a high -rehelic temple. and But I mean,
Speaker: It was a high -end start. It's like Princess Cruises stopping at Puerto Vallarta. So people were getting off of there with shoelaces. So the high you know the upper class, too, has shoelaces. This is the hill I'm going to die on, and we will stop digressing now. OK. So what you're saying is we're going to shoelaces when we all step onto there.
Speaker: yeah It's mandatory. Now, if getting back to the episode, if they don't get R2 back, there's going to be trouble because Anakin has not liked his droid's memory, which is a normal thing to do. That's why R2 has an excessive personality. yeahp Yes.
Speaker: And also Anakin basically just feeds him tons of information that is vital to the war effort. a And so R2 has valuable recover Republic military intel. a And so this... Plans, schemes, battle plans. And so...
Speaker: um And this is abnormal. Normally, you would wipe your droid's memory, especially in a military situation. yeah yeah i forget they they go on to They go on to the scavengership in this episode, right? yeah That's the next one. No, that's the next one. No, no, this is this is still the scene. Yeah. Well, that's the next scene. But they they don't go on to the scavengership until the next episode. Oh, you're right. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker: So I don't know why I put cool assassin droids for this episode. Are they in this episode too? Because I know that they're on the ship. I don't think so. That would be weird. I don't know how. It's a two episode arc. So yeah, they should be here. They got on the scavengers this episode. And something just in general just seems off about R3.
Speaker: Yeah, he messes up. He messes up all of the controls in space and leaves, and it can get captured. Oh, what? You you know, right? you You are right. I was looking at this. Yeah, yeah, yeah. They do go on to the scavenger in this one. Yeah, yeah. They go on to the scavenger ship, and R3 is messing with the controls and trying to get to R2, and then it activates the assassin droids. Yes. And they're cool.
Speaker: Which is great because that brings these are the first time we see ING assassin droids actually move. Because they first appear in Empire Strikes Back. But because of how awkwardly they were designed, they were literally bolted into the floor of that scene. They literally could not function or move.
Speaker: And you know they they move you cool enough in this episode, but when we get to the Mandalorian, IG -11 is just a beast.
Speaker: even then these are like again like these are earlier models, but even then, seeing them move, seeing their eyes move and everything, like that was everything to me. as a the That really brought a smile to myself because I always wanted to see. I heard how cool IG88 was, but it's like I never saw him move. I learned he couldn't move, but now I saw his predecessors move and like, wow, that's cool. For me personally, you know
Speaker: my My primary familiarity with Star Wars, whenever I was growing up, was just LEGO Star Wars, the original trilogy. And it had one of these assassin droids as a playable character in it. lively mit agency Yeah, and it was it was a really cool playable character because it could actually like use the droid monitors while moving as a regular character and firing a gun.
Speaker: and using the like assassin explosives that were exclusive, like, bounding under characters. So it could do so many things, all in one all condensed into one character. And so just seeing this you know this character's you know Android model show up here, it's like, oh, hey, it's that thing. I recognize that thing. That thing's cool. And seeing it being really cool. and Yeah. not Similar reactions to seeing a thing that I wanted to see in action.
Speaker: Finally, yes.
Speaker: And, um, but yeah, so we, we have all of those shenanigans. They realize, okay. Yeah. Look, I guess our two isn't here and they leave. Yep. Which takes us in into season one, episode seven. Yeah. All of the droids. Yes. And the official log line for that one is.
Speaker: Anakin Ahsoka and replacement droid R3 -S6 embark on a dual rescue and sabotage mission when they discover R2 -D2 is being held at General Grievous' secret enemy listening post, Skytop Station. Yes. But this is also what confirmed to you that Goldie is a character. Yes. Yes.
Speaker: and so He's not only survived this episode, but he's in the logline. Whoa! And so we start off, R2 is trying to get himself out and get access to comms and get word to Anakin of where he's at. And trying to escape Hellboy. Yep.
Speaker: and and he gets some cool funky music playing as he does this. Yeah, he's got we got the R2 jams. But yeah, I mentioned Hellboy because the scavenger Trandosan who runs the ship is played by Ron Perlman. Yes.
Speaker: yes And um yeah Just a fun factoid. My thing is, this Trandoshan has R2 captured, right? yeah He doesn't bother to put a restraining bolt on him. So anything that happens from this point on is his fault. but again he There are multiple escapes that we didn't cover in the previous episode. but it's like
Speaker: Yeah, all the shenanigans are entirely the fact that he's not doing the bare minimum of like putting a restraining force on the draw. Yeah. Meanwhile, Obi -Wan is like, all right, you might you're going to have to sacrifice R2. You got it. You're going to have to destroy this guy. And Anakin's like, uh, no, ah no. How about I kill you instead? I mean, wait, that'll come later. Yeah, like that comes later.
Speaker: And so they're they're they're invading General Grievous's very large ball space, which has very important data within it. Listening ball. Yes, yes. And so Ahsoka does a dramatic skydive. Oh, you ain't seen nothing yet? Well, naturally, naturally.
Speaker: Well, you know, she's she's new to it. she This is her. This is really this is this is a big again, like since we you mentioned a lot how you were wanting to see more Soka action. And this has a ton of a Soka action. Oh, yeah, it has so much Soka action. It's great. And then we got grievous murders excessively of destroying his his his own people, which, you know, that that that's what he does. That's his thing.
Speaker: But then, Grievous and Ahsoka actually end up meeting up. And she's requesting R3 to help her out. And nope, turns out Grievous does the big reveal. R3 was on his side all along. R3 is a character. And I knew something wasn't right with him. I knew something wasn't right with him. OK, so I kind of remembered.
Speaker: what what it was, but I honestly thought the reveal was in part one of this. So it didn't happen in part one. I was like, am I remembering this wrong? e And so I really started to to doubt my memory because it's been a while since I've watched these particular episodes. I've never sat down and done a full rewatch of Clone Wars. When I want to watch Clone Wars, it's like,
Speaker: I want to watch Clone Wars and I go through and I pick out the same, you know, dozen or so episodes. Yeah, they're really good. But this is my second but that with him that this would become my third actual full rewatch. But I've done watches like how you said just like episodes I wanted to watch. Yeah. And I've done multiple of those. One one question that this episode raises, though, with R3 being the traitor.
Speaker: a quote unquote traitor, no is the Republic is fighting a war against an enemy whose primary fighting force is droids. Now I understand that droids are part and parcel of Star Wars. i And basically the equivalent of like everyday appliances. They're everywhere. But but you would think that if your enemy uses droids as their primary weapon you would find a way to restructure your own military so that you don't use droids as heavily if at all I mean that's uh that's kind of why the clones are in usage essentially and exactly and but it's also the fact that they are so ubiquitous that makes them the the perfect especially if you know the end game yeah
Speaker: that, yeah, the war is sort of structured in a way that, yeah, droids can be used as espionage units, but that's just because they're in everyday life. Like every mom and pop had has has a power droid powering their the mom and pop shop. Every single, like, ah has like a droid that's serving, that's flipping burgers at a burger shop.
Speaker: Also, to note, this is a notable this is a major plot point in the video game Mega Man 10. He's not wrong, because I've actually played that one. Yeah, it's the it's the best one. Ahsoka gets to meet Grievous, yes but they're they're still making sure, you because Revenge of the Sith is already coming on.
Speaker: They're making very sure that he and Anna can never cross paths. And I made i made that certain to to you, Lauren. yeah This is the literal most reasonable moment where they should meet. Yes. And they do not. And Instead, Grievous is now finding a literal child. a And we talked about how in her initial appearance where she wants that sweet, sweet EXP.
Speaker: She does not have enough EXP for this boss fight. She has not leveled up enough. no and that like This is embarrassing for Grievous. It is. he He's not losing exactly, but he also isn't winning either.
Speaker: so yeah but then but then we get astromech fight yes you and i don't have that note droid fight droid fight droid fight that is the title of the episode and duals the droids and it does not disappoint the the only thing now r2 is not quite as ruthless and definitively not as murderously psychotic as chopper is he has't met shoper yet we get to him But he's close. He's close in this fight. This is a this is this is an actual like kill count for R2 and it is
Speaker: Yes, it's two trash cans literally just sort of yeah sort of sort of attacking each other. so but Now, if if this were Rebels, R3 wouldn't have made it past his first encounter with art with Chopper because Chopper would have chucked him over ah the bridge. Chopper would have just used a blaster. Yeah.
Speaker: Well no, Chopper would have chucked him over over the bridge because, well, I mean, without even knowing that R3 was a traitor, Chopper would have just said, no, you're gone. yeah ah we get We'll get to Chopper eventually. Chopper sounds great. Oh yeah, Chopper is a psycho.
Speaker: Chopper literally has a a body count. Nice. Bigger than R2. R2 has a small body count, which is itself amazing. Chopper eclipses that number. Yes. When Alex and Molly Damon of Star Wars explained did their Rebels rewatch going into the Ahsoka series, they kept count of Chopper's kill count. Ooh.
Speaker: um But R3, Dispatched, they rescue R2, they bring him home, and all is right with the world. And I really like these two episodes because I really like the aspects of droids. It's cool that R2 got some episodes. Yeah, droids are awesome. Yeah. Awesome. They are an integral part of Star Wars. and like Some people kind of forget that. They're like, it's Luke, it's Han, it's Leia.
Speaker: Honestly, did some of the deepest R2 and C3 people are sort of like the most important characters in entire franchise. They're the only ones who are in all nine of the main movies. Yeah. And they're in Rogue One. Yeah. like they They have a significance to them, but they're kind of overlooked because, well, they're robots, but it's nice to see them get some get some play. Yeah.
Speaker: but So I guess onward to the next episode then. Onward to Bombad Jedi, Season 1, Episode 8. We should get into it now. We should get into it. Oh, we should still get into it. But I i will do everyone listening the courtesy of not reading the logline in a Jar Jar.
Speaker: Okay that's a pretty um on a diplomatic mission to the planet Rhodia Padme discovers that her old friend and fellow republic center Anaconda Farr has allied his planet with the Separatists in exchange for food and resources for his people Anaconda captures Padme and promises to deliver her to Newt Gunray. Sensing Padme is in trouble, Jar Jar Binks disguises himself as a Jedi, and with the help of C -3PO, courageously fights to rescue his friend and fellow senator. Yes, that is a great adventure. We got a Padme Jar Jar C -3PO adventure. So, a reasonable trio of characters, but...
Speaker: Definitely that's something that a lot of people would be like, say like, oh, I want this. Yeah. The episode I want. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. But let let's get into it. Yeah. Well, we we have some more Jar Jar rehabilitation. Yeah. Although not as much as we had chronologically back when when he was actually kind of effective intentionally. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker: um And I had really forgotten a lot about these early episodes, including how most of them just launched into their stories using the newsreel at the beginning to establish events that we're just meant to accept. Okay, yeah, that has been going on. I know that. This is going on. Like, let's just again, like, despite it being at 22 two to the 23 -minute episodes, it's like, we don't have time. We're jumping in. And its that tactic is really good for building a sense of urgency in just a few moments. Yeah, definitely. And it summarizes everything we need to know going into, and then boom.
Speaker: Here's what's going on and go. Yeah, it it does fit with like the idea of the opening crawl. The opening crawl is of the classic Star Wars. It's like, here's what's going on. Now we're here and we get that establishing shot usually in space. But it's like, here's like a whole lot of information where we're going to give you enough time to like see it, read it information. And now we're going for.
Speaker: Now that we have this sort of newsreel thing, it's like, here, here, here, this is what's going on, and go.
Speaker: Similar structure base. Yeah. And so once we ah once we actually get to the planet, it has a really cool aesthetic. I like i really like the way of this planet looks. And I also really like the way that this species looks, the species that Rita was. Yeah, the Rhodians. I really like the way, in particular, the way that in this animation style, the way that the star eyed aliens, I like the way that those those eyes look. They look really cool. Oh, yeah. I always liked that. I always liked that. Now Padme's old friend, she refers to as her father's strongest ally in the Senate. But her father, according to all of the other media, is like an artist and a teacher. and
Speaker: it's like I can't help but wonder if for just half a second, the writers just kind of mashed Padme and Leia from 20 years in the future into one, because that's more of a line that Leia might say about someone one that she knew from the Senate since her father was a senator.
Speaker: yeah this slide But, you know, it it's one of those, I obviously didn't catch it any other time that I've seen this episode. It's only as I was watching for this that I was like, wait a second. Nor did my nods, if any current Disney canon has contradicted it. Yeah. So I mean, I'm sure there's some hand wavy stuff that that so this was written during during when Lucas was heavily involved. Yeah. But so none of it has been had waved or changed, but I can see what you mean. Yeah. But yeah, so they take in Padme and they they leave Jar Jar and see the repeal on the ship and the droids they start attacking the ship and turns out Jar Jar is more dangerous than the droids considering that it completely just annihilates their own ship.
Speaker: Yes, with that without your without even trying to. Yes. But first, one of my favorite moments is Jarjo finding on board like, oh, this this is looking like a Jedi robe. and I wonder how this got here. Yeah, I wonder. I wonder how that could have possibly happened.
Speaker: which remind which were but like Yeah, and then it reminded me, it was like, oh yeah, Jar Jar wasn't invited to the secret wedding. ah Nobody but the droids were because secret wedding. yeah Except for the the preacher. Who Anakin almost certainly killed as soon as the ceremony was over. yeah Because this is Anakin.
Speaker: He was like, hey, preach preacher, look over, look over this side and just throw them over the edge of the balcony. By the way, preacher, do you know any women and children?
Speaker: but Oh, no. I also kill men and throw them over for the edge. but And as we know from Attack of the Clones, That really gets Padme going when Anakin tells her about the murder. She was holding on to that to that like nearby table. It was like, you had me at women. and You know, that's the moment when she said, I can fix him.
Speaker: yeah
Speaker: did she Did she say that she could fix him or did she say that I want to make him worse? a pretty a little here peum b depending on your headcount it could be either one yeah yeah dead or it could be you little bit of both yeah we ah what whatever is wrong with this guy we need more of it in the universe I'm going to create an absolute nonsense but yes I mean there is that meme the classic meme from episode two it's like and you
Speaker: will make things better, right? Yeah, but but right. But yes, so Padme saves herself. like yeah i like this is ah This is a pattern for Padme. Yes. And it kind of reminds me of in some of the Paper Mario games, you you find Princess Peach. And a lot in most Mario games, you know Princess Peach is doing it a whole lot. But in the Paper Mario games, you're playing as her, and she's basically rescuing herself for a lot of the game.
Speaker: and super paper mar i played this second one yeah yeah yeah in Super Paper she practically makes it out of the villain's fortress. It's literally just the front door. And so, yeah, Padme saving herself kind of reminds me of that a little bit. But I think it's sort of fixing the fact that a lot of people are like, well, Padme is supposed to be the precursor to Leia, but she doesn't do a whole lot of Leia stuff, which is one of the most famous thing is like Leia literally being like,
Speaker: What am I going to do? Save my own skin and blows over the door to get out of there? To be fair, in episodes one and two, she does a lot of Leia type stuff. She does a lot. But in in Revenge of the Sith, she is relegated to to playing, you know, expectant mommy damsel in distress. And it does. I would say that does hurt her a lot.
Speaker: and And and wait when the two of you get to your watch of Revenge of the Sith, Lauren, you will know of what I speak. Oh boy. That that movie does Natalie Portman no favors. Oh no. Unfortunately. So that's why this series, anytime it does bring up the Leia stuff,
Speaker: I'd phrase it. It's like, it's because it's episode three is like a billion sets back on how this character should be. Now, I will say also jumping back to Jar Jar finding the Jedi cloak in the ship. If you adopt the, you know, canon elements kind of introduced in the novel Brotherhood,
Speaker: Yeah, that that that cloak wasn't just left behind after they took a pleasure flight, or at least not that kind of pleasure flight. Oh, no. Because in Brotherhood, Padme and Anakin, any place they can find is is a good place. If you catch my drift. Yeah, it does fit the characters. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker: Especially how like like they literally got married after like spent spending like maybe like 16 hours of each other like ah After one of them committed a genocide. Mm -hmm. It was because of the genocide clearly. She's just really into that a Bad lesson don't don't take that my advice, but maybe if maybe if you like a girl maybe should do his little genocide. Padme is just ah she's She's got some things wrong with her. She's a freak. She's a freak. Yeah. Yes. So. Then Jar Jar becomes a monster. Yeah. And that's pretty cool how he like he he actually connects with a creature and the creature helps him save the day. And he's an aquatic creature. He comes from an aquatic world for stuff. So again, more Jar Jar rehabilitation. Mm hmm.
Speaker: you know Look, you Jar Jar's an okay guy, he even even if he's a a little clumsy. Yeah. In fact, that's it it really does rehabilitate, but doesn't change him. hes yeah They don't change charar there's like Jar Jar Jar's better in certain circumstances. Yes. The initial plan for the series is really evident in the structure of it in these early episodes.
Speaker: You get a few two and three part episodes, um you know, covering you big events and with ostensibly our main characters, Anakin and or Obi -Wan and Ahsoka. And then you get a standalone episode here and there spotlighting different characters like Padme and 3PO and Jar Jar. Clones and yeah other So that that kind of semi -anthology is really clear here early on. no if If it's a format someone likes, enjoy it while you can. we We come to spotlight - More heavily like - More heavily on these characters, but - More serialized, as I would call it. Yeah. Instead of anthology -wise, but again, sort of what hurts it, again, like it's something that why I did,
Speaker: decides to do chronological is that if you watch it in order, a it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. You don't get that sense of like, what are the story arcs? What's going on? Right.
Speaker: But you do get to see what they wanted to do. And then ultimately, they realized that, yeah, maybe we should see you realize it. Yeah. um And ultimately, I do feel that that is a great is a better way of doing that. And I wouldn't be opposed to the anthology thing, but the problem came from the fact that they just spread everything too far apart. So stories didn't connect. Right. And so we we close out the episode with Dooku telling Lord Sidious. The mysterious Lord Sidious, who could be anyone.
Speaker: that Padme has taken Newt Gunray into custody. And I wonder, was Palpatine in on Padme's plan? And if so, does that mean that he wanted Gunray off the board and was fine with him being captured? And it would also make it clear if it wasn't already that unlike Dooku, Gunray doesn't know who Sidious is. Yeah. Yeah, that's ah that's a mystery right there.
Speaker: ah So that that closes that out, which then takes us on to episode nine of season one, Cloak of Darkness. Yes. And our official A blurb for that is Ahsoka and Jedi Master Luminara escort the captured notorious Separatist leaders, Newt Gunray, to Coruscant so he can stand trial for his crimes. However, they are unaware that Count Dooku has sent his assassin, Asajj Ventress, to free their captive. With the help of Senate Commandos, the Jedi have to thwart Ventress' efforts to free their prisoner
Speaker: despite the traitorous plans of Senate Guard Captain Argyas. Now, I just want to say upfront that why the fracked is the official log line? the Spoil the third act reveal of Captain Argyas. I don't know, it's odd. The reason I was even in the Netflix splurge before they sent it over, because a lot of it was Netflix splurge on.
Speaker: I mean, when I was talking on scene, like, how like either Charles short or how a descriptive certain episodes are. Yeah. And it's like, what is up? Why spoil that now? Why spoil the Snoopy here, Captain's Alliance? Now, I ended up, again I can understand Netflix making that mistake. They have those skin in the game, but Disney plus porting it over. It's like, did they not have someone like edit it? Or like, did they take look at that now i ended up there i ended up with a lot more notes on this one oh yeah in previous early episodes and oh i did not expect to have this many notes on it yeah a lot to talk about it this is where stuff starts to get really good and interesting well especially because one we we have an episode with soca
Speaker: Good news. That's also a non Ahsoka Anakin, Obi -Wan, or even Rex. None of our main player players are the size there. So she's the only main character in this sort of sort of story. So that's unique. no And now Sidious wants Gunray rescued because his capture is a serious threat to them. So I guess he didn't know about Padme's plan to fake him out by having the Rodian senator say, oh, no, we want to join the Separatists. Psych. Now, would that be a war crime, too? Probably. Did Padme rack up a war crime? Probably.
Speaker: I mean, he's already committing a crime against his dad. Yeah. This is true. And it's kind of turned on my identity. Yeah. I wouldn't put it against him. Let's put it as two war crimes. Yeah. And um as Dooku is saying, well, you know, I'll i'll send Ventress to get him out, it's been so long since I've watched these early episodes that I forgot that they already started sowing the seeds of Palpatine suggesting Maybe Ventress doesn't need to be in the picture this early. I had forgotten that that started this early. I i honestly thought that it came out of nowhere later on. Oh, I see. But yeah it it did not come out of nowhere. you would build it it build One of the few things that builds from season one is it's just what it seems
Speaker: um But yeah, Ventress is doing an infiltration now. Yes, which she's super good at. Yeah. Super good at. Nick,
Speaker: that even the movie
Speaker: great deal compet you're cutting out. You've got a really low audio level.
Speaker: and there now a little bit a little bit better. okay Yeah. Yeah, I think I think that sounds better. Yeah. What I was saying was, she says a lot more competence and skill here than even the movie and her initial reveal. She's ruthless and dangerous. And honestly, I considering like, I was introduced her in the in the Tarkovsky series, this is when I felt like this is Ventress. Yeah. And we mentioned the casting of Ron Perlman a couple episodes ago. I don't know if I forgot that Luminara was voiced by Olivia Dabo from Wonder Years, or if I'm just now
Speaker: noticing it when looking up information on the episodes. I think I forgot, I think I knew and forgot, but I was like oh read that and I was like, wait a second, what?
Speaker: and but um But so Ahsoka and Luminara go in to interrogate Gunray and Luminara is trying to negotiate with him and Damn, but Ahsoka went hard interrogating Gunray. I mean, even though watching Chrono was - He He Now, but did she pull the body into the room and say, I know you killed this guy? ah but Inside joke for our gaming group. That's a deep cut. But I will say that she was a right about to just like,
Speaker: put the lightsaber. It was like you either confess or you don't confess. a had Even though watching this chronologically, she's only been Hanukkah's padawan for a handful of episodes.
Speaker: ah we probably not even like like
Speaker: It's been speculated that this is roughly like three months into her time in the Clone Wars, which is like six months into the Clone Wars. If it's even that, because all seven seasons of this fill three years of time. yeah Yeah. Again, it's heavily speculated, but it's like this is early. But yeah even being his padawan for a short amount of time, his methods are definitely rubbing off on her. And they're shown to be pretty effective against Gunray in contrast to Luminara talking and being nice.
Speaker: I mean, look, Anakin did say you wouldn't make it as Obi -Wan's padawan, but you might make it as mine. That's true. but so Like, I kind of feel like she was already like this. Or at least is at the age and temperament to be like, yeah, I can mold this one. Yeah. Yep.
Speaker: Anakin did not have to do much to make her like this. She was she was already mostly there. Padmei thought of Anakin. I can fix him. And Anakin thought of Ahsoka. Yeah, I can totally screw her up. yeah Basically, he said, like, I don't want on a padawan. But he saw us like, no, no.
Speaker: I can make her just as bad as me. And then I'll piss Toby one off. as As part of the rescue plan, the separatists send like these boarding pods with. Which I really love the design. Yes. They expand open so it keeps they are the field opening. They are totally a logical design for a setting like this.
Speaker: a um so And Ventress gets in, she's she's doing her sneaky sneak, and she she comes up to a trooper and beheads him on screen. yep I'd say it's pretty bold for the target audience, but Mace and Jango in Attack of the Clones, anyone? Yeah, yeah. I'd even point out the fact that the only thing that could have been darker is if Jango's head just fell out.
Speaker: i mean I mean, we see the shadow of his head falling out as the helmet goes flying. anything yeah um And so the the clone the clones are doing their sweep, look looking for any anyone who's gotten on board, and one of them refers to the little Treadwell droid by its nickname, and the other one says, you know droids never like to be called by their nicknames. And that's just kind of an interesting con contrast there. Is that really the case? Because we've seen plenty of droids in the show called by nicknames.
Speaker: all across you know Clone Wars and Star Wars as a whole. um Like R2E, R2... Goldie, just a few episodes ago.
Speaker: three ceo um or his full title is C, C, P, O, human -cyborgs relations. Are the clones trying to differentiate themselves from the droids? Because the clones are adopting these nicknames and the individuality. So are they trying to differentiate themselves from droids when, as far as the republic at large is concerned, their function is essentially the same as droids. They're constructed for a particular purpose and kind of disposable.
Speaker: And you know, this is a plot point in the Mega Man Zero series. This is actually true. It's just one of the few video games that I can actually be like, yeah, I played that video game. you game To note, I have not actually played the Mega Man Zero games, but i I know them. I know this is a plot point. There's a similar plot point I even brought to that point when I was watching the series. Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah, I noticed here that I'm like, I'm like, artificial beings fighting in conflicts and stuff like that. And yeah, the the Mega Man series in general is about robots, ah advanced robotics, robots becoming more like people. And then in this, in the part of the timeline that the Zero series happens, ah they're, they're cloning humans. They're cloning them specifically for particular tasks. One of the major characters in the Zero series, she's a, she's CL and she's a human, but she was bred and clones specifically to be a scientist. And so the differences between humans and robots as robots become more like humans and humans start being being specifically designed for purposes, the the lines become blurred and that becomes a major point within that part of the series. So you do get the point of like, yeah, this has always been sort of an interesting plot point in science fiction. Yes, right.
Speaker: You can see where they're going with this. And so this is the Star Wars equivalent of the Zero series, right basically. And we'll get more more and more like that, especially with certain other elements of the X series that I remember. But I might have to do a replay of that to to confirm my yeah my thoughts on that. Yes. And Lauren, you had a note here. Yes. We got we got a really cool droid in this episode. I call it fake Wall -E.
Speaker: ah It experiences incredible disasters. Just the worst day on the job. But I love that droid. It's so cute. Oh, the Treadwell droid. Yes. Yep. Because again, that's a fun fact that that is the inspiration for Wally and the the quote unquote voice actor for Wally from the Pixar film that everyone should watch because it's really good. Yes. He's actually our 2D2. Yeah. Drew's voice actor.
Speaker: and And Nick, you just promoted another Disney property. Once again, we do not get sweets with Disney money. But we won will gladly accept it. Yes, we would. Chill. Bye bye. Chill. Bye bye, please. Scrum. So for for this next part, Daryl, you and I both have both noted down this particular line. Yeah, Ahsoka is facing off with Ventress and
Speaker: So, I'll give you a merciful death. Yeah. She's really acting like... but That's Ahsoka's line, by the way. Yeah. Yeah. ah And Ahsoka's really acting like she feels like she's got a lot to prove early on. But she she is going maximum aggro right now. But also, it shows that the both of them have a lot to prove because they are apprentices to it. Yeah, right.
Speaker: And knowing where Ahsoka ends up, no spoilers, seeing her this way is different and odd, but it makes for an interesting trajectory that you're gonna see. She's gonna have some character development, y 'all! What?! and also It's almost like the one character who doesn't have to be in a certain point by the time of Revenge of the Sith is the one that gets to have the most growth. Whoa! But we also get to see that this is also a proving ground for Ventress. He is trying to prove herself, but ultimately doesn't succeed technically in her mission.
Speaker: and And now Ahsoka and Luminara are chasing after Ventress now and they go to a turbo lift shaft and Ahsoka is ready to just blindly leap into that shaft and nearly gets crushed by the car. ah And so it's like, did she suddenly get stupid? Is she trying to prove her skills or with Anakin not around,
Speaker: is the story showing us his influence on her outside of the context of you i can see a bit of being the Robin of his Batman. Both his teachings and also the fact that she is also very much giving in to her aggression in this moment. Yes. I see is like, I need to capture Ventress. I need to do this. And my master,
Speaker: leads with his head, none and or more his his heart into his head. Yes. He's being blinded by the dark side. But he has to be stopped by someone who is more grounded, more temperate. More temperate, yeah.
Speaker: um Then we we get a scene of the clones talking to Captain Argyas. And Argyas says, sometimes being a good soldier means doing what you think is right. That's why we're superior to droids.
Speaker: it's Interesting coming from a non -clone. Yes. Also, I just want to give a quick moment of appreciation for James Marsters as Argyas. Yeah, he does a great job of his voice acting. oh yeah There's just the tiniest little hint of Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer in the voice and accent that he chose for the character. but and Even then, I i would say the tiny bit of. It's just like, that's what makes us superior to droids, the little lit, the little sort of hit in there hits it. He's he's not just talking about. Clones, he's talking about himself. Yes, because that that gets us to the actual reveal. Yes, the reveal. There was a traitor among us.
Speaker: and And once that's revealed, he repeats that line that I was just talking about to Commander Gree when they're facing off. And then Gree replies with, you and I disagree on what makes a good soldier. So what is it, Gree? What makes a good soldier? Do good soldiers follow orders?
Speaker: We'll get to that. That will mean more to you later as well. oh to Think on like certain lines, even this early in the series are going to have like some major impact. yeah Going back and rewatching now, I know that despite what a lot of people with varying degrees of media literacy these days,
Speaker: would have you believe a show like this is not planned out beat for beat from the premiere to the finale before they start making a frame of it. It's just not feasible. It's not feasible and also as someone that watched the behind the scenes is like if you behind the scenes of it would always start with I was called George's office and he outline and he said he wanted to do this. and And I said, but George, what about? And George said, I want to do this. And then he would go to the writing room and make it. And they would make it happen. Yeah. there was they They basically disproved the myth of like, there was no grand unifying plan. Yeah. and they me But they did.
Speaker: build upon what they made. yeah And slight digression, Kevin Feige for the MCU is, if nothing else, a genius in that dating back to when they coined the phrase for the MCU and the first TV shows that they launched, it's all connected.
Speaker: he has successfully convinced everyone that from the moment Jon Favreau started filming the first Iron Man movie, everything up through Endgame was planned. a That is a brilliant deception. It is a brilliant deception. It is a brilliant overstatement. The quote unquote plan when they made Iron Man was we have the scraps of our C and D list characters that we can make movies out of ourselves. we own And we still have the rights that we haven't sold the rights off to. of And so let's make movies with them. And what would be really cool is if at some point in the future, we can bring them all together into an Avengers movie.
Speaker: Yeah, that would be cool. Yeah, that was the extent of the plan. It happened. Yeah. happy the first But this won't be the first, won't be the last time we talk about John Favreau during. It is not. what Oh boy. ah
Speaker: coming but equally is so But equally don't think that there is something as a master plan. But coming back to this, what makes an effective writer or writing team is as a series, be it a series of movies or a TV series or a combination of both progresses, they know that they can go back and pull a nugget from something early.
Speaker: and reapply it and recontextualize it later down the line. A frolay line, a little plot plot thread can be pulled later on. Yeah. And it makes it look like, oh, this is massive. These guys are brilliant. They had it all planned from the beginning. Yeah, sure, totally.
Speaker: I mean, I even pointed out some of that during our MLP Watts fruit. It was like those ideas. It was like they proposed it. They didn't have a plan for it, but then they did bring it back. Yeah. Twist it, change it. But yeah.
Speaker: So just noting a bit of a humorous moment here. ah Gun Ray fights with a gun. yeah by using blood force. but yeah It's kind of fun because you'd expect him to use a firearm because he's your gun re he sort of look to be weak and feeble. So it's fun that he actually knocked someone out with physical force despite him having those noodle arms. And despite being called Gun Ray. Well, has Nick explained to you the origins of this character's name? No, I don't think he has. So when crafting episode one, you
Speaker: since it was very steeped in politics, Lucas was was wearing his his political ideologies on his sleeve. Oh boy. the the all Down to down to is to his fingertips, basically. see long snap The bad guys, the leaders of the Trade Federation are named Newt Gunray, Newt Gingrich, Ronald Reagan,
Speaker: m And Lott Dodd, Trent Lott, and I can't remember what Dodd's first name is. I see. so Interesting. he he was He was wearing his political ideologies on his sleeve. All the way down to his fingertips, like basically covering it. The republic, which is disintegrating under excessive capitalism and corruption,
Speaker: is the United States of America. Yeah. Particularly under the leadership of one particular party. Right. And I even brought that up during our episode two wants through specifically how it's about the expansion of power powers, powers that are infringing upon upon the people's a sort of ah
Speaker: sort of ah some sort of like expansion of the executive branch. And so under an emergency stance, under some sort of threat of terrorism. Yes. And so, you know, yes, Gun Ray is a nice little play on Ray Gun, as in Pew Pew. Yeah. But it's also a play on Reagan. Gotcha.
Speaker: um so Unfortunately, we I think we just outed ourselves as we are in the camp that Star Wars does have some politics in it, so that might turn some people off. Oh, no. Star Wars has politics. Star star Wars has gotten woke. Oh, no. All the way back in 1999.
Speaker: nineteen seventy sevenen s because you i see But so Ventress and Argyas get away with Newt Gunray and Argyas is being all like wow I did an awesome job and and Count Dooku says I did a good job and aren't I wonderful and I'm going to get paid a lot of money and Ventress puts a lightsaber through his chest. Yep he gets his just rewards. Yes
Speaker: um And then yeah we we end the episode with Ahsoka saying that protecting a Jedi master is the role of a Padawan. Boy, I sure would hate to see what happens to Anakin if Ahsoka's not around anymore. Oh, yeah, it would be surely terrible. Ah, what could possibly go wrong? Yeah, you know, Anakin can handle himself. He'll be fine. He's the chosen one. that yeah right Yeah. What could possibly go wrong there?
Speaker: almost the kinds of things that might go wrong. Oh, this is a horrible segue. I apologize to everyone in the lair of Grievous, which is 10 of season one. And let me take a deep breath because this is, I think, the longest log line of. Oh, yeah, I think I read it. I took a look at it. It's like, wow, they did so much. They did so much.
Speaker: They just wanted to give everything away. Jedi Master Kit Fisto and his former Padawan, the Mon Calamari Jedi, Nadar Veb, track escaped prisoner Newt Gunray to a remote world. Following Newt into a mysterious den filled with strange creatures, weapons, and wartime artifacts, the Jedi discover it is the trap -laden lair of General Grievous. Learning the Count Dooku has led the Jedi there in order to punish Grievous for his recent failures,
Speaker: the General is determined to prove his abilities and destroy the Jedi. Kit and the Dar along with a contingent of clones must now fight their way past Grievous and his caretaker droid A4D to avoid being caught in the General's evil clutches for forever.
Speaker: Yes. Fisto arrives. Yes. He's cool. Yes. And you know this episode doesn't show it like the micro series did. But remember, get Fisto's jacked. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. He sure is. um So. And they lean into the fact that he is Jamaican. Yes. And After he arrives, he says, those who have powers should restrain themselves from using it. But meanwhile, Jedi are acting as leaders of the grand army of the Republic on the battlefield and using their power. Yeah. Foreshadowing is a literary device. but but Sometimes it is subtle.
Speaker: um this episode is not particularly subtle. vision And then Dooku tells Grievous that Lord Sidious demands more dramatic results. So if Palpatine really did set all of this in this episode up through Dooku,
Speaker: This is an example of what the ancillary media really loves for Palpatine, which is him putting his underlings through tests with life or death stakes. yes like yeah no you no no no no You go prove yourself to me again. And if you die, I'll just find somebody else. Yep. So it does prove like that the nature of how like in control he He was Dooku is delivering the message, but he's he's equally a puppet on the string. Yeah. And now he's equally just about a test for Dooku and it is for Grievous. It's like, hey, if your puppet doesn't work, then I might have to test you. who And then you're on the topic block. Killed him.
Speaker: Kill him now. I'm sorry, you haven't gotten there yet. yeah um And so now Grievous is lair, though. That is an awesome location for a story like this. Oh, yeah. it it's It's such a good location. This is general. it's We don't get a whole lot of the exterior, but the this a reveal of the mist and then revealed this sort of mon... this this this mountain with a singular door. it It's simple but effective. and And it gives you insights into his character. especially you we get into It gives you a cool space for the action. And I really like the end. I wrote this note before we all went to go see Alien Romulus this weekend.
Speaker: Mm hmm. But it has a inside. It has a bit of a Giger vibe to it. Yes. Yeah, let's have a bit of that, because the walls aren't necessarily uniform, but they're not quite there. therere There's definitely square flooring, but the walls themselves have sort of like a unique sort of sort of curvature to them. And it's not like they're carved out of the rock. It's like there's a material there, but it's... And we get to even see that when a certain point when Grievous is using the environment to to escape them. Yes. Right. And to note, so we see like images of Grievous's previous forms and how you know he's he's upgraded himself over the years. And I feel like that
Speaker: That really leads up well to the point where he brings out the four arms, because I'm pretty sure this is the first time that we've seen him with four arms in this, you know, in the animated series anyway. It's probably the most impressive at least to this point, I believe. And so it's like into the droids, but this is way more impactful. Yeah, it's like you see, you see what he was previously and now he's going maximum aggro mode with all of his arms out.
Speaker: And I feel like that's a really cool visual progression, essentially. And Fitz, that we see that he was just something, some regular being. Yes. General Grievous. And you know, this is this is the episode. This is actually the episode where I realized that he the Jedi wannabe elements that I talked about previously with the quote unquote improvements helping him compete against the Jedi.
Speaker: You know, the this is really the episode where I figured out where i you know figured out what I talked about last time. And speaking of aggro, Nadar Veb is particularly aggressive. Kind of like Ahsoka was in the last episode. Now, the Clone Wars have only been going on for in a pretty short time, but we're already seeing the effects of the Jedi being pressed into service, leading a fighting war, and younglings and Padawans being fast -tracked into the field and in some cases - Yeah, it is described that this is Kit Fisto's former Padawan who's recently,
Speaker: like Right. and sleep provoed night And he's already ready to so some negative tendencies. Right. And, you know, some of these former Padawans are being promoted tonight really quickly because they need generals to lead the army. And so the situation isn't all that conducive to learning all of the aspects of being a Jedi.
Speaker: I really hope this doesn't make it easy to turn public sentiment against the Jedi in the future. If anything, that should happen.
Speaker: um And all of that is also exemplified by, Nadar has a line shortly after this that in this war, strength prevails, the rules have changed. And so you know there especially the younger generation is becoming more aggressive ah in their pursuit of winning the war. Yeah. It would take longer for a regular Jedi, a lot more introspects and a lot more heart. this Like, like, like Kid Fissure says, I haven't seen you in a while. It's like, you're a knight now, right?
Speaker: and say But he's also disturbed when he says that stuff about power. It's like, that's not what I talk to you. It's what war is taught him. Yes, war has changed. And a a pretty short period of war. So, you know, it's like, the Some of these younger Jedi are just going all in because yeah they don't have the guidance and they're not formed enough yet as people to have that point of being grounded that older Jedi like Kit Fisto and Mace Windu.
Speaker: Well, I guess Mase might probably. Oh, yeah. um But, you know, like so I this is a great example of the fact of like, yeah, the bar is called eight night. and He was once Kifiso's Padawan and he was like disturbed by what his student has become in such a short period of time. Yes. And they they fight Grievous's Beastie Gore. And Grievous cares for Gore.
Speaker: Yeah. yes we go And we also get to see, see again, like this was something that I think that even, even as Stephanie was like surprised when I said like, she was like, what is Grievous? It's like, yeah, he's a cyborg. And this, this, the scene where he gets his like faceplate taken off is still light rather disturbing. Oh yeah. That was intense. And now just stylistically, and we know that this is probably why the decision was made even when making Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith in making the main forces of the Separatists be battle droids. But that decision creatively
Speaker: allows our Jedi heroes to just mow their way through their enemies and still not be killers. But the casual way that they're shown doing it. It's the way that Savar is doing so. He's thinking pleasure. Well, not even him, but he even even Kit Fisto is just you know casually cutting his way through the droids.
Speaker: And the fact that they do this, yeah oh, they these are these are the enemies that I'm fighting. Are they even considering that they're droids? you The casual way they go through them speaks volumes to where they already are philosophically yeah yeah as an order. yeah And to note, speaking of droids, we've got another astromech droid in this episode, y 'all.
Speaker: we got more And R6 says, ah I'm too much of a character for this, and it flies away. R6 survives. R6 survives. I remember you did ask, as you do with every episode, with an R unit, it's like, is this a character? It's like, yes.
Speaker: ah who is A little bit. They survive. i did i did I did spoil that. I was like, they survive. But I'm not a character. Well, that's a survive. Yes. R6 is experiencing issues and goes, I'm too much of a character for this. I'm out of here. it If it helps you in any way, okay this is Star Wars. So every character living or droid that has been given a name and many that have not been given a name on screen
Speaker: who At some point or another we'll receive an expansive backstory that ties them into the grand picture of the Star Wars saga. So basically if I look on some wiki I'm gonna find this R6 droid on there and it'll turn out that they were actually incredibly important for a number of notable instances. Almost certainly.
Speaker: Good. good i'm One of these days I'm going to go onto so some wikis and I'll be looking up every single astromech droid. And I'll be like, this one's a character. this one's so you'll be So you'll be lost for like several years. Yes. Yes, I will. So you know to give you and ah an example, they published an entire book about stories of the background characters in the Mos Eisley Cantina. Yeah.
Speaker: there In The Empire Strikes Back, there is a a scene as Cloud City is being evacuated. I don't know if you ever noticed this guy independently of us mentioning him after you, after you entered the hellscape that is having to put up with us. But as Cloud City is being evacuated by people, there's a guy in an orange jumpsuit who runs by carrying an ice cream maker. Nice. And it's - He had a whole whole bag.
Speaker: He has a whole backstory. No, no. He has two whole backstories because he had a backstory in the old Legends continuity and he now has a backstory in the current canon continuity. And you say two action figures. Yes. And at at a Star Wars Celebration, the character's name has been given as being Willrow Hood. At Star Wars Celebration, there is a tradition called the running of the hoods where dozens of people cosplaying Willrow Hood run through celebration as he did evacuating Cloud City, clutching their ice cream makers. Oh, oh boy.
Speaker: That's very. sorry i No lines. And there are people less impactful in that entire that also have active figures and backstones. Yeah. And.
Speaker: and another Another example of this kind of thing is that um you I referenced him earlier when Alex Damon of Star Wars explained um interviews, actors and writers and production people involved in Star Wars.
Speaker: He asked one of his standard questions is who their favorite Star Wars background character is. Who is your favorite Star Wars character who is not a main character, probably doesn't have any lines, may or may not have an action figure. Who's your favorite?
Speaker: So yeah. the this this franchise does not let characters go to waste for better or for worse.
Speaker: excellent um And then the the episode ties up um with
Speaker: Yoda speaking and saying that to answer power with power, the Jedi way is not. ah But in this war,
Speaker: um
Speaker: a danger, the um no I'm sorry, I cut off the line. To answer power with power, the Jedi way, this is not. In this war, a danger there is of losing the way.
Speaker: It kind of seems like the way is already being lost. Yeah. Especially with the idea of the younger generation has already fallen off. They can't teach the Jedi way anymore because they're already involved in it. And even though those are or older and experienced can supposedly keep it together,
Speaker: they're failing the younger generation and therefore new Jedi are bound to fall the same way as the Dara did. Even though those who are in higher power can keep together, they've already failed the younger generation generation and that's the beginning of like a degradation of the order.
Speaker: yeah
Speaker: so So a very somber note to end on. Especially in these last two episodes of this batch, that's some good, strong stuff. Yeah. It's going to be very interesting philosophic going forward, thinking about the nature of the order, the the nature of this war and its effect on the galaxy. and it's It's setting up the stakes that we're going to be revisiting a lot in this series. Yes. So you're still digging Clone Wars your first time through? Yeah, absolutely. It's ah it's still going great. it's you know This was a great batch of episodes. We got some R2 -D2 focused episodes.
Speaker: which I was excited about. We got more Ahsoka stuff. We jarar yeah he sure he sure happened. And also some really cool General Grievous stuff.
Speaker: Yeah, again, I wish we, ultimately, I did wish we get a bit more of Grievous' backstory, but I did like that they at least hinted at it and saw what he was. And also, I do agree with your assessment that his advancement is to become sort of a Jedi wannabe. I do agree with that. that Yeah, that was a really, ah really cool observation.
Speaker: I had never thought of that. i I said this when you brought it up, but I had never thought of that. And as soon as you said it, I was like, Oh, I liked this. Yeah. likeed And again, that this episode that it was the one that really cemented it for you, it made sense that yeah we we see that he was a proud warrior. he said But instead of being that proud warrior, he he needed to be better. He needed to be better than a Jedi, yeah but he could never be that. So he's the next best thing, yes which makes him a monster, a more machine than what he was before.
Speaker: And it also makes him pretty cool. Yes. That's true as well. But yeah, it sounds like that's that's about it. Unless you all have any final thoughts. I think that's a good point for us to. ah Absolutely a ah good stopping point. And we will dive in with the next handful of episodes here soon.
Speaker: you Thank everyone for for listening. and you Feel free to yeah leave leave some comments. or yeah we're I'm not going to say hit that bell to like and subscribe because we're not on YouTube. no but But I will say like we we'll appreciate any comments. some ah If you feel free to have discussions in those comments, we might even chime in with our thoughts.
Speaker: see What we're here, what we're doing is we're talking about Star Wars and we're here to have fun. Yeah. Exactly. And yeah here in some upcoming episodes, we're going to have some other members of our gaming group come in because knowing that we're doing this, they're like, oh, oh, oh, when you get to these episodes, I want to be on. I want to be on. Yeah. And, you know, unfortunately, the rest of the How We Roll Gaming crew.
Speaker: And you know unfortunately, we have already passed some of the episodes that they really want to join us on ah because we're doing chronological. ah um but But yeah. we I know. i know you You're going to spit on my grave, Daryl.
Speaker: yes Yes, and then I'm going to dig it up, and I'm going to exhume you, and I'm going to let all of the squirrels that are the bane of your existence at your house play with your corpse, and then rebury you, and the squirrels and I are all going to spit on your grave together. Yeah, okay, that that that might be going a bit too far. But I'll accept it this time.
Speaker: ah But yeah, thank you for joining us. Join us next time and until then, have an awesome time. Watch some Star Wars, watch some Clone Wars, watch what you love. don't talk about it Talk about it in the comments and ah maybe we'll even join in and see if we can have like a good fun conversation. Yeah. See you all then. We will catch you later. Bye. Bye.
Speaker: This has been casual nerdy. We hope you've enjoyed your time with us and look forward to having you back.
