Star Wars – how much is connected with them, how many memories and expectations for the future. But this time I would prefer to write about something that I have avoided for a long time. Namely, about the animated series Star wars Clone wars, published in 2008-2014. The clone wars themselves were mentioned in A New Hope, and already in the prequel trilogy they thundered between episodes 2 and 3. Moreover, this series was not the first dedicated to these events; even before Revenge of the Sith, an animated series by Gennady Tartakovsky with the same name was released. And some of the initial episodes were re-edited and released into cinema in a full-length version with the same name. However, it was almost impossible to separate the latter from the series itself, and this was especially facilitated by problems with the chronology, which was simply insane, to say the least. What can we talk about if the first episode chronologically was the 16th episode of the second season, followed by the 6th of the first, a full-length cartoon and the first episode of the third season. As I already wrote in the fifth season, The Clone Wars were closed after the purchase of Lucasfilm by Disney. Then, in general, the situation turned out to be not the most beautiful, connected both with the closure of third-party projects in the world of Star Wars in connection with the preparation for the release of a new film, and with some problems with the channel broadcasting the series. As a result, the brainchild of Lucas and Filoni was closed at the very peak of its form. As someone wrote, The Clone Wars disappointed everyone for five years and finally disappointed everyone by simply closing – mmmm… yeah. However, the creators had a decent number of episodes and arcs in varying degrees of readiness. And since it was stupid for the new owners to lose the popular material they had developed, they decided to give the green light to the stories that were closest to being released on screens. And already about a year and a half after the closure, Internet screens were visited The Lost Missions.
s06e01: The Unknown And I finally decided to check out the sixth season of The Clone Wars. And what can I say about this series. It’s very good and works well both as a combat episode and as an introduction to an entire arc. There is a very diverse and beautiful action, events follow each other as if from a cornucopia. Here is a new meeting with Admiral Trench – hello spider and how did you survive the explosion of your flagship? Although the new design of the Sepov commander is only for the better. But the plot of the series is a “strange” incident with one of the clones. Namely, Tab simply took and shot the Jedi general, constantly muttering about some orders. And from this incident a whole whirlwind of events begins, because the Sith clearly do not want the clones’ secrets to come out, which means that there will definitely be battles, captures and rescue missions. Ultimately, Anakin, Rex and Fives manage to rescue poor Tab and send him to Kamino for diagnostics. Just a good solid episode. It’s funny that Taba complains about her hatred of the Jedi, but Skyguy evokes zero emotions – he senses the future Bucket.
s06e02: Conspiracy That’s what the Clone Wars can do is take a completely unexpected turn. And the arc continues with a real medical thriller, where the patient’s health and he himself turn out to be only expendable pieces, wild cards on the table of big players and immeasurable bets. Here, even the mystery of the tumor-chip itself serves more as a frame demonstrating a whole tangle of relationships. The same Kamonians believe that everything that is happening is some kind of murky intra-Jedi showdown, where Tyranus and Sifo-Dyas do not trust the Council of the Order. At the same time, it is curious that the clones themselves remain the property of Kamino, and it turns out that the Republic rented the clones or according to the rules of Lend-Lease. And in general, conspiracies are everywhere, and one clone is too small a fry to influence anything. But overall, the series turned out quite decent and, despite a number of sagging and tensions, works well to deepen the image of the clones and Fifes himself. However, Tab died even after the tumor was removed – bad end.
s06e03: Fugitive And in this episode the thriller begins to spout conspiracy theories about the full program. In fact, all that remains is to sympathize with Fifes: losing a close friend, discovering that you and all your brothers were microchipped in infancy, and “a stranger sits inside and controls your thoughts” – this is very creepy. What’s also scary is how quickly you can be thrown out by the system and sent to the trash. And even despite the seemingly happy ending of the series, anxiety for the clone only grows, because he is going to meet with the Chancellor, and no one can be safe next to Palpatine. Except that the very multifunctional droid has been pleasing throughout the second series. This is a very intense series that will make you clench your fists more than once. In general, I am glad that here the authors of the series manage to reveal the clones so well without going into Travissian snot.
s06e04: Orders And the last episode of the arc adds to the paranoid thriller. And either Fifes was really injected with bad drugs, or perhaps he actually went crazy from all the chaos going on around him, but at the very end he behaved like some kind of psychopath. And it’s you, from the height of knowledge of Revenge of the Sith, who grins throughout the entire series, but for everyone around you, the clone’s actions and confused accusations sounded like fierce nonsense. And yes, the episode is actually not bad, but in some places it repeats the episodes of the last arc of the previous episode: again the chases around Coruscant and the situation itself must have caused Anakin some serious deja vu. On the other hand, the authors’ attention to detail, whether it’s a clone bar or a macaw taxi driver, still continues to please. However, the end of the series, instead of the shock expected by the authors, causes only quiet satisfaction: Fifes has already suffered enough and death will be his deliverance. Well, the chancellor went a little too far with meaningful hints and insidious grins – the guy doesn’t get fired up at all. But the very situation of the fact that the chancellor transfers the chips to the head physician of Kamino for safekeeping, the doctor secretly transfers to Lord Tyrannus so that Count Dooku reports everything to Sidious – too many recursions.
In general, this arc shows how the sixth season managed to become a victim of the closure of the entire project, because showing two arcs similar in theme and main idea in a row is a fair bad manners, and you can get tired of repeating yourself. Also, budget cuts and production on a residual basis also affected the visual side of the series: the growth in the quality of animation and the beauty of the picture ended and in some places signs of a hastily riveted product began to appear. On the other hand, the story is still able to keep you in suspense and worry about the main character. And with this, the cross-cutting plot of the series about the newcomers, the Domino squad, is completed – all the team members perished in the furnace of war: Fifes, Echo, Heavy – how is that possible?. The arc manages to provide variety: fighting and a thriller in one bottle – here we watch battles, and then we watch something in the style of Enemy of the State. In any case, missing this arc means depriving yourself of a lot of pleasure, and for fans of clones, missing it is a misdemeanor.
s06e05: An Old Friend And in https://sg88wincasino.co.uk/ the new series of the Clone Wars, the boomerang hat becomes a skateboard hat, and Embo himself acquires a useful pet and the highest employer – Darth Sidious, who really wanted to dragon Rush Clovis. And who is this guy, and where does he live? You find out and remember little by little throughout the series. It can be difficult to remember a character who appeared in one episode a hundred episodes ago. It’s nice to see that he got out of that story so cleverly. In general, according to the plot, Padme flies to the galactic bankers for the next tranche of an open credit line for the Republic, and Clovis, who has settled down among the financiers, is trying his best to whitewash himself in the face of his ex-girlfriend. And the narrative of the entire series is connected with the attempt of Clovis and Padme to expose the Banking clan in order to show everyone that the king is naked and the clan no longer has any money. As a result of all their manipulations, Anakin, who does not like this story at all, has to help them out. In general, there are many working moments in the series: for example, the design of the planet Scipio, as if stolen from the head of Guillermo del Toro, or the dynamics of the relationship between Skywalker and Padme, or in the end the “ski” chase on a snowy slope borrowed from Bond. But the rest of the series is all kind of average, uninteresting and somewhat grayish.
s06e06: The Rise of Clovis And in the continuation of the banking arc, Clovis again works with Padmé, trying to unwind the entire ingenious scheme for withdrawing bank funds to the personal accounts of bankers, already on Coruscant. But at the request of Sidious, Count Dooku provides the keys to the truth and information about ways to divert funds to Rush. As a result, the leadership of the clan resigns, and by agreement of the Republic and the Confederation, Rush Clovis himself heads the entire banking system, although who in their right mind would trust a twice-traitor. However, despite all the financial and political background of the series, its main theme was the relationship between Anakin and Padmé. And their family life is far from ideal and is generally experiencing real discord. Skyguy is simply tormented by jealousy, gives vent to anger and almost beats the frail banker to death, and also tries to lecture his howling wife on the subject of marital fidelity. Padmé herself doesn’t seem to realize that her husband has spent many years at the front, has a lot of PTSD, and in general her behavior in some places seems simply swine towards her husband. On the other hand, it is precisely such moments of marriage that remind them and the viewer himself how hasty their entire love story is, and that they simply do not have real real experience of living together. And the secret nature of the marriage only complicates everything. And the family life of a city council deputy and a sea captain may seem prosperous only from the outside.
s06e07: Crisis at the Heart And the end of the arc shows what a loser Rush Clovis really is. I just couldn’t believe my ears when Dooku began to blackmail Clovis by telling him about the origin of the incriminating evidence on the past leadership. I, like the last fool, believed that Clovis told the Chancellor and the Senate about all this and this compromising evidence became part of the unspoken agreement between the Republicans and the separatists. And so Rush turned out to be some kind of weak-willed idiot. And in general, the whole story with the “capture” of Scipio looked like a complete farce and could only work if several conditions coincided wildly. Well, what can we talk about when the banks are headed by such a narrow-minded guy who can’t even record a conversation or call the Republic for help when needed?. On the other hand, the series also has some pretty good fight scenes. And Dooku himself just had a blast with his “baby” – he’s still a troll.
In general, the entire arc is a very unevenly composed narrative, inconsistent in pacing, with scenes that stand out sharply and poorly thought out from a logical point of view. And when the authors try to treat the viewer as an idiot and don’t even spend effort on hiding this fact, then it’s very difficult to perceive the arc positively. On the other hand, it has enough interesting design finds and artistic solutions in order not to slide into obscenity at all. And the very idea of Sidious’s masterful intrigue to nationalize the banking system in a “game of four hands” seems simply wonderful, otherwise there is a war going on, and the Republic does not have a Central Bank. And throughout the entire arc, the shadow of Hego Damascus seemed to loom somewhere in the distance: I spent the entire arc expecting a mention of his name or the financial empire of Damascus Capitals. Unfortunately, all this was implemented carelessly and watching all this is simply boring.
s06e08-09: The Disappeared And when I returned to watching the Clone Wars, I came across this arc, which I had already seen at one time, but that was a long time ago, fragmentary and almost not remembered. And local history allows you to really get into Jar Jar Binks, who pissed off entire generations of Star Wars fans (whose views I can never accept); and Mace Windu, who rightfully earned the title of the most insipid character in the prequels. And in this duology, their duet “works” really well and allows you to have a lot of fun watching their adventures. One of the main ways to achieve this effect is to color familiar characters with interesting personal moments and funny little things. So when you notice a Gungan in the role of an ardent lover who has captivated the heart of not just anyone, but the whole queen, when you observe his experiences and perseverance in saving his beloved, then all his annoying moments of awkwardness or talkativeness, on the contrary, emphasize how seriously he takes everything, in fact worries about the fate of the people dear to him and what selfless acts he is capable of. Once you gave Binks personality and motivation, he instantly became an amusingly awkward but likeable character.
And when Mace, the “cooler-than-the-balls” Windu, turns out to be his partner, it all turns into one of the most interesting dynamics between characters in the series. After all, the Jedi Master, who most likely does not know the representative from Naboo very well, quickly understands his personality, connection with the Living Force, and does not even hide his pleasure from working together. He is sarcastic and understands perfectly well that it is better to throw Jar Jar into the very heart of a showdown in order to get the desired effect. Of course, the plot itself is banal filler and is more character-oriented than a complex story. And the first episode is a simple remake of Indy Jones and the Temple of Doom. And Mother Talzin, as the main villain, spends more time serving the number than doing anything meaningful. Also in the arch there are a number of interesting visual solutions and the spirit of magic and enchantment that permeates the entire story. So it turns out that the duology has little meaning, but is a completely sensible and interesting spectacle. I recommend everyone to watch it, especially those who don’t like Binks – it may upset someone that our Gungan is so handsome.
s06e10: The Lost One And in this series, the Jedi finally, less than three years later, decide to find out: who ordered the clone army, and who is Lord Tyranus, and what happened to Sifo-Dyas. And although you can tell yourself that the Jedi began to stir after the news about the chips in the clones, and the wrecked ship of the late master was found the other day. But it is obvious that such investigations should have been carried out much earlier. And what, as a result of the investigation, became known to the slowed down Jedi – that Dooku, aka Tyranus, chose a donor for the army of clones, and then buried Sifo-Dyas, who officially ordered the entire army. Here the Order would think about the eternal, but the war is going on, and as you know, it will write off everything. You saw what a cool idea, how many characters, even ex-chancellor Valorum dropped by for a sneak peek, how much action and interesting ideas. You think I’ll be satisfied and happy, but to hell with you, the series upset me more than it pleased me.
Oh, what a story they ruined, you bastards. And to be honest, in this series the authors were clearly in a state of severe time pressure; otherwise it is simply impossible to explain what is happening in this series. In the end, when they try to tell a plot that is more suitable for a three or even four serial arc in one twenty-minute episode, the sensations are very strange. It’s like you watched an extended trailer for this very arc. Yes, there are plenty of cool finds in the series, and the local trial between Kennobi and Skywalker against Dooku evokes real admiration for the powerful old man, who simply outperforms his younger opponents one or two, while demonstrating both impressive skills in using force and excellent fencing. And in general, this episode, after a number of technically simple episodes of the sixth season, seems to return us to the level of the fifth season. Visually quite good, incredibly densely filled with events, this series manages to reveal details incredibly important for the world of the Galaxy Far, Far Away. However, it’s an incredible shame that all this potential goodness is confined to one twenty-minute episode. It’s a shame to do this – it would be better to put financial intrigues under the knife.
PS: Sidious can strangle “via Skype” – this is a skill that is sometimes lacking on the Internet, I would like to be able to do the same.
s06e11: Voices And no matter how long I put off this moment and how long I stalled for time, the time has already come to say goodbye to the Clone Wars and finally start watching the last arc of this wonderful series. And how significant, but the series ends with the same thing where it began. Remembering the distant past, exactly 119 episodes ago the project started with a simple story about Yoda, a squad of clones and a Toydorian king seeking to preserve his beliefs against the backdrop of war. And now, after six seasons, the series says goodbye to us with a story about how Yodo actually became the same Yoda from the original trilogy. But at one time it was precisely the strange discrepancy between the characters of the head of the Council of the Order, imbued with political and procedural issues, and the wise but very pompous hermit on Dagobah. And the most astute viewers already noticed in Revenge of the Sith that our little green friend is closer to his image from Dagobah than from the first couple of episodes.
And in this series, after all those mysteries, disappointments and failures that undermined the confidence of the Jedi in the Order, the Republic and the clones, Yoda decided to meditate thoroughly. And then, as luck would have it, Qui-Gon started pestering him with his voice messages. Moreover, other Jedi besides Anakin did not hear any voices, and artificial hypermeditation from the results gave a recommendation to fly to Dagobah. But the Jedi, this mystical damn order, decided that Yoda was losing his mind under the influence of the Dark Side and without further consideration took him into custody – a super organization, remind me why I should even root for such “eccentrics”. Fortunately for the master, Skywalker was present in the Temple, for whom actions against the will of the Council are given a special line in the diary. And Yoda and R2 escape to the swampy planet from the fifth episode. There, Qui-Gon’s voice takes the master to a familiar cave, where the Dark Side spoils Episode III for him. Shocked by the prospects that loomed, Yoda decides to accept the voice’s offer and go to advanced training courses. The series turned out to be very eventful, although quite a few events happened in it.
s06e12: Destiny And continuing the story, Yoda has to visit one of the sources of the Living Force of the entire galaxy in order to learn how to preserve his personality after death. And on this journey he will have to face his own pride, which has successfully changed the Darkness in him. Just think, Yoda really seriously and without joking believed that he had completely eliminated the Dark Side from his life, that he was not susceptible to it and was generally a saint during his lifetime. Well, it’s easy to go nuts – you can even spread pride and emergency situations on your bread with a knife. In another case, the Jedi has to face the fulfilled nightmare from his visions – the fall of everything he loved and cared about, thoughts that he had let everyone down. But without falling into despair, he rejected such a vision. And even the later proposal of an “ideal world”, a world without war, where all the dead are alive, where Dooku is still a Jedi, the proposal of perfect peace was not accepted by Yoda – objective reality turned out to be more expensive and more important for him than all visions and concepts. And the final destination is Moriband, the planet of the Sith. Well good luck, green cheburan.
PS: Yoda’s dark side simultaneously resembles the gremlin from the film of the same name and Gollum
s06e13: Sacrifice, The last episode of The Clone Wars And at the very end of the arc and the entire series, Yoda flies to Moriband-Korriban, where he meets the spirit of Darth Bane. And the master will have to enter into a mental confrontation with Sidious himself on the ancient planet of the Sith. And this fight reminded me more of some moments from Knights of the Old Republic 2, where if you break your opponent on a moral level, then the fight with him will be easier. Moreover, the experienced vision itself is most likely not a completely staged scene of Sidious, but rather occurs on the edge of the consciousness of two giants fighting for the entire Galaxy. And the main thing that Yoda takes away for himself is the idea that in the excitement of confrontation, the ecstasy of battle, the Jedi have already lost themselves. And when the choice comes, Yoda chooses to save Anakin at the cost of his life and defeat in the confrontation with the Sith. Palych is defeated – he fails to break the spirit of the master. And perhaps this is where Yoda finally takes the path that will lead him to death on Dagobah and immortality after all.
PS: But Dooku should have taken a closer look at the vision – it’s not easy.
The entire arch is made at a high level, more consistent with the fifth season than the sixth, riveted according to the residual principle. However, it is clear here that the authors of the series did not spare effort and resources. And how could it be, if this was the last episode, the last arc, where you had to give it your all?. And the efforts made were not in vain. Mainly from a script point of view. For fans of Star Wars were surprised by how different the images of Yoda were from the two trilogies, and finally the authors provide us with the smallest green Jedi for debriefing. And, I must say, the story of changing priorities and finding peace came out surprisingly mysterious, mystical, filled with visions and double meanings, almost on par with the arc about Mortis. The master had to consistently deconstruct himself in order to look without century-old blinders and arrange a total reassessment of his life and life goals. It is also interesting that the series began with an episode dedicated to the master and ends with a story about him. The cycle of stories and tales about the Clone Wars, its heroes and villains, tragedies and triumphs, came to an end, closing in the same place where it began, concluding with Ouroboros the narrative an entire era of the world of Star Wars and the final years of the independent existence of the Lucasian empire. From a technical point of view, the arch looks simply excellent – all the money is simply visible on the screen and now, remembering the crippling animation of the first seasons, you can only smile. And one can only be amazed at how much the skill of the creators of the series has increased. Because from the point of view of the picture, there is not so much distance left to overcome to the level of Pixar or Dream Works.So whether the arc and the conclusion of the entire series worked out is undoubtedly; Would I recommend watching it – if you love Star Wars it’s definitely worth watching.
PS: And now the year with the clone wars is over and I am sincerely grateful to the creators for all those wonderful moments, humor and drama, action and location design, for the fact that this year turned out to be a little better for me, including thanks to this series.
And why did The Clone Wars come out for an encore?? And they came out as a very dark and gloomy sight. The main motive of the entire season is not just a premonition of the Empire – the Empire is already here, and the Republic and the Order are living out their last days. Time after time, Sith intrigues, conspiracies and cunning plans unfold before our eyes. The good guys almost always fail, and even the series finale is more about resignation than victory. However, the somewhat artificial nature of the season makes itself felt with even more stripes of plots and themes that never add up to one picture.
Budget restrictions are also visible on the screen. All episodes except the last arc look like aliens from the past from the first seasons. And if the animation is already very well developed, then the backdrops and designs simply scream copy-paste and lack of money. However, the high professionalism of the authors allows us to smooth out the format with the help of good drama and competent staging. In any case, despite the fact that this season is not as widely known as the previous five, it is quite worthy of watching and can bring a lot of joy not only to Star Wars fans, but also to connoisseurs of good science fiction series and space operas. The worst arc of the season was the Banking Clan arc. Among the best were clone arc, (you won’t believe me) Jar Jar Binks arc and the finale of the season and the entire series Yoda arc.
And I can only thank all the creators of the series, Dave “the man in the hat” Filoni and Jarge Lucas for the wonderful six seasons. And although the series is closed, its legacy lives on, both in the format of Legacy itself, and in the form of the next animated product of this team – Rebels. In any case, although the era is over, the story still continues. And we can only hope that Star Wars will still find something to surprise us with.