“STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS” TV EPISODE GUIDE
MAIN PRODUCTION CREDITS
Produced by Catherine Winder
Produced by Cary Silver (Season One- episode 12 onwards/ Season Two)
Supervising Director: Dave Filoni
Story Editor/ Series Writer: Henry Gilroy
Staff Writers (Season Two): Katie Lucas, Brian Larsen
Created by and Executive Producer: George Lucas
STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS made by LUCASFILM ANIMATION.
Distributed worldwide by WARNER BROTHERS.
VOICE CAST
Matt Lanter as Anakin Skywalker
Ashley Eckstein as Ahsoka Tano
Catherine Taber as Padme Amidala
Anthony Daniels as See-Threepio
James Arnold Taylor as Obi-Wan Kenobi / Plo Koon
Dee Bradley Baker as the Clone Troopers
Tom Kane as Yoda / Admiral Yularen / Narrator
Nika Futterman as Asajj Ventress
Corey Burton as Count Dooku
Terrence "TC" Carson as Mace Windu
Ian Abercrombie as Chancellor Palpatine
Tim Brock as the medical droid/various voices
Matthew Wood as General Grievous / battle droids
Olivia D’Abo as Luminara Unduli
Gwendoline Yeo as Nala Se (Kaminoan)
Tom Kenny as Nute Gunray
Phil Lamarr as Kit Fisto
Jennifer Hale as Aayla Secura
James Mathis III as Captain Typho
Phil Lamarr as Bail Organa
NOTABLE GUEST VOICE ARTISTS
Ahmed Best as Jar Jar Binks (Series One-1 episode- BOMBAD JEDI)
BJ Hughes as Jar Jar Binks (Series One 3 episodes-THE GUNGAN GENERAL, BLUE SHADOW VIRUS and MYSTERY OF A THOUSAND MOONS)
Ron Perlman as Gha Nachkt (Series One-2 episodes-DOWNFALL OF A DROID and DUEL OF THE DROIDS)
George Takei as Lok Durd (Series One-1 episode-DEFENDERS OF PEACE)
Michael York as Doctor Nuvo Vidni (Season One-2 episodes-BLUE SHADOW VIRUS and MYSTERY OF A THOUSAND MOONS)
SEASON ONE (22 EPISODES)
PILOT EPISODE: THE NEW PADAWAN
(NEVER AIRED-STORY ELEMENTS EXPANDED TO BECOME "THE CLONE WARS" THEATRICAL MOVIE RELEASED WORLDWIDE- AUGUST 2008)
Written by Henry Gilroy and Steven Melching (?)
Directed by Dave Filoni (?)
STORY: On her first mission as Padawan to Anakin Skywalker, Ahsoka Tano accompanies him and a Clone strike force to rescue Rotta the Huttlet, the son of Jabba the Hutt, from mysterious kindappers based high within an abandoned mountain monastery on the planet Teth, and deliver him back to Tatooine. Pretty soon, after an incredible and demanding upscale battle, Ahsoka Tano realises that things aren't going to be quite so easy in her relationship with her new master.
EPISODE ONE: AMBUSH
Written by Steve Melching
Directed by Dave Bullock
UK TRANSMISSION DATE: OCTOBER 25TH 2008 (SKY MOVIES PREMIERE) AUDIENCE RATING: 290,000 (FIRST SCREENING), 64,000 (FIRST REPEAT)
US TRANSMISSION DATE: OCTOBER 3RD 2008 (CARTOON NETWORK)
MADE IN PRODUCTION ORDER: 8
STORY: Jedi Master Yoda is on a secret mission to forge a treaty with the King of the strategic system of Toydaria when his ship is ambushed by Count Dooku’s forces. Yoda and three Clone Troopers must face off against Count Dooku’s dreaded assassin Asajj Ventress and her massive droid force to prove that the Jedi are strong enough to ally and protect the king and his people from the forces of the Separatists.
NOTE: This episode was repeated as the fans favourite Season One episode on CARTOON NETWORK U.S. on Friday February 19th 2009.
AFICIONADO REVIEW: A terrific first episode start to the series-you couldn’t have got a more different episode to what was seen in the pilot, yet both are a strong representation of the series. The story and characterizations for AMBUSH are strong and consistent with the live action STAR WARS universe, and Yoda, sadly missing from much of the main feature film, is at his best here-confident and at one in the Force, yet also showing great humour-he’s a little Tasmanian Devil in the action scenes. Our favourite little green hero also has a terrific, warm hearted scene in which he talks to the Clone Troopers in a cave, which is a perfect STAR WARS moment. Also, top marks for the visual beauty of the Toydarian planet locale and its people, and the nice nods by composer Kevin Kiner to John Williams themes.
The series is truly up and running quality wise from the get-go.
AFICIONADO RATING: 5 out of 5
EPISODE TWO: RISING MALEVOLENCE
Writer: Steve Melching
Director: Dave Filoni.
UK TRANSMISSION DATE: OCTOBER 25TH 2008 (SKY MOVIES PREMIERE) AUDIENCE RATING: 252,000 (FIRST SCREENING), 74,000 (FIRST REPEAT SCREENING)
US TRANSMISSION DATE: OCTOBER 3RD 2008 (CARTOON NETWORK)
MADE IN PRODUCTION ORDER: 7
STORY: Creating panic throughout the galaxy, a devastating Separatist mystery weapon, the Malevolence, captained by General Grievous, terrorizes the Clone star fleet. Anakin and Ahsoka race to save the lives of Jedi Master Plo Koon and a small party of Clone Troopers, who have just survived their fleet’s destruction by the Malevolence’s new Ion Cannon weapon.
AFICIONADO REVIEW: Another superlative episode-darker in nature than AMBUSH, RISING MALEVOLENCE is an epic space adventure which showcases such great Prequel characters as General Grievous (Matthew Wood returns for more Transylvanian sounding nastiness. Yaayy!!) and Jedi master Plo Koon (nice to know what he finally sounds like-he’s British!!) alongside his Clone troopers (their character evolution continues to impress). There’s also some very nice nods to the Classic Trilogy (especially STAR WARS and EMPIRE) and the space sequence where the Battle Droids start killing the Republic survivors in the debris field I found hauntingly disturbing, especially in it’s kids audience slot-kudos to them for being brave like that. Again, the production design continues to impress-the Malevolence, an unused ship production design from EPISODE III, looks terrific on screen and I loved the almost JAWS like theme and huge nasty sound effects that accompanies it’s flight through the Republic vessel debris field.
A thrilling episode..and it’s only the first part!!
AFICIONADO RATING: 5 OUT OF 5
EPISODE 3: SHADOW OF MALEVOLENCE
Writer: Steve Melching
Director: Brian Kalin O’Connell
UK TRANSMISSION DATE: 1ST NOVEMBER 2008 (SKY PREMIERE) AUDIENCE RATING: 227,000 (FIRST SCREENING), 76,000 (FOLLOWING MONDAY REPEAT SCREENING)
US TRANSMISSION DATE: 10TH OCTOBER 2008 (CARTOON NETWORK)
MADE IN PRODUCTION ORDER: 9
STORY: Having rescued Master Plo Koon and his survivors, Anakin and Ahsoka lead a squadron of Y-wing fighters on a dangerous race against time mission to destroy the Malevolence before it can obliterate a medical space station carrying wounded Clone Troopers. But first, the Jedi and his pilots must navigate through the treacherous, highly dangerous, Balmorra Run...
NOTES: In the UK, SKY TELEVISION were supposed to have showed a trailer for episode four after three's transmission-instead they played a trailer for episode three!!
AFICIONADO REVIEW: The amazing quality of this series continues, and this episode brings new levels of adventure and escapism, as well as the terrific sight of Shadow Squadron Y-wing fighters going into battle for the first time in the TV series. Against a backdrop of lovely little nods to A NEW HOPE’s DEATH STAR battle we also have a wonderfully imaginative and evocative sequence set in the Balmorra Run region of space, where Ralph McQuarrie’s air whales finally get a chance to live and breath in a revised appearance after their original 1977/78 conceptualization for THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK. Let’s also not forget the welcome sight of the Kaminoans in this new episode and, on the characterization front, we get to find out a bit more about Ahsoka-that she was taught some of her Jedi skills by Plo Koon and that she has strong ties of loyalty to him. It’s also great to see Anakin back in such heroic action, behind a fighter cockpit, too-a sign of more to come!!
It all just keeps getting better.
AFICIONADO RATING: 5 out of 5
EPISODE 4: DESTROY MALEVOLENCE
Written by Tim Burns
Directed by Brian Kalin O’Connell
MADE IN PRODUCTION ORDER: 11
UK ORIGINAL TRANSMISSION: 8TH NOVEMBER 2008 (SKY MOVIES PREMIERE) AUDIENCE RATING: 208,000 (FIRST SCREENING), 48,000 (TUESDAY REPEAT SCREENING)
US ORIGINAL US TRANSMISISON: 17TH OCTOBER 2008 (CARTOON NETWORK)
STORY: With the Malevolence damaged and on the run, the Republic forces led by Obi-Wan Kenobi now pursuing it are forced to stop their attack when Padme Amidala’s ship unexpectedly enters the war zone and is captured by General Grievous. As Padme and Threepio hide within the enemy ships labyrinth corridors, Anakin and Obi-Wan mount a daring rescue mission that will ultimately conclude with the Malevolence’s fiery destruction into a nearby asteroid moon. Having failed Count Dooku, the evil General Grievous once more makes a cowardly escape...
AFICIONADO REVIEW: Perhaps a little bit of an anti climax after last weeks thrilling episode, DESTROY MALEVOLENCE’s story was still a terrific, enjoyable episode nonetheless, and miles better than pretty much most live action things on television, so we’ll forgive them for that. I personally would have liked to have seen the Malevolence blow up at the hands of Anakin and Obi-Wan in a more spectacular fashion rather than just Anakin doing a bit of creative re-wiring on it that leads it crashing into the moon, especially after the huge, epic battle Anakin and his forces had been through against the mighty enemy ship in the previous episode-it’s a shame that this episode couldn’t have been re-plotted so that this had been the middle episode of the story. It was great to see Padme and Threepio back in the show, though, after their limited screen time in the movie-and to see our fave Senator back in scenes directly with Anakin where their relationship can be further developed. Equally so, STAR WARS isn’t STAR WARS without the voice of Anthony Daniels, and it’s always a joy to see the character and Artoo back together, too. The physical action of this episode is well handled-fluid, exciting and memorable (I loved the brief encounter between Obi-Wan and Grievous (“Hello there!”), and the goodbye gesture the former gives the latter on the moving transport car-priceless!!)- also good is the continuity-if Anakin had encountered Grievous before EPISODE III I would have been disappointed-fortunately this does not happen. Despite the mild demise of the Malevolence, that closing shot with all our heroes re-united on the Twilight was a perfect episode end.
So, all in all, not the most satisfying ending to the story arc, but another fun episode, and a great addition to the continuing series roster.
AFICONADO RATING: 4 OUT OF 5
EPISODE 5: ROOKIES
Written by Steve Melching
Directed by Justin Ridge
MADE IN PRODUCTION ORDER: 14
UK TRANSMISSION DATE: 15TH NOVEMBER (SKY PREMIERE) AUDIENCE RATING: 69,000 (FIRST SCREENING)
US TRANSMISSION DATE: 24TH OCTOBER 2008 (CARTOON NETWORK)
STORY: On a lonely tracking station outpost on the Rishi moon, a group of raw Clone Trooper recruits-nick-named “Shinys”- soon join forces with battle stalwarts Captain Rex and Commander Cody to stop the invasion attempts of a Separatist assault force against their home world of Kamino.
AFICIONADO REVIEW: Another outstanding episode in the series and one that will be sure to delight all fans of the Clone Troopers and the 501st-you can wear your uniforms with pride watching this episode!! I have to say the character development of the soldiers is very good and I like the individuality of the “Shiny’s” on the outpost. And Captain Rex? Well, he’s starting to become the Clint Eastwood/ Dirty Harry of the series with both his one liners and his fighting abilities (loved that “Roger, Roger!!” moment of his). Some very nice direction and production art also make this a winner-I liked the way the Republic outpost had the DEATH STAR-like lighting and corridors. I also greatly enjoyed the look of the new battle droid commandos, though I wish they had remained more silent and more deadly-it was a shame that, with their upgrading, they couldn’t have been a little bit smarter. And let’s hear it for that worm creature, too!! I liked that-another nod to THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, perhaps? Though the Clones steal all the scenes they are in (another great gem was where Rex holds up the dead droids head to the RETURN OF THE JEDI type communicator/visual aid), there was also some nice little interplay in the brief scenes the episode had between Obi-Wan and Anakin on their command cruiser, and General Grievous is always great to see as a baddie.
AFICIONADO RATING: 5 OUT OF 5
EPISODE 6: DOWNFALL OF A DROID
Writer: George Krstic
Director: Rob Coleman
MADE IN PRODUCTION ORDER: 2 (technically, this is the first episode to be made for the series as the first story was expanded into THE CLONE WARS movie)
UK TRANSMISSION DATE: 22ND NOVEMBER 2008 (SKY PREMIERE)
US TRANSMISSION DATE: 7TH NOVEMBER 2008 (CARTOON NETWORK)
STORY: With the Separatists gaining ground in their attempts to control the Outer Rim, Anakin launches a do-or-die battle against General Grievous’s forces in an asteroid field. The battle is fierce and the price is high, as Anakin mourns the loss of Artoo Detoo, who has now joined the list of those missing in action. Equally disturbed by this news is Obi-Wan Kenobi-not by the droids loss (“They are a dime a dozen,” he says quite coldly), but by the fact that Anakin did not have it’s memory purged and that the information it still contains on vital Republic attack strategies could serious compromise them. Whilst Anakin fails to get used to his unstable new R3 unit, he and Ahsoka hunt for the missing Artoo, where their journey takes them to an unscrupulous junk dealer named Gha Nachkt.
NOTES: At the end of the episode, instead of showing a trailer for DUEL OF THE DROIDS, SKY showed one for AMBUSH!!
AFICIONADO REVIEW: This story marks the welcome return to the STAR WARS universe by Rob Coleman-I was worried that after all the amazing work he did with the cgi characters on the Prequels that Lucas had sidelined him for the new series-putting him in charge of the LUCASFILM animation gig in Singapore was all very well but we wanted to see him properly immersed in this new universe. Now he has that chance and the results are most impressive. Great work, Rob!! This episode is very nicely directed and has a good pace-yet another classic story so quickly-and any episode that has Artoo-the Saga’s true hero anyway (that’s what Lucas has always said!!)- heavily involved in it was always going to be a fan favourite. It’s so nice to see the differing styles and nuances being introduced to the show by the various writers and directors, even at this early stage.
And speaking of the droid, Artoo is as resourceful and lovable as ever-his reluctance to wear restraining bolts a highlight, as was the moment where he jettisons the assassin droid. It’s also good to see how much Anakin relies on him and how he misses his companion when he’s believed dead. Though, I think there is something fishy with that new R3 droid!!! DOWNFALL has many other terrific moments-again there are nice references to other STAR WARS films (even the Faleen from SHADOWS OF THE EMPIRE get a mention!!) and that opening space battle was terrific with the AT-AT’s on the asteroids and Anakin’s brief but exiting chase of General Grievous. And let’s not forget Ron Perlman, who brings some nice vocal touches to the soon to re-appear character of Gha Nachkt.
Adding flavour to the episode, Kevin Kiner’s music score is something you’ll either love or hate-this is much closer to his experimental work on the movie-though I don’t think Klaus Badelt will be happy with his Dracula theme being used for the battle with General Grievous at the beginning (perhaps it had been used as a temp track in Post-Production and everyone liked it enough to see it used in the final episode!!), though the Transylvanian connection between the pair is quite obvious..
Intriguingly, on the animation front, its easy to see that this episode was the second to be made-there are times watching it when the animation doesn’t seem to have the same kind of depth, especially at times on the faces of Anakin and Ahsoka, as there would be by the time of later episodes. This quibble, however, is a very small flaw in an otherwise excellent, highly enjoyable episode.
AFICIONADO RATING: Another terrific episode that feels like STAR WARS. And what makes it even better as a fan and an audience member was discovering by its end that this was only the first part of an ongoing story. The search for Artoo continues…5 out of 5.
EPISODE 7 : DUEL OF THE DROIDS
Writers: Kevin Campbell and Henry Gilroy
Director: Rob Coleman
MADE IN PRODUCTION ORDER: 6
UK TRANSMISSION DATE: 29TH NOVEMBER 2008 (SKY PREMIERE)
US TRANSMISSION DATE: 14TH NOVEMBER 2008 (CARTOON NETWORK)
STORYLINE: On the hunt for a secret Separatist listening station, Anakin and Ahsoka discover both it and a distress signal from Artoo on the cloud covered moon of Ruusan. With the little droid now being taken apart, Grievous, having killed Gha Nachkt, is determined to have the Republic plans removed from his shell. As Anakin and Ahsoka, alongside Rex and his Clone Troopers, mount a daring rescue/destroy mission against the enemy Skytop Station, they are unaware that there is a traitor in their midst. Can Artoo be saved in time, and can he stop the dangerous Separatist collaborator before it can kill his friends?
AFICIONADO REVIEW: Stunning, absolutely stunning. It’s so rare to get episodic TV shows with two part episodes that stay consistently good-most times the second part very rarely matches the quality and excitement of the first’s set-up. There’s always some hurdles or disappointment, but when it comes to STAR WARS, once again the rule book doesn’t apply and is quite often chucked out the window!! DUEL OF THE DROIDS is a smashing conclusion to DOWNFALL OF A DROID, and Rob Coleman delivers a winning finale. The story, the pace, the direction (again, really wonderful job, Mister Coleman!!), the characters (some lovely bits for everyone, including Artoo in even bolder heroics, Grievous (nastier than ever-it was a shocking sight seeing Artoo being dis-assembled on that mortuary slab!!) and Anakin (determined to save his friend and continuing to bend the rules to suit him: loved that scene- “You have something that belongs to me!!”)), and the action (and what majorly superb action it was, too!! Where to start: the James Bond-esque sky-diving (with good old Ahsoka leading the charge!!), Anakin fighting the droids, and the crowd pleasing match we’ve been waiting for- Grievous versus Ahsoka (could have been longer, and she got out of it a little too easily, perhaps, but I’m sure they’ll be a re-match at some point!!!), and Artoo kicking that golidie R-3’s butt (with just a little hint of Anakin’s dark side tendencies rubbing off on the droid as he chooses to cut the cord on his opponent). The only downside on the action stakes was that we didn’t get to see more of the Clone Troopers in action in the second half, but hey, there’s still more to come on them). Hell, even the battle droids comedy wasn’t too bad in this, either.
Only one slight disappointment and that’s the fact that Ron Perlman’s Gha Nachkt demise was done well but both too quickly and too early in the series run- I think there could have been some more mileage in the character-and he would have made an interesting continuing foil to Grievous. Ah well…
DUEL OF THE DROIDS was one of the best fusions of STAR WARS you can get. At times, I felt I was watching real characters-a sure sign that the behind the scenes people are giving their best and the mark of a good animation series. This episode was an incredible success for me and I hope everyone else watching joins me in seeing the fact that the bar on the series is getting ever higher-I just don’t know how the live action vision is going to top it. C’mon George, lets have a Classic Trilogy animation series as well. Please, please, please…
AFICONADO RATING: One of the finest action-orientated episodes of the series so far. If I could change the law of mathematical calculation I’d give it six out of five. 5 out of 5.
EPISODE 8: BOMBAD JEDI
Writer: Kevin Rubio, Henry Gilroy, Steven Melching
Director: Jessie Yeh
US TRANSMISSION DATE: November 21st 2008 (CARTOON NETWORK)
UK TRANSMISSION DATE: December 6TH 2008 (SKY PREMIERE)
MADE IN PRODUCTION ORDER: 5
NOTES: IN THE US, THE FOLLOWING FRIDAY’S EPISODES CONSIST OF THE THREE PART MALEVOLENCE SAGA. CLOAK OF DARKNESS AIRS THE WEEK AFTER THE THANKSGIVING BREAK ON DECEMBER 5TH 2008.
IN THE UK, SKY TV'S PROMOTIONS FOR THIS EPISODE CONSISTED OF THE WRONG CLIPS-MAINLY FROM EPISODE ONE: AMBUSH!!!
STORYLINE: When Padme is captured whilst on a mercy mission to Rodia, it’s up to See- Threepio and Naboo representative Jar Jar Binks to rescue her. A problem shared is a problem halved they used to say-not when Jar Jar is involved, and certainly not when he’s accidentally mistaken for being a Jedi Knight!!
AFICIONADO REVIEW: After the excitement and visual grandness of the Malevolence sagas and the two part rescue of Artoo, BOMBAD JEDI is an eminently enjoyable and highly diverting episode acting almost as a nice mid point breath of fresh air before the series starts to become very dark and serious in its second half. To get away from Anakin and Ahsoka for an episode or two and find out more about what’s happening to other Outer Rim worlds during the war.
Love him or loathe him, Jar Jar Binks returns to the STAR WARS saga- pretty much ignored from EPISODE III’s darker tone, and his ultimate fate in the saga still not really pinned down, it’s nice to have Jar Jar back for more unintentional bravery and fool hardiness. This time, however, his comic escapades work fare better in the animated medium and he soon re-establishes himself as a firm favourite for the kiddies and selected adults (I personally have never had a major problem with the character-perhaps because he always reminded me of my much missed dog and the way she sometimes acted). Not every Adult may enjoy seeing him as much but Ahmed Best’s vocal return, including his two excellent contributions to ROBOT CHICKEN recently, is most welcome in my book. The story is nicely paced and structured, and the pairing of Threepio with the gangly Gungan is well handled. It’s a shame we never saw them team up like that in the live action sense (though that is something that I doubt Anthony Daniels would have pushed for!!). Even with the comedy there's still the significant action adventure elements we all love. And then of course, there’s Padme-despite Jar Jar being the star, she is once again a great stand out character in the series and Catherine Taber continues to do a brilliant job of bringing the character to life and matching the performance of Natalie Portman. Visually, it’s also great to see the character back to being at her best-whether it in the role of diplomatic envoy or as battle droid blasting super babe!!!
Kevin (TROOPS) Rubio’s script is very playful-a wording I think being apt for the whole story in general. Alight and playful. There’s also some nice dialogue (loved the Padme/ Threepio exchange when the former asks what happened to their ship!!). Some nice visual comedy moments also make this episode a confident winner (I loved Jar Jar being mistaken for the Jedi, his destroying Padme’s ship and his riding of the Rodian sea creature- Fantastic seeing McQuarrie’s unused EMPIRE Dagobah slug being adapted for Rodia!!).
One of the key pleasures of this new series (both this and hopefully the live action series to come) is developing the back story and the supporting characters and alien worlds/civilizations we’ve always wanted to discover more about. This time, it’s the turn of the Rodians as we find out a little bit more about the amphibians and observations as to why they are what they are-they have been kind of treated as an inferior member of the Republic and you can see how someone like Greedo, as a member of that race, even though he was raised on Tatooine, may have had a chip on his shoulder in his later years. The Rodian civilization is also rendered beautifully, too-another of those “I wonder what their world looks like?” queries from the fans over the years once more skillfully answered by the LUCASFILM art teams.
The grand heroics of the story’s finale ends with a nice tie into the next episode- CLOAK OF DARKNESS. Finally, Nute Gunray, introduced for the first time in the series, has been captured. But for how long?
AFICIONADO RATING: A welcome little treat that ticks all the right boxes for family entertainment in the STAR WARS saga-a fun, oddball episode for the oddball quirky character of Jar Jar. Not an instant classic, perhaps, but certainly far better than anyone ever thought it would be. In time, I think BOMBAD JEDI’s popularity as a story will continue to grow. It may not totally heal the wounds die-hard fans feel they have suffered with his introduction in the Prequel Trilogy but it may help in the healing process if the character appears in more episodes as good as this one. As for me, well, it’s nice to have you back Jar Jar!! 4 OUT OF 5
EPISODE 9: CLOAK OF DARKNESS
Writer: Paul Dini
Director: Dave Filoni
MADE IN PRODUCTION ORDER: 10
FIRST US TRANSMISSION: 5th DECEMBER 2008 (CARTOON NETWORK)
FIRST UK TRANSMISSION: 13TH DECEMBER 2008 (SKY PREMIERE)
STORY: As Jedi Master Luminara Unduil and Padawan Ahsoka Tano begin the journey of escorting the captured Nute Gunray back to the Republic for war crimes trial, Count Dooku sends Asajj Ventress out to take back the Neimoidian-a mission she has to succeed in if she is to survive. As her vicious boarding action begins, and the Jedi and Clone Commander Greel give their all to repel the assassin, are there conspirators aboard the Republic ship willing to aid the Sith cause?
AFICONADO REVIEW: Having been a great fan of his work in the animation medium and especially for his amazing work on the first season of Warner Brothers 1990’s version of BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES, my discovering that Paul Dini (who was also a consultant on LOST ‘s first two seasons by the way, too!!) was writing this episode was a thrill to read on STARWARS.COM. CLOAK OF DARKNESS, with its obvious Sith connotations and more adult theme was perfect material for Dini to bring to life. Though the episode’s plot may have been a little thinner than I thought it would be, Dini brought lots of good dialogue to the main characters (especially Nute GUnray’s constant worming about!!) and succeeded admirably in the plotting of the various adventure beats throughout the installment-let’s hope he has the chance to flex his skills on a two part episode in the near future. Once again, Dave Filoni is back in the director’s chair-HOORAY!!- complementing Dini’s adept plotting and bringing the same kind of strength to this episode that he did for RISING MALEVOLENCE.
Luminara Unduli finally gets some well deserved attention in the series after so little screen time in the films, and the transformation of actress Mary Oyaya’s face to the animation medium is superb, with English voice artist Olivia D’Abo (sister of Bond girl Maryam) doing a very good job in bringing the character to life. On the opposite side of the Force, this episode also showcases the villainous Ventress in all her cunning and agile glory, with her match against Unduli and Ahsoka, against a fiery engine core backdrop (not too dis-similar to the hells of Mustafar in EPISODE III) well worth the price of admission. On the support side, all those BUFFY/STAR WARS fans must have been in pure heaven when they heard that James (SPIKE) Marsters would be providing the silky, confident voice of the loyal (?) Captain Argyus. Marsters does a very good job here, making us think, at least for a brief period, that we can trust him. The Republic Commandoes are nicely presented and it’s good to see them in action after their very brief appearance as background in Palpatine’s office for the first CLONE WARS movie. And just when will evil co-conspirators learn not to turn their backs on the Sith!!
Other nice little moments include the return of Commander Gree, the look of the Republic Cruisers detention block (a lovely nod to the DEATH STAR designs from STAR WARS), and a fully functioning Treadmill droid, thrown in too!!
AFICIONADO RATING: It may have been a little lightweight as a story, but, all in all, it was yet another great, action packed installment. 4 out of 5.
EPISODE 10: LAIR OF GRIEVOUS
Writer: Henry Gilroy
Director: Atsushi Takeuchi
MADE IN PRODUCTION ORDER: 12
FIRST US TRANSMISSION: 12TH DECEMBER 2008 (CARTOON NETWORK) This is the last episode before the Xmas break.
FIRST UK TRANSMISSION: 20TH DECEMBER 2008 (SKY PREMIERE) This is the last episode before the Xmas break.
NOTE: The end titles of this episode has a different musical arrangement of Kevin Kiner's MAIN THEME interpretation.
STORY: Re-united with his ex-Padawan, the Mon Calamarian Nahdar Vebb, Jedi Master Kit Fisto and a Republic force arrive on the third moon of the Vassek system, having believed they’ve found a safe house for the recently escaped Nute Gunray. Penetrating their locations fog shrouded aura, the group soon find themselves caught in a trap orchestrated by Count Dooku to test the Separatist droid leader General Grievous’s dedication and abilities after his recent failures against the Jedi. The previously undiscovered lair of Grievous holds many mysteries, linked with deadly traps and dangers for our heroes to face-eventually leading their dwindling numbers to the final deadly encounter with the dreaded Jedi killer himself. Hungry for retribution for the death of his loyal soldiers’, can the willful and determined Nahdar resist the urge to fight Grievous on his own?
AFICIONADO REVIEW: “It’s ooky and it’s spooky. The house is a museum when people come to see ‘em. The lair of Gri-ev-ous. Click click!!” STAR WARS enters the realms of gothic adventure with this highly anticipated episode, of which a large chunk was shown previously to excited fans at CELEBRATION JAPAN, who would have seen it at the best quality you could get-on a huge screen and with amazing sound!!
Acclaimed director Atsushi Takeuchi brings a terrific, mysterious style to the episode as Dracula…sorry Grievous’s castle appears out of the mist full of doom laden dread and terror. There’s also a touch of the FRANKENSTEIN monster about Grievous himself as we see all the ghoulish droid exo battle suit armour skeletons and the moment where he’s under the knife on the operating table. Add a bit of ALIEN’ish corridor-ish atmosphere thrown in for good measure amidst plenty of other nice little surprises in store continuity and excitement-wise, of which, despite the fact that the episode can’t really go too far story-wise (we know that Fisto will escape death until EPISODE III), Henry Gilroy must have really enjoyed bringing such a differing style story together- his script showcases the General with some excellent dialogue (Matthew Wood must be relishing his Transylvanian accent!), whilst keeping the action and scares effectively plotted. Gilroy must be on Cloud Nine in what is obviously one of the best creative jobs you could ever have on this planet!!
Like the whole episode, Grievous’s castle was well realized- a real chamber of horrors with a gothic style that would make H.P. Lovecraft smile with glee. There was also the excellent aforementioned exo-skeleton lair, the historical statues of the pre-cyborg Grievous and his beloved pet Gor-who looked like something that would have challenged WETA digital from their LORD OF THE RINGS creations.
Phil Lamarr brings great character and warmth to fan favourite Kit Fisto-the slight Jamaican edge to the voice is fun and feels right and its also nice to find out more about the character and his history-that he has a loyal droid and that he had an ex- Padawan-the ultimately tragic Mon Calamarian, Nahder Vebb, who sadly turns out to be too in-experienced and shows the audience that not all the Jedi will ultimately succeed in their duties within the order. His death at the hands of Grievous, in another disturbing underhanded way that only the Droid General could come up with, is well played, as is the enemy’s final fog shrouded duel with his Magnaguards against Fisto, all excellently choreographed, with neat slick moves and angles that only an expert director like Atsushi could have brought to it-loved that sequence early on where Kit and the gang decapitate Grievous who escapes in a creepy crawly manner not unlike the duel with Kenobi in EPISODE III.
The loyal and equally creepy droid doctor for Grievous is also worthy of note-another excellent supporting addition to THE CLONE WARS animated universe, coming across as a hybrid of servant Renfield from DRACULA touched with a nastier Niles Crane from FRASIER!!
With LAIR OF GRIEVOUS, it’s nice to have these darker edged stories from time to time, and has once more set a high bench mark for the series writers and directors.
AFICIONADO RATING: A scary episode best watched in the dark with the curtains drawn. A true show piece for THE CLONE WARS series. Well done. 5 out of 5.
EPISODE 11: DOOKU CAPTURED
Writer: Julie Siege (from a story by George Lucas)
Director: Jesse Yeh
MADE IN PRODUCTION ORDER: 16
FIRST US TRANSMISSION (CARTOON NETWORK) JANUARY 2ND 2009
FIRST UK TRANSMISSION (SKY PREMIERE) JANUARY 3RD 2009
STORY: A cunning plan hatched by Obi-Wan and Anakin to finally capture the elusive Count Dooku misfires badly when the Sith Lord is instead found and held for ransom by a motley band of Weequay pirates on the planet Florrum. As the Galactic Republic prepares to pay the hefty ransom cost for Dooku in one million quantities of spice, an un-armed Anakin and Obi-Wan, having escaped one of the Count’s earlier traps on the rock world of Vanqor, arrive on Florrum to meet Pirate Chief Hondo Ohnaka and confirm that their enemy has indeed been apprehended. But will the prisoner’s delivery to the Republic go according to plan?
AFICIONADO REVIEW: A light hearted STAR WARS meets PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN type start to this two part story, with the always popular race of almost mummified looking Weequay creatures being heavily showcased as running a smuggling band that have apprehended Dooku: these guys are clearly not a race you want to mess with, but there’s also more of an opportunity in showing some of the same clever/comedy traits that embellished Captain Jack Sparrow’s men in that other highly popular, more down to Earth trilogy. It’s a nicely rendered episode and has, whether you like it or not (I do!!!), George Lucas’s touch all over it, even down to some of the 1950’s B-movie elements that Lucas likes so much when he conceived this episode’s original storyline-the Weequay spaceship looks like it had come off the skies of the Ray Harryhausen movie EARTH VERSUS THE FLYING SAUCERS. There’s also a nice effort made in this first part in satisfactorily bringing pretty much all of the main characters of the show into the adventure. And some other nice bridging Trilogies moments, too, like the re-appearances of several Cantina aliens from STAR WARS, the Jawa’s return, and, one of the episode’s big highlights for me, as we finally discover, after nearly thirty years, just what a Gundark looks like!! And it ain’t pretty!! Added to all that, there’s more EPISODE II links, including Anakin losing his saber yet again and Dooku being confined in a manner similar to what he previously did to Obi-Wan on Geonosis. Oh, and let’s not forget the Classic Trilogy similarities of Anakin chasing Dooku through vent tunnels (like the Bespin one the injured Luke descended in Bespin, only he didn’t have Dooku firing electrical bolts in front of him!!) And then there’s that cheeky Kowakian Monkey Lizard thrown in for good measure!!! Just as treacherous and conniving as a certain Salacious B. Crumb to follow him!!
As for the star of the episode himself, Corey Burton gives, as ever, an excellent vocal performance as Dooku, a character who successfully eludes the Jedi and thwarts their plans but soon finds himself in an unexpected situation from a new enemy. Always on the lookout for an opportunity to strike back against his Jedi/Republic enemies, the ever adaptable Dooku always seems to find a way to turn the tide and bounce back. Though, as part two’s US trailer shows, bitter enemies may have to work together if they are to survive…
On the few negatives for this episode, some bits of the dialogue/ banter between Anakin and Obi-Wan feel a little bit forced, but in action they are always great together, and I loved the episode’s final scene where they shared some comedy camaraderie over their switching of their poisoned drinks.
AFICIONADO RATING: After the gloom and danger of LAIR OF GRIEVOUS, this is a more fun and light hearted adventure romp than we’ve seen before, even compared to this season’s earlier episodes. Not the greatest story, I’m sure you’ll agree, but playful in heart, and still terrific family entertainment, with what looks like a terrific part two yet to come. 4 out of 5.
EPISODE 12: THE GUNGAN GENERAL
Writer: Julie Siege
Director: Justin Ridge
MADE IN PRODUCTION ORDER: 20
FIRST US TRANSMISSION: (CARTOON NETWORK) 9TH JANUARY 2009
FIRST UK TRANSMISSION: (SKY PREMIERE) 10TH JANUARY 2009
NOTE: Catherine Taber is credited as voicing Padme for this episode, yet the character only appears fleetingly in the background, and without dialogue, in one scene. Perhaps her moments were cut from the episode for timing reasons?
STORY: As the Republic representatives arrive on Florrum they are ambushed by the men of Weequay Pirate lieutenant Turk-who is determined to have the spice for himself and usurp his boss. Meanwhile, Anakin and Obi-Wan have been imprisoned by Hondo Ohnaka, and, their fates bound with Count Dooku, they plan an escape. Can the crash-landed Jar Jar Binks and his surviving Clone Commando escorts arrive in time to help?
AFICIONADO REVIEW: After the promising first episode, THE GUNGAN GENERAL sadly doesn’t quite finish the story in a manner that I found totally satisfying. For a start, I was amazed that the combined power of three of the most accomplished Jedi couldn’t get out of their meager confinement successfully (unless Anakin and Obi-Wan were deliberately holding back and wanted to keep an eye on Dooku (if that was the case, then somewhere along the line it should have been explained), but then, with someone so powerful as Dooku, I can’t believe he just couldn’t have escaped on his own from the outset anyway!! These Weequay’s would not have been a test of his mettle!!). Despite better dialogue for the main characters, it looked abundantly clear to me that plot and character logic seemed to go out the window in this episode- for starters, at the end of DOOKU CAPTURED Obi-Wan and Anakin had playfully avoided being drugged by the pirates yet at the start of this episode they are suddenly imprisoned because they had still drunk drugged booze??!! Someone please explain how that happened??- just to make way for some crowd pleasing fun moments and wouldn’t it be great if we did this scenarios (I assume that the bonding of the two Jedi and Sith was a homage/nod to the Tony Curtis/ Sidney Poitier movie classic THE DEFIANT ONES). Thankfully, the secondary plot with the ransom delivery proves to be the best part of the episode overall, with the nasty Weequay, Turk (well voiced by British actor Greg Ellis (or PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN fame, and soon to be seen in the new STAR TREK movie)), deciding, in best pirate tradition, to double cross his boss, resulting in the crash-landed Clone Troopers and Jar Jar Binks having to think (well, with Jar Jar, stumble!!!) on their feet in order to survive and rescue their friends, leading to some comedy moments with the latter that I thought were genuinely quite fun (I liked the unintentional tank battle sequence very much, as well as the Gungan riding the Skalder creatures after the spice stealing Pirates. Oh, and let’s not forget that cool Pirate speeder bike sequence, either!!)). Sadly, another blow for the episode, as Ahmed Best, for unknown reasons (possibly scheduling?), wasn’t available to do Jar Jar’s voice this time. His vocal talents were truly missed-it just wasn’t the same without him as the gangly Gungan.
As the episode ended, it was logical for the writer to adhere to the Jedi code that they would have no malice/revenge towards the Weequay pirates. But there is a flaw to this. Okay, so Turk was responsible for a lot of the bad stuff in this episode, but how would the Jedi know that? And does the tragic loss/murder of Senator Kharrus mean nothing to our heroes? (Poor old Kharrus!! Ah well…at least he was buried with Indiana Jones’s STAFF OF RA!!). Surely, Hondo and his men should have paid some price for their actions? I can only assume that this story’s plot holes may be due to sequence/dialogue omissions rather than anything ill conceived. And perhaps those quirky and devious Weequay Pirates will return later in the series?
AFICIONADO RATING: With a story finale that seemed to defy logic in places, I can’t say THE GUNGAN GENERAL is one of my favourite episodes so far this season, but, looked at purely as a piece of family entertainment rather than official STAR WARS cannon, it was fun and ended in an acceptable, rather than totally satisfactory, way. All in all, just a respectable 3 out of 5.
EPISODE 13: JEDI CRASH
Writer: Katie Lucas
Director: Rob Coleman
MADE IN PRODUCTION ORDER: 22
FIRST US TRANSMISSION (CARTOON NETWORK): 16TH JANUARY 2009
FIRST UK TRANSMISSION (SKY PREMIERE): 17TH JANUARY 2009
STORY: When Aayla Secura’s squadron of Republic ships come under heavy Separatist attack in the ionosphere of one of the planets in the Quell system, Anakin and Ahsoka lead a rescue mission that ultimately goes badly wrong, resulting in Anakin being gravely injured and their damaged escape cruiser making an accidental hyperspace jump that forces them to crash land on the planet Maridun. Whilst Captain Rex tends to the injured Jedi General, Padawan Ahsoka and Secura, after encountering some dangerous indigenous life forms called Mastif Phalons, encounter the planet’s local populace, a pacifist alien society of lemur-like creatures called Lurmen, whom they urgently request help from in the form of their local medicine man. But can they reach Anakin in time?
AFICIONADO REVIEW: If this is the first of many examples to come, I hope that the talent for making STAR WARS in the Lucas family carries on as brilliantly as this. Second daughter Katie Lucas proves that you don’t have to be nepotistic to get a job at LUCASFILM. From just this one example, with more to come in the future, she is showing the skills of a very talented upcoming young writer. JEDI CRASH, her first episode as a series in-house writer, is a real breakthrough-packed with action and excitement and some serious dramatic moments, especially in its no-holds barred opening (the whole idea of the ship battle in the ionosphere of a planet was an inspired one by both Lucas and the production team, as was the idea of the flying super battle droids causing absolute carnage to the Republic forces. You may not have time to draw your breath after those first seven minutes!!). Things get a little bit calmer after the later crash landing, but the excellent quality of the story continues to unfold well with some neat, resonant character moments and the introduction of a new alien race. One of the last episodes of this first season to be made, this is top notch STAR WARS and is up there with the best or ‘em, with lots of variety and ingenious pieces of imagination (I loved the sequence where Anakin Force threw his friends into the cruiser’s airlock but wasn’t able to stop himself fro getting injured, the attack of the Mastif creatures on the heroes camp, and even the little quirks like Anakin’s heavy Vader breathing in sickbay and the fun way the Lurmen doctor rolled into a shape almost like a droideka so that he could move quickly). The early sequence of the hyperdrive system, it’s workings and what it can and can’t do’s previously established in previous films and the Expanded Universe, may now have been shaken up a little bit by this adventure’s events, but who cares-this is close to live action STAR WARS in my book, which means, this time, that the rulebook can be thrown out for a good reason and story-there aren’t many episodes that I would consider total cannon-JEDI CRASH, though, is a different kettle of fish which I’m prepared to accept.
Finally, after years of waiting and almost there’s, the Lemur race of creatures make it to reality in a STAR WARS adventure. They were much smaller than I thought they would be and they were hampered by their little Leprechaun Irish voices, which I found a tad irritating, but, on the whole, their society was very well realized and believable and I look forward to seeing more of them in the next part. With some intriguing mannerisms and their distinctly pacifist upbringing, the two characters of the medicine man and their leader-the latter’s voice provided by the popular TV and animated series veteran George Coe-are their main representatives this time out. Also on the voice side, like Plo Koon before her, we finally discover what Aayla Secura sounds like-and not only is she still a babe to many of hot blooded guys out there (I’m still sticking with EP IV Leia, though!!)-even in this animated format- but she’s French as well!! What a combination!! Another interesting new character, only on the villain’s side this time, is the droid tactical leader-not quite as I imagined he’d look but, with this being one of the last of the first season episodes to be produced, I’ll get used to him-I’m assuming he’ll probably be a regular fixture in Series Two alongside General Grievous and Dooku.
After his super start on the Artoo kidnap duology episodes, Rob Coleman really comes into his own even more this time, using the animators to bring to life one of the most spectacular battles ever seen in STAR WARS (surely this will make it into one of STAR WARS fans best ever type lists!!) through to the nicely played performances he brings from the voice acting between Ahsola (Ashley Eckstein) and Aayla Secura (Jennifer Hale), as well as superbly realizing Ralph McQuarrie’s original 1983 concept art for JEDI, for the planet Spicemon, as the new Lurman planet of Maridun. Somebody give this ultra-talented guy an animated feature film to do, preferably a STAR WARS one please!!!
AFICIONADO RATING: Certainly not an unlucky number thirteen, I was absolutely gob smacked by the feature quality opening seven minutes of this episode. And the rest of the story...well that was first class too!! I had some doubts about Katie Lucas taking the reins of an episode but I have been more than proved wrong with JEDI CRASH. This is a fresh, enthusiastic and nicely conceived piece of work. Well done. A superb 5 out of 5.
EPISODE 14: DEFENDERS OF PEACE
Writer: Bill Cantlebury
Director: Steward Lee
MADE IN PRODUCTION ORDER: 24
FIRST US TRANSMISSION (CARTOON NETWORK): 23/1/2009
FIRST UK TRANSMISSION (SKY PREMIERE): 24/1/2009
STORY: Still stranded on Maridun, the three Jedi and their two Clone Trooper commanders try to reason with the Lurman when a Separatist force headed by the greedy General Lok Durd arrives on the planet to test a dangerous new weapon that destroys natural life yet leaves technology intact. As the injuries recovering Anakin leads his comrades into battle against the enemy, will the Lurman be persuaded to help them, or will their pacifism let their world become another casualty of war?
AFICIONADO REVIEW: Shades of the western genre, one of the STAR WARS saga’s greatest modern influences, in this episode as the Jedi fight to defend the Lurman’s rights and beliefs, at the possible cost of their own lives, in a MAGNIFICENT SEVEN’ish showdown with the Separatists. Though the idea of the Separatist weapon is nothing new in science fiction circles, THE CLONE WARS newcomer Bill Cantlebury’s script is tight, well structured and has some nice moments (dig that Probe Droid, too!!), though perhaps, without the danger of trying to be too preachy (which, quite rightly, Winder, Filoni and their team were obviously trying to avoid), there could have been a little bit more script development into the Lurman’s pacifism and about their thoughts and relationship to the Jedi, as well as the latter’s own beliefs whilst acting as peacekeepers in the war-perhaps we’ll see more of that as it escalates into a probably harder-edged Season Two. Again, like Cantlebury’s writing, the directing, again from another newcomer, Steward Lee, was perfectly fine-perhaps more subtle and in contrast to the out and out visual extravaganza we had from Rob Coleman the previous week- but this was an interesting, equally well made counter balance to JEDI CRASH, and expanded the story well into a more than satisfactory tale. The final battle was also of note, but why didn’t the Jedi and the Lurman villagers call on help from the previously seen Mastif’s?
Legendary STAR TREK actor, all round nice guy and animation veteran (remember the seventies SPACE SENTINELS, anyone?) George Takei brings his marvelously distinctive voice to the repulsive character of Lok Durd, a nonchalant and overbearingly arrogant Separatist who doesn’t care what is destroyed so long as he can get his promotion. As well as this new character, the episode also lets us see a lot more of the Jedi in action, in some very well choreographed and directed moments, with each showing some distinctive, nifty moves (loved Aayla Secura at work and the bit where Ahsoka was running around the captured droids and slicing their heads off. That girl has a wicked streak!!), and, of course, anything in which we see Anakin at his heroic prime is always great to see-I’d love to now watch a counterpoint animated series on the Classic Trilogy where we see Darth Vader doing the same but for the baddies!!
AFICIONADO RATING: A quieter in tone yet very solid second part to the previous episode. Nicely made, with some lovely direction. 4 OUT OF 5.
EPISODE 15: TRESPASS
Writer: Steve Melching
Director: Brian Kalin O’Connell
MADE IN PRODUCTION ORDER: 25 (this is a second season episode production which got put into the season one 22 episode slot instead-it seems this episode may have replaced Rob Coleman’s CARGO OF DOOM, which looks to have been switched over into season two?)
FIRST US TRANSMISSION (CARTOON NETWORK) 30/1/2009
FIRST UK TRANSMISSION (SKY PREMIERE) 31/1/2009
STORY: Having suddenly lost contact with their Clone Trooper outpost on the ice planet of Orto Plutonia, Anakin and Obi-Wan are soon caught in a dispute escalating into war between the planet’s indigenous life-forms, the bear-like Talz, and the Republic member world of Pantora, whose leader, Chairman Chi Cho, has claimed the world as part of their empire.
NOTE: British BABYLON 5 actor Robin Atkin Downes, now a regular animation voice artist, contributes to this episode as a Pantoran officer.
AFICIONADO REVIEW: What we’ve all been waiting for: another Ice Planet, and one that certainly looks as beautiful but also as inhospitable and dangerous as Hoth from THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK. Steve Melching’s story and script are more than fine for this episode, as are the voice cast (including Aayla Secura actress Jennifer Earle coming back to voice another character, this time the endearing Padme wannabe Riyo Chuchi), but really it’s the superb visuals of this episode that make it such a stand out. Everything you wanted to see in a STAR WARS ice planet is brought to life magnificently, from the adaptation of Ralph McQuarrie and Joe Johnston’s 1979 concept art of the Imperial Snowtroopers for the Clones, to the hardware that travels across the planets surface (loved those new speeder bikes!!!), to the first proper use of the Talz creatures (nice to see a Classic Trilogy creature returning and used in a much better way than simply looking puzzled in the Mos Eisley Cantina!!). I just loved the whole way the episode looked (oh, if only a modern live action film could have looked this good!!)-kudos for the interior Republic Clone Outpost, which had a lighting style and cinematography that echoed the Rebel’s base from EMPIRE-with a main command deck that looked like a larger version of the unused interior created by McQuarrie’s for that film’s Ion Cannon Control Room. The episode’s atmospheric opening also had mild echoes of THE THING, with the discovery of both Separatists and Republic forces taken out by a mysterious foe, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Even the pockets of breath coming out of the characters mouth’s was a realistic achievement worth noting!! Though Anakin and Obi-Wan have very little to do in the story apart from act as impartial observers to the developing conflict, it is Rex and the Snowtroopers that have the chance to shine once more, especially in the action stakes when fighting against the Talz. And let’s not forget the always welcome appearance of Artoo and Threepio, too, who can finally walk about on the surface of an ice planet after practical considerations made their chance of appearing on location in Norway for 1979’s filming of EMPIRE unfeasible-not so in the animation medium!!
AFICIONADO RATING: Having been plucked out from season two and shown earlier than planed, TRESPASS, with its lovely nods to THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, is an intriguing taster of what’s to come further down the line for the series. This felt like a more mature episode, with none of the kiddie friendly material that older STAR WARS fans may dislike, and the animation and cinematography firmly show the Lucas team’s confident style. 5 out of 5.
EPISODE 16: THE HIDDEN ENEMY
Writer: Drew Z. Greenberg
Director: Steward Lee
MADE IN PRODUCTION ORDER: 2: 01 (THIS IS THE FIRST EPISODE TO BE MADE FOR SERIES TWO, YET IT HAS BEEN PLACED INTO THE SERIES ONE RUNNING ORDER)
FIRST US TRANSMISSION (CARTOON NETWORK): 6/2/2009
FIRST UK TRANSMISSION (SKY PREMIERE): 7/2/2009
STORY: When a special offensive mission by Anakin and Obi-Wan to help the crystalline planet of Christophsis backfires, the Clone Troopers discover they have a traitor in their ranks. As the Separatist Droid invasion army prepares to move into the planet’s capital city, and the distracted Jedi face off once more against Asajj Ventress, can Cody and Rex discover and apprehend the devil in their midst before he can do any more damage?
AFICIONADO REVIEW: What happens when a Clone Trooper starts to think dangerously beyond his servitude conditioning? When he starts to become more fallible and corruptible than his friends and colleagues around him? What happens when a soldier like that doesn’t want to fight for the Republic cause? Those are the intriguing questions posed within the premise of yet another well written and thought provoking episode of this series (actually an episode from it’s seemingly more sophisticated second season no less!!). It’s a situation that becomes real and almost unthinkable for both the Jedi and the Clone Troopers-a turncoat in their midst. This leads to some very interesting moments and dialogue, especially for our resident and likeable “hero” soldiers, Rex and Cody (nice to see them back together in action again), as they eventually find and attempt to stop their hidden enemy.
Another plus for the series; the chance to go back and tell Prequel stories to the animated Prequel movie!! Christophsis was an intriguing world and it was nice that the animators were able to take us back there (shame, though, that we couldn’t have seen a little more of their race-their costumes at the beginning reminded me of something that humanoid aliens from the sixties STAR TREK series would wear-very retro-I liked it!!). With the upcoming second season (hard to believe we’re almost at the end of the first already!!) apparently exploring other time frames within the Prequel saga, I can’t wait to see how things develop...
Meanwhile, Anakin and Obi-Wan come to blows once more with Asajj Ventress in her time delaying tactic (loved that smoochy talk between her and Obi-Wan!!) that perfectly leads into the movie and equally provides some spectacular lightsaber action. The excellent audio and visual nods continue, with Kevin Kiner returning to some of his previously established movie themes, and there’s an equally nice nod to some of John Williams music from EPISODE II nicely thrown in as well. The tactical droid seen in JEDI CRASH loses his head in a terrific scene with one of the Clone Troopers, and the mysterious tentacle spaceship that snuck in to Tatooine and captured Rotta the Huttlet is also shown again for the first time (if you see what I mean!!!).
AFICIONADO RATING: Exciting stuff, and I get the feeling that season two, from this example so far, is only the start of a darker shift for the series….5 OUT OF 5.
EPISODE 17: BLUE SHADOW VIRUS
Writer: Craig Titley
Director: Giancarlo Volpe
MADE IN PRODUCTION ORDER: 26 (we assume another Season Two episode)
FIRST US TRANSMISSION (CARTOON NETWORK) 13/2/2009
FIRST UK TRANSMISSION (SKY PREMIERE): 14/2/2009
STORY: Padme, Threepio and Jar Jar return to Naboo and discover that their world has once more been infiltrated by enemy forces. Discovering a biological weapons base hidden deep underground in one of the swamp regions, the threesome team up with the newly arrived Jedi-Anakin, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka-to try and stop the evil machinations of Doctor Nuvo Vindi before he can use the previously destroyed, but now re-developed, Blue Shadow Virus to kill countless lives on both Naboo and other Republic worlds.
NOTE: IN THE US, THIS EPISODE AND “MYSTERY OF A THOUSAND MOONS” WERE SHOWN TOGETHER ON CARTOON NETWORK, SPECIFICALLY LINKED TO A SPECIAL NIGHT OF PREMIERE PROGRAMMING ON THAT CHANNEL. IN THE UK, SKY SHOWED “BLUE SHADOW VIRUS” ON ITS OWN THE NEXT DAY, WITH “MYSTERY” THE FOLLOWING WEEK.
AFICIONADO REVIEW: Again, a standard action/adventure scenario- a race against time to stop a virus being unleashed- but one that works well within the STAR WARS universe, in another slick and nicely plotted episode and a nice directorial pitch from CLONE WARS newcomer, Giancarlo Volpe. Adding to it all is some nicely framed art direction with a welcome return to Naboo, which is well represented with some beautiful continuity (great to see some of the familiar EPISODE ONE backgrounds, like the Naboo fighter hangar and the grass plains-keeping the Doug Chiang look nicely) and a very pleasing colour use (Padme wears gowns/outfits that would make Iain McCaig and Trisha Biggar proud!!). The later action scenes in the underground Virus bunker also proved exciting (loved the corridor weaving Battle Droids)-liked the EMPIRE Bespin tunnel homage, too, and it was nice to see the return of familiar characters like Captain Typho (what about Panaka!!) and Threepio (as well as new ones like Queen Neevutnee). Sadly, Jar Jar’s voice is starting to Jar Jar, and still isn’t provided by Ahmed Best-he really is the only one who can voice him and is much missed. I did like the Gungan farmer, Peppi Bow, though, who had a nice little scene saving the day by episode’s end. And SKYWALKER RANCH continues to have it in for those poor Shak beasts-ILM were blowing them up and dropping them onto Separatist tanks in scenes and outtakes for EPISODE TWO, and now the poor mites are being poisoned!!!
Fresh from his AUSTIN POWERS duties, though no stranger to animated series (like WB’s BATMAN), Michael York caps it all off, just about keeping within the comedy/drama parameters with a very OTT performance as the evil doctor Nuvo Vindi, a cross between a clichéd Nazi/B-movie mad scientist and the CARRY ON film’s Kenneth Williams.
AFICIONADO RATING: Another fun episode-it’s always nice to be back on Naboo. 4 out of 5.
EPISODE 18: MYSTERY OF A THOUSAND MOONS
Writer: Brian Larsen
Supervising Writer: Drew Z. Greenberg
Director: Jesse Yeh
MADE IN PRODUCTION ORDER: SEASON 2, EPISODE 2
FIRST U.S. TRANSMISSION (CARTOON NETWORK): 13/2/2009
FIRST U.K. TRANSMISSION (SKY PREMIERE): 21/2/2009
STORY: Picking up mere moments from the previous episode, the Blue Shadow Virus facility, believed contained, has an unexpected breakout of the disease when a Separatist servant droid detonates a missing canister. Separated from their infected friends below, Anakin and Obi-Wan have a mere 48 hours to mount a desperate mission to the far distant world of Iego in search of a mysterious plant that will act as an antidote. Once there, and with the help of a robot repair kid by the name of Jaybo Hood, the duo go trough many obstacles against the planets natural animal/plant life before recovering the rare Reeksa root. Can Anakin and Obi-Wan reach the fallen Padme and Ahsoka in time? And what about the dreaded spirit of Drol that lies in wait on the edge of the Iego system. Will it let them pass through, or will the Twilight become a part of the destroyed graveyard of ships already littering it’s system?
AFICIONADO REVIEW: In this tenth anniversary of THE PHANTOM MENACE, it’s nice to have a CLONE WARS episode that pays some lovely little visual tributes to it. Now we finally know what Anakin meant when he was likening Padme to an Angel all those years before… Specially designed by Lucas, the Angel of Iego that we see is both beautiful and enchanting. Sadly, her appearance was all too brief-let’s hope her and the rest of her race come back one day...
The aforementioned moons of Iego are also finally realized, its main planet being a beautiful and unusual satellite surrounded by space junk and populated by the some of the most equally beautiful and unusual creatures to be seen in a STAR WARS adventure, with man eating killer plants that Audrey II from LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS would fall in love with!! And a neat little climbing/cave sequence for our Jedi heroes, too. Kudos for the City of Cliffhold from early Doug Chiang designs for EPISODE ONE, whilst the Jedi’s little boy helper/ exposition speaker for the episode, Jaybo Hood, is the final EPISODE ONE reference icing on the cake-indeed highly reminiscent of the dark haired Anakin Skywalker from those early Pre-Production drawings of the mid-nineties (and also possibly a nod to the young Han Solo who never made the final version of EPISODE THREE), though he’s a little more precocious than Anni ever was, especially in those early moments when we are introduced to him-I personally prefer that little Dantooine kid from Gendy Tartakovsky’s episode to Jaybo-his not talking was a big plus!!
The re-introduction of the Blue Shadow virus into the plot, turning the story into a tidy little two parter, and its subsequence resolution, were well done and there were some genuinely exciting little action moments where Padme, Ahsoka and Jar Jar were trying to stop the Battle Droids from spreading the Virus beyond the infected base. The juxtaposition between the underground lair-all shadows and dark reds, oranges and blues- against the almost whimsical fairytale lightness of Iego-grey, pinks, purple and green- worked well, with some lovely direction and cinematography adding to the mix.
And, finally, applause for giving Captain Rex one of the best closing episode lines in relation to Jar Jar Binks!!
AFICIONADO RATING: Despite the grim idea of the virus infecting our female heroines, this was another nice little breather episode before the onslaught of battle to come that is the Ryloth trilogy. 3 out of 5
EPISODE 19: STORM OVER RYLOTH
Writer: George Krstic
Director: Brian Kalin O’Connell
MADE IN PRODUCTION ORDER: 15
FIRST US TRANSMISSION (CARTOON NETWORK): 27/2/2009
FIRST UK TRANSMISSION (SKY PREMIERE): 28/2/2009
STORY: The battle by Republic forces to liberate the Separatist captured Twi’leks on their home planet of Ryloth has begun. Stage one involves Anakin and Ahsoka leading a squadron of Republic cruisers breaking the planetary blockade. Sadly, the mission goes badly wrong, with a stubborn Ahsoka, in her first solo mission, failing to follow orders from her Master in time, and creating a situation leading to the deaths of many Republic men and pilots in her fighter squadron, and the injuring of Admiral Yularen. As Ahsoka comes to grips with the damage to her confidence and her guilt over the lost lives, Anakin formulates a new and even more risky plan to destroy the blockade. With time running out for the Republic forces, and the Twi’lek people in starvation, can Ahsoka get past her demons in helping her friends win the crucial first stage of the liberation?
AFICIONADO REVIEW: Henry Gilroy’s dream for a story of action, drama and courage based on the D-Day landing/invasion of Normandy finally comes to THE CLONE WARS in this mightily epic, long awaited three part Ryloth trilogy. Nicely splitting the characters involvement in episodic sections, this first part focuses on Anakin and Ahsoka, and brings a new dimension to them-their first serious tragedy and their first serious failure together- and how both come to terms with it-resulting in Anakin, fighting his feeling of loss, formulating an even bigger, even more riskier plan, but one that will only place himself in danger, whilst a guilt ridden Ahsoka has to find the courage to come in to support her master and win the day with her solid second wave attack. All fo this was not your average prime time kiddie fare!! The script and dialogue for the Jedi duo was good but I felt more could have been done with it-the failure was far too quickly obliterated-it had to be for time and plot considerations anyway- but I hope that we get some more depth with regards to the Master and Padawan relationship in future episodes-I look forward to seeing where the writers take them…will it be a darker journey? Despite that criticism, though, the final shot of Anakin watching the battle and enjoying the Separatist destruction that he’d wrought was both darkly funny and clever –with just a hint of Vader’s craftiness thrown in.
Equally nice to see was a Trade Federation Captain-Mar Tuuk- who wasn’t quite as dumb as the rest of his race (he may not be Grand Admiral Thrawn, but he certainly gave the Republic fleet and Anakin a black eye!!), the return of the FLASH GORDON communication screen!!!, and the nasty Wat Tambor (whose death by Anakin in EPISODE THREE should not have been cut out!!). And Ahsoka gets her own green Artoo unit!!
Added to all that were the terrific space battles-a wave of colour, explosions and highly detailed ships panning to the camera-including a nice Star Destroyer maneuver scene lifted from HEIR TO THE EMPIRE added to the episode by Dave Filoni-genius!!, and it was terrific to see the Y-wings back in action once again, and causing some serious damage that we never got to see them do in the Original Trilogy!!
AFICIONADO RATING: It may not have been as totally satisfying on the dramatic level that I had been hoping for-and yes, I know it’s primarily a show for younger audiences!!-but STORM OVER RYLOTH was still a fine and spectacular, action packed start to this epic three parter that should have been a movie!!! 4 out of 5
EPISODE 20: INNOCENTS OF RYLOTH
Writer: Randy Stradley and Henry Gilroy (episode screen credit is to Henry Gilroy)
Director: Justin Ridge
MADE IN PRODUCTION ORDER: 17
FIRST US TRANSMISSION (CARTOON NETWORK): 6/3/2009
FIRST UK TRANSMISSION (SKY PREMIERE): 7/3/2009
STORY: The second phase of the liberation of Ryloth has begun. Unable to land their heavy cruisers due to the Trade Federation’s newly installed proton cannons, Obi-Wan leads his Ghost Company force to the Twi’lek city of Nabat to wipe out their entrenched attackers, who are now using the planets inhabitants as a protective shield. As the battle in the abandoned city streets intensifies, two advance scout Clone Troopers, Waxer and Boil, encounter a young Twi’lek child, Numa, whose help and knowledge of the city soon proves instrumental in aiding the Republic forces.
AFICIONADO REVIEW: The battle intensifies in this extremely well written and made episode, a lovely nod by its creators to the classic Gregory Peck war time classic THE GUNS OF NAVARONE, building on the excitement of the previous first part, and carefully balancing action adventure against a nice little personal story of two Clone Troopers discovering of the seemingly abandoned Twi’lek child, Numa. In the hands of many film makers this sequence could have been blood curdlingly awful and clichéd but in this CLONE WARS episode its carefully handled, and Numa proves both sweet, charming and gutsy (and nicely voiced by Catherine Taber-who makes the girls few vocal impressions absolutely count, as well as successfully capitalizing on the audience’s heart strings), without being vomit in a bucket-inducing. Added to the child’s isolation, as her parent and people have disappeared, this episode’s war scenario parallels obviously to the very real conflict in Iraq, where Saddam Hussein had employed similar human shield tactics to those of the emotionless Tactical Battle Droid TX-20, who, technically, makes its first appearance in the series (this episode being made in production before JEDI CRASH). Fortunately, and thankfully unlike the real life war, the Jedi win this encounter without loss of life, and Obi-Wan shines in this episode-its great to see him back with Commander Cody and using his Force abilities to the full, particularly in controlling the Gutkurr animal attack and his manipulating EMP bombs at the Battle droids. Very cool.
As always, the visual elements are superb-nice to see the Probe Droids back, and any sequence with the Republic Gunships in action and racing across the planetary vistas are always great in my book- and the episode ended, not only with a rousing moment where the Twi-leks decapitate TX-20, but also a touching sequence where the Clone Troopers Waxer and Boil discover exactly what little Numa’s continual use to them of the word “Nerra” means.
Phase two of the Ryloth ground battle has been won. Phase three begins...and it’s time for Mace Windu to kick ass!!
AFICIONADO RATING: Another supreme Henry Gilroy effort, and Justin Ridge is the definitive director so far for any major Clone Trooper related episodes. 5 out of 5
EPISODE 21: LIBERTY ON RYLOTH
Writer: Henry Gilroy
Director: Rob Coleman
MADE IN PRODUCTION ORDER: 19
FIRST US TRANSMISSION (CARTOON NETWORK) 13/3/2009
FIRST UK TRANSMISSION (SKY PREMIERE) 14/3/2009
STORY: The final phase of the Ryloth liberation begins, as Mace Windu and his Clone forces reach the critical capital city, Lessu. With no access to it except by plasma bridge, and with heavy Separatist re-enforcements protecting their leader, the vile Wat Tambor, Windu knows that he will have to contact the planets controversial resistance leader, Cham Syndulla, and ask for his help in the final decisive battle to come. But even as he does so, Tambor and his Tactical Droid, under orders from Count Dooku, plan to retreat the world but not before leaving it a dead wasteland-making it an example to any planet that dares ask for help from the Republic. As a quotient of Vulture Droid bombers escape Anakin and Ahsoka’s air battle containment and head for Lessu, can Mace and his forces take the city in time…?
NOTE: Twi’lek Jedi Ayla Secura was originally to have appeared as an undercover operative on the planet in the Ryloth saga but, due to lack of available animation man power at that time at LUCASFILM, she never appeared in the trilogy episodes which were actually made before her appearance in the prior transmitted JEDI CRASH adventure.
AFICIONADO REVIEW: Whether leaping onto a STAP droid from a collapsing plasma bridge, joining his Clone Troopers on mini AT-RT’s, throwing huge shield doors on enemy tanks or just conversing with Twi’lek resistance fighters to liberate their home world, Mace Windu, even in cartoon form, is still the man. Criminally under-used in the Prequels, he gets more to do in this one episode of THE CLONE WARS than most of REVENGE OF THE SITH!! Epic battles deserve epic heroes and this was the one that we had all been waiting for-it seemed sensible for the Producers to save a Mace Windu-centric episode for something big league, and worthy, episode-wise, and it doesn’t getting any more spectacular than this final part of the Ryloth trilogy-the actual liberation of the planets main city. Such a pairing seemed liked symbiosis to me, and this finale was a cracker, the last ten minutes in particular were brilliant paced and directed in true STAR WARS style, with Rob Coleman’s penultimate episode ever more confident in its cinematography and its visual ideas and flourishes (with some nice visual touches/nods to previous episodes (really liked that cool little scrap between the Clones and the Battle Droid commandoes), EPISODE III and even the Blurrg creatures from the Ewok films thrown in), and linked to a Henry Gilroy script that once again delivered the goods. Added to that, TC Carson did a great job as Mace Windu with some fine support from British actor Robin Atkin Downes who finally gets some better vocal range as the Twi’lek resistance leader, Cham Syndulla. It’s also nice to see Wat Tambor get a fair bit to do, too (and he moves like he’s on wheels-like that horribly green monster from CHORLTON AND THE WHEELIES!!) Let’s hope the Republic holds him captive for a little while and doesn’t lose him so badly as they did Nute Gunray in CLOAK OF DARKNESS!! And finally, after being confined to the live action deleted scenes universe for so long, let’s not forget the appearance of the corrupt politician Orn Free Taa-seemingly working for the cause of his people but eventually just as corrupt as any member of the Trade Federation!!
AFICIONADO RATING: A brilliant ending to a constantly exciting and involving trilogy. And a visual triumph, too. What a shame this never made it to the big screen as it deserved to be seen. 5 out of 5
EPISODE 22: HOSTAGE CRISIS
Writer: Eoghan Mahoney
Director: Giancarlo Volpe
MADE IN PRODUCTION ORDER: SERIES TWO, EPISODE FOUR
FIRST US TRANSMISSION (CARTOON NETWORK) 20/3/2009
FIRST UK TRANSMISSION (SKY PREMIERE) 21/3/2009
NOTE: We presume, with only a few months prior notice, that the decision to change the running order of the final four episodes, with the Ryloth trilogy now preceding HOSTAGE CRISIS was possibly so as to promote the new villain Cad Bane better, and especially to tie the finale episode as a lead in to Season Two’s opening adventure?
STORY: With Padme and other high ranking Senators captured and held hostage on Coruscant by a ruthless band of Bounty Hunters, led by the calculatingly vicious Cad Bane, a lightsaber-less Anakin Skywalker, also trapped within the enclosed Senate Chambers, must attempt to liberate his friends and stop the enemy group before their demands to have Ziro the Hutt released are acceded to. But is he a match for this new enemy whose plans so far have totally succeeded?
AFICIONADO REVIEW: Heavily trailered and publicized in a deliberately similar and equally successful way as Boba Fett was for THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (so hyped up in a matter of weeks, in fact, that the only thing missing this time was a pre-release action figure like Fett had from 1978!! I hope you’re listening to this, HASBRO-you missed an opportunity there!), Cad Bane’s overnight success doesn’t just come with his striking visual appearance-who couldn’t resist the appearance of an alien who looks like he’s just wandered off the set of a spaghetti western movie!! Based on the original aborted plans for Fett, drawn by McQuarrie and possibly Joe Johnston, the eerie look of the Durosian red eyes add to his impact along with a creepy raspy, old yet alien voice over from the talented Corey Burton. Straight from the episode’s opening scenes onwards Bane soon shows why they’ll be fans dressing up as him at next years CELEBRATION V!!!, proving just as ruthless, quick thinking, adaptable and dangerous as both members of the Fett family should have been in the films!! From the animation schematics, he’s certainly packed with all the accoutrements to add to their popularity-only a jet firing rocket back on his back is missing!! Sadly, most of the charcater’s gadgets shown in that publicity key art sent to fans on the web we’ve not seen in action yet-from the Season Two trailer, though, that’s for a future re-match against Anakin that’s still to come. And we can’t wait!! Well done Filoni and company…
Bane’s colleagues are just as much as unique as he is-a mixed bag of equally formidable aliens and droids (with the IG-88 type droid much better animated here than his colleagues were in their first appearance, DOWNFALL OF A DROID), all hideous but nonetheless appealing and intriguing to STAR WARS fans who can’t resist a good nemesis for our heroes. And, finally, no longer trapped on a balcony watching a podrace, Aurra Sing, voice by Jamie King, makes a welcome return to the saga-the scene where she cold bloodedly kills a senate guard confirming her nonchalant attitude to her victims or anyone else who gets in her way.
In a story that has echoes of DIE HARD and STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION’s episode STARSHIP MINE, both of which have our mostly weaponless main hero trapped in a sealed building/ship where they have to escape/rescue friends held hostage by terrorists, again this is nothing new. But really, that doesn’t matter at all. HOSTAGE CRISIS is a vehicle designed and plotted solely to show off just how cool and dangerous these new bad guy bounty hunters are going to be- heck, they certainly aren’t afraid of Jedi-even Anakin!!
HOSTAGE CRISIS sees returning director Giancarlo Volpe having stronger material to play around with than he had in the previous BLUE SHADOW VIRUS (and after the dry deserts and boulders of Ryloth its nice to return to the gleaming blue sky and glistening buildings of the planetary “civilization” known as Coruscant), though both episodes are equally beautiful and stylishly realized-the Prequel environments of EPISODE ONE seem to resonate with the directors work. After seeing only the depths of the city in the first movie, it’s nice to return to the gleamjng sci-fi metropolis of Coruscant in its upper levels and enjoy the political machinations playing against the action by Palpatine (I also have to mention the sterling work done by the series writers in addressing or putting in sly references to modern political shennanigans that are going on in our own real world-like the highly controversial invasion of privacy bill). Though, I’m still not a great fan of Ziro the Hutt, his presence in the story and the impetus he gave for the bounty hunters to demand his release made this end of season episode a nice bookend to the animated movie.
Another plus for Prequel fans was the first, and hopefully not the last, appearance of Bail Organa-we hope he stays around but that he’s better voice actored in the future. Nice to see so many EPISODE THREE senators amongst the hostages, too, and a couple from previous animated shows like TRESPASS. There was even one of those slinky silver female BETTIE PAGE-type droid waitresses!!
Though it’s great to have them back together, some clunky dialogue between Anakin and Padme comes a short time after the bounty hunters first appearance, yet, plotting-wise, it has to be like that in order to separate Anakin from his lightsaber- it’s the only reason he could possibly be without it. Fortunately, the rest of their scenes work fine, though Threepio only gets one line of dialogue in the episode which is a bit of a shame!! To be honest, Anakin’s overall actions served very little to the plot-as previously mentioned it was only ever about the bounty hunters and what they could do, and in that respect, the installment succeeded admirably.
AFICIONADO RATING: As efficient as the bounty hunters it showcased, HOSTAGE CRISIS was an intriguing, though unusual feeling season ending which I felt it deserved to be another five minutes longer. For once, the villains- a terrific new menace whose shades of grey, character wise, will prove formidable and dangerous in ways that the Separatists can’t be to our STAR WARS heroes-got away with their crimes of violence and chaos, and such a move by the writers continues to keep the show interesting for the future (leading into a Season Two conflict between them and the Jedi that should be pretty damned awesome!!). 4 out of 5
OVERALL SEASON REVIEW: A superb start that exceeded all my expectations and proved superior to the pilot movie, which was very enjoyable, released in cinemas. Brilliantly animated, and seemingly more ambitious with each episode, it was nice to see such a great mixture of story-telling in this premiere year, where clearly a lot of thought and respect to the STAR WARS universe has been taken, and the use of our heroes throughout was exemplary. New character Ahsoka Tano will no doubt be a hit with young children of all ages, as will the cool Captain Rex, and its nice to see the cool bad-dette of the previous animated series, Asajj Ventress, get a look in during action packed episodes opposite such heavyweight as Count Dooku and General Grievous. Season Two will surely have a lot to live up to after this stunning launch. Overall Season Rating: 4 out of 5
