Rewatching the Clone Wars

[Lord Embo]

When will you start to review series 3?

Lord Embo

[prateek]

When will you start to review series 3?

Lord Embo

When they're done with Series 2?

[def]

Okay Maybe I underestimate the work it takes for those reviews, screen shots and everything. It's just that I really enjoy your reviews

When will you start to review series 3?

Lord Embo

One thing about doing these reviews, and why I got Oki to help this year, is that it takes some time to do, but it also takes a lot of the fun out of the show. Rather than just let it play, I have to stop, do screen grabs, look up what each ship is, and then get messages after saying, "That wasn't X, it was Y " (I appreciate it, so there is a more complete review, but people whose only feedback is like that is tiresome; it happens when reviewing sets too.) So, the slower pace has been much better and more enjoyable for me.

As for season 3, I plan to take a break, and maybe start up when the season finale comes up. After all, the topic is Rewatching the Clone Wars, not Watching.

[The Legonater]

Personally, I really don't care how long it's taking for these to come up- I just got season 2 for my birthday yesterday, and the I need the time to catch up with the entire season I missed

Edited November 5, 2010 by The Legonater

[Oky]

Episode 20: Death Trap

Calm before the storm! A rare and welcome respite from endless battle awaits Jedi Knights Anakin Skywalker and Mace Windu as they travel through deep space aboard the Jedi cruiser Endurance. Preparing to rendezvous with a Republic frigate, the Jedi remain unaware of a deadly peril lying hidden in their midst....

OK, here is the beginning of the big Boba Fett season finale that everyone was so excited about. Somehow young Boba has managed to sneak into a group of clone cadets who are headed for the Venator Mace Windu is on. The first part of the episode is spent showing how great Boba is, demonstrating his mad skills with a gun during target practice and his detailed knowledge of the Venator during a pop quiz. Then he goes off to plant a bomb in Windu's quarters, but before Mace enters the room, be is called away, and a clone gets killed in his place. So, Aurra Sing, who is remotely working with Boba, orders him to sabotage the ship. He succeeds, and the ship starts getting pulled toward the planet below, but everyone still has enough time to escape. Boba finds himself in an escape pod with the cadets and somehow sabotages the pod simply by pressing a button so that it floats out into space. There, Aurra Sing picks Boba up in the Slave I and forces him to jettison the cadets back out into space. However, Anakin and Mace find them.

The episode was good for what it was. It made Boba look like a skilled boy, but also one who is struggling with morals. I really liked it when the sad chorus kicked in as he shot the cadets off into the unknown; it added to the drama of the scene nicely. I also thought it was clever to have Boba sneak into the Venator as a clone since he looks exactly like them. However there are some plot holes. How did he meet up with Aurra and Bossk? How did he get into the Youth Brigade? Why is there a "Sabotage" button in an escape pod? They are just minor things and don't distract from the episode too much, so it works as it is, but still. 8/10

There's not a whole lot of new stuff in this episode, so we'll focus on the new characters. Obviously, one of them is CW Boba Fett. The minifig that we got of him in the Jango's Slave I set wasn't bad, but it was yellow, and we all know TLG can do better. A clone head with Dastan hair would probably do the trick, but I'd like to see a more accurate hairpiece.

Young Boba Fett

And while we're at it, why not get some young clone cadets too? They don't look particularly exciting, but they might be good for some new hairpieces too.

Clone Youth Brigade

And then there's Aurra Sing and Bossk. Aurra is a bounty hunter who briefly appeared in TPM, and she's an interesting character; very evil. We already got Bossk and I don't think a CW version of him would be much different, so the only one we want is Aurra, but it looks like we're already getting her, too, in the next wave.

Here is a comparison (I believe the Aurra image is okay to post now?):

The admiral of the Endurance was kinda neat too. He had a Scottish accent and went down with his ship which is respectable.

Shoan Kilian

We also saw a clone gunner with a pretty cool paint job (and nickname).

Sergeant Fury

Lego ships appearing: Anakin's JSF, Venator, RGS, V-19 Torrent, Republic Attack Shuttle, Jango Fett's Slave I

Lego Wishlist: CW Boba Fett, Aurra Sing, clone cadets, Shoan Kilian, Fury

[def]

So much to nitpick this episode with. In addition to the stuff you wrote:

-Why are their kid clones? Weren't they being raised to adulthood? Are they trying to say that that's how clones are developed? Did the Kaminoins raise them from adolescents? Dumb.

-Did Jango Fett instill moral values into his kid? He was a goddamn bounty hunter. Like I mentioned in that other 'Boba Vs Bane' thread, when Boba saw his dad die, he cried. Screw that. As a kid, if he cried, his dad would have smacked him. The senior Fett didn't have much characterization, but to assume he was a hired killer with a heart is to assume too much. What kind of lessons did the super badass Jango Fett teach young Boba? "They're innocent, we can't hurt them... unless I'm being paid." Accepting that Aurra Sing and Bossk adopted him, did they do anything other than feed the badness in his heart. Absolute crap characterization. Crap crap crap.

-Mace Windu looks like a tool in this episode. The Jedi lack the ability to read body language?

At this point, Boba Fett is a clown. As far as his character is concerned, he's been crap since Episode II. This episode just flushes the turd down the toilet.

From now on, I will spend more time making fun of Babby Fett.

End of this rant.

I liked Shoan Kilian though.

[Supersonic]

I actually quite liked this episode. I'm no big OT fan so the characterization of Boba isn't a problem for me - he's a kid after all, I liked how he couldn't kill this clone when he should have. The setting was different and the action wasn't bad either. Some little problems though: How easy can it be for a kid to destroy a whole Venator? Why is there so little security and why aren't there any alternative power generators? I'm ok with Ventress infiltrating the Venator in "Cloak of Darkness", she is a dark Jedi after all. But someone like Boba? As def said, how could Windu not feel Boba's fury? And also:

-Why are their kid clones? Weren't they being raised to adulthood? Are they trying to say that that's how clones are developed? Did the Kaminoins raise them from adolescents? Dumb.

Exactly this. AOTC showed that even nearly full grown clones were still training in Kamino.

Edited November 5, 2010 by Supersonic

[Masked Builder]

It was a pretty cool episode. I like the admiral a lot. He was my positive point of the episode.

Who BTW dies at the hands of Aurra.

[Lord Embo]

Who BTW dies at the hands of Aurra.

No. Aurra doesn't kill him, but kills Commander Ponds.

Lord Embo

[Corvus]

I'm confused about what people are saying about kid clones. Are you saying that there shouldn't be any young clones? Of course clones aren't just grown to adults. This is obvious in AOTC- their growth is doubled. They do have a childhood, it's just half as long as a normal person's.

If that's not what you meant, though, never mind.

And yes, Babby Fett (I'm going to start using this now) was very annoying. The young clones were also annoying. They were nothing but suck-ups to the Jedi.

All in all, the Fett trilogy was a mixed bag to me. Some cool stuff, but Babby very nearly ruined it.

RIP Ponds.

[The Legonater]

You know, for no visable juguller, that one cadet has a fairly deep voice

Personally, this episode was a general disgrace. Kilion was pretty good- there were definatly some cool traits with him. His dedication to his ship was definatly one of them- I hope he comes back later. Other than that, the thing was a decrecendo to horridness, until Aurra showed up. I just loved her almost off-evilness in that sceane, it was a great moment.

But Boba was outright terrible in this episode. I'll give him slack for AotC, but this was lame. I fail to see his hesitation to kill any of the clones here, it was a brutal blow to his charecter. EU shows him as really hating the other clones for looking like him, and here he treats them like a bunch of lost puppies. I was honestly hoping the fool would kill the clones so he could grow up. Unfortunatly, he still hasn't by the end of this little trilogy.

[CMP]

It's already been stated in the EU that adult Boba only accepts missions that follow his moral value. Of course he's not going to try to kill any clones, they're, as called in the rest of the series, his brothers. I think they got his character pretty well. And another thing: he's only, like, 10. He's not going to try to kill anyone but Windu.

[Stegoceras]

The questions we should be asking are:

- Was the episode entertaining for you? Yes or no?

Beyond that, you shouldn't expect too much, so Boba isn't a big bad guy most people expect to see, it's not like there haven't been more atrocious errors inside the complete series that made some scratch their heads in a stunned motion. Just try not to compare it too much with what is stated in the movie or EU cannon. Just see it as it is, entertaining. (at least for me, enjoyed watching the episodes)

[XimenaPaulina]

Personally, I don't see the hesitation on Babby Fett's part when he tried to kill those clones as a bad thing. I actually liked the conflict inside him during that moment. I mean, every bounty hunter wasn't born a cold-blooded killer from the very start, they develop their killer instinct through age and experience. Maybe at that stage he was still trying to learn the 'tricks of the trade'. So let's cut the 'crybabby' some slack.

[JimBee]

This episode was "meh" for me. It had it's moments but I also have a lot of complaints for it.

-Why are their kid clones? Weren't they being raised to adulthood? Are they trying to say that that's how clones are developed? Did the Kaminoins raise them from adolescents? Dumb.

Have you seen Episode II? Where do you think they come from?

-Did Jango Fett instill moral values into his kid? He was a goddamn bounty hunter. Like I mentioned in that other 'Boba Vs Bane' thread, when Boba saw his dad die, he cried. Screw that. As a kid, if he cried, his dad would have smacked him. The senior Fett didn't have much characterization, but to assume he was a hired killer with a heart is to assume too much. What kind of lessons did the super badass Jango Fett teach young Boba? "They're innocent, we can't hurt them... unless I'm being paid." Accepting that Aurra Sing and Bossk adopted him, did they do anything other than feed the badness in his heart. Absolute crap characterization. Crap crap crap.

Agreed. One could argue that he slowly develops into a cold-blooded killer by the time of the OT, but that's just BS for me. He didn't actually cry when Jango died, but what unaltered clone wouldn't mourn his father's death? Anyway what we saw in this episode was a completely different character than in Episode II, or the OT for that matter.

I also didn't like how childish and "humanized" the cadets were. They're not supposed to be nervous (when they're called on for target practice). I thought they were supposed to follow orders without question.

And really, arranging a tour with two of the most important Jedi? I didn't know Windu and Skywalker had time for that when they're supposed to be fighting on the front lines. Oh well, plot holes, plot holes.

-Mace Windu looks like a tool in this episode. The Jedi lack the ability to read body language?

Or minds, for that matter. I kept thinking that he would've sensed mischief in Boba or even recognized him, but I guess that would've made for a less interesting episode.

One of the worst episodes yet, IMO.

Oh, by the way, did anyone notice that the smarter cadet was named Jax? I wonder if it relates to a character further on the timeline in the SWU. Or EB member Palin Jax, who based his name off of a SW character, I believe.

[robuko]

Just read the whole topic from the start. Many many thanks def and Oky. Season 2 starts (again) on Cartoon Network today in Japan

Edited November 6, 2010 by robuko

[Masked Builder]

No. Aurra doesn't kill him, but kills Commander Ponds.

Lord Embo

Oh right. I meant that he didn't die with the ship.

[def]

Episode 21: R2 Come Home

Revenge! Boba Fett, son of the notorious bounty hunter Jango Fett, infiltrated a Jedi cruiser in an attempt to assassinate General Mace Windu, the man who killed his father.

After a near miss at Windu's quarters, Boba was forced to destroy the cruiser and escape with the help of notorious bounty hunter Aurra Sing. Now, having lost contact with Admiral Kilian when his doomed starship crashed, the Jedi search for survivors with aid of a Republic rescue ship....

Continuing off the pubescent action with Babby Fett last episode, Mace and Anakin investigate a downed Venator. Amidst the wreckage, they find executed clones and no survivors. But, in the shadows, there are big, generic beasties, like we got so tired of in season one. On the bridge, a Mandalore helmet is found, and somehow Mace uses his Holmesian intelligence to figure that it is a trap by Boba Fett. Now, face to face with him last episode, he couldn't put it together, but seeing a Mandalorian helmet, his first assumption is not Deathwatch, which wore the same helmets and plagued the Jedi just a few episodes ago, but rather, it's been placed there by a kid he never paid attention to during the super hectic fight scene at the end of Attack of Clones. It's not a plot hole, it's a gaping chasm. As is the fact Anakin picks up the nicely placed helmet at a very suspicious mass murder scene without giving it a second thought. Good one Anakin. Go through the crime scene all higgledy piggledy without caution.

Anyway, a bomb blows Anakin and Mace into a pile of wreckage. Boba and his crew, or I should say, Aurra's crew, go to the scene to recover Windu's head, but they're fended off by R2-D2 in a slightly plausible sequence. R2 is left to summon help, and, commandeering Mace's fighter, he has a highly unorthodox dog fight with the Slave 1 and makes an escape. Thinking that the escaping starfighter is Mace, the bounty hunters leave Anakin and Mace safe for rescue.

While I love Aurra Sing and Bossk, this isn't a good episode. There are some good character notes, like how it seems Mace doesn't like Anakin much, much less the way Anakin treats his astromech. But, that is contrasted by Jedi incompetence, lame gundarks, and Babby Fett. What should be cool, like Bossk in action, isn't even there. He just stands around. Hey, do you like Bossk? Well, here's your chance to see him load cargo on a ship! Disappointing. Rating: 5/10

There was a little newness, to my mind. Some appeared briefly in the last episode, but get more of a feature here. Mace's starfighter sees a lot of action. It will be part of the 2011 wave as set number 7868. This is the fourth in the starfighter series (fifth if you count the Obi Wan Attack of the Clones set), so, it would be nice to see them all lined up together, but I don't think anybody at TLG are breaking their backs to throw these together. Here we see it docking to its hyperspace ring.

Mace Windu's Delta-7B Aethersprite-class light interceptor

That set will come with a dark astromech, R8-B7.

R8-B7

The bounty hunters are working with a new chap called Castas. He was so so. He was irritable and unliked by his own crew.

Castas (He's the big one behind Babby)

Here is Slave 1. I wish TLG had done an update of this version rather than the Empire era one. But, oh well.

Slave 1

And an uninteresting gundark.

Gundark

LEGO ships appearing: Anakin and Mace's starfighters, Republic Gunships

LEGO wishlist: Not really anything. Maybe Castas. Actually, we need a new Clone era Slave 1

Coming up: Something a heck of a lot better than this was. And a vacation!

[XimenaPaulina]

I kinda like this episode, simply because Artoo was impossibly effective and competent in holding off Babby Fett's crew and piloting Mace's JSF, engaging in a dogfight with the Slave I, and escaping unscathed. BTW, the title is sort of a paying homage to E.T. right?

This is the fourth in the starfighter series (fifth if you count the Obi Wan Attack of the Clones set), so, it would be nice to see them all lined up together, but I don't think anybody at TLG are breaking their backs to throw these together.

I smiled when I read this, since my current project (in the works) is exactly like this one.

----

And allow me to thank you def (and Oky after his season 2 finale review) for a job well done in your Season 2 reviews. We hope to see more of these in Season 3 and upcoming seasons as well. Thanks for your dedicated service to all of us, your efforts are very much appreciated.

Edited November 8, 2010 by KielDaMan

[The Legonater]

I've got to give to Daniel Logan some credit- it's got be hard to try and replicate your voice from nearly ten years ago, and he did a fairly good job in this trilogy.

Now to this particular episode

For one, I found this eerily similar to the first half of Dooku Captured- Anakin and a Jedi Master 'land' on Vanquar, there's a crashed ship involved, they get stuck, Gundarks attack, and Ashoka comes and rescues them.

I have to agree, Bossk being in this episode was pointless, what important thing did he do? He sat there with a gun pointed at the prisoners, who were already tied up, and loaded stuff. Ooh, how exiting! I did like the crashed Venater, though- it looked really cool. Ani and Mace trapped looked so unbelievable. They were just too ridged, and side-by-side at the exact angle and everything, it did not look like they were stuck by an accident on their part- more like they went and put the big plate of metal on themselves. That said, Plo and Wolffe's rescure was pretty interesting- but then again, any sceane with Wolffe is nice to see.

R2's involvment was interesting in the episode. Some of his tricks were believable, some were just insane. The way he raced through the Temple and fought the other droid, though, made it look like he was a little kid.

[def]

And allow me to thank you def (and Oky after his season 2 finale review) for a job well done in your Season 2 reviews. We hope to see more of these in Season 3 and upcoming seasons as well. Thanks for your dedicated service to all of us, your efforts are very much appreciated.

Thanks for the thanks! This has been an interesting thread to organize.

I did like the crashed Venater, though- it looked really cool.

It was beautiful. The whole episode was a bit too dark overall, but that wreckage must have taken a heck of a long time to animate.

[Blackknight112]

LEGO wishlist: Not really anything. Maybe Castas. Actually, we need a new Clone era Slave 1

Not an other slave 1!! I have seen enough of these for the next 10 years

[def]

Not an other slave 1!! I have seen enough of these for the next 10 years

You realize the Clone Wars Slave 1 is a totally different color scheme and would be 90% different pieces, right?

[XimenaPaulina]

You realize the Clone Wars Slave 1 is a totally different color scheme and would be 90% different pieces, right?

Yeah, it would be like the new Slave I set but in the CW-Jango Fett Slave I colors and of course with new minifigs - I could live with that. But considering we already got Bossk, and we'll have Aurra soon, only the kid Babby fett is the possible new fig if ever such a set will be made (though they could always recycle Bossk & Aurra or throw a random bounty hunter there (?)).

[Swiss Army Droid]

Episode 21: R2 Come Homebut seeing a Mandalorian helmet, his first assumption is not Deathwatch, which wore the same helmets and plagued the Jedi just a few episodes ago, but rather, it's been placed there by a kid he never paid attention to during the super hectic fight scene at the end of Attack of Clones.

Actually, Mace already knows that Boba is one of the people he's after, so it's right that he would think of him when he saw the helmet. The cadets who survived would have told him for sure that Boba was working with the bounty hunters. Also, the Death Watch incidents didn't necessarily happen directly before this episode, because Clone Wars episodes have a tendency to be aired out of order (A Hidden Enemy, Evil Plans, etc...). And I don't get why you thought this episode was so bad. There were certainly a lot worse episodes in this season (Lightsaber Lost, Senate Murders ) Also on a technical aspect, this episode was one of the best. There were lots of good views, and the animation was excellent. I also liked how Anakin and Mace were trapped the whole time, because it shows that Jedi aren't invincible like most episodes would lead us to believe.

Edited November 9, 2010 by Swiss Army Droid