Rewatching the Clone Wars

[Swiss Army Droid]

Children of the Force: I didn't really like that episode because it went by way too fast. I felt like I was watching a 20 minute summery of what happened instead of the full story. It would have been a lot better if it was a two-part episode. The idea behind the story was great, but the finished product was disappointing.

Senate Spy: I was a little disappointed with this episode because yet another great idea has gone to waste. The story wasn't all that bad but it could have been so much better. I think that is important to have these political themed episodes because it actually is helping the story instead of just showing off all the explosions and gunfire that the little kids want to see. However, this episode yet again tried to get Padme into the action which always seems to end up making the episode lame . I hope there is another episode like this that actually gets into some real political intrigue.

[The Legonater]

Senate Spy: I was a little disappointed with this episode because yet another great idea has gone to waste. The story wasn't all that bad but it could have been so much better. I think that is important to have these political themed episodes because it actually is helping the story instead of just showing off all the explosions and gunfire that the little kids want to see. However, this episode yet again tried to get Padme into the action which always seems to end up making the episode lame . I hope there is another episode like this that actually gets into some real political intrigue.

I have to agree- Senate Spy was the only Season 2 episode I saw, and I found it terrible. I think the theory of the episode was sound, a duel or triple layered episode full of secrets and backstabbing. Unfortuantly it became a lot more basic and obvious. The way I see it, the episode should have been worked on a little more... in my mind these episodes would be much better as 40-minute long episode instead of 20-minutes.

[def]

Sorry, this is my worst review, I wrote it while hungover, so I may edit it later.

Episode 5: Landing At Point Rain

Counterattack! With the clone army stretched in desperate attempt to engage General Grievous' Starfleet, Separatists planets that were once thought secure are now rising up against the Republic. On Geonosis, Separatist leader Poggle the Lesser, safe in his newly ray-shielded factories, creates thousands of terrible new weapons which march off the assembly line against the outnumbered clone army.

The Jedi, resolute in the effort to restore order to the Republic, mount a massive invasion to retake Geonosis and shut down Poggle's factories once and for all....

This is the action episode. Not really a story, just a mission; capture a target on Geonosis. As such, the episode is pretty much a chance for the animators to show Star Wars vehicles and Jedi in action. The simple plot, as it is, sees three strike teams split up, Anakin's, Obi Wan's and Ki-Adi Mundi's. They spend the episode trying to regroup. There really isn't much else, it's just an extended set piece. But, they action they show is pretty fantastic.

Like last season's Ryloth episodes, the episode is a good showcase for the Jedi, to show the difference one Jedi can make on the battlefield, as Anakin cuts through the droid forces like a hot knife through butter. Ki-Adi gets to hack up some Geonosians too. This is an important part of the show, showing the hands on action of the Jedi. They don't need to do it every episode, but sometimes we need to see how much better they are at fighting than any droid or clone. In this episode, you get the feeling that the clones simply couldn't succeed without the leadership and skills of the Jedi.

I'd write more, but I don't have anything else to say. If you want action, this is the episode. It looks great. Rating: 9/10

A lot of ships appear in this episode, and it was great to see them in action. Last year's amazing Lego set, the Dropship, plays a big role in this episode.

This is a Lego masterpiece, and I wish it were mine. Sadly, it's out of my price range. From Starstreak's review

The Gunships have a lot of detail too. Each one has it's own decal on the side. Great detail!

This episode gives a lot of time to Ki-Adi Mundi. Where's his minifig!

A nice variation on the clone trooper appears here, a type of commando. It's a shame that TLG doesn't offer more variations on the clone trooper.

Another variation of the clone, the snow clone appears, with a flamethrower! Apparently those are simply temperature resistant suits. Very nice.

A fleet of lovely red Y-Wings appear too. Though I like the yellow one, I'd love to see a Lego version in red.

Lego ships appearing: AT-TE, Republic Gunship, Y-Wing, Genosian Fighter, Republic Dropship

Lego wishlist: Ki-Adi Mundi! Red Y-Wing, Commando Clones, Flamethrowing Clones

[XimenaPaulina]

Landing at Point Rain is, IMO, the best episode action-wise in the whole Clone Wars series (I/II combined), and the lone bright spot in the rather disappointing Season 2. From start to finish, the episode is action-packed and it's really great to see those many gunships, dropships, Y-wings, AT-TEs in action. This is the episode I can watch over-and-over again without getting bored of it.

And yes we all need the Ki-Adi-Mundi minifig. (Pls. TLG make it happen).

The fatigue-colored clones? I highly doubt TLG will release that since the paint job looks pretty hard to do.

Edited July 21, 2010 by KielDaMan

[lightningtiger]

Now for us Aussies and you also have Foxtel, CN are running another Lightsaber Saturday this weekend - the first 12 episodes of series 2 - if I can I'll try and watch or record it on my HDD recorder !

I'm a conformist! and may the force be with you !

[Corvus]

As good as a lot of the episode's action was, it had a few major drawbacks for me. For one, the dialogue- the stupid contest that Anakin and Ahsoka have going on about who can kill the most droids is rediculous. It detracts from the otherwise serious episode- It's a disaster, they have massive casualties, and yet they joke about it? You think that they'd be grim, sensing all the death in the force.

Another thing that confused me, yet offered no explanation, were all the different clones. The different unit markings made sense- one group is Anakin's, one group is Obi Wan's, and the unsa-unsa Bose troopers were Ki-adi's. What I didn't get where the snowtroopers- why were they in there? This is geonosis!

The other part that annoyed me (in a much smaller way) was the attack on the wall. The wall was silly-looking, with all these little turrets going 'pew pew pew'. Not scary. And their attack plan was stupid- the clones all milled in front of the wall and got cut down.

That said, I liked the episode. I liked it when Obi-Wan was injured- it shows that Jedi are still just people. They also did a much better job of making him look injured than Anakin season 1.

[ThatGuyWithTheBricks]

Dude, thanks so much for these pics! I'm not going to say which but one of the REALLY helps with a MOC I'm making.

[Hoboman]

This is a great thread. I read this thread from the first page.

Thank You

[The Legonater]

As good as a lot of the episode's action was, it had a few major drawbacks for me. For one, the dialogue- the stupid contest that Anakin and Ahsoka have going on about who can kill the most droids is rediculous. It detracts from the otherwise serious episode- It's a disaster, they have massive casualties, and yet they joke about it? You think that they'd be grim, sensing all the death in the force.

Not really. Several movie and books in the past have done kill counts in the middle of an otherwise serious battle before, SW one of them. Though I haven't seen the episode, I don't think it detracts thta much.

That said, I liked the episode. I liked it when Obi-Wan was injured- it shows that Jedi are still just people. They also did a much better job of making him look injured than Anakin season 1.

Yeah- Jedi Crash did a bad job of making Anakin look injured. The only thing I really liked about that episode was the opening battle and the crash.

[XimenaPaulina]

What I didn't get where the snowtroopers- why were they in there? This is geonosis!

In the first place, those were not snowtroopers but Clone Flame Troopers. They just have the same armor as Clone Cold Assault Troopers. According to Wookieepedia, the said armor was probably altered to help protect the wearer from heat instead of the cold.

[Oky]

It's a disaster, they have massive casualties, and yet they joke about it? You think that they'd be grim, sensing all the death in the force.

Yup, that's Skyguy and Snips for ya. Yeah, it was a bit out of place, but I think the jedi probably became kinda numb toward deaths during the Clone Wars. It's war, so the force must be in constant disturbance.

Bose troopers

That's totally what I'll call them from now on!

Anyhow, here's the next review:

Episode 6: Weapons Factory

The final surge. Having learned of warlord Poggle the Lesser's plot to rebuild a Separatist droid foundry on Geonosis, Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker and his Padawan, Ahsoka Tano, prepare to assault this heavily-fortified installation. Their mission: destroy the factory at all costs. Anticipating stiff resistance, Republic commanders send Jedi Master Luminara Unduli and her Padawan, Barriss Offee, to reinforce the attack. But time runs short for our intrepid heroes as the dreaded droid mill nears completion...

This episode continues pretty much right where the last one left off. While the last one was all about the action, this one has action too, but has a bit more strategy behind it. While the padawans infiltrate the factory from underneath to place bombs, the masters distract Poggle and his troops with a battle at the front door. Of course, things don't go as planned, so the Jedi must improvise. The Seps bring out their secret weapon, the new super tanks. What makes them so super is their extra thick armor and hidden warhead launchers. Meanwhile, Geonosians steal the bombs, so Ahsoka and Barriss are forced to sacrifies themselves to blow it up on their own. But they survive and get saved by their masters in the end.

This episode was good, but not great. There's some Anakin/Ahsoka bickering again, and the "Super Tanks" were very unimaginative both in their name and design. It was interesting, though, seeing the two very different padawans and masters trying to do teamwork. The moment the factory collapsed and the dramatic music kicked in, I almost thought Ahsoka really died the first time I watched this, but it looks like it wasn't her time yet. Luminara's failed attempt to teach Anakin to let go of his attachments imply that he will have to learn that lesson eventually though. Another nice bit was Barriss cutting a square with her lightsaber instead of a circle. Overall, I'd give this a 6/10.

The only new vehicle is the Separatist Super Tank. Doesn't look very interesting, but who knows, it could still make for an interesting set. I for one am not very interested though unless it includes a Luminara fig.

Barriss Offee makes her debut in this episode.

Luckily, TLC already made a minifig of her. Here's a pic from Rufus' review of the Swamp Speeder:

Lego Ships appearing: AT-TE, RGS, Dropship

Lego Wishlist: Super Tank

Edited August 9, 2010 by Oky Wan Kenobi

[XimenaPaulina]

The moment the factory collapsed and the dramatic music kicked in, I almost thought Ahsoka really died the first time I watched this, but it looks like it wasn't her time yet.

That was my most favorite part of the episode. Amidst all the action going on, it was nice to see (and feel) some dramatic moment every once in a while. I also thought that was the end of Ahsoka, and I really liked how they showed how Anakin was too attached to his padawan when he was trying to desperately take her out of the rumble.

[def]

Some trivia about Luminara, she is voiced by Olivia d'Abo, the daughter on the Wonder Years. She was beautiful, so I'm surprised that she mostly does voice work now.

Episode 7-Legacy of Terror

Victory on Geonosis! After a massive planetary siege, the Separatist forces on Geonosis have finally fallen. Key weapons factories have been destroyed, but at a heavy cost to Republic troops. Now, as Jedi Master Luminara Unduli and Obi-Wan Kenobi begin a clean-up of the planet, they launch an intense campaign to find Separatist leader Poggle the Lesser and bring him to justice.

After last episode's middling quality, we look to see something new in this episode. This whole set of episodes seems really unnecessary. Why are they back on Geonosis? Why didn't the Republic not maintain control after Attack of the Clones? I know they paid lip-service to something in one of the episodes, like Poggle the Lesser, the all-important Geonosian that a bunch of the top Jedi have been assigned to capture, was a holdout from the initial Clone battle, but, the quality of these episodes doesn't make the suspension of disbelief worth the trouble. Next time, Republic? Set up an embargo around planets that have a population of evil bugs that build droid armies.

So, this episode starts with Jedi forces standing around in the wreckage of the last episode. The Republic has to catch Poggle. Luminara goes out ahead to track him down, going to a spooky, abandoned temple with legends surrounding it ("I've heard stories..."). Through the wonder of hologram technology, the other Jedi witness her get attacked by something unseen! This is such a trite, hackneyed set up. I wonder if something monstrous lies inside Sorry, but this is a pet peeve of mine, this degree of lazy writing. If they did something with the cliches to put a new spin on them, I wouldn't complain, but everything in this episode occurs pretty much as you would expect.

The episode then shifts into a kind of Aliens mode, complete with dark caverns and beeping sensors, and 'monsters', which turn out to be zombified Genosians, lurking in the walls. The action all looks good, especially the lighting in the caverns, with flashes of light as clone weapons are fired. The final reveal though, just isn't that great if you have any experience with sci-fi, like, you've watched Aliens, read Card's Ender series, seen Star Trek II, or even just watched the Futurama episode, 'Fry and the Slurm Factory.' The writers probably thought it was a homage, but I think it could more accurately described as derivative, or less kindly, a rip-off. Nope, in this case, I'm definitely not the target audience. If I was a kid, and knew jack about sci-fi, it would be much, much better. But I'm not. Rating: 6/10

If you like the concept of new minifigs, this would be the episode for you! Zombified Genosians! I don't have any Genosians, so I wouldn't mind seeing an update on these guys. 'Wouldn't mind' though. I could live without them.

And a mega-figure, the worm-bodied, six-armed Genosian Queen! Not my bag, but it would be interesting to see. Here's a full body shot of her.

For ships, there was mostly just more of the same, but I'm always thrilled to see the Republic Cruisers, which appear all the time in this series! We need one in white!

We also see a lovely red speeder that Luminara rides. That's something nice in this series, the variety of speeder they have. Every planet has its own design.

Lego ships appearing: AT-TE, Republic Cruiser, Republic Dropship, ATT

Lego wishlist: Genosian Zombie, Hive Queen, and most specifically, Luminara's stylish speeder.

Next: Stupid worms in stupid noses

[Penitent Tangent]

Surprised to see you have such a low opinion of Weapons Factory, it was one of my favourite episodes of an already excellent season. It had some good action scenes, great character dynamics between Ahsoka and Barris Offee and the explosion scene at the end was very dramatic, to the point where it did seem like this might be the point they choose to kill off Ahsoka. (which would have been an odd choice in hindseight, but that just shows how well it was done).

[TheBrickHitHouse]

Such poor drama. The Clone Wars isn't even adequate as a children's tv show

As we know what happens there can be no drama - and everytime they introduce a new character that's not in ROTS it's so jarring and unconvincing

That said, show creates plenty of new potential Lego models. Not sure that works as a defence...

[Zzz]

Such poor drama. The Clone Wars isn't even adequate as a children's tv show

As we know what happens there can be no drama - and everytime they introduce a new character that's not in ROTS it's so jarring and unconvincing

That said, show creates plenty of new potential Lego models. Not sure that works as a defence...

Partly agree here. I am just afraid vehicles (not the sets but the actual designs) that first appear in the TV show are just not on the same level as the ones we know from the movies. They usually remind me more of something that should be in a badly designed Nintendo 64 video game. Doesn't really give me the Star Wars feel.

[XimenaPaulina]

Legacy of Terror was a meh episode for me. I never liked the whole zombified-theme of the whole epi. I also noticed something strange about Luminara's attitude in this one, I think she was kinda too reckless for a jedi when she went hurriedly to find Poggle. Even more surprising is the rest of the jedi allowed her to do it with just one clone accompanying her.

We also see a lovely red speeder that Luminara rides. That's something nice in this series, the variety of speeder they have. Every planet has its own design.

These two are long overdue for remakes - the Luminara minifig and an updated and accurate BARC speeder.

[Penitent Tangent]

Such poor drama. The Clone Wars isn't even adequate as a children's tv show

As we know what happens there can be no drama - and everytime they introduce a new character that's not in ROTS it's so jarring and unconvincing

That said, show creates plenty of new potential Lego models. Not sure that works as a defence...

I'm not sure what you're trying to get at here. Like I said in my last post, I actually thought these episodes focusing on Ahsoka worked very well, mainly because she is a character with an unwritten future. I understand where you're coming from about their being a lack of drama when the episodes focus on characters we already know, but in those cases they tend to put more of a focus on interesting stories. The ones featuring the Mandalorians, for example were excellent despite having Obi-Wan feature prominantly. It was at least an aspect of his character we hadn't seen before.

As for new characters being jarring, I don't see why. We didn't see all the Jedi Knights in Episode III, there are allegedly still hundreds of them at that point, why is it so unbeleivable we simply don't see them in the movie? It is a war after all.

Ahsoka is the only character that raises questions.. But questions that will likely be answered by the end. Perhaps she falls to the darkside, perhaps she's off on a mission, perhaps she's killed. Personally, I think it would have been far more jarring in Episode III if Anakin randomly mentioned a dead Jedi, when so many others have obviously been killed during the war. The Expanded Universe frequently has continuity problems due to introducing new characters or plot elements that make next to no sense, far more and far worse than the CW ever has.

[Rufus]

For ships, there was mostly just more of the same, but I'm always thrilled to see the Republic Cruisers, which appear all the time in this series! We need one in white!

Wow. I hadn't realised how much bigger than the gunships the Republic Cruiser is. The Lego version of the gunship is taller than the cruiser. I'd love to see another Lego cruiser - easily one of my favourite SW Lego sets.

def, you and Oky are doing a fantastic job on this Clone Wars review. I've only seen about four or five of these episodes, so it's great to have a Lego-orientated synopsis at our fingertips.

[Oky]

Episode 8: Brain Invaders

Victory on Geonosis! After a massive assault, the Republic has finally recaptured the Separatist planet and shut down its droid factories of doom. An investigation by Luminara Unduli led to the discovery of Queen Karina the Great, whose hive-mind could reanimate dead Geonosian soldiers.

During the destruction of the queen's temple, the Jedi apprehended her advisor Poggle the Lesser, and now prepare to deliver the villain to Coruscant for trial...

This is the last episode in the Geonosis storyline. After finally having captured poggle, Anakin, Obi, Ki-Adi, and Luminara bring Poggle to Coruscant, while Ahsoka and Barriss are sent to get supplies for Mace Windu's forces on Dantooine (nice little reference to the first Clone Wars mini-series there). The problem is that before departure, a worm crawls up one of the clones' nose, taking control of his brain and making him bring lots of worm eggs with him. Can you see where this is going? Yeah, this is another very cliche episode. Once on board, the clone spreads the worms to his brothers, and soon, they take control of the bridge and attack the two padawans, giving them a taste of Order 66. The girls are able to defend themselves and quickly find out what's going on. They split up and Ahsoka goes to call for help. This causes Anakin to go all Vader on Poggle and force him to reveal the worms' weakness by force-choking him. Meanwhile, Barriss gets infected too and attacks Ahsoka. She escapes though, and with Anakin's info, she's able to kill all the worms. Except for the one in Barriss for some reason, almost forcing Ahsoka to kill her, but she kills the worm instead. Later she wakes up in the medical station they were heading for, and after Kit Fisto tells them it was the worms that were responsible for the Geonosians recapturing their planet, Anakin has a comfort talk with her, telling her she did the right thing and that "letting go of our attachments is a difficult struggle" (Yeah, no duh, Vader ).

This episode was no better than the last one. Very cliche, with few surprises. It did have some decent action though, and watching Anakin go angsty is always sweet. 6/10

Most of the episode takes place on a medical frigate which would be an interesting ship to add to our Lego Republic fleets.

Pelta-class frigate

Also new are the space tug boats that help the frigate dock at the medical station. I really like these because they remind me of Gasgano's podracer and wouldn't mind a set of them, especially since they come with two clone pilots.

Tug Ship

There aren't really any new characters in this episode, but some interesting clones. For the first time, we can see clones in their PJs! Pajama trooper anyone?

Also, there are the infected clones with white eyes and worms coming out of their mouths, and Scythe, a clone with a neat tiger jaws tattoo on his forehead, both things that would make some interesting new clone head prints.

There is also a gray protocol droid with an interesting Open Circle Fleet paint job.

Lego ships appearing: Venator, Republic Gunship, Republic Attack Shuttle

Lego wishlist: Medical frigate, tug ship, Pajama trooper, infected or face tattoo clones, Republic protocol droid

[XimenaPaulina]

Nothing interesting in this episode, except for the part where Vader, er Anakin force-chocking Poggle. That is something I would like to see Anakin doing more in the series. He had one chance in the episode Bounty Hunters, but the good side prevailed in him (I'm not gonna spoil and just leave it to def and Oky when they do that epi's review). As far as the wishlist is concerned, it would be great to see a lego medical frigate, though highly unlikely due to its size (the best TLG can do is Tantive IV-missize).

[spitfire]

First of all good job def and oky wan for doing these reviews. If i hadn't found this topic i guess i had never watched more than four or so episodes (and while many of them are really stupid and lame, some almost have that genuine SW feeling). Well i guess that def isn't as harsh with ratings as he should be, but thats OK.

So far i have only seen three episodes from season two, but i have already noticed a grave mess up. In the first episodes the jedi are chasing holocron, but if the jedi have information of all force-sensitive children how come they didn't know Anakin existed before Qui-Gon found him on Tatooine. He is supposed to be the chosen one and most powerful jedi.

[The Legonater]

So far i have only seen three episodes from season two, but i have already noticed a grave mess up. In the first episodes the jedi are chasing holocron, but if the jedi have information of all force-sensitive children how come they didn't know Anakin existed before Qui-Gon found him on Tatooine. He is supposed to be the chosen one and most powerful jedi.

Ah... no. It was clearly noted that if Anakin had been in the Inner Rim he would have been noticed by the Jedi. But he was afr in the Outer Rim, where no one would have cared.

[spitfire]

Ah... no. It was clearly noted that if Anakin had been in the Inner Rim he would have been noticed by the Jedi. But he was afr in the Outer Rim, where no one would have cared.

Well i thought about that too, but then windu should have said: "anakin it is a real shame if all younglings in the inner rim die, but i am not putting much pressure on you because as you know the most powerful jedi live in outer rim.

[def]

Well i guess that def isn't as harsh with ratings as he should be, but thats OK.

Everyone's got their own point of view on it. The bottom line for me is that it's generally a watchable show, whereas almost all other cartoons I find unwatchable. There are a few that I can watch a few episodes of, but not many where I want to watch a season of it. So, perfect ratings should be rare, and so should failing ones. Most of the time, it's in the middle. If the show failed all the time, I just wouldn't bother watching it.

Anyway,

Episode 9: Grievous Intrigue

Diabolical defeat! Though Republic victories outnumber their losses, the Jedi have been unable to stop Separatist advances in the Outer Rim. The ever-elusive General Grievous stays one step ahead of his opponents. With thousands of droid armies at his command, the Jedi can never predict where Grievous will strike next until now...

Grievous is back! And I'm happy to see his MagnaGuards and commando droids. This is the first of a two-parter, and the episode certainly starts off on the right foot. A balls to the wall battle as Grievous boards a Jedi ship and captures new Jedi Eeth Kith, in a scene that highlights what kind of scene was missing between episode one and two of this season. Afterward, Grievous taunts the Jedi Council via hologram, and the Jedi are alerted to his location. Obi Wan, Anakin and another new Jedi, Adi Gallia, spearhead a rescue. The mission is entirely implausible, sending in a small fleet to rescue a single guy, but that's the episode.

Once it's going, though, there is a lot of eye candy. Grievous boards Obi Wan's ship, and they have a light saber battle in Grievous' full four-armed glory, which is interspersed with Anakin trying to do a stealth rescue mission on Grievous' ship. Anakin takes on a dozen or so commando droids, with a little assistance from Gallia, and pulls his rescue off.

In the end, nothing much has changed from the start of the episode, except some droids and clones are taken out. A bunch of clones' lives in return for one Jedi. Yes, I'd be bitter if I were a clone. If the show had better writers, they could spin some good drama out of it. But, this show has very so-so writers and they don't really touch it. Anyway, this is the first major battle between Obi Wan and Grievous, and they dedicate a fair amount of time to it, so that's something I liked. On the downside, Grievous' escape is cheap. He pushes clones out of the way, rather than snapping their necks. It's a kids' show. The new Jedi were pretty bland, even if they were new species as far as Jedi are concerned. Good action, a little stupidity, but not much fluff. A good episode if you check your brain at the door. Rating: 7/10

Two characters debuted in this episode, the first is a Jedi of Darth Maul's species, Eeth Koth. Apparently he was in Attack of the Clones, but he obviously wasn't very noticeable. In this episode, he proves to be pretty useless. Kind of like Darth Maul

The second Jedi in the episode was marginally better, Adi Gallia. Again, it turns out she had a non-speaking, forgettable part in Attack of the Clones. She's not incompetent, but Anakin does all the heavy work, and the episode could easily have been done without her. She seems to be there to give the animators a change of pace.

There is one ship, a Clone Wars era shuttle they used, listed as "a retrofitted ambassadorial shuttle". It's different from Palpatine's Revenge of the Sith shuttle though. I like it!

Again, there are lots of Republic cruisers, as well a small separatist fleet.

LEGO ships appearing: None, I think. There are frigates and cruisers which look a lot like the diplomatic cruisers and Venators, but they are not quite the same. Plus the tactical droid and commando droids we're still waiting for from last year.

LEGO wishlist: Eeth Koth, Adi Gallia, Ambassador Shuttle

Next: Sexy Twi'lek on the farm