Star Wars Retrospective #4
Released:
– 2008-2014, 2020
– 7 seasons, 133 episodes (+20 more episodes adapted into other media)
“So certain of defeat, are you, hmm?” […] “Deceive you, eyes can. In the Force, very different each one of you are. Rys, always focused on the enemy are you. For inspiration, look to yourself and those beside you. Jek, concerned about weapons you are. Weapons do not win battles. Your mind, powerful it is, hmm. Outthink the droids you can. Thire, rush not into fights. Long is the war, only by surviving it will you prevail. Yes, hm. Clones you may be, but the Force resides in all life forms. Use it you can to quiet your mind.”
Now it’s time to launch into the first season… even though going chronologically means we have a couple Season 3 episodes up next, haha. But since they otherwise take place in Season 1’s timespan, I’ll include them as such here.
3×01. “Clone Cadets” – We start off with a bit of an unusual episode, in that there isn’t any real danger here; just the clones struggling to work together to cooperate and complete their training. More unusual still in that this focuses on Domino Squad, who will turn out to be short-lived anyway. But it’s good stuff all the same. If nothing else, I do love Kamino as a setting.
3×03. “Supply Lines” – I… barely remember this episode. In contrast to most of the episodes this season that I could recall at least somewhat well, this one had largely slipped from my memory. I like King Katuunko as a character; he paints the Toydarians in a much warmer light after seeing the sleazy Watto. That’s one neat thing about Star Wars, that occasionally, certain races which were shown in an unflattering light initially are later seen more favourably; the Tusken Raiders also come to mind.
1×01. “Ambush” – This is my favourite episode out of the first several, and in fact one of the best of Season 1. 🙂 There’s some great action here, and the Trade Federation droids are always a joy; they’re just so funny that I can’t help but love them. But the most memorable scene is a quiet one when Yoda and the clones find shelter in the cave, and he takes the moment to give them all a much-needed pep talk and explains the Force to them. It’s the perfect example of one of those ‘magical’ moments in Star Wars; it gives you an uplifting feeling when you watch it and you just have a sense of wonder and enchantment.
1×02. “Rising Malevolence” – The Malevolence is a cool and creative superweapon, and makes for a good plot hook right off the bat. Honestly, it’s nice just to have a superweapon in Star Wars that amounts to something other than destroying planets for a change. This episode also makes me appreciate Plo Koon.
1×03. “Shadow of Malevolence” – Now that the heroes know what they’re up against, they engage the vile General Grievous head on to take out his dastardly weapon of doom and destruction! We can again see how much Anakin has matured from Attack of the Clones. Losing horribly to Dooku didn’t destroy Anakin’s confident (and sometimes overconfident) personality, but it does seem to have fed him a slice of humble pie all the same, as he’s otherwise much less arrogant here (for now, at least). I also love how he calls Ahsoka “Snips”. That’s such a cute nickname. Initially it was a derogatory name but it quickly becomes an affectionate one.
1×04. “Destroy Malevolence” – Another nice thing about my rewatch is that there are things I genuinely forgot about and was able to rediscover all over again. Here, I remembered the general Malevolence plotline, but I forgot some of the details along the way. Namely, I forgot how they actually destroyed the Malevolence; it was neat to watch the episode again and genuinely wonder how they’d be able to take down the ship. Aside from that, the Malevolence arc largely functions to establish Dooku and Grievous as the major antagonists they’ll be for most of the series.
1×05. “Rookies” – The memorable follow-up outing for Domino Squad (rest in peace), who manage to be one of the best parts of the earlier episodes. The episode also benefits from the tense and claustrophobic setting of the Rishi moon station.
1×06. “Downfall of a Droid” – I like the quirky premise of an evil R2-D2 counterpart showing up to cause mischief and mayhem, even if I do feel they could’ve gone a bit further with it. Gha Nachkt is funny too. It’s also sweet to see how much Anakin cares about R2 even though he’s only a droid.
1×07. “Duel of the Droids” – See above. This manages to increase the compelling factor since it culminates in the tense mission to destroy Skytop Station while Ahsoka recklessly takes on Grievous. The highlight is the titular duel between R2 and Goldie.
1×08. “Bombad Jedi” – Ah, the infamous Jar Jar episode. Although I actually think this one is pretty good; in fact, I laughed out loud a few times. It’s cute, harmless fun. The truly enjoyable part here is C-3PO and Padme’s deadpan exasperation at the nonsense they have to put up with. I also love when Jar Jar accidentally smashes the ship in half with the magnet; it’s such an absurd thing for him to do even by his standards.
1×09. “Cloak of Darkness” – Now this was definitely a loaded and action-packed episode! Already we’re veering into much darker territory after a light-hearted opening to the Nute Gunray arc. It’s interesting in that I didn’t find this one to be all that memorable when I originally saw it years ago, but it’s since grown into probably my favourite episode of Season 1 (behind “Hostage Crisis”, but I’ll cover that in S3). I also forgot that Argyus was a traitor, and that he himself is betrayed and killed by Ventress at the end of the episode. I always liked Nute Gunray as a villain too, even back in The Phantom Menace, but this episode especially does a great job of showing just how slimy and scummy he is.
1×10. “Lair of Grievous” – Another surprisingly dark episode for being so early in the series. It’s always appreciated when the show focuses on minor/supporting characters who otherwise had little to no focus in the films. We also see some tension between Grievous and Dooku, suggesting that one of them might have eventually turned on the other, which is interesting even if nothing ultimately came of it.
1×11. “Dooku Captured” – Hondo!! I was looking forward to this one for quite a while just for him alone. Albeit I don’t have much to say about the episode aside from that. Anakin and Obi-Wan getting stuck in the cave fighting off that creature and then escaping the poison gas is another thing I’d completely forgotten about.
1×12. “The Gungan General” – Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Dooku all captured at the same time and being forced to work together makes for a great scenario; I don’t think we ever saw anything like this again in the series. Jar Jar shows up to save the day and, as per usual, annoys everyone around him but still manages to bumble his way to victory. Oh, and did I mention how much I like Hondo? 🙂
1×13. “Jedi Crash” – As with “Supply Lines”, this one I don’t recall much at all. The beginning and the middle I’d forgotten entirely; it wasn’t until they reached the village with the monkey creatures that I began to remember anything, and even there, the monkeys were probably the only thing I did remember. But it’s a great premise; I loved seeing the heroes crash land on an eerie, hostile planet and having to scavenge for survival.
1×14. “Defenders of Peace” – This one I recall a little better than the previous. I definitely remembered that sleazy Neimoidian who shows up to ruin everyone’s day. Much of the rest of it was still a blur, but again, I’ve been enjoying in my rewatch that I don’t recall everything. The second half of this arc isn’t quite as strong as its first half. I liked it more when it was just the characters getting stranded and exploring a mysterious new world. But here it becomes a slightly more generic “defend the vulnerable villagers” plot. Still an enjoyable episode overall though, and it touches upon the questionable morality of the war that our heroes are fighting.
1×15. “Trespass” – Now this episode I don’t remember at all. The only episode of the season that I have no recollection of whatsoever. Which is strange because this was hardly a “forgettable” episode or anything; one of the highlights of this season, in fact. I am also a sucker for snow/winter settings in general.
1×17. “Blue Shadow Virus” – Yay, we get to visit Naboo again! Aside from that, this one has a great story hook with the titular virus, but the execution is patchy. I love the idea of a strange virus/pandemic needing to be stopped, and the whole quarantine thing is unnerving. But somehow, the situation just didn’t feel as tense as it could’ve been…
1×18. “Mystery of a Thousand Moons” – …that, and it feels like they mashed two completely different storylines together. We have the thing with the virus. And then there’s the situation on Iego, how the residents believe the system is haunted by a phantom ruler who won’t let anyone leave. It’s a fascinating concept. I especially love the surreal atmosphere when Anakin and Obi-Wan first arrive on the planet, with the idle reprogrammed Separatist droids wearing face paint and then they meet Jaybo. It’s a really cool scene, and could’ve been a great setup for a creepy mystery about the malevolent, ghostly ruler of Iego. But alas, there just isn’t enough time to fully develop it. Ah well. I still enjoyed this story arc otherwise. It just needed to be better fleshed out; it probably would’ve worked better as a 3-parter or 4-parter.
1×19. “Storm Over Ryloth” – In itself this was a good story arc to close out the season with. The invasion of Ryloth is suitably epic in scale, and there’s more intricacy in the planning and details of the skirmish compared to most of the other battles up to this point. Yet… I find this arc to be more standard and run-of-the-mill for some reason. (Relatively speaking, that is. There’s no TCW episodes I consider to be bad; they’re all decently enjoyable at worst.)
1×20. “Innocents of Ryloth” – The best of the Ryloth trilogy. Seeing the Twi’lek villagers up close adds more intimacy to the situation, and Numa’s interactions with Waxer and Boil are genuinely endearing. Also, it’s a fairly minor moment, but near the end when the droid commander is about to blast Obi-Wan and Numa with the tank, he gives this ridiculous robotic monotone evil laugh; it sounds so cheesy yet funny and I love it.
1×21. “Liberty on Ryloth” – Mace Windu is the most interesting part of this episode. Perhaps ironically since I’m not the biggest fan of his character overall. Yet here we see how genuinely heroic and selfless he can be, and seeing him like this really makes me want to like him more. I enjoyed him in the Prequel Trilogy after all. But alas, TCW really shows off his darker side, and he does several things throughout the series (starting with the very next episode even) which make him hard to sympathize with. But more on that next time.
Overall, while it may be slightly rough around the edges in places, this is still a solid and enjoyable first season. And in a way that’s a good thing, as it only means the show will just keep getting better and better as it goes.
See you guys next season.
