A Friend In Need

Last night, the worst episode in the history of The Clone Wars aired. It was full of flirting, death, humour and even more flirting. The episode should have been called "A Traitorous Idiot In Need."

Lux Bonteri crashed a meeting between the Separatists and the Republic, then got thrown out. Ahsoka, recognizing the boy, ran after him and saved him from being killed by commando droids. When they were safely off-planet, Lux told her that he had a mission to complete and couldn't go with her to Coruscant. He then tazered her and took control of the ship, convincing Artoo that Ahsoka was just tired. (This made me EXTREMELY mad. I hadn't thought I could hate him more than I already did until he knocked out my favorite character.)

When she woke up, Lux had landed them on a snowy planet, stolen her lightsabers and left the ship. Upon following him, she discovered that he was in legue with Death Watch, the mandolorian terrorist group. Thinking quickly, she introduced herself as Lux's "betrothed". This act probably saved her life, but why couldn't she have chosen, "friend"?

When they got back to the Death Watch camp, I hadn't thought things could get much worse until Lux kissed her. And I don't mean a little kiss on the cheek. He kissed her full on the lips. Yes, it was only to silence her and keep up the act, but ugh! It was quite obvious that he wanted to in the first place. Ahsoka was sent away to work in the kitchens with some girls that they had kidnapped in a neighboring village while Lux showed Pre Visla the device they could use to track down Count Dooku.

During dinner, the chief of the tribe that they had kidnapped burst in, demanding that they free the women. Visla agreed saying that they would do so the next morining. Lux was convinced that they would keep their word, but Ahsoka wasn't so sure. She was correct. The next morning, Visla killed the chief's granddaughter and order the Death Watch to set the villagers' houses on fire. Ahsoka was forced to blow her cover and attempted to stop the Death Watch. As she didn't have a very good weapon, she was quickly defeated and dragged back to the camp.

Visla ordered her excecution, much to Lux's horror, but Artoo, who had been repairing droids, came to the rescue. He created a distraction and gave Ahsoka her lightsabers, enabling her to free herself. She dueled Visla, darksaber against two lightsabers and was able to hold her own quite well, however I'm not sure that the reverse grip is the best grip for dueling. She, Lux and Artoo escaped on a speeder, but Bo-Katan, a female Mandolorian, jumped onto the speeder. Ahsoka dueled her in hand-to-hand combat before finally pushing her off into the snow.

*shivers* Now for the worst part of the entire episode...

When they were finally on the ship and away from the Death Watch, Artoo registered that an escape pod had been activated. Ahsoka found Lux getting ready to launch away from the ship. Ahsoka asked him to stay, but he told her that he needed to go find his own destiny and all that sappy stuff. Then after looking into each other's eyes, Lux blasted off into space, hopefully never to be seen again.

(I'm skipping the interesting scenes and going straight into a rant.)

Lux needs to die. Or something. After this episode, I don't think I can stomach seeing him again. The looks that they were giving each other, the hand holding, the kiss and the sappy scene at the end... ugh. Ahsoka was acting like a lovesick teen! Is it possible for a character to be out of character even if it's in canon? Because if it is, then I'd definetly say Ahsoka was out of character. I was really disappointed in this entire episode. I'd give it a 2/10, and thats because there was one funny line ("Try not to choke on your stupidity") and Artoo was awesome. :)

Coming up:

I smell deception...

http://www.starwars.com/explore/the-clone-wars/ep415/

~Starwarsartist

The Umbara Arc

The Umbara Arc

After an episode like Nomad Droids, (which is my least favorite episode of the season) I had my doubts about the Umbara arc. To be honest, clones didn't really interest me, and I was sure that we were in for a boring few episodes.

Boy was I wrong.

The Umbara arc started off with "Darkness on Umbara." Anakin and the 501st, along with Obi-Wan and the 212th legion had been sent to the planet Umbara to try to free it from separatist control. A few new clones were introduced, Dogma and Tup, who proved to be vital to the storyline later on.

After being saved by General Pong Krell, the 501st was informed that Anakin had been given orders to return to Coruscant, and that Krell would temporarily be replacing him in command of the 501st. Anakin grudgingly followed orders, and the clones soon learned that General Krell was nothing like General Skywalker.

Krell had a very low opinion of clones, and seemed to barely tolerate them. His plan of attack on the capital completely contradicted Anakin's: a full forward assault on the capital, taking a route that would leave them vulnerable.

Rex tried to reason with the general, but he wouldn't hear of it. ARC trooper Fives made his opinion known from the beginning: he didn't like the Besalisk Jedi.

The clones marched on for twelve hours straight, weary and in need of rest. But they would not get rest- the Umbarans attacked only a little while later. With very advanced weapons, the clones were badly outnumbered, and Krell refused to let them fall back.

Finally, with men dying by the dozens, Rex gave the order to retreat. Krell was furious. The route they had been using had been compromised, and the general blamed Rex. When Fives told Krell that Rex had saved the platoon, he was surprise to find a lightsaber at his neck, and ordered to stand down. Rex stood his ground. He told Krell that he had followed orders, even though he thought the plan was severely flawed. He reminded the Jedi that as sure as he had a duty to remain loyal to Krell, he also had a duty to protect the men. Krell noted Rex's opinion, but shortly after that, the Umbarans attacked again. They could no longer focus on rude generals, they had to focus on living to fight another day.

The General

The Umbarans had nearly unbeatable starfighters. During a lull in the battle, Rex urged his men to safety. For the first time, injured clones were seen.

Out of the way of the fighting, General Krell received word of an airbase near their position. It was vital that they take control of it. He ordered the troops to move toward those coordinates. They were to engage the Umbarans in another full forward assault in a narrow gorge.

When the clones heard of the plan, they began to voice their opinions on Krell's leadership. Five was especially harsh, and accused Rex of wanting to calm the troops so they could march blindly to their deaths. But there was nothing either one of them could do, so the troops marched on.

Soon after, they found themselves face to face with monstrous weapons. The Umbaran tank crawler was able to take heavy fire and not be destroyed, but the clones discovered that rocket launchers could destroy them, as well as detonators.

Unfortunately, that was nothing compared to what would happen next.

MRC juggernauts were much stronger than the tanks, and could take several missiles and not be destroyed. The clones were trapped, and taking heavy casualties. But Krell ordered them not to fall back. They were to take the airbase, no matter what the cost. Fives, Jesse, even Kix, the medic resented Krell more than ever. But Rex had an idea. He would send Hardcase and Fives on a mission to infiltrate the airbase, steal Umbaran fighters, then blow up the tanks with their own fighters.

Krell was furious. He ordered Rex to continue with his assault. But Rex trusted Fives and Hardcase to succeed.

Fives and Hardcase scaled a strange tree-like plant in order to get over the fence surrounding the airbase. Avoiding any Umbarans, they climbed into the strange fighters, which were controlled by touch alone. Barely able to control the fighters, they steered them back toward the gorge.

The rapid-fire weapons blasted the MRCs to pieces, allowing the clones to break through the defenses and take the airbase. Even Krell was impressed by this victory, calling it luck. He shrugged off the comments that the battles cost them a lot of lives, saying that is the price for such victory.

Plan of Dissent

Although the airbase had been captured, Krell received bad news from Kenobi: the Umbarans were now getting supplies from a ship in orbit. The supply ship was nearly as well protected as the capital. Obi-Wan's hologram dissolved; the Umbarans appeared to be jamming the transmission. Krell informed Rex that they would continue the attack on the capital, ignoring his suggestion that they coordinate their attack with Kenobi's.

The clones didn't take the news well. Jesse called it another suicide mission while Tup suggested Krell had it in for clones. Dogma insisted that Krell had everything under control. Rex didn't like the plan either, but he had no other ideas. Fives suggested that they use the Umbaran fighters to sneak past the blockade and take out the supply ship.

Rex brought this plan to Krell, but the Jedi disagreed, saying the troops weren't pilots and he wasn't going to waste troops on little adventures. When Rex informed Fives, Jesse and the others that the assault on the capitol would continue, Fives suggested that they go ahead with their plan anyway. The others agreed, but Rex refused. Fives was persistent, saying that this was about more than following orders, and that he couldn't follow orders he knew were wrong. He then turned his back on Rex and went to round up some pilots.

In the hanger, Hardcase tested out one of the fighters. He then succeeded in knocking over the other fighters, scattering racks of supplies and blasting the door to the hanger into oblivion. The commotion brought Krell to the hanger, suspiciously asking what had happened. The clones covered by saying they had found a booby trap in the fighters and had saved the hanger. Krell stated that the fighters were dangerous and ordered them to be locked down. However, Jesse, Fives and Hardcase weren't about to let that stop them.

Shortly after that, three starfighters rose into the air and shot into the clouds.

When Dogma discovered they were gone, he was set to tell the General so he could say that he wasn't apart of their plan. But he was thwarted by Rex, who told the Jedi that the launch of the fighters was a recon mission that he authorized.

Fives, Hardcase and Jesse flew the fighters directly into the space battle. The Umbarans thought they were on their side, so they entered the supply ship through the hanger, flying toward the main reactor. However, the droids were alerted to their presence and raised a shield around the reactor. Someone would have to destroy it manually, and Hardcase took the task, telling the other two to leave. He entered the reactor room through a hatch and destroyed it using a missile pod. His sacrifice enabled the destruction of the ship.

However, General Krell was waiting when the remaining clones returned to the surface. He didn't care that they blew up the supply ship. They disobeyed his orders, and in Krell's eyes, that meant serious punishment. Fives and Jesse faced being court-martialed or even execution.

Carnage of Krell

Krell made up his mind that time was too short to court-martial Jesse and Fives. He ordered Rex to execute them immediately. Rex couldn't disobey him.

Fives and Jesse were disgusted by Krell's choice, but they were resigned to their fate. Krell watched from the tower as the firing squad lined up in front of the prisioners. As they were about to fire, Fives argued that no clone should have to die like that, and that they shouldn't have to follow orders that they knew were wrong. The squad fired- but not at the prisoners. Every shot went wide. Fives and Jesse were returned to the brig, but they were still alive.

Krell was livid at Rex's actions and warned him not to cross him. Just then, a transmission came through, warning them that the Umbarans may have stolen the clone's armour and were planning a massive attack. Krell reminded Rex that the Umbarans might try to trick them by wearing clone armour and they set out again.

Tup warned Dogma not to step on the Vixus's tentacles, remembering how it attacked Hardcase, but just then, blue laserfire came their way- it appeared that the Umbarans had stolen armour after all. Heavy causalities were sustained before Rex noticed a body off to the side, clad in armor from the 212th legion. Under the helmet was a clone face. It was only then that he realized that these were clones as well. They were fighting their own brothers.

Horrified, he ran back out into battle, pulling off his helmet and shouting that they were fighting their own men. For a few more terrifying minutes, blasterfire sprayed around, but then Rex pulled off the helmet of a 212th legion clone and revealed the truth.

Everyone was horrified and confused, until a dying clone, Waxer, revealed that General Krell had sent them to this location, warning them that the enemy had stolen clone armour. Now they knew who was behind all this- but they didn't know why. Rex proposed that they arrest Krell for treason against the republic. They returned to the airbase, freed Jesse and Fives from the brig, then moved in on the tower.

Upon hearing that he was to be arrested, Krell sent all the clones flying against the wall with a four-way Force push, then unleashed his fury and power with his double bladed lightsabers. He then crashed through the window, and escaped, killing everyone who stood in his way.

When the clones made to go after him, they were stopped by Dogma, who stated that he had a duty. Rex replied that he had once thought being a good soldier meant doing everything they told him to do, but he had to learn to make his own decisions. Dogma relented and was taken to the brig.

The clones spread out to look for Krell. The dark Jedi's voice rang out through the forest, stating that he had been using them. He then leaped from the darkness and began slaughtering the clones again, first using his lightsabers, then his brute strength. He picked up Tup and threw him near the Vixus. Tup then got an idea and told Rex to lure Krell toward him. The clones did so, and Krell fell into Tup's trap. He was picked up the the Vixus's tenacles; now he had the  clones and the Vixus to deal with. He managed to free himself from the Vixus, but was stunned by Tup.

In the brig, Krell was questioned by Rex. Why would the General kill his own men? Krell's answer was chillingly simply. "Because I can." He said he was no longer naive enough to be a Jedi. He told them that he had forseen a new power rising. The Jedi would lose the war and the republic would fall. He would rule as part of a new order. Dooku would reward him for driving the republic from Umbara.
When Dogma asked him how he could betray him, after he had followed all of his orders, Krell's response was that Dogma was the biggest fool of them all.He counted on blind loyalty to make his plans succeed. He then told them that the Umbarans would retake the airbase and free him.

Outside the brig, Appo reported that they had repaired the transmitter, which had been sabotaged. General Kenobi had captured the capital, and like Krell had said, the Umbarans were headed for the airbase. Rex ordered all the clones to the perimeter, then pondered on what to do about Krell. If the Umbarans freed him, he'd give them all the access codes and strike a devastating blow to the republic. They decided he was too dangerous to be left alive.

Back in the brig, Dogma was freed from his cell and Rex ordered Krell to turn around, then to get on his knees. He drew his blaster, but Krell taunted him, saying he could feel Rex's fear. He sneered that he couldn't kill him. Then a blaster bolt struck Krell in the back, killing him. But it wasn't Rex that had killed him. It was Dogma.

Soon after, the news came that the last of Umbarans had been taken care of and all sectors had been secured. Umbara had been won, but Rex wondered what was the point of it all.


Interesting Scenes:

Krells flaming eye: In The General, near the end, they showed Krell standing on the ridge, his eyes reflecting fire. They were bright yellow, and I now know that it was hinting that Krell was evil.

Polar opposites: In Darkness on Umbara, Anakin orders the clones to get some rest. Later on, when Krell is in charge, he forbids them to rest.

Shadows of Episode III: Carnage of Krell was an episode of forshadowing. When the 212th an 501st legions were fighting, did anyone else think of Anakin vs Obi-Wan? (212th: Obi-Wan. 501st: Anakin.) Then theres the scene in the tower when Rex goes to arrest Krell. Windu and Palpatine moment, much? Then when Dogma shot Krell... well since he's a Jedi and Dogma's a clone, that's obviously an Order 66 moment.

No.. everything's fine... How are you? Total A New Hope moment in Plan of Dissent. When Hardcase is flying the ship and Fives is on the comm with Krell, that reminded me of Han and the stormtrooper in A New Hope.

Carnage of Krell Deserved It's Name: After three episodes of seeing nothing of Krell but him bossing people around, I must say, I totally didn't see that slaughter coming. He is amazing with a lightsaber(s), despite the fact that I don't like him. He must have killed more clones than the Umbarans, if you count the fact that he made the 212th and 501st legions fight each other.

Hardcase and Hevy: Both clones were a lot alike. They both liked heavy weapons, befriended Fives, and died heroically.

Change of Heart: Dogma switched sides rather quickly. He went from being Krell's biggest supporter to killing him in one episode. I wonder what happened to him.

Visions of the Future: In Carnage of Krell, the dark Jedi told Rex that he had seen the future and that he was not longer naive enough to be a Jedi. Was it out of fear of what would happen that he left the Jedi Order? Or was he simply a power-hungy monster?

Favorite Quotes:

Darkness on Umbara:

"Anyone else want to stop and play with the animals?" -Krell.

"A plan that cost us men. Not clones, men!" -Rex.

"Does my battalion have to do everything?"
"You always seem to volunteer." - Anakin and Obi-Wan.

"Hey, where ya goin'?" -Hardcase.

The General:

"Well... I never actually thought that would work!" -Fives.

"Nice view." -Hardcase.

Plan of Dissent:

"I don't want anything else exploding." -Krell.

"You know, I'm only doing this because I don't like him."
"That's reason enough!"
"Haha, I'm just doing it for the fun!" -Jesse, Fives and Hardcase.

Carnage of Krell:

"I've offically lost my sense of humour." - Jesse.

"So... it's treason, then." -Krell.

"You should have listened to the ARC trooper from the beginning, Captain! He was right! I was using you!" -Krell.

Rating:

Needless to say, I've changed my opinion of clones. This arc was spectacular in every way, visually, vocally (Baker deserves a medal) and and plotwise. I'd rate Darkness on Umbara an 8, The General a 9, Plan of Dissent an 8 (poor Hardcase!) and Carnage of Krell a 10. Overall, I'd rate the arc a 9. Well done, Clone Wars team.


Kidnapped Preview:

The team is back!
Zygerrian slavers are behind the sudden disappearance of an entire colony of people on the planet Kiros. As Anakin and Ahsoka rush to defuse a series of bombs planted by the slavers, Obi-Wan must fight with their imposing leader.

My Halloween Costume

Since my latest obsession is Star Wars, I decided that I'm going to go trick-or-treating as a Jedi this year. My mom didn't want to spend 50 dollars on a store-bought costume, so we made one!

It was made from some old fabric my mom had laying around, and I'm using my brother's lightsaber. Not bad, eh?

~Starwarsartist 

Happy Birthday Little Sister!

It's my little sister, who I have nicknamed 'Kamikaze''s birthday today! I seriously cannot believe she's four now! (Partly because it seems like she was born yesterday, but mostly because she acts like a ten year old. ;)



Me and my clone. ;) Apparently I looked exactly like that when I was that age.



So, happy birthday Kamikaze- according to her, this is the best birthday ever! ;)





Don't let her cuteness fool you. ;)



Darth Maul lives!

Today, Lucasfilm has revealed a very large piece of information: Darth Maul, who was cut in half in The Phantom Menace, is in fact, alive.

Articles can be found HERE and HERE.

In Season 3 of Star Wars: the Clone Wars, Savage Opress, a zabrack trained in the dark side, was introduced as the brother of Maul. The Nightsister Mother Talzin, sent him on a journey to find his brother, who was supposedly dead.

Obviously not.

Until today, it had not been confirmed that Maul would be returning. Many suspected, of course, after seeing the face of Maul in Talzin's crystal ball, but the Clone Wars team had left us hanging until now.

Of course, this raises many questions about Maul; where has he been hiding all these years? Who else knows he's alive? Where does Savage fit into things? How did Talzin know he was alive? Will there be a fight between Maul and Obi-Wan Kenobi, who was responsible for his near death? And how did he survive the fall down that shaft?

“There’s a lot of ground that has not been covered as far as Darth Maul is concerned, so there’s a lot of room to grow with him,” Filoni says. “It’s all balanced with, ‘Boy, we’ve gotta make this really good because this is a really big deal.’”

Darth Maul will make his appearance in spring 2012, leaving plenty of time for us to speculate on this piece of news.

~Starwarsartist

New Fanfiction Chapter

Everyone has writers block at some point or another, right? Like not-updating-for-just-about-a-month type writers block? *Winces* Sorry. For those of you reading my story, Web of Lies, I finally got Chapter 18 up. Click here for chapter.

Click here for the prequel to Web of Lies.
I love reviews, BTW, so if you do read my stories, please reveiw them! :)

~Starwarsartist

Season 4 Episode 3: Prisoners

Prisoners!

The last episode of the Mon Calamari arc aired, and it was as good, if not better, than the previous two! Well I am sad it is over, I sat on the edge of my seat the whole time!

The episode started off with Tamson and a bunch of droids leading Anakin, Kit, Padme and Jar Jar to interrogation. Tamson expressed his frustration that he's caught two Jedi, a senator and a 'bumbling amphibian' but he hadn't caught the Prince. He then proceeded to snare Padme and Jar Jar in a type of prison, while Anakin and Kit were imprisoned in a trap of eels; where they would be electrocuted if a Quarren prodded the eels with a spear. Even with this new threat, the Jedi refused to talk.

Meanwhile, Prince Lee-Char and Ahsoka hid from the Quarren and aqua droids.They knew that with the Gungan army captured, they were on their own. Lee-Char told Ahsoka that the Mon Cala and the Quarren had always had a difficult relationship, but it wasn't until Riff Tamson showed up that the relationship completely fell apart. He explained that he wanted to rally the prisoners, Mon Cala, Gungan, Clones and Quarren, if they all fought together, they would outnumber the opponent. For this to work, they would need Captain Ackbar.

Tamson filled Count Dooku in on the little progress he had made the the interrogation. He remarked that the Jedi's resistance to pain was impressive. Dooku told him to use whatever means nessecary to get the information. Tamson brought in warriors from his homeworld and announced that he had the city under control.

Ahsoka and the Prince silently entered the prison camp. They found a group of Mon Cala and Kit Fisto's commander. Lee-Char told the Mon Cala that they would not be prisoners for much longer, and followed the commander to a safer place.

Tamson continued to torture the Jedi, but realizing that they wouldn't talk, he turned on Padme. He cracked her helmet with his powerful jaws and water started to trickle in. If the Jedi didn't talk, she would drown.

Ahsoka and Lee-Char followed the clone commander to where the Mon Cala senator and Captain Ackbar were. Lee-Char, with Ahsoka's help, convinced Ackbar that their plan would work. Ackbar agreed to rally the prisoners. Before Lee-Char and Ahsoka could leave again, they were surrounded by droids. Lee-Char demmanded to speak with Nossor Ri, the Quarren leader, and he and Ahsoka were taken away.

Tamson received word that the Prince had been captured and ordered the droids to bring him to the throne room, saying he wanted the Prince to see him in his rightful place, as ruler of Mon Cala. When Nossor Ri objected that that hadn't been in their arrangement with Count Dooku, Tamson only laughed, saying it had been his arrangement with the Count. Anakin told Tamson that he had to save Padme, but Tamson refused, and left. Anakin and Kit used the Force to create a air bubble around her helmet, but they were electrocuted again, and the bubble failed. Jar Jar used his waterproof spit to seal Padme's helmet, saving her.

Ahsoka and Lee-Char were brought before Nossor and Tamson. Tamson taunted the Prince, saying the Mon Cala were now his people, but the Prince stated that his people were all those of Dac, whether they be Quarren, or Mon Cala. His words seemed to reach Nossor, but Tamson frightened him into submission again, then told Lee-Char he had scheduled his public execution. Lee-Char pleaded one last time for Ri to help him.

Tamson brought the prisoners out to witness the execution. However, a Quarren came up to Ackbar, and told him that the Quarren had switched sides again and handed him a weapon. As the order came for Lee-Char to be killed, Nossor swam down and freed him. Ahsoka  freed herself, them her Master, giving him her lightsaber and he freed Padme. Tamson called in more droids as all the prisoners were freed.

It was now a battle between the Gungans, Mon Cala, Clones, Jedi and Quarren against the droids and the warriors from Tamson's planet. Tamson used a leathel weapon that was a cross between a knife and a detonator. He plunged the knife into his victem, them activated the bomb. He them came face to face with the Prince, and engaged in a battle with him. During the scuffle, Lee-Char managed to grab a knife/bomb from him. He hurled it at his shoulder, and Tamson couldn't remove it. He swam closer in an attempt to kill the Prince, but Lee-Char hit the detonator with blasterfire, killing Riff Tamson.

With the battle over, and the Quarren and Mon Cala reunited, Lee-Char was crowned King of Mon Cala.

Interesting Scenes

Jar Jar's spit is waterproof? When Tamson cracked Padme's helmet, Jar Jar used his spit to seal her helmet again. Gross, but weirdly effective.

Does Anakin's lightsaber have a tracking device? In the last episode, Anakin lost his lightsaber. At the end of the battle in this episode, he had it back. He didn't have enough time to go look for it, so how did he get it back? (I actually wouldn't be surprised if it had a tracking device, considering all the times he's lost it. ;))

This show is no longer for kids. At the end of the battle, Lee-Char blows Tamson up. You can see chunks of him floating around, and they show his head slowly sinking. There is no way that scene is for little kids.

Favorite Quotes:

"I think I'm getting the hang of this- ahh!"
"Not talking helps." - Anakin and Kit.

"Anything I can do?"
"Unfortunately, this time it's out of our hands."
"I don't think I like this plan after all..." - Anakin and Ahsoka.

"Ahh, eels. Very dangerous!" - Kit Fisto

Preview of 'Shadow Warrior'!

Anakin, Anakin... must you always get into trouble?

http://www.starwars.com/explore/the-clone-wars/ep404/

~Starwarsartist