Star Wars: The Clone Wars - S5E19 - "To Catch a Jedi"

This post contains spoilers.

Recently, I re-watched the Star Wars: The Clone Wars episode "To Catch a Jedi" (S5E19) and noticed an interesting detail.  Near the end of the episode, Barriss Offee (whose identity isn't revealed until the next episode) steals Asajj Ventress's mask and lightsabers and, disguised as Ventress, attacks Ahsoka Tano.  During the fight, she slashes a pipe so that the resulting exhaust temporarily stuns Ahsoka.

At first, I thought this was just a reference to a similar event in The Empire Strikes Back, where Luke directs exhaust from a cut hose in the carbon freezing chamber at Vader, creating enough of a distraction so that he can retrieve his fallen lightsaber, but it actually has a closer analogue in an earlier episode of The Clone Wars, and this holds greater significance.

In "Cloak of Darkness" (S1E9), there's a lightsaber duel between Luminara Unduli and Asajj Ventress in which Ventress does the same thing:  she cuts a pipe in the Jedi cruiser so that the steam compromises Luminara's vision.  Ahsoka was present at the duel (albeit the later stages), and since Barriss is Luminara's padawan, it's likely that she's familiar with it, too.  In "To Catch a Jedi," she adopts this move as an-other facet of her disguise and an-other way to make Ahsoka believe that she is Ventress.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars - S3E1 - "Clone Cadets"

Recently, I found a note I made about a detail in The Clone Wars episode "Clone Cadets" (S3E1).  At the time, I decided not to write about it because it seemed too small of a point, but since significant details (especially in Star Wars) are the sort of thing I've been focusing on lately, I thought I'd write about it now.

The episode follows a particular squad of clone troopers (Domino Squad) who are having trouble working together.  While watching the squad perform poorly in a training session, Shaak Ti remarks, "The one they call Echo never adapts to the situation," and the bounty hunter El-Les, who is helping the Jedi train the clones, comments, "CT-782 seems to follow his own path.  He can't do it all alone."  Two other clones argue with each other too much and are shot down by training droids, and the last clone surrenders when he's surrounded.  Shaak Ti then summarizes the squad's problem:  "If these cadets can't get past their short-sighted selfishness, they will never come together.  Unity wins war, gentlemen."

Later in the episode, Commander Colt comes to watch a few squads perform their final tests.  The squads meet him in a hangar, and after Bravo Squad is chosen as the first squad to run the simulation, the clones file out of the hangar.  As each squad turns in formation, the clones stomp their feet, but while the clones in the other squads all stomp their feet simultaneously, the clones of Domino Squad stomp their feet at different times.  In the shot, they're shown from the waist up, so it's easier to hear the various footfalls than see them.

This detail shows that the clones are still a bit too independent and aren't yet working together.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars - S4E15 - "Deception"

In my latest re-watch of The Clone Wars, I've reached the episode arc in season four where Obi-Wan Kenobi goes undercover as the bounty hunter Rako Hardeen.  I noticed some metaphorical significance in the staging of a particular scene in "Deception."

After Moralo Eval, Cad Bane, and Rako Hardeen have escaped from prison, they steal a police speeder to get to the docks to steal a ship and leave Coruscant.  Moralo Eval and Cad Bane take the front seats, leaving the back seat for Rako Hardeen:

Since this is a police speeder and the back seat is where criminals are detained, there are bars in the interior and on the canopy.  Visually, this represents Kenobi's situation.  His goal is to investigate a kidnapping threat against Chancellor Palpatine that Eval is allegedly involved with, and for the moment, he simply has to go along with Eval's plans in order to discover more information.  In the same way that he experiences this temporary lack of agency, he's confined in the prisoner's seat of the police speeder.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars - S2E15 - "Senate Murders"

This post contains spoilers.

In my latest re-watch of The Clone Wars, I recently watched "Senate Murders" and noticed some significant lighting in the climactic scene.

Lieutenant Divo suspects Senator Burtoni for the murders of Senator Farr and Senator Deechi, partially because the poison that killed Farr was developed by Kaminoans and Burtoni is a Kaminoan.  When Divo mentions that the poison affects only Rodians, however, Senator Amidala notes an inconsistency:  if the poison affects Rodians and the senatorial party all drank the poisoned drinks, Lolo would have been poisoned too.  As Amidala is considering this, Lolo is standing behind her, covered by her shadow:

As Amidala remembers that Lolo didn't drink, Lolo steps out from behind her, pulls a blaster on Amidala, and admits to the murders:

Lolo's standing in the shadow here represents two things.  On a simple level, it shows that she's trying to avoid the scrutiny of the investigation, but, more metaphorically, it also illustrates that her involvement has been obscured while Divo has been conducting his investigation and Amidala and Senator Organa have been doing their own.  None of them considered Lolo as a suspect until this moment, and when she steps out into the light, she reveals everything.  The shadow she's hiding in represents the characters' ignorance.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars - S2E14 - "Duchess of Mandalore"

After a bit of an unintentional break, I'm back to re-watching The Clone Wars.  I'd noticed before that in "Duchess of Mandalore," Duchess Satine doesn't accept the helping hand that one of her guards extends to her as she gets into her speeder, but when I watched the episode recently, I realized that this detail has significance.

Satine's not accepting her guard's help visually illustrates how extreme her independence has become.  Later, Obi-Wan confronts her about this:  "You need your friends with you, not held at arm's length.  In your quest to be self-reliant have you decided to cut your friends out of your life?"

Star Wars: The Clone Wars - S2E13 - "Voyage of Temptation"

Even before I got to season two of Star Wars: The Clone Wars in re-watching the show, I was thinking about the episode "Voyage of Temptation."  When I re-watched it recently, I was able to confirm what I'd suspected.

For most of this episode, Duchess Satine is wearing an elaborate headdress:

When Tal Merrick* takes her hostage, however, he knocks her headdress off:

When it appears as if Merrick is going to escape with her as his prisoner, Satine confesses her love for Obi-Wan:  "Obi-Wan, it looks like I may never see you again.  I don't know quite how to say this, but I've loved you from the moment you came to my aid all those years ago."

Satine's headdress represents the hidden nature of her feelings.  Only after it's been dislodged are they exposed.

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*There's some discrepancy in how Merrick's name is spelt.  In the credits, it's Merrick, but on the Star Wars website, it's Merrik.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars - S1E19 - "Storm over Ryloth"

Like I mentioned before, I'm re-watching Star Wars: The Clone Wars again.  On a separate blog, I'm in the midst of pedantically noting the show's references to the movies, so - for now - any other comments I have will be posted here.

I recently re-watched "Storm over Ryloth" (S1E19) and noticed some significant in-world framing.  After suffering heavy losses while trying to break through a blockade, General Skywalker's forces have retreated.  He comes up with a new plan and returns to the blockade, intending to ram the command ship with his own crippled cruiser.  Apparently just to stall before the rest of his troops arrive, Skywalker contacts the Separatist commander Mar Tuuk and feigns negotiations.  Only he and R2-D2 are onboard, but he says, "I've been ordered to surrender myself, the entire crew of this vessel, and my ship in exchange for safe passage of food and medical supplies to the people of Ryloth."

Skywalker's face almost completely fills the Separatists' screen, as if to disguise the fact that there is no crew behind him.

After a scan reveals only one life form, Mar Tuuk realizes that this is a trick and confronts him:  "Skywalker, what treachery is this!?  You have nothing to bargain with!"  He replies, "Heh, in that case, I'll be going.  Oh, you can still have my ship," and as he speaks, he steps backwards.  Since his ruse has been discovered, he no longer needs to hide the fact that his cruiser is empty.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars - S6E6 - "The Rise of Clovis"

About a year ago, I watched the Banking Clan arc of Star Wars: The Clone Wars (episodes 5 through 7 of season 6), and the following month, I realized some implications of a grammatical error that Padmé makes in episode 6, "The Rise of Clovis."

After Clovis repeatedly asks about the relationship between Padmé and Anakin, Padmé asserts that "there is nothing romantic between he and I."  The pronouns "he" and "I" are in the wrong grammatical case here; they should be "him" and "me."  Padmé's misuse of these pronouns illustrates that she's flustered because of Clovis' suspicion - or perhaps even discernment - of the romantic relationship that does indeed exist between the two.  It's also significant that Padmé separates herself from Anakin here; she says, "he and I" and not "us."

I should note that by no means do I expect characters' grammar to be perfect all of the time.  After all, some looseness in language is what makes dialogue seem realistic.  Since Padmé is a senator, however, and presumably has a high quality education, this is out of character.  The above is my in-world explanation, but it's likely that this error is simply the fault of the writer (Christian Taylor).  Earlier in this scene, Clovis makes the same error:  while searching through files in order to find out where missing funds have gone, he tells Padmé, "Whatever we find must remain between only you and I" (rather than "between only you and me").

For what it's worth, Obi-Wan Kenobi makes a similar error in "Hunt for Ziro" (S3E9, written by Steve Mitchell & Craig Van Sickle) when he tells Quinlan Vos, "As for this bounty hunter, Cad Bane, we must capture and return both he and his quarry Ziro to the courts."  "He" should be "him."

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I've also written about the other two episodes in this arc:  "An Old Friend" and "Crisis at the Heart."

Star Wars: The Clone Wars - S5E16 - "The Lawless"

This post contains spoilers.

In the Rebels Recon episode for the beginning of season four of Star Wars: Rebels, there were a few shots of Mandalore from Star Wars: The Clone Wars.  This reminded me of something I noticed about a particular shot in "The Lawless" but forgot to write about.

What had been the group Death Watch has split into two factions: those who are loyal to Darth Maul, who has taken over Mandalore, and those who refuse to let an outsider rule them.  Meanwhile, Maul uses Duchess Satine to lure Obi-Wan Kenobi to Mandalore, so he can have his revenge.  Bo-Katan, the leader of the Mandalorians who are against Maul, helps Kenobi escape and tells him to go back to the Republic and explain the situation, knowing that it will lead to a Republic invasion of Mandalore but also that such an invasion will remove Maul from power.

During Kenobi's escape, he and a group of Mandalorians encounter a giant, closed door.  As it opens, the camera angle tilts.  At first, the camera is level with the ground:

But as the shot goes on, the camera shifts so that everything is at an angle:

The shot as a whole illustrates the civil war that has beset Mandalore.  Previously, there had been stability, but now there is confusion.  Along with this shifting camera angle, the chaos is illustrated in the background, where Mandalorians are fighting each other and there are various blaster shots and explosions.

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While exploring the Star Wars: The Clone Wars episode guides on StarWars.com, I ran across a bit of trivia relevant to this episode.  In the Trivia Gallery for "The Mandalore Plot" (S2E12), it's explained that "The repeated cube imagery [on Mandalore] extends to the cubist painting seen in the various Mandalorian spaces, including an epic painting done in the style of Picasso's famous Guernica."  I don't recall seeing a Guernica-style painting in those season two episodes, but - even before I read that trivia - I thought I'd found a Guernica-style painting in this episode.  I noticed it the first time I saw the episode, but I wasn't convinced of its resemblance then.

The best view of the painting is provided by a wide-shot at the end of Sidious' lightsaber battle against Savage and Maul:

For comparison, here's Picasso's Guernica:

This article about the painting explains that Guernica was Picasso's response to the bombing of the city Guernica during the Spanish Civil War, so its appearance in this episode - also about a civil war - is fitting.  The article also provides a quote in which Picasso says that Guernica "clearly express[es] my abhorrence of the military caste which has sunk Spain into an ocean of pain and death."  This is similar to the pacifist view that the Mandalorian Duchess Satine held before she was killed by Maul in this episode.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars - S6E10 - "The Lost One"

The post contains general spoilers for Star Wars.

After a crashed shuttle containing Sifo-Dyas' lightsaber is found, the Jedi start looking into Sifo-Dyas' death, hoping they will learn how Sifo-Dyas ordered a clone army without their knowledge.  In their investigation, the Jedi discover that a file on Sifo-Dyas has been sealed by the office of the Supreme Chancellor.  Master Yoda visits the Chancellor to ask him about the file.

For most of their conversation, Chancellor Palpatine is standing so that his shadow falls on Yoda:

That the shadow falls where it does (which is certainly not coincidental since this is an animated show) illustrates Palpatine's deception of Yoda and the Jedi in general.  I'm not sure this has much relevance regarding the events in this specific episode, but Palpatine is definitely obscuring the Jedi's vision so that they don't discover his other identity as Darth Sidious.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars - S6E7 - "Crisis at the Heart"

The post might contains some spoilers.

While watching "Crisis at the Heart," I noticed an element of symbolism.  A droid starfighter shot down by a clone pilot crashes into the office where Clovis is desperately trying to convince Anakin and Padmé that it's Count Dooku who's deceiving them, not Clovis himself.  The office is at the top of a tower, which starts to tilt because of the damage it's sustained.  Anakin catches both Padmé and Clovis as they slide off the edge:

Significantly, he's holding Padmé with his remaining human arm (his left arm) and Clovis with his artificial arm (his right arm).  It's a bit difficult to tell because he's wearing gloves on both, but the glove on his artificial hand is a bit thicker and has what look like clasps:

The arms with which he's holding these two characters illustrate the different type of connection he has with each.  He has a very close relationship with Padmé, so he's holding her with his remaining human arm.  On the other hand (literally), he hasn't trusted Clovis throughout this arc of episodes (thinking he's too involved with the Separatists), so while he's holding him too, he holds him with his artificial arm, which symbolizes that distance between them.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars - S6E5 - "An Old Friend"

This post contains some spoilers.

After working with Rush Clovis to discover that the Banking Clan vaults have no money in them, Padmé Amidala is arrested for espionage.  Anakin Skywalker comes to free her, and when the prison door opens, there are two visual references to A New Hope.

First, there's Anakin's silhouette, which resembles Darth Vader's, particularly Vader's helmet.  I don't think this has any specific relevancy for this episode, but it is a foreshadowing (almost literally, since it's his silhouette) of what's to come.  When he steps into the room, his shadow becomes more rounded and loses this resemblance:

Second, there's Padmé's posture.  She's laying on a bench in a prison cell in the same way that Princess Leia is when she's imprisoned on the Death Star:

I've watched the whole Star Wars: The Clone Wars series twice now, and I've noticed a lot of little references to the Star Wars movies.  Many of these are pretty obvious, so I didn't feel they were worth writing about, but since this scene has two and because they're a bit more subtle, I thought I'd write about them.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars - S6E3 - "Fugitive"

In re-watching Star Wars: The Clone Wars, I recently began season six (although since season five, I've been watching the episodes in English again because I've seen seasons five and six only once).  I noticed a small detail in episode three, "Fugitive."

Having heard from AZ that his mind is going to be wiped, Fives escapes the custody of his fellow clone troopers, taking AZ with him and stealing the chip that was removed from Tup's head.  Later, they sneak back into the medical facility in order to "continue our research," as AZ puts it.  Convinced that there's a chip inside his own head, Fives tells AZ, "You have to take it out."  However, AZ is hesitant and tells Fives that it's a "dangerous surgery" and "you may die," to which Fives replies, "It's a chance I have to take.  I trust you."

Throughout the episode, AZ's mouth lights up when he's speaking.  But after Fives tells him, "I trust you," it lights up without his saying anything and stays lit for a few seconds before he finally says, "All right, I will do it."

Because it's been established that a lit mouth is a speaking mouth (in other words, an open mouth), AZ's mouth being lit here without his saying anything is the droid equivalent of his mouth hanging open in surprise.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars - S1E9 - "Cloak of Darkness"

This post contains spoilers.

A couple months ago, I started re-watching Star Wars: The Clone Wars from the beginning.  Rather than just watch the episodes again, I'm watching them with the French audio to try to improve my French.

I recently watched the four-episode Geonosis arc in season two, which got me thinking about "Cloak of Darkness" from season one (the first episode Luminara Unduli is in, as more than just a hologram, at least).  I'd watched it weeks before, but it was only recently that I realized something about the fight between Commander Gree and Captain Argyus.

Early in the fight, Argyus kicks Gree, dislodging his helmet.  The remainder of the fight is between a helmeted Argyus and a helmet-less Gree:

Their respective head gear reveals their characters.  Argyus is the leader of the senate commandos, but he's betrayed the Republic and is helping Nute Gunray escape.  He seems more concerned with himself than either side of the war though, telling Gree that he wanted "a life with more than empty servitude" and gloating to Gunray after a successful escape that "I'll be a legend for this."  His shifting loyalty is represented by his retaining his helmet, which obscures his face:

Gree, on the other hand, is steadfastly loyal to the Republic.  When Gunray tries to bribe him at the beginning of the episode (saying "I am a man of great wealth, and I can be very generous to my allies"), he doesn't even consider it, and he's indignant about Argyus' betraying the Republic.  There's no deception with Gree, which is represented by his not wearing a helmet here.  He's not hiding anything.

As far as their positions, Argyus and Gree are parallel characters.  Argyus is a captain, and Gree is a commander.  By the end of this episode, their character arcs reveal the value of their choices.  Gree has a virtuous morality and survives the incident, but Argyus, who seems concerned with only his own interests, is killed by Ventress:

Star Wars: The Clone Wars - S3E10 - Heroes on Both Sides

Recently, I happened to see a picture of the British House of Commons.  It looked familiar to me, but the reason it looked familiar is that it seems to be the origin of the design for the Separatist Parliament in an episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars.  Senator Amidala visits Mina Bonteri, an old friend of hers who is now a Separatist senator, and convinces her to make a motion for peace talks in the parliament:

Like the British House of Commons, there's the same layout (slightly modified), a fair amount of spires in the design, and green benches.

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I don't think the similarity in design is meant to imply any connections, but I found it interesting that such an old building seems to have been the basis for a science fiction setting.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars - S1E22 - Hostage Crisis

This post contains spoilers for Star Wars - Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.

Near the beginning of this episode, Anakin Skywalker is trying to convince Padmé Amidala to go away with him.  She declines because of the important senatorial work she had to do, but Skywalker isn't convinced by this.  He explains that nothing is more important to him than their love and that he'll prove it.  He says, "When I finished constructing my lightsaber, Obi-Wan said to me, 'Anakin, this weapon is your life.' This weapon is my life," and then he gives it to her.

As he hands it to her, it's facing a direction in which - were it activated - it would eviscerate her:

This foreshadows events in Star Wars - Episode III: The Revenge of the Sith.  In the movie, Skywalker has dreams in which Amidala dies in childbirth.  Emperor Palpatine tells him that there's a way that he (Skywalker) can save people from death, and Skywalker joins the Sith in order to learn this power.  However, his joining the dark side is devastating for Amidala, who loses the will to live.

Skywalker's giving her his lightsaber in this particular way in "Hostage Crisis" foreshadows that.  He's only a small step away from something that will fatally injure her.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars - S1E15 - Trespass

This post contains spoilers.

Recently, I've been making my way through the first season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars.  It's the first time I've watched them on DVD, but I saw most of the first two seasons on the Star Wars website shortly after they aired (I don't think I actually saw any on television).  In any case, I noticed something interesting in episode fifteen - "Trespass."

The episode begins with a short narration:

Republic outpost overrun!  The Jedi have lost all contact with the clone security force stationed on the bleak, snow-covered planet of Orto Plutonia.  Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker, accompanied by dignitaries from the nearby moon of Pantora, are sent to investigate the disappearance of the clone troopers on the desolate and forbidding landscape.

Upon arriving at the outpost, they find clone trooper helmets positioned atop spears:

Shortly afterwards, they investigate a Separatist post and find droid heads similarly displayed:

Skywalker posits, "By the look of things, I'd say whoever attacked our base took out the droids, also."  He's proven correct when they discover a band of Talz on the planet, which was previously thought uninhabited.  This discovery causes problems with the dignitaries.  Chairman Cho repeatedly declares that they are savages and believes that he has control over them.  The chief of the Talz, Thi-Sen, wishes for peace but doesn't want Cho to remain on his planet.  Despite the protestations of the Jedi and Senator Chuchi, Cho refuses to recognize Thi-Sen's authority or comply with his request, and he declares war:

The Talz ambush the Chairman and the clones tasked with protecting him when they (the Chairman and the clones) are en route - ostensibly - to the Republic outpost (it's not clear exactly where they're going).  Meanwhile, Senator Chuchi contacts Pantora's Speaker of the Assembly, and the Assembly decides that Cho is over-stepping his bounds.  The Speaker tells Chuchi to negotiate peace between Pantora and the Talz.

By the time the Jedi and the Senator catch up to the Chairman and the clones, they've been pummeled by the Talz.  Captain Rex explains that they're "in quite a mess" and that the Chairman is injured.  Chuchi tells Cho that she is going to settle the dispute, to which Cho again objects.  He dies in the midst of his protesting.

Chuchi takes Cho's hat and one of the Talz's spears and walks up to Thi-Sen.  Plunging the spear into the ground, she then places the Chairman's hat upon it.   Through C-3PO's interpreting, she tells Thi-Sen that "to die for one's people is a great sacrifice.  To live for one's people, an even greater sacrifice.  I choose to live for my people.  What do you choose?"

Thi-Sen places his own spear in the ground and chooses to live too.  Chuchi leaves Orto Plutonia under the Talz's watch and recognizes their authority and rights.

Unlike Cho's accusatory gestures when he declares war, Chuchi's body language itself (holding out her hand to Thi-Sen) is welcoming and peaceful.

More significant, though, is Chuchi's placing the deceased Chairman's hat atop the spear.  It illustrates not only that she wants to put the conflict to rest but also - perhaps more importantly - that she understands some of the Talz's culture.  It's as if she gives the Talz their victory over Cho.  She mirrors that aspect of their culture in order to demonstrate her wish for peaceful relations, to which Thi-Sen positively responds.