Clone Wars "Victory and Death" Spoiler Discussion and May the 4th Thread

[DarthSkywalker]

The end is here. Order 66 has happened and all is lost... or is it? May the Force be with us all...

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Also because it is May the 4th and this is the Star Wars thing happening on the 4th, alongside TRoS being on Disney+ and the new Behind the scenes Mando series, I thought this could also serve as a place to celebrate. So a little nostalgia to start us off and the newest iteration:

 

[Detective Conan]

Darn it, stuff got leaked out from the episode.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Darn it, stuff got leaked out from the episode.

Not "leaked". Just released early for May the 4th in counties where it is already May the 4th. I agree, it sucks though. I got spoiled in a way I did not want to.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

So I know this is the last episode, but part of me really, really wants them to still go back and finish some stuff. Boba's arc, Ventress arc, Son of Dathomir, and especially Crystal Crisis. I am watching the latter's story reels right now, and it might be my favorite TCW story. Full of the fun, funny, and the Easter eggs, it is a really well written and paced arc. But what really makes it is seeing Anakin and Obi-Wan by themselves for 4 episodes. They are such brothers and they bring out the best and worst in each other. I can't stop laughing when watching these story reels. It basically the best version of the RotS opening you could imagine, or perhaps a remake of the Malevolence arc, with all they had learned. Oh, and I can't forget the most important bit. B1 greatness!

 

[Sithborg]

Well, maybe not Ventress' arc.

 

[Broseph44]

So what is everyone doing tomorrow for Star Wars day? I took the day off. Gonna watch Clone Wars finale, ROTS and I think Solo. And also that Mando docuseries starts tomorrow I believe so I’ll watch that too.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Well, maybe not Ventress' arc.

I would be all for the Ventress arc, if they rewrote it without the romance. I think it has a lot of great material and would be a fine conclusion for the character, minus that aspect imo.

 

[herolee10]

I honestly wonder on how more bittersweet the finale for "Clone Wars" would have been had we not gotten Rebels prior to its conclusion. I mean without "Rebels", we wouldn't have known in advance that Ahsoka and Rex make it out alive and that the former does have a reunion with Anakin (via as Darth Vader) later in the future.

 

[Marvolo]

I would be all for the Ventress arc, if they rewrote it without the romance. I think it has a lot of great material and would be a fine conclusion for the character, minus that aspect imo.

I would keep the romance. Old Ventress was too full of bitterness and hate to ever love. Her falling in love with a Jedi is the ultimate expression of her healing and letting go of her hatred.

 

[Marvolo]

Maul is a ****ing beast in this episode!

 

[DarthSkywalker]

So what is everyone doing tomorrow for Star Wars day? I took the day off. Gonna watch Clone Wars finale, ROTS and I think Solo. And also that Mando docuseries starts tomorrow I believe so I’ll watch that too.

My tentative plans for tomorrow. Which is based a bit around the idea of doing a little of everything, with that TCW finale flavor to it.

- Final episode of TCW
- Rebels episodes: TBD (at least Twilight of the Apprentice and Twin Suns)
- The last two episodes of Mando s1
- Solo
- The Force Awakens
- The Rise of Skywalker

Also this!

 

[DarthSkywalker]

I would keep the romance. Old Ventress was too full of bitterness and hate to ever love. Her falling in love with a Jedi is the ultimate expression of her healing and letting go of her hatred.

While the idea is sound, the issue is how they use it in that arc and how poorly I find it written.

 

[Sithborg]

Such a crime that Son of Dathomir wasn't animated.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Such a crime that Son of Dathomir wasn't animated.

Especially considering how important it is. One thing I am hopeful for is because stuff like that, Boba's arc and Ventress' are kind of stand alone-ish, we might get they animated as "movies" on Disney plus.

 

[Snow Queen]

While I don't need all the arcs we didn't get, stand alone movie-type experiences for a couple of them would be nice. The aforementioned ones in the thread are all great picks. Just you know... maybe not the Mon Cala one. We never need to revisit there. Could have gone for the Yoda/Bad Batch/Wookies one, sounded like there was going to be some interesting world-building there.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

While I don't need all the arcs we didn't get, stand alone movie-type experiences for a couple of them would be nice. The aforementioned ones in the thread are all great picks. Just you know... maybe not the Mon Cala one. We never need to revisit there. Could have gone for the Yoda/Bad Batch/Wookies one, sounded like there was going to be some interesting world-building there.

I am always up for TCW Yoda, aka the most precious Yoda. He'd be hilarious with the Bad Batch.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

So as I have mentioned, I am kind of doing a TCW theme this weekend. Started the weekend with TPM, AotC and TCW movie. Then we basically did all the major Mando, Maul, and Rex stories, alongside the slaver arc, as it is one of my favorites that involve all the major goodies.

Because the last episode basically finished off the Mando storyline, we are now doing the major Mando episodes of Rebels today, while tomorrow we will be doing the the major Maul and Ahsoka episodes tomorrow. I like the idea, because not only do those include Anakin and Obi as well, it also sets up nicely the path of the dark saber, which is there at the end of the first season of the Mando.

 

[TheVileOne]

The end is here. Order 66 has happened and all is lost... or is it? May the Force be with us all...

Spoiler

Spoilers for the series finale.

 

[OnTheAir]

Congrats to Dave Filoni & Co. This final arc was incredible! And that last shot? Perfect!

 

[DarthSkywalker]

So uh, did Hans Zimmer get like royalties for the last two episodes, because there was a lot of BR 2049 in that beautiful score.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

I do think that as an episode, it feels incomplete. As a part of the whole, it works really well, but as it's own episode, it is not the best.

While I really liked the arc as a whole, I will say I found it all oddly somber for this show. Yes, the show would get dark and yes it could be painful. But the finale felt so somber for the kind of show TCW was. I really liked it, but at the same time it didn't necessarily feel like TCW for me and the last few minutes almost felt unnecessarily hopeless. Especially when you consider how even RotS ends. Doesn't mean I didn't like it, because I did. I really did. But at the same time, it did feel odd for being the finale of TCW.

If I had to pick between TCW finale and Rebels, I'd probably take Rebels just because I do think it struck the right note, even with it's flaws. Thankfully I don't have to choose!

 

[Snow Queen]

It's a little surreal seeing this end. Actually end, this time. While it's ended twice before, I've been expecting them to come back to it ever since the lost missions. It was kind of a foregone conclusion in my mind, that sooner or later, we'd see at least the final arc of the series. But actually seeing it at last feels kind of bizarre. Even if they come back to finish off some stuff they didn't get to release, that's the endpoint. I remember being nine years old, sitting in the theater for the movie. As a result, it's been something of a franchise constant for me, and I'm going to miss not having the expectation there'll be more someday.

As far as endings go, I think they did a pretty fantastic job. The score and animation have never been better. The delay of several years I feel worked out to the advantage of this arc, as I'm not sure it'd look like this otherwise. From what pieces we've gotten in other media, Rebels and the Ahsoka novel, I feel like it paints a different picture of how things went down. And those changes feel like changes for the better, so I'm cool with that. Plus I think there's some growth as writers from doing Rebels in the middle. It's an arc that highlights a lot of what I love about the show, and I'm really glad they stuck the landing.

Spoiler

When it comes to this episode in particular, it's not the strongest of the arc, but I thought it was really good all the same. I surprisingly felt rather bad watching the confrontation between Ahsoka, Rex and Jessie, which was weird considering that Jessie is like just above a non-entity prior to this. I do like the choice to pick him as the representative of the Republic/Empire there though, given the fact he literally has their symbol stamped on his head and helmet.

My biggest issue with the arc as a whole is Bo-Katan, personally. They try to spin her in a weird way that I don't think works, where she and Ahsoka have this mutual respect for each other and we ignore the fact she's a former terrorist who torched a town and couldn't stop evil smirking to Pre Viszla. It feels like there's missing material for that arc. Not unusual for the series, but it does feel like a gap.

Overall, this was what I was hoping for. I could have maybe done with a little more on the emotional states of Ahsoka and Rex directly following the events of the episode, but man the shots of the graves for the clones hit hard. I liked their handling of Order 66 a lot. For an event we know the outcome of, they made it surprisingly tense and visceral. The Siege itself also goes down as the best large scale battle of the series in my book. It's just a really nice mix of everything. Hell, we even get a set of lovable droids in there.

One of the things I was pleasantly surprised about with this was Maul/Ahsoka as enemies. One of my hesitations with the arc was that it was a bit of an odd pairing. While it makes sense from a production standpoint, the two have never interacted prior to this and have no relationship. But I think they managed to nicely draw parallels between them in the arc, most notably when Maul is trying to sway her to his side, that highlight Ahsoka's flaws at this point. Over this season, I think they do a nice job making those flaws worse. Hanging out with Trace and Rafa ironically has a bit of a negative effect, quality of the episodes aside, that parallels how her and Anakin's flaws bounce off each other. Her bitterness over the jedi is an open wound and Trace and Rafa rub salt in it and encourage it, leading to her remarks to Obi-Wan and decision to presumably not tell the council what Maul said in favour of telling it to Anakin directly upon arrival to Coruscant. It gives Maul an opening to get to her and relate to her, and I think it feels natural.

This is all a bit scattershot, it's creeping up to 2 am, but I'm just really pleased with it all. It's a strange feeling though because I'm not waiting to see a sequel. I already saw it. And now I'm waiting for another sequel. It's nice though to finally see it. Despite knowing how it all shook out, and in spite of some issues I have with it, I'm really happy with it.

 

[flickchick85]

I was not expecting such a somber ending. Damn.

Guess this is a great time for me to finally catch up on Rebels, since I only saw S1.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

I was not expecting such a somber ending. Damn.

Guess this is a great time for me to finally catch up on Rebels, since I only saw S1.

It did feel odd for it to end like this. Even as I really liked it, it felt odd for Star Wars. I can't remember any canon Star Wars ending like that, and it did throw me quite a bit.

I hope you enjoy the rest of Rebels FC! I feel like it is a show that like TCW gets better and better as it goes on. Also benefits from watching it closer together imo.