Star Wars: Clone Wars 3.13

Monster

Count Dooku turns to the nightsisters for a replacement for Asajj Ventress. He doesn't know that Ventress is still alive or that the nightsisters are helping her in her quest for revenge, since Dooku left her to die.

Ventress travels to the far side of Dathomir. She selects several men from the same race as Darth Maul. She tests them, killing them one by one until there are just two. They are brothers. She selects the stronger of the two. The nightsisters work their magic on him. They make him bigger and stronger. Ventress tests his loyalty and her control over him by commanding him to kill his brother, which he does.

Star Wars: Clone Wars 3.12

Nightsisters

Act 1

Darth Sidious order Count Dooku to kill his apprentice, Asajj Ventress, Dooku tries to argue but Sidious insists. Ventress is in the middle of a big battle and fighting with Obi Wan and Anakin Skywalker when Dooku informs her of her fate. He then sends droids to destroy the battleship where she is fighting with the Jedi. Ventress is injured but like the Jedis she manages to escape the battleship before it is destroyed.

Star Wars: Clone Wars 3.08

Evil Plans

Anakin sends C-3PO and R2-D2 on a mission to get Jogan fruit for Padme's party. The droids are abducted by Cad Bane who is looking for the plans for the Senate building. He is working for Jabba the Hut. Bane extracts the information he needs and then wipes the droids' memories of the encounter. Bane returns to see Jabba who starts planning another mission for the mercenary.

Once again I find myself underwhelmed by this show which has on occasion really excited me.

Star Wars: Clone Wars 3.07

Assassin

Asoka and Padme team up.

Asoka starts having dreams that someone is out to kill Padme. The someone is someone who is believed to have been killed at the end of season 2: Aurra Sing. Padme is scheduled to go to a conference. Asoka insists on going with her to try and prevent her murder. At first it seems like Asoka is wrong but after the first assassination attempt Padme's security detachment starts taking Asoka's warnings more seriously.

Not bad but not great. Pretty good. I like Asoka considerably more now than I did at the beginning of season 1. It sometimes feels like she is the hero of the show, considering the Anakin is eventually going to turn to the dark side.

Star Wars: Clone Wars 3.06

The Academy

Asoka Tano is sent to Mandalore. She is there ostensibly to teach at the academy but Duchess Satine and the Jedi Council hope she will be able to accomplish a little more than just teaching. Asoka inspires her student to seek out examples of corruption after she teaches them about it. Her students investigation leads them to a black market exchange. The bad guys hunt them down. Luckily for them Asoka steps in and helps them capture the bad guys and prevent a coup d'etat led by the Prime Minister of Mandalore.

Not the best the show has to offer but not the worst either. Definitely better than some of the earlier epsiodes in this season. I am still hoping the show will pick up again and impress me, even if it only lasts for an episode or two.

Star Wars: Clone Wars 3.05

Corruption

Senator Padme Amidala pays an official visit to the planet Mandalor and Duchess Satine. Senator Amidala helps Duchess Satine investigate the source of an epidemic that has the hospitals overloaded with sick children.

Not an awful episode but not a very engaging one either. There was a little too much talk of trade negotiations, not enough action, and nothing in the way of character moments.

Star Wars: Clone Wars 3.04

Sphere of Influence

The daughters of the Pantoran Chairman are kidnapped. Ahsoka teams up with Senator Chuchi to locate and recover the Chairman's missing daughters. The kidnapping is all part of a plot to get the Pantorans to join the side of the separatists.

One of the kidnappers is Greedo, the same Greedo who didn't shoot first, makes his one and only appearance in this show.

Not great but solidly good and a considerable improvement over the previous episode.

Star Wars: Clone Wars 3.03

Supply Lines

Senators Bail Organa and Jar Jar Binks are sent on a diplomatic mission to Toydaria. They are there to negotiate a deal which will allow the Alliance to use Toydaria as a staging area for a relief mission to Ryloth which is currently under attack by the Separatists.

Jar Jar Binks. Sigh.

Yes, this was not one of my favorite episodes. It wasn't awful. It wasn't a save the cute aliens story but it also didn't really move me. I didn't get emotionally invested in it on any level.

It is worth noting that this episode is the precursor to the pilot episode. That may sound weird but this show tends to jump around in time quite a bit.

Unlike in the movies, where he was played by Jimmy Smits, Bail Organa was voiced by Phil LaMarr. He sounded very much like Samurai Jack, another character that Phil LaMarr plays, and very unlike Jimmy Smits.

Star Wars: Clone Wars 3.02

ARC Troopers

Kamino is attacked by separatist droids led by General Grievous and Asajj Ventress. They are after the Clone DNA vault. Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalked lead the forces that are sent to defend the Clone home world.

Lots of action in this one and lots of cool fight scenes. The Separatist forces look as though they are attacking form the air but the brunt of their attack comes from the sea. Obi-Wan faces off against General Grievous and Anakin takes on Ventress. The best character moments are reserved for the clone troopers. The maintenance clone from last episode, 99, returns and gets to be a hero.

This episode was quite awesome. There was a lot going on all at the same time but it was all beautifully assembled.

Star Wars: Clone Wars 3.01

Clone Cadets

A team of clone cadets, Domino Squad, go from working very poorly as a unit to excelling and graduating with the rest of their class.

The focus of the episode is a particular test (a simulated attack on a droid stronghold) which they repeat a few times during the episode. At first Domino Squad bickers quite a bit and can't get through it successfully. It isn't until their final attempt that the team members are finally able to get it together and pass the test.

This story could have used more time to breathe. Everything in it happened very quickly. It was difficult for me to differentiate between the clone troopers of Domino Squad. The most distinctive character was the maintenance clone, 99.

Not even close to being my favorite episode. It would have to have better action beats or character moments to get high marks from me.

Star Wars:Clone Wars 2.22

Lethal Trackdown

- a bit less than what I had hoped for
- Boba Fett gets cold feet, Aura Singh doesn't feel the same
- the bounty hunters still have 3 hostages and try to lure Mace Windu into yet another trap, but Mace stays home; in his place Plo Koon and Ahsoka Tano track down the bounty hunters and eventually recover the two surviving hostages
- Hondo Ohnaka, also appears but he stays on the sidelines and chooses not to get involved despite his past relationship with Singh
- I guess I was expecting more from Boba Fett in this story even though he didn't seem quite as blood thirsty in the last episode as he did in the previous one; I don't doubt his desire for revenge on Windu but he seemed to deplore the tactic of killing others to get at Windu

Star Wars: Clone Wars 2.21

R2 Come Home

- Part 2 of 3 part story that introduces Boba Fett
- Anakin Skywalker and Mace Windu investigate the wreck of the Endurance looking for survivors; they are unaware that Boba Fett and other bounty hunters have already beaten them to the punch, captured a few of the survivors, killed the rest, and left a booby trapped Mandalorean helmet on the bridge
- Anakin falls for the traps and they only survive thanks to Windu's quick thinking, but still wind up trapped on the bridge beneath lots of rubble; Anakin sends R2 for help but first he has to deal with Boba Fett, Aurra Singh, and another bounty hunter who are looking for evidence that Anakin Skywalker and Mace Windu are dead
- Anakin Skywalker and Mace Windu try using the force to free themselves but quickly realize they risk bringing the whole ship down on themselves
- Windu killed Boba Fett's father, Jango Fett, which is why Boba Fett is so determined to kill him
- in the end R2 manages to get to Ahsoka Tano and others to come retrieve Anakin and Windu; but the bounty hunters escape with the other prisoners
- so far, by far the best story of the back third of season 2; kind of good to see Anakin humbled

Star Wars: Clone Wars 2.20

Death Trap

- Part 1 of 3 part story that introduces Boba Fett
- seeing young Boba Fett, knowing what he will become is part of what made the episode so appealing
- the focus is very much on Boba Fett, although Anakin Skywalker and Mace Windu also play important roles
- the Admiral was a bit of a stereotype
- I was surprised how easy it was to take down the Endurancee
- very disappointed by the clone teacher/instructor who didn't even notice when Lucky/Boba was missing

Star Wars: Clone Wars 2.19

The Zillo Beast Strikes Back

- a number of moments evoke memories of King Kong
- sad ending with a twist
- Zillo Beast killed but Palpatine wants the scientist to clone it
- Palpatine is evil, evil, evil!!!
- Anakin sides with Palpatine

Star Wars: Clone Wars 2.18

The Zillo Beast

- Mace Windu!
- better than I would have assumed it to be based on what I knew going in
- Alliance uses a new weapon that awakens a creature thought to be extinct
- the locals want to kill it; Windu wants to save it, move it elsewhere; Anakin could care less
- in the end they save it but only after arguments with the locals
- the Zillo Best is extremely big, strong, fast, invulnerable; lightsabers just bounce off its hide
- in the end they subdue it by stunning it
- original plan was to take the Zillo Beast to an uninhabited planet; Palpatine changes the plan and tells them to bring it to Coruscant
- favorite episode since I started watching again

Star Wars: Clone Wars 2.17

Bounty Hunters

- dedicated to Akira Kurosawa
- homage to the Seven Samurai; nice try but no cigar, doesn't hold a candle to the original; dedication made me hope for more than what I got
- Anakin, Obi-Wan, Ahsoka
- bounty hunters (new); pirates (old)

Star Wars: Clone Wars 2.16

Cat and Mouse

- Anakin, Cloaking Device
- not much in the way of character beats other than Anakin being stubborn, although he does seem to show some restraint in this one
- Anakin and Ben lead a task force to resupply an alliance stronghold which is under attack by separatist forces

Star Wars: Clone Wars 2.03

Children of the Force

- Cad Bane lives! escapes! kidnaps children with Jedi potential
- captured by the Jedi; tortured by Jedi; leads them to __________
- Anakin goes to see Palpatine
- Cad Bane escapes
- Holocron and children recovered
- How is it that Palpatine is able to get away with it?
- Anakin's impatience is frustrating for me to watch
- where is it all leading?

Star Wars: Clone Wars 2.02

Cargo of Doom

- Cad Bane has the holocron and the memory crystal
- Jedi master tortured to death
- Anakin Skywalker uses walkers in space for an attack on Separatist ship
- Cad Bane wants to unlock the Holocron and knows that he needs a jedi to get the job done
- Anakin wants to recover the Holocronand rescue Jedi Master Bolla Ropal
- Bane more successful that Skywalker; what happened to Bane? Disguised as clone trooper?