Saturday, September 29, 2012

Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Season 5 Episode 1

Warning: The Following Review Contains Spoilers

Finally the new season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars is upon us!!!

Episode 1, "Revival", opens with brothers Savage Opress and Darth Maul still out on the loose wreaking havoc on our favorite galaxy far far away; and they seem to have an evil plan up their sleeves.

Unfortunately for Savage, Maul decides to let him in on some very valuable Sith knowledge, which leaves him sprawled on his back and Maul's saber in his face; they are now no longer brothers, but Master and Apprentice.

The rest of Maul's plan consists of building a pirate army to assist in his evil deeds. And where does one get pirates? Well he steals them from Hondo of course.

Now while Maul and Savage build their pirate army (and plan their attack on Hondo himself), Jedi Masters Obi-Wan Kenobi and Adi Gallia enter the system responding to a distress call and hot on the trail of our two infamous Sith.

When Kenobi and Gallia catch up with Maul and Savage they quickly find themselves outnumbered, and have to resort to contacting Hondo to see if he needs, and is willing to provide, assistance.

An epic ground battle breaks out between the Sith and their hired pirates versus the Jedi, Hondo, and his faithful band of men. In the opening onslaught Jedi Master Adi Gallia falls to Savage Opress and Hondo and his men are forced to retreat into a cavern.

Kenobi tells Hondo that he will lead the Sith away while his men set up a trap for his former crew mates. The ensuing battle between Kenobi and the Sith costs Savage an arm and he and Maul are forced to retreat.

Meanwhile Hondo convinces the traitors to once again work for him and they head off to plunder the Sith's ship.

Upon everyone exiting the cavern the pirates find themselves face to face with the Sith. After a verbal exchange between Maul and Hondo it becomes a race to the Sith starship. While trying to run away, Maul takes a perfectly placed blaster bolt to the leg and has it cleanly blown off.

With the use of the force Maul is able to grab hold of the Jedi starship and bring it crashing down off the cliff it was perched creating the needed distraction for the Sith to reach their ship and to escape.

The episode ends back on Coruscant with several of the Jedi Council talking with Chancellor Palpatine in regards to the Sith. Palpatine advises the Council to leave the Sith be since they aren't posing a threat to the Republic and only want to hang out with pirate scum. We end with a close up of Palpatine sitting at his desk and a smile creeping across his face.

Overall this was a really good episode; it contained plenty of action, and a good balance of humor.

There was however one thing that sticks out from the episode that we weren't too happy about; the death of Jedi Adi Gallia. Yes she does die during the Clone Wars, but this was not supposed to be it. The original story had her death happening on the planet Boz Pity and at the hands of General Grievous.

But other than that a good episode and a great way to start off the new season. We can't wait to see the next episode.

-GJ

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Cello Wars: Lightsaber Duel - ThePianoGuys

-GJ

Back-Story Rewrite: Kitster is Dengar

Yes, the famous Kitster from Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace has an official back-story according to Wookieepedia, but that doesn't stop people from bugging The Clone Wars Animated Series producer Dave Filoni about where Kitster is, and it doesn't stop us from providing another alternative to his whereabouts.

Also we are aware that bounty hunter Dengar already appears in The Clone Wars in season 4, but our idea still works.

First let's go with Kitster being freed from slavery and leaving Tatooine to become a smuggler. While out on a run there is a terrible accident that leaves him broken and a little deranged; in his mind this is the day that Kitster dies, and his alter ego Dengar is born. He cheated death as a smuggler, so of course now he feels invincible as a Bounty Hunter.

See, and now Dave Filoni has a where Kitster story.

What, they changed Boba Fett's back-story so why not give this a try?!?

-GJ

Star Wars: The Clone Wars Expected Character Appearances

The following are characters that we, and many others, hope to see before Star Wars: The Clone Wars comes to an end.

Han Solo

One of the biggest characters of the franchise must have an appearance, and it doesn't have to be big or even be very significant to the episode. In fact with the addition of the following character there is a simple scene that would make many Star Wars fans happy.

Lando Calrissian

Pair Han and Lando together, place them in a cantina, add a sabaac game and the bet of the Millennium Falcon, and you have the perfect scene to appear in a Clone Wars episode. See that's all it takes to make us happy.

Natasi Daala

Fans of the Expanded Universe have read a lot about Natasi Daala, and one thing we've come to learn from all that reading is that she was the former lover of one Grand Moff Tarkin. Since Tarkin already appears in The Clone Wars, it only makes since that Daala should make an appearance too.

Gilad Pellaeon

Pellaeon is another Expanded Universe favorite; well if you have a love for the Empire he is anyways. A nice little arc involving Pellaeon, Daala, and Tarkin could be done. Not only would this give fans of later novels in the Expanded Universe timeline a chance to see younger versions of these characters and their first interactions, but opens them up to a younger generation who may not yet know of them.

Zuckuss

The Clone Wars does already feature a good number of Bounty Hunters, many of whom were created just for the show, but Zuckuss is one from the movies that would be cool to see messing with Fett's and Bossk's plans.

Mitth'raw'nuruodo (Thrawn)

If you've ever read any Star Wars book by Timothy Zahn that involved Thrawn, then this no doubt makes sense. Thrawn is not only the best Imperial officer of all-time, but he is around during the Clone Wars era; as seen in Zahn's novel Outbound Flight.

These are just some of the Star Wars characters we'd love to see make an appearance in The Clone Wars animated series. Who would you like to see?

-GJ