ESSENTIAL STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS STORIES-
Season 2
Continuing on with my series of the best of the best from the animated series "The Clone Wars", today we'll be taking a look at the second season of the show, which drastically improved in both animation quality and the storytelling.
Keep in mind that this series focuses on the best stories...not episodes, as some stories are told over multiple 20 minute blocks. I will stick to my three favorite stories with honorable mentions below.
So let's begin, again!
The Holocron Crisis
Episodes Involved:
Holocron Heist (Ep. 1), Cargo of Doom (Ep. 2), Children of the Force (Ep.3)
Story:
Darth Sideous hires bounty hunter Cade Bane to steal a Holocron from the Jedi Temple. The Holocron holds information on all the force sensitive children in the galaxy and could seriously compromise the future of the Jedi Order. Anakin and Ahsoka are charged with protecting both the Holocron and the children on the list.
What Made It Great:
First and foremost, it firmly established Cade Bane as not only one of the best villains in the tv series, but maybe one of the best villains in Star Wars lore. The guy is smooth, skilled, calculated, but never overly “evil”. He seems like a professional who is just going about his job, and will draw many comparisons to classic “black hat” western baddies. The Holocron Crisis' first episode features a great heist storyline then follows it up with an extremely creative anti-gravity battle and closes with some real stakes for the Jedi. Mostly it is just a very well composed storyline where all the episodes flow together cohesively and every episode is consistently good.
Senate Spy (Ep. 4), Landing at Point Rain (Ep. 5), Weapons Factory (Ep. 6), Legacy of Terror (Ep. 7), Brain Invaders (Ep. 8)
Story:
After a spy mission by Padme, the republic learns that the Geonosians have somehow reclaimed their planet and constructed a massive droid factory on it. The republic launches a full planetary invasion with Kenobi and Anakin leading an assault on the factory and investigating how the planet was reclaimed.
What Made It Great:
There is nothing all that special about the first episode, Senate Spy. It’s nice to see a more rounded dynamic between Padme and Anakin, but it is really everything after that which makes it on this list. As the longest story in the Clone Wars series, this near 2-hour extravaganza is packed with awesome battle sequences, zombie horror, and mind control. It gives a wide range of characters a chance to shine including Anakin, Padme, Ahsoka, Obi-Wan, Luminara, and her apprentice Barris Offee. The story peaks with episodes, Landing at Point Rain and Brain Invaders. The former gives arguably the best battle in the entire series while the later is a tenser conclusion. Ahsoka is placed in a difficult situation and faced with a hard choice of having to kill a friend. Overall, this story is one of the best of the Clone Wars series and hands down a must see.
The Mandalore Plot (Ep. 12), Voyage of Temptation (Ep. 13), Duchess of Mandalore (Ep. 14)
Story:
When rumors circulate that the neutral planet of Mandalore is planning to join the Separatist cause, Obi-Wan Kenobi is sent to investigate the claim. His mission brings him back in contact with an old flame, the Duchess Satine, who is being targeted by a Mandalorian splinter group known as Death Watch.
Why Is It Great:
More than anything else, the story allows us to get more into Obi-Wan’s past and all he gave up to remain in the Jedi Order. His relationship with Satine is well written and features great dialogue between them. It also draws parallels with Anakin, as Obi-Wan faced a similar decision he did, but ultimately chose differently. The story makes great use of fan-favorites, the Mandalorians. Death Watch and their leader Pre Vislor serves as great adversaries who are both skillfully manipulative and physically imposing.
Honorable Mentions:
Season 2 was a huge step up in terms of quality compared to season 1. There is a lot of great stories listed above, but be sure to check out these ones as well.
Grievous Intrigue/The Deserter is a great two parter. The first of which got to show General Grievous in one of his better episodes while The Deserter is a follow up from Captain Rex’s perspective as he meets a clone that deserted the army. It’s another good look into a clone’s point of view for the war.
Cat and Mouse is a fun battle sequence between Anakin and a legendary general that draws inspiration from submarine films such as Hunt for Red October.
And finally the generically named Bounty Hunters serves as a well-contained one-off that pays homage to the classic film, The Seven Samurai.
Dishonorable Mentions:
Season two is definitely a strong run of episodes and though it’s got a couple story lines that are middle of the road, it doesn’t have a whole lot of outright bad ones.
Senate Murders is easily the worst. It's yet another Padme, political driven storyline, 90% of which are poisonous to the series. It’s boring and Padme is fairly irritating in it, proving once again that she is usually better in small doses.
Lightsaber Lost isn’t horrible, and I know some people liked it, but I found it to have a meandering plot with Ahsoka running around in circles for twenty minutes. It’s one of the more uninspired and lazy stories of the season.
Previous Clone Wars Essentials:
Essential Star Wars: The Clone Wars- Part 1
So, what do you think? Did I get it right? Am I dead wrong? What are some of your favorites from the season....or do you hate the show so much you gather DVD's of it to burn?
Tell me, below!