Star Wars: The Clone Wars asserts itself as a necessary element in the Star Wars universe
TV Reviews Recap
Ahsoka Tano is a Jedi.
Sure, she quit the Jedi Order after a harrowing, awful ordeal in which the Council accused her of sabotage and terrorism. Sure, she’s been deeply reluctant to use the Force and admit to others she was a Jedi, even as the situations she found herself in kind of needed her at her Jedi-best. And sure, at the very end of this episode, Ahsoka abandons her lightsaber, a gesture made more significant if you’re aware of the various rituals and tasks that lie behind acquiring the kyber crystal that powers said lightsaber. But make no mistake: Ahsoka has earned the namesake, even if that namesake is tarnished in her mind, and even as the very concept of “Jedi” will be all but wiped from the memory and legacy of the universe–until a young boy on a planet with two suns seeks out a certain someone.
Ahsoka may not be a Jedi in name or title, but she is one in spirit. And that’s not just referring to her skills–although, she definitely earned it there. In these last four episodes, Ahsoka’s fighting abilities have been absolutely exemplary, probably only below that of Anakin/Vader himself. Her incredible skills on display this episode include: withstanding hundreds, maybe thousands, of trooper fire, leaping all over the place, and even, almost, Force-pulling a rocketing ship back into the hanger bay. She had it in her grasp, but watching Rex behind her almost fall to that trooper onslaught made her let it go to help here friend. Yet that moment, among so many, is why she is a Jedi.
“Victory And Death” has a slightly lower grade than “Shattered” only because this episode may be an insane visual spectacle but functions more like the final-battle denouement from the previous episode. Ahsoka embracing the Force at the metaphysical level to find Rex’s chip– “I am one with the Force and the Force is with me”–felt like the true climax to Ahsoka’s character after everything she been through. She re-embraced the Force outside of the context of the Jedi’s bureaucratic, morally-questionable mire, and became her own person. (It has been shown many times on this show that many people and creatures and species have used the Force in their own, individual and/or cultural ways.) This is probably best represented not by the fighting, but the conversation she and Rex have as they stare among the legions of organized troopers standing between them and the ship they need to escape the crashing dreadnought they’re on. Rex recognizes the reality of now, as a soldier. The central mission at hand–escaping–against the enemy–his fellow, turned soldiers. Rex is clearly hurt by this, but he also is committed to the mission, whatever it may be, and has no time to reflect or let it weight on him. It’s them, or us.
Ahsoka is different. In a moment (really, in a lot of moments but in particular, here), Ahsoka takes in the full weight of what’s happening, and what will happen. She’s probably thinking about that time with Obi-Wan, when she tried to guilt him to join her Mandalorian cause instead of saving the Chancellor. She’s thinking of all the Jedi she knew, all the soldiers she fought with, all the people she met and helped. She knows so many will die. There’s no way that the clones on this ship will survive, no guarantee they themselves will. And yet, she still tells Rex to set her blaster to stun. She still tries to not directly kill those clones (as opposed to Maul, who not only wipes through the clones like cannon fodder, but actively destroys the ship’s entire hyperdrive, dooming them all–the irony of Ahsoka’s act to utilize Maul as a chaotic distraction, compounded by the fact that he escapes in the very ship she and Rex were going for). Why? Because Ahsoka is a good person. She tells Rex he’s a good soldier–not just in battle, but in his heart. Her moral compass always focused north. It held steady among the quandary of a mess with the Martez sisters, and it holds steady in the face of certain death. Everyone will perish, and yet Ahsoka knows to keep on doing the morally right thing till the end. “They may be willing to die, but I am not the one who is going to kill them.”
And that’s what happens. Every animator, artist, director, composer, actor and writer better be putting the work they did on this episode on their respective reels because “Victory And Death” is tense, epic, and incredible from beginning to end. Maul’s destruction of the hyperdrive; Ahsoka and Rex’s battle among the clones across the hanger and elevator shafts; the heart-stopping, Eraser-esque moment of Ahsoka darting among falling debris as she catches up to Rex’s ship as the entire dreadnought crashes among them–it’s an absolute feat of a spectacle. And, when it’s all over, we’re back to silence. Silent, dark, reflective scenes that strike much stronger than any dialogue could. Rex prepares the ship; as a soldier, as tragic as everything is, he still continues forward. But Ahsoka gazes over the soldiers helmets, all set as tombstones to the clones lost in that crash. All that death and destruction. Whether one believes the Jedi perpetuated the war or not, it’s moot: war happened, and these are the consequences. Ahsoka can’t be a part of this. And so she drops her lightsaber among the graves, leaving it there, moving on. In the future, she will continue to help the rebels against the Empire. She is a good person. But not in the name of the Jedi, an idea that will soon be but faint whispers in galactic history.
And that, in and of itself, is what makes Ahsoka a Jedi.
Some several years into a future, Anakin, now the dark scourge known as Darth Vader, will trek to this area, covered in snow. He will find that lightsaber and understand what it means and who it once belonged to. He even gets a moment of reflection–metaphorically reinforced somewhat awkwardly when his silhouette reflects off the clone trooper mask as he walks away. There’s a sense of stories and feelings that still need to be told, and of course there are, what with a whole series of movies, shows, and comics that continue these characters’ respective stories. It would have been a bit more fulfilling to have some more time with Ahsoka and Rex before they parted ways and ventured off into the universe as the Empire began to form. But “Victory And Death” stands out as the perfect end to this story–to this show–that belongs in the grander conversations of what makes Star Wars a powerful, still-meaningful element in the pop culture universe.
Stray observations
- Rest in peace to those three droids that helped Ahsoka and Rex. Even though their appearances were brief, seeing them destroyed so directly was visceral.
- Apologies for this review dropping a bit later today, screeners and artwork was trickier than usual to acquire.
- That all being said, thank you all so much for joining me and on this final animated journey through the Star Wars Universe. I have had my concerns with this show in the overall sense, but I would be remiss if it didn’t nail these final four episodes with aplomb. It possessed an intensity than I think would even attract those folks out there who avoided animated Star Wars content! That’s a tall order. I’ll see you all at some point in the future!
47 Comments
God, this was great.That final scene, too…
Dug the way Ashoka tried to kill as few of Rex’s brothers as possible. They were basically bred to be used as cannon fodder (I still don’t get why The Republic didn’t have an army, but that’s the fault of the prequels), so she did her best to spare them. I know it’ll be a long time before tv production starts up again, but I really hope Filoni gets to make another animated series.
I just want Filoni in charge of everything Star Wars.
Maybe make him Emperor? Just a thought.This amazing arc reminded me of another animated series that ended with a 4-part finale. The Clone Wars was inconsistent, especially in the early seasons, but they ended with a 4-part home run to rival Sozin’s Comet.
And now I’m gonna have to watch that all again!
Arrives on Netflix May 15th….
So say we all.
Same reason the EU and UN don’t having standing armies. They’re not centralized governments.
I guess, but shouldn’t at least some planets have their own individual standing army? More than we’re shown, I mean? Why not try to form some coordination between them? Though I guess it’s besides the point when the Separatists have an unlimited supply of droids.
The member planets have their own defense forces (in normal peacetime). The Gungans had an army, the Naboo had their space fighters, etc.
Yeah, I suppose they don’t want to sacrifice lives for droids which can be re-built. I would have commissioned an army of droids to fight for the Republic if I were in the government though. Might have saved the Jedi some trouble, and is a bit more ethical than using clones.
I don’t think production on animated shows ever stopped since they can do all the work remotely. Though it did pause as they got everything setup.
I know it’ll be a long time before tv production starts up again, but I really hope Filoni gets to make another animated series.Clone Wars made me care a lot more about the prequel movies than I did. Maybe he can do the same with the sequel movies. Yeah, I know Resistance is out there (and its awful) and he has a credit on it but supposedly he had little to do with it
Was Vader on Hoth? I feel like they wanted me to think he was on Hoth.
No
The final two scenes without dialogue reminded me a lot of Genndy Tartakovsky’s masterful work.. I doubt there was anything deliberate there, but throwing back to that style when he arguably created the backdoor pilot for this whole era with the 2D Clone Wars show, was a fucking fantastic way to bring it full circle stylistically
Special shout out to Kevin Kiner, who once again proves how he needs to be Lucasfilm’s replacement now that John Williams is out of the picture.
Just watched that episode again
Same here, directly after watching the CW finale. Still absolutely fantastic.
My years-old disappointment in this season not being released contiguously with the rest of the season has been stealthily erased on merit of how unbelievably spectacular modern animation is capable of making Clone Wars look. After rewatching S4, the style is almost unrecognizable in S7… and the Vader scene may be one of the most stunning animated shots ever produced, IMO. Also, Kiner. KINER. My fuckin’ DUDE. Ballsy as hell to remix Qui-Gon’s Funeral like that at the beginning, but he actually managed to make it even better??? Unreal production values all around. Kudos to the whole creative team for taking it home with such a clear demonstration of love (frankly, what some of the other NUEU SW media has been lacking).
Stuck the landing, The Clone Wars has.
If Star Wars Rebels hadn’t had that great three parter where Vader came in personally and dueled Ahsoka, I think these final episodes would have had a bigger impact on me. As it stands, they’re great, but it would have benefited from focusing on a Jedi character who didn’t survive.
Or one whose fate we didn’t know. Or any of the other clones and Jedi we got to know over the course of the show even though we know what did happen to them. The last arc felt claustrophobic in focus. It was pretty, but it wasn’t what I came to watch.
it really is frustrating that we couldn’t get these shows in chronological order and gotten to see the Siege of Mandalore without the foreknowledge of who survives. they were fantastic anyway, and I think Filoni made the right decision here because so much of these last two episodes specifically revolved around closing Ahsoka and Rex’s character arcs. but even so, imagine watching these fresh…
“Then I will avenge his death.”
This was superb, a great creeping sense of foreboding over everything, boosted massively from Kiner score. This was a great, tragic denouement episode, and for me it was a B+ until the second Asohka left her lightsaber on the ground. Then the fade in to the snow-covered moon and THAT sound of breathing tipped it into A territory.
Point of Interest: The 3 droids were 3 of the 4 from the S5 4-part Droid arc that also intro’d Gregor the Republic Commando. It’s the one where the Droids go on a rescue mission, but get lost on a rocky planet. It’s also the one Lucas says is his fav arc ‘cause it reminds him of THX and he digs the idea of droids having existential crisis… most other people will tell you the arc was… not good, lol.
The quality of the animation & score was amazing. After re-watching the entire series leading up to this, it’s hard not to marvel at how far the series came. Because I watched the last two episodes together, I’ll just comment that I thought it was poetic the way they reinforced the Jedi’s own hubris contributing to their downfall. Both Ahsoka and the Council each had a piece of the puzzle re: Darth Sidious and Anakin. But she wasn’t in the “club” anymore, so they shut her out and couldn’t stop the plan set in motion.
I’m gonna be the outlier here and say that I was a little disappointed in this as a finale. Loved the arc as a bit of storytelling, but it didn’t leave me feeling like it was a good end to this 133-episode saga.
I think my biggest problem is that Filoni has already shown a whole lot of this. Two seasons ago, Ahsoka left behind her lightsabers. In a whole ‘nother show, Ahsoka’s death was contradicted by a bird (Vader actually saw it in Clone Wars, and it was right behind him in Rebels).Filoni has been great throughout this, but I think that the show spent too much time figuring out who its main characters were (if this is Ahsoka’s show, what was the point of Mortis?). This season finally landed on a decision, but by that point, it just felt incomplete because the show waffled between so many other main characters.Quality concerns aside, I think that this show made the exact opposite decision that Rise of Skywalker did – Rise tried almost exclusively to provide a conclusion to the entire 9-movie series and it did so to the exclusion of its main cast. Clone Wars, on the other hand, presented a conclusion to this season, but not the saga as a whole.But I’m also of the opinion that this is the second best animated Clone Wars show (and goddamn did Tartakovsky deliver a finale).
You really don’t understand the connection of Mortis to Ahsoka?
I don’t think the show needed to figure out who its main character was; like Game of Thrones, it was an ensemble cast. It made a connection from Anakin to Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, same with Obi-Wan and many of the other characters. It gave everyone their moments. This season just focused mainly on Ahsoka because it ran concurrently with Revenge of the Sith, so the majority of the other characters were occupied (and even they got something of a last chance to shine).
I would actually like to have the 4 episodes cut together into one movie length clip. I’ve always enjoyed the series but this was far better than the rest. Hope it’s not the last we see of them.
LOL, nothing about Star Wars is “necessary”
These four episodes have been as good as the show’s ever been. Definitely a high note to go out on. Now bring on Ahsoka’s return in The Mandalorian!
The #1 reason I am looking forward to The Mandolorian S2.
“Victory And Death” has a slightly lower grade than “Shattered” only because this episode may be an insane visual spectacle but functions more like the final-battle denouement from the previous episode.”“Every animator, artist, director, composer, actor and writer better be putting the work they did on this episode on their respective reels because “Victory And Death” is tense, epic, and incredible from beginning to end.”Did someone else write the second half your review? These two statements seem contradictory, and certainly your rating does not reflect the second. This episode was flawless in my view.
This review was worded perfectly. I could not have done it better myself.
I think this arc was an excellent conclusion, and agree with pretty much everything you say about Ashoka, except for the idea that her actions make her a true Jedi. She’s so much better than that. The Jedi are an elitist, close-minded religious sect who position themselves as a powerful force for good in the galaxy, but are repeatedly shown (not least in this season) to be arrogant, short-sighted and reckless, and get completely blindsided by Sidious as a result. Even the prequels have the arrogance and complacency of the Jedi leading to their downfall as a clear theme. Ashoka knows this, and by the time of rebels she’s come to terms with her connection with the force on a wider level than the narrow path the Jedi allow their members to follow.
Hi. The final 4 episodes of this show were the best Star Wars in many, many years. Even as a fan of The Last Jedi, this had as much to say but did it in amore coherent way. Maybe there’s something to be said for having a singular vision driving the stories. This was Dave Filoni’s Star Wars, and by proxy it was also George’s.
I wonder if the Black Widow producers saw an early reel of this episode and decided to incorporate something similar into their movie, i.e., their heroine falling through the skies dodging debris.
If Ahsoka is a Jedi in spirit in the way none of the Jedi in name are, is that actually the spirit of the Jedi or the myth of the Jedi?
Started watching these Friday nights on Cartoon Network as a kid and the journey finally ends in my 20s. Great memories.
Was I the only one thinking that the planet the ship was crashing into would turn out to be Lothal? I was wondering if they were going to show Maul stumbling across the Jedi Temple there after escaping, since that’s the next place we see him when Ezra finds him in the season 2 Rebels finale.
I also thought that maybe this planet was going to turn out to be Rey’s planet, and this would be the star destroyer we see Rey exploring in the start of TFA.
EDIT: Maul was found in a Sith temple on Malachor in Rebels season 2 finale, not the Jedi temple on Lothal. That’s the planet I meant, I just mixed up the 2 planets both with temples on them. My mistake.