If there’s one core flaw to The Clone Wars, it’s the fact that this entire show has been limited and hamstrung to the events of the Star Wars films (and, to a certain extent, the events that occurred in canon shows and comics). A big part of that means that the show has to write around all of the major events that occurred in those other sources, but the other significant issue is that characters tend to talk and/or reference certain events from those Star Wars media as huge, incredible events, even thought at this point they’re so well-known and understood by the audience at large. This is a roundabout way of saying that I was never huge on Maul as a villain, whether he could talk or not. His grandiose, Shakespearean speeches about his dreams and visions of events to come (Order 66, the fall of the Republic, Darth Sidious, the Jedi/Sith being useless–both as a force and as pawns in the inevitability of what’s to come) feel meaningless, since we already know all about this stuff. (Sam Witwer gives it his all in those speeches, but it still feels like melodramatic recapping). But when things gets personal, that’s when the episode finally comes alive, growing from vague pronouncements to one of the best confrontations in the franchise’s history.
Before that specific, personal goal is reached, though, “The Phantom Apprentice” is forced to trek through what we already know will happen, propped up with an ominous air of dread. I commend the direction and music of the episode—with its tense, pulsating soundtrack (props to composer Kevin Kiner) and the framing/tracking of the camera that makes many shots look like something from a horror film (props to director Nathaniel Villanueva), that first half of the episode manages to squeeze out a fair amount of tension. But there’s no escape from the prequel nature of the events to come. Obi-Wan telling Ahsoka and the team on Mandalore what little he knows of this “Darth Sidious,” and what he tells Ahsoka of Anakin killing Dooku and spying on the Chancellor, all has the atmosphere of drama, but not the substance of it, because we know the outcome (and I don’t know if this show can do anything about that). They are narrative beats that last a little longer than they should. But again, the direction and music is stellar; if you didn’t know what was happening, and there’s a chance many younger viewers haven’t gotten around to Star Wars content, it’s truly effective. The vague pronouncements and concepts of characters trying to figure out what’s going on in the universe at large is overwhelming, during which a force as brutal as Maul wipes through clones like they’re nothing. That tracking shot over the downed bodies of clone soldier before traveling further downward into the tunnel, surging with that brooding score, is fantastic.
This is also the point that the episode moves away from dramatic exposition and gap-filling to the more specifics of what Maul is doing and planning on Mandalore, and how Ahsoka fits in all of this (which does, to be fair, provide that exposition and gap-filling with important and necessary context). It feels a little retcon-y, but Maul’s actions in escalating hostilities among the Mandalorians was ultimately meant to lead the Republic and Obi-Wan/Anakin to him, so he could effectively kill Anakin and disrupt’s Sidious’s grand plan. (Was all the chaos he sowed in building the Shadow Collective part of that plan? This episode doesn’t say.) He sends Gar Saxon to assassinate Prime Minister Almec while he Force-mind tortures Jesse for information as to who this Ahsoka is, and why she of all people arrived instead. The assassination scene is kind of clunky—Almec holds out for like a second, and it sure as heck seemed like Ahsoka was okay with Bo-Katan resorting to physical violence to get answers from him—but the fight that ensued afterwards is tense and brutal. Saxon and Bo-Katan duel it out between elevators, and it’s such a visual delight–but that’s nothing compared to what comes next.
“Skywalker” is the name Almec tells Ahsoka, and it’s the name that haunts and consumes Maul, and it’s inevitable the two would battle over it. What was unexpected is the immense intensity of this battle, this climactic feud of lost, abandoned souls. As the battle between clones and Mandalorians rage outside the throne room, among blaster fire, clashes, and explosions, simmering tensions build between these former Apprentices. One explosion, in particular, rips through the throne room’s window, an incredible shot of shattered glass, ash, and sparks washing over these two figures in a moment of grand temptation. Ahsoka comes dangerously close to accepting Maul’s offer to join him to stop Sidious—she can’t take what she knows to the Jedi, and she really has no where else to go—but her intrinsic loyalty and friendship to Anakin pulls her back (more in the Stray Observations). And so the two fight—and it is one of the most intense, wild, epic lightsaber battles I’ve seen in this entire franchise. All against the backdrop of the war, Maul and Ahsoka battle their way up into the railings of some kind of building, I think, and Ahsoka some way, some how, bests Maul–without her lightsabers. He’s then captured, still ranting about a burning future before he’s stunned.
Ahsoka is victorious—but now what? Everything she’s heard and discovered is now rattling around in her head, and with two more episodes to go this final season, there’s no telling what will happen next. She refused to be “The Phantom Apprentice” to Maul, but there’s still questions about this mysterious Sidious and this horrific future Maul seems to know so much about. (No doubt Ahsoka senses enough Force to grasp that there’s some truth to his visions.) Of course, we know what happens, and Star Wars can’t overcome that, but what this means for Ahsoka is much more intriguing. This may be the strongest Star Wars: The Clone Wars has been in its entire run; let’s hope it sticks the landing.
Stray observations
- There has been a… lot of talk about how, in the wake of The Last Jedi, one direction that the franchise should have gone is to have Kylo Ren reject all that was The Sith and the Dark Side, and started a whole other new approach–and perhaps he should have taken Rey along with him. That is exactly what we have here: both Ahsoka and Maul have been betrayed by their masters and left their respective “orders.” And not only does Maul tempt Ahsoka with this “third” option–killing Sidious, similar to killing Snoke, she accepts it! Up until she fails to believe Maul’s claim about Sidious grooming Anakin all this time. The irony of ironies.
- There’s a brief scene where the people of Mandalore complain about the Republic and the clones as an occupying force, herding civilians to safety. It’s a little clunky, but like most of the allegories in Star Wars, the clunkiness doesn’t mean it’s not a noble topic. It foreshadows the Republic-to-Empire transformation, its power and control over other lands, which also sounds quite similar to the more unsavory aspects of US foreign policy. It’s also way too short of a scene/moment to land in any meaningful way.
- “Justice is merely the construct of the current power base…” Maul may be deluded and out of his mind, but this is an extremely salient point.
- The absolute breadth of this battle is ironic, since, if you aren’t aware, Maul’s final, fatal battle occurred in less than two seconds. He was taken out by Obi-Wan in one move, alone and pathetic, with no bombast. As I mentioned in that review, Maul has had no significance in the Star Wars universe as a whole, but his one-on-one with Ahsoka (and Ezra) as a chaotically evil temptress is significant enough.
67 Comments
I think you mean “duel,” not “dual” (in two places). Unless there’s wordplay going on that’s going right over my head. But otherwise, great take!
That final battle was amazingly cinematic in a way that few of the animated series have been. Hell, in a way that few of the movies have been. It feels like the team really outdid themselves to make this an episode to remember.
I am not looking forward to what happens next week. Hopefully we see Rex lose his inhibitor chip and help Ashoka escape, setting up the events of Rebels.
She’s technically not a Jedi anymore, so how specific is order 66?
SPOILERIt’s funny’s because Rex tries to use this argument on the rest of his clones in the finale to get them to spare Ahsoka.
They went all out for this one, including using mo-cap for the fight. Check the credits, Ray Park got to reprise his role s Maul.
And it was nice that they brought in Ray Park to mo-cap that fight. 🙂
…I honestly couldn’t disagree more about the discussion of RotS events happening offscreen.Knowing what’s going to happen, and that Maul is right, lends the entire episode a sort of tragic grandeur.The whole first half of the episode felt like watching Frank Sobotka walk to meet with the Greek about Ziggy.
I agree with your disagreement haha. Knowing what happens makes the tension all the more palpable. This is right up there with some of the best content in the Star Wars universe. RotS, while having it’s many faults, was such a pivotal turning point of the story, and to have this final arc running parallel to it really amps up the energy IMO. Just because we know the outcome doesn’t mean it’s not tragic.
Especially now that we actually love Anakin.
This was incredible. This arc is on track to be the best one the show ever did.
Agreed. Maul’s speech isn’t the only Shakespearean quality of this episode—it has dramatic irony in abundance, as well. I actually think this entire Mandalore arc has thus far been a masterclass in taking the inherent limitations of the show’s nature as a prequel and turning them into its greatest strength.
I was confused why the reviewer seemed to be ignoring or just forgetting the concept of dramatic irony in this review? Plenty of incredible TV and cinema has been made where we know more than the characters do, down to the outcome of people’s lives. Hell, Better Call Saul is the best show on TV and that hinges on three characters whose fates we already know – doesn’t take an ounce of tension away from the drama
Because this is a dumb, cheap-looking Star Wars cartoon.
To address this point brought up by this whole thread, and specifically this one – it’s not that I forgot about the concept of dramatic irony. In the aggregate, I think, it’s just doesn’t work for me. Sure, it’s dramatically tragic but also, I just am not drawn into Maul’s… head, so to speak. He’s villainous, but is kind of all over the place.I suppose the scenario parallels what happened to Tup and Fives in in season six, their tragic deaths against the backdrop of the inevitable. But I wasn’t a huge fan of that arc either to be honest. I’ll try to address this somewhat more on this Friday’s review, but it’s just isn’t clicking for me. I love Better Call Saul though, and I think it works for that show because Jimmy’s fall stems from his genuine straight-forwardness structurally ruined by so many characters, events, and circumstances. Maul is a villain, a posturing one, and even though the episode technically put so much heft into his behavior and actions (heck, I gave the episode an A-), it just feels shrugworthy in the end.I think this may be a YMMV situation.
You have all destroyed your brains. You think this dumb cartoon is “Shakespearean”? I honestly hope you’ve never read Shakespeare, but deep down, I know you just never understood it and long since forgot what it was like.
I loved the sense of dread and foreboding throughout the episode, and especially in the beginning. The direction and especially Kiner’s music did a lot to convey that, it was amazing. That we already know how things are going to go lends it all an incredibly tragic feeling.
Maul has literally gone full Cassandra. He knows the future but nobody believes him.
Yes! The entire thing is a Greek tragedy, with folks like Ahsoka and Maul as the mortals suffering due to the squabblings of Gods (Palpatine and the Council, with Anakin hanging in the balance).
LMAO
Yep. The mentions of the parallel timeline of ROTS are what made this episode powerful. The idea that storytelling only works if we do not already know some things that are going to happen is absolutely ludicrous. I’d argue that many of the greatest stories in Western civilization, from the Iliad to Shakespeare’s history plays to Faulkner’s Quentin Compson novels, gain much of their power from the audience’s foreknowledge of certain very, very bad things that are going to happen.
Also, Maul killing Qui Gon had a MASSIVE impact on the Star Wars story.
Maul was the prequel answer to Boba Fett. A cool looking character with a lot of fan buildup based on a interesting design and mystery. Who essentially falls flat and uninspiring in the films.
LOL!
So, the Star Wars Ahsoka book I read kind of kept things vague in regards to the siege of Mandalore (also it’s been a while since I read it), but I’m guessing we’re gearing up for one more Maul escape and duel like right before order 66 happens? I’m just not sure how they stretch that out over the next two episodes, even if the back half of the last episode will probably be dedicated to really setting things up for rebels.
Also, obviously this didn’t really disappoint me that much because that ending duel/battle was probably the most fun I had with anything Star Wars related since the throne room sequence of The Last Jedi (I liked it a lot and I’m not afraid to say that), but the fact we were robbed of the originally written bit of banter between Maul and Ahsoka kind pisses me off.
Maul: it was so nice of your former masters to send you out alone and spare me the exertion of a proper fight. You’re not even a real Jedi.Ahsoka: it’ll be a fair fight then. You’re only half a Sith. That having been said, this arc is definitely gearing up to surpass Ahsoka’s leaving the Jedi as my favourite Clone Wars arc.
“I’m just not sure how they stretch that out over the next two episodes”Don’t worry next week is a Jar-Jar episode. Then back to Mandalore.
If I didn’t know that weren’t true, I might actually believe it. If there is one problem I have with the Clone Wars series as a whole, it’s that in between the very high highs of the series, they decided to dedicate silly one or two off episodes to characters like Jar Jar and even C3PO and R2. In other words, it has the same issue as many other series with 22 episode long seasons. It was also interesting to watch them make the same mistake six years after their last season of stretching out two arcs into four episodes when they could have easily been three (or maybe even two in the case of Ahsoka’s)
Been a while since I read the book (an ok read, nothing special, but it was something when it didn’t look like we were going to get any more of this show.)But have it open and looking through it, not the only change. In the book, Ahsoka’s sabers are green (the ones she was gifted by Anakin are blue, here.) She seemed to lose them in the fight too, I wonder if she will recover them and deal with them as she did in the book.(Side note, it’s impossible to watch that Last Jedi throne room fight and not see how hilariously poorly choreographed it turned out to be once you’ve had the errors pointed out to you.)
I’ve only ever watched the The Last Jedi throne room scene in the context of the entire film, and I’ve never watched any videos about picking apart the choreography of the scene. The four times I’ve seen the film, that scene – and the choreography in it – have been amazing, because it’s extraordinarily well pulled off. If it took seeing nitpicking online videos of a scene to make you notice the things that reveal it’s artificial, then it wasn’t hilariously poorly choreographed.
Dark Disciple and Son of Dathomir (especially the former, which ranks as my personal favourite Star Wars book) were far superior than the Ahsoka novel in terms of telling the unfinished stories of the Clone Wars when they thought they weren’t going to be able to tell those stories, mostly because they were actually concerned with telling those stories outright whereas Ahsoka only had brief flashbacks. Also, given that Ahsoka’s four episode arc had her running with two sisters in very similar fashion to the novel rather than having it be a boy like was originally planned and the additional retcons in this episode (you’re right about the saber colours and I’m pretty sure order 66 was activated on Mandalore, which is clearly not going to happen) it makes me wonder if they are just trying have these eight episodes replace that novel as canon.
You can do that with literally every lightsaber fight in all of the movies. The big three way fight in Phantom is probably the most hilariously awful.
My biggest issue with the throne room fight, beyond Johnson not being arsed to get Driver and Ridley up to speed on the choreography, is the laughably edgelord moment when one of the guards falls into a turbine, and bloody viscera shoots up.Such Zack Snyder. Much wow.
I dunno what version of the film you’ve got, but there’s not an ounce of blood in that whole fight scene. The “bloody viscera” is clearly just bits of the guard’s red uniform/helmet.I’ve always had a problem with people picking apart fast-paced choreographed fight scenes like muggle mentions. If you didn’t notice something before someone else spent 2 hours watching it in slow-motion and pointing it out to you, what have you actually gained from getting that information?
I’m betting the final episode will have more than a few scenes, or might largely take place after ROTS.
this cartoon for children is absolutely freaking epic
It’s so weird that in all of Maul’s animated appearances, they’ve never played Duel of the Fates.
It’s such a hyped track you have to use it sparingly I guess, and avoid it overshadowing the scene its used in. I’d have liked if they used a little sting of it in his final subdued confrontation with kenobi in Rebels.
I know I’m late to the party but there actually is a little sting of it during the *SPOILERS FOR REBELS?* Ahsoka and Kanan vs. Maul fight in Rebels. (You can hear it at about the 19 second mark in the below vid.)
nice!
Dryden Vos cameo when Maul is speaking to syndicate leaders!
Also per the end credits it says Ray Park as “Maul Performance” it looks like they either mo capped or rotoscoped him for the fights!
And Lauren Mary Kim mo capped Ahsoka!
I *thought* that looked almost too natural! And you really could see Park’s actual physical moves in that fight. It was just amazing. The rest of the episode looked phenomenal too, the animation team has outdone themselves.
Park’s influence was suuuper obvious in the little single-foot hops that made Maul so distinctive in TPM. Just a brilliant piece of animation, with everything working in concert at 100% capacity.
Apparently they used mo-cap Ray Park and Lauren Mary Kim for that fight between Maul and Ahsoka to enhance its fluidity.
Watching the fight I was thinking that Maul and Ahsoka are two of the most athletic, graceful Jedi and it really did make me remember that Park is a world class athlete.
Hiring him quite possibly saved TPM from being a complete dud.
It did not.
It’s a cartoon. It’s not real. Grow up.
I really wish I could have watched this arc before watching Rebels.Knowing what happens to Ahsoka and Maul after this story arc takes some of the drama out of their confrontation.We even know, more or less, what’s going to happen to the Mandalorians. (though their culture does still seem relatively different than the ones who show up in ‘The Mandalorian’ show)
I really liked the various Rebels parallels set up in this episode (esp. the Caleb Dume cameo, which was spoiled by the trailer but whatever). Maul is so thirsty for an apprentice.
Is Mauk deluded and out of his mind? I rather think he’s the only one with his head screwed on right in terms of avoiding the rise of the empire at this point. His methods are unhinged and his obsession with revenge is ruining his chances at getting what he wants, but he sees exactly what’s going on and at least wants to throw a spanner in the works.
Most Sith are deluded. I’d say Maul is insane because he’s mad with lust for power, becoming unhinged due to force visions, and has never known any semblance of stability. Whereas his insanity was completely loony when Savage first found him, now, as you said, you see it in his methods, obsession, and also his delusions of grandeur. In his own words, he orchestrated an entire war on Mandalore to take revenge. That said, it’s not unheard of for an insane character to be the only one to see things clearly as they are. In fact, it’s terrifying. It works well here.
Aye you’ve got a point. Its a testament to how well they’ve worked with his character that I could help shouting ‘listen to him he’s right!’ as they were capturing and stunning him.
1. Hey Oedipus you married your mother!
2. The Frank family is in the attic!
I personally think this ranks right alongside ‘The Lawless’ as the best episode of The Clone Wars and would give it an A. Just my opinion. I agree with this review for the most part, and while no episode of television is without flaws, I actually thought the dramatic exposition had plenty of substance for new and old viewers alike. It partly rests on whether you like Maul as a villain (and I do), but it heightens the tragedy of his story, gives him greater emotional depth, and helps us understand exactly how he plans to capitalize on the chaotic Fall of the Republic. He’s not stupid. He knows what’s coming, he plans to use it to gain power, and that makes him dangerous. Others have already pointed out the Shakespearian speech and dramatic irony, but Maul also nearly reminds me of Hamlet in how his visions and “vague premonitions” are driving him further into insanity. Because he’s insane. Clearly. He realizes he was never more than a tool, and that deepens the emotional impact of his confrontation with Ahsoka, who also felt like a pawn in a greater game. In other words, this exposition is vital to understanding that Maul is a dark mirror of Ahsoka (the way I see it, both of them are a ‘phantom apprentice’). We may know what’s going to happen, but the characters don’t. Maul’s early exposition is in the character, not the plot.That said, I think the other exposition serves its own purposes as well. First, the target audience is one that may not be familiar with Episode III and, as the review acknowledged, would see the background references as new information. Second, and more important to me as an adult, I think the scenes with Maul and Obi-Wan brilliantly fill some of the messier gaps in RotS’s writing. RotS, for example, produced an odd tonal dissonance in its interactions between Anakin and the council. One of my problems with the movie so many years ago was how the wise and powerful Jedi council behaved like a group idiots for most of the film. When Anakin beheaded Dooku, I literally thought, “you just executed your best source of information,” and the council never brought it up. I get that Lucas was trying to drive home their ignorance, but it was strange and poorly executed. What I’m (rather poorly) trying to say is that, in this episode, expositional conversations like the one with Obi-Wan not only serve to create substantial tension by providing character logic, but they also elevate the referenced material with new, character-based information. Unlike all of the Rise of Skywalker’s damage-control bonus material, the exposition here works with the episode’s plot as well.The episode elevates RotS. It elevates the Martez Sisters arc. It has fantastic action sequences, excellent pacing, and the best character exploration of the season. In my book, this episode has justified the existence of a seventh season after two rocky and uneven arcs. For once, I have absolutely no idea what the next two episodes will cover or where they’ll end, and I’m on the edge of my seat, ready to find out. I feel like a kid again. Even if I’m wrong in my breakdown, at least I have that feeling! Always love reading these reviews-thanks for doing them!
Anyone else catch where it sounded like Maul said that they sealed their own doom once he was caught? I assumed he was talking about order 66, and that Sidious could not activate it if they killed him together.
Interesting. I loved the tension build up from the outside events unfolding from ROTS. The most stressful part of watching this is getting glimpses of Rex’s face and knowing he still has his chip. The callbacks and the looming dread were the best parts of the episode. In comparison, the lightsaber battle was a let down. It looked good, I guess, but it was empty. The team has spent years building up this as the last great lightsaber battle in TCW, but they kneecapped it by pointing out these are two people who don’t know each other or particularly care. Ahsoka wants to bring him in for questioning. Maul wants a partner to help him take down Sidious (because that worked out so well for him and his brother last time he tried). Meanwhile we’ve seen them both pop up later so there isn’t even the tension of maybe someone will die or lose a hand. The fight was pretty and had no heart, which is a shame. It even makes “Twilight of the Apprentice” worse in hindsight. There we saw, or thought we saw, some ancient enmity between Ahsoka and Maul. Instead, it turns out their whole interaction in that episode was just “Oh, this asshole again” and nothing else. That one still has the Ahsoka and Vader face off later, and I have high hopes for a stronger emotional climax in the last two episodes ahead now, but I wish the big lightsaber battle had been better, rotoscope/mocap and all.
Shit. It sounds like I gotta start watching this show…
Maul and Ahsoka are both right.Maul about Sidious and Anakin but Ahsoka about Maul’s ambitions to basically take Sidous’s place once he’s been defeated.Definitely one of the best TCW episodes to date.Also, there’s a great ScreenCrush video break-down of ‘The Phantom Apprentice’ that points out some less obvious references.
A- for this cheap-looking Star Wars cartoon?Remember when A.V. Club was the site that DIDN’T grade on a curve?
This episode gave Maul so much more to do than anything ever before. Who knew he knew so much and wasn’t just a two-bit lackey?
My one real complaint is the violence. Ahsoka used to decapitate mandalorians four at a time. Now during that siege scene, all she does now is poke jetpacks and cut barrels off of blasters. its distracting.
There has been a… lot of talk about how, in the wake of The Last Jedi,
one direction that the franchise should have gone is to have Kylo Ren
reject all that was The Sith and the Dark Side, and started a whole
other new approach–and perhaps he should have taken Rey along with him.
That is exactly what we have here: both Ahsoka and Maul have been
betrayed by their masters and left their respective “orders.” And not
only does Maul tempt Ahsoka with this “third” option–killing Sidious,
similar to killing Snoke, she accepts it! Up until she fails to believe
Maul’s claim about Sidious grooming Anakin all this time. The irony of
ironies.
Pretty much. With as gorgeous as this arc has been, I say we just use this team and give them an animated series to canonically replace the sequel movies.
For future reference, the fight between Maul and Ahsoka was indeed mocapped (not just used as a baseline) by Ray Park and Lauren Mary Kim.Inside the Final Duel: Maul vs. Ahsoka | Star Wars: The Clone WarsThat must’ve been amazing to watch being filmed!
That battle was too epic for mere words. Maul is a standout and Witwer is great in the role
“You’re lucky Anakin didn’t show up. The way you’re fighting you wouldn’t have lasted long.”I love the sass Ahsoka gives Maul here. She’s not afraid of him at all here.