The Fall of Ahsoka Tano
Star Wars: Clone Wars 5.17 “Sabotage”
Somebody bombs the Jedi temple. The Jedi get the blame. Anakin and Ahsoka are brought in to investigate – their primary qualification being that they weren’t there, so are the only Jedi they can be sure of.
It turns out to be the disgruntled spouse of a temple worker, but I have a problem with this.
They discuss who did it, say it could be anyone, and express the fear a Jedi has fallen, but nobody seems to think that it might have been a droid.
Seriously. If I was going to mess with the Jedi Temple, I’d reprogram an astromech. (Droids were involved, but not like that). They should have been checking the programming of every droid except R2 and R7 (Ahsoka’s droid).
They didn’t even, as far as I can tell, check the programming of their CSI droid!
You’re fighting droids, but…
Bad writing? Or a reminder that nobody takes droids seriously…
Star Wars: Clone Wars 5.18 “The Jedi Who Knew Too Much”
Oh, Ahsoka. The saboteur is trying to tell her which Jedi is behind the bombing (although one suspects whoever it was suborned by Palpatine).
And then she mysteriously chokes to death, presumably on more nano droids. Somebody doctors the cell footage to make it look like Ahsoka force choked her to death.
Ahsoka is now a fugitive, despite Anakin’s best efforts to convince her to work within the system. She’s young. I can’t blame her for running, no matter how guilty it makes her look, especially after she’s set up for killing a couple of clones too.
It’s all such an obvious setup, but who’s going to believe her now?
Star Wars: Clone Wars 5.19 “To Catch a Jedi”
The problem with Ahsoka being on the run on Coruscant is it doesn’t seem there are any of her species around. She stands out.
Then she runs into Asada Ventress and sweet talks her into helping her, but the plot thickens…with a fake Ventress, exposives, and…is Ahsoka’s best friend, Barriss, actually involved in the conspiracy? Starting to look that way.
But no matter how good Ahsoka is, she can’t hide from the full force of the Republic on Coruscant itself.
I’ll forgive them the “Poor people literally live below rich people” trope as it wasn’t quite as overused back then.
Star Wars: Clone Wars 5.20 “The Wrong Jedi”
Ahsoka, expelled from the Jedi Order and put on trial for murder…expelled so that she could face a military tribunal and the possibility of the death penalty. Anakin tries to clear her name.
And, of course, I was right. It was all Barriss, because she believes the Jedi Order itself has fallen to the dark side.
In some ways, she’s not wrong. The Jedi are warriors now, not peacekeepers. My favorite moment was when Anakin and Barriss fall out the window, fighting, and land in the middle of a class of younglings doing live lightsaber training.
They got quite the demonstration!
Usually when there’s a story like this, the person being expelled and accused comes back into the fold. I 100% don’t blame Ahsoka for notdoing that. She’s right not to trust the order, she’s wrong not to trust herself.
Will we see her again before her own series? I don’t know, but maybe this, not anything with Padme, is the true loss that causes Anakin to fall.
Star Wars: Clone Wars 6.1 “The Unknown”
A clone trooper suddenly goes rogue and kills the Jedi commanding his platoon. It’s obvious he didn’t do this of his own free will.
Something is interfering with the clones, and even the Jedi can’t sense evil intent if there’s no intent. This is not good…for either side, because it seems “Tup” was triggered prematurely.
We know from the movies what happens to almost all of the Jedi. This appears to be the start of it, but perhaps…nah, we know there’s no hope.
Star Wars: Clone Wars 6.2 “Conspiracy”
It’s a brain chip, because of course it’s a brain chip. We get to see an adult of Ahsoka’s species, Shakti, who is fighting (verbally) with the people on Camino.
Camino is a commercial clone production facility and the Republic is their largest client. And they think it’s a safeguard against rogue Jedi.
We know otherwise, so the viewer irony here is pretty intense.
Poor Tup.
Even more, poor Fives. I’ve always kind of liked Fives.
The argument about names versus numbers with the droid is interesting.
Star Wars: Clone Wars 6.3 “Fugitive”
Okay, so the clones all have inhibitor chips to make them less aggressive than Jango was. Honestly, given what I know of Jango…
…but there’s hidden programming in them. Fives discovers everything and gets the droid to remove his inhibitor chip. He does become more aggressive. Which is silly…there’s no consideration of nurture here at all.
Of course, the entire clone thing…then again, look up polo pony clones, it’s a thing.
Of course, now they’re taking him to the Chancellor.
Poor Fives.
Star Wars: Clone Wars 6.4 “Orders”
Poor Fives. Removing his chip has made him unstable. (Jango was a piece of work). But he also doesn’t try to assassinate the Chancellor.
Or maybe he does, he’s just provoked. To those of us who know that the Chancellor is evil, this flows in an inevitable direction, and we can start to feel the end.
We know the Jedi don’t suspect anything, and we know why…Palpatine just has everyone that fooled.
Star Wars: Clone Wars 6.5 “An Old Friend”
I started to flinch at the words “banking clan” and I wish I hadn’t been right. The Scipio Banking Clan, funding both sides with loans and trying to be Switzerland, consists of members of an alien humanoid species who’s features, among other things, include giant massive noses.
Who let this design through? Did nobody on the entire creative team realize what they were doing? I’m not thinking anyone intentionallydecided to use an anti-semitic stereotype for corrupt bankers, but that’s 100% where they ended up. At least none of them were named Benjamin.
Which is a shame because in this episode they actually try to fix the attachment issue. Padme’s ex is involved and Anakin goes into a jealous rage.
Is the attachment thing a way to avoid jealousy, an emotion clearly of the dark side. So I’m glad I forced myself to keep watching, but people.
Be very wary of evil banking clans.
And don’t give them big noses or curly hair. Stop.
Star Wars: Clone Wars 6.6 “The Rise of Clovis”
Eww. Just eww.
True, Anakin is wrong to be jealous, but…
When he walks in on Clovis kissing Padme, he thinks Padme is cheating on him. In fact, Clovis is sexually assaulting Padme.
Which she doesn’t report, doesn’t do anything about, because “the Republic.” She doesn’t even tell Anakin that’s what happened.
Instead, she dumps him for being jealous. Which he kind of deserves, but is obviously the trigger for his fall. He was right to be suspicious of Clovis, although likely wrong to be quite as aggressive about it.
But also, this sends a message to the people watching the show that not reporting SA because “it’s your job” is kind of okay.
I think that’s even worse than the anti-semitism. Will the next episodes make up for this?
Orphan Black: Echoes 1.6 “Unless You Trusted Someone”
Oh, this has just become completely and utterly tangled. First of all, there are how many printouts of Eleanor now? Never mind, I can’t count that high.
Jules has been kidnapped by Darros, who apparently made her, and seems to be after…well…not sure at this point. Maybe he thinks she’ll be a good mate for his son. Can printouts breed?
Well, by son we mean printout designed to be his personal immortality.
The thing about this copying people thing is the paste part isn’t working too hugely well.
As usual, nobody is at all competent, and Jules just wants out.
Orphan Black: Echoes 1.7 “The Dog’s Honest Truth”
Jules is on her way out of the compound. The third Eleanor printout, from a two year old scan and equipped with all of her memories, dumps Kira. I don’t blame her! From her perspective she’s been resurrected only to almost immediately get Alzheimer’s again.
We do get the best new cast member, though. Jules finds a new friend as she goes on the run. An adorable new friend, even if his favorite food is ear. The dog had better not die, just saying.
The three printouts are now together…the three Eleanor printouts, that is. But what happens next? And what does Paul Darros plan on doing with his ability to badly copy people.
Because, as noted, the paste function is decidedly iffy.
Star Wars: Clone Wars 6.7 “Crisis At The Heart”
An Empire needs to control its own money. And everything is a setup to get the banks under Republic control.
Anakin is right about Clovis, to a point. In fact, poor Clovis is being blackmailed and set up to take the fall by Dooku.
And take the literal fall…he ends up falling off a platform so Anakin can save Padme. I do feel somewhat sorry for Clovis. He’s not a bad guy per se, he’s just easily influenced by bad company. But the banks being under Republic control feels like the end…
Star Wars: Clone Wars 6.8 “The Disappeared Part 1”
So, why does the queen only want Jar Jar to help? Because they’re f*buddies, that’s why. (The designers were careful to make her newly-introduced species look like something a Gungan might feel attracted to and vice versa).
Windu’s innocence on the matter is amusing. Poor, celibate Jedi.
Queen Julia (A suspiciously human name…did somebody get Tuckerized) has called for help because the mystics of her planet are vanishing. The last people she trusts are Jedi, as her culture sees the recruitment of younglings as no better than kidnapping.
And if they aren’t retrieved, “darkness will fall.”
We all know darkness is going to fall.
I think this is the first time I have genuinely felt sorry for Jar Jar, even if it was refreshing to be free of him for a good number of episodes.
Star Wars: Clone Wars 6.9 “The Disappeared Part 2”
I actually feel sorry for the “Great Mother.” The cultists describe her in ways that make her sound like Cthulhu, but it turns out…
…she’s a Nightsister without the Force to balance her magic/psionics. And she’s so desperate she’s using the cult to steal other people’s.
What led her to this point? I don’t know, but Jar Jar gets to be badass, we get some really cool melee fighting, and then they literally ride off into the sunset.
I hope Jar Jar and Julia have a long…oh, who are we kidding, we know they don’t.
Star Wars: Clone Wars 6.10 “The Lost One”
Ten years ago, Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas was killed trying to mediate a dispute on a primitive planet. Or was he?
So much is revealed in this episode. The Jedi now know that “Lord Tyranis” (I didn’t know when I named a certain planet) and “Count Dooku” are the same person.
And that he was behind the creation of the clones.
So, who was Sifo-Dyas, who supposedly “joined” Dooku? Is he still alive somewhere? They never did find a body, just his ship and his lightsaber.
Very good episode. There are only three episodes left of season 6, and season 7 is kind of separate. Almost there!