WiC Watches: Season 7 of Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Photo: Star Wars: The Clone Wars Episode 702 “A Distant Echo” .. Image Courtesy Disney+
Episode 702: “A Distant Echo”
Anakin Skywalker joins Rex and the Bad Batch as they trace the mysterious signal Rex believes is Echo to the distant planet of Skako Minor. And just like that, we have another episode title. Boy, showrunner Dave Filoni is really reaching deep for titles.
Anyway, once there, they deal with some disgruntled natives and then fight through more droids before confronting the creepy Wat Tambor and his Techno Union, the creators of the droid army for the Separatists.
Before they depart on their mission, Anakin has Rex cover for him with Obi-Wan as he has a private holochat with his secret wife, who’s pregnant with the couple’s twins. It’s a tender moment between the two, but later Obi-Wan makes a stink and storms off, letting them both know that he knows they were talking.
Photo: Star Wars: The Clone Wars Episode 702 “A Distant Echo” .. Image Courtesy Disney+
“A Distant Echo” really hit on a bunch of emotions, providing by light moments like the Anakin-and-Padme scene and darker stuff to come. It’s hard to accurately display complex and adult emotions in a cartoon about Star Wars, but Dave Filoni never misses a beat.
Photo: Star Wars: The Clone Wars Episode 702 “A Distant Echo” .. Image Courtesy Disney+
So, to the actual mission itself: Admiral Trench figures out that Anakin and the clones are coming to Skako Minor and he warns Wat Tambor that they’re likely there to rescue the captured Echo. Our heroes make their way to the tower where Echo is being held, and they split up to take down the droids and rescue their friend. Anakin and the majority of the team take on the droid forces inside, while Rex brings his new tech-enhanced friend to find Echo.
Before escaping their wrath, Tambor comes on the monitors and tells Rex that Echo is dead. Rex ignores that and he — along with Tech — breaks into the control room and finds Echo inside a chamber, grossly hooked up to wires and outfitted with what appear to be cybernetic legs and enhancements, muttering gibberish.
I loved “A Distant Echo” and thought it was a true return-to-form for the show. The tender moment between Anakin and Padme, juxtaposed with the horrific reveal of Rex finding Echo barely alive really hit all the right notes for me.