Photo: Star Wars: The Clone Wars Episode 710 “The Phantom Apprentice” – Image Courtesy Disney+
Star Wars: The Clone Wars is finally back for one last hurrah, and we’re excited to find out where the Bad Batch story-arc will take us; how Anakin, Ahsoka, Obi-Wan, Rex, and Cody help lift Darth Maul’s siege of Mandalore; and if the showrunners of this beloved animated series can successfully end its story right where Episode III: Revenge of the Sith picks up.
Will Ahsoka sense Anakin’s coming surrender to the Dark Side of the Force, and is there any more shading that can be added to friendship between Obi-Wan and Anakin? Also, what happened to our favorite clones once Order 66 was enacted by Emperor Palpatine? Follow along with us, as we watch and review each of the 12 episodes in this final season.
But first, let’s refamiliarize ourselves with some of the major players. Season 7 will kick off with a scrapped storyarc from 2015, back when the show ran on Netflix. This story follows the adventures of a group of genetically enhanced clone soldiers known as the Bad Batch.
Photo: Star Wars: The Clone Wars Episode 701 “The Bad Batch” .. Image Courtesy Disney+
Also called Clone Squad 99, its members include Sergeant Hunter, the team leader; Wrecker, the strongman; Crosshair, an incredibly sarcastic sniper; and Tech, the super-intelligent tech specialist.
There’s also Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi still running around, and we’ll see various Jedi Masters from the prequel era films, including Mace Windu and Master Yoda.
Photo: Star Wars: The Clone Wars Episode 701 “The Bad Batch” .. Image Courtesy Disney+
Anakin’s story is probably what interests me most. I really want a clean transition into the events of Revenge of the Sith.
And finally, there’s Maul and Ahsoka:
Photo: Star Wars: The Clone Wars Episode 701 “The Bad Batch” .. Image Courtesy Disney+
How did Maul regain control of Mandalore after Darth Sidious/Emperor Palpatine removed him? Was Ahsoka solely responsible for the freeing of the planet or did she have help? Hopefully, the show will have enough time to answer those questions. Let’s get started!
Photo: Star Wars: The Clone Wars Episode 701 “The Bad Batch” .. Image Courtesy Disney+
Episode 701: “The Bad Batch”
Commander Cody and Captain Rex lead an attack to defend the main Republic shipyard from the villainous and spider-like Admiral Trench, one of the leaders of the Separatist army. Joining them is the Bad Batch.
There’s not much depth to this episode, but it does succinctly lay out the storyline for the first few episodes of this final season. Cody and Rex take the Bad Batch to find out why the Separatist army is able to counter their every move. Apparently, there’s an algorithm the droids are using and a signal tower may hold the key.
My absolute favorite part of the episode is the introduction of the actual Bad Batch group. It’s crazy to think that Dee Bradley Baker provides a unique voice to each clone. Coincidentally, he also voices every clone on the show, so as you can imagine, he’s quite busy in an episode that is almost exclusively about the clones.
Anyway, once the group fights its way to and inside the Separatist command center, Rex hears a mysterious signal that makes him believe his friend Echo — a clone presumed dead from the Jedi attack on the Separatist detention center, the Citadel — may still be alive.
Photo: Star Wars: The Clone Wars Episode 701 “The Bad Batch” .. Image Courtesy Disney+
I loved “The Bad Batch,” which picked up seamlessly from the season 6 finale way back in 2015. You can tell the animation has improved, and while I think I prefer the older models, I do appreciate Dave Filoni and his team’s dedication to bringing even more quality to an already excellent show.
Finally, the surprising fact that Echo might still be alive really put the episode into the win column for me.
Episode Grade: A
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.
Episode Grade: A+
Photo: Star Wars: The Clone Wars Episode 703 “On the Wings Keeradaks” .. Image Courtesy Disney+
Episode 703: “On the Wings of Keeradaks”
We pick up right where Episode 2 left off. Anakin, Rex and the Bad Batch are on the planet of Skako Minor, retrieving Echo from Wat Tambor’s nightmare experiments. Echo is now half-clone/half-machine, and he’s connected throughout the Separatist computer network.
Tech is hurridly running through the program to unhook Echo from the machine when Wat Tambor and his droids show up outside the control room and begin using his new weapon, the Decimator, to penetrate the doors and get inside to kill everyone.
A little sidebar: in the unfinished Bad Batch story-arc from 2015 on Netflix, the Decimator was a little more gruesome. It was used on a native of Skako Minor and liquefied him into a puddle of disgusting goo. It’s easy to see why that kind of thing was cut now that the show is on the family-friendly Disney+. I imagine young children watching that happen might be a tad horrified.
Photo: Star Wars: The Clone Wars Episode 703 “On the Wings Keeradaks” .. Image Courtesy Disney+
Anyway, Echo uses his new computer network-connected brain to access the schematics of the Techno Union tower the team is in and they escape using a ventilation shaft right before the Decimator makes its way inside. They make their way outside to the top of the tower and are quickly surrounded by droids. Tech uses the native language to call on the Keeradaks — the huge bat-like creatures the planet’s natives use to travel around — and they escape. It’s kind of like when the eagles save Bilbo Baggins and the dwarves in The Hobbit and I am very here for it.
Tambor sends the droids and two huge walkers to the native village where Anakin and the clones have escaped with Echo, and they try to retrieve him. Apparently, Echo is now considered Techno Union property, and with all that information on the Separatist army in his head, I’ll bet he’s used to help defeat them before this season is through.
Photo: Star Wars: The Clone Wars Episode 703 “On the Wings Keeradaks” .. Image Courtesy Disney+
After an exciting battle, the heroes survive and leave the planet for the Republic base, Echo in tow.
This was an intense and action-heavy episode that I very much enjoyed. It didn’t have as much exposition as the previous two episodes, which was nice, although neither did it have much in the way of subtle emotional moments.
I like that Echo kind of looks like Anakin after Emperor Palpatine saves him in Revenge of the Sith. In fact, if you want to know what Darth Vader looks like underneath the black armor, then go no further than looking at Echo with his cybernetic enhancements, arms and legs.
Episode Grade: B+
Photo: Star Wars: The Clone Wars Episode 704 “Unfinished Business” .. Image Courtesy Disney+
Episode 704: “Unfinished Business”
Mace Windu and Obi-Wan Kenobi lead their clone forces against Admiral Trench’s droids in order to free the planet of Anaxes from the Separatist army. Meanwhile, Anakin Skywalker takes Rex and Echo, escorted by the Bad Batch, to Trench’s command ship orbiting the planet.
The plan is to use Echo’s computer-enhanced brain to fool the droids into making mistakes against the Jedi on the planet below. It works, but only after Echo convinces everyone he’s not some Separatist spy working against the army of the Republic.
Thanks to Echo, Obi-Wan and Mace have little problem defeating the droids. However, when he realizes defeat is at hand, Admiral Trench arms a massive bomb that will destroy Anaxes should the Jedi not disarm it in time.
Photo: Star Wars: The Clone Wars Episode 704 “Unfinished Business” .. Image Courtesy Disney+
Mace Windu rushes to the bomb and Echo gives him all but one number of the code to disarm it. Trench realizes what’s happening and sends a shockwave through the computer system and knocks Echo out of commission.
Just when it looks like all is lost for the Jedi forces, Anakin reaches the command bridge of Trench’s ship, and after dispatching the spider-like alien’s security droids, he threatens him into giving up the last number.
This situation provides a unique look into Anakin Skywalker’s slide toward the Dark Side, as he cuts off several of Trench’s arms and then kills him after he gives up the desired information.
Photo: Star Wars: The Clone Wars Episode 704 “Unfinished Business” .. Image Courtesy Disney+
Sure, Trench would have tried to kill Anakin had he been given half the chance, but most Jedi would act defensively and disarm their foe instead of outright killing them. This is the kind of addition to Anakin’s story that I was hoping Dave Filoni and his team would provide in this final season.
In the end, Echo realizes his path has drastically changed now that he’s basically a super-computer, and he joins the Bad Batch as they depart for missions and parts unknown. Before they leave, however, they all turn and offer a salute of respect to Rex. It was a touching moment from a group of renegade clones who had no desire to fall in line when the season started.
Thanks to the intense action, the return of the Jedi to the storyline, and character development for Anakin we didn’t get in the prequel movies, this was, without a doubt, the best episode of the final season of The Clone Wars yet.
Episode Grade: A+
Photo: Star Wars: The Clone Wars Episode 705 “Gone With a Trace” .. Image Courtesy Disney+
Episode 705: “Gone with a Trace”
This week’s episode picks up with Ahsoka Tano leaving the Jedi Temple and heading down into the bowels of Coruscant, where the poor and disenfranchised people of the planet live. On her way down, she crashes her speeder and has to seek help from a mechanic named Trace Martez.
As it turns out, Trace and her sister Rafa are refurbishing a ship to fly off-world, “away from the Jedi and their war.” This visibly shakes Ahsoka, and she briefly defends the Jedi before thinking better of it. Ahsoka tells Trace she has no money to offer her for repair on the speeder, but Trace is a kind person and allows Ahsoka to stay as long as she is willing to chip in with odd jobs around the shop.
Photo: Star Wars: The Clone Wars Episode 705 “Gone With a Trace” .. Image Courtesy Disney+
Meanwhile, a certain thug is looking for Rafa — who apparently owes him money for parts and an unfinished job, so she hatches a scheme to sell volatile worker droids that end up attacking half the lower quadrants of 1313 (lower Coruscant).
Ahsoka and Trace track down the droids and save the day, but Ahsoka must use the Force to save Trace when one of the droids almost kills her. No one notices, and that seems for the best, as the Jedi are frowned upon in the lower levels of the city.
This wasn’t my favorite episode of the season, but I did enjoy the fact that it showed how regular folk saw the Jedi as the ones who caused the war with the Separatists. It just goes to show how far Palpatine’s war of disinformation against the Jedi went when the common people no longer trusted them.
Also, Ahsoka’s back, baby!
Grade: B-
Photo: Star Wars: The Clone Wars Episode 706 “Deal No Deal” .. Image Courtesy Disney+
Episode 706: “Deal No Deal”
Ahsoka and Trace hook up with Trace’s sister Rafa for a Spice run to the planet Kessel. Despite a warning from Ahsoka about the planet and the various bad guys inhabiting the hyperspace lanes going in and out, Rafa convinces Trace to take The Silver Angel — Trace’s own ship she salvaged from the junk heaps on Coruscant — out on her maiden voyage to retrieve the highly valuable cargo.
Because Trace and Rafa do not trust the Jedi, Ahsoka has to constantly hide who she was in her former life, which comes into play in a very interesting way. AsThe Silver Angel drifts into military lanes on Coruscant, it flies across the front of Anakin Skywalker’s Republic battle cruiser. Sensing his former padawan is on the smaller ship, Anakin reaches out with the Force, and he and Ahsoka share a nice moment of acknowledgment.
It’s moments just like this that we never got in any of the prequel films, and it’s what got me most excited for Dave Filoni returning to produce one final season of the show.
Photo: Star Wars: The Clone Wars Episode 706 “Deal No Deal” .. Image Courtesy Disney+
Anyway, Ahsoka, Trace and Rafa pick up the shipment of Spice and Rafa reveals the rest of her plan to Ahsoka and Trace: she’s taking the Spice to the Pyke Syndicate. Ahsoka immediately knows from her time as a Jedi that the Pykes are bad dudes, and she tries to persuade Trace to turn the ship around and use the Spice to make medicine for the needy back home on Coruscant.
An argument between Ahsoka and Rafa breaks out, and in order to make them stop fighting, Trace ejects the Spice into space. Not a great move on Trace’s part, because either way, the Pykes expect to get their shipment, so Trace lands her ship in Syndicate territory and they offload empty crates.
Ahsoka stealthily — and unbeknownst to both Trace and Rafa — uses a Jedi Mind Trick to convince the Pykes that the empty crates contain the Spice, but one of the gang members isn’t fooled. After checking to confirm his suspicions were correct, he has The Silver Angel surrounded. Fade to black, to be continued next week.
This was a fun episode with a very nice heartwarming moment shared between Anakin and Ahsoka.
Episode Grade: A
Photo: Star Wars: The Clone Wars Episode 707 “Dangerous Debt .. Image Courtesy Disney+
Episode 707: “Dangerous Debt”
Ahsoka and the Martez sisters fight to escape the Pyke prison, where they’re being tortured for the location of the spice shipment Trace dumped into the vacuum of space. Fortunately for the trio, the members of the syndicate don’t realize the shipment is lost forever, which is the only reason they’re being kept alive…for the moment.
The constant struggle between Rafa and Ahsoka finally comes to a head as the eldest Martez sister reveals why she and Trace dislike the Jedi so much. Apparently, when Ziro the Hutt evaded capture from the Jedi on Coruscant, a ship was shot down to help cover his escape. The Jedi sprang into action to keep the ship from crashing into a populated landing pad in the lower levels of the planet, using the Force to redirect it so it crashed into what they thought was an empty wall.
Photo: Star Wars: The Clone Wars Episode 707 “Dangerous Debt .. Image Courtesy Disney+
However, Trace and Rafa lived on the other side of that wall with their parents, and after sacrificing themselves to ensure their daughters were safe, mom and dad Martez died in the explosion caused by the ship. Later, when the debris had been cleared, a Jedi — Master Luminara Unduli — came to tell the sisters she was sorry for their loss and that the Force would be with them…and that was it. The Martez sisters were left to fend for themselves, blaming the Jedi for the deaths of their parents.
So, as you might imagine, Ahsoka is very hesitant to use the Force to help them escape the Pykes, because she doesn’t want to risk exposing who she really is and losing new friends. Instead, she uses her powers discretely. When Trace causes a distraction, Ahsoka uses the Force to open their cell and the three escape into the city.
Photo: Star Wars: The Clone Wars Episode 707 “Dangerous Debt .. Image Courtesy Disney+
As they make for their ship, the Silver Angel, Ahsoka and company are constantly hounded by the Pykes. And here’s where the cool twist comes in: At one point, Ahsoka is separated from the Martez sisters and as she runs through a crowd. She bumps into a hooded figure who is revealed to be wearing a Mandalorian helmet.
That Mandalorian is likely Bo-Katan Kryze, the leader of the Mandalorian mercenary group the Nite Owls. This is basically confirmed when Kryze makes her way to a rooftop to watch Ahsoka and the Martez sisters escape, and is joined by two other hooded Mandalorians. She tells the other two that Ahsoka looks like the Jedi she met in battle some years before, and says they will need to watch the escape situation unfold, very closely.
In the end, Ahsoka, Trace and Rafa are recaptured by the Pykes and thrown back into a cell. But with Bo-Katan now alerted to the situation, I’m willing to bet we’re going to see the Mandalorians come to her rescue, which probably means we’re going to see the Siege of Mandalore and an eventual showdown with Darth Maul.
Hand on tight, folks, it’s about to get very exciting.
Episode Grade: A+
Photo: Star Wars: The Clone Wars Episode 708 “Together Again” – Image Courtesy Disney+
Episode 708: “Together Again”
The episode opens with Ahsoka, Rafa and Trace discussing how they might escape the Pyke citadel. Ahsoka, who secretly plans to reveal to the Pykes that she is a Jedi in exchange for the freedom of her friends, asks the Martezes to trust her, which confuses them. Remember, Ahsoka has yet to tell them she was trained as a Jedi on Coruscant because they blame the Jedi for the death of their parents.
Photo: Star Wars: The Clone Wars Episode 708 “Together Again” – Image Courtesy Disney+
They’re brought before the Pyke bosses and Ahsoka carries through with her plan, and the Martez sisters are allowed to leave “to retrieve the spice” even though it was lost in the vast emptiness of space.
Bo-Katan and her Mandalorian Nite Owl compatriots have been following the situation very closely, and notice Rafa and Trace have left the planet without Ahsoka. Because they don’t want the Pykes or Darth Maul’s Shadow Collective meddling in the business, the Nite Owls have to keep their involvement on the down-low, so they keep watching how the situation unfolds from afar.
Ahsoka is brought back to her cell, alone, but quickly uses her Force powers to escape and spy on the Pykes. She finds a weapons cache and begins planting detonators all around the Pyke citadel. She enters a control room where the Pyke bosses are speaking to an ominous-looking and hooded figure in a hologram, and Ahsoka instantly recognizes the voice as belonging to Darth Maul.
Photo: Star Wars: The Clone Wars Episode 708 “Together Again” – Image Courtesy Disney+
Once very powerful Sith Lord, Maul is still strong in the Force, and he senses that his conversation with the Pykes is being spied on by someone who is also very strong. He looks around the room, but Ahsoka has already hidden herself from view. I’d be willing to bet all the credits in the galaxy that he knows Ahsoka is there, but is keeping that bit of information to himself.
Anyway, Ahsoka accesses a computer and realizes Maul is on Mandalore, setting us up for the much-anticipated Siege of Mandalore arc which should be coming in the final four episodes of the series. As she is about to leave the room, the Pykes enter and surround her. She uses the Force and almost escapes, but is overwhelmed and the Pykes realize she’s a Jedi.
Rafa and Trace — who have been securing another shipment of spice in order to trade it for Ahsoka’s freedom — return just in time to stop the criminals from executing the Jedi. There, they are told that Ahsoka is a Jedi, and they are confused and a little hurt that she kept that secret from them.
After a quick skirmish, Ahsoka and the Martez sisters escape the Pykes and board the Silver Angel to head back to Coruscant, after an exciting chase that sees the three working together to rid themselves of the Pykes following them.
Photo: Star Wars: The Clone Wars Episode 708 “Together Again” – Image Courtesy Disney+
Finally, they arrive back on Coruscant, where Rafa and Trace tell Ahsoka they aren’t mad at her for keeping her secret from them. They say she’s the right kind of Jedi, meaning she is someone who is selfless and cares about others.
As they’re having their feel-good moment, Bo-Katan and the Nite Owls confront them and tell Ahsoka they need her to come to Mandalore to help them rid their planet of Maul. The episode ends with Ahsoka boarding the Mandalorian ship.
This was absolutely the best episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars season 7. Not only was Ahsoka able to come to grips with the fact that she is a Jedi — despite the fact that she didn’t formally complete her training — but she is now on a collision course with Maul, which will eventually end with the two battling each other with the freedom of the Mandalorian people hanging in the balance.
Episode Grade: A+ (I’d give it a higher grade if I could)
Photo: Star Wars: The Clone Wars Episode 709 “Old Friends Not Forgotten” – Image Courtesy Disney+
Episode 709: “Old Friends Not Forgotten”
This week’s episode opens a little differently than usual: the title card ia red instead of the usual yellow, and the main Star Wars movie theme by legendary composer John Williams played instead of the normal Clone Wars intro music. With just four episodes remaining in the series (counting this one) the show is telling us that from here on out, the fun and games of previous episodes are over.
From that ominous opening, we’re taken to a planet where Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker are defeating the Separatist’s droid army alongside their battalions of clones. It’s the first time we’ve sen Obi-Wan and Anakin fighting side by side since way back in season 5. Sure, this season saw them fighting in the same battle separately, but having them shoulder-to-shoulder once more was a nice nod to how things used to be.
Photo: Star Wars: The Clone Wars Episode 709 “Old Friends Not Forgotten” – Image Courtesy Disney+
Once they secure victory for the Republic, a transmission comes in from Fulcrum, a designation initially held by the freedom fighter Saw Gerrera. However, when Anakin and Obi-Wan board the Republic ship to investigate the source of the transmission, they realize it’s actually Ahsoka Tano.
This is an emotionally charged moment, as neither Anakin nor Obi-Wan had seen Ahsoka since she left the Jedi Order. There are a lot of emotions playing on their faces, from to shock to confusion to happiness.
Anakin is overjoyed to see his former padawan while Obi-Wan is hesitant about her intentions. For her part, Ahsoka remains cold and distant, still hurt over the situation that saw her voluntarily leave the Jedi Order before her training was complete.
Photo: Star Wars: The Clone Wars Episode 709 “Old Friends Not Forgotten” – Image Courtesy Disney+
Obviously, there’s a lot of history between these three. As a young padawan, Ahsoka joined Obi-Wan and Anakin at the start of the Clone Wars, and the three became nearly inseparable. Together, they freed entire planets from Separatist rule, faced the mysteries of the living Force planet Mortis, and successfully rescued countless Jedi, clones, and senators/leaders before Ahsoka left it all behind.
So to have Obi-Wan act standoffish likely hurts Ahsoka more than she lets on. Those simmering feelings spill over during a tense conversation when she accuses Kenobi of playing the usual Jedi politics when they learned the council has ordered them back to Coruscant to rescue Chancellor Palpatine. Ahsoka is angry they’re abandoning the people of Mandalore in their time of need in order to save one politician.
She’s right, too. One of the major faults of the Jedi Order during the Clone Wars was that it allowed itself to become too embroiled in politics, becoming blind in the Force, which led to the rise of the Sith.
Photo: Star Wars: The Clone Wars Episode 709 “Old Friends Not Forgotten” – Image Courtesy Disney+
Anyway, Anakin suggests leaving Rex and the 501st division behind with Ahsoka to help her free Mandalore from Darth Maul. After Order 66 happens and the clone soldiers slaughter the Jedi — after this in Revenge of the Sith — the 501st are renamed Vader’s Fist, since it consists of clones loyal to him when he was Anakin Skywalker. That’s a neat Easter egg that reminds of the tragedy coming just around the corner.
In a very rewarding and emotional moment, Anakin returns Ahsoka’s lightsabers to her — with some modifications, of course — and reveals the 501st have painted their helmets to resemble the markings on Ahsoka’s face.
Photo: Star Wars: The Clone Wars Episode 709 “Old Friends Not Forgotten” – Image Courtesy Disney+
Then, as Obi-Wan and Anakin turn toward Coruscant, Ahsoka, the 501st, and Bo-Katan’s Nite Owls land on Mandalore to begin the siege they hope will free the planet. They’re met with some resistance but make their way into a tunnel system where Maul has laid a trap for them. The former Sith Lord slowly walks into the light, saying he was hoping for his nemesis Kenobi instead of Ahsoka.
The episode ends with Ahsoka igniting her lightsabers and preparing for a battle with Maul.
I know I’ve said this about other episodes this season, but without a doubt, this was the absolute best episode of the final season of Star Wars: The Clones Wars yet. Not only did we get the emotionally-charged moment between Anakin and Ahsoka, but the Seige of Mandalore finally began, with heroes like Ahsoka, Bo-Katan and Ursa Wren on one side, and Maul and the eventual Viceroy of Mandalore, Gar Saxon, on the other.
If the final three episodes are packed with more of the same, we’ll be in for a finale to remember.
Episode Grade: A+
Photo: Star Wars: The Clone Wars Episode 710 “The Phantom Apprentice” – Image Courtesy Disney+
Episode 710: “The Phantom Apprentice”
Ahsoka comes face-to-face with Maul with the freedom of Mandalore hanging in the balance, while Rex and Bo-Katan lead an assault against Gar Saxon and Maul’s Mandalorian super-commandos.
Just like last week’s episode, “The Phantom Apprentice” opened with a piece of music from Star Wars composer John Williams, followed by that ominous red title card. This episode went heavy on scenes between Maul (Sam Witwer) and Ahsoka (Ashley Eckstein), and it was Witwer’s total mastery of the former Sith Lord’s voice that really sold the seriousness of the episode.
Photo: Star Wars: The Clone Wars Episode 710 “The Phantom Apprentice” – Image Courtesy Disney+
That’s not to say that Eckstein didn’t carry her weight, because she absolutely did; it’s just that hearing Maul talk of setting traps for Anakin Skywalker in order to rob Darth Sidious of a potential new apprentice so perfectly illustrated the precarious balance between the Light and the Dark Sides of the Force during the events of the final prequel film, Revenge of the Sith. Had Anakin gone to Mandalore instead of Ahsoka, Maul might have been able to kill him, and thus Darth Vader would never have been born. Then, Sidious would have been left with no other choice but to take on a new apprentice. They probably would have been less powerful than Anakin, in which cast he might not have been able to topple the Jedi Order so easily.
Anyway, it’s impossible to talk “The Phantom Apprentice” without heaping mounds of praise of showrunner Dave Filoni and his team. The lightsaber duel between Ahsoka and Maul looked, at times, very real…almost as if the 3D computer animation had been brought to life. Maul’s attacks and counterattacks looked exactly like they did when Ray Park — the man who portrayed Darth Maul in The Phantom Menace — was fighting Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon Jinn at the end of that movie.
Photo: Star Wars: The Clone Wars Episode 710 “The Phantom Apprentice” – Image Courtesy Disney+
By the end of the episode, and only after their dazzlingly lethal dance, Ahsoka defeats Maul, but she also saves his life. Their duel took them high above the city of Keldabe — the capital city of Mandalore — where Ahsoka uses the Force to stop Maul from falling to his death.
Other things to note in this episode:
- Obi-Wan reveals the name “Darth Sidious” to Ahsoka for the first time, while also telling her that Anakin killed Count Dooku. This seems to trouble her.
- Gar Saxon and his fellow Mandalorian super commandos from Death Watch have helmets shaped to resemble the horns on Maul’s head and I totally dig that.
- Maul continuously teases Ahsoka that something big is coming and that it could “kill them all.” He’s referring to Order 66, which I’m going to assume will kick off the next episode.
By the end of the episode, it seems like the Siege of Mandalore has come to a close, but we know things are about to go very seriously wrong for some of our favorite characters.
There are only two episodes left of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and I can’t wait to see what Filoni and his team have in store for us.
Episode Grade: A+
Photo: Star Wars: The Clone Wars Episode 711 “Shattered” – Image Courtesy Disney+
Episode 711: “Shattered”
Part III of the four-part Star Wars: The Clone Wars series finale saw the Mandalorians hand over custody of Maul to Ahsoka and the Jedi Council. Throughout the episode, an ominous score played over the serious events of a planet trying to heal after Maul was removed from power, and transitioned perfectly to the moments right Ahsoka and Rex share before Emperor Palpatine commanded the clone army execute Order 66.
Star Wars fans know that Rex and Ahsoka made it through the slaughter of the Jedi with their friendship intact, but before today, we didn’t know how that went down. Also, we got to see Ahsoka and Maul react to the great disturbance in the Force caused by Anakin Skywalker’s fall to the Dark Side.
Photo: Star Wars: The Clone Wars Episode 711 “Shattered” – Image Courtesy Disney+
Ahsoka felt and heard Anakin helping Palpatine kill Mace Windu, and she has a visceral reaction to her former master’s betrayal by doubling over in pain. Maul, who was in a Mandalorian relic created to inhibit Force users’ powers, felt and heard the same, but because he is a disciple of the Dark Side, he appreciates his former master’s foresight by using an inhibitor chip to turn the Grand Army of the Republic against the Jedi.
Anyway, Rex does, in fact, turn on Ahsoka. Before he fully turns against her, however, he feels the chip taking over and he tells her to find clone trooper Fives to figure out what happened. She does, and she realizes just how far the clone revolt extends and why.
Part of Ahsoka’s survival is releasing Maul so he can cause a distraction long enough for her to find and free Rex from the influence of the chip. This he does in one of the most brutal scenes to ever unfold in The Clone Wars animated series. In a scene akin to Darth Vader carving his way through Rebel forces at the end of Rogue One, Maul slowly marches down a ship’s corridor, decapitating and viciously killing the clones who are trying to kill him. He’s heading for the ship’s hangar, and that’s the last we see of Maul. I hope we see a little more of him in the final episode.
Photo: Star Wars: The Clone Wars Episode 711 “Shattered” – Image Courtesy Disney+
So Ahsoka does isolate Rex from the rest of his clone forces and she takes him to a medical bay and has his chip removed. He then wakes up and helps her escape once more, only to see the blast door the pair are hiding behind begin to take massive damage from the clones trying to get in to kill them. The end.
Some notes:
- Ahsoka has a meeting, via hologram, with the Jedi Council where she tells them she’s captured Maul and she’s returning to Coruscant with her prisoner. Mace Windu is a real dick to her because she calls herself a citizen and not a Jedi, and you can see how arrogant and blind the Jedi Masters had become which caused their downfall.
- Ahsoka used Anakin’s passcode to hack into Fives’ clone file, and it was a neat moment to see just how close the pair were before she left the Jedi Order.
- Palpatine didn’t just want the Jedi dead as Rex told his clone troopers they needed to kill Ahsoka and Maul. This strongly hints that Palpatine wanted to remove all Force users from the galaxy so he would have no challenge to his reign.
- The “ancient relic” the Mandalorians used to hold Maul has a scene of a Mandalorian wielding the Darksaber, and it’s just another awesome way Dave Filoni.
Episode Grade: A+
Photo: Star Wars: The Clone Wars Episode 710 “The Phantom Apprentice” – Image Courtesy Disney+
Episode 712: “Victory and Death”
The series finale of Star Wars: The Clone Wars opens right where the last episode left off. Ahsoka and Rex — along with three adorable astromech droids — devise a plan to escape the ship filled with clones who are trying to kill them. Rex tries to convince Ahsoka that, even though they are his brothers, they are going to have to be killed if the pair wants to safely escape Order 66, but Ahsoka disagrees and refuses to kill their former friends; after all, it’s not their fault Darth Sidious, aka Emperor Palpatine, had a mind control chip placed in their brains.
So, Ahsoka has Rex set his blasters to stun, she only uses the Force and her lightsabers to incapacitate the murderous clones, and away they go.
Meanwhile, Maul — who is definitely murdering any clones in his path, by the way — finds the hyperdrive core, and in a truly dazzling display of power, uses the Force to obliterate the hyperdrive engine, ripping the ship out of hyperspace and directly into the pull of a nearby moon.
Ahsoka and Rex make their way to the bridge where they open the ship’s hangar and realize they’re going to have to find a shuttle to escape a fiery crash onto the moon’s surface.
Here’s where things get intense, as clone commander Jesse — a popular character from seasons past — leads an entire battalion to the hangar where they stand ready to kill Ahsoka and Rex before they can make it to the shuttle. Rex tried to convince Jesse that, because Ahsoka left the order, she isn’t a Jedi anymore and shouldn’t be executed. Jesse doesn’t buy it and orders his clones to open fire.
During all this, Maul appears and steals the shuttle Ahsoka and Rex were hoping to use to make their escape. The next time we see him will be in the season 2 finale of Star Wars Rebels.
Having just lost his ride, Rex points out that a Y-wing fighter is the only ship left that hasn’t been damaged, and he and Ahsoka make their way to it, losing their droid companions to the clones along the way. Rex hops into the cockpit, but Ahsoka doesn’t make it before the gravitational field is destroyed and the Y-wing is sucked out of the hangar. Luckily, she’s able to use the force to get on board.
After a bit of skilled piloting from Rex, he and Ahsoka are able to fly away from the massive Republic cruiser just as it crash lands onto the moon’s surface. Later, Ahsoka and Rex have landed by the crashed ship, and while Rex finds supplies, Ahsoka buries all the clones who perished, which is all of them, and she uses their helmets — all painted with markings that match her own — as grave markers. She’s troubled and sad, and takes out one of her lightsabers and drops it on the ground.
Years later, an Imperial battalion of stormtroopers are shown inspecting an old crash site on a snow-covered planet — it’s the same moon where Ahsoka and Rex buried their former comrades after Order 66. Darth Vader arrives and silently walks toward the gravesite. There, he bends down and picks up Ahsoka’s lightsaber and ignites it. He then turns and slowly walks away, his reflection shown in the visor of a clone trooper’s helmet, painted with Ahsoka’s Togruta facial markings.
Some bullet points:
- I love that we now know how Maul and Ahsoka knew each other in the Star Wars Rebels season 2 finale.
- This entire episode was the most visually stunning and artistic episode of The Clone Wars yet, and I suppose that makes sense since it was the series finale.
- During Maul’s escape aboard the shuttle, Ahsoka reaches out with the Force and holds the ship in place for a moment. We’ve never seen her do that before and it just goes to show how powerful she has become.
- The moon the Republic cruiser crashed into is covered in snow for Vader’s scene. It reminds me of Hoth.
Episode Grade: A+
I really don’t like the fact that we had to get through some cheesy storylines (Ahsoka and the Martez sisters) in order to thoroughly enjoy the Siege of Mandalore and Ahsoka and Rex’s escape from Order 66. I also would have liked to see more missions involving Obi-Wan and Anakin in this final season. That being said, I am happy we finally got some closure on this beloved series.
Season 7 Grade: B
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