Okay, so I was wrong last week. This week's episode isn't about Padme and banks. It's about young Jedi. Our helpful newsreel narrator informs that because of the war, the number of Jedi has dwindled. As such, they've been trying to get their younglings advanced faster. And taking more babies to become Jedi. Yeah, this is something I've always found weird about the Jedi. I know they're a pseudo-religious order but I've never heard of any other religious order than trains their monks from birth. It just feels very sketchy, like if a priest showed up to take your baby because God told him to.
Anyway, our episode this week focuses on a group of Jedi younglings who are ready to advance to the next level. Ahsoka is chaperoning them to the Jedi Temple on Ilum the ice planet, where Jedi get the crystals that make their lightsabers work. Star Wars fans will remember Ilum from Tartakovsky's Clone Wars series when it was attacked by Separatists. The Jedi have learned since than and protected their temple with a giant Force door.
More after the break,
Now's as good a time as any to introduce our cast. We have Katooni, who looks like a young Adi Gallia; Zatt, who looks like a young Kit Fisto; Ganodi, a Rodian; Biff (Back to the Future reference?), an Ithorian; a baby Wookiee and a guy who sounds like Jeff from American Dad! Our young Jedi arrive on Ilum, open the giant Force door and find Yoda just sitting there in the Temple. Was he just waiting there? What, is this like his vacation house? At any rate Yoda uses a weirdly complicated contraption to melt a big ice wall with sunlight. Even though there was a storm outside. He explains that the younglings have one day to venture into the crystal caves, find their personal crystal and get out before the ice wall re-freezes and they're trapped inside until the sun melts the wall again.
Okay, what the hell Jedi? Sending pre-teens into ice caves with the possibility of being trapped not to mention dying of hypothermia, cave-ins or any other potential spelunking dangers is kind of fucked up. Yeah, there are some weird coming-of-age rituals here on Earth but few of them are life-threatening. Anyway, our young Jedi venture into the cave and needless to say they all get separated. Jeff went off on his own and thinks he finds his crystal but when he shows it to Yoda, it melts meaning he has to go find a real crystal. Biff, who's a coward, finds his crystal in what looks like the entrance to a ghost ride at a theme park. He overcomes his fear and gets his crystal. The baby Wookiee finds his on the other side of a lake, but he has to wait for it to freeze over before he can get it. Ganodi falls in a hole filled with crystals and uses the Force to find which is hers.
Yeah, it's the kind of Harry Potter magic wand thing where the Force guides them to their crystal. Zatt's a techie using a tricorder or something to find his but of course that doesn't work because it's the Force and the Force is a Luddiite I guess. So he smashes his tricorder on a wall and finds his crystal behind it. Meanwhile, Katooni has to climb a big ice cliff to get her crystal but because they're in a FUCKING ICE CAVE the floor breaks under her and she ends up trapped in a wall. Thankfully, she's trapped right by the entrance and Jeff finds her. But he says the door is about to ice over and he needs to find his crystal so he leaves her trapped in the ice. What a douche. Nah, he comes and saves her. And conveniently, his crystal was in the ice wall. So they escape just as the door freezes over and Yoda says they're officially Jedi Padawans.
Overall, despite some plot convenience and my nitpicks this is a pretty good episode. I was a little apprehensive of focusing on child characters because more often than not child characters are badly written and annoying. But that wasn't a problem fortunately. Each of our young Jedi is a distinct character and they don't feel interchangeable. And while their voice actors don't do terrific jobs, they never become grating. I also like how each of their challenges reflects an aspect of their personality that needs improvement. Yeah, it's a little cheesy but I think it works here.
I think this episode is interesting in the context of the series. We're told the reason these younglings are being promoted because of the war. The war has caused the Jedi's numbers to dwindle. But this episode doesn't feel connected to the conflict of the war. Like this would be what Younglings would do even if the war wasn't on. Not a criticism, just something I noticed.
All in all, a good episode. Our new characters were introduced and defined, we got insight into their characters and the situation was interesting even if it wasn't pulse-poundingly exciting. Solid effort.
See you next week.
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