I got it. Oh dear lord, I got it. And it was incredible. But we'll get to that. Welcome back to Clone Wars, where Sith Lords rule Mandalore and Lady Starbuck and her Boba Fett cover band are on the run. When we left last week Darth Maul had killed Pre Vizsla, head of Death Watch, to gain their loyalty and installed a puppet leader to cement his control of Mandalore. Vizsla's second in command Bo-Katan (Katee Sackhoff a.k.a. Lady Starbuck) was going to turn her back on her dead leader, so she and a bunch of other loyal Death Watch members had to escape. This is where we start off this week, with Maul in charge of Mandalore and Death Watch. They've even decked out their armor in red and black to honor their new leader.
Satine's still in prison but gets busted out by Bo's traitor Death Watch and some loyal citizens. We also learn there's some history between Satine and Bo. Hmmm... They need to send a message to the Jedi but Maul has blocked all transmissions out of the city. So prison break ho! There's a chase and a firefight between the two Death Watches but they get out of the city and Satine has just enough time to send Obi-Wan a message before they're swarmed by Maul's Death Watch. We cut back to Maul and he does the "all is going according to plan" like a classic villain because he wanted Satine to call Obi-Wan. Have I mentioned how much I like Sam Witwer's performance? Because it's great when he does this stuff.
More after the break,
The Jedi pick up Satine's message but Yoda and Ki-Adi Mundi have bad news for Obi-Wan. Because Mandalore is neutral they need the Senate's approval to go in and deal with it and because Mandalore is neutral, the Senate's gonna say no. So Obi-Wan has to go in disguise. He borrows Anakin's junky ship and digs out his old bounty hunter costume. This lets him land on Mandalore and steal a Death Watch member's armor in a nice shout out to A New Hope. After that he finds Satine and they attempt Prison Break #2! It goes as well as the first try. Worse in fact, as Maul and Savage show up and blow up Anakin's crappy ship. Obi-Wan's shocked to see Maul. Oh, and Satine mentions her sister can send reinforcements. Hmm... At any rate, he and Satine get dragged back to the throne room so Maul can do some evil gloating. There's some really great back and forth here between Maul and Obi-Wan as they argue the merits of the light and dark sides. We've never seen this kind of philosophical debate before and it's a cool bit of thematic exploration.
Anyway, Obi-Wan brings up Maul's past and this just pisses the Sith Lord off. So he pulls his trump card and kill Satine with Vizsla's black-light sword, right through her torso. It's a really harsh but affecting moment. Seeing a recurring character, especially a sort-of love interest, get killed onscreen is harsh but really works to raise the stakes and further invest in the characters. Bravo writers. Maul orders Obi-Wan tossed in prison so he can stew in his grief. We cut back to Coruscant, where Chancellor Palpatine orders his ship ready. Oh, it's coming.
But now it's time for Prison Break #3! And this time it actually works! Bo-Katan and her traitor Death Watch intercept Obi-Wan and free him from Maul's Death Watch. They fight their way out of the prison only to land in the middle of a warzone between the two Death Watches. Because Maul wants Obi-Wan that dead. Obi-Wan manages to make it to a ship and Bo tells him to go and tell the Republic about what's happening on Mandalore. It'll mean a Republic invasion but she doesn't care. Because she's Satine's sister! OMG, obvious plot twist!
Meanwhile, it happens. Darth Sidious arrives on Mandalore. He casually makes his way to the palace, force choking Death Watch members all along the way, and confronts his former apprentice. Surprisingly, Maul bows to him and says that he's survived thanks to Sidious' training and that he did all this to get back in his master's good graces. Sidious is impressed, but isn't happy about Maul taking an apprentice. Then it happens...
Yes, a two on one fight between Savage Oppress with his double-bladed saber and Darth Maul with his single lightsaber and his blacklight sword against Darth Sidious with two lightsabers. And. It. is. Glorious! Seriously, this is probably best lightsaber fight all season. It is a goddamn joy to see the two Nightbrothers hit Sidious with brute force attacks. And Sidious moves like a dancer, effortlessly blocking the two's attacks and complimenting his lightsaber skills with force usage. Compliments to the animators, especially on Sidious. But given that Sidious is the most powerful Sith Lord in the galaxy, it doesn't last long. He kills Savage and easily beats Maul, finishing him off with force lightning. But as he tells Maul, he's not going to kill him. He still has use for the disgraced Sith lord, just not as an apprentice. And we end the episode with him still zapping the fuck out of Maul.
Overall, hot damn was that great. This has been the best arc this season and this episode had some great payoff. Maul's murder of Satine was a shocking moment that increases the animosity between him and Obi-Wan, adding another layer to the two's conflict. Excellent animation, not just on the fight but on the war of the Death Watches which had to be one of the most complicated things they've pulled off since last season's Umbara story. Good performances all around as well, everyone's on top game here. But of course, special mention to Sam Witwer continuing to be great as Darth Maul and the late Ian Abercrombie as Darth Sidious. He just totally embodies the character in his voice, the arrogance and power of the ultimate chessmaster who knows he can almost effortlessly destroy anyone. This episode is dedicated to him and it's well deserved.
I do have a few complaints though. All the politics of Mandalore seem to just be a background for the bigger story of Darth Maul. Mandalore has been the focus of whole episodes before, so it's odd to see something we've been told is important treated as just window dressing. There also isn't any resolution to that part of the plot. Satine's dead and Maul presumably won't stay in power so is Bo going to take over? This dangling plot thread may be resolved later but it's still weird. Satine and Bo's relationship comes out of nowhere. There's never been a connection between the two characters before so it feels very tacked on. I don't get why this wasn't foreshadowed earlier. Finally, I'm kind of sad to see Savage Oppress go. Not just because we're losing Clancy Brown but also because he never felt fully realized as a character. When Savage first appeared his character had the potential to go in a lot of interesting places but he's been sidelined ever since Darth Maul showed up. The writers almost seem to admit he was just a Darth Maul clone in a line of dialogue.
All in all, a wonderful conclusion to the season's best arc. Despite my complaints, this has been the strongest arc in terms of animation, dramatic stakes, and performance. The events on Mandalore are going have repercussions down the line and Clone Wars is at its best when shaking up the status quo like here. Plus I got my Sidious-Maul fight and that makes me happy.
See you next week.
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