Clone Wars Debriefing: "Revival"

Originally this was not going to be the season premiere episode but it turned out to be a good idea to start season 5 with “Revival,” since it ties up the Darth-Maul-Returns arc and sets things up for the next stage of his involvement on the show.

Maul and Savage are on the loose, causing trouble. They realize they need more than lightsaber skillz; they need money and minions. But Savage, who’s not really a Sith, is focused on the “Wow, money” part of it while Maul, who is an awesomely trained Sith, is focused on getting revenge on Obi-Wan. It doesn’t take long for Maul to make it clear who’s going to be the boss. With that little understanding, Maul and Savage offer to pay off a crew of Hondo Ohnaka’s pirates to join them. They head out to Hondo’s HQ on a planet called Florrum to take over.

However, Obi-Wan and Adi Gallia are hot on the horned hermanos’ trail. In fact when the Jedi arrive on Florrum, Maul’s upset because it’s too soon in the game. Maul and Savage are forced to drop everything to fight Obi-Wan and Adi Gallia. Unfortunately for Miss Gallia, Savage manages to kill her. I think the expanded universe had a different ending for her, so expect the usual outrage over “continuity.” In any case, it explains why Gallia was nowhere to be seen in ROTS.

Obi-Wan and Hondo must become allies to survive the “horny-headed maniacs” and a pirate gang insurrection happening at the same time. Obi-Wan manages to battle both baddies with his lightsaber and Gallia’s, maiming Savage in the process. It’s cool because you can see the wispy green magic smoke when both Savage and Maul are injured. Remember, both had been healed by Mother Talzin’s dark magic.

While Savage and Maul live to fight another day during sweeps, both of them (especially Maul) realize their plans for revenge and galactic domination weren’t going to come easy. Maul overestimated his ability to intimidate unknown quantities like pirates into permanent loyalty, since Hondo was able to win back his men. Obi-Wan might have had to flee the last time but he’s still a powerful enemy. If you ask me, the luckiest break Maul has had all along is that Obi-Wan never seemed to have Anakin around during their confrontations. Now both he and Savage are broke, alone, and without Talzin around to use her hocus pocus.

At the end of the episode, Obi-Wan briefs Yoda, Mace Wind, Anakin, and Palpatine on what had happened on Florrum. Palpatine pooh-poohs the danger Maul and Savage present, basically saying, “Aww, just leave him alone, he’s no big deal.” Yoda dismisses Maul as just a personal vendetta and figures Dooku’s the real problem. I say, why doesn’t this make Palpatine look suspicious to anybody? The show ends with Palpatine leaning on his desk, sneering wickedly to himself. TFN’s Eric Geller seems to think Palpatine/Sidious is fine with Maul and Savage causing trouble and tarnishing the Jedi’s reputation. It is interesting to note that many of the “regular” folks who had encountered the destructive duo thought they were Jedi.

Maybe so, but as those preview clips revealed, Sidious ends up confronting the two of them. I think he pushed the Jedi out of the way so he could deal with them himself when the time was right. The last thing Sidious really wants is a former apprentice going rogue, violating the Sith Rule of Two, and mucking up his plans. Especially since Maul could very well tell somebody, “Guess what? The Chancellor’s really another Sith and this whole war’s phony!” Maul hasn’t shown any desire to be loyal to anyone but himself.

The animation rocks and the music was fantastic. Hondo is becoming the show’s resident Lovable Rogue, kind of like a Jack Sparrow without the drugs. He got all of the best lines too.

It always seems like five years passes in between seasons, so seeing fresh Clone Wars on t.v. again is a welcome thing indeed. Seeing it on Saturday mornings will take some getting used to. We’ll see if it sticks.

Clone Wars Debriefing: "Revival"

Originally this was not going to be the season premiere episode but it turned out to be a good idea to start season 5 with “Revival,” since it ties up the Darth-Maul-Returns arc and sets things up for the next stage of his involvement on the show.

Maul and Savage are on the loose, causing trouble. They realize they need more than lightsaber skillz; they need money and minions. But Savage, who’s not really a Sith, is focused on the “Wow, money” part of it while Maul, who is an awesomely trained Sith, is focused on getting revenge on Obi-Wan. It doesn’t take long for Maul to make it clear who’s going to be the boss. With that little understanding, Maul and Savage offer to pay off a crew of Hondo Ohnaka’s pirates to join them. They head out to Hondo’s HQ on a planet called Florrum to take over.

However, Obi-Wan and Adi Gallia are hot on the horned hermanos’ trail. In fact when the Jedi arrive on Florrum, Maul’s upset because it’s too soon in the game. Maul and Savage are forced to drop everything to fight Obi-Wan and Adi Gallia. Unfortunately for Miss Gallia, Savage manages to kill her. I think the expanded universe had a different ending for her, so expect the usual outrage over “continuity.” In any case, it explains why Gallia was nowhere to be seen in ROTS.

Obi-Wan and Hondo must become allies to survive the “horny-headed maniacs” and a pirate gang insurrection happening at the same time. Obi-Wan manages to battle both baddies with his lightsaber and Gallia’s, maiming Savage in the process. It’s cool because you can see the wispy green magic smoke when both Savage and Maul are injured. Remember, both had been healed by Mother Talzin’s dark magic.

While Savage and Maul live to fight another day during sweeps, both of them (especially Maul) realize their plans for revenge and galactic domination weren’t going to come easy. Maul overestimated his ability to intimidate unknown quantities like pirates into permanent loyalty, since Hondo was able to win back his men. Obi-Wan might have had to flee the last time but he’s still a powerful enemy. If you ask me, the luckiest break Maul has had all along is that Obi-Wan never seemed to have Anakin around during their confrontations. Now both he and Savage are broke, alone, and without Talzin around to use her hocus pocus.

At the end of the episode, Obi-Wan briefs Yoda, Mace Wind, Anakin, and Palpatine on what had happened on Florrum. Palpatine pooh-poohs the danger Maul and Savage present, basically saying, “Aww, just leave him alone, he’s no big deal.” Yoda dismisses Maul as just a personal vendetta and figures Dooku’s the real problem. I say, why doesn’t this make Palpatine look suspicious to anybody? The show ends with Palpatine leaning on his desk, sneering wickedly to himself. TFN’s Eric Geller seems to think Palpatine/Sidious is fine with Maul and Savage causing trouble and tarnishing the Jedi’s reputation. It is interesting to note that many of the “regular” folks who had encountered the destructive duo thought they were Jedi.

Maybe so, but as those preview clips revealed, Sidious ends up confronting the two of them. I think he pushed the Jedi out of the way so he could deal with them himself when the time was right. The last thing Sidious really wants is a former apprentice going rogue, violating the Sith Rule of Two, and mucking up his plans. Especially since Maul could very well tell somebody, “Guess what? The Chancellor’s really another Sith and this whole war’s phony!” Maul hasn’t shown any desire to be loyal to anyone but himself.

The animation rocks and the music was fantastic. Hondo is becoming the show’s resident Lovable Rogue, kind of like a Jack Sparrow without the drugs. He got all of the best lines too.

It always seems like five years passes in between seasons, so seeing fresh Clone Wars on t.v. again is a welcome thing indeed. Seeing it on Saturday mornings will take some getting used to. We’ll see if it sticks.