Clone Wars Debriefing: "Holocron Heist" and "Cargo of Doom"

[lazypadawan]

I'll teach you to return your book late!



The episode, and Clone Wars' second season, starts with a bang as it opens in media res during a space/ground battle on Felucia. Despite having a number of celebrity Jedi and clones present, the good guys are surrounded. Obi-Wan orders a retreat but Ahsoka, off fighting at a different location, wants to keep going. Our little bloodthirsty padawan can taste victory. Anakin and Obi-Wan swing by to pick up Ahsoka by blocking her advance. Anakin orders her to get on the gunship, telling her she's about to be ambushed if she advances further. After Anakin threatens to shut down her Facebook page, Ahsoka begrudgingly climbs aboard and it's then she realizes she was about to get jumped by the Seps. D'oh! The Jedi Council punish the petulant padawan by making her do guard duty in the Jedi Temple's library.

Meanwhile, Darth Sidious hires Cad Bane to break into the Jedi Temple and rip off a Holocron. After that, he's supposed to kidnap a Jedi named Bolla Ropal. Cad is assisted in his nefarious plan by a droid, Todo 360, and a Clawdite named Cato Parasitti. She must be an Italian Clawdite. The trio go off to make a mockery out of Jedi security as they break into the Temple. Yoda experiences some heartburn as he realizes the Temple has been breached. Anakin and Obi-Wan think the intruder is after war communications, so they go look for the burglar(s) in the communication towers.

Parasitti at first disguises herself as a big fat green Jedi, who almost snarls, "Shut the @#$# up, !@#$@#$" at Ahsoka for being too chatty and friendly. Parasitti disrupts security scanners so that Cad and Todo can sneak inside the Temple. Then the Clawdite knocks out Jocasta Nu and assumes her form. Meanwhile, Cad and Todo poke around the tunnels as they make their way toward the vault. After a while, Cad sends Todo off to the communications center, even if it's crawling with Jedi.

All heck breaks loose. Ahsoka battles "Jocasta Nu" and quickly pwns her. Poor Todo is unknowingly turned into a suicide bomber and Cad gets the Holocron and gets away.

First of all, the animation is incredible. It just gets better and better, with many of the shots in this episode looking almost as good as the actual visual effects shots done for the movies.

There's a nice subtle bit of character development. You can see right away that Ahsoka has developed the same hero complex that afflicts her master and it nearly brings about disastrous results. I also enjoyed the interplay between Anakin and Ahsoka in both episodes last night.

I've noticed a few complaints about Cato Parasitti being able to use a lightsaber but I thought it was a very interesting twist. I was really surprised. While she's not good enough to hold out long against Ahsoka (loved the little roll she does over "Jocasta"'s back), it's entirely possible she had some kind of training in her past or that's she's able to pick up some level of ability by disguising herself as that person.

It's really too bad they "killed" off Todo, because I thought he was great! Seth Green was funny!

My only quibble with this episode is that Parasitti rather quickly gave away the plan to kidnap Bolla Ropal. She's a no-good bounty hunter, not some kid caught shoplifting.

Overall, a very good episode.


I'm a star now, @$@#$@!



Dude, this episode was harsh. Someone's tortured to death, bones are broken, and clonetroopers literally get their helmets blown off.

This episode shows that Cad Bane is one bad, heartless SOB. He ruthlessly tortures Bolla Ropal, because they need him to work the Kaiburr crystal (love the obscure reference) and get the Holocron open. The Holocron, we're told, has the names of every Force-sensitive lil' stinker in the galaxy. Ropal dies in the process and Cad acts as though he'll have to wait another 30 seconds for his soy latte.

Cad also works well as a catalyst character, a guy who makes things happen. Just another headache aside from the more ideologically-aligned Count Dooku, General Grievous, or Asajj Ventress.

But of course, there's lots else to love. Yularen's bitchiness, the awesome zero-g battle aboard Cad's ship, the return of goofy battle droid humor, and the references to the SW movies. This time you get Captain Rex bonking his head (the Fett curse), Anakin's "it's a trap," Anakin plunging his lightsaber into the door a la Qui-Gon in TPM, and of course Anakin's "we'll take him together." You just know nothing good was going to happen to Ahsoka after that! I love seeing Ahsoka take on her master's recklessness, heh heh. Of course it gets her injured and captured, but not without possibly breaking Cad's arm.

I'm a gen Anakin/Ahsoka fan, so I was very happy to see Anakin react the moment Ahsoka is hurt. Don't you mess with his padawan! The connection between them is touching.

There are some oddball moments, like no one being able to tell Cad was in disguise right there among them. Sure, it was a clever move by the Cadster but if Yoda could feel his presence, why couldn't Anakin right there in a small ship?

But the coolness of it all along with some excellent and ambitious action sequences make this among the best episodes thus far.