We’re back with the third season of The Clone Wars! The show brings us back to a trio of characters form the first season, while also developing some of the broader themes of the series. Let’s dig in!
1. The boys are back in town
The third season opens with a look at the gang from “Rookies,” a first season highlight. Hevy, Cutup, Droidbait, Fives, and Echo were the show’s first attempts at making some clone troopers that weren’t exactly leaders, but were more important than your normal cannon fodder. That episode is actually super important to the series, as it really did establish the clone troopers as something more than we’d been shown in the prequels. We get a little backstory on them, especially Hevy and Cutup, and they continue their purpose of making us care about the bucketheads.
And I must say, in the battle sequences in the next episode, “ARC Troopers,” it worked like gangbusters. Every clone that was shot felt more dire than in any previous episode. I was actually surprised how emotionally invested I was in the random troopers that I had never met before. You done played me, Filoni.
Also – I dug the ‘training sequence THX 1138’ bit. Lucas loves those numbers, and it is nice to see the staff throwing him a nod like that.
2. 99
99, a clone that appears to be either some sort of error/failed cloning experiment or a person intentionally made older/weaker/less physically capable than the other clones, is the heart of the first two episodes. Sure, he’s a cliche in a lot of ways, but cliches work for a reason. Giving the clones a bit of a mascot isn’t a bad thing, but more than that, it gives a peek behind the scenes of the cloning facility a bit. It’s easy to think that it sort of runs itself, but we see that’s not the case. Much like how the Death Star probably had plumbers (sorry, Clerks, for stealing your bit), 99 is essentially a menial worker in the cloning complex.
But his peptalks work, and his spirit is contagious, and his death really brings the show some gravitas, even if we could’ve seen it coming a mile away. He just needed to say “I’m 5 days from retirement” and every single clue would have been there that 99 wouldn’t make it. Telegraphed or not, I was sad to see him go.
3. Shades of Tartakovsky
This episode, more than almost any other, felt like it was borrowing a bit from Genndy Tartakovsky’s Clone Wars. Specifically, Ventress and Anakin facing off and Grievous and Obi-Wan’s latest duel. The Tartakovsky Clone Wars were – and I don’t mean this in a negative way – almost completely devoid of plot, and we these little snapshots of various pieces of the wars. They are not considered Star Wars canon, but they introduce a lot of themes/characters (like Ventress and Grievous) that would play important roles going forward in the canon.
“ARC Troopers” somewhat splits the difference between the two series, giving us the story of 99 and the ‘Rookies,’ but focused more of a kinetic battle-focused episode than some of the others.
Also, this episode establishes Ventress as someone who seems horny all the time. It’s a weird choice.
4. Bail Organa! Again!
After being ignored for most of the first two seasons, we’ve got more Bail Organa action in the third episode, “Supply Lines.” This episode, if judged just on its description, is the worst bits of the prequels all thrown into one 22 minute package: the Trade Federation, Jar Jar, politics. But this episode, despite all of that, sort of works.
Granted, it’s the worst of these three episodes, but it’s not distractingly bad like some of the other Jar Jar episodes, and it serves as an example of practical politics in the galaxy. We see neutrality, compassion, and politics all come together, with the fate of the citizens of Ryloth caught in the middle. It’s a little simplistic, sure, but no one should be coming to The Clone Wars for nuanced politics.
5. Fucking Jar Jar
Even though Jar Jar was used sparingly, he was still incredibly frustrating in this episode. I get why the show has to use him, and I get why giving something to do instead of just show up in the background is a good idea, but it doesn’t mean I have to like it.
Let’s hope that’s it for him this season.
