The Clone Wars doesn’t really have a lot of war in it, despite its title, but this week shows an interesting side in any war: that of the objectors.
“Greed and fear of loss are the roots that lead to the tree of evil.”
1. Daring Anakin, wet blanket Ahsoka
The show established a really weird energy between Anakin and Ahsoka. In so many ways, their roles are the reverse of what you would expect. Anakin is the one who is impulsive and pushes the Jedi teaches to the side when it benefits him, and Ahsoka is a downer who is constantly reminded Anakin of what the ‘right’ thing to do is. She’s far more suited to be a teacher than he is, despite his prodigious talent, because all he’s really concerned about is himself.
In this way, you see his path to the dark side as clear as day – he is all emotion, and when your life is based purely on emotions, it can be hard to get a grip. If you only showed up to work when you felt like it, few of us would still have jobs – because we commit to our responsibilities, things get done. Anakin has a hard time committing to anything that doesn’t feel important in the moment – the safety of his friends, the stopping of an invasion, etc. In this episode, Anakin’s fierce desire to stop the droids leads to him almost dying, and while Aayla Secura says that all the best Jedi are impulsive, Anakin takes that to a whole new level.
2. Jedi attachments issues
We see Ahsoka discussing attachments with Aayla, and she’s struggling to let go of her feelings for Anakin – not romantic ones, mind you, but the general admiration and care you feel for a good friend or a mentor. George Lucas loved to make the Jedi seem as dour as possible in the prequel era, and the ‘attachments’ argument is front and center of that. Ahsoka is truly the voice of the audience when she speaks of confusion surrounding being free to attachments and compassionate at the same time. I feel you, girl.
Of course, the idea is that to benefit the most people as possible, without making rash decisions based on things that matter more to you than the amorphous, faceless ‘good.’ I get that, I really do. But the language that Star Wars uses to get that idea across is almost the opposite of compassion. There’s very little in this episode that will convince someone that they shouldn’t have friendships or relationships, even when we can clearly see the bigger picture.
I blame Lucas squarely for this – had a more talented scribe written the screenplay for Attack of the Clones, this idea could have been fleshed out so much better. But, because that is the foundation for this Jedi theology, this is what we’re stuck with.
3. Why is Ahsoka giving orders?
More Ahsoka weirdness – when she and Aayla are trying to bring the ship down safely out of hyperspace and not die in a collision with a star, Ahsoka is the one giving orders. She’s a padawan, and a padawan of essentially the new Jedi on the block, so she be nowhere near decision making. This isn’t a training exercise or a low-stakes operation. This is life and death for three Jedi – the galaxy’s peacekeepers, as we’re reminded of in this episode. The show is still feeling out Ahsoka’s character, but this may be the most blatantly unlikable she’s been since the film – she is both slow on the Jedi uptake and bossy.
4. Rex
I have read precious few spoilers about this series, outside of a few character returns, and so I’m not sure if Rex is a long term character or not, but I’ve really enjoyed what the show has done with him thus far. It’s not easy to make clones into compelling characters, for simple aesthetic reasons, but I feel like I know who Rex is what he’s about. I hope they can do this with a few more clones over the next 5+ seasons.
5. PS1 pacifists
Continued belowThe most interesting thing, from a storytelling perspective, in this episode was the Lurmen, the residents of the planet the ship crashed on. They, essentially, found this planet that is not exactly the most hospitable, and chose to live there to be away from the war – they don’t take a side, they take issue with the whole operation. They, essentially, are conscientious objectors to the Clone Wars.
This is a nice look at the galaxy and the various sides of the war. We’ve seen why planets would want to side with the separatists, we’ve seen why planets would remain loyal to the senate – we haven’t seen what would happen if/when a planet decided it wanted no part whatsoever. I’m glad the show decided to show us this part of the war, as uninteresting as it may be initially, because it is a good reminder that there aren’t just two sides in any conflict.
The Lurmen, however, also most closely resemble PlayStation 1-era character design. A little Crash Bandicoot, a little Dragon Quest, essentially making the characters look out of place in the Star Wars universe. That’s not to say that they aren’t functional in their roles, but they are a little bit of a distraction, given how they look utterly unlike anything else we’ve seen thus far.
Overall, this is a mixed bag of an episode that I enjoyed far more conceptually than in practice. I hope that the show continues to focus on the fringes a little bit, and continues to develop a broader sense of the universe, not just as two sides of the same conflict.
