"Wookiee Hunt" Reveiw

I don't know where to start. I loved everything about "Wookiee Hunt".  Chewbacca was animated superbly, and his signature growls and groans that we all remember from ANH and ESB were reproduced flawlessly.
I enjoyed watching him interact with Ahsoka.
There were very many action sequences, and and a lot of hand-to-claw combat in this episode. All of it was done flawlessly.
The fight between Ahsoka and the head Trandoshan on the lizard's mother ship was perhaps the best fight scene to date, very, very intense, and very well done. I love Ahsoka's words; "Your son died because of your own actions." this almost seems to foreshadow a possible fate for her, if you could compare the unfortunate Dar to Ahsoka, and the boss lizard to Anakin. The fact that the lizards wanted the Jedi Padawans as trophies only added to the suspense and weight of the episode.
I loved the end of this episode with Anakin and Ahsoka. Anakin revealed his own weakness, and his inability to let go of people. Here, Ahsoka became the teacher to him. I loved the dialogue between Master and Padawan; "I don't know what to say." "I do. Thank you." A very touching moment.
Ahsoka is growing into a very nice, strong, young woman, and her growth, for me, is the focal point of the series. When I look back to her introduction in the Clone Wars movie, to Anakin's encouragements in "Storm over Ryloth", she's grown so much since then.
Ahsoka is truly a rose among thorns.
I noticed the classic Star Wars Original Trilogy opening was played during Chewie's introduction, very well done.
The opening for this episode was very well done as well, as was the whole episode.


This was a milestone for Ahsoka. A coming of age story where she was taken out from under her Master's wing, and placed in an environment were she was forced to choose her own path, and her make her own choices. This is essential, and what she has learned here will no doubt affect her choices later in life.
This is one of my all time favorite episodes for that reason.


"The hotter the kiln, the stronger the iron." This experience has strengthened both Anakin and Ahsoka's relationship even more, and their bond has grown even tighter. And I'm sure this bond will continue to tighten with proceeding adventures in Season Four.


I was very pleased with how well Ahsoka lead O'mer and Jinx against the Trandoshans. And their attack on the lizard dropship was a well thought out one. A true David and Goliath fight.


The omnipresent Force was heavily used by the Padawans here. Both as object manipulation, and the classic Jedi mind trick.


On a different note: The Padawan's Trandoshan captive's name was Spock, I found this interesting as Spock is the name of the iconic Vulcan in Star Trek. You might say this was an "illogical" move by the team at Skywalker Ranch.


The animation and setting for this episode were truly breath taking to say the least. The subtlest of details was not overlooked by the crew. Everything from dust particles in the air, to the dirtied faces and bodies of Ahsoka and her comrades.


All in all. This was an awesome episode, and a great way to close the Season. I highly anticipate Season Four. "Wookiee Hunt" has set one of the standards for a Clone Wars episode, with the animation getting better and better, and the stories becoming more intricate what's not to look foward to?
Until then. May the Force be with you.


                                                          -Joshua Yoder-

"Padawan Lost" Review

If it were up to me I would've called this episode "Hunting the Hunter": this was a very intense Clone Wars episode with a good plot. The animation was superb, a true hard core story with great character development.
I thought Ahsoka's relationship with the other Padawan's was a clever plot device. This is the first time we see her interacting with Jedi her age.
Kalifa's death (pictured above) was very touching for me; her character was strong, resilient, and a good leader, with a buried hatred towards the lizard hunters. Now the mantel of leadership falls to Ahsoka; can she lead her fellow Padawans in their fight against the Trandoshan hunters?
This was truly cinematic in all specters, animation, sound, music, ech.
I'm wondering as to why Ahsoka, and the other Padawans, never activated their lightsabers in this episode. Maybe the Trandoshans took them as trophies.
I can't wait to meet Chewbacca in the next episode, I'm sure we will not be disappointed at all.

Anakin said some very touching things about Ahsoka in this episode, "She is fearless," and likewise with Master Plo, "If you trained her well; she can take care of herself."

The concept of a Jedi Padawan being kidnapped by lizards, and then taken to a remote planet to hunted down like a wild animal for pure sport, I think, is a very fresh idea. This is one of my favorite episodes, I hope there are many more equally as satisfying.

Here are some details I noticed:

The Trandoshain's hover-pods resemble poacher's jeeps. This, I'm sure, was intended.

And this deck on their mother ship looks like something from "Avatar".

Thanks for reading; may the Force be with you!!

Joshua Yoder

Clone Wars: Rewind-- "Citadel Rescue"

Let's begin, shall we . . .

First off; Tiin's and Stass's starfighters are just repainted versions of Plo's and Ahsoka's

Next; when Obi-Wan kicked the annoa into the lava it rather harked back to the "Loin King" when Simba, kicked Scar into the lava in a similar manner.

And lastly, the gunship's landing to pick up our heroes reminded me of Yoda's entry on AOTC on Geionosis

That's all. May the Force be with you.

        -Joshua Yoder-

Meeting

The flagship Devastator leisurely cruised though the emptiness of space like a great predator, searching for those who would resist the mighty Emperor. On her bridge the mighty Darth Vader stood. His dark figure demanded esteem or terror. Beneath the helmet he could hear his repertory assisted breathing. Darkness penetrated him, consumed him. Few were over him, he was in control. The dark lord gazed into the void of space, it would soon be his. The Rebel blockade-runner Fisto’s Fury moved through the swirling sphere of hyperspace. Its class 2 hyperdrive was considerably slow. In a small cubical onboard a Togruta Jedi, the last of her kind sat on the small cot in the corner of the small space. Everyone she had known was gone, dead at Vader’s hand. The lightsaber at her side was the only thing other then her robes that signified she belonged the ever dwindling Order. She stooped her head allowing her head-tails to fall slightly forward. They had grown radically since she last saw Anakin… Anakin. The though of her fallen Master worsened the already raw reality that bounty hunters were killing what Jedi survived. She herself had gone into hiding almost without more ado. She clenched a second lightsaber in her fist, it had belonged to someone vary close, killed by Vader so many years ago. She longed for the day when her fallen Master would see the light and tear down this oppressing emperor whose rule she was strained to hide from. The door slid open with a hiss. A human male stood in its frame, it was the captain. “We’ve found Devastator.”
He said to her. She rose and clipped the graceful weapon next to her own, then fallowed him to the bridge. The distinctive structure of a blockade-runner emerged from hyperspace directly in front of Devastator; the larger Imperial Class 1 star Destroyer dwarfed the smaller capital ship. Ahsoka stood on Fisto’s Fury’s bridge with the ships captain. She gazed at the behemoth ship, they were outgunned. She could sense her former master on the ship; he was there somewhere, burred beneath warped rage and pain.
“Move her forward, slowly captain.”
She said. The captain did so, trusting her guidance. The blockade-runner began to edge forward. This was too easy. Vader thought to himself. Captain Wermis appeared next to him. “Sir, their preparing to dock with us, should we open fire?” Vader disregarded the captain, and then finally answered him. “Give the order on my signal.” Vader said in a deep baritone. The dark haired man coward away from the dark lord, fearing he would summon the illusive Force to contract his throat again. Time passed at a snail's pace. Vader was about to give the order to annilalate the spirited blockade-runner and its crew when he detected another Force sensitive onboard the small craft. He knew her. Whey had she come to him? The dark lord stood there, he never gave the order to fire. The space between the two ships lessened. Ahsoka knew Anakin must have felt her in the Force; they had already passed the point of no return. Fisto’s Fury shuttered as she docked with the larger ship.
“Are you sure you can do this?”
He asked the Jedi with unease. Ahsoka took the hood of her cloak and threw it over her head. “Trust me.” She said from underneath the cowl. Onboard Devastator, stormtroopers sealed in battle armor with faces hidden away beneath helmets rushed to meet whoever might invade their ship. Lord Vader had given firm orders not to fire but to cover whoever boards Devastator; they were in no position to defy direct orders. Stormtroop
“I’ve come Master.”
She said, her voice must have moved him. Vader remained planted. His next words tor her apart.
“I’m not your master anymore, youngling.”
She bowed her head and threw back the hood.
“Look at me.”
She said. Vader hesitated then faced the young woman. It was not the wholehearted Padawan he had neglected so many years ago. She was in her early twenties now, with head-tails that fell to her mid-section, her facial appearance had changed little since her time in the Clone Wars. Her adult figure closely resembled an additional Togruta Jedi known as Shaak Ti. He turned away almost imminently. She knew when he was wrestling with something. There was nothing she could do for him. She once again buried her face beneath the cowl then turned to leave; before she did she said her final farewell. “I’m sorry Anakin.” With that she left Vader alone with his feelings, hopefully her actions weren’t in vein. She returned to the Fisto’s Fury felling as if she accomplished nothing. The blockade-runner separated and jumped to hyperspace once it could. Vader stood there. Whey had she come out of hiding just to try and speak to him, did she really care that much about him? He dismissed the sentiment and called for captain Wermis. The captain was next to him in a few minutes. “Yes, sir.” “Start tracking that blockade-runner, I want its name and number as soon as possible.” With that he left to fulfill the dark lords’ request, foolish girl. ers lined either side of the docking port, ready to meet whoever set foot inside the ship. Darkness lingered in the long stretch of hall. The airlock hissed open. A slender feminine figure wrapped in dark tan rodes, her face obscured beneath her cloaks cowl stepped from the blockade-runner. She walked down the stretch of hall, stormtroopers fallowing her with their blasters all the way. Vader stood on the bridge, facing the void of space. The door behind him hissed open. He didn’t move, he knew who it was. From beneath the cowl Ahsoka saw Anakin standing with his back to her. She was still his Padawan at heart.
                                                     

-Joshua Yoder-

Clone Wars: Rewind-- Counterattack

Better late then never. And you can thank my friend at Gleemo Blog for pointing out the details for this addition of "Clone Wars: Rewind". Enjoy =)

                 

                         Before we go on; a moment of silence for Echo . . . who was lost in action . . .

                           The first thing I want to point out is the gun turrets on the Citadel's landing aria; they bare a similar resemblance to the turrets on the all mighty Death Star

The next thing I want to point out is the similarity between this scene; and the scene in TPM where Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon were escaping from Naboo on the Queen's yacht.

I think that's all folks. This was an epic episode and I can't wait for the conclusion tomorrow night. Until then, may the Force be with you.

                                                                 -Joshua Yoder-

Betrayal and Innocence

An eerie silence fell upon the magnificence of the Jedi Temple; Vader looked to the younglings that lay dead around him, slain at his hand, his fingers wrapped firmly around the cold metal of his lightsaber. For a moment he stood there in the quiet… grief and remorse found no place in his darkened heart, only the cold reassurance that his secret wife Padm`e would live because of his actions. He had become one with the dark side of the Force, though him the inheritance of the Jedi Order would live on for another millennia, maybe two.
Her voice came to him like a song; it soothed the monster of his spirit for a moment. “Master?”
She said in a gentle tone of voice. He closed his eyes a moment; he knew what must be done. “Leave, Ahsoka.”



an i

He said; his voice carried the frozen chill of Hoth. “Master,” she said with importance, “a killer is loose in the Temple we must— Master?” Shock flooded her as the former Jedi turned and faced her like a menacing shadow; a tall figure wrapped in absolute darkness. She looked to the lightsaber in his grasp, and then remembered her own. Their emerald lengths hummed into existence. Vader’s blade descended and Ahsoka parried the attack to the side. She swung her own blade at the Sith but it was glanced to the side with life of its own as Vader’s blade descended. Vader began pushing her back, trying to get her into a corner, that couldn’t happen, it wouldn’t. The Force surged through her veins as she let her Togruta predator instincts resolve her actions. Now she was using the Shien reverse grip, the very thing Anakin had worked so hard to break her of. Now he might really break her. Ahsoka took a number of steps back, her blade trained on Vader, her upper lip raised in the right corner, a sign of willpower. Their blades locked in a luminous show of blue and emerald radiance. Vader’s corrupted yellow orange eyes pierced Ahsoka’s soul like harpoons. At once she realized exactly what she was combating: She was fighting the dark side itself, manifest in her mentor. Oof! He said, it seemed almost as if he were gloating in his own power. “Surrender your lightsaber. Deny the Force. Through this I will let you live.”
“No, I can’t do that.” She confessed. She truthfully couldn’t. “Then die like a dog.”
Those words may have been uttered by Grievous; the cyborg general of the Droid Army. She recovered to her feet. Their blades clashed ounce again. Vader’s blade flashed over the young Jedi’s for-arm rendering the hand of no use on the floor. With her good hand she called the lightsaber back and the spar sustained. The Force circulated around them like currents of water. A heavy booted foot knocked the wind out of her chest causing her to loose her sense of balance; she hit the floor with a firm bump! “The darkside is too powerful to be challenged by such insignificance.” Vader raised a hand; the unseen Force threw Ahsoka into mmense column, pain shot through her body as she felt her ribs shatter. She fell to the floor unable to move, blood filled her mouth, it was over… Vader approached her. A black gloved hand wrapped itself around her throat and lifted the Padawan up so that her feet were floating above the ground. She looked into those hideous yellow orange eyes, her face the image of fear…Stillness…the only sounds at hand were Ahsoka’s desperate gasps for air; and the song of one lightsaber. She waited uneasily for the blade to pierce her heart. The stillness dragged on for somewhere close to a minute…nothing happened, was she already dead?
Unexpectedly the clasp on her gullet was released and she fell to the floor. She half sat half rested on her right elbow to see Vader turning to depart. The Sith stopped and semi-faced the one he’d spared. Their eyes locked; each carried a dissimilar message. Neither said anything. He turned and left the decimated Temple to regroup with his troopers. Was she really still breathing, and why? She sat there a while relishing the calm that now flooded her, she was fortunate. Whatever the future held she would never forget the warning she had seen in those eyes, which was: You can live…for now. 　
　
　                                            -Joshua Yoder-

Clone Wars: Rewind

OK, I just wanted to point out this one little detail from "Citadel" that no one else probably noticed.

See that symobol on the tactical droid's chest plate, it bares a simailar resemblence to that classic Star Wars ship, good ol' Miliennum Falcon.

If you saw it before you read this post please comment. Thanks. And may the Force be with you!!!

-Joshua Yoder-