Star Wars: The Clone Wars (Season 7)
Jul. 11th, 2020 08:18 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakAnd the other reason for giving the Mouse a month: finally watching season 7 of The Clone Wars. When I first heard that it got made, I was torn, because I thought The Wrong Jedi arc was the perfect conclusion for the Ahsoka and Anakin relationship within the Clone Wars time frame, and I couldn't imagine any other goodbye scene (pre Anakin as Vader, that is) topping that one. Spoiler: This turned out to be true, but what I hadn't properly considered was that the titular Clones themselves needed and deserved another season to bring home that Order 66 is as much their tragedy as the Jedi's, and also that Ahsoka having that time in between where we left her in the s5 finale and where she'll be as a rogue agent in future post RotS - incarnations would show up us more of her growing (and becoming sure that the choice she's made was the right one). Not to mention: way back when I first marathoned the show, I was surprised at the amount of Ahsoka/Rex fanfic, given they don't interact that often on a one on one level in s1 - 5. But s7 really delivered on that front, in incredibly poignant ways.
The three mini arcs within the season - the Bad Batch, Ahsoka & the Merza sisters, the Siege of Mandalore - capture so much of the minor and the major that made this series to great. The Bad Batch are, like previously featured clone troopers, clichés brought to life, while also showing us how heavily all the previous losses have impacted on Rex by now, Rex who is technically just a few years old, as are they all, and yet feels approaching middle age, having his entire existence designed for him as a fighter. The rescued Echo looks, within animation limits, harrowing. (And the awareness that Rex managed to rescue one brother from being used against his will at the start of the season which will see all of the Clones abused in this way by the end is extra sad.)
Ahsoka on her own promptly finding herself another girlfriend, err, female friend she quickly bonds with is no surprise, and Trace was a worthy successor to the previous ladies, but what did come as a (pleasant) surprise to me was that Rafa didn't end as the villain of the story, which is where I thought for a while the tale was going. Also that the sisters backstory was used to point out again that the Jedi had lost their way not just in terms of fighting a Palpatine orchestrated war but because of their own drifting away and losing sight of the poor. Rafa's story of how Luminara just gave her a platitude after the death of her parents was viscerating. And it says something about Ahsoka's own development that when they're talking about the spice trade and Ahsoka points out the human laborers are de facto slaves, Rafa's unconvincing "if there was slavery, the Republic would shut it down" is met by Ahsoka's terse "you'd think". However imperfectly executed, I maintain that one of the great story decisions of the prequels and TCW series was to show the Republic not becoming the Empire overnight from a previous great state but showing it changing into the Empire bit by bit by bit, some of it orchestrated by good old Palps, but by no means all.
When the last four episodes - the Siege of Mandalore arc - abandon the previous Star Wars scrawl and weeklies narrator in favor of a simple "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" title card in red and no John Williams fanfare at all, you know you've arrived at the darkest point indeed. I knew the show would end in tandem with Revenge of the Sith and was preparing myself, but the tears still came. It was expertly done. The brief Anakin and Ahsoka reunion before he takes off to where RotS starts was touching (and both confirmed that she'd become more independent and adult while also still loving him, and that at this point he's simply happy to have her back), but as I said above dramatically not strictly necessary. (Other than to show us one last time the deep fondness between them.) (How come we got no hug, though? If there's one more dramatically unnecessary reunion, I want a hug.) Otoh, the scene where Anakin leads her to the 501 regiment and the Clones have all painted their helmets with her colors in honor of Ahsoka isn't just necessary - last time Ahsoka saw the Clones, they had to chase her on behalf of the authorities, and while The Wrong Jedi made it clear Anakin always thought Ahsoka was innocent, we didn't hear whether or not Rex and the other Clones thought so - but is extra heartbreaking given what's to come.
Ahsoka versus Darth Maul: okay, fine, I give in. Much I kept grumbling that the resurrection of Maul was unnecessary for several seasons, it was worth it for both the big fight sequence and for Ahsoka being chronically unimpressed by Maul's attempts to recruit her but entirely willing to use him as a distraction later. It's the high point of Ahsoka's career as a fighter. The high point of Ahsoka's career as, well, not a human being, but as the wonderful Togruta being she is , otoh, is the deep compassion she keeps throughout the final two episodes after the shock of the Clones turning against her under the compulsion of Order 66. Because both Ahsoka and Rex show up again in Star Wars: Rebels, in theory we both knew that they'd make it out alive and also that Ahsoka would find a way to free Rex from his chip. But what we didn't know was how they would handle the horror of friends who just a few hours earlier gladly would have given their lives for them turn on them. The Clone Wars in its finale delivered on the suspense and action front, but much more importantly, on the emotional front. It never forgot that these people chasing our two heroes did not in any way decide to do this. That they were human, not automatons, and that this was a horrible thing done to them as well as (involuntarily) by them. The scene between Ahsoka and Rex where she removes his helmet and tells him the forced-by-Order-66-Clones might be willing to die in order to kill her, but she won't kill them is where I lost it completely and just bawled.
When all the action is over, we get another radical storytelling choice. Because The Clone Wars doesn't end with, say, Ahsoka in safety elsewhere, meeting up with Bail Organa or Obi-Wan or Yoda, or even the Merza sisters, i.e. an uplifting image. Instead, the last thing we see of Ahsoka Tano in this series is the image of her mourning the Clone troopers she and Rex just buried. (It's the kind of grief the movies only allow for main characters, and then only briefly. That's why Ahsoka and her deep humanity, err, Togruta-ness is truly the series' beating heart.) And then we cut to another brief silent sequence when, after a time jump, maybe months later, maybe years later, Darth Vader finds the remains of the dead Clones' helmets and the lightsaber he'd made for Ahsoka, and, as she has done, in the place where she has stood, looks up to the sky, while the camera zooms in on the rusting helmet, the only remaining element of color in a world that has now turned entirely into the imperial Black (Vader) and white (the wintry snow around him). The end. This is so much more emotionally effective and devastating in bringing home the tragedy of it all than any dialogue could have been. And that the series originally intended as a spin-off for kids does it. Excuse me while I cry again.
On a less sobbing note: I hear Ahsoka will show up in s2 of The Mandalorian and get played by Rosario Dawson, who is a fabulous choice for an older post RotJ Ahsoka I can't wait to see.
The three mini arcs within the season - the Bad Batch, Ahsoka & the Merza sisters, the Siege of Mandalore - capture so much of the minor and the major that made this series to great. The Bad Batch are, like previously featured clone troopers, clichés brought to life, while also showing us how heavily all the previous losses have impacted on Rex by now, Rex who is technically just a few years old, as are they all, and yet feels approaching middle age, having his entire existence designed for him as a fighter. The rescued Echo looks, within animation limits, harrowing. (And the awareness that Rex managed to rescue one brother from being used against his will at the start of the season which will see all of the Clones abused in this way by the end is extra sad.)
Ahsoka on her own promptly finding herself another girlfriend, err, female friend she quickly bonds with is no surprise, and Trace was a worthy successor to the previous ladies, but what did come as a (pleasant) surprise to me was that Rafa didn't end as the villain of the story, which is where I thought for a while the tale was going. Also that the sisters backstory was used to point out again that the Jedi had lost their way not just in terms of fighting a Palpatine orchestrated war but because of their own drifting away and losing sight of the poor. Rafa's story of how Luminara just gave her a platitude after the death of her parents was viscerating. And it says something about Ahsoka's own development that when they're talking about the spice trade and Ahsoka points out the human laborers are de facto slaves, Rafa's unconvincing "if there was slavery, the Republic would shut it down" is met by Ahsoka's terse "you'd think". However imperfectly executed, I maintain that one of the great story decisions of the prequels and TCW series was to show the Republic not becoming the Empire overnight from a previous great state but showing it changing into the Empire bit by bit by bit, some of it orchestrated by good old Palps, but by no means all.
When the last four episodes - the Siege of Mandalore arc - abandon the previous Star Wars scrawl and weeklies narrator in favor of a simple "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" title card in red and no John Williams fanfare at all, you know you've arrived at the darkest point indeed. I knew the show would end in tandem with Revenge of the Sith and was preparing myself, but the tears still came. It was expertly done. The brief Anakin and Ahsoka reunion before he takes off to where RotS starts was touching (and both confirmed that she'd become more independent and adult while also still loving him, and that at this point he's simply happy to have her back), but as I said above dramatically not strictly necessary. (Other than to show us one last time the deep fondness between them.) (How come we got no hug, though? If there's one more dramatically unnecessary reunion, I want a hug.) Otoh, the scene where Anakin leads her to the 501 regiment and the Clones have all painted their helmets with her colors in honor of Ahsoka isn't just necessary - last time Ahsoka saw the Clones, they had to chase her on behalf of the authorities, and while The Wrong Jedi made it clear Anakin always thought Ahsoka was innocent, we didn't hear whether or not Rex and the other Clones thought so - but is extra heartbreaking given what's to come.
Ahsoka versus Darth Maul: okay, fine, I give in. Much I kept grumbling that the resurrection of Maul was unnecessary for several seasons, it was worth it for both the big fight sequence and for Ahsoka being chronically unimpressed by Maul's attempts to recruit her but entirely willing to use him as a distraction later. It's the high point of Ahsoka's career as a fighter. The high point of Ahsoka's career as, well, not a human being, but as the wonderful Togruta being she is , otoh, is the deep compassion she keeps throughout the final two episodes after the shock of the Clones turning against her under the compulsion of Order 66. Because both Ahsoka and Rex show up again in Star Wars: Rebels, in theory we both knew that they'd make it out alive and also that Ahsoka would find a way to free Rex from his chip. But what we didn't know was how they would handle the horror of friends who just a few hours earlier gladly would have given their lives for them turn on them. The Clone Wars in its finale delivered on the suspense and action front, but much more importantly, on the emotional front. It never forgot that these people chasing our two heroes did not in any way decide to do this. That they were human, not automatons, and that this was a horrible thing done to them as well as (involuntarily) by them. The scene between Ahsoka and Rex where she removes his helmet and tells him the forced-by-Order-66-Clones might be willing to die in order to kill her, but she won't kill them is where I lost it completely and just bawled.
When all the action is over, we get another radical storytelling choice. Because The Clone Wars doesn't end with, say, Ahsoka in safety elsewhere, meeting up with Bail Organa or Obi-Wan or Yoda, or even the Merza sisters, i.e. an uplifting image. Instead, the last thing we see of Ahsoka Tano in this series is the image of her mourning the Clone troopers she and Rex just buried. (It's the kind of grief the movies only allow for main characters, and then only briefly. That's why Ahsoka and her deep humanity, err, Togruta-ness is truly the series' beating heart.) And then we cut to another brief silent sequence when, after a time jump, maybe months later, maybe years later, Darth Vader finds the remains of the dead Clones' helmets and the lightsaber he'd made for Ahsoka, and, as she has done, in the place where she has stood, looks up to the sky, while the camera zooms in on the rusting helmet, the only remaining element of color in a world that has now turned entirely into the imperial Black (Vader) and white (the wintry snow around him). The end. This is so much more emotionally effective and devastating in bringing home the tragedy of it all than any dialogue could have been. And that the series originally intended as a spin-off for kids does it. Excuse me while I cry again.
On a less sobbing note: I hear Ahsoka will show up in s2 of The Mandalorian and get played by Rosario Dawson, who is a fabulous choice for an older post RotJ Ahsoka I can't wait to see.
no subject
Date: 2020-07-11 09:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-07-11 05:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-07-11 06:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-07-11 05:31 pm (UTC)the scene where Anakin leads her to the 501 regiment and the Clones have all painted their helmets with her colors in honor of Ahsoka isn't just necessary - last time Ahsoka saw the Clones, they had to chase her on behalf of the authorities, and while The Wrong Jedi made it clear Anakin always thought Ahsoka was innocent, we didn't hear whether or not Rex and the other Clones thought so - but is extra heartbreaking given what's to come.
YES. They are wearing her FACE when they're trying to kill her! That is such an excellent mindfuck on Filoni's (or whoever the writer actually was) part!
And the ending with Vader in the snow was also not what I expected was was way better and more heartbreaking than anything I was imagining.
no subject
Date: 2020-07-11 05:41 pm (UTC)And yes, whoever in the creative team came up with all that sublime hearbreak deserves extra credit. Good lord, when I think back to the time when teenage Snips was first introduced and Rex got his name - I'd never expected her and the Clones to get to me this deeply.
no subject
Date: 2020-07-12 02:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-07-13 06:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-07-12 05:15 am (UTC)I have seen a bit of fan-casting with Rosario Dawson as Ahsoka but the enthusiasm I have seen for it was sucked out when many found out a trans employee said she and her family were transphobic and violent to him (tw for transphobia, violence, and threatening to kill a pet): https://insidethemagic.net/2020/03/rosario-dawson-called-transphobic-sp1/
no subject
Date: 2020-07-13 06:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-05-30 07:11 pm (UTC)I'm unsure what to do think. As one other article noted, it's sucky whichever way you slice it. If the accuser lied, it only hurts victims of transphobia and taints Rosario Dawson's reputation. On the other hand, it'd be far from the first time the justice system failed victims of bigotry and abuse. Sorry for bringing this uncomfortable subject up once more, I just thought you might want to know the apparent change in this situation.