Rewatching the Clone Wars

[The Legonater]

I was being sarcastic about Bane, but the series does have him being way more successful than just about the entire Jedi Council, sometimes it can be a bit much.

Where did you get that Order 66 was just a worst case scenario order? I have not watched all of CW and if this is touched on I really want to see that episode as that is some of the most interesting part of the series for me so far - the movie tie ins.

Well, he is a bounty hunter who's trained himself to kill Jedi. Jango and Boba where both able to subdue Jedi.

About order 66, It's touched upon is detail in the Republic Commando books.

[prateek]

It's simply because there hasn't been a prominent Quarren character in the series, they all seem to be just background aliens (in the CW CGI/cartoon series, and OT/PT movies). Maybe we could see one in lego form if they will create a main Quarren character which plays an important role in the series.

Then they should make a Quarren Jedi.

[Forresto]

double post sorry

Edited September 10, 2010 by Forresto

[Forresto]

Then they should make a Quarren Jedi.

Not before I get my bith aliens for jedi!

[XimenaPaulina]

Then they should make a Quarren Jedi.

Like this one? Looks good but Quarrens are more known to be on the 'villain side' than being heroic jedi. But eitherway, it's always great to get new SW alien characters.

Not before I get my bith aliens for jedi!

But I would rather have my Biths to be band musicians than jedi.

EDIT: Sorry if this was becoming off-topic, I thought I was in the Future SW sets topic.

Now on to the next Episode! Oky/def, will you be able to finish the full Season 2 review before Season 3 starts in a weeks time?

Edited September 10, 2010 by KielDaMan

[Oky]

Sorry if this was becoming off-topic, I thought I was in the Future SW sets topic.

It's OK, we're not as strict as KimT & Stash. Besides, that's the whole point of this thread, to see what we can expect or want to see in future sets.

Now on to the next Episode! Oky/def, will you be able to finish the full Season 2 review before Season 3 starts in a weeks time?

Probably not. We're not even half-way through, and we don't wanna rush it. But I'll have the next review up soon.

[commanderneyo]

It's OK, we're not as strict as KimT & Stash. Besides, that's the whole point of this thread, to see what we can expect or want to see in future sets.

Probably not. We're not even half-way through, and we don't wanna rush it. But I'll have the next review up soon.

If you want i'll help with the review of the remaining season 2 episodes to get them done before season 3

[def]

Now on to the next Episode! Oky/def, will you be able to finish the full Season 2 review before Season 3 starts in a weeks time?

As Oky says, the next episode is in the can, and I'll have episode 13 up soon. I'm sad not to get it done before the premiere, but I had a particularly hectic summer (with my overall postings on this board way down). No excuse, we'll have to start earlier next year

If you want i'll help with the review of the remaining season 2 episodes to get them done before season 3

I appreciate the offer, but we've got a system in place, and we'll get through this season. Maybe in season 3

[Corvus]

Where did you get that Order 66 was just a worst case scenario order? I have not watched all of CW and if this is touched on I really want to see that episode as that is some of the most interesting part of the series for me so far - the movie tie ins.

It's a contingency order, just like many others. There was an order to do the same thing to the Supreme Chancellor, if necessary. However, we all know that Sidious planned it from the beginning.

[XimenaPaulina]

As Oky says, the next episode is in the can, and I'll have episode 13 up soon. I'm sad not to get it done before the premiere, but I had a particularly hectic summer (with my overall postings on this board way down). No excuse, we'll have to start earlier next year

We completely understand def/Oky, you guys are actually doing a great service to us SW fans with your TCW reviews. I personally look forward and enjoy reading your lego-based review of each episode. It's just that I remember you were able to finish Season 1's full review before the Season 2 premiere, well maybe not this time I guess. Maybe you should start even after the whole season is finished, or you have to let the season finish first?

[lt.Gonville brickhead]

i liked them all i cant decide

(you cant ever have enough battle droids though

Edited September 11, 2010 by lt.Gonville brickhead

[Oky]

Episode 12: The Mandalore Plot

Fans wanted Mandalorians, and that's what they got in this episode. However, as always, good things come at a price. The catch? They are pacifists, not the badass warriors EU made them out to be, at least most of them. The episode starts out with Obi Wan meeting with Satine, who just happens to be his old love interest. They take a walk through cubist Mandalore (the Mandalorians are serious about their art - even the friggin trees are cubes!) and coincidentally become witnesses of a terrorist attack from Death Watch, the handful of Mandos who still believe in the ways of kicking a$$. The guy responsible tries to run away, but Obi tracks him down, so he commits suicide, which is pretty stark for a kids show like this. Obi and Satine then go to Mandalore's moon to find out more, and indeed, they find Death Watch's hideout. After they save each other from getting killed, Obi has a lightsaber duel with the DW leader, Governor Pre Vizsla. They are forced to leave, and the DW gets away.

This episode was pretty good. The bickering between Obi and Satine was a little too much, but it had some good action, and the scenes of the terrorist attack, the guy jumping off the balcony, and Vizsla cold-bloodedly shooting one of his men because he failed to kill Kenobi gave the story a serious tone. 8/10

This episode had some interesting new stuff. One of them is the Mandalorian shuttle. It kinda looks like a Jedi Interceptor, but much bigger, with flat, rotating wings. This would probably make a nice swooshable set.

Also, there are the Mandalorian speederbikes which are quite different from other swoops we have seen so far and remind me a lot of the ones from the Jak & Daxter videogames. It's practically confirmed that we are getting one in the upcoming Mandalorian Battle Pack, so that's something to look forward to.

Here's a (rather blurry) close-up with Obi Wan on it.

Then, of course, there is Dutchess Satine Kryze, Obi's ex-girlfriend. She's kind of a silly character, but she does have an interesting outfit.

Apparently, we are already getting Death Watch Mandalorians in the upcoming Battle Pack, but it doesn't include their leader, Governor Pre Vizsla. He would be nice to have with his neat cape and cool stolen Darksaber. I wonder if TLG would use a trans-black bar for this one?

There were also a couple of Mandalorian royal guards that looked like medieval knights, but they weren't of any significance.

Another thing of interest is the Mandalorian architecture. The cube-based design practically screams to be turned into Lego. It's unlikely we'll get a whole city like this, but perhaps we could at least get a small playset of Satine's throne room.

Lego Ships Appearing: Obi Wan's Jedi Starfighter

Lego Wishlist: Mandalorian shuttle and speederbike, Satine, Death Watch troops, Pre Vizsla, Mandalore playset.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to have some Boba Fett Original Space Rum.

Next: Panic on the space Titanic!

Edited November 12, 2010 by Oky Wan Kenobi

[def]

This comment brought to you by Boba Fett's Space Rum: When you have 3,000 year digestive period ahead of you!

I liked the episode overall. The whole thing was an ode to Boba Fett, which must have been what the writers and animators were going for. Seeing Obi Wan enter, and this massive door strongly calls back Fett's armor.

What I liked:

-the square Madalorian trees

-the Separatist commander shooting a subordinate and emotionlessly saying, "Failure."

-lots of good action

What I didn't:

-Obi Wan to the guy fleeing the crime scene: "Hey you!" Keep you mouth shut, and go ninja on that guy, Jedi!

-Too many Boba Fetts. First, I don't think the target youth audience cares that much about Fett. But to the older audience, well, now we've seen a Fett-squad. What was special about Fett was his image, and his being the strong silent type. Now he's no longer unique. I think this episode waters down his legacy. I don't care much about this future Madalorian Battle Pack either. Hey, let's make Boba Fett as common as a Clone Trooper!

But it was a solid episode, with the kiddiness/silliness kept to a minimum.

[CMP]

But to the older audience, well, now we've seen a Fett-squad. What was special about Fett was his image, and his being the strong silent type. Now he's no longer unique. I think this episode waters down his legacy. I don't care much about this future Madalorian Battle Pack either. Hey, let's make Boba Fett as common as a Clone Trooper!

But it was a solid episode, with the kiddiness/silliness kept to a minimum.

I disagree. The Mandolorians were kind of always like this.

And about the battlepack - are you willing to custom paint the Mandos to look like Boba? If not, then he still only appears in an $80 set. I can't wait to see your comments on the finale, I saw it the other day.

[prateek]

But it was a solid episode, with the kiddiness/silliness kept to a minimum.

Agreed. Of the few episode's I've seen, this is probably one of the best.

BTW, I really want a Mando Shuttle set now

Edited September 13, 2010 by prateek

[def]

I disagree. The Mandolorians were kind of always like this.

Like what, numerous? I thought they were portrayed well enough. As Obi wrote, the suicide was quite rare for a youth show.

I just think they need to maintain Fett's mystique.

[Corvus]

This episode just pissed me off, and I think you can guess why.

Okay, so they needed some pacifists. Again. So what do they do? They turn to the Mandalorians. One of the most warlike races in the Star

Wars Galaxy. What's the first thing that comes to their mind? Let's make them pacifists. Yeah, that'll go over well.

So, why didn't they make up a whole new race of pacifists? These New Mandalorians have absolutely nothing in common with the EU Mandos. Nothing in common but their original names- Mandalore, Death Watch, and Pre Viszla. The Death Watch has also been seriously stomped on, too- Pre Viszla should be some 10-12 years dead by now, and the Death Watch disbanded.

So, why not have some completely new planet? Hell, if they're bent on messing with Mandos, then they could've just used some other obscure planet in the Mandalore system, and have the Death Watch preying on them.

Funny- I remember Filoni saying in an interview that he didn't want to degrade the iconic image of the Fetts, so that's why they didn't give the Death Watch any unique costumes.

I actually think they got it backwards. Jango Fett absolutely hated Pre Vizsla for killing his mentor, Jaster Mereel.(Wrong Vizsla... point still stands, though. Jango did hate the death watch, and they didn't like him.) So why do all the Death Watch troops have armor that looks like Jango's and have blasters that sound the same as his?

Plus, they also declared that Jango was "nothing but a common bounty hunter." This would mean that Jango wasn't Mandalorian, so he just wore the armor. Same thing applies to Boba, which degrades his iconic image quite a bit, IMO.

Really, really a shame. /rant

Now that that's out of the way, here's my alternate version, which I think would have been somewhat cooler.

The Republic somehow ends up on Mandalore. I'm not sure how this would work, since Mandalorians are notoriously reclusive and distrustful of the Republic. However, I think this could have benefited the story- discovery of a Seperatist base, perhaps?

Personally, I thought the Neo-Cubism style in the capital (apparently called Sundari... maybe a different planet than Mandalore?) is rediculous. After seeing Innocents of Ryloth, I thought the stark color scheme would have translated really well into the architecture of Keldabe. This is Star Wars, whose signature look is a used galaxy, not artistic. Keldabe would have been perfect for this- run-down and eclectic buildings all loosely arrayed around one big skyscraper (Mandalmotors), overlooking a river. Really, an opportunity for a breathtaking landscape that the Clone Wars team has been doing such a good job of.

Then, think of the citizens. A multicolored array of people in full or partial armor. Very exotic, much more so than a bunch of blond people in tunics. If they threw in some Mando'a in there as side language, that would've been perfect- since there seem to be so few languages used in the CW other than Basic. Even Ziro the Hutt speaks Basic.

There would have been plenty of opportunity for character development and battles. Perhaps Ahsoka notices all the hostility around her (What? You mean not everybody loves Jedi?) or maybe some temptation for Rex or other clones. And battles? Come on, we all saw Ep. II. I'd love to see Obi get another headbutt.

Oh, me and my wishful thinking.

EDIT: Oh yeah, I suppose I should comment on the actual episode. EU desecration aside, I liked the episode. The suicide was a dark touch, and the action was great. At least the Mandos in it weren't incompetent. Two of them beat up Kenobi, no mean feat. The darksaber was also cool, even if it made Vizsla look incompetent (which is reasonable when you try to swordfight with a Jedi).

[Oky]

Hehe, I thought you would use this opportunity to let off your steam. I'm glad you shared your thoughts. Some interesting points there, but I think you're confused about Pre Vizsla. The one who was the DW leader in during the Mandalorian Civil War and killed Mareek was Tor Vizsla. Pre Vizsla is a different person (though from the same clan), and Mandalorian armor has always been the same, so I don't think it's so bad that they resemble Jango, although I agree that a different color, such as red, would have suited them better than blue to distinguish them as DW. And just because they said Jango was just a bounty hunter doesn't mean he wasn't Mandalorian. I mean, these are pacifists who are trying to separate themselves from their brutal past, so they'll argue anything that might connect them to mercenaries like him.

[Corvus]

Hehe, I thought you would use this opportunity to let off your steam. I'm glad you shared your thoughts. Some interesting points there, but I think you're confused about Pre Vizsla. The one who was the DW leader in during the Mandalorian Civil War and killed Mareek was Tor Vizsla. Pre Vizsla is a different person (though from the same clan)

D'oh. You're right. I just connected the name Vizsla... most of this stuff is from the comic/graphic novels, which I don't read... Thanks for the correction.

[Penitent Tangent]

As someone who isn't at all a fan of the EU, I have to say I really enjoyed the Mandalore episodes and I think their new depiction makes a lot of sense. For a planet and race of people who've been completely focused on war for so long, I think it makes sense that their leaders and politicians would eventually try to reverse this image, and thus the planet would gradually turn towards peace rather than war. Although obviously there was still a (rather large) segment of the population that believed otherwise, and that's why we have Death Watch. I felt this made the mandaloreans far more interesting and less two dimensional than how they've been represented in the past.

I can understand why many fans of the EU are upset that their books and stories have essentially been completely overwritten.. But I don't know why that comes as such a surprise. Lucas has always said he doesn't consider any of these canon and so their basically side stories or "what if" scenarios. Filoni is at least trying to leave room for many of the EU elements to still be possible alongside TCW, and I think even that is something the EU fans should be very grateful for.

More on topic with the actual episode.. Again, I really did like it a lot. I do agree that the Satine character was a little over the top at times, she really introduced a whole new level of character depth to Obi-wan, and I'd have to highlight the moment when he admits that he would have left the order if she asked him to. Plus it's always fun having a character that can match wits with him, some of the exchanges between them were rather amusing.

[The Legonater]

Now, this is from a guy who still hasn't seen the episode

The Republic somehow ends up on Mandalore. I'm not sure how this would work, since Mandalorians are notoriously reclusive and distrustful of the Republic. However, I think this could have benefited the story- discovery of a Seperatist base, perhaps?

Personally, I thought the Neo-Cubism style in the capital (apparently called Sundari... maybe a different planet than Mandalore?) is rediculous. After seeing Innocents of Ryloth, I thought the stark color scheme would have translated really well into the architecture of Keldabe. This is Star Wars, whose signature look is a used galaxy, not artistic. Keldabe would have been perfect for this- run-down and eclectic buildings all loosely arrayed around one big skyscraper (Mandalmotors), overlooking a river. Really, an opportunity for a breathtaking landscape that the Clone Wars team has been doing such a good job of.

Then, think of the citizens. A multicolored array of people in full or partial armor. Very exotic, much more so than a bunch of blond people in tunics. If they threw in some Mando'a in there as side language, that would've been perfect- since there seem to be so few languages used in the CW other than Basic. Even Ziro the Hutt speaks Basic.

There would have been plenty of opportunity for character development and battles. Perhaps Ahsoka notices all the hostility around her (What? You mean not everybody loves Jedi?) or maybe some temptation for Rex or other clones. And battles? Come on, we all saw Ep. II. I'd love to see Obi get another headbutt.

I, frankly, like the idea. It's reminicent of Legacy of the Force: Redemption, where Jaina Solo goes to Mandalore (Keldabe,a ctually, I think) to learn from Fett. Being a Jedi, she's met with a whole lot of hostility. And IMO- Keldabe should be a mix of run-down Ryloth and the plains of Maridun. Hopefully in the upcoming Mando episode they fix some stuff.

I absolutly hate the idea of Mando pacifists. These guy are tought how to slit a guy's throat at 13. How does a group like that becoming a bunch of peace-loving hippies?

[prateek]

I absolutly hate the idea of Mando pacifists. These guy are tought how to slit a guy's throat at 13. How does a group like that becoming a bunch of peace-loving hippies?

Agreed. I think they were not bad megablocks enough.

[The Legonater]

Agreed. I think they were not bad megablocks enough.

Was that an auto thing, or on purpose?

[prateek]

Was that an auto thing, or on purpose?

I think it's automatic. megablocks megablocks megablocks megablocks megablocks

Yup. Automatic

BTW, bitch works

Edited September 13, 2010 by prateek

[Corvus]

I absolutly hate the idea of Mando pacifists. These guy are tought how to slit a guy's throat at 13. How does a group like that becoming a bunch of peace-loving hippies?

IMO, at least the Death Watch has had some of the more intimidating foes we've seen so far. At least two of them managed to beat Obi into unconsciousness.

I think it's automatic. megablocks megablocks megablocks megablocks megablocks

Yup. Automatic

BTW, bitch works

Now that's one way to test it.