Week 19 - The Mortis Arc

I remember not being excited for this (I was 11) since I just wanted to find out what happened to Darth Maul.

I might award my second 10 for one of these episodes as well. The story for this arc was really good. I'm glad S6 and Rebels incorporated some of the themes.

That moment when you suffer through the Corruption arc but then quit when it gets to Mortis.

The Father says that there are some which seek to exploit their power... which falls in line well with the plot line of Rebels and Sidious, although he says the Sith are only one entity. Who are the others? Snoke maybe?

Rare footage of Obi-Wan t-posing.

Altar of Mortis is a great episode, I love all the force aspects tbh. This is really how you properly go into exploring the force, not talking about Midichlorians and boring Temple exercises....

Honestly The Son is a really underrated character IMO because he only had one arc but he’s really cool and Witwers first Clone Wars voice as The Son is just phenomenal really. I like how all his shapeshifting characters have the same eyes, I think I caught that the first time I watched the episode and knew the little creature was actually him. Also I really like his red lightning.

And yeah although it’s not confirmed I still think Ahsoka first vision with her older self was influenced by The Son or The Daughter, because it seems The Son influenced the one Anakin has at the stsrt of this episode.

Gonna give this one a 9/10 as well, overall this is definitely my highest scoring arc to date

It's tempting just to call this whole arc a 10/10 and call it a day. But that's not really being honest or fair. So Overlords, here we go. I can't really think of any negatives so here we go. I love Mortis. Both in the day in the night, it has a great atmosphere. And I like the idea of seasons passing over a day. The visions are really great to see. And I'm glad they got Liam Neeson and Pernilla August back. Those scenes have a lot and they do really well in connecting with the movies. We don't hear too much about Qui-Gon and Shmi in this show, so I liked seeing them if anything else to see how heavy the rest on Obi-Wan and Anakin's consciousnesses. The Force-wielders are just cool in general. They don't feel like anything in Star Wars yet fit perfectly in this story. However, the real highlight is the end. Seeing Anakin realize his power is one of the greatest things ever. Anakin never got a real "Chosen One" moment in the films but this one is great. I love the setting and music and all of it. The only thing holding it back from a 10/10 is that there are simply a few too many episodes I like more than it. But since this only my third one, I don't feel too bad giving it a 9/10.

Ghosts of Mortis is the perfect culmination to this. I really wish they took notes when they were writing "Crisis on Naboo" but we'll get there. There's so much to like here. The first and most obvious thing is Anakin's future. There's a lot packed in there: killing younglings, choking Padme, Battle of the Heroes, Sidious, Alderaan, and finally, the Vader reveal, something which I never thought we'd see. Funny enough, Battle of the Heroes plays right before this sequence. Also, Obi-Wan doesn't forget this. He knows Anakin believes he'll do terrible things. Before this, I liked seeing Anakin talk to Qui-Gon. It seems a lot like people forget how important Qui-Gon was to Anakin. I'd argue in TPM that the relationship between Qui-Gon and Anakin had me more invested than Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan. I've heard people say that ending battle was disappointing but I have to disagree. We'd already seen the Force-Wielders go all out in the last episode so I liked the more personal fight here. The Father killing himself was really unexpected and more affecting than any big battle would be. I've also heard people confused as to why the Son suddenly flips and cares about the Father. But I think it's pretty clear. The Son's nature and ambition make him want his father out of the picture. But he himself doesn't want this and hasn't thought it through. He also mourned his sister after she dies despite him fighting her. He thought he had a great destiny to fulfill but only at the end realized it wasn't worth it. The Father's death is heartbreaking as are the visuals of the rocks falling and the diamond shattering on the tower. It ends perfectly. I love this episode. 10/10.

Overlords is a great intro to this arc and possibly the most compelling story of the three. Seeing the Jedi drawn into Mortis reminds me a little of when the Millennium Falcon is drawn into the Death Star, which is especially cool since this episode gives vibes of the mythos the OT had. The setting of Mortis is great, both with the landscape and the seasons changing depending on the time of day.

How we are introduced to the Ones is done nicely, with us getting the Daughter first, followed by an impressive first showing of the Son later that night. Although the Daughter is a little bland (as expected due to what she represents), the Son is very interesting. I credit Sam Witwer for most of that, since his delivery of lines makes even the smallest of scenes captivating. Knowing that he is edging closer to the Dark side also adds to the complexity of his character as he becomes more twisted. The Father ran the risk of being a little cliche, but the other episodes in this arc did enough to prevent that I think. His design and dialogue are fitting, and his relationship with Anakin was nicely done. I also like the two statues behind where he was meditating as well as how the Ones all have layered voices (like Mother Talzin).

One of the best moments of this episode is seeing Qui-Gon Jinn appear to Obi-Wan. It's interesting to wonder if this was really him or a dream/trick by the Ones. I'm guessing it really was him, so this would mark the first canonical appearance of a Force Ghost in the saga I believe. His inclusion also made a lot of sense, since Qui Gon was adamant about the Chosen One prophecy and discovering more about the Force than the Jedi Order would've liked. The chaotic cinematography in the cave with Obi-Wan and Ahsoka before their visions was also really neat.

Anakin controlling the Son and the Daughter in order to save his master and padawan is the best scene in Overlords though. The way day changes to night, the ground lights up, and this visible proof that Anakin truly can control both sides of the Force is stunning. It would've been nice to see Anakin struggle a little more with this task, but given the run time, the episode did a good job.

When Anakin decides not to replace the Father, it makes you wonder if that was the real purpose of the Chosen One, versus how Anakin brought balance to the Force by the end of ROTS. I like how despite getting answers to some questions throughout this episode, we still end with lots of new questions. That was part of the magic of the OT, especially ANH, which is why this arc is so good. A very solid episode. 9/10.

Ghosts of Mortis is a great conclusion to this arc. The only part that really stands out as strange is Ahsoka doing all the repairs and apparently being skilled enough to conduct them without assistance. However, there is more than enough in this episode to make me look past that. First of all, seeing the Father put the Daughter to rest is very heavy, and we really get a sense of his attachment to her. After Anakin visits the Father here, we get another scene with Qui-Gon, which I imagine would confirm that it's really him and not a hoax. Despite many disliking TPM, seeing the two of them interact here is really cool and something I'm glad we got to witness in this show.

While mostly irrelevant, Anakin's descent into the "well of the Dark side" reminded me of descents down the Underworld portals, which is pretty neat. The entire area gives off a Mustafar vibe, which I'm sure was intentional when they made this episode. Once Anakin encounters the Son there, we get to witness Anakin see his own future. This was a very powerful scene and executed so nicely. I enjoy the parallels to Anakin submitting to the Son as he does to Palpatine in ROTS.

Although it seems like a fairly quick turnaround for Anakin, especially since it could all be a trick by the Son, I think it still fits his character. He was born into slavery and poverty on a backwater planet and has wanted nothing but to help others and improve his own life. As he matures under the Jedi, he is driven by emotions, even though this is not how Jedi are trained to be. By this point in his life, he now has a wife he loves and deep bonds with many others, namely Obi-Wan and Ahsoka. By witnessing what he is to become, he is desperate to change this at all costs. The promise of bringing peace and an end of suffering to all is more than enough for him to align with the Son at this point. Rather than being overly analytical of this situation, he follows his heart, since he truly wants to do what he believes will help the galaxy, even if his perception becomes twisted.

Obviously, that can be explained more in-depth or in other ways, but that scene was great and really added to the epicness of this episode. Even seeing Obi-Wan confront Anakin in this place mirrors what will occur in 2 years on Mustafar. All of this leads to the Father eventually taking away Anakin's memory of this, which, while seeming like a potential cop-out, makes sense in context. When the Son visits his sister's grave, we get another look at how he did have a close bond with her and how despite his distaste of the Father, he truly cares about her.

The final sequence at the monastery is a perfect finish to the Mortis trilogy for me. With Anakin back to his normal self, we get to watch the Father do his best to reason with his Son, but to no avail. That moment when the Father takes the dagger from the Son and stabs himself was a nice twist and also revealed the Son did reserve some feelings for the Father. The death of the two of them works very well, especially the Father's final words of telling Anakin to beware of his heart. That statement really resounds with his person. Then we get the apparent destruction of Mortis, which ended in a brilliant explosion of white before taking us back to the ship in space.

It all ties up very nicely, even with many unsolved questions. What could have been a solid standalone turned into a very good three-part arc. I'm glad they stopped it here too, since another episode would have made the story too bloated. Ghosts of Mortis takes the best elements of the previous episodes and then tops it with some more amazing scenes of its own. It adds so much to the overall saga, gives more insight to the characters, tells a unique story, and is so engaging. It deserves a 10/10.

Three episodes wasn't really enough for this but I guess it's fine. Better leave some stuff open to interpretation than answer everything. They could've spent half a season or more on this there is so much to show but that's not what TCW was about

It was weird to me how Father and Daughter kept acting like the Son was turning to the dark side and hadn't already turned. They shouldn't have done that they should've shown him as one with the dark side with no doubt. Anything less doesn't make sense from the balance perspective. Why would they want him to be back to the lightside? Darkness balances out the light

I think Son should've survived. Killing them all = balance works decently. But having the Son alive means dark side wins in the galaxy which is what happened. It was cool at the beginning how they made it seem whatever happened on Mortis would be reflected in the galaxy. Could've went deeper with it.

Anakin's quick turn to me was just the Son corrupting him as he did Ahsoka. But instead of a bite, it was a vision that influenced him. I don't think just seeing the future would make him turn like that. Also I think that could've been real Qui-Gon. He otherwise can't appear as a ghost because his training was incomplete as we learn in the Yoda arc. But I think Mortis could've amplified his ability to project his appearance. But it is odd Anakin and Ahsoka received visions from the Force wielders while Obi-Wan didn't. Maybe they knew Obi was dead set in his ideals and couldn't be changed/manipulated

Obi brushing off Anakin's little dark side moment is probably Obi just being a little stupid at times lol. The Count kept Obi the truth but he kept ignoring him.