Week 25 - Zygerria Arc, A Friend in Need

Above average/ good episodes.


Still need to finish last week though. Picked up some extra shifts this past week

I think we probably overhated the last one of these. Probably bc we kinda presumed what it was setting up and it was something no one wanted.

On its own terms and knowing we were wrong, it’s not bad.

Are you referring to A Friend in Need or Escape from Kadavo?

Really like the slave arc

Not gonna watch it though lol

Ok watched the Zygerria Arc.

Oh, and stolen Separatist (aligned) Shuttle Count... 6

Escape from Kadavo wraps things up nicely even though it's the most predictable of the arc. There are a few things here that we see a few too many times. This is the third damn time Plo Koon stages a last-minute rescue and this is the second of three Anakin vs Dooku face-offs in Season 4. But it still works. The Obi-Wan episodes are still suitably dark. And the montage of the Queen's wishes for Obi-Wan is something pretty stylistically different from anything we've seen but I like it. The main event really is the ending battle/rescue. It's pretty cool to see and satisfying as well. We get to see Anakin remorselessly kill organics, something that's pretty rare. It's kind of quick but it looks like he decapitates one in the turret. I like when Rex kills Arguss but it does raise a question on how he could so easily do it here but not against Krell. Maybe Arguss is objectively more evil than Krell, but in Rex's mind, he should hate Krell more. I don't know, I feel like Rex sometimes bounces between two different characters. When it's a clone-centric episode, he often feels softer but when he's just "the clone" in the episode he is more Captain Fordo. Maybe that's just my take. Anyway, the episode is nicely done but I have to say it can be a little too frantic in parts due to some less than ideal pacing but overall it works as the end of the arc. 8/10.

It's not very complex with its story, but I enjoy Kidnapped. One of my only issues with the episode is how easy it seemed to be to disable all the bombs throughout the city, especially with simply slashing them. Also, it would've been nice to give Ahsoka a little more to do, since these were her people. Other than that though, it's a good breather as Spider put it.

I like that there's a good mix of the 501st and 212th here, and the shout out to Boil was nice. I know TCW doesn't really reference previous arcs much, but a nod to Waxer or even the events on Umbara would've been nice in this episode. Anakin's past is incorporated very well within this episode, especially since his anger toward the Zygerrians feels natural in how he displays it. While a bit strange that he hasn't talked much about his past to Ahsoka given their time together, I think it probably fits Anakin's character. Also at the end of the episode, I like how Ahsoka had to calm him down. Unlike in the prequels, we get to see Anakin handle his explosive emotions much more effectively and realistically here.

Obi-Wan is very fun to watch throughout this episode. His reaction to Anakin having to handle the slave issue was well-done, but the highlight was definitely his banter and brawl with Darts D'Nar. Even though he isn't a prominent character, this episode really makes D'Nar an interesting character to watch, and I personally like him and his interactions with Obi-Wan a lot.

A pretty solid episode that sets up a very good arc. 8/10.

Put this off long enough. Well, here we go.

It's almost impossible to talk about A Friend in Need without discussing the backlash it caused on starwars.com. I remember Firebird saying it transformed Ahsoka into a "Disney Princess with Lightsabers." This was a phrase that stuck on the guides and also some pretty weird foreshadowing for the Disney buyout later that year. People spammed the guide for this episode, voicing their disdain for it. I was among those people. Seven years later, I don't think the hatred for this episodes had much to do with what happened in it but was due to what many people thought it was setting up. Many people believed that Ahsoka's exit would be due to her love for Lux. And then they'd go run off together and have a cheesy stupid ending.

Looking back, it is easy to see where this presumption was coming from. The episodes does (rather ineffectively) try to make us want Ahsoka and Lux together, with lots of long awkward glances and that infamous non-con kiss. The episode led to things like this:


But then it also led to things like this, which really really reinforced our position:


I know now this didn't go anywhere. And I don't think they really planned to make that happen. And I warmed to Lux during the Onderon Arc, where I think he was written a lot better. If I ignore all of that, look at this episode with any prejudice, then it's... fine.

Yeah, I admit I expected to watch this episode and think man this is underrated. And considering how hated it was, it definitely deserves more credit than it gets. But that doesn't really mean it's great either. There are some pacing problems. I think the high points are the beginning and the end. The escape on Mandalore is quite cool, and the ending is truly something to behold. The middle section is just okay. We don't actually meet the Death Watch until we're a third into the episode. And once we're there nothing happens for a while. Yes, seeing Vizsla again is nice and I'm glad we saw the Death Watch camp but it just doesn't leave all that much of an impact. It's just kind of boring for a while and then BAM, we're at the end.

This is probably the best part of the episode but it's not perfect either. I like R2's contribution. This episode had an uncharacteristically good usage of R2. And Ahsoka is incredible here. Her all-time best. This episode solidifies her growth and her readiness to be a Knight. Tryla's death should be shocking and disturbing. But we really don't know her at all. I looked at the timer and we met her TWO MINUTES before she died. Two minutes. We could've had Ahsoka spend more time here or develop a real friendship. Maybe she could even promise her she'll get out of there soon but NOPE. We learn who she is and then she's dead. Great. And yes, I'm gonna say it, Cat Taber's voice just takes me out of it. Same as DBB, it's impossible not to hear her main character through everyone else she voices. Are there really no other voice actresses? Maybe someone who actually sounds like a teenager? She's fine as Padme but they have to stop using her for so many minor female characters. JAT can pull it off. Lanter can pull it off. Corey Burton and Stephen Stanton can REALLY pull it off. Her and DBB always sound the same.

The scene itself is one of the darkest things on the show but it doesn't feel set up right. We never are led to think Vizsla isn't that bad. Maybe they could've shown us where Lux is coming from. Lux is just too gullible to be likable. I feel like he would see Sauron and say "Yeah, he seems like a reasonable guy. He just wants his favorite ring back." So back to it, Lux is not done well here. When Lux says Ahsoka and himself make a good team, it feels unearned because he barely did anything except almost get her killed. This episode does not make us care about him. All of his dialogue is Lee-Char levels of cringe and at the end, he's still just as pretentious as before. That hasn't changed on repeat viewings. He's still a little twerp and not a very well realized character.

This episode is not nearly as bad as many make it out to be but it's not all that great either. There are definite highlights but due to strange pacing, they don't come together all that well. It's cool to see Death Watch again but I wish it could've come in a better episode. This episode does Lux no favors. From beginning to end, he comes off like a brat. And the Wrath of Khan moment in the end, therefore, feels more cheesy than anything else. This episode tried to do a lot of things but most of them don't work.

With all that, I give the episode a 5/10. Just okay.

Escape from Kadavo is kind of tricky to place. I really enjoy the first half, but the second feels a little uninspired. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still super cool to see them mount a rescue mission to Kadavo, but it almost feels a little too similar to some other rescues we’ve seen in the show.

Besides that odd shift halfway through though, this episode is still a lot of fun. Dooku getting involved is cool, and I love his encounter with Anakin in this one. Something about that throne room setting and the music that plays give it such an awesome vibe for me. Seeing Dooku’s clear power over the Queen, despite her denying it, made for some good moments as well.

The choice of showing a montage with Obi-Wan was neat. It’s not something I’d want every episode, but I liked its usage here. All the scenes involving Obi-Wan in the slave camp felt appropriately dark. Keeper Argruss is pretty fun to watch fly around in his chair, too. Another thing I love about this arc is how they made the Zygerrians all have unique characteristics. Even though they all weren’t around much, I liked all of them.

This conclusion does what it needs to do, but I wish it had been a little more ambitious like Slaves of the Republic. It’s equally entertaining, but I would’ve liked for it to deliver just a little more. 8.5/10.

Ok so I watched a Friend in Need first here, just cause I wanted to watch one more episode and not a full arc after finishing Umbara. But I think I liked A Friend in Need a bit more than I remembered. Lux is still kind of annoying but his plan and motivations weren’t terrible. It was nice to see Vizsla for the first time since season 2, he left such a strong impression in his fight vs Obi-Wan and then completely vanished for 2 seasons. I also really liked the visuals of Carlac, it’s not your traditional completely iced over snow planet.

The R2 droid rebellion side plot made their escape in such a dangerous situation more believable although I found Vizslas methods of dealing with the villagers to be overly extreme and violent. There’s really no reason for death watch to be hunkering down on that planet in the first place and true Mandalorians should honestly have more honor than that. Seeing a female Mandalorian was neat though, good introduction to Bo-Katan.

I remember thinking this episode felt out of place at the time but it ties into season 5 nicely and helps refresh our memory and bridge the gaps. Anyways the last standalone this show received gets a 7/10 from me. I overall enjoyed it despite its few problems.

Side note but I’m surprised the Zygerians never tried getting in contact with Maul or vice versa.... they just kind of get written out after this arc.

I have mixed feeling on Escape from Kadavo. Sidious seems weird in this episode, he needs Anakin for his plan yet he basically tells Dooku to execute him? Idk I always bring this up with any prequel content but Sidious just has too much control when so much of his plans are based on chance it seems. I don’t really care for much of the first half of these episode, nobody really cares for the Queen and we knew Anakin wasn’t going to accept her deal so there’s no tension there. While seeing Dooku is nice he also seems somewhat pointless here and just acts as a stand in bad guy.

The second half of the episode is much better and while it is once again Plo doing the rescue job I think he’s better used here than most of his rescue missions, we get to see the legendary pilot skills of Plo on display and I enjoy seeing the Wolf Pack, they got a cool armor design. Best part of the episode is Kenobi surprisingly allowing Rex to murder the overseer, it does seem a tad out of character for both Rex and Kenobi alike though. Side note but Rex has seen a lot of unique action and events for a clone trooper....


Anyways think I’m gonna just barley give this one a 8/10 but it’s basically the reverse of the last one where this could easily be a 7 since there are some problems here. Overall the arc is fairly enjoyable and much better filler arc than the filler stuff in season 5.