Week 29 - The Young Jedi Arc

I'll probably catch up tomorrow.

Kind of a different background.. the good ol Cartoon network days

Hondo and the animation are the main things I'm looking forward to with this one.

I got four days with nothing to do coming up. Plenty of time to catch up.

Why yousa not likin that arc? It’s a moy moy thrillin.

Well, I watched this. I actually really like certain parts of it, but then there are parts I really don't enjoy... It's going to be interesting deciding how I want to rate these.

The Gathering is much cooler in concept than what we actually got. Seeing Ahsoka in the role of an adviser seemed a little strange after coming off the Onderon arc, but given how different the arcs are, it's not a major issue. I do wish we saw her interact with Yoda some more, even though the episode would've felt more rushed.

Story-wise, the episode is very generic, but that isn't a bad thing. Everything that happens feels right, despite not being super interesting. The plot focuses on younglings, so there's only so much the writers can do to make it engaging. Visually, this episode is stunning. Almost every setting the younglings venture to find their crystal is unique, allowing this episode to boast the animation improvements the show has accomplished since S1.

There's not too much else to say about this one. Based on this episode alone, I don't really like any of the characters, but I appreciate how we are introduced to each. Given Gungi is a Wookie makes him stand out, but it doesn't do much for his actual personality. Having Yoda waiting for them on Illum was an interesting touch that worked well I thought.

Overall, it's a very average episode brought to life by some amazing animation and cool concepts that expand the Star Wars lore. I'll give it a 5.5/10.

Once again, the story is extended. If Ahsoka hadn't been captured, the arc could've ended as a 2-parter. However, Bound for Rescue provides an intriguing scenario of Ahsoka being held hostage by the Ohnaka gang. Without having seen the next episode, this one feels very cluttered, mainly due to the focus on Kenobi and Grievous. Three plot threads are followed that cause a lot to happen here in only 22 minutes.

Although the Kenobi story does feel a little out of place in terms of how much attention it received, it's a welcome breather from so much focus on the younglings. Grievous appears very formidable alongside his forces, adding to the intensity of the entire battle. I wish we had gotten some more episodes focused primarily on situations like this. My main critique though would be how this largely did feel like a different episode except for Kenobi's brief mentions of the younglings.

Seeing more of the pirates is great, especially since Hondo continues to steal all his scenes. I wonder who he was going to give Ahsoka to though. My thoughts go either to some unestablished character or perhaps Jabba. Regardless, the screen time here is pretty good.

Until the younglings merge back with Ahsoka and Hondo, their part is not fun to follow. By this point, I've come to tolerate most of them, but by no means do I like the characters. They seem a little too well-equipped to handle their situation given how dire it is, but I guess this could still be realistic due to their Force abilities. When they stumble across the circus, it seems like a lazy way to allow them to find Ahsoka, but at least the idea is original. I found the entire performance quite entertaining, but I credit that almost completely to Hondo. His one-liners, dancing, and literally everything else made this part of the episode super engaging.

This episode is tough to rate, since I really enjoy Hondo and, consequently, the circus sequence. Even if the plot is mediocre, he makes Bound for Rescue more fun than it should be. Everything with Kenobi and Grievous is also great, even if it doesn't fit perfectly with the rest. The parts solely with the younglings still drag, but it's not as unbearable as before. I'll go with 7.5/10.

Writing those actually changed my mind on the middle two episodes. Lowered them both half a point.

And I’m not opposed to more lighthearted or inconsequential episodes. But they should make four part arcs out of them. And especially not two arcs like that in a row.

If we were still doing memes, I would probably make some meme about the crystal cave being full of Meth or something.

There could probably be a meme about TCW giving spins on prequel memes when Grievous says there are "so many lightsabers to add to my collection" at the end of A Necessary Bond.

So was this arc intended to be released separately? It wasn't in any of the promotional material for S5, but Ahsoka was still part of the Order, so it needed to be before TWJ and Revival because Hondo references the CIS occupation of Florrum. I know there were rumors it'd be its own movie, but that seemed like a weird idea.

The Gathering is light and simple but its actually quite an enjoyable episode. The visuals are a very nice aspect. Illum looks great and it really highlights how far the animation has come. The actual story is very predictable but it's actually told quite well. The characters are pretty one-note but they're enough for one episode to lean on. I thought it was cool they put in a Wookiee Jedi.

I'm not sure why they had Ahsoka here. You'd think there would be some Jedi or a few who specialize in training younglings kinda the same way Shaak Ti is often on Kamino. Hell, Yoda probably could've taken them himself. What was he doing anyway, just hanging out on Ilum? Anyway, it's just a bit weird for Ahsoka to be doing this. There's not a whole lot to this one. No huge moments but still cool to see. I say that's enough for a 6.5/10.