Review of Star Wars The Clone Wars Season Five (SPOILER ALERT)

This is supposedly the final season (the fifth season) of Star Wars: The Clone Wars.  There is a rumor that there might be a sixth, but
if there is, it won't probably be shown on Cartoon Network--which
was where the series first premiered and aired all five seasons.  Why was the series terminated when it seemed so popular? The only explanation I heard was that the good people at LucasFilm felt it was time to wind it up.  However, it seems the Disney takeover of the Star Wars franchise might have some hand in it.  Yes, it's true...though I should ask what rock you've been under if you haven't heard by now.  It isn't like I keep my ears to the ground either, but there has been enough bellyaching by Star Wars fans on Twitter that you'd have to go out of your way...like join the Amish...to have missed that.  Apparently, there are a lot of fans out there shuddering in their Darth Vader and Storm Trooper costumes, wondering if the new Star Wars movie that is due to come out will have singing and dancing like we've all come to expect from Disney films.  However, I personally am more optimistic.  After all, Pirates of the Caribbean is made by Disney and is quite cool.  The only thing I worry about is the collectibles, for Disney often has great ideas and attractive looking toys...which usually have horrible design flaws.

But enough about the future.  Like the song goes:

Que sera sera

Whatever will be will be

Will Disney make Star Wars totally lame?

We'll just have to wait and see

Or as Master Yoda would say, "Clouded, is the fate of Star Wars.  Ever in motion the future is."

I think Season Five may be one of my favorite seasons.  However, the stories did seem rushed, and it didn't feel like I watched 20 episodes.  I almost got the feeling that they hadn't planned to end the series, and then they suddenly had to when that bomb was unexpectedly dropped on them.  I thought they would draw out the Darth Maul/Savage Oppress plot line more...and also develop the relationship between Asajj Ventress and Obi-wan Kenobi.  Weren't those two locked in a space ship together at the end of season four?  I swear I remember that.  I can totally see Asajj having Obi's love child, despite his supposed love for the Duchess Satine and loyalty to the Jedi Order.

However, this season had many of my favorite things.  Here are a list of the plot lines for each episode in season 5:

A WAR ON TWO FRONTS:  The Jedi travel to Onderon to train a group of insurgent rebels to take back their world.

FRONT RUNNERS:  Ahsoka monitors the rebellion on Onderon as they select a new leader.

THE SOFT WAR:  An unexpected ally steps forward to help the rebel cause on war-torn Onderon.

TIPPING POINTS:  A full-scale revolt embroils Onderon, and the rebels must pay a high price.

THE GATHERING:  Jedi younglings undergo a rite of passage--the construction of their lightsabers.

A TEST OF STRENGTH:  The Jedi younglings and Ahsoka are attacked by pirates.

BOUND FOR RESCUE:  The younglings must infiltrate the pirates' den in disguise to rescue Ahsoka.

A NECESSARY BOND:  The pirates and the younglings join forces when General Grievous attacks.

SECRET WEAPONS:  R2D2 is part of a special droid mission behind enemy lines.

A SUNNY DAY IN THE VOID:  R2D2 and his droid team crash land on a bizarre, desolate world.

MISSING IN ACTION:  In a nearly vacant town, R2D2 and his team find a clone commando suffering from amnesia.

POINT OF NO RETURN:  R2D2 and his team must stop a sabotaged Jedi cruiser from destroying a crucial Republic conference.

REVIVAL:  As the Sith brothers, Maul and Savage, forcibly recruit pirates to their cause, they are pursued by Obi-wan Kenobi.

EMINENCE:  Savage and Maul forge an alliance with the Death Watch that targets their common foe:   Obi-wan Kenobi.

SHADES OF REASON:  Backed by the criminal underworld, the Sith and Death Watch launch an attack on Mandalore.

THE LAWLESS:  Using Duchess Satine as bait, Darth Maul lures Obi-wan into a trap.

SABOTAGE:  Anakin and Ahsoka investigate a deadly bombing at the Jedi Temple.

THE JEDI WHO KNEW TOO MUCH:  Accused of an unthinkable crime, Ahsoka finds herself running out of allies and alternatives.

TO CATCH A JEDI:  The fugitive Ahsoka escapes to the criminal depths of Coruscant.

THE WRONG JEDI:  On trial for murder, Ahsoka faces her biggest challenge.

The season has everything you've come to expect from this series:  well-developed story lines, nice defining of old and new characters, humor, and introduction of new characters.  It fortunately didn't go back and forth in time like it sometimes did in other seasons, which one time resulted in a senator who had been assassinated coming back to life (but it turns out it was supposed to be an earlier event that pre-dated the death). It really helps fill in the gaps between the two movies:  Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith.  I had always been surprised at how smooth the Sith take-over of the Republic and the destruction of the Jedi Order had been, and I always wondered about that.  Everybody clapped and nobody questioned why a bunch of Jedi children were dead?  Really?  However, this cartoon series--and particularly this last season--really shows how the once powerful Jedi Order is losing status and respect...and how things are flowing away from it long before its actual demise.  The only thing that is rather surprising is that the Jedi didn't sense they were fighting a losing battle a long time before and just didn't take off their cloaks and say, "Screw you guys, I'm a goin' home...or I'm quitting."  I guess, though, they were truly relentless.

I don't always enjoy the mission stories as much if Anakin isn't part of them.  Surprisingly, I often do like the clone stories--though season five didn't do much of those.  However, the first four episodes were interesting (they were part of the same plot line).  I liked the new characters that were introduced, though one of them looked like he had escaped from the Monster High series.  Ahsoka is reunited with Lux Bonteri, and we see her blossoming attraction for him...and her subsequent jealousy of his relationship with the rebel leader.  We have watched Ahsoka grow up on this series, and this final season really shows what a young lady she has become...and yet the remaining inner child that she still retains.  It also touched on the tricky ethical question...is it good to teach terrorist tactics to rebels if it is for a just cause?

I really love stories that involve the Jedi culture.  We hear about the Jedi, but how much do we really know about how they lived?  The Jedi are often referred to as an ancient religion, and most religions have a lifestyle.  What is it like to be a Jedi?  What is it like growing up in the Jedi Temple?

Four episodes follow Jedi younglings as they enter a rite of passage to complete their own lightsabers...and wind up on their first mission as well.  It also re-introduces that lovable pirate Hondo.  I'll tell you, Disney and Star Wars are totally going to be responsible for turning girls onto these bad boy types.  Of course, Hondo isn't exactly handsome like Johnny Depp's Jack Sparrow...but he is still charming.  Am I grossing anyone out with my chick point of view?

My absolute favorite plot lines, though, involve R2D2...particularly when he is partnered with the worrywart C-3PO.  This time, he isn't.  However, he is teamed up with a miniature alien and a bunch of other droids--and a particularly sassy pit droid--for a secret mission.  I have to say, R2D2 is my hero.  He marches to his own tune despite his programming.  He is a free thinker.  He is brave.  He is spunky.  He doesn't care if people don't agree with him.  He always seems happy-go-lucky, even in the face of adversity.  What isn't there to love?

I have to admit that I didn't really like how the Darth Maul/Savage Oppress plot line was developed.  I don't know what it really was.  I liked the characters well enough, and it was nice to see that Darth Maul did seem to have a brain, even if he was a little nuts.  I suppose what the true problem was is that these were both supporting characters.  Supporting characters need a main character.  All the same, though, I was rather unnerved at how quickly the plot line was resolved.  It rather reminded me of the stories my classmates used to write in fourth grade, "There were once two tattooed guys who beat up everyone and took over the world.  They had a lot of fun.  Then they got beat up by a more powerful guy and died.  The end."

Now we come to the last four episodes.  If you would love to watch Star Wars like a chick who is having her period and watching Titanic, watch the Star Wars The Clone Wars movie that started this cartoon series.  It will really make it sadder.  I actually did this, though not with the intention of making myself have a more powerful emotional reaction.  It was really heart wrenching to see Ahsoka start out as a gung-ho little padawan, eager to become a Jedi...and to see her at the end as a disenchanted girl who feels betrayed by the Order.

I have to admit, though, sad as this was...I probably preferred this ending.  After all, we all know what Anakin is going to become.  The nagging question through the whole series is what would become of Ahsoka?  Would she die a horrible death, and that would be one of many things that pushed Anakin to the dark side?  Would she live and join the resistance, saddened by the transformation of her fallen master?  Would Anakin kill her?  Or would she fall to the dark side herself?

I wasn't very pleased when they had another favorite character of mine turn to the dark side.  She seemed very unlikely to do so.  I always thought she had a good head on her shoulders, and so I have to admit I find it difficult to accept this.

Though it doesn't look like this particular series will be continued--though there are supposedly a few unseen episodes that might be released--there is a promise that there is a new project in the works.  And so like how a good cowboy movie ends, we leave our heroes walking off in the horizon...or watching Ahsoka's butt while she does, anyway.