Really great episode focusing on prisoners of war, I liked Waxer and Boil’s storyline. Obi-Wan doing his thing was also pretty cool. One of the things that I really love about The Clone Wars is that it follows so many different themes about war and not just the cinematic war-winning battles. There’s loss but there’s also hope.
i'm a sucker for old man adopts a child stories so this episode was a delight. Waxer and Boil have quickly become my favorite clones
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2015-11-28T18:00:42Z
Now this was an improvement! Couching the grander battle for Ryloth in the midst of a much smaller, human story (if you'll pardon the expression) was a great way to give stakes to the conflict and throw back to one of the things that made the original trilogy so great -- balancing the big and the small of the franchise's universe.
I really enjoyed Waxer and Boil bonding with a little Twi'lek girl who seemed to be a mix of Boo from Monsters Inc. and Arya Stark. There was a sweetness to their interactions with her, and considering that one of the clones (Boil?) called the Twi'leks "Tailheads" as they were landing on the planet, it was a great way to show the different personalities of the clones in their response to the girl, and to show them appreciating the humanity of the people they're defending.
Plus, we got some of the most badass Jedi action in the show so far. Obi Wan mind-controlling the combination kangaroo/cockroach creatures, having the clones trap them, and then ducking and dodging his way out of trouble was not only a thrilling action sequence, but it showed Obi Wan as a creative problem solver using his force powers in an inventive fashion to help the cause, something we haven't seen enough of with the freedom of CGI. (And, it even lays the groundwork for an interesting story in Rebels, so that helps too.)
Overall, I really enjoyed this one. Sure, it was a little treacly and nothing so new or groundbreaking, but telling a smaller story in the midst of the overall Ryloth narrative helped to humanize the conflict, and the action scenes around it worked as a nice accent to that. Plus, though it's a little too video game-esque, I appreciate that there's a logical progression for the Republic assault on Ryloth -- needing to clear the airspace, then find a place for the fleet to land, and presumably leading into the final battle in the next episode. This worked as a compelling standalone story, but also as a chapter in that broader arc.