4x12 Slaves of the Republic

6.8/10. Another one with some interesting things going for it, but also some dull stuff. The whole "it is you who is the slave -- to the Republic and to your friends" is pretty trite stuff. But I generally like the story of Anakin and Ahsoka having to infiltrate the Queen's inner sanctum while Obi Wan investigates. The fact that it leads to a showdown at the slave auction which does an homage to Return of the Jedi feels fairly forced, and the seduction routine with Anakin and the Queen is not especially convincing and a little gross in how it depicts the latter. That said, I like the way it's planting more seeds for how threats involving people close to him lead Anakin to lose his control, and that the Queen is also planting seeds for the idea that Jedi training and discipline is a shackle around his wrists. The execution of it all is pretty dumbed down, but I appreciate the thought behind it.

I don't know. The whole "slavery is bad!" thing makes for some pretty heavy-handed and obvious lessons in these episodes. Most of my favorite episodes of the show deal with some kind of shades of gray rather than something as morally easy as our heroes vs. a bunch of kidnapping slavers. I guess I appreciate Obi Wan being sent to the much-ballyhooed processing facility and the idea that even if he has resolve, he has to obey to prevent others from being hurt, which creates an interesting moral dilemma for the Jedi, and Ahsoka needling her captors is enjoyable as well.