7x11 Shattered

And with one episode left to go, The Clone Wars delivered another perfect episode that finally reached the moment that we were all expecting it to reach: Order 66.

Refreshingly avoiding the all-too easy option of repeating excessive scenes from the movie such as the montage of all the Clones turning on the Jedi and not featuring Obi-Wan and Anakin or any of the other Jedi at all full stop, The Clone Wars reminds us at the end what the show has always been about, Ahsoka and Rex. Their story. I'm not lying when I say that this episode full on wrecked me - there was no point in trying to hide Order 66 because we all knew it was coming, and instead, keeping the focus on these two characters rather than going for something much bigger led to a much more impactful moment with the scene where Rex gets his orders from the Darth Sidious being one of the strongest moments that the show has ever done. You can feel the emotion. You can see him trying to fight it and failing. And then there's that moment where he, like the entire army of the republic, switches into cold-blooded hunter the moment the Order is given. I mentioned last week about Revenge of the Sith hitting a little differently on a rewatch; it's not just that: Rebels is going to hit a little differently on a rewatch, a show which I fully plan on revisiting too.

The little touches designed to play to audience's emotions like having the clones in their Tano-coloured helmets salute Ahsoka, and the show reaffirming the bond between Rex and Ahsoka moments before Order 66 happened added up to this emotional gut-punch of a moment even further. We've all seen Revenge of the Sith, we all know this moment was what this season was building towards - yet it doesn't stop it from being arguably, the most emotional moment in the whole series and one of the most emotional moments in the entire franchise, thanks in no small part due to the fact that the writers know that we know what's coming next. The music played a huge role here, which is appropriate - arguably Order 66 wouldn't have had the same impression without that John Williams fanfare in Revenge of the Sith, and the little touches of silence before it lead create a sense of eeriness and fear. I was worried throughout the episode constantly for Ahsoka even if Rebels fans know her fate, and Rex's, after The Clone Wars.

The scenes that the show did include from Revenge of the Sith were chosen perfectly - the council meeting to reaffirm the fact that the Chancellor was involved in something dodgy and to remind us of where we were in the film's timeline (honestly, overlapping this show with the events of the film was the best decision ever - Claudia Gray's Lost Stars did something similiar with the original trilogy and that too worked perfectly so it's not without precedent in the Star Wars universe), and that scene where Ahsoka saw the vision of Anakin turning on Mace and joining Sidious, completing his tragic fall from grace, hit perfectly - especially using the voices of both actors who have played Anakin to sync it up. It was a big, operatic sequence that succeeded on every level.

And then there's Maul. Maul unleashed is Maul at his best, even once defeated the show never stopped reminding us how deadly he was; I love that Ahsoka was smart enough not to give her his lightsaber. We've seen this part so many times where the hero has to trust the villain to escape and the villain inevitably betrays them. Letting Maul go to unleash chaos was exactly what he did - in brutal, visceral fashion, tearing through the Clone army using only the force.

[7.8/10] There’s a very somber tone to this episode, which is as it should be. Sure, by the end of the episode, we get Order 66 in all its betrayal and glory, but much of the episode is simply characters reflecting not only on all the choices that have led them to this point, but on all the damage and destruction, personal and galactic, that this war has wrought.

That’s the strange thing about The Clone Wars. It is, often, a fun, rousing, and exciting action/adventure show. Our heroes venture to new planets, face new allies and enemies, and win or lose the day with bouts of thrilling action. But taken as a whole, it’s hard to think of it as anything other than a tragedy, a group of noble (or sometimes malevolent) people, locked in a pointless conflict, that is designed to end with betrayal or hurt or disillusionment as the Empire rises. It’s neat to see Ahsoka and Rex and others go on those adventures, but unless you’re the rare viewer who’s never seen Episode III you’re burdened with the knowledge that this can’t end well.

So what I like about this episode is the way it carries so much of that melancholy with it. Bo Katan looks at a bitter, battle-ravaged Mandalore as refugees huddle toward transport, enemies of the state are rounded up, and Maul is sent in a box away from her home planet. She waxes rhapsodic about wishing she was good at anything other than war, that there was a better way than this, and she and Ahsoka share a knowing look.

In some places, “Shattered” is remarkably restrained like that. Ahsoka never declares that she won’t tell the Jedi Council about what Maul said about Anakin because she doesn't trust them anymore, but it’s lurking in the background of the scene. (Also, holy hell, Mace Windu is kind of a jerk here, which didn’t help). It doesn't belabor that she too is wondering what this war has amounted to, having fought in it so long, but it’s there, in every word she utters and action she takes.

One of my favorite elements of this show has been the way it explores the unique plight of the clones. With that, I love the scene where Rex speaks of the difficulty of the Clone Troopers reconciling their feelings about the war. Some, including Rex (or at least implied to include him), think that it never should have happened at all. But if it hadn’t, they would never have existed, so to wish away the war is to wish away their own lives, something understandably difficult for any human being, particularly ones born into such strange circumstances, to process.

But the episode draws a thematic link between the Clone Troopers and Ahsoka there. She too says that all she’s known in this war, from the time she was first a padawan, and that she too is wondering more and more if it’s something she was programmed into rather than chose, while also struck by the fact that if she hadn’t participated in it, hadn't gone on seven seasons of adventures, she wouldn’t be the person she is today.

The most telling line in the episode comes when she speaks with Rex, tries to reason with him, even after the inhibitor chips have been triggered. She tells him that it wasn’t his fault, that he was made this way, without a choice, when he was very young. And while that speech clearly applies to the present moment, it’s hard not to read it as Ahsoka also speaking about herself. She too was chosen at a young age and indoctrinated into this, and you can feel her trying to assuage her own complicated feelings at the same time she strives to get through to Rex.

The catch is that so much of this works on an emotional level, but not always on a logical/nuts and bolts level. The episode sells the operatic sadness of Rex saluting Ahsoka one minute, as the two recognize their friendship, and turns on her the next. There is real pathos and relief in the scene where Rex struggles to communicate through the fog of his mind control while holding blasters akimbo at his former general, and when he awakens from his procedure and turns those same blasters on his fellow troopers to save her.

But man, there’s some questionable choices along the way. Why in the world does Ahsoka free Maul? I know it’s theoretically to create a distraction -- and the ensuing scene where he uses parts of the ship itself to mow down Clone Troopers is both cool and of a piece with Vader’s assault in Rogue One -- but it seems like a pretty short-sighted move and one she hasn’t needed in other tight spots.

By the same token, I am shocked that the same medical equipment whose feedback is “she’s lost the will to live” in Revenge of the Sith can perform complicated, impromptu brain surgery on Rex to where he’s fine and ready to shoot at his former brothers just moments after having a chip removed from his mind. Similarly, I have to admit, I laughed out loud at Ahsoka seeking the help of (if I’m remembering correctly), the collection of droids from the “Day in the Void” episodes, which is not one of the more fondly-remembered outings for The Clone Wars. Hell, even the interjection of Ahsoka into the Jedi council’s exchange from Episode III felt a little too cute.

Still, Star Wars is, god help me, not about plot consistency or totally sound/logical choices from everyone. It’s about an emotional truth. And there is a great deal of emotional truth in the episode, when Ahsoka implicitly regrets her role in this war, when she trusts her former master more than the council that betrayed her, and when she risks her life and trusts in the Force to save a friend who tried to kill her. So much of what The Clone Wars is building to and has built to is unspeakably sad and dark, but it also validates the bonds forged by people like Ahsoka and Rex, and shows that something good and noble can still emerge from all that darkness.