This week sees the upgraded models of the main characters of Clone Wars with an episode entitled “Heroes on Both Sides”.
I’m keenly interested in this episode for a lot of reasons, but the biggest is something that Supervising Director Dave Filoni mentioned at Star Wars Celebration V. “Remember in the opening crawl to Revenge of the Sith it said there were heroes on both sides and evil is everywhere? We’re going to explore that so it makes a lot more sense.”
And since then I’ve been craving more along those lines.
This episode promises to deliver.
Having said that, this also marks a jump in time from the episodes we’d seen before which makes me guess a few things about what we’ve seen of Season 3 so far.
Firstly, initial reports said that a season of Clone Wars would be 25 episodes per season. These seasons have so far run 22 episodes long (plus three scotch taped episodes that served as the theatrical outing.) That leaves at least three episodes, possibly six, that were produced for earlier seasons and never aired for whatever reason. So far this season, we’ve been seeing connecting material from story arcs developed in the first two seasons. Even the season premiere was the prequel and sequel of Episode 1.5.
But now, with this episode, we’re taking a step further in timeline with these characters. This seems like the real season three. This is what we’re looking forward to for the rest of the season and it looks breathtaking. A lot of people have had issues with most of this season. (I’ve only been a little disappointed with two episodes). I think this is what we’ve all been waiting for Season Three to become.
My one question about all of this though, is whether or not we’ll be seeing the timeline jump between the old character models and the earlier times in the war and the new, more recent.
We’ll just have to wait and see.
From the official press release:
In addition to exploring some of the complexities of the war itself, the episode is notable because it introduces all-new character models for some of The Clone Wars’ heroes – including Obi-Wan, Anakin and Ahsoka.
“Over the course of the series so far, our characters have been affected by the conflict, so the changes we are seeing are a reflection of what they’ve gone through and how they’ve changed,” says Supervising Director Dave Filoni. “We’re getting closer to the events of Episode III, and the look of the series is moving toward that look and those designs. We don’t have a live-action point of comparison for Ahsoka, but her development is definitely as pronounced as anyone’s. When the war began, she was just a kid; she was strong and capable, but she had a lot to learn – and she’s been through a lot. She’s been changed by the things she’s seen and done, and now we’re seeing that reflected in her look. She’s older, more mature. In this episode, we see a significant step for her emotional development, in addition to her aesthetic development. Coming face to face with the enemy is going to be an eye-opening experience for her.”
In addition to showcasing the series’ character development and its progression toward the Episode III aesthetics, the new CG models also reflect a change in the way that The Clone Wars is produced.
“Our production keeps getting better; as we move forward, we’re able to incorporate new techniques and improved animation,” says Filoni. “As a weekly series, we’ve been pushing ourselves to do things that haven’t been done in TV animation, and it’s always a struggle just to get it done at all. But we are learning tricks that help to streamline the process, and we continue to build our asset library. We’re at a place where we can explore and develop new and improved character assets for some of our primary players. In addition to the look change, these new models are so much more expressive.”
And in case you missed it, here’s the badass Savage Oppress trailer: