The eighteenth episode of Season Two opens with quite an impressive battle between Republic and Separatist forces on Malastare.  The Republic is hopelessly outnumbered because the Separatists have amassed an incredible amount of forces there, banking on their superior numbers to force the Dugs of Malastare into giving them access to their fuel reserves.

The Republic, however, has a new proto-type weapon that affects only droids.  It seems very much like a droid version of the proton bomb that destroyed Midland City, Ohio that Kurt Vonnegut described in Deadeye Dick. But they unleash it on the droids, it works, but at a terrible consequence.  They’ve awoken a Zillo Beast, a horrible creature long thought to be extinct by the Dugs.  This is the Star Wars take on Godzilla.

Anakin’s encounter with the beast was one of the most fun action sequences I’ve seen on this show.  I’m sure a lot of people who are already annoyed by the fact that Artoo has thrusters and can fly will be doubly annoyed by this sequence, but I thought it was tremendously fun and thrilling.

Anakin reports back to Mace Windu that not even his lightsaber could cut through this beasts armour, and the Dugs report that they are nearly unstoppable and require the Jedi’s help killing it, which is the only way they will sign the treaty to support the Republic.  This leaves Master Windu in quite a dilemma, since this is the last creature of its kind, it would be against the Jedi way to just kill it.  But  if they refuse, the Republic’s frontline forces would be left helpless.  In a page right out of James Cameron’s Aliens, Palpatine (who seems analogous to Paul Reiser’s Burke) and his scientists want to study the creature so they can weaponize it in any way they can.  Anakin, being a surprising voice of reason, offers to Mace that if they can figure out a way to put the monster to sleep, they can relocate it to the Outer Rim where Republic scientists can study it and the Dugs will sign the treaty because they will think it’s been killed.  Reluctantly, Mace agrees that it’s probably the only way.  I love seeing the crises of conscience the Jedi are put through during this war.  They’re constantly struggling with the dual and often conflicting roles of Jedi Peacekeeper and Generals of the Republic.

Meanwhile, the Dugs are planning to kill it one way or the other and pretty much only piss it off.  That’s when the beast goes full Godzilla and screams and snorts it’s way out of its hole and starts tearing down buildings and shredding up Republic forces.

The ending of this episode, which I don’t want to give away, seemed to me to be hilarious and awesome.  It’s very Godzilla.  It’s very, “We haven’t learned our lesson.”

As far as this episode, this was a great entry into the series.  I really love all of the homages that they’ve been doing.  Half of the fun of this show has been picking up what the writers have been putting down as far as themes and film history.  It’s really, really fun.  It was also fun to see M*A*S*H references, too.  (Mace calls out a couple of clones, including Trapper and Hawkeye.)

Perhaps my only complaint with this episode is that at one point in the episode a rescue party disappears while the Dugs are negotiating their treaty.  Mace offers to check it out for himself and asks Anakin to negotiate the treaty with the Dugs.  It seemed pretty out of character for Mace Windu to leave any diplomatic wrangling of any sort to Anakin, a Jedi he’s shown to barely trust through the movies.

As far as the animation and lighting in this episode, there were a few highlights that totally blew me away.  Like I mentioned before, Anakin’s action sequence with Artoo was top notch.  The way the mist rolled around and the light came through it set a mood and a tone that felt very noir, but also very sci-fi.  It felt like a great mix between the original Godzilla picture and Dagobah.

But the moment the lighting and effects became breathtaking was when the Dugs began to pour a neon green acid into the hole the Zillo beast was hanging out in, and the episode takes on this very cool, radioactive color palette.  Add that to the mist effects and you have some of the coolest visuals and lighting I’ve seen on this show.

But as good as all that was, I have to say the best thing about this episode (other than it’s unadulterated enjoyability) was the sound design.  If I had to say one thing stood out in this episode more than any other, it was the sound design.  Not just the sounds of the creature, but the battles, and for some reason Artoo was 200% on his game in this episode.

It seems like they’re winding season two up with a bang and let us hope that this is just a sign of things to come in the next few weeks.

(You can watch a clip from the episode here.)

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