The return of Boba Fett. It’s something a lot of people have been dying to see. (Others, not so much. Ha.) Sure, most people wanted to see Boba Fett return from the Sarlacc, but this is Clone Wars and that hasn’t happened yet. “Death Trap” is the twentieth installment of the second season of Clone Wars and is perhaps one of the best episodes in the series.
It’s a no-brainer that Boba Fett wants to avenge his father and kill Mace Windu, the man who decapitated Jango. And that’s what this episode is all about. It’s the tense thrill ride of Boba’s first attempt at exacting his revenge. But behind him, pulling the strings, are other bounty hunters, Bossk and Aurra Sing. They’re obviously training Boba to have his infamous ruthless nature, but as the episode played out, I kept wondering what their angle was. At the beginning of the season, Aurra appeared as one of Cad Bane’s cronies working with the Separatists. But she’s a hired gun and obviously has no loyalty to them. So what’s in it for them? I guess that’s the biggest question raised out of this episode, since there’s obviously more at work here than we can see.
Daniel Logan (whom I interviewed last week) reprises his role as Boba Fett from Attack of the Clones and his voice work is excellent. He plays all but one of the clone cadets in addition to Boba and the contrast between he and the cadets is stark. Why is he with a bunch of clone cadets to begin with? Well his plan is fairly ingenious. He disguises himself (rather easily) as a clone cadet and sneaks aboard Admiral Killian’s Star Destroyer, which is under the Jedi leadership of Mace Windu.
This episode was much more focused on character than action and it did it very well. Boba had a number of incredibly compelling moral dilemma’s involving the clones. They’re genetically identical to him and the older ones look exactly like the man who raised him as his father. Does he know he’s a clone?
There are still a lot of unanswered questions coming out of this episode, and we have two left with Boba. Whether we see him returning in season three is still anyone’s guess.
I have two favorite things to point out in this episode though:
1) I loved the ships. They look as good or better than in any of the movies and the animation and lighting on them is nothing short of astonishing. They’re just beautiful. And seeing the Slave 1 like that? I about lost it.
2) I loved the cat-and-mouse-thriller-intrigue-moral-dilemma business in this episode. The insight into Boba Fett was a story I was dying to see told ever since I saw him and Jango appear in Attack of the Clones. This is a small piece of that puzzle and I’m a little fanboy who bought it hook, line, and sinker. And the animation of Boba was in stark contrast to the other bright-eyed shiny’s and it just made the whole episode feel so sinister and angsty in a way that I loved immensly.
Oh, also, Aurra Sing. There was something cool about her even from her very first appearance in The Phantom Menace and she was exponentially more menacing here. And her voice was…sultry. I don’t know, it felt dripping with noir-like angst and it was incredibly attractive. So, yeah. There’s that.
To sum up: Solid episode. Daniel Logan needs to get more work, he’s good. Animation was top notch. Writing was some of the best this season. I imagine even the Boba Fett haters will like this one.
So until next week….umm…..put Captain Solo in the cargo hold….?
To catch up on Season 1, you can order The Clone Wars: The Complete Season One at Amazon by clicking the link.
For other Clone Wars news and reviews of previous episodes, click this link.