Plan of Dissent is the third part of the Umbaran arc and sees Jedi Master Pong Krell once again devising a plan that aims to get all of his troops killed. Instead of dying on the frontlines for nothing, a trio of clones (led by Fives) decide they’re going to take matters into their own hands and come up with a brilliant but risky alternate plan.
Of course they take the idea to Krell first, who dismisses it out of hand. Then they proceed to do it anyway and save the lives of countless clones.
As far as the story is concerned, the episode was essentially a set up for the ending which will lead into the next episode.
And I’ve been talking about Paths of Glory a lot since we started the Umbaran arc and never has it been more prevalent than with the cliffhanger at the end of this episode. Krell is out of control and clinging too much to orders and wants to see these men dead rather than be made a fool of. It’s very un-Jedi like, but that’s what they’re dealing with.
I can see why Dee Bradley Baker had problems with this arc. Watching Hardcase’s fate had me choked up, I can’t even imagine how it must have been to play that scene for Dee.
And while all of that is at the top of my mind, the thing I really want to talk about was the space battle. This might have been the finest Star Wars space battle we’ve seen since Revenge of the Sith. It was complex and intricate, bigger and better than anything we’d ever seen on the show before. The battle was truly breathtaking.
Credit where credit is due: the lighting schemes in this entire arc have been phenomenal, but this episode really pulled out all the stops. The interiors of the Umbaran ships were second to none, but perhaps the best shot I’ve seen this season (and perhaps the entire show) was the Return of the Jedi homage with the clones blasting their way out of the Umbaran supply ship. It was assembled, animated, and lit so well that I had a hard time believing I was just watching a cartoon.
And that wasn’t the only direct classic trilogy reference in this episode. The clones have to bluff Krell just like Han Solo on the Death Star in A New Hope by comlink, and there was some droid odds humour that I got a big kick out of.
I really don’t see how anyone could be complaining about these episodes.
I love these diversions with the Clones and I love seeing how they interact with different kinds of Jedi. And Pong Krell is certainly no ordinary Jedi.
Everything is boiling to a point in the next episode and if it’s a more direct homage to Paths of Glory than any of these others hinting at it, I’ll be happier than I can stomach.