Well, the culmination of 5 seasons of The Clone Wars so far has brought us, to an episode that simply could not have existed a few years ago. Though they’ve been building this arc with the season five premiere and the prior two episodes, the entire series has been slowly building to this moment.
The events of this episode have illustrated perfectly that The Clone Wars has added in meaningful ways to the mythology of Star Wars and we are so fully invested in the fates of characters that were created solely for the show it’s crazy. Two important characters met their fate tonight, raising so many unanswered questions it’s not even funny. This exploration of the episode is going to delve into spoiler territory, so be warned.
First is the fate of Satine and the revelation that she and Bo Katan are sisters. What happened to them in their past that they treat each other as enemies? What will this mean going forward for Death Watch? And what questions does it raise for Obi-Wan that Satine is dead?
That moment, though, where Maul deals with Satine was horrifying in all the right ways, eliciting tears. And did anyone else notice the death of Satine shared some imagery and staging with this death of Satine in the arms of Ewan McGregor?
But the bigger reveal was Sidious’s murder of Savage Opress. Why were his wounds glowing green? Why did a green mist of Dathomiri force magic take his clothes away? Where was there a subtle change to his voice as he was dying? Mother Talzin still seems to have a very important part to play during the course of The Clone Wars, I hope we’ll be able to see it.
But since Sidious dispatched Maul’s apprentice, and refused to kill Maul himself, insisting he has other uses for him, what will this mean for Maul going forward? Will we see him once again as the Sith attack dog? Or will he be sent to some far flung corner of the galaxy to hide until such time as the Sith can be reborn… in Episode VII…? (I’m just throwing that out there because it’s funny, not because I really believe that.)
What do the events of this episode portend for Mandalore? Will it descend further into war? Will the Republic arrive to save it? Will we get any of these questions answered on the show if we don’t get a confirmation from Disney that future seasons will be appearing?
The epic scope of this episode is everything that Star Wars does right. Characters were in tough situations, there were battles with emotional payoffs, and consequences to be shared. And all of it was on the stage of Star Wars in a way that could have only made sense here.
One of the things I loved most about this episode is that everything felt like a nod to the Star Wars films themselves. It started with Satine sending Obi-wan Kenobi (her only hope) the distress hologram. Then it moves right onto Obi-wan in the Twilight, which is shorting out and malfunctioning very much like the Millennium Falcon. Then, when he arrives on Mandalore, he pulls a Han Solo with the guards, asking them to come up the ramp to beat him up and steal his disguise. Then, when, he arrives to rescue Satine originally, they have an “Aren’t you a little short for a stormtrooper?” moment.
But there’s so many more. The reveal of Bo Katan and Satine being sisters is foreshadowed (much better than Luke and Leias), the reveal had much the same weight when Luke revealed it Leia. But Obi-wan pieced it together in the same way he did when he put together Anakin being the father of Padme’s children. He even added the same, “I’m so sorry,” afterward.
And Palpatine/Sidious… Wow. Ian Abercrombie gave one of the best performances that the character has ever had, and it had so many echoes of Return of the Jedi, from the musical cues, to the walk down the ramp of the Imperial-like shuttle, to the force lightning. His cackle just brings joy to my heart.
The thing I love most about this show is seeing films behind it. And it seems as though the show is never better when the films behind it are Star Wars.
Having said that, it’s just as good when Alfred Hitchcock films are behind the episodes, too. Which is why I’m so excited for the final arc of Season 5, every title is based on an Alfred Hitchcock movie, and it makes me more excited than anything.
Having said all of that, I truly think “The Lawless” has eclipsed “Duel of the Droids” as my favorite episode of the series to date. This episode looked gorgeous, was lit beautifully, the lightsaber duels had an emotional edge to them we haven’t had in a while, and it made me cry. Not once, but twice.
This was the best of what this show has to offer, to my mind a flawless episode, and if you’re not watching it, you’re doing it wrong.