With last week’s episode setting the bar for The Clone Wars. The dialogue here seems ripped from every corner of Palpatine’s movie dialogue and I couldn’t love it more.

This is going to be an interesting series of episodes and I love the places they’re going.

The pervasive feeling from the entire last episode and from this clip of this one is that unsettling feeling of the Domain of Evil scenes from The Empire Strikes Back. Let’s see if they can knock this one out of the park, too.

From the press release:

Before the Jedi can leave Mortis, Ahsoka Tano is taken captive in an attempt to entice Anakin Skywalker to join the dark side. Meanwhile, the mysterious Father tries to prevent a disastrous showdown between his children which would upset the increasingly precarious balance of the Force. Two potential destinies become clear in “Altar of Mortis,” the second chapter of a three-part Clone Wars storyline – airing at 8:30 p.m. ET/PT Friday, February 4 on Cartoon Network.

No stranger to the Star Wars universe, Sam Witwer has previously given his likeness and his voice to Darth Vader’s secret apprentice in LucasArts’ Star Wars: The Force Unleashed videogame series. Witwer returns to “a galaxy far, far away” to portray the Force-powered Son in The Clone Wars – and while his Starkiller embarked upon a journey of redemption, Witwer is finally able to give himself fully to the dark side.

“The character of the Son has very similar motivations [to the Emperor],” says Witwer, “You have the Son, who’s the dark side of the Force, you have the Daughter, who’s the good side of the Force, and then you have the unifying Father, who’s the balance between the two. The Son believes that the balance is skewed and that he should have more influence – and if he could have more influence, the galaxy could be a better place. For that reason it is chiefly important for him to get his hands on Anakin and influence him as fast as he can. My character, the Son, absolutely targets Anakin.”

Currently starring as vampire Aidan in Syfy’s Being Human, Witwer enthusiastically embraces his place as a burgeoning icon of genre entertainment. But despite being so entrenched in the darker, adult aspects of supernatural mythologies, his heart remains far, far away.

“Clone Wars is continuing to push the limits of what’s possible in Star Wars,” he says. “It is the best kids show ever made. Ever. I take it very seriously. What I love about this Mortis story is that it is all of the Star Wars movies wrapped up into three Clone Wars episodes, and completely mythological. It’s going to be something that’s really exciting.”

Tomorrow sees the release of Alice in Wonderland on Blu-ray and I must say I couldn’t be more pleased. Always a favorite of mine since childhood, the 1951 version of Alice is the high water mark in adaptations of Lewis Carroll’s novels.

Released in 1951, it took Disney 18 years to get his vision of Alice in Wonderland off the ground and his effort couldn’t have been better spent. The adaptation of the source material is unconventional, the characters are charming, the music is wonderful, and the nonsense is brilliant.

This is a crowning achievement amongst Disney’s animated pantheon.

I’ve seen this film a hundred times, easily as many times as I’ve watched Star Wars, and I was delighted to see the Blu-ray version. It does not disappoint. This film has never looked more crisp and new. In fact, I watched it with my son and he commented that the DVD version we’ve been watching together for years looked like a comic book and now, on Blu-ray, it finally looked like a real movie.

As for bonus features, it contains all the features from the previous DVD releases and some unearthed introductions that Walt Disney had prepared for showing the film on television. Because of the luke-warm critical response to Alice in Wonderland, it wasn’t rereleased in theatres until the mid seventies, instead it was played every few years on television starting in 1954. The introductions Walt Disney filmed for them are an interesting (and always welcome) look back to his television aura.

Everything about this film holds up, and there’s a good reason that it is by far and away my favorite animated Disney film bar none. The voice of Alice is soothing to me like a lullaby and this film is stupendous.

The Blu-ray comes out tomorrow and since it comes with the DVD version for the kids, don’t hesitate to snatch it up.

Hope you all enjoyed the premiere of Mongo Wrestling Alliance last week– I know I did!  Anyone else REALLY enjoying Harry Dean Stanton‘s work in this? Looks like we’re in for even more Sunday at midnight ET/PT.  If I were you, I’d just set myself a recurring DVR timer for this one.  Or set up live watching parties with your friends of  new Robot Chicken at 11:45, and Mongo Wrestling Alliance right after.

Thursday [adult swim] has a brand new premiere: Eagleheart.  It’s another one of their forays into live action, this time coming from executive producer Conan O’Brien and his Conaco productions (the show Delocated, which I’ve quite enjoyed, should be remembered that it came from Jon Glaser, one of the folks in Conan’s stable, and a recurring character he played on Late Night).

Chris Elliot plays the clueless and over-the-top federal marshall Chris Monsanto, and within the first five minutes you’ll see how he got his trademark western get-up (and don’t blink too fast or you’ll miss an awesome Bryan Cranston cameo as his partner).  He’s joined by two other partners, Brett (Brett Gelman, The Other Guys) and Susie (Maria Thayer, the hot redhead newlywed in Forgetting Sarah Marshall), and what would a cop show be without a Chief? (Michael Gladis, Kinsey on Mad Men).

I’ve seen the first two episodes and enjoyed them a great deal. In this Thursday’s premiere (midnight), “Get Worse Soon,” Monsanto chases down his greatest foe, who has killed dozens of his successive partners. But then, upon seemingly defeating his greatest nemesis, he finds his life is missing something, so he throws himself into the rehabilitation of his now hospital-bed-bound nemesis.

I found myself laughing incredibly hard for the first five minutes.  When this show is on, it is on. Unfortunately, then you have to have plot and exposition, and all that can tend to get in the way of the funny. However, just like Childrens Hospital, Eagleheart takes itself so seriously that it makes even exposition enjoyable as a send-up of the genre of cops shows. But the show is at its best when it is most violent and ridiculous, so I hope we’ll see more of that in the future.

I give this episode a solid 3 stars, and you should all tune in, as well as for next week’s episode, which I’ll review more thoroughly next week.

Speaking of tuning in, we’ve been getting teased with promos saying Feb 2nd would be “Sweeps Week for Ants!!!” This has been a mystery as to exactly what it was, until now. But, as part of their DVR theater block (3am), this week at 3:15am, they will present three ant-themed shows: Space Ghost – Fire Ant (Feb 3, 3:15am), The Brak Show – We Ski in Peace (Feb 4, 3:15am), and Frisky Dingo – Cody Gains a Namesake (Feb 5, 3:15am).

So especially late Wednesday night/Thursday morning, make sure you get Fire Ant, which is one of my five most favorite episodes of Space Ghost ever.  It also features Conan O’Brien, which ties this week up into a nice package of coincidence.

As always, full schedules are here, and enjoy another week of excellent adult swim programming.

The subtitle for Season Three has always been a curious thing to me. Secrets Revealed. It didn’t make much sense. But as we get into the second half of Season Three, not only does the subtitle make sense, I can’t imagine why it would be called anything else.

After the revelations about Darth Maul last week, I wasn’t sure how I could be more pleasantly surprised going into this episode. That they would be exploring the prophecy of The Chosen One has been teased since the very first press release about the season and I’ve been trying hard to keep my expectations low but it didn’t really matter. This episode blew away all of my expectations and brought me near geeky tears more than once.

The best way to describe this episode is that they’ve set an entire three-episode arc of The Clone Wars in the domain of evil from The Empire Strikes Back. Things aren’t what they seem. Voices and echoes permeate the surroundings. Bizarre apparitions appear based on the notions and emotions the characters bring with them. The possibilities of the future are foretold and it’s all akin to a religious experience.

Anakin, Ahsoka, and Obi-Wan are sent out to investigate a 2,000 year old Jedi distress signal and arrive at a rendezvous point but nothing is there. I have to note that the ship cockpit, the dialogue, and the lighting all lend itself to feel very much like the scenes in the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon in A New Hope. Confusion sets in when a bright light sucks them into the force nexus and the scene cuts to a close up of Anakin’s face, unconscious. Perhaps it was just me, but in that shot specifically, I was reminded of his son, Luke.

The three of them arise, wondering what the planet is all about when they are met by a strange, angelic apparition who introduces herself only as Daughter. She leads our Jedi heroes into a bit of a trap, separating them before the dangerous nightfall. Anakin is forced to seek out shelter in a monastery and Anakin and Ahsoka seek shelter in a cave (much like the Domain of Evil from Empire) together.

The night brings visions to our heroes. First, Obi-Wan is visited upon by Qui-Gon Jinn (voiced by Liam Neeson, reprising his role) who speaks cryptically as ever about the future and the past and the possibilities that lie in the fate of The Chosen One. Ahsoka is visited by her future-self and is told that if she wishes to see her future she needs be taught by Anakin no longer.

Finally, Anakin is visited upon by a vision of his mother. Shmi Skywalker. (With Pernilla August reprising the role as well.) This scene was instantly heartbreaking. There isn’t one specific thing that played so much on my heart strings other than the pain on Anakin’s face and in his voice and the soothing tones of his mothers voice. It was a sad scene but descended further and further into being frightful.

This episode deals very much with the pain of guilt and how Anakin is letting it shape him. He’s carrying around the guilt of his mother’s loss and the subsequent slaughter of the Tusken Raiders like a ton of bricks and it weighs him down, preventing him from being what he can be. And it’s incredible to watch these normally internalized issues play out.

But soon, the old man (known as Father) agrees to let Anakin, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka off the planet if Anakin agrees to a test to see if he’s truly The Chosen One. He agrees and the Son and Daughter arrive in the form of giant winged creatures with Obi-Wan and Ahsoka gripped in their lethal talons. And Anakin is given a choice. He must choose which to save, his master, or his apprentice. Only The Chosen One can possibly save them both. And he does it. Through the strength and trust in the force and with a seeming hint of anger and fear of loss Anakin is able to subdue both the Son and the Daughter simultaneously and forces them to bow at his knees.

For the first time, I felt that the balance of the force in Anakin in this point of his life is that he can balance the light and the dark like no one else, but his Achilles heel is the fear of loss. He can do tremendous, powerful, sometimes horrible things, but for the most part (until his fall) he is able to keep the unchecked powers of light and dark within his body and soul.

And the Father confides in Anakin that his role as The Chosen One is to replace him. He is dying and it is Anakin’s destiny to make a choice. He can keep the nexus of light and dark in balance and keep the Son and Daughter in check because he is The Chosen One, or he can choose the path of selfishness and his corporeal life to what will be his eventual ruin.

The prophecy of The Chosen One has never made more sense on a variety of levels.

This episode was incredible. On every level. The mythology of Star Wars was advanced. Secrets were indeed revealed. The animation and new models were second to none. The spirit of Star Wars was raised indelibly. The lighting (particularly of the Yin and Yang of the arena floor and the transitions from day to night and back again) was astounding. The voice work from all of the actors, particularly Matt Lanter, has never been better.

The music and audio was also second to none. There were hints of themes from The Phantom Menace and The Empire Strikes Back in the music, and there was that one tell-tale breath of Darth Vader that chilled me to the bone.

Every element of this episode was firing on all cylinders.

As much as I loved last weeks episode and thought that it tied ‘Assassin’ for my favorite episode this season, this episode far surpassed it. I’m going to be watching this one again and again.

It’s sad and terrifying and tremendous.

Words are escaping me. But this is what Star Wars is all about.

And this is just the first episode of three. If this is just a taste of what’s to come, I can’t believe what we’ll be getting in the next two episodes.

In the press release sent out today for the new clip from The Clone Wars’ new episode, a bombshell was revealed. Pernilla August, who played Anakin Skywalker’s mother Shmi in The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones, will be reprising her role.

When asked for pictures of the character, Lucasfilm reported that they’re not letting any out until after the episode airs.

With Shmi and Qui-Gon back, this is going to be an episode that reveals quite a lot about the nature of the force and will most likely send shockwaves through the Star Wars Universe.

And the above clip is breathtaking.

A mysterious force draws Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ahsoka Tano to the distant planet of Mortis, where Anakin learns of his destiny from a family of exceptionally powerful Force-wielders. Convinced that Anakin will bring balance to the Force, the family’s patriarch urges the young Jedi to stay and maintain the equilibrium between the light side and the dark side. Glimpses into the prophecy of the Chosen One are revealed in “Overlords,” the first chapter of a three-part Clone Wars storyline, beginning at 8:30 p.m. ET/PT Friday, January 28 on Cartoon Network.

Featuring momentous revelations that could affect the fate of the galaxy and the balance of the Force itself, “Overlords” marks the beginning of a massive Clone Wars arc. There will be revelations and betrayals, as well as all-new perspectives on the very fabric of the Star Wars mythology.

“This is a very important chapter in Anakin’s development,” says Dave Filoni, supervising director of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. “The prophecy of the Chosen One was touched on in the films, but never like this. We’re going to look at what it means for Anakin and the galaxy. We wanted to give it the proper connection to the larger saga. I am very grateful to have Liam Neeson and Pernilla August reprising their roles from the live-action films. They are each so important to Anakin’s journey, and to have them on our series has been incredible.”

In the live-action Episodes I and II, August portrayed Shmi Skywalker – Anakin’s mother. Prompting the fateful first steps that would ultimately bring balance to the Force, she urged her young son to follow in the footsteps of Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi – seeking the promise of a better life among the stars. Asked back to reprise the pivotal role, August recalls her own introduction to the Star Wars family.

“It’s funny to be asked back to do a voice for the series, because it makes me recall my screen test for Episode I, all those years ago,” she says. “I was nervous because I am from Sweden and I speak with an accent; I was afraid I wouldn’t fit in an American film. But George was so sweet to me. He said that I came from a Swedish galaxy, and it made me feel so much better. I guess anything is possible so far, far away! When I got the part, of course, I was thrilled. I knew only the legacy of Star Wars to that point. That was all any of us knew back then; we were becoming part of something tremendous. What no one could foresee was that it would continue to grow and evolve and thrive as it has, and that it would become so important to new generations. As a mother myself, this is a role that has meant a lot to me, and it is so wonderful that Shmi can live on in The Clone Wars series.”

Returning to the role of Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn – who perished in Episode I at the hands of Darth Maul – Neeson remains one of the most venerated figures in the Star Wars canon. Wise beyond even the teachings of the Jedi Order, he was the first to see the potential – and the danger – in young Anakin’s future. His mentor role echoed that of Alec Guinness’ Obi-Wan Kenobi in Episode IV – and reflected a universal motif that runs throughout the Saga.

“There’s a nobility to [the Jedi], something classic and universal,” says Neeson. “Growing up, my heroes were cowboys; they were strong and mysterious and it seemed like they always rode off into the sunset. For kids today, Star Wars has that same kind of magic. I really wanted to be a part of that. Playing Qui-Gon was very exciting for me, and it’s nice to see that it still means so much to so many people. I remember my initial audition, before Episode I. There was no discussion of the script or the story; it was just a conversation with George, and we spent the entire time talking about our kids. At the end of the lunch, we hadn’t even touched on Star Wars – but I got the part. It’s fitting that my “audition” was based on that connection, because it’s what sticks with me still. These characters resonate with children, even after all these years.”

StarWars.Com released sometime today this new clip from the fifteenth episode of season three. I really couldn’t contain myself watching this clip.

It’s from the episode airing on Friday and is the beginning of the “Mortis” trilogy. It also features the appearance of Qui-Gon Jinn on the series. We reported about that earlier in the week.

This clip raises so many unanswered questions, but most of all, what is this being that is beyond a Jedi and Sith and can touch a lightsaber with his bare hands? And what does this purport to tell us about the path of The Chosen One?

We’ll see on Friday night when this new episode airs and hopefully we’ll have another taste from Lucasfilm in a day or two. But what can the revelations of these episodes tell us about the nature of the Force? And will it jive with the Expanded Universe? Should we even care?

This is going to be epic.

Sunday at midnight ET/PT, [adult swim] will premiere Mongo Wrestling Alliance, which should do for professional wrestling what Metalocalypse did for metal and Squidbillies did for white trash.  From the horse’s mouth itself (with emphasis from me):

The Wrestler meets Metalocalypse in this story of the once great Kleberkuh Clan.  Back-stabbing smoking ring sluts, villainous mutants and pile-drivers from the top of great big ladders—it’s all in a days work for young Rusty Kleberkuh who is determined to restore his family’s name in the treacherous and deviant world of professional wrestling.   Created by Tommy Blacha, Mongo Wrestling Alliance will air Sundays at midnight (ET, PT) beginning Sunday, January 23.

Rusty Kleberkuh is a handsome young, over tanned, idealistic college wrestling champion who decides to turn pro to avenge the Kleberkuh family’s past glory.  Rusty’s grandfather, Baron Kleberkuh, is a strange, old, bitter, lunatic legend in the wrestling world and founded the Mongo Wrestling Alliance but was cheated out of it years ago.  He trains young wrestlers on his dilapidated ranch.  Johnny DuBose is the former partner of Baron who backstabbed him and took control of the Mongo Wrestling Alliance and built it into the multi-billion dollar empire that it is today.

Can Rusty and Grandfather Baron Kleberkuh, brother Balthazaar, Stepmother Acid Alice Ankimo (former Japanese Ladies champion) and allies Stack Johnson and Monster Hillbilly Booter Lee Bogg take control of the Mongo Wrestling Alliance from the likes of the sleazy and psychotic billionaire Johnny DuBose?  Who knows, but for sure everybody’s gonna get really hurt along the way.

Tommy Blacha is the creator of Mongo Wrestling Alliance.  Blacha, 6’1” 235 lbs, was born in Detroit Michigan on the East Side, land of the Juggalos.  He’s a U.S. Army veteran and former writer for Conan O’Brien and a bunch of TV junk and assorted garbage; some good and some not so good.  Good stuff includes Robert Smigel’s TV Funhouse and he was the head writer of Late World with Zach Galifanakas.  Blacha was also a former booker for the World Wrestling Federation in 99-00 and is the co-creator of Metalocalypse.

-qU

I haven’t been this excited for a new [adult swim] show in a while.  Let me also state that I actually hate professional wrestling.  So I’m hoping with this cartoon we’ll see it sent up the way it deserves to.

On Sunday night you’re also getting a brand new Robot Chicken, “Big Trouble in Little Clerks 2” so watch for that at 11:45– just before Mongo Wrestling.  So far, Season 5 has delivered the goods.  I’d try to explain what’s going on or what to expect, but why bother?

[adult swim] has added a special feature to their lineup: “DVR Theater”– every weeknight at 3am, you get some crazy ass random stuff.  This week in the timeslot?  Drinky Crow Show and Perfect Hair Forever.  So set your DVRs and enjoy.

Speaking of set your DVRs, Tuesday night at 10 is Family Guy: Blue Harvest.  Always have to make a note of this when it shows.

Saturdays at 10 we continue with God, The Devil, and Bob, which is an ok show but I liked it more when it was Lucy: The Daughter of the Devil.

And don’t forget more syndicated goodness of American Dad.  I may be the only one, but I’ve loved seeing this show again.

Full schedules, as always, are here, but until next week enjoy your adult-themed animation.

In the last two episodes, we’ve watched as Asajj Ventress was betrayed by Count Dooku and she has toiled her hardest to lay a trap for his treachery. In doing so, she returned home to Dathomir and sought out the help of the Nightsisters who provided her Savage Opress as an instrument of her revenge. He was placed with Dooku as his new apprentice and assassin and that’s where things were left in the second episode of this three episode arc.

This third episode, “Witches of the Mist,” largely follows Obi-wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker (who have been unusually absent for the most part this season) as they hunt down the mysterious Sith assassin who has been tasked by Dooku to abduct the King of Toydaria.

Basically, the first two acts of this episode are putting all of the players in place so we can see some of the most intense, emotional lightsaber battles with high stakes we’ve seen in this entire series. And there are some pretty fascinating Sith training scenes that have very obvious echoes to the training scenes in The Empire Strikes Back. It was an excellent touch.

If you haven’t seen this episode, stop reading right now, watch it and come back.

You’re back? Good.

So, Obi-Wan and Anakin disrupt Savage’s abduction of King Katuunko and he is killed in the process. It’s a spectacular battle and it’s impressive to watch Savage fight. He is the polar opposite of Dooku. There is no grace or fluidity to his fighting, it is all anger, hatred, and tree-chopping. It is brutal and he relies on the brutality of his emotion to make up for his technical deficiencies.

It’s a different sort of lightsaber style than we’ve seen and watching two competent and graceful fighters (Anakin and Obi-wan) try to compete with him is something to be seen. They struggle. It doesn’t make sense. The best way I think I can describe it is by playing poker and trying to read the hand of someone who is betting, but hasn’t even looked at their cards. It’s just so completely unpredictable with nothing to rely on.

When Savage inadvertantly kills Katuunko during the fight and after his escape he presents the corpse to Dooku, Dooku is as forgiving as you’d expect a Sith lord to be and is ready to execute Savage.

And that’s when things get incredible.

Asajj shows up, reawakens the brainwashing in Savage and the two of them work to kill him. The fight is breathtaking.

But it gets more complicated because Obi-Wan and Anakin have caught up to them and the fight splits up between the Jedi vs. Savage and then Dooku and Asajj. It’s… quite a thing to see.

But sure, the episode was great, the animation was stellar, the fight and action choreography was second to none and the writing was beyond compare. Katie Lucas has seemed to have taken all the right cues from her father because she did a masterful job in putting all of the players into place for this third act of the arc. It built into an excellent and emotionally satisfying crescendo. There was reason and motive behind every action and it was all laid together excellently.

But that’s not what anyone is going to really talk about this episode.

Everyone is going to talk about the revelation at the end of the episode. I am pretty damned impressed that no one broke the news of this to me, since it’s been out there in the ether since the screenings last month.

Darth Maul is back?

According to Mother Talzin, he survived. There is no proof that Talzin is telling Savage the truth about his brother, but the implication is stunning enough to get us speculating from now until doomsday. Could you imagine what it would be like to see Darth Maul back (bionic legs or however) teamed up with Savage Opress, back to slaughter Jedi? It would be incredible. But who knows. Perhaps Talzin was just sending Savage somewhere where he couldn’t do any damage until the time was right for him to come back.

Overall, this was an intensely satisfying episode and it might have overtaken ‘Assassin’ as my favorite episode of the series. If it doesn’t, it’s only because the arc didn’t have enough Ahsoka.

Entertainment Weekly got to break the story that Liam Neeson is indeed returning to The Clone Wars in an upcoming arc that explores the prophecy of the Chosen One.  He is reprising his role of Qui-Gon Jinn.

Reading this news brought shivers down my spine.

Fans will remember Qui-Gon’s brief appearance in Genndy Tartakovsky’s Clone Wars show, but it wasn’t voiced by Neeson.

Perhaps my biggest complaint with Entertainment Weekly’s coverage here is the tone they strike about The Phantom Menace and the prequels, as though the news lede here is that we should be shocked Neeson would want to come back after such a movie.  It’s just disheartening to see how often the film is reviled in the press.  But that’s a different story.

From their piece:

Liam Neeson is returning to that Galaxy Far, Far Away. EW has learned exclusively that the actor will reprise his Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace role as doomed Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn on Cartoon Network’s Star Wars: The Clone Wars on Jan. 28 and again on Feb. 11. He’ll be voicing Qui-Gon, who appears to Obi-Wan Kenobi in visions, in a three-part arc about his former protégé Anakin Skywalker’s destiny as the Chosen One.

They have an exclusive video clip, though at press time it wasn’t functioning.  As soon as they get it working, I’ll update this piece with my thoughts about it.

The more I think about it though, the more curious I am about how they’re going to tie this in to Yoda’s comments about Qui-Gon in Revenge of the Sith and Yoda hearing Qui-Gon screaming when Anakin slaughters the sand people in Attack of the Clones…

Secrets revealed?  This is it!

It’s really cool to see clips like this one.  This is a very stark contrast between Luke’s training and the training a Sith would undergo at this stage. And there are lots of implications about Yoda’s training style versus his apprentice, Dooku’s. I’m kind of nerdgasm’ing here….

I’m really impressed with this arc so far and can’t wait to see it finished.

From their press release:

Sent to track down the mysterious figure behind the deaths of several Jedi, Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi find themselves on the trail of Count Dooku’s newest apprentice – the monstrous Savage Opress. However, Dooku and Asajj Ventress discover that their creation has a will of his own, and that he has grown more powerful than either of them had anticipated – perhaps even more powerful than the combined forces of the Jedi and the Sith. The end begins in “Witches of the Mist,” the final chapter of a thrilling, three-part Clone Wars arc – airing at 8:30 p.m. ET/PT Friday, January 21 on Cartoon Network.

Driven by the Machiavellian machinations of Count Dooku, the series’ various villains come face to face at last in a climactic clash of red sabers. Dooku, Opress and Ventress – all are manifestations of evil, yet each is so distinct. It’s not until these three titans are brought together in the heat of conflict, however, that their nuances and differences become truly clear.

“With Dooku, the series’ direction is pushing his character more towards that of a masterful diplomat, concealing a sinister agenda beneath a veil of polite sophistication,” says Corey Burton, voice of Dooku – and countless other Clone Wars characters, both good and evil. “He’s a subversive political overlord – a major marketing force and seducer for the dark side ‘brand.’ It’s all about his personal enrichment, power and position within the hierarchy; there’s nothing intentionally cruel or vengeful in his manner, or behind his dastardly actions – as a Sith Lord, it’s just how things are done to most efficiently preside over the fate of the galaxy. Mustache-twirling displays are beneath his sense of dignity.”

While Dooku is as consumed by his quest for power as he is by his own sense of sophistication, Ventress is wholly unconcerned by the niceties of evil. Driven by a desire for revenge, her motivation is raw and real – a product and a reflection of her own difficult past.

“She’s been wronged by so many, and I believe her experiences will lead her in an even more powerful direction,” says Nika Futterman, voice of Ventress. “We are finally beginning to understand what makes Asajj tick; I think this is her quest for revenge and not power like the Sith. That’s what separates her. She does things that may seem like her quest for power, but, I think she aligned herself with the dark side as a means to an end. She doesn’t ever forget who has done right by her and, of course, who has done her wrong. All this time, I had hoped that I would be able to delve into what made her so fabulous and complex. It turns out my hopes are coming true!”

Serving as a foil for the final confrontation between the former master and his jilted apprentice is the massively powerful Opress. Ostensibly a blunt instrument of evil, the monstrous creation is nonetheless imbued with a perverse humanity of his own – brought to the surface by sharp writing and a soulful performance by screen legend Clancy Brown (Highlander, The Shawshank Redemption).

“I’d been a fan of The Clone Wars since the first season; and then caught up with the second season with my son,” says Brown. “He was excited because it was Star Wars and I was excited about the role not just because it was in the Star Wars universe but because the writing is so sophisticated. There was never any question from me about Savage’s motives and what was going on because I was familiar with the characters, and you can go another layer deeper.”