Star Wars The Clone Wars Season 6 Review

The Yoda Arc (Episodes 11 €“ 13)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrejbVs9UyU Episodes "Voices", Destiny", and "Sacrifice" Synopsis Guided by the spirit of Qui-Gon Jinn, Yoda journeys to Dagobah, the centre of the galaxy, and the Sith homeworld of Korriban to learn the secrets of immortality Analysis This is a story arc will make Original Trilogy fans' heads explode with rage because not only does it give a clearer understanding of how the Force works (specifically there being two sides to it: the Living Force and the Cosmic Force as well as more mention of Midichlorians) but we also see Yoda piloting his own Jedi Starfighter and the explanation for him hiding on Dagobah being because he first visited it in this story on Qui Gon Jinn's instructions. Speaking of Dagobah, the recreation of it for its brief appearance in this story is incredibly intricate and well realised, as is the beautifully rendered interpretation of Korriban and the stunning Tim Burton-esque visuals of the Planet Where Life Began. Especially the five Force Priestesses whose faces are reminiscent of Ancient Greek theatrical masks, and the manifestation of Yoda's inner darkness. Seriously, that thing is damn creepy. Speaking of Yoda's inner darkness, that is a major plus for this story. We get deeper into Yoda's personality than ever before. He's unsure of himself, he's arrogant at times, he faces and almost gives into temptation when faced with an illusion of an idyllic life where the Clone Wars never happened, and (as mentioned) has a stand-off with his own dark side. It's heavily based on illusions and dreamscapes but that's really best way to delve into a sci-fi character's psyche and it really suits the (at times) bizarre visuals.

This arc also features what is quite possibly some of the best voice acting of the entire show with Tom Kane on excellent form as Yoda, Tim Curry really growing into his sadly short lived role as Darth Sidious, the very brief return of a certain former cast member, and Liam Neeson and Mark Hamill in guest roles as Qui-Gon Jinn and Darth Bane respectively This story is also a real love letter to the Expanded Universe with most of the third episode being set on Korriban (seen in several novels, comics, and games), an appearance by an illusion of ancient Sith Lord Darth Bane along with a discussion of his Rule Of Two, and even a passing mention of the Terentatek, an infuriatingly hard to kill creature from the Knights Of The Old Republic game. Given that this is the end of the show (apart from the upcoming Darth Maul comic), these three episodes feel more firmly connected to the films than most episodes with Yoda having visions of the events of Revenge Of The Sith and hearing himself say "There is another Skywalker", along with other scenes that create a strong thematic bridge to Revenge Of The Sith and the other films. Verdict A brilliantly written story that manages to be both epic and personal at the same time, and feels like a suitable ending for the show as a whole.

rating: 5