Star Wars: Clone Wars Season 7 Episode 2 - 3 Ups & 3 Downs

The second episode of the long awaited seventh season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, A Distant Echo, has plenty of twists and turns.

The episode follows Captain Rex, Anakin Skywalker, and the newly introduced Bad Batch clones as they follow a trail leading to the Separatist algorithm for calculating the Republic battle plans.

However, Rex believes that Echo, a clone we thought we saw die back in season 3, is the one providing the Separatists with the Republic battle strategies. Rex will stop at nothing to save him, but his stubbornness causes some infighting, as the Bad Batch think he's crazy, just clinging onto the hope that his friend is alive.

The episode is a lot of fun, a definite step up from the first episode of the season, which was already pretty good. The 25 minutes are packed with some major world building, character growth, and shocking twists, some with major implications for the Skywalker Saga.

However, like everything that isn't The Empire Strikes Back or buttered popcorn, it wasn't perfect. Here are 3 ups and 3 downs from Star Wars: The Clone Wars Season 7 Episode 2, A Distant Echo.

The romance between Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala was most boring part of the Star Wars prequels, which are sci-fi/fantasy war movies that spend a half hour on senate delegations. Actors Hayden Christensen and Natalie Portman have almost no chemistry, and the dialogue, including the infamous, "I don't like sand" speech, is so bad it's almost funny.

However, the two lovers share a quick but sweet scene in this episode, which reveals that, before each mission, Anakin and Padmé SpaceTime each other, while Rex stands guard in order to keep it a secret.

The scene is sweet and tender, with the dialogue miles better than "I don't like sand." It was the couple's best moment in any medium.

And the implication that Obi-Wan knows about their affair is a complete game changer for Revenge of the Sith.