Wow oh wow! This had to be one of the best episodes ever of the Clone Wars. I think I may have said that after last week’s, but damn if the Clone Wars didn’t up the ante this past weekend and in turn deliver one of the most fearsome episodes to date.
Darth Maul comes up with a clever plan to dethrone Dutchess Satine. Maul uses his criminal forces to invade Mandalore causing civil unrest, and of course, Death Watch will be there to round up the bad guys and restore the peace, winning the hearts of the Mandalorian population along the way. I have to give props to Maul for his plan, not only is it a great plan, but it is truly worthy of a Sith. Being that there are usually only two Sith at a time (usually), the Sith survive by manipulating events from behind the scenes. Outright confrontation is not their style and Maul’s plan plays into that notion perfectly.
Of course the true sparks fly once Death Watch and Pre Vizla have taken over the throne of Mandalore. With Savage and Maul locked up as part of the show, Maul decides its time to enact his plan. Realizing that Pre Vizla is not the final leader they are looking for, Maul breaks the corrupt former prime minister of Mandalore, Almec, out of his holding cell to serve as the puppet leader Maul is in need of. With his new pick for leader in tow, Maul and Savage head to confront Pre Vizla in the throne room of Mandalore. Maul again comes up with a great plan here, to play off of Vizla’s honor. According to Mandalore code he challenges Vizla to a one on one duel for the leadership of Death Watch, and ultimately, Mandalore. Of course Vizla cannot deny the challenge for fear of looking weak and losing his honor, and thus begins one of the sickest scenes in the Clone Wars to date.
The duel action is one of the best fight scenes I’ve seen on the show and offered lots of thrills. However the pay off is at the end of the duel, in one of the darkest scenes I’ve seen on the Clone Wars, Maul executes Vizla. The gravity of this scene was huge and, though I usually don’t talk about this kind of stuff, the music completely makes the scene come to life. The music sets the tone for the beheading, complimenting the scene perfectly. I have to say, when the blade comes down on Vizla, though its not shown, it sent chills through my body, literally.
Former WWE and UFC champion Brock Lesnar, is that you?
Not every member of Death Watch is okay with the change in leadership though, causing a Death Watch on Death Watch battle as the dissenters escape Maul and his Death Watch followers. Even with that hiccup, Maul has exactly what he needs and I can’t wait to see where it goes from here. Overall I can’t say enough how much I loved this episode. I loved every single aspect of the episode and I have to give a big kudos to Sam Witwer. He was the voice of the Son from an earlier season; the dude is the voice and model for the Force Unleashed’s Starkiller, the main hero of the game series. He’s a lead on the US version of Being Human, and he is also the voice of Darth Maul in the Clone Wars. This guy has definitely put his stamp all over the Star Wars Universe and his work as Darth Maul is just perfect. Its times like this where I wish our rating scale of nerds were larger. I know this isn’t mathematically correct, but I have to rate this episode a…
6 out of 5 nerds
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Marc
Marc is a self-confessed nerd. Ever since seeing Star Wars for the first time around 1979 he’s been an unapologetic fan of the Wars and still believes, with Clone Wars and now Underworld, we are yet to see the best Star Wars. He’s a dad of two who now doesn’t have the time (or money) to collect the amount of toys, comics, movies and books he once did, much to the relief of his long-suffering wife. In the real world he’s a graphic designer. He started Following the Nerd because he was tired of searching a million sites every day for all the best news that he loves and decided to create one place where you can go to get the whole lot. Secretly he longs to be sitting in the cockpit of his YT-1300 Corellian Transport ship with his co-pilot Chewie, roaming the universe, waiting for his next big adventure, but feels just at home watching cartoons with his kids….
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