A Long Time Ago, During the Clone Wars: "Death Trap," "R2 Come Home" & "Lethal Trackdown"

 Star Wars: The Clone Wars

This post we are going to be spending some time with the last surviving Fett, young Boba. This is really great, completely unplanned timing since "The Book of Boba Fett," the bounty hunters Disney+ show will be premiering at the end of this month.

"Death Trap," Season Two, Episode 20

"Who my father was matters less than my memory of him."

Narrator: "Calm before the storm! A rare and welcome respite from endless battle awaits Jedi Knights Anakin Skywalker and Mace Windu as they travel through deep space aboard the Jedi cruiser Endurance. Preparing to rendezvous with a Republic frigate, the Jedi remain unaware of a deadly peril lying hidden in their midst..."

The Clone Youth Brigade is in for a real treat. They are going to get a tour of a real Jedi cruiser. Little do they know, one of the youths is actually Boba Fett, the son of bounty hunter, Jango. He's made it there to exact revenge on Mace Windu, the Jedi who killed his father. After one failed attempt, Boba ignites the reactor core of the ship. Will his revenge scheme take out more than just Mace Windu?

Clone kids today... sigh...

Like I said in the intro to this post, it's very serendipitous that we are talking about these episodes just a few weeks before Boba Fett gets his first headlining series is interesting. I sometimes forget about his origins and it's nice to know that he's more than just the bounty hunter that once pursued Han Solo across the galaxy so mercilessly. 

It's fun to see child clones. We see them so much as adults, it's difficult to remember that they start out as children. It brings out a different side of the adult clone troopers, as well. When the youths are heading into the Endurance and adult troopers are lining the halls, they are trying to hide grins at the awe of the youths. It's really cute and another little nuance to the lives of Clones. The Youths don't come out of the Cloneatorium being the perfect soldiers. They bully each other. They aren't immediately blowing ships out of the sky. Well, except for Lucky aka Boba. Anakin just wants to show off in front of the clone youths and I loved how Mace called him out on it. 

One of the great things about "The Clone Wars" is that it allows for expansion of things from the prequel movies that otherwise would've gotten lost. For example, young Boba Fett witnessing his father, Jango, getting decapitated by Mace Windu. If you saw the look on Boba's face in "Attack of the Clones" you knew that he was not going to take this lying down, so it's no surprise that he is ready to exact his revenge on Mace. 

I love that Boba is conflicted. He may blow the reactor but he isn't sure about it. He certainly wants to kill Mace, but he doesn't want anyone else to get hurt, particularly the other clones. He may bristle when the other Clones call him brother, but you can tell that he doesn't want to hurt them. He feels a connection to them, particularly his fellow youths. There is a clear dichotomy between himself and fellow bounty hunter, Aurra Sing. I was a little surprised that Mace didn't feel there was something off in the Force when Boba set up the trap in the doorway to his room. I get that it makes things a bit more dramatic, but Mace is a master. You'd think he would have sensed something. A minor quibble thought amidst a strong start to this three part arc.

Grade: A-

"R2 Come Home," Season Two, Episode 21

"Adversity is a friendships truest test."

Narrator: "Revenge! Boba Fett, son of the notorious bounty hunter Jango Fett, infiltrated a Jedi cruiser in an attempt to assassinate General Mace Windu, the man who killed his father. After a near miss at Windu's quarters, Boba was forced to destroy the Jedi cruiser, and escape with the help of notorious bounty hunter Aurra Sing. Now, having lost contact with Admiral Kilian when his doomed starship crashed, the Jedi search for survivors with the aid of a Republic rescue ship."

Mace, Anakin and R2-D2 head to the surface of Vanquor to examine the remains of the Endurance and search for survivors. They don't find Admiral Kilian or Ponds but they do find some Clone troopers that had been executed. Deeper into the ruined cruiser, Anakin finds a Mandalorian helmet that is rigged to explode. Mace saves them at the last moment but they are buried under rubble. Their only hope for rescue is R2. Can the little astromech evade gundarks and bounty hunters and prove to Mace that he is more than just your ordinary Artoo unit?

You got this, R2.

This episode has what some would consider an odd tone coming after the last episode. I mean, an admiral was ready to sacrifice his life for his cruiser and a bunch of young kids almost being killed. You'd think that this episode would be even more tense and in a way it totally is, but there are also a ton of comedic elements. And for the most part, it works. Well, it does for me. I could totally understand if you watched parts of this episode and thought, what the fuck? The majority of this episode is following R2 as he tries to get off planet, squelching and shrieking the entire time. But, honestly, I don't think these elements take away from the more tense portions of the episode.

I always enjoy Anakin interacting with other Jedi Masters. He and Obi-Wan have this weird relationship where Obi-Wan lets everything Anakin does slide so when another Master gives him actual pushback, Anakin actually loses some of that delusional overconfidence that usually serves him so well.  Where as Obi-Wan doesn't bat an eye at the strange relationship between Anakin and R2. Mace is openly disdainful and it's clear that Anakin doesn't know how to deal with this. Sure, Mace is being kind of a douchebag, but his reaction feels realistic to how anyone who doesn't have an emotional connection to R2 would react. I am completely on Anakin's side here. How he treats droids is one of his best personality traits.

R2 is definitely the star of the show and he is utilized really well. He is determined to get to Coruscant and get help. He's got obstacles. Aurra, Boba and Castas are determined to get Mace's head, so R2 sets traps from them until they retreat. Who knew that R2 was so well versed in Home Alone-ing bounty hunters? The sequence where Slave 1 is pursuing Artoo is thrilling and it's been a while since I've seen this episode so I was legitimately not sure if he was going be able to get to Coruscant. I may have given a little cheer when that happened. Don't judge me. 

Like I said, the comedic elements aren't always successful. I'm not sure the gundark element was really necessary, especially since we've seen them used in a similar way before. And the droid fight when R2 finally gets to Coruscant made me roll my eyes. Also, I get that Anakin didn't have much face time with Jango Fett, but you would think it wouldn't take him that long to connect the name with the clone template.

The episode ends with Mace getting praise from Artoo and Boba not giving up on his revenge scheme. The bounty hunters, including Bossk (hey, Bossk!) have Admiral Kilian, Ponds and the youth instructor hostage and are ready to use them to draw the Jedi Master out.

Grade: B+

"Lethal Trackdown," Season Two, Episode 22

"Revenge is a confession of pain."

Narrator: "Lethal trackdown! The young Boba Fett has taken the law into his own hands and made two attempts on the life of Mace Windu, the Jedi Master who killed his father. Boba's mentor, bounty hunter Aurra Sing, has taken three Republic officers hostage in an effort to force Windu to face Boba on their terms, a tactic that does not sit well with the young vigilante..."

As they are recovering, Anakin and Mace Windu get a holo message from Aurra Sing and Boba Fett revealing their captives and their intent to execute them one at a time unless Windu doesn't meet them. Boba can't kill Ponds, but Aurra has no such reservations. Plo Koon and Ahsoka decide to go in Mace's place, but first they head to the Coruscant underworld to get some information on their foes. Meanwhile, Aurra Sing heads to Florrum to get some assistance from her former lover and our favorite pirate, Hondo Ohnaka. All the while, Boba is concerned that he's chosen the wrong allies.

The dynamic Bounty Hunter duo.

I haven't talked much at all about Aurra Sing during these recaps and I need to remedy that right now. She is such a bad ass. A terrible person, certainly, but you can't have good without the bad. Aurra is a bounty hunter through and through. She'll do whatever it takes to get her money and you don't want to get in her way. A fact that Castas learns the hard way. But seriously, dude, why would you call your buddy in the same bar that Aurra is in? That's just stupid. Aurra's design is great. It gives me Asajj Ventress vibes but the high pony is everything and the antenna that raises from her dome is a nice surprise. All this and we have Bossk too! Bossk is a Trandoshan and I love reptilian aliens. I'm kind of a sucker for "The Clone Wars" when it makes connections to things that happen further down the road in the "Star Wars" universe. So, as you can imagine, lots of squees when Slave 1 appeared and when I saw Bossk.

"The Clone Wars" makes Boba Fett a more complex character. You don't expect to see Boba Fett, even as a child, bristling at killing innocents. You just assume that's what bounty hunters do. But Boba has a conscience. His revenge is focused solely on Mace Windu and he really doesn't want to have collateral damage. It's nice to see the layers that this gives him and you can see that when he shows up again in "The Mandalorian." Spoiler alert, I guess.

I've missed Ahsoka Tano a lot so I'm glad she's back and she's working with Plo Koon. It's always a treat when Ahsoka works with a Jedi who isn't Anakin. She certainly tries to go the Anakin route, but the difference between them is that Ahsoka actually listens to what the other Jedi say and implements their advice and, surprise!, it actually makes her a better, stronger Jedi. Maybe Anakin should try this. Plo and Ahsoka head to the seedy underbelly of Coruscant and it's like this episode just know everything I want. We also get a lot of badass moments with Ahsoka who goes after Aurra, including leaping on to Slave 1, doing some damage, causing it to crash and seemingly killing Aurra. 

All this, plus we get the return of everyone's favorite Weequay pirate, Hondo Ohnaka. It is not surprising at all that Hondo used to bump uglies with Aurra or that he is leery of helping her. I love how he doesn't even try to hide that they are walking into a trap and lets them know that he is hedging his bets. Hondo is the kind of character you could easily get sick of, but the show does a great job of trotting him out at the best times and he remains a delight.

Grade: A

Next up, we head back to Mandalore with Padme, Ahsoka is having visions of Aurra Sing killing Padme and Asajj Ventress is back to wage battle on Kamino. Buckle up because we are doing four episodes next time.

How do you all feel about these episodes? Did you love getting some young Boba Fett backstory? Let me know in the comments?