A Long Time Ago, During the Clone Wars: "Water War," "Gungan Attack" & "Prisoners"

 Star Wars The Clone Wars

In the last "Clone Wars" post, I mentioned that this post would be the first four episode post. Well, I lied. We have a couple of posts before we get to the first four episode post. We are starting season 4 with a three episode arc completely underwater. So let's go!

"Water War," Season Four, Episode 1

"When destiny calls, the chosen have no choice."

Narrator: "Water wars! Tensions run high on the ocean world of Mon Calamari, where two separate peoples, the aggressive squid-like Quarren and their peaceful neighbor the Mon Calamari, struggle to maintain a fragile co-existence. Adding to this strife: the King of the Mon Calamari has been found mysteriously murdered, leaving his. young son Prince Lee-Char, to guide his people alone. But the Quarren race will not accept the new ruler as their King. Senator Amidala and her Jedi bodyguard have arrived to help resolve the matter and to avoid plunging the planet into civil war..."

Padme and Anakin find the two races in heated arguments when they arrive and it seems like the Separatist representative, humanoid shark Riff Tamson, is not making things better. The Quarren are upset at the Republic's presence and leave shortly after they arrive. After a call to Yoda and Mace Windu to get reinforcements, which is great because a battle ensues that the Mon Cala and the Jedi win, but the Quarren strike back with massive droids and things aren't looking great...

It's a trap! Wait...

I decided that I'm not going to spend a lot of time on these episodes because at this point, I kind of feel like I'm saying the same things over and over again. So, unless it's a big episode where something monumental happens or feels special these will probably be relatively short going forward. I know you are all heartbroken.

This episode features a conflict that we've seen a lot in the life of the series. A conflict between two races on the same planet, one side with the Separatists and the other aligned with the Republic. There is fighting and either they reconcile or split for good. The only real difference here is that all this is happening underwater.

While we do get answers to why the Quarren and Mon Cala are in such conflict in the third episode, I wish they would have given us something to explain why this was happening now. Was it just the assassination of the king? Was it deeper than that? I feel like the viewer having a little more understanding of their history or just something that connected us emotionally more to this conflict, it would have made this episode a lot better.

I spend a lot of these recaps praising the space battles in "The Clone Wars" because they are bad ass. It's probably when the show looks the best. Unfortunately, that beauty doesn't really translate to the underwater battles. They are really murky and kind of ugly. And when the last fifteen minutes of the episode is basically a protracted battle that's not great. 

I was really impressed with the droid design. We've seen the squid ones before but the jellyfish droids were really cool. But when I spent the majority of the time wondering how the lightsabers and blasters work underwater, that isn't a great sign.

Grade: C

"Gungan Attack," Season Four, Episode 2

"Only through fire is a strong forged."

Narrator: "A government toppled by civil war! Refusing to accept Prince Lee-Char as the next ruler of Mon Cala, the Quarren people join the Separatists alliance and launch an all-out attack on the Mon Calamari. Caught unprepared, the young prince and his Jedi protectors are quickly overwhelmed and forced to retreat in the caves far below the capital city, leaving Count Dooku and his allies to plan their next move..."

After defeating the Mon Cala, the Quarren and the Separatists decide to put the captured Mon Cala into labor camps, even the women and children, much to the dismay of Quarren senator, Nossor Ri. Anakin and Padme have been joined by Kit Fisto and Ahsoka Tano. Master Yoda goes to the Gungan and convinces them to send their army to aid the Mon Cala, but will even that be enough to turn the tides?

Listen fish boy...

Let's talk for a minute about the would-be Mon Cala King, Lee-Char. I get that the whole narrative here is him coming into his own as the new ruler, but like, for me, there's nothing about him that justifies the rapid growth he has. It feels like Ahsoka is doing a lot of the heavy lifting here. And don't get me wrong, I love an Ahsoka Tano pep talk as much as the next person, but it feels like they are really doing a lot of the character work here. I don't blame the Quarren for not having faith in him and honestly I'm not sure I buy that even after everything that happens they suddenly have faith in him.

I didn't mention it in "Water War" but the "Star Wars" cameo parade marches in because you can't have the Mon Cala without an appearance by Admiral nee Captain "It's a trap!" Ackbar. In fact, I didn't even realize that's who it was until about halfway through "Water War." Show this man some respect!! Is that him cowering with Jar Jar Binks at the end? I don't know but I really hope not.

Speaking of Jar Jar Binks, did you really think you were going to get a three episode arc that's set underwater without an appearance by the Gungans? If you did, then I think I have some oceanfront property here in Iowa to sell you. It is a nice reminder that the Gungans are actually savvy warriors. It's easy to forget when the only Gungan that we are regularly exposed to is the hilariously inept Jar Jar Binks. 

Some stray thoughts here: Am I attracted to Kit Fisto? That's new. Do I need to re-watch "The Shape of Water" from this new perspective? I mean, come on. Sure he's a humanoid fish guy with a Jamaican accent but did you see those abs?! Come on. I'm only human here. There are some cool moments in this episode. The Separatists/Quarren blowing up the Republic ship and our heroes grabbing on to wreckage to sink to the ocean floor. Love it. The vortex fights are cool and in the case of those, the murkiness and being unsure of what is really happening actually worked in their favor. Tamson shoving his jaw back in place was pretty badass. And can it really be that big of a surprise the Separatists are making slaves of women and children? Come on.

But seriously, Kit Fisto. I can't be alone here, right? Right?

Grade: B-

"Prisoners," Season Four, Episode 3

"Crowns are inherited, kingdoms are earned."

Narrator: "A last gasp of hope! After the assassination of his father and the fall of his kingdom beneath a planetary civil war, Mon Cala Prince Lee-Char has gone into hiding with Padawan Ahsoka Tano as his only protector. With his armies captured and friends imprisoned, the situation seems hopeless for the Prince. Count Dooku commands his sinister agent Riff Tamson to use any means necessary to bring Prince Lee-Char out of hiding, for he knows that hope does remain as long as the Prince is alive..."

Anakin, Padme, Kit Fisto and Jar Jar Binks are in the fins of Riff Tamson and he's torturing the Jedi and threatening the lives of Padme and Jar Jar to get information on Lee-Char. With Ahsoka's help, the prince is trying to rally his people and get to Nossor Ri. He believes he can convince Ri to turn against the Separatists and take back Mon Cala and claim his rightful spot as king.

Listen, I'm not saying Anakin being tortured makes me happy. 

Remember when I said we'd learn the cause of the rift between the Quarren and the Mon Cala and who assassinated Lee-Char's father in this episode? Well, we do and the reveal is about as boring and expected as you could... expect. Yes, the Separatists were behind it all. Making promises to the Quarren while Tamson murdered the king. It's exactly what you thought it was going to be and I really wish there was more to it. Sometimes I think I'm asking for the moon when I want more out of the plots of this show or am disappointed, but then I remember that I expect it or want it because "The Clone Wars" has given it to me many times. So when lazy plotting like this pops up, it's really glaring and difficult to ignore or wave away. It's obvious enough that even Lee-Char, not the brightest monarch in all the kingdoms, figures it out.

This third act is very paint by numbers. We get standard third ep, wrap up stuff. The aforementioned reveals of who is really behind everything. The Quarren turning against the Separatists and joining up with the Mon Cala. A big battle that culminates in Tamson's defeat and the two people making peace so Lee-Char can be sworn in as king of Mon Calamari. It's fine. Perfectly serviceable but not much to write home about, so I'm not going to. I will say Lee-Char planting a bomb on Tamson and reducing him to shark chunks was pretty badass and completely out of character.

Uff da, Jar Jar. Look, I don't like ragging on Jar Jar because it's low hanging fruit. Plus, he's a big part of the next episode so I feel like you're going to get a lot of it there. But come on. Hocking a loogie on Padme's helmet to seal the crack? I guess we had to have something for the little kids watching.

Grade: C

Next up, Jar Jar impersonates a general and R2 & 3PO have an adventure with Plo Koon and his clone legion, the Wolfpack.

What did you all think of these episodes? Am I being too harsh? Let me know in the comments.