Star Wars: The Clone Wars Season 4

[Bryancd]

 :starwars:    :jawdrop


http://insidetv.ew.com/2012/03/14/star-wars-clone-wars-darth-maul-obi-wan-rematch-video/

[ChrisMC]

So bad-ass. The animation that is done for this show is wonderful.

[Rico]

Good, solid finale for the season....

[spoiler]I was hoping for a bit more fighting and maybe a resolution to things.  But I can see if they go to the bother of bringing Maul back they want to let it go on for awhile.  One thing that I thought was a bit odd was how Maul seemed to not have any issue with using Oppress to help him with Obi-Wan.  I would have thought his pride would have made him want to take on Obi-Wan alone.  But I really enjoyed Ventress and Obi-Wan teaming up.  Plus, I love Obi-Wan's little quips when he gets in these situations.  "I like your new legs.  They make you look taller."  :)[/spoiler]

[Bryancd]

Good, solid finale for the season....

[spoiler]I was hoping for a bit more fighting and maybe a resolution to things.  But I can see if they go to the bother of bringing Maul back they want to let it go on for awhile.  One thing that I thought was a bit odd was how Maul seemed to not have any issue with using Oppress to help him with Obi-Wan.  I would have thought his pride would have made him want to take on Obi-Wan alone.  But I really enjoyed Ventress and Obi-Wan teaming up.  Plus, I love Obi-Wan's little quips when he gets in these situations.  "I like your new legs.  They make you look taller."  :)[/spoiler]

Or how about when Obi-wan said to Ventress..
[spoiler]I think we should escape, something that you are good at. I loved it![/spoiler]

[ori-STUDFARM]

A little disappointed with it myself. The animation and lighting was absolutely amazing...

[spoiler] But there wasn't much by way of a story here.  The episode basically says "Okay. Maul has his sanity back and has teamed up with his brother."

The Kenobi and Ventress partnership didn't really amount to anything.

It was all a teaser episode for Season 5 and beyond. Which I'm okay with....but we've already had the 'Maul is back' tease during the Night Sisters stories from last Season....

I think it would have been better to have had this storyline a few episodes earlier and try to finish on a completed story. Maybe rejigging it all a little so that you can have Season 4 ending with Dooku wiping out the Night Sisters.[/spoiler]

[KingIsaacLinksr]

Season Review: Warning, spoilers and slight ranting ahead

[spoiler]This is the final season I'm going to bother with.  I'm sorry, but the payoff was weak.  This season has been fluctuating between good and bad episodes (mostly bad) all season long that I'm just too frustrated to get invested into the story anymore.  Its sad to say that the money I invested into this season has gone to waste and I will not be ordering the next season(s). 

Darth Maul as a crazed, revenge-seeking villain has been done so many times that it just feels stale.  The magic of his character from Episode 1 is completely gone at this point and him just wanting to see the world burn is a lame cop out for a villain.  Not to mention, there is no tension between Maul and Obi-Wan because we know he's going to survive no matter what.  It was a mistake in the writing to send just ObiWan.  They should have sent someone else who's fate was unknown.  Otherwise, it was pretty much predictable that Ventress was going to save the day and they would get out of there.  And even the lightsaber battle just wasn't all that up to par to say, Episode 1. 

And do I need to even mention the idiocy of the Jedi Council and Obi Wan at this point?  Two jedi against Darth Maul was only barely enough to defeat him and they only send Obi Wan to capture him.  Cmon.  Use your brains people.  Its not like sending more than 1 Jedi would have killed anyone, because its clear that Darth Maul had killed everyone there.  And there was also the potential of Savage Oppress coming around or had everyone forgotten him too?  You know, the guy who can take on two to three Jedi at once. 

After three great seasons, I think the potential of The Clone Wars is gone.  They have been unwilling to take risks or use any different characters.  Using ObiWan and Anakin all the time has been a mistake, but it seems like the writers don't want to use anyone else in these storylines. Even Ahsoka got shoved into a corner for the majority of the season and has hardly been used all that much.  Her character growth has been pretty limited. 

The banter with Obi-Wan and Ventress was the highlight of the episode though....so i'll give it that. 

Highlights:
The General Krell Arc was great, I wish they had done more arcs like these. 
Ventress storyline was pretty good as well, if a bit late to the party. 

But beyond those two arcs, this season has just not been up to par.  For the most part, the episodes have been uninspired and uninteresting.  They are just reusing the same formulas they've had and beyond the Krell storyline, there hasn't been much that's been surprising. 

:2cents

[/spoiler]

King

[ori-STUDFARM]

Season Review: Warning, spoilers and slight ranting ahead

[spoiler]This is the final season I'm going to bother with.  I'm sorry, but the payoff was weak.  This season has been fluctuating between good and bad episodes (mostly bad) all season long that I'm just too frustrated to get invested into the story anymore.  Its sad to say that the money I invested into this season has gone to waste and I will not be ordering the next season(s). 

Darth Maul as a crazed, revenge-seeking villain has been done so many times that it just feels stale.  The magic of his character from Episode 1 is completely gone at this point and him just wanting to see the world burn is a lame cop out for a villain.  Not to mention, there is no tension between Maul and Obi-Wan because we know he's going to survive no matter what.  It was a mistake in the writing to send just ObiWan.  They should have sent someone else who's fate was unknown.  Otherwise, it was pretty much predictable that Ventress was going to save the day and they would get out of there.  And even the lightsaber battle just wasn't all that up to par to say, Episode 1. 

And do I need to even mention the idiocy of the Jedi Council and Obi Wan at this point?  Two jedi against Darth Maul was only barely enough to defeat him and they only send Obi Wan to capture him.  Cmon.  Use your brains people.  Its not like sending more than 1 Jedi would have killed anyone, because its clear that Darth Maul had killed everyone there.  And there was also the potential of Savage Oppress coming around or had everyone forgotten him too?  You know, the guy who can take on two to three Jedi at once. 

After three great seasons, I think the potential of The Clone Wars is gone.  They have been unwilling to take risks or use any different characters.  Using ObiWan and Anakin all the time has been a mistake, but it seems like the writers don't want to use anyone else in these storylines. Even Ahsoka got shoved into a corner for the majority of the season and has hardly been used all that much.  Her character growth has been pretty limited. 

The banter with Obi-Wan and Ventress was the highlight of the episode though....so i'll give it that. 

Highlights:
The General Krell Arc was great, I wish they had done more arcs like these. 
Ventress storyline was pretty good as well, if a bit late to the party. 

But beyond those two arcs, this season has just not been up to par.  For the most part, the episodes have been uninspired and uninteresting.  They are just reusing the same formulas they've had and beyond the Krell storyline, there hasn't been much that's been surprising. 

:2cents

[/spoiler]

King

I see your point with some of the things you said, but disagree with a lot of it.

[spoiler]

Agreed that as a pay off to the season, it was weak. I still think a re-jig was in order. Introduce Maul with a few episodes to go and end the Season on something huge. Like the death of the Night sisters. That was a worthy Season finale...

I love this return of Maul. A "crazed, revenge-seeking villain" who just wants to "see the world burn" is great by my standards. One of my favourite villain's has always been The Joker. The crazy unpredictable with no agenda for money or power. Someone who literally wants to rock the boat for the sake of rocking it.....Maul is the Joker of the pack for Star Wars villains....and with his brother, they reminded me a little of Phil and Grant Mitchel. A reference that is lost on those outside of the UK. They are a pair of popular soap star characters from a few years back who were only ever worth watching as a pair...Individually, they never quite worked. I'm looking forward to seeing the two working together...

I agree that there was no tension with Obi Wan facing Maul. We know he is a 'safe' character. Now if Maul had targeted an 'unsafe' character to get at Obi Wan, it may have felt more tense. But, they can only ignore Obi Wan so many times....and he has been underused so much of late. I can see that they wanted to use him and set up the revenge arc of the Maul storyline. And I never thought there was much chance of Ventress dying either....they've done too much with her this Season and it is obvious we are going to explore a new and different Ventress in the future. And, having just put so much effort into Maul's return, would they really finish him off before they've used him?

I personally loved the lightsaber battle....especially the way it was all lit. I thought it was great....but, admitedly, not the best we've seen in the Clone Wars. Luckily, there is obviously more to come :)

As for the Jedi council....yeah. I see your point. I can understand Yoda sending Obi Wan alone...He has obviously had some kind of a vision about the events unfolding. He seemed to know about Ventress assisting Obi Wan....and maybe this will prove important for the future laid out for Ventress. Could she redeem herself maybe become a character of good? Maybe even a Jedi Knight?

But including the other council members in the decision to send Obi Wan alone didn't quite make sense. You'd have thought they would have had some kind of a plan to somehow provide back up for Obi Wan.

As ever, there were highs and lows. But I love Star wars. Always have. And Clone Wars does nothing but reinforce and strengthen my love of the franchise.

[Bryancd]

Season Review: Warning, spoilers and slight ranting ahead

[spoiler]This is the final season I'm going to bother with.  I'm sorry, but the payoff was weak.  This season has been fluctuating between good and bad episodes (mostly bad) all season long that I'm just too frustrated to get invested into the story anymore.  Its sad to say that the money I invested into this season has gone to waste and I will not be ordering the next season(s). 

Darth Maul as a crazed, revenge-seeking villain has been done so many times that it just feels stale.  The magic of his character from Episode 1 is completely gone at this point and him just wanting to see the world burn is a lame cop out for a villain.  Not to mention, there is no tension between Maul and Obi-Wan because we know he's going to survive no matter what.  It was a mistake in the writing to send just ObiWan.  They should have sent someone else who's fate was unknown.  Otherwise, it was pretty much predictable that Ventress was going to save the day and they would get out of there.  And even the lightsaber battle just wasn't all that up to par to say, Episode 1. 

And do I need to even mention the idiocy of the Jedi Council and Obi Wan at this point?  Two jedi against Darth Maul was only barely enough to defeat him and they only send Obi Wan to capture him.  Cmon.  Use your brains people.  Its not like sending more than 1 Jedi would have killed anyone, because its clear that Darth Maul had killed everyone there.  And there was also the potential of Savage Oppress coming around or had everyone forgotten him too?  You know, the guy who can take on two to three Jedi at once. 

After three great seasons, I think the potential of The Clone Wars is gone.  They have been unwilling to take risks or use any different characters.  Using ObiWan and Anakin all the time has been a mistake, but it seems like the writers don't want to use anyone else in these storylines. Even Ahsoka got shoved into a corner for the majority of the season and has hardly been used all that much.  Her character growth has been pretty limited. 

The banter with Obi-Wan and Ventress was the highlight of the episode though....so i'll give it that. 

Highlights:
The General Krell Arc was great, I wish they had done more arcs like these. 
Ventress storyline was pretty good as well, if a bit late to the party. 

But beyond those two arcs, this season has just not been up to par.  For the most part, the episodes have been uninspired and uninteresting.  They are just reusing the same formulas they've had and beyond the Krell storyline, there hasn't been much that's been surprising. 

:2cents

[/spoiler]

King

I see your point with some of the things you said, but disagree with a lot of it.

[spoiler]

Agreed that as a pay off to the season, it was weak. I still think a re-jig was in order. Introduce Maul with a few episodes to go and end the Season on something huge. Like the death of the Night sisters. That was a worthy Season finale...

I love this return of Maul. A "crazed, revenge-seeking villain" who just wants to "see the world burn" is great by my standards. One of my favourite villain's has always been The Joker. The crazy unpredictable with no agenda for money or power. Someone who literally wants to rock the boat for the sake of rocking it.....Maul is the Joker of the pack for Star Wars villains....and with his brother, they reminded me a little of Phil and Grant Mitchel. A reference that is lost on those outside of the UK. They are a pair of popular soap star characters from a few years back who were only ever worth watching as a pair...Individually, they never quite worked. I'm looking forward to seeing the two working together...

I agree that there was no tension with Obi Wan facing Maul. We know he is a 'safe' character. Now if Maul had targeted an 'unsafe' character to get at Obi Wan, it may have felt more tense. But, they can only ignore Obi Wan so many times....and he has been underused so much of late. I can see that they wanted to use him and set up the revenge arc of the Maul storyline. And I never thought there was much chance of Ventress dying either....they've done too much with her this Season and it is obvious we are going to explore a new and different Ventress in the future. And, having just put so much effort into Maul's return, would they really finish him off before they've used him?

I personally loved the lightsaber battle....especially the way it was all lit. I thought it was great....but, admitedly, not the best we've seen in the Clone Wars. Luckily, there is obviously more to come :)

As for the Jedi council....yeah. I see your point. I can understand Yoda sending Obi Wan alone...He has obviously had some kind of a vision about the events unfolding. He seemed to know about Ventress assisting Obi Wan....and maybe this will prove important for the future laid out for Ventress. Could she redeem herself maybe become a character of good? Maybe even a Jedi Knight?

But including the other council members in the decision to send Obi Wan alone didn't quite make sense. You'd have thought they would have had some kind of a plan to somehow provide back up for Obi Wan.

As ever, there were highs and lows. But I love Star wars. Always have. And Clone Wars does nothing but reinforce and strengthen my love of the franchise.

Thank Heavens you posted that fine response so I didn't have to. I was just going to tell King, "Don't let the door hit you on your ass on the way out!" ;)
[spoiler]I would also add to the construct of Darth Crazy. That was 100% the correct choice. They had to take the character to a whole different place and i think the execution of writing and voice work was perfect. Very Gollum'esque and effective. And thank you for pointing out to Tim that Yoda's decision in regards to Obi-wan alone was due to his obvious premonition that he would find an unlikely ally.[/spoiler]

[KingIsaacLinksr]

[spoiler]Joker and Maul are two entirely different villains.  Maul is predictable, mostly because he wants revenge on the Jedi.  The Joker is very unpredictable in what he'll do next and how he will do it.  I could predict maul 5 steps ahead of his every actions.  He is a boring, two-dimensional villain.  Heck, I even saw the whole "I killed your master, how do you feel about that" line before it came.  The fact that Obi-Wan reacted with anger to it only furthered my annoyance because that is so cliche for the hero to do it.  I figured Obi-Wan was better than that by now, especially considering how he reacted to the news of Maul being alive, which wasn't of anger.  Its all incredibly cliche at this point, especially the "I can wait for my revenge" line at the end.  And so far, Maul hasn't rocked any boats so far, I'd say Savage has done that better so far. 

Obi-Wan has been in at least half the season if not more as one of the main characters, not sure why you think he's underused.  I mean, he was in the Bounty-Hunter arc as well.

And I'm not saying Ventress or Maul had to die this episode, especially since I think Ventress' arc is going an interesting route, but Maul's character I think could have been done so much better.

I keep saying this, but the lack of tension just makes these episodes so dull. And its the only thing these episodes have to go on because clearly the drama isn't a big concern of the clone wars either. 

This show is lacking this season.  The fact that they had to resurrect Maul makes me think they are running out of ideas and these last couple of episodes seems to prove my thought on this matter.  I'm not even sure why I'm expecting so much out of Star Wars at this point, especially after the prequels.  False hopes I suppose. 

[/spoiler]

King

[Bryancd]

Every word of what you just said I could not disagree with more. I have zero interest trying to point out the holes in your argument, just go and be happy...or whatever.

[KingIsaacLinksr]

Every word of what you just said I could not disagree with more. I have zero interest trying to point out the holes in your argument, just go and be happy...or whatever.

So are you saying then, that the last couple of episodes of The Clone Wars are the best we've had so far?

King

[X]

I'm not going to take any sides. I personally wasn't impressed with the season, but I never have been impressed with an entire season. I do like that some of the events of this season are actually reflected in the latest Star Wars book ... almost a century later. For that, I'm grateful for having seen the episode involved.

[spoiler]
As for the rest, it is what it is. I mean death has never really been done well in Star Wars and I'm kind of happy to see that someone with force powers can survive falling down a shaft.

In the end, this is a show for teens and older kids. They aren't going to see the plot holes that you can fly the death star through and because of that, I can't really fault the writers for not writing to adults and cleaning up those plot holes. That being said, it's also not something that I didn't expect from the beginning. The clone wars is very good at borrowing from and destroying aspects of the EU, but it's for the kids and not my generation of readers.

I don't expect a lot when it comes to the clone wars because I've read better the first time the the story was done and before they bastardized it. I don't give it a pass because it bears the Star Wars logo and I don't lower my standards either. I've enjoyed some of the series, but it has always been hit or miss for me. This season was no different, nor was it expected to be.

I also think that while King can go off to some weird places, his views are valid, as is his frustration. He seems to be holding Star Wars to a higher standard than he getting and hasn't yet learned to accept what is give or to lower his expectations.

I would have been more impressed with the show if they didn't make the stupid mistake of not killing an unconscious Obi-Wan. It was a dumb move and if you're going to keep him alive, why not cut off his hands before you put him on your ship? It was Bond Villian dumb, but again, it was written for kids that won't notice the piss poor writing.

Disagree or not, there was absolutely no reason to not hobble Obi Wan if you are going to knock him out.

If you are going to be dumb and not kill him, how about not taking his lightsaber with him and then putting it in a place where he can access it? It was lazy, but not unexpected from the writing standard of this show. You either check your logic at the door or leave pissed off with most of the episodes.

[/spoiler]

[Bryancd]

Every word of what you just said I could not disagree with more. I have zero interest trying to point out the holes in your argument, just go and be happy...or whatever.

So are you saying then, that the last couple of episodes of The Clone Wars are the best we've had so far?

King

As far as my enjoyment of them I have loved the last few episodes and feel this season has been as good as the others. You don't feel that way and have made a point, always a mistake, to say your done. So leave. I am not interested in your thoughts on this show if you no longer plan on watching it. Sorry, I love you man, but if you are out, and if you say you are out, then go. And s far as X's comments above, if you think the show is flawed please feel free to star an entirely different thread of how the CLONE WARS should be written for an fault. I'm an adult and I love the show.

[KingIsaacLinksr]

Every word of what you just said I could not disagree with more. I have zero interest trying to point out the holes in your argument, just go and be happy...or whatever.

So are you saying then, that the last couple of episodes of The Clone Wars are the best we've had so far?

King

As far as my enjoyment of them I have loved the last few episodes and feel this season has been as good as the others. You don't feel that way and have made a point, always a mistake, to say your done. So leave. I am not interested in your thoughts on this show if you no longer plan on watching it. Sorry, I love you man, but if you are out, and if you say you are out, then go. And s far as X's comments above, if you think the show is flawed please feel free to star an entirely different thread of how the CLONE WARS should be written for an fault. I'm an adult and I love the show.

I didn't realize that not watching the show anymore meant I no longer had an opinion.  (Especially since I did watch this entire season).  Fine, I'll leave the thread. 

King

[X]

Every word of what you just said I could not disagree with more. I have zero interest trying to point out the holes in your argument, just go and be happy...or whatever.

So are you saying then, that the last couple of episodes of The Clone Wars are the best we've had so far?

King

As far as my enjoyment of them I have loved the last few episodes and feel this season has been as good as the others. You don't feel that way and have made a point, always a mistake, to say your done. So leave. I am not interested in your thoughts on this show if you no longer plan on watching it. Sorry, I love you man, but if you are out, and if you say you are out, then go. And s far as X's comments above, if you think the show is flawed please feel free to star an entirely different thread of how the CLONE WARS should be written for an fault. I'm an adult and I love the show.

How about you take a step back and breath? No one had kicked your dog, but actually given their opinions on what the thread is about. So you're an adult and you like it? That's nice, but it still doesn't take away from the target demographic and who the show is written for. Adults are allowed to enjoy kid's shows, but that doesn't stop them from being kid's shows. There will be a range of views and it's kind of arrogant to tell someone else to go to another thread when the comments are 100% correct for this thread.

I didn't say that it should be written for adults. I'm not looking for it to be written for adults, but I can comment on the problems that I have with the show. So, I'll pass on starting any new threads since my comments are still on topic for this one.