November 14 2008




Episode Guide: Duel Of The Droids

Episode Air No: 7
Production No: 6

Director: Rob Coleman
Writer: Kevin Campbell & Henry Gilroy

Episode Brief: Anakin, Ahsoka & Droid R3-S6 embark on a dual rescue + sabotage mission when they discover R2-D2 is being held at Grievous' secret enemy listening post.

Good stuff again. I really dig this show. Some of the set pieces and action scenes are really well thought out and creative. I have a nitpick about the way the episode ends, but a) it is a kid's cartoon and b) I don't want to bring it up so as to spoil for those that haven't seen it yet.


Ummm Jar Jar next week, LOL. I'll keep an open mind.

Gracias DP.

Great episode, but I enjoyed it mainly for the Grievous factor. He was much more intimidating and badass than he's ever been depicted so far.

I forgot this even aired yesterday.

This is my favorite episode by far. My lowered expectations after last week's chapter have been restored. Grievous made this episode with "We're all droids here" and his upside-down stalking of Jedi. Padawan vs. cyborg action, battle droid shenanigans, droid poppers, and all-around clone trooper awesomness put the excitement into this Star Wars.

Best scene: Artoo bitch slapping that Goldie droid off the space station.

This episode was terrific all the way around. Loved the story progression, Grievous stabbing the smuggler, the OT references, the clever writing, and R2 being fucking awesome. The cross-cutting final battle was very well done.

Honestly, after seeing the preview for next week I'm convinced that the Jar Jar episode is going to be one giant in-joke. "Hey, we know this character is not only ridiculous, but an international icon for stupidity. This episode is dedicated to all you fans that wished to see Jar Jar put in the most absurd situations imaginable. Let's all laugh together."

Great duology! The whole plot tied nicely into the weird sort of kinship between Anakin and Artoo witnessed in ROTS when Anakin defends the astromech against any "loose-wire" jokes in ROTS. "He's trying," says Anakin, reflective of some advice he'll never receive.

Anyway, the peculiar traits of the droid smuggler were a welcome addition, what with his flatulence, offensive taste in music, and filthy ship interior. They fit well into the developing texture of the series. I especially liked his outward show of disdain for the Jedi. And kidnapping and dismembering our deus ex machina, Artoo?! It's as if he hates the Star Wars universe, period.

The set piece for the last episode was classic Star Wars. Awesome sky-dive approach, plenty of action aboard, followed by total demolition and a near-escape from the falling mech-orb. The fight between Ahsoka and Grievous was pretty intense, particularly Grievous's illumination of their confrontation with her green lightsaber. Wow! And the titular Duel of the Droids was fantastic. Nice dramatic music, epic locale and ending KO move (but why did Artoo ignite the oil beneath the cable?). It was kinda like watching Yoda finally throw down in AOTC.

Again, great pair!

Some references from the films: When R2 was dismembered on the operation table reminded one of the Vader armor scene from Revenge Of The Sith. Also Grievous vs Ahsoka combined elements from the Luke versus Vader duels from Empire and Jedi.

As Thundercracker pointed out, Grievous is fucking awesome in the series. The next episode Bombad Jedi is a one-off by Troop's Kevin Rubio and should be viewed as such. Haters will use it rage against Lucas but the episode should be viewed for what it is: a comedy episode.

Okay now that I've felt like wanting to watch this series I've watched everything up to this episode. I'm downloading Bombad Jedi right now. I gotta say I really like the way how this new series is going. The animation has really grown on me and I personally like it a lot better than the original Clone Wars that they did.

Rookies was definitely a cool episode and so was this one. I also agree that Grievous is definitely a bad ass mofo now and this is how they should have handled him in Revenge Of The Sith. That was one thing that sort of disappointed me with that movie is how they handled Grievous, instead of making him this bad ass Sepratist leader they made him into a pussy who got lopped easily by Obi-Wan Kenobi.