January 28 2010

view: (720p)



"Balance is found in the one who faces his guilt."

Episode Guide: Overlords

Episode Air No: 59
Production No: 309

Director: Steward Lee
Writer: Christian Taylor

Synopsis: A mysterious force draws Anakin, Obi-Wan & Ahsoka to a distant planet, and its inhabitants - a family of exceptionally powerful Force-wielders - in an attempt to determine whether Anakin is truly the Chosen One.

view: (SD HDTV)

[align=center]STILLS • CONCEPT ART • TRIVIA[/align]
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[align=left]Secrets Revealed

• This trilogy of episodes dives into concepts of the Force and ancient Jedi prophecy like never before, and represent an unusually deep exploration direct from George Lucas of some of the saga's biggest concepts. While there will undoubtedly be questions about how much that is experienced in the Mortis realm can be defined as "real," the answers will surely depend on your own point of view.

• The Mortis monolith seen at the start of the episode is over five kilometers tall, wide and deep.

• As the keeper of the balance, the Father quite literally sits at the center of a scale-like statue, with gong-like discs emblazoned with icons representing the daughter (to his right) and the son (to his left). Flanking this are statues of their beast forms: the griffin and the gargoyle.

• In addition to notable guest appearances by Liam Neeson and Pernilla August, this episode also stars veterans of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed in key roles. Sam Witwer, who played Starkiller, plays the Son, while Adrienne Wilkinson, who played Maris Brood, plays the Daughter.

• The Father destkibes his family as anchorites. Lest anyone think this is a proper term for a species or culture, it isn't. This uncommon word, never before spoken in Star Wars, an anchorite is someone who has withdrawn from society to become somewhat of a religious hermit. The only term that so far destkibes the Mortis beings are "Force-wielders".

• Although the Force-wielders are intentionally depicted as vague and mysterious, their animation models nonetheless have the following definitions: The Father is 2.48 meters tall, the Daughter is 2.13 meters tall, and the Son is 2.2 meters. The Daughter's griffin form stands 2.58 meters tall, while the Son's gargoyle form is 4.79 meters tall. They both have wingspans over 11 meters.

• Slight refrains of John Williams' Episode I score can be heard during Qui-Gon's appearance, as well as the Force theme when Obi-Wan speaks of Anakin

• The Republic fleet officer seen during the newsreel is not named in the episode. He is Admiral Tenant.
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Wow ... that was fucking amazing.

Man, did I thoroughly enjoy this gonzo episode.

One of, if not the, best yet.

I 'gasped' and it echoed in the room

[align=center]ALTAR OF MORTIS PREVIEW VIDEO[/align]
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Vader breathing as Anakin forces Son and Daughter to release captives.

Very interesting episode. This storyline needs more room to breathe.

This episode was just... wow. It's a known fact that the animation and visuals have improved over time, but this episode was just stunning, especially the parts where it switches from life to death. It is cool to learn more about the force and Anakin's prophecy. I would have loved to see more characters like Yoda or Mace in this episode because it would have been great to hear their thoughts on the father, son, and daughter.

Blows a lot of other episodes out of the water.

Savage who?

This Episode was so different from the rest, even the animation felt different, I liked the part where Ahsoka got a warning from her future self, but wow what a way to tell the unavoidable story about Anakin.

What a great episode. However, it goes against what I thought was the balance of the Force.

Simply an amazing episode. I share the sentiment of everything said on this board, so I don't need repeating it. Dave Filoni and his gang have really upped their game, even from the Savage arc. If you told me three years ago that they were tackling storylines like this on the CW, and were doing it this well I would have thought you were, well, .

One thing I really found interesting is how Anakin called the prophecy of "The Chosen One" a myth. I didn't realized he hadn't bought into the whole one-to-bring-balance-to-the-Force. If anything, it seemed as if Obi-Wan and Ahsoka were quick to react at the mere mention of it. I wonder if they already sense how dangerous Anakin could be, and that it is a really possibility that he would be tempted to misuse it.

Oh, and grown up Ahsoka:

Indeed. But I expected to hear Ahsoka's opinion on this matter too.

This series has hit a new high point. So high, I don't even know what episode/story arc qualifies as second place.

It's hard to believe the same season containts stuff like "separatists poisoning the milk at Mandalorian school lunches," and gems like this.

This episode reminds me of the movies, in that it takes more than one viewing to digest everything that's going on, visually as well as thematically.

Wow this is absolutely top notch material ! I'm happy that they made some lower-quality stuff like the mentioned drink poisoning, senate debates and others just so that we could have heavy hitters like this one. Anakin was extremely badass, almost Force Unleashed-like.

Without a doubt a great episode, and the possibly the best one yet in terms o visual design.

Nevertheless, in my opinion this is only the first great episode this season managed to produce, which is really a shame.



That silly little episode was one of the highlights of this weak season for me. "You don't need to be epic and profound to be great" - like master Yoda used to say (or something in that vein).

Guess what? ... I also think this is an incredibly awesome episode

So many things, great things - it is very rare that i watch the new cw episode 3 times the 1st day like i just did. Filoni & team promised to bring something which is the essence of star wars, and no way this is a letdown, this is real classic sw i didn't even hope to ever see in the series, i think it caught my attention as much as Yoda's greatest moments in esb originally did

I love the fact that the 3 visions are different and originals, it didn't just feel like a force ghost party episode: While Qui Gon do look like a force ghost, and obviously reflect the characters' thoughts, this make me feel it really is qui gon living through the force and able to appear because of the specificity of the planet, cleverly announcing his "return" in rots.

However, Shmi looks like a person in flesh and is presented as most likely being the son, so through her words I'm trying to reason on how this representative of the dark side is trying to influence Anakin. This is very interesting, especially as, even if he is darkness, he works for the balance of the force and this seems to be for Anakin's own good, to help and free him. The dialogs were very well written when it came to Anakin's guilt in Shmi's death, and in the whole episode too, excellent work by the writers.

Finally, adult Ahsoka was the most unexpected, awesome idea, she looks great and really got me even more curious about her fate, as she has really grown to become an amazing sw character in my opinion.

Finally, if this was a stand alone episode that would have changed my vision of the force and the chosen one already, flowing with the saga story, having them leaving this place in the end with anakin warned about his fate if he doesn't stay ... So I'm really curious about what they will come up with in the next two episodes ... this can only be awesome!

those are my main thoughts but there is so much more to say about this outstanding episode

Rest of this arc should be interesting, and I'm thinking Qui-Gon is more than just a mask for one of the kids. Only niggle is that Obi-Wan seemed to take his conversation with Jinn a little too in stride. The sum total of his curiosity about the experience is "I don't understand, what is this place?"... nrrrrrrr ... meh ...no. And where did he come up with "The planet is the force!"?

Also have high hopes that they will let this story breath a bit, unlike pretty much every other arc they've rolled out. Filoni mentioned something about this being a HUGE storyline, and I'm hoping that means we'll see this play out in various ways beyond the three episode arc. As someone else has mentioned, it's frustrating that the films predicated Qui-Gonn's going against the council and taking Anakin on as being tied to the prophecy, but then pretty much abandoning the prophecy aspect until the throwaway exchange in RotS.

Agreed.

For your viewing pleasure.

Those are definitely implants.

I really liked the shot of the fire reflecting in Ahsoka’s pupils:



While fire is commonly associated with Anakin, this shot specifically called to mind Qui Gon’s funeral pyre, Anakin’s immolation, and Vader’s pyre. Basically, it was the visual equivalent of the beginning, middle, and end of Anakin’s career.

Speaking of Daughter's line, it was lifted directly from the Bhagavad Gita. In that Hindu text, Krishna states that he is “the beginning, the middle, and the end of all beings.” With the Father, the Son, and the Daughter, GL is once again forming a nexus between eastern and western mythology. He is taking the eastern theme of balance and combining it with the concept of a holy trinity.

As a whole, this one episode officially opened-up the SW world to new possibilities. For one, both Father and Son state that there is much more going on with the Force than the Jedi and Sith. Also, Mortis itself may exist in an alternate SW universe. Who knows if these concepts will be revisited in this series, the LAS, or somewhere else?

In terms of the rest of the season, it looks like the show will be revisiting more traditional stories. In separate interviews, Sam Witwer and Filoni have indicated as much. Filoni stated that “We’re going to have a major clone arc coming up, as we develop Rex’s character, and the same goes for Ahsoka.”

Since Ahsoka’s “future” incarnation stated that she needs to move on from her role as Anakin’s apprentice, I’m going to guess that she will become a Jedi Knight in the near term. Or, at the least, she will be spending much more time on solo missions. Rex may also be getting a promotion and time from Anakin. Both of these scenarios lead to expanded storylines in addition to the ones that are already out there (i.e. Padme and the Senate; Yoda, Mace, and the other Jedi; Boba Fett, Aurra Sing, Cad Bane, and other bounty hunters; Grievous, Dooku, and other Seperatists, The Night Sisters, Asajj, Savage, and Maul; Satine, Mandalore, and Death Watch; etc).

I got a hindu vibe from the entire episode. Quite enjoyed it.

No. It was more like to stay away from him, rather than move from Padawan to Knight.

Yeah, that is how I interpreted it too. Future Ahsoka warned her that Anakin has an aura of the dark side and that she has to get away from him or else... This obviously foreshadows the next episode, where we see a possessed Ahsoka dueling Anakin and Obi-wan.

Well, one way of staying away from him is by becoming a Knight. Here's the exchange:

[hr]Future Ahsoka: Are you happy, child? Your master, does he treat you well?
Ahsoka: What concern of it is yours?
Future Ahsoka: I am your future; your potential.
Ahsoka: This is a trick.
Future Ahsoka: There is a wildness to you, young one - seeds of the Darkside planted by your master. Do you feel it?
Ahsoka: No. He is like no other Jedi – passionate, impulsive, but I trust him with my life.
Future Ahsoka: There are many contradictions in you – and in him. Be warned; you may never see your future if you remain his student. Leave this planet.[hr]

Indeed awesome! a Game Changer as you guys said - and Ahsoka, oh my God she's beautiful! Almost as beautiful as Ashley ;-)
I dunno what purpose the big meat-tails on her head serve but I like.

look @ 2nd screen provided by Cry.[fade]

I was thinking the same thing lately. 22 minutes is enough time for an action show but does not allow the eloquent expression they seem to be going for here. The thematic elements in this story are great and I hope they continue to explore philosophy. This episode reminds me of the weird British Star Wars comics that ran in the 80s. I think most of them got reprinted under the "Classic Star Wars' banner.

A couple a quick questions about the episode. I'm hoping someone can either confirm or deny. I haven't had much luck after repeated viewings.

First off, are we to assume that this is all taking place on a new planet or is this happening inside the monolith that ship was sucked into at the beginning of the episode? I only ask because Ahsoka mentions that it's only larger than an asteroid, it seems like you can see the stars even in the daytime - as if you were looking "outside" the thing.

Also, I saw it mentioned that future-Ahsoka was likely an incarnation of Daughter. I thought so too, initially, because as she said "You'll never see your future if you remain his student" it kind of sounds like Adrienne Wilkinson and not Ashley Eckstein. Especially the final line, "Leave this planet!" It had the clipped pronunciation that I'm familiar with from Maris Brood in TFU and not the deeper, more deliberate speech that Ashley more often employs. Also, the tone seems to change in mid-sentence. Anyone else catch this, or am I imagining things again? If it is a mix of the two then kudos to those in charge of syncing the two actors lines. I just can't seem to get a clear reading on this.

[align=center]ALTAR OF MORTIS PREVIEW VIDEO II[/align]
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"He who surrenders hope, surrenders life."

Episode Guide: Altar Of Mortis

Episode Air No: 60

Director: Brian Kalin O'Connell
Writer: Christian Taylor

Synopsis: Before the Jedi can leave Mortis, the Son takes Ahsoka captive in an attempt to entice Anakin into joining him to use their combined strength to overpower his Father and Sister. Meanwhile, the Father attempts to stave off a disastrous showdown between his children and maintain the Force's increasingly precarious balance on the planet.
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[align=center]ALTAR OF MORTIS PREVIEW EPISODE GUIDE[/align]

A lot of this storyline could have been part of the prequels.

I imagine this thread being similar to Luke's soul searching on Dagobah. The concept of their being Force users more "important" to the balance of the Force than the Jedi and Sith is the stuff that prequel mythology needed...not bullshit midichlorians.

This begs the question (which could be answered in subsequent episodes): when Father dies, and assumedly Son and Daughter can flee the sanctuary, does Son become THE villain in Star Wars? He seems to be more powerful than the Emperor could ever be. Does this mean Daughter is the most powerful non-Jedi light side user? I'd like to see how their roles play out in the larger saga.

New video of Darkside Ahsoka

[flash width=640 height=385]http://media.mtvnservices.com/mgid:uma:video:mtv.com:619096[/flash]

Anyway us Canadians could be accommodated with a youtube post?

I thought they made a point of emphasizing that it was the presence of the Force user in that specific location that made them powerful - I think it's just as likely that the Son, Daughter, and Father are only as strong as they are because they've been able to rely on the power of that location.

For those who can't view the MTV clip - it is a extended scene of the first preview featuring Anakin vs Ahsoka. There are no copies on youtube and all attempts of ripping it were unsuccessful.