An alliance helps the timid farmers of Felucia learn to fight for themselves.
To celebrate the 10th anniversary of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and the all-new episodes coming thanks to #CloneWarsSaved, we’re undertaking a full chronological rewatch of the five original seasons, The Lost Missions, and the theatrical release. We’d be honored if you would join us and share your thoughts on the award-winning series.
28: “Bounty Hunters” (Season Two, Episode 17)
"Courage makes heroes, but trust builds friendship."
Synopsis:
After a crash landing on Felucia, Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Ahsoka seek aid from the local spice farmers only to learn that the villagers are the ones who are in real need. Beset by Hondo Ohnaka and his band of pirates, the farmers have contracted four bounty hunters to protect them.
Analysis:
As Ahsoka says, "You don't have to look tough to be tough."
Or, you know, size matters not. It's training and collaboration that counts in a conflict, and this episode explores both through the unlikely alliance between Jedi and bounty hunter as well as the perseverance of the at-first timid villagers.
When we first meet Casiss and the other farmers of Felucia, they are literally cowering in hiding, beaten down by the onslaught of attacks by Hondo Ohnaka. Their only recourse is paying bounty hunters to act as the first line of defense -- a hired blaster to ward off a pirate's gang. They see the crash-landed Jedi as a ray of hope in the conflict, three more soldiers to add to the ranks of their security and defense forces.
But like the freedom fighters they'll later train on Onderon, the Jedi know that they cannot stay on Felucia and fight the battle for the villagers. Their only recourse is to train them to be independent, confident in their own abilities to stand up for themselves, defending their land against the pirate gang and any other raiders that come along.
Anakin and Embo patiently give the villagers the most basic skills, teaching them how the simple tools they already possess can be repurposed as weapons. It's an important lesson in parenting and mentorship -- defend a village from raiders and they will be safe for a day. Teach them to fight and they will be protected for a lifetime. Although the farmers don't have much confidence in their own abilities, it's not surprising that a village attuned to the need for hard work and cooperative collaboration to prosper would flourish in self defense given the right tools and training.
Jedi and bounty hunters don't normally wind up on the same side, but a war will do that -- shift alliances and agreements until sometimes the person you're fighting with is simply the enemy of your enemy. And this gang is hardly the type of mercenary scum we're used to seeing. They're more like self-interested scoundrels, working a job to get paid but not devoid of all feeling toward the innocents they defend, as Sugi suggests.
Like the farmers, the bounty hunter Serapis is scared and in hiding, ensconced in an intimidating armored suit to disguise his small stature and nervous demeanor.
And just like the farmers, he's far more powerful than one might expect judging him by his size.
Intel:
- The bounty hunter Embo has at least two things in common with Dave Filoni -- the supervising director provides the voice of the alien and they both favor cool hats.
- The episode pays homage to Akira Kurosawa in tribute to the film The Seven Samurai.
What did you think of the episode? Tell us in the comments below and share on social with #CloneWarsRewatch!
Next up: Come back next Thursday when war awakens a massive creature in "The Zillo Beast."
Associate Editor Kristin Baver is a writer and all-around sci-fi nerd who always has just one more question in an inexhaustible list of curiosities. Sometimes she blurts out “It’s a trap!” even when it’s not. Want to talk more about The Clone Wars? Hop on Twitter and tell @KristinBaver what you thought about today’s episode.
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