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.
27: “Children of the Force” (Season Two, Episode 3)
"The first step to correcting a mistake is patience."
Synopsis:
Cad Bane, unable to resist the combined Force powers of the Jedi, agrees to lead Obi-Wan Kenobi and Mace Windu to his hidden base to retrieve the stolen holocron, while Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka venture to Mustafar to save the kidnapped children from Darth Sidious' evil plot.
Analysis:
What's the life of a child worth? For the thousands on the Jedi-protected list of Force-sensitive youngsters, their abilities and potential capabilities outweigh their connection to any homeworld or family.
The Jedi would take them away, at a certain age, to train at the temple and become a Force for good in the galaxy, peacekeepers in a tumultuous time.
Darth Sidious' nefarious plot involves ripping them away from their parents when they're still only babies, and inflicting a risky surgical procedure to raise an army of Force-wielding spies, a network of seers to bring the Emperor's enemies to their knees.
The two paths are so different yet so much the same. In either case, a life-altering decision is made for the younglings too early for them to truly comprehend what's happening. They are malleable, innocent, easily influenced toward one path or the other.
But the Jedi, practitioners of the light, succeed where the dark side falters.
The Sith operate with always two, master and apprentice, secret labs on far-off lava planets, and paid bounty hunters to do their dirty work. When Anakin and Ahsoka arrive on Mustafar, there are only a couple of droid nannies and a self-destruct code between the kidnapped younglings and freedom (or potentially a fiery death).
Meanwhile, the Jedi have a network of support and a fierce will. They already have that which Sidious would try to create through experimentation and they use it for good, joining forces in meditation to amplify their abilities as seers, and utilizing the Jedi mind trick in stereo to interrogate Bane.
In the race against time, the Jedi win out. The children and the holocron are safe...for now.
Intel:
- Over the Gungan baby's crib hangs a mobile with two familiar beasts -- a colo clawfish and a sand aqua monster, like the pair seen in underwater sequence in The Phantom Menace.
What did you think of the episode? Tell us in the comments below and share on social with #CloneWarsRewatch!
Next up: Come back Thursday, January 3, when unlikely partnerships are formed in "Bounty Hunters."
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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