Top 100 Star Wars Characters 40-31

These characters, as we move forward, have more and more influence to the events of the saga as a whole. 

To see previous parts of the list, click here: 

http://thestarwarsdefender.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-top-100-greatest-star-wars.html 

here: http://thestarwarsdefender.blogspot.com/2013/02/top-100-star-wars-characters-90-81.html

here: http://thestarwarsdefender.blogspot.com/2013/03/top-100-star-wars-characters-80-71.html

here: http://thestarwarsdefender.blogspot.com/2013/03/top-star-wars-characters-70-61.html

here: http://thestarwarsdefender.blogspot.com/2013/05/top-100-star-wars-characters-60-51.html

and here: http://thestarwarsdefender.blogspot.com/2013/06/top-100-star-wars-characters-50-41.html

The future of Star Wars: Are we headed for doom?

Is Star Wars heading for a nasty place???

Folks, as Mace Windu once said, our worst fears have been realized. The Clone Wars as a television show, has been cancelled.

It was a ride I never thought I would see, way back in 2008 when this all started. And after 5 great years in which the show kept getting better and better, it's sad this all bogged down to this. After the emotional ending of Season 5, I had been so moved that for some  reason, I wasn't shocked when I saw the news that The Clone Wars was ending. For some reason, I kind off saw that coming.

Ultimately, the only logical explanation as to why this happened, bogs down to the fact that Papa George is no longer running the company he once made. The Disney executives figured out that they didn't want a distraction to be in place when Episode VII gets released, so they decided to cancel the show. Not only that, but also Detours is getting moved into a future release, proving that the whole ''Disney hates the prequels'' is pure nonesense.

At the same time, all of this gives reason for pessimism, despite how optimistic the crew of the CW might sound, on the future of the franchise. Even though we are going to get a couple of more arcs (like the Anakin, Clovis, and Padme one) released in some way, shape or form, it does bring to question: Will the arcs be able to conclude the fates of Ahsoka, Rex, Darth Maul, Ventress and Bo-Katan? Even though the show managed to break through the 100 episode goal, I feel as if it could have accomplished so much more. All of things brings down to the fact, that as I mentioned earlier, the future of Star Wars is uncertain and not looking very good under the wing of a corporate animal.

I really hope that at the same time I am writing this piece, that George Lucas is simultaneously in Skywalker Ranch sitting with Lawrence Kasdan, Michael Arndt, Simon Kilberg and JJ Abrams, telling them that they can't go ahead and screw up the next trilogy of Star Wars. I hope he is telling them that they need to keep the prophecy of the Chosen One and NOT include a Sith as a villain, that in his view, peace has existed in the galaxy since the Battle of Endor, and so on. Or else folks, if this next installment does not adhere to the vision of the man himself, and is instead thumb nosed by Disney executives just like how the Clone Wars was, I might as well file my divorce of the Star Wars fandom. At least, the things that Disney ends up releasing.

It breaks my heart that what has become an integral part of the greatest film franchise of all time, is now not ending the way it should have. At an end note, I do wish to clarify that I am looking forward to the next arcs that will be in some form released, which will hopefully wrap up The Clone Wars somewhat nicely.

On the other hand, I also wish to take this time to thank George, Dave Filoni, Joel Aron, Killian Plunkett, Ashley Eckstein, Matt Lanter, James Arnold Taylor, Catherine Taber, Sam Witwer, the late Ian Abercrombie, Stephen Stanton, Jon Fravreau, Jaime King, and everyone else involved in all of these seasons, bringing us great episodes of Star Wars goodness. 

May the Force be With You.

The Wrong Jedi Review

After a depressing week in which I dedicated myself into completing my social service hours in order to graduate from High School, I come to see the conclusion of Season 5. I woke up this morning from a series of weird dreams and nightmares all relating to the episode I just watched, acting as a sort of a premonition to what was about to happen. In all honesty, this was an outcome I did not expect. I mean, has the world gone crazy? First we get that Episode VII is coming out in 2015, now that Ahsoka LEAVES THE JEDI ORDER??????????

This was an unexpected and rather depressing turn of events.While I knew that Ahsoka's fate was inevitably going to be determined at some point, this was the option I least thought possible, and yet it happened. I was in a very tense state the entire episode, and this all became even worse when I realized that Tarkin and most likely Palpatine, where behind the events that led to Ahsoka deciding not to come back to the Order after the trial. At least Obi-Wan was smart in not being in favor with Ahsoka being expelled so that she would face trial.

I can understand Anakin's anger in more than one way, and I guess we all saw in a deeper way why he ended up turning to the dark side. The gargantuous question that we all are thinking right now is, what the hell happens to her now? Does she turn to the dark side and become Count Dooku's apprentice? Does she become a bounty hunter with a conscience, similar to how Sugi is? Does she end up facing Darth Vader at one point after the Clone Wars? Does she help Bo-Katan reconstruct Mandalore? Does she have a romance with Lux Bonteri? Does she end up joining Luke Skywalker's New Jedi Order in Episode VII? Does she live as a hermit with the Ewoks? Which one is it, Dave Filoni?

All of this bogs down eventually to this: This character has been building up in the subconscious of everyone for the past 5 years, becoming more and more of a Jedi as time passed. And now that this bomb was dropped in front of our backyards, what was all that character development for at the end of the day? All of these things remind me of an EU book I read a while back titled Legacy of the Jedi, which was basically focused on the character Lorian Nod, whom was also expelled from the Order at about Ahsoka's age and was a friend of Dooku's. Nod eventually looses his own abilities to use the force, which brings to question, will Ahsoka loose those abilities?

I'm not sure about anything anymore my friends. The matter of the fact is that until I don't see the other part of the story, I can't say if Ahsoka's departure from the Order was a good move at the end of the day. For now, I'm basically like when I first saw Empire, bitterly disappointed. Until I don't see what is at hand next I won't know if I truly liked this ending or not. For now you're all welcome to join me, at the Home of the Blues. link

The Lawless Review

Man, that was some episode. I'm going to have to restate my previous comment from ''Shades of Reason'' because THIS episode was the one closest to Revenge of the Sith in tone and emotion in the entire show.

Darth Maul had quite the plan to enact his ultimate revenge on Obi-Wan. The sad part was that ultimately his plan worked, and he killed Satine right in front of him. I was on the verge of tears when I saw Satine tell Obi-Wan how she had always loved him and the look on his face clearly showed how he felt. I really feel Obi-Wan's pain now and I really hate Darth Maul at this point. Especially due to the fact that Maul has killed both Kenobi's Lover and his Master.

The incredible thing was that Obi-Wan showed no signs of hatred to Maul, and tried to understand why he had become the bad person he was. It clearly highlights how similar Luke Skywalker is to Obi-Wan when he faces a similar situation in Return of the Jedi and faces Palpatine,  contrary to Anakin, who can't control his emotions and acts much more severely when Padme dies.

Once Maul realized that he was feeling the presence of his Master, his look of fear was clearly highlighted. Not only was Sidious shown to be incredibly powerful in the Force, we saw that no matter how sadistic Maul is, Sidious is the incarnation of the devil. I was left wondering if Mother Talzin's magic was just some kind of an illusion after Savage died and he reverted to his original state. That leaves us with the million dollar question: What will Sidious use Maul for now? Help him hunt down Talzin? Have him duel Darth Tyranus/Count Dooku to see who is the most worthy apprentice? I guess we will have to tune in Season 6 to find out.

It also brings to question: what will happen to Bo-Katan after the Republic goes to Mandalore to reorganize the planet? We found out somewhat shockingly that Bo-Katan and Satine were sisters, which I hope their relationship is further addressed in future episodes.

The only thing that I didn't really like was that it was made a bit too obvious in the episode that Sidious and Palpatine are the same persona. I guess some kids who haven't seen Episode III and think that Palpatine is still a good guy might have changed their mind. Otherwise, it was a fantastic episode, one in which made me have more respect for Obi-Wan, my favorite Star Wars character.

Shades of Reason Review

The plan is now sprung into action. Black Sun, the Pykes and Savage attack the ports of Mandalore in  a plot to make Death Watch look as the heroes of Mandalore, and poor Duchess Satine be seen as a weak one. And it worked. Brilliantly. 

Ultimately I guess that one of the reasons George wanted to set this episode up in the first place, was to use the conquest of Mandalore by Death Watch as a foreshadowing element to what will take place in Revenge of the Sith. Pre Vizsla is seen by the people as some type of hero, similar to how Palpatine was seen as a hero after he had supposedly been ''scared and deformed'' by the Jedi. At the end of the day, however, Vizsla's rule comes to an end, thanks in part for his foolish pride, and for not killing Maul when he had the chance. 

Savage acted less like an idiot, as he had in the previous episode, and did more impressive things this time. Maul on the other hand, did the predictable thing: He realizes that he can't rule Mandalore, in great part because he looks too much like the devil, and is going to scare everyone else, so he needed someone to act as his puppet ruler, in this case, the corrupt Prime Minister Almec. And now that Darth Maul is the current Mandalorian, his character has risen to an even more ''cool'' state. 

The fight between Pre Vizsla and Maul proved to be one of the best we have seen so far, and despite the fact that Vizsla is a great warrior and sword fighter, he simply is no match for a Sith Lord. He died somewhat honorably to be honest, and what let to his downfall was his pride. Bo-Katan comes to her senses and realizes that she doesn't want to be ruled by a monster like Maul, and decides to rebel against the Maul Mandalorians. I don't know why, but I have a feeling that Bo-Katan is becoming too much like Ventress, in the sense that they are both female characters how are changing for better. 

Duchess Satine's wish to have Mandalore free of corruption and war ultimately led to the fall of her own government. As much as I like the character, she simply should have foreshadowed the takeover of Death Watch, and should have armed herself when she had time. However, I don't want to be too bad with the Duchess, and we do have to recognize that she was smart in not underestimating Maul's power, unlike Bo-Katan. 

As far as tone and emotion is concerned, this episode has been by far the closest we have been to Episode III. It's only a sign that this war and this show, are coming to a close. 

Eminence Review

Play time is over, friends. The shroud of the dark side has fallen.

Seriously, though, besides the fact that I just quoted Yoda, this episode came down to be one of the darkest in the Clone Wars. The allegiance between Darth Maul and Pre Vizsla comes down to be one of mistrust and betrayal, since their only common goal is to exact vengeance on the Jedi, in particular Obi-Wan. Vizsla doesn't understand exactly what Maul's plans are. And why should he? He only cares about taking back Mandalore, and a Sith would be useful in order to get him rid of the Jedi who could prevent his wish from coming true, in particular Obi-Wan. On the other hand, Maul is a Sith- a villain who is always unhappy and only wants to get more and more stuff because he can never be satiated. He wants to not only kill Kenobi, but also create an army of the criminal underworld and take control of Mandalore in order to have himself control of the Neutral Council of Systems, in order to have a third party that can rival the Republic and the Separatists, and compete with his old Master in the game of galactic domination. Brilliant plan, isn't it?

One thing that does come to mind is, how and why did Death Watch find Maul's escape pod and decide to open it to see what was in their? The only logical explanation(s) are the following: 1, it was pure coincidence., or 2 the much more logical one, this was a setup by Mother Talzin. How she managed to trace the Death Watch into Darth Maul is anyone's guess, but it would make sense given the interest Talzin has with the Sith Lord.

Another thing I'd like to point out is that Savage acts too much like a moron. I mean, seriously. At least Darth Maul can control his anger and not beat up and destroy the droids that are repairing you in the first place!!!

Jabba was also kind of laughing when he was forced to join with Maul (like he always does). Bo-Katan is pretty skeptical about the Sith, and the fight between Embo and Savage was freakin awesome. I wonder how many times the Black Sun will be forced to replace its own members. It was also interesting to see the new concept of the Pykes.

Duchess Satine is in for an unpleasant surprise.