“A lesson learned is a lesson earned.”

Season two of The Clone Wars got underway with this episode on 2 October, 2009. It was written by Paul Dini, and overseen by series writer, Henry Gilory, and supervising writer, Scott Murphy.

We are introduced to a new bounty hunter, Cad Bane (Corey Burton) who has been hired by Darth Sidious (Ian Abercrombie) to break into the Jedi Temple on Coruscant and steal a Jedi holocron from the archives.

Bane and his two companions find himself not only dealing with the archive librarian, Jocasta Nu (Flo Di Re) and a Jedi Padawan, Ahsoka Tano (Achley Eckstein) who is on guard duty because of reckless actions during an engagement on Felucia, a sequence which opens the season.

Meanwhile, Yoda (Tom Kane), Obi-Wan Kenobi (James Arnold Taylor), and Anakin Skywalker (Matt Lanter) have their own suspicions that someone may be trying to break into the vault, and are trying to track them down.

The animation, while still in keeping with the first season in design and style, seems much improved, and a tad more cinematic. And with the introduction of Bane, the season seems to be off to an amazing start, as he proves to be a devious character that one loves to hate, and one powerful enough to thwart and best a Jedi without the use of the Force or a lightsaber.

He’s good.

And this holocron coupled with a special Kyber crystal will allow whoever reads it to learn the locations and names of all the Force sensitive children in the galaxy!

“Overconfidence is the most dangerous form of carelessness.”

George Krstic with Gilroy and Murphy pens the follow-up episode to the season opener that aired on 2 October, 2009.

Anakin and Ahsoka are in pursuit of Bane who has captured the Jedi Master Bolla Ropal (Baker) who is in possession of the Kyber crystal. They launch an all out rescue attempt, and recovery of the holocron and crystal.

The assault on Bane’s Separatist ship is pretty cool, but also shows that Anakin may be overconfident in his actions, as is Ahsoka, but so is Bane.

The helmets Anakin and Ahsoka use while in space have a wonderful retro 50s feel to them, which ties in nicely with the aesthetic of the universe, and serves as a fun nod to the actual history of the creation of Star Wars.

But will Bane get away with the holocron and the information, or will Ahoska and Anakin recover the crystal?

“The first step in correcting a mistake is patience.”

Bane, under orders from Sidious and using the information gleaned from the holocron beings a hunt across the galaxy to kidnap Force-sensitive children in this episode that was written by Wendy Mericle, Gilroy and Drew Z. Greenberg. It debuted on 9 October, 2009.

Mace Windu (Terrence Carson) joins in the hunt, and as the Jedi scour the galaxy for Bane, they are able to put a stop to his kidnapping plan.

There are some great chases, and I love the look of the series, even the ships, planets, and characters designed for the series look like they can fit into the cinematic universe, and that, of course, is a good thing, considering the series is considered canon.

I am loving these adventures as well as the stories, their attention to character, and of course in-universe continuity. This third episode wraps up the season’s opening story arc, and braces us for more excitement to come as Star Wars: The Clone Wars continues. There will be more next week, as I jump ahead a few episodes to maintain the timeline as officially established.

Until then, may the Force be with you…