“Disobedience is a demand for change.”

The Onderon arc which opened the storyline for the fifth season of The Clone Wars comes to its conclusion this week in an episode written by Chris Collins. It first debuted on 27 October, 2012.

A full scale battle erupts on Onderon as the people elect to fight back against the Separatists and their battle droids. The heroics are overseen by Ahsoka Tano (Ashley Eckstein) who is only there to help and train, not take part in the fight herself, but she may not be able to help being drawn into the fray alongside Saw Gerrera (Andrew Kishino) and his sister, Steela (Dawn-Lyen Gardner).

Ahsoka is forbidden to help, but when she reaches out to Obi-Wan Kenobi (James Arnold Taylor) and Anakin Skywalker (Matt Lanter) they find a way around the Jedi Council’s edict and deliver weapons, via an old friend to Ahsoka’s rebels.

But the battle won’t be without it’s price, and it’s climax will be a defining moment for Saw, Ahsoka, and her friend Lux Bonteri (Jason Spisak).

Once again the series shows that it can do the big action sequences and the small character moments that are a key ingredient to the Star Wars universe. And it also shows that the series is willing to take its time, and do service to both story and character.

“He who faces himself, finds himself.”

The Gathering was written by Christian Taylor and first aired on 3 November, 2012.  Ahsoka gets another chance to shine in this story as she guides a group of younglings to the planet of Illum where they meet up with Jedi Master Yoda (Tom Kane) who will guide them on their quest of self-discovery, and their kyber crystals, an essential part of a Jedi’s lightsaber.

The episode follows the younglings as they seek out their crystals, never realising that they are undergoing another test at the same time while Yoda observes how they interact with one another, whether aid is given or not, and how some work together for the benefit of all.

It’s a nice story, a bit of a breather after the four episode Onderon arc, and introduces a couple of cute younglings. How can you not think a little Rodian or Wookie is cute?

It’s also cool to see Yoda out and about and involved in a story, even peripherally as he is here. And of course, we get to see Illum on screen for the first time in official canon, though it was previously seen in the The Old Republic video game prior to this.

“The young are often underestimated.”

Christian Taylor pens the follow-up episode, which debuted on 10 November, 2012, also features our new younglings. While they work on constructing their lightsabers, they are travelling back to Coruscant aboard the starship, Crucible.

En route, they come under attack by Hondo (Jim Cummings).

On a delightful note, there’s a surprising voice cast as the training droid, Huyang, who is watching over the younglings, and guiding some of their lightsaber construction. The droid is voiced by none other than David Tennant!

This encounter doesn’t go very smoothly for Ahsoka, and the younglings. Hondo has decided that there will be no one left alive to tell the Jedi Council what happened, and he and his crew overpower and capture the young Padawan.

The battle rages on, and we will learn Ahsoka’s fate next week as I explore another trio of episodes from Star Wars: The Clone Wars. May the Force be with you…

Always.