“The truth about yourself is the hardest to accept.”

A brand new story arc opens the sixth season of The Clone Wars. With an original airdate of 7 March, 2014, the season opened with The Unknown, written by Katie Lucas.

When a clone trooper, Tup (Dee Bradley Baker) inadvertently kills a jedi master while suffering from an attack brought on by a neurological disease, Anakin Skywalker (Matt Lanter) accompanies the sick clone back to the cloning facilities on Kamino in search of an answer.

However, when Darth Sidious (Tim Curry) hears about this, he orders Separatist forces to capture Tup, otherwise his long term plans may be upset. It looks like something triggered an early release of Order 66 in Tup.

A massive battle allows the battle droids to claim the clone, but Skywalker rescues him, and sends him on his way to Kamino.

What a great way to open the season and a fantastic tie in with events we know are going to happen down the line. Sure there are some voice changes, Curry is very noticeable as Sidious, but it’s Curry, and I love him, so I’ll deal.

So, I’m ready to buckle up and see where this season takes me!

“The wise benefit from a second opinion.”

Katie Lucas continues penning this arc with Conspiracy. This episode debuted on 7 March, 2014, part of an opening night premiere that paired it with the previous episode and the next one.

On Kamino Tup is being examined, but not everyone is working to make him better. It seems the Kaminoans, who created the Clones are well aware of the tumour inside Tup’s head, they just want to figure out why it was triggered early.

Fives, Tup’s friend and fellow clone, pairs with a medical droid (Ben Diskin) to conduct his own investigation and brushes up against a dark secret which Palpatine, and his forces will cover up and hide at every opportunity.

A great episode, well crafted, and executed and it shows how much the series has grown over the seasons. Gone are the days of silly jokes about baby Hutts. We’re now deep in the reality of the Clone Wars, and the machinations on both sides as victory is worked towards.

I’m loving this season so far. Let’s hope the strong story writing and character arcs continue to develop and pay off!

“When in doubt, go to the source.”

The final episode this week continues the Tup arc even though the character has died.

Palpatine has asked for the body to be transported back to Coruscant to be examined by (his controlled) doctors there. But Fives is still investigating from his end and is determined to learn the truth. After he breaks out of holding following his arrest at the end of the previous episode for interfering.

He and the medical droid elude capture, and return to the cloning facility to search for answers, even as Dooku (Corey Burton) works to keep the information secret and secure.

Still, the pair are able to garner enough evidence including the chip/tumour that was in Tup’s head, as well as the corresponding one in Fives, to present it to Jedi Master Shaak Ti (Tasia Valenza). Its enough to generate some doubt, and get Fives, and the evidence away from Kamino.

But will it be enough to reveal the dark secret hidden within the minds of the clones, placed there while they are still in an embryonic state? Hey we all know how this is going to play out…

The battle rages on next week as we get the final instalment in this story arc, and season six of The Clone Wars continues.

May the Force be with you…