Hello everyone and welcome to another edition of Clone Wars catch up as we kick off season three with episode 1, Clone Cadets. It took a moment for me to work out exactly when we were as this episode acted as a people, introducing us to Domino Squad as they were just graduating from the clone trooper academy. I don’t get why there wasn’t a caption or something to not when it was set (or do it as part flashback, part modern day) as it caused unnecessary confusion. Or why was it not just in season one and done in order? It was just an odd way to start a new season.

In saying that I still very much enjoyed the episode. In previous episode discussions I have mentioned how well the show does at making the clones individuals. They did that again here with each member of the squad showing off their own distinct personalities. I liked the introduction of a “reject clone” too being used only for maintenance. It was sad though when you think about it: that guy does not have a nice life. Is he forced to stay their like a slave? Do they even pay him? At least he got a bit of a happy ending by getting the medal…yeah his life still wasn’t that great.

The whole setup with the training simulator is always a trope that I tend to enjoy. It reminded me of a cross between save the citizen from Sky High and that scene from the Buzz Lightyear movie. They need these kind of simulators in real life.

Episode 2 took us forwards in time to see what was left of the Domino squad returning to Kamino as it came under attack from Grevious and Ventress. It was a very action-centric episode so there isn’t that much to comment on, but the scale of the battle and some of the animation sequences (like the shattering mechanics) really showed how the show has developed and grown from season one. It was great to have Ventress back too as she has been underused if I’m honest recently. She is such an interesting character with force powers (using them to deadly effect in this episode as she pulled a soldier onto her drawn lightsaber) which I would like to learn more about.

Having the previous episode placed where it was made a bit more sense to as you became more invested in the story having only just seen the origins of the squad. It made it all the more sadder too when they decided to brutally kill off ninety nine. At least he got to show off some heroics before tragically meeting his end. And when he revealed the medal I only just realised that it was Heavy who sacrificed himself in the “Rookies” episode all the way back in season one. I guess that is the problem with having episodes out of chronological order is you forget things which leads to moments not having the emotional impact that they intended.

DD Rating: (1) 7.25/10 (2)6.75