Kristin Baver is a journalist who loved science fiction before she could even write her own name. (Seriously, she was a card-carrying member of the Star Wars Fan Club when she had no other real reason to own a wallet.) Now she gets paid to pen stories and book reviews, interview fellow fans, writers, and other interesting people, and aspires to one day craft a Boushh disguise and join the ranks of the 501st Legion.







To celebrate the 10th anniversary of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and the all-new episodes coming thanks to #CloneWarsSaved, we’re undertaking a full chronological rewatch of the five original seasons, The Lost Missions, and the theatrical release. We’d be honored if you would join us and share your thoughts on the award-winning series.

63: “Counterattack” (Season Three, Episode 19)

“Anything that can go wrong will.”

Synopsis:

With freed prisoners in tow and the brutal warden attempting desperately to thwart them, Obi-Wan and Anakin must search for a way out of the Citadel and back to Coruscant amid more traps, perils, and pitfalls. Their bid to board their shuttle fails when heavy weapons fire destroys the escape craft and Trooper Echo dies in the blast.

Analysis:

This is some rescue!

Far in the future aboard the Death Star, Grand Moff Tarkin will prove to be one of the few people who Darth Vader respects, or at the very least listens to.

But here at the beginning of their relationship, while trying to escape from the Citadel, Anakin Skywalker and Captain Tarkin are still sizing each other up. After initially butting heads, they seem to be forming the start of an alliance. Behind enemy lines, and elsewhere on the battle field, Jedi methods are not always the answer to an unscrupulous war. On this they can agree.

To Tarkin’s point, the Jedi code and the values of the order do preclude members from enforcing some tactics that could be militaristically beneficial. To achieve victory, sometimes one must be willing “to do whatever it takes to win,” Tarkin says. And that is not the Jedi way.

Anakin has come to a similar conclusion on his own, suggesting yet another way he’s begun to diverge from the path of the Jedi (beyond, you know, his secret marriage to Padmé).

In a tunnel in the dark, surrounding a fortress built to trap Jedi, Tarkin and Anakin begin to forge a new path that will lead them to serve the Empire.

Intel:

To differentiate Lola Sayu from the lava planet of Mustafar, the molten rivers of the planet surrounding the Citadel were given a bright yellow hue to suggest sulfur.

What did you think of the episode? Tell us in the comments below and share on social with #CloneWarsRewatch!

Next up: Come back next Thursday when the rescue mission itself needs saving in “Citadel Rescue.”

Associate Editor Kristin Baver is a writer and all-around sci-fi nerd who always has just one more question in an inexhaustible list of curiosities. Sometimes she blurts out “It’s a trap!” even when it’s not. Want to talk more about The Clone Wars? Hop on Twitter and tell @KristinBaver what you thought about today’s episode.

Site tags: #StarWarsBlog, #CloneWarsRewatch