***I must confess that, despite being a huge Star Wars geek, I have yet to see the landmark Clone Wars animated show in its entirety. I’m aiming to rectify that to a large extent here, as we look at pivotal episodes of the series in, “The Essential Clone Wars.”

SERIES: Star Wars: The Clone Wars
EPISODE: S5:E1 – “Revival”
WITH THE VOICE TALENTS OF: Sam Witwer, Clancy Brown, James Arnold Taylor, Jim Cummings, Matt Later
WRITER: Chris Collins
DIRECTOR: Steward Lee
PREMIERE DATE: September 29, 2012
SYNOPSIS: Maul and Savage Opress align themselves with pirates.

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By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

The brief “Master and Apprentice” scene, where Maul and Opress fight over who has what title, is consistent with George Lucas’ portrayal of the Sith. Treachery and betrayal is a staple of any Sith partnership. Each is always looking to be more powerful than the other, and in the end will make a grab for that power.

Legendary voice actor Jim Cummings performs in this episode as both Hondo Ohnaka and the warehouse director. He’s an extremely versatile performer known for voicing Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, the Tasmanian Devil, and countless other characters. This is my first exposure to Hondo, who had been on the show in previous episodes. But anyone who’s heard Cummings perform villain roles before would likely recognize his voice very quickly. The Clone Wars was very lucky to have him, as any show is.

I’ve always wondered how Maul got involved with Crimson Dawn in Solo: A Star Wars Story. This episode gives us a brief glimpse through that proverbial window, as Maul becomes involved with organized crime for what is presumably the first time.

The Jedi Obi-Wan travels with in this episode, and is ultimately killed by Savage Opress, is Adi Gallia. The character made her debut as a background player in The Phantom Menace. Oddly enough, I remember her most prominently as a playable character in the video game Star Wars Episode I: Jedi Power Battles.

What is that green vapor emanating from Opress’ wound after his arm is cut off? Did they just add that as a spooky effect?

The episode ends on a shot of Palpatine. I’d be curious to know his take on Maul’s return. Hopefully they meet again at some point, as they obviously have unfinished business…

Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.