Tag Dagobah

The Essential Clone Wars: “Voices”

Rob Siebert Leave a comment

***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: S6:E11 – “Voices”
WITH THE VOICE TALENTS OF: Tom Kane, Matt Lanter, Terrence Carson, James Arnold Taylor, Catherine Taber
GUEST-STARRING: Liam Neeson
WRITER: Christian Taylor
DIRECTOR: Danny Keller
PREMIERE DATE: March 7, 2014
SYNOPSIS: Guided by the spirit of Qui-Gon Jinn, Yoda goes on a special quest.

***New around here? Check out our Star Wars review archive!***

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

First and foremost, it’s extremely cool to have Liam Neeson back. Even independently of him having played Qui-Gon in The Phantom Menace, he’s got such a great voice. He’d previously come in for the season three episode, “Ghosts of Mortis.” But his role here is obviously much more substantial in the grand scheme of things.

The prequels never suitably followed up, or even explored, the idea of Qui-Gon speaking to Yoda from beyond the grave, and how that ultimately leads to Yoda and Obi-Wan being able to come back as Force ghosts. So I’m extremely grateful that The Clone Wars explored that, and with plenty of fan service to boot.

For all the unexplored territory they venture into, these last few episodes of season six just might be the most essential of “The Essential Clone Wars.”

This episode continues on a theme we’ve seen in previous episodes, including the last one: The idea of public confidence in the Jedi being undermined. The idea being that part of how bad guys bring down a society is by diluting public confidence in its institutions. Not to get too political here, but we saw a lot of that recently during the Trump presidency.

The scenes with Yoda in the hospital bed, and then later in the isolation tank (shown above), do a nice job of reminding us just how small and seemingly vulnerable the character is. He’s not vulnerable, of course. But the visual is interesting.

Oddly enough Rig Nema, the doctor character, is voiced by Catherine Taber, who also provides the voice for Padme. Even more odd is that she doesn’t do much to differentiate between her Padme voice and her Rig Nema voice. So it essentially sounds like Yoda is being tended to by Padme.

As fun as it is to watch Yoda explore Dagobah for the first time, and walk into the same cave he’ll send Luke into decades later, you’ve got to believe it was even more fun for the animators to work on. There’s no imagery more synonymous with classic Star Wars than Yoda in the swamp.

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

George Lucas on Star Wars: The Cave Scene

Rob Siebert 1 Comment

***Think what you will about George Lucas, but in terms of Star Wars, it can all be traced back to him. That’s why I always find it so interesting to listen to him talk about it. His creative process, the reason certain decisions were made, and how these movies became the pop cultural staples they are. This space is dedicated to just that. This is “George Lucas on Star Wars.”***

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

The Empire Strikes Back, Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, vision

The Scene: At Yoda’s behest, Luke walks into a cave. Inside, he’s confronted by Darth Vader. A fight ensues in which Luke beheads his opponent, only to discover his own face under Vader’s mask. It has all been an illusion.

George Lucas Says (via The Empire Strikes Back commentary track): “Part of the [cave scene] is learning about the Force, learning the fact that the Force is within you and at the same time you create your own bad vibes. So if you think badly about things, or you act badly, or you bring fear into a situation, you’re going to have to defend yourself, or you’re going to have to suffer the consequences of that. In this particular case, he takes his sword in with him, which means he’s going to have combat. … He is creating this situation in his mind, because on a larger level, what caused Darth Vader to become Darth Vader is the same thing that makes Luke bring that sword in with him. … [Luke] has the capacity to become Darth Vader, simply by using the hate, and fear, and using weapons, as opposed to using compassion, caring, and kindness.”

I Say: This is probably blasphemous to many, but those words from Lucas being to mind a line from The Phantom Menace: “Your focus determines your reality.” Lucas may suck at writing dialogue, but at least he’s consistent.

Something I’ve always been a little unsure of is Yoda’s relationship to the cave. On this same commentary track, Empire director Irvin Keshner says that Yoda is “setting it all up, what’s going to happen in the cave.” That always seemed to be the indication based on the cinematic language of this sequence. But if you listen to Lucas tell it, the cave seems to have mystical elements on its own, and Luke taps into them via his connection to the Force.

That idea is supported by other Star Wars creators as well, including Timothy Zahn in his Thrawn trilogy of books, and a recent Supreme Leader Snoke comic written by Tom Taylor.

I’m inclined to think this is a situation where everybody is right, and we just don’t know how all the dots are connected yet.

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

Astonishing Art: Star Wars Trilogy by Florey

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By Rob Siebert
Going from Boy to Man…Very Slowly.

I’m a sucker for posters like these. Ones that maintain a consistent design and take you through multiple stories, often following the same character.

Yes, I’m a little late for Star Wars Day with this one. But let’s be honest: This site has never been hurting for Star Wars content. Ergo, I present to you Florey’s take on Luke Skywalker’s journey in the original Star Wars Trilogy.

The posters are for sale now at Bottleneck Gallery. Florey can also be found on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.