Star Wars the Clone Wars "Citadel Rescue" T.V. Review



Droid Surfing

Want to watch this episode?  Head over to Starwars.com or follow this link. http://starwars.com/video/view/001238.html.  Episodes are put on the website the Monday after they air on TV, and are taken down two weeks later.

     While the Clone Wars series has quite the treasure trove of great stories, one thing that the series has struggled with is giving those stories a strong ending.  Half of the time the ending either comes too quickly, is anticlimactic, or a combination of the two.  However, the Citadel manages to hit it big with it's conclusion, "Citadel Rescue," which not only did continue the trend of raising the stakes as seen in "Counterattack," but also set the stage for further Anakin/Tarkin team ups.

     The story continues with the team making their way to a landing site where Republic ships and evacuate them safely.  The final push was done remarkably well with the sense of impending doom as the droids closed in.  I was also surprised to be a bit sad to see the reprogrammed battle droids destroyed, making a final stand against the Separatists in defense of our heroes.  Sure, they're goofy, with their cries of "all for one and one for all!", but it still would have been cool for them to survive the trip and continue serving as R2's personal army.  Just imagine all of the pranks on C-3PO that now will never be...

Spoilers Being Here: 

     One scene that I really liked is when Osi Sobeck prepares to throw Tarkin in the lava, only to by stabbed in the back by Ahsoka.  It was a doubly dark move, both for killing a guy and saving the future destroyer of Alderaan.  It was also a nice touch when Tarkin remarks that Anakin trained her well, bringing to light the fact that he was the one who taught her such impulsive behavior.

Spoilers End Here...ish

    Like I said, the ending was done almost perfectly.  Anakin's handshake with Tarkin seemed to seal their fates, with the lightest hint of "Imperial March" decorating the scene.  Hopefully we'll see them work together again soon.  My only nitpick about their relationship is that the episode never took the opportunity to confirm Tarkin's suspicions that the Jedi's moral code was hampering the war effort.  It would have been nice to see the Jedi stumble here, and watch how both Anakin and Tarkin react.

Conclusion:  When this story arc first started I assumed that it would be nothing more than fun but mindless action sequences.  Fortunately this episode, and in part the previous, gave this story line relevence both in the Clone Wars series and Star Wars as a whole.

Rating: 9/10

Favorite Moment (Spoilers):  I always assumed that Even Piell would survive to the end, so it was kind of a shock to watch him die.  While we didn't really know him before hand, there was still some emotion in the scene in which he gives Ahsoka the information that he's been keeping, followed by a visually striking scene in which his body is ceremoniously lower into the lava.