Star Wars: Clone Wars - Volume Two

DVD Region 1 Review

By Mark Newbold

2005 will go down in fans minds as an amazing year.  Not only did it bring us Revenge of the Sith, but a plethora of Expanded Universe material, Celebration III, Dark Lord – The Rise of Darth Vader and the promise of more to come.  But a matter of unfinished business was the release of Clone Wars – Volume 2. 

Clearly thrilled with the work on the first two micro series, and the fan acclaim and awards that came along with it; Lucas gave Genndy Tartakovsky the task of revealing a number of key plot points that have bugged fans for years.  The gold plating on See-Threepio and the events surrounding Anakin's promotion to Jedi Knight were revealed during Volume 2, and not in Revenge of the Sith. Also, the micro series acted as an introduction to the space battle over Coruscant and introduced the latest arch-villain General Grievous, but most vitally it told the story of Supreme Chancellor Palpatine's kidnapping by Separatist forces. Many found the opening moments of Revenge of the Sith somewhat confusing, and realized that there was a back story that they were unaware of beyond what they had read in the scroll-up.   Well,  Clone Wars Volume II tells the story of the scroll up, finishing just moments before the fabled `Waterfall shot’ of Ben and Ani diving into the Battle of Coruscant.

Shown on the Cartoon Network during the last week of March 2005 the final Clone Wars micro-series is the perfect connector between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, with a story-arc that expands upon the promise of the first series and starts the rollercoaster ride towards the final film. Spread over an hour the five episodes received Emmy awards for Individual Achievement in Animation and Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming One Hour or More).

Broke down into five twelve minute episodes, Volume II plays like this :

Episode 21 - Obi-Wan's squad of ARC Troopers have a new mission - rescuing the Jedi on Hypori. They arrive to find Ki-Adi-Mundi locked in combat with General Grievous and the other Jedi either dead or injured. Driving the cyborg mastermind off they manage to pull an injured Ki-Adi-Mundi, Aayla Secura and Shaak Ti onto the gunship and escape. Back on Coruscant the Jedi Council debates promoting Anakin to the rank of Jedi Knight.

Episode 22 - As a Jedi Knight, Anakin fights bravely across the galaxy, leading ground forces on Kooriva and even accompanying Saesee Tiin on deep space missions. Obi-Wan and Anakin then have to infiltrate on enemy city and soon get a new assignment together - one that leads to another piece in the puzzle of the Chosen One.

Episode 23 - On Nelvaan (a tip of the hat to Nelvana, the animation house responsible for Ewoks, Droids and the Boba Fett segment in the Star Wars Holiday Special) Anakin discovers he has interrupted a youth's rite of passage. In order to must good he must take the youths place to slay the great evil of the land. Meanwhile, General Grievous' forces begin a full assault on Coruscant, and Jedi Masters Yoda, Mace Windu and Saesee Tiin must battle the enemy on the ground, in the air and in orbit. But the attack is a feint and Grievous himself then shows up in Palpatine's office...

Episode 24 - Discovering that Supreme Chancellor Palpatine is the true target of the Separatist assault, Shaak Ti and several other Jedi must escort the Chancellor to safety whilst General Grievous and his bodyguards are in pursuit of their prey. Meanwhile, Anakin discovers a tragic Techno Union secret on Nelvaan.

Episode 25 - On Nelvaan Anakin frees the slaves but ventures close to the Dark Side of the Force, while on Coruscant Grievous slips past Palpatine's security and infiltrates his bunker. Defeating Shaak Ti, Grievous is about to make his escape back to the orbiting battle fleet when Jedi Master Mace Windu turns up and gives battle.  On hearing the news of the siege on Coruscant Obi-Wan and Anakin order their own fleet into the fray, leading into the opening scenes of Revenge of the Sith.

In the same manner as Bridging the Saga on the Volume I DVD, the Connecting the Dots featurette is a documentary that leads the viewer through the creative process used by Tartakovsky and co while they storyboard, animate and produce the five episodes. The documentary also discusses their relationship with Lucas and the various meetings at Skywalker Ranch that were necessary to create the story-arc that linked Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, as well as feedback that Tartakovsky provided ILM.

All in all Clone Wars Volume II is an excellent addition to the Star Wars sags, packaged in attractive cover art.  It leaves you breathless for more, and we can only hope that the forthcoming 3-d cgi animated Clone Wars is up to the high quality level of this micro series.  2005 was indeed a very good year.