Per usual, Star Wars: The Clone Wars’ supervising director, Dave Filoni, went big at the main panel for the series at Star Wars Celebration VI today. And that was before George Lucas shocked the audience with a surprise appearance!
Accompanied by visual effects supervisor Joel Aron, Filoni debuted a ton of new clips and revealed many new storylines for the new season.
One big plot turn in Season 5? Anakin Skywalker helps start the Rebellion! That’s right, the future Darth Vader sets in motion events that will later come to be his bane.
As Filoni explained, pockets of rebels have begun to appear in the galaxy, and “Clones have come to be a symbol of imperial tyranny as much as the Droids have,” as so many systems find themselves in the midst of the war and the toll it takes. Filoni noted, “Anakin suggests to train these pockets of rebels themselves,” feeling they would be better off at least getting the rebels to work for the Republic and able to take on the Separatists themselves. The planet Onderon will be a key part of this storyline, as we see the rebels there in action, including Lux Bonteri, who we learn is originally from that planet.
We saw a beautifully animated scene set on the planet Onderon, as Ahsoka and Lux work alongside an Onderon female helping coordinate a massive fight with Battle Droids. The rebels attack on winged creatures, along with mounted beasts that look almost like a horse meets a dinosaur, with some very impressive tracking shots through the battle, with another rebel leader tossing thermal detonators down, blowing Droids up. Ahsoka’s ally is a sniper and she calmly takes out one enemy after another from the perch she, Ahsoka and Lux are on – until Separatist ships fly in, firing at them, leading to them leaping onto the winged creatures to escape.
The next scene we saw was a dialogue-heavy one, set in Anakin’s bedroom, which we were seeing for the first time. As Filoni noted, Anakin has a lot more stuff/possessions than other Jedi, including mechanics he’s tinkering with and Podracing posters and mementos.
Filoni said this scene was meant to touch upon what Obi-Wan knows or doesn’t know about Anakin and Padme’s relationship (and secret marriage). In the scene, Obi-Wan comes to speak to Anakin, knowing he’s agitated about a man from Padme’s past who has come back into her life. Obi-Wan cautions Anakin about his feelings for Padme, saying he understands having those feelings (he brings up Satine), but that it’s important not to give into them. When Obi-Wan suggests that Anakin be prepared if a relationship begins between Padme and this man, Anakin angrily replies, “They have no relationship!” Says Obi-Wan, “Then we should have no problems, should we?”
Several in the audience cheered at an Easter Egg in this scene – an image of Podracer Ben Quadinaros (a Phantom Menace character who’s developed one of those specific Star Wars cult fandoms) on Anakin’s wall.
Filoni noted that they were always fighting the perception that animation is inherently humorous and have, “Moved ourselves to more dramatic [material].” When it comes to the central figure in The Clone Wars, Filoni noted, “Anakin at this point is a lot quicker to anger at this point.” Initially, when the Clone Wars began, he saw it as an adventure, but “The longer the war has gone, the more it has beaten the Jedi down and the more Jedi die.” Unaware that Palpatine “will never let them win the war” until it has served his own purposes, Anakin, “has a lot less patience. He has a pretty interesting season.”
As for Ahsoka, Aron noted she’s “Older and wiser.” With Anakin and Ahsoka, Filoni said, “They’re master and apprentice, but ultimately she’s his friend. She’s like his little sister." Ahsoka, Filoni felt, understands Anakin’s anger more than anyone and tries to give him room.
Two scenes were shown from an upcoming arc focused on R2-D2. Filoni noted that as the series has gotten darker, the droids still allow for there to be comic relief and lighter moments and offer “the fun and sense of adventure” that makes Star Wars so appealing.
The Artoo storyline has the Astromech droid teamed with several other droids, “Tasked with infiltrating the separatist fleet to get an encryption model that will help crack this code.” Filoni said this storyline was, “One of our best adventures of all time.”
The first scene from this storyline had a very fun nod for fans, as the ship carting Artoo, the other droids, and a very small alien leading them ends up in the middle of a comet storm – in what Filoni admitted was influenced by the comets in the original version of Disneyland’s Star Tours ride.
The second clip from this storyline offered a huge crowd pleaser – a Republic Commando in action! We were shown concept art of this Commando, a new character, who has a full beard and – out of his armor – wears a very fun, classic Star Wars style costume, with 1970s influences.
There was a cameo by Republic Commandos in Season 5, but they weren't involved in any fighting. But in the scene we saw, this new character was in his full Republic Commando gear, deftly taking out a whole base full of Battle Droids himself, working as a distraction for Artoo and the other droids, who continued to move forward through the battle.
Filoni also referenced an unusual episode coming up called “The Voice” , which will be “a whole exploration of Moebius and his art style, which was a big influence on Star Wars. It’s weird and abstract. Really experimental stuff.”
Next, we got the clip that was pure “Holy crap” fan bait, beginning with the reveal that we will be going to Mustafar in Season 5 and on that infamous lava planet, we’d meet the Falleen and Black Sun, the crime group first introduced in Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire. Filoni cautioned we wouldn’t meet that story’s villain, Xizor, but we did see art of Falleen wearing the distinctive hairstyle and type of clothing Xizor is known for.
As for the scene itself, it has so much to geek out over. It begins with a ship approaching Mustafar, and inside we see Darth Maul, Savage Opress and Death Watch leader Pre Viszla, all working together. As the ship lands and opens, an entire squad of Death Watch fly out on their rocket packs. It should be noted that Darth Maul seemed to have entirely new legs! He no longer had the overtly robot legs we’ve seen before, and was wearing pants – though who knows what mechanics were underneath them. In the scene, Maul walks up to one of the Falleen, telling him, “We request an audience with our leaders.” The Falleen laughs and replies, “It’ll be your funeral.”
The final scene focused on Bo-Katan, the Death Watch member (voiced by Katee Sackhoff) introduced last season. While we still don’t know the specifics, it’s obvious there are some big divisions between Death Watch/Mandalorians this season, as the scene involved Obi-Wan (wearing Death Watch armor!) being taken as a prisoner by a group of Death Watch members – whose armor is distinctively colored red, not blue. Bo-Katan, leading a small group of blue-armored Death Watch attack the men holding Obi-Wan, in a scene that has Bo-Katan kicking a lot of ass. At one point, she shoots a line around one of her enemies, wraps it to another and manages to set off the second guy’s rocket pack, sending both of them flying off to their doom.
After the aforementioned surprise appearance by George Lucas occurred, the audience was treated to another showing of the brand new Clone Wars: Season 5 trailer, which debuted last night at Celebration and should be online by the end of the weekend.
Source : feeds[dot]ign[dot]com
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