This storyline concludes with an episode that was at least as good as the others. What it lacked in action it made up for with a very solid story. What struck me most was the well thought out politics behind this episode. To justify a Republic occupation, the Separatists conspire with Deathwatch to terrorize Duchess Satine, convincing the Republic politicians that Mandalore is unable to handle the terrorists on their own. A message from one of her most trusted men seems to have been doctored to convince the Republic that the situation on Mandalore is growing out of control.

On the way to pleading her case with the Senate, Duchess Satine under the protection of Obi-Wan and Anakin, becomes the target of an assassination attempt. This episode explores the romantic relationship that Obi-Wan and the Duchess had on one of his missions on Mandalore while he was still Qui Gonn’s padawan.

Call me old fashioned, but I like me some good old Obi-Wan Kenobi. The Mandolare Plot delivers that and then some. If the word Mandalore looks familiar then 1) You’re probably a Star Wars geek, and 2) You’ve probably come across the term Madalore in reference to Boba Fett’s Mandalorian armor. If that last sentence makes no sense to you, more power to you.

Lightsaber Lost is a light episode of Clone Wars with a few humorous moments and some interesting character moments. Don’t let the simplistic title fool you though. Ahsoka’s lightsaber isn’t lost, but rather stolen. I was really expecting this episode to be a stinker, but they used the simple premise to great effect. Wanting to get her weapon back without alerting her master Anakin, she enlists the help of an old Jedi named Tera Sinube who she found asleep in the Jedi Library.

I remember sitting in the theatre watching the movie, Valkyrie. I remember laughing at the people in the theatre who would get upset when Tom Cruise’s character failed to assassinate Hitler. Did they know who Hitler was? Likewise it’s under whelming to watch Obi Wan and Anakin chase down General Grievous once again. Will Grievous get away? Of course he does.

I think the latest episode of the Clone Wars gets the award for darkest in the series. The alien parasites that were zombifying the Geonosians now infect some Clone Troopers on a cargo ship. I sometimes get the feeling they draw straws to see which Jedi will be featured in a particular story arc. In this episode Ahsoka and Barriss lose the draw and are stranded on the ship with Zombie Clone Troopers.

These days zombies are everything. In an era where there is nothing more important in a story than having an enemy that deserves death, an enemy that you can kill by the barrelful without having any moral repercussions, zombies have become a staple. Star Wars started off with Stormtroopers, faceless goons that you didn’t mind seeing shot, impaled or strangled to death. In the prequel movies and everything since our Jedi have brought the pain to armies of incompetent droids. The problem with the droids is there is no satisfaction in watching these pitiful devices getting destroyed time and time again. Besides, they’re clearly no threat to our heroes whatsoever.

I certainly enjoyed this episode of the Clone Wars better than the last. It was a continuation of last week’s mission to destroy a droid factory. My main problem with the last episode (Landing at Point Rain) was that all of the emotional motivations seemed entirely absent and the little dialogue that did come up often revolved around the bizarre competition between Anakin and Ahsoka to kill more droids during battle. This was very much like the competition between Gimli and Legolas in The Two Towers, except whereas that competition was a reflection of the tension between Dwarves and Elves, the competition between Anakin and Ahsoka is about the tension between children and adults...or a teacher and a student? Or two friends? I often find relationships between Jedi very poorly defined.

This week was an example of Clone Wars at its worst. From time to time Clone Wars will try to get away with doing an episode that is 100% action with nothing else behind it. This week, Jedi buffoons go down to Geonosis to destroy a droid factory. There is no character development, no story, and no tension . . . nothing! It was a complete waste of an episode. You can almost imagine a kid playing with his action figures imagining what was unfolding without any particular outcome in mind.

Another fine episode of the Clone Wars. As someone who felt betrayed by the prequel movies, I feel somewhat justified when this cartoon delivers above and beyond in places where the movie failed epically. Here we see how even Padme and Anakin, the object of so much scorn and disdain, can hit emotional notes that we only dreamed were possible in the Star Wars universe. Just knowing that this would be a Padme and Anakin episode had my eyes rolling long before the episode even aired. But I was pleasantly surprised and found that it was very well done. We see a convincing romantic exchange between the two for what I think is probably the first time.

An amazing follow-up to the premiere episodes, Children of the Force strikes me as the darkest of the Clone Wars episodes that I can recall. Cad Bane slips through the fingers of the bumbling Jedi once again and delivers a list of Force sensitive children to Darth Sidious. By the time the Jedi catch up to him, Bane is already well on his way, kidnapping the second Force sensitive child to deliver to Darth Sidious.

I thought season two of the Clone Wars really started off with a bang. With my short attention span I was ready to throw in the towel after the first ten minutes. It starts off with Ashoka disobeying an order to withdraw from battle. She is assigned to guard duty in the Jedi Archives, essentially a library with Jedi secrets. Darth Sidious is seen hiring Cad Bane, the new bounty hunter villain, to steal something from the archives.

There are two big sci-fi premieres tonight, which I feel inclined to remind everyone of tonight...mainly because I forgot one of them myself.

The second season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars premieres tonight (8-9PM Eastern) on The Cartoon Network.

The series premiere of Stargate Universe also starts tonight, airing on Syfy from 9-11PM Eastern.

Also, don't forget Dollhouse tonight...it really does need your help. Please?

The original Star Wars MMO didn't go over too well, though there are fans still diehard in love with it and playing it regularly. Of course, then there's Star Wars: The Old Republic coming out next from Bioware, and I can't think of any MMO gamer out there who isn't even a wee bit excited. Now comes word from PAX that Sony Online Entertainment is considering yet a third Star Wars MMO, based around the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series, which would be more casual friendly and potentially along the lines of FreeRealms.

Great, maybe we'll be able to have our very Ahsoka, who we can run around the place delivering mail and playing minigames in order to cook. Joy!

Lost is pretty much doing the same thing when it comes to airing their reruns, but Star Wars: The Clone Wars is going to start airing their old episodes again, but they're going to be adding pop-up text to detail some more info and insights into the actual episode. The series of pop-up window infused episodes is going to be called Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Decoded.