It’s all about arcs with today’s disc of episodes as we dive first into Dathomir and the Nightsisters and then into the Mortis arc.  My reaction to the two was… well, let’s just call it varied for now.  I wouldn’t want to spoil the surprise for you.

Nightsisters
The idea of Sidious being mad at Dooku for having his own apprentice is rather hilarious given that he did the exact some thing with Maul to Plageuis.  This is basically the way of the Sith, after all.  But hey!  Sidious is going to be a hypocrite so now Dooku has to dispose of Asajj.  This will clearly end well.

Being a sucker for Dathomir and how it’s portrayed in the Expanded Universe books, I was unsure if I was going to like how the Clone Wars portrayed it but so far, I find myself intrigued.  It’s an interesting take on the established Witches and Nightsisters that is actually able to work within the existing canon.  Planets are quite large after all so it’s not difficult to believe that there would be different sects in addition to different tribes.

If nothing else, the flashbacks that explain Asajj’s history make the entire episode worth it.  It adds some depth to her character that was previously lacking within the show.  Actually, the entire episode is a great showcase of the show’s villains who are albeit fighting each other instead of our heroes.  The movies definitely showed it off but it’s near to see what an incredibly master duelist he is.  There aren’t that many people who can fend off three invisible assailants by themselves.  Plus, I appreciate that he looks so dapper even in his pajamas.

I’m intrigued to see how this quest for revenge plays out in future episodes.

Monster
You liked Maul?  OKAY COOL  I CAN GET YOU ANOTHER ONE.  A BETTER ONE!  He’ll be yellow!  So you know it’s an upgrade!
(That’s all I heard in that conversation between the Mother Nightsister and Dooku.  Clearly, she’s manipulating him but that’s still how it came off.)

I really must applaud the art department for this episode.  They did a good job of making each of the male Zabraks have distinctive enough facial markings so they don’t just look all the same.  They also made the training arena look pretty neat although the raising and lowering columns feel a little high tech for the planet.

This episode definitely reinforces how all the different Dathomiri cultures can work together within canon.  Clearly these Nightsisters also think that females are highly superior to males.  What does intrigue me is how the Nightsisters’ magic is treated so much more like traditional magic instead of a different type of Force powers unless, of course, Yoda and the Jedi Council were using the Force to turn the Younglings into big strong brutes without us knowing about it.  (Savage’s horns feel like overkill though.)  It’s a shame that said magic seems to have stripped Savage Oppress of any real personality aside from mindless warrior brute.

Witches of the Mist
Huh.  I think this is the first time we’ve seen Anakin and Obi-Wan in their normal Jedi robes instead of that robe/armor hybrid.  Speaking of the Wonder Team, I have to go with my usual question and ask where the heck is Ahsoka?  Don’t get me wrong: I could watch or read or even talk about Kenobi and Skywalker for weeks and weeks but why do we get to see so little of the current Master/Padawan team?

Sadly for Asajj, her plan did not work very well.  In fact, it backfired on her magnificently.  Dooku’s still alive and Savage is now against her.  Oops.  Three way grudge match time?

As for the final reveal… I’m not impressed.  Bringing Maul back from the dead just seems silly.  You can’t exactly survive being sliced in half and I’m already anticipating eyerolling at the explanation.  Also, Savage is Maul’s brother?  Really?  Ayyyyyy.

Sorry, folks.  This episode might have brought back our heroes and had plenty of action but it mostly just gets a shrug and a giant eye roll out of me.

Overlords
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I’m amused by how I ask for something while talking about a previous episode and they give it to me in the very next one.  Huzzah for Anakin AND Ahsoka!

That said, I’m going to go ahead and admit that I am pretty unenthused about these episodes since it looks like these are the Mortis arc.  Feel free to blame Troy Denning and Fate of the Jedi for that one.  I don’t say this to start a Fate of the Jedi war or anything.  I just feel that it’s only fair to let you know when I have firm prejudices or opinions about things that happen in this show.

On other hand, props to the show for bringing back Qui-Gon Jinn via Force ghost AND for them actually getting Liam Neeson to do the voice acting.  Same goes for them bringing Pernilla August in as Shmi.  It’s a nice little vein of continuity.

This episode is creepy to the Nth degree.  Creepy and overly fantastical for my tastes.  I really just have… no idea where this came from.  I’m unsure what exactly I just watched.

Altar of Mortis
Yeah, I’m continuing to have no idea what the heck is going on in these episodes.  Everyone’s being manipulated by other people and this is clearly to going to end badly for everyone involved.

These episodes are just really not my thing.  It’s just a battle between Good and Evil and a family feud on a large scale.  I just… I just don’t care is what it really boils down to.  It’s bad enough that even though Ahsoka’s life is clearly in danger, I can find it in me to really pay attention.

Ghosts of Mortis
Well, at least Obi-Wan never fails to deliver half of his lines with that tone of voice that just borders on sarcasm and snark.  It’s a tone of voice that I only wish I could have.

Anakin’s life would’ve been so much better if everyone hadn’t shoved this Chosen One destiny stuff down this throat.  It’s something that I’d always thought but wow do these episodes really just hammered that point home.

I will admit, this episode did at least get me to shout ‘THAT’S NOT FAIR’ really loudly at the television when the Son showed Anakin his future including choking Padmé and Obi-Wan’s ‘You were my brother!’ and the destruction of Alderaan.  Not.  Fair.  That said, this episode is making me angry.  The Son has basically just done everything that Palpatine is going to do and he still falls for Palpatine’s crap not even years later?  I mean, come on.  Not even Anakin can be that stupid, right?  I know that the Father makes him forget it but I can’t help but feel like he’s got to at least kind of remember it subconsciously.  At the very least, the repetition of those events doesn’t really endear this episode to me.

I’m sorry, Clone Wars folks.  I’ll be back to being much more open minded and enthused next week when there’s no Mortis.  I’m just not feeling it this week.  Tune in next week when I’m not groaning over more Mortis stuff.  As always, you can follow my progress in real time on Twitter @chaosbria or the hashtag #HondoCaravan.  Until next time!