There’s one last Lost Mission to watch as the Clone Wars and the Hondo Caravan draw to a close today.  We won’t keep you waiting though so let’s get right to Yoda’s adventure!

The Lost One
Just what happened to Jedi Master Sifo Dyas all those years ago?  The discovery of a crashed ship with Sifo Dyas’s lightsaber onboard kicks off a Jedi investigation into just what happened over a decade ago.  Yoda, Obi-Wan and Anakin, and the Jedi Council begin to delve into the layered tale.  By the end of the episode, they’ve learned that Dooku was involved in the creation of the clone army, something the Jedi agree to keep secret from everyone.

There’s something about these episodes that simply does not add up.  I was under the impression that Dooku left the Jedi order shortly after Qui-Gon died.  However, if Tyrannus is the one who killed Sifo Dyas BEFORE The Phantom Menace, that simply doesn’t add up.  I’m having trouble wrapping my mind around the idea of Dooku truly falling to the dark side before he’s given that final push.

All of that said, I do like how the episode and the start of the arc unfold.  It’s nice to see Yoda get more hands on with something besides teaching Younglings or sitting in a chair.  I’m also a fan of any time we get to see Dooku dueling because Form II is just so pretty watch.

My one concern for the arc is that the Jedi are going to learn far too much and their surprise in Revenge of the Sith will border on ludicrous.  But we’ll see what happens.

Voices
Okay, Yoda, seriously?  You hear Qui-Gon Jinn’s voice and you don’t recognize it until he identifies himself?  Seriously?

I’m fairly sure that “Awwwww it’s a big meditation group hug, IT’S SO CUTE” is not the reaction that the showrunners were going for with this scene.  Cheesiness aside, I do love how the show used the blurs of light from the speeders to show the passage of time.

There are a lot of things about this episode that I really like.  This episode (and probably this whole arc) seems to get Yoda in a way that only Yoda: Dark Rendezvous before it has.  Far too often, interpretations seem to neglect the playful part of his nature in favor of having him just, well, sit in a chair.  He asks Anakin for help deceiving the Council so he can get off planet because Anakin casually breaks their rules all the time.

I also love that Qui-Gon has him go to Dagobah.  I like that there’s a reason why he picked that planet to spend his exile aside from its utter remoteness.  Some people have said that they don’t like that he saw Order 66 while in the cave but I can shrug that off.  For me, I can brush that off as Yoda getting more of a sense of the Sith attacking and killing all of the Jedi than seeing particulars.  At the very least, it didn’t look like Anakin was visible.  The Jedi have known for years that the dark side has been gaining strength and so this just feels like a logical continuation.

Plus?  I’ll now giggle a lot the next time I see Empire Strikes Back because mentally, I’ll replace Artoo’s beeps with “Oh f#&! Not this place again.”

Okay, this episode was excellent.  I think it might be one of my favorites out of the entire show.  Well done, Filoni and company, well done.

Destiny
Qui-Gon sends Yoda off to another planet to learn the secret to becoming one with the living Force after his death.  Clearly this is not an easy undertaking.

I’m not entirely sure how I feel about this episode.  There’s a tad too much mysticism in the episode with the weird glowy floating priestesses for my taste.  Don’t get me wrong: I’m enjoying the arc and a lot of it makes sense.  Actually, I started writing that sentence before the episode ended and I have to take back what I just said because the revelation that they’re dead made me like this episode a heck of a lot more.

In particular, I really like getting a closer look into Yoda’s psyche and seeing his fears and his wishes.  Granted, they’re not particularly surprising but it’s nice to see.  Plus, who wouldn’t love a world where Dooku never left the Order and Qui-Gon still lives?  There’s not much else that I can think of to say here.  This is a very visual episode that I feel like has to be experienced to really appreciate.

I did really appreciate the Ahsoka cameo though.  That was a pleasant surprise even thought it was a vision of sorts.

Sacrifice
Before anyone says anything, just calm down about them calling Korriban Moraband.  It’s basically the same planet from what I can tell.  Names change.  Moving on.

As a whole, this arc is definitely a good one and a great way to end the Clone Wars.  That is, it’s a great way to end the series on a solidly good note.  As a series finale, it doesn’t serve nearly as well as The Wrong Jedi.  But it all really does work.  I like how we were able to see a confrontation between Yoda and Sidious without actually seeing a physical meeting between them.  That would’ve strained credulity a bit too much.  This was definitely a really well thought out journey and arc though and I definitely don’t feel like they’ve tried to explain the Force too much.

The only thing that bothered me is how Yoda’s visions were a bit too on the nose and reminiscent of events in Revenge of the Sith for my taste.  I feel like those glimpses might’ve given him enough information to conceivably put some of the pieces together.

Also, I think I spotted very faint Naboo crests on the half-cape that Sidious had on.  It was in a blink or you miss it sort of way but if I wasn’t hallucinating it, I’m very impressed that the artists thought to sneak it in.

All in all, a great arc to end the show experience with!

—

Wow.  That’s it.  That’s really it.  I’ve now watched all of The Clone Wars in four and a half months.  Not too shabby, if I do say so myself.  For me, this project has been a mixed bag of reactions.  I enjoyed more of it than I thought I would.  I disliked some arcs much more than I expected but that was counterweighted by enjoying arcs that I didn’t expect to enjoy.  And then, of course, there were arcs I knew that I’d dislike that I wasn’t fond of.

Overall though, I found The Clone Wars to be a very enjoyable experience and would definitely recommend it to those who’ve refrained from watching so far.  It might be a kids show but that doesn’t stop us adults from enjoying it.  The other advantage of the show is that because it has such a large cast, there are sure to be characters and storylines that appeal to everyone.

Unlike with the Waru Express, there’s not quite as much to say at the end of this journey.  My liver survived completely intact and if a storyline annoyed me, it was done in 22 or 44 or so minutes.  If anyone has any questions for me though, feel free to post them in the comments and I’ll be sure to reply!

So long Hondo!