Title: "Duchess of Mandalore"
Writer/Director: Drew Z. Greenberg / Brian Kalin O'Connell
Tagline: "In war, truth is the first casualty."
Story: The three-episode Mandalorian arc closes with "Duchess," but we'll likely see more of the fan-favorite people before too long. Duchess Satine (Anna Graves) arrives safely on Coruscant with her entourage and Jedi escort Obi-Wan Kenobi (James Arnold Taylor), only to face a danger of a different stripe: the Republic Senate. The current item on their docket is deciding whether or not a Republic occupation of neutral Mandalore is necessary in order to halt the expansion of the Death Watch. Chancellor Palpatine (Ian Abercrombie) might just get his way too, after a recording surfaces that indicates Satine may not be as in control of her people as she believes.
A Fanbase Divided: As far as these episodes go, there are two kinds of fans: the people who appreciate how the Mandalorians have been painted in the Expanded Universe and the people who don't know or don't care. For the former group, it's very hard to separate what's been established in books/comics with the sharp departures seen in the portrayal of the Mando culture during the past three episodes. To be fair, we're shown only a very small cross-section, with almost none of the history or various social groups spotlighted. Still, I do wish we'd seen more parity between the assorted spin-offs.
Murder... None?: So uhhhh... what happened with Satine's murder charge? Sure, the full version of the tape got the planet Mandalore off the hook, but there's still the fact that the Duchess was found at the scene of a murder with a blaster in her hand. A scene from which she fled hastily, destroying a police droid in the process. I think this is probably just a plot point victimized by the half-hour runtime, but it's still an amusing omission. Or maybe we're just meant to assume she has diplomatic immunity. Yeah, that sounds good!
The Force Is Not With Us: As the title so clearly states, this episode is all about Satine and the plight of her people. Obi-Wan is a supporting player at best and the rest of the Jedi Order is out of the picture, save for one brief, dialogue-free Anakin appearance at the end. There is a brief Obi-on-Mando scuffle that includes a lightsaber, some brawling and a long jetpack burn, but this is an episode that is much more focused on political intrigue.
Final Analysis: As a "Star Wars" fan, I was entertained by the three episodes we just spent with the Mandalorian people. I'm a bit let down as an EU fan, but the stories stand on their own just fine. It does bear mentioning that last week's episode was my favorite of the three, but it's hard to say how much that has to do with my fanboy biases. Of the three, last week featured the least amount of armored Mandalorian action.
Tags star wars the clone wars
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'Star Wars: The Clone Wars' 2.14: 'Duchess Of Mandalore'
Posted 2/13/10 8:42 am EST by Adam Rosenberg in Commentary, Reviews, TV
Writer/Director: Drew Z. Greenberg / Brian Kalin O'Connell
Tagline: "In war, truth is the first casualty."
Story: The three-episode Mandalorian arc closes with "Duchess," but we'll likely see more of the fan-favorite people before too long. Duchess Satine (Anna Graves) arrives safely on Coruscant with her entourage and Jedi escort Obi-Wan Kenobi (James Arnold Taylor), only to face a danger of a different stripe: the Republic Senate. The current item on their docket is deciding whether or not a Republic occupation of neutral Mandalore is necessary in order to halt the expansion of the Death Watch. Chancellor Palpatine (Ian Abercrombie) might just get his way too, after a recording surfaces that indicates Satine may not be as in control of her people as she believes.
A Fanbase Divided: As far as these episodes go, there are two kinds of fans: the people who appreciate how the Mandalorians have been painted in the Expanded Universe and the people who don't know or don't care. For the former group, it's very hard to separate what's been established in books/comics with the sharp departures seen in the portrayal of the Mando culture during the past three episodes. To be fair, we're shown only a very small cross-section, with almost none of the history or various social groups spotlighted. Still, I do wish we'd seen more parity between the assorted spin-offs.
Murder... None?: So uhhhh... what happened with Satine's murder charge? Sure, the full version of the tape got the planet Mandalore off the hook, but there's still the fact that the Duchess was found at the scene of a murder with a blaster in her hand. A scene from which she fled hastily, destroying a police droid in the process. I think this is probably just a plot point victimized by the half-hour runtime, but it's still an amusing omission. Or maybe we're just meant to assume she has diplomatic immunity. Yeah, that sounds good!
The Force Is Not With Us: As the title so clearly states, this episode is all about Satine and the plight of her people. Obi-Wan is a supporting player at best and the rest of the Jedi Order is out of the picture, save for one brief, dialogue-free Anakin appearance at the end. There is a brief Obi-on-Mando scuffle that includes a lightsaber, some brawling and a long jetpack burn, but this is an episode that is much more focused on political intrigue.
Final Analysis: As a "Star Wars" fan, I was entertained by the three episodes we just spent with the Mandalorian people. I'm a bit let down as an EU fan, but the stories stand on their own just fine. It does bear mentioning that last week's episode was my favorite of the three, but it's hard to say how much that has to do with my fanboy biases. Of the three, last week featured the least amount of armored Mandalorian action.
Tags star wars the clone wars
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