Coming in at number nine in my countdown of the best and most essential arcs in The Clone Wars is an entry from season two I titled Obi-Wan, the Duchess, and Death Watch. We get our first glimpse of legendary Mandalore and it’s not quite what we expected – and that’s not a bad thing. We also get our first look at true legendary Mandalorian warriors in the form of the extremist group Death Watch, and our introduction into (gasp!) Obi-Wan’s old flame!
#9 // Obi-Wan, the Duchess, and Death Watch
Season 2, episode 12 — The Mandalore Plot
Season 2, episode 13 — Voyage of Temptation
Season 2, episode 14 — Duchess of Mandalore
Why it’s essential watching (without giving it all away….):
- Obi-Wan was in love??? – yes, it seems our earnest Jedi Master, Obi-Wan Kenobi was once in love. In his younger years he and Qui-Gon Jinn were assigned to protect Satine Kryze of Mandalore from insurgents, and during this assignment he fell in love. Hypocritical much, Obi-Wan??
- The Duchess Satine – I love the Duchess of Mandalore, Satine Kryze. Beautiful design, and very well acted by Anna Graves, Satine is a great introduction into the series as she leads a contingent of worlds that want to avoid the war and occupation at all costs.
- Pacifism versus action – this arc provides us with a great glimpse at one of the undertones of the Prequel trilogy and The Clone Wars – the Jedi shifting from keepers of the peace to soldiers. This evolution is not lost on Satine, who is very judgmental towards Obi-Wan and his role in the war, and it certainly bothers the Jedi Master.
- Anakin and Obi-Wan – we get a peek at how close Obi-Wan and Anakin have become in the form of a few basic conversations in regards to Anakin’s suspicions about his former master’s feelings towards Satine. The hypocrisy doesn’t seem lost on him, either….
- Anakin is so badass – not gonna spoil it, but we get a GREAT Anakin moment in the second episode, Voyage of Temptation.
- Pre Vizsla and Death Watch – we get our first real look at true Mandalorian warriors of old in the form of Death Watch, a group of men and women who oppose Duchess Satine and the pacifist ways she is leading Mandalore. They want a return to the glory days of their system, and they are willing to do anything to get there – including aligning with Count Dooku and the Separatists. Death Watch is based on Concordia, and the governor of this world/moon is Pre Vizsla, who also happens to be the secret leader of the movement. He’s incredibly well voiced by Jon Favreau, also.
- Mandalorian design – again, The Clone Wars excelled in design and detail, and the Mandalorian culture is no exception from the attire, to the city, and especially the ships, the TCW team once again did an amazing job here.
- Rad canon connections – the Darksaber makes it’s first appearance here, wielded by Pre Vizsla. As you know if you watch Rebels, this blade plays an important part of not only TCW, but also Rebels; Clan Vizsla also makes it’s first appearance, and as we also know from Rebels their clan produced the first-ever Mandalorian Jedi, who created the Darksaber. Members of Clan Vizsla broke into the Jedi Temple after his death and stole it for themselves, using it to unite and rule Mandalore for centuries.
- Satine’s name – it’s not lost on me that Satine is the same name of Ewan McGregor’s love interest in the movie Moulin Rouge. I would be shocked if this isn’t deliberate…..
Enjoy a gallery of images from the official Star Wars site I’ve curated for this arc, and I’ll be back tomorrow with arc number eight!