I never thought that we were going to get the new The Clone Wars bonus content before the U.S., but I guess I was wrong.
German TV-Channel "Super RTL" showed the first 4 episodes in a row and picked out the long awaited "Order 66"-arc for the "season"-premiere. So here's what I think about these 4 episodes...
Before I start, big "thank you" to the guys from Lucasfilm Animation who made this possible. It is not very common for a cancelled show to release new content after its cancellation (and I really enjoyed the end of season 5 when Ahsoka walks away from the Jedi Order), so the fact, that we have a whole set of new episodes is really awesome!
The first 4 of the new episodes were broadcast exclusivly at German TV Station "Super RTL", aiming for a younger audience. However they made the content available online after it aired so with a VPN even people not living in Germany (like me) got the chance to experience this chapter of this galaxy far, far away.
The plot was centered around clone-trooper Fives and his pal Tup, who was seemingly infected by a virus, making him murder one of the (previously unseen) Jedi generals (picture above) during a fight against the droid army.
After evil leader Count Dooku finds out about this betrayal he commands his troops to capture the seemingly sick clone and bring him before him, but Anakin Skywalker and Fives manage to free and safely return him to Kamino where further examination is being done.
However Fives - with the help of a very entertaining medical Droid AZ-3 - finds out, that the Kaminoans are planning to kill his friend in order to protect the secret of the built-in bio-chips every clone has in his brain. These chips - of course - let the clones execute Order 66 (that's why the Clones start shooting at their Jedi friends in Episode III).
During the climax of the story-arc, Fives - unable to safe his friend, but equipped with the devastating truth - is hunted through the streets of Coruscant after being conned by Chancellor Palpatine aka Darth Sidious himself. The tragic ending makes sure, that the Jedi still have no clue about what's really going on...
The episodes were very entertaining and didn't feel like 4 single episodes, but like a solid, dark, interesting Star Wars movie.
The animations were even better than ever and the cast did an enourmosly good job. Especially the character of Fives (who we've met before during the regular run of the show) was incredibly deep and you would regularly forget that he's "just" a clone.
These 4 episodes also make a perfect lead-in to the final installment of the prequel trilogy, Revenge of the Sith, since Order 66 is explained and the Republic, as well as the Kaminoans are portrayed in a more shady and secretive way - slightly detached from the formerly all-powerful Jedi Order.
However, the episodes also have their downsides. Sometimes it seems like Fives is too strong and intelligent compared to the quickly-defeated clones and easily-tricked Kaminoans. Another thing that I didn't enjoy was the space station that surrounded a whole planet like a huge ring. They could have used it as a much more integral part of the plot, however it's like any other spacestation or starship - a mere stage to an exhaustingly repetetive fighting scene.
On the other hand the scenes, in which Anakin and the clones travel through the vacuum of space are intriguing and the death toll of Tup's kidnapping and rescue is quite high. The whole mission to rescue Tup positively reminded me of the scavenging done by the Crew from Firefly.
In conclusion, the good parts of the arc predominate the few weaker aspects and all you get is a great, actionpacked mini-movie worthy of its brand-name.
I'm really looking forward to seeing the rest of the bonus episodes.
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