"Star Wars: The Clone Wars" (television show) - season 1, episode 2 - Rising Malevolence - June 2023 review

"Star Wars:  The Clone Wars" (television show)

season 1, episode 2 - Rising Malevolence

"Belief is not a matter of choice, but of conviction."

I know the name Plo Kloon but I don't know that I've seen him before, or at least I didn't know that's who I was looking at.  He is sent off to find a devastating Separatist weapon.  He runs into problems so calls Anakin and Ahsoka but can't tell them much before he's cut off.  Ahsoka wants to go to him, but Anakin says they must continue to follow orders and stay where they are.

General Grievous is working for Dooku, and he destroys Plo Kloon's ship but some manage to escape in life pods.  The new weapon has a lot of similarities to how a Death Star operates initially.

The Republic won't send a rescue mission after Plo Kloon's crew because in the past, there have been no survivors when the Separatists have used their weapon.  Ahsoka objects but is shot down.  Turns out, Anakin goes out there anyway.  He explains to Ahsoka that it wasn't what she was suggesting, it was how she was suggesting it.  Interesting that Anakin was as impulsive and hot-headed as Ahsoka is, but he's learned to work within the system.  I expect he learned that more from Qui-Gonn than Obi-Wan, and as a general, he also has more ability to do that now.  It's a pretty good lesson to teach Ahsoka.

When Grievous is told that life pods escaped, he instructs his crew to find them and take care of them.  The battle droids track down their pods, cut holes in the pods and then just send the survivors to die in the cold vaccuum of space.  Wow, that's pretty brutal.

Ahsoka explains to Anakin that she's so connected to Plo Kloon because he's the one who found her and brought her to the Jedi temple.  She wanted to return the favor and find him.

The clones who are with Plo Kloon are sure no rescue is coming because "we're meant to be expendable".  Plo Kloon responds, "Not to me."  This hit me pretty hard, seeing as how I've already noticed that the lives of the clones are not valued at all.  Even the clones know that, and the sentiment wasn't said with sadness or anger, just statement of fact.  And Plo Kloon is the first one we've seen who has openly disagreed with that.  I'm already feeling this way about the clones, two episodes in.  I have a feeling this is going to be a rough ride for me.

Plo Kloon and the clones end up getting rescued by Anakin and Ahsoka.

The devastating Separatist weapon is an ion cannon - basically an EMP - that knocks out all power to a ship, and with no shields and no weapons, they're blown to pieces by the Separatist ship's weapons.

So Samuel L. Jackson and Christopher Lee did the voices of Mace and Dooku, respectively, for the movie but I guess not for the series.  Oh well.  Too much to ask, probably.