Episode: The Clone Wars 3.17 – “Ghosts of Mortis”
Original Air Date: February 11, 2011
Screencaps from The Clone Wars Screencap Gallery.
Ghosts of things yet to come.
As we pick up from last week, Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Ahsoka are still stranded on Mortis. Their shuttle damaged from the Son’s attack in the previous episode, it doesn’t look like they’re going anywhere for a while (who wants a Snickers?). Anakin remains concerned about the Son’s growing power and seeks the Father, who is busy burying his Daughter.
The Father resolves that the only solution remaining is to kill his Son, and Anakin wishes to help, knowing that the old man is not strong enough to do it alone. The Father sends Anakin out into the wilderness of Mortis to commune with the Force. When he does so, Qui-Gon appears (yay, more Liam Neeson!). Anakin seeks advice, to which Qui-Gon merely tells him to trust his instincts, and directs Anakin to a place that is strong with the Dark Side.
Meanwhile, Ahsoka and Obi-Wan are still attempting to fix the shuttle as the Father appears to them. Kenobi, of course, wants to know where Anakin has gone, and so the Father tells him. At the Well of the Dark Side, Anakin finds the Son, who attempts to recruit the Jedi. To do so, the Son shows Anakin glimpses of his future, and the desire to prevent these terrible things from happening pushes Anakin to the Dark Side (sound familiar?).
Obi-Wan shows up to find that Anakin has a serious case of Sith yellow-eye. He throws Obi-Wan’s speeder into the lava and takes off, intent on helping the Son leave Mortis. Kenobi manages to get Ahsoka over the communicator and she disables the ship to prevent his escape. Anakin then goes to confront the Father, who conveniently makes Anakin forget everything he saw and brings him back to the Light Side. At the Daughter’s tomb, the Son takes the Altar Sword from her crypt, lamenting that she was the only person he loved.
Obi-Wan and Ahsoka then join the two for a final showdown against the Son. A last-ditch attempt to win the Son back to good fails, and the Jedi attempt to attack him. The Son easily dispatches all three. The Father then takes the sword away from the Son and uses it on himself, knowing that his death will ensure the Son’s loss of power. The Son immediately becomes remorseful for his Father’s death, and goes to comfort him. While the Father echoes Luke’s “I always knew there was good in you” line, Anakin comes from behind to finish the Son with a lightsaber in the back.
As the Father dies, he imparts a final wisdom to Anakin, that if he stays on this path, he will be balance. However, he should be wary of his heart.
The foreshadowing in this episode was the best part. When the Son shows Anakin the future, we get mostly snippets from Episode III, including Obi-Wan shouting “You were my brother!” and scenes of Anakin striking down younglings and choking Padme. However, the thing about Padme was that she looked like she does now, and not in her maternity outfit and quite preggers.
It was a good surprise to hear Liam Neeson voicing Qui-Gon again. I almost thought that was a one-off in the episode from two weeks back, but apparently not.
Other than that, it really feels like this story didn’t need to be a trilogy. This would’ve been better as one story or two at most, but not as drawn-out as it was.
Rating: 4 / 5 Stars
About the Author
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy has this to say about John Rabon:
John got started on the path to geekdom thanks to his brother's collection of comic books and Star Wars toys but was cemented into the geek class forever when LeVar Burton took Reading Rainbow viewers on a backstage tour of Star Trek: The Next Generation. A love of Monty Python soon followed, and it wasn't long before he was starting to collect his own comics. The rest, as they say, is history. But really, who are they to say something?
Since discovering the BBC some years ago, John has become an obsessive Anglophile. In fact, he even likes the food they serve over there! As such, some of his favourite programmes include: Doctor Who, Primeval, Coupling, QI, The Mighty Boosh, The IT Crowd, and Shaun the Sheep.
Upon choosing a university, John enrolled in the University of South Carolina, which was nice enough to give him a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and a Master's in Teaching. Feeling that he hadn't been put through enough academic torment with student teaching, John decided to enroll in law school at Campbell University.
Hobbies, when he can find time for them, include: writing, video games, reading, and wasting time in the pub.