Status Updates From Star Wars: Clone Wars, Volu...

I like the panel of Mace Windu's face at the bottom. He looks both sad and pained that a friend of his has joined the dark side, and the next panel has him straighter and more serious as if preparing himself to fight his friend.

What I like about all of these points brought up by various characters is that these are still points brought up by people watching Star Wars today. Mace's response is an excellent one:
"Do you think the Council has not considered your questions -- all of your questions -- before? That we do not still? Do you think your wisdom greater than, say, Master Yoda's?" Just because you question, doesn't make you wiser.

Mira to Windu: "This war represents a failure to listen. Among the Confederacy are those with just complaints. We need to stop the fighting and let diplomacy resume."
Windu: "For diplomacy to succeed, both sides must be willing to talk."
You can tell that George Lucas read this comic and liked that line by Mira, giving it to Padmé in Revenge of the Sith. But Mace's words also ring true.

Windu to Jeisel: "Have you changed?"
Jeisel: "No. Nor has the Republic. And there is the problem, Master Windu! How can we serve what is corrupt and not be corrupted ourselves?"
Windu: "We serve the principles that underlie the Republic, and those remain valid. We advise -- but we do not seek power, so we do not seek to govern. Thus we remain both a part of, and apart from, the government."
This war changes this.

K'kruhk asks Windu how can Jedi lead in this war knowing that the battles will result in the deaths of countless soldiers. Windu responds with "Throughout our history, Jedi have taken the lead in times of conflict. We do what is necessary -- and this war is a sad necessity."
Basically, the Jedi must do what they must because they are the only ones capable of it.

Clone: "We can achieve the objective, General. We need to press on."
Jedi Master K'Kruhk: "Most of you will die in the process. That is not acceptable to me."
Clone: "With respect, sir--it is what we were bred for. To battle, to obey, and to die, if need be. That's all."
This is an attitude that is dropped in the 2008 series. The clones there are written to be not dispensable soldiers.

You can immediately tell that Dooku is manipulating Ventress from the very start.

Even back then, the issue of the certainty of the Jedi, especially Master Windu, on topics and being proven wrong was touched upon in this issue. This is not a new discussion among long-standing members of the Star Wars fanbase. It has been something that has constantly been touched upon throughout the years.

"What is a Jedi? What have we become? We strive to maintain peace, yet we now lead armies in war. We have always sought to preserve life, yet now we send some to their deaths. Sworn to uphold justice, we serve a Republic grown increasingly corrupt. Some ask, 'are we still ourselves? Are we truly Jedi?' We honor those questions. We still seek the correct path but, as always, we pay a price to do so."

For every Republic victory, Sidious and Dooku must arrange it with a loss and a Separatist victory. They want the war to last for as long as they need it to.

"What were they thinking, defending a water world with ships that can't submerge?" I love that the writer is acknowledging this "plot hole" with the character. In TCW this wasn't where the fighting was, as it was done within the city and not under it.

I like these last ten pages because there is so much juicy characterization that is happening, especially from both new and old characters. Having a clone who is able to not only hold conversation but also back-talk Jedi is impressive. I much prefer it to be relegated to ARCs and Republic Commandos.

I like how the ARC trooper has a minirocket on his wrist like Jango and Boba.

Even though they're capable of taking down whole squads of battle droids, droidekas are still too powerful even for ARC troopers. Two down immediately.

"ARC troopers deploy!"
I don't know if this was the first time that the ARC troopers appeared or if it was in the miniseries. And they were made with more of Jango's traits than standard clones such as his independence and personality. I like this differentiation between clones. TCW made it all muddled and made ARC troopers just a promotional rank or special forces rather than a specially-built clone.

The first time Shaak Ti is on Kamino and serving as part of its defense. This is why they used her in TCW when they did their version of the Battle of Kamono.

A chat between Anakin and Aayla. I think she's 5, 6, or 7 years older than him. You wouldn't realize it by looking at her face.

Obi-Wan: "He doesn't always listen. He rarely ever talks. He's impatient. He's restless. He's moody. He's arrogant. He's...difficult, Quinlan." Sounds like a teenager.

I like how in this battle there are limitations to the Republic compared to the Separatists. The Republic don't have starfighters for the clones just yet, and so they have to rely on the Jedi and their starfighters. Meanwhile, the Separatists have droid starfighters like in TPM. The Jedi want there to be some defenses to trick the Separatists, but not the bulk of their forces, which they will use for the trap.

A little bit of a callback to Qui-Gon's and Obi-Wan's beginning conversation from The Phantom Menace with this conversation between Anakin and Obi-Wan. Just reworded so as not to be plagiarized.

This was an unexpected twist. But now we get to the best part of the volume, and one in which TCW remade just to make it bigger and cooler despite the impracticality of the action and lack of motives at the time.

Quinlan Vos: "I work best in the shadows."
Aayla: "Don't let yourself be swallowed by them, Quin. There _has_ to be a difference between us and those we fight. We are Jedi. We must _remain_ Jedi."
Even this early in the Clone Wars, this thematic thread is placed. But it also foreshadows Quinlan's fall from grace.

Little bit of an artist mistake there. It should be Aayla's hand surrendering the disk, not Khaleen.

And this is another reason why I got this book. I've read Shadows of the Empire multiple times. I know what Falleen like Prince Xizor are capable of. Now seeing Aayla Secura face off against one is veeeeery interesting.

Whoops! Little bit of an editing mistake there in the caption. It's a shame that they published this. I wonder if this is in all editions and issues? That would be embarrassing.

That's a biiiig dianoga.

So, now we have a number on the Jedi who died at Geonosis: 200! Out of 10,000 Jedi Knights.