The theme of slavery is nothing new to the Star Wars canon. Anakin was a slave at one time, and his mother remained a slave for the majority of her life. In "Slaves of the Republic" Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Ahsoka go undercover to infiltrate the slavers on the planet Zygerria in order to find colonists (members of Ahsoka's people) who have been kidnapped from Kiros and forced into slavery. In the slave markets near the palace, Ahsoka draws unwelcome attention when she prevents a slaver from whipping one of his slaves. Anakin slyly gets them out of the mess and gets an invite to the palace by order of the queen herself.
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| Anakin force-choking the queen. I guess she was a villain, so this kind of behavior is acceptable, right? Or is it foreshadowing to come? |
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| I love the ancient Egyptian feel of this episode. |
So you can see where this is going. At the auction that night, the Queen announces a special entertainment and invites Anakin to whip Obi-Wan. Anyway, Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Ahsoka are soon exposed for what they are (the queen is no fool!) and she forces Anakin to be her sex slave saying that she'll hurt his friends if he doesn't pleasure her.
And the same emotional blackmail is used against Obi-Wan and Ahsoka by holding hostage innocent people who will be tortured and killed if they rebel against her.
Anyway, this episode is a great example of where you start to see Anakin's moral compass fray around the edges. It's really quite terrible that Jedi who experience intense emotions and act upon them are basically embracing the dark side. It seems only human to want to protect your own from being hurt. Yet to do just that is oftentimes what separates the Sith from the Jedi.
This was a kids' show, right?
ReplyDeletemood
Moody Writing
Queenie has moves. Slavery is a serious issue and it's great when kid shows let them know it's wrong in a non preachy way. Mooderino's comment makes me laugh.
ReplyDeleteWow. I like how this shows the subtle shift in a character's fiber.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe I've never actually seen The Clone Wars TV show. I like Star Wars, so I must get round to watching this, it looks really cool. The Queen seems like such a femme fatale! I love a good female villain.
ReplyDeleteSex slave? Little intense for a kid's show.
ReplyDeleteI've never seen this show, but I do hear great things about it. Maybe I should give it a try sometime.
ReplyDeleteQueen Miraj is drawn so well. I love her expression and jewelry. She totally looks like Nefertiti or Nefertari, both great Queens of Egypt.
ReplyDeleteFun post! :-)
I bet padme was pissed
ReplyDeleteHey! I always see your posts and I find them awsome. I love Star Wars, so I wanted to give props for this post. Can I please post an interview of you on my blog?
ReplyDeleteTriangle head = villain.
ReplyDeleteI don't like female villains
ReplyDelete. Women are supposed to be good creatures.They are suppose to rescue young people from evil.
If this show is for young people I hope that it does not poison young minds against women.
@Moody & @Alex: Yes the "Clone Wars" is a kid's show. And yes, you are correct. It treads the gray area of PG-13. But, there's a reason I liked the show. It has beheadings, violence, slavery,...some very adult themes. So now, maybe you're like "oh...I thought this was a kid's show." It's not my fault that it got branded as that. But the first red flag should have been "Mike really likes this show and maybe that means kiddos shouldn't be watching it." But it got canceled anyway, so I got to find me some new hard hitting cartoon.
ReplyDeleteHa, yeah, anything you watch can't be listed as kid-friendly. Let's just make you the head of the MPAA. In fact just disband the MPAA and let you decide what movies are PG or R. Anything you like = R.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if those aliens had a Stargate to ancient Egypt on Earth?
Good episode.
ReplyDeletewe gracefully bow to the queen, our milady has such a lovely name, doesn't she?
ReplyDeleteYeah, he is becoming much darker in that clip.
ReplyDeleteThe queen has a very cat-like look to her. Oh, and slavery is bad.
ReplyDeleteI love how dark this show is. Never would have guessed just from the little I heard about it in the past. I honestly thought it was just for kids.
ReplyDeleteI'm not knowledgeable about any of this but I do enjoy reading about it.
ReplyDeleteJust like in the last Star Wars movie, Anakin evolves into Darth Vader...
ReplyDeleteThe storyline and character development sound pretty mature for me, so this is a cartoon for teenagers and adults? Anyway, I like the way you describe "Anakin's moral compass fray around the edges" and how intense emotions can rise out of protecting one's own, which might lead to the dark side. I like the moral complexity in this conundrum.
ReplyDeleteI like her funky cat ear like hairdo.
ReplyDeleteIt makes for good moral dilemma.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds really intense and not very PG.
ReplyDeleteSex Slave? This just got a lot more interesting. :D
ReplyDelete(Apparently, I don't know as much about Star Wars as I thought.)
I don't get why Jedi must be so emotionally distant. I mean, I understand why Sith become Sith by embracing their anger, but aren't the other emotions okay? (Not asking for an answer. Just throwing out the thoughts this post brought up.)
ReplyDeleteI love the points on her ears, she must have vulcan ancestry.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like one convoluted episode.
ReplyDeleteYou had me at sex slave!
ReplyDeleteI like her funky look, but feel it was too much for a kids show.
ReplyDeleteThe Egyptian look is pretty cool. I've never seen this show, but it looks interesting.
ReplyDeleteLike the others, I'm surprised it's got those themes for a kid's show. I had never heard of this before though, so I find it interesting, and enjoy looking at the images and video.
ReplyDelete#atozchallenge, Kristen's blog: kristenhead.blogspot.com
Hi Michael .. I love her look - but still can't get my head round the genre .. ne-er mind! Cheers Hilary
ReplyDeleteI really wish I could find some enjoyment in these, but I have no desire to see them at all. I want more Luke Leia and Han. They are the heart and soul of Star Wars, not these people.
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