Saturday, April 27, 2013

The Xanadu Blood

The Xanadu Blood over the planet Naboo.
Ay carajo, finding a suitable "X" word in The Clone Wars was really hard (I didn't want to use X-Wing). But my persistence paid off, and I present to you, dear reader, the tale of the Xanadu Blood.

In Star Wars, a bounty hunter's ship is almost as important as the actual bounty hunter. For example, Boba Fett flew around in Slave One (or what I like to call "the floating iron" because it looks like an iron you'd starch your clothes with). Another bounty hunter by the name of Cad Bane is no exception to this unstated rule and flew around in a heavily modified Rogue-class starfighter given to him by the Separatists on behalf of the Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Sidious.

Cad Bane used the Xanadu Blood to deliver Force-sensitive infants to the planet of Mustafar for Darth Sidious. This bounty hunter kidnapped the infants from Glee Anselm, Rodia, and Naboo. While he was enroute to capture Gungan youngling Roo-Roo Page on Naboo, he ran afoul of Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker and his Padawan, Ahsoka Tano, and was captured.
This is Cad Bane. He's kind of the "go to" bounty hunter used in the Clone Wars as he
appears in a ton of episodes.
Along with Bane, the Xanadu Blood got taken on board the Star Destroyer Resolute. Tano and Skywalker examined the ship to find clues about Bane's kidnapping mission. However, Bane was a clever Bounty Hunter, and prior to his capture, he erased the fighter's navigational computer records. Not to be deterred, the Jedi continued their investigation and found volcanic ash on the hull of the Xanadu Blood that ended up leading them to the planet Mustafar!

Below is a clip that shows the interrogation of Cad Bane following the discovery that the ships records have been wiped. Mace Windu, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Anakin decide to team up to "force compel" Cad Bane. It's basically Jedi-sanctioned torture because otherwise, Cad Bane's mind is too strong and Jedi Mind tricks don't work on him. I don't know why, but this scene kind of reminds me of the United States' decision to use water boarding to get information from detainees in Guantanamo.

24 comments:

  1. You would think that in such a futuristic world, that people would have back-up files somewhere!

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  2. That Cad Bane is a very creepy-looking character. Great job on finding an "X," Michael! :-D

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  3. My husband tells me to grow up when I talk about Obi- Wan. I guess even in your sixties you will still love Star wars. Eh?

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  4. I think Xanadu in one form or another is going to be the topic of a lot of posts today.

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  5. I knew you would have an "X" post today. Only 2 more letters left. Yay..

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  6. Interesting X post. I agree with Alex, lots of Xanadu (and X-Men) today.

    Thanks for stopping by my AtoZ.
    Rhonda @Laugh-Quotes.com

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  7. Cad Bane looks bad-ass. Interesting that the Jedi would go for torture after all.

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  8. we hate torture of any kind...

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  9. "In Zanadu did Kubla Khan a stately pleasure-dome decree..." Love how the palace describes by Coleridge has entered the world of SciFi.

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  10. Love the pic of Cad Bane. He looks really cool and I love that name too.

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  11. That is a great ship name. So fitting.

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  12. Xanadu reminds me of a song for some reason. Olivia Newton John maybe?? =)

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  13. Michael, my friend. I've had to really concentrate on reading your fascinating article.

    Because, darn it, the music from that bloody awful film, "Xanadu" is ringing in my head. Xanadu equals 'Xanadon't"! :)

    Have a peaceful rest of your weekend, good sir.

    Gary :)

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  14. Wow. You have way more nerd cred than I, my friend. Seriously. Reading this post did make me intrigued enough that I might pick up a Star Wars book at the library too, which is a pretty major victory because I'm not usually into that sort of thing, but your post made me realise the depth of the world I hadn't appreciated before.

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  15. That a boy mike!! I was kinda disappointed when you said you weren't going to post for x! I'm glad you've looked into that warped mind off yours :-) and found an x word to write about!!! Good post I might add! Thank you so much for telling me about the A to Z challenge! It has been fun and I think I've learned a lot. Thanks again!
    Ken Reid

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  16. I'm glad to see your research paid off, Mike. Pretty cool. I like this Xanadu. I don't watch the CNN Star Wars animation but I have read many of the books adding to the Star War's world.

    I'm interested to see what you do with Y and Z. Of course, one my favorite characters starts with Y but now I'm curious to see what YOU do with Y. :-)

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  17. Torture. Why do they always think torture is going to work? There must be a trope for this.

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  18. "Get out of my head!" Now that's a great line, and pretty literal. You only have Y and Z to go!

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