Battle Meditation Review: Star Wars: The Clone Wars: A Sunny Day in the Void (5.11)

This week's The Clone Wars episode certainly felt like artwork, and much like artwork opinions will vary greatly.

Episode Description:

"When all seems hopeless, a true hero gives hope."After a comet damages their shuttle, R2-D2, Colonel Gascon, and the other droids crash on a desolate planet where they must make their way across a bewildering expanse of emptiness to carry out their mission.

How many times over the years  have we heard TCW Supervising Director Dave Filoni discuss George Lucas' desire to experiment with storytelling with this series? Some times this takes the form of clear homages to other films or genres and sometimes as this week's commentary discusses we get an episode about "nothing" set in a minimalistic style inspired by the artist Moebius (Jean Giraud).

The plot is very simple for this one, D-squad's shuttle gets damaged by comets, crash lands on Abafar, and the droids and Gascon get lost on the bleak desert world.  We get some bickering that echos Artoo and Threepio on Tatooine, Gascon looses his marbles, sees a mirage, looses more of his marbles, the "mechs" leave Gascon and WAC to their own devices, lucky for them this unlikely pair is rescued by a Jurassic Park like stampede and brought to a watering hole next to a outpost of some sort. It turns out the mechs are already there and the episode ends with WAC getting a promotion and Artoo still actually leading the mission.

City of Pons Ora

While this is certainly not what we have come to expect from Star Wars or The Clone Wars in particular, if you look at this episode on it's own merits I think there is a lot to appreciate.

This was a very visually interesting episode, while the environmental designs were minimal, there are some moments for example when Gascon is reflected in WAC's "eye" and then wipes the dust off of the eye that are incredibly well done.

One interesting thing to think about is that in the episode's newsreel we get a revelation that I think is new:

"Secret weapons! The Jedi Council deploys a squad of droids on a desperate mission aboard a Separatist cruiser. Under the guidance of Colonel Meebur Gascon, the droids succeed in stealing a crucial encryption module. Now, the colonel and his droid squad must return the module to the Jedi Temple to crack a Separatist code detailing the impending terror plot against the Republic."

Does the mission succesed and the plot is averted, or does the terrorist plot have future ramifications in the season five?

The good news is if you didn't appreciate this episode, the additional of a Republic Commando to the arc should spice things up.

Rating: "A Sunny Day in the Void" gets a 6.0. Fans tastes very so greatly so that an episode like this one is no doubt going to turn off as many people as it appeals to.

Direct Link to Watch "A Sunny Day in the Void." (Episode 5.11)

Clone Wars Download: Webisode 511: Into the Void


Coming up on Star Wars: The Clone Wars:

Episode 5.12: Missing in Action

Episode 5.13: Point of No Return

SOURCE: Starwars.com

Author's Note: For more on the artist Moebius, check out this MTV Geek Tribute.