Prior Episodes | 7956 (21 BBY) | Next Episodes
Continuity & Analysis

Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Death Trap (2010) [S2E20]
Who my father was matters less than my memory of him.
"Calm before the storm! A rare and welcome respite from endless battle awaits Jedi Knights
Anakin Skywalker and Mace Windu as they travel through deep space aboard the Jedi
cruiser Endurance. Preparing to rendezvous with a Republic frigate, the Jedi remain
unaware of a deadly peril lying hidden in their midst..."
Star Wars: The Clone Wars - R2 Come Home (2010) [S2E21]
Adversity is a friendship's truest test.
"Revenge! Boba Fett, son of the notorious bounty hunter Jango Fett, infiltrated a Jedi cruiser
in an attempt to assassinate General Mace Windu, the man who killed his father. After a near
miss at Windu's quarters, Boba was forced to destroy the cruiser and escape with the help of
notorious bounty hunter Aurra Sing. Now, having lost contact with Admiral Kilian when his
doomed starship crashed, the Jedi search for survivors with aid of a Republic rescue ship..."
Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Lethal Trackdown (2010) [S2E22]
Revenge is a confession of pain.
"Lethal trackdown! The young Boba Fett has taken the law into his own hands and made
two attempts on the life of Mace Windu, the Jedi Master who killed his father. Boba's mentor,
bounty hunter Aurra Sing, has taken three Republic officers hostage in an effort to force
Windu to face Boba on their terms, a tactic that does not sit well with the young vigilante..."




CONTINUITY
These three episodes form a single storyline about Boba Fett and Mace Windu. The chronological order of episodes
is as given by Lucasfilm, and follows their release order. Three worlds are seen in these episodes:


- The clone youth brigade is supposedly six years old, according to supplementary material. If it has taken them six years of accelerated growth to reach
this age, infant clones seen in Episode II won't be ready for over a decade. If the process of producing an adult clone is this slow, it seems strange that
the Republic is constantly debating order more clone troopers, which won't be ready for a decade. Cadets have designations like Cadet-1174, suggesting
their designations change several times over the course of their training. Rex refers to 7567 as his birth number, but these numbers must be abbreviated.
It is possible Rex has a number as low as 7567, but there is no way these cadets are part of the first 9999 clones, therefore it can't be their full number.
Main Article: Dooku, Sifo-Dyas, and the Clone Army

- The main stabilizers on a Venator-class star destroyer are located in hold 17, behind the main reactor. If three engines on port and starboard side of
the ship fail, auxiliary power kicks in. The main engine is propelled by post-combined sparking off of the reactor rods.

- Admiral Killian's instance that he must go down with his ship indicates the strength of naval tradition in the Republic. The Navy is a long-standing institution,
and its officers are among the most experienced Republic military personnel. We have learned elsewhere that the Republic Navy was sometimes involved
in local or regional conflicts, some quite recent, and most high-ranking Navy officers have operational experience from before the Clone Wars. The current
incarnation of the Republic Navy goes back almost 1000 years, however the galactic naval tradition dates back to the Old Republic which came before.
The principle of a captain being responsible for his ship, even to his own death, which Killian doesn't expect the Jedi to understand, could be much more
than 100,000 years old, if it dates back to the seafaring days of Humans on the ancient oceans of Coruscant, far older than even the traditions of the Jedi.


- Sgt. Crasher can't raise the missing pod on communications channels, and their locator beacon isn't active. This seems to imply that without the locator
beacon, they would need to connect to their communications system actively to get their location, either by those on the pod giving their location, or by
some function of the communications system itself. This seems to imply the communications 'hail' they are sending out is somewhat omnidirectional.
Main Article: Hyperspace Communications


Aurra Sing says the clone cadets are "living witnesses", and a risk to their operation, before letting their escape pod
drift away. Why does she not murder them? Leaving them to die is a sloppy way to deal with a "liability" for one who
has no qualms about killing the innocent. Thanks to the Jedi, the cadets are rescued, and Boba's identity and
culpability are exposed, which would have been an issue if the Jedi hadn't learned of this otherwise.


- The crystalline world of Vanqor is again seen, this time in a larger scope. It is a barren and rocky planet, but home to the fearsome gundarks, so it obviously
has an ecosystem of a unique variety. Based on the gundarks preference for caves, much of this life may be subterranean. Vanqor was first seen briefly
during 'Dooku Captured' (S1E11). Thus far, Vanqor is shown to offer little more than a lack of hospitality and an aggressive gundark population, other
than its subtle beauty, and obvious mineral wealth. It is unknown if any of the minerals found on the planet are of significant commercial value.


- R2-D2 is described by Anakin as "a special case", in response to Mace questioning why an astromech was programmed to feel. As we have seen in this series and
Episode III, R2 does not get his memory erased, which it is revealed is usually done regularly for droids in sensitive positions or in the military. His 'emotions'
are the result of his personality, which is a combination of his programming with his experience. The conclusions he has reasonably deduced from that
information form his priorities, likes, dislikes, preferences, and humor. Erasing a droid's memory is in effect resetting much of their personality as well.
Main Article: Droid Intelligence


Captain Silver is wearing the insignia of a clone Army Corporal. This has the same color pips as the Navy Captain
insignia, which is often used for every Navy clone, but Silver's pips are in reverse order. As he is the captain of a ship,
it could be argued that this is a Lieutenant insignia and that he is called captain by virtue of position, as is traditional,
however this would be the only example in the entire SW universe of the same single-bar insignia used for two
different ranks. The officers serving under him have the same insignia, so it can be assumed this is an accidental
reversal, or an ill-conceived attempt to vary the insignia shown with no understanding of their meaning.
Main Article: Ranks and Rank Insignia


- Mace had sensed something through the Force he couldn't pin down about the clone cadet he ran into, but puts it all together when he sees Jango's helmet.
Jedi may get many subtle feelings about things from the Force, and probably do not often dwell on those they can't pin down at the time.

- Boba is running with Bossk, Aurra Sing, and Castas, a crew which represents a link to his bounty hunting future, and to his father's bounty hunting past.
Aurra is an old associate of Hondo, who we are told was a good friend of Jango. Hondo is likely how a refurbished Slave One finds itself back in
Boba's possession in the future, as we see Hondo operating the ship in 'A Necessary Bond' (S5E9). Aurra is like an aunt to Boba, one responsible
enough to keep him from becoming a juvenile alcoholic, but not one who would risk capture to protect him.



Why doesn't Master Plo recognize R2-D2 from the Malevolence storyline? There are probably many reasons, but
the main reason is almost certainly that most people don't pay very close attention to droids, or think of them as true
beings. The Jedi most of all, as the Jedi are concerned with living beings, and have a sense of others that goes beyond
their mundane senses. Droids don't stand out from a table or a wall in the Force. We have seen many examples of
beings ignoring droids, belittling droids, and otherwise lacking concern for them, and there is no reason why
characters like Plo and Obi-Wan should take much notice of them, or bother to remember their name or what they
look like, unless working with a particular droid on a mission. There are so many people, places, and things to keep
in their heads in such an extensive and populated galaxy, that taking the time to remember every droid is not likely
to be a priority. Plo met R2 during a mission where he was rescued by Anakin, and had only a brief interaction with
him. We the viewers may care who the droids are, and see them as memorable, but that is probably far rarer for
those 'in universe' who see droids all the time in great numbers, and largely dismiss them.


- Mace does not seek revenge against Boba, while Anakin suggests he should crave justice, and questions why Mace won't pursue it like a vendetta as
he would. Mace takes Plo's advice that he should go instead of Mace on the mission to apprehend Boba, since Mace and Plo see the same danger
in making this affair personal, as Boba obviously has. Attachment isn't always about loving something, and Anakin certainly has not internalized most
of the Jedi teachings concerning attachment, so it is not surprising he doesn't see why Mace wouldn't want to complicate the matter any further.

- Commander Ponds gives his designation, CT-411. All other clone Commanders we have seen have CC numbers. Supplementary material first tried
to retcon this by giving him a 'true' designation of CC-6454, and then later material calls him CC-0411. Others have suggested he was giving
disinformation, or some other convoluted explanation. While the CT designation is questionable, it doesn't require any of these retcons. Some
clone Captains have CC numbers, some ARC numbers, and others CT numbers. He said his number on screen, that makes it canon, unless it
specifically violates something established, in which case it would be a continuity error. This is a continuity issue at best, since nothing in canon
tells us a clone Commander cannot have a CT number. This is a continuity error only if off-screen material is given priority.
Main Article: Dooku, Sifo-Dyas, and the Clone Army


Commander Ponds is wearing a Navy insignia on his dress uniform. It is the same three-pip insignia with two red pips
and one blue pip which is used for nearly every clone naval officer. This insignia was established early in the series as
Captain, which based on the insane variety of officers wearing it, is the highest rank that could make sense. While
some officers with this same insignia are called "Commander," this is often a reference to position rather than rank
in SW. This insignia was used because previous officers called "Commander" have worn it, including Commander
Wolffe. Wolffe was seen in several episodes in dress uniform on ships, and it was presumed he was a Navy officer.
It was only later shown that he is an Army officer, thus making his prior rank insignia incorrect. Ponds isn't a Navy
officer either, he is in the 91st Mobile Reconnaissance Corps of the Army, and his insignia should be one red pip
followed by three blue pips, listed from left to right from the viewer's perspective.
Main Article: Ranks and Rank Insignia


- The Coruscant underworld is a gigantic substructure that begins on Coruscant's wasted and uninhabited surface, and extends up for over
5000 levels toward the artificial 'surface' where the sky can be seen, known as Galactic City. The very lowest levels represent the first
layers of the planet-wide city built 100,000 years in the past, and are now uninhabitable. Most layers closer to the surface have been
without sunlight for millennia, and like every part of the planet, all water and atmosphere are artificially regulated by machines.
Giant cylindrical portals act as access for ships and supplies, as well as conduits for air, and allow access to space. Unlike the expensive
artificial 'surface', living and working space was generally less expensive the further down one went, so the underworld is chiefly
populated by the massive urban poor of the city, as well as immigrants and refugees from around the galaxy. It is also a well-known
haven for crime syndicates, gangs, and wanted persons.


- Master Plo notes that Ahsoka has picked up Anakin's traits, including a lack of subtlety. While he is certainly correct, Ahsoka was never
particularly subtle, or modest about her accomplishments, or patient, or willing to accept procedure over doing what she felt was
right. Anakin is just reinforcing these tendencies. Plo's teachings about patience and listening instantly pay off for Ahsoka, showing
again how valuable a wise Jedi Master is in the instruction of a young Jedi.

- Aurra Sing is believed to be dead after the crash, but will be seen again three episodes later, which seems to be a few months later.
She was first seen in Episode I watching the pod race on Tatooine.

ANALYSIS
Boba Fett learns some lessons about himself, the kind of person he wants to be, and the limits of how far he is willing to go, at least at this point in his life. He also
learns something about being a man of honor, which is something he believes his father was, and thus he aspires to be one as well. He does seem honest when
he says that he knows he has done terrible things, but continues to claim that Windu started it when he "murdered" his father. Mace didn't murder Jango, he
was attacked by Jango in a battle, and defeated him by superior ability in honorable combat. If Boba believes it is his duty as an honorable 'son' to take revenge
on Mace by facing him in combat, that would be according to a code of martial honor, but to believe that what Mace did was murder, is a ridiculously unfair
assessment, or a purely semantic argument. Nevertheless, Boba's attempts to eliminate Windu were not the actions of a man of honor, even if innocent people
were not involved. Planting a bomb may kill someone he can't defeat in combat, but it doesn't make anything better, and it certainly isn't honorable.

Master Plo is speaking in a strategy session, and says "we shall reinforce our fleet along the Hydian Way, this should prevent Grievous from...", before R2 barges in
and interrupts everything. It seems the progress the Republic made in securing areas around the Perlemian Route, including the return to Felucia recently shown,
have made that previously collapsing front for the Republic stable again. Since Anakin and Mace have also achieved recent victories in the northern regions of
the Rim, west of the Hydian Way, it seems that Grievous will attempt to put his defeats to good use by taking advantage of the disparate positions of the fleets
sent to contain his invasions. Sending newly available reinforcements to secure the Hydian Way will prevent Grievous from disrupting the Republic supply lines
to these areas, and protect the many Republic worlds which lie along this vital hyperspace lane. As will be seen in future episodes, Grievous' response to this
move by the Republic to limit his options in the highly contested northern regions of the galaxy, will be to launch a series of major campaigns in the southern,
and southeastern regions of the galaxy, once again attempting to catch the Republic off-balance and stretched to defend its huge number of planets.

Ahsoka could have been Master Plo's apprentice. Ahsoka has a sentimental connection to him, since he discovered her and brought her to the Jedi, which
may have been a concern, not to mention the many other factors involved in which Jedi teaches another. At the same time, Plo is not seen with an apprentice,
and with her advanced abilities, Ahsoka would have really benefited from both his patient wisdom and his high level mastery of the Force and Jedi disciplines.
If this were the case, it's unlikely that she would have left the Order, which may have led to her death, and had she lived, may have changed the kind of Jedi and
person she became. Altering the destiny of one can have an effect on the destinies of others, which is part of why the Force has a will that sends people down
a path without their understanding the implications. It is up to each person to make different choices if they wish to change their path, but for Ahsoka, following
the path laid out for her by the will of the Force led her to survive and have a unique perspective, and go on to play an important role in the future.


FURTHER ANALYSIS
Report Pending