Star Wars: The Clone Wars season 2 episode 6 review

6. Weapons Factory

In the second part of the Geonosian planetary war campaign it’s time for a calming influence on the whole proceedings as Jedi General Luminara Unduli is brought in to take command of the assault on the droid factory.

Luminara Unduli has appeared once or twice throughout season one and two and has been a bit player so far in the proceedings. However, no matter how small her role has been, she is a sensible voice of reason in the Jedi’s attempt to track down the Sith. This episode, thankfully, allows the enigmatic Jedi master to shine as she takes command of the assault and tries to bring Anakin and Ahsoka into line.    For those with a memory for the Star Wars movies, we eventually know Luminara Unduli’s fate as the tattoo-faced cloaked Jedi eventually gets gunned down in the back by the clone troopers in Revenge Of The Sith on the planet filled with bright colourful giant plants. She is accompanied in her dying scenes by her Padawan Barriss Offee, who also makes an appearance in this episode, and it’s good to see that these interesting characters are allowed a little time to breathe in the show.  

Along with the four Jedi, the whole operation is backed up by a couple of battalions of clone troopers who Anakin thinks are best to use in a full on frontal assault on the heavily fortified factory. However, in a scene reminiscent of Lord Of The Rings, the factory, which lies across a thin stone bridge spanning a massive chasm, has huge black gates that periodically open to regurgitate out a vast number of opposition droids and flying bug-like Geonosis creatures. That leaves the clone troopers heavily outnumbered as they try as much as they can to get a footing on the main entrance pass. 

However, the blatant assault, complete with AT-ATs and heavy artillery, is really a diversion, as the plan to shut down the droid factory is a lot more subtle than that.

While Anakin dives headlong into battle, Barriss Offee and Ahsoka have left the battlefield and are making their way through the labyrinth of tunnels that run below the droid factory. These catacombs, unfortunately, are filled with Geonosis bugs and are miles and miles long. However, Barris has learnt by rote the way through this vast complex, with the intention of setting mines below the factory, which would blow the facility and the ever- increasing number of droids to kingdom come.  

All is going well with the plan. However, while crawling through the tunnels, the young team accidentally awaken a Geonosis bug who follows them and reports back to Poggle, who then sets a trap for them which involves new war machine tank thingies that have yet to be seen by the clones. Which is unfortunate, as, just as the Jedi are in the centre of the factory setting up things to explode bigger, more menacing, and more importantly, more shielded versions of the war tanks are also unleashed upon Anakin’s troops.  

With superior skills and a bit of cunning, Anakin falls back, allowing the droid tanks to move across the stone bridge, a bridge that he and Luminara Unduli have laced with explosives. And while the blasters and heavy weapons of the clones have no effect, a fall of Wile-E-Coyote style proportions is enough to disable the tanks.

While these droids are falling to their doom, inside the factory the two young Padawans are struggling with the overwhelming odds against them, but manage to overcome the bugs and tanks and eventually turn the tide, allowing Poggle and his generals to escape, leaving the Jedi to therir fate within the explosive filled factory.

With the countdown on the explosives nearly reaching zero, the Padawans take refuge in one of the heavily fortified tanks in a rather daft ‘nuke the fridge’ style moment as the point blank explosion of the factory destroys the droids production plant in spectacular fashion. Cowering in the tank which miraculously allowed the Padawans to survive the massive explosion, and having hundreds of tonnes of rubble and droid factory fall on them, the young duo are rescued by Anakin and reunited with their masters, having completed the mission with a job well done. 

Once again, beautifully crafted, the episode is a huge battle scene fought on many fronts and, while it maybe thin on characters or deep plot, the entire episode is hugely entertaining, nail biting and contains more fun, excitement and adventure in animated form than the entire combined prequel movies.

Lovingly designed and thought through, I gushed last week about the design and production that the guys and girls of LucasArts are putting into the show and once again the designers, techies and writers surpass their previous works with another fantastic episode.

Roll on part 3 and 4. 

Read our review of episode 5 here.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars is showing every Saturday on Sky Movies Premiere and Sky Movies Premiere HD.