The Clone Wars: Season 7: Episode 10: "Phantom Apprentice"
The Clone Wars: Season 7: Episode 10: "Phantom Apprentice" written by Dave Filoni, directed by Nathaniel Villanueva
OH MY GOODNESS!!! What a fantastic episode!! This one dialed it up to 11 with all the consistent canon connections to movies and TV shows...but not books...*sigh*. The Ahsoka novel's prologue did not match up at all with what we see on screen and for that I am highly disappointed, but what we did get was still fantastic, deep into lore, and beautifully convoluted so I guess I'm okay with it. Who is the "Phantom Apprentice"?? None other than Anakin Skywalker who Maul has seen in visions as having been groomed by Palpatine from the start to be his true and final apprentice.
This episode didn't begin with a regular zoom out of the title card--with the sense that it is well and truly a movie, it started with a crescendo of music against an unmoving title card. And then we're faced with "Part II" and the episode's title followed by Ahsoka standing against Maul with her lightsabers blazing--straight from last week's ending.
As Maul and Ahsoka face each other, the former Sith Lord cryptically proclaims, "The moment may be upon us." Of course we all know this means Order 66, the end of the Jedi, and the ascendency of Palpatine as Emperor. Maul even mentions Darth Sidious to Ahsoka, trying to reveal to her the truths he is all too aware of.
When asked about Sidious during a holo-briefing, Obi-Wan says to Bo-Katan and Ahsoka, "Darth Sidious is the Sith Lord who orchestrated the Clone Wars and played both sides from the beginning." He admits that Dooku was telling the truth all those years ago, before the start of the Clone Wars, but that Dooku can unfortunately not provide any more information because he has already been killed by Anakin. Then!! He tells Ahsoka he cannot send more troops because he's being sent to Utapau to hunt General Grievous!!!! AND!! That Anakin has been instructed to observe the Chancellor and share his findings!!!! In other words, we are WELL into Revenge of the Sith at this point, and Order 66 HAS to be right around the corner...like next episode around the corner. I say this because Obi-Wan was on Utapau when Order 66 happened.
Maul captures Jesse to interrogate when he discovers he's an older clone. Why did Maul take Jesse because he was older??? Was this because he potentially had more info about Ahsoka and her past?? Was it something to do with the chip?? But Maul didn't know the particulars of the grand plan, just the general goal...so he wouldn't have known about the chip...why did he want an older clone??
Maul continues to reveal the realities of the situation they are all under (the cusp of the Empire's rise and the Jedi's fall) "Clones, bred for combat. All part of the plan. The plan. The only plan that matters." "I can thrive in the chaos that is to come." And he most certainly does as leader of Crimson Dawn (as seen in the Solo movie) and potentially remaining leader of several other syndicates as revealed, surprisingly, in the image below:
Turns out, despite what we see in the comic "Son of Dathomir," Black Sun and the Pykes are both still in communication with Maul. In addition, is DRYDEN VOS!!!!! See him pictured above on the right!!! So Crimson Dawn is already under the leadership of Vos and must have been a late addition to the Shadow Collective. This connection to the movie Solo is absolutely wonderful!!! I was freaking floored!
After the holocall, telling the other members of the Shadow Collective to go into hiding, Maul says to the supporting Mauldalorians, "Soon the galaxy will be remade and in the chaos we must seize what power we can. It is not the way of your people to hide here in the gutters." And this connects to the TV show "The Mandalorian" as "It is the way" at that time in the chronology (several years after the Empire's fall) to do exactly that...hide in the gutters to decrease the chance of their numbers being known. No longer are they warriors in the open but shy away in the shadows from prying eyes. But Maul proclaims at this moment that they will die as brave warriors!!
And yet another revelation, Maul outright says that he orchestrated the Mandalorian War to draw out Obi-Wan and along with him Anakin so he could kill Anakin and thus "deprive Sidious of his prized pupil." Ahsoka REFUSES to believe that Anakin is a pawn of a Sith Lord (poor sweet naïve girl...I love her, but she's blinding herself to realities) and instead of joining with Maul to bring down Sidious, she fights him, leading to the scene shown at the beginning of this review, among the rafters where she's barely hanging on by a thread. A ship arrives to carry Maul to safety...but again this leads to another question...WHO was on this ship??? It sounds like a female voice but that's all we get. I don't know if we'll even find out because...well, not gonna give it away. You know how I roll.
I'll part with a lovely quote from Ahsoka to Maul, "You'll find I have many qualities to dislike." I love her so much. She's so courageous, deeply believes in fighting the good fight, and dearly loves the people in her life. As can be seen in the rest of the wonderful Ahsoka novel...it's still totally worth the read even if the prologue doesn't match up with this episode. Oh well, a canon junkie can only ask for so much.
I have a strong suspicion we'll see Vader as this arc wraps up...the timelines are just to close to the end. Order 66 has to happen in the next episode. What does that mean for Rex??? What does that mean for Ahsoka??? How will all this play out on Mandalore's soil??? So many questions and I CANNOT WAIT to have them answered!!
A couple more images I didn't really have a place for but still wanted to include.
Bo-Katan being a badass!!
This episode didn't begin with a regular zoom out of the title card--with the sense that it is well and truly a movie, it started with a crescendo of music against an unmoving title card. And then we're faced with "Part II" and the episode's title followed by Ahsoka standing against Maul with her lightsabers blazing--straight from last week's ending.
As Maul and Ahsoka face each other, the former Sith Lord cryptically proclaims, "The moment may be upon us." Of course we all know this means Order 66, the end of the Jedi, and the ascendency of Palpatine as Emperor. Maul even mentions Darth Sidious to Ahsoka, trying to reveal to her the truths he is all too aware of.
When asked about Sidious during a holo-briefing, Obi-Wan says to Bo-Katan and Ahsoka, "Darth Sidious is the Sith Lord who orchestrated the Clone Wars and played both sides from the beginning." He admits that Dooku was telling the truth all those years ago, before the start of the Clone Wars, but that Dooku can unfortunately not provide any more information because he has already been killed by Anakin. Then!! He tells Ahsoka he cannot send more troops because he's being sent to Utapau to hunt General Grievous!!!! AND!! That Anakin has been instructed to observe the Chancellor and share his findings!!!! In other words, we are WELL into Revenge of the Sith at this point, and Order 66 HAS to be right around the corner...like next episode around the corner. I say this because Obi-Wan was on Utapau when Order 66 happened.
Maul captures Jesse to interrogate when he discovers he's an older clone. Why did Maul take Jesse because he was older??? Was this because he potentially had more info about Ahsoka and her past?? Was it something to do with the chip?? But Maul didn't know the particulars of the grand plan, just the general goal...so he wouldn't have known about the chip...why did he want an older clone??
Maul continues to reveal the realities of the situation they are all under (the cusp of the Empire's rise and the Jedi's fall) "Clones, bred for combat. All part of the plan. The plan. The only plan that matters." "I can thrive in the chaos that is to come." And he most certainly does as leader of Crimson Dawn (as seen in the Solo movie) and potentially remaining leader of several other syndicates as revealed, surprisingly, in the image below:
After the holocall, telling the other members of the Shadow Collective to go into hiding, Maul says to the supporting Mauldalorians, "Soon the galaxy will be remade and in the chaos we must seize what power we can. It is not the way of your people to hide here in the gutters." And this connects to the TV show "The Mandalorian" as "It is the way" at that time in the chronology (several years after the Empire's fall) to do exactly that...hide in the gutters to decrease the chance of their numbers being known. No longer are they warriors in the open but shy away in the shadows from prying eyes. But Maul proclaims at this moment that they will die as brave warriors!!
And yet another revelation, Maul outright says that he orchestrated the Mandalorian War to draw out Obi-Wan and along with him Anakin so he could kill Anakin and thus "deprive Sidious of his prized pupil." Ahsoka REFUSES to believe that Anakin is a pawn of a Sith Lord (poor sweet naïve girl...I love her, but she's blinding herself to realities) and instead of joining with Maul to bring down Sidious, she fights him, leading to the scene shown at the beginning of this review, among the rafters where she's barely hanging on by a thread. A ship arrives to carry Maul to safety...but again this leads to another question...WHO was on this ship??? It sounds like a female voice but that's all we get. I don't know if we'll even find out because...well, not gonna give it away. You know how I roll.
I'll part with a lovely quote from Ahsoka to Maul, "You'll find I have many qualities to dislike." I love her so much. She's so courageous, deeply believes in fighting the good fight, and dearly loves the people in her life. As can be seen in the rest of the wonderful Ahsoka novel...it's still totally worth the read even if the prologue doesn't match up with this episode. Oh well, a canon junkie can only ask for so much.
I have a strong suspicion we'll see Vader as this arc wraps up...the timelines are just to close to the end. Order 66 has to happen in the next episode. What does that mean for Rex??? What does that mean for Ahsoka??? How will all this play out on Mandalore's soil??? So many questions and I CANNOT WAIT to have them answered!!
A couple more images I didn't really have a place for but still wanted to include.
Bo-Katan being a badass!!
And Gar Saxon in custody!
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