Warning Full Spoilers for the Episode “Ambush” are Below

Over the last few weeks, I have been happily started my re-watch of The Clone Wars, and in that time I have been reminded of the good as well as the mediocre episodes of the show. This week, I am here to discuss the very first episode of the show “Ambush.” After watching it again, I remember why the showrunners decided to air this episode first.

In the Star Wars community, Clone Wars is known for its dark, deep storytelling and emotional moments, as well as expanding on lore and characters that we have all grown to love over the years. The thing that some people tend to forget is that at first, Clone Wars was aimed more at a kid-friendly audience rather than the more hardcore fan. That is never more apparent than in the debut episode.

”Ambush” takes place shortly after the events of “Supply Lines.” The Toydarians have been seeking protection from the Republic from the Separatists Alliance. Master Yoda has decided to go on this mission personally, while his former Padawan Count Dooku, has decided to send Asajj Ventress to try and convince the Toydarian King to join them.

Trouble ensues when Ventress decides to attack Yoda’s ship, forcing him and a small handful of clones to escape to the planet’s surface in an escape pod. Ventress then proposes a contest. If Yoda can meet at the rendezvous within the day, the Toydarians can join the Republic, and if not, they join the separatists.

The story is nothing to write home about, it is more of a backdrop for the action. While it is entertaining, it lacks any emotional depth of some of the bigger battles The Clone Wars has later on. The tone definitely leads to a younger crowd, as the droids’ slap-stick humor and quippy one-liners tend to be at the forefront of the episode.

Droids will insult each other in a very Despicable Me or Minions-like way. Yelling and calling each other “idiots” is very commonplace here. I can definitely see younglings loving the droids’ antics, while some of the more ”grown-up” fanbase may find it less entertaining.

The best part of the episode for me was getting to spend time with Yoda and his Clone troopers. Here, we got to see just how wise Yoda was in his “younger” years. It was interesting watching Yoda teach clone troopers that they’re more than just clones, they are as individual as any other person in the galaxy. By far Yoda’s leadership and teachings were what I took away most from this episode.

Besides Yoda, none of the other characters really did anything of value. Ventress in later episodes does become deeper and more intriguing, especially with her backstory explained. However, right now she looks like an angry coward with no emotions besides anger. Meanwhile, Dooku only made a cameo appearance.

I get how this is the episode was supposed to kick things off, but I honestly felt that it may just have been a better idea to choose an episode like “Clone Cadets” or even “Cat and Mouse” to get things going. Instead, they chose to play it safe and pander a little to a smaller crowd, which left this debut episode a little flat.

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Star Wars: The Clone Wars

6

Score

6.0/10

Pros

• Yoda’s Teaching

Cons

• Weak characters
• Droid’s Slap-Stick antics
• Boring Action