Star Wars: The Clone Wars episode 11 recap: Ahsoka's life is 'Shattered' as friend becomes foe
Maul's beat, let's go home like heroes. Or not.
Ahsoka and Rex's friendship is tested in this episode -- this is super generic because it's above the spoiler warning.
Ouch. The penultimate episode of Star Wars : The Clone Wars' final season came to Disney Plus on Friday, as the dust settles following the Siege of Mandalore. Unfortunately, our heroes aren't getting a chance to chill out in this installment, as hinted at in the episode title: Shattered.
Former Padawan Ahsoka Tano (Ashley Eckstein) made a fool of ex-Sith apprentice Maul (Sam Witwer) after an epic lightsaber duel, while Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff) and Commander Rex (Dee Bradley Baker) took down his Mandalorian goons. You'd think that would earn them a break. Instead, their reward is misery.
This episode swaps the large scale conflict of the last two for a more intimate one but loses none of the intensity in the shift. Composer Kevin Kiner's score is a huge part of this -- the Blade Runner-style synth gives the whole thing a seriously dark atmosphere.
Execute SPOILER 66.
One last Jedi chat
Believing Maul to be the key in weeding out Darth Sidious, Ahsoka agrees to transport him back to Coruscant and talks to Jedi Council members Mace Windu, Yoda, Ki-Adi-Mundi and Aayla Secura via holo.
This conversation cuts into a moment from Revenge of the Sith (about an hour and 1 minute into the movie) just after the Council sends Anakin Skywalker to Palpatine to gauge his reaction to the news that Obi-Wan is about to battle General Grievous and likely end the war.
It sucks that Ahsoka didn't arrive a moment sooner -- she might have seen Anakin one last time. He's about to learn that Palpatine is Sidious and take another few steps down the dark path.
Yoda (Tom Kane) thanks Ahsoka for her assistance, but she says it was her "duty as a citizen" (she probably should've said "incredibly badass citizen," but I guess it's implied).
"Not as a Jedi?" Yoda suggests.
"No, not yet," she replies -- implying that she'd be open to returning to the Order.
Then Mace (T.C. Carson) is a total jerk when she questions their suspicions about Palpatine, so she fails to mention Maul's vision about Anakin becoming Sidious' apprentice. A little more communication and they might have figured out Sidious' plot right there! That said, it was likely already too late.
The Republic Cruiser goes into hyperspace on its journey to Coruscant -- kinda trapped now! -- and Ahsoka reflects having spent her time with the Jedi as a soldier, even though they're supposed to peacekeepers.
Then it happens -- Ahsoka and Maul both sense the events in Palpatine's office, when Anakin turns to the dark side ("Power! Unlimited power!"). Then Rex gets a call from Palpatine.
"Execute Order 66," the Sith Lord says, and the clones turn on Ahsoka (along with Jedi across the galaxy).
However, it's clear that Rex is resisting the order, as he shakes and tells her to "find" his late brother Fives -- the clone who was executed before he could reveal the conspiracy behind the inhibitor chips responsible for Order 66, in season 6 episode Orders.
Ahsoka awesomely deflects blaster fire from Rex and a whole bunch of other troopers, before fleeing into the ceiling.
The Mandalorians transport a trapped Maul. The woman on the left is Ursa Wren, mother of Sabine from Rebels.
HanniMaul Lector
A captive Maul spends much of this episode trapped in a portable Mandalorian cell, looking a lot like a certain Silence of the Lambs villain. According to Bo-Katan, it's the last such cell from a bygone era -- presumably Tarre Vizsla's war on the Jedi -- designed to imprison "Force-wielding maniacs."
Once Order 66 is given, Rex orders Maul executed. Just as a pair of troopers prepare to do the deed, Ahsoka rescues her former enemy. However, she immediately makes it clear that she has no interest in a teamup (which would've been ill-advised, but absolutely awesome).
"I need a diversion, and you're it," she says, her lightsaber to his throat. "Now go cause some chaos, it's what you're good at."
Bo-Katan bids Ahsoka a fond farewell.
She doesn't even give him a lightsaber -- "I'm not rooting for you" -- Ahsoka's ruthlessness here is epic.
Luckily for Maul, he basically is a weapon. He gets his own version of the Darth Vader hallway scene from Rogue One when he uses the Force to battle a squad of clone troopers. The violence is pretty shocking; he decapitates two clones with a wall panel, crushes another pair and impales one more. Finally, he pulls another through a closing blast door, slicing off the trooper's arm.
Maul is left with the final trooper's comm link, so he can hear their radio chatter. That'll be handy for making his escape.
Ahsoka and Rex's bond gets them through Order 66.
Surgery time
Ahsoka learns that the incident with Fives made Rex suspicious about the true purpose of the inhibitor chips implanted in each clone's head (which may have helped him resist momentarily when Order 66 was triggered).
She and some astromech droid buddies manage to isolate Rex, before sealing themselves in a medical chamber. The surgery droid struggles to find the chip implanted in Rex's brain, prompting Ahsoka to utter a familiar mantra.
"I am one with the Force, and the Force is with me," she repeats, until Rex joins in.
The chip is located, so Ahsoka orders the droid to remove it. She fights off a bunch of clones who burst in, and Rex awakens in time to back her up and forces his Order 66'd brothers to retreat. She asks her friend how widespread the order is.
"Ahsoka, it's all of us," he says. "The entire Grand Army of the Republic has been ordered to hunt down and destroy the Jedi Knights."
As a horrified Ahsoka reacts, the episode ends with the other clones preparing to break into the chamber. Better get ready for a fight when the series finale hits Disney Plus on Monday, May 4.
Easter eggs and observations
- The clones who come to Mandalore to pick up Maul are red-trimmed shocktroopers, based on Coruscant. I've always thought of them as Palpatine's goon-squad -- blood-red is very much his color -- hinting that he wanted his former apprentice's body delivered to him. Luckily for Maul, he avoided that fate.
- After talking to Ahsoka, three of the Jedi Council members' holos wink out in the reverse order of their deaths in Revenge of the Sith -- Aayla Secura, Ki-Adi-Mundi, then Mace Windu.
- Rex orders the escape pods destroyed so Ahsoka and Maul can't escape. Surely this is a health and safety nightmare?! Also, it leaves Ahsoka and Rex without a way to escape after he gets fixed.
- Surly sounding astromech CH-33P (Cheep) is voiced by executive producer Dave Filoni, just like Chopper in followup series Rebels.
- "I am one with the Force and the Force is with me" is a phrase made famous by Force-attuned warrior monk Chirrut Îmwe in Rogue One.
- Ahsoka still doesn't know Palpatine is Sidious. Will she and Rex piece it together next episode?
Come back next Monday for the final recap of The Clone Wars season 7!