Political murder, mercenary violence, military occupations and callous terrorists dont just kill as newspaper headlines. They've also made excellent thematic fodder for Star Wars: The Clone Wars, whose dark second season wraps with a three-week stand starting Friday night.
The procedural and corporate intrigue has also solidified Lucasfilm's CGI tween fever dream as one of Earths coolest political cartoons. But is it the best?
The three-part conclusion of The Clone Wars second season begins with Fridays episode Senate Murders, which finds Padme Amidala investigating the mysterious death of a politician. The last two installments, Cat and Mouse and The Bounty Hunters, airing March 26 and April 2, inhabit similarly charged political territory.
Many of Padme's episodes center around politics, for obvious reasons, and they're sometimes a departure - to a degree - from the action-packed episodes, explained Catherine Taber, the voice of Padm, in a press release. Diplomacy - or the lack thereof - is essential to The Clone Wars, and part of the foundation for the Star Wars saga.
True enough, but its arguable that The Clone Wars has explored the netherworlds of parliamentary intrigue, capital crime, militarism and political arrogance much better than its cinematic parent narratives.
The movies were alternately legendary and underwhelming popcorn blockbusters. But Lucasfilm's animated series, on the back of Genndy Tartakovsky's inimitable 2003 miniseries, has been able to stretch out more seriously. And whether its using alien children as human shields in season one or loosing bounty-hunting terrorists (pictured above) in season two, The Clone Wars has not just been an action-packed blast. Its been an eye-opening one.
At least, for those who might be looking. The series wields its dissection of interpersonal and interstellar politics like a Force push, rather than a buzzing lightsaber. Its not visibly slicing up its subjects, but invisibly moving them like pawns on a chessboard.
The sagas incarnation of all cosmological evil is hiding in plain sight as a career politician, yet Star Wars is still often ignored as a political allegory. But with two seasons and 39 episodes beneath its Jedi robe, and 22 more scheduled to land in its third season this October, its getting harder to pawn off The Clone Wars as mindless toon entertainment for the iGeneration. It might be time to take it seriously.
The procedural and corporate intrigue has also solidified Lucasfilm's CGI tween fever dream as one of Earths coolest political cartoons. But is it the best?
The three-part conclusion of The Clone Wars second season begins with Fridays episode Senate Murders, which finds Padme Amidala investigating the mysterious death of a politician. The last two installments, Cat and Mouse and The Bounty Hunters, airing March 26 and April 2, inhabit similarly charged political territory.
Many of Padme's episodes center around politics, for obvious reasons, and they're sometimes a departure - to a degree - from the action-packed episodes, explained Catherine Taber, the voice of Padm, in a press release. Diplomacy - or the lack thereof - is essential to The Clone Wars, and part of the foundation for the Star Wars saga.
True enough, but its arguable that The Clone Wars has explored the netherworlds of parliamentary intrigue, capital crime, militarism and political arrogance much better than its cinematic parent narratives.
The movies were alternately legendary and underwhelming popcorn blockbusters. But Lucasfilm's animated series, on the back of Genndy Tartakovsky's inimitable 2003 miniseries, has been able to stretch out more seriously. And whether its using alien children as human shields in season one or loosing bounty-hunting terrorists (pictured above) in season two, The Clone Wars has not just been an action-packed blast. Its been an eye-opening one.
At least, for those who might be looking. The series wields its dissection of interpersonal and interstellar politics like a Force push, rather than a buzzing lightsaber. Its not visibly slicing up its subjects, but invisibly moving them like pawns on a chessboard.
The sagas incarnation of all cosmological evil is hiding in plain sight as a career politician, yet Star Wars is still often ignored as a political allegory. But with two seasons and 39 episodes beneath its Jedi robe, and 22 more scheduled to land in its third season this October, its getting harder to pawn off The Clone Wars as mindless toon entertainment for the iGeneration. It might be time to take it seriously.
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