This is going to be something of a mini-review. I’m only going to talk about the one episode to break up how the future storylines pan out. So let’s get into it and talk about the Season 4 episode: A Friend in Need.
Season 4, Episode 14: A Friend in Need
We begin with a gathering on the neutral planet of Mandalore. Padme, Mon Mothma and Bail Organa are there meeting with some of the Separatist leadership to discuss the possibility of peace. And for some reason, Ahsoka is there. This story seems like a continuation of the events covered in the season 3 episodes Heroes on both sides and Pursuit of Peace.
Reintroducing Lux Bontari, the son of a Separatist friend of Padme and someone who Ahsoka was shown to have a mutual possible-romantic interest with Ahsoka. He busts into the meeting and announces that Count Dooku killed his mother. Demanding justice. The reaction of the room seems a little off to me, there’s no doubt that there are some people on the Separatist side who are genuinely good people, and succeeding from the Republic is something they honestly believe is in their people’s best interests.
But the way they shut down Lux and have him dragged from the room makes it seem like they have something to hide. They don’t even entertain the notion that he might be telling the truth, telling Padme and the other that they’ll deal with it as he’s thrown out kicking and screaming. Kind of undermines the message put forward in Heroes on Both Sides. But whatever, it’s just a point there to drive the plot forward.
Because getting called out causes Dooku to confront Lux via hologram and order his death. Ahsoka, knowing something isn’t right crashes in and rescues him, making their escape and leaving Padme and the others on Mandalore to deal with whatever repercussions her actions might incur. But let’s not think about that one.
The Romeo and Juliet-esque romance between Ahsoka and Lux continues, as she plans to take him to Coruscant to protect him. Lux, on the other hand, is bent on revenge only wanting to take vengeance upon Count Dooku for killing his mother. He refuses to enter the Republic but also knows full well that going back to the separatists would spell his death.
Although it seems like he had a plan all along. Stunning Ahsoka unconscious and going to meet his new contacts on an ice world. Contacts who turn out to be Death Watch a.k.a. the real Mandalorians (except not really). Thus Ahoska finds herself roped into Lux’s dumbass plan due to poor circumstances. Posing as his fiance while being taken to meet their leader Pre Vizsla and his second in command Bo-Katan of the clan Kryze.
While the Death Watch leader also wants Dooku dead, he also quickly reveals himself and his band of Mandalorian mercenaries to be little more than and band thugs and pirates. Almost right away we see them cackling away as they’re torturing droids, taking slaves from a nearby town and then going and murdering them all when asked to leave by the elder of said village.
Watching this at the same time I’m watching the second season of the Mandalorian, it’s kind of jarring seeing what this series is portraying as the more “classic” interpretation of Mandalorian and turning them into nothing more than a band of cruel thugs. It’s obviously something they’ve moved away from again since, as the live-action series returns them to the honourable, religious sect that the Legends-era novels established them as. (Although as I watch episode 3 of The Mandalorian shortly before posting this, that opinion may have changed again.)
Ahsoka tries to rescue the people of the village but only ends up getting overwhelmed by the commandos. Before they can execute her though, R2-D2 comes to her rescue by inciting a little droid rebellion to give them all the time to escape. In the end, despite being safely away, Lux still ditches Ahsoka in an escape pod. Although they still have another little romantic parting of ways before the episode ends.
Verdict:
I don’t buy this relationship between Ahsoka and Lux. I could kind of see it the first time they met. Him being an intellectual with strong ideals and morals. Now though, he’s revealed himself to be a naïve, kinda stupid kid obsessed with revenge at the expense of all of his other common sense. I get that they’re going for this doomed romance angle, but there’s not really any chemistry between them whatsoever.
Something I’d have thought would have made Ahsoka realise what an immature person he still is, but instead only seems to further concrete these “forbidden” feelings they seem to have for another. Sorry, but I don’t see it. Lux has spent more time being a dumbass around her than showing any kind of positive traits. I don’t see what she sees in him. It’s too hastily written for my tastes and doesn’t really feel especially earned.
He just seems like a dumbass to me. However, it seems like galactic scale odds that would show me this episode, the one that introduces Bo-Katan, at the exact same time she shows up in the latest episode of the Mandalorian’s second season. Something I’ll get into a little more when I review that episode on Monday, shuffling my schedule around a little.
Next time I’m going to start digging into the 4 part, bounty hunter focused story arc. I’ll be talking about this one in two parts:
- Season 4, Episode 15: Deception
- Season 4, Episode 16: Friends and Enemies
A Richard Wood Text Adventure 