As everyone has been saying, Season 3 the The Clone Wars promises to be darker than its predecessors. There's an inevitability about this, as the fact that we know about Order 66 and about Anakin's transformation into Darth Vader has to color our reactions to the characters in this series.
This week, it all gets started. Friday's premiere is an hour, with two episodes focusing on the clone troopers and their homeworld of Kamino. Hearkening back to "Rookies," the two new episodes showcase the way the clones balance individual personalities with the realities of being . . . well, clones.
In “Clone Cadets,” five headstrong cadets — Hevy, Cutup, Droidbait, Fives and Echo — struggle to complete their training on the ocean planet of Kamino. Unable to work together as a team, they must learn to embrace their future as soldiers before they are drummed out of the academy.
“It’s a band-of-brothers story that takes you back before most of the episodes we’ve seen so far; it’s one of the earliest episodes – chronologically – in the series,” says Dee Bradley Baker, voice of the clones. “We’re going to see how the ‘shinies’ [new recruits featured in the first season episode, ‘Rookies’] learn to work together. Starting off, they’re not a team at all. They’re just everymen; they’re human. And now they’ve got to pull it together. There’s something really cool about how the show brings out the heroism from characters like that — not just the superpowered ones.”
A revealing look at clone development and training, the episode also introduces a unique new character. Clone Number 99 is a unique clone: an imperfect model relegated to menial, custodial duties at the Kamino production facility. Still, despite his physical flaws, he nonetheless identifies with his genetic brethren, and he aspires to make his own small contributions to their noble war efforts.
“He’s a great example of the show’s creative risks,” says Baker. “I was nervous going into this episode. Does he sound real? Is he believable? I agonized over it; he’s a very special character, and a very unique challenge. Kinda high stakes for me, because I wanted so badly to get it right. He’s a little bit slower … quieter … softer than your basic clone voice. I skewed his dialect toward cockney to give him a blue collar, salt-of-the-earth flavor. I’ve got a lot of favorites, but 99’s definitely one of them. His story is very affecting — really beautiful on a lot of different levels.”
Here's a clip from "Clone Cadets":
On the heels of “Clone Cadets” comes “ARC Troopers,” which revisits the clones after the notable events of “Rookies” – with the surviving squad members tasked with defending Kamino from a large-scale Separatist attack. After the Republic repulses the Separatists’ first assault, the real threat begins. Asajj Ventress, General Grievous and an army of droids rise out of the planet’s oceans, determined to destroy the clone production facilities – and the clones themselves are the last line of desperate defense.
“This episode raises the stakes in a really spectacular way. This is big space opera; this is why you want to own an HD TV. It’s basically the scale of a Star Wars movie – on TV,” says Baker. “It’s awesome. I’m so very proud of this show; it’s exciting to make this kind of episode work. And it’s such a team effort. There’s an army of artists working to make this compelling and moving.
This is extraordinary storytelling.”
And here's one from "ARC Troopers":
Here's a bonus still from this week's episodes, too. Get your edible clone trooper army and settle in!
