This should be a good weekend in the Clone Wars fan universe. This season Star Wars: The Clone Wars moved to Saturday mornings, and it has often seemed a bit sunnier and less action-oriented than previous seasons. ("Sunnier" isn't a good thing at a time when the dark side of the Force is on the ascendancy! And what is Star Wars without action?) But the recent return of Darth Maul, Savage Opress, and the Mandalorian cult Death Watch has also meant a return to form for the series. Two weeks ago, the Sith teamed up with Death Watch, offering to help them retake Mandalore from Obi-Wan Kenobi's old love, the peace-loving Duchess Satine. But when the Sith led an assault on the crime syndicate Black Sun, it became clear that the brothers had greater ambitions then Mandalore.
Last week, Death Watch lashed out at Maul and Opress, culminating in a terrific duel between Maul and Pre Vizsla. This week, Darth Maul's (former?) master, Darth Sidious arrives on Mandalore to remind his apprentice of Sith hierarchy:
While the episode should be fun – and indeed this story arc has been much livelier than the recent droid adventures – the most interesting event is at 1:30 ET (10:30 PT): LucasFilm is sponsoring a Google Hangout with Dave Filoni (supervising director), Matt Lanter (Anakin), Ashley Eckstein (Ahsoka Tano), and Sam Witwer (Darth Maul). If you have a Google+ profile you can RSVP for the event, and you can ask questions of Filoni and the cast via the hashtag #CloneWarsHangout. The Hangout will also stream to youtube.com/starwars.
In addition to the chance to interact with the cast and crew, LucasFilm is also offering a first look at next week's episode, as well as other hints about the rest of the season. This is the first official Star Wars hangout, and it should be interesting, although judging by the comments already posted, it will be difficult to steer talk away from Episode VII.
