‘The Clone Wars’ Great Bad Batch Arc Received a Lackluster Third Episode in ‘On the Wings of Keeradaks’ — Review
There’s no denying the fact that The Clone Wars Season 7 is highly, highly anticipated. We keep saying that because it’s true. And in a season that has so many fans hanging on every episode, you really don’t have time for filler episodes or episodes that don’t give the viewer much, especially when there are only 12. But Episode 3, “On the Wings of Keeradaks” almost had that kind of feeling. It’s not necessarily a bummer, because it provides a necessary bookend to the Bad Batch arc, however, it was noticeably less enjoyable than the first two episodes. [SPOILERS ahead for The Clone Wars Season 7.]
This episode jam-packed with high-stakes action
First off, it needs to be said that what this episode might have lacked in dialogue and emotional bits, it made up for in its action. The animation is so much better this season, as we’ve said before, and this episode really used that new tech to show a very rich background and battlefield.
This is also very well-displayed with Echo, who’s now a little more in control of his body. From the moment they unplug him to his facial features that are still Clone-like, but not, it’s fascinating to see. And even though there’s not a tone of depth and dialogue, the moments between Rex and Echo are top-notch.
Other than the action, though, there isn’t a lot of meat to the episode
The main criticism, here, is that there aren’t a ton of major narrative plot points in this episode. Yes, it served a purpose, but it’s also the shortest episode thus far, clocking in at 18 minutes. The dynamic that we’ve seen between Wrecker, Hunter, Tech, and Crosshair has interestingly integrated with Rex. Their behavior and decorum (or lack thereof) is so much different, that the first two episodes showed high tensions and disagreements. But that was gone from this episode.
Another aspect this episode lacked was even of General Skywalker. He had some of the best lines and moments this episode, but there was still so little in comparison to what we’ve gotten before. The Clone Wars is such a well-written show that this episode didn’t feel like a failure, but instead felt lackluster in comparison to what’s been done.
Echo knows more about the Separatist’s plot; will he let anyone know?
Dave FIloni recently opened up about bringing Echo back after his “death” in Season 3, which has been a major part of the first three episodes. “That [death], really more than any of the other ones, we all kind of noticed that people were like, ‘Oh, man, Echo,’” Filoni said. It’s not just Rex that missed his brother, which is obvious with the amount of care that went into Echo’s current arc.
And bringing in the Techno Union seen in this episode brought a way to see more sides of Star Wars lore. “And we thought it’d be interesting that the Techno Union — a creepy bunch of guys on the evil side of things — maybe there’s something to be done there,” he said. “So we started to hatch a plan for if that would even be something that’s possible. But it wasn’t top of mind when we did the Citadel arc.”
However, the last moments showed Echo staring morbidly at Rex. Echo got a glimpse into the Separatist’s data memory, possibly giving him access to the Order 66 plans. It seems like he knows, but will he do anything about it?
