The Clone Wars - S7E3: On the Wings of Keeradaks

THE CLONE WARS - DISNEY +

Episode three, On the Wings of Keeradaks, is thus far the most action-centric of the latest Clone Wars season. It picks up immediately after the conclusion of the last episode and pits the Bad Batch with Captain Rex and Anakin against a seemingly endless line of droids. The protagonists are confined to a small room where Echo is located, and the situation seems to be dire, to say the least.

The heat is really turned up here and the show benefits from a contained location and a sense of stakes: if they don’t get out, the droids will get them. Of course, this being Star Wars, and a kids’ show to boot, they do; luckily, their method of escape provides plenty of thrills and one magnificently composed shot. 

The rest of the episode, almost entirely action as well, centers on the group’s efforts to work with the native beings whose home has been invaded. Aside from this plotline being pretty unoriginal, it isn’t entirely convincing either. The natives seem to gain nothing from their exchange with the clones and it isn’t clear why they join the fight. The clones show them a deformed clone, but it isn’t clear why this persuades them. They also state at the end that the Jedi will always have an ally there, but the previous 20 minutes don’t really support that rather brash comment.

The villains, too, are clunky. The techno-union babble that plagued episodes one and two is back again – perhaps even worse than before. Wat Tambor and co. sound as if they are in a poor video game.

Alas, younger audiences will find plenty to enjoy in this action-packed episode, from the stunning visuals to some pretty cool moves executed by the Bad Batch. It does occasionally feel like the clones are given an extraordinarily long amount of time to perform their moves and the droids are, of course, terrible shots. Yet the good outweighs the bad here, making for an enjoyable – if forgettable – episode. The first five minutes are not topped throughout the rest of the episode, but they alone make it worthwhile.

This episode also doesn’t do much to advance character dynamics or meaningful arcs, aside from some nifty teamwork and the last two lines of the episode. Regardless, the improvement in visuals and the consistently gratifying Keven Kiner score help this episode remain quite watchable.