Gone With A Trace (The Clone Wars - S07E05) - Animated Series

If there is no path before you, create your own

Another happy landing

Gone With A Trace is the first all new episode in season 7 of The Clone Wars. We meet Ahsoka again, who left the Jedi order and is now on her own. Ahsoka's speeder biker malfunctions while ascending to the lower levels of Coruscant. And after avoiding several accidents with other speeders and ships her bike eventually tumbles all the way down to level 1313. Here Ahsoka crashes on a platform and barely avoids falling to her possible death. As it turns out Ahsoka landed on a platform that is part of a garage, operated by Trace Martez, who is a mechanic. Trace tells Ahsoka that nothing is free, neither spare parts not tools, when Ahsoka decides to fix the the bike all by herself. That's how it is on Level 1313. Ahsoka meanwhile has decided not to disclose who she really is and where she really comes from, other than "topside". So Trace doesn't learn Ahsoka is, or rather was, a Jedi.

That must hurt

Eventually some alien thugs turn up, demanding money owed to them by Trace's sister Rafa. Trace tries to beat up the aliens but as they are about to overwhelm her Trace finally asks Ahsoka for help, who she told not to intervene before. Ahsoka then makes rather quick work of the thugs. When Trace asks Ahsoka where she learned to fight like that Ahsoka merely replies "my older brother taught me".

Rafa and Trace Martez

Trace decides to inform her sister about the thugs wanting their money. They go to Rafa's laundromat where she's about to search for things to steal from her customers. But then we learn that Rafa has another opportunity to make money lined up, she will build three droids for a customer whom she lied to about the laundromat locker room being a secret droid factory. In actuality Rafa got her hands on three binary load lifters that Ahsoka and Trace try to get service ready. Ahsoka tells Trace to be wary, some droids are cross-wired from the start. She also tells Trace that she had several run-ins with droids, which is certainly a colossal understatement. Then she reveals to Trace that type 2 binary load lifters were a fraud and are in actuality repurposed demolition droids prone to bursts of violence after one of them acts up and is disabled by Ahsoka using a remote. But as things are something goes wrong of course. The disabled droid powers up again and escapes before a restraining bolt could be put on him.

Ahsoka uses the Force to save Trace

What follows is the action scene of the episode. Trace and Ahsoka pursue the rampaging binary load lifter with some kind of forklift. They eventually manage to catch it, but then the forklift, with Trace and the droid on it, is about to fall down a shaft. Ahsoka secretly uses the Force to pull up the forklift and rescues Trace.

Level 1313

The day is saved. But then Rafa and Ahsoka argue about the droids, Ahsoka thinks they are not safe and should be dismantled. But Rafa won't have that and a little later she informs Trace and Ahsoka that the sold all three droids at double the price. Trace gets her cut and she and Ahsoka return to the garage, to work on her bike. Ahsoka has found a new friend, Trace. Rafa... not so much. Who knows what will happen next...

"Gone With A Trace" was a solid entry. Not overly exciting, but it provided some insight into the everyday life of people living in Coruscant's underbelly. Especially interesting is Trace's dialogue about the Jedi and how people far removed from the actual war perceive it. Trace believes that "Jedi are running around, starting wars" and when Ahsoka objects and tells her the Jedi are trying to stop the war, Trace merely says "sure, sure they are". It's always fascinating to get an outsider's perspective of things. And it turns out that at least some people living in the lower levels of Coruscant don't hold the Jedi in high regard.

The actual plot of the episode however was not too exciting. It's mostly setup, I presume, for whatever conflict will be revealed in the coming episodes. It's apparent that Trace and Rafa, while sisters, don't necessarily agree on how to resolve or do things, with Rafa being the much more shady character that won't shy away from theft and deception. It's pretty obvious the two sisters will eventually clash over some moral decisions.

One final word about the Martez sisters, while the characters themselves are alright, I feel the character design is somewhat off, too contemporary. By that I mean that especially the choice of hairstyle for the two sisters looks a bit too modern, not what you'd necessarily expect to see in Star Wars. I feel that their style could have been a bit more "Star Wars-y", just like Rogue One perfectly emulated the hairstyles etc seen in A New Hope. Whereas the Martez sisters don't look and feel all that much like the civilians we see in the prequels.

I rate the episode 3.5 stars. Another solid episode, entertaining, but it felt like mostly setup for what's to come. The following episodes will certainly raise the stakes a bit.