Together Again (The Clone Wars - S07E08) - Animated Series

"You can change who you are, but you cannot run from yourself.

Negotiating with Marg Krim

"Together Again" concludes the story about the Martez sisters and Ahsoka's attempt to lay low, which, of course, failed spectacularly. Not only did Ahsoka get involved with two wannabe Coruscant tough girls, she eventually ended up in a Pyke Syndicate prison with them and things are about to get even worse, because it turns out the Pykes are not at the top of the food chain. Last week's episode left Rafa, Trace and Ahsoka back in prison. The episode betings with the three prisoners arguing about who's more to blame for their current situation. The debate ends when they are summoned. Marg Krim, the local Pyke Syndicate big shot, still wants his spice back. Of course there is no spice, since Trace dumped it all into space out of panic two episodes ago. But Ahsoka comes up with a ruse. She offers the Pyke a deal, let the sisters get the "hidden" spice and if they don't come back she will tell Krim where the Martez family is, so he can kill them as punishment. She wants a small cut of the profits in return. Krim agrees and tells the Martez sisters that if they are not back after one rotation he will not just torture the info out of Ahsoka and kill her, but he will also go on and kill the Martez sisters and their family. So the two Martez sisters leave. Of course Marg Krim is no complete fool and he knows this is all most likely a deception, but then we find out that the Pyke Syndicate answers to somewone who they are really, really afraid of! Who could that be?

We totally have an order to pick up the spice, yes really, for sure!

Free, at least for now, Trace doesn't get why Ahsoka lied to the Pyke about their family, since there is no Martez family anymore after the botched Jedi mission that killed their parents. But Rafa, who's usually the somewhat brighter sister, tells Trace that Ahsoka gave up herself so the two of them can escape. But Rafa won't have that, also, Rafa won't have Ashoka hold it over her should she escape on her own. So yet another plan is hatched, the Martez sisters will get some spice after all. They fly to a Pyke loading facility and pretend to have a pickup order for some spice. What could go wrong? Well, of course, everything! While Rafa manages to confuse the Toong for a while, he is still puzzled why the order for the spice is not on the shoip's manifest. Rafa wants to see the manager, because, why not. And the inevitable fight breaks out between the Trandoshan manager and the Martez sisters. They get the better of the Trandoshan and Rafa manages to eventually kill him. And now they have the spice! So the plan worked after all. Lady Luck must favor the Martez sisters!

The top of the food chain

Ahsoka meanwhile manages to escape, again. She sneaks around the spice refinery and finds out that Marg Krim is answering to an even bigger fish. None other than Darth Maul, the head of Crimson Dawn. And Maul leaves very little doubt that it's in the very best interest of the Pyke to get him that spice. Ahsoka also manages to raid the armory and she plants a few explosives on various silos. Ahsoka then makes her way to a control room, where she manages to find out that Darth Maul is on Mandalore. But then she is captured, again, after a short fight in which she once again uses her Jedi powers, but even she can't hold off the many Pyke surrounding her. But now her secret is out, the Pykes know Ahsoka is a Jedi.

Pykes vs Ahsoka 3-0

Ahsoka is brought before Krim who says that the execution of a Jedi will certainly restore their reputation. Just when the Martez sisters enter with the good news that they have the spice (apparently no one at the loading facility ever contacted the Syndicate about the stolen spice). But Krim won't have any of that and tells the Martez sisters that he knows they are spies for the Republic and work for the Jedi Ahsoka. Both Rafa and Trace are surprised to hear that, of course, and demand to know of Ahsoka why she kept that from them. While arguing Ahsoka activates the blinking detonator on her wrist (the Pykes apparently didn't find it odd that Ashoka has a blinking, red detonator on her wrist and let her keep it, when she was incapacitated in the fight before) and the silos explode. In the general confusion Ahsoka and the Martez sisters manage to espace. They run to the ship, but on their way off planet they are pursued by a few Pyke ships. They are eventually disposed of and the trio flies back home, to Coruscant.

Bo-Katan needs Ahsoka's help

Back on Coruscant Ahsoka reassures the Martez sisters that they will be safe from the Pykes, since they believe the Jedi were after them and they won't go looking for two civilians. Rafa then wants to know if Ahsoka will arrest them now for spice smuggling, since she's a Jedi after all, but Ahsoka tells them she's no longer a Jedi and that she walked away from the order. Trace doesn't get it why anyone would ever leave the Jedi and Ashoka then gets the one important message, that Ahsoka is how a Jedi should be, at least according to Trace. But then the three masked Mandalorians, who had tracked Ahsoka all the way back to Coruscant, appear in the garaga. Bo-Katan removes her helmet and tells Ahsoka that they have a common enemy and that they need her help! Ahsoka knows about Darth Maul and so she boards the ship of the three Mandalorians. Leaving the Martez sisters behind who will probably be a lot better off now, with the spice in their cargo hold.

Goodbye Trace and Rafa, we hardly knew you

So that was Ahsoka's four episode arc. I have mixed feelings about it. While the arc moved around all the relevant pieces on the board for the endgame, the focus on the Martez sisters did little for the greater narrative overall. Ahsoka realized that laying low is not for her. And Trace's comment that Ahsoka is how she wants Jedi to be will certainly also shape her future. We know that Ahsoka will get new lightsabers eventually and go her own way, using the Force, without being a Jedi.

Without the greater context of the truncated last season "Together Again" was entertaining. But maybe also a bit dumb here and there. Sure, The Clone Wars a show that is also for kids so some hackneyed schemes and stupid villains are to be expected, but both the plan to get the spice and the complete and utter incompetence displayed by the Pykes, who never bothered to remove that huge blinking detonator from Ahsoka's wrist, sure make things very convenient this time. Also, over the course of the four episodes the Martez sisters had more luck than smarts, and the dumb things they did or said don't necessariy paint them in a flattering light. At least they have heart and courage. And their viewpoint provided an outside look at the Jedi and their affairs.

The big question is if the things that this arc achieved, getting Ahsoka to Mandalore, revealing that Maul, as head of Crimson Dawn, is king of the underworld hill and having Ahsoka realize that laying low and doing nothing with her Jedi powers is not for her, really needed four episodes and a focus on two throwaway characters we will never see or meet again.

It's one thing if you have all the time in the world to tell your story, it's another if 12 episodes is all there is. To spend 4 of them telling a story about two more or less random sisters when we have Obi-Wan, Anakin and Yoda is puzzling. Sure, they will probably get their moments in the last arc, but the question needs to be asked if spending so much time with the Martez sisters was really necessary. Sure, parts of it were fun, seen in isolation the episodes were alright. And would it have been the middle of season 6 or so everything would have been fine. But to include this arc in a truncated final Clone Wars season is questionable, in my opinion.

So while the four episodes were ok, standard Clone Wars fare, it would have been better to either trim down the material to two episodes worth of story or to come up with something entirely new that doesn't focus so much on guest characters, few will really care about. Ahsoka herself was more like a guest star in her own arc more often than not, she was passive, merely reacting. That may be what Filoni was going for, to show that passive Ahsoka doesn't work and that because of her talents and who she is she can't keep away from important things happening around her. But there most certainly would have been a better way to tell this story. So after this four episode arc I would say it's a missed opportunity and sadly mostly a waste of time - if the viewer wanted season 7 to be all meat and no filler. If you don't mind the filler nature of most episodes, then the arc had its moments, it was funny at times, there was some nice action and some general goofiness. But the Martez sisters will probably not go down in history as memorable Clone Wars characters. All in all I had hoped for more. In essence much of the four episodes was spent on escaping from prison only to get captured again. And again. Why the Pykes never even bothered to post two guards at the cell, especially after the first escape, is yet another very dumb thing. It would have been better if the villains had been a little bit smarter, it takes away from the achievements of the heroes when the opponents are that dumb. I rate the episode 2.5 stars. The arc overall, seen in isolation, gets 3 stars, seen in context (final season, focus on all new characters) I would rate the arc 2 stars.