Star Wars: The Clone Wars "The Soft War"

Next up is "The Soft War", the third episode in the four-part Onderon arc! This is where things really started to get serious!

This episode certainly opened up dramatically! Within minutes we saw Droid Army reinforcements completely massacred and destroyed in a Rebel ambush. It was actually quite hard to watch. Props to the crew because back in the day the Droid Army didn't always look like as huge a army as it did here, but the army was taken out WAY too quickly. Many Battle Droids & Super Battle Droids in mere moments were wiped out, and I swear that MTT vehicle didn't get hit by any grenades, only blaster bolts. Hmmm...

The villains were again great to watch in this episode, with two new ones as well. General Kalani, the Droid, who was briefly introduced by Dooku in the last episode, now appeared in full form, and the voice-acting was terrific for Kalani. The other new villain was General Tandin, leader of the Onderon Army. However, Tandin and thus his army would have a change of heart later in the episode. It was really cool watching the Generals, Kalani and Tandin, arguing with each other about what they should do. Again, King Rash talks to the "true" King, Dendup, and asks him to tell the "terrorists" or Rebels to stand down, he also tried in the last episode. Again, Dendup says he can't, and that it is the will of the people. 

At the Rebel camp, the minor Rebel known as Dono brings shocking news to Ahsoka, Steela, Saw & Lux: King Dendup is sentenced to be executed in public the next day. The Rebels are divided on what to do, and Saw brashly decides to try and free Dendup on his own, against his sister and the leader of the Rebels, Steela's, orders. Saw is captured trying to escape with Dendup. With all eyes on Steela, she refuses to launch another mission to rescue her brother, stating Dendup is the priority. This helps mark Steela out as the true leader for the Rebels, placing no one above each other.

General Kalani tortures Saw to try and get any info out of him regarding the Rebels. However, Saw refuses to give in and doesn't give anything away. Tandin insists on talking to Saw himself, and in the talk we see signs that Tandin is ready to change sides, after Saw makes a well-reasoned argument, stating that Tandin is just a tool under the Separatist rule, and they all will be unless they free Onderon. This causes Tandin's change of sides in the next scene.

Finally we reach the execution scene, where they prepare to execute Dendup (pictured above). To demonstrate how they will execute Dendup, King Rash takes a bite of some fruit (like I mentioned about Rash in the last review, he always leaves it after the first bite), and drops the fruit onto the device. The Magnaguards stab the device, leaving a cut in the fruit. As the Magnaguards ready themselves to execute Dendup, the Rebels make their move. Steela shoots both Magnaguards with clean shots to the head, and Lux Bonteri tosses a couple of smoke grenades. With King Rash and the Droids blinded, the Rebels charge. Lux smacks King Rash on the back of the head, while the other Rebels target the Battle Droids. Soon, Dendup is freed and they prepare to escape, but Dono is shot dead as Super Battle Droids arrive and surround them. The execution is back on again, and Dendup is back in the same position, with Saw Gerrera, Steela Gerrera and Lux Bonteri also to be executed after. Jedi Padawan Ahsoka Tano, who has been on Onderon as an observer, now prepares to blow her cover to save them. But she doesn't have to, as General Tandin rushes in with his army to stop the execution. King Rash calls Tandin a traitor, to which Tandin replies, "I was, not anymore." The watching Onderon civilians cheer as Tandin grabs King Rash around the neck to use as a shield. The Rebels, along with Dendup, make their escape. However, the Droids and General Kalani surround Tandin, but Ahsoka this time does blow her cover by force-pushing all the Droids over as if they were skittles in bowling. As they make their escape, the civilians turn on Rash and announce they want him and the Separatists gone, standing in the way of the Super Battle Droids attempting to follow the Rebels. This scene marks how much has changed since the first Onderon episode, and that the civilians now completely back the Rebels.

Back at the camp, they are joined by General Tandin and his army. Tandin announces that Dendup has his full trust, and the Rebels celebrate this victory. While the celebrations go on, Ahsoka & Lux have a brief but interesting moment:
"Ahsoka! I knew you couldn't resist a good fight." -Lux
"Am I becoming that predictable?" -Ahsoka
"Only to me." -Lux

My verdict: This arc just kept getting better! The execution scene was really cool, and while only a minor character (Dono), was killed, we still had our first named character death of the arc. Rating: 9/10