The episode started off really nicely, though at the same time brought up one of my minor nitpicks. General Tandin, who was so important in allowing the Rebel cause to still exist in this episode, was barely involved in this episode, and more often than not you could forget he was even in this episode! To add insult to injury for Tandin, he was demoted so that Steela Gerrera could be the new leader of the army. I found it amusing when Lux Bonteri tried to congratulate Steela, but she walked right past him. Lux caught himself so he could summon a creature to fly him and Ahsoka Tano. Having thought otherwise, Steela turns around and kisses Lux, saying, "Just in case". Ahsoka (who Lux previously kissed in a episode in Season 4, "A Friend in Need"), tries not to act jealous and gives Lux a playful punch on the arm, but behind his back Ahsoka is upset.
The battle scenes in this episode were amazing, really well done. Admittedly, I again felt the Droid Army had its ground forces taken out WAY too easily again, but there was so much going on in this episode it was understandable. The main treat here was finally seeing the Droid Gunships on the show, known as HMP Predators in the trivia. It was really cool finally seeing them in action, and they kicked some major butt! It was also cool when the weaponry the Rebels had been using before wouldn't work on the Gunships. Explosions like the one pictured above were superbly animated. I liked a move too where Saw is knocked off his flying beast to the ground, and Tandin picks him up in a move similar to Tarpals helping Jar-Jar Binks up in The Phantom Menace.
This above scene was important in several ways: First of all, we see how Saw's character has changed a lot: He used to be arrogant earlier in the arc, but now even he has come to admit that his sister Steela is the best leader among the Rebels, and Steela says she learnt from the best, referring to Saw, her brother. We also see Lux get frustrated with Ahsoka for what I think is the first time, and that she hasn't been able to do as much as she'd like, as she can only really observe. Thirdly is that in A War on Two Fronts, the first Onderon episode, Steela appears to challenge Ahsoka as she wonders why Lux trusts this Ahsoka, but in this scene Steela shows she now completely trusts Ahsoka. This might also be cause for Ahsoka to feel bad in a later scene...
With the dark tone of this episode, it needed a funny character to shed a bit of light on this episode. That light came in the form of everyone's favourite Weequay Pirate, Hondo Ohnaka. As always, Hondo added a humour side to an episode that would otherwise miss it. He was only in two small scenes, but they were still great to watch. Surprisingly, out of the two I preferred the scene where Anakin Skywalker comes to visit Hondo on Florrum, maybe because most of the other scene (the scene pictured above), was shown in a trailer before the season, though there were some dialogue differences. It amused me when Anakin told Hondo he was the man to go to for shipping weapons, but only illegally. This won't be the last we see of Hondo this season, as he's coming in the next arc as well!
And now the episode really gets to it's major point, which is why the episode is titled "Tipping Points", after all. Saw and the other Rebels start to use the rocket launchers delivered by Hondo illegally to blast the new Droid Gunships, and the Rebels seemed to have got the upper hand again. However, Droids started attacking "The Nest", which was where the Rebels were hiding King Dendup to protect him. The Commando Droids, (finally menacing again for the first time in a while), eliminated many Rebels. There was a brutal moment where one Commando Droid demanded a wounded Rebel tell them where Dendup was. The Rebel refused to tell, and the red lighting created from the blaster bolt was reflected off the Droid as it executed the wounded Rebel. When Steela arrives to destroy a Droid Gunship around "The Nest", Dendup and two guards try to make a run for it. They get trapped at the edge of a cliff, but Steela arrives to shoot the last Commando Droid with both guards dead. The odds are back on the Rebels side and they seem to have won completely, or so they think, as we now hit what may be the most emotional scene so far in the show.
All the ground army Droids are destroyed, but two Gunships still remain. Saw orders for the Rebels to shoot one down, then he insists on taking down the last one himself. Saw scores a direct hit, and raises his arm to celebrate, but an unfortunate twist to occur. With his sister, Steela, and Dendup still on the edge of the cliff, the Gunship crashes against the cliff, and it cracks. Steela pushes Dendup to safety, but can't reach safety herself, and slips closer to a long fall. Her "boyfriend", Lux Bonteri, tries to grab her, and almost falls off the cliff himself, but Ahsoka uses the force to save him. As Ahsoka does the same with Steela, with it's last bit of energy, the Droid Gunship/HMP Predator, opens fire. It's bolt pierces Ahsoka's shoulder, and Ahsoka falls backwards, and Steela plummets to her death. In my opinion, there is NO way they could have done this death scene any better. The actions, the music, Lux's reaction to her death, the way he drops his gun and all that heavy breathing, Saw shouting, "Steela!", and even Ahsoka stunned by Steela's death. It was gut-wrenching to watch as Saw, Steela's own brother who had downed the gunship that resulted in her death, blamed himself for the loss, leaving him alone. Lux tried to console Saw, saying Steela knew what the risks were.
And now we reach another important moment, how is it going to finish on the villain end of things? Again, the crew didn't disappoint with another amazing scene. King Sanjay Rash again demands reinforcements from Dooku, who asks General Kalani for his input on the situation. Kalani tells Dooku it will take time to crush the Rebels, but Dooku is fed up and doesn't want a "prolonged war", and tells Kalani to take the remaining Droids elsewhere, to the Agamar system. Confused, King Rash prepares to ask what they plan to do with Onderon, but General Kalani executes King Rash by shooting him in the heart like a badass. This signify's an important thing, the Separatists DID NOT lose the Battle of Onderon. So often we see the Separatists lose battles on the show, but this wasn't a defeat, because they chose to focus their efforts and resources elsewhere, rather than continue to do so on Onderon.
The final scene from this episode, much like the other two final scenes previously, was also critical. We see how Saw and Lux feel about Steela's death, the hand Lux places on Saw's shoulder shows how things have changed between them, as Saw perhaps was a bully towards Lux at the start, but now Lux shares Saw's pain. Anakin & Obi-Wan, back on Onderon for this final scene, remark on how this journey has been a important one for Ahsoka, and agree that Steela will be looked up to as a hero by many people. Ahsoka offers her condolences to Saw about Steela's death, while perhaps also feeling a little bad, maybe blaming herself for dropping Steela when she was shot, but Saw just walks away. Then we come to what I consider a crucial moment in this show: And that is how much Lux Bonteri's character has changed: Back when we first met him in Season 3, he had full support for the Separatists, he had his mother, he had what we presume a good life, but also presumably he was immature, but after what he's being through he has completely changed, and it's been great to watch him change. His mother was executed by Count Dooku's orders, a man who Lux probably looked up to, he tried to join Death Watch to get revenge on Dooku, but Ahsoka helped him realize it was a bad call and escaped. Now, at the end of the Onderon journey, Lux has finally decided the Republic is the right side to be on, and announces Dendup has made him the Senator of Onderon. THIS highlights how much has changed for Lux ever since we first met him two seasons ago, and I really don't care one bit what anyone else says, but to me Lux is one of the most developed characters of the show and has one of the most interesting stories, plus is one of the best original The Clone Wars characters. That is all...
My verdict: A stunning episode, one which I consider to be among the best episodes in the show. They ended the Onderon arc on a high, and the three final scenes were amazing. Rating: 10/10
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