“Survival is one step on the path to living.”
Hello and welcome to Laughing Place’s weekly recap of the seventh and final season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars from Lucasfilm Animation. This week’s episode, “On the Wings of Keeradaks,” picks up where we left off last time with Anakin Skywalker (voiced by actor Matt Lanter), and his clone compatriots including the Bad Batch (all voiced by Dee Bradley Baker) all trapped on the planet Skako Minor after having rescued their long-thought-fallen brother-in-arms Echo (Baker again, of course).
Their unsanctioned mission successful so far, our heroes find themselves surrounded by Wat Tambor’s forces as they wait for an extraction squad, while the clones try to disconnect Echo from the Techno Union computer system. The droids are closing in and Tambor gives the order to send in “The Decimator” (basically a big lethal floating ball) by the time Echo is safely removed from his enslavement. “I’ve got a big headache,” are his first words to Rex after regaining his bearings.
Echo reveals he now has access to the entire Techno Union database in his head and identifies a vent through which the group can escape. Wrecker (yep, Baker) uses his supreme strength to throw everyone up through the hole once they hack it open, except Anakin who uses his Force jump ability. On his own way out, Wrecker also takes a moment to place a number of thermal detonators around the room, detonating Tambor’s “science experiment.” When it blows, Tambor laments, “They’ve ruined years of research!”
Making their way to the exterior of the station, the clones and Anakin must precariously cross a giant chasm on a big pipe. They get about halfway across and are suddenly ambushed by droids from both sides of the gap. Hunter (you guessed it– Baker) almost falls to his death, but then Tech (do I need to tell you who voices him?) figures out a way to summon the local flying beasts called Keeradaks. They jump onto the creatures and escape, but are immediately followed by the droids, as it turns out they can also fly. “That wasn’t part of the plan,” groans Tech.
The group arrives at the Poletec village, where the leader is impressed that they tamed the Keeradaks, but not for long as the droids show up soon after. The chieftain is angry that the clones have now dragged the villagers into the wars, but Rex says the Techno Union Army had chosen a side despite claiming to be neutral, so “your people have to choose” as well. Back at the Techno Union headquarters, Wat Tambor orders his soldiers to “take the reinforcements and bring back my experiment.”
A battle erupts between the Poletec villagers and the Techno Union droids, with the Bad Batch kicking about as much butt as you would expect in the fight, each using their own unique talents. Anakin spots huge spider-like Octuptarra walker droids incoming and springs into action, employing some high-flying stunts to take on the threat. Echo reacts knowingly, “Still showing off, huh, General?” Meanwhile, Wrecker does what he does best and throws some fellow troopers up onto the walkers to help in the effort toward disabling their cannons.
Anakin Force-pushes the walkers over, ending the skirmish. “It’s hard to compete with a Jedi,” remarks Hunter. Temporarily defeated, Tambor declares “We must find a way to recoup on our investment.” Our protagonists bid farewell to the Poletecs, though they are told by the chieftain they will always have an ally on Skako Minor. At the very end of the shorter-than-usual episode, Rex and Echo have a touching moment, with the latter saying “Thanks for coming after me,” and Rex replying “That’s what brothers do.”
The first three episodes of Star Wars: The Clone Wars season seven are now available to stream exclusively on Disney+.