This review contains spoilers!
Moralo Eval is a bounty hunter who works for Count Dooku and has been imprisoned for the attempted kidnapping of Chancellor Palpatine. The Jedi council calls an emergency meeting to discuss how to keep Palpatine safe from this most recent Separatist plot. On their way to the meeting, Obi-Wan, Ahsoka and Anakin are confronted by a sniper. He shoots Obi-Wan and escapes. The next scene is Anakin and Ahsoka at a funeral, and though we the audience know Obi-Wan doesn’t die this early in the story, it does appear to be his funeral. The sniper shows up in a bar, celebrating the death of a Jedi, and crows “I killed Obi-Wan Kenobi!” We learn his name is Rako Hardeen.
Yoda and Mace Windu talk after the funeral, and this is where our suspicions of a fake funeral are confirmed. Yoda is concerned they are heading down a dark path, but they have agreed that killing a Jedi was the only way to proceed with their plans. They enter a room where a very much alive Obi-Wan is sitting – he took suppressors to make it look like he was dead. Anakin and Ahsoka are not in on the ruse, however; they think he’s really gone. Obi-Wan’s hair is shaved and he undergoes facial transformation to look like Hardeen. Obi-Wan swallows a vocal emulator, and from here on in the show, Hardeen is played by Obi-Wan.
Anakin finds Hardeen at the bar and takes him to prison, where he is an instant celebrity. Confronted by another inmate, Hardeen stabs him with a fork. Eval approaches and asks Hardeen if he killed the Jedi for vengeance or money. Hardeen replies that he was just bored – this is the same reason that Eval gave for killing his own mother. As a gesture, Eval gives Hardeen some “sauce” to make the prison food more tolerable. He’s building a bond, see? Eval arranges to be Hardeen’s cellmate and says there are bigger plans than Jedi-killing available, if Hardeen is willing. Their third cellmate is Cad Bane, who has been hired to break all of them out. He doesn’t get along with Hardeen. Before Obi-Wan gets any further information from Eval, he is sent away to another cell and cut out of the plans. He is able to speak with the other Jedis with a communicator hidden under the bench press equipment, but has no real news to report.
A young prisoner confronts Hardeen, demanding a bounty that he claims Hardeen stole from him. A significant look between the young prisoner and Bane tells us that Bane has paid him to start this fight. Before long a full scale riot erupts, complete with the prisoners killing their guards. This is the diversion that Bane has arranged to cover the escape. Hardeen sees Eval and Bane run away, and follows at a short distance. The troopers are ordered to take their weapons off stun- they are prepared to kill prisoners if necessary. Hardeen joins the escape. They head to the prison morgue, as Bane has escaped using this tactic before. Hearing someone approaching, each of the trio hops into a casket with a casualty from the riot. The caskets are all being sent to the cremation center, and this is where they jump out and fire upon the guards, killing all of them as they escape. Bane punches Hardeen for hesitating to kill a guard. They steal a ship and speed away. Bane is suspicious of Hardeen, but Eval leans in, finally ready to confide in him.
Tonight’s episode surprised me. I understand why Obi-Wan faked his own death, but to let Anakin and Ahsoka believe it’s real seems especially cruel, considering how close they are and how much they look up to him. Obi-Wan claims that it’s Anakin’s heartbreak and sorrow that sold the fake death to the enemy, which I get, but it sounds an awful lot like using Anakin. Couldn’t they have trusted him to act like he was grieving? I think about what my reaction might be if this happened with someone I was close to, if I mourned them and went through all that pain and emotion and then found out they were really alive and had left me in the dark in order to catch a criminal. And I think no matter what the stakes had been, I would feel angry and betrayed, at least for a good while. Obi-Wan used Anakin’s very real sadness and pain to better sell his fake death. Is it any wonder that Anakin’s trust in Obi-Wan will eventually dissipate?
If you missed the previous episode be sure to read our ‘Star Wars: The Clone Wars, A Friend In Need ‘ recap.
