I'm back again with the next analysis in this project and yet again I've given another film in the prequel trilogy a 5 star rating but if you're willing to spend a bit of time reading this, I think you'll see why I believe Attack Of The Clones should be called a masterpiece. But remember that I'm not forcing you to agree with me, I'm simply putting my thoughts into words and I hope that discussion of this film will be done in good faith after two decades of unfair and absurd hatred. Also I'm not some genius for appreciating this movie, it doesn't take much intelligence to look at a film fairly. While I do believe a lot of people are stupid when it comes to the prequels, it's not really about them being dumb or anything. They've just been fed the same nonsensical points over and over again, it's not fair to judge their intelligence overall if they've been forced into an echo chamber with a door made of ignorance. I'm just some guy who likes this film and I really want others to see my point of view. One more thing before we start, you should read my TPM analysis (https://letterboxd.com/basedtesco/film/star-wars-episode-i-the-phantom-menace/1/) first because things will be carried over from that analysis into this one, such as certain themes and character developments.
I'll go through the plot first by starting with the opening crawl, it's precise and contains a lot of information. Thousands of systems have made the decision to leave the Republic and this creates chaos in the Senate. These systems are united under the Separatist Alliance, led by a man named Count Dooku. The Separatists have made it hard for the Jedi to enforce Republic rule, there's far too many systems for the Jedi to keep under control. Padme is no longer Naboo's Queen and is now a Senator, she's heading to Coruscant to vote on the issue of creating an army of the Republic to assist the Jedi. With the context of the previous film we know that Padme is likely to be against creating an army, these systems are leaving on their own choice and forcing Republic rule on them is against her ideals. These systems were fed up with the rampant corruption within the Republic and events such as the conflict on Naboo have shown that the Republic doesn't properly function. But they felt that they couldn't do anything, until Count Dooku brought them all together. Now they are organised and willing to do something by leaving and creating their own governing body. The Republic doesn't want them to leave for various reasons, to have power over as much of the galaxy as possible, certain systems are filled with resources to exploit, any key systems leaving will give rise to more leavers, etc. Peace is the furthest thing from their mind and that's evident based on the fact they sent Jedi to try and enforce their rule over people who don't want to be a part of the Republic any longer. The Jedi have essentially become a glorified police force, protecting the corrupt establishment by being complacent and actively upholding their rule. They're meant to be a religious order seeking enlightenment but because of how they have been integrated into the system, they have become afraid of losing the political power they hold. The highly esteemed Jedi Council literally sit on an ivory tower passing judgement onto everyone beneath them, completely unaware that they have lost their way. They serve the corrupt system instead of the will of the Force and that has led them to their eventual downfall. They only took up Anakin because of their obligation to fulfil Qui-Gon's dying wish, their fear of his power helped lead Anakin and the Jedi Order to destruction. While there is a bit less to say about this opening crawl compared to TPM's one, it still sets up the context of the film just as well. Now we'll move on and start talking about the rest of the movie.
I'll go over the plot of the film and occasionally I'll stop to take a closer look at certain scenes in the film. We begin and instead of the usual pan down to reveal a ship and a planet, we get a pan up. This breaking of the formula by inverting is very intentional and it informs us of what is to come. AOTC is the prequel trilogy's counterpart to the original trilogy's ESB. AOTC abnormal opening is the prequel trilogy's counter to create balance with ESB's abnormal ending because ESB is the only film in the saga to not end on a group shot of people, instead it ends on a group shot of Rebel ships. Both AOTC and ESB are filled with deception and reversals, nothing is as it seems. AOTC itself is also a mirror of ESB, making it even murkier than ESB, which is very fitting given how most of the characters here fail to live up to their own standards, being ignorant to the truth of what's going on, etc. The mirroring also means that ESB starts low in a desolate world and ends high in a futuristic city while AOTC starts high in a futuristic city and ends low in a desolate world. One is ascending and the other is descending, the Rebellion are heading towards victory in the next film and the Republic is heading towards destruction in the next film.
A ship is escorted by 3 fighter pilots and a Lieutenant tells Senator Amidala that they're close to landing now. We see the large ship's shadow move against the clouds before watching it descend into them. This descent into the clouds visually alludes to how the dark side is shrouding reality, with nobody able to grasp the truth and everybody being trapped by falling for lies and deception. This symbolism of descending into clouds/fog/smoke/shadows, denoting a lack of sight and concealment of knowledge that will be emphasised with repetition throughout the film. The clouds also symbolise moral ambiguity, neither of sides in the coming war are truly good or evil. They land and ironically enough, the half-blind Captain Typho is relieved that "there was no danger at all" right before a bomb goes off, heavily damaging the ship. Most of the security team are dead and Padme rushes to the Senator, who we know now is a decoy called Corde. She apologises for failing Padme, but Padme is only able to reply with a sad "no" and watches her friend die. Remember the theme of duality in TPM? It's very important here, two Senator Amidalas arrived on Coruscant and one of them has just died. The one that died is dressed in white, colours symbolising innocence and peace and the one that survives is dressed as a fighter pilot, making her a warrior. Also this fighter pilot attire is very reminiscent of Anakin's Jedi robes. The warrior half of Amidala is mourning the diplomat half, Corde apologising to Padme for her failure is echoing the themes of how the current system is failing the people and Padme's response of "no" shows how she is currently in denial of the sorry state of the Republic despite what happened 10 years ago. But her dedication to seek the truth leads her to accept reality in the next film with the question, "what if the democracy we thought we were serving no longer exists?" and the iconic "thunderous applause" line. Throughout the film we'll see the use of shadows and duality to reference Jung's theory of shadow selves that reflect your deepest desires, especially for Anakin. The collective unconscious will also be mentioned too. Typho reminds Padme that staying here is keeping herself in danger but she's still in shock, she "shouldn't have come back". He then reminds her that the vote is very important and Corde did "her duty", she has to leave the landing platform now. Corde, who is in the image of a peacekeeper has done her duty by dying and now Padme, who is in the image of a fighter has to deal with the Separatist issue. Padme's outfit is blue and red, logic and passion are clashing against each other without balance (purple) and this clashing will lead to war and a loss of identity. Jedi will become warmongering Generals, Padme will end up accepting the war, the Republic will take its first steps into becoming the Empire and the most obvious theme of loss of identity, the mass-produced clone troopers and battle droids who symbolise the dehumanising effects of war and consumerism.
The next scene contains Palpatine having a meeting with members of the Jedi Council, he tells the Jedi that he isn't sure he can delay the vote any further because more and more systems are allying with the Separatists. Windu is about to tell him what happens if these Separatists actually end up breaking away but Palpatine interrupts him, assuring the Jedi he won't let the Republic be "split in two". Palpatine does end up keeping this promise but not in the way the Jedi expect, he will control both sides of the coming war and end it by uniting them again under the Empire. Windu tells him that if negotiations with the Separatists fail, Palpatine must realise there won't be enough Jedi to protect the Republic and that they are peacekeepers, not soldiers. But we know that later on in the film, the Jedi lose their identity as peacekeepers and become the soldiers they claim not to be. Even now by trying to delay the vote for as long as possible, they are losing themselves by using their political power to manipulate the system. By waiting around, they unknowingly play into Palpatine's hand and give more power to the Separatists and the more their group grows, the likelier it is for the Senate to support the act of creating an army. Palpatine asks Yoda if he believes a war is imminent but Yoda is unsure, the dark side "clouds everything" and the future is "impossible to see". Lucas is using Yoda here to further emphasise this theme of clouds and blindness, this blindness is blindness to the reality of Palpatine. His office is covered in red, symbolising his passion and lust of greater power but they don't see it. Palpatine receives a message, the Loyalist Committee has arrived. They enter the room and the Supreme Chancellor tells them that they'll "discuss this matter later". Padme and a few Senators enter the room. Yoda greets Padme by telling her that seeing her alive is heartwarming. She asks if they know who was behind the bombing and Windu answers her, telling her that intelligence points to "disgruntled spice miners on the moons of Naboo". But Padme doesn't believe it, she believes Count Dooku was behind the attack. Ki-Adi-Mundi chimes in to tell her that Dooku is a "political idealist, not a murderer" and Windu backs him, Dooku was "once a Jedi" so assassination wouldn't be "in his character".
Given what we learn about Dooku later on in the film, this is foreshadowing Anakin's turn to the dark side. It's also important because it further highlights the arrogance of the Jedi, Dooku was one of them before so he could do no wrong. Lucas has stated that the Republic/Empire is meant to be America, you can read the Jedi's defence of Dooku as the American system's defence of their own soldiers who've committed atrocities in war because they are "civilised", they can't do wrong. You can also read it as America standing up to defend their own elites. The Vietnam War greatly influenced Star Wars and that war was filled with American soldiers committing atrocities that would have been covered up if some of the soldiers weren't brave enough to testify against their own and if journalists weren't there to take photographic evidence of the crimes (examples such as Napalm Girl and the My Lai massacre come to mind). This is something interesting to think about when we get to Anakin and the Tuskens and it's quite eerie how that scene has similarities to crimes that didn't exist yet at the time of the film's release (atrocities by American soldiers during the Iraq War, Lucas has also stated that the Iraq War shares a lot of similarities with the Vietnam War). The arrogance of the Jedi here is conflated with the arrogance within the idea of American Exceptionalism. Also this isn't me saying all soldiers are bad, most are kids with no other options and were groomed by some military recruiter.
However, Yoda is still wise enough to neither confirm nor deny Padme's suspicions and instead focus on the fact that she's in "grave danger". Palpatine makes a suggestion, Padme should be put under the protection of the Jedi for now. Bail Organa, who is one of the politicians in the Loyalist Committee, asks if it's "a wise decision under these stressful times". Bail knows that if Padme is put under the protection of the Jedi, it would weaken their joint cause to prevent the act of creating an army for the Republic because other Senators might be afraid of being targeted by attacks too. Padme is in the middle of telling Palpatine how she feels, "I do not believe-" but he interrupts and finishes the sentence for her, "the situation is that serious?". He then cleverly works his way into getting what he wants, he knows "all too well" that Jedi security "might be disruptive" to her. But she could be protected by someone she knows, "an old friend like master Kenobi". Windu agrees, "that's possible" and tells him that Obi-Wan had just returned from "border dispute on Ansion". Palpatine then urges Padme to accept, "do it for me" because losing her would be "simply unbearable". Windu tells Padme that they'll have Obi-Wan report to her immediately and she thanks him. We know he's Sidious and that he's taking steps to put the next step of the plan in motion, the assassination attempts won't stop and the assassin obviously doesn't know that Palpatine wants Padme alive. This might seem strange but given Palpatine's knowledge of Padme's decoys, he knew there was no way she would actually die from the bombing and he convinces both the Jedi and Padme into giving Obi-Wan and Anakin the task of protecting Padme. Also the assassin is working for Dooku, with no knowledge of Dooku's ties to Palpatine. The assassin doesn't know about this and wouldn't be equipped to actually succeed in killing Padme due to the pair of Jedi standing by. Palpatine needs to scare her into leaving Coruscant because she's the strongest Senator against the act of creating an army. He can't kill her because he knows Anakin loves her due to the young Jedi confiding in him, he's planning on sending Anakin with her to Naboo so that love can blossom into something he can take advantage of later on.
We get our first looks at Obi-Wan and Anakin in an elevator, heading to meet with Padme. Obi-Wan is now 35, with a beard and the appearance of a master while Anakin is 19 and now a handsome young man, no longer the child we've come to know previously. Obi-Wan notices that his student seems "to be a little on edge" but Anakin denies it. Obi-Wan hasn't felt Anakin feel this "tense" ever since he "fell into that nest of Gundarks" and his Padawan reminds him that he fell into "that nightmare" and that he rescued Obi-Wan. The master remembers, "oh... yes" and they both laugh before Obi-Wan tells Anakin that he's sweating. He then tells his student to "relax" and "take a deep breath", Anakin tells him that he hasn't seen Padme "in 10 years". They both become silent and stand there somewhat awkwardly. The two have formed a bond in the time between the two films but they clearly have some work to do in their relationship. I'll talk about their relationship in greater detail later on but this is a pretty well-done reintroduction to the pair.
We see Jar Jar walking over to the elevator and he stands in front of it for a few seconds, waiting to meet the pair again. His outfit is brown and red, with the red portions seeming as if they are bursting out. Jar Jar is now a Junior Representative under the tutelage of Padme, he's in the adult world of politics and the mundane brown in his outfit shows it. The brown can also stand for neutrality as it is a colour that has been associated with characters from all sides. The red bursting out shows us that he isn't fully in control of his passions and we even see that in the way he eagerly greets Obi-Wan, "Obi? OBI! Mesa so smilen to seein yousa". Later on his passions will be played on by Palpatine to give him emergency powers. Contrast Jar Jar's ecstatic behaviour when meeting his friend to Obi-Wan's simple, "Good to see you again Jar Jar". Jedi are supposed to be reserved and in control of their emotions, Obi-Wan is definitely just as happy as Jar Jar but he has the ability to not be overwhelmed by that joy. This restraint is something Anakin will struggle to maintain throughout the film.
Jar Jar then calls over Padme, telling her that the two Jedi are here. Obi-Wan gives another calm and reserved greeting, "it's a great pleasure to see you again m'lady" and Padme's response is just as calm and reserved, "it has been far too long, Master Kenobi". But that level of restraint is lost for a moment when she greets Anakin, "Ani? My goodness you've grown!" and Anakin awkwardly attempts to flirt with her, "so have you. Grown more beautiful, I mean. Well for a Senator, I mean". For some reason there are people that take issue with the fact that Anakin's flirting skills aren't the best in the galaxy, they expect him to be the most charming man in the galaxy but ignore his upbringing. It’s intentionally awkward sometimes, that’s how it is in real life and there are moments where Anakin’s charm shines through to balance it. Not to be too rude but the people complaining about Anakin's flirting skills are usually basement-dweller types that wouldn't even know the most basic of flirting. Lucas didn't create these films so you can LARP as the characters, he created them because he had a story he wanted to tell.
For the first 9 years of his life, he was raised as a slave by a single mother and for the next 10 years he was raised as a celibate monk and almost everyone he knew during this time was a celibate monk. He won't have the experiences to learn how to flirt and he is expected to not seek romance. The other Jedi have been conditioned to follow the code for their entire lives but Anakin has already had enough outside experiences that make it more difficult for him to adapt to the code. The Jedi are unable to understand this, which leads to this problem growing larger and larger. And their initial unwillingness to train Anakin makes him feel unwelcome, yes they're training him now but they're only doing it because they were forced to. Their passive upholding of the system made it even easier for Palpatine to groom Anakin.
Padme's outfit is purple and blue, the purple signifies a balance between passion (red) and logic (blue) and the appearance of blue shows that she is breaking the balance and leaning more towards logic. While she does show romantic interest in Anakin, she is able to stop herself from flirting back and responds by telling him that he'll "always be that little boy" she knew on Tatooine. The reason why she is able to resist her desire to reciprocate Anakin's romantic feelings here is because she hasn't spent any time with this now adult version of him, the last time they met was 10 years ago and they were both just kids. Padme has also been in the political world for quite a while and to stay as popular as she is, she's had to conceal parts of herself to present a more formal version of Senator Amidala. And later on in the film, she is able to lower those defences and let Anakin in after they spend time getting to know each other again far away from any of the conflict going on.
Obi-Wan assures Padme that their presence as security "will be invisible" and Typho introduces himself to the Jedi. He also tells them that Jamillia, Naboo's current Queen, has been told about their current assignment and he's grateful that Obi-Wan is here because "the situation is more dangerous than the Senator will admit". But Padme believes she doesn't "need more security" and she "wants answers", she wants to know who's trying to kill her. Obi-Wan reminds her that he and his apprentice are here to protect her and "not start an investigation", a passive approach that doesn't solve the root issue. However, Anakin doesn't agree with Obi-Wan's passive approach and instead agrees with Padme's will to seek the truth, "we will find out who's trying to kill you Padme, I promise you". This causes Obi-Wan to patronise his student, "we will not exceed our mandate, my young Padawan learner" and Anakin responds by telling his master he "meant that in the interest of protecting" Padme. Obi-Wan tells Anakin that they "won't go through this exercise again" and that he will "pay attention" to his lead, with a shot of Padme awkwardly watching the Jedi sent to protect her bicker with each other. Anakin questions his master with a defiant "why?" and Obi-Wan responds with a "what?".
We get a shot of Jar Jar gulping before seeing Anakin continue to question his master, he asks Obi-Wan why they were assigned to Padme if they won't find the killer. He even adds that "protection is a job for local security, not Jedi", staying as security is "overkill" and "investigation is implied" in their "mandate". Obi-Wan isn't swayed, "we will do exactly as the council instructed. And you will learn your place, young one". It's true that Anakin is stepping out of line but he isn't wrong, finding out who's after Padme and stopping them will fix the issue. But Obi-Wan is more orthodox and wants to stick to the council's task. And he tries to discipline Anakin by putting him down, addressing him as "my young Padawan" and other similar things quite often. It's very patronising and emphasises things like ownership via words like "my", inferiority via words like "young" and a lack of experience via unneeded usage of words like "apprentice", "Padawan" and "learner". Obi-Wan is trying to be a stern father figure by putting Anakin down so he won't be rebellious but the more he patronises him, the more rebellious Anakin becomes.
Padme stops the two from bickering further by telling them "perhaps with merely your presence, the mystery surrounding this threat will be revealed". While she does want to find out the truth behind these assassination attempts, she wants to take a more reserved approach unlike Anakin who wants to leap into action and actively look for leads. Also notice how Padme's apartment is mostly blue with hints of yellow, the blue representing her level-headedness and ability to restrain herself from acting on her passions and the yellow, which I haven't elaborated on until now, represents youthfulness and coming of age. Anakin and Padme's first steps into romance start here in this apartment. Also there'll be more to say about the colour yellow soon, so keep yellow in the back of your mind. Padme gets up and tells everyone she will retire for the day and Typho tells the Jedi that he knows he'll "feel better" having the Jedi here, he'll also "have an officer stationed on each floor" and he'll be "in the control centre downstairs". Typho leaves the room and Obi-Wan checks out the room, leaving Jar Jar and Anakin alone.
We get this great shot of Jar Jar smiling right at the camera (https://imgur.com/EMPmQfM), George Lucas' fun little way of taunting any of Jar Jar's haters watching the film. But let's get back on track, the Gungan is "busten with happiness seein" Anakin again after all these years. And Anakin opens up to him, "she hardly even recognised me, Jar Jar". I’ve seen a few people call this a funny line but act as if Lucas didn’t intend it to be funny but he clearly did because the one guy who’d be more clueless about romance than Anakin would be Jar Jar. He continues by telling Jar Jar that he's "thought about her everyday" for the past 10 years and she's "forgotten" him completely. But Jar Jar reassures Anakin that Padme is happy, in fact she's happier than he's ever seen her be. It might seem strange that Anakin is venting to Jar Jar but remember what I said in my TPM analysis? The two mirror each other somewhat, both were outcasts until they were involved with something major. With Jar Jar, he wasn't accepted back into Gungan society until he solved the racial tensions between his people and the Naboo and for Anakin, most people didn't see his value until he helped in the battle to reclaim Naboo both by winning the podrace and blowing up the control ship. And Anakin wasn't accepted into the Jedi Order until Qui-Gon made it his dying wish for him to be trained. Both Anakin and Jar Jar end up being manipulated by Palpatine to further his schemes too, Palpatine slid in the temporary mentor gap left by Padme when she was sent to hide on Naboo in order to have Jar Jar push for emergency powers to be granted. Anakin was missing a father figure and Palpatine was able to steal that position once Qui-Gon was killed and we all know how much Palpatine manipulated the young Skywalker and what he turned the boy into.
Obi-Wan joins in again and tells Anakin he's "focusing on the negative" and that he "should be mindful" of his thoughts". He does like to lecture Anakin but he's also capable of being kind and reassuring, "she was pleased to see us". He and Anakin then take a walk to "check the security". A few hours have past and we're in the darkness of night now, a female bounty hunter called Zam Wesell meets with a male bounty hunter with a mask, she tells him that she "hit the ship, but they used a decoy". This mysterious bounty hunter tells her that they'll "have to try something more subtle this time", his client is "getting impatient" so he hands her these creatures that are "very poisonous". Zam is about to leave but she's reminded that "there can be no mistakes this time". Later on, we find out that this mysterious bounty hunter is called Jango Fett. We cut back to the apartment and Obi-Wan tells Anakin "Captain Typho has more than enough men downstairs" so it would be illogical to expect the assassin to come from there. He then asks Anakin about "any activity up here?", but Anakin tells him it's "quiet as a tomb". The young Jedi then proceeds to tell his master he doesn't like "waiting for something to happen to her" and given what we learn later about Anakin's ominous dreams of his mother, you can understand why he doesn't like being passive here. Obi-Wan looks at a device and asks "what's going on?", Anakin tells him that Padme covered the cameras. He then adds that he doesn't think Padme liked him watching her, the way he says the line shows that he understands her. For some reason certain individuals think the line is a creepy joke despite Anakin not saying it in a cheeky manner, he understands that nobody would want cameras in their bedroom.
But Obi-Wan is confused, "what is she thinking?" so Anakin reassures him by telling his master that she programmed R2D2 to warn them if any intruders appear. However Obi-Wan isn't convinced this is enough, "there are many other ways to kill a Senator" and Anakin still wants to go beyond simply protecting her "I know, but we also want to catch this assassin, don't we, master?". Obi-Wan quickly realises what their plan is, "you're using her as bait" and Anakin sheepishly responds "it was her idea". He then tells Obi-Wan not to worry, "no harm will come to her" because he can "sense everything going on in that room" and he wants Obi-Wan to trust him. But his master thinks "it's too risky" and he adds that he thinks Anakin's senses "aren't that attuned", he even finishes it off by addressing him as "my young apprentice", putting his student down once again. Anakin responds by asking "and yours are?" and Obi-Wan claps back, "possibly". Obi-Wan isn't trying to demoralise Anakin, he's just trying to be a stern father figure for the boy to follow and this strictness is only there so Anakin can be the best Jedi he can. Obi-Wan wasn't exactly ready to take on Anakin yet and despite that, he still tries to guide him.
We meet Zam again and she feeds the container of poisonous creatures to a droid who then heads towards the apartment. Danger is coming soon and we cut back to the two Jedi, they're having a conversation on the balcony. Obi-Wan is concerned, "you look tired" and Anakin tells that he doesn't "sleep well" anymore. His master knows why, "because of your mother?" and he quietly nods before telling Obi-Wan he doesn't know why he keeps dreaming about her. Obi-Wan then walks closer to try and comfort Anakin, "dreams pass in time". He feels that Anakin's dreams aren't much to worry over, he just simply misses her but we know the dreams are much more than just that. Anakin then tells his master that he'd "much rather dream about Padme" and "just being around her again is... intoxicating". Obi-Wan advises his student, "be careful of your thoughts Anakin, they betray you" and he reminds him of his "commitment to the Jedi Order". This commitment is "not easily broken". Anakin has spent a long time staying with the Jedi and if he keeps breaking the rules, there'll be nowhere for him to go.
Obi-Wan then reminds Anakin that Padme is a politician "and they're not to be trusted" but Anakin tells him "she's not like the others in the Senate". Here we see a difference in mindsets, Obi-Wan looks at the bigger picture and is fine with making unfair generalisations about people but Anakin looks at the little details and prefers to judge people case by case. Obi-Wan tells Anakin that in his experience, Senators "focus only on pleasing those who fund their campaigns" and they're not "scared of forgetting the niceties of democracy" to get funding. Obi-Wan is right about how Senators can dabble in this sort of corruption but he assumes that literally all of them engage with this behaviour. He understands that the system is decaying but he and the Jedi decide to uphold this system and passively allow it to decay further. Anakin asks Obi-Wan to not give him "another lecture", especially not one "on the economics of politics". Having Anakin whine about learning about politics is a good way to have him parallel people who complained about politics in TPM.
In Padme's room, we see the assassin droid dump the poisonous creatures through the window. They begin to crawl across the floor, heading towards Padme's bed. R2 uses his light to look around but he sees nothing and we go back to Anakin and Obi-Wan's discussion. Anakin points out that his master is generalising and that "the Chancellor doesn't seem to be corrupt". Of course Anakin would trust Palpatine, the man slipped into the role of father figure and groomed Anakin for years. Obi-Wan reminds Anakin that "Palpatine is a politician" and even points out that he's observed Palpatine be "very clever at following the passions and prejudices of the Senators". But Anakin still trusts Palpatine, "I think he's a good man" and just as Anakin is about to go on about how much he trusts Palpatine, he suddenly stops and turns. He's sensing danger and funnily enough, he sensed it before Obi-Wan, who says "I sense it too". They both run towards Padme's bedroom and Anakin ignites his lightsaber before leaping onto her bed and killing the creatures. There's a bit of sexual undertone with Anakin jumping onto Padme's bed and waving a phallic object around, it hints at Anakin's inability to restrain himself and not seek romance.
Also some people find this assassination plan with the poisonous creatures to be stupid and their main issue is the fact that there were so many middlemen involved in the scheme. But they fail to understand that this only helps to conceal the truth further. If they catch one person, it's just one peg in an invisible ladder. Sidious is the master of Dooku and Dooku hires Jango who hires Zam who uses a droid who drops off poisonous creatures. It's a long chain and its origin is near impossible to trace, there's just too much to sift through to find the truth, they were lucky that Jango was forced to use the darts against Zam. Also if the Jedi weren't there, Zam would've gotten away without any trouble and Padme would be found dead in the morning. Jango and Zam had no idea that the Jedi were protecting her. Also no, Palpatine didn't make Dooku hire Jango, Gunray did. Dooku just told Palpatine about it and Palpatine fed back bad info to protect Padme from the bomb attack, remember that Palpatine knows about the decoys. Dooku needs to get Padme to get Gunray to fund him and Palpatine knows this so he allows the assassination attempts to happen, he just makes arrangements to protect her. Padme dying before the war starts is too much of a risk, sure it could make her a martyr and give power to pro-war politicians but it could also swing the other way and ruin things. He knows that Anakin and Obi-Wan can deal with bounty hunters and is planning on sending Padme away after this second attempt fails. It also fixes a problem of his because she's the strongest anti-war Senator and now she can't oppose the war because she's not on Coruscant to attend Senate meetings. They get fed more info and they know where Padme is sleeping but they don't know about the two Jedi that Palpatine went out of his way to put there as security. Think about what would've happened if they weren't there, Padme would've died in her sleep and her body would've been found the next morning, Jango and Zam would be long gone and there would be no way to trace them. They need a subtle approach because of increased security and they need the droid because if they're spotted, their attire could be identifying features. Imagine all the people who'd be willing to provide info to the Republic for some credits. Also no, the droid can’t just gas the room because there’d obviously be gas detectors in the room and it has to cut a HOLE through the window to access the room. Also ask yourself this question, if Putin wants to kill Zelensky, would he go and do it himself or hire a guy who hires another guy who hires another guy who does it?
Surprisingly, we see Obi-Wan charge towards the window and jump through it, shattering all the glass and grasping onto the droid as it flees. Anakin is the rational one here, he tells Padme to "stay here" before he heads out to follow Obi-Wan. Typho and some security arrive to ensure Padme is safe while the Jedi follow the droid to its owner, Zam. Obi-wan is struggling to hold onto the droid meanwhile Anakin picks a yellow speeder to ride. This speeder is a reference to the '32 Ford Deuce Coupe (https://imgur.com/a/yOiqUrK) owned by John Milner in Lucas' second film, American Graffiti. Both vehicles are yellow, symbolic of youth and coming of age, and both Anakin and John refuse to grow up into adults. This is why at the end of American Graffiti, we learn that John was killed by a drunk driver (Lucas referencing his own near fatal car crash) because he wasn't able to grow up and let go of street racing and Anakin ends up becoming Vader because of his inability to let go (this doesn't mean he should've been emotionless, it means that he needed to have self-control). Something funny about John Milner is that he complains about the radio playing The Beach Boys song, Surfin' Safari. He says "I don't like that surfing shit. Rock 'n' Roll's been going downhill ever since Buddy Holly died". He has the exact same attitude as the people who irrationally hate the prequels (I'm not talking about the people who simply don't like the films and move on with their day), they don't like that prequel shit because Star Wars went downhill ever since the '97 special editions. John Milner ended up dead because he refused to accept change and these people end up bitter because they refused to accept change. Throughout the prequels we see Anakin fly yellow vehicles, from his podracer in TPM, to the speeder in this film and the starfighter in ROTS. Contrast that with Luke wearing a yellow jacket at the end of ANH, showing us that his coming of age into adulthood was with the destruction of the Death Star and we don't see him associated with yellow beyond that point. Luke is able to mature and let go but Anakin wasn't able to do the same until Luke gave him that crucial final chance to redeem himself in ROTJ.
Anakin speeds through the city, trying to catch up with his master. Meanwhile, Obi-Wan narrowly evades being hit by speeders while holding onto the droid. We get a funny line from a Dug in a speeder, "Jedi poo doo!", implying that these sort of hijinks are the norm around here. Anakin is getting closer and the droid is within Zam's view. She notices that Obi-Wan is holding onto it, so she uses her sniper to shoot it and jumps into her speeder to get out of there. Zam would've succeeded in getting away because the droid would be unsalvageable and Obi-Wan would've been splat on the ground, but Anakin is able to rescue his master in time. He asks "what took you so long?" and Anakin responds by telling him he "couldn't find a speeder he liked". This line adds to the idea that Anakin refuses to truly mature, he is actively seeking out and indulging in childish things. Obi-Wan points forward and says "there he is", he's generalising again because he didn't get a good look at Zam and assumes that the assassin must be a man. Anakin continues to fawn over this speeder because it has "the open cockpit and right speed capabilities" but Obi-Wan isn't impressed, "if you spent as much time practicing your saber techniques as you do on your wit, you would rival master Yoda as a swordsman". Obi-Wan clearly has faith in his student's capabilities and mentioning Yoda specifically as a swordsman hints at the fight we'll see him take part in at the end. But Anakin arrogantly responds to his master by saying "I thought I already did", this overestimation of his current abilities will cause him to lose an arm against Dooku. Obi-Wan patronises his student once again, "only in your mind, my very young apprentice". They chase Zam and this chase leads them to descend towards the lower levels of Coruscant. And we move from the blue upper levels, the peak of rationality and we descend into the orange/red lower levels (https://imgur.com/Yy159MO), the depths of unbridled passion. Zam's speeder even sounds like it's wailing as it descends. Anakin has fun scaring Obi-Wan by continuing to descend towards a building. Obi-Wan tells Anakin to pull up but he ignores him and chooses to laugh instead but just before impact, Anakin narrowly avoids crashing and Obi-Wan reminds Anakin of his distaste of these jokes, "you know I don't like it when you do that". Anakin apologises, "sorry master, I forgot you don't like flying" and Obi-Wan corrects him because he doesn't mind flying, what Anakin is doing is "suicide". Obi-Wan doesn't appreciate this sort of joke from Anakin, being made to fear for his life especially since he has no control over the situation.
Anakin continues to fool around as he quickly evades flames while catching up to Zam. Zam shoots some power couplings to try and slow the Jedi down. Obi-Wan tells to "stay away from power couplings" and we learn that he's told this to his apprentice many times. Note how the colour of the energy field it creates is purple, Obi-Wan is associated with the colour blue for his more rational approach to things so naturally that mindset along with the fact he's a Jedi would lead him to not want to dabble with a mix of reasoning and passion. Also these lower levels are very blatantly inspired by Bladerunner, which is great because both films contain the creation of artificial life forms that aren't seen as real people despite being the same in almost every way. The replicants and clones can both even be more human than the so called "real humans", you subconsciously pick up on these connections through cultural osmosis and that's why Lucas doesn't need to expand on the humanity of the clones in the films beyond showing a few little quirks and having some of their names spoken aloud in ROTS. This humanity is implied there and even if you've never seen Bladerunner, you can still understand the moral implications of creating lives that exist to be thrown away. Zam takes a sharp left but Anakin continues to head straight and this leaves Obi-Wan confused "where are you going? He went that way". Anakin has a reason for not following, if they "keep this chase going any longer, that creep is gonna end up deep-fried" and that means they won't be able "to find out who he is and who he's working for" so Anakin decided to take "a shortcut". Notice how he's unsure of the shortcut by saying "I think", a shortcut is "the quick and easy path" and this path is the way to the dark side as told by Yoda in ESB. Currently Anakin isn't set on his path to the dark side, he can still turn around but he is being tempted, so he's unsure about the path he's taking. And on his return to Tatooine, he will be tested just like how Luke was tested in the cave.
We cut back to Zam, who's speeding through an enclosed space in a great sequence paying homage to THX-1138 (https://imgur.com/dmoZgjG), Lucas' first film. In this scene from THX-1138, the titular character is evading robot cops just as Zam is evading the Jedi. And in THX-1138 the world is a dystopian consumerist nightmare, it's not hard to figure out why the film was referenced once we start seeing mass produced clones and droids be used as if they are not worthy of having their own autonomy. Also, there's something worrying about the Jedi being compared with the robot cops, both the robot cops and the Jedi Order uphold severely flawed systems without much question or issue. Zam continues to speed away and takes off her veil, believing she's escaped. We see the Jedi again, Anakin stops his speeder and Obi-Wan complains "well, you've lost him". Anakin apologises,"I'm deeply sorry master" and Obi-Wan complains further "that was some shortcut, Anakin. He went completely the other way", he's about to begin lecturing his apprentice once again "once again you've proved-" but Anakin stands up. He asks Obi-Wan to excuse him before jumping down even lower in a way mirroring Luke's jump after losing the duel with Vader in ESB. But one is a reckless act of arrogance and overconfidence in one's skills while the other is a courageous act of bravery and will to resist temptation. We've descended from blue to orange in Coruscant and now Anakin has descended even further, all the way to red, meanwhile Luke fell down to blue (https://imgur.com/a/Ds4E3WJ). Anakin is acting impulsively on his passions, he wants to catch the assassin because of his emotional connection to Padme but Luke is acting calmly with reason, he sees jumping down to a possible death as a better choice than giving in to evil and becoming a Sith.
Anakin manages to land on Zam's speeder and desperately clings on as Zam tries to get her pursuer off of her. We see her face change for a second, revealing that she's a changeling. Remember, nothing is as it seems. Anakin uses his lightsaber to try and stop Zam from continuing to flee but she manages to shoot his lightsaber away and it flies towards Obi-Wan. He catches it and continues to fly towards Zam, while Anakin fits his arm through the hole in the roof he made and manages to make Zam shoot her own engines. They quickly catch fire, which forces her to land as quickly as possible and the young Jedi is flinged off just before Zam lands. Anakin chases her through the streets and Obi-Wan finds a spot to land. Anakin chases her and Obi-Wan joins in but she enters a building just as the Jedi meet again, "she went into that club master". Obi-Wan tells him to be patient and "use the Force, think". This contrasts Qui-Gon's advice, "feel, don't think. Use your instincts". The two have very differing views, Obi-Wan currently prefers to think ahead and believes the Force is to be used but Qui-Gon preferred to go with his gut feeling and believed the Force is meant to flow through you. Obi-Wan tells Anakin that the assassin "went in there to hide, not to run", with Anakin simply responding with "yes master" and Obi-Wan presents Anakin's lightsaber to him, "next time try not to lose it", with Anakin again simply responding with "yes master". He then tells Anakin "this weapon is your life" and Anakin responds with "I try master". Obi-Wan is trying to teach Anakin not to dive into things headfirst without thinking and he even reminds Anakin that his lightsaber, the weapon of a Jedi, is his life. Anakin isn't all that receptive to it, having heard it all before in numerous lectures. Later on in the film they both lose their lightsabers and get new ones at the start of a war, signifying the end of their lives as peacekeepers and the beginning of their new lives as warmongering Generals. Also here's a quote from Lucas from the early days on why he chose the lightsaber to be the weapon of the Jedi. (https://imgur.com/Lz6JxZ7).
Obi-Wan then rhetorically asks "why do I get the feeling you're going to be the death of me?" and Anakin responds by telling him "don't say that master". He even goes on to say "you're the closest thing I have to a father", Obi-Wan understandably asks "then why don't you listen to me?" and Anakin responds, "I am trying". Notice how he sees Obi-Wan as the closest thing he has to a father and not as an actual father, he already has one in Palpatine and Obi-Wan is just an older brother who wasn't ready to raise him. It's why Anakin is "trying" to listen instead of just listening, he already has Palpatine whispering in his ear and Palpatine seems to be more understanding than Obi-Wan. Also Obi-Wan's question is a fun little way of foreshadowing his death in ANH. We get a look around the club, seeing the sorts of people who are into the Coruscant nightlife and we even get to see some screens showing sports like podracing, some droid version of American football and some sort of space chicken race. Obi-Wan asks "can you see him?" so Anakin corrects him, "I think he is a she" and "she is a changeling". Obi-Wan advises Anakin to be "extra careful" and tells him "go and find her" as he begins to walk away. Anakin is confused by this, "where are you going master?" and learns that his master is going "for a drink". Anakin wanders around the club, keeping his eye out for Zam while Obi-Wan is served a drink. Somebody sitting next to Obi-Wan starts to try and sell him some drugs, "you wanna buy some death sticks" but Obi-Wan uses a mind trick to get rid of him, "you don't want to sell me death sticks" and "you want to go home and rethink your life". Notice how Obi-Wan's drink is blue and the drug dealer's drink is red, Obi-Wan is able to act using reason while the drug dealer gives into his vices by selling and possibly indulging in drugs, leaving him weak-willed and susceptible to a mind trick.
We see Zam walk across the club, with purple light reflecting off her body and this light along with her purple outfit hint at the blurring of morality that is forming in the film. Anakin is doused in a red light as he searches the club, the red signifies to us that Anakin will be unable to keep his passions in control and will indulge in them, just like the people here in the club. Zam approaches Obi-Wan who seems to be unaware of his surroundings but as she gets closer, he turns around and slices off one of her arms, reminiscent of what he does in the Cantina in ANH. Obi-Wan chose to be patient and was able to catch Zam without doing anything but sit and drink. The club is silent and watches as Obi-Wan helps Zam up and Anakin gives a few words to the crowd, "Jedi business. Go back to your drinks". This shows us that this sort of thing is the norm around because they only need a few words from Anakin to pretend nothing happened and continue to party. Some are confused on why Zam didn't use her abilities to change her appearance but they fail to remember that her outfit stays the same, it was much better for her to not bother with using her ability and hide in plain sight but unluckily for her, Obi-Wan let himself become the one who was being hunted instead in order to trick her into getting close. It's true that her shapeshifting abilities have no plot relevance but what people miss is the thematic relevance of said abilities, I'll explain this soon. Obi-Wan begins interrogating her, "do you know who it was you were trying to kill?" and she acknowledges Padme as "a Senator for Naboo". She is then asked "who hired you" but she doesn't give up any names just yet, "it was just a job". Anakin becomes impatient, "who hired you, tell us" and Obi-Wan gazes at him as Anakin struggles to hide his anger. The Padawan, now unable to hide his anger, demands answers, "tell us now!". But just as she is about to answer, a toxic dart pierces her neck and a mysterious figure, who we'll learn is called Jango Fett, flies away on his jetpack. As Zam dies, she reverts back to her true appearance and now the only lead they have is a "toxic dart". Having Zam revert back to that form emphasises the themes of a change/loss of identity, the Jedi change from peacekeepers to warmongers, the Republic will lose its identity and become the Empire and again, that nothing is as it seems.
For some reason people think Jango should've gone to kill Padme instead because the Jedi weren't with her but they forget that there's a whole security team with her and that it's safe for the audience to assume that they took her to a safer location. Also letting Zam live after she was captured is pretty silly, he wouldn't allow a loose end like her roam freely. We literally see her about to snitch when Jango arrives so his choice to go after Zam is a smart one. Unluckily for him, the toxic dart he used will lead Obi-Wan to Kamino and almost ruin Palpatine's plans. Palpatine was trying to delay the war just a bit longer, not too long but just enough to put more fear into the hearts of the Senators who will vote for the creation of the army and delaying it will increase fear in the general public, they'd support a war against the source of that fear. Obi-Wan following Jango to Kamino and then Geonosis almost leads Obi-Wan to figuring out the truth and it also started the war a few weeks earlier than what Palpatine wanted but the Sith Lord was able to work through this setback by manipulating Jar Jar and using him to turn the gears of war. Palpatine was lucky that Obi-Wan assumed Dooku was a liar when he said the Sith controlled the Republic because if Obi-Wan listened, he could've connected the dots quite easily but even he was affected by the arrogance infecting the Jedi Order during the final years of the Republic.
We then cut to the next day, with Anakin and Obi-Wan reporting to the Jedi Council. Yoda speaks to them, "track down this bounty hunter you must, Obi-Wan" and Mace Windu adds that Obi-Wan should "find out who he's working for". Obi-Wan asks about what to do with Padme because "she will still need protecting" and Yoda makes the mistake of tasking Anakin with protecting her, "handle that, your Padawan will". Windu asks Anakin to "escort the Senator back to her home planet of Naboo" because "she'll be safer there". We also get to see Windu give some clever advice "don't use registered transport" and travel as refugees", this ensures safety because no assassin would ever figure out Padme would leave in such a way. But Anakin believes "it would be very difficult to get Senator Amidala to leave the capital" because she's the leader of the opposition. Yoda doesn't care, "until caught this killer is, our judgement she must respect", it's an arrogant demand that plays directly into Palpatine's hand. Windu even tells Anakin to "go to the Senate and ask Chancellor Palpatine to speak with her about this matter", yet again the Jedi are dancing on Palpatine's palm. Palpatine can groom Anakin, fuel his ego further and also make sure Padme isn't available to combat the warmongers in the Senate, leaving the opposition crippled and Jar Jar susceptible to his manipulations. And by tasking Anakin with this mission, it shows us that they're unaware of Anakin's love for Padme and that ignorance gives Anakin the opportunity to truly fall in love with her. The two Jedi standing bow before leaving and we cut to Anakin in the familiar red office of our secret Sith Lord. Palpatine tells Anakin he "will talk with her" and that she "will not refuse an executive order" because he "knows her well enough". Anakin thanks him and he begins to fuel Anakin's ego further, "and so, they've finally given you an assignment. Your patience has worn off". Palpatine is playing off of Anakin's frustrations of being held back and not being treated as an adult, the boy has been waiting for his own mission for a long time and he's finally got one after all this time. Anakin tries to be humble, "your guidance more than my patience" but Palpatine continues to fuel the ego and groom Anakin, "you don't need guidance Anakin. In time you will learn to trust your feelings. Then you will be invincible".
Palpatine is telling Anakin that he doesn't need guidance, he should trust his feelings instead but Anakin isn't emotionally mature enough to do so. It will only lead him towards the dark side and planting the idea of invincibility in his head makes Anakin want to seek more power. It's also safe to assume that Palpatine knows of Anakin's dreams due to his role as a father figure to him, he's already planting the seeds that will grow into the desire to save people from death, he’s changing Anakin’s innocent desires to protect the people he loves into the desire to artificially expand their lives. This isn't even the end of the current manipulations, Palpatine goes even further, "I have said it many times, you are the most gifted Jedi I have ever met." and Anakin thanks him for the compliment. Palpatine then tells him how he sees Anakin "becoming the greatest of all the Jedi", he even adds "even more powerful than master Yoda". By continuing to hype up Anakin's talent, he is feeding into Anakin's frustrations about Obi-Wan always putting him down despite the younger one's superior potential. And by telling Anakin he will be the greatest Jedi, he is attempting to feed into the arrogance within the angsty teen. By specifically mentioning Yoda's power specifically, he is making Anakin focus on gaining strength and not wisdom or inner peace.
The next scene is Yoda, Windu and Obi-Wan discussing Anakin being given his own assignment as they walk through the Jedi Temple. We also see other Jedi in the background doing their own little things, helping the world feel more real. Obi-Wan tells the two masters that he's "concerned" for Anakin, "he is not ready to be given this assignment on his own yet". But Yoda tells him that "the council is confident in his decision" and Windu praises Anakin for having "exceptional skills". Obi-Wan responds, "but he still has much to learn" and "his abilities have made him, well, arrogant". Yoda acknowledges this and calls it a "flaw more common among Jedi", he even goes on to say "too sure of themselves they are" and that "even the older, more experienced ones" have fallen to this flaw. Ironically enough, Yoda lacks the self-awareness to realise he and Windu have just displayed that same arrogance by dismissing Obi-Wan's concerns simply because they believe they are right. Obi-Wan knows Anakin far more well than they do but they still decide to let Anakin have this assignment unsupervised. Windu does show some faith in the youth though, "remember Obi-Wan, if the prophecy is true... your apprentice is the only one who can bring the Force back into balance". Windu and Yoda aren't totally ignorant of Anakin's issues, they know he has problems that he must work through but they also want him to mature by having to handle the responsibility of his own mission. Part of Anakin's fall can be pinned on the Jedi but its also partially Anakin's fault too, he's the one who isn't able mature and allow himself to let go.
We move back to Padme's apartment and there's a cool subtle bit of world-building with a droid repairing the bedroom window Obi-Wan smashed through last night (https://imgur.com/dIfz2DN). Anakin is standing at the windows of the hallway, watching the city before turning to watch Padme speak to Jar Jar, "I'm taking an extended leave of absence. It will be your responsibility to take my place in the Senate". Padme even tells Representative Binks that she can "count on" him and he's "honoured to be taking on dissa heavy burden" he accepts this with "muy, muy humility and..." but before he finishes, Padme interrupts him, "Jar Jar, I don't wish to hold you up. I'm sure you have a great deal to do". She's been mentoring Jar Jar for years, it's clear that she thinks of him as someone capable of representing the Gungans and she's able to trust him to be responsible for her people too while she's away. And Jar Jar has a great deal of respect for her, he responds with "of course, milady" before bowing and leaving. The similarities between Anakin and Jar Jar continue, both are students trusted to take on important responsibilities. They also both end up letting their passions guide them in these assignments too, Jar Jar falls for Palpatine's tricks and is able to get the Sith Lord emergency powers and Anakin's love for Padme develops into a secret marriage between the two. Both characters are led to ruin by following these passions. Jar Jar's blunder paved the road for the formation of the Empire, leaving the galaxy under the oppressive rule of Palpatine and Anakin's love for Padme devolved into an unhealthy obsession that transformed him into the monstrous machine known as Darth Vader.
As Jar Jar leaves, Padme walks towards Anakin and says "I do not like this idea of hiding" but Anakin tells her not to worry, "Now that the council has ordered an investigation, it won't take long for master Obi-Wan to find this bounty hunter". Anakin knows that his master is good at this sort of detective work and believes that he and Padme won't be gone for too long. Padme is still annoyed at having to leave, she didn't "work for a year to defeat the Military Creation Act to not be here when its fate is decided". It's fair for her to not want to leave because she is the leading force against this militarisation and she has the star power to help bolster the movement. Other allies like Bail Organa are popular too but losing Padme is a major blow to the team, Jar Jar has a lot to live up to if they wanna succeed. Anakin has some wise words for Padme, "sometimes we must let go of our pride and do what is requested of us". He's talking about humbling yourself to do what's best and the best thing for Padme right now is to stay safe until Jango is found. Padme's response is to finally acknowledge Anakin as an adult, "Anakin, you've grown up" which leads to Anakin telling her that "master Obi-Wan manages not to see it". He continues to speak about his master, "don't me wrong, Obi-Wan is a great mentor. As wise as master Yoda and as powerful as master Windu" and that he's "truly thankful to be his apprentice". But Anakin believes that "in some ways, a lot of ways" he's "really ahead of him" and that he's "ready for the trials". However, Obi-Wan believes Anakin is "too unpredictable" and that he won't let Anakin "move on". Anakin appreciates his mentor Obi-Wan but he has criticisms of his master too. It's a deeply flawed relationship, Obi-Wan desperately tries to set Anakin straight by being a stern father but Anakin just wants a brother, he wouldn't have sought out Palpatine's guidance if he was more comfortable with Obi-Wan. But this isn't truly Obi-Wan's fault, how was he meant to be prepared to raise Anakin?
Padme empathises with Anakin, "that must be frustrating" and Anakin continues to vent to her, "it's worse! He's overly critical! He never listens! He doesn't understand! It's not fair!". I briefly mentioned Freud in my TPM analysis in relation to Anakin's unconscious view of Padme as a mother figure but here the Oedipal Complex is put on greater display. Anakin is showing aggression to the father figure, Obi-Wan by throwing criticisms at him and has an extreme attachment to the mother figure, Padme. We'll see more references to the Oedipal Complex as well as the original Oedipus Rex story too. Padme understands that Anakin is just ranting now so she tries to comfort him, "all mentors have a way of seeing more of our faults than we would like. It's the only way we grow". She's not wrong, even if Obi-Wan is overbearing at times, he's still trying to do his best at guiding Anakin. He replies, "I know" and Padme gives him advice, "Anakin, don't try to grow up too fast". She knows all too well about growing up too fast, she's been in the adult world of politics for as long as she can remember and was the Queen of her people as a 14 year old. As a politician, she has to conceal parts of herself and live up to certain expectations. She can't do things like relax and unwind or seek love, especially not with Anakin as a Senator pairing up with a Jedi would be a career-ruining scandal.
Anakin stands up as he responds "but I am grown up", he looks into her eyes, "you said it yourself". He continues to look into her eyes, wishing for her to reciprocate his love but she tells him not to "look at her like that" so Anakin asks "why not?" and we learn it's because it makes her "feel uncomfortable". She walks away and he turns to watch her leave, he says "sorry milady" and smiles. People misunderstand this moment as Padme feeling creeped out by Anakin but it's not the case, notice how she's wearing blue here and what that blue means. She is using reason and won't act out on her feelings, she's uncomfortable because her will to not give in was being tested when Anakin tried to get more intimate with her. And Anakin's smile isn't this perverted reaction to Padme's words, he's smiling because he can tell that she isn't just attracted to his handsome face, she likes him as a person. Anakin is smiling because he knows that being alone with her on Naboo will get them to bond even more and with this bonding, it would become much harder for her to not reciprocate his love. That means it's much more likely for their pair to get together.
The next scene is at a spaceport, a bus arrives at the spaceport and it contains some of our heroes. Typho tells Padme to "be safe" and she thanks him, she also tells him to "take care of Dorme" (a handmaiden) because "the threat's on you two now". Dorme makes a joke, "he'll be safe with me" further expanding on what the previous film built up with Padme being a good leader who can actually empathise with her people, Dorme is just a servant while Padme is at the very top but Dorme is able to do things like crack jokes and speak with Padme as equals. She starts to shed some tears and Padme tells the handmaiden, "you'll be fine" but Dorme's worries aren't about herself, she's worried about Padme and what'll happen if the people after her find out she's not here anymore. You can tell that she and Padme have formed an actual friendship by the way they speak to each other and feel genuine concern for one another.
Padme responds with faith in her new bodyguard, "well, then my Jedi protector will have to prove how good he is". Anakin is about to walk over and join the conversation but Obi-Wan stops him, "Anakin, don't do anything without first consulting myself or the council". He's still concerned about Anakin taking on his first assignment alone so he wants to have a way to continue to guide him. Anakin responds with "yes master" and Obi-Wan walks over to Padme to tell her that he'll "get to the bottom of this plot quickly" and that she'll be back "in no time". Padme tells him that she'll be "most grateful for" his "speed", Anakin begins to walk out of the bus, "it's time to go" and Padme responds with "I know". Obi-Wan and Anakin wish each other well, "may the Force be with you" and Padme hugs Dorme. Padme and Anakin leave the bus with their luggage and R2 follows along too. Padme voices her fear "suddenly I'm afraid" and Anakin responds "this is my first assignment on my own. I am too". Padme's afraid because her leave of absence has the chance to continue even as the vote on the Military Creation Act happens, possibly resulting in war and Anakin is afraid of not being up to the task of protecting Padme. Anakin looks at R2, "Don't worry, we have R2 with us" which makes Padme laugh. Obi-Wan speaks to Typho about Anakin, "I do hope he doesn't try anything foolish" but Typho's thoughts aren't the same as Obi-Wan's, "I'd be more concerned about her doing something than him". Obi-Wan is rightly worried about Anakin's rebellious streak but Typho reminds Obi-Wan of Padme's rebellious moments. Remember the previous film when she returned to Naboo to try and free it herself because the Senate couldn't do anything? When there's no other path but the path of violence, Padme will take said path in order to stand up for others. The transport flies off with our two lovers disguised as refugees.
We cut to a little street with a fun little 50s-inspired diner and a waitress droid calls over the owner, "someone to see ya honey! Jedi by the looks of him". He responds by looking up and seeming surprised but is also full of joy, "Obi-Wan!". The Jedi is very happy to see him, his face has quite the smile on it, "hello Dex" and Dex responds, "take a seat, I'll be right with ya". The waitress droid asks Obi-Wan if he wants Jawa Juice and he accepts the offer. Dexter Jettster comes out of the kitchen and the two friends hug each other. Dex asks what he can do for him and Obi-Wan takes out the toxic dart, "you can tell me what this is". Obviously, Obi-Wan trusts Dex greatly for him to not only seek his help but to also laugh and giggle after meeting each other again for the first time in a while. Dex's response to seeing the toxic dart is surprise, "well, whattaya know! I ain't seen one of these since I was prospectin' on Subterrel, beyond the Outer Rim". Obi-Wan then asks him where it came from, we learn that the dart "belongs to them cloners" and that it's "a Kamino saberdart", so Obi-Wan asks another question, "I wonder why it didn't show up in the analysis archives?". So Dex tells him "it's the funny little cuts on the side that give it away" and that the "analysis droids only focus on symbols". He then goes on to say "I should think that you Jedi would have more respect for the difference between knowledge and *laughs* wisdom". Looking at just symbols to identify things is generalising and these generalisations means that you miss the more intimate details such as "the funny little cuts on the side", earlier I spoke of how Obi-Wan likes to generalise "she's a politician and they're not to be trusted", Dex is similar to Anakin in the way they both get more intimate to at the little details, "she's not like the others" and "the funny little cuts on the side".
Obi-Wan responds to Dex's remark about knowledge and wisdom, "well if droids could think, there'd be none of us here, would there?". We know that droids have a level of sentience equivalent to that of a human being but they are still treated as lesser because they never stop to think and realise this reality. Obi-Wan and the Jedi's generalisations are compared to the behaviours of a droid. If the Jedi could stop and look at the little details, Palpatine's plan wouldn't succeed. Remember when Dex said he was "prospectin' on Subterrel"? A prospector is someone who searches for something, sub means beneath/below and the terrel part references terra, which means ground. Dexter's job was to look beneath the surface and that's what he does with people too. His mindset is why he is able to figure out where the toxic dart came from and why the Jedi/droid weren't able to. He then asks Dex another question, "Kamino. I'm not familiar with it, is it in the Republic?". Dex tells him "no no, it's beyond the Outer Rim. I'd say about 12 parsecs outside the Rishi Maze". He then makes a joke about how it "should be easy to find" even for those archive droids. Dex proceeds to tell his friend about the people of Kamino, "these Kaminoans keep to themselves." and they're "damn good" at cloning. Obi-Wan asks for more info "Cloners, are they friendly?" but it "depends". Obi-Wan presses on, "depends on what, Dex?" and he gets answers, "on how good your manners are... and how big your pocketbook is". The Kaminoans aren't fans of outsiders but if you pay them well, they'll be your friend. It tells us that they're hard to trust and that Obi-Wan should be careful when he visits.
The scene in Dex's Diner and the diner itself is another callback to Lucas' film, American Graffiti and Mel's Diner (https://imgur.com/a/hsCXO0a). Mel's is featured more in American Graffiti so AOTC is referencing all of the scenes in the diner. The diner is a place the kids go to when they feel lost/need directions. For example, after Steve Bolander and Laurie Henderson break up and go their own ways, they both end up at the diner and Steve is inside talking to the waitress, who's a classmate of theirs. Laurie, who doesn't know what she'll do for the rest of the night stands outside and watches them, assuming that Steve moved on and is already looking for someone else so she heads out and to cruise with Bob Falfa, an out of town hotshot who wants to race John Milner (funnily enough, Bob is character that restarted Harrison Ford's acting career). I could list other scenes and explain too but this scene is already sufficient for explaining myself.
The next scene is at the Jedi Temple's Archive Library, Obi-Wan is standing before a bust of Count Dooku while thinking to himself. There was a deleted scene surrounding this where we learn that Dooku's bust and the other busts are of Jedi who left the order after becoming disillusioned with it, aka The Lost Twenty. Calling them "lost" is very arrogant of the Jedi and it antagonises them for daring to leave. An older Jedi approaches Obi-Wan, "did you call for assistance?" and he confirms that he did, she then asks "are you having a problem master Kenobi?". He tells her that he's "looking for a planetary system called Kamino. It doesn't show up on the archive charts". This is the first sign something's wrong, Dex is someone you can trust so how could Kamino not be in the archives? Obi-Wan takes a seat and begins typing away while the older Jedi stands beside him, "Kamino... it's not a system I'm familiar with. Are you sure you have the right coordinates?". He then points to the screen and tells her that according to his sources, "it should appear in this quadrant here, just south of the Rishi Maze" and the other Jedi types so she can see the quadrant close up. But nothing seems to be there, she shakes her head and says "I hate to say it but it looks like the system you're searching for doesn't exist" and Obi-Wan responds, "impossible. Perhaps the archives are incomplete". But this older Jedi arrogantly says "if an item does not appear in our records, it does not exist" before leaving Obi-Wan to help a younger Jedi who was waiting for her in the background. The Jedi are so quick to assume they know all and that there is nothing that can go under their noses.
Also, this older Jedi's name is Jocasta Nu, a reference to Oedipus' mother who's also called Jocasta. Lucas doesn't just use Freud's Oedipal Complex, he uses the story this idea is named after too. After killing his father (the King) without knowing who the man was, he searches for who killed the King and this journey for knowledge leads to the self. He finds out that the man who killed the King was him and that the King was his father, he realises that the woman he's been sleeping with is his own mother and he ends up blinding himself as punishment. He was metaphorically blind and now he's literally blind too. Obi-Wan's search for knowledge leads to him discovering the clone army and he also learns that a Jedi ordered this army's creation. But the Jedi Council tell Obi-Wan that they didn't know about this, the journey leads to the self and we see how the Jedi are metaphorically blind to Palpatine's schemes until it's too late. Yoda's and Obi-Wan's exiles can be seen as the equivalent to the literal blinding Oedipus Rex inflicts on himself because he is banished after that. But, the two Jedi are able to learn from their mistakes and successfully guide Luke towards the right path.
The next scene is in the transport ship, R2 brings over some more food to Padme and she thanks him before continuing her conversation with Anakin. She tells him it "must be difficult having sworn your life to the Jedi, not being able to visit the places you like or do the things you like" and Anakin adds "or be with the people that I love". In response, she asks him "are you allowed to love?" because she "thought that it was forbidden for a Jedi". But Anakin corrects her, "attachment is forbidden. Possession is forbidden. Compassion, which I would define as unconditional love is central to a Jedi's life". Anakin is completely right here, but sadly he will end up being unable to let go. It's ok for him to love Padme but he shouldn't become unhealthily attached, it will lead to possessive and self-destructive behaviour that can only bring him to one path, evil. He needs to be able to accept that those he loves will eventually die and that it's natural, it's ok to feel sad but he has to be able to overcome that grief and move on in order to be a true Jedi. The issue with the Jedi Order of this age is that they've become afraid of connecting to others outside the Jedi Order out of fear that they won't be able to maintain an unconditional love. Luke was able to have an unconditional love for his father and that connection lead to many lives being saved. Luke was able to grow up and learn in order to have healthy connections with other people, we seem that he's understandably sad when Anakin dies but we also see that he's able to let go, knowing that nothing lasts forever.
He smiles and continues to speak, "so you might say that we are encouraged to love" and Padme responds, "you've changed so much". She's clearly interested in him and hearing him say something so mature as smoothly as he did pushes that love further. Anakin then says something awkward, "you haven't changed a bit. You're exactly the way I remember you in my dreams". Padme looks down and Anakin bites his lip, realising how weird that last bit sounds. Remember, this is a guy who's life experiences have left him as someone with zero flirting skills. But he still has enough self-awareness to realise that Padme felt awkward after talking about her being in his dreams. Also this line along with the earlier line, "I'd much rather dream about Padme" both push that idea of Oedipal Complex further by relating Anakin's ominous dreams of his mother to his seemingly romantic dreams of Padme. Anakin is following Oedipus' moral decay as he struggles with his passions while Obi-Wan is following Oedipus' search for knowledge that leads back to the self.
We cut back to the Jedi Temple with Obi-Wan heading towards a youngling training session to speak with Yoda. As Obi-Wan walks, we hear Yoda tell the younglings to "reach out. Sense the Force around you. Use your feelings you must". This is similar to Qui-Gon's view on how to interact with the Force, "feel, don't think. Use your instincts", the advice Qui-Gon gave to Anakin is almost identical to Yoda's advice to the class of younglings. Yoda wants these younglings to let go and let the Force flow through to guide them. The Jedi haven't fully lost their ways yet, no Jedi is totally ignorant. Each of them are flawed but have a lot of good traits too, they are people after all and they've been raised in a broken system. Yoda asks the younglings to take a break, "a visitor we have" and then greet the visitor, "hello master Obi-Wan". And he gives a simple "hello" back before speaking to Yoda, "I'm sorry to disturb you master". Yoda then asks "what help can I be, Obi-Wan?" and he tells Yoda his situation, he's "looking for a planet" an "old friend" told him about. He trusts this friend "but the system doesn't show up on the archive maps". Yoda makes a joke, "lost a planet master Obi-Wan has. How embarrassing, how embarrassing". His approach to teaching is a more relaxed one, he's able to crack jokes like these to keep the students engaged and connect with them better. He then tell a youngling called Liam to pull the blinds down and asks the younglings to "gather round the map reader." then tells them to "clear your minds and find Obi-Wan's wayward planet". Obi-Wan points at an empty space on the map, "it ought to be here, but it isn't" and he even explains that "gravity is pulling all the stars in this area towards this spot".
Yoda speaks to the younglings, "gravity's silhouette remains but the star and all the planets disappeared they have. How can this be? A thought? Anyone". And a youngling answers, "because someone erased it from the archive memory." which makes Yoda compliment him, "truly wonderful the mind of a child is". He then speaks to Obi-Wan, "the Padawan is right. Go to the centre of gravity's pull and find your planet you will". Obi-Wan turns off the map and asks Yoda "who could empty information from the archives? That's impossible isn't it?" and Yoda calls this mystery "dangerous and disturbing" because "only a Jedi could have erased those files". He then acknowledges that "who or why" is "harder to answer", he then assures Obi-Wan that he will "meditate on this". It seems silly for the two masters to need a child to point the deletion out to them but when you think about it, it makes total sense. These two are older Jedi who have spent many years believing the Jedi could do no wrong, the thought of one of their own doing such a strange thing would never cross their mind. It leaves the masters blind to the idea that they are complicit in this concealment of knowledge. Just like how they are unknowingly complicit in the fall of the Republic until it was too late, by that time Palpatine had already won. Just like how Oedipus unknowingly killed his father until it was too late, by that time he had already had sex with his own mother.
Padme and Anakin have recently landed on Naboo and we get to see some beautiful shots of Theed (https://imgur.com/a/0VuAwDG). The couple walk across a bridge holding their luggage while having a conversation, with R2D2 following closely behind. Padme reminisces on her time as Naboo's Queen, "I wasn't the youngest Queen ever elected but now that I think about it, I'm not sure I was old enough. I'm not sure I was ready". She's able to recognise her flaws while it's harder for Anakin to recognise his own. Anakin brings up how the people thought she did "a good job" and that he even heard that they "tried to amend the constitution" to keep Padme in office. Padme says she was "relieved" when her "two terms were up" but when the new Queen asked her "to serve as Senator", she couldn't say no. Anakin agrees with the new Queen, "I think the Republic needs you. I'm glad that you chose to serve". Anakin has a lot of faith in Padme's skills and love for her people, he's seen how far she went in order to get rid of the Trade Federation's occupation of her homeworld. She is very different to a lot of the corrupt politicians Anakin has met in the past 10 years and Anakin is able to see that because he doesn't look at the bigger picture with sweeping generalisations, he looks at the little details and assesses each individual. Also this scene of them walking towards the palace is a homage to the iconic film, Lawrence Of Arabia (https://imgur.com/iC96jFV). Both films have their main characters be used as pawns in schemes out of their control which are executed by corrupt politicians at the very top. The wars in both films are proxy wars designed to give the elites even more power and funnily enough, both these elites have British accents.
The next scene is in the throne room and we're in a meeting with the Queen and her advisors. Padme tells them "if the Senate votes to create an army, I'm sure it's going to push us into a civil war." and Sio Bibble (who is still an advisor) responds, "it's unthinkable! There hasn't been a full scale war since the formation of the republic". Queen Jamillia asks Padme if she sees "any way through negotiations to bring the Separatists back into the Republic?" and Padme responds "not if they feel threatened. My guess is that they'll turn to the Trade Federation or the Commerce Guilds for help". Bibble speaks again, "it's outrageous! But after four trials in the Supreme Court, Nute Gunray is still the Viceroy of the Trade Federation. I fear the Senate is powerless to resolve this crisis". Bibble's fears are very real, they let Gunray go unpunished and they were unable to stop the formation of the Separatists. What could they possibly do now? But Queen Jamillia isn't as pessimistic, "we must keep our faith in the Republic. The day we stop believing democracy can work is the day we lose it". She wants to keep faith in the Republic because she trusts people to make the right decisions and believes that there should be no absolute authority that dictates every single move. She's right about democracy too but she fails to comprehend just how corrupt the Republic truly is, corruption needs to be rooted out and eradicated with reforms created in order to remove loopholes and any other paths leading to corruption. Democracy in the Republic no longer exists, the only voices that are heard are the voices of the wealthy. Padme responds, "let us pray that day never comes" and Jamillia says they must consider Padme's safety right now. Bibble asks for Anakin's input but Padme says "Anakin's not a Jedi yet, he's still a Padawan learner. But I was thinking-", Anakin, feeling patronised, interrupts her, "hold on a minute". Padme interrupts and speaks over him, "excuse me. I was thinking I would stay in the lake country. There's some places up there that are very isolated." and Anakin speaks again, "excuse me. I'm in charge of security here milady". Anakin's insecurities and lack of emotional maturity makes him an ineffective leader in his current state, he feels personally attacked by Padme choosing where to go despite the fact that he barely knows his way around Naboo. Padme even points this out, "and this is my home, I know it very well. That is why we're here. I think it would be wise if you took advantage of my knowledge", Anakin has realised he's made a fool of himself, "sorry milady".
We move back to Obi-Wan and his quest to find the mysterious assassin and his employer. His ship drops out of hyperspace and we learn that his ship cannot access hyperspace without that ring (https://imgur.com/QrcE6sc), the technology hasn't advanced enough yet to make hyperdrive engines that are small enough for it. Also that ring is one of many circles within AOTC too, I figured that I didn't need to talk about circles all that much here because I've already explained their importance in my TPM analysis (this is why it's necessary to read that first). Obi-Wan speaks to his astromech co-pilot, "there it is R4, right where it should be. Our missing planet Kamino". His ship then descends through the clouds (notice a theme?) and stops on a landing platform. It mirrors when Luke lands on Dagobah in ESB (https://imgur.com/a/97oLIak), both Obi-Wan and Luke are searching for knowledge here, one is looking for a bounty hunter while the other searches for a Jedi. Also both ships are positioned in a way that makes them point towards the direction both characters need to go.
Obi-Wan steps out, pulls his hood up to protect himself from the heavy rain and heads towards a building. A Kaminoan approaches him, "master Jedi. The Prime Minister is expecting you." and Obi-Wan is confused, "I'm expected?". She responds, "of course, he is anxious to meet you. After all these years we were beginning to think you weren't coming." and then asks him to follow her. This is obviously very strange, why were these strange people waiting for the Jedi who've mostly forgotten they even existed? Obi-Wan follows along and the Kaminoan presents Prime Minister Lama Su to Obi-Wan and they both bow, then she introduces Obi-Wan to Lama Su. The Prime Minister believes Obi-Wan is "going to enjoy" his stay and he presents a seat for Obi-Wan to take. They both sit and Obi-Wan sits leaning forwards in an interrogatory manner, ready to try and learn as much as possible from Lama Su who begins to speak, "and now to business. You will be delighted to hear that we are on schedule", Obi-Wan listens in more closely.
Lama su continues to speak, "200,000 units are ready with a million more well on the way." and Obi-Wan continues to play it cool, "that's good news". He doesn't know what Lama Su is talking about but he hides that fact, he can't make the Kaminoans suspicious of him. The Prime Minister asks Obi-Wan to tell master Sifo-Dyas "that his order will be met on time", Obi-Wan asks him to elaborate, "I'm sorry, master?" and Lama Su asks if Sifo-Dyas is still "a leading member of the Jedi Council" but Obi-Wan tells the Prime Minister that this Jedi was murdered "almost 10 years ago". Lama Su responds, "I'm so sorry to hear that. But I'm sure he would have been proud of the army we've built for him". Obi-Wan makes sure he's not mistaken about "the army" and Lama Su speaks on it further, "yes a clone army, and I must say one of the finest we've ever created". This is even more strange, why did Sifo-Dyas want such a powerful army?
Obi-Wan asks about if Sifo-Dyas told them who the army was for, it's a very clever way for Obi-Wan to find out this answer for himself without telling the Kaminoans that he's never heard of this army until now. Lama Su responds, "of course he did. This army is for the Republic. But you must be anxious to inspect the units for yourself", this gives Obi-Wan the perfect opportunity to investigate more without arousing suspicion, "that's why I'm here". For some reason there are balding basement dwellers that complain about how the interiors of Kamino are sterile, shiny and white but they fail to understand that it's meant to be like that. Why would a group of scientists who are the leading experts in cloning live in a filthy and worn down environment? If you just don't like the aesthetic here, that's fine but it's not a sign of bad filmmaking. Also there's some critiques of consumerist society on Kamino that involve its design and the clones, but I'll talk about it later. I have something to say about Kamino though, it was designed as a water planet because water is where all life began according to evolution.
We meet up with our two lovebirds again, they've just arrived at a villa in the Lake Country. The villa is called Varykino, sharing its name with the estate also called Varykino in the film Doctor Zhivago (https://imgur.com/a/AqEPh4k). The two films also happen to be very kino (had to make that joke before anyone else). Both films centre around a forbidden romance with Yuri Zhivago being reunited with a woman named Lara Antipova, who he met during the Russian Revolution and WW1, meanwhile Anakin Skywalker is reunited with a woman named Padme Amidala, who he met during his time as a slave on Tatooine. Zhivago is reunited with Lara during WW2 and Anakin is reunited with Padme during the starting days of the clone wars. Zhivago's romance is forbidden because he's a married man, he has to commit to his wife and Anakin's romance is forbidden because he's a Jedi, he has to commit to the rule of no attachments. The reason why Anakin shouldn't seek romance is because he is unable to let go, he isn't mature enough to have healthy bonds because they will devolve into unhealthy attachments. We even see his relationship to Padme devolve into possessive obsession in the next film. The film's poster is even referencing Doctor Zhivago (https://imgur.com/a/iUkeSny), Lucas specifically asked the poster artist, Drew Struzan, to pose Padme and Anakin in a way that's reminiscent of Doctor Zhivago's poster.
The two step off the boat and walk up the stairs towards the balcony. Padme says, "we used to come here for school retreat. We would swim to that island everyday, I love the water. We used to lie out on the sand and let the sun dry us and tried to guess the names of the birds singing". We all know that infamous line Anakin utters next but let me expand on Padme's words because balding basement-dwellers have forgotten that her words have bearing on Anakin's lines. Dialogue doesn't exist in a void. Lines affect each other, especially when they're this close in proximity. Padme had a prosperous youth, filled with fun and joy. Living in a wealthy, loving world with all her family. Now onto Anakin's words, "I don't like sand. It's coarse, rough and irritating and it gets everywhere". Look at what I've said about Padme's youth and now contrast that with Anakin's youth, a slave boy in a desolate wasteland, forced to work in the harsh conditions of the twin suns to provide for his mother. All Anakin ever saw was sand, the vast and empty deserts symbolised how inescapable his life of servitude was. Even though he was now free from that life, sand still served as a cruel reminder of those awful times. For Padme, the sand was just a small part of her world, something that reminds her of fun holidays. Anakin even acknowledges this difference between their two worlds in case the audience didn't catch it, "not like here. Here, everything is soft and smooth". He then touches Padme, he's telling her that he thinks she's one of the "soft and smooth" things of Naboo without words. The flirting only started once he touched her arm, Anakin turned his verbal contempt for sand into words of love for Padme. She is receptive to the touch and they begin to look deep into each other's eyes, Anakin smiles and then slowly leans in for a kiss. Padme looks up and closes her eyes, she wants to kiss too but after a while, she comes to her senses, "no, I shouldn't have done that". Anakin apologises and has a strange look on his face, a mix of shock from having his first kiss and disappointment in himself for not following his Jedi principles.
Also the "I don't like sand" line is a reference to Pierrot le Fou (https://imgur.com/a/YGK8rZZ), this Godard classic has a man (Ferdinand) abandon his duties as a husband to fall in love with a former girlfriend (Marianne) from 5 years ago, just like how Anakin is abandoning his duties as a Jedi to fall in love with a woman he hasn't seen in 10 years. Marianne is also being chased by Algerian hitmen just like how Padme was being targeted by assassin plots. Ferdinand talks about his distaste for spinach and turns it into a line about his love for Marianne, they're also walking on sand in this scene. Anakin made the same move as him but in a more elegant manner. Also Godard was one of the first to do this type of referencing in his films, Lucas is paying homage to one of his inspirations. In Alphaville, Godard straight up has things like Dick Tracy, Flash Gordon and Nosferatu mentioned by name and Alphaville inspired Lucas's film THX-1138, which then inspired Kamino. Back to Pierrot le Fou, Ferdinand is betrayed by Marianne despite sacrificing so much for her and he ends up killing her then killing himself with dynamite. Lucas takes inspiration from this too with a delusional Anakin thinking Padme betrayed her and reacting by Force Choking her, Anakin even ends up in flames like Ferdinand after this attack.
We're back on Kamino now and the area we're in is filled with thousands of embryos and foetuses growing in tubes (https://imgur.com/Lr0vz3Z), life created solely for war. Obi-Wan calls it "very impressive" and Lama Su is happy to hear that. He then explains that "clones can think creatively" and that makes them "immensely superior to droids", the Kaminoans "take great pride" in their "combat education and training programs". Lama Su then stops and presents a young batch of clones being educated, "this group was created about 5 years ago". Obi-Wan brings up growth acceleration and Lama Su calls it essential because without this acceleration, "a mature clone would take a lifetime to grow" and with the acceleration they "can do it in half the time". The young clones are all in rows in front of computers, constantly being fed information. Then we see a batch of adult clones sitting together, eating food. I'll go in depth on this in just a bit.
Lama Su talks some more, "they are totally obedient, taking any order without question. We modified their genetic structure to make them less independent than the original host". Obi-Wan is curious about the original host, so he asks "and who was the original host?" and he gets an answer, "a bounty hunter called Jango Fett". He then asks about where Jango is currently, Lama Su assures Obi-Wan that they "keep him here". The tour continues and Lama Su tells Obi-Wan something interesting, "apart from his pay, which is considerable, Fett demanded only one thing. An unaltered clone for himself. Curious isn't it?", Obi-Wan is intrigued, "unaltered?". Lama Su elaborates, "pure genetic replication. No tampering with the structure to make it docile and no growth acceleration". Obi-wan wants to meet Jango and the female Kaminoan is happy to arrange a meeting. The three stop and watch thousands of armoured clones marching and getting in line, Lama Su calls it "magnificent" and Obi-Wan is watching with a look of concern on his face.
Time to go in depth, Kamino is inspired by THX-1138 and this inspiration is very important as it informs what Kamino represents. The endless lines of clones growing in tubes is a reference to the lines of babies grown in jars (https://imgur.com/a/UBZbfZj), it's extremely dehumanising to have them just be grown in such large numbers like crops. They aren't given any names, they're just numbers and are totally replaceable. Reproduction in THX-1138 is done by filling people with all sorts of drugs and hooking them up to a masturbation machine (https://imgur.com/wPuAXsp) to extract semen for reproduction, people are reduced to being machines in an uncaring system. Also in THX-1138, segregation is implied to exist in that world. All Black characters we see in the film are referred to as holograms and exist to be entertainment for the White characters. We get hints that they're not really holograms and are in fact real people but it is never directly addressed in order to highlight how society was at the time, Black people were tolerated as entertainment but they weren't seen as equals, "he can sing good but he ain't gonna be my neighbour". They are only seen as entertainment for the White people, just like how the clones are only seen as tools of war for the Republic. The clones are reduced to being as expendable as battle droids to fight for an uncaring system. The younger clones are lined up in rows, reminiscent of the workers who build the robot cops that are tools of their own oppression in THX-1138 (https://imgur.com/a/UBZbfZj). The implication here is pretty obvious and very troubling for the Republic.
Each individual is turned into a little cog in the greater machine, all slaves to an encompassing evil. Lama Su calls the clones creative thinkers yet also calls them totally and even says that they were genetically altered to be less independent. It's a false sense of freedom, they are being fed a very narrow view of the galaxy, "Republic good, listen to Chancellor, enemies of Republic bad" and they are led to believe that this is all the nuance you need to live. The younger clones are all dressed in blue and blue denotes logic, they are indoctrinated into believing that what the Kaminoans teach them is the rational way of thinking. The adult clones who were out of uniform wear red and red denotes passion, this passion represents the passions of the Republic, red can also mean blood, hinting at all the suffering this war will bring. We also hear the battle droid army theme from TPM play when Obi-Wan watches the clones from the balcony and each group has a clone with yellow markings on his armour leading a group of plain clones just like how a battle droid with yellow markings was in charge of a group of plain battle droids, this highlights the duality of the two armies. They're two sides of the same coin but nobody realises this, a very worrying lack of awareness.
We return to Naboo and the two lovers are having a picnic, surrounded by luscious waterfalls (https://imgur.com/rSDDEUM). The two are in the middle of a conversation, we hear Padme say "I don't know" and Anakin responds, "Sure you do, you just don't want to tell me". Padme then jokingly asks if he's gonna use one of his "Jedi mind tricks" on her, Anakin reminds her "they only work on the weak-minded" and Padme says "alright, I was 12. His name was Palo, we were both in the Legislative Youth Program. He was a few years older than I, very cute. Dark curly hair, dreamy eyes". We now know they were talking about crushes and Anakin's only crush is the woman right beside him, so Padme was the only one with a story to tell. Anakin is clearly jealous of the compliments Padme is giving to her old crush, "alright, I get the picture".
He then asks what happened to Palo and Padme explains how they went down different paths, "I went into public service, he went on to become an artist". To be in public service, you have to get to know the people you serve and to be an artist you have to get to know certain things in order to find inspiration for your art. Both jobs are intimate and Anakin's current job as a protector to Padme mirrors that too. In order to protect her well, he must get to know her better. Contrast this with Jango, he killed Zam without any hesitation or remorse and only wanted a son via cloning. His job doesn't allow him to get close and intimate, he is detached and cold. There's a worrying duality Jango shares with the Jedi Council, the council sit atop a literal ivory tower judging everyone from a distance. It makes them detached and out of touch, it's why they're able to slip into the shoes of Generals and don't raise any ethical concerns about the clone troopers. Also there's a link made between Padme entering the political world and losing the opportunity to seek romance, separating the strong leader from the youthful lover within Padme. Her outfit here is yellow, suggesting a return of this youthful lover side to her and Anakin's dark, unorthodox Jedi tunic emulates James Dean's 50s young rebel (https://imgur.com/a/AzFpDpp). I'll elaborate more on Anakin and James Dean later but keep the two in mind.
This is another reason why Dex's Diner appearing in the film is a good thing, seeing such a big symbol of the 50s era really emphasise the old school type of romance Anakin and Padme have. It also adds to this idea of old vs young, the conservative Obi-Wan vs the emerging teenager Anakin. Back in the 50s, the idea of the teenager as an independant age group distinct from both children and adults began to emerge and the older generations weren't ready for the rebellious attitudes that came along with this new group. This is why Obi-Wan and Anakin's friendship is so strained in AOTC, the older Obi-Wan just doesn't get Anakin and the younger Anakin is just too keen on rebelling against Obi-Wan. But as the 50s went on, the older generations were beginning to accept teenagers and the teenagers were beginning to grow up and both of these things meant that the two groups began to reconcile and influence each other to change for the better. In ROTS, we see the result of this change, Anakin and Obi-Wan are much closer and both have changed somewhat. Anakin isn't as rebellious but still pretty free and Obi-Wan isn't as conservative but still tends to stick to the rules. Both have learned to work together despite their differences and are now true friends by the time ROTS begins. Back to the plot again.
Anakin says "maybe he was the smart one" and Padme asks him a question, "you really don't like politicians, do you?". The Jedi responds, "I like two or three, but I'm not really sure about one of them", which gets a quick laugh out of both of them. Anakin continues the conversation, "I don't think the system works" and Padme is curious about how Anakin would "have it work". He explains his views, "we need a system where the politicians sit down and discuss the problem, agree what's in the best interest of all the people, and then do it", but Padme doesn't understand Anakin's views, "that's exactly what we do. The trouble is that people don't always agree". Anakin makes his views clear, "well then they should be made to" and Padme is shocked "by whom? Who's going to make them?". She's clearly concerned, Anakin then responds with "I don't know. Someone" and Padme asks "you?". He counters with "of course not me" then Padme asks another question, "but someone?" and Anakin clarifies, "someone wise". Padme responds "sounds an awful lot like a dictatorship to me" and Anakin makes a joke, "well, if it works...". Padme looks at Anakin and the Jedi isn't able to keep a straight face, which makes Padme smile too, "you're making fun of me" and Anakin has a witty response, "no, I'd be much too frightened to tease a Senator".
Anakin isn't a fascist but he is pre-dispositioned to falling for these beliefs because of his slave mindset, the one with power tells the people below what to do and they must listen. On Tatooine, things are run by the Hutts and they maintain order through might, when Anakin was a slave, Watto maintained authority by having power over Anakin, the Jedi Council don't let him move on from being a Padawan because they are more powerful than him. All his life he's been shown that this is how to rule and Palpatine's grooming isn't making it any better. But Anakin does display behaviours of a fascist here, he blurted out his beliefs to someone he bonded with and when Padme showed she didn't like those beliefs, he just passed it off as a joke. Also, with Anakin having fascistic tendencies, you can read the pair's romance as a political allegory. Read Padme as liberal democracy and Anakin as fascism. In the first two acts, fascism slowly works its way into the heart of liberal democracy, eating away at it. Then in the final act, liberal democracy willingly lets fascism in and sows the seeds for its own destruction, it fits perfectly with Lucas' words, "democracies aren’t overthrown; they’re given away".
Then we get a quick homage to The Sound Of Music, with Padme spinning her arms just like Maria von Trapp (https://imgur.com/rOI8VcP). The Sound Of Music deals with the arrival of the Nazis in Austria, an arrival only possible due to it being allowed from within. A referendum on whether or not Austria would form a union with German was planned to take place on the 13th of March 1938 but on the 12th, the Nazis marched into Austria with the Austrian military doing nothing but letting them in and take control. You can see how this is relevant to what's going on, their naivety and ignorance leads only to disaster. In ROTS, we see the Republic allow Palpatine to transform it into the Empire with zero resistance.
Back to the film now, Anakin is trying to balance on a creature while it runs but ends up falling off and being trampled. He then pretends to be hurt, which makes Padme rush over to him, "Ani! Ani, are you alright?" but she turns him over and he's laughing. She then laughs and hugs him, they start rolling around in the grass continuing to giggle. It's cute but those same dark political undertones apply here too, fascism has worked its way in and liberal democracy is showing empathy, read as the people beginning to sympathise with fascist ideas. Then the rolling around suggests an intermingling of the two, people falling deeper and going down the route of fascism. And when the rolling stops, they are in a position with sexual innuendos, implying that the seeds of fascistic ideals are being spread and eventually a fascist system will be born.
We're back at Kamino for the next scene and we see a Kaminoan riding a flying creature, showing us more of this world before seeing Obi-Wan and his guide outside Jango's apartment. She rings a bell and a child opens the door, she then asks the child a question, "Boba, is your father here?". The boy responds, "yep" and the guide asks if they can see him. We can tell that Boba is suspicious of Obi-Wan but still lets them in and notifies Jango, "dad, Taun We's here". Jango steps out of a room, dressed in his pajamas and Taun We welcomes him and asks if his trip was "productive". His answer is simple, "fairly" and Taun We introduces him to Obi-Wan, she tells the bounty hunter that he's here to check on their "progress". Obi-Wan speaks to Jango, "your clones are very impressive, you must be very proud." and Jango responds, "I'm just a simple man trying to make my way in the universe".
Obi-Wan begins to interrogate him, by asking him if he's been to the interior of Coruscant and Jango simply says "once or twice", the Jedi asks another question "recently?". The bounty hunter gives another simple answer, "possibly" which leads Obi-Wan to believe Jango knows "master Sifo-Dyas" but before responding to Obi-Wan, Jango speaks to Boba in a different language. He then turns back to Obi-Wan "master who?" while Boba closes the door of the room Jango came out of, Jango forgot to close the door and his armour was just about hidden by him standing in front of Obi-Wan but he knew Obi-Wan would eventually catch a glimpse. So he cleverly walked over to the other side of the apartment so the Jedi's view was away from that door. Obi-Wan then repeats "Sifo-Dyas" and asks "Is he not the Jedi who hired you for this job?" but the bounty hunter's response is unexpected, "never heard of him".
Jango is very close to Obi-Wan's face now, putting pressure on the Jedi while Boba watches the two of them. Obi-Wan doesn't believe him, "really?" and Jango brings a new figure into this, "I was recruited by a man called Tyranus on one of the moons of Bogden". Before we carry on, let's take a look at Bogden. It's the words "bog" and "den" put together, bogs are wet muddy grounds and if you're not careful where you step, you can sink and drown. Dens are hidden places, they can either be something as innocent as an animal's home or something as vile as a drug den. Bogs can also symbolise moral ambiguity just as the clouds do, remember the theme of descending into the clouds? What happens when you descend into a bog? You slowly sink and can't escape. And where do you sink into? The den of evil. Once the war starts, Palpatine will have already won because everyone is dancing to his tune.
After hearing about this Tyranus person, Obi-Wan says "curious" and Jango changes the subject, "do you like your army?". Obi-Wan says he looks "forward to seeing them in action" and Jango gives an ominous response, "They'll do their job. I'll guarantee that". Obi-Wan then ends the interrogation, "thank you for your time, Jango" and Jango responds, "always a pleasure to meet a Jedi". The Jedi and Taun We leave the apartment, Jango has a look of concern on his face and Boba can tell, "what is it dad?". Jango tells him to pack his things and that they're gonna leave right now. Now there's another individual in this clone conspiracy, Sifo-Dyas commissioned the clones and Tyranus found the perfect host in Jango Fett. All Obi-Wan knows is that this Tyranus must've worked with the late Sifo-Dyas and Jango isn't under his employment anymore, there's even the possibility Tyranus was killed by the person who killed Sifo-Dyas.
Obi-Wan's interrogation was disguised in the form of harmless questions and Jango's simple answers seem to be meaningless but the subtext is dense and Jango doesn't ever lie to Obi-Wan either, responses such as "possibly" are neither confirming nor denying Obi-Wan's suspicion. Also as their conversation went on, you can tell that tension between the two is building and Boba sees it too. Obi-Wan pretended to be on Kamino to inspect the clones and meeting Jango was just something out of curiosity, but Jango is more than intelligent enough to figure out that Obi-Wan traced his toxic dart and found him. He was wary of Obi-Wan but had no reason to believe the Jedi made the connection between Zam's murder and him so soon until the two started to speak. Also Boba and Anakin mirror each other somewhat but I'll talk about this more later.
We're back at Naboo and the two are in the middle of a conversation while dining. Anakin is at the end of recounting a story, "and when I got to them, we went into aggressive negotiations" and Padme asks "aggressive negotiations? What's that?". So Anakin responds, "well, negotiations with a lightsaber" and they both laugh. Padme is about to cut a piece from her fruit but Anakin uses the Force to take it away from her, "if master Obi-Wan caught me doing this, he'd be very grumpy". He then cuts a piece for her and uses the Force to float it back, she catches it with her fork and eats it. He understands that Obi-Wan wouldn't approve of him doing this but he still does it anyway. It's no coincidence that they're eating pear-like fruit, Saint Augustine had a story about how he stole some pears as a teenager and threw them away to pigs. He never took the pears because he was hungry or he wanted to feed the pigs, he took them for the sake of indulging in the sin of stealing. Just as Anakin is knowingly indulging in his passions by continuing to try and romance Padme. Also this dining scene contrasts with the scene in ESB and they're both biblical references, one references the Garden of Eden and the forbidden fruit and the other references The Last Supper and Judas' betrayal. Eve is the one who ultimately eats the fruit, just like how Padme eats it in this scene and later on in the film, she is the one to give in to their love and start their partnership. Also Padme giving in further ties in the idea of liberal democracy allowing fascism to creep in and gain power.
The next scene is in a dark room, dimly lit by the fireplace the two are sitting beside. Also, I'm gonna be defending the dialogue here too, no compromises. I'll be as honest as possible, even if my honest belief isn't that popular even amongst other prequel trilogy enjoyers. Anakin begins to pour his heart out for Padme, I'll go over it piece by piece. He starts with, "from the moment I've met you, all those years ago, not a day has gone by when I haven't thought of you". Meeting her back then had a profound impact on his life, the first stranger to show him kindness and she respected him as a human being. She was "an angel" who literally came from a higher place and in TPM Anakin told Padme that he heard angels lived "on the moons of Iego". Now this bit may sound like a stretch but bear with me, Iego->Id and ego. The id, ego and superego are 3 distinct but connected pieces of an individual's mind. The id is your basic impulses, things like wanting to eat or to use the toilet and seeking pleasures such as sex. The superego is your moral compass and is also judgemental of your actions, "I shouldn't eat a second donut, I'll get fat" or "I shouldn't fuck her, she's not my wife". The ego is the conscious part of yourself that actively has to decide to either stick to principles or engage in pleasure-seeking. Palpatine is a manifestation of Anakin's id (fuelling his arrogance, pushing him to see power, etc) and Padme is a manifestation of his superego (telling him they can't be together for their own good, getting him to go and help Obi-Wan, etc). I'll mention this stuff whenever it is relevant.
Anakin takes a breath before continuing, "and now that I'm with you again, I'm in agony. The closer I get to you, the worse it gets. The thought of not being with you, I can't breathe". He loves her dearly but he knows it's not right to pursue her love, it's not the Jedi way. He's in agony because the more time they spend together, the harder it becomes to stick to the Jedi code. His comment on not being able to breathe foreshadows his future as Vader if he pursues her. Anakin speaks some more, "I'm haunted by the kiss that you should never have given me. My heart is beating, hoping that that kiss will not become a scar. You are in my very soul, tormenting me. What can I do?". Having him blame Padme for this kiss further establishes her as a manifestation of his superego, he gave into his primal urges and leaned in for a kiss and she let it happen but then stopped it once she came to her senses, "no, I shouldn't have done that". It's written in a way to sound like Anakin's mind telling him no. Padme is in his soul "tormenting" him, her beauty is temptation and Anakin knows it's wrong but he feels that there is nothing to do but to give in, "what can I do?".
"I will do anything that you ask. If you're suffering as much as I am, please tell me". It's important to note that Anakin and Padme's romance isn't a modern one and is based on an old form of romance called courtly love. This sort of romance emphasises nobility and chivalry, the man accepts that the woman is independent and has to show that he is worthy of receiving her love. Anakin does things like suggest that an investigation is needed, holding her luggage, using his cloak as a picnic blanket and now by telling her that he will do anything for her and that if she's suffering too, he can comfort her. There's nothing inherently wrong with this sort of love but it has the possibility of devolving into a possessive relationship where the woman is reduced to an object that needs to be coddled and controlled by the man. And of course, this is what happens in the next film as Anakin's desire to save Padme leads him to seeing her as an object he must keep safe. Padme responds, "I can't. We can't. It's just not possible" and Anakin doesn't agree, "Anything is possible Padme, listen to me". But she isn't having any of it, "no, you listen. We live in a real world, come back to it. You're studying to become a Jedi, I'm a Senator. If you follow your thought to conclusion, it will take us to a place we cannot go, regardless of the way we feel about each other". Anakin wants to give into his urges and fall in love but Padme understands the dangers of following through with her feelings, she has to stick to her principles even if she loves him. Anakin responds, "then you do feel something" but Padme doesn't want to push that route, "I will not let you give up your future for me". You can tell that she's trying to keep her emotions in check by the way she sounds, she's struggling just like Anakin.
He stands up and walks closer to her, "you are asking me to be rational. That is something I know I cannot do. Believe me, I wish I could just wish away my feelings, but I can't". Anakin wants Padme's permission to push this relationship further and tries to convince her to accept but she doesn't listen, "I will not give in to this". He walks back and thinks before turning and expressing his thoughts, "Well, it wouldn't have to be that way. We could keep it a secret." but Padme still won't give in, "We'd be living a lie, one we couldn't keep even if we wanted to. I couldn't do that. Could you Anakin? Could you live like that?". Anakin finally listens to Padme, "no. You're right, it would destroy us". I don't really need to explain this bit in detail, but basically Padme is more emotionally mature than Anakin so she is able to say no. Anakin respects her independence so he stops pursuing her and this can also be read under what I said about Padme being a manifestation of Anakin's superego. Also Padme's outfit here is a black corset dress with a black choker and black gloves. Usually the costume designer, Trisha Buggar, came up with phenomenal costume designs that matched Lucas' vision but this outfit was designed by the man himself. Tight corsets squeeze your body, making it hard to breathe and the choker visualises this by wrapping itself tightly around Padme's neck. This outfit has three purposes, one to show how hard it is for Padme to keep herself together and not indulge in her passions, another is foreshadowing the pairs' fates and the last reason is because the dress is pretty (shocking, I know). The burning fire in the background hints at the hellish Mustafar and Padme's outfit foreshadows Vader's suit. Anakin's obsession with protecting Padme leads them to hell, with Padme dying and Anakin being reborn as a servant of evil. The fire in this scene is also referenced later on when Anakin finds Shmi in the Tusken camp, we also see this fire referenced on Mustafar but it's replaced with an eruption of lava. These references to fire spread over to the OT too, the fire in Yoda's hut, fireplaces at the end of ROTJ, etc. These fires can symbolise passion, love, anger, hatred, even life itself and Lucas repeats many visuals such as these in order to strengthen the themes of his films.
Now I'll be defending the dialogue here, if you pay attention to Anakin's lines in this scene, you'll notice that Anakin describes his love for Padme without using the word love, he describes his love as something painful. He's "in agony", he "can't breathe", he's "haunted", he doesn't want "that kiss" to "become a scar", Padme is "tormenting" him by choosing not reciprocating his love for her, he'll do "anything" for her and he's "suffering" because he's not with her. People will make fun of Lucas for trying to sound Shakespearian but they'll ignore the fact that Anakin and Padme's love is very reminiscent of the tragedy of Romeo And Juliet. Both couples are from rival groups, Jedi (Obi-Wan - "She's a politician and they're not to be trusted) and politicians (Padme - "You Jedi are far too reckless", Capulets and Montagues. Both romances end in tragic circumstances, Romeo drinks poison after believing that his lover is dead but Juliet lives and wakes up to see her lover dead and she ends up committing suicide by stabbing herself with a dagger. Romeo drinking poison because he believes Juliet is dead reflects Anakin submitting to the dark side and throwing away his morality because he believes Padme will die if he doesn't have the power to save her. Romeo literally poisons himself while Anakin spiritually poisons himself. Juliet waking up and committing suicide after seeing that Romeo is dead reflects how Padme loses the will to live after she truly comprehends what Anakin has become. Juliet literally kills herself because of Romeo's actions while Padme spiritually kills herself because of Anakin's actions. Lucas doesn't just go around making his work sound Shakespearian, he actually puts in the effort to make it actually Shakespearian. Also here's something really funny.
You see me, Lord Bassanio, where I stand
Such as I am. Though for myself alone
I would not be ambitious in my wish
To wish myself much better... - Shakespeare in The Merchant Of Venice.
Wishing for a wish is very Shakespearian, it's almost as if Lucas' haters aren't very literate and don't know about lines like this.
We then get another great exterior view of Kamino before seeing Obi-Wan again, he's with Taun We and she's leading him back to his ship. She asks him to tell the Jedi Council that the first clone battalions are done and "if they need more troops, it will take more time to grow them". Obi-Wan tells her he won't forget and thanks her before walking out to speak to his droid R4. He asks the droid to transmit his message to the Jedi, a little satellite comes out of the ship and we cut to Yoda and Windu. They were meditating but Obi-Wan's message interrupts them and he relays what we know to the two masters, he's made contact with the Prime Minister, the Kaminoans are using a bounty hunter called Jango Fett to create a clone army and he believes that Jango is the assassin he's looking for. Windu asks Obi-Wan if he believes the Kaminoans are involved in the assassination plot against Padme but Obi-Wan says "there appears to be no motive" and Yoda tells him to assume nothing. He advises Obi-Wan to "clear" his mind if he's to "discover the real villains behind this plot". He's right to believe this, none of them were aware of the Kaminoans until now and they happen to harbour Jango Fett. Obi-Wan then explains to the Jedi that the Kaminoans told him about Sifo-Dyas placing "an order for a clone army at the request of the Senate almost 10 years ago" but there's something strange because Obi-Wan believed he was killed before that and he asks if the council authorised the creation of these clones. Windu is quick to deny this and explains that the person who made this order didn't have the approval of the council and Yoda tells Obi-Wan to bring back Jango for questioning. Obi-Wan tells them he'll report back once he's got Jango to come along and the transmission ends. Yoda speaks to Windu, "blind we are if creation of this clone army we could not see." and Windu responds "I think it is time we informed the Senate that our ability to use the Force has diminished". Yoda doesn't think it's a good idea, "only the dark lord of the Sith knows of our weakness. If informed the Senate is, multiply our adversaries will". Again we are shown the Jedi in their decadence, Windu believes that being open and honest is good but fears of their enemies growing in number leads Yoda to instead want to keep this a secret. It also plays into Palpatine's grand plan because by being paranoid and hiding their loss in power, they are giving the Senate more reason to believe that the Jedi were plotting to take over once Palpatine's plan reaches the creation of the Empire. Yoda commenting on the Jedi being blind further highlights the themes of blindness, they're unable to see that they're leading themselves to their doom.
We're back on Naboo, Anakin is having dreams of his mother again and judging by what we're shown, these dreams aren't positive. We hear Shmi beg Anakin for help while Anakin helplessly says "no" as he lays asleep. He then wakes up panting and is clearly afraid of what he saw in these dreams. We then fade to day and there's subtle imagery of the yin-yang symbol formed in the clouds before it cuts to Anakin looking out of the balcony (https://imgur.com/a/vGTC90u). He's deep in thought, meditating to keep his emotions in check but as we know, the clouds symbolises both moral ambiguity and blindness. Anakin believes his mother is in danger but he is blind to the reason why she is in danger and he's struggling with the temptation to just head to Tatooine and check up on her. On one hand, it would be selfish to abandon his duty to protect Padme for selfish reasons but on the other hand, is it really ok to just ignore that his mother's life is in danger? Also there's some more stuff with doubles, the yin and the yang and the balcony's floor being reflective means that there is an upright Anakin and an upside down reflection. The upside down reflection is an obvious reference to the shadow self and we are visually shown Anakin's struggle. First we see Anakin have nightmares of his mother in danger, then we get a closeup of him waking up visibly distressed and then we fade to the yin-yang symbol in the clouds before getting that wide shot of Anakin meditating on the balcony. His face fades and we see the symbol of balance and balance is the thing he's struggling to maintain. The wide shot here really says a lot (https://imgur.com/a/glXGdw9), it's much more than a pretty shot. Anakin is standing right in the middle of two pillars, one has the sun (the yin-yang symbol) shining on it and the other is covered in shadow. We're visually shown how Anakin is stuck between two paths but there's even more than that. Anakin is perfectly in the middle of the two pillars but not the shot as a whole, he's off-centre and positioned on the right, and the right half of the screen has the dark side pillar on it. What happens after this whole scene ends? He goes to Tatooine to rescue his mother and this mission to rescue her leads him to give into his anger and hatred.
Padme enters the balcony and approaches Anakin, she realises he's meditating and turns to leave but Anakin stops her, "don't go". She responds, telling him that she didn't want to "disturb" him and the Jedi takes a breath before telling her "your presence is soothing". Padme speaks again, "you had another nightmare last night" but Anakin denies it, "Jedi don't have nightmares", he doesn't fool Padme because she "heard" him. Anakin opens his eyes telling her that he "saw" his mother then he turns to face Padme as she comes closer before continuing to speak, his mother is "suffering" and he "saw her as clearly as" he sees Padme now. He turns and walks closer to the balcony, looking at the clouds once again and then he takes a breath, "she is in pain". He turns to face her again, he knows he's "disobeying" his mandate to protect her but he must go. Anakin walks towards Padme again, he must help his mother. Once Anakin broke meditation, he started pacing up and down which clearly tells us that he's stressed out and struggling with whether or not he should go to Tatooine. Padme sympathises, "I'll go with you" and Anakin apologises, "I'm sorry, I don't have a choice". Padme deciding to go along Anakin is basically Anakin's inner sense of morality giving him the ok to go and check up on Shmi. Padme's outfit here is a white nightgown, symbolising purity with a blueish purple robe that tells us she believes it's the logical decision to join Anakin on his visit to Tatooine because he'll still be following his mandate and she also empathises with his struggle, she was the one to comfort him in that ship all those years ago after all. Anakin's sleeping attire is brown because Lucas uses this colour as a neutral colour to symbolise nature and humanity, Anakin doesn't know what to expect when he returns to Tatooine. All he knows is that he deeply cares for his mother and wants to make sure she's not in any danger.
We're back on Kamino again, on a landing platform with Slave I parked on it. Jango and Boba have just finished putting their things into the ship and Obi-Wan runs onto the landing platform. Boba notices the Jedi, "dad look!" and Jango turns to see Obi-Wan before speaking to his son, "Boba, get on board!". Obi-Wan activates his lightsaber and Jango begins firing at him with his twin blaster pistols, again Lucas is showing us a pair. This fight is very entertaining, Jango makes use of his jetpack and fires from above while Obi-Wan dodges. We then quickly learn that Boba can fly, he begins to pilot Slave I before we cut to Jango shooting a rocket from his jetpack at Obi-Wan, the Jedi is flung back and in case that wasn't enough, Boba aims the ships guns at Obi-Wan. He doesn't hit the Jedi but the explosions from the shots definitely hurt, if only Obi-Wan didn't drop his lightsaber after that rocket. Jango flies down and Obi-Wan begins his counter with a flying kick, Jango drops his pistol and they have a short brawl.
Obi-Wan ends up on the ground and Jango quickly realises that the Jedi is reaching for his lightsaber so he flies again and fires a wire that ties Jedi's hands together and drags him across the ground. But Obi-Wan is able to get up and tug on the wire so that the bounty hunter falls to the ground, his jetpack flies off of him and explodes, leaving the bounty hunter vulnerable. Obi-Wan rushes towards Jango, who is attempting to reach the pistol he dropped. He's able to avoid being shot and kicks Jango off the platform but Obi-Wan quickly realises his mistake,"oh, not good". He's still attached to Jango's wire so he falls off the top and begins sliding down too but Jango has retractable spikes on his forearms to stop the fall, he stops at the edge and Obi-Wan is left hanging. Jango then cuts the wire and Obi-Wan uses the wire he has left to hang onto a lower level. Jango peers down and it seems like Obi-Wan has died so he begins to make his way back up while the Jedi does the same. Boba prepares for takeoff and Obi-Wan is back again but he's too late so he decides to do the wise thing and stick a tracker on the ship. He chose to allow the two Fetts to think he's dead so he can follow without trouble.
We cut back to Anakin and Padme who've just arrived at Tatooine, their pristine ship lands in the outskirts of Mos Espa, Anakin's childhood home. They take a ride in a rickshaw operated by a droid and it stops and Anakin steps off before reaching his hand out to help Padme get down, again we see chivalrous actions from the young Jedi. He tells the droid to wait for them and the pair approach a shop. Anakin greets a Watto who's in bad shape and asks the Toydarian to let him help with repairing the droid part, he lifts it up and begins to fiddle with it while Watto asks him what he wants. He then realises the man in front of him is a Jedi and assumes the worst, "whatever it is, I didn't do it". Anakin ignores this, "I'm looking for Shmi Skywalker" and Watto realises who's standing before him, "Ani...? Little Ani? Nah... You are Ani! It is you! You sure spurted huh? A Jedi! Whattaya know!".
Watto is genuinely happy to see Anakin has become a Jedi but he's still greedy enough to ask for a favour, "maybe you could help with some deadbeats who owe me a lot of money" but Anakin ignores this favour, "my mother". Watto backs down, "oh yeah, Shmi. Uhh, she's not mine-a no more-a. I sold her" and Anakin is concerned, "you sold her?". Watto answers, "years ago. Sorry Ani, but you know, business is business. I sold her to a moisture farmer named Lars. At least I think it was Lars". He then goes on to tell Anakin what happened to Shmi and he sounds genuinely happy for her, "believe it or not, I heard he freed her and married her! Can ya beat that eh?". Anakin then asks another question, "do you know where they are now?" and he learns that they're "on the other side of Mos Eisley". Anakin wants more specifics so Watto takes him over to look at his records.
Some people have claimed that Watto is a Jewish stereotype and use his ownership of slaves, his accent, his Toydarian looks and his appearance in this film all as points but they're not right. They use the conspiracy theory that Jews were in control of the Atlantic slave trade and compare it to Watto's ownership of the two Skywalkers but fail to realise that neither Watto nor his race are in control of the Outer Rim's slave trade. The Hutts are in control and they're not Jewish stereotypes. While he does partake in slavery, he isn't completely heartless and you can see that in the way he's happy that Anakin's a Jedi and that Shmi was freed and is now married to a loving man. The next point is the accent, they claim he sounds Jewish but Watto was written to sound like a shady second hand car salesman and the actor who portrays him, Andy Secombe used an Italian accent. Again there's no implications of antisemitism here, and now the next point, Toydarian appearance. Toydarians have a large trunk and people use that to claim it's meant to look like a stereotypical large hooked nose of a Jew but it's literally just a trunk, this is just projecting your own thoughts onto the character and then blaming Lucas for your own thoughts. The final point is his appearance in this film, he now has a scraggly beard and a hat, for some reason people say it resembles a kippah but they look very different (https://imgur.com/a/kYMfSuV). And that beard is meant to show that Watto has fallen into hard times and isn't taking care of himself properly, he's a gambler after all and Qui-Gon did tell him that he'd "eventually lose".
In TPM, Lucas makes sure to tell us that Watto won the Skywalkers in a bet instead of buying them because someone like Watto wouldn't be able to afford them. He got lucky and quickly found a use for them by having them work at his junk shop. Remember that in this society, slavery is a social acceptable thing and Watto at least doesn't treat them too harshly, we've seen him do things like let Anakin leave early and he even gave them a place to stay. To him, keeping them was better than freeing them because they'd have nowhere else to go and if they stay as slaves, nobody would want to deal with the trouble that comes with "damaging property". Qui-Gon's gamble against Watto was a huge blow to the Toydarian while he did get a lot of money, losing a skilled slave like Anakin would harm his business and his gambling habits grew worse. Eventually he became desperate enough to sell Shmi, his gambling addiction has left him in a pathetic state. Remember earlier when he was fearful at first when Anakin approached him? Qui-Gon was right, "whenever you gamble my friend, eventually you'll lose." and Watto lost big time.
The next scene is Jango approaching Geonosis, a desert planet with an asteroid belt around it (circle within a circle). Obi-Wan drops out of hyperspace and his ship detaches from its hyperspace ring to follow Jango. Boba notices something on the ship's scan screen, "dad! I think we're being tracked!" and Jango responds, "he must have put a homing device on our hull. Hang on son, we'll move into the asteroid field and we'll have a couple of surprises for him". Boba laughs and Jango releases a bomb, Obi-Wan notices the bomb "seismic charges, stand by". He outmanoeuvres it as it destroys asteroids and Jango releases another, but Obi-Wan is able to get away again. Jango is getting tired with this, "he doesn't seem to take a hint, this guy." and he flies through the narrow tunnel of a large asteroid, with Obi-Wan following behind. Jango takes a turn and hides behind another asteroid then follows Obi-Wan from behind once the Jedi comes out. Boba is eager to see Obi-Wan go, "get him dad, get him! Fire!" and Jango begins shooting at the Jedi.
We get a little comment from Obi-Wan as he tries to escape the relentless firing, "blast! This is why I hate flying". This comment along with Anakin's comment earlier in the film about his master not liking flying is important, he doesn't like flying because he's not really in control. There's no order in outer space. He continues to try and avoid Jango's rain of fire but he gets hit and Boba is ecstatic, "we got him!" and Jango adds "we'll just have to finish him". He then launches a torpedo that follows the Jedi's ship, Obi-Wan can't lose it no matter how hard he tries so he has a clever plan. He asks R4 to launch the spare part canisters on his command, the torpedo gains on him and he tells R4 to fire them. They come out the back of the ship and the torpedo hits the spare parts as Obi-Wan manoeuvres into the gap between two asteroids. From the perspective of the two Fetts it looks like Obi-Wan was killed, he's not showing up on the scanner too. Jango cracks a joke to Boba, "well, we won't be seeing him again" and Boba laughs. They fly towards Geonosis as we see an asteroid slowly turn to reveal Obi-Wan's ship hiding away, a trick that the young Boba will later become wise to when dealing with Han Solo in ESB. Jango flies towards a door and when it opens, he descends down and we cut back to Obi-Wan, "well R4, I think we've waited long enough". He flies down and makes an observation, "there's an unusual concentration of Federation ships over there R4". The Jedi lands in a a safe spot and steps out of his ship, he signals R4 to stay and heads off on his own.
We cut back to Tatooine, the pair and R2 walk away from their ship after flying towards the Lars homestead. Padme tells R2 to stay with the ship and she continues to walk with along with Anakin. A certain protocol droid notices them, "hello. How might I be of service? I am C-" but he is interrupted by Anakin, "3P0?" and the droid recognises him, "the maker! Oh master Ani! I knew you would return. I knew it!". He even recognises the woman beside his maker "and miss Padme, oh my!" and Padme greets him with a warm hello. C3P0 tells the pair that he's pleased to see them but Anakin cuts to the point, "I've come to see my mother" and C3P0 responds, "I think perhaps we better go indoors". He presents Anakin and Padme to Owen Lars, Anakin introduces himself coldly and Owen introduces himself and his girlfriend Beru. Padme introduces herself and Owen awkwardly says "I guess I'm your stepbrother. I had a feeling you might show up some day". Anakin asks if his mother is here and gets a response from another man, "no, she's not", this man introduces himself as Cliegg Lars and uses a hoverchair. He's the man that married Shmi, Anakin shakes his hand and Cliegg tells him they "have a lot to talk about".
We then cut to the kitchen and Beru is pouring out drinks and brings them to the table while Cliegg speaks to Anakin. He explains that a hunting part of Tusken Raiders came out of nowhere while Shmi was out to pick mushrooms, she was about halfway home when the Tuskens took her. Cliegg then makes a comment on them, "those Tuskens walk like men but they're vicious, mindless monsters.", remember to keep this line in mind for later. Owen tells Anakin that 30 people went to rescue Shmi but only 4 returned, he would've joined the search too but after losing his right leg, he can't do anything until he heals. Owen speaks further, "I don't wanna give up on her, but she's been gone a month. There's little hope she's lasted this long" and while he says this, you can see Anakin becoming visibly distressed. He stands up, Owen asks "where're you going?" and Anakin responds, "to find my mother." in a moody tone. Cliegg tries to cool him down, "your mother's dead son, accept it." but Anakin just shakes his head and we see Padme's face, she's clearly worried for Anakin. Something to note about Cliegg Lars is his similarity to the character Simonides in the film Ben-Hur, both characters have lost the ability to walk and give the protagonist of their respective films information about family that leads them to a path of revenge. Anakin learns that his mother was taken by the Tuskens and she's probably dead and Judah Ben-Hur learns that his mother and sister were imprisoned by the Romans and they're probably dead, but both characters refuse to believe this and seek revenge. Both of these revelations happen in the middle of the two films and both characters are back home after being freed from slavery and both eventually give up their hatred and embrace love, though Ben-Hur doesn't take as long as Anakin to do so.
We then cut to Anakin standing outside the homestead, standing at the same place Luke will be years later, watching the suns set. Lucas himself has said “You will see the father and son going through the exact same things. It’s just that they make difference choices." and it's very clear once you dig in. Luke in ANH is 19, the same age as Anakin in AOTC and they're both using the same seat at the dining table in the Lars homestead. Anakin asks about his mother and Cliegg Lars (a father figure) tells him to accept that she's dead and move on meanwhile Luke asks about Obi-Wan, which ends up bringing up the subject of his father before Owen Lars (a father figure) tells him to just forget Anakin was ever brought up. Both get emotional and leave the table, Owen asks Anakin where he's going and Beru does the same to Luke. Both are served drinks, Anakin has red juice and Luke has blue milk. These colours are obvious when you compare Anakin's reaction to Shmi's death, a violent rage and Luke's reaction to the Lars' deaths, quiet grieving before being filled with a new resolve. Both characters are the same age during these moments but Luke is more emotionally mature, instead of lashing out like Anakin, he is able to calm down and understand that he mustn't give in to these feelings of hatred and anger but as we'll see soon, Anakin isn't the same.
Both are at the crater just outside the Lars homestead and the way they are shot is very important, the camera is facing inwards towards Anakin and we can't see the suns while for Luke, the camera is facing outwards and we can see both Luke and the suns (https://imgur.com/a/LFa5fyK). Anakin is selfish, thinking about his own desires to find his mother while Luke is selfless, thinking about his will to explore the galaxy and help fight the tyrannical Empire. Padme enters the scene and we see their shadows against the wall as they speak, contrast this with ANH's scene showing shots of Luke's face and the twin suns (https://imgur.com/a/OtaAqAe). Again we see these themes of shadows and duality here as the pair talk and as I've explained before, these shadows represent an unconscious half with hidden desires and as we'll see later, both Anakin and Padme fall to these shadows.
These shadows are also a reference to Fritz Lang's film M (https://imgur.com/a/Bm31ooG), a film about a child killer terrorising the streets of Berlin in the 30s. The film introduces the killer by showing us his shadow against a poster asking for his capture as he talks to a child, trying to get her to come with him while in AOTC, we see Anakin's shadow as he tells Padme not to come with him as he heads out to find his mother. M asks an important question, which is worse, this killer or the society that surrounded him. The film was critiquing Nazi Germany, the people wanted to stamp out "degeneracy" so much that they lost sight of reality, one single entity isn't to blame for all of the world's ills. Anyone could've committed these deeds, but here these people project all their capabilities for evil onto this one killer. Anakin's fall isn't fully his own fault, society is partially to blame for it. If the Republic wasn't so broken, they could have helped out the Outer Rim instead of leaving it to rot. This is also why TPM is important, Palpatine isn't the reason why the Republic is broken, it's the system itself and not just one man. It's not a matter of who's in charge, it's a matter of the way society functions in the system.
Anakin takes violent revenge and Padme allows herself to romance Anakin and they end up married at the end of the film. The way the shadows are positioned is mirrored by the way the twin suns are positioned in ANH, the lighter sun is on the left and the darker sun is on the right and Padme is on the left, Anakin is on the right. The lighter sun is higher and Padme is lower while the darker sun is lower and Anakin is higher, it's not really hard to see what's being said by this. The darkness within Anakin is beginning to rise while the boring life of a moisture farmer for Luke was beginning to end. When Padme enters the scene, she approaches Anakin who tells her she's "gonna have to stay here" and that "these are good people" so she'll "be safe". Padme just responds by saying Anakin's name before they embrace in a hug, Anakin then walks to the speeder and tells Padme he won't be gone long before heading out. There's similarity between the lead Skywalkers of the two trilogies here, Luke finds out R2 is missing but decides to wait until morning to search for the droid but Anakin heads out for Shmi without caring about the fact that night is approaching. Again, Lucas's comment about the two Skywalkers going through the same things but making different choices is relevant.
We see Anakin ride the speeder across the desert as night begins to fall and Duel of the Fates accompanies the scene. This theme isn't the cool fight theme, it's the theme of moral struggle. In TPM the moral struggle was between Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan and Darth Maul, will the one to raise Anakin be the wise maverick Qui-Gon, the young orthodox Obi-Wan or will Maul kill both Jedi, leaving the boy's fate unknown. Here the moral struggle is whether or not Anakin can handle the loss of his mother. When he finds her, is he able to accept her death or will he lash out and commit terrible sins? This scene of Anakin in the desert is complimented by a reddish tint, contrasting the dark blue night sky we see when Luke tells 3P0 that they'll look for R2 in the morning, one decision is rash and emotional and the other is calm and logical. This shot here with Anakin and the speeder become a silhouette as the twin suns fall in the background (https://imgur.com/a/QHADvn4) symbolises Anakin's darker half coming out to surface as he heads to rescue Shmi. He's going from right to left and the positions of the suns are reversed, the darker sun is on the left and the lighter sun is on the right. He is going backwards to the past instead of forwards towards the future but once he finds Shmi, he'll realise that you can't truly go back to the past, things change and you can't stop that. We're then shown Anakin speaking with a Jawa to get directions, mirroring when Luke finds the Jawas murdered. Both people are led to the discovery of a dead relative by Jawas (https://imgur.com/a/fIgsl5J). But before we carry on with Anakin's story, we cut back to Obi-Wan.
Obi-Wan is still on Geonosis, searching for answers. He enters a strange place and soon finds out it's a battle droid factory, it's a huge one too. He walks down some stairs and we cut to Dooku speaking with the Separatist leaders as they walk to a meeting room. We then see Obi-Wan hiding and watching as they go by. Dooku tells the others that they "must persuade the Commerce Guild and the Corporate Alliance" to join them, judging by their names, these groups are very wealthy. We'll soon learn that the other leaders are very wealthy too, Dooku is also quite rich but to wage war against the Republic would be impossible without the backing of these large corporate figures. Again Lucas shows his attention to detail but you'll never hear any of the "critics" point things out like this. A familiar voice asks if Padme is dead yet and that he's not signing Dooku's treaty until he has "her head" on his desk. Dooku responds "I am a man of my word, Viceroy" and another Separatist leader speaks to Dooku, "with these new battle droids we've built for you, you'll have the finest army in the galaxy". Obi-Wan sneaks ahead and he's able to peer down through an archway of a conference room, the Separatists are all seated there.
Dooku speaks to them, "As I explained to you earlier, I am quite convinced that 10,000 more systems will rally to our cause with your support, gentlemen". A member of this Separatist Council speaks up, "what you are proposing could be construed as treason", she is clearly concerned with the dangers of war but her allies ignore these dangers. Two different people pledge themselves to Dooku, the first is from the Techno Union and he tells Dooku that his droid army are at his command and the other is from the Banking Clan, he tells Dooku that they will sign his treaty. It's not hard to figure out that these two were here to see if joining Dooku was worth it and they've been convinced. Dooku's army has grown much larger and now he has a supposedly neutral bank on his side, the Banking Clan can give unfair interest rates to the Republic and cripple their economy while helping the Separatists become more wealthy. Dooku tells his allies that when the droid armies of the Trade Federation are combined with the droid armies of the Techno Union, they'll "have an army greater than any in the galaxy. The Jedi will be overwhelmed. The Republic will agree to any demands we make". He's tricking his allies into believing they'll have a quick and easy victory, none of these people know about the clones but Dooku. Once the surprise appearance of the clones shift the tide of the galaxy and plunge it into full-scale war, it will be too late to back down. These wealthy individuals and corporate entities will have to continue funding Dooku and escalate the war until one side falls. These people are greedy and will leap at any chance to gain more wealth and power and by the time reality hits them, sunk-cost fallacy would stop them from changing their course.
We're back on Tatooine now and Anakin has just located the Tusken camp, he looks down at them atop of a cliff (https://imgur.com/a/MN0dFXj) and makes sure nobody is awake before jumping down the cliff. Luke descends into a cave while Anakin descends into a Tusken camp. Anakin sneaks around and cuts a hole through one of the tents while two Tuskens watch two dog-like creatures fight over a bone, with one brutally killing the other by chomping down on its throat. This scene mirrors the cave scene in ESB (https://imgur.com/a/YoVE1Nh). Luke enters the cave through a small round hole while Anakin does the same with the hut. Both Skywalkers see a parent, Anakin finds his mother while Luke has a vision of his father. Both Skywalkers give into their hatred and behead their enemies, Anakin beheads Tuskens while Luke beheads the vision of Darth Vader. Then in both films we cut to Yoda's reaction and in AOTC, Yoda tells Windu that he feels that "something terrible" happened to Anakin while in ESB we see Yoda with a look of disappointment. Notice the colours being used, Anakin's scene is in a orangish-red tint while Luke's scene is in a blue tint. Both characters at this point have a childish view of evil, they believe that evil is something external and not something that can come from any being, even yourself. Luke is able to learn this lesson and resist joining Vader while Anakin gives into anger without learning that evil is from within and starts slaughtering the Tuskens without hesitation. Let's go back a bit because I haven't gone over this Tusken camp scene in full detail. We'll go back to when Anakin enters the hut and start from there. Anakin enters the hut and we are shown Shmi, tied to a wooden structure barely clinging to life and scarred. The scars on her face are important, they resemble crescent moons and if you remember young Anakin's question about Padme being an angel and his elaboration on the angels, he mentioned their beauty and that "they live on the moons of Iego". Earlier when Anakin was on the cliff looking down at the Tusken camp, there were 3 moons in the sky above the camp. Lucas is again connecting Padme to Shmi and this time he's using this moon imagery. Anakin walks over to untie her and he holds her in his arms. It's obvious that she was beaten and tortured but being tied up in such a position implies something much darker, she might have been raped too.
Anakin is extremely distressed, he repeatedly asks "mom?" and Shmi responds by calling to her son and asking if it's really him.. Anakin rubs her hand and tries to comfort her, "I'm here mom, you're safe" and Shmi compliments his appearance "you look so handsome, my son". Anakin kisses her hand and Shmi rubs her hand against his cheek, "my grown up son. I'm so proud of you Ani". The Jedi responds, "I missed you" with a saddened face, he can't bear to see what happened to his mother. Shmi then responds, "now I am complete", she also tries to say "I love you" but she isn't able to finish the sentence. Tears begin to fall down Anakin's eyes as he tries to comfort his mother, "stay with me mom. Everything..." but he stops to listen to his mother who repeats, "I love... I love..." but she is unable to finish her sentence and passes away in her young son's arms. The young Jedi wasn't able to find peace and closure because Shmi was unable to finish her sentence to affirm her love for him, now the only place left to find this peace in is Padme's heart. Anakin's sorrowful face turns to slight anger as Shmi finally passes and when she dies, he is shocked and struggling to process what just happened. But he looks around as he catches his breath, then he closes his mother's eyes and looks up with a burning hatred. That hatred fills him with a lust for revenge and he doesn't resist it, he’s in a position of power and wants to use that power to kill.
We then see what's happening outside of the hut, an old Tusken is pouring something out a bucket, a Tusken is setting up a fire and a child Tusken is playing but they all freeze when they hear Anakin's lightsaber activate. We then see their POV and Anakin beheads two Tuskens, the other Tuskens get ready to fight and one charges at Anakin before being beheaded just like the first two. The reason why these killings are all beheadings isn't solely to show the horror of what Anakin is doing but it also says something else, your head is where you brain is and that means your head symbolises reason and rationality, Anakin is rejecting this by violently lashing out and removing the heads of his enemies, he's purely following emotion here. We see him hold Shmi's hand and head to his heart, the place of emotion, right before he goes on with these killings. It's why this film has the most beheadings when compared to the rest in the series, everyone is rejecting reason and rationality and their raw and violent emotions lead them to a destructive war. We cut to Yoda meditating in his room, he hears the voice of Qui-Gon saying "Anakin! Anakin! No!" and Windu enters his room. The Jedi sits down on the seat beside his friend and faces him to ask about Yoda's vision, "what is it?" and Yoda responds, "pain, suffering... death I feel". Windu is visibly concerned and Yoda carries on, "something terrible has happened. Young Skywalker is in pain, terrible pain".
We're back on Geonosis and Obi-Wan is trying to send a message but it's not working, he knows that the transmitter isn't working and the issues is that he's "not receiving a return signal". He knows that Coruscant is "too far" and asks R4 to boost the power. The droid complies and Obi-Wan decides to "try something else", his idea is to "contact Anakin on Naboo." because "it's much closer. But he soon realises that his apprentice isn't on Naboo, Obi-Wan widens the search range and hopes that Anakin is safe. We see a Geonosian watching Obi-Wan sitting in his ship from a distance, the Jedi is in danger but he manages to locate his Padawan on Tatooine. He then lets out his annoyance at this discovery, "what in the blazes is he doing there? I told him to stay on Naboo". But he knows he hasn't got "much time" and begins transmitting a message for Anakin. We cut back to Tatooine and see that R2 is still alone in the ship, he intercepts the message and listens. Anakin returns to the Lars homestead on the speeder, with Shmi's body wrapped in cloth. He lifts Shmi's body and carries her, his face perfectly conveying the sorrow and anger he feels because of his lack of power to save her (https://imgur.com/b012142). He glances at Cliegg and the old man is saddened at the sight of Shmi's corpse, he then glances at Owen and Beru who are shocked and he doesn't take a glance at Padme but we see that she's clearly not happy about this development. Anakin walks into the homestead with Shmi's body. The reason why he glances at the members of the Lars family and not Padme is because a small part of his anger is directed at them for not searching hard enough for Shmi but he knows that what happened to het isn't their fault so he doesn't lash out at them. He understands that they cared for Shmi and that they couldn't do anything to save her, they were just a bunch of farmers. As Anakin enters the homestead, we get a wide shot (https://imgur.com/a/xzTdOAA) that highlights the vast emptiness of the desert and it hints at Anakin's future loneliness and isolation as Vader.
In the next scene Anakin is standing at a workbench, tinkering with some machine and Padme enters the garage with a tray of food. Padme currently has a blue outfit and brought blue milk along with the food. We'll talk more about the use of blue in a bit but the important thing right now is the milk. Milk is associated with mothers, Lucas is visually telling us that Padme is filling in that role of a mother to Anakin in his time of mourning. Padme speaks to Anakin, "I brought you something. Are you hungry?" but Anakin is too busy with his tinkering, "the shifter broke". A shifter makes things move from one place to another, they help things move on. The shifter being broken and Anakin struggling with fixing it symbolises how Anakin is struggling to accept that the people he loves can die. He then carries on speaking as he continues to try and repair the machine, "life seems so much simpler when you're fixing things", he's seeking comfort by doing what he did when he was younger. Back then he didn't have all the burdens of being a Jedi. Padme puts the tray down and Anakin speaks some more, "I'm good at fixing things. Always was". He's remembering his time as a slave working under Watto. Padme then turns to face Anakin, who is now talking about Shmi's death, "but I couldn't. Why'd she have to die? Why couldn't I save her? I know I could have!". He's clearly feeling intense guilt both because of he was too late to save her and he doesn't have the power to bring her back. Padme tries to comfort him, "sometimes there are things no one can fix. You're not all-powerful Ani", notice how she's speaking like a mother comforting her child, pretty Freudian. Anakin has a childish response, "well I should be!" and he takes a breathe before carrying on. He vows that "someday" he'll be powerful enough, he vows that he'll become "the most powerful Jedi ever", this goal of seeking power isn't very Jedi-like at all (keep this ambitious line in mind for later). Anakin turns to face Padme again, "I promise you, I will even learn to stop people from dying", this goal is wholly selfish and not like a Jedi at all. Jedi are meant to accept death as a natural part of life, the people you care about will die and you'll do the same but that's ok. And to try and stop death is against Jedi beliefs, it's what the Sith do. The Sith fear death and will ruin the lives of countless people in order to live just a second longer. Tying to prevent the deaths of the people you care about is inherently selfish, why is it ok for only a select few to be granted eternal life? What if the people who've become immortal don't want to be immortal? Eventually the one granting immortality will end up alone and alienated and they'll have nobody to care about but themselves.
Padme is concerned, "Anakin..." and Anakin begins blaming his master, "it's all Obi-Wan's fault! He's jealous! He's holding me back!" and as he finishes shouting, he throws a wrench against the wall. This tantrum is very Oedipal in nature as Anakin is lashing out against a father figure when said father figure is not present, and he's in love with Padme, who is his current mother figure and is present to see this. While he does feel like Obi-Wan is holding him back from progressing as fast as he believes he should, he doesn't truly think Shmi's death was Obi-Wan's fault, he's just a kid looking for someone to blame other than himself and he's clearly projecting because in reality he's jealous of Obi-Wan's ability to let go. Anakin then walks to face the wall as he tries not to cry. Padme asks "what's wrong, Ani?" and Anakin speaks with tears in his eyes, "I... I killed them. I killed them all. They're dead. Every single one of them". He then faces Padme "and not just the men, but the women and the children too", I'll explain the political reason for why having Anakin specifically mention "the women and the children" is important in a bit so keep it in mind. But here’s the story/character reason, Anakin is confessing to his sins and feels that he can’t hide any of the barbaric actions he’s done. He sincerely feels immense guilt over what he’s done and hiding the worst of this sin is being insincere. Hayden Christensen does a really good job at visually portraying Anakin's hatred of the Tuskens for killing his mother and also hatred of himself for giving into that anger and killing them all while also conveying that sorrow he has for failing to save her. Natalie Portman doesn't react much here, she mostly stares in shock and some people think this is poor acting. But they're not trying to understand why she was directed to act like this here, Padme is trying to process what she's just learnt. The guy she loves is telling her that he committed genocide as a form of revenge and while he's telling her this, he's very clearly showing signs of regret. She's trying to process all these raw complex emotions being thrown at her, on one hand, he's done something terrible but on the other hand, he's admitting to it, he clearly regrets what he did and it's obvious that he only reacting in such a horrible way because of his love for his mother. Also remember that in TPM, Padme tells Anakin that she cares for him. Back then it was a a platonic big sister/motherly sort of care but now it’s evolved and tied to her romantic love of Anakin, she wants to protect him from all these troubles he’s facing and that’s why she ends up comforting him. Anakin continues to speak, "They're like animals... and I slaughtered them like animals! I hate them!", this is also important in a bit so keep this in mind too. He then sits on the floor and is breathing heavily, very reminiscent of his future as Vader and it's very fitting given that we've heard hints of the Imperial March theme both when Yoda senses Anakin's pain and when Anakin called the Tuskens animals.
Padme sits besides him and continues to try and comfort him, "to be angry is to be human.", it seems out of place for Padme to tell him this after he admitted to committing genocide but that's because we're not in Padme's shoes. All she knows about the Tusken Raiders is that they shoot at podracers to kill them for fun and that they tortured and killed Anakin's mother, to her they really are the "animals" Anakin says they are. And she can see that Anakin clearly regrets his crimes deeply, she's able to understand how struggling to suppress emotions and losing loved ones can affect a person, in her mind this is just a horrible but ultimately understandable one-off event that won't happen again. Anakin doesn't want to listen, "I'm a Jedi. I know I'm better than this" and he's unable to stop himself from fully crying. Padme strokes his hair in a motherly manner, comforting Anakin as he weeps. Now for the reason Lucas made her outfit her blue and why he had her bring blue milk, she is putting reason back into Anakin. She calms him down but she also does something wrong by accident, she gives him the ability to justify his actions by reminding him that anger is a human emotion, look at how quick he is to justify why he killed Windu, why he was able to turn against Obi-Wan and even kill younglings. There's also another interesting thing here, this garage is the same place Luke sees Leia's message in ANH. Both characters are 19 but Anakin should be much more mature than Luke at this point but he's just as immature as his future son. Both characters listen to a female voice in the garage, for Luke he's called to grow up and step into a bigger world and for Anakin, he's coddled and allowed to stay in his childish world. Again, two Skywalkers, similar situations, different actions/outcomes.
Anakin is obviously shown to be in the wrong for doing such a thing but the system allows him to get away with this unpunished, again think about this in context of the real world. Government agent coddled and protected by politician after murdering sand people, isn't this reminiscent of the War On Terror? This is the political side to why Lucas had the line specify the women and the children too, he’s calling back. to things like the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War etc. and he didn’t know it when writing the script but he was also calling forward to future imperialist wars. Lucas shows that the inability to have people be accountable for their own misdeeds will lead to destruction, Bush, Clinton, Obama, etc. they all got away with promoting this War On Terror and all it lead to was more conflict, all it did was create things like ISIS and create more suffering. The suffering ends in ROTJ when Anakin takes accountability for all his past sins and sacrifices himself to save the life of his son.
Also, this Tusken slaughter is an example of Lucas expertly subverting expectations. This moment in any lesser blockbuster flick would’ve been the typical male power fantasy, a man avenging a woman who was close to him by taking revenge on her killers is usually glorified but Lucas gives it to us in its most ugly form. Anakin didn’t gloriously swoop in and heroically take out a vague faceless enemy, he slaughtered an entire village and is pained by guilt after it. Revenge gave him nothing but more pain and Lucas doesn’t give us a chance to feel comfortable here, he challenges the audience. He’s able to make us sympathise with Anakin while also condemning his actions, again M is relevant here. Who’s to blame, one killer or the society that created him? There’s also something interesting here in the way it relates to real life, kids being sent to the desert to kill “foreign threats” and how the society they’re in breeds them to fight. Think about how the inescapable pro-war sentiment after 9/11 lead to so many kids going out to fight heroically only to find an ugly truth (Pat Tillman learned this). Angry fanboys feel uncomfortable with this subplot because it shows them that anyone could lash out and do what Anakin did under the right circumstances. They wanted pure escapism but that’s not what movies are, sure Star Wars and a lot of other movies have escapist aspects but that’s not all there is to it.
We then move onto the next scene, Shmi's funeral. There's 3 tombstones there, one for Shmi obviously but the film doesn't tell us who the other two are for. They can be seen as references to the id, ego and superego with Shmi's tombstone being the superego, the other large tombstone being the id and the little tombstone being the ego, it doesn't matter who the other two tombstones are for because Lucas is using them to reinforce this psychological aspect of the film. Owen is speaking about his deceased wife, "I know wherever you are, it's become a better place. You were the most loving partner a man could ever have. Goodbye, my darling wife. And thank you". Anakin walks forward and kneels in front of his mother's grave "I wasn't strong enough to save you mom. I wasn't strong enough." and the others watch on. He continues to speak, "But I promise I won't fail again. I miss you... so much.", his promise to not fail ends up being broken when he causes Padme to die at the end of ROTS but he fulfils it by saving Luke at the end of ROTJ, the difference in approach is what lead to success with saving Luke. His approach to saving Padme was to selfishly end the lives of the Jedi he's been raised by ever since he was 9 while his approach to save Luke was to selflessly sacrifice sacrifice himself by absorbing all that Force lightning in order to kill Palpatine and save his son.
This whole plot of Anakin returning to Tatooine to find his mother is essentially one big reference to John Ford's film, The Searchers. In The Searchers, Ethan Edwards returns home to Texas after fighting for the Confederacy in the Civil War and meets his brother and his family. Both Anakin and Ethan are essentially outsiders when they go to their family's home, Ethan and his brother Aaron are estranged and Anakin and his stepbrother Owen have never met before and don't exactly bond. There's some suggestive overtones between Ethan and his brother's wife, similar to how Anakin interacts with his mother's new husband Cliegg, his interactions with the man have a quiet hint of hostility to them, evident in his response to hearing Cliegg tell him that Shmi's dead and his angry stare when he returns with Shmi's body. Ethan is focused much more on his brother’s wife Martha than he is with the rest of his family. Anakin is focused much more on his mother than he is with the rest of this new family of his. Ethan is quietly jealous of his brother for being able to settle down and Anakin is quietly jealous of the Lars for being able to receive the love from Shmi that he missed so dearly. The connections go even further, as Anakin finds out his mother was taken by Tusken Raiders and the Edwards homestead is burned (I wonder if Lucas referenced scene this somewhere else), killing Aaron, his wife and his son but Ethan learns that Aaron's two daughters, Lucy and Debbie have been kidnapped by the Native American Comanche tribe.
There's a brief funeral for the family, similar to Shmi's one and Ethan heads out to find the girls with two others, Brad and Martin. Martin is the mixed race adopted child of Aaron and Martha and wants to find his sisters and Brad was Lucy’s boyfriend and wants to find her. Ethan ends up finding Lucy brutally murdered and it's implied she was raped too, which causes Brad to be killed by riding into the Comanche camp in a blind rage. Ethan and Martin learn that Debbie was taken by Scar, the chief of the Nawyecka band of Comanches. They end up finding her after 5 years and she's now an adult and one of Scar's wives, she tells them that she wants to remain as a Comanche but Ethan despises Native Americans, he tries to shoot her because he'd rather see her dead then live as something he sees as "savage". Martin protects her and the two men escape but they're not gone for long. Scar has been located and the Texas Rangers, lead by Clayton, plan an attack against the Comanches. But before attacking, they let Martin sneak into the the camp and rescue Debbie, he ends up killing Scar in order to do so and the sounds of him shooting Scar initiates the raid of the camp. The Rangers and Comanche fight while Ethan finds Scar's corpse and scalps him out of pure hatred, this hatred is obsessive and we see it throughout the film. In this moment we see that Ethan himself is just as "savage" as the people he hates. At the end of the film, he brings Debbie home and wanders away aimlessly, all that obsessive hatred has left him with nothing to look forward to and once Anakin becomes Vader, he will be the same way.
R2D2 approaches the funeral. Padme asks him why he's here and C3P0 gives her an answer, "it seems that he is carrying a message from an Obi-Wan Kenobi", he then asks Anakin if the name means anything to him. It's an obvious reference to the message in ANH but instead of a message to the Jedi master, it's a message from him. Both messages are requests for help that result in a Skywalker being called to action by a female beauty, Anakin is convinced to go by Padme and Luke is convinced to go by Leia. Lucas doesn't shove these references in for no reason, we are shown the two Skywalkers going through the same/similar things but having different responses and actions. He makes sure most of his references deepen the narrative and themes, it's not bad to have a fun little reference here and there but it's better to utilise them to strengthen what you're building.
We transition into the next scene with Anakin and Padme watching Obi-Wan's message. Obi-Wan's long-range transmitter was knocked out so he needs Anakin to retransmit a message to Coruscant for him, Anakin turns his head to look at the ship's buttons and Padme retransmits it for him. We then cut to a few Jedi Council members, some Senators and Palpatine, all in his office, watching the message. Obi-Wan tells them that he's tracked Jango to the droid foundries on Geonosis. The Trade Federation will deliver a droid army to Geonosis and they also learn that Gunray was behind the assassination attempts on Padme. He continues to give more information, the Commerce Guilds and Corporate Alliance are giving their armies to Dooku, he tries to give more information but we hear droidekas roll in and he takes out his lightsaber, "wait, wait". He tries to defend himself but is ultimately captured. Padme watches in shock and turns to look at Anakin, he's shocked too.
We cut back to Palpatine's office and Windu isn't happy either. Yoda speaks to Windu, he feels that there's something much bigger on Geonosis that hasn't been revealed. Windu agrees and speaks to Anakin, the other Jedi "will deal with Count Dooku" and he must continue to "protect the Senator at all costs", it's his "first priority". He responds, clearly unhappy that he's been told not to rescue Obi-Wan, "understood master". The signal ends and Padme begins to speak again, she thinks that the Jedi won't make it in time to save Obi-Wan because "they have to come halfway across the galaxy". She then tells Anakin to "look" and turns around to display a map to show him that "Geonosis is less than a parsec away" but Anakin doesn't listen, "if he's still alive". He's scared of finding him in the same state that he found Shmi in, dying and unable to be saved and you can see that he's stressed by the fact that he paces across to the other side of the ship. Padme asks him if he's "just gonna sit here and let him die", she tries to convince him to do something, "he's your friend, your mentor" and Anakin responds moodily "he's like my father!".
He continues to speak "but you heard master Windu. He gave me strict orders to stay here". Padme thinks of a clever way to turn this around, "he gave you strict orders to protect me and I'm going to help Obi-Wan. If you plan to protect me, you'll just have to come along.", Anakin grins after being shown this loophole by Padme and sits down beside her to head out and rescue his master. C3PO tells R2 that he isn't worried about going to Geonosis, his issue is that he's never flown before. There's an important Oedipal touch here because in obeying these orders to stay, Anakin is leaving his father figure out to die and without that father figure, he can pursue the mother figure, Padme, with no issue. But when the mother figure is opposed to this, he aims to please her and decides to not listen to Windu. Also there's some more psychological stuff here, Padme again being the superego having to convince Anakin to do the right thing.
We're back in Palpatine's office for the next scene and Bail Organa has "no doubt" that "the Commerce Guilds are preparing for war". Palpatine says "Count Dooku must have made a treaty with them" and one of the other Senators in the room believes that "the debate is over" because they "need" an army now. Palpatine's unnecessary comment was a clever move, it forces the Senators to think about what they've just learnt. This is yet another massive corporation that has joined Dooku's Confederacy and they've also pledged their countless battle droids to him. If the Trade Federation can take over Naboo with a small portion of its forces, imagine what Dooku could do with the Federation's entire forces along with many others such as the Commerce Guilds. The Republic would be totally helpless but there's one hope, the clone army that was discovered by Obi-Wan. Palpatine didn't anticipate Obi-Wan finding out all this information so early but he was still able to manipulate the situation and continue to push things in his favour. The Sith evolved and learned to adapt while the Jedi stayed complacent and rigid, they have no clue what they're in for. The times aren't the same as they were a 1000 years ago when the Sith had no sense of patience at all and came out forcefully grabbing power, they've learned since then and their revenge is slow and calculated.
Bail is still on the anti-war side, "unfortunately, the debate is not over" and he believes that the Senate would never approve of the clone army before the Separatists attack. We have a shot of Jar Jar watching the two speak, he's clearly confused on what side to pick and he wants to make sure he's making the right choice once he decides. This confusion along with his general foolishness will make him the perfect candidate for Palpatine's next step later on. Mas Amedda calls the situation a "crisis" and suggests that the Senate voting to give Palpatine emergency powers would be the optimal solution so that he can approve the creation of an army for the clones to fill in. Palpatine's response is to ask "but what Senator would have the courage to propose such a radical amendment?" and Amedda wishes that "Senator Amidala were here" with Palpatine nodding after hearing that. Palpatine and his blue puppet have made an impact on Jar Jar here, we get a shot of the Gungan thinking about what he should do next. But that thinking will only lead to him to ask the Senate to vote in favour of giving Palpatine emergency powers. Palpatine frames this as a courageous act in his question and his puppet makes it sound like Padme would be the one courageous enough to do such a thing, Jar Jar wanted Padme to be proud of him and did what he was lead to believe she'd do.
Now we're on Geonosis again, Dooku pays a visit to a Geonosian prison to speak to Obi-Wan. But Obi-Wan isn't happy to see him, he calls the old man a "traitor" immediately after Dooku enters his cell. Obi-Wan is held up in a blue forcefield, representing the Jedi Order's dogmatic attitude because they are unable to think outside of their own code and can't see that their complacency with the state of the Republic will lead to destruction. Dooku responds by feigning kindness, he calls Obi-Wan "my friend" and says that his imprisonment is "a terrible mistake", he says that the Geonosians have "gone too far", it's "madness". Obi-Wan doesn't fall for this, "I thought you were the leader here, Dooku" but Dooku says it had "nothing" to do with him and he tells Obi-Wan that he'll "petition immediately" to get him out. Obi-Wan has a humorous response, "well, I hope it doesn't take too long. I have work to do". Dooku then gets on with questioning the captured Jedi, he asks why Obi-Wan is all the way out in Geonosis and Obi-Wan tells him that he's been following Jango Fett, he also jokingly asks if Dooku knows him. Dooku's response is a half-truth, "there are no bounty hunters here that I am aware of. The Geonosians don't trust them". He's truthful about the Geonosians' dislike of bounty hunters and uses that to conceal his knowledge of Jango. Obi-Wan agrees with the Geonosians' dislike of bounty hunters and tells Separatist leader that he knows Jango is here. Dooku changes the subject, he believes "it's a pity" that he and Obi-Wan have never met until now and that Qui-Gon "always spoke very highly of" Obi-Wan. He also wishes that Qui-Gon was "still alive" because he could "use his help right now", the old man is being sincere. Dooku truly misses his friend and wishes he had Qui-Gon's wisdom to guide him. Obi-Wan responds by telling Dooku that Qui-Gon would "never join" him and Dooku says "Don't be so sure, my young Jedi". You can see here that the former Jedi is using the same patronising words that Obi-Wan uses against Anakin, it's another way of showing us that Dooku is far more experienced than Obi-Wan beyond the fact he's obviously older than him. Dooku then reminds Obi-Wan and reveals to us that Qui-Gon was his apprentice, if anyone knew Qui-Gon well, it'd be his former master. Dooku goes on about how Qui-Gon "knew all about the corruption in the Senate" and that "he wouldn't have gone along with it if he had learned the truth". Obi-Wan is curious, "the truth?" and Dooku responds, "the truth". He takes a pause before speaking again, "What if I told you that the Republic was now under the control of the Dark Lord of the Sith?". But Obi-Wan doesn't believe it's "possible" because "the Jedi would be aware of it". We know Obi-Wan is wrong though and so are all the other Jedi, their dogmatic belief in the code has lead them to become complacent while the Sith adapted and improved on themselves in order to destroy the Jedi.
Dooku responds by telling Obi-Wan that the dark side is clouding (another reference to clouds) the Jedi's vision, he also tells his prisoner that "hundreds of Senators" are being influenced by "a Sith Lord called Darth Sidious". He's giving Obi-Wan more truths but the Jedi still won't believe him. Dooku has some more information, Nute Gunray "was once in league" with Sidious back during the crisis on Naboo 10 years ago but "he was betrayed" by Sidious. Gunray came to Dooku for "help" and he told the old man "everything". Dooku finally exposes his reason to visit Obi-Wan by asking the Jedi to join him so that they can "destroy the Sith". Obi-Wan refuses and stays loyal to the Jedi, Dooku gives up on trying to sway him and walks away. But before leaving, he stands in the doorway shrouded in shadows. He tells Obi-Wan that "it may be difficult" to get Obi-Wan released and then he disappears into the shadows as he leaves. Throughout the scene, we see Dooku walk circles around Obi-Wan, stepping in and out of the shadows as he tells Obi-Wan the perfect blend of truths, half-truths and lies in order to try and manipulate Obi-Wan into joining his side. Dooku steps in and out of the shadows and eventually he descends into one and disappears, showing us that even a Jedi as great as Dooku is able to plunge into darkness and be corrupted. It's funny seeing "critics" complain about "bad lighting" here, it just shows that they're looking for superficial issues instead of thinking about why it's like that. He's as far removed as possible from the bestial demon known as Darth Maul that a Sith can be, an old kindly gentleman. He's still very Jedi-like and he even dresses similarly to one too but the colours he wears expose his Sith nature. The brown cape shows us that there's a moral greyness to him, he's not as evil as people like Maul and Sidious. He truly wants the galaxy to be a better place but he foolishly allows himself to fall to evil in order to try and accomplish this goal. We even see him suffer with issues that are similar to Anakin's, he struggles to cope with the loss of Qui-Gon while Anakin struggles to cope with the loss of his mother. And there's a reason why Dooku wanted Obi-Wan on his side despite the fact that this is their first meeting, in Star Wars, we are shown that Jedi masters are somewhat like paternal figures to their apprentices. If we follow this idea, Dooku had a father-son connection with Qui-Gon and Qui-Gon had the same connection with Obi-Wan. To Dooku, Obi-Wan is essentially his grandson, this connection between is enough for the old man to at least try to convince him. But Obi-Wan is pretty orthodox for a Jedi and that renders someone like Dooku, who's not only left the Jedi Order but has also rebelled against the Republic, a traitor. And you don't befriend traitors because they are the enemy. It's very strange to me that certain "critics" think Dooku has no character when I've pulled a good deal from his proper introduction.
We're back on Coruscant we get a shot of the Senate building in a cloudy night, letting us know where Windu is when we see him in the next shot. The symbolism here is pretty blatant, the darkness of night represents how the inner darkness within these politicians come to surface to advocate for war and the clouds represent how shortsighted this move is, they are blind to the consequences and have thought only with emotion here. Also, the Senate building resembles a mushroom cloud, the implications are pretty clear. We see Windu walk down a hallway as Jar Jar's words echo through, the Gungan tells the Senate about how the Trade Federation and the Separatists plotted together to try and assassinate Padme. Windu's walk leads him to Yoda, who's standing on a ledge, peering down at the Senate meeting. Yoda looks at Windu and they both turn to watch what's going on, this shot of the two peering down is a reference to Citizen Kane (https://imgur.com/a/4ONmgw6). Gettys watches his enemy, Charles Kane, manipulate the people while the Jedi watch their enemy, Sheev Palpatine, manipulate the people. The difference here is that the Jedi don't know that Palpatine is their enemy and Palpatine's plan to gain more power succeeds unlike Kane's plans because his affair is exposed by Gettys. Palpatine is only exposed once it's too late, he has complete control and the Jedi Order has been reduced to a few renegade Jedi hiding from the Empire. In my TPM analysis, I talk about how Anakin and Kane share similarities with each other, like the fact that both of their issues stem from the loss of their mother. Kane starts his career by taking control of the New York Inquirer newspaper and publishing articles in order to shine a light on the bad practices of corrupt businesses but as his paper grows in popularity, he begins to become corrupted by the power such popularity has. He becomes more concerned with controlling others and wanting people to love him to fill the hole in his heart that was made when his mother sent him away to get educated in a top school. Take this conversation between him and his first wife (Emily), she says "really Charles, people will think-" and Kane interrupts her rudely, "what I want them to think". He becomes possessive and is obsessed with keeping that control over his life, we can also see that when he begs his second wife (Susan) not to leave him, he begs her not to go and says "you can't do this to me", his concern is about himself and not Susan. Think about how this links to Anakin, his sincere love for Padme devolves into a need to control her fate because he needs her love. Look at moments in ROTS like "you're sounding like a Separatist" or "I won't lose you the way I lost my mother" or "YOU WILL NOT TAKE HER FROM ME!" he's become extremely possessive of Padme. The issue isn't that they're not a good match, they are, the issue is the fact that Anakin just can't let go. He needs to mature further before acting on his love for Padme so that he can accept she will eventually die just like anybody else, that doesn't mean he can't defend her by fighting off any potential attackers. That's a situation where he can do something, it's not the same as her dying from childbirth. Back to the plot.
Jar Jar addresses the Senate and proposes an idea, they must give Palpatine emergency powers in order to keep the Republic secure. The Gungan closes his eyes, hoping he made the right move, the sounds of cheering, clapping and a chant, "Jar Jar Binks! Jar Jar Binks!" fill the room. The Gungan opens his eyes as this cheering begins, he's happy to see that most of the Senators agree with him. We get a shot focusing on one Senate pod then another focusing on a different one and then we get another that captures a whole bunch of them. Notice how these Senators and their aides are dressed in red as they cheer, their passions are being exploited by Palpatine. You can also notice that there's a few Senate pods with people dressed in blue, most of them aren't cheering and there's one pod waving their fists at Jar Jar. Not everyone is convinced this is the right way to go but the important thing for Palpatine is that the vast majority back him up and the few who are skeptical can still be swayed with more fearmongering. Mas Amedda calls for order and Palpatine stands up, he expertly manipulates the Senate into loving him even more than they did before. He talks about how reluctant he is to accept emergency powers, he then tells the Senate he loves democracy and the Republic and they clap. He promises to give up these powers and step down once "this crisis has abated" but we, the audience, know this isn't true. We're shown a whole bunch of Senators clapping, showing that Palpatine's words are working. He then tells then tells the Senate that the his "first act with this new authority" is to create an army for the Republic. We go back to Yoda and Windu's perspective, Windu says "it is done then" after Palpatine finishes speaking. Yoda is clearly troubled by what's happened but Windu understands that they're gonna have to face reality now, they're gonna have to become soldiers even if it's against the Jedi way. Taking part in the conflict would help end the war quicker, so Windu plans on gathers all available Jedi to go and help Obi-Wan on Geonosis and Yoda plans on going to Kamino to see the clone army. Windu leaves to gather the Jedi and we go to the next scene.
Padme and Anakin arrive at Geonosis and they manoeuvre through the rocky surface. There's some steam rising up just ahead of them and Padme points it out, she tells Anakin that the steam is there because of "exhaust vents" so Anakin flies the ship down into the steam. Again we are shown the theme of ships descending into the clouds but this time it's with steam. We then get a view from inside the ship, the windows are covered in steam. The two get up from their seats and Padme tells Anakin to follow her lead because she's "not interested in getting into a war here". She also wants to use her status as a Senator to "find a diplomatic solution to this mess". Anakin tells her not to worry because he's "given up trying to argue with" her. They leave the ship to head out to rescue Obi-Wan. We get even more of that psychological aspect, Anakin has given up on trying to follow his id's desires and will let his superego lead him. R2 communicates with C3PO and the protocol droid calls him "obtuse" because if Anakin and Padme needed their assistance, "they would have asked for it" and he tells R2 that he has "a great deal to learn about human behaviour", he's using his job as a protocol droid (his purpose is to interact with people so he knows human behaviour) as an excuse to be cowardly. Anakin and Padme walk away from the ship and they're being obscured by the steam, carrying on the theme of clouds. They walk to a door, Anakin presses a button to open it and they carry on inside. We cut back to the ship and R2 speaks to C3PO again, the protocol droid berates him "for a mechanic you do an excessive amount of thinking". But R2 continues to beep at him and C3PO is annoyed because he's "programmed to understand humans". R2 doesn't care, C3PO tells R2 that he's "in charge" and R2 begins to leave the ship. C3PO asks him where he's going and tells R2 that he doesn't "know what's out there" before asking him if he has "any sense at all". Keep this question about sense and the bodyswap gag in the back of your mind for later, it's quite important. He then calls R2 an "idiot" before following him and we see the two obscured by the steam, C3PO asks R2 if he knows where they're going. The question obviously emphasises this cloud theme.
Anakin and Padme walk down a hallway, the walls seem to start moving and we find out why very soon. Anakin tells Padme to wait and they both stop walking, suddenly a Geonosian tries to attack them from behind but Anakin cuts the guy down with his lightsaber. Padme runs to safety as Anakin kills them and we cut back to C3PO and R2, they've begun to make their way into the factory and we see some Geonosians run before going back to Anakin killing more of them. He and Padme go through a door and they end up on a walkway that slowly retracts as the door behind them quickly closes. Anakin quickly holds onto the handle on the door but is unable to grab Padme in time, she falls onto the conveyor belt below and is taken along. Anakin jumps down to get her out and ignites his lightsaber, he kills some Geonosians who try to attack him. Back on Padme's side things don't look so good, she's able narrowly avoid being killed by the deadly machines as she navigates through the factory. Anakin kills more Geonosians before jumping down onto a different conveyor belt line. R2D2 and C3PO are at the door Anakin and Padme were at just a few moments ago and C3PO comments on what he's seeing "machines making machines, how perverse". R2 pushes him down and falls onto a conveyor droid, it carries him towards a certain destination while the protocol droid complains about the ordeal, he calls it "a nightmare". The conveyor droid drops him down onto a conveyor belt and asks himself if he did anything to deserve this. R2 uses his rocket boosters to fly across the factory. We're back with Anakin again and he's using his lightsaber to slice up the machinery in order to catch up to Padme. A Geonosian flies down to Padme and wrestles with her, she manages to push the alien back but the alien pushes her down into an empty vat. The vat is carried away as she tries to find away out, we see a line of vats heading towards a hellish fire. We see R2 fly some more and go back to C3PO, the protocol droid wonders what happened to R2 because "he's always getting himself into trouble". But before he can say more about his friend, he's suddenly beheaded and his head is dropped into a line of battle droid heads, he shouts "oh no!" as the conveyor belt takes his head away. His body tries to reach his head but ends up in a line of battle droid bodies and we see the machinery weld a battle droid head onto C3PO's body. C3PO's head is taken and welded onto a battle droid body while he says "I'm so confused".
Anakin is dealing with some more Geonosians as he tries to catch up with Padme. He jumps up to another conveyor belt, slashes some machinery behind him but gets knocked down by the one in front of him and his right arm becomes trapped. The conveyor belt drags Anakin along, he is unable to escape. Padme is still in that vat and the vats ahead of her are being filled with molten metal. R2 finally makes it to Padme, then he lands on the walkway and heads towards a terminal. Anakin is still being pulled along by the conveyor belt thanks to his trapped arm and he's heading to a section with machines that cuts things up. Padme is about to to have molten metal dumped onto her but R2 deactivates the machine that lets out molten metal. He then releases the vat to set Padme free. Anakin dodges the cutting machinery as the conveyor belt pulls him along and the machinery frees him by cutting the open metal his arm was trapped in. But it also cut his lightsaber hilt in half and we see that Anakin can no longer activate his lightsaber. He sighs and says "not again" before thinking about how Obi-Wan will berate him for this. Padme is surrounded by Geonosians and Anakin is surrounded by Jango Fett and some droidekas. Before I take a closer look at this scene, I'll share this short Entertainment Weekly article about this scene with you all because it talks about how this scene was done (https://ew.com/article/2002/08/16/star-wars-episode-ii-attack-clones-2/). People like to call this scene completely CGI but that's not true at all, yes this scene uses a lot of CGI but there's a miniature set and models being used alongside the CGI here, Lucas almost always includes practical effects along with some CGI. He's using CGI in meaningful way, it's not there because he can't be bothered to use practical effects, it's there because there's no other way to get it done. He'll use any tool at his disposal to get his vision onto the screen.
Now it's time to analyse this factory scene because there's a lot more going on than most realise. Let's first start with the references to other films, Modern Times (https://imgur.com/a/YEXsPql) and Metropolis (https://imgur.com/a/L61zXiu). We'll speak about Metropolis first, we see machinery in both Metropolis and AOTC laced with hellish imagery. There's a scene where protagonist of Metropolis, Freder, watches on as people tirelessly work on machinery and he ends up seeing this huge machine. As he watches the people working on the huge machine, a tragedy occurs and the machine overheats, covering itself in smoke. The workers are hurt, some die and others are just wounded and Freder starts having a vision as he watches this all go on. He's shocked as the smoke seemingly begins to fade away to reveal that the machine has the face of a demon and we get an intertitle, Freder calls the machine Moloch. This word, Moloch, is the name of an entity associated with evil. He's linked with human sacrifices and the devil and the same is true here because Freder's vision continues and he sees people being dragged into the Moloch-esque machine. The workers are sacrifices in order to keep the elites at the top. Once Freder stops having that vision, he sees the bodies of the workers being carried away as a new set of workers immediately replace the previous ones and work on the huge machine, they're all disposable. Compare this with how Padme was being dragged deeper into the factory while trapped inside the vat (https://imgur.com/a/ugc8jdK), we see very similar hellish imagery in use. The reds are very intense and Padme's white attire symbolising innocence and purity play into this scene too, the system takes innocence and eradicates it just like what would've happened to Padme if R2 didn't save her in time. The hellishness of this factory is also foreshadowing Mustafar, here we see Anakin descend into hell in order to save his lover and in ROTS he does it again both figuratively and literally. There's also this (https://imgur.com/a/L61zXiu), Padme trying to navigate through the oppressive and uncaring machines. The machines seem malicious but they're really not and that makes them so much more terrifying, they could crush Padme and not even be aware of it or even care at all. Just like how the elites in Metropolis are unaware and uncaring to the plight of the people below them. C3PO calling the factory "perverse" makes sense too, think about it from his perspective. Anakin built him lovingly by hand while the droids in this factory are churned out like meaningless products, it's completely alien to him. Now for Modern Times (https://imgur.com/a/YEXsPql), compare how Anakin is trapped and dragged along by the conveyor belt with how Chaplin's Little Tramp is dragged along by the conveyor belt and swallowed by the machine. Modern Times comments on how factory age capitalism dehumanised the people working in the factories and by referencing this film, AOTC is also commenting on the same thing. But it also adds to it, we see the elites drag the people along into a chaotic war fought by dehumanised clones. Anakin's arm being trapped foreshadows multiple things, the first one is obvious, he's gonna lose that arm at the end of this film. The other thing being foreshadowed is his fall into becoming Vader, think about what's happening. He'll descended into hell to save Padme and he'll dragged to the by those ambitions and he'll become more machine than man, he'll be no different to the unfeeling machines present in this factory. As you can see, there's quite a lot to this scene but sadly, people just pass it off as "dumb" without thinking much of it.
Onto the next scene, we get to see more of Geonosis's environment as two Geonosians fly by. The planet is covered in these towering spires resembling termite mounds, the Geonosians themselves are also based off of termites and they live in underground hives. This reinforces the themes of the prequels, termites damage wood from within so it's quite hard to know if there's an infestation until it's too late. It's the same way Palpatine is manipulating the Republic from within and nobody realises until it's too late. Uncritical patriotism, fear and hatred are all tools that Palpatine uses in order to manipulate the galaxy into violent warfare and give himself more power. We then get a look at the arena from up above before seeing Anakin and Padme again, the two are cuffed and awaiting their execution in a gloomy tunnel. Anakin turns and tells Padme not to be afraid but she admits that she's "not afraid to die" because she's "been dying a little bit each day" since their reunion at the beginning of the film. Anakin is confused and Padme confesses her love to him but Anakin reminds her that they "decided not to fall in love" because they'd be "forced to live a lie" that "would destroy" their lives. Padme reminds him that they're about to die anyway and she confesses her love to Anakin again, "I truly, deeply love you, and before we die I want you to know". Now that they're facing death together, Padme is able to allow herself to give in to romance. They then kiss and the shot is framed so that we see the two as shadowy figures with the vaginal imagery (there'll be more of this imagery soon) of the tunnel entrance in front of them (https://imgur.com/a/u2CDv5v), this is the birth of Anakin and Padme's after all.
Their carriage is then taken out and the two continue to kiss, their love for each other has sent them back to the peaceful lakeside resort in Naboo until the sun's light and the chatter of the large crowed brings the two back to reality. Anakin looks up to the left and sees the balcony that Dooku and his allies will be spectating from. We then look down into the arena amongst the Geonosians who are eager to see some blood. Anakin and Padme ride past Obi-Wan, who seems surprised to see the two here. Anakin glances back at his master and we see more eager Geonosian crowds. The two get off the carriage and Padme takes something out from her clothes and puts in in her mouth before being chained to a pillar. Anakin is taken to his pillar, Obi-Wan tells his student that he was beginning to wonder if they even received his message and Anakin responds by telling him that he retransmitted it then he and Padme decided to come and rescue him. Obi-Wan sarcastically tells him, "good job" and Anakin is chained to his pillar.
We then see Dooku emerge with with the Geonosian leader, Poggle The Lesser, Nute Gunray and his lackey and the two Fetts. They emerge from a cave-like entrance and both the entrance and the balcony are covered in vaginal imagery, the reasoning for this imagery is very important and I'll elaborate on it in a bit. Poggle asks the audience to settle down and then asks for the executions to begin. Three monsters emerge from gates, the first is like a fusion of rhino and bull (called a Reek), the second one is like a fusion of spider and lobster (called a Acklay) and the third is like a fusion of lion and hyena (called a Nexu).Anakin gives us the "I've got us a bad feeling about this" line while Padme begins to pick her right cuff. The three monsters approach and Padme is finally able to get that cuff off, Obi-Wan tells his apprentice to "relax" and "concentrate". But Anakin is more concerned about Padme, his master makes a joke about her being "on top of things" and Anakin turns to see her climb to the top of her pillar. The Acklay attacks Obi-Wan twice, missing the first time and breaking his chain the second time. Sadly for Obi-Wan, he still has his cuffs on as he begins to dodge the monster's attacks. The Reek charges at Anakin but the Jedi jumps at the last moment and swings his arms to wrap his chain around the monster's horn. The Reek tries to shake Anakin off but fails and the chain detaches from the pillar (still attached on Anakin's end). The Nexu climbs up the pillar and Padme strikes it with her chain, it's able to get a hit on her though. Her back is scratched and her midriff and right arm become exposed. White typically symbolises purity and we see this purity be tainted by blood, these executions will devolve into becoming the first battle of the Clone Wars after all.
Gunray is pleased to see her suffer after being humiliated by her all those years ago and Obi-Wan dodges the Acklay's attacks. Anakin struggles to control the Reek and ends up falling off, his chain is still wrapped around the monster's horn and he's dragged across the ground. Padme uses her chain to do a Tarzan swing and kick the Nexu down which annoys Gunray. She climbs back up and we see the Acklay push one of the other pillars down to try and crush Obi-Wan. He rolls out of the way and runs. Obi-Wan steals a spear from one of the Geonosian guards and Anakin is able to stand again, he tries to calm the Reek as he slowly approaches it. Padme is at the top of her pillar again and begins removing the other cuff. Anakin manages to get back on the Reek and wraps his chain around the monster's mouth. Obi-Wan is on the defensive, waiting for an opportunity to use his spear on the Acklay. Here we get a direct reference to the film Mysterious Island (https://imgur.com/a/Fax3Ha5), a film where a few Union soldiers escaping prison take a Confederate guard to pilot a gas balloon for their escape but they end up landing in an unknown island. There's a lot of great stop motion work in this film done by Ray Harryhausen and this reference is a homage to his work in special effects. Lucas has said this about him ""Without Ray Harryhausen, there would likely have been no Star Wars". Here he's pushing technology forwards with CGI that still looks impressive 20 years later while also thanking the artists of the past for creating great works and paving the way for the future.
Padme manages to free herself and Anakin steers the Reek towards the Nexu, killing it. He asks padme to jump and she obliges, she even gives him a kiss as a thank you. Also, notice how the score implements hints of the love theme she jumps down to Anakin. A descent infused with romance, hinting at future tragedy. Obi-Wan throws his spear at the Acklay's neck but the monster pulls it out with its teeth and snaps it in half. He runs towards the Reek and jumps on with our other two heroes. Gunray is even more annoyed and asks Jango to kill Padme but Dooku tells him to be patient and droidekas roll into the arena. They surround our trio but there's someone in the cave walking towards Dooku and the Separatists. It's Mace Windu and he holds his lightsaber at Jango's throat, the bounty hunter remains calm but his son is shocked. Dooku turns to greet his former comrade but Windu isn't up for small talk, "this party's over". Jedi from all over the arena ignite their lightsabers, the first battle of the Clone Wars has officially begun. This is why the vaginal imagery up here is constantly repeated all over the balcony, we see leaders of both sides emerge from this place. It's the birth of the war, the planet itself references this birth. Geonosis --> Genesis, the beginning, the origin, the birth. There's no turning back from here, Palpatine has already won and neither Dooku nor Windu know it. Dooku believes he can take down his new master but we all know how that turns out and Windu, like all the Jedi, has no clue on what's truly going on.
Dooku tells "old Jedi friend" that he's "brave but foolish" because the Jedi are "impossibly outnumbered". Windu gives a quick smirk before responding, "I don't think so" and Dooku fires back, "we'll see". Windu believes that the arrival of the clones will be shock to the Separatist leader but Dooku knows about them and gives a response that hints at his knowledge. Super battle droids emerge from the cave and Windu deflects their shots, Dooku and the separatists begin to walk away. Jango activates his flamethrower, setting Windu's cloak alight. The Jedi jumps down into the arena and takes of his cloak before deflecting more shots. We also get more of that cloud/smoke imagery with the smoke from the flames surrounding Windu for a few seconds. The Geonosians begin flying away as battle droids rush into the arena to fight the Jedi. Two Jedi toss Anakin and Obi-Wan some spare lightsabers and for some reason there are people that take issue with this. It's logical to assume that spare lightsabers exist for things like this, they already knew that Obi-Wan was captured but if only one guy has a spare on them, he'd have to go to that guy specifically. It's much easier if there were multiple Jedi carrying spares. These Jedi could also be dual-wielders and they're just giving their secondary sabers to fellow Jedi who need them. This way isn't impossible either because there's a few background Jedi dual-wielding (https://imgur.com/a/mO2dXva) in this fight and Anakin himself later does this too. If these explanations didn't exist, it would just be a very minor plot convenience, totally inconsequential. Something to note about these spare lightsabers is that they're completely plain, devoid of any personality. It's another piece of the nature vs industry themes of the 6 films, Obi-Wan's lightsaber is taken away from him and Anakin's is destroyed. Both of these events take place in the dehumanising factory and now they have lifeless replacements as they transform from peacekeepers into soldiers.
The fighting continues and we see the battle droid with C3PO's body, he has no idea why he's going so slowly compared to his brethren. A Geonosian fires a canon at a Jedi, sending him flying back through a pillar. The pillar breaks and hurts more Jedi, scattered sand continues the theme of clouds/smoke and our trio are knocked off the Reek. Padme grabs a discarded blaster while Anakin and Obi-Wan deflect shots. Padme kills a Geonosian and steals his chariot, Anakin runs towards her and jumps in the back. The two work together to take down battle droids, Padme shoots while Anakin deflects shots and slices droids if they're close enough. Boba watches the battle from above. More battle droids enter the arena and one of them is C3PO with a battle droid body. He's confused, "a, a battle?" There's been a terrible mistake, I'm programmed for etiquette not destruction!" We cut to Windu, he blocks a bunch of shots before leaping away and once he lands, he begins to run. He meets up with Obi-Wan and the two deflect shots with each other. The battle droid with C3PO's body fires repeatedly at a Jedi who deflects all his shots, the last deflection knocks its head clean off and C3PO's body falls to the ground. One Jedi leaps up to where Dooku is watching on from and attempts to take him down but Jango begins to fire at him until the Jedi makes a critical error and fails to deflect a shot, Jango even does the classic gunslinger spin after killing him. The Reek knocks over Obi-Wan and begins to chase Windu, Jango sees this as his chance to join in on the fun and flies down with his jetpack. Windu cuts off one of the Reek's horns but he's still hit and falls over, dropping his lightsaber. Jango tries to grab it but Windu uses the Force to get it back. The Reek tramples Jango and messes up his jetpack, it turns back around to come for him again but Jango is able to successfully kill it first.
He then turns his attention back on Windu, firing repeatedly as Windu continues to run and deflect. The Jedi quickly does a 1-2 move, first cutting Jango's gun in half then beheading him all in an instant. Jango's head flies away, we see two shadows, one is the helmet and one is his head (https://imgur.com/a/c50AUor). His helmet lands and we watch Jango's lifeless body collapse, even Dooku is shocked. Windu looks down at the body and something to notice is how his face is lit in a way that casts half of it in shadow and when he looks down the shadow covers his face. Subtle visual storytelling showing us how the war will send the Jedi down a dark path. Purple is a mix of red and blue, a mix of good and evil and Windu's purple lightsaber clashing against Jango's purple undersuit blurs the lines between good and evil further. In this war there's no real heroes, only pawns. This beheading is also a reference to the cave scene in ESB (https://imgur.com/a/fqLXz0g), Windu enters the arena through a cave and ends up beheading an adversary. Luke was warned about becoming like Vader, a man turned to machine because of a lust for power while Windu was warned about becoming just like the clones, pawns to a greater evil. Boba is clearly distraught as he sits in the shadows, the score from the beheading to Boba's reaction indicates a sad tone, momentarily stopping the war as the shock sets in. But we still hear blaster fire in the background, the war wages on and there's no time for mourning, the music quickly kicks back up as we cut to a canon firing at some Jedi. C3PO's battle droid body fires at Jedi as he uncharacteristically exclaims "die Jedi dogs!", he's shocked by what he just said but still continues to fire. We see more Jedi fighting battle droids and go back to C3PO who apologises for firing at Jedi. One of these Jedi pushes him with the Force and he falls over, he accidentally shoots a super battle droid and it lands on top of him, leaving him trapped. A droideka shoots the creature pulling Anakin and Padme's chariot, which causes the two to fall out and for the chariot to rest on its side. Padme uses the chariot as a place of cover while Anakin deflects shots. Anakin jokingly asks if Padme thinks this is a "diplomatic solution" and she responds with something Anakin taught her about, "aggressive negotiations". It's played as humour here but Lucas hints at this acceptance of "aggressive negotiations" being a troubling development later on.
Obi-Wan is deflecting blaster fire and the Acklay, who still hasn't been killed yet, approaches him from behind. He senses this and turns to attack, he cuts two of its legs off then strikes the body once before stabbing it right through the head. There's more to it than just mindless action, there's a deeper reason why Lucas used these monsters, they're inner demons. The Nexu, Padme's monster, is the first to be defeated, showing that she is more in control of herself than most. The Reek, Anakin's monster, runs wild and creates a lot of chaos before it dies. Anakin won't be able to control his emotions and they will end up consuming him and turn him into Vader. The Acklay, Obi-Wan's monster, lurks in a few of the shots and isn't killed until it almost manages to sneak up on Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan's issue is that he's too loyal to the code, which makes him as blind as the Jedi Council. Their complacency let Palpatine emerge from the shadows and work his way into power, the Acklay roaming free for so long is drawing parallels to that. The difference here is that the Acklay is merely a monster while Palpatine is a scheming Sith Lord, one is much easier to take down. There's also the fact that Obi-Wan finishes it by stabbing it through the head, this killing isn't identical to the beheadings we've seen but it still carries the same meaning as them.
R2 makes his way to C3PO's head and pulls it off the battle droid body, carrying it away. We see the Jedi slowly being corned as their numbers fall. R2 begins to attach C3PO's head back to his body. Dooku and the Separatists make it back to the balcony they were on at the start as the droids surround the remaining 10 or so Jedi, a circle of Jedi within a circle of droids. Dooku commands the droids to stop fighting and the battle ends for now. Obi-Wan stands up after checking up on a deceased Jedi and Dooku addresses the survivors. He praises Windu, he's "fought gallantly" and is "worthy of recognition" in the Jedi archives. But it's over now, "surrender and your lives will be spared". Windu refuses this offer of peace, he and the others won't become "hostages to be bartered". Dooku's response is simple, "then... I'm sorry old friend" and the droids get ready to fight again. You can tell that he really doesn't want to kill them all but there's nothing he can do here. If he could take them as hostages, that would be an acceptable reason to spare them in Palpatine's eyes but if they're not willing to surrender, he must kill them to keep his master's trust. Look at Dooku's facial and body language, he's clearly shaking when he allows the droids to fight again and his face is clearly a face of sorrow.
The Jedi get back into defensive positions but before the fighting continues, the sounds of ships approaching make Padme look up. She tells the others to look too and they see the Republic Gunships filled with clones descend from Republic Military Cruisers. The Gunships mow down droids with their weapons and the Jedi deflect all the shots they can. Yoda is in one of the Gunships and he gives out a command, "around the survivors, a perimeter create". Some have criticised the line for not being good because you need to give clear orders to soldiers in a war zone but they're missing the point here. This is Yoda's first line relating to commanding troops as a General, the command sounds a bit off because the very idea of a warmongering Jedi is supposed to be off. This is why it's just this one line that's off, the rest of Yoda's commanding lines sound right because he's slipping into the role of General, being pushed further away from the role of Jedi. The Gunships continue to mow down droids as they surround the Jedi, the ships land and the clones step out to cover their allies as they retreat. More droids are gunned down and once the Jedi are all in, the clones get back into the ships. Dooku takes his leave as the Gunships fly away and the iconic droid pair, R2D2 and C3PO are left behind. C3PO gets up and tells his friend that he's "had the most peculiar dream" and we cut to Boba mourning his father, he's squatting with his father's helmet in his hands. A child left alone with nobody but himself, all alone and nobody to care for him. He has nothing to look forward to, all Boba can do is follow in his father's footsteps and become a bounty hunter because he's seen no other real way of life. Now it's time to take a closer look at what's been going on with our protocol droid friend and yeah, there's quite a lot packed into this bodyswap gag.
First things first, that line about C3PO questioning if R2 had any sense foreshadows C3PO's beheading in the factory. As I've said before, a beheading symbolises a rejection of reasoning and this means that C3PO is the one who loses his "sense". The two droids enter a hellish factory and C3PO, the diplomat, is beheaded and is made to join the ranks of the battle droid army. But before I carry on, I must explain something interesting with Coruscant, Kamino and Geonosis and for this, I need to speak about ESB's Cloud City. This is how Lucas describes that iconic location, “they're kind of in heaven. Only when they fight, they're in this forgery, this red hell in the middle of this capsule—a world within a world within a world". Heaven and hell are in the same place in ESB (https://imgur.com/a/r5eXq4D), good within evil and evil within good, that sort of thing. The same heroic traits that helped Luke in ANH almost destroy him in ESB. In AOTC, heaven and hell start out in the same place in Coruscant (https://imgur.com/a/K1Y7QI8) but we see the two separated with heaven being Kamino and hell being Geonosis (https://imgur.com/a/2l9TB0S). That good within evil, evil within good nuance is lost as we have the clones and droids painted as total opposites but in reality they're one in the same, two types of artificial life created for the sole purpose of war. Luke and Anakin both start out unaware of the bigger picture in ANH and TPM respectively, Luke just knows that the Rebels are good and the Empire is bad, Anakin just knows that the Naboo are good and that the Trade Federation are bad. Neither have any real context for what's going on, they've just been dragged along for the ride. ESB is when Luke begins to mature but in AOTC, Anakin doesn't do so. He still has the same basic "we're the good guys, they're the bad guys mentality", he even has it in ROTS. He thinks the war is "destroying the principles of the Republic" but when Padme asks him if he's ever considered that they're the bad guys, he just shuts this thought down without engaging with it, "you're sounding like a Separatist". Now let's go back to C3PO with this context in mind, he visually represents the yin-yang symbol. The battle droid head with C3PO's body represents evil within good and C3PO's head with the battle droid body represents good within evil, it mirrors the cave scene in ESB when vision Vader's helmet blows up to reveal Luke's face inside (https://imgur.com/a/LDWwPfW) which represents both halves at the same time. That blown up helmet isn't just the evil within Luke, it's also the good within Vader. The cave scene is visually depicted in a dream-like manner and C3PO speaks of his ordeal as a "nightmare" and once it's all over, it becomes a "peculiar dream". Luke is able to learn the lesson but the galaxy in AOTC doesn't, instead the war wages on and both sides believe they are purely good while their enemy is purely bad.
AOTC predicts the Iraq War despite being written pre-9/11 and the C3PO bodyswap gag also perfectly captures that post-9/11 attitude, yes I know how strange this sentence sounds but trust me it will make sense very soon. AOTC starts with a terrorist attack, tensions and paranoia boil up until it culminates in all out war, Bush says there's WMDs in Iraq and Jar Jar says the Separatists are a "direct threat" to the Republic. The Patriot Act is passed and Palpatine gains emergency powers. Elites manipulating the masses into supporting seemingly noble wars that ultimately only benefit those at the very top and give them more power. America gains more influence in the Middle East, Palpatine gains the key to controlling the galaxy once he's able to get to the end of the war. The clones and droids are essentially vessels of the collective unconscious, the galaxy's anger and hatred are projected onto these artificial lifeforms so these lifeforms can fight for them. In the real world, America's anger and hatred rose. They were looking for revenge and the people at the top point to Iraq, war with Iraq becomes immensely popular and anyone who isn't for the war is either pushed to support it or deemed un-American. C3PO is violently beheaded, he loses rationality and conforms to this collective unconscious, he's changed from a diplomat into a soldier. He has doubts at first, he's "built for etiquette not destruction" but he eventually gives in by shouting "die Jedi dogs!" as he opens fire. As the Iraq War dragged on, the need for revenge wore off and people came back to their senses. All that bloodlust and cheering for war felt like a fever dream to them. C3PO is dragged along by R2 and comes back to his senses once he's repaired, all he can say about the whole ordeal is that it was a "peculiar dream" but then we cut to Boba for a reason. To the victims of war, this bloodlust wasn't some "peculiar dream", it was a horrific and truly terrible reality. Lucas didn't make all of this up, he looked back at the Korean War, the Vietnam War and many others and saw these same patterns. He put those patterns into his film and tragically his film became prophetic but nobody listened to what was right in front of them. I wonder why the same Hollywood that was egging on the Iraq War at the time wanted to vilify Lucas, that Golden Razzie for worst screenplay can’t be because of what the film was saying about the war right?
Gunships fly across Geonosis and we see two Republic Cruisers in the background, one docked with clones and ground vehicles just outside it (obviously planning their next move) and another still in the air. Yoda tells Windu, Ki-Adi-Mundi and Kit Fisto that Dooku escaping would be bad news, the Jedi want to end this war as quickly as it began and that means Dooku must be captured here and now. We cut to Obi-Wan and Anakin's Gunship and Anakin advises a clone to "aim right above the fuel cells" to destroy some separatist forces. Obi-Wan compliments Anakin's thinking skills but still addresses him with the patronising phrase, "my young Padawan" but Anakin doesn't mind and instead smiles because he's getting recognition from his master. We see a bunch of Gunships drop off Jedi and clones who charge into the battlefield.
We cut to the Separatist Command Center, the leaders are standing around a circular table displaying a holograph map of the battle and Dooku enters the room. Gunray is shocked by the clone army and Dooku pretends to be just as shocked as the others, he calls it impossible and asks how such an army could be made so fast. Gunray wants to send all available battle droids to fight but Dooku thinks that there's too many clones for them to stay and fight. Poggle points out that their communications have been jammed and we cut back to the battle but before carrying on, think about what Poggle just told everyone. Remember when the Trade Federation jammed Naboo's communications before invading them? Now the Republic is doing the same to the Separatists and Lucas is visually connecting the battle on Hoth in ESB to the battle on Geonosis here in AOTC. The Separatists take the role of the Rebellion, both of their bases are within cavernous areas of a desolate world and the Republic takes the role of the Empire, both have soldiers in white armour and giant walking tanks marching to invade as the rebels evacuate. The heroes are falling to the same militaristic attitude as the villains of the previous film, ESB did something similar to this by building on ANH. The end of ANH has our heroes coated with militaristic imagery, the same militaristic imagery their enemy was coated in and Lucas uses the Nazi propaganda film Triumph Of The Will to do this (there's also more meaning to this reference but we'll save that for the ANH analysis), ANH ends with a subtle warning about militarism and ESB starts with the consequences of it. They move from Yavin 4, a world brimming with life to Hoth, an empty world with barely any life (this planet is also named after the Nazi General called Hermann Hoth) and almost destroyed by the militarism they embodied at the end of the previous film and are forced to flee from the Empire. TPM's third act battle is on Naboo, a world brimming with life and in AOTC, the third act battle is on Geonosis, an empty world with barely any life and the heroes are unaware of the fact that they are embodying the militarism they defeated in the previous film, a grave mistake that will doom the galaxy. The Separatists are in a similar position to the Rebels but they aren't able to learn from the dangers of militarism while the Rebels did.
Back to the battle now, we see Gunships dodge fire as they advance into enemy territory and one is shot down. Windu tells the pilot of his Gunship to land in an assembly area, Yoda and the clones stay on the ship while Windu and the other two Jedi leave. A clone with yellow markings tells Windu that he has five special commando units awaiting his orders, Windu nods and Yoda asks to be taken to the the Forward Command Center. We see Jedi leading clones from Yoda's perspective before seeing large hordes of droids with these spider droid weapons all charging towards the clones and Jedi. We endless hordes of both battle droids and clones charging towards each other as they fire away. Then we more Gunships and Lucas uses a crash zoom to draw our attention to one of them, he uses crash zooms in this battle as a reference to war journalism and documentaries. It also adds to the chaotic nature of this battle with these huge numbers of identical troops constantly killing each other. The Gunship we focus on is the one Anakin, Obi-Wan and Padme are in, the older Jedi commands the clones to take down escaping Trade Federation ships and they fire missiles at one. We then cut to Yoda arriving at the Command Center, a clone with yellow markings tells him that they're winning and Yoda calls this development "very good". We then get a callback to ESB (https://imgur.com/a/ZxxLnOZ), the Republic has AT-TEs and the Empire has AT-ATs, both have Star Destroyers too. The Republic moves from right to left just like what the Empire did during their invasion of Hoth. Our heroes are being coated in imagery associated with evil and they're completely unaware of it.
A Gunship drops another AT-TE down before flying away and we see battle droids charge forwards alongside Hailfire droid tanks that fire loads of missiles, leaving thick trails of black smoke. We see one of them take down an AT-TE before cutting back to Separatist Command Center. Gunray can see that they're losing and his lackey tells him they must get their ships "back into space" before leaving the room. Poggle tells Dooku that they need to retreat and Dooku tells him that his master "will never allow the Republic to get away with this treachery". Poggle tells Dooku that he's sending the Geonosians to hide in the catacombs, he then tells Dooku that the Jedi "must not find" out about their plans to create "the ultimate weapon" because they'd be "doomed" if their enemy found out. He hands Dooku the Death Star plans and the old man tells him that he's gonna take the plans to his master on Coruscant because "they will be much safer there". Some people like to complain about the Death Star plans being here but if you think about it, it's perfect. Think about where they are, in the depths of this reddish-brown world in a room covered in red with hints of yellow. Yellow represents youthfulness and naivety is associated with the young, red is associated with all these emotions. Naive feelings of fear, anger and hatred of "the enemy" are what births this "ultimate weapon", this circle of death and utter destruction. This is also expanding on the parallel between nukes and the Death Star in the originals, here we see what caused such a terrible thing to exist and there we see the impact it has on the galaxy at large.
We go back to the battle and Gunships are taking down loads of droids and their tanks. We get callbacks to the Vietnam War and the Gulf War with this shot (https://imgur.com/a/HeS2C3g) and to add to that, it even eerily foreshadows images of the Iraq War and the War in Afghanistan. Lucas used news footage of real military helicopters as inspiration for the Gunships and the cockpit is based on the Mil Mi-24 attack helicopter. Smoke and dust continue to fill the battlefield, more of that visual motif symbolising blindness. We cut back to the Separatist base and we see Gunray and his lackey escape in their ship while Dooku hops onto a speeder and two others follow him as security, we get a shot of Dooku and those two others following him and they resemble a podracer (https://imgur.com/a/OPfBfYC), keep this in the back of your mind for later.
We see Separatist ships escaping as the clones fire at them, Yoda tells the clones to focus all their attacks on the nearest ship and they're able to take it down. We get another crash zoom, showing us the clones in control of one of the RX-200 tanks before cutting back to the Separatist ship falling back down to the ground, covering the battlefield in even more dust and smoke by creating a sandstorm, again more of this visual motif. We see Anakin, Padme and Obi-Wan covered in smoke as their Gunship flies through the air. We then get a side view of it, following it along before we get another crash zoom focussing on the ship covered in extreme levels of dust. We cut to clones firing at droids as everything is obscured by the sandstorm, the reds and blues of blaster fire appearing on both sides through the dust visually convey how the line between good and evil is gone (https://imgur.com/a/yTcuQy5). Both sides contain mass-produced soldiers designed to obey and the evil droids take up the good guy position (left to right) while the seemingly heroic Republic takes up the bad guy position (right to left). Neither side here is purely seen with reds or blues, they are seen with both because ultimately they are one in the same. The dust obscures them to show us how similar they really are. This is why all of the armoured clones are CGI, we have two completely artificial armies filled with identical troops, one made in labs and the other made in factories, both totally CGI to highlight the artificiality. It visually conveys how both armies are just pawns of Palpatine and how artificial this war really is, it's a man playing chess against himself with the future of the galaxy at stake.
We see the Gunship our protagonists are in fly through more dust and Obi-Wan spots something, Anakin realises that it's Dooku and tells the clones to "shoot him down" but they're "out of rockets". Anakin tells the pilot to follow Dooku and Padme says that they're "gonna need some help" but Obi-Wan thinks "there isn't time" and shows faith in Anakin by believing that he and his apprentice "can handle this". Dooku signals to his guards and they move behind the Gunship to fire at it, Padme and a clone end up falling out of the Gunship because of this. Anakin calls out to her as she tumbles down, he wants the pilot to go back for Padme but Obi-Wan tells him not to let his "personal feelings get in the way" and tells the pilot to stay on Dooku. Anakin demands Obi-Wan to lower the ship but Obi-Wan tells him that he "can't take Dooku alone", he has faith in Anakin's abilities, he "need[s]" Anakin and knows that they need to work together to capture him because they can "end this war right now". Obi-Wan reminds Anakin of his duty but Anakin doesn't care, he wants to go back for Padme and Obi-Wan warns him about being "expelled from the Jedi Order" but Anakin "can't leave her", he's afraid of her dying just like his mother and the sandy world of Geonosis is reminding him of Tatooine, amplifying his fears. Obi-Wan tells his apprentice to come to his "senses" and asks him what Padme would do if she was Anakin, the young Jedi calms down and accepts that he must do his "duty". We cut to Yoda sensing that something's wrong and a clone tells him that the battle droids are retreating, Yoda says "well done" and asks for a ship. Dooku arrives at a hanger and the two Jedi leave the Gunship to follow him into the hanger. The Gunship is shot down as it attempts to fly away and we see the two Jedi with their lightsabers already activated as they run into the hanger. Dooku slowly turns around as his pilot droid enters his ship. Anakin tells the Separatist leader that he's "gonna pay" for the deaths he's caused and Obi-Wan tells his apprentice that they'll take Dooku together, he tells Anakin to close in slowly on the left but Anakin is pissed off and ignores his master, "no, I'm taking him now!".
He charges towards Dooku while Obi-Wan reprimands him by shouting "no". Dooku just puts his right arm up and shoots Force Lightning at Anakin and sends him flying back against a wall, Obi-Wan must face this threat alone now. Dooku says that his "Jedi powers are far beyond" Obi-Wan's and tells him to "back down" before firing another round of Force Lightning, but Obi-Wan reacts fast enough and uses his lightsaber to block it. Dooku turns on his lightsaber and they duel but Dooku thinks Obi-Wan's skills are disappointing, especially for a Jedi who Yoda holds "in such high esteem". They duel a bit more and Dooku taunts him "surely you can do better", they duel some more. We see Anakin lying in pain, stretching his left arm out and it's juxtaposed with Padme lying in pain, stretching her right arm out. They're not literally feeling each other's pain but the editing implies that their love is so strong that the pain of one is shared by the other. A clone rushes to check on Padme, asking if she's ok and she gets up. He tells her that they "better get back to the Forward Command Center" but Padme says no and tells him to gather as many troops as he can so they can head to the hanger and they leave to get troops and a ship. Dooku and Obi-Wan continue their duel and they end up in a struggle and it seems like Obi-Wan is winning, we then cut to Anakin showing us that he's recovering before cutting back to the duel but now the angle is flipped as Dooku is now winning (https://imgur.com/a/ogCcAVr). Obi-Wan struggles to push against Dooku's lightsaber and the old man gleefully pokes at his shoulder then swiftly follows through by poking his knee. Obi-Wan falls to the ground in pain and Dooku is about to finish him but luckily for Obi-Wan, his apprentice recovers and springs back into action, blocking Dooku's finishing blow.
The old man calls Anakin "brave" and jokes about thinking that Anakin would've learnt his lesson from that Force Lightning. The young Jedi answers with "I am a slow learner" and Obi-Wan throws him his lightsaber. Anakin fights with both green and blue while Dooku fights with just red but Dooku is quickly able to destroy the green lightsaber. Anakin cuts the lights and the two duelists become shadows (https://imgur.com/a/MDAaIXA), we then get a visually mesmerising sequence in the dark with closeups of our duelists as lightsabers flow in and out of the screen, creating the impression of a duel. This sequence is more abstract and uses motion, rhythm, lighting and composition in order to create a greater meaning and emotion using montage. Lucas called this sequence "more of a visual idea than an action fighting idea" and said it was a homage to his more experimental roots, a "visual tone poem". Now let's take a closer look at this light show (https://imgur.com/a/2mLoq0l). The two duelists clash before cutting to a close up of Anakin with red and blue on his face, then his lightsaber comes into frame, turning his face blue before leaving the shot. Dooku's lightsaber comes into frame, turning Anakin's face red before leaving the frame and Anakin's lightsaber comes in again to turn his face blue again before leaving. We then see Dooku's lightsaber come in and turn Anakin's face red again before we cut to Dooku's face. We see Dooku's lightsaber move around, when it's close to him, his face is red and when it's further away from him, he's covered in shadow. We cut back to Anakin and his lightsaber makes his face blue again before leaving and Dooku's lightsaber comes in again, making his face red before cutting back to Dooku. We get the same sort of thing as before with Dooku before cutting back to Anakin as his face goes back to blue then red again. Anakin is on the left and Dooku is on the right throughout this part but then we zoom out and see the two switch sides. Dooku is on the left and Anakin is on the right now, we cut back to Dooku's closeup and his face is still red. We then go back to Anakin and his face becomes blue again before being turned to red. We cut back to Dooku, who's still red and now we finally get to see Anakin's lightsaber on his closeups but he doesn't turn blue, he instead is purple, a blurring of moral lines. We then cut back to Anakin and Lucas intentionally breaks the 180 degree rule by showing him on the left where Dooku was as his face goes to blue then red again. We cut back to Dooku and he's on the right and he's red. Think about what's going on, Dooku's face stays red to show that he's fallen and Anakin flickers between red and blue visually showing his inner turmoil. They switch sides, we are now made to compare the two and when Lucas decides to use the colour that blurs moral lines (purple), he breaks the 180 degree rule to show Anakin on the left just after showing Dooku on the left without pulling back to show them switch. He intentionally blurs the line between the two characters and earlier dialogue adds to this, lines like when Anakin vows to become "the most powerful Jedi ever" and when Dooku says that his "Jedi powers are far beyond" Obi-Wan's and later on when he says he's "become more powerful than any Jedi". It's the same as Luke vowing to become like his father and then finding out his father is Vader, his ambition almost destroys him but for Anakin he doesn't learn this lesson at all. He sees what he'll become if he carries on down this path right in front of him but is completely blind to it because of his own arrogance (again the theme of blindness is very important). This is also why Lucas calls back to podracers with Dooku, we see Anakin in one then we see Dooku looking like he's in one and they're both racing in the desert. Also this is how you're meant to break the 180 degree rule Chris Stuckmann, you don't do it for no reason, you do it to convey themes, emotion and story in a uniquely cinematic way. Carrying on with the duel, you'll see that Dooku and Anakin match each other in choreography, further blurring the line between the two characters. But Dooku is able to trick Anakin by making a fake out move to trick Anakin into committing to his attack and when Anakin realises he's been tricked, he loses balance and panics. His arms move open and Dooku is able to cut his right arm off before Force pushing him down with his master. Dooku's face is covered in shadow as he looks down, you can also see him catching his breath because Anakin really gave him a run for his money. Anakin was much more powerful than expected but he was still quite young and inexperienced.
But Dooku can't leave just yet, he quickly looks up as he senses a familiar presence. We hear Yoda slowly approaching and Dooku turns to face him as he enters the hanger. They say each others names and Dooku tells Yoda that this is the last interference he'll make before using the Force to throw heavy machinery at his former master. Yoda is able to deflect it and Dooku sends another one at him, Yoda deflects it again. He takes a defensive stance and Dooku pulls down parts of the ceiling attempting to crush his former master but Yoda is able to deflect it yet again. Yoda notes how Dooku is more powerful than when he left the Jedi 10 years ago and senses the dark side in him, Dooku responds by saying "I've become more powerful than any Jedi, even you". He then fires Force Lightning at Yoda and the little green master is able to deflect it back with just his hand, Dooku quickly reacts by deflecting it to the ceiling. He then fires more at Yoda again but stops and grabs his lightsaber as Yoda tells his former apprentice that he still has "much to learn". Dooku sees that the duel will be a stalemate if they continue to fight with Force powers and their "skills with a lightsaber" will determine who is more powerful. Also before we carry on, Lucas was originally not going to put the Force duel section in but the ILM crew convinced him to do so. He didn't wanna put it in because he knew it was gonna be a stalemate but the ILM crew thought it would make the fight better and Lucas listened to their advice. Another piece of evidence against the lie of Lucas being surrounded by yes men, funny how prequel haters fail to do basic research and find out about little gems like this. Dooku waves his lightsaber in a formal salute and Yoda draws his lightsaber like the Cowboys in the Westerns Lucas loves ("he's gotta turn from this funny old man to a tough Sergio Leone killer. If Sergio Leone can do it with Henry Fonda we can do it with Yoda"). The two fight and Yoda is mostly on the defensive but once he begins to tire out Dooku, he attacks. He uses his surroundings to his advantage to leap around, getting Dooku to keep on turning in order to disorientate him. They lock blades, Yoda tells his "old Padawan" that he's "fought well" and tells him it's "just the beginning" before using the Force to pull down a pillar. Dooku then runs towards his ship and Yoda acts fast to save Obi-Wan and Anakin, he struggles to hold the pillar and we see Dooku look back before entering his ship. Yoda is able to get the pillar out of harms way and Anakin wakes up again. Padme and some clones arrive but Dooku's ship leaves and all they can do is fire at it with their blasters as the Separatist leader makes his escape. We see Dooku leave Geonosis and cut back to Yoda picking his walking stick back up. Padme enters the room as Anakin and Obi-Wan get up and she hugs her lover. This doesn't cause plot issues because Padme is the one to initiate the hug and Yoda just assumes that they became close friends during their time on Naboo, it's normal to comfort your friend if their arm was just cut off.
Dooku arrives at Coruscant and he flies down to this purplish part of the planet, we then see him in the city and the sky is orangish-red. He flies through Coruscant and ends up in this eery and red tinted industrial hell covered in smoke (https://imgur.com/a/qKPjLyO). The sun is almost completely blocked out in this part of the planet, it's an abandoned section of Coruscant and the buildings are decaying. We move from a desolate world with an industrial hell beneath the surface to a world covered in industry, we're in the area where all that remains is a lifeless husk of machinery and our two Sith lurk inside it. This also adds to why the Death Star plans are in this movie, Dooku hands them over to Palpatine as they are surrounded by what it represents. Dooku lands inside one of the buildings and meets with his master, Darth Sidious. Here we learn that Dooku and Tyranus are one in the same and that they've orchestrated this war together.
We then cut to the Jedi temple, the sky is yellow like the sandstorm in the battle on Geonosis and clouds cover the sky. Obi-Wan and Windu watch the sunset as Obi-Wan asks Windu if he believes "what Dooku said about Sidious controlling the Senate", it doesn't feel right to him. But Yoda answers by telling Obi-Wan that Dooku has joined the dark side and that means "lies, deceit, creating mistrust are his ways now". Windu still feels like they "should keep a closer eye on the Senate" and Yoda agrees, they've fallen for it. They don't want to admit that Dooku is telling the truth but at the same time they've lost trust in the Senate and this pays off in the next film when we see them plan a coup against Palpatine behind Anakin's back. The reason why Lucas reminds us of the battle with the sky is to show us that the galaxy and the Jedi have become blinded by the war, they don't see the enemy right in front of them. Windu asks where Anakin is and Obi-Wan tells them that he's escorting Padme back to Naboo, he then goes on to say that "without the clones", the battle on Geonosis "would not have been a victory". Yoda speaks again, "victory? Victory, you say?", he knows that the Sith have trapped them into the role of soldiers and that's no victory at all. He tells Obi-Wan that "the shroud of the dark side has fallen" and the "Clone War" has begun. I've seen a few people nitpick this line but it makes sense to call it this, both sides are essentially using clones to fight. They use humans and the Separatists use droids.
We then cut to lines of clones visually referencing Triumph Of The Will (https://imgur.com/a/wvxmZmQ), we are shown just how right Yoda is about current developments, hints of the Imperial March theme are even playing too. The theme naturally sounds very evil even without the context of the original trilogy and hearing hints of it here then hearing it in full by the time of the Empire shows us that this is where Palpatine's victory was set, everybody is blinded by war and a need to destroy "the enemy" but they don't realise he's the true enemy of everybody. The Jedi end up slaughtered and the Separatist leaders end up the same way, all of it to secure Palpatine's place as the undisputed Emperor of the galaxy. All threats were used like toys and discarded when no longer needed. We see clones march into ships before they head off to war. We see Palpatine and a few Senators looking down on the clones from a balcony, most of them are dressed in red for reasons I explained earlier and the one guy (the Rodian) who isn't in red is wearing whitish clothes, white symbolises peace. Bail Organa has hints of that whitish attire mixed with his reddish clothes and is facing to the right, towards the Rodian. It hints at him still not being fully comfortable with war and it also hints at him aiding Obi-Wan and Yoda in the next film. We see warships full of clones head out to war and we get another look at the people on the balcony. Palpatine pretends to look sad, he pretends like there's no other way but deep down we know he's grinning. Bail is the one who's really sad, we see him look down in shame as he failed to stop this war from happening.
We then cut to Naboo as Anakin and Padme get married, Anakin is dressed in black and Padme is dressed in white. We get a closeup of their hands coming together, Anakins mechanical hand unites with Padme's human hand, a blending of nature and industry, a blending of black and white (https://imgur.com/a/8nrkep8). Again let me remind of where this robot hand trope came from, it came from Rotwang in Metropolis. Rotwang's experiments to cheat death causes him to lose his hand and ultimately leads him to his doom just like how Anakin's arrogance lead him to lose his arm and his desire to cheat death will also lead to his doom. Both men wanted to save the one they loved, Rotwang wanted to bring her back and Anakin wanted to stop her from dying. Rotwang ends up dead and Anakin ends up being trapped in the hellish world of the mechanical monster known as Darth Vader. We then see Anakin and Padme kiss each other, C3PO and R2 are the two witnesses of this marriage. The films ends with our newlyweds looking out towards the future (https://imgur.com/a/a7XRlaT), a future covered in clouds. Something interesting to note here is that we see green (nature) in the top left part of the screen and on the opposite end on the bottom right, we see red (industry). Both are visually on opposite ends and on the top right we see the two blending together, the green of the leaves is around the red of the sun. Industry rises up from within to take over and destroy nature and we end up with the Empire. The juxtaposition between Palpatine watching the clones march towards war and Anakin and Padme’s wedding is very interesting, blind optimism dooms the galaxy. Anakin and Padme look onto the future filled with that blind optimism just like how the people of the Republic are filled with blind optimism, believing that they will win but the clouds hide the reality of the future and we’re shown that future with Palpatine looking down on hordes of dehumanised people all dressed in white…
Now it's time to showcase something quite interesting before we go onto talking about "critics". We see some of the seeds of AOTC in one of Lucas's student short films, anyone lived in a pretty [how] town (
We see nature vs industry throughout this short, the cities and the factory is juxtaposed with a young couple surrounded by nature. AOTC does this too with Obi-Wan's journey to find the truth leading him through worlds of industry (the huge city planet Coruscant, the dark rainy world of Kamino with its sterile design, the barren Geonosis with hellish factories beneath the surface) juxtaposed against Anakin and Padme falling in love on Naboo, a world full of nature (https://imgur.com/a/in5k6K1)`. As the short goes on, a man with a camera takes pictures of people, turning them into photos and storing them. He eventually makes his way to the couple and this is where nature and industry collide, he takes a photo of the man but instead of storing the photo, he tears it to pieces and throws it to the pieces to the floor as the woman has tears in her eyes. Industry has no need for love, it must be destroyed. The woman's tears drops onto the pieces of the photo and we see the sun shine on it, then we cut to a rose before cutting back to the torn up photo. The photo disappears and we see daises grow there, a young boy walks to them and we see him play around before the short ends. Industry eats up Anakin and leaves him as the broken husk Darth Vader, the kid at the end of the short is implied to be the son of the couple and the daises growing shows us that nature will ultimately win. Both Luke and the kid in the short grow up without knowing their father.
Something interesting to note is how much more CGI appears in here than TPM, it’s the artificial invading the natural. Isn’t that the what’s literally happening in the story too with all these clones and droids filling up our screens? Also the way that these new for the time digital cameras sharpen the image yet also leave a feeling of uncanniness was taken advantage of perfectly here. Lucas creates this strange but beautiful aesthetic as we watch as industrialisation takes over nature and replaces it, the more advanced cameras of ROTS remove that uncanny layer to show us that we’ve fully transitioned from nature to industry. It’s also why the special edition changes to the celebration at the end of ROTJ are so great, we see man and machine in sync again with machine no longer oppressing and dehumanising the man. And here’s something from the force.net (https://imgur.com/a/1Jl3OFh), Vonn cleverly compares the innovations of AOTC to Citizen Kane and this post was made 3 days after I was born which is pretty funny. This also shows that the idea that everybody hated the prequels and that loving the prequels is revisionism is just plain wrong. If this was true, why would somebody compare the so called “worst one” to one of the greatest films ever?
Also here’s a great video on Anakin and Padme’s romance (
)
One more thing, I have a video that works as way of promoting this (
) and it would be cool if you guys like the video and subscribe to help spread it. Leaving a comment will help too and I’ll even heart them. I know this is basically begging but it is what it is, gotta find some way to spread this lol.
Now it's time to talk about those "critics", I'll save RLM for last this time because I wanna say some more things about them.
Nostalgia Critic (
is up first. He babbles like an idiot again for the start and somehow he doesn't get why Jedi aren't allowed to form attachments, clearly this is a man who pays attention to what he's watching. He's confused about clone troopers sounding different to stormtroopers, yep this guy is very smart! He calls the politics nonsense and impossible to follow, grown adult man btw. He repeatedly calls it uninteresting without explaining why, again prequel haters can't even back up their arguments lol. He thinks there's not much going on with Anakin's character, yep this guy is really smart! He says you never feel any chemistry out of them but ignores things like the picnic scene and them fighting together, I mean come on, Padme responding to Anakin with his own "aggressive negotiations" phrase is peak chemistry. He at least acknowledges that the a lot of the actors are good but then he starts babbling again and makes an unfunny joke about British actors. He calls Lucas out of touch with being a good director but notice how it's Doug Walker that fails to see all the obvious things I've pointed out and how it's not Lucas's fault that Walker is stupid. He complains about the dialogue without realising that the dialogue of the originals is stylised in the same manner (keep this in mind for when we get to RLM). He gets that it's fine for Yoda to duel but then also sides with the people complaining about Yoda using a lightsaber even though it's a Jedi's weapon and Yoda only used it because he and Dooku were stuck in a stalemate in terms of Force abilities, a lightsaber duel was the only way it could've gone down. He cries about Dex's Diner and even compares it to the Mos Eisley Cantina by saying that the Cantina isn't literally just a 50s diner and has some unique elements to it. But Dex's Diner does have unique elements and I can copy his point and say that the Cantina is bad because it's literally just an Old West saloon and I'd look just as dumb as he does. He says there's no point of TPM and AOTC existing but I've already shown that this is the opinion of a mindless idiot by analysing those two films.
Now onto the next clown, Chris Stuckmann (
He babbles on about the prequels having too much CGI, again here is Palpameme's collection of behind the scenes images show just how many practical effects were made for the prequels (https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1yqMLYXJ_WFm9p_DL7hOYaUGFp2F7D9QK). Each of the prequels alone have more practical effects than the entire original trilogy combined, the CGI is focused on because it was the next big thing. If you're gonna do marketing, you market the new thing and show it off as much as you can "hey guys look at this cool ass tech, we're the only ones doing it this good!". Grown adult men somehow don't understand how basic marketing works. He complains about the assassination plot, he thinks that the droid should've filled the room with gas but fails to realise that there would be gas detector in her room and that the droid has to cut a fucking HOLE in the window to put the gas in. Yep this guy should teach you about cinema! He calls Anakin a constant non-stop complainer but this isn't true and he's ignoring the fact that Anakin is an emotionally stunted teenager lol. He thinks it's dumb for the Jedi to be celibate and asks how they're supposed to procreate, then he asks if they look for people to breed with and he calls it dumb. Yep apparently all religions with celibate monks in the real world are all gone because they can't have sex. He thinks it's strange for the Jedi to find candidates and train them if they're worthy, what a smart man! Remember that you have to "get Stuckmannised" and by his shitty book! Enough of this idiot's nonsense, onto the next one.
Cosmonaut Variety Hour (
is up now. He calls the plot of AOTC the worst in the entire series but I've shown that it's easily one of the best. He says "Star Wars should be simple" in the TPM portion of his video but then complains about not knowing why the Separatists are going against the Republic and makes a snarky comment about it being explained in supplementary material. If he believes that "Star Wars should be simple", shouldn't "the bad guys are bad" be enough for him? Also he advises you to skip TPM but that's where their motivation comes from, the Republic's incompetence was on full display during the crisis on Naboo and some people would rather go with the idealist Count Dooku who wants to create a better system than to stay with the decaying Republic. We also see corporate entities meeting with Dooku here, it's very clear that they wanna use Dooku for profits because they could gain power within the Confederacy and influences laws to maximise their profits. It's not hard for kids to get it so why don't grown adult men get it? He asks how they Jedi are overwhelmed at the beginning of the movie but again, this is shown in TPM. They're supposed to solve disputes and if thousands of systems are leaving the Republic, they can't go to all of those systems to enforce Republic rule because there's just too many leaving. Yep this guy is really smart! He asks why an army needs to be created when it's really obvious, the Separatists already have an army of their own and that makes them very dangerous even if they haven't attacked anyone yet. He's confused by what they mean by civil unrest but it's really obvious. If there are Jedi going to different planets to try and keep them under Republic rule, there'd obviously be people who don't like that and are protesting this. Basic thinking skills solves all these "issues" he's brought up lol. He says that Palpatine is trying to kill Padme, I've already explained why this is wrong lol. He thinks that literally everything is part of Palpatine's plan and that the story bends over backwards to fit with this but it's not true. I've already shown that it's Palpatine constantly changing and adapting his plan to fit whenever something unexpected happens. The heroes unknowingly thwart his plans but he's quickly able to think of a way to adapt and push forwards towards his goal of attaining ultimate control over all. He never funded either of the armies, Dooku secretly funded the clones with the help of Sifo-Dyas and Dooku got funding from all these corporations for his own army, Cosmonaut definitely paid attention! He fails to understand that Obi-Wan being a hypocrite when reprimanding Anakin for jumping off of the speeder when he jumped out a window just a few minutes ago was intentional. He fails to notice the thematic purpose of Zam being a shapeshifter and acts all smug about it, he's only thinking about it in terms of the plot and completely ignoring the idea that it could be linked to the themes. He somehow thinks that Jango being hired by Dooku means that the Jedi should know that the clones are gonna betray them but doesn't think about the fact that Jango is a bounty hunter. He gets paid to do jobs, a Jedi commissioned the clones and a mysterious guy called Tyranus hired Jango to be the template for said clones but they have no idea who that guy is. All they know is that Tyranus and Sifo-Dyas were working together, that's it. Assassinating Padme was just one of many jobs Jango took, it's kinda obvious that he'd be taking lots of jobs in the 10 years it took for these clones to be raised. He makes fun of the "I don't like sand" line like all these idiots do. He thinks the scene of Anakin confessing his crimes is bad for some reason, very smart person! He makes fun of the visual tone poem sequence in the Dooku vs Anakin fight, yep this guy is truly an expert in cinema! He cries about Yoda using a lightsaber, I've already explained why it makes sense. He thinks that it's character assassination for a Jedi to use a lightsaber lmao. He shows how stupid he is for not realising that we're meant to compare and contrast prequel trilogy Yoda with original trilogy Yoda, we see Yoda learn from the mistakes of the Jedi Order of the prequels and this growth allows him to teach Luke to rise above the mistakes of the past. Also he complains about Yoda not making good decisions in the prequels but that's the point, the complacency of the Jedi Order lead to them being trapped into the roles of pawns for Palpatine to use and discard as he pleased and Cosmonaut fails to see moments where Yoda clearly shows that he knows things aren't right but he can't really do much, an example would be when he, Obi-Wan and Windu discuss the battle at the end of this movie. He complains about seeing Yoda commanding soldiers when that's the point, it's not meant to feel right. You're supposed to feel uncomfortable because this isn't how the Jedi should be but Palpatine has trapped them in a situation where they are forced to do this. Again prequel haters being completely braindead. He compares Luke on Crait to Yoda on Geonosis as if they're the same situation to say that Luke on Crait was done right and Yoda on Geonosis was done wrong. The context is completely different, one is trying to capture the enemy to stop the war and the other is acting as cover for the heroes to escape. One is all out war and the other is a defensive of a base, this guy is really fucking dumb lol. He complains about Yoda going in guns blazing on Geonosis and not negotiating but he's ignoring the context the fact that it's impossible to negotiate here, again this guy is braindead. Onto the next one.
Sardonicast, made up of YMS, IHE and Ralphthemoviemaker (
I'm not gonna waste my time with these idiots again so I'll leave you with this video by a great filmtuber called Style Is Substance, she shows why most youtubers aren't good at analysing art (
The video is a defensive of Salo against the idiots of Sardonicast but remember that this isn't a full on analysis of Salo, she's gonna release a full on analysis of it soon but this is showing why critics are wrong. Make sure to check out her other videos too for proper film analysis.
Confused Mathew is up now (
and he's as dumb as before. He thinks the opening scene is awful and thinks that Lucas is just trying to show off special effects when I've already shown that he's obviously using visual storytelling, he also compares it to the opening of ANH and dumbs down that opening to be a showcase of special effects when there's visual storytelling happening over there too. In his pathetic attempt to shit on AOTC, he ends up making ANH look stupid which is really funny. I can't be bothered to talk about this video more, there's too many dumb points that I've already countered earlier and this example along with the infamous "why is the Republic trading with itself" line in his TPM video is more than enough to say that this guy has probably been lobotomised. It's really sad seeing people on the comments praise this pile of shit as some masterful critique. It shows just how pathetic Lucas' haters are, they'd eat up anything just to spite the man, even something as bad as this.
Patrick H Willems is up next (
), he has some decent videos here and there but this one is just a huge pile of shit. It starts with this unfunny skit about how Patrick has been researching Star Wars for so long that his beard has grown out, he’s holding J. W. Rinzler’s The Making Of Return Of The Jedi and has Rinzler’s other Star Wars books on his desk. But we’ll soon learn that he hasn’t actually read any of these books and that they’re just there for show. He goes into the bathroom and steps out looking all cleaned up and the video begins. Patrick wants to talk about the visual storytelling of Star Wars but all he does is babble about how the originals and prequels used objective camera angles while the sequels used more subjective camera angles and he believes that subjective camera angles are better. What he doesn’t realise is that his opinion isn’t fact and that Lucas’s choices weren’t lazy, he’s following the rules of Cinéma vérité. Restraint is very different from laziness and the point of following these rules is so that we’re flies on the wall observing events. We see things for what they are and make judgments on our own, two examples would be Luke’s reaction to his aunt and uncle’s deaths and Padme’s reaction to Anakin’s confession to those murders. The juxtaposition of shots creates emotion rather than just the performance, Luke’s reaction is a perfect example of how montage and the Kuleshov effect works and Padme’s reaction works the same way too. We project our feelings onto them because of what we’re shown on screen. Patrick fails to mention any of this so I don’t think he’s actually read any of Rinzler’s books lol. Also he says that TFA introduced using lightsabers as a light source and crash zooms but AOTC did both of these first (and better), he corrects himself about the light source but not the crash zoom in his pinned comment. He definitely researched a lot! He talks about how the battles in the prequels feel different from the other parts of said movies feel completely different when both are still following the rules of Cinéma vérité. He also is confused about C3PO being in TPM, I’ve already explained why his presence is justified. “There is an operatic nature to the story being told but the visuals communicate almost none of that”, completely delusional for him to say this about the visuals. At the end of the video we find out that the skit about him researching so much was so he could promote his sponsor, Dollar Shave Club. Nothing wrong with sponsorships but you can tell that this video wasn’t made with the intention of actually teaching people and not to be rude but with that hairline of his, he should’ve gone with Keeps Hair Loss Treatment instead.
Just another reminder telling you to watch this (
It proves that Lucas was always in full creative control.
One more thing before RLM, for some reason I’ve had a few people calling me White because of my TPM analysis. This has always confused me because they claim to be against racism but then also imply that Black, Brown, Yellow, whatever people don’t have the intelligence to write a lot of words. Very strange behaviour. I’m not White btw lol.
Now it's time to talk about Mr Plinkett (
He still makes unfunny funny jokes, he still has that annoying voice, he still makes the same stupid "criticisms" and he still lobotomises himself in order to find ways to make shit up about the movie. He tries to make Lucas out to be this soulless husk of a businessman who wants to stuff as many things in as possible to try and sell more toys but we know this isn't true at all. Almost everything has thematic relevance and even things like the Ewoks and cool vehicles still serve a purpose. It's almost as if Lucas is an auteur first and foremost and in order to fund his artistic pursuits he must sell toys. Again, he did this with the original trilogy and there were ludicrous things like Star Wars Underoos (
being sold before the Ewoks even existed. Mike was a 2 year old when this came out so of course he wouldn't know about it but then again, basic research isn't hard is it? I was born a few months after AOTC came out and I still managed to find out about this lol. Also he ignores the fact that selling toys is why ESB was able to be so great, if Lucas didn't get rich by selling merch, Fox would've just forced him to make a shitty copy of ANH and Star Wars would've collapsed and faded away into history. Mike has the intelligence of a senile slug so he wouldn't be able to comprehend things like this. There's also the fact that he tries make Lucas look like he was jealous of James Cameron breaking box office records with Titanic because Lucas said they can't beat it in terms of box office in the behind the scenes video for TPM. He ignores the part where Lucas says that you can't force something to do that, it just happens. He then also tries to make the prequels out to be corporate products designed to appeal to as many people as possible in order to sell products but we know this isn't true at all. RLM fanboys take all of these slanderous lies against Lucas and think it's all true and they kept on spreading these lies until they became widely accepted. He acts like the casting of Samuel L. Jackson as Mace Windu was done for diversity quota by having a Black guy in a position of power talks about how ANH was full of White people then in the other movies you see people of other races but he's ignoring the fact that they were filming in England and most of the people in the area were White and they didn't have time to get all these different peoples together as extras. ANH is famous for its troubled development and this was a part of it, the reason why we see all these different coloured humans in the next films is because Lucas had time to actually get them instead of getting all the nearby people. He then says that Black people don't really like Star Wars, which isn't true at all, and Mike acts like Black people are this mindless horde that will eat anything up simply because there's a Black guy in it. I ask you, who's the real racist here, George Lucas or Mike Stoklasa? He acts like Lucas put Jackson in the film to lure Black people into buying tickets because to him casting Jackson as the "reserved and wise" Mace Windu is a bad move. Apparently casting a character against type is automatically wrong even though Lucas uses this expectation of a badass to build up to Windu's fight against Palpatine in ROTS. We get hints of that bad motherfucker here and we get to see him go all out in the next film, it's a smart move that leaves us hyped and prepared for that inevitable duel but Mike has too much cholesterol in his system, it's blocking blood from going to his brain. Enough of his shitty AOTC review (here’s a full takedown of it
), time to head to another one of his videos. His interview with Alexandre Philippe, the director of the ultimate manchild documentary, The People Vs. George Lucas. (
part 1,
part 2). At 24:32 of part 1, Philippe calls his pile of shit movie (
a display of love and hopes that Lucas watches it but this is the same movie where balding middle-aged fanboys call for Lucas's death and one of them even compares the special editions of the originals to Holocaust denial, remember guys an artist having control over their own work is just as evil as a Nazi! Yep this illiterate retard definitely made something very loving and it's not pathetic at all! At the end of part 1, they go to the Gene Siskel Film Center and Mike is mad about a picture of the behind the scenes of TPM being featured on a wall of iconic actors and directors. Also the fact that they were able to get The People Vs. George Lucas playing here is quite frankly disgusting, Gene Siskel was rolling in his grave back when this happened because there's no way he'd allow these pieces of shit to associate something so awful with his name. At 3:37 of part 2, Mike says, "he's said before like, Star Wars was just a silly sci-fi movie he's made in the 70s". He's trying to make it look like Lucas doesn't care about Star Wars that much but here's what Lucas really said, "Another aspect to the films that sometimes gets lost is that these films are vaguely lighthearted in terms of the fact they don't take themselves that seriously. I try to be very realistic and everything but mostly it's, y'know, to have a rip-roaring adventure and a good time. Sometimes people try to put more into them than should be there or write them off as of no consequence but the reality I think is somewhere in the middle" (this is from the ROTJ audio commentary. He's saying that you're supposed to have fun while watching it but you're also not meant to pass it off as mindless action. When he says "people try to put more into them than should be there", he's talking about how manchildren like Mike act like the original trilogy was super dark, adult and gritty and how people like that get angry when they see the prequels because they see silly things like Jar Jar and "write them off as of no consequence". When Lucas says "the reality I think is somewhere in the middle", he's saying that you're meant to take lessons from it but you're also meant to be able to relax and have fun. They get mad about Lucas wearing a "Han shot first" shirt because they know he thinks they're immature losers and thinks it's funny to annoy them. I can't remember which part it was in but Philippe says that the theatrical cuts of Star Wars are the only classic films they don't have, very idiotic thing to say because at least 75% of silent films are lost and a lot of these lost films are classics and Martin Scorcese's Film foundation says that half of all American films made before 1950 and over 90% of films made before 1929 are lost forever but these people aren't exactly experts, they're pathetic manchildren crying about George Lucas. I mean I'm not an expert either but I've actually done basic research, it's not even hard to do this but these people are lazy. At 5:37 of part 2, Mike says "he doesn't seem super passionate. He describes things like a simpleton. He's like "well in the other films, we've only seen two people fighting with lightsaber. Now we see lots of people with lightsabers" and that's like a direct quote". But again, he's wrong as usual. Here's the real quote. "We went from having sort of "level one" of the sword fight with Obi-Wan, I then needed to progress to "level two" with Anakin because each time we have a sword fight, it's got to get more intense ... then I had Anakin cut a cable so I could do it in the dark. I wanted to go back to my old roots of a visual sequence, kind of a 'tone poem', lightsabers moving through dark and making it more of a 'visual' idea than an 'action/fighting' idea" (from the AOTC audio commentary). Mike heard all the stuff about lightsabers but he's too stupid to understand the stuff about the visual tone poem stuff so all he took in is "more lightsabers" and he thinks that's Lucas's fault. Lucas never explains anything like a simpleton, he explains things in a clear and easy to understand way but Mike is too dumb even for something that's supposedly toddler talk so he misses the point of what Lucas is saying. Now time for a direct quote from Stoklasa, "I went to Columbia College Chicago in the early 2000's. There were some aspects of film school I enjoyed and I learned a lot from, but I found most of it to be frustrating because a lot of the theory and aesthetic stuff seemed subjective and pointless to me" (http://moongadget.com/redlettermedia/index.html). Here we see who the real idiot is. He calls film theory subjective and pointless, this alone is stupid enough to make Sergei Eisenstein roll in his grave so intensely that he starts causing earthquakes. The one part he's wright on here is that aesthetic stuff being subjective but he's wrong on it being pointless. Even if you're learning about an aesthetic you don't like, understanding it will open your eyes to so much and it'll help you develop your own aesthetic. Also in these videos with Philippe, Mike talks about how unimpressed he was with the student short film version of THX-1138 but something funny here is that this was the same film that made Spielberg and Lucas friends. It was playing at a film festival and Spielberg loved it so much that he went out of his way to go and meet Lucas. Mike also says that American Graffiti had no character to it but this is a completely delusional opinion, sure you don't have to be a fan of the movie but there's a lot charm in the film. Just watch it and you'll see just how stupid Mike is lmao. I wonder why he hates a fun movie filled with a sincere portrayal of teenagers and their lives, it can’t be because he’s a jaded, cynical old man who can’t handle silliness in a bunch of kids movies can it? The way that Mike goes out of his way to constantly slander Lucas makes me feel like he's jealous of the guy. Lucas went to film school and instantly became a legend with his first student film, Look At Life while Mike was struggling to understand why film theory was important and was only able to get fame by lying about Lucas and putting out hitpieces on his films. Now let me use this newer video of his to show how bad he is at analysis (
he goes over visual motifs symbolising transformation and change and focuses in on one thing, a scene with a TRIANGLE ICE branded ice machine. He points out how triangles can symbolise change, his source for this is the first thing that comes up when you search "triangle symbolism" on a web browser, this isn't a bad thing but I'm telling you this to show how easy it is to gain knowledge. He doesn't even cut deep into the scene too, I'll show you how to do it better than he did. In the scene, Corey is holding a milk bottle and ends up squeezing it. It causes milk to burst out and his hand becomes scarred, Mike doesn't point out that milk can symbolise innocence so the destruction of milk is the destruction of his innocence. Corey is then pushed against the ice machine and falls on his ass. He points out how the ice machine has a triangle on it then talks about the triangle symbolism. He points out how the scar is infected and how another character calls evil an infection but he ignores the fact that they made it an ice machine on purpose, it could've been a newspaper stand or something but it wasn't. Think about what ice is associated with, coldness. A cold and cruel society transforms Corey into a cold and heartless killer. Missing things like this, especially when they're so easy to understand, milk is a very common visual motif and the ice connection is super obvious but his fans still eat this up. Most people would be able to spot a lot of what Mike points out if he and other illiterate critics didn't lobotomise millions of people with their awful way of looking at art. Those Mr Plinkett prequel reviews have millions of reviews and most people watching took that approach to criticism seriously and have spread it far and wide. It's spread so far that famous Hollywood people like Patton Oswalt, Simon Pegg and Damon Lindelof have all told people that the Mr Plinkett videos were these must-watch masterpieces. Neither of these guys aren't that smart but they have loads of fans that will listen to what they say and those fans say those Plinkett videos because of them and spread them even further. Lindelof thinking that he's better than Lucas is hilarious because Lucas is brave enough to criticise the system, the prequels were "this system is deeply flawed and it could destroy us all" and the originals were "we must fight for a better future" when all Lindelof could do with his shitty Watchmen show was "there's a few bad apples in power but the system we live in is ultimately good and sensible. Lucas isn't a fucking pussy and even if you're not a fan of the prequels you have to appreciate that (
I honestly think that RLM should face some sort of punishment (nothing too extreme) because it's vile that these people were able get big by being philistines and spreading their ignorance to others. The first thing on their Twitter, Facebook and Youtube is them advertising the Mr Plinkett TPM review, they're still proud of that pile of shit to this day. I've seen the terrible effects this thing has had on media literacy, I was explaining Palpatine's TPM plan to a man in his 30s and he kept on finding nonsense ways to try and “epically” own me and each time it became more and more pathetic. I told him that before the movie started, Valorum signed those trade route taxes into law and he says that I'm making excuses for the movies by using headcanon. Do you know how fucking dumb he is to say that as a man in his 30s? It's the same as arguing that me saying that Bush signed the Patriot Act into law is me making up headcanon. I have to remind you that this is a man in his 30s saying this. I asked this same man about how he would’ve executed Palpatine’s plan in TPM and he said that the first thing he would do is make Palpatine explain the plan to either Gunray or Maul. I think you can see why this is a braindead idea. Telling the guy you’re using as a pawn that you’re using him to gain political power and will discard him once you have that power is very smart! And making Palpatine explain the plan to Maul is just pointless, Maul already knows the plan and there’s no need for Palpatine to remind him of it again. There's also this case where I was recommended a manchild's video by the youtube algorithm, it was basically this middle-aged man crying about the prequels. I left this comment (https://rentry.co/u9fr2d) and he got mad at me for it (https://imgur.com/a/2dvw1qM). He left a comment on my ad for the TPM analysis and then deleted his youtube account all because I corrected his lies, a very mature adult man. Also in my comment, I said that David Fincher created The Sopranos instead of David Chase but it was intentional. I wanted to be sure that he read my comment and the fact that he never corrected me and instead went scorched earth over my appearance shows that he just got mad over me coming in to slap some sense back into him. I even went to the RLM subreddit and posted my TPM analysis there and the mindless horde downvoted me to oblivion. One of them commented to make fun of me for pointing out the theme of duality and called me an idiot for trying to suggest that there was a visual motif of duality between Padme and her decoy, very smart adult men. One of them even abused reddit's terms of service and had the suicide prevention bot send me a message, reddit considers it to be harassment if the person receiving the message isn't suicidal. They see at as a subtle way to tell someone to kill themselves, remember that these people are so sad and pathetic that they wanted me dead because I chose not to be a philistine and went out of my way to learn. A lot of these people have kids somehow and they're gonna pass on this illiteracy to their children. There's also this asshole called Gireum (https://www.youtube.com/c/Gireum/videos?cbrd=1). He's an RLM fan and I was in his discord server until he banned me for the most pathetic reason. He made some awful videos about Star Wars and I joined the server to post a link to my TPM analysis because his channel isn't that big, he'd definitely see my post and if he's willing to read, he'd learn a lot. But he didn't, I was fine with that because it’s his choice and others in his server would be interested and remember that the whole time I was in his server, I was civil with him and never made fun of him. One day I posted this video (
and he makes fun of the video's title by saying something like "Hollywood's biggest hack before leeching off his ex-wife" so I told him that Lucas was barely in Hollywood and left after ANH was a success. He responds by calling him America's biggest hack and I responded by telling him that he's too old to be behaving like this. He asks why I'm in the server if I can't take a joke. I wasn't online for a few hours but someone else asked Gireum if he'd like it if someone annoyed him and he said something about prequel fans needing to be bullied and asks why prequel fans think he can't make jokes about Lucas. I came back online and told him that I don't have an issue with jokes about Lucas, I have an issue with shitting on him while being ignorant about why he did things the way he did. He tells me that I should leave if I'm so annoyed and I told him that if I was mad, I wouldn't be speaking so calmly to him and he spammed a few reaction gifs. I told him that it's sad that instead of being open to learning he choses to be a reactionary and have insane reactions over something as minor as a 4 minute video that's positive about Lucas. He then got annoyed and asked me how he was acting insane and the guy backing me up told him that he suddenly became fixated on tearing down Lucas over one little video and he just post more unfunny gifs. I actually got annoyed at this point and told him that I know he wants to call me dumb so he should be direct about it, he shouldn't tell me in a roundabout way because it makes him look insecure. I then told him that instead of being insecure and immaturely lashing out, he should actually try and learn in order to increase his knowledge. I told him that focusing on learning instead of childishly trying to belittle me was a much better path to take and he deleted all my messages and banned me. I think he banned the guy backing me up too, very mature and rational adult man. I'm sure he doesn't hate Anakin because he sees his own faults in the character and hates being reminded of them, especially since Lucas shows that these faults are the cause of Anakin's fall. Also please don’t harass him (don’t copy the manchildren), I just wanted to show an example of what following the RLM approach to criticism does to the brain. You can see why I want RLM gone, they're never gonna change and what they've done to art literacy is beyond terrible. Some of these other guys could change for the better in terms of media criticism but I don't expect them to. I've shown you guys just how awful the state of criticism is and the horrible effect it has, this isn't just about Star Wars, it's about art in general. If these people aren't able to understand the basics of Star Wars, how can they ever hope to understand things beyond the most mainstream? Also one final point, I find it funny that Mike is involved with the video game High On life. That game is the epitome of everything he claimed the prequels were. It’s unfunny, not that creative, has pointless references, nonstop talking, bad dialogue, etc. It also has way more poop and fart humour than TPM and in TPM, it was just one fart and one poop joke. According to Mike, one poop and one fart joke in a kids film is bad and the same thing but amplified to a headache-inducing extent in an adult game is good.
I'm no genius but I went out of my way to learn and I've learned so much and I'm still going out of my way to learn more. Anyone can learn, all you need to do is be willing to learn and you’ll grow for that. I’ve never been to film school, my family aren’t experts on film, I went out of my way to learn. The internet is a powerful learning tool. I hope to see you all next time for the ROTS analysis!