Two surprising love stories were revealed recently in “Star Wars” stories. In Friday’s “Clone Wars,” (8 p.m. Central Fridays on Cartoon Network), my favorite original “Clone Wars” character, Ziro the Hutt, is revealed to be shacking up with Sy Snootles (the alien singer from “Return of the Jedi”). And in “The Force Unleashed II” comic book, Boba Fett is revealed to be involved with another bounty hunter, Xasha.
And in both cases, the characters are betrayed. It’s a common theme among evil characters in “Star Wars.” Anakin thinks Padme abandons him, so he turns to the dark side. Snootles turns on Ziro, and it turns out that Boba was just a mark for Xasha.
All of these villains have issues of their own, so you can’t feel too sorry for them. When Anakin screams “You turned her against me!,” Obi-Wan correctly notes “You did that yourself.” Ziro isn’t so much evil, as he’s a Hutt. And Ziro’s blatant selfishness, combined with George Lucas’s brilliant choice to give him a Truman Capote-style voice, makes him such a pure vision of Huttdom that I actually found him quite lovable, and it was a shame when Snooty turned on him. (But it also gave an explanation for Jabba’s rise to power, allowing this episode to live up to Season 3’s theme of “Secrets Revealed.”) I didn’t exactly jump off my couch and scream “No!,” but I kind of wanted to.
While “The Clone Wars” keeps getting better, I don’t feel like the “Force Unleashed” saga has lived up to the hype. The idea of Boba Fett having a girlfriend is excellent (although not, strictly speaking, original, because it was also done in Karen Traviss’s novels). But nothing is really done with it; it ends rather abruptly — Xasha turns on him, but we don’t get to dwell on Boba’s reaction to this.
Meanwhile, Starkiller, Vader’s apprentice who is the main character of “TFU,” isn’t in the sequel at all, although a mad Starkiller clone figures prominently. Interestingly, the tragic ending of the first chapter found Juno Eclipse — who had joined Starkiller in leaving the Empire for the fledgling Rebellion — kissing Starkiller in their last moment together before he goes off to die at the hands of Vader and the Emperor. But Juno’s sense of loss is barely touched on in the sequel (at least in the comic book; I haven’t read the novel yet). It could’ve been a good story where Juno thinks Starkiller might still be alive, and maybe she runs into the mad clone and has her hopes dashed.
Unlike “The Clone Wars,” which gives us time to get to know and appreciate characters like Ahsoka Tano, Cad Bane and Ziro, both “Force Unleashed” installments seem rushed. And that’s especially disappointing because it features major story and character points. Most notably, in “TFU,” we find out that Darth Vader is instrumental in the birth of the Rebellion. And in “TFUII,” we see Boba Fett land an exclusive bounty hunting contract with the Empire, something that solidifies his burgeoning reputation.
In a broad sense, there’s nothing wrong with “TFU’s” plot. I think it’s a neat twist that the Empire plays a role in the Rebellion’s creation; it fits with the Emperor’s style of manipulating galaxy-wide politics. And they get Fett’s character right in the sequel: He wears his famous Mandalorian armor and he’s starting to get good at his job, but he’s not yet stone cold. Perhaps part of what makes him into an all-business hunting-and-killing machine is Xasha’s betrayal.
But while the story is good, the telling of the story is not. These plot and character points should have been allowed to boil and sauté and simmer. Instead, they are served up like fast food.
“TFU” — a video game franchise first, a novel and comic series second — is being told in the wrong medium. A few years ago, reports surfaced that there would be two “Star Wars” TV shows: “The Clone Wars” would start first, and it would be followed a couple years later by a live-action show taking place between Episodes III and IV, a largely unexplored era. I saw it as an appetizer followed by the main course: “The Clone Wars” would be fun, but the meaty stuff would happen in the live-action show.
Well, now it’s 2010, which was the projected start date for that post-“Episode III” show. “The Clone Wars” is telling meaningful, memorable stories. And no one is talking about the live-action series anymore. I assume it died on the vine, or at least got pushed to the back burner by Lucas. Perhaps it partially mutated into the “Force Unleashed” saga. The use of a huge story point (the formation of the Rebellion) and a classic-but-still-underexplored character (Boba Fett) makes me think there’s not much significant material left for a TV series between Episodes III and IV.
And that’s too bad, because “The Force Unleashed” should’ve been a TV series so these story points and characters could’ve been given the time they deserved. Sure, “TFU” is essential for someone mapping out a “Star Wars” chronology, but “The Clone Wars” is the only essential “Star Wars” project right now for those who want good storytelling.
I feel kind of like Anakin, Ziro and Boba must have. I love “Star Wars,” but in the case of “The Force Unleashed,” it has done me wrong.