REVIEW: ‘Star Wars: The Clone Wars,’ Season 7, Episode 8 – “Together Again”

Star Wars: The Clone Wars is back this week with episode 8, “Together Again.” The previous episode ended where it began: with Ahsoka, Rafa, and Trace back in a Pyke prison cell with little hope of escape. After all of their efforts to escape the Pykes, a bad attitude from Rafa and Ahsoka‘s heart of gold lands them back in Pyke hands. We get a feeling that they probably could have escaped if Ahsoka had used her Jedi abilities. But Ahsoka faced, and still faces, a difficult choice. Should she reveal her Jedi past in order to get her and the Martez sisters out of trouble, especially after learning of the damage the Jedi did to the Martez family?

In “Together Again,” Ahsoka has another brilliant plan to get them out of this. She proposes to the leader of the Pykes that they should let the Martez sisters go so that the sisters can return the spice they supposedly hid to the Pykes. If the two don’t come back, Ahsoka will reveal where the Martez family is located. However, what the Pykes don’t know is that the Martez sisters don’t have any family to give away, and they have no way of retrieving the spice. What will Ahsoka do now that the Martez sisters are out of the way; will Trace and Rafa return for Ahsoka?

These last few episodes have been a constant blame game. When the going gets tough, Rafa, Trace, and Ahsoka turn on each other and go back and forth, blaming each other for landing them in this horrible situation. It’s already annoying as is, but bringing the same debate back up in every episode and designating a significant amount of dialogue to it is just grating. At this point, the dialogue is unoriginal, and the characters are stale because of it.

Rafa is still an unlikeable character despite her change of heart. Even though she changes her opinion on Ahsoka, there doesn’t seem to be any actual character growth going on that would make Rafa any more likable. We see a shimmer of defiance in Trace when she points out the wrongs of her sister’s actions, but it seems to disappear just as quickly as it appeared. So, even Trace doesn’t grow much in this episode, which is disappointing. I certainly liked Trace when she was first introduced, but her obtuse personality and lack of character growth have sullied this initial reaction.

The Mandalorians from the previous episode make another appearance but are only interested in Ahsoka. Ahsoka had a run-in with one of the Mandalorian characters in a previous season, and the Mandalorian is understandably wary of Ahsoka. But just what does the Mandalorian think Ahsoka is here for? Obviously, they’re out of the loop and don’t realize Ahsoka is a captive, but it’ll be interesting to see how these Mandalorians impact the progression of the story in future episodes. Another exciting appearance is the reveal of who the Pykes work for, which is probably one of the biggest highlights of the episode because most people will recognize this character (even those who haven’t watched past seasons).

As usual, the animation is great, along with the voice acting. We get some dynamic fight scenes, and watching Ahsoka effortlessly sneak around an enemy base is always fun. But it can’t make up for the unlikeable characters and the stale dialogue.

“Together Again” was only interesting for the Mandalorian presence and the reveal of just who the Pykes work for. There are also some implications for the state of Mandalore and Death Watch in this episode. The ending leaves the audience with the information that there will undoubtedly be more Mandalorians in episodes to come, which, unfortunately, is the most exciting part of this episode.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars “Together Again” is exclusively on Disney+ now.