Star Wars: The Clone Wars Winks at the Fans

October 23, 2009 by Cynthia

Tonight’s episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars is a repeat, so it’s the perfect time to locate some of the winks and insider jokes that are hidden in the series.

Here’s a list to get you started. Or, you can watch the show then come back here to see how many you caught on your own.

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— After Cad Bane escapes from the Resolute, Anakin angrily holds his arms behind his back and storms off. This is a foreshadow/echo of Darth Vader’s similar action at the end of The Empire Strikes Back after the Millennium Falcon escapes from his clutches.

— When Admiral Yularen says “No! Lock them all down, hurry!” it is a reference to C-3PO’s line in A New Hope, as he frantically admonishes R2-D2 to shut down the trash compactors aboard the Death Star.

— The holographic mobile hovering over the Gungan toddler’s crib includes a colo clawfish, an opee sea killer and a sando aqua monster, the three massive underwater beasts that attack Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon’s submarine in The Phantom Menace.

—The Jedi shuttle’s design shares features with several classic ships – its cockpit is quite similar to the Millennium Falcon, and it changes orientation in flight just like Boba Fett’s Slave I and the Rebel B-wing fighter. Its shape, though, is based on a background cruiser barely seen in Attack of the Clones.
In a gambit later used by Han Solo and Luke Skywalker aboard the first dreaded Death Star, Cad Bane disguises himself in trooper armor to escape notice and slip past security.
— Anakin Skywalker and Chancellor Palpatine share a private meeting in this episode, as they also do in Episode II and Episode III. The fact that Obi-Wan Kenobi and Mace Windu would prefer to keep the Chancellor out of Jedi affairs is a thread that continues powerfully in Episode III.
— When Mace Windu slides under a slamming blast door and snatches his lightsaber at the last possible moment, it is an action reminiscent of Indiana Jones’ iconic hat-grab from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
— Mustafar is, of course, featured prominently in Revenge of the Sith, but Darth Sidious’ secret installation in ‘Children of the Force’ is a different location than the mining facility from the live-action saga – although the architecture does share similar shapes and lines.
— Cad Bane attacks Ahsoka Tano with a wrist-launched lariat similar to the devices used by Jango Fett in Attack of the Clones and Boba Fett in Return of the Jedi.
— Jan-Gwa City closely resembles the bubble city of Otoh Gunga seen in The Phantom Menace, except that it is only partially submerged in a lake.

‘Children of the Force’ airs tonight at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT on Cartoon Network.