by The Gathering
June 22, 2013 in Episode Guides by Firebird
#93 Season 5 Episode 6
“He who faces himself, finds himself.”
Ahsoka escorts a group of younglings to Ilum, where they will learn from Yoda and undergo a crucial rite of passage: the construction of their lightsabers. They grapple with both physical and inner challenges as they face the dangerous task ahead of them.
The Gathering Commentary, Preview, Bonus clip and starwars.com Episode Guide.
Original Airdate: 3 November 2012
Writer: Christian Taylor
Director: Kyle Dunlevy
Concept Art and Trivia
The opening prologue trailer to the episode features a rare flashback to before the Clone Wars, when Plo Koon discovered the baby Ahsoka Tano on an undisclosed planet, and brought her into the Jedi Order.
The notion of lightsabers being powered by mystical crystals find their roots in the “Kyber crystal” concept in the early draft scripts of Star Wars, a mystical gem said to amplify the power of the Force. The planet Ilum was first visually depicted in the 2001 Jedi Quest comic series from Dark Horse Comics. Illustration by Pop Mhan from Jedi Quest #1.
The symbols denoting the balance of the light side and dark side first seen in the realm of Mortis are visible in the temple entrance on Ilum. The markings that lined the halls of the Father’s Monastery on Mortis are also found within the Ilum temple. Illustration by Pat Presley.
This episode introduces a Jedi youngling symbol worn as a patch on the students’ cold weather gear.
The crystals are colorless until the young Jedi holds it, upon which it becomes attuned to the Force-user. This appears to be what governs the colors of Jedi lightsabers. Art by Carlos Sanchez and David LeMerrer.
Gungi hears his crystal call to him in a piercing wail — which is a callback to the distracting sound Chewbacca must suffer through when a prisoner in Cloud City during Episode V.
I remember this episode getting mixed reveiws back on the episode guide when this came out. Some loved it and others thought it was boring. I thought it was okay, I didn’t love it but I didn’t hate either. I thought it brought out a unique storyline and gave a little more backround of where saber crystals come from and how sabers are made. When Huyang told the story of how he remembered when Yoda got his crystal I was picturing what that was like (would have made a good flashback). Overall I’ll give this one a 6/10.
I liked it . I thought the animation of the snow was really spectacular
Enjoyed it.
It was alright but was not a story that was needed to be told and when you look back on season 5 this arc, the Droid arc and the rebels arc all bring the season down.
Well It did teach us the history on where Padawans get there crystals from and how light sabers are formed so I did serve for some purpose in my opinion.
Actually most people knew padawans went to Ilum before.
Well I didn’t at least. Most probably did though.
I knew Padawans went to Ilum, but I thought it was great that they showed it. One of the best episodes of the show IMO.
I’d read Force-sensitive crystals were on Ilum through Wookieepedia, but I have a fairly extreme prejudice against the EU, so it was good Clone Wars showed something of the culture of the Jedi and not just their philosophies. Liked Huyang but found the younglings kind of uninspiring. The plot was good and the characterizations were decent but these were characters we’re not likely to see again, and that was a big problem with many of these arcs. Filler characters.
This episode is the first and only episode of The Clone Wars that we ever talked our Mom into watching.
Lol Siblings I guess most people would think the same :). I think this Episode, though it isn’t the most existing, it did contribue to some of the SW mythos. Huyang was an amazing touch to the story.
Felt like Disney Channel.
Meh.
One of my favorite episodes.