Broken Frontier

Despite its  cheesy name, “Brain Invaders” is among the most sophisticated and well-crafted episodes of Star Wars: The Clone Wars to date, expanding on some of the series’ darker themes—namely Anakin Skywalker’s questionable influence on his Padawan, Ahsoka Tano—while keeping the action at a satisfyingly kinetic pace. However, like many episodes this season, it might be a bit too intense for younger viewers.

After destroying the Separatists’ droid foundry on Geonosis and defeating the ever-so-creepy Queen Karina the Great, the Jedi have captured Geonosian leader Poggle the Lesser and are transporting him to Coruscant for trial. While Anakin and Luminara Unduli escort Poggle to the Republic capital, Ahsoka and Barriss Offee must deliver medical supplies from a station at Ord Cestus to Jedi Master Mace Windu’s forces on Dantooine. After all of the action on Geonosis, this assignment doesn’t seem all that exciting, but this simple errand becomes quite complicated when some parasitic Geonosian brain worms manage to infect some of the clone troopers on board.

This episode excellently builds on the horror feel established in “Legacy of Terror” as we see more and more clones fall victim to the brain worms, which take control of the thoughts and actions of their hosts. Under the parasites’ influence, the clone troopers overpower Barriss and infect her with one of the worms, bragging that they know how to stop a Jedi. This brings to mind the fact that the clones actually do take out the Jedi once Supreme Chancellor Palpatine commands them to execute Order 66 in Revenge of the Sith. Barriss’ defeat in this episode is a chilling reminder that while the Jedi win small victories during the Clone Wars, we already know their fate.

Once infected, Barriss attacks Ahsoka, forcing the orange-skinned Jedi-in-training to cross lightsaber blades with a fellow Padawan and friend. Following an initial scuffle, Ahsoka learns from her master via comlink that the worms are sensitive to extreme cold. She ruptures the frigate’s cooling system, which seems to do the trick. However, once Ahsoka makes her way back to the ship’s bridge, Barriss attacks once again, apparently not yet affected by the freezing temperature. When she momentarily tears herself free of the brain worm’s influence, Barriss begs Ahsoka to kill her. If just one of the worms were to make its way off the ship and onto the Ord Cestus station, thousands of lives could be at risk. Knowing what is at stake, Barriss is willing to make that sacrifice, but Ahsoka cannot bring herself to kill her friend, regardless of the cost.

At the end of the episode, while recovering in the infirmary, Ahsoka discusses her attachment issues with Anakin who, as we know from the Star Wars films, is pretty much an expert on the subject. Sure, everything worked out fine this time—Ahsoka is able to slice the final worm in half without harming Barriss—but what if she had failed and the worms spread? Anakin assures her that she did the right thing, but is he really the right person to be telling her this? In Revenge of the Sith, just a short while later in the Star Wars timeline, he will reason that the only way to save his wife is to embrace the dark side of the Force, ultimately killing her and countless others in his warped pursuit of justice and order. We all love Darth Vader, but he’s not exactly a role model.

Speaking of everyone’s favorite Sith Lord, Anakin displays some scary, Vader-like behavior when interrogating Poggle about the worms’ weakness. After Poggle boasts that Jedi mind tricks don’t work on him, Anakin responds, “I don’t need mind tricks to get you to talk.” Anakin then gives Poggle a good old-fashioned Force choke, a maneuver that will send shivers up the spines of countless incompetent Imperial officers later on in his career. Needless to say, Anakin gets Poggle to talk. Prepare to geek out when “The Imperial March” kicks in during this scene.

A fitting end to the four-part Geonosis story arc, “Brain Invaders” raises the bar even higher for The Clone Wars.