The Clone Wars: A War on Two Fronts

Andrew Leon and I are watching Star Wars: The Clone Wars.  Every Tuesday, we will be featuring an episode from the series which began in 2008.

Episode: "A War on Two Fronts"
Series: Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Season 5, Episode 2
Original Air Date: September 21, 2012

via Wookieepedia

This week kicks off a four-part arc in which we return to the Lux Bonteri story.  We first met Lux in Season Three as the son of Separatist senator, Mina Bonteri.  A kind, thoughtful, principled - not to mention handsome - young man, his very existence is a revelation for Ahsoka and indeed for the viewing audience.  Up to that point, we had all been led to see the Separatists as purely evil but the Bonteri story shows that some, at least, are good people with legitimate gripes.  Lux and Ahsoka develop a personal friendship with hints of something deeper.

Since that first meeting, Lux has switched sides.  Lux suspects (correctly) that Count Dooku was behind the conspiracy to assassinate his mother and accused him publicly.  Now effectively exiled, he has joined a group of insurgent rebels on the planet Onderon.  As we join the story, Anakin, Obi-Wan, Ahsoka and Rex are on their way to train the rebels.

Enter the Gerreras, Steela and Saw, sister and brother.  The Gerreras are Onderon natives, fighting alongside Lux.  Saw clearly doesn't trust the new guy but Steela is fond of him - a little too fond.  Ahsoka carries her own torch for Lux though she does her Jedi best to fight and conceal it.

Steela Image via Wookieepedia

Steela is voiced by Dawn-Lyen Gardner.  Gardner was born in Los Angeles in 1980 and was trained in both acting and music from a young age.  She got her first television work as a child, appearing on both Viper and ER.  She went to Julliard for college which led to stage work: For Colored Girls, The School of Night and The Seagull.  Currently, she has a lead role in the Oprah Winfrey Network's Queen Sugar.

via Twitter

Next week: "Front Runners."