After rescuing Echo from imprisonment on Skako Minor, “On the Wings of Keeradaks” sees the team attempting to escape the city of Purkoll in the shortest episode so far of The Clone Wars season 7. Coming in at only 20 mins, the episode feels almost like a brief interlude before the final act of the story, and as a result, feels a bit like a filler.
Still, it is entertaining filler as we watch the team pick up right where we left them. More droids approach their location, but Echo is still connected to the database. As Tech tries to decrypt Echo’s cerebral interface so they can unhook him, the entire team is backed into the inner chamber. Welding the door shut, they see Wat Tambor and more droids approaching.
With Echo detached, he still can barely walk and because the mission was unsanctioned, there is no word about extraction. Tambor starts to break through the door, and the team is trapped. The only escape? An exhaust vent high up in the ceiling above them used as a cooling system for the computers.
In a moment of hilarious slapstick comedy, Wrecker tosses each of the members up into the vent with reckless abandon. Anakin, always looking for a chance to show off, jumps easily into the shaft and manages to save Wrecker by lifting him up into the vent with the force. Leaving some explosives behind, Wrecker blows up the inner chamber, leaving Tambor’s work destroyed. Considering Echo to be “Techno Union property”, he deploys droids to get him back.
Inside the vents, Echo reveals that he knows about this vent system because of his connection to the database. The Techno Union prying into his mind allowed him to also access their systems. He leads them to a precarious pipe walkway far up in the air that the group must tightrope across in order to get to a landing pad.
Of course, they only make it halfway before Tambor’s droids approach. Balancing precariously and running out of options, Tech plays the recorded distress call of the Keeradaks, the winged reptiles of the Poletecs, and calls the beasts to them.
Saved from another near-death experience, they jump onto the backs of the Keeradaks. But, the joke’s on you guys, these battle droids can fly! Thankfully they are easy to shake and the team makes it back to the Poletecs’ village, much to the people’s chagrin.
They feel like their word has been broken when a droid finds them and will inevitably lead the war to their doorstep. Rex agrees with them, but he calls upon the Poletecs to choose a side in the war. He points out that the Techno Union say they’re neutral, but after what they did to Echo, it’s clear that they are not. And while Rex has a point, you can’t help but empathize with the Poletecs. When Tambor sends more droids to get Echo, it’s the Poletecs who lose their lives.
I’m surprised they didn’t capture the clones and Anakin and give them back to the Techno Union. What happens when they leave? Won’t Wat Tambor get his revenge on them for helping Republic forces? Skako Minor is technically neutral, so if they were in trouble, the Republic couldn’t even come and help.
I liked the action moments of this episode, seeing the team work together to escape one situation after another, or seeing Anakin’s prowess and arrogance in battle is always fun. But, it can only lead to problems for the native people. Is Echo’s life important? Yes, they had to save them. But one cost is that the Poletec people can no longer simply remain neutral. What will happen to these primitive people when Anakin, Rex, and the Bad Batch leave?
Wat Tambor promises that he will try and recoup the losses on his investment after losing Echo. Does that involve razing the Poletecs in revenge? I don’t really enjoy how neatly this seems to tie up, especially with the Poletecs giving their loyalty to the Jedi. The Jedi didn’t even approve of this mission? I can’t help but get the same feeling I had with the Felucian farmers that Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Ahsoka trained to fight. Will their impact help or irrevocably damage these people who wanted no part in this war?
As the episode ends, Rex seems to be happy that Echo is back and everything will be back to normal, but is he still the same Echo? Also, is Rex really that naive? There’s a bit of ambiguity on Echo’s loyalty, but we’re looking forward to next week’s episode as the final arc in this four-episode storyline. Will Echo survive episode four? Will the Techno Union openly attack the team?
Will Wrecker ever stop throwing his team members?
New episodes of Star Wars: The Clone Wars stream Fridays on Disney+.
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