Monday, June 25, 2012

Where are the Bothans in The Clone Wars?


The climactic battle of the Star Wars films is preceded by one fateful line that introduced us to a species that we never had a chance to see.
"Many Bothans died to bring us this information." ~ Mon Mothma
The Clone Wars animated series has introduced and re-introduced us to numerous alien species in animated form, but there is a rather large and glaring admission in terms of the Bothans.

If like me you grew up re-watching the original trilogy repeatedly, whenever Mon Mothma mentioned the Bothans, my imagination always wondered who where these guys, what did they look like, how did they die.

I wanted to know more.

In the EU we have a very interesting culture built up for the Bothan species, but the most famous Bothan is someone that you would probably want to punch in the muzzle if you ever had to spend five minutes in a room with him.  In fact I am sure Ackbar spent more time during the early days of the New Republic thinking how ways to inflict pain on Borsk Fey'lya then a Hutt thinks about dinner.

How have we gotten four seasons of The Clone Wars series without the Bothans?  

I am rather perplexed.

It is interesting that according to Wookieepedia, the Bothans took a line of neutrality during the Clone Wars.

Whilst a longtime member and support of the Republic, the Bothans remained neutral during the period known as the Clone Wars. In this time, the Bothan Senator Polo Se'lab abstained from politically charged votes leading up to the conflict. Though not playing one side against the toher, the Bothans serve each one in a professional but not exclusive manner. Their reasoning for helping both the Separatists and Republic was in the belief that furnishing each side with intelligence would hasten the end of the war. This stance on neutrality did not stop both the Confederacy and Republic from courting Bothan aid to their respective side though this only increases their stance at supporting neither faction in the Clone Wars.
With the Clone Wars rapidly approaching Episode III and their conclusion, I have to wonder if the Bothans will once again be left off the screen.

SOURCE: Wookieepedia

1 comment:

  1. There were numerous Bothan Jedi featured in the Expanded universe version of the Clone Wars. Personally, I think George Lucas doesn't like bothans very much. I was hoping one would make a cameo at some point during the prequels but none did. Kai Hudorra and Glynn-Beti are both examples of Jedi Masters who fought in the Clone Wars. Kai was featured in one of the comic books and Beti was featured in one of the early Clone Wars books.

    ReplyDelete