#the zygerria arc and the clovis episodes are the worst offenders

[tranakin-skywalker]

how exactly does tcw handle zygerria? i’ve been really adverse to watching it because of what i’ve seen surrounding anakin’s characterisation in that arc and i don’t know if i’d feel up to it even if the angst potential is soo high and fucked up and could be interesting to explore

It's... not great I'll be honest.

I'm not sure how much you're familiar with the arc, but they have Anakin go undercover as a slaver, which, okay sure. Going undercover in a way that is deeply uncomfortable and traumatic for him, but means saving innocent people, really great opportunity to explore Anakin's character and what an experience like that would do to him. Only, the show doesn't bother with any of that.

He acts pretty unbothered about the whole thing. Not in a way that makes it seem like he's deflecting, either. He really doesn't seem all that bothered about pretending to be a slave master, or that he has to whoo the queen of a slave empire.

And it's not like the creators forgot that he was a child slave and lived this reality for the first nine years of his life. He outright mentions the fact that his mother was sold in a slave market like the one they're walking through at one point.

Then there's the whole thing with Ahsoka posing as his slave. I... cannot imagine any universe where Anakin would be okay with something like that. Putting her in that position does not seem in character for him at all.

Then you add in some of the dialogue the writers put in there...

Who are you and what have you done with my boy?

This just does not in any shape way or form seem in character for him? Making light of the situation and joking about things to distract from how viscerally uncomfortable this is all making him? Sure. But not like this.

And then there's the end of the arc, where (spoilers) the Zygerrian Queen dies. This is a character who 1) rules a slave empire, 2) has enslaved and tortured Ahsoka, Obi-Wan and Rex and used them as hostages to get Anakin to do what she wants and 3) was implied by the show to have coerced Anakin into sex (genuinely cannot believe a kids show got away with that one) and the creators had the gall to have Anakin cradle her body as she died. The guy who murdered an entire village for killing his mother, held this woman and looked sad as she died.

I do not understand the decisions made here. I really don't.

Honestly, if you're interested in the angst of the episode but not the execution, just skip the show and read some fanfic about the Zygerria arc. There's a lot of really great ones that focus on the events of the arc and the aftermath.

Some of my favorites:

System Reset by That_Ghost_Kristoff. Honestly, this whole series is great

Dog Bites by Husborth

Goes to Ground also by Husborth cuz she's awesome like that

Time by katierosefun

Or you could read the Clone Wars comic of Slaves of the Republic, which actually handles the arc a lot better.