Tuesday, November 21, 2023

The Clone Wars - S1E15 - "Trespass"

In "Trespass," Chairman Cho and Senator Chuchi constrast in how they perceive and deal with the Talz.  After dead clone troopers are found in the Republic base on Orto Plutonia, Chairman Cho comments that "if it's not the Separatists out there, then it's a malevolent and aggressive enemy nonetheless."  He repeatedly calls the Talz "savages," and when he meets with Thi-Sen, he makes accusatory gestures and declares war.


During this same meeting, Senator Chuchi tries to intercede on behalf of the Talz and even steps between Cho and Thi-Sen.  Her efforts are of no avail here, but after she receives authority from the Speaker of the Assembly to make peace with the Talz, she negotiates with Thi-Sen herself.  Instead of Cho's aggressive posture, hers is a welcoming one.


It's also significant that she takes the slain chairman's hat and places it upon one of the Talz' spears.  Earlier in the episode, this same sort of monument to the Talz' victory is shown with clone helmets and droid heads:



That Chuchi does this with the chairman's hat illustrates that she understands and respects the Talz' culture, unlike Cho who considers them "little more than animals."  At the end of her negotiations, she tells Thi-Sen that she "recognize[s] your sovereignty as a free and equal people."

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The title of the episode is ambiguous in a couple ways.  When Obi-Wan tells Chairman Cho about the Talz, Cho is indignant and says, "They're trespassers," but from the Talz' point of view, it's the Pantorans who are trespassers.

As a synonym for transgression, the title could also apply to Chairman Cho's actions, which are deemed "out of order" by the Pantoran Assembly.