Star Wars: Tales Of The Underworld Pays Tribute To One Of The Greatest Westerns Ever Made

Warning: There will be spoilers for "Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld".

The second half of "Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld" concerns itself with the origins of Cad Bane, the Duros bounty hunter who became one of the most ruthless and notorious guns for hire in that galaxy far, far away. 

In the first installment we see him and his friend Niro scratching out a living on the street. Orphaned before they could remember their parents, Cad (then going by the name Colby) and Niro would pull small con jobs and steal food where they could. This drew the attention of a gangster who thought the kids might be useful, and he immediately put them to work as a distraction while he pulled off a mafia-style hit. In fact, the first episode of Cad Bane's arc has all the feeling of the Robert DeNiro scenes in "The Godfather Part II." 

Unfortunately, Niro is nabbed by the cops as they make their getaway and Cad Bane makes off with the gangsters. These divergent paths create very different lives for these two friends and put them into a conflict that will end with one of them dead. Bane continues on the path of crime and murder, while Niro becomes a marshal on their home planet. When Bane's criminal mentor is killed, he seeks revenge, but his girlfriend Arin and Niro save his life and send him to prison, setting up a fateful confrontation.

Though the first two episodes build the character of Cad Bane, we really see the finale through the eyes of Niro. He's become the head marshal and is now married to Bane's ex-girlfriend. He's a father now, too — to a child that bears a striking resemblance to Bane himself.

On this particular day Cad Bane is getting released and he's arriving on the next shuttle, eager for his revenge against Niro. The marshal asks for help from his deputies, but they flee. He seeks help elsewhere, but no one wants to get involved. The advice he gets is to just flee: get out of town before Bane arrives. The scene turns into a classic western when Niro is forced to grapple with his sense of duty and his sense of self-preservation and decides its his honor and responsibility on the line to confront Bane himself.

Standing his ground in the street, he faces off against Bane. Niro is no match for his old friend, and his life comes to a poignant end. Bane, ruthless as ever, realizes the truth about the parentage of Niro's son, but doesn't care. He walks off into the sunset and you can almost hear the sound of his spurs.

If the climactic duel sequence feels familiar — up until the ending, anyway — it's because it's rooted in the 1952 Hollywood classic "High Noon."

Starring Gary Cooper, "High Noon" tells the tale of a beleaguered sheriff who is set to retire. Unfortunately, the day before his retirement, he learns a vicious outlaw he sent to prison is heading to town on the next train. This outlaw is determined to get his vengeance against the sheriff. When the sheriff seeks help, just like Niro, he finds that no one will help him. Given the choice between fleeing and saving his skin or honoring his duty and staying to protect the town, even though it may well mean certain death, he opts to stay and confront the outlaw.

"High Noon" is a powerful tour de force and forever changed Westerns. It was controversial at the time — seen as a critique of the Hollywood Blacklist, where targeted individuals found themselves abandoned by friends who feared becoming targets themselves. John Wayne refused the role of the lead because of this and badmouthed the film publicly as "un-American." He and Howard Hawks collaborated to make "Rio Bravo" in response to it. But that didn't stop "High Noon" from becoming a classic. It won four Academy Awards (including Best Actor for Gary Cooper.) 

In "High Noon", Cooper's character comes out on top in the end. It wouldn't make sense for Niro in "Tales of the Underworld" to do so, since Cad Bane is the character we're here to learn more about. But it's terrific to see these shows continuing the tradition of distilling classic film into the animation and storytelling style of "The Clone Wars." It's not the first time "High Noon" has been adapted to science fiction either, though. Check out Sean Connery's "Outland" for another terrific take on the material.

"Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld" is streaming now on Disney+.