Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Rating: ★★★★☆
I just finished watching all seven seasons of Star Wars: The Clone Wars on Disney+. So, while it is still fresh in my mind, I figured I would break down what the show is and share my thoughts.
In this post I will share my opinions on Star Wars: The Clone Wars, which are entirely subjective and not intended to lesson anyone else’s enjoyment of the series.
⚠️ Warning, this post may contain some spoilers.
Contents
What is it?
Star Wars: The Clone Wars is a computer animated TV series set in the Star Wars universe that follows on from the 2008 film of the same name (for sake of this post I will treat the film as episode 0 of the TV series). The show takes place between Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (22 BBY) and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (19 BBY), and is centred around the conflict between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems (or Separatists).
BBY = Before the Battle of Yavin, i.e. the final act of Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope.
The show primarily follows the adventures of established characters from the prequel trilogy (such as Anakin Skywalker, Padmé Amidala and Obi-Wan Kenobi) and some characters created for the show (such as Ahsoka Tano, Captain Rex and Asajj Ventress). Overall, the narrative aims to fill in the gaps from the start of the clone wars until the events surrounding Order 66 (i.e. the execution of the Jedi knights).
This structure of the show is interesting in that most story arcs are groups of 3-4 episodes (in a given season) that follow a set of characters and then are followed up from season to season. Some of these story arcs take place in different time periods with no warning leaving the viewer to piece things together from context (an aspect I actually enjoyed).
The series ran for 6 continuous seasons from 2008 till 2014 and was only recently finalised with season 7 in 2020. There are 133 episodes in total (134 if you include the original animated film) all of which are currently available on Disney+.
The Good Stuff
Let’s start on a positive note and talk about what is good about this series.
As a whole I think it’s good and I really enjoyed it. - Me
Initially I struggled to give this series a fair chance given my dislike for the prequel films. After watching The Mandalorian, however, I felt like I was missing out on some of the lore, in particular for characters like Ahsoka Tano and Bo-Katan Kryze. So I decided to given it another go and I am glad that I did.
In general, I like the art style of the series, which I was able to appreciate a lot more on a bigger HD TV than on a smaller screen. I also particularly enjoyed that not all of the episodes are in chronological order and you have to watch everything to see the whole picture.
Below I will get into some specifics about the characters and story arcs that I liked.
Pre-existing Characters
I think that the writers, and supervising director Dave Filoni in particular, did a very good job at fleshing out some of the prequel characters that always felt very one-dimensional to me and adding to the backstory to those that were already interesting.
The Jedi Masters
Jedi masters such as Plo Koon, Shaak Ti, Aayla Secura and Luminara Unduli, who in the films are virtually background extras, are given unique voices and roles to play in the conflict. This at least gives you a reason to care about their eventual fate in Episode III.
Count Dooku
Count Dooku, leader of the separatists, is significantly more fleshed out. In the films Dooku, while portrayed by the excellent Christopher Lee, appears out of nowhere and does little to further the plot. Clone Wars provides a clear picture of who this character is and succeeds in making him a compelling villain. In the series we get to see him as a duplicitous diplomat, the powerful Sith lord Darth Tyranus, a fallen Jedi and a disapproving mentor.
Darth Maul
I was never a big fan of Darth Maul (or just Maul as he is later known). I think that Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace is hands down the worst instalment in Star Wars cannon and his character never seemed like anything more than a poorly written villain in a poorly written film. The Clone Wars does a very good job of making him interesting, particularly with his reintroduction in season 4 episode 21, “Brothers”, written by Katie Lucas (daughter of George Lucas). I think a lot of his newfound appeal is largely due to the voice acting of Sam Witwer.
Padmé Amidala
Natalie Portman’s performance and poor writing in the prequel films did little to endear me to the character of Queen/Senator Padmé Amidala. The Clone Wars does not fully salvage the character for me, but it gets pretty close. We get to see a mature leader making rational decisions (regarding the senate at least) and displaying a strong moral compass. A couple more story arcs might have been enough to push me over the edge, but as it stands the series did a good job of making me a lot more sympathetic to her.
Chancellor Palpatine
Sheev Palpatine (a.k.a. Darth Sidious) was one few things that I thought was really well done in prequel films. Ian McDiarmid performance is excellent, every syllable seems perfectly weighted. The Clone Wars continues the development of this sinister character with equally captivating vocal performances by Ian Abercrombie (Seasons 1–6), Tim Curry (Seasons 5–6) and Ian McDiarmid himself (Season 7). It’s also pretty cool to see more of Sidious in action outside of the senate chambers (see e.g. season 5 episode 16, “The Lawless”).
Obi-Wan Kenobi
The other standout choice from the prequel films was the casting of Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi. I think he did a very good job at channelling the gravitas that Alec Guinness brought to the role in the original trilogy, while also portraying a younger and less experienced Jedi. James Arnold Taylor’s voice work is just as good in the Clone Wars. The writers also get the opportunity to hint at richer backstory for Obi-Wan, in particular through his connection to Mandalorian duchess Satine Kryze.
Yoda
The way in which the Clone Wars handles Yoda is a bit different. They don’t come close to capturing the magic of the character in Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back, nor could they hope to. Instead, I got the impression that the writers wanted to show reverence for this character while experimenting with the boundaries of Star Wars lore. In episodes 10-13 of season 6 Yoda is lead on journey by the voice of the departed Qui-Gon Jinn to discover the secrets of how to live on in the Force after death. The style and tone of these episodes feel like a bit of a departure from the “standard” Star Wars universe, but stands out in terms of story telling.
New Characters
The Clone Wars also introduced an array of new characters to the Star Wars universe. Many of them just soldiers, villagers or diplomats needed to move the story along, but some stand out as being great additions to the cannon.
The Bounty Hunters
Not all of the bounty hunters that show up in the Clone Wars make much of impact, but two certainly do. The first is Aurra Sing, who actually appears briefly in Episode I. She is shown to be a ruthless but also compassionate character. In the series we get to see her stalk Senator Padmé Amidala (season 3 episode 7, “The Assassin”) and become a surrogate mother to the orphaned Boba Fett (season 2 episodes 20-22). The second is Cad Bane. Bane is a Duros (blue X-Files looking alien) that dresses like a space cowboy and is only interested in getting paid. In the series he is voiced by Corey Burton (who also voices Count Dooku), but with a very cool metallic sounding distortion effect. He shows up in several story arcs, my favourite being Obi-Wan’s Face-Off style infiltration of Moralo Eval’s band of bounty hunters in season 4 episodes 15-18.
Asajj Ventress
Ventress made her first appearance back in the 2003 2D animated Clone Wars series (perhaps a topic for another post) and was a recurring character throughout the Clone Wars. Initially I was not a fan as she seemed to be just another one-dimensional villain and an excuse to have more random lightsaber duels in the series. This all changed in season 3 episodes 12-14, written by Katie Lucas (who wrote a lot of my favourite arcs). In this arc Ventress is on the run from her former master Dooku and takes refuge on her homeworld of Dathomir with the Nightsisters. This arc provided a backstory for Ventress and started a new more interesting path for the character to follow, which allowed her to evolve throughout the series and become one of my favourites from the show.
The Clones
The clones are central to the Clone Wars, which should be fairly obvious from the name. When they were originally introduced in Episode II they were pretty underwhelming in my opinion. The colourful armour variations of the clone troopers were a pretty uninspired way of selling more toys. The fact that they were cloned from Jango Fett was a low point for me (more on this when we get to Boba) and their sudden appearance didn’t really make any sense. The series certainly wasn’t able to undo the harm that was done in the films, but it did surprise me by making me care about the clones. This is for me the biggest success of the series. Taking a bunch of literal clones and giving them distinct personalities all while voiced by one man (Dee Bradley Baker, the real star of the Clone Wars) is extremely impressive. Throughout the series we spend a lot of time getting to know some interesting clones including Captain Rex (CT-7567), Commander Cody (CC-2224), Fives (CT-5555), Echo (CT-1409), Jesse (CT-5597), Tup (CT-5385), Hevy (CT-782) and the honourable 99. I would argue that most of the clone-centric arcs of the series were good, but I think season 3 episodes 1-2 were what really got be invested in the Clone Wars as a whole.
Ahsoka Tano
Finally, even though the Clone Wars follows several different characters through various arcs, the leading protagonist of the series is Ahsoka Tano. Ahsoka, voiced by Ashley Eckstein, was introduced in the Clone Wars animated film as Anakin Skywalker’s padawan and over the course of seven seasons grows into a powerful and (mostly) well rounded character. She has certainly made the biggest impact on Star Wars cannon going on to appear in Star Wars Rebels and The Mandalorian (played by Rosario Dawson), and perhaps soon to have her own show on Disney+.
Ahsoka has a great character design. The distinctive orange skin and lekku (i.e. head-tails) of the Togruta along with the big blue eyes give her a fierce yet vulnerable look that is visually compelling. In the series we spend the most time with Ahsoka, so we can see her evolve significantly as a character. From the rash young Padawan that sought adventure to a jaded former Jedi who is seeking her own path in life.
When first introduced I was on the fence about Ahsoka, but it’s clear that the creators of the Clone Wars have a lot affection of this character and work hard to make you care about her. While I still have some issues that I will bring up in the next section, overall I have to say that she won me over and I am looking forward to finding out what lies in store for this character.
The Bad Stuff
Like any series, Star Wars: The Clone Wars is not perfect. I have an especially strong attachment to Star Wars, so certain things are bound to get under my skin. As I said already, I like the series and would certainly recommend it. These are just a some details that I personally don’t like.
One of the main issues is simply the time period in which it is set. No matter how good a job Filoni and Co. did, they were always limited by what has been established in the prequel films. Battle droids, ship designs, and just the look of this time period in Star Wars are things I am not partial to. The 70’s aesthetic of the original trilogy is central to what I consider to be the Star Wars universe, so the prequel look will never quite feel right to me.
Pre-existing Characters
My biggest problem with the Clone Wars is the handling of certain pre-existing characters. This is not surprising, since I went into this series with some biased impressions from the films.
R2D2
Everyone loves R2D2 and I am no exception, he is after all “the droid” of Star Wars. So my issue is not with R2D2 himself, but rather with the way he was used in the series. Throughout all of the Star Wars cannon we enjoyed R2’s comical partnership with C-3PO and this is continued nicely in the Clone Wars. In the original Star Wars trilogy, however, we get to see R2D2 develop a pet-like bond with Luke Skywalker. This gives Luke a chance to think out loud and allows us to connect with him more as a character. The prequel films bizarrely try to shoehorn in an equivalent relationship between R2 and Anakin Skywalker, which does not make much sense cannonically, nor did it work to endear me to Anakin. The Clone Wars takes this one step further by not only pairing R2 with Anakin, but also with Ahsoka and pretty much anyone else who goes off on a solo adventure. This seems like a missed opportunity to bring in some new droids for us to fall for (e.g. Chopper in Rebels). This also seems to put R2D2 a bit too much at the centre of every event that has ever occurred in the Star Wars universe. I would have preferred a few R2D2 and C-3PO adventures that perhaps explain why he can no longer fly by 0 BBY.
General Grievous
The prequel trilogy made a mess of introducing the villains. Maul is killed in Episode I, Dooku shows up out of nowhere in Episode II and is killed off early in Episode III and then we are left with the worst of the lot, General Grievous. Apart from having a terrible character design (he looks like a low budget video game character), he doesn’t seem to have any motivation or depth whatsoever. Sadly the Clone Wars does little to improve this character. We get to see plenty of him over the course of the series, but none of it made me care anymore about him. Episode 10 of season 1, “Lair of Grievous”, attempts to allude to backstory but it is never really followed up in any meaningful way. While, I can understand that being sandwiched between two films might have forced the writers hands to a certain degree, I would have simply left him out all together.
Jar Jar Binks
I don’t think I need to say much here. Everyone knows that Jar Jar Binks is a terrible character and the less time spent remembering that he exists the better. I assume the writers were targeting younger children with the Jar Jar episodes in the series. I could have happily lived without them.
Anakin Skywalker
My biggest problem with the prequel trilogy (out of many and bigger than Jar Jar) is Anakin Skywalker. Hayden Christensen’s performance is uncomfortable to watch. I cringe every time he opens his mouth. Beyond that, the writing made it impossible to believe that someone so whiny and annoying could eventually become the awe-inspiring and immeasurably cool Darth Vader. Matt Lanter vocal portrayal is significantly better, but sadly I still found it impossible to see how this rash, sarcastic and fairly stupid character would turn to the dark side and become the calm and collected villain we all know and love. Had Anakin simply been another character (obviously not a choice the series’ creators could have made), I think I would have been fine with him.
Beyond his lack of credibility as a young Vader, Anakin’s awkward relationship with Padmé is not really improved by the series. While I found myself warming to her character (as mentioned above), I failed to understand why she would be interested in Anakin in any way. In the end, I found myself less invested in the story arcs involving Anakin.
Boba Fett
Boba Fett has always been my favourite Star Wars character, ever since I first saw the Empire Strikes Back. I grew up reading Star Wars novels (now called Legends and not part of the cannon) such as Tales from Jabba’s Palace, where Fett escapes the sarlacc, and Tales of the Bounty Hunters, where he hunts Han Solo. This built up a picture in my mind of a cold and calculating bounty hunter who is feared and respected in the underworld. A picture I always longed to see further developed in the official Star Wars cannon. Unfortunately, in Episode II I was presented with a character who’s uniqueness was stripped away making him a clone of Jango Fett (who sports a near identical look). Then a entire army of clone troopers, whose uniforms initially resemble that of Fett’s iconic Mandalorian armour.
I don’t hate the way Boba was handled in the Clone Wars, but I was a bit disappointed that we didn’t get to see the sad boy from Episode II get closer to the bad-ass bounty hunter from Episode IV. I did appreciate the dynamic with Aurra Sing and his desire for revenge against Mace Windu (as mentioned above). Beyond that, we only get to see Boba team up with band of useless bounty hunters and end up being made a fool of by Asajj Ventress (season 4 episode 20, “Bounty”). This is not really a complaint about the show itself, rather that I would have liked to see more of Boba Fett doing cool things.
New Characters
I don’t have many complaints about the new characters introduced in the Clone Wars. Mainly because I didn’t have any preconceptions of what they should be like. There were some minor characters with silly voices (e.g. Rodians speaking English just doesn’t feel right) and others that didn’t really stand out to me (like Bo-Kata Kryze), but I didn’t really have a problem with them either.
Ahsoka Tano
So, why is Ahsoka on both the good and the bad list? Well she is the series protagonist and, while I think the creators got it mostly right, I still have some minor gripes.
Ever since the original trilogy I get the impression that writers want to combine Luke Skywalker and Han Solo into a single character, in other words they want a wisecracking roguish Jedi with a strong moral compass. This is not something I want. I like the contrast between Han and Luke. In general I like ensembles of characters with different strengths and weaknesses. This means you can write different scenarios for different characters that gives each of them a chance to shine.
Luke starts off as an farm boy who can’t wait to get off Tatooine, but by the end of Episode VI has become formidable Jedi knight. Even then, he is powerless to stop the Emperor and is only saved because of a last minute change of heart by his father. Han, meanwhile starts off as a selfish smuggler looking to pay off a debt, but ends up becoming a committed rebel soldier and a good friend.
In the Clone Wars Ahsoka seems to be good at everything, not too the extent that Rey is in the sequel trilogy, but enough to make her character feel a bit unbalanced to me. Again, not really a major criticism, more of an observation. I think we tend to empathise the most with underdogs who have to work hard to overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles. In some cases it feels like Ahsoka never listens to anyone and yet always turns out to be right.
I don’t think this takes away from the series as a whole too much. I just think the Clone Wars would have been just a bit better had the Clone Wars had no singular protagonist and rather was a collection of stories about that period. This would allow fans to choose to love Ahsoka rather than getting the felling you are supposed to.
Summary
In summary there is certainly a lot more good than bad over the 7 seasons of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. If you haven’t seen it yet you should go check it out for yourself and feel free to let me know what you think. 🙂