Remember when I said in my introduction post that I’d hopefully complete this project in August? Clearly that is definitely NOT happening. I am a little further in though! And today let’s talk about the longest series in this franchise marathon: The Clone Wars.
This tv show ran for seven seasons for over 12 years. Seasons 1-5 were shown on Cartoon Network and season 6 was presented on Netflix from 2008 to 2013.
In 2012 Disney bought the rights to the Star Wars franchise, and then in 2020 they aired the final seventh season on Disney+.
The show had multiple episodes and branching storylines, sometimes featuring the jedi, the clones, senators, droids, and a few episodes featuring former villains from the films. In some episodes, the show challenged the meaning of hero and villain, and tried to redefine and show it’s not always black and white.
That’s war for ya!
In this review post I will not be talking about each storyline as a whole, but rather one or two episodes from each season and why I liked them.
So without further ado, let’s get into…
Season 1:
Episode 15 – Trespass
As a whole, Season One was a bit slower compared to other seasons, but that’s to be expected.
I really liked the episode Trespass because although there were clones in it, and a war, this episode actually had nothing to do with the Clone Wars at all. Anakin, Obi-Wan, and clone Captain Rex the moon of planet Pantora who’s local government asked for assistance.
The bases created by the clones and the opposing Separatist army have both been destroyed by an unknown third party, so they need to investigate what happened. It turns out that the ice moon in inhabited by some humanoid spider-people, and the chairman of the planet orders the jedi and clones to start a war with the natives to remove them from the moon they “own”
That doesn’t happen and the chairman tries to start a war, loses and gets killed from injuries, and the more sensible Senator Chuchi takes charge and brokers a peace between the people.
This is probably my favorite of the season because the enemies aren’t good vs evil, but rather it’s a grey area where both peoples want to live.
Season 2:
Episode 8 – Brain Invaders
This episode finishes up a storyline where the Republic destroys a droid factory on Geonosis. Remember that planet from Attack of the Clones? The planet where the Clone War began and Anakin lost a limb?
This episode does not take place on the planet. Instead, they are leaving the planet at the beginning and taking a captured Separatist general Poggle with them. Ahsoka and fellow padawan Barriss are tasked after the battle to escort a medical frigate to a station to provide supplies.
What no one knew at the time, was that there was an alien species on the planet Geonosis that hatches from an egg and worms its way into your brain for mind control, and a clone on that ship got infected and secretly brought aboard more eggs.
The invasion is stopped because they decided to turn off the heat in the ship and super-freeze the worms saving everyone who was infected.
What makes this episode notable is when Anakin hears of his padawan’s distress, he goes to the prison cell they kept Poggle to get information on how to save her. The last interrogation with everyone in the room didn’t work, but we see for the first time in the show a darker side of Anakin, because he uses the force to choke the war prisoner, torturing him to get information.
For an organization dedicated for peace, it seems pretty violent to get to that point.
Season 3:
Episode 4 – Sphere of Influence
Chuchi is back! Our girl is still doing things within the senate, and has asked Ahsoka to help with finding the new chairman’s kidnapped daughters.
Somehow this series so far have every good episode feature Chuchi, and you know what? She deserves it.
The storyline in this episode, similar to S1 Trespass, does not have a plot that is related to the Clone Wars at all, but it is such a good storyline. The new Chairman, Chairman Papanoida, is a badass. While Chuchi and Ahsoka explore a Trade Federation ship to see if one of his daughters is being held there, the Chairman walks right into Jabba’s Palace on Tattoine. Jabba is the gangster leader of maybe a quarter of the galaxy, and this guy just walks in, demands an audience with a bounty hunter he discovers is the one who kidnaps his daughters, then goes out to beat him up until he reveals where they are.
Both daughters get back home safe, and Chuchi can do no wrong. Papanoida is a badass dad too and from what I recall, he doesn’t show in any later episodes.
Season 4:
Episodes 7-10 – The Umbara Arc
Pong Krell is the worst. Fuck Pong Krell.
I can’t pick a specific favorite episode for this season unfortunately. The Umbara Arc is the best storyline in the season going through four episodes, and you kind of need to watch them all to enjoy it best.
In this storyline, Anakin has to return to Corusant while his clone squad led by Captain Rex are trying to capture a planet called Umbara. He leaves his soldiers under jedi general Pong Krell.
Krell is awful. From the start of his leadership, he only talks to the clones using their designation number, not their chosen name. He then changes the entire attack plan and creates one that makes all the clones vulnerable and exposed to an attack themselves. Any attempt to question his orders is met with an intimidating speech, and a threat of arrest for mutinous behavior.
In the final episode of this storyline, it’s revealed that Pong Krell was intentionally sabotaging the clone army, and killing them off with his plans. All so he could hope Sith master Dooku would notice and take him on as an apprentice.
The clones were finally able to capture him and one loyal clone who felt the most betrayed killed him in his cell.
This was a dark series of episodes and great clone-centered story.
Season 5:
Episode 12 – Missing in Action
This was the third episode in a four episode storyline that focused on the droids. In this episode, the lost droids and their tiny leader find a town on an isolated planet, and need to find a ship to go home after a secret mission to invade and capture Separatist data.
The group meets an amnesiac clone named Gregor, who is working as a busboy for a diner. With the help of the droid group, he regains his memories and helps send them home.
Episode 16 – The Lawless
Okay so there’s a few episode in this season tied for my favorite, so I wanted to list them all.
Earlier in the series, it is shown that Maul, the Sith that Obi-Wan sliced in half at the end of the film The Phantom Menace, is actually alive. His brother, Savage, finds him, and helps restore his sanity.
During this episode, Maul attacks and takes over the planet Mandalore, and the planet’s leader (Duchess) requests Obi-Wan to come help. Unfortunately, due to some rules of war, he is unable to officially act in this manner, but he secretly gets Mandalorian armor and goes to the planet to help liberate it.
Maul ends up killing the Duchess and Obi-Wan is heartbroken. He leaves with her, and then secretly Maul’s former Master Sidious arrives at the planet and takes him down because he is a liability to his plans.
Episode 20 – The Wrong Jedi
Ahsoka is accused and put on trial for a bombing that occurred in the Jedi Temple. She is innocent, but no jedi other than Anakin take action to try and find evidence to save her. Anakin finds out that it was Padawan Barriss (Remember Season 2?) who bombed the temple and was willing to let Ahsoka take the blame.
She was found innocent and the jedi offered her place back into the order, but she was left not trusting them anymore, and decided to reject the offer, leaving Anakin alone and beginning to question the Jedi.
Season 6:
Episodes 1-4 – Clone Conspiracy arc
This storyline follows the clone soldier Fives who was investigating why his friend suddenly turned on his jedi commander and killed her. He found out there are microscopic control chips put into every clone, and something happened to his friend where the chip drove him to kill jedi.
Fives became more and more paranoid though the storyline, not knowing who to trust and not knowing who knew about the control chips. Chancellor Palpatine agreed to see him, but wanted to do so privately. It’s unknown what was said, but it caused Fives to attack Palpatine, and made him a fugitive on the run.
The story ends with him being killed, somewhat relieved he doesn’t have to panic or have nightmares of the conspiracy anymore.
What did Palpatine tell him?
Season 7:
Episodes 9-12 – Siege of Mandalore arc
Season 7 released in 2020 on Disney+. It consisted of 3 story arcs: the introduction of the unorthodox clone squad The Bad Batch, the story of what Ahsoka was doing after she left the Jedi Order at the end of season 5, and the final arc of Mandalore, where Ahsoka goes to fight Maul, and Order 66 is activated.
All of the final episodes were fantastic. They take place in parallel to Revenge of the Sith, where Sidious takes control of everything and orders the clones to kill all the jedi. Ahsoka’s clone team receives the order just after they capture Maul, and Rex tries to fight it.
Ahsoka saves Rex by removing the control chip, and the two escape to the ship’s hanger while using Maul as a distraction.
The last 20 minutes of the final episode are so beautifully done because once the ship gets destroyed and starts crashing on whatever planet they’re orbiting, there is no dialogue at all. The show just uses the sound effects from ambient noise and the musical soundtrack for the last 20 minutes.
The final shot was a time jump where Darth Vader was looking over the wreckage, assuming there were no survivors. It fades to black and all you hear is the iconic breathing.
Those are all of my favorite episodes in the series, but it ran for seven seasons and there were a lot of other fun ones I didn’t mention, like the bank arc in season six.
Next up is the third film Revenge of the Sith, and if the final episode here is any indicator, there is going to be some deaths.
Kristopher K. Online 