#I love how technically the clones wars episodes aren’t chronological | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

jbk405 · 4 years

Text

Story-arcs of The Clone Wars

Yesterday I was talking about Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and how to watch this series (And Rebels) to catch up and understand Ahsoka’s appearance in The Mandalorian. Since TCW was an anthology series its episodes frequently jumped around in chronological order (The very earliest episode doesn’t come out until the second season, and the pilot movie is technically third) and so there’s a thousand-and-one different “proper” ways to watch the series. Some say to watch it in straight chronological order so that you get the full story, others say to watch it in production/release order since that’s the way it was meant to be experienced, and some have their own personal mishmash based on story-arcs.

Throughout the series they frequently had three- and four-part story-arcs that formed what were essentially mini-movies (This is what they did for the original theatrical release). Quite often these were among the best episodes of the series, and they contributed the most to the ongoing storylines that built towards what happened in the movies, what came next in Rebels, and which are now being followed in The Mandalorian.

I can’t give a final ruling on the overall order to watch the series, but what I can do is give an overview of the various individual story-arcs. My takes on their quality, how accessible they are to new viewers, and where they fit in the story. I will be covering them in release order from beginning to end, skipping over the standalone and two-part episodes. I won’t do season seven as it is still recent, and that is the climax to all of these arcs.

So, with no further ado:

Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008): The pilot movie, which had a theatrical release. As I said, this was composed of what were originally the first four episodes of the show, and I find that the enjoyment is a lot better if you view it that way instead of as a single whole. As an introduction to the series it serves functionally well: It introduces Ahsoka Tano and it features almost all of the main players of the series (Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Padme, Count Dooku, Asajj Ventress, Rex, Cody, etc.). Quality wise it’s “Okay”. I disliked it when I first saw it back in 2008, but when I rewatched it a few months ago it was a lot better than I remembered so it’s possible I was just in whiny “It’s not REAL Star Wars!” mode back in 2008. If you’re watching it with somebody who doesn’t like ‘cartoons’ or is an Original Trilogy purist this may not be the best place to start since it doesn’t present the best first impression, but if they’ve got an open mind or are interested in the series it could work.

Malevolence Arc (Season 1): Three episodes of the first season revolving around the Separatists’ new superweapon, a powerful ion canon aboard the dreadnought Malevolence. The first episode shows them discovering the weapon, the second disabling it, and the third episode shows their attempts to finish destroying the ship itself. There are numerous references and homages to the original Star Wars film and the effort to escape/destroy the Death Star. This arc has some great character work (Jedi Master Plo Koon is heavily featured and he is a heavy fan favorite, plus a personal favorite of Dave Filoni) and some light debates on the worth of the life of a clone. However, this early the show is still working out its kinks so there’s a few points where characters fundamentally misunderstand the whole “Jedi shouldn’t have attachments” philosophy, and the supposedly competent military commanders make baseline errors that come close to sabotaging their own forces. An adequate jump-on point for the series, just bear in mind that it does get better.

Nute Gunray Arc (Season 1): A very loose three-part arc, it follows a different primary cast each episode as one group initially captures Separatist leader Nute Gunray, another transports him, and a third tries to recapture him after he escapes. Each episode of this arc is very different tonally from the one before, it starts with a semi-comical Jar Jar Binks episode, the middle is a military action story, and the conclusion is a much more intimate military action, almost horror story. Jedi Masters Luminara Unduli and Kit Fisto appear in parts two and three. The episodes themselves are good, but I would recommend against this being your first exposure since their loose connection means they don’t really build to anything as a whole by watching them together.

Ryloth Arc (Season 1): Three episodes towards the end of the first season showing the different stages of the Republic’s attempt to liberate the planet Ryloth from Separatist occupation. Here is where the arcs start to pick up a little bit of steam: Each episode shows a different stage of the invasion and focuses on different characters, but unlike the Gunray arc they are all still the same story. The first episode focuses on Anakin and Ahsoka trying to break the Separatist blockade so they can reach the planet, the second focuses on Obi-Wan Kenobi attempting to destroy ground-based weaponry so they can land their forces on the surface, and the third focuses on Mace Windu leading the attack on the Separatist capital. This is the first arc to really try and show the cost and effects of war: Ahsoka loses a lot of men in the first episode and struggles with that guilt when they need to attack again, Obi-Wan needs to circumvent civilian hostages and human shields that the Separatists are using, and Mace needs to ally with the local resistance and try to forge a partnership despite their admittedly not-identical goals. These aren’t the individually best episodes of the entire season, but it’s probably the best arc of the season.

Children of the Force Arc (Season 2): The three episodes that open season two. This introduces Cad Bane, a bounty hunter hired to steal a Jedi Holocron so that Darth Sidious can get a list of Force-sensitive children the Jedi have found and can kidnap them to raise as his evil lackeys. The first episode is a heist episode, the second an action retrieval episode, and the third a chase episode. I will admit to not liking this arc as much as others seem to, because the main characters keep making ridiculous decisions that only make sense if they have literally forgotten other parts of the story (For example, a Holocron can only be opened by somebody using the Force, so the Jedi initially don’t believe that anybody would bother trying to steal one because it would be useless to them. This requires them to just forget the existence Count Dooku, a former Jedi who is leading the Separatists and who would love to gain their secrets). However, despite not being my personal favorite, this could serve as a good intro if you wanted to start here. Cad Bane recurs in several future episodes so it’s a good introduction, and it features a large portion of the primary cast. It also has good action, and several bits of character development for Ahsoka, Anakin, and their relationship.

Geonosis Arc (Season 2): A four-part arc (Some people actually include the preceding episode as well to make it five episodes, but I don’t), this is in my opinion the first really good arc and starts to show where The Clone Wars is going to excel as a series. This follows the Republic re-invasion of Geonosis (The planet from Attack of the Clones) after the Separatists have somehow managed to overwhelm the forces left there after the film. The first episode is straight military action, often described as being like Saving Private Ryan and other WWII films focusing on the Normany invasions. The second episode is military espionage, a sabotage mission. The third (Believe it or not) switches over to a zombie episode and goes straight horror. The fourth stays horror, but instead of zombies it’s paranoia from spreading mind control. Barriss Offee is introduced here, and her master Luminara Unduli returns. The cast semi-rotates throughout the four episodes, with different Jedi ‘sets’ being primary in different episodes. It gives a perfect highlight of all the different characters and shows some excellent development as well (Including just how much Anakin’s fear of losing those he cares about can cloud his judgement, and how this can push him towards morally questionable actions). If you want to include the episode prior to this arc as well, that one is a political thriller based on the Alfred Hitchock film Notorious. As I said, I don’t really count it as being in this arc, but it does set up the plot so others do count it.

Mandalore Arc (Season 2): This arc introduces a whole new faction to the series: the Mandalorians. The planet Mandalore itself has renounced its violent ways and its leader, the pacifist Duchess Satine Kryze, leads an alliance of 1,500 neutral worlds that want to stay out of the clone wars. However, there are rumors that the Duchess is actually in league with the Separatists, and apart from the rumors there have also been attacks by people wearing Mandalorian armor, so Obi-Wan is sent to figure out what’s going on. He and the Duchess have a history that is separated by their opposed political views. The first episode shows Obi-Wan on Mandalore looking into the subversive group Death Watch, the second episode shows them all journeying to Coruscant to speak with the Galactic Senate, and the third tries to expose a Separatists conspiracy on Coruscant itself. This is the first arc with Obi-Wan as the primary focus for all three episodes, though Anakin and Padme do join in parts two and three. This arc could serve as an intro if you wanted to enter the series here, since the Mandalorians will grow into a major part of the series and will intertwine with Obi-Wan’s personal arc for seasons to come. For those looking to get background on The Mandalorian, this is also where we start learning things about their culture that show up in the live-action series.

Boba Fett arc (Season 2): The three-part finale to season two. Boba Fett -- still a child keep in mind -- infiltrates a Republic cruiser with a group of clone cadets in a plot to kill Mace Windu in revenge for Windu killing Jango Fett. He has a group of bounty hunters helping him, and when Windu survives the original assassination attempt things spin further and further out of control. I honestly don’t have much to say about this arc. It’s not bad, but I find it kinda forgettable. It’s got some good character scenes, and a few good action pieces, but other than that....eh. Despite this, this arc could also serve as an entry to the series since it builds off the Attack of the Clones film more than it does any previous episodes of this series.

Nightsisters arc (Season 3): Here is where the series takes a hard left turn. This arc focuses primarily on Asajj Ventress, Count Dooku’s assassin. Darth Sidious feels that Ventress is growing too powerful, and Dooku may be thinking of using her to help overthrow him, so he orders Dooku to kill her. Ventress survives, and escapes back to her people: the Nightsisters of Dathomir. They accept her back, and help her try to get revenge on Dooku. First through a direct assassination attempt, and when that fails they trick Dooku into accepting a new apprentice that they have brainwashed to betray him at their command, Savage Oppress. This is the first arc to focus primarily on one of the villains (None of the heroic main cast appear in its second episode at all) and when it ends both Ventress and Oppress are alive and working independently as new factions in the plot. This changes the status quo for the rest of the series, and introduces a new plot thread as well: The return of Darth Maul, the brother of Savage Oppress.

Mortis arc (Season 3): Another three-part arc, this is the first real foray of Star Wars into straight fantasy, and the first attempt of this series to address the Prophecy of the Chosen One. Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Ahsoka find themselves on a mysterious planet with properties they cannot explain, populated by ‘Force Wielders’ of immense power and who represent the Light, the Dark, and the Balance. Almost all of the sci-fi trappings around the Force are dropped, these people are clearly wizards/angels/demons. It gives a lot of character focus on the three leads, directly addressing their hopes and fears and their destinies. It’s so different from the rest of the series that it may not function as a good introduction, but it gives such a good presentation of each character I heavily recommend against skipping it.

Citadel arc (Season 3): This is a military rescue arc, with Anakin, Ahsoka and Obi-Wan attempting to rescue a Jedi Master and a naval officer who have been captured by the Separatists, and who have vital military information that could change the course of the war. This is where you can first begin to really see The Empire growing unseen within the Republic, as the officer is in fact Captain Wilhuff Tarkin (AKA Grand Moff Tarkin, the villain of the original Star Wars film). Throughout the arc Tarkin and the Jedi have several debates about politics, the military, and the current war, as well as what the Jedi’s role should be in all three. At this point I think we’re past “introductions” to the series, as the series becomes ever more tightly interwoven over the remaining seasons. Tarkin will return as an antagonist in the future, and the cracks between Anakin (And Ahsoka) and the Jedi really start to widen.

Calamari arc (Season 4): The season four opener, this is a Water arc, which I have to applaud the franchise for finally doing. The water world of Mon Cala falls into civil war when the Quarren ally with the Separatists against the Republic-aligned Mon Calamari. We get to see Jedi Kit Fisto, an amphibious Nautolan, at home underwater while our air-breathing main cast are in scuba suits and helmets. Unfortunately, when the underwater fighting spills out of control the Republic needs to bring in the also-amphibious Gungans to fight and I find this part of the story ridiculous (They’re the only other amphibious species with an army? The Republic has never had to fight on a water world before, so they don’t have any widely available submersibles? Come on). Despite this contrivance, I very much like that the series finally addresses how different species require different environments. The Separatists use shark people on this planet, as they would be useless on other worlds but this is the perfect locale for them. The arc doesn’t have much of a story impact for later, it’s self-contained action/adventure.

Umbara arc (Season 4): One of the best arcs of the series, this arc (As reviewer SF Debris put it), “Puts the ‘war’ in ‘Star Wars’”. A four-part arc, the focus is almost entirely on the Clone Troopers of the 501st, who are normally under Anakin’s command but are being transferred to Jedi General Pong Krell when Anakin is recalled to Coruscant. Anakin only appears in the first episode, and none of the Jedi main cast appear in the other three episodes except for holo-communications with Obi-Wan. All the episodes are filled with intense action, but the series also finally really digs in to what it means to be a Clone, and the morality around using them for battle. ALL the props for Dee Bradley Baker who spends all four episodes talking to himself as dozens of different clone characters. They debate loyalty, duty, training, the values of their own lives, and the value of a system that claims to stand for freedom but which doesn’t offer it to them. These concepts had been touched before in individual episodes which also focused on the clones, but never to this extent or depth. I consider this arc one of the stand-out entries of the entire Star Wars franchise.

Slaver arc (Season 4): To be honest, I’ve never quite been able to get a good grasp on this three-part arc. After a village full of Togrutas (Ahsoka’s people) are kidnapped by slavers allied with the Separatists, Anakin, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka go undercover to locate and rescue them. I suppose it’s an okay arc, but it just never clicked for me. Nobody seems to recognize the problems with forcing Anakin -- a former slave -- to go undercover as a slaver. The slavers sometimes try to pull a “Slavery is actually moral because the strong are supposed to dominate the weak” speech, but it never comes close to working on Anakin (Again, he is a former slave) so there’s never any tension of “Oh no, will he decide the villain is right and betray his friends?”. Individual parts of the arc are well done (There’s a hilarious part of the first episode where Obi-Wan is getting his ass kicked, only to reveal that he was just playing along to buy time and just effortlessly mops the floor once he knows he can stop pretending) but as a whole....eh.

Deception arc (Season 4): A four-part arc, Obi-Wan has to go undercover as an assassin in order to infiltrate a Separatist criminal plot. To do so, he stages his own murder and then impersonates the assassin. You really see Anakin start to come apart in this arc, he’s a hair's breadth from just executing the ‘assassin’ when he catches him, and he is barely holding on to any of the Jedi teachings in his anger. Ahsoka is likewise conflicted, and though not as completely overcome as Anakin she likewise questions their responsibilities in this case. Obi-Wan faces the standard moral quandaries of being undercover: How far does he go to retain his cover when it comes to harming innocents? How much harm does he let the other criminals do before interfering? This is one of the arcs where each episode has its own type as they progress, from Prison Episode to Fugitive Episode to Planning Episode to Crime Episode. Cad Bane returns, along with several other criminal characters.

Ventress/Oppress arc (Season 4): Some classify this is as two separate two-episode arcs, but I view them as one. The first two episodes focus on Asajj Ventress (No Jedi characters appear at all) as she first tries to re-assimilate to the Nightsisters, but they are soon wiped out by the Separatists in revenge for their plot against Count Dooku in season three. Ventress escapes with no personal goals or direction, and eventually falls in with a group of bounty hunters. The last two episodes follow Savage Oppress on his quest to find his brother, Darth Maul, guided by a magic amulet from Mother Talzin of the Nightsisters. Maul is living in madness on a junkyard planet with a mechanical spider’s body grafted to his torso to replace the legs Obi-Wan cut off in The Phantom Menace. Obi-Wan attempts to stop their mutual rampage, and Ventress shows up for her own revenge against Oppress, but they are overpowered and barely manage to escape. This arc mainly serves as set-up for later arcs in season five, which build to the climaxes for the series.

Season five gives a slight shift from the earlier seasons: there are only story-arcs in this season, with no standalone episodes at all. Five four-part story-arcs fill out the entire season.

Onderon arc (Season 5): The planet Onderon has allied with the Separatists, but there is a pro-Republic underground fighting a guerilla war against the government. The main cast are sent to Onderon to train the resistance, without involving the Republic forces in an internal matter. Apart from the bizarre Prime Directive issue (The Republic is literally at war with the Separatists, I do not see any logic in saying they can’t ‘interfere’ in an internal matter of a Separatist planet) the arc works very well showing the main cast working from a very different angle from usual. They need to focus on being undetected and secret, taking into account public opinion around them and the effect their efforts have on the civilian populace. They cannot just fight the war themselves, they have to train the locals to take over so that they can leave and return to the primary war. Saw Gerrera is first introduced here, and Lux Bonteri returns from earlier in the series. This arc helps lay the groundwork for Ahsoka’s storyline at the end of this season in particular.

Youngling arc (Season 5): A group of Jedi children trainees come together to gather their first Kyber crystals, and subsequently get entangled in pirate raids and the larger war before they can return home. Ahsoka is present as their chaperone. This arc is almost “filler” since it really doesn’t have much of an effect on the larger story. To some viewers it was a fun arc that remembered that Star Wars isn’t just about war scenes. To others it was a waste of four episodes in a season that was so tightly packed it didn’t have any episodes to waste. For me...it’s better than a lot TV shows which introduce child characters where they really don’t belong, but I agree that it didn’t need full four episodes dedicated to them. A two-parter would have worked just as well, with the other two episodes free for another small story.

Droid Commando arc (Season 5): R2-D2 is added to a special droid commando unto being sent into Separatist space. Despite following this same group for the whole arc, each episode is a very unique and distinct story. Almost avant-garde for some of them. Like the Youngling arc it’s not that critical to the later stories, but it tells its own story.

Maul Mandalore arc (Season 5): Here is where, as they say, shit gets real. Maul decides that if he cannot rule the galaxy as a Sith Lord, he will will take power from the shadows as a Crime Lord. He and Oppress first try to take over a pirate gang, and when that fails (partially due to Obi-Wan) he joins up with Death Watch, the Mandalorian extremist group trying to take over Mandalore. Obi-Wan travels to Mandalore to help Duchess Satine against what he thinks is just a Death Watch takeover, unaware of Maul’s involvement. Simultaneously, Darth Sidious has sensed Maul’s growing power and is unwilling to have another player in his game, so he personally travels to Mandalore to deal with the situation. This arc is big. Several long-time recurring characters are killed off, and it had some of the most standout lightsaber duels of the entire series. This arc, and one other from later in season seven, is probably the most influential towards what happens in Rebels and The Mandalorian.

The Wrong Jedi arc (Season 5): Did I say that the last arc was where shit got real? Well, now it’s realer. There’s a bombing of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, and Anakin & Ahsoka are investigating. However, it looks like it may have been an inside job by a Jedi, and Ahsoka herself is framed as the bomber. As Ahsoka is accused, imprisoned, and eventually a fugitive, this arc finally shows what the audience has known was coming all along: The Empire isn’t just coming, it’s here. The institutions of the Republic have been corrupted, and with the rationales of “it’s temporary” and “we need security” the freedoms and liberties that the entire clone wars were about have already been wiped away. Even the Jedi are not free from this corruption (Although personally, I very much disagree with the way the episode seems to accept the villain’s motivation speech as correct. It’s the only real flaw in the arc). This arc originally served as a pseudo-series finale since the series was cancelled after season five, and though I’m happy we got more, if it had to end here it would have been monumental.

Season six (Also known as “The Lost Missions”) is composed of the episodes that had been competed before the show was cancelled after Disney purchased Lucasfilm. It’s about half the length of a full season, and returns to the earlier mix of different-sized arcs.

Fives arc (Season 6): The four-part arc that opens the season, this finally addresses the point that has been looming over the series from the beginning: How could these stalwart, heroic Clone Troopers betray the Jedi they have fought side-by-side with for years when they receive Order 66? Clone Trooper Tup snaps and murders a Jedi, and this leads to an investigation amongst the Jedi if his is an isolated incident, or some sort of Separatist plot. Fives accompanies Tup back to Kamino for treatment, and is drawn deeper and deeper in as the Kaminoans seem more interested on covering things up than actually figuring anything out. The conspiracy widens more and more, until Fives believes that it is galaxy-wide and manipulating them all. This arc continues several of the moral and ethical questions surrounding the clones from earlier in the series, and moves the series firmly more towards the inevitable film storyline instead of the clone wars adventures themselves. This is another one of the arcs where each episode has its own tone, from the “No one gets left behind” military mission, to the rogue patient plot, to the paranoid conspiracy pursuit.

Clovis arc (Season 6): This is another one of the arcs that never quite clicked for me. Rush Clovis returns from earlier in the series in the hopes of reforming the Banking Clan and bringing ‘honor’ back after it has been corrupted by the greed of the clone wars. However he was previously a Separatist, and despite their explanation of how it’s okay I keep thinking at every scene that they should arrest him for treason, not let him continue to operate in the Republic government. Plus, when has anybody ever viewed banks as Honorable Institutions with Good Old Ways? I do believe that it is possible for a bank to act honorably and treat its customers fairly, but not that banking itself is some sort of Ancient Honorable Institution. Maybe if season 6 had a full complement of episodes I wouldn’t mind this detour, but since it was cut short I begrudge every wasted episode.

Yoda arc (Season 6): Another pseudo-series finale, these are the final episodes of the season and would have served as the end of the series if season seven had not been revived. Yoda goes on a vision quest to try and parse out so many of the mysteries of the clone wars and the manipulations of the Dark Side. Like the earlier Mortis arc, these episodes are straight fantasy as Yoda faces the ghosts of people from his past and his own internal demons. They make an effort to address what it means when people say that the Jedi have become corrupted by fighting in this war, and they try to reconcile their peacekeeper philosophy with serving as soldiers. The arc ends on the depressed-yet-hopeful note which is the mantra of Star Wars of this era, as the Empire’s rise may be inevitable but there is still hope for afterwards.

#Star Wars: The Clone Wars #Recap #Star Wars #Story-arcs

5 notes · View notes