How The Clone Wars Redeemed the Prequels

Personally, I love Star Wars. I find it totally understandable if the whole thing isn’t your cup of tea, but I still love it. 

I also acknowledge that some people casually like the movies but don’t totally love every piece of media. I am somewhere in-between a die-hard and casual fan: I have seen all the movies multiple times, but beyond that, I’ve only seen the two canon television shows. However, I love both and feel that they add so much to the overall saga and franchise. This review is, as the title suggests, dedicated to showing how The Clone Wars has redeemed the prequel trilogy of some of its problems. 

Anakin’s Character:

The first thing I want to note is how the Clone Wars was originally going to be the focus of the Prequel Trilogy during Lucas’s original plans for the saga. However, he later realized that if he truly wanted to saga to be about Vader, then he would need to show his development into a Jedi, which became the first two Episodes (and explains why those Episodes flow so poorly when compared to Episode III). Lucas himself was involved in the creation of this show, and in doing so, he proves one big thing about his mythos: it’s so dense, that three movies couldn’t possibly cover it, but when it’s given time to develop over a television show, it’s awesome. 

We all remember the famous quote in A New Hope when Obi-Wan/Ben states that Anakin was an “excellent pilot, a cunning warrior and a good friend”. However, the Prequel Trilogy never really shows this: Episode I has Anakin’s potential realized by Qui-Gon, but he never acts on this potential; Episode II has Anakin falling in love with Padme and getting owned by Dooku in a fight; and Episode III has him falling to the dark side. None of these things really show him being a pilot, warrior or friend (maybe the time he decapitated Dooku in their rematch and the spaceship opening to episode III, but that’s it). 

However, the Clone Wars has all of those things. Anakin’s flying skills are frequently demonstrated as being on par with the famous Episode III opening scene. He has a large amount of lightsaber fights throughout the series that show his expertise with the weapon, and as a Jedi General, he leads the 501st Squadron into various fights during the series. Even better, he has pleasant, outgoing and welcoming interactions with Obi-Wan, Padme, Rex and Ahsoka that all live up to the statement of him being a good friend. 

Original Characters:

The new characters introduced quickly become one of the best parts of the show. Captain Rex gives an entirely new insight into the expendable clone army, showing just what kind of mindset this leaves the troopers in. Some of the other clones (like Jesse, Fives and Cody) all expand this mindset while keeping a sense of humor, but also showing how even the clones are unique from one-another. 

Their storylines are at their absolute best when they’re investigating Order 66 in the months and weeks leading up to Revenge of the Sith. These are episodes drenched in dramatic irony and nail-biting suspense, because we know that Order 66 is unavoidable, but we’re just begging Rex, Jesse, Fives and Cody to somehow figure it out anyways. It’s like watching a seven-season long Hitchcock movie, unable to think about anything but the ticking time bomb under the table the whole time. 

Meanwhile, Asajj Ventress slowly grew on me. I found her grating at first, but she has a tragic backstory that, when revealed in seasons 3-4, expanded her character and made her more sympathetic. Furthermore, by being developed as a rival to Anakin, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka simultaneously, she begins to come into her own light. Ventress’s betrayal by Dooku also leads into one of the better storylines in the series. Duchess Satine becomes a stand-out character because of her non-allegiance to the Republic and the Separatists. Savage Opress, while somewhat tacky in nature, never becomes less intimidating from his introduction, and he only grows more powerful from his debut, so every encounter with him could lead to something different. Pre Visla shows what a true Mandalorian looks like while still showing some moral ambiguity and a second life as a politician (but one radically different from Palpatine). 

And Ahsoka. Oh, my dear Ahsoka. 

Ahsoka was one of those characters that many audiences mentally cringed at when she was first introduced. Her snippy attitude, too-young-to-be-in-the-field appearance and subpar skills (with both a lightsaber and the Force) made her seem like a meaningless addition to the series. However, once you get past the first two seasons, she begins to show character growth, and even before that. Ahsoka’s transformation from a young pupil into a quiet, mature, skilled, powerful, war-weary and independent individual is one of the most compelling aspects of the show, and it is immensely rewarding. As a younger character, she also shows how long the war lasts, beginning the series as a 14-year old and ending it as a 17-going-on-18-year old.

 Watching the show now, I can make a case for how her transformation is comparative to Clementine throughout the first three installments of Telltale’s The Walking Dead series (despite age differences). Both start off with minimal or beginner knowledge of weaponry (Ahsoka’s is obviously greater, but she still develops dramatically) but grow to become experts, both become incredibly mature for their age, both are shown to be excellent leaders despite their ages (Ahsoka later becomes a Jedi General in the series, and the youngest in history if I recall), and both learn to survive in a violence-oriented environment. 

Darth Maul and the Prequel Cast:

Besides the new characters, the show also solves two major complaints about the Prequel Trilogy: the character of Darth Maul being wasted, and the current characters not being developed enough. 

Darth Maul is revealed to have survived his encounter with Obi-Wan in Episode I (it’s explained as his alien biology being different, so the wound wasn’t lethal, but to be honest, this was one of the franchises weaker attempts at solving a plot point, but it works in the long run). Despite a somewhat clichéd portrayal, Maul does prove to be captivating, and I found myself looking up episode guides, skipping other story arcs to see more Maul, and then going back later to finish episodes I missed. However, I do have to point out that this could be because the normal plots of Sidious, Dooku, and Grievous become tiresome after a while (there’s only so much “take over this planet” arcs one can take). 

Regardless, when Maul teams up with Savage, they do cause much mayhem, and without spoiling anything, the episode “The Lawless” proves to be the best in the entire series because of the two, leading to the second-greatest lightsaber fight in animated history. (Anyone who watched Season 7 knows what #1 is.) I personally wasn’t a fan of the Nightsisters when I first watched the show, but I began to come around on a rewatch, because it adds an ethereal, strange element to the Star Wars lore that feels very (for lack of better term) George Lucas-y. 

As for the development of prequel trilogy characters, the show makes good use of the other Jedi in the Order (including Kit Fisto, Mace Windu, Yoda and Plo Koon). Each of the aforementioned individuals have at least one spin-off story arc that focuses on their character specifically. Yoda’s arc is quite possibly the best, as he seeks to learn the secrets of the dark side to find out who the currently-unknown Darth Sidious is. For a time, that arc was the conclusion to the series as a whole, delving into the more mysterious parts of the Force but leaving us wanting more. (Which we got, thank god.) 

The Three Main Characters:

One of the best parts about the series is that, in addition to Maul and other Jedi, the three core protagonists (Obi-Wan, Anakin and Ahsoka) all shine in their own ways. Ahsoka, as previously mentioned, grows into an exceptionally talented individual, but watching her grow up at the same time is immensely rewarding. Her gradual non-reaction to violence really shows how the war has affected her in ways that can’t be undone. Obi-Wan acts mostly as he does in Episodes II and III (wise, courageous, skilled, precise, knowledgeable and dedicated), but his relationship with Duchess Satine (first mentioned in Season Two and developed throughout the series) proves to be one of the more compelling aspects of his character. 

Anakin is noteworthy because he acts like the Chosen One should; rather than a Jedi-in-training during most of the prequel trilogy, or turning into Vader in Episode III, he actually appears like a savior of sorts. This is most evident during the Mortis Arc; a little backstory, but tens of thousands of years before the events of the show, a species called the Celestials ruled over the galaxy, but they all mysteriously disappeared when the galaxy began to develop. A surviving few Celestials named the Father, Daughter and Son came to embody the Force, its light side and its dark side respectively. When Anakin, Ahsoka and Obi-Wan crash land on the planet of Mortis, it is revealed that the three (now called “the Ones) are residing on the planet, and the Father asks Anakin to take his place as the ruler of the Force. If that isn’t enough, at one point, the Daughter and Son kidnap Obi-Wan and Ahsoka respectively, and using only the Force, Anakin subdues both immortal beings and frees his friends. 

As with Rex’s storylines above, the three-way interactions between Anakin, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka are rich in dramatic irony and suspense. We know that something happens to Ahsoka, because she’s not in Episode III, so we spend several seasons trying to piece together the exact circumstances that led to her conspicuous absence.  Similarly, we know that, no matter how good of a guy Anakin seems to be, he’s only a couple months away from becoming a mass murderer. Every interaction between him and Obi-Wan is tinged with bittersweetness when you remember the explosive match on Mustafar that’s yet to come. It’s in this emotional area---presenting great character interactions, but gently reminding you they won’t last---where The Clone Wars excels. 

Conclusion:

All of these amazing elements---rich settings, epic fights, endless callbacks, a well-fleshed out arc for Ahsoka, and an incredible antagonist in Darth Maul---come to light in the final season. Without saying too much, the final four episodes of The Clone Wars took 12 years of storytelling over the previous six seasons, including a half-dozen different previously-unrelated plotlines, and united it all together into a cohesive, wonderful finale. It’s bittersweet, emotional, ambitious, and brilliant, and it rewards longtime watchers in a way that few TV shows can even dream of. 

None of this is to say that Clone Wars is perfect. Earlier seasons don’t really feel like they're going anywhere, especially if you’re used to series like The Mandalorian, which has a clear focus from the get-go. A lot of episodes contribute nothing to the plot, and a lot of characters show up and never contribute to the main narrative, but that’s the point. Real life isn’t clean, focused and linear. Real life is messy; people come and go out of our lives all the time, and nobody has a grand goal that guides every single one of their decisions. 

The brilliance of The Clone Wars truly emerges when you view it as the sum of its parts. Are some episodes stupid, strangely-paced and boring? Yeah, sure. Are some characters annoying? Sure. But Clone Wars isn’t the story of just Anakin, just Obi-Wan, just Ahsoka, just Ventress, or just Maul. It’s the story of all of these people, of a whole galaxy in a terrible war. 

And when you watch that final episode of The Clone Wars, when the music stops and the screen cuts to black and the credits roll, you’ll know...this journey was all worth it.