Sell me on "The Clone Wars" series

[Christopher]

Clone Wars will be departing from Netflix on March 7.

Oh, rats. I guess I'll have to start binge-watching it sooner than planned. Or else just let it lapse and maybe borrow the DVDs from the library later. (I keep putting these shows in my queue and never get around to watching them until I see I'm about to run out of time. Which is pretty much how I deal with most things in my life, unfortunately including my writing.)

 

[Evil Twin]

Yeah, I saw that yesterday. I'm really going to have to power through the show this month! I should be finishing season 2 tomorrow night.

 

[Reverend]

Yeah, I saw that yesterday. I'm really going to have to power through the show this month! I should be finishing season 2 tomorrow night.

Binge watching should get much easier since from here on out, it's almost all 2-4 episode arcs, very few standalones and most of those tie into at least one other arc. It's still an anthology show and never goes full serial, but it's a lot more focused than the earlier seasons.
It also helps that the quality of the visuals gets a massive boost in season 3, plus a redesign of a lot of assets.

 

[Christopher]

Binge watching also gets easier in later seasons because they're in more linear chronological order than the earlier seasons:

http://www.starwars.com/news/star-wars-the-clone-wars-chronological-episodeorder

Although it turns out the episode order isn't quite as all over the place as I thought in the first 2-3 seasons.

 

[Turtletrekker]

Binge watching also gets easier in later seasons because they're in more linear chronological order than the earlier seasons:

http://www.starwars.com/news/star-wars-the-clone-wars-chronological-episodeorder

Although it turns out the episode order isn't quite as all over the place as I thought in the first 2-3 seasons.

My viewing order is all over the place anyway. I was one of those that saw the movie first and just gave up on it. Although, I did manage to catch a few episodes over the years and acknowledged the improvement, I never sat down to watch the whole series. Instead, I've been watching arcs relevant to Rebels as they come up. I watched the Ryloth arc to meet Hera's father. When Ahsoka joined the show, I watched her final arc. When Maul returned, I watched all of his CW episodes. I watched the Saw Guererra (sp?) arc when that character became prominent. I still need to watch the first Mandalorian arc as that has recently become relevant to Rebels, and Hondo's first appearance. Are there any other arcs or episodes relevant to Rebels that I should catch before Netflix pulls them?

 

[Reverend]

Are there any other arcs or episodes relevant to Rebels that I should catch before Netflix pulls them?

If "everything from season 3 onwards" is too much of an ask then in no particular order: -

('Overlords', 'Altar of Mortis' & 'Ghosts of Mortis'): The Mortis arc in season 3 is an absolute *must* for any Star Wars fan. You may not understand half of what's going on (hint: there's a *lot* of metaphor layered in there) but this is where George Lucas opened the lid on some of the deeper cosmic mysteries of the force with some seriously mythical stuff and it's bonkers (in a good way!) .

('The Citadel', 'Counter Attack', 'Citadel Rescue', 'Padawan Lost' & 'Wookiee Hunt'): For a broader appreciation of Ahsoka's character arc (and an early appearance of Tarkin), you should definitely check out the last two arcs of season 3 as well as...

('Heroes on Both Sides' & 'A Friend In Need'): Since those also overlap with the Saw Gurrera/Onderon arc, the Mandalore arc and I think will play a significant part in the upcoming Sabine episodes on 'Rebels' (also, if you haven't seen the Mandalore episodes, go watch *all* of them!)

('The Gathering', 'A Test of Strength', 'Bound for Rescue' & 'A Necessary Bond'): Aside from advancing Ahsoka's character, the padawan arc is important in a number of ways: it gives some deeper lore on the Jedi and kyber crystals, adds more context to Luke's cave vision in ESB (plus all the goings on in the Lothal temple) and despite featuring another appearance from Hondo it's actually guest star David Tennant who steals the show!

('Landing at Point Rain', 'Weapons Factory', 'Legacy of Terror' & 'Brain Invaders'): Also related is the Geonosis arc as it sets up Ahsoka's friendship with Barris, furthers her relationship with Anakin and as one might guess, gives a little more context to the Geonosis episodes on 'Rebels'.

('Darkness on Umbara', 'The General', Plan of Dissent' & 'Carnage of Krell'): The Umbara arc is a strong one for Rex, gives a little insight into the downfall of the Jedi and has some of the best warfare action in the whole show (not surprisingly considering the guest director was the editor on Apocalypse Now.)

('The Unknown', 'Conspiracy', 'Fugitive', 'Orders', 'The Lost One', 'Voices', 'Destiny' & 'Sacrifice'): Season 6 has some *hugely* important episodes that relates to the mystery of Sifo-Dias, Order 66, Qui-Gon, Dagobah, force ghosts, and a special guest appearance from Mark Hamill.

('Deception', 'Friends and Enemies', 'The Box' & 'Crisis on Naboo'.): I don't think it plays into 'Rebels' but this is a very good arc about Kenobi infiltrating the underworld that quite surprisingly circles back to Anakin's gradual corruption by Palpatine

('Nightsisters', 'Monster', 'Witches of the Mist' & 'Bounty'): If you just watched the Maul episodes in which he appeared then you missed out on these lead up episodes which mostly focuses on Ventress but also gives some insight into Maul's heritage, our first look at Dathomir & the Nightsisters and turned Asajj herself from a two dimensional thug into a much more interesting and fleshed out character.

('Holocron Heist', 'Cargo of Doom' & 'Children of the Force'): The Cad Bane arc from season 2 has a surprisingly amount of relevance to the origin of the Inquisitors, a certain someone's cameo in 'Rogue One' and the season 1 finale of 'Rebels'.

Honourable mentions: -
('Bounty Hunters'): is basically a 22min remake of 'The Seven Samurai' and showcases some recurring bounty hunter/mercenary characters who show up elsewhere (including some the the episodes mentioned above.)
('Lightsaber Lost'): By no means vital, but still a solid Ahsoka episode.
('Death Trap', 'R2 Come Home' & 'Lethal Trackdown'): An arc dedicated to Boba Fett's vendetta against Mace Windu and features Aurra Sing in a memorable guest role.
('Assassin'): Another Aurra Sing appearance, this time with Ahsoka & Padme on Alderaan (and also Mon Mothma is there.)
('Clone Cadets', 'Rookies' & 'ARC Troopers'): These are pretty much the backstory for Fives who, aside from Rex & Cody is probably the most important clone trooper in the series as he has a significant role in the Citadel, Umbara & Order 66 arcs.
('Kidnapped' 'Slaves of the Republic' 'Escape from Kadavo'): Being the only EU story that George Lucas *ever* directly adapted into canon should be reason enough to watch this arc, but it also happens to offer greater insight into Anakin's mindset, show's Kenobi gaining a new perspective on them and gives Ahsoka quite a bit to do as well. Also it may or may not imply that the whole "Jabba's Sail barge" plan was R2's idea...

 

[arch101]

The series sells itself. Some really good military sci-fi storytelling.

 

[Evil Twin]

Ok, done with season 2. Again, pretty mediocre overall, but no outright terrible episodes this time around. The only real standout episodes were the Mandalorian arc and the Boba Fett arc at the end of the season. The finale in particular was pretty solid. I think Plo Koon is becoming my favorite of the prequel Jedi.

 

[LJones41]

I tried to get into "The Clone Wars". But to be honest, I never could generate the interest. I never saw the need to view the entire three-year war in great detail.

 

[Turtletrekker]

@Reverend -- Just watched the "Mortis" trilogy. Holy shit, you weren't kidding! That was f'n awesome! This arc alone justifies the shows entire existence.

 

[Set Harth]

Liam Neeson makes everything better.

 

[Reverend]

I think Plo Koon is becoming my favorite of the prequel Jedi.

Of the non-speaking council members from the movies, he's certainly given the most development on the show and a big part of that is that he was Dave Filloni's favourite. It's not a coincidence that Filloni wrote him as being the one that discovered Ahsoka when she was an infant or that one of the two Clones living with Rex in retirement was Commander Wolffe.
IIRC the initial idea was for him to have a very stern, old school samurai type persona but overtime they softened him to be more of a sage, but still fierce Gandalf-like old wizard. Sort of a half-way point between Mace Windu and old Ben Kenobi.

@Reverend -- Just watched the "Mortis" trilogy. Holy shit, you weren't kidding! That was f'n awesome! This arc alone justifies the shows entire existence.

I've recently been re-watching it one episode at a time and taking notes with an eye towards the metaphor & subtext of what's going on. A few things already jumped out at me, like for example: remember when both Kenobi & Ahsoka were being held on either side of Anakin? Keeping in mind what those things represent and note how the thing that held Ahsoka only gripped one arm and she struggled like mad, while Kenobi was held by both arms and didn't struggle at all.

There's also some things here that seem to play into the Rebels season 2 finale; the "gift" that is given to Ahsoka for one, the design of the alter for another. It's not the only one though. There's something in that finale that first shows up in the 'Padawan Lost' arc, so don't miss those episodes either.

 

[USS Firefly]

Ok, done with season 2. Again, pretty mediocre overall, but no outright terrible episodes this time around. The only real standout episodes were the Mandalorian arc and the Boba Fett arc at the end of the season. The finale in particular was pretty solid. I think Plo Koon is becoming my favorite of the prequel Jedi.

He IS indeed a great Jedi, he even survived Order 66, you can see him jump the intercepter at the last split second

 

[Evil Twin]

I'm at the midpoint of season 3 (just watched episode 11) and it seems like this season's been focusing less on the fighting and more on the politics, which was dull in the films and just as dull here, so this season's been kind of a drag so far. I want to be watching Star Wars, not Star Senatorial Debates, dammit.

-What's the reasoning having "Senate Murders" (where "Uncle" Ono is assassinated) in season 2, when chronologically it's supposed to take place after S3E10&11? Very strange.

-Completely out of the blue costume changes for Ahsoka and Anakin in ep. 10, but I like them!

-I noticed one of the bounty hunters that chased Padme was a Selkath. First time I've seen one outside KOTOR.

 

[Reverend]

^Hold onto your butt, things are about to get very weird and interesting.

-What's the reasoning having "Senate Murders" (where "Uncle" Ono is assassinated) in season 2, when chronologically it's supposed to take place after S3E10&11? Very strange.

Because it was an anthology show, they didn't feel the need to adhere to a strict chronology from one episode to the next. Sometimes they'd also juggle the order so the more exciting episodes land on the premiers or the mid-season breaks. Keep in mind that for various reasons, a production season doesn't always line up with a broadcast season.

For example, the "movie" was made by stitching together three or four episodes that had already been shot. Since they wanted the movie to include Ahsoka's introduction, that meant starting it with what was originally the third part of the Christophsis arc. 'Cat and Mouse' and 'Hidden Enemy' were later broadcast a full season apart and in reverse order no less.

'Clone Cadets' was a bit different in that Lucas really liked the characters introduced in 'Rookies', but since that episode killed most of them off, the only way to use them again was to tell an earlier story centred around their training.

Season 3 is pretty much the last time they do this though (with I think one or two notable exceptions) as the show becomes more focused on the core cast.

-Completely out of the blue costume changes for Ahsoka and Anakin in ep. 10, but I like them!

Not just costume changes, but entirely new models and in the case of Ahsoka, they aged her up from 14 to 16 (notice her headtails have grown, her eyes aren't quite as huge and she isn't as skinny as she used to be.) This happens periodically as they rebuild and improve various assets as the technology got better and they were able to rig the character to emote better and work with higher resolution textures.
Notice how in early season one especially the facial expressions were fairly limited and the walk animations had a stiff, almost Gerry Anderson look? There's an incremental but marked improvement over the course of the show. Not just the characters either. You'd almost certainly never notice but I think over the course of the show they rebuilt the "Jedi Cruiser" model like three or four times from scratch.

They also get much better at lighting and detailing environments as Lucas started to have them move away from the more traditional animation aesthetics use more and more cinematic techniques.

 

[Evil Twin]

@Reverend -- Just watched the "Mortis" trilogy. Holy shit, you weren't kidding! That was f'n awesome! This arc alone justifies the shows entire existence.

Eh.. I just watched these and they didn't do much for me. A bit too... fantastical for my tastes. Was nifty getting to see Qui-Gon again though. So Ahsoka dual-wielding sabers is apparently a thing now?

 

[Christopher]

So Ahsoka dual-wielding sabers is apparently a thing now?

I wonder if that would actually work -- using two swords. I remember Mythbusters debunking the idea of using two guns because it divides your attention and you can't aim them usefully. Trying to use two swords might create a similar attention problem. Not to mention that lightsabers are (or were originally, at least) supposed to be heavy, needing a two-handed grip. Swinging two heavy swords around would be pretty tiring.

 

[JD]

I had assumed at least part of the reason they stopped jumping around as much once they got to Season 3 was because jumping back would have meant either going back to the earlier models, which would have been kind of weird, or suddenly throwing the new models into an earlier period, which would have created some visual inconsistencies.

 

[Ithekro]

The simplest answer to that is, "Jedi". The longer answer is that the more skilled one gets, not only with using the lightsaber, but also in connecting with the crystal inside of it, the flow of energy gets easier to manage and "lighter" for lack of a better word. This is mentioned in the recent Rebels episode that focused largely on lightsaber training. Anakin has been seen using two blades on occasion since Attack of the Clones. Darth Vader did use one handed style fighting from time to time in the films. Luke tried it, but failed. First time he got the lightsaber knocked out of his hand. The second he lost that hand.

As for using two blades, this fits more with Ahsoka's more nimble style and seemingly helps her better deflect blaster fire as she can alternate which blade she is using for less overall motion rather than her larger deflecting swings with one blade. She demonstrates this later on in the series when defending a fallen Anakin Skywalker from a bounty hunter.

Two blades with her nimbleness also allows her to counter the likes of Ventress and Grievous better than before as she had a tendency to not guard her flank with one blade as well as she should. Most combat styles that use to blades either use them together, or one is uses to defend while the other is to attack. First blade parries the other person's blade, than you strike with your other blade. Star Wars tends to not show effective swordplay, but visually enthralling swordplay.

Ahsoka's second blade is a shoto, which is a smaller hilt and blade than her main hand.

 

[Evil Twin]

^Yeah, the KOTOR's provide you with short lightsabers to use in your off-hand. I did dual-wielding in the KOTOR 1 playthrough I finished this week. Now for KOTOR 2 I'm seeing how far I can get using unarmed combat only this time around, since it's actually a viable option in 2. Plus I took the force power that allows you to deflect blaster bolts with your bare hands, ala Vader in ESB.