Sell me on "The Clone Wars" series

[Evil Twin]

So I've been on a Star Wars kick this past month ever since Rogue One came out; been rereading the Timothy Zahn trilogy for the first time in, like, 25 years, listening to the soundtracks in my car, replaying the Jedi Knight series, will probably replay the KOTOR's next, and I've been thinking about giving The Clone Wars a shot but need a little convincing because hey, the prequels are garbage. I do watch Rebels and enjoy it well enough, and its OT setting is what made me jump on board in the first place, but from everything I've heard, TCW is better, despite the PT setting. Are we talking DS9 vs VOY better here?

-Is it worth watching the 2D Clone Wars series first?
-What's the best way to go about watching it? Just take the plunge and buy the complete series set, or are there any (non-torrent) online alternatives?

Convince me!

 

[Ithekro]

As far as the two Clone Wars series go, for the most part the producers of the later version took the first version to be sort of what happened before and after their series....but it was the propaganda version of events (meaning exaggerated for the public).

The Clone Wars (2008) starts of sort of slow and fit of kids, and then grows up tbhrough the second and fully by the third season. The characterization of Anakin Skywalker in particular feels better than what we got in the PT by virtue of spending more time with him and his interactions with others. For one he gets his own student, Ahsoka Tano (at Yoda's request...an effort to teach Anakin how to let go once his Padawan had been fully trained). She'll grow on you...she has on the fandom that disliked her at the start, and now doesn't want to let her go. Some episodes are silly (particularly those that follow C-3PO around). The style of the stories was originally suppose to follow different people around during the war, and it generally did. Sometimes the focus was on Anakin, Obi-wan, and Ahsoka and their clone troopers. Other stories followed Mace Windu, Padme, Count Dooku and/or his trained assassin Ventress (introduced in the 2D cartoon). Sometimes other Jedi, Yoda for example. Sometimes the droids R2-D2 and C-3PO. Some follow basically the clones only, and several get developed personalities, even though all have basically the same face and voice. Even one or two that feature Jar Jar Binks (and they did make him better). Plots from one season for an episode that seemed to not mean anything would come back with some serious meaning in a later season. All things connected somehow.

Rebels has taken some of the Clone Wars character and used them as well as possible. Hando for instance was a recurring pirate leader in The Clone Wars. Captain Rex was Anakin's main clone trooper for the series. There is also more lore stuff in The Clone Wars that has been expanded on in Rebels and Rogue One.

 

[Tosk]

You should buy it and watch it. Don't give up when you're watching the movie. Yeah, it sucks but the show is good and gets better.

 

[Skywalker]

Clone Wars, the 2D series, is not in continuity with The Clone Wars, the 3D series, so in that case it's not required viewing, but on its own it's pretty cool and worth a watch at some point. It's a quick watch, too.

Both the full series of The Clone Wars and its introductory movie are on Netflix, so you can stream all of it there, no need to buy any of the DVDs. I highly recommend that you watch the series in chronological order, however. The first three seasons are a bit jumbled up, with the writers occasionally flashing back to events prior to earlier episodes. Chronological order fixes this and greatly enhances the viewing experience. You can see the official list here.

The show is absolutely worth your time and goes a long way toward redeeming the prequels.

 

[Shawnster]

The Clone Wars turned Jar Jar into a tolerable character. That right there is worth the price. It also really fleshed out Anakin and turned him into a character we care about and, thus, makes his fall to the darkside more tragic. I even think The Clone Wars explains Anakin's entire character arc, including his importance to the Force, much better than the movies did.

 

[Reverend]

So I've been on a Star Wars kick this past month ever since Rogue One came out; been rereading the Timothy Zahn trilogy for the first time in, like, 25 years, listening to the soundtracks in my car, replaying the Jedi Knight series, will probably replay the KOTOR's next, and I've been thinking about giving The Clone Wars a shot but need a little convincing because hey, the prequels are garbage. I do watch Rebels and enjoy it well enough, and its OT setting is what made me jump on board in the first place, but from everything I've heard, TCW is better, despite the PT setting. Are we talking DS9 vs VOY better here?

I wouldn't compare either to DS9 or VOY as it'd be somewhat of a false analogy. These aren't two shows worked on by separate crews, it's pretty much the same crew on Rebels as previously worked on TCW.

The main difference is that TCW is an anthology show, whereas Rebels focuses on a regular cast. That changed as the show progressed and around season 2 & 3 became more centred of the core cast and moved away from stand alone episodes towards 2-4 part arcs.
There's some fairly major stuff in here that informs some of the larger elements of the lore. The Mortis episodes and the Yoda/Dagobah stories in particular really get into the crazier cosmic mystery elements of the force.

As is typical of a lot of good shows, the first season a a bit rough going, Both in terms of storytelling/characterisation and on the technical side. It's actually quite jarring to look at the quality of the earlier shows compared to what they were able to start pulling off from season 3 onward. It's almost like a whole different show.

But if you still need convincing and aren't too worried about spoilers (though if you're up to date on 'Rebels' there's not much, if anything here to spoil) then I'd just suggest you have a look at this. It's a pretty good overview and gives a sense of the breadth of the show.

-Is it worth watching the 2D Clone Wars series first?

Worth? Certainly. First? Not necessarily.
Though the 3D series did inherit some design and voice actors from the 2D show, they're not technically in continuity with one another. Honestly though, there's very little that directly contradicts and they don't cover much of the same ground.

-What's the best way to go about watching it? Just take the plunge and buy the complete series set, or are there any (non-torrent) online alternatives?

I think it can be legally streamed on a few different services, which may be the best and cheapest way to go.

The advantage of streaming with an anthology show like this is that you can pick particular episodes and arcs and (at least at first) skip the poorer quality ones.

 

[Christopher]

TCW is on Netflix, though the theatrical movie (i.e. the first three episodes) is listed separately from the rest of the series.

 

[Set Harth]

I even think The Clone Wars explains Anakin's entire character arc, including his importance to the Force, much better than the movies did.

The movies explained it well enough. Everything of relevance to this issue in Mortis is either a metaphor or prefiguration of something that happens in the films anyway.

 

[Solariabsg25]

I recommend The Clones Wars certainly. It brings a lot more depth to the prequels, especially Anakin, where we can actually see why the years between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith has taken such a toll on him, and lets you see the Clones as individual characters, making Cody's betrayal of Obi-Wan during Order 66 as far more tragic.

 

[Christopher]

I recommend The Clones Wars certainly. It brings a lot more depth to the prequels, especially Anakin, where we can actually see why the years between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith has taken such a toll on him...

Yes. It does what the prequels absolutely failed to do, which is to make Anakin a complex and sympathetic (and competently acted) character rather than a whiny, grating creep. And, in the process, to make it remotely plausible that Padme could fall in love with Anakin.

and lets you see the Clones as individual characters, making Cody's betrayal of Obi-Wan during Order 66 as far more tragic.

This too. The movies treated the clones as little more than cannon fodder. Indeed, there seems to be a retcon of sorts in the series, since the Kaminoans in AOTC mentioned that the clones were engineered to be highly docile and obedient to orders -- essentially a slave race. The movies did nothing to explore the ramifications of the clones' existence except as pawns in Palpatine's war game. But the series fleshed the clones out into real characters and gave them humanity. Fittingly for a show called The Clone Wars, a significant number of its episodes were primarily or exclusively about the clones. Which is impressive considering that Dee Bradley Baker voiced every single one of them, managing to give every one a distinct personality, and sometimes spent whole episodes talking almost exclusively to himself.

 

[The Wormhole]

and lets you see the Clones as individual characters, making Cody's betrayal of Obi-Wan during Order 66 as far more tragic.

I keep hoping we get to see some sort of follow-up dealing with Cody's fate after ROTS. I don't care where they do it, a novel, comic, episode of Rebels, whatever, I'd like to see it happen. How did the Clones who "betrayed" their Jedi in Order 66 react afterwards when their programming was turned off? With Cody we got to know him in Clone Wars and see he was a decent guy who also seemed to be friends with Rex. Even from ROTS we see Cody and Obi-Wan seem to have an excellent rapport, and indeed the two of them were engaging in friendly banter right up to the very moment Order 66 was issued. The aftermath of Order 66 must has really messed them up.

 

[Christopher]

The aftermath of Order 66 must has really messed them up.

I recall that the flashback comic depicting the origin story of Kanan from Star Wars Rebels involves a pair of post-Order 66 clones who are hunting the escaped padawan. IIRC, one is gung-ho about it and believes the lies the clones were told about the Jedi being traitors and deserving to die, but the other is more ambivalent and unsure whether they did the right thing.

 

[USS Firefly]

I am reading "Starwars: Republic commando" and I believe book 4 is about Order 66, and I hope they show how the Clones cope with their betrayal

 

[Orac]

Buy Star Wars The Clone Wars right now and we'll also sell you V: The Final Battle for half the marked up price and Ewoks: The Battle For Endor at double it's monetary value! But wait! There's more! We'll also give you the Star Wars Holiday Special for free! You can't beat value like that! Don't hesitate! Buy it now!

 

[JD]

I am reading "Starwars: Republic commando" and I believe book 4 is about Order 66, and I hope they show how the Clones cope with their betrayal

That is part of Legends, so it won't apply to TCW created characters, or anything that's been written since Disney took over the franchise.
As for TCW, I would definitely recommend it. It does start off a little shaky, but it gets better as it goes along, and by the end it's one of the best parts of the franchise IMO.

 

[Reverend]

The aftermath of Order 66 must has really messed them up.

Well something certainly didn't seem to a agree with Wolffe judging by the state he's in in 'Rebels'. Mind you, we know from RotS he wasn't the one to shoot down Plo Koon, so we don't know what happened. Maybe he got the order but Rex managed to extract the chip, leaving him very confused or maybe it's simply a possible side effect of their rapid ageing?

 

[Orac]

Watching Star Wars The Clone Wars for less than half an hour a day will give you HUGE pectoral muscles!

 

[Evil Twin]

Ok, so I watched (suffered through?) TPM & AOTC as a refresher today and then went on to watch the initial TCW movie and it was enjoyable.

-Nice to see Rex in his prime and interesting to see Ahsoka so young and inexperienced after watching them on Rebels.
-I'm liking Anakin and Ahsoka as a pair already.
-Already feel like I'm missing on not watching the first series re: Ventress.
-The baby Hutt was cute but Jabba's effeminate uncle was certainly... odd.
-The battle droids are actually funny here.

I'll get started on the series proper later tonight.

 

[Reverend]

Ok, so I watched (suffered through?) TPM & AOTC as a refresher today and then went on to watch the initial TCW movie and it was enjoyable.

-Nice to see Rex in his prime and interesting to see Ahsoka so young and inexperienced after watching them on Rebels.
-I'm liking Anakin and Ahsoka as a pair already.
-Already feel like I'm missing on not watching the first series re: Ventress.
-The baby Hutt was cute but Jabba's effeminate uncle was certainly... odd.
-The battle droids are actually funny here.

I'll get started on the series proper later tonight.

If you enjoyed the movie, that's certainly a good sign as it's generally considered the nadir of the show in terms of quality. There's a steady uptick in the calibre of the scripts, animation and art direction as the show progressed, though it really hits it's stride around season 3.

RE: Ventress. The micro-series does give her something of an introduction (Grevious too!) but it doesn't really go into her background (for that, you'll just have to stay tuned ) as it's mostly just a pair of extended action scenes.
In a nutshell...

Spoiler: Clone Wars Micro-series

Dooku hold a private little audition/gladiatorial free-for-all to recruit his potential personal assassin. Ventress shows up, kills all the things in true over-the-top Genndy Tartakovsky style. Dooku takes her one-on-one to see what she's really made of, she gets the job (plus her new red lightsabers) and is sent off to kill Anakin.
The only other bit that features her is her battle with Anakin on Yavin 4, which ends in her apparent demise (she certainly doesn't show up after that point.) TCW doesn't directly contradict any of this (assuming she survived the fall after all), but at the same time none if it is exactly relevant either.

 

[The Wormhole]

The battle droids are actually funny here.

Oh yeah, throughout the whole series Clone Wars does a great job making use of the Battle Droids as comic relief.