Hard to believe, right? One of the most expansive and longest-running pieces of Star Wars storytelling finally came to an end on "Star Wars Day" 2020 aka "May the 4th." And as I've experienced the final season on Disney+ and even revisited some episode arcs beforehand, this is no question, one of my new favorite additions to the Star Wars saga in full. Not only is it beautifully made with its unique technicalities in the way it looked, felt, and sounded like Star Wars, but the other elements brought in to make the storytelling so strong in the first place. It was the writing and direction of these episodes that were just so strong to make this ensemble of characters have fleshed out characterizations. Not to mention the way the voice talent breathed life into the characters was an incredible feature as well. The television medium could also open up more about the story that we weren't able to explore in the Prequel Trilogy.
What's also so brilliant to me about this show was that I used to be in the mentality that the level of importance in this show's storytelling was much better than what the Prequels could produce and let me tell you now that I do not feel this way at all. I feel this show heightens the Prequels and made me love and appreciate them more. I adore and deeply appreciate the story that George Lucas was telling with them there. In fact, we wouldn't have all these incredible creators on the show if it hadn't been for Lucas' brilliance done with the original six Star Wars movies. But this isn't an assessment, or review, of The Clone Wars show per se, or even the Prequels for that matter, but I wanted to take you all on a journey about how my feelings of the show started and how it eventually progressed to where it is now and the level of gratitude I have for Dave Filoni, the entire cast, crew, and even George Lucas for making what is one of the most memorable pieces of storytelling in genre fiction, in my eyes at least. Here we go:
My obsession for Star Wars started growing in 2005, the same year Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith came out and once I finally saw it later that year, I knew it had to be the end of Star Wars, right? We all know about that massive revival in 2012 when Disney acquired Lucasfilm, but what about that time-period beforehand? Well, a few years after Sith released or, rather, during those few years Lucas began collaborating with Dave Filoni to produce an animated series about The Clone Wars and in August of 2008, we would then see the theatrically released Star Wars: The Clone Wars that would introduce new characters like beloved Clone Troopers such as Captain Rex, and then the now fan-favorite Jedi Padawan Ahsoka Tano. "Wait! The new Padawan for Anakin Skywalker? Padawan? Since when did Anakin ever have a Padawan? How does this add up?" Not to mention this would be the first-ever Star Wars produced content to be developed with computer animation under the Lucasfilm Animation division.
As you can see my attitude with the show was basically the polar opposite of what it is now. I was very negative and this could've been because of my pre-teen and teenaged state of mine, though we can all agree, the moody personalities of those ages can be fun (not). I was never interested in actually giving this show my time of day. I think part of it was maybe because I was more of an Original Trilogy fan more so than the Prequels, even though I still liked them when I was young. I think I wanted the franchise to breathe a little bit more since the film saga completed and going back to The Clone Wars felt like it was a bit too soon.
I even remember having a conversation with a friend saying that the animated show should've been an Original Trilogy era show with Han, Luke, and Leia set between A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back. And while that would've been great, we now have a comic series and a pretty darn great Rebellion era animated series in Star Wars Rebels. So back then, I had to accept that the Star Wars that I enjoyed were mainly in the original 6 movies. That show could've been the last hope in my Star Wars fan experience, but as Master Yoda says, "No. There is another."
Fast forward to when Disney finally acquires the rights to Lucasfilm with the announcement of new Star Wars content including a new trilogy of movies, Episodes VII-IX to be exact. With the Episode VII teaser trailer dropping then finally titled The Force Awakens in November of 2014, the excitement for Star Wars was back and then a revisiting of sorts followed by a new journey began. The night before I waited for the first teaser to drop I began watching the Star Wars movies from the beginning but in a weird flashback order sort of way. It began with A New Hope that night, Empire another night, then Phantom Menace, then Attack of the Clones and then...not Revenge of the Sith? I figured in 2015 the same year The Force Awakens came out, why not give this Clone Wars thing a try? I started watching and really liking Rebels, which dropped later in 2014, so maybe this Clone Wars thing wouldn't be so bad. So honestly I think my love of The Clone Wars began when Star Wars Rebels started airing since it was a style of animation storytelling that intrigued me when I watched Rebels. And I was a little older and more accepting of things at the time.
I began watching the whole show on Netflix and this odd journey began since in those years I listened to a lot of people's opinions and changing my own about the Star Wars Prequels and what they could've been (which is a story for another time). While watching The Clone Wars show I was experiencing all-new stories from the Prequel era, which was an area of the franchise I wasn't engaged with as much at the time. But I began to appreciate it since I recognized how the show took its time with its characters and expanded on said characters that we couldn't explore in the movies. Did the Prequel Trilogy do something wrong? (Spoiler alert they did not. More on that later.) I was in the mentality that this show was better in its storytelling and maybe what the Prequels could've been, but I still was engaged with the lore.
I remember being floored by certain arcs like seeing Mortis for the first time and the whole Maul arc becoming one of the most powerful pieces of Star Wars for me. Yoda experiencing trials to find his place in the afterlife in the Force itself? Wow! I never experienced high-fantasy Star Wars stories like that before and while I enjoyed the show and kept on with my revisiting of later films over the following months, the show stayed with me for a while.
And I didn't think it was perfect when I was a little younger. It might've had those goofy prequel quirks I didn't enjoy at the time, with the silly Battle Droids and Jar Jar acting dumb (which I can forgive and have fun with now) but the writing was so strong to heighten what I liked so much about Star Wars and science-fiction/fantasy stories in general. I felt it certainly added to the Prequels, but that wasn't it for me.
I began rewatching arcs over the next couple of years like The Onderon Rebellion that introduced Saw Gerrera before I watched Rogue One since he was featured in that movie. And even before The Last Jedi came out I revisited my favorite arcs for this blog right here to not only review them and talk about what I loved about them, but because I loved watching them and WANTED to give them their time of day. I knew at that time the storytelling was certainly the strongest in those episode arcs and whenever I was doing a big a revisiting of the Star Wars movies, I couldn't ignore The Clone Wars.
I really liked The Clone Wars show at the time, but then something happened. It started to become a show that I really loved more than I realized when I heard a pretty big announcement. On July 19, 2018, I was driving home from my job at the time and I see my friend texts me and all I saw on the home screen at my phone's docking station was my friend texting me, "ALEX," in all caps. I didn't read the rest of the messages, obviously, (stay safe on the road, kids), but I made a stop at my local library. I pulled in the parking lot and there I saw it in the messages. A YouTube link sent to me for Star Wars: The Clone Wars Official Comic-Con trailer.
I. Lost. My. Mind.
I watched that glorious trailer and got super hyped and I think that more than I knew at that moment was that I did LOVE the show. I was excited to see where it could go. I didn't exactly know what it would entail story-wise, but the fact that this incredible crew was coming back who worked on Rebels and my love of Star Wars was already through the roof said something. And of course the more glimpses I saw looked great and I wasn't exactly sure how it could end considering Revenge of the Sith felt like the series finale of this show. But then I heard about the Siege of Mandalore, which was an event in this Canon that took place during the events of Sith and I thought, "Yeah! Sure! I'm down!" And I can confidently say seeing this arc in full that it is such a wonderful story to see with characters I grew attached to in Ahsoka, Rex, and even Maul.
I honestly think that in my current age of positivity where I've learned to appreciate the media and stories for what they are in the franchises I enjoy, it brought me to love ALL of Star Wars for what it is and because of that I ADORE this show. I appreciate all the choices that were made in the episodes I watched all those years ago and the episodes and arcs that I revisited. This was a part of Star Wars that I'll forever cherish and super glad was expanded upon since the Prequels opened up those story opportunities.
And in regards to the whole argument about how the FILMS are lacking because there's so much expanded material outside of the movies, there really isn't a wrong approach to it. I mean that argument's been made with the Prequel Trilogy, the Sequel Trilogy, and the spin-off movies. But I think what I learned from the movies and this expanded Canon material is that the movies were trying to tell their own important stories in the saga in their OWN movies while the canon material tells stories of their own while also heightening the films and having us rethink them differently. The overall story and universe are just so vast that it may be a little difficult to explore all of it in 2+ hours of a movie. I love the Prequel Trilogy now because I understand and enjoy watching the stories Lucas wanted to tell for his own set of 3 films that laid the groundwork for other areas of the franchise.
By the time The Clone Wars show ended I knew I was going to rethink the Prequel Trilogy differently and, honestly, I already have. Watching Revenge of the Sith after the 4-part finale was like watching that movie in a whole other element since I experienced an entire show with these characters and a 4-part finale that ties directly into the movie. If you haven't already, after you finish The Clone Wars show I highly recommend watching Revenge of the Sith right after.
So am I sad that it's the end of Clone Wars? Yes and no and that isn't a knock on the show at all. I mean the fact that we have so much incredible lore in the Age of the Republic says something and not to mention how satisfied I am that this show exists. It has so much rich fantasy and characterizations filled to the brim to expand on this era of Star Wars that I just don't see what else could've been added. Sure there are animatics and final things I'd love to see fully animated, but for what we've gotten, I love it. The number of stories we got from this show and what even spanned from the show was just enough to keep us as fans satisfied.
But one of the beautiful things about Star Wars is that the story can keep going on forever and it doesn't matter if it's under The Clone Wars label or not. I mean we got Rebels as a whole other resolution for main characters in Clone Wars and with The Clone Wars show not even being finished at the time, in fact, it was canceled. There's so much to that universe and a vast array of characters to explore that no matter what storytelling medium, fans like me will be ready to have fun in this franchise and take something new out of it. And no doubt The Clone Wars felt like I was watching Star Wars and experienced it like I never saw it before. If I were to tell my unsure younger self about this show I'd say, "Give it a try. You'll never know how you'll feel. And if it's not for you now, maybe you'll love it more another time." It was a part of the Star Wars story I didn't think was needed at the time, but I'm so delighted we have it now.
May the Force Be With You...Always.
Follow me:
@alexjcorey-
http://twitter.com/alexjcorey https://www.instagram.com/alexjcorey/
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My obsession for Star Wars started growing in 2005, the same year Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith came out and once I finally saw it later that year, I knew it had to be the end of Star Wars, right? We all know about that massive revival in 2012 when Disney acquired Lucasfilm, but what about that time-period beforehand? Well, a few years after Sith released or, rather, during those few years Lucas began collaborating with Dave Filoni to produce an animated series about The Clone Wars and in August of 2008, we would then see the theatrically released Star Wars: The Clone Wars that would introduce new characters like beloved Clone Troopers such as Captain Rex, and then the now fan-favorite Jedi Padawan Ahsoka Tano. "Wait! The new Padawan for Anakin Skywalker? Padawan? Since when did Anakin ever have a Padawan? How does this add up?" Not to mention this would be the first-ever Star Wars produced content to be developed with computer animation under the Lucasfilm Animation division.
When I first started seeing images and promotions for this new Clone Wars stuff I didn't know what to make of it. In fact, I kind of hated it. I was already content with the Star Wars movies I had and, heck, even the now non-Canon animated series Star Wars: Clone Wars by Genndy Tartakovsky was enough for me. It bothered me to see the 2-D designs of the original animated Clone Wars characters translated to 3-D. I was also a little older when it came out at the time, middle-school age, and the glimpses I got from the promos in regards to the tone they were going for seemed a bit childish for me. But I think the key thing that made me not want to engage with it was the fact that this came out a little while after the Star Wars film saga ended. I didn't have the urge to go back to the Clone War era after I saw the fall of the Republic and Anakin turn to the Dark Side. I remember watching a few episodes here or there and then not caring about the things I heard about it.
"Darth Maul is back? Big deal! Anakin sees the future in one episode and you see a shadow of Vader? Whoop-de-doo!"
As you can see my attitude with the show was basically the polar opposite of what it is now. I was very negative and this could've been because of my pre-teen and teenaged state of mine, though we can all agree, the moody personalities of those ages can be fun (not). I was never interested in actually giving this show my time of day. I think part of it was maybe because I was more of an Original Trilogy fan more so than the Prequels, even though I still liked them when I was young. I think I wanted the franchise to breathe a little bit more since the film saga completed and going back to The Clone Wars felt like it was a bit too soon.
I even remember having a conversation with a friend saying that the animated show should've been an Original Trilogy era show with Han, Luke, and Leia set between A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back. And while that would've been great, we now have a comic series and a pretty darn great Rebellion era animated series in Star Wars Rebels. So back then, I had to accept that the Star Wars that I enjoyed were mainly in the original 6 movies. That show could've been the last hope in my Star Wars fan experience, but as Master Yoda says, "No. There is another."
Fast forward to when Disney finally acquires the rights to Lucasfilm with the announcement of new Star Wars content including a new trilogy of movies, Episodes VII-IX to be exact. With the Episode VII teaser trailer dropping then finally titled The Force Awakens in November of 2014, the excitement for Star Wars was back and then a revisiting of sorts followed by a new journey began. The night before I waited for the first teaser to drop I began watching the Star Wars movies from the beginning but in a weird flashback order sort of way. It began with A New Hope that night, Empire another night, then Phantom Menace, then Attack of the Clones and then...not Revenge of the Sith? I figured in 2015 the same year The Force Awakens came out, why not give this Clone Wars thing a try? I started watching and really liking Rebels, which dropped later in 2014, so maybe this Clone Wars thing wouldn't be so bad. So honestly I think my love of The Clone Wars began when Star Wars Rebels started airing since it was a style of animation storytelling that intrigued me when I watched Rebels. And I was a little older and more accepting of things at the time.
I began watching the whole show on Netflix and this odd journey began since in those years I listened to a lot of people's opinions and changing my own about the Star Wars Prequels and what they could've been (which is a story for another time). While watching The Clone Wars show I was experiencing all-new stories from the Prequel era, which was an area of the franchise I wasn't engaged with as much at the time. But I began to appreciate it since I recognized how the show took its time with its characters and expanded on said characters that we couldn't explore in the movies. Did the Prequel Trilogy do something wrong? (Spoiler alert they did not. More on that later.) I was in the mentality that this show was better in its storytelling and maybe what the Prequels could've been, but I still was engaged with the lore.
I remember being floored by certain arcs like seeing Mortis for the first time and the whole Maul arc becoming one of the most powerful pieces of Star Wars for me. Yoda experiencing trials to find his place in the afterlife in the Force itself? Wow! I never experienced high-fantasy Star Wars stories like that before and while I enjoyed the show and kept on with my revisiting of later films over the following months, the show stayed with me for a while.
And I didn't think it was perfect when I was a little younger. It might've had those goofy prequel quirks I didn't enjoy at the time, with the silly Battle Droids and Jar Jar acting dumb (which I can forgive and have fun with now) but the writing was so strong to heighten what I liked so much about Star Wars and science-fiction/fantasy stories in general. I felt it certainly added to the Prequels, but that wasn't it for me.
I began rewatching arcs over the next couple of years like The Onderon Rebellion that introduced Saw Gerrera before I watched Rogue One since he was featured in that movie. And even before The Last Jedi came out I revisited my favorite arcs for this blog right here to not only review them and talk about what I loved about them, but because I loved watching them and WANTED to give them their time of day. I knew at that time the storytelling was certainly the strongest in those episode arcs and whenever I was doing a big a revisiting of the Star Wars movies, I couldn't ignore The Clone Wars.
I really liked The Clone Wars show at the time, but then something happened. It started to become a show that I really loved more than I realized when I heard a pretty big announcement. On July 19, 2018, I was driving home from my job at the time and I see my friend texts me and all I saw on the home screen at my phone's docking station was my friend texting me, "ALEX," in all caps. I didn't read the rest of the messages, obviously, (stay safe on the road, kids), but I made a stop at my local library. I pulled in the parking lot and there I saw it in the messages. A YouTube link sent to me for Star Wars: The Clone Wars Official Comic-Con trailer.
I. Lost. My. Mind.
I watched that glorious trailer and got super hyped and I think that more than I knew at that moment was that I did LOVE the show. I was excited to see where it could go. I didn't exactly know what it would entail story-wise, but the fact that this incredible crew was coming back who worked on Rebels and my love of Star Wars was already through the roof said something. And of course the more glimpses I saw looked great and I wasn't exactly sure how it could end considering Revenge of the Sith felt like the series finale of this show. But then I heard about the Siege of Mandalore, which was an event in this Canon that took place during the events of Sith and I thought, "Yeah! Sure! I'm down!" And I can confidently say seeing this arc in full that it is such a wonderful story to see with characters I grew attached to in Ahsoka, Rex, and even Maul.
I honestly think that in my current age of positivity where I've learned to appreciate the media and stories for what they are in the franchises I enjoy, it brought me to love ALL of Star Wars for what it is and because of that I ADORE this show. I appreciate all the choices that were made in the episodes I watched all those years ago and the episodes and arcs that I revisited. This was a part of Star Wars that I'll forever cherish and super glad was expanded upon since the Prequels opened up those story opportunities.
And in regards to the whole argument about how the FILMS are lacking because there's so much expanded material outside of the movies, there really isn't a wrong approach to it. I mean that argument's been made with the Prequel Trilogy, the Sequel Trilogy, and the spin-off movies. But I think what I learned from the movies and this expanded Canon material is that the movies were trying to tell their own important stories in the saga in their OWN movies while the canon material tells stories of their own while also heightening the films and having us rethink them differently. The overall story and universe are just so vast that it may be a little difficult to explore all of it in 2+ hours of a movie. I love the Prequel Trilogy now because I understand and enjoy watching the stories Lucas wanted to tell for his own set of 3 films that laid the groundwork for other areas of the franchise.
By the time The Clone Wars show ended I knew I was going to rethink the Prequel Trilogy differently and, honestly, I already have. Watching Revenge of the Sith after the 4-part finale was like watching that movie in a whole other element since I experienced an entire show with these characters and a 4-part finale that ties directly into the movie. If you haven't already, after you finish The Clone Wars show I highly recommend watching Revenge of the Sith right after.
So am I sad that it's the end of Clone Wars? Yes and no and that isn't a knock on the show at all. I mean the fact that we have so much incredible lore in the Age of the Republic says something and not to mention how satisfied I am that this show exists. It has so much rich fantasy and characterizations filled to the brim to expand on this era of Star Wars that I just don't see what else could've been added. Sure there are animatics and final things I'd love to see fully animated, but for what we've gotten, I love it. The number of stories we got from this show and what even spanned from the show was just enough to keep us as fans satisfied.
But one of the beautiful things about Star Wars is that the story can keep going on forever and it doesn't matter if it's under The Clone Wars label or not. I mean we got Rebels as a whole other resolution for main characters in Clone Wars and with The Clone Wars show not even being finished at the time, in fact, it was canceled. There's so much to that universe and a vast array of characters to explore that no matter what storytelling medium, fans like me will be ready to have fun in this franchise and take something new out of it. And no doubt The Clone Wars felt like I was watching Star Wars and experienced it like I never saw it before. If I were to tell my unsure younger self about this show I'd say, "Give it a try. You'll never know how you'll feel. And if it's not for you now, maybe you'll love it more another time." It was a part of the Star Wars story I didn't think was needed at the time, but I'm so delighted we have it now.
May the Force Be With You...Always.
Follow me:
@alexjcorey-
http://twitter.com/alexjcorey https://www.instagram.com/alexjcorey/
Facebook- http://facebook.com/thealexcorey
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