Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008)

***Star Wars: The Clone Wars*** is an American computer-animated television series created by George Lucas and produced by Lucasfilm Animation, Lucasfilm and CGCG Inc. The show was originally aired from 2008-2014. In February 2020, the show was revived for a 7th season exclusively on Disney's streaming service, Disney+.

## Summary

The show takes place during the Clone Wars, and shows the events that stem from the Separatist Crisis resulting in a whole-scale war which leads to the formation of the Intergalactic Empire and the annihilation of the Jedi Order.

## Why It Rocks

1. The series does a great job of filling in the blanks of the Clone Wars that were mentioned in *A New Hope*, taking place between *Attack of the Clones* and *Revenge of the Sith*.
2. Breathtaking CGI animation, which improves as the series goes on.
3. The characters are much better developed and more likable than in the prequels, especially Anakin.
4. The minor background Jedi Knight characters are really fleshed out and have a lot more character development. Even the clones have distinct and unique traits, and they're humanized and surprisingly very attaching; a far cry from how they were portrayed in the live-action movies.
5. The new characters like Ahsoka are also well-written and likable, and also get more fleshed-out as the series progresses.
6. It has a lot of deep and engaging storylines and story arcs, especially in the later seasons.
7. Excellent voice acting; the cast replicates the character voices from the films very well. Some actors even reprise their roles, such as Ahmed Best as Jar Jar Binks and Anthony Daniels as C-3PO.
8. Even though there are political scenes and storylines, they are actually interesting and relevant to the show, unlike in the prequels.
9. Many heartbreaking and emotional moments, such as Ahsoka leaving the Jedi Order in "The Wrong Jedi" and the climax of the "Siege of Mandalore" arc.
10. Nice soundtrack.
11. It canonized several elements of the Expanded Universe of *Star Wars*.
12. Anakin and Obi-Wan's friendship is actually shown in the series, which especially makes for some great scenes of funny banter between the two.
13. Jar Jar Binks is far less annoying than in *The Phantom Menace*, and actually gets some badass moments here and there.
14. Some great villains like Darth Maul and Darth Sidious.

## Bad Qualities

1. The first season, while not terrible, isn't as strong as the later seasons, with Anakin still being like what he is in the prequel trilogy, and wooden animation.
2. In the 2003 *Clone Wars* series, General Grievous was a nigh-unstoppable killing machine who single-handedly massacred both Jedi and Clone Troopers alike without breaking a sweat. Here, he's changed into a short-tempered jerk who flees whenever a fight doesn't go his way (though he does regain some of his 2003 counterpart's frightening nature in a few episodes).
3. The seventh season was shorter than the others and adapted only three unfinished story arcs of the show, leaving the others incomplete and cancelled (unless they are told in other media).
	* As some of its last episodes take place at the same time as *Revenge of the Sith*, the seventh season could have depicted Grievous's kidnapping of Palpatine just like the previous series, but chose not to do so without any apparent reason.
4. "Shadow Warrior" was not a good episode.