Before Reylo—I mean, the sequel trilogy—revived the Star Wars franchise, Star Wars: The Clone Wars premiered as a bridge between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. This prequel trilogy era cartoon debuted as a film first before becoming one of the most beloved Star Wars properties in canon. And it is canon; whether it fully impacted future storylines is questionable, but it did serve to flesh out characters from that galaxy far, far away as well as introduce a breakout fan favorite.

Dark, earthy tones and deeply contrasted aesthetic of the Star Wars universe are at full brilliance in the CGI animated Clone Wars. Perhaps it’s so the electric pops of lightsaber colors are even more dazzling— the light in the moody darkness…

Over seven seasons spanning 133 episodes, we follow Anakin Skywalker (Matt Lanter), Obi-Wan Kenobi (James Arnold Taylor), Ahsoka Tano (Ashley Eckstein), and the Clone Troopers (the many voices of Dee Bradley Baker) through battle and politics across the CGI galaxy.

Most simply, the show is about the Jedi Knights who lead the grand army of the Republic against the droid army of the Separatists. It was creator George Lucas’ narrative explanation for how Anakin became Darth Vader and the origins of the Empire.  The whole three-year war showed Chancellor Palpatine (who’s secretly the evil Sith Lord Darth Sidious, in case you’ve been living in a non-sci-fi loving universe) creating the opportunity to exterminate all Jedi by commanding Order 66, thereby giving him ultimate power in the autocratic Galactic Empire.

…Still with me?

Not quite a kids’ show

It’s a lot for a show that premiered on Cartoon Network, incorporating inspiration from the First and Second World Wars. Hailed for its characterization, engaging storylines and animation, The Clone Wars is equally questioned for its portrayals of war and women in a cartoon deemed appropriate for ages six and over by Disney. The Clone Wars migrated from Cartoon Network to Netflix after season five, then took a four-year hiatus before being “uncancelled” and finishing with two remaining seasons, with the final season premiering on Disney+ in 2020. A complicated run for a complicated series. It was also George Lucas’ final contribution to the Star Wars legacy before selling to Disney. 

Despite its cartoon-ish appearance, The Clone Wars deals with as heavy subject matter as the rest of the canon. Considering the series is about war, the show covers  torture, concentration camps, profiteering, and political sabotage, as well as slavery, human trafficking, assassinations and implied sexual content. Genocide is also a theme. Death is at the forefront, depicting heroes, villains and everyday people offering their last breath. The rise of Clone Troopers (the basis for Storm Troopers) is explored through ethical and philosophical questions. If you do watch with youngsters—and even if you don’t—The Clone Wars will undoubtedly raise some interesting dinner-time conversations.

Animated triumphs for the Star Wars­-verse

Thanks to being a television series, The Clone Wars didn’t face the feature film time crunch and was able to dive deeper into more story threads. We finally got the Anakin who didn’t whine every five seconds, instead showing  off more of those piloting skills and his struggle between the dark and the light. We traveled to places like Mandalore for the first time on screen, before we met up with the likes of Bo Katan and the rest again on The Mandalorian. It was “coincidentally” when we first met the Mandalorian Pre Vizsla, voiced by none other than Jon Favreau, who would go on to executive produce The Mandalorian.

We met witches and brain worms (anyone else feeling those Star Trek vibes, yet?). And the Force was in, well… full force. The series introduced us to Kyber Crystals—which are like personalized battery packs for lightsabers—as key components to younglings becoming Jedi. Their existence reached a wider audience on the big screen’s Rogue One. The Dark Saber made its debut. Droids were front-and-center in episodes. As far as televised space fantasy, The Clone Wars had literally everything.

Breakout Characters

Introducing Ahsoka “Snips” Tano, Anakin Skywalker’s infamous padawan who grew up in the series and became a fan favorite. Adventurous, rebellious and emotional, she parallel’s Anakin’s story until he eventually goes to the Dark Side. Criticized for her apparel before being lauded as a “strong female character”, Ahsoka became a breakout star. She was voiced by Ashley Eckstein in The Clone Wars, Rebels and Rise of Skywalker where she had a voice cameo. Eckstein is known for creating the “fashion for fangirls” Her Universe label and collaborating with jeweler Allison Cimino for an officially licensed Ahsoka Tano RockLove Jewelry collection. Fan love for the characters, show and especially Ahsoka is deep—they helped bring The Clone Wars back from cancellation.

Eckstein eventually passed the saber(s) to Rosario Dawson for the character’s live-action turn in The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett. Word is, Hayden Christensen will be reprising his role of Anakin alongside Dawson in Ahsoka, coming on Disney+ next year from Jon Favreau (literally everything in the Disney+ & Marvel universe) and Dave Filoni (supervising director on The Clone Wars). Filoni mentored under George Lucas and was essential to The Mandalorian as well, serving as executive producer, writer and director.

In Retrospect

The Clone Wars is special in the Star Wars universe for not only bridging the time gap between trilogies and the stories within them, but for its own unique stamp on the canon. We got to know about Obi-Wan’s past and met a teenage Boba Fett. 

Disney+’s recent Star Wars: The Bad Batch brought back incredible voice actor Dee Bradley Baker from Clone Wars to voice the elite squad of Clone Troopers, along with Michelle Ang, in the show’s spin-off. You can catch both on the streamer.