(Originally I intended to post this as a review on Netflix. But it exceeded 2000 characters, and I couldn’t be bothered to shorten it… or give up on it. I *did* take the time to write it, after all.)
I’ve been a Star Wars fan almost as far as I can remember. One of my earliest memories is of rolling my eyes and grabbing some toys to keep myself interested when my dad was watching some boring old movie - and getting instantly and permanently hooked when Ben Kenobi bequeathed Anakin Skywalker’s lightsaber to his son.
I watched all three prequel films in theaters - sadly, I wasn’t even born until after the originals had left theaters. You win some, you lose some. Eventually I found myself immersed in the EU, and I currently own about half of the entire published Star Wars works.
When I heard the main premise of the rehash of Clone Wars years ago, I was angry - how could they do this to continuity? (Sometimes, that sentiment comes roaring back to life.) I’m still angry over what the new “continuity” did to one of my favorite author’s contracts (Karen Traviss left the Star Wars team when a lot of her published work was thrown into chaos). But I mostly got over it, because the show is actually good. I’ve gone from imagining how Ahsoka will die young to imagining how she can find a way to survive in a galaxy that will soon be literally gunning for her.
Another reviewer mentioned how we should be appalled that the clone soldiers are being apathetically wasted left and right. Clearly, someone didn’t read Traviss’ novels, because a main point of the Clone Wars is that literally nobody in the galaxy seems to have an issue with the Jedi, sworn protectors of the Republic, leading a slave army to war. The clones aren’t even aware that they are slaves, or are simply resigned to their fates. It adds depth to the characters.
The same reviewer brought up the Star Wars: Republic comics, which showed a more serious side of this war. Those comics are still canon, but the timeline has been edited. It may also interest that individual to know that the character of Rex is based completely on Alpha, a main character of the comics. In fact, his name was only changed to Rex because George Lucas didn’t like the alliterative property of characters’ names: Anakin, Ahsoka, Alpha. Further, all of the clones in Anakin’s unit wear armor with blue markings regardless of rank, which ties in quite well with the fact that Torrent Squadron eventually becomes the basis for the 501st Legion, also known as Vader’s Fist. They were seen in Revenge of the Sith storming the Jedi Temple during Operation Knightfall, complete with blue-marked armor.
When I first started watching The Clone Wars, I didn’t have high hopes for it - it was something to help me pass free time that would have been spent otherwise being unproductive and bored. I quickly began to enjoy the show (despite the setbacks to continuity, such as Ryloth, my beloved Mando’ade, and Even Piell’s demise) and I even grew emotionally attached to the character of Ahsoka. Her character is as real and fathomable as Anakin’s or Obi-Wan’s, or even as Luke or Leia’s. Now I anxiously await each new episode as they are posted on the Star Wars website, because I want to know what will happen next. Are the plot lines still simple? Yes. It’s on a children’s network. Children have to be able to understand at least part of it, and even more to enjoy it. They wouldn’t enjoy the typical political intrigue that goes along with the Senate in the novels. Should the show even BE on a children’s network? No, and the creators didn’t originally intend for it to be. It was meant to be on Spike, a channel many Star Wars fans recognize as the one that plays Star Wars marathons every couple months. They tentative bit, but that fish broke the line and Cartoon Network to the hook when it was dropped into the water again. Adults would definitely be the target audience of the show had Spike taken the contract.
I didn’t start out as a believer, but the Clone Wars show has become a great visual medium back into a galaxy far, far away. I’m thankful to the show’s creators that we have the chance to discuss it. So come on, Clone Wars, don’t let us down.
Oh, and Netflix - seriously. Get this show streaming already. Beg LucasArts if you have to.
