Starr Wars: The Clone Wars (Season 7) - Review: While It Felt All Too Short, the Series' Ending Cements Its Status in Star Wars Glory
Starring: Ashley Eckstein, Sam Witwer, Matt Lanter, James Arnold Taylor, Dee Bradley Baker, Tom Kane, Katie Sackhoff
**DISCLAIMER**: This is a subjective, opinionated article that does not have, nor should have any effect on your opinion. As such, my opinion is entitled to change over time and whatever is written here at this point in time may not and should not be held to me in the future. You are not meant to agree with me 100 percent of the time, because the nature of subjectivity is we see everything differently. If there is something you happen to disagree with, I absolutely respect your point of view if you will respect mine. Please keep this in mind.
The Review
Disney Star Wars has not been doing well as of late. With the divisive Last Jedi, and the seemingly universally hated Rise of Skywalker, Kathleen Kennedy has needed to rethink her strategy when it comes to live-action films in the future of the galaxy far, far away.
However, one department that seems to be quietly thriving for Star Wars has been television. With the smash hit show The MAndalorian already finished shooting its second season, we turned to the return of the beloved animated show, The Clone Wars, as it made its triumphant return for a final season.
The show, which was discontinued shortly prior to the acquisition of Star Wars by Disney, was allowed to return for one last hurrah as it merged straight into Revenge of the Sith. This show, which got off to a rocky start in the late 2000s, gained an enormous fanbase, including myself, as showrunner Dave Filoni was allowed to explore the period of time between Episodes 2 and 3.
Immediately, as we start out with the first arc of the Bad Batch, two of the key components that made this show so successful are showcased straight out of the gate. The first of these are the clones. The clones in the films are nameless, faceless soldiers that fight for the Republic, later turning on the Jedi. But what this show has done in the previous six seasons was show how the clones truly have an identity, especially with troopers like Captain Rex.
The Bad Batch gives us a look into a different type of clone trooper, ones with genetic mutations that might be favorable in combat. It was an extremely solid arc, as we see Captain Rex return, struggling with his allegiance to the Republic while also working with an extremely unorthodox group of clones.
But the second element of Clone Wars that's made it so unbelievably successful has been Anakin Skywalker. From the very beginning, this iteration of Anakin Skywalker immediately replaced Hayden Christiansen in my mind as the true chosen one. This Anakin was assertive, he was quippy, he was grounded, he had emotions, he was subtle. I know that part of the problem was Lucas's script for the prequels that led to the downfall of Christiansen, but regardless, this version of Anakin IS the definitive Anakin for me, and whenever I think of Anakin, this is who I would think of.
So it comes as no surprise that the war general is featured prominently in the latter half of the first arc, getting to showcase some hints of the dark side. Without spoiling any plot, there's a line delivered by voice actor Lanter, where he yells, "I don't have such weaknesses!" that truly made me feel like Anakin, still the same good, pure Anakin, inclinations towards the dark side. This animated series truly did what two films could not, and for that, it has to be commended.
However, this season is not without its faults, and the fault lies squarely in the second out of the three arcs, where we follow Ahsoka as she figures out her life after leaving the Jedi Order with two sisters, Trace and Rafa. Without pulling any punches, I would say this is one of the most terrible Clone Wars arcs they've ever done.
And that's a true shame; with only twelve episodes to bring fans back into the world, the fact that Filoni used these four episodes that could have been used for something else, say an arc featuring General Grevious or Count Dooku (both notably missing in the series save for one shot in the opening montage of the first episode), would have been much more welcome.
Instead, we get an absolutely horrendous arc as these two sisters, seemingly idiotic in their decision making, make mistake after mistake after mistake. One of the episodes was so horrendously bad that the characters literally end up in the same place they started in, from start to finish.
That being said, and all that aside, we reach the final episodes of the show.
And they were truly breathtaking.
The final four episodes primarily take place during the events of Revenge of the Sith. We see some very, VERY subtle and clever crossovers in places where it would make sense for the canon. Anakin and Obi-Wan make a triumphant return in the first episode of the arc, which is the best out of the four in my eyes, and both showcase why they are two of the best generals in the entire war.
From there, Ahsoka is reunited with her master, and we begin the Siege of Mandalore, the eventual Order 66, and the fall of the Jedi.
Granted, I do have two rather minor complaints about the last two episodes, before I gush about the overwhelming number of positives. The first of these is that the episodes felt much too short. The episodes in the final arc are partitioned into parts, and I wouldn't be surprised if Lucasfilm releases all the episodes put together as a film. It would certainly one absolutely incredible piece of cinema. Regardless, the episodes, four in total, are only about twenty minutes, and even the last episode was about 23 minutes in length. It did leave a lot to be desired; I really do wish that Filoni and his crew had just added the extra 5-10 minutes to each episode to make them longer. It would've made the last arc seem so much more meaningful.
The second grip e I have is rather small, and granted, a little wishful, but I feel like Filoni missed an opportunity to directly show at least a couple of moments from Revenge of the Sith with these characters. The Matt Lanter Anakin Skywalker is so incredibly different and more nuanced from the Christiansen version, that even seeing him turn against Obi Wan would've had so much more emotional weight. I can just imagine the scene where Mace confronts the Chancellor, and Anakin runs in. He sees the two, and starts telling Mace that he needs him, thinking about Padme, thinking about Ahsoka and how the Jedi Order failed her. That would have had so much more weight.
But we don't get any of that, and to their credit, the team behind this masterful show decide to focus primarily on Rex and Ahsoka. And that's pretty great as well.
One thing that has to be praised is the animation. Even between the first two arcs and the last one, the animation SIGNIFICANTLY improves. It's movie-level quality; gorgeous wide shots, the expressiveness of the characters, it's absolutely stunning. And another unheralded strength of this show has been the music. Kevin Kiner scores the last four episodes brilliantly. There were even moments in the first episode, before the credits rolled, that I legitimately thought John Williams came back to score these final four episodes.
And let us not forget about one of the fan favorite additions/retcons that this show brought to the Star Wars universe: Maul. He's back, and his duels with Ahsoka are absolutely breath-taking. The animation was so clean and crisp, and seeing their fight was undeniably one of the best in recent Star wars, because each stroke felt like it had purpose behind it.
In the end, this final season of Clone Wars left a lot to be desired, given that this was the final twelve episodes of the show that we would ever get. But as the show came to its glorious end, I couldn't help thinking that the series, started so many years ago, had come to a fitting, beautiful end that it deserved. And for that, I cannot thank Dave Filoni enough.
However, one department that seems to be quietly thriving for Star Wars has been television. With the smash hit show The MAndalorian already finished shooting its second season, we turned to the return of the beloved animated show, The Clone Wars, as it made its triumphant return for a final season.
The show, which was discontinued shortly prior to the acquisition of Star Wars by Disney, was allowed to return for one last hurrah as it merged straight into Revenge of the Sith. This show, which got off to a rocky start in the late 2000s, gained an enormous fanbase, including myself, as showrunner Dave Filoni was allowed to explore the period of time between Episodes 2 and 3.
Immediately, as we start out with the first arc of the Bad Batch, two of the key components that made this show so successful are showcased straight out of the gate. The first of these are the clones. The clones in the films are nameless, faceless soldiers that fight for the Republic, later turning on the Jedi. But what this show has done in the previous six seasons was show how the clones truly have an identity, especially with troopers like Captain Rex.
The Bad Batch gives us a look into a different type of clone trooper, ones with genetic mutations that might be favorable in combat. It was an extremely solid arc, as we see Captain Rex return, struggling with his allegiance to the Republic while also working with an extremely unorthodox group of clones.
But the second element of Clone Wars that's made it so unbelievably successful has been Anakin Skywalker. From the very beginning, this iteration of Anakin Skywalker immediately replaced Hayden Christiansen in my mind as the true chosen one. This Anakin was assertive, he was quippy, he was grounded, he had emotions, he was subtle. I know that part of the problem was Lucas's script for the prequels that led to the downfall of Christiansen, but regardless, this version of Anakin IS the definitive Anakin for me, and whenever I think of Anakin, this is who I would think of.
So it comes as no surprise that the war general is featured prominently in the latter half of the first arc, getting to showcase some hints of the dark side. Without spoiling any plot, there's a line delivered by voice actor Lanter, where he yells, "I don't have such weaknesses!" that truly made me feel like Anakin, still the same good, pure Anakin, inclinations towards the dark side. This animated series truly did what two films could not, and for that, it has to be commended.
However, this season is not without its faults, and the fault lies squarely in the second out of the three arcs, where we follow Ahsoka as she figures out her life after leaving the Jedi Order with two sisters, Trace and Rafa. Without pulling any punches, I would say this is one of the most terrible Clone Wars arcs they've ever done.
And that's a true shame; with only twelve episodes to bring fans back into the world, the fact that Filoni used these four episodes that could have been used for something else, say an arc featuring General Grevious or Count Dooku (both notably missing in the series save for one shot in the opening montage of the first episode), would have been much more welcome.
Instead, we get an absolutely horrendous arc as these two sisters, seemingly idiotic in their decision making, make mistake after mistake after mistake. One of the episodes was so horrendously bad that the characters literally end up in the same place they started in, from start to finish.
That being said, and all that aside, we reach the final episodes of the show.
And they were truly breathtaking.
The final four episodes primarily take place during the events of Revenge of the Sith. We see some very, VERY subtle and clever crossovers in places where it would make sense for the canon. Anakin and Obi-Wan make a triumphant return in the first episode of the arc, which is the best out of the four in my eyes, and both showcase why they are two of the best generals in the entire war.
From there, Ahsoka is reunited with her master, and we begin the Siege of Mandalore, the eventual Order 66, and the fall of the Jedi.
Granted, I do have two rather minor complaints about the last two episodes, before I gush about the overwhelming number of positives. The first of these is that the episodes felt much too short. The episodes in the final arc are partitioned into parts, and I wouldn't be surprised if Lucasfilm releases all the episodes put together as a film. It would certainly one absolutely incredible piece of cinema. Regardless, the episodes, four in total, are only about twenty minutes, and even the last episode was about 23 minutes in length. It did leave a lot to be desired; I really do wish that Filoni and his crew had just added the extra 5-10 minutes to each episode to make them longer. It would've made the last arc seem so much more meaningful.
The second grip e I have is rather small, and granted, a little wishful, but I feel like Filoni missed an opportunity to directly show at least a couple of moments from Revenge of the Sith with these characters. The Matt Lanter Anakin Skywalker is so incredibly different and more nuanced from the Christiansen version, that even seeing him turn against Obi Wan would've had so much more emotional weight. I can just imagine the scene where Mace confronts the Chancellor, and Anakin runs in. He sees the two, and starts telling Mace that he needs him, thinking about Padme, thinking about Ahsoka and how the Jedi Order failed her. That would have had so much more weight.
But we don't get any of that, and to their credit, the team behind this masterful show decide to focus primarily on Rex and Ahsoka. And that's pretty great as well.
One thing that has to be praised is the animation. Even between the first two arcs and the last one, the animation SIGNIFICANTLY improves. It's movie-level quality; gorgeous wide shots, the expressiveness of the characters, it's absolutely stunning. And another unheralded strength of this show has been the music. Kevin Kiner scores the last four episodes brilliantly. There were even moments in the first episode, before the credits rolled, that I legitimately thought John Williams came back to score these final four episodes.
And let us not forget about one of the fan favorite additions/retcons that this show brought to the Star Wars universe: Maul. He's back, and his duels with Ahsoka are absolutely breath-taking. The animation was so clean and crisp, and seeing their fight was undeniably one of the best in recent Star wars, because each stroke felt like it had purpose behind it.
In the end, this final season of Clone Wars left a lot to be desired, given that this was the final twelve episodes of the show that we would ever get. But as the show came to its glorious end, I couldn't help thinking that the series, started so many years ago, had come to a fitting, beautiful end that it deserved. And for that, I cannot thank Dave Filoni enough.
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