The Skywalker Saga Recap

Star Wars: The Clone Wars Recap

    Created by Dave Filoni, this animated TV series is 7 seasons long and takes place after Attack of the Clones and before Revenge of the Sith, forming about a three year time span between them. It cronalogically tells of Anakin Skywalker's eventual fall to the Dark Side. It also takes time to develop the friendship between Anakin and Obi-Wan, making what happens next all the more sadder.

    It starts off with the pilot movie of the same name that has the galaxy in a full-out war between the Separatists' droid army and the Republic's clone troopers, led by the Jedi, who are now Jedi Generals. Anakin, now a Jedi Knight, is assigned his own Padawan learner, a 14-year-old Torguta named Ashoka Tano. At first, they don't get along very well, but after slowly gaining each other's respect while on a mission to save Jabba the Hutt's kidnapped son from the Separatists, Anakin eventually accepts Ashoka as his Padawan in the aftermath: "You're a reckless little one. You never would've made it as Obi-Wan's Padawan. But you might make it as mine."

    We're also introduced to other Jedi we've seen in the three Prequal films: besides Anakin, Obi-Wan, Mace Windu, and Yoda (who we already knew), we also have Jedi like Luminara Unduli, Alyssa Serra, Kitt Fisto, Ki-Adi-Mundi, Plo Koon, Barris Offee, Shaak Ti, and Adi Gallia. Some other characters from the Prequal Trilogy also appear: Senator Padme Amidala, Senator Bail Organa, C-3PO, R2-D2, Chancellor Sheeve Palpatine, Jar Jar Binks, Qui-Gon Jinn (though in spirit, but still nice) and OT (Original Trilogy) characters Tarkin and good ol' Chewie. Darth Maul also makes a freaky comeback during the show having survived his severe injuries, and now has prosthetic legs. Alongside his brother Savage Oppress, he wrecks havoc across the galaxy for one purpous: getting revenge on Obi-Wan for what he did to him at the Battle of Naboo. Darth Sidious also appears in the show (in hologram as usual) but is still a terrifying force to be reckoned with. It's shown later in Season 5 when he arrives at Mandalore personally after sensing that his former apprentice had become too powerful. After the three Darksiders fight each other for quite a while, Savage is eventually killed by Sidious and Maul becomes Sidious's prisoner.

    We've also got some other new characters: Pirate Hondo Onaka shows up in the show from time to time. (Man, he's so enjoyable, you can't help but laugh a lot at his scenes). General Grevious also appears here as a fierce droid general who, trained by Count Dooku himself, claims the lives of many Jedi during the war, collecting their lightsabers as his little keepsakes afterwards and often clashing with Obi-Wan. Mother Talzin is shown as leader of a clan known as the Nightsisters and mother of Maul. Asajj Ventress makes an appearance as a Nightsister taken in by Dooku to be his Sith apprentice until an attempt on her life is made. She manages to escape, and after the extinction of the rest of her clan becomes a bounty hunter. Cad Bane is a fierce bounty hunter who doesn't care what he's been assigned to do.....so long as he gets paid. Pre Vizla is a Mandalorian who's the leader of a terrorist group called Death Watch and wants the people on his home planet of Mandalore to get back to their old roots as fierce warriors. Duchess Satine is Obi-wan's forbidden former lover and the leader of Mandalore who prefers peace over violence, thus being Death Watch's assassination target until she's killed by Maul as an act of revenge against Obi-Wan. Bo-Katan is Satine's sister and a former member of Death Watch until Maul took over the planet, turning against him along with some other former members. Rex is a clone tropper captain and leader of the 501st Legion, often fighting alongside Anakin and Ashoka during the war. He's fond of making quips here and there and always looking forward to blasting "tinies", as he calls the battle droids.

    Throughout the Clone Wars, Anakin and Ashoka grow closer, developing a brother-sister bond (or a father-daughter bond, depending on how you look at it), but all that changes after Ashoka is falsely accused of murder after a bombing at the Jedi Temple and therefore kicked out of the Order. Eventually, Anakin learns that the true culprit is Ashkoa's former friend Barris, Luminara's Padawan who has grown disillusioned with the Jedi, believing that they're being led astray by openly serving in the Clone Wars (lately, some people are believing that the Jedi weren't as they used to be). Therefore, Anakin clears Ashoka's name and she's invited back. However, feeling betrayed by those she trusted most, Ashoka decides to leave and create her own path. Not only is this one of the saddest Star Wars scenes ever, but it's also one of the main reasons of Anakin turning to the Dark Side (among other things).