Star Wars: Clone Wars

Our Review

The series that redeemed the prequel era. George Lucas’s 2008 animated epic fills the gap between Episodes II and III with the actual Clone War — a three-dimensional conflict where the clones are people (each one distinct, each one betrayed by design), the Jedi are generals losing their souls to a war they don’t understand, and the true villain is the war itself. It took a season to find its feet; by season 2 it was telling war stories live action wouldn’t touch, and by the Mortis arc it was doing mythology as poetry.

Ahsoka Tano — Anakin’s padawan, created for this show — is the franchise’s great addition: her walk away from the Jedi Order in The Wrong Jedi is the best thing Star Wars has produced this century. The Siege of Mandalore (season 7) ties directly into Revenge of the Sith and gives Ahsoka and Rex’s escape from Order 66 the horror it deserved. Darth Maul’s resurrection arc gave the character more depth here than the films ever did.

Verdict: Watch it. Not a kids’ show — the missing chapter of the saga.