Starting The Clone Wars

I decided the begin watching TCW; I liked what I had seen in the past and so figured it would be fun to resume watching the series. Originally I was going to only watch 60 episodes , but it was hard to narrow down my list -- too many sound interesting -- and so I'll watch the vast majority of them. So I was wondering what episodes are not that good and not worth watching? Currently I'm planning on skipping almost everything with Jar Jar (there are a few episodes that still seem interesting), the Blue Shadow Virus arc, the Mortis trilogy, the season 3 episodes that deal with Mandalor (I am watching the season 2 arc), and the episodes that deal with Christophsis (mainly because I'm skipping the movie. Is there anything else I should add?

 

You can skip the first six episodes of Season 4, if you ask me. And episodes 10-13 of Season 5, it's a droid focused arc that honestly isn't that compelling.

Season 1 has some good episodes, but is relatively underwhelming. I suggest skipping most of it and just watching "Ambush", "The Malevolence Arc" (not amazing, but still entertaining), "Rookies", "Cloak of Darkness", "Lair of Grevious", and the "Dooku Captured"/"Gungan General" arc, only for the introduction of a great recurring character. Oh and the Ryloth arc and the last episode of Season 1 are good as well. The rest? Eh.

And I think you should give the Mortis trilogy a shot. Sure, it's very "out-there" but I found the episodes entertaining and did some interesting character work with Anakin.

 

Thanks for the replies. What about seasons 2 and 3? Are most of those pretty important? I'm assuming that I should watch most of 4, 5 , and 6; outside of what has been mentioned.

About Mortis: maybe I will watch it. I was planning on skipping it mainly because I had watched it a couple years ago and didn't feel like doing so again. Although, if it does some interesting character work then I should give them another try. Anyway, I'm already planing on rewatching most of the episodes I saw two years ago, so there's no reason to stop with Mortis.

 

Watch it in chronological order (there's a list out there). It's all good, some of it less good, most of it amazing.

 

How out of order are the episodes? I was aware of Christophsis, Mandalor, the episodes centered around the season one finale, and the one Cadets arc. Are there any others? Should I go back and watch the movie before proceeding? I was originally planning on skipping it because I heard it wasn't that good and I already knew the major events that happen in it.

Also a slightly off topic question: how much insight can I expect to obtain into Obi-Wan and Anakin's friendship? So far I love how they are portrayed (I'm about to start the night episode) but haven't seen them work together yet. I do love how the show handles their interactions though.

 

http://www.nexusroute.co.uk/the-clone-wars-chronological-order : Here is a link to a chronological order. Scroll down to the comments, and you'll see a long comment where someone has posted a good chronological viewing order.

Season 2 is the most consistent, and all of it can be watched, pretty much. The first half of Season 3 is disposable, besides the two opening episodes, which are excellent; "Clone Cadets" and "ARC Troopers". I would watch those two and immediately skip to "Pursuit of Peace" and then just watch from there. As for Anakin and Obi-Wan's friendship, there is some of that throughout. I don't believe there is a specific episode that explores their friendship however.

 

I am now in the process of watching the entire series. I am watching episode 3 of Season 3 next.
Loving it so far.

 

Watch Umbara from S4

 

Don't skip all the Christophsis stuff. You'll miss Hidden Enemy. Don't skip Jar Jar. Supply Lines and the last two with Mace are worth watching. Sit back and watch all of TCW.

 

I'd say don't skip anything and just watch it all.

 

I guess I'll try to watch them all -- or at least the vast majority. I probably will skip some of the episodes mentioned here. And I guess I'll go back an watch the movie, once I finish the next episode. I'm about to start Gungan General. Then I'll work to watch them chronologically. I'm surprised by how fast I'm falling in love with this show. Granted some of the attempts at humor are irritating, but a lot of the other content is quite good and I have yet to reach the better seasons.

I'm glad that TCW does occasionally show Anakin and Obi-Wan's relationship. I'm okay with there not being any episodes dedicated to it; I just enjoy seeing them interact.

 

Seeing Anakin and Obi-Wan interact more after the Master/Apprentice thing is over is always a treat.

 

So I just started season 4. I know I'm moving through fast, but I'm on spring break and I love this show. As of now all I skipped was Bombad Jedi, the two naboo episodes from season 1, the season 3 episode dealing with Ryloth (Supply Lines, I think). I also skipped the Mortis trilogy, mainly because I had watched the last half of season 3 a couple years ago. Since I was aleady thinking about skipping it and wanted to watch episodes I hadn't seen, I chose to do so. The only other episodes I'll skip are the court and fifth from season four and season five's droid arc.

Some thoughts: I love Anakin in this show; I feel that he's very similar to his portrayal in Labyrinth of Evil, which I also enjoy greatly. There a Lee moments where I can't imagine him being Vader. Granted, there are definitely signs (choking poggle and his conversation with Tarkin), but those things are so easy to overlook. I do think they handled his and Obi-Wan's relationship well. I also think Ahsoka is becoming a great character and I love how she interacts with Anakin and Obi-Wan.

I also want to address the battle droids. I'm so happy they stopped using them as attempted comic comic releif in season 3. They were terrible; first of all it wasn't funny and it prevented them from being taken seriously. There were times where they'd make me question my reasons for watching the show, but then there would be a great arc like Mandolore that reminded me.

I don't find General Grievous that bad. I would like to see him portrayed as more intimidating and maybe winning more. Since most of the time he's fighting Kenobi and Skywalker, I just pretend that's the reason.

 

I agree! While ive always liked him, this show has made me like him a lot more. Seeing Anakin fall after this is going to be hard.

How does season five and the lost episodes compare to season 4? Is the series going to continue getting better or have I reached the series' best?

 

I think S5 and S6 steadily improve in quality. Both production quality and the interest of the storylines. But some of S4 from the Umbara arc onwards remain as some of the best of the whole series. Many hated the droid arc from S5 but I think it had a couple solid episodes. However the storylines become a bit more serialized and come to a head as you go so I'd suggest watch all the way through now, especially as S5 and S6 have some of the best stuff yet.

And let us know what you think, it's nice to get some fresh perspectives in here.

 

Season 5 is pretty great, especially the final two arcs. Season 6 is also great as well, but the fourth season might be the strongest. The Umbara arc is ridiculously amazing.

 

They released an official chronology on Starwars.com a few days ago.

The only ones in this set I wouldn't recommend are the two droid episodes, though I wouldn't consider them anything worse than mediocre. Aside from that stupid prince I absolutely loved the Mon Cala arc. Not even Jar Jar's presence ruined it for me. Shadow Warrior isn't that bad if you can get over the fact that Grievous goes down like a punk.

My recommendations: I would absolutely skip the Season 5 droid arc. Onderon is also pretty bad except for the last episode. The Season 3 Mandalore duology is really lackluster, but you'd be missing a bit of continuity if you skipped the second episode, The Academy. Pursuit of Peace, also from Season 3, is just awful. And Lightsaber Lost from Season 2 one I really could've done without.

 

watch them all.

 

Thanks for more feedback! I think I'll stick with skipping the 7 episodes I mentioned. Six deal with droids (season five's droid arc, then two from season 4), which don't interest me. Then with Shadow Warrior doesn't interest me because of what I've heard about Grievous. This will still turn out the far more episodes than my original plan. I thought I was only going to watch a little more than half, but as of now I'm just skipping fourteen (five of which I had watched two years ago).

Also, I have loved both the Mon Cala and Umbaran arc. They both had great battles and the latter had a very interesting and well developed plot. I thought Krell was a good antagonist and I liked seeing how the clones interacted with him and eventually chose to overthrow him. The conflicts within the unit were interesting.

 

Well if you loved the Mon Cala arc thats proof right then and their TCW isn't some funny pair of sweat pants that magically fits me, my mothers, and the guy who posts next. Seriously don't skip any episodes man. I've watched every episode a couple of times with my bro Dark Lord Tarkas and there are plenty of episodes we have wildly different opinions about.