Clone Wars The Rookies trilogy

This is never going to work..

ROOKIES | CLONE CADETS | ARC TROOPERS

These episodes really showed the characterization this show gives clones. I mean, there was an Irish clone! (What the hell heck was that?!) Rookies was a instant fan favorite in S1, and some even say it still carries on in their top 5 episodes of almost 100 to choose from. The choice to go back in time to watch our beloved rookies train was an interesting experience. We got to see how some of our heroes got their nicknames and who that one guy who got eaten by the eel was. (CUTUUUUUUUUUPAH!!)

BROOOOOOMANCE!

Now the ARC Trooper episode episode was a jump into the present, after Rookies, and looming before the great (2nd) Battle of Kamino. Here we saw our two surviving rookies in their pristine 501st armor, fighting to protect their home planet. At the end of the episode, our boys were promoted (wince) to ARC trooper status.

How about you guys? Do you feel this arc is one of TCW's best? Why or why not? Which one is the weakest of the three? Do you think the Citadel arc could be considered to be apart of the Rookies arc? Why is Cutup Irish? How does a clone beat another clone in a arm wrestling match if both have the same muscles (genetically)? Is Rex's pauldron possessed?

LOL that GIF looks like Fives and Echo are planning something

The Arc was amazing but out of the three episodes, i chose Arc Troopers

THIS! THIS right here is what destroys UMBARA in terms of Clone-centric episodes. I love these episodes...

But I would go with Clone Cadets.

Picking between the three is a tough choice to me. I like each episode quite a bit, but each for different reasons. Clone Cadets is full of that behind-the-scenes feeling stuff I love, Rookies is one of very few episodes that show how clones fair alone without a Jedi to guide them which is interesting, and ARC Troopers has some bad-ass lightsaber duels and that awesome music when we see Ventress' underwater ship. I'll have to give it some thought to pick a favorite and least favorite of the three.

I wouldn't count this as one of my favorite arcs because the most appealing thing to me in Star Wars and what makes it unique as a franchise is the Force and Force-users.

I wouldn't consider the Citadel arc as part of the same, they're pretty distinct. The death of Echo is relevant, but Rex is in a ****-ton of episodes but that doesn't make them one big arc.

Don't know why Cutup is Irish....is Cutup Irish??

Even though they have the same DNA some clones would be stronger than others depending on their workout regimen. Some may only do the standardized minimum while others do extra for recreation.

Ignore everything but Rookies.

/series

Rookies

I voted for Rookies! Great episode showing the clones handling a very critical situation on wits and intuition - not to mention saving the Republic's GAR in their clone manufacturing endeavors. The Citadel arc is too different for me to consider it a part of this clone arc. Why do you think Cutup is Irish?

His accent.

I wonder if that was inspired from Anakin's (or was it Obi-Wan?) cut line in the ROTS elevator scene on Invisible Hand...

Cutup - the Irish clone.

I can't help but think that Cutup was wasted; he got a whole scene in 'Clone Cadets' where he got his name and then in 'Rookies', he is snatched up and killed offscreen by a giant eel early on.

Oh, and this trilogy is great, definitely one of my favorites. I think I like 'Cadets' the most; they did a great job introducing the Domino Squad (and presenting their individuality) and the involvement of the two bounty hunters Bric and El-Les training the clones, Shaak Ti and Commander Colt was pulled off really well.

Rookies, the other two episodes were ****.

99 is just sickening, absolutely intolerable, and the clone personal drama just turns me off. Both episodes were full of terrible sentiment.

The only good thing about the episodes was Shaak Ti.

I also didn't like 99. He would have been culled right when he was vatted.

How can anyone hate 99? I think he was very nicely portrayed and I had no problems with his appearance.

And I don't think that the Citadel arc can be counted as part of this arc, it is it's own story even though Fives and Echo does appear as supporting characters. The Rookies trilogy suitably started with the Domino Squad as cadets in training and ends with the two survivors getting promoted to ARC status, which is a solid scene to end the story with.

I wish Clone Cadets was the true first ep of the series, despite C&M being a very good story. Clone Cadets has character development and doesn't stray from the namesake of the war: clones. I'd choose ARC Troopers to be the end of chronological season 1, a nice way to wrap up the Domino Squad arc.

My favorite from the trilogy is ARC Troopers. It has everything I like. Thank you, Dan, for reminding me of the formula for a good episode: clones versus droids and Grievous/Ventress versus Obi-Wan/Anakin.

I know right. Indeed.

Having all the things on Kamino like Grievous, Shaak Ti, Obi-Wan or droids did not take away from the nice clone moments in that episode. You do not need four episodes of just clone chatter to understand them. A well structured conversation like the ones in this arc give us a better understanding of how much being a clone can suck and it does not require 4 episodes to get it's message accross. I know people around here tend to point to Umbara as the ultimate clonefest but IMO the Rookies/Kamino episodes are superior!

ARC Troopers >> Rookies >> Clone Cadets is my order

For me it is Clone Cadets > Rookies > ARC troopers.

you just ranked urs in Chronological order lol

Ultimately I have to go with ARC Troopers because of how much I love to see the Force in use and lightsaber duels, but the fact that I even had to think about just goes to show how high quality the other two episodes are as well despite lacking these qualities.