PT “The Clone Wars Saved Anakin”: Why the Prequels Anakin Is More Important

The Clone Wars was in development before Revenge of the Sith even came out in the theaters. It started development in early 2005. I doubt Lucas compromised anything, when he, in fact, doubled down on the things that received much criticism: Jar-Jar, midi-chlorians, politics. He never compromised his vision when it came to telling the story that he wanted to tell, which is why he did not care about contradicting the EU, telling his story of the Mandalorians and everything else, knowing that it might very well cause a backlash (and it did). I really fail to see that being the case. Too much goes directly against that notion.

Micro-series was written and developed almost entirely independent from Lucas and the films. Which is why General Grievous in it is a completely different character, even though they were tasked with introducing him. I also fail to see how Lucas's The Clone Wars failed to adhere to the characterizations and themes of the PT. That really eludes me. It elaborates and expands on all of the themes that were in the PT. Whereas the micro-series was largely a collection of disjointed action set pieces, and outside of Anakin's confrontation with Ventress and the Nelvaan thing, it really didn't have much meat on the bone. It did not follow the mythology and the rules of the features.

Because they were deliberately made in different style. Just like the OT had a different style from the PT. Why would you want an anthology war adventure series that was deliberately done in the style of Saturday matinee serials that George watched as a kid, be the same style of the PT — operatic, play style? It was not a bug, it was a feature. Both were deliberately made that way.

 

That's all fine and good, but the tonal difference is just too much for me personally. Plus the micro-series is easily viewable in its entirety as an Episode 2.5 between Aotc and RotS, so I prefer it even just on that basis. About the characterization, you only have to look at Anakin and what Lanter has said, as related in the opening post. His Anakin was more Han Solo with a bit of Luke, than the Anakin of the prequel films. I also believe the voice actor of Obi-Wan said that he brought in some more Alec Guinness into his performance. That was a trend with TCW, that they clearly tried to push for more OT influence in it. The snappy dialogue is part of that. The micro-series adhered more to the style of dialogue of the prequels.

 

I believe that I have said this before, it MIGHT be resolved for the audience. In that they can try and piece together what is said and shown and arrive at the explanation that Sifo-Dyas was not involved and it was all Dooku and Palpatine. But that is a guess and speculation and what is not resolved at all is what the Jedi think. They are handed a highly suspicious clone army with a question mark over who actually ordered it. Plus a whole bunch of other mysteries.
Those never get any answer. Who do the Jedi think ordered the army? If they think Sifo-Dyas, how does that square with what Obi-Wan said about Sifo-Dyas being killed before the order was placed? Or how Jango had never heard of Sifo-Dyas and was shown to be working for Dooku.
If they think someone else, then who?
If the Jedi think that Sifo-Dyas did not order the army, then Dooku is a likely suspect. But they never do anything with this and they take zero precautions and generally do no thinking.
Lucas did say that the Sifo-Dyas plot would come back in RotS but he had to cut all that because he had pushed so much to RotS that there was no room for it.

According to Lucas, Anakin is who the PT is about, he even says that Anakin is what the OT and PT is about. That he is the main character, that PT + OT is "The Tragedy of Darth Vader."

If you believe that or not, the plain simple reality is that Anakin changes a lot between films. And AotC has to essentially re-introduce the character.
And a lot of character growth and relationships happen off-screen. Anakin and Obi-Wan friendship, Anakin's training, the development of his friendship with Palpatine.
Other things happens off-screen, now all of a sudden, the seps are a major problem and we have this new character Dooku that is a big deal. And we do not veen get to see this character utnil about half-way through the film.

Ex, take Last Crusade. That had a prologue with young Indy and we saw how he got his scar, his whip, his hat, his fear of snakes and showed the strained relationship with his father.
Now imagine that for a whole film. And then another film that had the rest of the story with adult Indy.
That would most likely not work that well.
Lucas choose to have a whole film with young Anakin. He could have done what Last Crusade did, have a prologue with young Anakin and then transition to slightly older Anakin and go from there.
He choose otherwise, which is fine, it is his story and he can tell it any way he likes. I just think that his choices had consequences. One of them being stuff had to get pushed to AotC and then to RotS, which made RotS fell rushed and a checklist. And things had to happen off-screen.

Bye.
Old Stoneface

 

I think all the most important developments and relationships of Anakin are shown in the PT films. TCW doesn't really develop things; it's literally just filler. It uses the PT as a base and just does its own thing as it sees fit.

TCW-Anakin is different than film-Anakin and it can be jarring, especially because these versions exist back to back. I wouldn't call it as bad as Jake Skywalker levels of character assassination, not even nearly, but it can give the eyeroll-inducing feeling of "Yeah, this is pretty much animated fanfic."

 

These are interesting takes on George Lucas his art. In many ways these statements are not dissimilar to those fans of the OT who thought George Lucas lost the plot with the PT. I'm not saying one has to adore/accept/acknowledge everything SW thing Lucas does as "good", but I think TCW is pure Star Wars just in a different medium. Just as he did with the OT and PT, Lucas employed a collaborative process to get his vision/story onto the screen. Whether one likes it or not is a matter of taste, but it is all authentic* Star Wars.

*Compare this to The Holiday Special which is one of the rare instances of Lucas actually compromising his vision of Star Wars.

 

I think an overall story can be about a character and an individual movie be about another, in theory.

 

For me the story is what is the most important factor for me; the passing events across the TCW series (or others for that matter) and how they connect with other material. I'd always prefer live action, but I'm perfectly fine with-and mostly look past-the physical presentation being different as long as the stories between media jive with one another. I have always watched TCW, Rebels, Bad Batch, Resistance, Tales of the Jedi, etc. simply for the story, and its connection to the overall gffa.

That's me at least.

 

Yea, I don't get the TCW hate. At the end of ROTS we see the clone troopers kill Ki-Adi-Mundi, Aayla Secura, Plo Koon, and Stass Allie. Now for most you just see random Jedi, if you watched TCW you get to know those Jedi and more like Luminara Undulli and her Padawan. You see other Jedi, and you see in some cases the clones who did the killings so you see how big of a betrayal it was. Plus, you get to see Padme in the Senate and more of that and as a Padme fan I'm all in. Overall, it just added a lot to the lore: Count Dooku, General Grievous, Asaji Ventress, the Mandalorians, etc.

 

I never needed any of the extra content provided by TCW to enjoy the prequels to the fullest. Anakin's character and fall were perfectly established by the movies, and I think some things in TCW actually diminish important moments from the movies, like Anakin using Force Choke before doing it to Padme. It's more impactful if that is his first time crossing that line. And the Order 66 scene was always one of the saddest in the entire saga, even without seeing much of the Jedi victims. The Jedi are clearly established as a virtuous force by the movies, so their vanguishing carries much weight even without TCW. Ki-Adi-Mundi's death in particular is a masterpiece of pure visual storytelling. The ash flying around solemnly, the brave Jedi Knight leading the charge only for his troops to stop behind him and open fire on him. The shot of the feet of the clones is just ingenious, and the actor under the make up of Mundi does such a fine job with just his saddened expression as he watches bewildered his troops turn on him.

 

@Seeker Of The Whills Well, now I'm stuck, because I'm a huge fan of (and advocate for) The Clone Wars, and yet I agree with everything you've just written!

 

I like parts of TCW, such as the expanded exploration of the Force in the Mortis and Yoda arcs, as well as the Maul stuff that was a set up for Lucas' sequel trilogy. My biggest gripes with the show are that Ahsoka and the clones started to take too much space away from Anakin's story. I'm in the minority when I say that I liked Ahsoka better in the movie and the early seasons than in the later ones. My avatar gives away that I'm a big fan of the original Clone Wars series. I thought it focused more on the struggle of Anakin, which I liked. There's definitely a lot of good in TCW, but I never fully fell in love with it and didn't need it to flesh out the prequels.

 

I think this is only further emphasized by his most recent appearance. Was it well done to make you think Anakin's a cool dude yes. Was it a defining moment in the character's life that helps us understand him better? No.

 

yeah, Dooku in his pajamas fighting force witches that can make themselves transparent, I wouldn't say was adding to the lore,
more like destroying it (in my humble opinion)

don't confuse quantity with quality,
too much of anything can ruin a good thing

 

As far as additions to the lore, the Dooku stuff I think doesn't add as much. Tales Of The Jedi did WAY more for that character. Only addition there, to me, was the reveal of what had occurred with Sifo-Dyas, with some more extensive uses of the clone wars events and manipulation of the galaxy through it.

I almost absolutely think similarly. Some things may have helped to show the divide between Anakin and the jedi/jedi council and more extensive character interactions between Anakin and other characters, like Obi-Wan, Ahsoka, Rex and Padme, but I think everything you need to know about Anakin is in the PT movies. I think TCW just spends more time, to me, with a less emotionally in turmoil and less nuanced, more jockish (in attitude and maybe in some cases look) version of the character from the beginning of ROTS.

 

Okay, but in ROTS Grievous is tossed at you with really no context. TCW showed how dangerous he was.

 

Yes I do love that. I get the foreshadowing George was going for (Anakin turning into a machine like Grievous), but I think I would have preferred to spend more time getting to know Dooku better. I still think it's such a bummer that an all-time great actor like Christopher Lee only got one scene in ROTS. The problem is, if you keep Dooku alive then Anakin has to leave Coruscant to kill him.

Which is ultimately what Grievous was created as: a plot device to get Obi-Wan away from Anakin. It fits though because that's totally a piece Darth Sidious would be able to maneuver.

 

I don't think it's needed really. I almost feel like TCW Grievous kinda undercuts Grievous in ROTS a little.

More than anything, I think this is an issue started by AOTC, because him killing Dooku makes sense in the context of how those movies tell it's story. I've been piecing together an idea of taking Jango out of AOTC and replacing him with Maul in story function, and saying the clones were developed by taking the best genetic aspects of warriors (maybe specifically citing mandalorians) and using them craft a perfect soldier in their mind. Maul would act as the assassin within the story and Obi-Wan would set aside his issues with Maul to face Dooku at the end of the movie and Anakin would face Maul and lose his arm to him. Then Maul would die by Anakin at beginning of ROTS and Dooku would take Grievous' place in the story being the one that Obi-Wan faces in on Utapau. I think that would help the flow of the story of the PT movies all by themselves.

 

I'm not sure about the Maul idea personally, that's just me though. I do think it was a waste of Christopher Lee though. Someone of his caliber should've gotten more screen time.

 

I sense he was given more importance because of the huge role in the classics. The importance was all along Anikan through the first 6 films, as Skywalker and Vader. Lucas might have planned this all along.