Full Series Official "The Clone Wars" Series Discussion Thread (Spoilers Allowed)

Rewatched Siege of Mandalore and I adore its feel - the slowly-building tension in Shattered was done so well and then it snaps when you finally hear Palpatine utter three simple words that forever change the shape of the galaxy

 

To be fair, Ahsoka probably spent a great deal of time with Bo-Katan during the events of The Bad Batch arc to come to her sense of trusting her and believing she was a great warrior, though I wish they would’ve showed that. And, when she says “I learned from the best, including you”, I see that as more of her saying I learn from the best people who evolve and can be seen as a great warrior. Sure, she saw her murder all those villagers, but, I’m sure they had a whole talk about that between the Ahsoka Underworld arc and Siege of Mandalore arc to kind of find a common ground and a mutual understanding.

And, as far as the droids and troopers going up and down like slapstick menusha, I quite like those aspects of that final half of the final arc because it shows you should never underestimate a droid and it gave the proper respect and honorable callbacks/nods to the D-Squad arc. Plus, R7-A7 showed how much she cared about her master by sacrificing herself and keeping Ahsoka alive, so, you can’t argue against that, IMO.

 

I wonder if they would have addressed how Ahsoka came to trust Bo so easily if they didn’t cancel the series. It would have been even harder likely since Bo wasn’t originally going to be in the Pykes arc. Maybe the original version of Siege of Mandalore would have been even longer than how it turned out to be now.

 

Given there is concept art of Ahsoka actually suggesting Bo should lead Mandalore this is my assumption too.

Considering Ahsoka is wearing different clothes and has a lot more knowledge about events on Mandalore at the start of the Siege of Mandalore arc (Not to mention the walkabout arc taking place before the outer rim sieges), I assume that she has been running with the Night Owls for a while before approaching Anakin and Obi-Wan for assistance.

 

Not sure where else to post this, since we don't have like a 'little detail or moment or like' thread for TCW like with the PT, but I just rewatched Shades of Reason and really appreciated how much depth there is to the conflict. On the surface it's just Maul using the the crime syndicates to stage a fake attack on Mandalore, with Death Watch then swooping to 'save the day'. In that initial assessment it would seem to be a little outside the remit of a show called 'the clone wars'.

But then it hit me: The whole episode is Maul staging his own private little recreation of the war as a whole. On one side, obvious greedy aggressors attacking the peaceful Mandalore. Then out of the blue come miraculous saviours to rescue the beleaguered populous. The real kicker is that Death Watch where the traditional Mandalorian armour, the same armour which was the direct influence on the design of the Clone Troopers' armour.

It's like Maul trying to desperately impress his old master the only way he knows how, by using his connections in the underworld to imitate his central plan to dominate the galaxy. I always really liked this episode, but now it's elevated even higher now I see the mirroring in effect.

 

Very true!! Thanks for pointing that out
So obvious when you think about it, yet so subtle!

I just finished the series BTW! That final arc... and that final scene!!!

 

Sidious inherited Plagueis' schemes and plan, with its origins going back to ancient the Sith and Darth Bane's plot of revenge. Maul was trained by Sidious but was not privy to all the machinations of the grand plan of his master. Maul at an early date had to implement his own plans because of it(pre- TPM). In many ways Sidious was like a father figure to him. He was a good learner, which is what a student does, learns and applies. Part of Maul's training by Sidious was to be a leader and trained to have political skills, to read, understand and manipulate peoples motivations to implement many plans as a general or political leader would. He's not just a warrior, he's a complete package. Which is how he creates and controls the criminal underworld later on.


Maul used Pre Vizsla just as Pre was using Maul, but Maul quickly learnt he'd betray him and he would need another figurehead soon. Vizsla also created the situation where Maul would take direct control of Death Watch. It was not his original plan. Maul has been building his Underworld powerbase since before TPM(Maul comics) and he was playing a long term plan because eventually he would have to supplant the Master as that is what Sith Lords do.


By the time of later part of the Clone Wars, he and Talzin wanted to draw out Sidious to destroy him together and they'd need an army against his . Talzin suffered her own setbacks on Dathomir cause of Ventress' attack on Dooku back fired and led to the invasion of Dathomir. But Talzin acted as Maul's Kenobi ghost, as she was inside him and could be channeled at any time(SOD). Maul defeated Kenobi, which forced Sidious to act against a rival. Talzin used Maul as bait to draw out Sidious, that was part of her reason for bringing Maul back, she too wanted revenge against him for his betrayal and stealing and they betraying her son. Its a very complicated Dark Side game these three were entangled. Lucas wanted Maul to take over the galaxy in his sequel trilogy with his Criminal Empire. So it was never meant to be a trivial thing .

Maul was using the same methods the Sith used against the Jedi and the Republic, he just applied them to the Sith and the Separatist/Republic/Empire.

Maul didnt care about Death Watch or Mandalore to die along with it, as why would he since Vizsla forced him into taking the throne and leadership role complete with its own political intrigue and baggage - his real objective and kingdom was first and foremost always the Shadow Collective and the Underworld as a whole and Dathomir. Death Watch was useful but there was no way they'd survive the coming of the remade galaxy under the Empire. Maul staging the siege of Mandalore was designed to lure in Skywalker and Kenobi but instead Ahsoka showed up . Maul realizing Ahsoka's potential he attempted to make an alliance. But he sensed it had begun. He gave Death Watch their last hurrah as he proclaimed they either die as warriors and if they survive they'd now have fend for themselves and emerge with their own power. And Mandalore has been a target for the Sith since Season II, was not like it was a secret as Maul knew that Palpatine was Sidious and Dooku was his Sith apprentice. Vizsla and Dooku(along with Palpatine) had already attempted to overthrow Satine, and Vizsla tried making himself a liberator.. don't you think Maul was mind reading him and Bo-Katan the entire time,lol.

 

Glad avatar won. TCW is long and it’s hard to rewatch the whole thing. 3 seasons is much easier to watch and IMO avatar is as much as I like TCW a much better show

 

As a season I would agree it's not that strong, at least in my view. Bad Batch I'd already watched years ago as an animatic and the Martez sisters/Pyke arc overstayed it's welcome and could've been less than four episodes. I understand why they chose these though since Bad Batch seemed to be a backdoor pilot for their upcoming spinoff and the sisters arc exists to reintroduce Ahsoka before the finale.
But I loved Siege of Mandalore, easily one of the show's best arcs. My only nitpick there would be that because it was made after Rebels it seemed like they didn't try to make it feel as conclusive as it could've been. For better or worse I think the arc would've been different had the show never been cancelled, because presumably that would've been the last we saw of Ahsoka, unless Lucas entertained the idea of putting her in the live action Underworld series set after ROTS. And the Ahsoka novel made it seem like Siege of Mandalore played out a bit differently compared to the completed version. There's also some art Filoni did of Ahsoka and Vader back when he was making TCW where she's in her SoM outfit and it looks like they're in the Jedi Temple post-Knightfall which is pretty interesting. Filoni mentioned Ahsoka being pursued by clones in Order 66 and fighting them with wolves though so I guess that means these ideas he had for the finale of TCW made it into Rebels instead, including the Vader/Ahsoka confrontation?

 

I just rewatched "Rookies" and "Bombad Jedi"! I'm happy to say I still enjoy the heck out of those early episodes.

For some reason, clones vs droids never gets old. Kick-ass action and high stakes as they try to prevent an invasion of Kamino. And what a brilliant move it was to expand upon Domino Squad later on! Rewatching this now feels very different from that first viewing all those years ago.

But what would Star Wars be without Jar Jar? He is just hilarious! Especially in the hands of Ahmed, he always manages to crack me up. "Mesa eyeball stuck in da sleeve"
Overall, there are many great interactions in that episode. Padmé and Jar Jar have a wonderful relationship, I think. She recognizes that he's not suited for delicate negotiations and she knows he can't help making a mess of things, but she still brings him along and never gets mad at him, even when he causes the destruction of her ship.
It's so funny and heartwarming at the same time, because it shows how much she values him as a person and as a friend.

 

RIP the clone wars tag you will be missed

 

I just got this on my Google feed. I don't know if this was announced anywhere else, but considering he was the voice for Yoda and Yularen in TCW, I thought it'd be appropriate to leave it here.

Famed ‘Star Wars’ voice actor Tom Kane unable to speak after stroke

 

I hope he recovers soon.

 

Same here.

 

Not even for his voice acting just for his family to have him completely back

 

I will end up sounding like a broken record, but Filoni has even managed to make a Jar Jar centric episode look pretty great xDDD

I do love that episode too.

 

One of the best of the first season in my mind, along with the two others of that arc.

 

It is a funny one. It does Jar-Jar better than anything else.