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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Saga Star Wars marathon- what is essential content? (SPOILERS FOR EVERY MOVIE/SHOW)

Discussion in 'Star Wars Saga In-Depth' started by SithMaster83, Dec 18, 2022.

  1. SithMaster83

    SithMaster83 Jedi Master star 2

    Registered:
    Jan 13, 2005
    Hello all! Been recently contemplating a fresh go through of the Star Wars movies with my kids and wanted to include some of the recent films / anthology show episodes / animated arcs to get a true "full" story for the saga.

    Some quick background, myself and my kids have already seen EVERYTHING - to include all films / tv shows / and animated series (including bad batch, tales of jedi, rebels, clone wars). If i ignore the need to explore anything post-ROTJ in this marathon, that eliminates the need to watch any of the sequel trilogy (which we are all indifferent on) as well as Mando/Boba Fett shows (which we like but I don't yet view as essential to "understand" anything in the saga as a whole. Maybe when more is made clear, with future seasons, on the general direction of the arc they plan to take it. Currently it is just an epilogue for me on Luke post ROTJ and Ahsoka a bit to the same extent).

    Anyway would love to hear everyone's general thoughts. I am trying to keep this as LEAN as possible, since we have seen everything already. We are generally trying to keep this focused on main movie characters + Maul and Ahsoka. Generally, that is why most Clone Wars arcs involving the Clones themselves (which do a great deal to humanize them) were left off the list (sorry Umbara fans!).

    Here is what we have come up with so far as viewing order (since we have seen everything we wanted to do a chronological viewing):

    Phantom Menace

    Tales of Jedi - Dooku turn to darkside

    Attack of Clones

    *Clones Wars movie - (to cover Ahsoka intro though admittedly we could prob skip much of it)
    Clone Wars - Mortis Arc
    Clone Wars - Darth Maul Returns (starting with "Brothers" episode - then "Revenge", "Revival", "Eminence", "Shades of Reason", & "The Lawless"
    Clone Wars - Jedi Temple Bombing/Ahsoka leaving arc
    Clone Wars - Fives Conspiracy Arc (season 6)
    Clone Wars - Syfo Dyas / Yoda living force/visions arcs (Last 4 episodes of Season 6)

    Revenge of the Sith

    Clone Wars - Siege of Mandalore
    Tales of Jedi - Last two episodes (essentially Ahsoka clone wars epilogues)

    *Obi-Wan show - definitely the final episode / possibly the 1st episode also and the one covering his and Vader's 1st fight post ROTS as well......This is the one we are struggling with the most (as far as what NEEDS to be watched vs. can be summarized verbally since we have seen it).

    Rebels - Spark of Rebellion arc
    *Rebels - Siege of Lothal (debating if needed)
    Rebels - Twilight of Apprentice arc
    Rebels - Twin Suns
    Rebels - Finale

    Rouge One
    A New Hope
    Empire Strikes Back
    Return of Jedi

    Eager to hear thoughts!
     
  2. Bazinga'd

    Bazinga'd Saga / WNU Manager - Knights of LAJ star 7 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Nov 1, 2012
    Good thread but I dont think you need to mention or tag spoilers in this thread.
     
    Last edited: Dec 18, 2022
  3. Subtext Mining

    Subtext Mining Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Apr 27, 2016
    For me, the Clone Wars microseries is a must. After watching AotC, I watch CW up to just after Anakin's knighting. Then on to whichever episodes of TCW I want to include. Then just before RotS, I watch the rest of CW.


    I know you didn't mention books, but in case anyone else is interested, I think The Rise of Darth Vader is a perfect addition and transition point from PT era into Dark Times era. And perhaps Cloak of Deception before starting TPM to set the state of everything. (They're available in audiobook).
     
    Last edited: Dec 18, 2022
  4. The Emotional Jedi

    The Emotional Jedi Jedi Knight star 3

    Registered:
    May 18, 2021
    Just my personal opinion:

    The Phantom Menace
    Attack of the Clones
    Revenge of the Sith
    Rogue One
    A New Hope
    The Empire Strikes Back
    Return of the Jedi

    This is the essential material to watch. Everything else is just optional in my opinion. To be honest, there are days in which I think that even the Prequels and Rogue One are optional.
     
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  5. Sarge

    Sarge 5x Wacky Wednesday winner star 10 VIP - Game Winner

    Registered:
    Oct 4, 1998
    Defining 'essential' as 'things I would willingly watch again,' I don't need anything animated, nor the PT, nor most of BoBF. Solo, ST, and Kenobi aren't anything special, but I'll probably see all of them again at some point. Mando and Andor are kind of essential. R1 and OT are absolutely essential.
     
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  6. darth-sinister

    darth-sinister Manager Emeritus star 10 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jun 28, 2001
    If you're doing quick and dirty, then yes this. Though I also include OWK.
     
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  7. TCF-1138

    TCF-1138 Anthology/Fan Films/NSA Mod & Ewok Enthusiast star 6 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Sep 20, 2002
    "Essential" is somewhat of a vague word I think, as it's completely subjective.
    For me, I usually just watch Episodes I-IX, without any of the shows or Anthology movies if I'm doing a marathon. The rest I watch whenever I feel like it.

    But it's been a while since I last planned out and sat through a marathon ("marathon" here meaning over several nights, not in one sitting. I'm old :p), so I'm thinking of doing that soon.
    I'll probably include some additional stuff this time - OWK for sure, and maybe Rogue One and The Mandalorian/TBOBF (or selected episodes of those shows).
    I'll skip Andor and Solo, as well as the animated shows.
     
  8. jaimestarr

    jaimestarr Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 13, 2004
    I actually think you should introduce Star Wars to new fans in the order that they were released. Let's face it: ANH is the building block and the narrative everything else unfurls from it.

    We are delivered information based on having seen the original 3 films, then the prequels, and so forth. New content is created/new stories are told this way. I mean, you can watch Obi-Wan without having watched the OT or Prequels....but is it a maximized viewing experience? You can watch Mando without having seen any SW films (or TCW show) but a lot is lost for the 1st time viewer.
     
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  9. ezekiel22x

    ezekiel22x Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    Aug 9, 2002
    A New Hope
    The Phantom Menace
     
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  10. Seagoat

    Seagoat Former Manager star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jan 25, 2013
    "Essential" is a very subjective thing here

    I personally feel like it depends on what you want out of a SW viewing. I guess- oh **** lol I just saw TCF's post, and that's pretty much the same thing
    But yeah, I feel like the saga movies themselves is perfectly fine for a complete picture of the "main story". Or you can throw in stuff that's very adjacent to the main saga films. The Obi-Wan show and RO/Solo are great for that. Then I think TCW is sort of in its own tier afterwards, and below it, in varying different levels of adjacency to the story, would be other shows like Rebels, Andor, etc

    I suppose I'd say it's whatever is most related to the BIG deals of the Skywalker Saga. Like, knowing Dooku's backstory and all that is cool, sure, but what's told and shown to us in the films is already his greatest relevancy to the story. His backstory in TOTJ is sort of like a good supplementary thing. And likewise, with TCW, I kind of see it as sort of.... fillerish, if that makes sense? What we "need" to know about the Clone Wars is shown to us in the films - ironically, just how it begins and how it ends, because that's what's most relevant and meaningful in Anakin's journey and what it means for the ongoing story of the Skywalkers/galaxy at large. We definitely need to see that he gets embroiled in a war and later falls to the dark side in an attempt to save his wife near the war's end. Do we "need" to see all the different battles and smaller scale personal conflicts he had over the course of the war? Do we "need" to know he had an apprentice of his own, that Maul survived and did his own stuff in the meantime? Just for the Skywalker story, I feel the answer's no, but it's nice that all that other stuff is there

    TL;DR - I think that the main films themselves are enough of a complete experience in their own vacuum, but I think everything else is nice additional details to have, even if the blanks they fill in aren't really essential to the story thematically or narratively, and with varying levels of relevance to the saga
     
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  11. Lulu Mars

    Lulu Mars Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    Mar 10, 2005
    - For the full Skywalker Saga experience, just watch the Skywalker Saga from beginning to end.
    - For the full cinematic Star Wars canon experience, watch EVERYTHING that's canon in chronological order (If you want to include the non-canon stuff as well, go for it).
    - For the full George Lucas Star Wars experience, watch Saga episodes I-VI and TCW.

    - Finally, for the "essential" experience, just watch what feels essential to you.
     
    Last edited: Jan 13, 2023
  12. rocknroll41

    rocknroll41 Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 28, 2013
    I think “essential” to me really just means the OT.
     
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  13. Sith Lord 2015

    Sith Lord 2015 Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Oct 30, 2015
    "Essential"? That word alone is highly subjective. In my personal opinion that would be only ANH - ESB - ROTJ - TPM - AOTC - ROTS, in that order. Everything else would be strictly optional, and nowhere near essential. :p
     
  14. Mystery Roach

    Mystery Roach Chosen One star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 10, 2004
    I was trying to do this but Disney ended up producing too much content for me, so now I’m just trying to come up with a list of TCW arcs/episodes that are most essential to tell a condensed self-contained Lucas-approved story to accompany the first six movies.
     
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  15. Blame_It_On_Lucas

    Blame_It_On_Lucas Jedi Grand Master star 3

    Registered:
    Jan 29, 2004
    So to reply to OP, it's totally subjective and whatever you think will make for the best experience with your children. Ultimately you know their tastes best so I'd say adjust the viewing order or selections as you go to where you think they'd get the most enjoyment.

    I've also actually been slowly going through the Star Wars saga since last spring with my daughter who's 5, and we finally just finished ESB tonight.

    I've been showing her the films in chronological order. For one it's like I'm experimenting on her to see how one sees Star Wars from a chronological perspective, so I'm getting a kick out of how she's absorbing the series. Also figured Episode 1's tone was a good start for her sensibilities.

    However, the one thing I can't resist from sharing is, this whole seeing it by numerical order business, has essentially made Obi-Wan her favorite character full stop. She really gravitated to him after Episode II. So based on that, after we finished Revenge of the Sith last summer, I thought she'd appreciate the saga more if we went through the Obi-Wan series. Plus it helps there's a
    little kid in Leia
    for her to relate to. Of course I found out there's a price to this which is:

    To her Obi-Wan was THE franchise. She saw him as the main protagonist as a result of this, so just imagine her utter shock when we got to the lightsaber duel in A New Hope. Absolutely devastated when Obi got struck down. Really cried her eyes out. Made the whole discourse about TLJ Luke almost look tame by comparison. Obi Wan speaking to Luke beyond the dead was about the only thing that comforted her about him getting killed off for the rest of the movie.

    So yeah it's gonna be fun stuff like that. Magic of parenting.
     
    Last edited: Feb 7, 2023
  16. Sarge

    Sarge 5x Wacky Wednesday winner star 10 VIP - Game Winner

    Registered:
    Oct 4, 1998
  17. Darth Scotland

    Darth Scotland Jedi Knight

    Registered:
    Jun 3, 2018
    For me, its:

    Rogue One (the only prequel you need, sets up the original trilgy better than anything else)
    Original Trilogy ('nuff said)
    Dark Empire Trilogy (the only continuation that really follows on from Return of the Jedi instead of starting a new story with the sae characters)
     
    Last edited: Apr 17, 2023
  18. Darkslayer

    Darkslayer Hater of Mace Windu star 7

    Registered:
    Mar 26, 2013
    "Essential" to me would be the George Lucas Star Wars: PT, TCW, and OT. That's it right there. He's the creator and author so ultimately all you really need is what he gave us.

    However, for my own personal enjoyment, my Star Wars list of "essential" viewing materials has grown quite large:

    - Darth Plagueis (Read Parts 1 and 2)
    - Cloak of Deception
    - The Phantom Menace Supercut (which includes Part 3 of Darth Plagueis and the Dooku Tales of the Jedi episodes)
    - Attack of the Clones
    - Clone Wars (Microseries up until Knighting)
    - The Clone Wars (movie and TV series, including Crystal Crisis Animatics, Son of Dathomir comic, and Dark Disciple, and excluding Siege of Mandalore)
    - Labyrinth of Evil
    - Revenge of the Sith Supercut (which includes the Microseries Battle of Coruscant, Siege of Madnalore, and the ROTS deleted scenes)
    - The Bad Batch Destruction of Kamino Arc
    - Obi-Wan Kenobi
    - Solo
    - Rebels (Fire Across the Galaxy, The Siege of Lothal, Shroud of Darkness, Twilight of the Apprentice, Wolves and a Door, World Between Worlds, Finale and Farewell)
    - The Force Unleashed YouTube Movie
    - Rogue One
    - A New Hope
    - The Empire Strikes Back
    - Return of the Jedi
    - The Mandalorian: Season 1
    - The Mandalorian: Season 2
    - The Book of Boba Fett (Episodes 4-7)
    - Ahsoka

    I do anticipate adding the rest of the Thrawn storyline - hopefully that can provide a satisfying conclusion for the post-ROTJ era of storytelling! Also I do love the Old Republic era, but the stories I enjoy from that really don't mesh well with the movie era stories (unless you headcannon that Revan is Shmi Skywalker's ancestor, which I kind of always have).
     
    Last edited: Sep 2, 2023
  19. Reepicheep775

    Reepicheep775 Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 27, 2019
    The Phantom Menace
    Attack of the Clones
    The Clone Wars
    Revenge of the Sith
    Rebels
    Rogue One
    A New Hope
    The Empire Strikes Back
    Return of the Jedi
    The Mandalorian
    Ahsoka

    Basically the stuff created by George Lucas and/or Dave Filoni. R1 isn't essential by this definition; it's just really good and I think everyone should see it.
     
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  20. rocknroll41

    rocknroll41 Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 28, 2013
    I recently came up with a list of all the canon entries ordered in what I feel are most-important to least-important (at least for newcomers):

    Original Trilogy
    Sequel Trilogy
    Prequel Trilogy
    Obi-Wan Kenobi
    Solo
    Andor
    Rogue One
    The Clone Wars (in chronological order)
    Tales of the Jedi
    Rebels
    The Mandalorian Seasons 1-2
    The Book of Boba Fett
    The Mandalorian Season 3
    Ahsoka
    Skeleton Crew
    The Bad Batch
    Resistance
    Young Jedi Adventures
    Rebels Shorts
    Young Jedi Adventures Shorts

    My thinking was that a newbie could go thru this list and then jump off wherever they get bored.

    For more context, I made a blog post where I detailed all my choices: http://henrynsilva.blogspot.com/2023/10/full-circle-order-new-way-to-watch-star.html?m=1
     
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  21. Jedi Master Frizzy

    Jedi Master Frizzy Force Ghost star 8

    Registered:
    Jan 15, 2018
    Prequel Trilogy, Original Trilogy, Sequel Trilogy. Clone Wars, Rebels, Rogue One, Andor, Kenobi, Mandalorian, Book of Boba Fett, Ahsoka.
     
    Last edited: Oct 13, 2023
  22. PolymerSkywalker

    PolymerSkywalker Jedi Padawan star 1

    Registered:
    Sep 15, 2023
    Just watch 1-6, and you can really stop there. Some of the rest is ok, but not really required viewing.
     
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  23. darthfettus2015

    darthfettus2015 Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 15, 2012
    Everything including cartoons but not the holiday special or ewoks. I also include the 2003 clone wars but haven't found beat way to integrate it... there is a way to do it episode by episode but think I'd go first part of 2003... then the film.. then first six seasons of TCW... then part two..then season 7 ... it's quite funny the most amazing feature of star wars, order 66 is so hard to watch in chronological order as it's seem from so many different angles by different shows
     
  24. Jedimarine

    Jedimarine Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Feb 13, 2001
    The Ewok movies!
     
  25. Kenneth Morgan

    Kenneth Morgan Two Truths & Lie winner! star 5 VIP - Game Winner

    Registered:
    May 27, 1999
    I'll agree on the first one, but the second short-circuits the first one's happy ending, setting the stage for the ST decades later.