Star Wars: The Clone Warsis a beloved show by mostStar Warsfans, but there are some things in the animated series that haven’t aged well.The Clone Warswas developed by George Lucas in the 2000s as a way to tell more stories aboutAnakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and other prequel-era characters after the release ofStar Wars Episode III—Revenge of the Sith. The show premiered in 2008 and had an animated film release, which kickstarted the show.
The Clone Warsinitially ran for 5 seasons on Cartoon Network before being canceled. This ending left fans on a huge cliffhanger with Anakin Skywalker’s padawan,Ahsoka Tano leaving the Jedi Order. Luckily,The Clone Warsseason 6 was released through Netflix in 2014 and was marketed as The Lost Missions. However, fans would have to wait until 2020 whenThe Clone Warscame back for its seventh and final season, which was released on Disney+. Over the 12 yearsThe Clone Warspremiered, it’s easy to see how things changed and evolved, ultimately making the show better.
10Ahsoka’s Outfit From Early Seasons is Still Controversial
It Thankfully Didn’t Get Brought to Live-Action
One of the bigger issues fans have about the earlier seasons ofThe Clone WarsisAhsoka Tano’s costume. The Padawan to Anakin Skywalker was 14 when she was introduced, yet she was dressed in a tube top and leggings for most of the first seasons. It’s generally accepted today that this was an oversight by the animators as Ahsoka was a child soldier going into battle with little protection. All other Jedi seen inThe Clone Warsoften wear some kind of Jedi robe, but Ahsoka does not.
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While this decision was likely to make Ahsoka more personable, it hasn’t aged well, especially when so many fans who grew up with the show rewatch it as adults. When Dave Filoni developed the live-actionAhsokaseries and included Clone Wars-era flashbacks, the decision was made to change Ahsoka’s outfit to be more appropriateand be a combination of her tube top outfit from early episodes ofThe Clone Wars, and the tank top she wore in later seasons.
9Ziro The Hutt Played on Multiple Problematic Stereotypes
An Unpopular Villain Is Made Worse When Looking Back
There’s no question thatThe Clone Warswas trying to find its footing in its first two seasons. There was a sweet spot that the creators had to find between being a children’s animated show and a story that furthered the themes and stories of the prequel era. One of the stories that didn’t work in the long run was the villainous Ziro the Hutt arc. The Hutts has always been villains inStar Warsdating back to Jabba in the original trilogy; Ziro was no different.
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Ziro was the only Hutt that spoke in basic and not just Huttese, instantly making him different from other Hutts, which inadvertently made him less intimidating. George Lucas wanted Ziro to sound like Truman Capote, who was an openly gay actor and writer. However, with this depiction, to many viewers, Ziro was interpreted as being queer-coded, and whether intentional or not had many attributes that closely align with negative gay stereotypes.Overall, Ziro the Hutt wasn’t a great villain and the only thing memorable about him is nothing good.
8The Slavery Arc Was Insanely Dark
The Clone Wars Toed The Line With This Arc
Star Warshas never shied away from difficult and complex topics; however, it was still a bit shocking to see an entire arc inThe Clone Warsdedicated to slavery. WhileAnakin Skywalker was initially introduced as a slaveinStar Wars Episode I — The Phantom Menace, the depiction from the film compared to what was seen inThe Clone Warsis radically different. The slavery arc inThe Clone Warsseason 4 showed main heroes like Anakin, Ahsoka, Obi-Wan, and Captain Rex getting captured and brought into the Zygerrian slave trade.
There are also different depictions of slavery shown in these episodes. Anakin was the Zygerrian queen’s official slave and bodyguard; meanwhile, Ahsoka Tano was literally in a cage, while Obi-Wan Kenobi and Captain Rex were put to work in a labor camp where they and other slaves were tortured.While the heroes eventually make it out the other side, their journey is filled with dark themes. Not only this, but this experience also brings out a darkness in Anakin, as he remembers his time as a slave on Tatooine.
7The Banking Deregulation Arc is Still One of the Worst
Anything to do With The InterGalactic Banking Clan Fell Flat
The InterGalactic Banking Clanwas one of the most structurally important aspects of the Clone Wars and the Republic’s success; however, it’s safe to say that kids didn’t want to learn about banking deregulation and its pitfalls in their animated space wizard show. The IBC is important in two different arcs inThe Clone Wars. The first is in season 3 where Padmé Amidala works to stop a bill from passing in the Senate that would allow the Republic to open new lines of credit with the IBC, essentially prolonging the war instead of putting an end to it.
The other arc takes place inThe Clone Warsseason 6 when Rush Clovis took over as an adjudicator of the IBC as they faced financial collapse because of divided funds between the Republic and Separatists.Clovis worked alongside Padmé Amidala to expose the Banking Clan’s deceit and exposure to the Republic.The politics of both arcs fell flat, especially when there were likely other ways of displaying these struggles without discussing banking and bank deregulation.
6Obi-Wan Left His Enemies to Die Horrible Deaths
The Season 4 Finale Was Obi-Wan’s Darkest Moment
When Obi-Wan Kenobi went to face Darth Maul he wasn’t expecting to also be going up against Savage Opress. With the help of Asajj Ventress, Kenobi was able to escape the brothers, but how Ventress and Kenobi left their enemies is by far one of Obi-Wan’s darkest moments. After dueling Maul and Savage, Obi-Wan and Ventress were able to get into the ship’s cockpit and detach it from the rest of the ship, leaving Maul and Savage stranded in the vacuum of space. They seem likely to die a slow, cold death.
This character moment may have been expected from someone like Ventress who looked out for herself first and foremost, but not from a Jedi like Obi-Wan
This character moment may have been expected from someone like Ventress who looked out for herself first and foremost, but not from a Jedi like Obi-Wan. Ventress had a vendetta against Savage, whereas Obi-Wan was merely trying to keep Maul from killing anyone else.Given how much audiences know about Obi-Wan’s dedication to the Jedi’s teachings, this moment goes against all that.
5The Martez Sisters Added So Little To The Show’s Final Season
The Characters Were Distracting From The Main Story
The Clone Warsseason 7 is widely regarded as the best, and for good reason. However, the low point of the season comes when audiences see Ahsoka Tano for the first time since she left the Jedi Order. She meets sisters Trace and Rafa Martez, who have dreams of being self-sufficient with their ship.However, the characters failed to connect with the audience. In many instances, Rafa seemed unnecessarily rude, and Trace was overly naïve to the point where it became annoying.
These characters had the chance to be really interesting, grounded characters, but ended up merely being a means to an end. Their purpose as characters was to get Ahsoka to meet up with Bo-Katan Kryze and then lead theSiege of Mandalore. From the Martez sister’s appearance inStar Wars: The Bad Batch, it’s possible they continued working with Ahsoka, but since they haven’t been seen since then, it’s possible Lucasfilm simply gave up on having them appear in differentStar Warstitles.
4Clone Wars Animation Wasn’t Great For The First Few Seasons
And Is A Stark Contrast to Later Seasons
There is no doubt that the advancement in technology greatly benefitted howThe Clone Warsis remembered; however, going back and rewatching the first two seasons can be a little rough. Character design like the clones and in particular Captain Rex, changed to make them look more proportional and human. The difference between the earlier animation and the later animation allowed for more use of facial expressions and for more details to be featured.
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One of the reasons whyThe Clone Warsseason 7 is so highly regarded is because the animation became even better for the final season. For things like Ahsoka Tano’s lightsaber duel versus Darth Maul was choreographed using motion capture, with original Maul actor Ray Park returning. Certain subtleties make the later seasons ofThe Clone Warsso much more enjoyable to watch, especially since sometimes the animation in the first few seasons can take audiences out of the show.
3Bio-Weapons Were Created and Accidentally Used
But Never Mentioned Again
In aClone Warsseason 1 arc, the heroes discover the Separatists set up a secret laboratory on Naboo where they were producing a biological weapon in the form of the blue shadow virus.In an age where a global pandemic sits firmly in the audience’s periphery, seeing a scientist purposefully create a virus that is designed to wipe out innocent people hits a little too close to home.The two-episode arc sees multiple people getting infected with the virus including Padmé Amidala, Ahsoka Tano, and Captain Rex.
Padmé Amidala
The elected Queen of Naboo, Padmé Amidala won galactic acclaim for her heroism when she led her people against the Trade Federation. She became an influential member of the Republic Senate, but her life changed forever when she fell in love with Anakin Skywalker. Padmé Amidala found herself torn between her love for Anakin and her belief in the principles of the Republic, especially when Anakin became Darth Vader. She was brutally attacked by Anakin on Mustafar, and died in childbirth.
While the subject matter of the two episodes hasn’t aged well, this incident is never mentioned again. Count Dooku arranged for a dangerous virus to be brought back from extinction and is never held accountable for it.Of all the things that Dooku did, this is one of the most nefarious, and it’s crazy that it was never mentioned again,especially since a Republic Senator was infected and nearly died from it.
2The Jedi Committed Multiple War Crimes Despite Being the Good Guys
Multiple Jedi Committed Horrible War Crimes
There are multiple instances inThe Clone Warswhere the Jedi fake surrendering to the Separatists, only to launch a surprise attack. Both Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker have done it, despite it being considered a war crime. While these nefarious acts are to be expected from the Separatists considering they are supposed to be the bad guys, theJedi commit many war crimes too.
Other war crimes seen inThe Clone Warsinclude Ki-Adi-Mundi using a flamethrower, Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Mace Windu torturing prisoners to get intel from them, and Jedi attacking fleeing combatants. While this isn’t a complete list, it’s certainly enough to raise some eyebrows. When looking atThe Clone Warsfrom an adult point of view,these war crimes are often meant to be played off as funny, but in reality are kind of horrifying.
1The Republic Trained Domestic Terrorists
They Helped Create Saw Gerrera’s Radical Group
In a four-episode arc inThe Clone Warsseason 5, the Republic sends Ahsoka Tano, Captain Rex, Anakin Skywalker, and Obi-Wan Kenobi to the planet Onderon to train rebel fighters. Clearly, the Jedi cannot fight alongside the rebels since Onderon is a Separatist world, but the Jedi still train these rebels to take down the droid army. They even help plan a revolt to dethrone their new king.
While the Jedi couldn’t have known thatSaw Gerrerawould go on to be the leader of a radical militant group, it was still the Republic’s fault. While sending aid and people to train the rebels to help free their world was the right thing to do, it’s questionable if they went about it the right way. The decisions made by the Jedi are unsettling, which - to be fair - was the whole point. The problem is that later stories have shown theClone Warscharacter as a more heroic figure, which confuses the messaging somewhat.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Cast
Star Wars: The Clone Wars is an animated series that explores the intense conflict between the Republic and the Separatists. Featuring a mix of loyalty shifts and alliances, it delves into complex mysteries of the Force and showcases pivotal moments for characters like Anakin Skywalker and Master Yoda.
