In August of 2008 a theatrical film of Star Wars: The Clone Wars was released and served a jump start to the series that premiered on Cartoon Network in October of 2008. Fans were immediately hooked and couldn’t seem to get enough of the animated program that took place in a galaxy far far away. Star Wars: The Clone Wars became the most-watched series premiere in Cartoon Network history. The series averaged three million total viewers in its debut, according to Nielsen Media Research.
Then in 2013 it was announced that the show would be winding down in order for Lucasfilm to focus on the sequel trilogy as well as a new show Star Wars: Rebels. Fans were absolutely stunned by the news and some were outraged that the show wasn’t given a proper ending. Fast forward to 2018 and Lucasfilm announced at D23 that there would be 12 new episodes to be released on Disney+ and that it would be its final season. February of 2020 and the first new episode of The Clone Wars drops on the streaming app and fans were once again thrilled. I spoke with several fans on their thoughts of the new episode and generally the reviews were good. It was noted that the animation style had changed but as on Dave Gremillion said “I expect that from season to season.”
What are fans expecting for the final season?
1. Ahsoka
We want to see her make an appearance in the show. She was exiled from the Jedi order in season five and we know she reappears in Rebels. What is her growth? “We want to see her as a mature woman and that she is no longer a kid.” said Grant Garner.
2. Rex
We know that Rex appears in Rebels so we’d like to see him become more cognoscente of what ties to the mind control of the clones may be and how it will affect the future since we all know order 66 is right around the corner.
3. All the rest
There were several characters that did not really have their story arc completed or there were gaps between this and Rebels such as Hondo Ohnaka and Asajj Ventress. Let’s see how those characters cope with the formation of the Empire.
Now that we know what fans are expecting How did the first episode of the new season pan out? Rotten Tomatoes has given it a solid 100% with a 93% viewer rating. The final number of viewers has not been posted by the writing of this article but based on the loyal fanbase of this show it stands to be phenomenal. Lets look at the good and the bad. We are introduced to the “Bad Batch” in this episode and while some see it as “cookie cutter and stereotypical” they add an interesting dynamic to the show. Viewers may be reminded many times of the squad in the first Predator movie. Each one had a specialty and that specialty was used to the fullest through out the episode.
This worked because the clones themselves were… well lets face it…clones of each other. This adds an interesting dynamic as well as some interesting characters to the show. They can be a bit much at times even down right silly but overall a good start to the new season. The “Bad Batch” was always intended for the seventh season and in fact a rough cut of the four story Arc was released on starwars.com in 2015. In 2019 it was announced that the finalized version of the story would be released for the new season.
The Clone Wars is back now and we can all expect the same shoot’em up, lightsaber dueling, and massive explosions that we expect in any good Star Wars story as well as wonderful characters and their development. Said Grant Garner “I’m glad they’re releasing one episode per week instead of all at once” giving fans the chance to digest each episode as its released. While there will only be 12 episodes in this season the time will seem to drag on but when its over it will be over. New episodes drop every Friday on Disney+
