Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Season 5

The Clone Wars are reaching their peak, but the Republic's victory is far from guaranteed. On Onderon a group of hardened rebels led by Saw Gerrera seek aid from the Jedi. A covert Republic infiltration squad is formed out of a band of droids led by R2-D2 and is dispatched on a deadly mission. But most dangerous is the unexpected return from the dead of Darth Maul. Allying with the Death Watch, he launches an assault on the planet Mandalore and seeks to lure his arch nemesis Obi-Wan Kenobi into a deadly trap.

The fifth season of The Clone Wars takes a slightly different format to the proceeding ones, which mixed stand-alone episodes with longer-form story arcs. This season consists instead of five four-episode arcs. This allows for a slightly slower pace and more character and plot development instead of the frantic action and sometimes over-accelerated storytelling of earlier seasons.

The first arc (after a brief prologue dealing with Darth Maul) is set on Onderon and sees Anakin and Ahsoka join forces with Saw Gerrera (who was recently promoted to the live-action movie franchise with an appearance in Rogue One) and his band of rebels. This is a straightforward story which starts off with an interesting clash of tactics between Gerrera, who wants to use more lethal tactics and accept civilian casualties, and other rebels who adopt a more moderate tone. Unfortunately this clash of ideologies is not explored further and abandoned in favour of lots of action scenes. The story does end on a more ruthless and brutal moment than might be expected.

The second arc deals with a band of younglings undergoing a Jedi rite of passage on an ice planet, only to get caught up in a battle between pirate warlord Hondo and General Grievous. This is a fun arc, at least until your remember that all these kids get killed by Anakin in Revenge of the Sith, but it works quite well.

The third arc is by far the funniest. R2-D2 is assigned to a droid infiltration squad led by General Gascon, who feels he was chosen for his tactical skills and not remotely because he is the only Republic officer small enough to fit inside one of the droids. The result is a hilarious series of misadventures as Gascon and the droids attempt to steal some important data plans and get them back to the Republic no matter the cost. After watching this, I wonder how long it will be before Disney gets Pixar to make a Droids movie.

In the third arc Darth Maul and his brother Savage Opress join forces with Jabba the Hutt, the Black Sun syndicate and the Mandalorian Death Watch to conquer Mandalore and set up a new criminal empire. This story is cheesy but fun, with various bad guys from across the lifetime of the series joining forces to conquer a planet. Darth Maul's survival after being cut in half in The Phantom Menace is more than slightly unconvincing, but it does result in a pretty intense and epic storyline, particularly its tragic and powerful ending.

The final arc is the best, and the best thing The Clone Wars has ever done. Ahsoka is framed for a crime she didn't commit and goes on the run. The result is a stunning story with the best animation in the show's history and some very well thought-out characterisation. Cynically, the story is probably just a way of explaining why Ahsoka doesn't show up in Revenge of the Sith or die in Order 66, but it's tremendously well-handled all the same.

The fifth season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars (****½) is the best to date, with the new format working really well and allowing for better, deeper stories to be told. It is available now as part of the Complete Season 1-5 box set (UK, USA).

The sixth season of The Clone Wars was cancelled mid-production to make way for a new series, Rebels (now airing its third season in the States). The first 13 episodes of the season were finished and released as The Lost Missions, which I'll get to as soon as possible.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Season 4

The Clone Wars rage on, but the Republic is winning more victories. As Mon Calamari falls under attack and the Republic races to its defence, General Grievous prepares an assault on Naboo which can only be defeated by the Gungans. Meanwhile, on Dathomir Asajj Ventress is offered the chance to rejoin the Nightsisters, but Count Dooku hungers for revenge. And on a remote industrial world, an old enemy of Obi-Wan Kenobi's is gathering his strength.

The Clone Wars enters its fourth season at full steam, ploughing through multiple battles and theatres of war, jumping back and forth through the conflict's timeline with wild abandon and jumping between storylines and characters with glee and confidence. The show makes excellent use of the vast cast of characters it's built up over the three preceding seasons, from bounty hunters to politicians to individual clone troopers, to tell its stories.

We get some of the most impressive battles so far, with the underwater engagements on Mon Calamari bringing some new visuals to the table, and the battle on Umbera, a planet shrouded in darkness, being particularly spectacular. There's also a slew of lower-key storylines, such as Asajj Ventress discovering a new destiny and Obi-Wan Kenobi going undercover in a criminal organisation and being forced to work alongside Cad Bane.

Thre's a tad less emphasis on politics than the previous season, maybe a bit more action but also more of a willingness to go long on storylines, with more multi-part story allowing more time for character development and action scenes. The show's freedom and willingness to experiment is impressive, although there's occasional re-uses of already-done tropes (Jar-Jar getting a meta-textual story in which he saves the galaxy is amusing but overdone; Artoo and Threepio get another - pretty good - solo adventure). The return from the dead of an old enemy in the season finale also crosses the line from "highly implausible" to "utterly unbelievable", even by Star Wars standards. But the show has earned some trust to see where they take this development in the fifth season.

The animation is more impressive than ever before, and by this point the CG team has built up a huge, impressive list of assets they can use to make for ever more-complex and varied scenes. Scenes involving fire, in particular, are much improved.

Season 4 of The Clone Wars (****) continues the show's tendency of being pulp fun, entertaining and more enjoyable than the prequel trilogy it spins off from. It is available now as part of the Complete Season 1-5 box set (UK, USA).

Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Season 3

The Clone Wars rage on, but the cost in lives and money has become enormous. As the Galactic Republic votes to put even more money and resources into the war, Senator Amidala leads a fresh initiative to make peace with the Separatists. Meanwhile, renewed conflict erupts on Mandalore and Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano travel to the mysterious world of Mortis to learn more about the prophecy of the Chosen One.

The third season of The Clone Wars is - to a certain degree - a more thoughtful one than what has come before. There are still lots of massive battles and impressive action sequences, of course, but there's also more reflective moments that seek to expand the mythology of Star Wars and further characterisation. There's also a decision to flesh out the continuity of the series: several episodes in the third season flash back to the first season and expand on events that took place previously.

This particularly benefits the character of Ahsoka. The "callow hot-headed youth" archetype has been played to death, but Ahsoka's growing maturity and her ability to adapt to different situations marks her out as a different kind of character to Anakin. Her role in the season finale, in which she joins forces with some kidnapped padawans and a familiar Wookie warrior, is particularly successful in this regard. The season also fleshes out the 501st Clone Battalion, adding more characters to the mix and showing how their ranks change between battles as recruits join and old hands pass away.

One of the bigger surprises of watching The Clone Wars is how lightly - barely at all by this point, halfway through the series run - it handles Anakin's descent to the Dark Side. The odd overzealous moment of anger here and there aside, Anakin shows little of the later rage and anger that will consume him. Instead, and more cleverly, the writers continue to deepen his emotional attachment to Padme and his responsibilities for Ahsoka, setting up how the severing of those attachments later on help pave the way for his downfall. Most successfully, the season gives us a multi-part story that explores just what it means to be the Chosen One and what bringing "balance to the Force" means, and gives us the moment when Anakin could have saved himself and the galaxy if he'd chosen otherwise.

The season also has a few lighter moments, such as an amusing solo adventure for R2-D2 and C-3PO, and several all-out action episodes, including a prison break where Anakin meets Captain Tarkin for the first time (and they discover a mutual respect, calling back to the original Star Wars movie). It also has a few disappointing episodes, most notably a multi-episode arc which seems to serve little purpose other than give us a lame (and, as future seasons show, redundant) replacement for Darth Maul.

For the most part, though, Season 3 of The Clone Wars (****) is highly watchable, entertaining and far more nuanced than the movies it spins off from. The animation is ever more impressive, the voice acting is excellent and the series retains its reputation for excellent pulp fun. It is available now as part of the Complete Season 1-5 box set (UK, USA).

Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Season 2

The Clone Wars continue to rage across the galaxy. The Separatist robot armies and the Republic's clone troopers mean that both sides can feed millions of troops into the fray, raising fears that the war may continue indefinitely. The Jedi Knights attempt to bring about a final victory, even as Count Dooku and General Grievous press home their attacks...

The first season of The Clone Wars was enjoyable enough, but limited assets and a low (ish) budget meant that it was more of a proof of concept for what the series could be. In its second season, The Clone Wars starts to fulfil that promise. The animation is more impressive, the space battles more epic, the stories longer and more involving, interspersed with some quite effective (and occasionally even moving) stand-alones.

The big stories revolve largely around the activities of bounty hunters, particularly recurring enemy Cad Bane, major military campaigns on Geonosis and Christophisis, and political intrigue on Coruscant and Mandalore. There is also a ludicrous but entertaining multi-part homage to Godzilla and King Kong, when a gigantic "Zillo Beast" is defeated in battle and transported to Coruscant, where naturally it escapes and mayhem ensues. The big stories are well-written and entertaining, although some are more interesting than others: the different bounty hunters the show is trying to set up this season can be a bit interchangeable and therefore less effective as villains.

The stand-alones are extremely good. One episode where a Republic officer finds a clone deserter hiding out on a planet and resolves to turn him in, only to have his moral certainty tested, is very well-handled. An episode where Ahsoka loses her lightsabre and enlists the help of an elderly and apparently past-his-best Jedi to aid her is also extremely entertaining. Another episode sees Ahsoka, Obi-Wan and Anakin reluctantly joining forces with a band of mercenaries in a homage to Seven Samurai.

There's also a renewed focus on more realistic politics (at least compared to the prequel movies, which isn't saying much) and a solid season-ending arc which sees Boba Fett infiltrate the clone ranks in an attempt to avenge the death of his father Jango at the hands of Mace Windu (in Attack of the Clones).

The result is a stronger season overall that delves further into the nature of war and the morality of conflict. There is some excellent character development, particularly of Obi-Wan, Anakin and Ashoka, and a scaling back of less successful elements: Jar-Jar doesn't have much to do this season, thankfully. There is also a lot of excellent battle sequences, great voice acting and some marvellous production design.

On the negative side of things, the way the story jumps backwards and forwards between times and locations occasionally risks confusion. Fans of the old Star Wars Expanded Universe will also probably be less than thrilled to see what's become the Mandalorians, the battle-hardened super warriors from numerous video games, comics and novels now reduced to pacifistic, squabbling fools.

Aside from that, Season 2 of The Clone Wars (****) is a major improvement over the first season in every way and makes for excellent pulp fun. It is available now as part of the Complete Season 1-5 box set (UK, USA).

Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Season 1

The Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems are at war. From one end of the galaxy to another, vast armies of clones (fighting for the Republic) and battle droids (fighting for the Confederacy) fight for control of key systems. The Jedi Knights play an important role in the war, moving from flashpoint to flashpoint as they try to bring about the enemy's defeat...unaware that they are being manipulated from behind the scenes by the Sith.

The Clone Wars is an animated, five-season TV series which fills in the three-year narrative gap between the Star Wars films Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. The Clone Wars have been a source for great speculation and discussion for fans since their fleeting mention in the original movies, and fans were disappointed that the movies only depicted the very beginnings and very end of the conflict. It falls to this CG show to fill in the bit in the middle. However, it's surprising how many Star Wars fans have avoided the series, possibly due to the prequel trilogy being a less-than-compelling series of films.

The Clone Wars actually works very well, and the first season by itself is far more entertaining than the entire prequel trilogy. One reason for this is that it taps into George Lucas's original vision for Star Wars, as an updated and more impressive version of the 1930s Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers movie serials starring Buster Crabbe. Like those old serials, The Clone Wars is a series of punchy, short episodes. Unlike those serials, The Clone Wars is not one big story. Instead, it mixes up stand-alone adventures with longer arcs and moves backwards and forwards in the chronology of the wars. This can be confusing. Several times I thought I'd missed an intervening episode, but the short run-time of the episodes (20 minutes or so each) requires them to move some scene-setting material into an opening flashback sequence, which is also used as a "Story So Far" device on multi-part stories. Just to add to the potential confusion, some stories in Season 1 are revisited in the third season and later.

You can mostly ignore this. In fact, the choppiness of the series does make it feel like a real war story, almost like a series of WWII news reports that flit from Stalingrad to the Pacific to North Africa in rapid succession. This feeling is helped by the show's willingness to change casts on the fly. Although Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker and Ashoka Tano (Anakin's own padawan apprentice) appear in many of the episodes, the series is happy to switch to a story focusing on another hitherto under-represented Jedi character or on a bunch of ordinary clones trying to defend an outpost with no reinforcements. The series also moves through a strong variety of locations, from familiar places like Naboo and Kamino to completely new worlds to places mentioned before but not seen (like Ryloth and Rodia). In short, The Clone Wars has the entire Star Wars universe to play in and goes wild with it.

The result is a fun romp which, at its best, is pure pulp SF fun: dastardly robots, colourful villains and heroic Jedi clashing in often visually-stunning set pieces (and space battles far better-choreographed than the hideous messes in the prequel movies). But where The Clone Wars really wins points is how effectively it handles characterisation - especially Anakin's growing frustration and willingness to bend the rules, which is depicted with much greater subtlety than the films - and tonal changes. Some stories are surprisingly grim, like a detachment of clone troopers gradually being whittled down whilst defending an outpost to the last man, or the battle for the Twi'lek homeworld of Ryloth showing the shattered cities and destroyed lives of the civilians caught in the crossfire. The Clone Wars is a fun romp, but that doesn't mean it lacks depth or intelligence.

This first season is mostly a success, although early episodes feel a little hamstrung by limited art assets and budgetary issues. These mostly vanish by the end of the season, especially the gripping three-part story which depicts the liberation of Ryloth by first focusing on Anakin leading the space battle, Obi-Wan on the initial ground assault and then on Mace Windu leading the urban assault on the planetary capital. The quality of the stories is quite high, though a couple of Jar-Jar centric episodes are slightly tiresome. The episodes are also definitely aimed at children, but there are many nods to adult fans as well, and the series does not pull away from the harsher aspects of warfare (it's unusual for the good guys not to take casualties during their adventures, and the moral cost of the violence is always highlighted).

Season 1 of The Clone Wars (****) is available now as part of the Complete Season 1-5 box set (UK, USA). Note that the 2008 Clone Wars movie, which effectively sets up the series (and the Season 1 finale is a sequel to it), is not part of this collection and needs to be purchased separately.