Revisiting Star Wars: The Clone Wars Season 1

In this retrospective, I dive into the legendary animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars, exploring what made this show such a defining part of the Star Wars saga. Covering everything from the production process to the groundbreaking animation style, I analyze how The Clone Wars became a fan-favorite and a cornerstone of the Star Wars universe.

Throughout the video, I discuss the incredible character development of heroes and villains alike—such as Anakin Skywalker, Ahsoka Tano, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Darth Maul, and the Clone Troopers. I look at the show's unique story arcs, from the epic battles to the dark, political intrigue, and how they shaped the structure of the series across its seven seasons. I also examine the impact of the show’s production decisions and how Dave Filoni and the creative team enriched the lore of Star Wars through this animated series.

This retrospective covers the significance of The Clone Wars within the Star Wars brand and its influence on modern Star Wars storytelling, including its tie-ins with The Mandalorian and Ahsoka. I also explore the animation style, the darker, complex themes introduced in the series, and how The Clone Wars remains relevant to fans years after its original run.

Whether you're a lifelong Star Wars fan or new to The Clone Wars, join me on this journey through one of the most impactful shows in the galaxy far, far away.

Topics Covered:

The Production and Creation of The Clone Wars
Iconic Characters and Their Development
Animation Style and Visuals
Story Arcs and Plot Structure
Relevance to Star Wars Brand and Legacy
Share your favorite moments and characters from The Clone Wars in the comments below!

Chapters:
0:00 - Star Wars The Clone Wars Season 1
0:45 - The Production of Star Wars The Clone Wars
7:16 - Season 1
26:06 - Season 1 Ratings

Music:
-80s Retrowave Music - Hackers Royalty Free No Copyright
-A.L.I.S.O.N - Golden Dust
-A.L.I.S.O.N - Passenger
-A.L.I.S.O.N - Sentinel
-A.L.I.S.O.N - Warm
-Alison - Endless Reflexions
-Alison & 憂鬱 - Dive
-Inspiring Emotional Music - Melody Of My Dreams (Copyright Free Music)
-The Power of Balance - Avatar Theme
-Mysterious Intriguing Marimba Music - Deep Under [Copyright and Royalty Free]

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[Solo]

In canon, Thrawn actually learns the Star Destroyer move after Anakin tells him about in Alliances. Nice way of bringing that Easter egg full circle.

[spartanisland]

Super hyped to see you talk about seasons 4 and 5, all those arcs and specifically prime Darth Maul

[thethriftytypewriter]

The Clone Wars is some of my favorite Star Wars media out there. I love rewatching different episodes and arcs and seeing how the show progressed and matured over time. Particularly loved what you said about how the show was given time to grow and if it had come out today, it might not have been given a second season. I think that's especially true given the negative reactions to the film - I'm not even sure if a show would be greenlit after that performance if it had come out today! Excited to see the rest of this series!

[Elemento]

The thing about the Clone Wars movie was that it was really just a few clone wars arcs Lucas wanted to put on the big screen. I don't think having a movie promote an upcoming series was a bad idea, but they could've found a better plot to have for it. In my opinion, the Malevolence should've been the plot for the movie, but tweaked to introduce Ahsoka and work as a movie instead of episodes.

[Solo]

I'll always appreciate Hayden's performance across his movies and shows but I 100% agree that Matt Lanter is the best Anakin. He's the reason Anakin is my favorite character.

[brews.n.bits.]

I loved that this series showcased the clones' humanity. Also Dee Bradley Baker really gets to shine because of it.

[autobotproductions]

I feel Episode II Anakin became Clone Wars Anakin because of his knighting scene in the 2003 series. That was a wake up call for him to mature

[General_Cheese]

So from what I’ve seen online a lot of people dislike this season. Even though it’s not perfect, not as good as the others, S1 is
1. A great introduction for the series.
2. Has great story arcs with small little moments that are really nice, I.e. Ryloth, Rookies, and Malevolence Arc, and it also has small tidbits like E1 with Yoda showing clones how to be more than just faceless fighters in a war.
3. Good character development for a lot of characters we don’t see much, like Aayla Secura, Plo Koon, and Luminara Unduli.
It’s a great pilot season and overall whilst it’s not perfect it’s still a very enjoyable season to watch through.

[bacondorito]

Clone Wars Anakin and movie Anakin seem different but are actually the same. It’s just that the movies mostly covered the most traumatic times of Anakin’s life. Whereas the actual war was the peak of his life. In II, he has visions about his mom dying, and then his mom dies. In III he has visions of Padmé dying and he does what he does to stop that from happening again. But during the war, he’s married, a knight, is best buds with Obi-Wan, has a padawan he’s training, and is the most loved Jedi on the Holonet. This happy, confident Anakin is even seen during the opening of III while rescuing the Chancellor. But as soon as he finds out Padmé is pregnant, he reverts and everything goes South from there.

All this to say, both Anakins are the same Anakin.

[rahasanum]

Season 1 was LEGENDARY. Probably my favorite season of the show. So many good episodes happened in this season. Rookies, the malevolence arc, lair of grievous, hostage crisis and the ryloth arc. Almost EVERY episode is iconic in my opinion. LEGENDARY

[mattsell]

Obviously filoni took the criticism of anakins character but the in universe answer would be the clone wars and anakin fighting with his clones was when he was genuinely happy and you see that at the beginning of revenge of the Sith. In attack of the clones he’s confused and frustrated in revenge of the Sith he immediately learns padme is pregnant and the rest of the movie is him in constant worry

[SirBaconTherd]

My favorite show of all time. Grew up with it, havent stopped watching. Great video brother, I absolutely love you touching on the Jedi becoming actual characters and same with clones. Plo Koon forever

[Heroann]

The idea of letting star wars be multiple character storylines was the best decision they could have made. Because it makes the world feel massive and like an actual universe

[Tunnelbanan]

season 1 actually has some of my all time favourite episodes of the entire show. the first episode with yoda kicking ass is amazing. its the most badass yoda episode ever and he is even more badass there than in the last three episodes of season 6. i also love the lair of grievous since kit fisto is my favourite jedi and this episode and the mon cala episodes in season 4 are the only episodes that have much of kit fisto in action. rookies is an amazing clone episode that sees the domino squad on rishi when rex and cody arrive to meet them. hevys sacrifice in the end of that episode is so good. i also really love the lurmen people episodes since its so ayla secura centered. and the lurmen people have a really amazing scottish accent which i love. also the ryloth arc which sees the cute numa together with waxer and boil and mace windu teaming up with cham syndulla to liberate ryloth. i also really love cad banes introduction in the finalle for this season, he is my all time favourite bounty hunter and every episode of the entire show that features him is amazing.

[aitipsea]

I remember watching the show when it aired on Cartoon Network and then years later I heard people online saying the first season was childish and that Grievous was a pathetic loser

So I watched the entirety of S1 and I was like "what were these people talking about?!?!"

FYI: 03 clone wars isn't even that good you guys, its all spectacle and little of substance

[Rogue_One]

I remember watching this show every Friday night at my grandma's house. Every new episode I caught was pepeak. It truly was my whole childhood and I'm glad I experienced it all. I'll never forget this experience

[jimmyboy]

I never had a chance to watch the series when it first aired, but I finally watched the whole thing about four years ago. I was almost 50 at that time, and I absolutely loved it. I bought the boxed set, and have rewatched the series twice since then.

I agree with a lot of what was said here, especially how Clone Wars Anakin is far superior to prequels Anakin. This is basically the character I imagined him to be before we got the prequels. And his fall is more tragic than that of the prequels character.

I liked Ahsoka a lot, and really liked how they showed the relationship between Obi-Wan and Anakin, and some key steps along the way where Anakin moved closer and closer to the dark side.

[georgecostan]

For me, AOTC+ROTS Anakin and TCW Anakin are basically two people - TCW Anakin feels way older than the teen from the prequels and more emotionally grounded. Heck - the voice actor was close to 30 years old back then, while Hayden was barely 21 when AOTC was released.

[zippyclips]

I just got the complete season set and watched the first episode again last night. Gonna be sweet to see the videos as I rewatch everything

[StephenLuke]

The Lego game on the Wii is what made me become a fan of the show! 😊❤️