Why we’re excited for the new season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars
In 2014, the sixth and final season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars aired on Netflix, leaving fans of the series unfulfilled and longing for a proper ending. You see, Disney had just acquired Lucasfilm, and the Mouse was cleaning house, meaning properties like The Clone Wars would be put out to pasture to make room for more kid-friendly fare like Star Wars Rebels.
Unresolved storylines were played out in novels, such as what happened to fan favorite Ahsoka Tano, Anakin Skywalker’s apprectice. And some characters appeared on Rebels, set years after Clone Wars. Still, many fans felt unfulfilled.
Well, fans will wonder no more, as Disney has revived The Clone Wars for a 12 episode seventh season. It revealed the trailer at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con:
It looks like the new season is going to deal with the unresolved Mandalore arc from season 5, when the Planet of Mandalore was taken hostage by Maul and Death Watch, a Mandalorian extremist group.
When Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi arrive on the bridge of their ship, they see Ahsoka Tano with a Mandalorian that looks like Bo-Katan, a former member of Death Watch and sister to the slain Dutchess Satine, who was in love with Obi-Wan Kenobi and…yeah, there’s a lot to unpack from this series.
Anyway, this is important, because the last time Anakin saw Ahsoka was toward the end of season 5 in “The Wrong Jedi.” In that heartbreaking episode, Ahsoka, after having to prove she was framed for the bombing of the Jedi Temple, becomes disillusioned with the Jedi Order and leaves. However, before she can walk away, Anakin begs her to reconsider…but she doesn’t.
Later, in season 2 of Star Wars Rebels, Ahsoka — now an adult and powerful Force user — mentors would-be Jedi Ezra and Kanan in the ways of the Force and encounters her former master in the guise of Darth Vader. The two fight beneath a Sith Temple, with Ahsoka landing several devastating blows.
But before their duel can end, the temple collapses around them and it seems Ahsoka is killed until she returns in the Rebels series finale. So a reunion between Ahsoka and Anakin before the latter falls to the Dark Side promises to be quite emotional for fans.
The trailer hints that we’ll learn more about the clones of The Clone Wars. Rex, a clone assigned to Anakin, is back, leading Anakin Skywalker’s legendary 501st Legion. Rex mentions Fives, a clone who was killed when he learned that Emperor Palpatine had implanted chips in the clones’ heads so he could command them to “execute Order 66” and wipe out the Jedi, which they do in Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith.
In Star Wars Rebels, we learned that Rex and three other clones (now old men) removed their chips. Hopefully, we will see that story unfold in this new season of The Clone Wars.
Finally, we see Obi-Wan Kenobi in his iconic brown robes. In every season of The Clone Wars, the Jedi Master is wearing a mix of armor and Jedi apparel, but in this trailer, he isn’t. With the story taking place so close to Revenge of the Sith, we can see a wiser and older Obi-Wan, as well as the beginning of the fracturing of his friendship with Anakin.
If that is the case, then we fully expect to see Anakin fall to the Dark Side of the Force in these new episodes. We’re hoping it’s more gradual than in Revenge of the Sith, where he decides to become a villain more or less overnight to save Padme and their unborn children. The Clone Wars season 7 could help build this bridge.
I’m expecting this seventh season of The Clone Wars to be a darker, more mature offering from Disney, at least in comparison to stuff like Star Wars Rebels. That should appease many fans, particularly those who were left wanting more when the original show ended in 2014.
What are you hoping to see in the new season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars?
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