Season One - The Clone Wars Movie

A GALAXY DIVIDED…

Anakin and his new Padawan - Ahsoka Tano

Originally released in theaters on August 15, 2008, the film was originally intended to be the first three episodes of the series introducing us to this new animated world of Star Wars. Set between Episode 2: Attack of the Clones and Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith, we see the exploits of Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi as they lead their clone troopers into battle against the Separatists and their droid army.

After the opening Battle of Christophsis, we are introduced to Anakin’s Padawan learner, Ahsoka Tano, in this film. What’s that? You didn’t know Anakin had a Padawan? Neither did anyone else until the creator, George Lucas, decided that this is now canon in the Star Wars universe.

The film is mostly about Anakin and Ahsoka learning to work together and Anakin deciding if he wants to have a Padawan or not. The two find a middle ground and learn to work with each other to be successful.

While I could go into the minutiae of their mission to save Rotta the Hutt (because yeah, Jabba the Hutt now has a son), or how Padme gets involved with Ziro the Hutt (Jabba’s uncle), or how even Count Dooku now has a new Sith Padawan, Asajj Ventress; I won’t because really you just need to watch it and enjoy it for yourself.

While the animation is a little different and honestly it’s not as good as it will be later on as the series progresses, there are some fun moments in the film. Anakin and Ahsoka learning to get along as they fight battle droids with their lightsabers as the scale the cliffs of the Teth Monastery is one of the more exciting parts of the film. Watching Asajj Ventress and Obi-wan Kenobi duel with the lightsabers as they bicker back and forth sets up their rivalry for future meetings and is fun to watch too.

At just over an hour and a half long, this film is a fun introduction to The Clone Wars series that ends up being seven seasons long and is a great starting point for the series.

Season One - Episode One - Ambush

GREAT LEADERS INSPIRE GREATNESS IN OTHERS.

Wars not make one great.

This first episode out of the gate, we get a Yoda centered episode as he and a small group of clone troopers try to win over the Toydarian king, King Katuunko, by defeating the Separatists army and outsmarting Asajj Ventress. Toydaria is a key location along the hyperspace routes that can be used for supplies and refueling that both sides of the Galactic conflict could benefit from.

We get to see Yoda in action as he uses the Force and lightsaber in ways that we only caught glimpses of in the film Episode 2: Attack of the Clones in his duel with Count Dooku. We see why Obi-Wan chides Anakin in Attack of the Clones when he says, “If you spent as much time practicing your saber techniques as you did your wit, you'd rival Master Yoda as a swordsman.”.

We see Yoda dispense some wisdom to the clones about the Force and how while the clones think they aren’t important in the bigger picture, Yoda tells them that they matter and are individual in the Force.

Yoda and the clones are able to defeat the Separatist army and win the approval of King Katuunko and are able to use the planet of Toydaria for their staging grounds for the Republic.

*While this is Episode One of Season One, in pure Star Wars fashion, there is a prequel to this episode that shows up later in Season Three. Episode Three of Season Three - Supply Lines will develop the larger overall story of how this episode of Ambush plays into the big picture of The Clone Wars.

Season One - Episode Two - Rising Malevolence

BELIEF IS NOT A MATTER OF CHOICE, BUT OF CONVICTION.

Fire when ready.

After the personal and smaller scaled conflict of Episode One: Ambush, we return to the large galactic conflict of The Clone Wars, with the first episode of the Malevolence Trilogy - Rising Malevolence.

Count Dooku helps create one of the most interesting weapons in the Star Wars galaxy and is clearly a predecessor to the Death Star that shows up later in the Saga. The Malevolence is able to shoot a large scale destructive ion cannon at opposing starships. This ray disables the Republic Cruisers and it’s fighters which then allows the Separatist armies to destroy the Republic ships without any resistance. The Malevolence is able to strike from a distance, which leads to the mysterious nature of the ship. The Republic forces are unable to identify the ship before they are disabled and it takes awhile for the Republic to figure out what it is happening to their ships.

This is one of the most destructive ships we’ve seen in Star Wars (second only to the moon and planet sized battle stations) and we see how important it is for the Republic to stop the ship.

In this Episode we also get Jedi Master Plo-Koon and his clone troopers who are stuck in the wreckage as Anakin and Ahsoka, in their smuggler ship the Twilight, race to rescue them before the Separatists find them and kill them. There are some great tense moments as Plo Koon and his troops fight off the battle droids in zero gravity, as Anakin and Ahsoka rescue them and have to escape the Malevolence’s grasp.

Season One - Episode Three - Shadow of Malevolence

EASY IS THE PATH TO WISDOM FOR THOSE NOT BLINDED BY THEMSELVES.

Stupid droids!

Now that the Malevolence is now exposed to the Republic, Count Dooku orders General Grievous to attack the Republic’s medical center. The Republic learns of this and Anakin leads a mission of Y-Wings to launch an assault against the Malevolence before it can attack the medical center.

Short on time, Anakin, Ahsoka, and Plo Koon take a shortcut, the Balmorra Run, a dangerous route through a nebula that few survive. They make it through and are able to attack the Malevolence. The Y-Wing bombers bomb the ion cannon and disable it, along with the Malevolence’s hyperdrive.

This attack sequence of the Y-Wing bombers is classic Star Wars and shows up how good of a pilot Anakin Skywalker is. One of the things that I love about The Clone Wars is the it expands the character of Anakin Skywalker and shows so much more than the movies did about his heroism and abilities. This first trilogy of The Clone Wars sets the tone for Anakin and it continues throughout the rest of the series.

Season One - Episode Four - Destroy Malevolence

A PLAN IS ONLY AS GOOD AS THOSE WHO SEE IT THROUGH.

The Heroes of The Clone Wars

Padme and C-3PO get trapped on the Malevolence and Obi-Wan and Anakin lead a rescue mission to free them from General Grievous. After being captured while on a mission to negotiate with the some of the Separatist leaders, Padme and C-3PO are able to escape and meet up with Obi-Wan and Anakin for the rescue. Before they escape, Anakin and Padme set up the navicomputer on the Malevolence to crash into a planet. General Grievous is able to escape and fly off in his fighter.

While the introduction of Padme into the story seems contrived and a little too obvious, it is good to see Anakin and Padme on an adventure together and working together to defeat the enemy. There is a fun sequence with on some interior trains that deliver supplies throughout the ship that is a good addition to the story. Obi-Wan and Grievous square off in a cool lightsaber duel before Grievous runs off like the coward he is.

The ending shot of the Malevolence trilogy is the one featured in this post, and I love it as it’s the main characters of the Prequel era and the Clone Wars. The more we see these 5 characters together, the better the story is in my opinion.

Season One - Episode Five - Rookies

THE BEST CONFIDENCE BUILDER IS EXPERIENCE.

Domino Squad on assignment

The first of many clone-centric episodes, Rookies introduces us to Domino Squad - Fives, Echo, Hevy, Droidbait, and Cutup. These rookies, along with some other clones, are fresh out of training and are on their first assignment, manning the Rishi outpost. Supposedly nothing ever happens there, but not this night! The Separatists send a sneak attack to infiltrate and overtake the Rishi outpost. The Separatists are successful and end up destroying the outpost. The clones are able to escape with the help of Captain Rex and Commander Cody. Only Fives and Echo end up surviving the attack, which upon first viewing isn’t impactful as it will be later on in the series.

While Fives and Echo survive, this isn’t the end of their story as we see them have further adventures throughout the series.

*Once again, there is a prequel to a Season One episode introduced later on in the series. Episode 1 in Season 3, Clone Cadets, introduces us to Domino Squad and how these troopers must learn how to work together to pass their initial training.