
''
Star Wars: The Clone Wars'' is an American
3D CGI animated
Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby image, still images are manipulated to create Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on cel, transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and e ...
television series
A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...
created by
Lucasfilm Animation
Lucasfilm Animation Ltd. LLC is an American animation studio and subsidiary of Lucasfilm, originally established in 2005. Its first major productions were the feature film '' Star Wars: The Clone Wars'' and its associated television series, both ...
,
Lucasfilm Animation Singapore
Lucasfilm Animation Ltd. LLC is an American animation studio and subsidiary of Lucasfilm, originally established in 2005. Its first major productions were the feature film '' Star Wars: The Clone Wars'' and its associated television series, both ...
, and CGCG Inc.
The debut film was released in theaters on August 15, 2008; it served as the introduction of the series. The series made its debut on the American
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...
on October 3, 2008.
It is set in the fictional ''
Star Wars
''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...
''
galaxy
A galaxy is a Physical system, system of stars, stellar remnants, interstellar medium, interstellar gas, cosmic dust, dust, and dark matter bound together by gravity. The word is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek ' (), literally 'milky', ...
during the three-year interim between ''
Episode II – Attack of the Clones'' and ''
Episode III – Revenge of the Sith'' (the same time period as the previous 2003 ''
Clone Wars
The Clone Wars, also known as the Separatist Crisis, is a fictional three-year conflict in the ''Star Wars'' franchise by George Lucas. Though mentioned briefly in the first ''Star Wars'' film (''A New Hope'', 1977), the war itself was not depic ...
'' series). Each episode has a running time of 22 minutes, filling a half-hour time slot.
In March 2013, following the 2012 acquisition of Lucasfilm by Disney, the series was cancelled. The unreleased episodes that had already been produced were referred to at the time as "bonus content". The German television network
Super RTL
Super RTL is a German free-to-air television network owned by RTL Deutschland. The channel originally launched in 1995 as a joint venture between RTL Group predecessor company CLT-UFA and Disney's Buena Vista International Television Investment ...
began to air these episodes as a sixth season, which consisted of 13 episodes in February 2014.
Season 6, along with the other seasons and the feature film, were made available on
Netflix
Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
on March 7 the same year.
The series returned with 12 new episodes on
Disney+
The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...
,
serving as the seventh and final season. It premiered February 21, 2020.
Series overview
Note: episodes 37 to 43, 65, 66, and 109 to 119 aired earlier in some countries than their original U.S. release.
Episodes
Film (2008)
As a lead-in to the TV series of the same name, the film was released theatrically on August 15, 2008, and was distributed by
Warner Bros. Pictures
Warner Bros. Pictures is an American film studio and distribution arm of the Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group division of Warner Bros., both of which are owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex ...
. Though critical reception was negative, the film was a
box-office
A box office or ticket office is a place where ticket (admission), tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a Wicket gate, wicket. ...
success and grossed $68.3 million worldwide against an $8.5 million budget.
Season 1 (2008–09)
The premiere episodes of ''Star Wars: The Clone Wars'' aired on October 3, 2008, and set a new record with Cartoon Network as their most-watched series premiere, attracting total viewers. The season finale, "Hostage Crisis", was broadcast on March 20, 2009, and the original broadcast received viewers.
Season 1 depicted the attempts of the
Republic
A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...
and the Separatists to gain the allegiance of many planets and moons.
Season 2: ''Rise of the Bounty Hunters'' (2009–10)
The season two premiere, "Holocron Heist", was broadcast on October 2, 2009, and attracted viewers.
Episode 15 was first released in Canada. Episodes 16–21 were released in the UK before airing in the US. In season 2, the Sith resort to hiring bounty hunters and mercenaries to steal objects and intel or to assassinate targets for them. Meanwhile, the Jedi lead the Republic forces in an assault on the primary battle droid manufacturing facility.
The one-hour season finale combined of "R2 Come Home" and "Lethal Trackdown" was broadcast on April 30, 2010, and the original broadcast received viewers.
Season 3: ''Secrets Revealed'' (2010–11)
The season three premiere, consisting of "Clone Cadets" and "ARC Troopers", was broadcast on September 17, 2010, attracting viewers. These episodes, and certain others in this season, cover events from previous seasons. Episodes 21 and 22 were released in the UK before airing in the US. The season finale, consisting of "Padawan Lost" and "Wookiee Hunt", was broadcast on April 1, 2011, attracting viewers.
Season 4: ''Battle Lines'' (2011–12)
The season four premiere, consisting of "Water War" and "Gungan Attack", was broadcast on September 16, 2011, and attracted viewers,
the lowest premiere viewing of all seasons. The season finale, "Revenge" was broadcast on March 16, 2012, attracting 2.03 million viewers.
This season marks the return of Darth Maul.
Season 5 (2012–13)
The season five premiere, "Revival", was broadcast on September 29, 2012, and attracted viewers. Season five consisted of 20 episodes instead of the normal 22 episode count. The season five finale, "The Wrong Jedi", was broadcast on March 2, 2013, and attracted viewers. Unlike the first four seasons, the episodes of the fifth season were released to DVD and Blu-ray in chronological order as opposed to broadcast order.
Season 6: ''The Lost Missions'' (2014)
The sixth season was released in its entirety on March 7, 2014, on
Netflix
Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
.
The season had already premiered in Germany on February 15 the same year, on
Super RTL
Super RTL is a German free-to-air television network owned by RTL Deutschland. The channel originally launched in 1995 as a joint venture between RTL Group predecessor company CLT-UFA and Disney's Buena Vista International Television Investment ...
.
Season 7: ''The Final Season'' (2020)
''The Clone Wars'' returned with 12 new episodes released on
Disney+
The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...
during the service's first year.
The seventh and final season premiered on February 21, 2020.
Chronological order
While the series is designed to be an anthology of both standalone episodes and small story arcs, various events throughout inform stories, characters, and relationships to create a recognizably continuous narrative. In recognition of the release of the complete series on
Netflix
Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
, StarWars.com released the official chronological episode order for the first six seasons on March 17, 2014; this was later updated to include links to the episodes on Disney+.
Regarding the seventh and final season, StarWars.com revealed that episodes five through eight are set before the season premiere, "The Bad Batch".
''The Clone Wars Legacy''
At the time of cancellation in March 2013, there were still many episodes in development. Thirteen of these episodes were finished to become part of ''Season 6: The Lost Missions'' but there were still additional arcs that were never released. Lucasfilm released details of multiple story arcs from the unfinished episodes in September 2014.
''The Bad Batch'' was eventually completed and aired as the first arc of season 7.
Print
''Darth Maul: Son of Dathomir''
A four-episode arc continued the story of Darth Maul following the events of the season 5 episode "The Lawless". The four episodes were titled: "The Enemy of My Enemy", "A Tale of Two Apprentices", "Proxy War", and "Showdown on Dathomir" (original production codes: 6.21–6.24). According to Dave Filoni, the four scripts "came out of one of our story conferences with
George Lucas
George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker and philanthropist. He created the ''Star Wars'' and ''Indiana Jones'' franchises and founded Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as chairman ...
". The scripts and designs for the arc were adapted into a four-issue comic book titled ''Darth Maul: Son of Dathomir'', released in August 2014 by the publisher
Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, manga and Artist's book, art book publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon, by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, O ...
.
For ten years, the comic was effectively the final ''Star Wars'' comic published by Dark Horse before Lucasfilm transferred the license to
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...
in 2014, until in 2022, Marvel and Lucasfilm entered a multi-license distribution agreement with both Dark Horse and
IDW Publishing
IDW Publishing is an American publisher of comic books, graphic novels, art books, and comic strip collections. It was founded in 1999 as the publishing division of Idea and Design Works, LLC (IDW) and is recognized as the fifth-largest comic ...
to dual publish ''Star Wars'' comics once more. However, it was collected into a
trade paperback by Marvel in 2018, and all reprints bear its logo instead of Dark Horse's.
The plot follows Darth Maul, who was captured by Darth Sidious at the end of the season 5 episode "The Lawless". He is tortured by Count Dooku for information about the Shadow Collective and the allies Maul has made. Maul escapes and heads to Zanbar to command the Death Watch army, but is followed by General Grievous and his droids. They battle Maul and the Mandalorians, who are soon overwhelmed by the droids. Maul flees and confers with Mother Talzin, who is revealed to be his biological mother, and plots to draw out Sidious by capturing Dooku and Grievous. The scheme works, and Talzin is able to restore herself to her physical form, but sacrifices herself to save Maul and is killed by Grievous. Although Maul escapes with a company of loyal Mandalorians, the Shadow Collective has fallen apart due to the conflict with Sidious, as the Hutts, Pykes, and Black Sun have all abandoned Maul.
''Dark Disciple''
An eight-episode arc with Asajj Ventress and Jedi Quinlan Vos was adapted into a novel by
Christie Golden
Christie Golden (born November 21, 1963) is an American author. She has written many novels and several short stories in fantasy, horror and science fiction.
Career
Golden has written many novels and several short stories in the fields of science ...
titled ''Dark Disciple'', released on July 7, 2015.
The eight episodes were titled: "Lethal Alliance", "The Mission", "Conspirators", "Dark Disciple", "Saving Vos, Part I", "Saving Vos, Part II", "Traitor", and "The Path" (original production codes: 6.13–6.16 and 7.05–7.08). The story follows Vos partnering up with Ventress, hoping to execute Count Dooku. Eric Goldman of
IGN
''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...
gave the book an 8 out of 10, saying it was great.
Story reels
''Crystal Crisis on Utapau''
In September 2014, four unfinished episodes were released in completed
story reel
A storyboard is a graphic organizer that consists of simple illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualizing a motion picture, animation, motion graphic or interactive media sequence. The storyboarding process ...
format, titled: "A Death on Utapau", "In Search of the Crystal", "Crystal Crisis", and "The Big Bang" (original production codes: 6.01–6.04). The arc takes place on Utapau with Obi-Wan and Anakin investigating an arms deal involving the Separatists and a gigantic
kyber crystal
A lightsaber is a fictional energy sword featured throughout ''Star Wars''. A typical lightsaber is shown as a luminous laser sword about in length emitted from a metal hilt around in length. First introduced in the original ''Star Wars'' ...
. The arc also deals with Anakin's feelings after Ahsoka left the Jedi Order.
It was included in the season 6 Blu-ray.
''The Bad Batch''
The story reels for this four-episode arc were screened on April 17, 2015, at
''Star Wars'' Celebration Anaheim, and were later released on the official ''Star Wars'' website on April 29.
[ Scripted by Brent Friedman, the four episodes were later completed and aired as the first arc of season 7 (with some changes from the original story reels).] A spin-off
Spin-off, Spin Off, Spin-Off, or Spinoff may refer to: Entertainment and media
*Spinoff (media), a media work derived from an existing work
*''The Spinoff'', a New Zealand current affairs magazine
* ''Spin Off'' (Canadian game show), a 2013 Canad ...
sequel series titled '' Star Wars: The Bad Batch'' was announced in 2020; it follows the titular group of clones working as mercenaries in the immediate aftermath of the Clone Wars.
See also
* List of ''Star Wars: Clone Wars'' episodes
* ''Star Wars: The Clone Wars'' (film)
References
Footnotes
Citations
Further reading
*
*
External links
*
Skymovies.com Episode Guide
''The Clone Wars'' section on StarWars.com
Chronological order on StarWars.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Star Wars: The Clone Wars episodes, List of
Clone Wars episodes
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Star Wars: The Clone Wars