A New Hope for the Return of “The Clone Wars”
Prequel-era beloved Star Wars animated series streams on Disney+ for its seventh and final season
By Colin Smith
Prequel-era beloved Star Wars animated series streams on Disney+ for its seventh and final season
By Colin Smith
“The Clone Wars” is back.
After six years of promises and distant hopes, the classic show has returned on the Disney+ streaming service. The seventh and final season of 12 new episodes premiered on Feb. 21 and will bring back all the characters we love from the previous seasons, as well as a few new faces.
Right off the bat, you can tell that the animation is more fluid and crisp than the original seasons. Characters display more emotion when they're speaking to each other, making scenes of love and intensity have greater depth than ever before. On top of that, the clones look more distinct from each other, a problem that made character arcs difficult to follow in earlier seasons. It’s especially Obi-Wan Kenobi’s design that looks the most different from the rest, giving his character an older look than before. The blasters look cooler, running looks less stiff and overall the show has been immensely improved with the newer animation.
From a direction standpoint, the action in this season is more cinematic, creating intense scenes of conflict. Most notably, in the first episode, there’s a scene where a group of clones weave through a hallway filled with droids, trying to survive the endless waves of lasers their enemies throw at them. It's shot with a single take that follows the clones the whole time — it was definitely a standout moment from the new episodes. The second and third episodes are just as exciting, but the third holds a moment with Anakin Skywalker that showcases his natural talents as a jedi.
Whether or not it would be worth revisiting the Clone Wars after six years was a question I continuously asked myself when the new season was announced. Are there still stories that can bring value to the Skywalker saga, and do people still care about these characters?
I believe that all these questions can be answered with a strong “yes.” Instead of starting from scratch with different arcs, they decided to fully animate and produce the already finished episodes from six years ago, the same episodes that were shown in 2015. All the episodes of the new season can be seen online, but seeing the completed animation and finalized episodes is a totally different experience. The three four-episode arcs focus on “The Bad Batch,” “Ahsoka's Walkabout” and “The Siege of Mandalore.”
It’s still hard to say whether or not the new episodes will live up to the nostalgic seasons I grew up watching. I don’t view the new episodes in the same light as the older ones, but it doesn’t matter, I’m appreciative nonetheless that these new episodes are being released on Disney+. It gives me all the more reasons to hang with my friends and reminiscence over my childhood and what's better than that?
After six years of promises and distant hopes, the classic show has returned on the Disney+ streaming service. The seventh and final season of 12 new episodes premiered on Feb. 21 and will bring back all the characters we love from the previous seasons, as well as a few new faces.
Right off the bat, you can tell that the animation is more fluid and crisp than the original seasons. Characters display more emotion when they're speaking to each other, making scenes of love and intensity have greater depth than ever before. On top of that, the clones look more distinct from each other, a problem that made character arcs difficult to follow in earlier seasons. It’s especially Obi-Wan Kenobi’s design that looks the most different from the rest, giving his character an older look than before. The blasters look cooler, running looks less stiff and overall the show has been immensely improved with the newer animation.
From a direction standpoint, the action in this season is more cinematic, creating intense scenes of conflict. Most notably, in the first episode, there’s a scene where a group of clones weave through a hallway filled with droids, trying to survive the endless waves of lasers their enemies throw at them. It's shot with a single take that follows the clones the whole time — it was definitely a standout moment from the new episodes. The second and third episodes are just as exciting, but the third holds a moment with Anakin Skywalker that showcases his natural talents as a jedi.
Whether or not it would be worth revisiting the Clone Wars after six years was a question I continuously asked myself when the new season was announced. Are there still stories that can bring value to the Skywalker saga, and do people still care about these characters?
I believe that all these questions can be answered with a strong “yes.” Instead of starting from scratch with different arcs, they decided to fully animate and produce the already finished episodes from six years ago, the same episodes that were shown in 2015. All the episodes of the new season can be seen online, but seeing the completed animation and finalized episodes is a totally different experience. The three four-episode arcs focus on “The Bad Batch,” “Ahsoka's Walkabout” and “The Siege of Mandalore.”
It’s still hard to say whether or not the new episodes will live up to the nostalgic seasons I grew up watching. I don’t view the new episodes in the same light as the older ones, but it doesn’t matter, I’m appreciative nonetheless that these new episodes are being released on Disney+. It gives me all the more reasons to hang with my friends and reminiscence over my childhood and what's better than that?