Clone Wars Best Moments

Five of My Favorite Episodes from Star Wars: The Clone Wars

So, the final season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars starts on Disney+ tomorrow and I just realized that I never told you guys my favorite episodes from the show. That simply will not do. So, after giving it much thought, I put together a list of some of my personal favorite episodes from the hit show, along with an explanation as to why I liked them.

Rookies

Kicking off our list, we have this little gem from Season One of the show. We’re used to the sight of the Clone Troopers kicking droid butt on the battlefield, but they had to get their start somewhere. For the rookie clones that we would come to know as Domino Squad, that somewhere wound up being an outpost guarding the way to Kamino. When their base is captured by a unit of commando droids, the rookies of this squad team up with veteran soldiers Rex and Cody in a desperate attempt to retake the base before the Separatists can attack their home world.

This episode’s basically the plot of any inspiring war drama packed into the Star Wars brand. It sees a ragtag group of soldiers face down impossible odds to complete a mission that could change the outcome of the war. In addition, this episode saw Captain Rex’s first appearance since The Clone Wars movie and the appearance of Domino Squad. While most of the squad would die in this episode, the surviving two members would become recurring characters on the show until their eventual deaths. Though if what I hear about the upcoming “Bad Batch” story is true, that may not be the case.

Duel of the Droids

Can we all take a moment to appreciate Artoo-Detoo and how important he is to the franchise? After a battle against General Grevious seemingly ends in Artoo’s destruction, Anakin refuses to give up on his little droid buddy. Sure enough, his efforts are vindicated when it’s discovered Artoo’s alive, albeit held captive on a Separatist listening post by General Grevious. Taking only a squad of Clone Troopers and Ashoka, Anakin goes on a daring mission to rescue his little buddy before Grevious can uncover the intel he’s carrying on the Republic.

This episode remains a personal favorite of mine for several reasons. Firstly, it demonstrates the devotion that Anakin has towards those he cares about, something that many of his fellow Jedi fail to understand. Secondly, it sees Artoo face down a Separatist spy droid in an epic duel where he reminds us how he’s survived throughout the movies. Finally, there’s the fact that we Ashoka duel against General Grevious and survive! That alone is an accomplishment!

Landing at Point Rain

Even though it looked like the Republic took Geonosis during the climax of Attack of the Clones, season two of the show revealed that the native Geonosians managed to take it back. As a result, the Republic has to mount a deadly campaign to retake the planet. What should have been a simple task, though, becomes a nightmare that sees the Jedi and Clones be put through the ringer.

The show had already given us several noteworthy battles before, but to me, Landing at Point Rain brought a new level of carnage to the show. The sheer desperation that the protagonist’s faced was made all too evident, with them managing to make it through to the end nothing short of incredible. I had to remind myself at times that this was still a cartoon and not a full-blown war movie. In other words, I loved it!

Carnage of Krell

To this episode, I consider this episode to be one of the darkest moments in the entire show, and it’s all thanks to Pong Krell. After Anakin’s suddenly recalled back to Coruscant, his Clones find themselves under the command of Jedi Master Pong Krell. However, Krell proves to be the worst kind of leader: one willing to order his soldiers to die in droves while he refuses to fight. Following a horrific event where its discovered that Krell tricked the Clones into attacking each other, their rage finally boils over.

Before this episode, I had started to suspect that Krell was sabotaging the Republic. Once we got confirmation, I could remember feeling the sheer anger Rex and the other Clones felt. As a result, seeing them deal out justice to the traitorous fallen Jedi was absolutely cathartic. However, this was also the episode that made me remember what was to come at the end of the war. As Krell predicted, the Jedi would fall and the Republic was torn apart from the inside. Thankfully, he never lived to see it. #Don’tmesswiththe501st

The Lawless

Where do I even begin with this episode? After returning at the end of season four, Maul and his brother Savage Oppress proceeded to seize control of the Mandalorian Deathwatch, overthrew the government of Mandalore, and imprisoned Obi-Wan’s love, Satine Kryze. And Maul did all of this just so he could lure Kenobi to him and get revenge on him. As a result, a full-scale civil war erupts on Mandalore between Maul’s faction and those loyal to Mandalore itself.

This episode was basically the culimination to several ongoing plots throughout the show’s run, and Kenobi got put through the ringer during the whole ordeal. While he had enough reason to hate Maul for killing his Master, Obi-Wan’s hatred reached new levels when the former Sith killed Satine in front of him. Sadly, their rematch was not to be. Deciding that Maul had become too great a threat, Darth Sidious personally intervened to dispatch his former apprentice. The result was an epic lightsaber duel that reminded us all why Darth Sidious is the big bad of the Star Wars franchise. Thank the Force this story will be resolved in the final season!

Agree with my picks? What were your favorite episodes of the show? Let me know!

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