History YMMV / StarWarsTheCloneWars

* CharacterRerailment: A retroactive yet canonical case in regards to Anakin Skywalker. In the Original Trilogy, Obi-Wan described Anakin to Luke as being a skilled star pilot, a cunning warrior, and a good friend. While the Prequel Trilogy showed that Anakin was a good star pilot, it failed to provide enough evidence to support his other positive characteristics that Obi-Wan mentioned to Luke, presenting Anakin as being very unlikeable, angsty, and self-entitled instead of being cunning, sympathetic, and skilled. Anakin's good friendship with Obi-Wan also did not receive enough screen time and focus to the point of which that it does not come across as one. ''The Clone Wars'' manages to retroactively redeem Anakin through presenting him with a stronger characterization of being genuinely likable, heroic, and relatable in order to show to support how he will chronologically be described in the Original Trilogy. Anakin and Obi-Wan also come across as being the good friends and HeterosexualLifePartners in ''The Clone Wars'' that the Prequel Trilogy tried to show them as.

* ObviousJudas: The second Mandalore arc centers around Ahsoka trying to bust a smuggling ring who are taking advantage of Mandalore's neutrality to gouge the prices of basic essentials like food and water. It's repeatedly emphasized that the smugglers are operating with such brazen impunity that they must have [[CorruptPolitician someone highly-placed in the government protecting them]] to have not been caught already, and it's extremely easy to guess that this person is [[spoiler:Prime Minister Almec, who is suddenly a ''lot'' more prominent in this arc than the first visit to Mandalore, and to whom the job of catching the smugglers was delegated, only for them to still operate unopposed]].

* MoralEventHorizon:
** In "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS1E3ShadowOfMalevolence Shadow of]] ''[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS1E3ShadowOfMalevolence Malevolence]]''", General Grievous cheerfully shows us what a nice guy he isn't when he orders the ''Malevolence'' to target harmless, fleeing escape pods.
** When it becomes clear that he's going to lose Ryloth in "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS1E21LibertyOnRyloth Liberty on Ryloth]]", Count Dooku orders a scorched-earth campaign against the planet, just to send the galaxy a message about "[[PyrrhicVictory the cost of a Republic victory]]". Wat Tambor also crosses it with that action, explicitly ordering the bombing of Twi'lek villages containing women and children, stating "the inhabited ones first."
** Cad Bane's first appearance has him shooting an unarmed hostage InTheBack, then trying to blow up the Senate chambers with the hostages inside, even after getting what he wanted. Then, during the Holocron arc, he makes it pretty clear that he isn't friendly through torturing a Jedi to death and kidnapping infants.

** Out of all the retcons that ''The Clone Wars''' has made to the material from the old Expanded Universe, the most highly contested one is its depiction of the Mandalorians. Is the idea of a ProudWarriorRace culture becoming pacifistic a serious case of BadassDecay for them and an insult to how other writers have developed them? Or is it a much-needed [[ThisIsReality reality check]] for the historical progression of the culture (as well as how the warrior culture would be viewed by outsiders) after [[Creator/KarenTraviss Karen Traviss's]] [[Literature/RepublicCommando depiction]] of it was controversial to some ''Legends'' fans? It's not helped by the fact that what seems to be the only remnants of the warrior culture left are a [[KnightTemplar fanatically bloodthirsty terrorist cult]]. After [[spoiler:the New Mandalorian government comes crumbling down during the Shadow Collective arc]], the depiction of the Mandalorians (which is part of the canon) is still a contested territory and the ''Legends'' decision (which effectively erased almost all aspects of the old Mandalorians from the canon) didn't help this debate very much.

** "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS2E5LandingAtPointRain Landing At Point Rain]]" is generally considered a milestone for exactly ''where'' the series fully came into it's own, with the episode representing a substantial victory for the production team, by depicting a BigBadassBattleSequence on the budget afforded to a television show ''and making it look really good'', and kicking off a story arc that proved the growing pains of Season 1 were more or less over.

** The [[GrandFinale Siege of Mandalore]] arc is considered a major redeemer by fans for the franchise after the divisive conclusion of the sequel trilogy, ''Film/TheRiseOfSkywalker''.

** The [[GrandFinale Siege of Mandalore]] arc is considered a major redeemer by fans for the franchise after the divisive conclusion of the third trilogy, ''Film/TheRiseOfSkywalker''.

* BetterOnDVD: The episodes being available on their own at any time means that they can be watched in any order, which allows for someone to watch the episodes of [[AnachronicOrder the first two-and-a-half seasons]] in chronological order. There are bonus points that go to the Season 5 DVD set, where "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS5E1Revival Revival]]" (which aired on television as the Season 5 premiere) is now listed before "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS5E14Eminence Eminence]]" as it was originally intended. Watching ''The Clone Wars'' on [[Creator/{{Netflix}} streaming]] [[Creator/DisneyPlus platforms]] was also particularly helpful, as -- provided that you have a list of the episodes in chronological order -- it was easier to sort through the proper viewing order without having to jump back and forth between multiple discs.

** There are some complaints that the villains in the series rarely ever win, with things more often than not going well for the Republic and ending in some significant loss for the Separatists. Even in ''Legends'' continuity, it was very rare to see the Separatists actually ''win'', even with Grievous and Dooku being varying degrees of AdaptationalBadass. Most commonly, they cost the Republic many a PyrrhicVictory, but when they did win, chances were it was focused on the Republic's point of view.
** Cody being an OutOfFocus SatelliteCharacter is another criticism of the series, but Cody himself got very few solo stories of his own to begin with. By the time he was portrayed as a trooper of the Empire, he's stuck training stormtroopers, but otherwise has no real importance to serve.

* AndYouThoughtItWouldFail: ''The Clone Wars'' was originally against the odds due to the initial AnimationAgeGhetto, the ties to the divisive prequel trilogy [[{{Interquel}} (which the series is set during)]], and the [[Film/RevengeOfTheSith inevitable outcome]] presenting that the protagonists' actions will be for naught. Despite all of those odds, ''The Clone Wars'' managed to become very well-acclaimed. The reception towards the series getting revived for a seventh season says it all. The cherry on the cake is that the series has spawned a ''live-action'' legacy of its own set in the aftermath of the Original Trilogy, with several of its elements showing up and having much relevance in ''Series/TheMandalorian'' and multiple upcoming spinoffs of the latter.

* EvilIsCool: [[spoiler: Although Pong Krell [[HateSink wasn't intended to get this]], he has a fair amount of fans who enjoy his villainy thanks to him having a BadassBartione, [[ManipulativeBastard playing the Clone Troopers like pawns]], putting up an [[TheJuggernaut impressive fight]] against a whole army of Clones, and Creator/DaveFennoy's deliciously evil performance. It certainly helps that, although Krell is [[CompleteMonster a lot of things]], he's certainly not a coward and doesn't plead for mercy in his final moments, only mocking Rex for being "too weak" to execute him properly.]]

** Whether the series should be taken into account when experiencing or evaluating the Prequel Trilogy. For many fans, the Clone Wars is more or less essential viewing, as it expands upon the storylines, themes, and worldbuilding present in the prequels and showcases them to a greater level than it would have been possible when confined to three films. The series also created many characters that have gone on to be beloved, such as Ashoka or Captain Rex, or realigned the personalities of existing characters to give them a much more positive reception, such as the case with Anakin. However, those who disagree believe it is an unfair and unrealistic expectation to tell an audience that in addition to three films, they must also watch an animated series with over 100 episodes to enjoy the prequels. In their minds, the prequels must be considered as stand-alone entries that cannot benefit from supplementary material; especially since the films predate the Clone Wars and were not made with these events taken into account.

** To a lesser extent, despite being prominent supporting characters up to this point, [[spoiler:Mother Talzin and Asajj Ventress]] completely disappear in the gap between Seasons 6 and 7. Their fates are revealed in ''Darth Maul: Son of Dathomir'' and ''Literature/DarkDisciple'' respectively.

** To a lesser extent, [[spoiler:Mother Talzin and Asajj Ventress]], despite being prominent supporting characters up to this point, completely disappear in the gap between Seasons 6 and 7. Their fates are revealed in ''Darth Maul: Son of Dathomir'' and ''Literature/DarkDisciple'' respectively.

* ContinuityLockout: Darth Maul was last seen utterly defeated by Darth Sidious. You need to read the comic ''ComicBook/DarthMaulSonOfDathomir'', which takes place between Seasons 6 and 7, to learn how he got back in command of Mandalore. Gar Saxon and Rook Kast, who debuted in the same comic, also appear here with no introduction. The fact that Kast's design was a major inspiration for [[WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels Sabine]] can make it even more confusing.

* ContinuityLockout: Darth Maul was last seen utterly defeated by Darth Sidious. You need to read the comic ''ComicBook/DarthMaulSonOfDathomir'' to learn how he got back in command of Mandalore. Rook Kast, who debuted in the same comic, also appears here with no introduction, and the fact that her design was a major inspiration for [[WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels Sabine]] can make it even more confusing.

* TrueArtIsAngsty: ''The Clone Wars'' receives a great deal of praise for taking on a darker tone within the franchise. To put in perspective: the morality is more grayer, there's deaths left and right, and there are moments that are emotional and devastating to watch. This is one of the reasons why ''The Clone Wars'' is acclaimed as one of its best installments.

* {{Squick}}: Ziro (a purple, CampStraight, giant Hutt with a toad-like face) and Sy Snootles (a Pa'lowick, which is a long-limbed frog-like alien) are shown kissing on close-up in "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS3E9HuntForZiro Hunt for Ziro]]". Even worse, when Ziro asks Sy if she really cares about him, she answers "From the bottom of my fluid sac." Given, the fluid sac is basically the Pa'lowicks' version of a heart, but that doesn't make what she says any less nauseating.

* FanPreferredCouple:
** Ahsoka/Rex (or [[PortmanteauCoupleName Rexsoka]], if you wish) remains the most popular Ahsoka pairing, even though she has a canonical love interest in the form of Lux Bonteri. This is probably because Lux is comparatively new on the scene and Rexsoka was already well-established in the fandom before "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS3E10HeroesOnBothSides Heroes on Both Sides]]".
** [[MentorShip Anakin and Ahsoka is another very popular couple within the fandom, as well Obi-Wan and Ahsoka]].
** [[StarCrossedLovers Obi-Wan/Satine]] has proven to be quite popular as well, given that the only thing stopping them from getting together is Obi-Wan's commitment to the Jedi.
** As far as HoYay[=/=]LesYay pairings go, Anakin/Obi-Wan and Ahsoka/Barriss seem to be the most popular, with Obi-Wan/Cody coming right behind them.
** [[FoeYayShipping Obi-Wan/Ventress]] is ''very'' popular as well. Considering that they spend almost every moment of their screen time together more-or-less flirting with each other, it's barely subtextual.

** To an ''extremely'' disturbing degree, Darth Maul's psychotic obsession with (and revenge on) Obi-Wan. An example would be how Obi-Wan is the one thing that Maul remembered through his shattered mental state. He's even heard obsessively muttering Obi-Wan's name over and over again in "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS4E22Revenge Revenge]]".

** There are some complaints that the villains in the series rarely ever win, with things more often than not going well for the Republic and ending in some significant loss for the Separatists. Even in ''Legends'' continuity, it was very rare to see the Separatists actually ''win'', even with Grievous and Dooku being varying degrees of AdaptationalBadass. Most commonly, they costed the Republic many a PyrrhicVictory, but when they did win, chances were it was focused on the Republic's point of view.

* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotPolitical: Many of the "deeper" episodes dealing with the political and economic realities of the Clone Wars contain what many consider to be increasingly thinly-veiled commentary about the political situation in America at the time (mostly the Bush Jr. Administration and wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.) This likely contributed to the backlash and PanderingToTheBase that resulted in such episodes all but vanishing in the second half of the third season and onwards.

** Mother Talzim caused some controversy with her unique magick powerset, which included [[BarrierWarrior creating energy fields]], [[IntangibleMan de-materializing]] and [[{{Teleportation}} teleporting]], abilities that were unheard of in the ''Star Wars'' universe and felt exceedingly un-Force-like. Except they were not; while certainly considered unusual abilities in-universe, all of them had already been established in ''SW'' media, with the Dark Woman from ''Star Wars Republic'' being an example of a Jedi skilled at both teleporting and passing through solid objects.

** ''The Clone Wars''[='=] portrayal of Asajj Ventress. Most like her as a great character as a result of her being a beautiful DarkActionGirl along with her [[CharacterDevelopment development]] from a Sith [[TheApprentice apprentice]] to a more [[AntiHero anti-heroic]] character with a [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold neutral yet kind personality]], while others lament that the series changed so many aspects of her personality and history that she feels like her InNameOnly. It doesn't help that, due to both the popularity of ''The Clone Wars'' and the current obscurity of the ''Legends'' media where she originated from, this version of Ventress is the only modern fans can be really familiar with. A similar case happens with the series' version of Quinlan Vos, whose character was altered from his ''Legends'' counterpart to an astonishing degree too, but this is mitigated by the fact that he only appears in two episodes in the series.

** The AdaptationalAlternateEnding given to Asajj Ventress, where she is betrayed by Dooku much earlier than in ''Legends'' and shows a new, different background related to the Nightsisters and Darth Maul, has proven divisive between fans. While the Nightsisters and Brothers arc was praised for its aesthetic and interesting elements, as well as for bringing back Darth Maul himself, there's also the perception that ''The Clone Wars'' needlessly stepped on previous ''Legends'' media by altering Ventress' fate in order to make it work (especially due to the fact that her previous fate was heavy in ShipTease between her and Obi-Wan, a favorite ship among several circles of fans, which was [[ShipSinking bluntly sunk]] in this continuity after their admittedly promising team-up against Maul and Savage). Worse still, when ''Literature/DarkDisciple'' revealed what the series' creators had planned to do with Quinlan Vos, this break became even more heated, as ''Republic'' fans deemed it a disservice to both Ventress and Vos for putting them in a cliché CrackPairing with an EsotericHappyEnding that overrode both of their original, optimistic fates in ''Legends''.

** Also divisive was the decision to retcon Order 66 as having been executed via literal mind control over the clones rather than it being an executive order carried naturally through the chain of command. One side argues that giving the clones more agency to choose to follow their orders or not is ultimately more compelling, seeing how it would show that no matter how tight the bonds between Jedi and the clones may have been, their loyalty was ultimately to the Republic, also adding some more depth to the action. The other side argues that with the AdaptationRelationshipOverhaul between the Jedi and the clones, a mass betrayal wouldn't make much sense as it did in ''Legends'' given the much healthier relationship, and brainwashing would be a more solid guarantee of success, seeing how if the clones were given the agency, the order wouldn't have been nearly as effective. And then there's a third party that agrees the brainwashing makes the most sense in the new canon and still makes for a very tragic story, but also feels it robbed some potentially interesting and compelling plots away.

* FanonDiscontinuity: Many fans of the ''Legends'' comic books and novels set during the Clone Wars era have declared this on ''The Clone Wars'', or at least some specific parts of the series (''The Clone Wars'' being set in both the canon and ''Legends'' continuities has made it a lot easier for some to remove it out of their own personal ''Legends'' continuity). In some cases, this isn't always out of animosity towards it, but pragmatism due to the many {{Continuity Snarl}}s it has with the rest of ''Legends'' and the lack of closure some story arcs had in the context of that continuity. Fans of both continuities tend to keep ''The Clone Wars'' confined to the canon since not only has it so far been handled a lot more cohesively there, but some of ''The Clone Wars''' story arcs that were LeftHanging have received their closure in material that is only part of the canon (and the same applies to a lot of WhatCouldHaveBeen material that has yet to be adapted in some form). At best, they may apply BroadStrokes for elements referenced elsewhere in ''Legends''[[labelnote:*]](at the time of the ContinuityReboot, only a few other ''Legends'' works had tied into ''The Clone Wars'', most notably [[spoiler:''Literature/FateOfTheJedi'']] ArcWelding the Mortis arc into its backstory)[[/labelnote]] and cut out anything that explicitly contradicts previous material such as [[spoiler:the Fetts still being Mandalorians (which was [[Series/TheMandalorian eventually recanonized]] in a roundabout way), Barriss Offee never having a FaceHeelTurn, Order 66 not being a brainwashing command, and Ventress and Quinlan Vos having their original personalities and happy endings]].

* HeartwarmingInHindsight:
** The pilot movie is sort of a PassingTheTorch moment for Christopher Lee regarding Dooku, who is succeeded following the film by Corey Burton, who does the character as much justice as Lee once did.
** For the cast of ''The Clone Wars'' as well. For the next twelve (and counting) years, Matt Lanter, James Arnold Taylor, Ashley Eckstein, Dee Bradley Baker, Corey Burton, Catherine Taber, and Tom Kane (plus a number of others) would take up the mantle of the core cast of the Prequel Trilogy and do that era (and, with the benefit of hindsight, the films that are part of them) the justice that Lucas always aspired the galaxy-spanning Clone Wars to have.

** Padme's strapless, backless dress in "Senate Spy". The bodice is basically a square that starts straight under her arms, making it [[https://i.pinimg.com/originals/ea/3c/8f/ea3c8fb1e1accf088ffbcf584d46d864.png look]] like it's defying gravity. Plus, due to its rendering on Padme's model, the neckline looks to be a hair's bredth away from a nip-slip.

* InformedWrongness: In the Clovis arc, Anakin walks in on Clovis trying to force a kiss on Padme, and reacts by beating him up. The scene is played as Anakin being a jealous husband who is bringing himself closer to the dark side, rather than a husband justifiably defending his wife from sexual assault. Padme even tells him to stay away from her, as if it was ''Anakin'' who crossed a line, rather than Clovis.

* CaptainObviousReveal: In "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS5E20TheWrongJedi The Wrong Jedi]]", [[spoiler:Barriss Offee being responsible for the bombing of the Jedi Temple hangar is ''not'' surprising due to it being foreshadowed out the wazoo. She's the only other person who Ahsoka talks to other than Ventress during the whole of her escape, as well as the only other Jedi with a similar build and outfit as the mysterious assailant who took Ventress' mask and lightsaber and attacked Ahsoka in an abandoned explosive warehouse containing crates of nano-droids, the same droids found at the scene of the crime]].

* CompleteMonster: [[FatBastard Warlord Unger Gout]], from the "In Service of the Republic" arc, is the [[Characters/StarWarsRiseOfTheEmpireEraSeparatists Separatist]] leader on Khorm, who [[SlaveryIsASpecialKindOfEvil enslaved]] his own people and works them to death in his mines, feeding corpses to the slaves to save money on food. He uses a WeatherControlMachine to keep the Republic forces off of Khorm, even though it devastates the planet's ecosystem and causes many deaths. A [[DirtyCoward coward]] who runs and hides from battle, at Asajj Ventress's suggestion, he plants bombs in the mines to kill the slaves if the Jedi come after him. When Ventress goes to kill the Jedi, Gout attempts to kill them with an ice storm, not caring that Ventress could also die.

* MisBlamed: Due to the turbulent status of the franchise in early 2018, it's becoming increasingly common for many to state that Disney only {{uncancelled}} ''The Clone Wars'' in order to bring an end to the controversies. However, given that most of those controversies were just a few months old, animation (especially as visually appealing as ''The Clone Wars'') takes a ''[[AnimationLeadTime long]]'' time to make, and the teaser clearly had fully animated segments, it had to have been in the works well before that.

** As unintentionally funny [[spoiler:Pong Krell's]] "oof" is, the scene is still [[CatharsisFactor so satisfying]] that it becomes hard to notice.

* CompleteMonster: [[FatBastard Warlord Unger Gout]], from the "In Service of the Republic" arc, is the [[Characters/StarWarsRiseOfTheEmpireEraSeparatists Separatist]] leader on Khorm, who [[SlaveryIsASpecialKindOfEvil enslaved]] his own people and works them to death in his mines, feeding corpses to the slaves to save money on food. He uses a WeatherControlMachine to keep the Republic forces off of Khorm, even though it devastates the planet's ecosystem. A [[DirtyCoward coward]] who runs and hides from battle, at Asajj Ventress's suggestion, he plants bombs in the mines to kill the slaves if the Jedi come after him. When Ventress goes to kill the Jedi, Gout attempts to kill them with an ice storm, not caring that Ventress could also die.